Well, it's about time for another update on my life. Strangely, my life is not very complicated right now, but everyone else's is, and that's all rubbing off on me. The good stuff is that the play I'm in is going really well. It's riduculous and fun and hilarious, and I think I'm just barely going to make it through our performances without breaking. This is going to be my last big theatre performance for quite some time, like years, maybe, so I'm really trying to put my all into it and a lot of family are coming. I have gotten two letters from Bethany in France, and she's having a great time. And I just finished my approximately 150 flaschards for my comps, which are unhappily the day of the opening night of the play. So, if I have anything personally to complain about, its that everything is all sort of clumping around February 8.
The main drama going on right now comes from my life being adjacent to CFR's life. Her fiancee broke it off with her, because he's an asshole, judging from his reasoning, as conveyed via text message, which was that he'd been cheating on her for two weeks and felt no remorse, so he figured he shouldn't marry her. She really knows how to pick them, huh? But just try telling her. I'm really gambling that she won't read this. I don't think she will. Anyway, then I had to pull out all the stops to keep her from driving up to Indy that very night to keep her from meeting up with another bad-news ex-boyfriend. Then she had a series of really bad days, health-wise. Finally, today, she and her parents had a meeting with the dean of the college, the registrar, the head of counseling, and her advisor, and it was decided that she's going on medical leave for the semester. Thank God! Because she really needs it. She wasn't functioning.
The thing is, when she's not overmedicated or in terrible pain, which is once in a blue moon, she's a pretty good person and a good friend. I think. It's kind of hard to tell whether she would, removing the pseudotumor and the overmedication, actually stay to finish a conversation with me or at least feign interest in something I find amusing. Most of the time I just have to be patient, and I was never as good at that as I should have been. It makes me feel terrible, because logically I have no right to complain-- I'm not the one that all of the stuff is actually happening to. I guess generally I've been excusing some pretty callous behavior on my part with "I'm only human, there's only so much I can put up with," when that really wasn't good enough because she was putting up with more and Bethany was putting up with the same stuff I was but with more grace.
So, that's the state of affairs in Erin's World right now. Lots of relief, lots of anticipation, all at once.
"I hear they unscrew our lug nuts at night and eat them at their human brunch!"
30 January 2008
28 January 2008
More woes of Nathan
I seem to be sick again. I barely had time to recover from my original illness when I was struck by this new one that's been going around the campus. Totally different symptoms, so I'm sure it's not the same thing. Aw well, variety is the spice of life.
I have a very sore throat. But I also have a wonderful girlfriend who brought me tea with honey, which does wonders to soothe it.
I have a lot of paperwork to do. I have to declare a major by February 18th, which means I have to fill out the petition for a double major form this week. The only problem is I'm no longer at all sure that I want to double major. Haven't talked to the parents about this yet, but I don't imagine they'll be thrilled to hear that I want to major in theatre without another major as well.
I'm hoping I can prove to them the viability of making theatre a career by getting a paying techie job over the summer. So far I've applied for eight such jobs, seven of them at this cattle call audition / job fair that I went to on Saturday. I also picked up websites for six more theaters to which I intend to send my resume. With any luck, at least one will result in a job.
HOusing applications are also due February first, as are submissions to the Goliard. I'll be quite happy at the end of this week.
On top of all this, I have a paper due Friday and a big test on Thursday. The test is in the class which I missed the most of when I was sick the first time. And with classes and work all day and rehearsal every night, there's really no time to get all this done.
"I hear they unscrew our lug nuts at night and eat them at their human brunch!"
I have a very sore throat. But I also have a wonderful girlfriend who brought me tea with honey, which does wonders to soothe it.
I have a lot of paperwork to do. I have to declare a major by February 18th, which means I have to fill out the petition for a double major form this week. The only problem is I'm no longer at all sure that I want to double major. Haven't talked to the parents about this yet, but I don't imagine they'll be thrilled to hear that I want to major in theatre without another major as well.
I'm hoping I can prove to them the viability of making theatre a career by getting a paying techie job over the summer. So far I've applied for eight such jobs, seven of them at this cattle call audition / job fair that I went to on Saturday. I also picked up websites for six more theaters to which I intend to send my resume. With any luck, at least one will result in a job.
HOusing applications are also due February first, as are submissions to the Goliard. I'll be quite happy at the end of this week.
On top of all this, I have a paper due Friday and a big test on Thursday. The test is in the class which I missed the most of when I was sick the first time. And with classes and work all day and rehearsal every night, there's really no time to get all this done.
"I hear they unscrew our lug nuts at night and eat them at their human brunch!"
21 January 2008
Okay, but I'm only going along with this because it'l be funny
I just wanna know what's up with the Giant Eyeball
Also, some other stuff, since I don't feel like making a separate post for random other stuff. Sorry to make any comments somewhat obsolete.
First, I did this thing to one of my house mates. I walked into the room and said "I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you," and walked out. Problem is, the first time I said it, I didn't say it exactly right, a paraphrase, as it were. And so I had a dilemma concerning the repetition of the line necessary to complete the reference. Do I say the line the right way, hoping they don't notice (which they probably wouldn't, chances are they hadn't even seen airplane) or do I repeat the error for the sake of continuity? It's times like these that my sense of theatrical professionalism gets me into a pickle. As it was, I fixed the line and repeated it a third time as per the comedic rule of threes. There was a classic reaction of "that Marten. He so silly."
