Yet again it has been over a month since my last post.
How lame.
Despite my conspicuous absence I have been writing. A lot.
I've been writing almost good poems, and bad poems, half-way decent poems, rants, responses, letters, lots of emails, an elegy, and most recently a sestina for my poetry class.
More elaboration later, but for now I must rest. Four hours of writing a sestina has done a number on my mind.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
This Title Could Be So Much Cooler
My parents are kind of brilliant when it comes to unexpected gifts for the holidays. This year I received a refurbished laptop and a digital camera! A very techie Christmas. This is wonderful because now I can take my laptop wherever and write instead of being tied to my monstrously large desktop (which I am still rather fond of).
New Year's was amazing as well. I went to visit my brother and friends for four days and the festivities were quite enjoyable. We played poker and celebrated for near twelve hours. Similar festivities should be taking place sometime in February in celebration of my birthday, though the details are still getting hashed out. More on that when it becomes more relevant.
Alright, so I'm back at school and rather glad for it. Six weeks of holiday is really too much, especially when there isn't much to do in the general area. I'm helping out with the college's literary magazine this term, still involved with my sorority colony (as the historian), and still working with the lovely ladies in the alumni relations office.
I'm taking Beginning Poetry Writing, American Literature II, and Hispanic Literature 1700-Present this term. I am really enjoying the first two classes though unfortunately a little confused with the third. Hispanic Lit is taught entirely in Spanish, which is fine, except that the prof has a rather haphazard way of teaching and organizing and I prefer structure in classes taught in foreign languages. I can talk about the themes of the literature in Spanish just fine, but I swear the other day we ended up talking about the French Revolution--I know the prof mentioned Napoleon. Furthermore, the prof sent out some emails telling us to prepare more for the classes and subsequently I've become a tad nervous. You see, tone is hard enough to interpret in text anyway, but then when you add the factor of the email being in a different language one suddenly finds oneself wondering if the prof is just exasperated or in fact rather perturbed. This weekend will be spent catching up on some of my Spanish work, that's for sure.
Moving on, American Lit II is interesting. Fact about me: the English department has basically swallowed me whole. When I first came here to school Am Lit was one of my least favorite subjects to study. Then, during my first year, I took Am Lit I by default and found it rather interesting. We're stating after the Civil War and the other day we read a few short stories by Kate Chopin. let me tell you, reading The Storm while those around you are carrying about and chatting is an odd yet entertaining experience. I felt compelled to share a few passages. It added to the humorous atmosphere of the night, that's for sure.
On to poetry writing. I am no poet. This is not some poetic lie that I am trying to use to impress you. Honestly. I am no poet. I have no idea what I'm doing. At all. But it is a lot of fun and class is very interesting. I took this class as a challenge to myself, as a way to force myself out of my comfort zone and therefore profit from the experience. A lot of my stuff, just like my fiction, has humorous undertones to it. It has yet to be determine whether, like my prose, I (unintentionally) write my poetry in a British voice. Occasionally I will randomly read off a poem to some of my friends. They seem to like them, though in reality this only makes me more skeptical as to whether or not these faux-poems are really poems at all. This is probably the class I am enjoying and will be enjoying the most this term.
As I am on the subject of school--mine has a twisted sense of humor. The other day our area had temperatures in the record breaking lows with the windchill making it seem near -40 degrees F. We received an email from the school in which they told us that temperatures such as these can lead to frostbite, hypothermia, and death. To which their suggestion was something along the lines of so bundle up guys! Our college will cancel class for nothing--not even potential deaths!!!
Again, along the lines of school, I have been WikiFire-d. Go to the site, type in my name, and there I am. Apparently my friends created the entry and sporadically update it.
That is all for the moment, because I am off to spend some time with my housemates.
New Year's was amazing as well. I went to visit my brother and friends for four days and the festivities were quite enjoyable. We played poker and celebrated for near twelve hours. Similar festivities should be taking place sometime in February in celebration of my birthday, though the details are still getting hashed out. More on that when it becomes more relevant.
Alright, so I'm back at school and rather glad for it. Six weeks of holiday is really too much, especially when there isn't much to do in the general area. I'm helping out with the college's literary magazine this term, still involved with my sorority colony (as the historian), and still working with the lovely ladies in the alumni relations office.
