It's only five days until Christmas, and I am STOKED. Why am I so much more motivated to work on Christmas presents for nine people than I am to grade my 202 and 250 students' music papers and final exams? It's a Christmas mystery...
Anyway, in between making 100 presents this week, here are the things I'm hoping to get done:
a. Finish all my grading - gotta give those poor students something for Christmas.
b. Organize all my school stuff - can you believe the new semester starts January 4th?!?!? Yikes!
c. Play with my adorable nephew, Eddie. He is so adorable now that he can run around and make babbling noises. He has hardly cried at all since he's been here, and spends a lot of time playing with my hair (he likes to touch his forehead to mine and then touch my braid) and chasing Teddy, trying to give him a hug.
d. Christmas shopping. Shhhh.
e. Take Sarah and Hannah to see "New Moon." Sisterly obligation, of course. They still can't drive. And I was too busy to get them a birthday present this year, so...you know.The things I'm willing to do for them... !!!
f. Go to the airport with Mom to pick up Uncle Val (aka Unc) on Tuesday. CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!
g. Go to our ward family home evening. I have no excuse to miss it now that school's out :(
Today was a good day. I went to church by myself since Daniel wanted to attend the family ward and see their Christmas program. I had to play the organ. Sacrament meeting went well, and then Daniel came back for Sunday School, and then we had a nice Relief Society which was our last lesson on the life of Joseph Smith. I have really enjoyed studying his teachings for the past two years, and am grateful for all the good things that have come from his work.
Joseph came by for dinner without Kirsti and Edward (K. has been feeling sick), and he stayed for family home evening and Teddy's walk. It was fun just having the siblings together (except Mary Alma :(...), and it reminded me of the times we had when Joseph would tell us funny stories and organize us to do crazy things when we were little. Ah, good old memories...
Speaking of sick people, Teddy has apparently come down with something. He woke the twins up three times last night to go potty and then threw up two or three times today. Ugh! It's funny how we react to our pets - my rabbit Jacques never threw up, and our dog Yeller threw up so much it was just accepted as normal behavior. We think Teddy could be reacting to the stress of having Eddie chase him around whenever he's here, so it's probably for the best that he had a day off.
Well, time to see if I can make one more Christmas card before going to bed tonight.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Free at last, free at last!
Is it surprising that the first music that rushed into my head after I finished my Civil War Exam was "Amazing Grace"? The answer is yes it was, especially since for no reason whatsoever last night I was overcome with a feverish urge to download four Elvis songs on YouTube and play them over and over again while I read my notes. I studied until about 2 am last night, slept until 6, got up and drove off to get a side-aisle seat before 6:45, and finished that sucker in 2 hours and 50 minutes - a new record for the shortest amount of time it has taken me to take a history test! After I finished, I shook my professor's hand and he said I could pick up the final at his office next semester - yeah! It felt SOOOO wonderful to be done. Not even the 95 on my film journal which I went to pick up today could dampen my mood. I couldn't be happier if the South had won the war! Hmmm...Nah, I like that sentence.
So, to catch y'all up with my life (y'all don't mind if I start calling y'all y'all, do y'all?) since my last post back in the antebellum period - that would be October - and just to engage in some bragging and back-slapping, here's what I managed to accomplish:
a. Got an A- on a Civil War Paper which I researched and wrote in less than a week. This may not sound like much to you, but I was THRILLED. For some reasons, history teachers always give me higher grades on papers than on essay tests. Oh, ugh - now you all know that I've gotten a B+ or less on my tests...
b. Wrote an Emerson paper in, ah, 2-3 days. I don't know how that one's turned out yet, though...so...who wants chocolate?
c. Got 100 points on my American Studies journals, proposal, and paper (minus 10 on the last). There will be an A on that transcript, folks.
d. Got complimented by my film teacher after class - he said I was welcome to come to his class next semester even if I couldn't enroll, and also encouraged me to go to grad school. Hmmm...letter of recommendation possibility?
e. Did 100% of all the reading for my AmSt class. Yeah, I know, I already talked about it in point c), but this is a mile marker worthy of its own letter. This might be the first time since I was a freshman that I've done 100% reading for anything.
f. Stayed well the WHOLE semester! I had a rash and a stiff ankle for a week or two, but other than that, nothing. Wow.
g. Watched some gooooooooood movies. Oh, you'd better believe it. Recommendations TBA.