Second, I decided to drop computer programming, partially because I couldn't pay attention at all today, partially because I was taking it out of pure interest despite my mild ineptitude with the subject, but mostly because I was tired of having a lab class. Now I don't have any classes after 12 on any day. I have replaced the class with "Narrative and the Real World." After looking at the syllabus, I've determined that the hardest part of the class will be catching up on the reading I missed from the first week. I need to watch Memento sometime tomorrow. Oh, one of the guys in the class I dropped was one of the offending friends Jonah posted about. I've been considering not telling him that I dropped and see if he notices, and Jonah suggested I make excuses for my absence, and I decided that they should get progressively less plausible. Unfortunately, he'll probably figure it out before I use a the same dying relative twice.
I argued with Gen for at least an hour over the definition of magic and its implied use in various fictional worlds. She tried to claim that Bram Stoker's Dracula did not contain magic of any sort, and I maintained that even if something is divinely based it's is still considered "magic" if it is used to explain impossibilities in a fictional world. I submitted that in any fictional work where something that is impossible in our world is made possible in that work must be explained by either advanced technology that uses hitherto unknown sources of energy, some set of magic rules, or both. Magic has a different basis in every cannon, be it based on demonic pacts, allegiance to a deity, elemental control, a practical second set of physics, psychic ability, what have you. What magic can do and how it is done has an affect on that fictional world, and that is generally reflected in how similar the fictional world is to the real one, mostly because real world rules generally still apply, especially if not everyone has access to whatever magic there is. I lost Gen somewhere around magic rules, but I will probably write more about this in untitled. The poor blog hasn't seen any action since last March, I think. Anyhow, the whole argument stemmed from trying to determine whether or not a Vampire could get drunk and how, which in turn stemmed from whether or not a guy many of us hadn't seen during the day in a while had actually become a vampire.
On the subject of blogs, I have decided to renege on previous claims and not update Skewed to the Left until I absolutely feel like it. I've got ideas, but, meh. I've got other stuff to do, and even more ways to procrastinate.
"I hear they unscrew our lug nuts at night and eat them at their human brunch!"
Also, some other stuff, since I don't feel like making a separate post for random other stuff. Sorry to make any comments somewhat obsolete.
First, I did this thing to one of my house mates. I walked into the room and said "I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you," and walked out. Problem is, the first time I said it, I didn't say it exactly right, a paraphrase, as it were. And so I had a dilemma concerning the repetition of the line necessary to complete the reference. Do I say the line the right way, hoping they don't notice (which they probably wouldn't, chances are they hadn't even seen airplane) or do I repeat the error for the sake of continuity? It's times like these that my sense of theatrical professionalism gets me into a pickle. As it was, I fixed the line and repeated it a third time as per the comedic rule of threes. There was a classic reaction of "that Marten. He so silly."
Second, I decided to drop computer programming, partially because I couldn't pay attention at all today, partially because I was taking it out of pure interest despite my mild ineptitude with the subject, but mostly because I was tired of having a lab class. Now I don't have any classes after 12 on any day. I have replaced the class with "Narrative and the Real World." After looking at the syllabus, I've determined that the hardest part of the class will be catching up on the reading I missed from the first week. I need to watch Memento sometime tomorrow. Oh, one of the guys in the class I dropped was one of the offending friends Jonah posted about. I've been considering not telling him that I dropped and see if he notices, and Jonah suggested I make excuses for my absence, and I decided that they should get progressively less plausible. Unfortunately, he'll probably figure it out before I use a the same dying relative twice.
I argued with Gen for at least an hour over the definition of magic and its implied use in various fictional worlds. She tried to claim that Bram Stoker's Dracula did not contain magic of any sort, and I maintained that even if something is divinely based it's is still considered "magic" if it is used to explain impossibilities in a fictional world. I submitted that in any fictional work where something that is impossible in our world is made possible in that work must be explained by either advanced technology that uses hitherto unknown sources of energy, some set of magic rules, or both. Magic has a different basis in every cannon, be it based on demonic pacts, allegiance to a deity, elemental control, a practical second set of physics, psychic ability, what have you. What magic can do and how it is done has an affect on that fictional world, and that is generally reflected in how similar the fictional world is to the real one, mostly because real world rules generally still apply, especially if not everyone has access to whatever magic there is. I lost Gen somewhere around magic rules, but I will probably write more about this in untitled. The poor blog hasn't seen any action since last March, I think. Anyhow, the whole argument stemmed from trying to determine whether or not a Vampire could get drunk and how, which in turn stemmed from whether or not a guy many of us hadn't seen during the day in a while had actually become a vampire.
On the subject of blogs, I have decided to renege on previous claims and not update Skewed to the Left until I absolutely feel like it. I've got ideas, but, meh. I've got other stuff to do, and even more ways to procrastinate.
"I hear they unscrew our lug nuts at night and eat them at their human brunch!"
20 January 2008
A woman especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can.
That quote in honor of Northanger Abbey airing tonight on PBS.
