Wednesday, November 30, 2005

"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."

I found the above quote written on a bookmark that was tucked away in a book that I hadn't picked up since last semester. The phrase is from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, a 1962 movie with John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart. I like the movie and just thought I'd share the quote with the world at large (or at least with the few people who actually read this blog).

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Nothing New.

Nothing new today. I've been working on my portfolio quite a bit during the past several days and turned it in today; it's a bit of a relief to have one more project finished for the semester. My students submitted their final projects yesterday, so I have grading that I need to do in addition to my own writing. The current 'pages left to write' count for the semester is about 25...not too bad....

Monday, November 28, 2005

I'm back....

Back from home, back to the office, and back to work....

Thanksgiving break was nice. Jimmy and I got to spend several days at home with Mom and Dad; most of the family came home only for Thanksgiving Day. We had the big family dinner...turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie and all that stuff. I took books and homework with me over break, but I didn't get much of anything done (which, by the way, isn't too surprising). The only problem is that I still have a lot of work to do this week....

I've been working on my portfolio today. I have all of the materials, but I just need to organize them so I can find everything. I think I may have to add a trip to Staples to today's agenda in order to get more supplies.

Monday, November 21, 2005

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Okay, so we're not quite at Thanksgiving yet, but 'Happy Thanksgiving' anyway!! I'm out of school all week this week, so I'll be headed home to visit Mom and Dad for the rest of the week. Jimmy and I are driving home tomorrow and we're planning on staying until Sunday. I think we're actually having our family Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, so quite a few people should be home for that. Anyway, it should be a nice, relaxing, relatively uneventful week (a pleasant change from this past week).

I spent most of the weekend attempting to recover from this past week. I finally feel like I've recovered from the general lack of sleep that accompanies paper writing.... The weekend wasn't all spent catching up on zzz's. Jimmy and I went to an early showing of Harry Potter on Friday night, and then we went to a little coffee shop and spent the rest of the evening playing Killer Bunnies. (It's a cool game. Check out the link.) Saturday was a lazy day. I got my hair cut again--took off about another inch this time. And Jimmy and I spent the evening playing Killer Bunnies. Sunday was relatively relaxing too. Jimmy and I had supper at with his mom and brother, went to Mass at the Newman Center, and then spent the rest of the evening playing Killer Bunnies. And now it's Monday...and I've done all of my laundry and I'm almost packed and ready to go home....

Anyway, I'm retreating home to the land of no internet...I'll blog again when I return to the world of technology sometime next week/weekend....

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Friday, November 18, 2005

Finished

My paper's finished. Today was also the dreaded day that's spent reading portfolio files, and we're finished with those too. I think I'm going to go home and sleep until somebody wakes me up. (And that somebody will probably be Jimmy because I think we're going to go see the Harry Potter movie this evening. I've heard good things about the movie so far....)

Sanity Break....

Still writing. Well, writing again. Same Twain paper, different sitting. I just needed to give my mind a little break from work...a simple little attempt to stay sane as I continue with my writing. I just hope it works....

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Twain, Again.

Tonight's a writing night; I have a paper due tomorrow afternoon. I'm writing on elements of gender and race in Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson. I'm pulling in cultural theory (specifically Judith Butler and the ideas of social construction and performative gender) and playing with ideas. Anyway, back to my ideas (on my wordprocessing screen and not this one)....

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

"The Issues of Consistency and Estrogen-Charged Humans of the Feminine Species"

I'm borrowing the title and part of today's post from a friend of a friend. (I could explain all the links and connections as well as how I came to possess this text, but that might take a while.) Anyway, this all relates to an ongoing office discussion on the very different natures of men and women....

"So the difference between a male and a female is like the difference between an abacus and a modern computer. The abacus gets the job done, just fine. It's simple and effective. It never breaks down, and if it did, a moron could fix it. A modern computer can multi-task infinitely, but it breaks down all the time, and it takes a trained specialist to even take it apart. The greater the complexity, the more inherently unstable the system."

One thing I'd like to add to this evaluation: even though highly complex systems can frequently be fixed only by professionals (or sometimes these systems are fixed by simply restarting them) men still nearly always insist on dissecting these systems and taking them apart, determined that they can solve the problems....

Monday, November 14, 2005

Blah. Monday. Grrr....

It's Monday. It feels like a Monday. I don't typically like Mondays very much. I'm feeling tired and lethargic, but I don't really know why. I think I'm still trying to adjust to the time change from a few weeks ago. I seem to have gone into hibernate mode--I want to eat and sleep and that's really about it. (No, I'm not depressed. It's seasonal and it'll pass.) Perhaps I should have been born as a bear so I could sleep all winter. Grrrr....

I've spent most of today in the office. I had a meeting this afternoon and then it was back to work. I think I have most of the evening free, save a few pages to write. I'll probably bake a few pies tonight since I have pumpkin in the refridgerator and I'm not sure how long it will keep. I need to track down a recipe for pumpkin bread too; I don't think I have Mom's recipe for that on hand. (Plus, I don't really like pumpkin stuff anyway. I make it more for other people than for myself. I probably never asked Mom for her recipe since it's not among my favorite things anyway. I do have her poppyseed bread recipe, which makes a very yummy loaf of bread.)

Saturday, November 12, 2005

A Saturday....

Nothing eloquent today....

Today turned out to be a rather busy day for a Saturday. This morning we had a women's retreat at church. The retreat was rather small, but it was still good. I'd been helping to organize the retreat, so I was still trying to make sure everything went smoothly. Everything went well, and I think most of the girls found the morning to be time well spent.

Janet, one of my sisters, was traveling through town today, so she took Jimmy and I out to lunch. We looked at pictures from her latest trip and just chatted and had a good time. We didn't do anything too exciting, but we still had a pleasant afternoon.

