The Dead

Well, lots of interesting things happened this week. I got a job at Fed Ex! *applause* I take my drug test tomorrow, and then things should be rolling along after that. I can't even begin to describe to you what a relief this is. I may not ever have to look for another job. Super awesome ridiculous.

As far as classes are going, Shakespeare is probably my least favorite class since I've been back in school. Now, I know what you're thinking, but it's definitely not the subject matter that I dislike. I love Shakespeare, and I always have, and I've never found him very difficult to read. The problem is that we have to do a ridiculous amount of study questions that insult my intelligence and make me explain (at length) things that seem painfully obvious and don't enhance my understanding of the text at all. Not to mention that each answer is expected to be a small essay and between class on Tuesday and class on Thursday, I was expected to answer 17 of them. I have other classes. I have a life. Please don't be so presumptuous to think that Shakespeare is the only class I'm taking this semester with any homework to do.

Ahem. Rant over.

I finally finished Great Expectations last night, which was exciting even though I already knew the whole plot. I always get a rush from finishing a book, since I seem to have such a hard time doing it anymore, what with the focus problems currently being sorted out with the shrink types at school.

Our actual reading for this week in British Lit was some of my personal favorite; Yeats, Eliot, Joyce. Revisiting their work always teaches me new things. I was a little disappointed, as I always am, at people's misunderstanding of the context of the work, or complete ignorance of it. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, and should be more forgiving, but I get offended when people don't appreciate great art.

Speaking of that, we also read Joyce's The Dead this week, and some of the response to it really upset me. Call Joyce's stories anything you want, but boring they are not, especially The Dead, arguably one of the greatest short stories ever written.

Bah. I'm bitter about literature. I think this means that I should never be a teacher. No problem there.

september already...

...and I'm still not finished Great Expectations. I know, I know...this weekend. Possibly tonight. We'll see what happens. I did get all my homework done, however, and I am very proud of myself, as it is only 7:40PM.

I did my second paper for Brit Lit on Robert Browning's "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" and I really hadn't given that poem enough thought previously. The relations to Stephen King alone are enough to make my mind tingle, but the poem as metaphor for the modern world, precursor to T.S. Eliot and all that...wow.

Still looking for another job. Interviewed with Fed Ex on Tuesday, interview for this sweet Security position at Hertz tomorrow. Goddammit, I need a job.

New exciting place that we're thinking about moving (and I think this one might stick): Nashville, TN

Seriously. I think we're gonna move to Nashville. If it's good enough for The Raconteurs, it's good enough for me.

I still haven't posted any pictures. I promise I'll get on that soon.

take that, god!

I have a new favorite senator.

spaced out

I've been having a lot of trouble concentrating. I want to say that it's a recent development, but to tell the truth, I don't know that I've ever been able to concentrate. I think I have ADD or ADHD or some other acronym, on top of my already fantastic bi-polar fun times. Luckily, I have an appointment tomorrow with the student counseling center, so hopefully they'll be able to do something. It's hard to be an English major when you can read an entire book, enjoy it and absorb it during the process of reading it, and then 6 months later have very limited access to your memories of what it was about.

So, I've been getting through Great Expectations, but it's disheartening. Frankenstein is still in there, but it's fading. Poetry is especially daunting, and I love it more than anything. *sigh*

On the good news tip, I quit Pizza Hut. They refused to understand that I am a student first and a pizza cook second. Their loss, not mine.

I've also been thinking a lot about love. We just finished reading Romeo and Juliet in my Shakespeare class, and we've been looking at Browning's "Sonnets from the Portuguese" in British Lit since 1800. I had read both of those before, but never since I had been married, or even since I met my Baylee. Both have acquired a new depth of meaning for me that I find it very hard to explain. I've also discovered that very few people, even those married or claiming to be "in love," have very little conception of true, deep love. The world is a sad place.

A sad place.

argh

Well, this week was going surprisingly well until tonight. I finished Frankenstein fairly early yesterday morning, and by last night, I had my essay already turned in and my forum posts done. I've been thoroughly enjoying the reading for class, especially Shelley and Keats. I keep going back to them.

Anyway, Friday I got a job as a cook at the local Pizza Hut, and I started tonight. It's so bad I can't even describe it. I've been spoiled on office temp jobs. As soon as I can find another non-food related job, I'm done with this crap. I'm exhausted, and I've washed my hands three times, but they still smell like pizza toppings.

On the bright side, Great Expectations is awesome so far. I started it yesterday to get a head start on it, since I'm a fairly slow reader. I didn't realize just how funny Charles Dickens was. I find myself smiling on at least a twice per page rate so far.

I'm gonna go pass out now.

Long week, longer than most I am sure

I've been really enjoying the reading for this class so far. Percy Shelley, for instance, is someone whom I've never been very interested in reading, and never given much thought. I guess I've always been more into more modern poetry. Upon further inspection, though, I find Shelley fascinating. I've been reading some about his life and we share a few different perspectives, most notably atheism. Anyway, both his work and his life will be a source of inspiration to me in the coming months.

I've also begun reading Frankenstein, and hope to finish it tomorrow. It's been on my list for some time, and I've seen many of its movie incarnations. So far, I'm riveted.

We finally got our financial aid money this week too, which means I finally got new glasses. I'll probably post some pictures soon, both of those and of Baylee's new haircut, which is fantastic. Also, Mr. Hugo and his white lab coat.

We've also been watching movies like crazy. So far this weekend: The Good Shepard, Marie Antoinette, Borat, and Zodiac. All fantastic, although I was disappointed that we didn't get to see any beheading in Marie Antoinette.

C'est la vie.