The main thing that's happened this week is that on Friday I had a merit scholar-- or, rather, Presidential Scholar, as they're calling them these days-- stay with me for the night. This is a possibility you automatically agree to by participating in the merit scholarship competition as a high school senior, but this is the first time I've ever actually hosted. Freshman year they didn't need me; sophomore year they didn't need me, either, but acted like they did until right at the last minute, so when I showed up to pick up my scholar I was told I didn't have one. Junior year I was still too irritated about this to turn in my hosting form. "Screw 'em," I thought. Well, this year they really, really needed hosts because they're looking at making Hanover a bit larger-- I'm not sure how I feel about that, nor was I sure how I felt about hosting. I didn't really believe it would actually be happening until the day it did. Also, I was concerned that my scholar would want to party, etc. Fortunately, she did not. And couldn't have if she'd wanted to because the frats were closed for recruitment. Her name was Mandy and she was very nice, came down by herself, and was very amenable to whatever I suggested. There was a nice reception-dinner, and then we ended up watching Save the Last Dance with some other girls and their scholars. Then we gave them the inside scoop on all the goofy professors who might be interviewing them the next day. She slept on the futon and, despite my fears, my roommate did not wake her up when she came home. The next morning I got up at an ungodly hour to take her to mandatory breakfast, and then escorted her to where her essay and interview would be.
Ideally, I could then have taken a nap, especially since I did not sleep at all well that night. However, I then had mandatory sorority fun-- which was actually a little fun and involved gift bags, the suggestion of illegal cockfighting as a sisterhood activity, and Safety and Risk Management Candyland. That ended at about two, and then I took a nap. Still not sleeping all that well, but better.
So, yesterday was also Fraternity Run Day, on which the frats get new members and have parties. I really thought about going on the Tour de Frat, as it was dubbed, since I am a senior and all, but I was kind of feeling like crap, so I decided not to. But I did attend the serenades. Every year I do this, and it's always an hour of my life I'll never get back, yet I always feel like I'll miss something if I don't go. What happens is that the frat members all get pieces of paper with songs about their fraternity, then they get really drunk and come over to each sorority in turn and sing the song, and then the new members introduce themselves in obscene rhyming couplets. None of these were particularly memorable, so the one I can remember enough to share is very basic and comparatively clean, but they are all variations on this general theme: "Hey, my name is Wade/ Come with me and you'll get laid." Few had any real meter, and some did not really rhyme. A couple didn't even make sense. Anyway, then the girls sing a dirty song back at them, and then they leave. This year wasn't too bad-- nobody got humped, and I was sitting safely barricaded behind the couch and snarking with a couple of other sisters.
Today were auditions for Measure for Measure. I don't really know how they went; they were weird auditions. But I really want to get cast in this show, because I've never done a Shakespeare and I want to, and this would probably be the last show I'm in for quite a while, so... yeah.
"I hear they unscrew our lug nuts at night and eat them at their human brunch!"
The main thing that's happened this week is that on Friday I had a merit scholar-- or, rather, Presidential Scholar, as they're calling them these days-- stay with me for the night. This is a possibility you automatically agree to by participating in the merit scholarship competition as a high school senior, but this is the first time I've ever actually hosted. Freshman year they didn't need me; sophomore year they didn't need me, either, but acted like they did until right at the last minute, so when I showed up to pick up my scholar I was told I didn't have one. Junior year I was still too irritated about this to turn in my hosting form. "Screw 'em," I thought. Well, this year they really, really needed hosts because they're looking at making Hanover a bit larger-- I'm not sure how I feel about that, nor was I sure how I felt about hosting. I didn't really believe it would actually be happening until the day it did. Also, I was concerned that my scholar would want to party, etc. Fortunately, she did not. And couldn't have if she'd wanted to because the frats were closed for recruitment. Her name was Mandy and she was very nice, came down by herself, and was very amenable to whatever I suggested. There was a nice reception-dinner, and then we ended up watching Save the Last Dance with some other girls and their scholars. Then we gave them the inside scoop on all the goofy professors who might be interviewing them the next day. She slept on the futon and, despite my fears, my roommate did not wake her up when she came home. The next morning I got up at an ungodly hour to take her to mandatory breakfast, and then escorted her to where her essay and interview would be.
Ideally, I could then have taken a nap, especially since I did not sleep at all well that night. However, I then had mandatory sorority fun-- which was actually a little fun and involved gift bags, the suggestion of illegal cockfighting as a sisterhood activity, and Safety and Risk Management Candyland. That ended at about two, and then I took a nap. Still not sleeping all that well, but better.
So, yesterday was also Fraternity Run Day, on which the frats get new members and have parties. I really thought about going on the Tour de Frat, as it was dubbed, since I am a senior and all, but I was kind of feeling like crap, so I decided not to. But I did attend the serenades. Every year I do this, and it's always an hour of my life I'll never get back, yet I always feel like I'll miss something if I don't go. What happens is that the frat members all get pieces of paper with songs about their fraternity, then they get really drunk and come over to each sorority in turn and sing the song, and then the new members introduce themselves in obscene rhyming couplets. None of these were particularly memorable, so the one I can remember enough to share is very basic and comparatively clean, but they are all variations on this general theme: "Hey, my name is Wade/ Come with me and you'll get laid." Few had any real meter, and some did not really rhyme. A couple didn't even make sense. Anyway, then the girls sing a dirty song back at them, and then they leave. This year wasn't too bad-- nobody got humped, and I was sitting safely barricaded behind the couch and snarking with a couple of other sisters.
Today were auditions for Measure for Measure. I don't really know how they went; they were weird auditions. But I really want to get cast in this show, because I've never done a Shakespeare and I want to, and this would probably be the last show I'm in for quite a while, so... yeah.
"I hear they unscrew our lug nuts at night and eat them at their human brunch!"