I'm taking Beginning Poetry Writing, American Literature II, and Hispanic Literature 1700-Present this term. I am really enjoying the first two classes though unfortunately a little confused with the third. Hispanic Lit is taught entirely in Spanish, which is fine, except that the prof has a rather haphazard way of teaching and organizing and I prefer structure in classes taught in foreign languages. I can talk about the themes of the literature in Spanish just fine, but I swear the other day we ended up talking about the French Revolution--I know the prof mentioned Napoleon. Furthermore, the prof sent out some emails telling us to prepare more for the classes and subsequently I've become a tad nervous. You see, tone is hard enough to interpret in text anyway, but then when you add the factor of the email being in a different language one suddenly finds oneself wondering if the prof is just exasperated or in fact rather perturbed. This weekend will be spent catching up on some of my Spanish work, that's for sure.
Moving on, American Lit II is interesting. Fact about me: the English department has basically swallowed me whole. When I first came here to school Am Lit was one of my least favorite subjects to study. Then, during my first year, I took Am Lit I by default and found it rather interesting. We're stating after the Civil War and the other day we read a few short stories by Kate Chopin. let me tell you, reading The Storm while those around you are carrying about and chatting is an odd yet entertaining experience. I felt compelled to share a few passages. It added to the humorous atmosphere of the night, that's for sure.
On to poetry writing. I am no poet. This is not some poetic lie that I am trying to use to impress you. Honestly. I am no poet. I have no idea what I'm doing. At all. But it is a lot of fun and class is very interesting. I took this class as a challenge to myself, as a way to force myself out of my comfort zone and therefore profit from the experience. A lot of my stuff, just like my fiction, has humorous undertones to it. It has yet to be determine whether, like my prose, I (unintentionally) write my poetry in a British voice. Occasionally I will randomly read off a poem to some of my friends. They seem to like them, though in reality this only makes me more skeptical as to whether or not these faux-poems are really poems at all. This is probably the class I am enjoying and will be enjoying the most this term.
As I am on the subject of school--mine has a twisted sense of humor. The other day our area had temperatures in the record breaking lows with the windchill making it seem near -40 degrees F. We received an email from the school in which they told us that temperatures such as these can lead to frostbite, hypothermia, and death. To which their suggestion was something along the lines of so bundle up guys! Our college will cancel class for nothing--not even potential deaths!!!
Again, along the lines of school, I have been WikiFire-d. Go to the site, type in my name, and there I am. Apparently my friends created the entry and sporadically update it.
That is all for the moment, because I am off to spend some time with my housemates.
Friday, January 23, 2009
It's Been A While...
So, it has been over a month since I posted.
This is entirely unacceptable.
My apologies.
After a death in the family, an illness, and a near-nervous breakdown I am back. But not quite yet--at least, not with anything too interesting. I will give you some updates though to keep you going and that I will undoubtedly elaborate on in later posts.
This is entirely unacceptable.
My apologies.
After a death in the family, an illness, and a near-nervous breakdown I am back. But not quite yet--at least, not with anything too interesting. I will give you some updates though to keep you going and that I will undoubtedly elaborate on in later posts.
- I got a laptop and a digital camera for Christmas, which is brilliant because now I can write from anywhere I want!
- New Year's was amazing!
- My college has a twisted sense of humor.
- College is amazing. I know, I know, that's such a vague comment.
- I actually parallel parked the other day!
- I am taking a poetry writing class, and American literature class, and a Hispanic literature class. Each of these have their own little stories attached to them.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Kryptonite Needles
I have great doctors.
I really do.
But I hate going to see most of them. Not that a lot of people take immense pleasure in going to see a doctor, but you know what I mean.
It's just that I hate needles.
Hate.
Hate.
Hate.
Well, I went to the doctor yesterday. They gave me a flu shot.
I had a bad reaction. Got up to leave, made it to the waiting room, and then had to be taken back to the exam room. Still feel horrible. Lucky for my friends and housemates at school though, I won't give you the flu. Unless it mutates and becomes some super-flu thing. Let's hope not.
Then I needed to get my blood taken for some tests.