I cooked up a pumpkin and a squash this evening. I plan on making pies (and maybe a bread too) sometime within the next few days. I roasted the pumpkin seeds and managed to do so without burning them. Janet brought me a whole bag of peppers (4 different kinds, I think), so I probably need to either string them so they can dry or learn how to make salsa within the next few days.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

"A psychotic is someone who just found out what's going on."

We were talking about disillusionment in class today. Someone mentioned the William S. Burroughs phrase that's quoted above. I like the quote; perhaps there's some truth to it....

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Still Reading Twain....

"There is no character, howsoever good and fine, but it can be destroyed by ridicule, howsoever poor and witless. Observe the ass, for instance: his character is about perfect, he is the choicest spirit among all the humbler animals, yet see what ridicule has brought him to. Instead of feeling complimented when we are called an ass, we are left in doubt." --Mark Twain in Pudd'nhead Wilson

Still reading Twain...and I'm enjoying each new book more than the last. Pudd'nhead Wilson is a good read; it's relatively brief and entertaining too. Today's been relatively uneventful. I've spent most of the afternoon reading and doing research. I'm planning on spending the evening--or what will be left of it after class--grading papers so I can return them to my students tomorrow morning.

Monday, November 07, 2005

Movie Reviews

Ahhh...another Monday. I guess I'll spend a little time reflecting on the weekend before I mentally transition into the new week. I did some reading and work over the weekend, but not as much as I really should have. Jimmy and I went out to see a couple of movies in the evenings....

We went to see The Legend of Zorro on Saturday night. I was mildly disappointed with the film as it was a little too 'Disney' for my taste. (I'm using 'Disney' as an adjective here as the film wasn't made by that corporation.) The movie was entertaining and the plot was generally good, but the humor was a little too trite and predictable. The first Zorro movie was better.

On Friday, we went to see Jarhead. I didn't know much about the movie before we went, but I liked the film. (I generally like war films.) Based on the few descriptions of the movie that I'd heard prior to going to the theatre, I was expecting something of a cross between Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now. The first scene in the movie looked like it came straight out of FMJ and there were numerous references to AN, but the movie certainly held its own. Jarhead didn't have the violent battle scenes like either of the other two movies; instead it showed more of the psychological battles that the soldiers fought within themselves. The movie was still pretty rough (language, content, etc.), but I liked it nonetheless. (My new rule for war movies: You know it's going to be a good war movie when people are leaving the theatre before the opening credits are over.) Anyway, I saw a copy of the book Jarhead when I was browsing through the bookstore in the mall the other day. Maybe I'll pick up a copy and read it over Christmas break....

Friday, November 04, 2005

Flying Disks and Cheap Books

I played some ultimate frisbee last night...and I'm feeling it this morning. I had a lot of fun playing, but now my muscles are complaining. (Not screaming or anything like that, just complaining.) I hadn't really picked up a frisbee since I played intramurals with my church team in late August and early September, so my throws were a little off for most of the evening. I finally learned how to throw a forehand, though it's still a little wobbly and needs some work. I think the group here plays twice a week; my goal is to keep playing with them on Thursdays as the semester goes on. Plus, I think they're trying to put a girls team together, which sounds like fun....

I'm not sure what my plans are for my Friday. (YAY it's Friday!!) I have some papers that I need to grade and some research that I need to do over the weekend, but I'm not sure I want to devote my Friday to schoolwork. I think I might go to one of the local used book stores and wander around for a while; I have a few books that I need, and maybe I'll be lucky enough to find them there so I don't have to pay full price at the university bookstore.

Thursday, November 03, 2005

The Conscience

Well, I dutifully re-read the Baillie plays last night, but then we never got around to discussing them in class today (surprise). I guess that puts me ahead on the readings for next week. We spent class today discussing two of the works of Elizabeth Inchbald, Nature and Art and Lovers' Vows. I enjoyed both of the works--they were easy to read and understand, yet at the same time they were both filled with political and social commentary (and irony--the use of language was wonderful). One of my favorite passages from the play Lovers' Vows (which is a very quick read):
B: My conscience and myself are at variance.
A: Your conscience is in the right.
B: You don't know yet what the quarrel is.
A: Conscience is always right--because it never speaks unless it is so.

I think it's time to call it a day.... I think there's supposed to be an all-girls game of ultimate frisbee this evening, but the wind's blow so hard that playing would be either difficult or impossible. Maybe I'll just go home and find something productive to do....

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

PB&J Day

Happy Wednesday!! Today was PB&J Day in the class that I'm teaching. My students tested the instructions they had written explaining how to make Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches. I don't like PB&Js (I think they're sticky and just plain gross), but my students seemed to have fun with the activity (plus they each got a free lunch).

I'll probably be spending most of my evening tonight reading. I need to re-read Joanna Baillie's Count Basil before class tomorrow. I like that play, but I think I prefer some of her other works (particularly de Monfort). I like reading the obscure women writers of the Romantic Period....

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Grammar

Okay, so I just got out of class for the day.... Anyway, I just spent part of the last three hours discussing grammar rules and the varied changes through which our language is currently going. (Rule #1 when studying languages: Language is always changing.) As a class, we decided that infinitives can be split (but we already knew that), contractions are appropriate in formal writing, the first person is acceptable in formal writing, apostrophes will probably disappear within the next 20 years, and pronoun-antecedent agreement can be compromised for the sake of gender inclusiveness. Though I'm not sure I necessarily agree with all of these assertions (I still take issue with the last two), I am quite interested in the changes through which our language has gone and those changes through which it will eventually go. Any thoughts on what else might happen to our wonderful language in the coming decades?

Swords and Pens


I found a comic that I especially liked today....