Back from the Dead
So I spent the first week of classes in the Wellness Center.
Monday night, I went to bed feeling perfectly fine, and woke up at about two in the morning feeling like I was about to throw up. I ran to the bathroom, where I failed to throw up, but did double over with intese excruciating stomach pain. This pain, along with other equally nasty symptoms, continued for the next two hours until finally I checked myself into the wellness center.
To make a long story short, I finally slept in my own bed for the first time since Monday last night. This is not to say I am well - my stomach is still cramping up, and I'm still experiencing occasional spells of dizziness and nausea, but overall I am feeling well enough to go back to my schedule. The overall result of this, however, is that I have missed roughly half of the first week of classes, and I have one class I haven't been to at all. I spent most of the time I was in the infirmary sleeping and reading, Emma for class and The Screwtape Letters for my own amusement. I am enjoying both of these books a lot and will probably post more about them in the near future.
But enough of that. I am recovering. And there are exciting things happening. I am in a play, which I enjoy, playing a part I am quite pleased with. I love my costume design class. I have not been to enough of my other classes yet to make a judgment (see beginning of post.) On Saturday I am going to New Conchord Ohio to interview for a bunch of theatre-related summer jobs. I'm in the process of declaring my major. And on that note, I think I may finally have decided what I want to Do With My Life. I think I want to be a scenic designer. It's not going to be a terribly easy goal, and I'm going to have to play some serious catch-up in a few areas (like drawing,) but I have very experienced and talented people telling me they will do their best to help me accomplish this goal. And if it doesn't work out, I'll have my English major to fall back on. But for now, I'm pursuing options to help in eventually securing the massive amount of scholarship money that will be needed for a design school.
Sorry about the rambling post. I'm just kinda saying everything that's on my mind. Hope things are well with all of you.
"I hear they unscrew our lug nuts at night and eat them at their human brunch!"
Monday night, I went to bed feeling perfectly fine, and woke up at about two in the morning feeling like I was about to throw up. I ran to the bathroom, where I failed to throw up, but did double over with intese excruciating stomach pain. This pain, along with other equally nasty symptoms, continued for the next two hours until finally I checked myself into the wellness center.
To make a long story short, I finally slept in my own bed for the first time since Monday last night. This is not to say I am well - my stomach is still cramping up, and I'm still experiencing occasional spells of dizziness and nausea, but overall I am feeling well enough to go back to my schedule. The overall result of this, however, is that I have missed roughly half of the first week of classes, and I have one class I haven't been to at all. I spent most of the time I was in the infirmary sleeping and reading, Emma for class and The Screwtape Letters for my own amusement. I am enjoying both of these books a lot and will probably post more about them in the near future.
But enough of that. I am recovering. And there are exciting things happening. I am in a play, which I enjoy, playing a part I am quite pleased with. I love my costume design class. I have not been to enough of my other classes yet to make a judgment (see beginning of post.) On Saturday I am going to New Conchord Ohio to interview for a bunch of theatre-related summer jobs. I'm in the process of declaring my major. And on that note, I think I may finally have decided what I want to Do With My Life. I think I want to be a scenic designer. It's not going to be a terribly easy goal, and I'm going to have to play some serious catch-up in a few areas (like drawing,) but I have very experienced and talented people telling me they will do their best to help me accomplish this goal. And if it doesn't work out, I'll have my English major to fall back on. But for now, I'm pursuing options to help in eventually securing the massive amount of scholarship money that will be needed for a design school.
Sorry about the rambling post. I'm just kinda saying everything that's on my mind. Hope things are well with all of you.
"I hear they unscrew our lug nuts at night and eat them at their human brunch!"
Friend Failure Fracas
So I try not to blog about high school-esque drama as much as I try to stay out of it, but this stuff catches up with you eventually.
Last year I lived in a house, and it was really terrific. A group of us, the nerdiest ones in a house of nerds, ended up becoming really close friends. And that was nice for a while. And then last year, two of the people started dating each other and systematically alienating everyone who wasn't them. So first it was her friends, and then his friends, and by midway through last semester they were pretty much despised by even their respective roommates. I, up until now, have held out friendship with both groups thought it hasn't always been easy. Though I don't defend, I have given the offending couple the benefit of the doubt every time and refused to believe the mean things said about them.
So earlier this week they told me that a mutual friend had gotten Risk 2210 for Christmas and we wanted to play. So we planned to play Saturday night. I was looking forward to it. And, not to be too melodramatic, but I turned down some other chances to do fun things tonight. They said they'd be over a bit before 9.
So 9 rolls around, I'm not stressing out, they're not here. 9:05, 9:10. Finally I give the guy a call to see when they're coming, and it turns out they played yesterday and didn't call me because they wanted to play with only four people. Like I wasn't part of the plan, or not an important enough part to be informed. And I had to call them to find out I'd already been cut out of the plan. Not to mention that if I'd just been told about it last night I couldn't have gone to the movie with Grace and Sarah, or played in Matt's D&D campaign, etc.
And I just couldn't make an excuse for them. Couldn't take the fake apologetic tone, the problem avoidance strategy, the total disregard for my feelings. I'm really not a person who decides not to be friends with people, but I'm really willing to join my other friends and let these two keep on alienating other people. I'm just really disappointed that they had to go and prove everybody right.
Sorry if this was overly angsty. I had to get it out.