Standard CBC blood panel.
Bad experience.
If you get queasy easily, stop reading.
I told them I have a bad reaction to getting blood taken (you'd think I'd be used to it by now), so they took me to a back room where I could lay down. The lady, nice gal really, tourniquets off one arm, says she can't find anything. Makes me get up, turn around, tourniquets off the other arm. Mutters a bit. Thinks she might have one.
Sticks me...misses.
I ask her if she got it, knowing she didn't. She says no. Ow! Alright then. Now I have to get up again, turn around, and she goes back to the other arm. Murmurs something, prods a bit. Then she says she's going to have to call someone else in. New lady comes in, they mutter to each other.
I'd tell you what they said, except this whole time I'm been trying to keep myself from hyperventilating and convulsing, so I have no idea. So, the new lady says she thinks she has one. Tells me not to move. I don't.
She sticks me...misses again.
I again asked her if she got it. She says nothing. Then, oh how I hate it when they do this, she goes fishing around for the vein. Hurts like nobody's business! Gets it, asks me if I'm okay. I'm trying to resist the urge to say some rather colorful expletives. I manage to tell her to get the needle out of me. They explained to me that my veins roll.
Wonderful.
She stuck me but the needle rolled the vein. So now I have been poked with a needle three times when I had only prepared myself for once.
The rest of that day and for a bit of today I have been walking around with arms bent at the elbows. Very T-Rex like. Just don't ask me to lift anything heavy, okay?
I really do.
But I hate going to see most of them. Not that a lot of people take immense pleasure in going to see a doctor, but you know what I mean.
It's just that I hate needles.
Hate.
Hate.
Hate.
Well, I went to the doctor yesterday. They gave me a flu shot.
I had a bad reaction. Got up to leave, made it to the waiting room, and then had to be taken back to the exam room. Still feel horrible. Lucky for my friends and housemates at school though, I won't give you the flu. Unless it mutates and becomes some super-flu thing. Let's hope not.
Then I needed to get my blood taken for some tests.
Standard CBC blood panel.
Bad experience.
If you get queasy easily, stop reading.
I told them I have a bad reaction to getting blood taken (you'd think I'd be used to it by now), so they took me to a back room where I could lay down. The lady, nice gal really, tourniquets off one arm, says she can't find anything. Makes me get up, turn around, tourniquets off the other arm. Mutters a bit. Thinks she might have one.
Sticks me...misses.
I ask her if she got it, knowing she didn't. She says no. Ow! Alright then. Now I have to get up again, turn around, and she goes back to the other arm. Murmurs something, prods a bit. Then she says she's going to have to call someone else in. New lady comes in, they mutter to each other.
I'd tell you what they said, except this whole time I'm been trying to keep myself from hyperventilating and convulsing, so I have no idea. So, the new lady says she thinks she has one. Tells me not to move. I don't.
She sticks me...misses again.
I again asked her if she got it. She says nothing. Then, oh how I hate it when they do this, she goes fishing around for the vein. Hurts like nobody's business! Gets it, asks me if I'm okay. I'm trying to resist the urge to say some rather colorful expletives. I manage to tell her to get the needle out of me. They explained to me that my veins roll.
Wonderful.
She stuck me but the needle rolled the vein. So now I have been poked with a needle three times when I had only prepared myself for once.
The rest of that day and for a bit of today I have been walking around with arms bent at the elbows. Very T-Rex like. Just don't ask me to lift anything heavy, okay?
Temptation
"I can resist anything but temptation."
~Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan
So, the other day I just happened to end up in one of my very favorite stores ever. Barnes & Noble. (Borders and other bookstores: you are not far behind, but where I live B&N has the bigger store and better selection so victory to Barnes & Noble on this one. Plus, it smells like coffee in there. Mmmm...coffee.) Yeah, that's right. Favorite. Store. Ever. It has been since I was a child. See, I told you I was a bibliophile.
Anyway, so I was in Barnes & Noble (p.s. Shopping on a Saturday in December by yourself is a very, very bad idea. Be sure to go with a friend or you may lose your mind.) and wandering around, looking for gift ideas, checking new titles, taking pleasure in being surrounded by so many books, you know, that good stuff. Then I saw it. It was so pretty, just sitting there all tempting and such. The collected and illustrated works of Oscar Wilde. All his stuff, in one book, there in front of me. Oscar Wilde: The Complete Works (Collector's Library Editions Series). So pretty. I want it.