"I hear they unscrew our lugnuts at night and eat them at their human brunch!"
Last year I lived in a house, and it was really terrific. A group of us, the nerdiest ones in a house of nerds, ended up becoming really close friends. And that was nice for a while. And then last year, two of the people started dating each other and systematically alienating everyone who wasn't them. So first it was her friends, and then his friends, and by midway through last semester they were pretty much despised by even their respective roommates. I, up until now, have held out friendship with both groups thought it hasn't always been easy. Though I don't defend, I have given the offending couple the benefit of the doubt every time and refused to believe the mean things said about them.
So earlier this week they told me that a mutual friend had gotten Risk 2210 for Christmas and we wanted to play. So we planned to play Saturday night. I was looking forward to it. And, not to be too melodramatic, but I turned down some other chances to do fun things tonight. They said they'd be over a bit before 9.
So 9 rolls around, I'm not stressing out, they're not here. 9:05, 9:10. Finally I give the guy a call to see when they're coming, and it turns out they played yesterday and didn't call me because they wanted to play with only four people. Like I wasn't part of the plan, or not an important enough part to be informed. And I had to call them to find out I'd already been cut out of the plan. Not to mention that if I'd just been told about it last night I couldn't have gone to the movie with Grace and Sarah, or played in Matt's D&D campaign, etc.
And I just couldn't make an excuse for them. Couldn't take the fake apologetic tone, the problem avoidance strategy, the total disregard for my feelings. I'm really not a person who decides not to be friends with people, but I'm really willing to join my other friends and let these two keep on alienating other people. I'm just really disappointed that they had to go and prove everybody right.
Sorry if this was overly angsty. I had to get it out.
"I hear they unscrew our lugnuts at night and eat them at their human brunch!"
19 January 2008
Is this a bag of hair, sir? You can't take a bag of hair on an airplane
My title, as usual, doesn't actually make sense. I just thought it fit Michael's previous post. Well, his previous post title, since he didn't actually fly.
I have work to do, but, unfortunately, it is Saturday and am thus incapable of accomplishing anything productive. After a week back it doesn't much feel like I left at all. Right now I'm playing with this funny thing that came with my books. There's really no good way to describe it, except that it's card board and has a calendar and goes "pop." I guess it's sort of a dodecahedron, but it's an irregular one, so we're gonna stick with "pop." It's really its best feature.
The week that I have previously stated feels like more than a week had mostly classes, rehearsals, and video games in it. Also, a wedding invitation. The invitation itself was pretty nifty. It had a heart made from two bass clefs and the instruments that they played crossing, a bassoon and bass clarinet. As far as my knowledge goes, they'd been together since whenever they got together, meaning my knowledge doesn't go very far. Still, throws me off. People in my peer group getting married. Heh, I just used the term "peer group." I don't even feel as though I'm in a sort of position to say they aren't ready or anything, I've only ever seen them together. It's just weird to think about. They're getting married some time after graduation.
Jonah borrowed futurama from the guy, and I realized I like that view of the classic scifi world better than star trek's, like an animated hitchhiker's guide. Fry is really an American version of Arthur Dent, being transported to the future instead of having his planet blown up.
"I hear they unscrew our lug nuts at night and eat them at their human brunch!"
I have work to do, but, unfortunately, it is Saturday and am thus incapable of accomplishing anything productive. After a week back it doesn't much feel like I left at all. Right now I'm playing with this funny thing that came with my books. There's really no good way to describe it, except that it's card board and has a calendar and goes "pop." I guess it's sort of a dodecahedron, but it's an irregular one, so we're gonna stick with "pop." It's really its best feature.
The week that I have previously stated feels like more than a week had mostly classes, rehearsals, and video games in it. Also, a wedding invitation. The invitation itself was pretty nifty. It had a heart made from two bass clefs and the instruments that they played crossing, a bassoon and bass clarinet. As far as my knowledge goes, they'd been together since whenever they got together, meaning my knowledge doesn't go very far. Still, throws me off. People in my peer group getting married. Heh, I just used the term "peer group." I don't even feel as though I'm in a sort of position to say they aren't ready or anything, I've only ever seen them together. It's just weird to think about. They're getting married some time after graduation.
Jonah borrowed futurama from the guy, and I realized I like that view of the classic scifi world better than star trek's, like an animated hitchhiker's guide. Fry is really an American version of Arthur Dent, being transported to the future instead of having his planet blown up.
"I hear they unscrew our lug nuts at night and eat them at their human brunch!"
11 January 2008
Is that my cow? It goes, "Hruuugh!" It is a hippopotamus! That's not my cow!
My first week back at school is finally over. It felt long. My classes are mostly good. My Germany 1945-present class kind of sucks-- I frequently go from wondering how I'm going to get through it to thinking it might be okay. I'll let you know how it turns out. The biggest problem is that the professor seems to be under the impression that we have the intellects of third graders. That it never occurred to us that politicians lie and bad things happen all over the world, like, for real. She gives us worksheets to go with our homework.
This week is also my sorority's formal recruitment week. We keep having to have parties and I keep having to talk to girls I don't know, badly. It will be over soon, though, and I think we're going to get some great girls in the house. There's this one girl in my house who seems to have a vendetta, though, against all girls who are quiet when you first meet them, and that irks me to no end. Like, I want to smack her every time she brings that up as a concern. I want to yell, "Quietness does not mean that she's a bad person! That doesn't mean she won't warm up when she's more comfortable! That doesn't mean she wouldn't be a great asset to this house! NOT EVERYBODY IS JUST LIKE YOU!" Gah. I might even be occasionaly inclined to throw in, "You will never alter drapes in Atlanta again, because YOU DO NOT CROSS A SUGARBAKER WOMAN!" I vote on behalf of each of these girls with vehemence, if you can vote with vehemence, because I know that if someone didn't stick up for quiet girls, I wouldn't be in this house, Bethany wouldn't, neither would tons of great people.
IT IS SO COLD IN HERE! Sorry. Just had to get that out of the way.
I'm moved into a new room with a new roommate and it's going okay. We don't really talk that much. I'm about halfway through putting up my Wall of Decoration.
And that's how my week has been! Not exciting, but it is a post! Ta-da!
"Remember your Aunt May? No of course you don't, I married her after you were told that I was dead."
This week is also my sorority's formal recruitment week. We keep having to have parties and I keep having to talk to girls I don't know, badly. It will be over soon, though, and I think we're going to get some great girls in the house. There's this one girl in my house who seems to have a vendetta, though, against all girls who are quiet when you first meet them, and that irks me to no end. Like, I want to smack her every time she brings that up as a concern. I want to yell, "Quietness does not mean that she's a bad person! That doesn't mean she won't warm up when she's more comfortable! That doesn't mean she wouldn't be a great asset to this house! NOT EVERYBODY IS JUST LIKE YOU!" Gah. I might even be occasionaly inclined to throw in, "You will never alter drapes in Atlanta again, because YOU DO NOT CROSS A SUGARBAKER WOMAN!" I vote on behalf of each of these girls with vehemence, if you can vote with vehemence, because I know that if someone didn't stick up for quiet girls, I wouldn't be in this house, Bethany wouldn't, neither would tons of great people.
IT IS SO COLD IN HERE! Sorry. Just had to get that out of the way.
I'm moved into a new room with a new roommate and it's going okay. We don't really talk that much. I'm about halfway through putting up my Wall of Decoration.
And that's how my week has been! Not exciting, but it is a post! Ta-da!
"Remember your Aunt May? No of course you don't, I married her after you were told that I was dead."
Everything Escapes Ending
Sorry about the trippy title. Rough letter and tired brain.
So it's been a fine and fun week for me at Indiana University. As well as lots of quality Saralyn time and the opportunity to meet her friends (whom I like quite a bit, btw), I've watched a lot of good movies, gotten my computer fixed by Boggs when the guy at Frye's couldn't do it, and run into any number of high school friends/ acquaintances, including one guy I went to fifth grade with who is living literally next door to Saralyn (Sean Curtis, for those of you who care).
IU is a bit unnerving coming out of Wooster, but spending a whole week here I feel like I've finally opened up to its big school charms: the varied dining options, the many available courses of study, and really nice things like a freaking movie theater in the auditorium. On the other hand, I am still living in a dorm that houses 1/3 as many people as my college. Long walks to get anywhere, 100-person classes, and less of a feeling of safety and security all feel as if they validate my small school choice. But I do feel like I understand the big school appeal more.
The weather is always bad when I visit Saralyn, so it was pretty good this week by comparison. All we got was a little rain. The movies I saw were The Bad and The Beautiful and Father of the Bride (from Saralyn's Hollywood class), Ed Wood, and Across the Universe. The last was particularly interesting. At various points I either liked or hated the movie, but eventually I came down to this: The filmmakers did everything right but they started from a fatally flawed premise. As great as the Beatles are, their songs do not cover the wealth of human experience. The movie's plot looked like a connect the dots puzzle, like the producers sat down with a list of Beatles songs and said how can we put these all into a plot? And it shows.
On the other hand, I couldn't help but love the movie. The acting was good, the singing was good, the songs were arranged well, the directing was good. The editing was questionable. (I would have cut the carnival scene/ "For the Benefit of Mr. Kite")
I'll be back in Indy Saturday just long enough to unpack and repack, and then it's off to Wooster on Sunday. It'll be nice to be home.
Oh and one more thing. My personal blog goal for the year is at least three a month. I'll almost certainly regret saying that, and I'm not above merely posting a picture of a goat to meet quota.
"Remember your Aunt May? No of course you don't, I married her after you were told that I was dead."
So it's been a fine and fun week for me at Indiana University. As well as lots of quality Saralyn time and the opportunity to meet her friends (whom I like quite a bit, btw), I've watched a lot of good movies, gotten my computer fixed by Boggs when the guy at Frye's couldn't do it, and run into any number of high school friends/ acquaintances, including one guy I went to fifth grade with who is living literally next door to Saralyn (Sean Curtis, for those of you who care).
IU is a bit unnerving coming out of Wooster, but spending a whole week here I feel like I've finally opened up to its big school charms: the varied dining options, the many available courses of study, and really nice things like a freaking movie theater in the auditorium. On the other hand, I am still living in a dorm that houses 1/3 as many people as my college. Long walks to get anywhere, 100-person classes, and less of a feeling of safety and security all feel as if they validate my small school choice. But I do feel like I understand the big school appeal more.