And next to it and only slightly less tempting (due only to the fact that I own six of her novels separately already) was a bound collection of Jane Austen's novels. Jane Austen: Seven Novels (Leatherbound). It was an exercise in self-control to be sure. (A bookstore is one of the only places where I cannot be trusted with my money). I was not there to buy books for myself though, and I am proud (and slightly dissapointed) to say that I did not purchase the two volumes. I just stood there and stared at them for a while.
I want them both.
We'll see what happens.
~Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan
So, the other day I just happened to end up in one of my very favorite stores ever. Barnes & Noble. (Borders and other bookstores: you are not far behind, but where I live B&N has the bigger store and better selection so victory to Barnes & Noble on this one. Plus, it smells like coffee in there. Mmmm...coffee.) Yeah, that's right. Favorite. Store. Ever. It has been since I was a child. See, I told you I was a bibliophile.
Anyway, so I was in Barnes & Noble (p.s. Shopping on a Saturday in December by yourself is a very, very bad idea. Be sure to go with a friend or you may lose your mind.) and wandering around, looking for gift ideas, checking new titles, taking pleasure in being surrounded by so many books, you know, that good stuff. Then I saw it. It was so pretty, just sitting there all tempting and such. The collected and illustrated works of Oscar Wilde. All his stuff, in one book, there in front of me. Oscar Wilde: The Complete Works (Collector's Library Editions Series). So pretty. I want it.
And next to it and only slightly less tempting (due only to the fact that I own six of her novels separately already) was a bound collection of Jane Austen's novels. Jane Austen: Seven Novels (Leatherbound). It was an exercise in self-control to be sure. (A bookstore is one of the only places where I cannot be trusted with my money). I was not there to buy books for myself though, and I am proud (and slightly dissapointed) to say that I did not purchase the two volumes. I just stood there and stared at them for a while.
I want them both.
We'll see what happens.
Webcomics
Do it!
Come on, you know you want to.
Here are some webcomics I keep up on and a few links to specific comics to get you started.
xkcd ~ I love this one. So much. I cannot describe. I am such a nerd. Which is probably why I love it so much. There's a lot of science and math humor in this one along with a variety of other nerdy themes. And sarcasm. Lots of sarcasm. This is often dangerously close to how my own mind works.
*One on insomnia.
*One of my all time favorites.
*Just because you are an adult doesn't mean you can't make a fort.
*Velociraptors know no fear.
Questionable Content ~ Hilarious, but you'd have to go back to the beginning to get the whole story. Which is totally worth doing, by the way. You'll be sure to notice how much his design style changes. Jeph recently gave the site a makeover. I like it, but I was fond of the blue.
*Here is the first one.
Kate Beaton ~ Hilarious stuff. History and more.
*The one about Mary Shelley is hilarious!
*I have to include the one about Jane Austen, of course.
Dinosaur Comics ~ I like dinosaurs. I like humor. This has both.
*The beginning.
Pictures for Sad Children ~ Very funny.
*This one, about Benjamin Franklin, is what got me started.
Come on, you know you want to.
Here are some webcomics I keep up on and a few links to specific comics to get you started.
xkcd ~ I love this one. So much. I cannot describe. I am such a nerd. Which is probably why I love it so much. There's a lot of science and math humor in this one along with a variety of other nerdy themes. And sarcasm. Lots of sarcasm. This is often dangerously close to how my own mind works.
*One on insomnia.
*One of my all time favorites.
*Just because you are an adult doesn't mean you can't make a fort.
*Velociraptors know no fear.
Questionable Content ~ Hilarious, but you'd have to go back to the beginning to get the whole story. Which is totally worth doing, by the way. You'll be sure to notice how much his design style changes. Jeph recently gave the site a makeover. I like it, but I was fond of the blue.
*Here is the first one.
Kate Beaton ~ Hilarious stuff. History and more.
*The one about Mary Shelley is hilarious!