The weather is always bad when I visit Saralyn, so it was pretty good this week by comparison. All we got was a little rain. The movies I saw were The Bad and The Beautiful and Father of the Bride (from Saralyn's Hollywood class), Ed Wood, and Across the Universe. The last was particularly interesting. At various points I either liked or hated the movie, but eventually I came down to this: The filmmakers did everything right but they started from a fatally flawed premise. As great as the Beatles are, their songs do not cover the wealth of human experience. The movie's plot looked like a connect the dots puzzle, like the producers sat down with a list of Beatles songs and said how can we put these all into a plot? And it shows.
On the other hand, I couldn't help but love the movie. The acting was good, the singing was good, the songs were arranged well, the directing was good. The editing was questionable. (I would have cut the carnival scene/ "For the Benefit of Mr. Kite")
I'll be back in Indy Saturday just long enough to unpack and repack, and then it's off to Wooster on Sunday. It'll be nice to be home.
Oh and one more thing. My personal blog goal for the year is at least three a month. I'll almost certainly regret saying that, and I'm not above merely posting a picture of a goat to meet quota.
"Remember your Aunt May? No of course you don't, I married her after you were told that I was dead."
05 January 2008
Yeah? Well your Mom turns every conversation into a "your mom" joke and it's become unbearable.
My car has a radio, and my hair is shorter. I am happy to say that is all that happened today. Basically, we had a radio transplant, with my father's 64' as the donor. My 'vair now has a working radio, complete with tape deck. W00t. Also, my sister isn't terrible at cutting hair.
Lara has a new boy, who seems to be pretty much crazy about her. He should be, Lara's pretty awesome all things considered, but I don't know how I feel about the guy. He's a year younger than she is, doesn't seem terribly bright, and seems like he needs to make up for it by being annoyingly knowledgeable in the things he does know. So far this is confined to a musical theme, including trivial music history and specifics about guitars and pianos. He refers to our guitars by actual name or type, rather than color. It's very confusing to everyone except dad. I didn't really find out about him until I came home; another testament to the fact that I don't live here anymore.
I'm ready to go back to Ohio. The doing absolutely nothing time between my erratic work schedule is nice, but I feel directionless here. Rather than arrange music as I had planned, I've been working on perfecting D&D base classes for the benders from Avatar on the Giant in the Playground Forums. I've also been playing guitar hero and noodling around my real guitar, but the majority of my time has been spent pouring through pdf's and refreshing threads that I've posted in to see if anyone has responded.
Yeah. Ready to go back and be busy again.
"Remember your Aunt May? No of course you don't, I married her after you were told that I was dead."
Lara has a new boy, who seems to be pretty much crazy about her. He should be, Lara's pretty awesome all things considered, but I don't know how I feel about the guy. He's a year younger than she is, doesn't seem terribly bright, and seems like he needs to make up for it by being annoyingly knowledgeable in the things he does know. So far this is confined to a musical theme, including trivial music history and specifics about guitars and pianos. He refers to our guitars by actual name or type, rather than color. It's very confusing to everyone except dad. I didn't really find out about him until I came home; another testament to the fact that I don't live here anymore.
I'm ready to go back to Ohio. The doing absolutely nothing time between my erratic work schedule is nice, but I feel directionless here. Rather than arrange music as I had planned, I've been working on perfecting D&D base classes for the benders from Avatar on the Giant in the Playground Forums. I've also been playing guitar hero and noodling around my real guitar, but the majority of my time has been spent pouring through pdf's and refreshing threads that I've posted in to see if anyone has responded.
Yeah. Ready to go back and be busy again.
"Remember your Aunt May? No of course you don't, I married her after you were told that I was dead."
Aliens make everything better
It is very difficult to blog about anything when you spend your days doing almost nothing. But I, like Anderson Cooper before me, have resolved to blog more, so that is what I shall do.
Fortunately, my time browsing the internet has given me a wonderful tidbit of news which I feel is worthy of the first blog post of the new year. I am referring here to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Now I, like most of you, was apprehensive at first about making another Indiana Jones film after all this time. All of this apprehension, however, was wiped away when I heard this critical piece of information: Indiana Jones will be battling aliens in the new movie.
I realize it's only rumors at this point, but I think you all see if this turns out to be true it might just be the awesomest film since Snakes on a Plane. This new development may also serve to support earlier rumors that Chewbacca would be appearing in this film. Whether or not this turns out to be true, I think we can all look forward to Lucas and Spielberg's return to the world of Indiana Jones with bated breath.
Maybe aliens are the key to reviving other washed-up old franchises, like, say, Jaws. If we also take our cues from films like Alien vs. Predator, and add in the unparalleled success of the aforementioned Samuel L. Jackson film, we get a formula sure to produce the best summer action movie ever. "Aliens vs. Jaws... on a plane!"
The best thing about AvJoP is that it could go on even in the midst of the writers strike. With a solid premise like that, who needs writers?
All in all, I think we can look forward to a pretty good year of bad movies, especially if the strike drags on as long as it's expected to. Here's an interesting thought - if big-budget blockbusters require more post production work than supposedly Oscar worthy films, and therefore take longer to go from completed script to completed films, might the strike mean that supposedly "bad" summer movies actually end up being better than the art films that were shot without anyone to do rewrites? Also, with no rewrites, might actors who add-lib most of their lines anyway (like apparently Harrison Ford) fare better at the Oscars than really good actors confined by sub-par scripts? Probably not. But if so, it could make for a very interesting year in movies. Interesting like christmas, perhaps, but interesting nonetheless.
"Remember your Aunt May? No of course you don't, I married her after you were told that I was dead."
Fortunately, my time browsing the internet has given me a wonderful tidbit of news which I feel is worthy of the first blog post of the new year. I am referring here to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Now I, like most of you, was apprehensive at first about making another Indiana Jones film after all this time. All of this apprehension, however, was wiped away when I heard this critical piece of information: Indiana Jones will be battling aliens in the new movie.
I realize it's only rumors at this point, but I think you all see if this turns out to be true it might just be the awesomest film since Snakes on a Plane. This new development may also serve to support earlier rumors that Chewbacca would be appearing in this film. Whether or not this turns out to be true, I think we can all look forward to Lucas and Spielberg's return to the world of Indiana Jones with bated breath.
Maybe aliens are the key to reviving other washed-up old franchises, like, say, Jaws. If we also take our cues from films like Alien vs. Predator, and add in the unparalleled success of the aforementioned Samuel L. Jackson film, we get a formula sure to produce the best summer action movie ever. "Aliens vs. Jaws... on a plane!"
The best thing about AvJoP is that it could go on even in the midst of the writers strike. With a solid premise like that, who needs writers?
All in all, I think we can look forward to a pretty good year of bad movies, especially if the strike drags on as long as it's expected to. Here's an interesting thought - if big-budget blockbusters require more post production work than supposedly Oscar worthy films, and therefore take longer to go from completed script to completed films, might the strike mean that supposedly "bad" summer movies actually end up being better than the art films that were shot without anyone to do rewrites? Also, with no rewrites, might actors who add-lib most of their lines anyway (like apparently Harrison Ford) fare better at the Oscars than really good actors confined by sub-par scripts? Probably not. But if so, it could make for a very interesting year in movies. Interesting like christmas, perhaps, but interesting nonetheless.
"Remember your Aunt May? No of course you don't, I married her after you were told that I was dead."
01 January 2008
Delightful Days Dawning
Happy New Year! I think we should set a posting goal for 2008. I like 200 as a goal. That would mean about 16 posts a month, which would mean, given five active bloggers, 4/5 of us would have to post every week. This is suddenly seeming overambitious.
So I'm gonna start my New Year's Post off with some stuff that happened the last half of last year that I didn't ever get around to blogging. For instance, I despised my rhetoric professor. Here are some annoying things he did in no particular order.
- Assigned readings from his own papers, despite that they are hardly relevant to an introductory rhetoric course.
- Showed up late for every class.
- Assigned more readings from his own works than from those of any other contemporary rhetor.
- Wigged out about pagination (He once took grades down a letter grade just for not meeting his seemingly random guidelines for page numbers).
- Used the word pagination.
- Assigned the students to devote a portion of their presentation to biographical data, and did not make an exception for the three students presenting on his work (leading to portions of three different classes dedicated to students talking about him).
- Assigned us approximately 3 different final exams: an essay take home test, an in-class test, and a 15-page term paper due the day of the final.
And to top it all of I pretty much feel like I learned nothing worthwhile from that class. While, maybe a little. Heres to no more rhetoric in 2008!
Of course, I really enjoyed my Fictional Writing class, and my Ancient Philosophy class, so it wasn't all bad. And I'm taking another fictional writing class next year. Which is a nice segue into Corndog. Now that I'm formally developing my creative writing and workshopping, and nothing is ever "finished," I feel weird putting any of it up. And the class burns out my creative energy, so I can't write any of my ongoing stuff. So Corndog is sort of on unofficial hiatus, but I'm open to suggestions for how to deal with this better.
Finally, a resolution:
I'm going to try to be less vain in '08, but only if y'all promise to be less mean to me. This means YOU, Ethel Merman, Nicky Heidfeld, and Samuel L. Jackson!
"Remember your Aunt May? No of course you don't, I married her after you were told that I was dead."
So I'm gonna start my New Year's Post off with some stuff that happened the last half of last year that I didn't ever get around to blogging. For instance, I despised my rhetoric professor. Here are some annoying things he did in no particular order.
- Assigned readings from his own papers, despite that they are hardly relevant to an introductory rhetoric course.
- Showed up late for every class.
- Assigned more readings from his own works than from those of any other contemporary rhetor.
- Wigged out about pagination (He once took grades down a letter grade just for not meeting his seemingly random guidelines for page numbers).
- Used the word pagination.
- Assigned the students to devote a portion of their presentation to biographical data, and did not make an exception for the three students presenting on his work (leading to portions of three different classes dedicated to students talking about him).
- Assigned us approximately 3 different final exams: an essay take home test, an in-class test, and a 15-page term paper due the day of the final.
And to top it all of I pretty much feel like I learned nothing worthwhile from that class. While, maybe a little. Heres to no more rhetoric in 2008!
Of course, I really enjoyed my Fictional Writing class, and my Ancient Philosophy class, so it wasn't all bad. And I'm taking another fictional writing class next year. Which is a nice segue into Corndog. Now that I'm formally developing my creative writing and workshopping, and nothing is ever "finished," I feel weird putting any of it up. And the class burns out my creative energy, so I can't write any of my ongoing stuff. So Corndog is sort of on unofficial hiatus, but I'm open to suggestions for how to deal with this better.
Finally, a resolution:
I'm going to try to be less vain in '08, but only if y'all promise to be less mean to me. This means YOU, Ethel Merman, Nicky Heidfeld, and Samuel L. Jackson!
"Remember your Aunt May? No of course you don't, I married her after you were told that I was dead."
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