*I have to include the one about Jane Austen, of course.
Dinosaur Comics ~ I like dinosaurs. I like humor. This has both.
*The beginning.
Pictures for Sad Children ~ Very funny.
*This one, about Benjamin Franklin, is what got me started.
Parallel Parking...
is, quite simply, evil.
Unadulterated evil.
And here's why: I can't do it. Not for the life of me. I'll try, I really will. No good. It never works. I suck at parallel parking. It terrifies me. I get all anxious and twitchy. Occasionally, it becomes a deciding factor as to whether I will drive somewhere or not. Also, I get really nervous driving somewhere I've never been before, especially in the dark. Just like parallel parking, it sometimes influences whether I will go somewhere. If I know where I'm going, I'm fine, for the most part.
Don't mock. We are all entitled to our Kryptonite(s).
So, I have some theories:
1.) I am meant to be a recluse.
~Tempting. I might be able to last for a significant period of time if I had enough books, but I would miss my family and friends quite a bit. In the end: failure.
2.) People should visit me.
~I like this idea. Get off your lazy bums. You don't want to give me an anxiety attack do you? I'll bake you cookies. And drunk muffins. Mmmm...drunk muffins.
3.) I am meant to use public transportation.
~Actually, not a bad idea. More environmentally friendly than driving everywhere myself. May actually end up happening if I move to a large enough place. Eep! Big cities can be intimidating, though not so much anymore. That I'm getting better with.
4.) It is a conspiracy on the part of small villages.
~Perhaps just my own, but hear me out. A lot of rural towns are getting smaller and smaller. Kids graduate and decide to skip town. So what to do to keep the population up? Let's not teach our kids how to drive properly! Let's have a Driver's Ed teacher who falls asleep in the car, or one whose idea of teaching you to parallel park is not to have you park between two cones or anything rational like that, but instead to simply have you pull in behind a bus in an abandoned parking lot. Once. And heaven forbid we make sure anyone knows how to read a map. Why? Because if kids know how to drive properly, parallel park, and read a map, well heck, they'll be out of town before you know it, never to return! After all, in a big city or even a decent sized place these are necessary skills. You don't need to know any of these things to live in a village!
5.) It's just me.
~Unfortunately, the most likely. I still like number 4.
Unadulterated evil.
And here's why: I can't do it. Not for the life of me. I'll try, I really will. No good. It never works. I suck at parallel parking. It terrifies me. I get all anxious and twitchy. Occasionally, it becomes a deciding factor as to whether I will drive somewhere or not. Also, I get really nervous driving somewhere I've never been before, especially in the dark. Just like parallel parking, it sometimes influences whether I will go somewhere. If I know where I'm going, I'm fine, for the most part.
Don't mock. We are all entitled to our Kryptonite(s).
So, I have some theories:
1.) I am meant to be a recluse.
~Tempting. I might be able to last for a significant period of time if I had enough books, but I would miss my family and friends quite a bit. In the end: failure.
2.) People should visit me.
~I like this idea. Get off your lazy bums. You don't want to give me an anxiety attack do you? I'll bake you cookies. And drunk muffins. Mmmm...drunk muffins.
3.) I am meant to use public transportation.
~Actually, not a bad idea. More environmentally friendly than driving everywhere myself. May actually end up happening if I move to a large enough place. Eep! Big cities can be intimidating, though not so much anymore. That I'm getting better with.
4.) It is a conspiracy on the part of small villages.
~Perhaps just my own, but hear me out. A lot of rural towns are getting smaller and smaller. Kids graduate and decide to skip town. So what to do to keep the population up? Let's not teach our kids how to drive properly! Let's have a Driver's Ed teacher who falls asleep in the car, or one whose idea of teaching you to parallel park is not to have you park between two cones or anything rational like that, but instead to simply have you pull in behind a bus in an abandoned parking lot. Once. And heaven forbid we make sure anyone knows how to read a map. Why? Because if kids know how to drive properly, parallel park, and read a map, well heck, they'll be out of town before you know it, never to return! After all, in a big city or even a decent sized place these are necessary skills. You don't need to know any of these things to live in a village!
5.) It's just me.
~Unfortunately, the most likely. I still like number 4.
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