Well, time to do some of my postponed TA business and start getting excited about Joseph and Kirsti's visit later today (and of course, their presents for us - I mean, Edward!).
So, to catch y'all up with my life (y'all don't mind if I start calling y'all y'all, do y'all?) since my last post back in the antebellum period - that would be October - and just to engage in some bragging and back-slapping, here's what I managed to accomplish:
a. Got an A- on a Civil War Paper which I researched and wrote in less than a week. This may not sound like much to you, but I was THRILLED. For some reasons, history teachers always give me higher grades on papers than on essay tests. Oh, ugh - now you all know that I've gotten a B+ or less on my tests...
b. Wrote an Emerson paper in, ah, 2-3 days. I don't know how that one's turned out yet, though...so...who wants chocolate?
c. Got 100 points on my American Studies journals, proposal, and paper (minus 10 on the last). There will be an A on that transcript, folks.
d. Got complimented by my film teacher after class - he said I was welcome to come to his class next semester even if I couldn't enroll, and also encouraged me to go to grad school. Hmmm...letter of recommendation possibility?
e. Did 100% of all the reading for my AmSt class. Yeah, I know, I already talked about it in point c), but this is a mile marker worthy of its own letter. This might be the first time since I was a freshman that I've done 100% reading for anything.
f. Stayed well the WHOLE semester! I had a rash and a stiff ankle for a week or two, but other than that, nothing. Wow.
g. Watched some gooooooooood movies. Oh, you'd better believe it. Recommendations TBA.
Well, time to do some of my postponed TA business and start getting excited about Joseph and Kirsti's visit later today (and of course, their presents for us - I mean, Edward!).
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
It's only October, for crying out loud
And already, look at what I have to do THIS WEEK:
Grade exams, papers, quizzes, more exams, more papers, more quizzes. Did I use to think this was actually fun?
Rewrite a prospectus for my Civil War research paper since the one I wrote before was a) on a topic that I'm no longer interested in, b) quite awful, according to my professor, and c) counts for quite a bit of my grade. Did I mention I got points knocked off because it was marked "Late" when I distinctly remember bringing it to class and turning it in on the day marked in the syllabus? Mmmm-hmm. Oh, you better believe this is not the end of that little story. My professor will be in London over the weekend preparing a conference, but when he gets back, there will be a conflict beyond all comparison with the Civil War ones.
Write up a (immodestly humongous) proposal for a huge AmSt project that is supposed to take over my life for the next two months and change history for all time. I'm pretty much supposed to know exactly everything in the world about the project BEFORE I've researched it, and it's worth roughly 10,000,000 points plus my immortal soul, so yeah, it's kindofabig deal.
Write a 3-4 page paper on Emerson, due Monday. I've already got the outline and am pretty sure I could do it in a day, but WHO HAS A DAY TO SPARE!?
Read until my brain or my eyes give out - I have chunky (thick), clunky (boring) readings for all four of my classes, not to mention a ton of extra reading to do for the CW and AmSt paper/project/big monstrous deathtraps.
Spend all day Saturday at a (required) field trip - we're going to Arches National Park. Can I bring my laptop and write in the car? Maybe. Will I do it anyway? Yes.
And this is all for THIS WEEK. Next week, I've got THIS to look forward to:
10 reviews to start (thankfully, not finish) writing for my film class
Assignment on Experiment in Criticism for my film class (15 paragraphs... that's like, SEVEN PAGES!)
3 novels, whups, JOURNAL ENTRIES, required for my AmSt class
CW test and notes to type up (a relatively low priority, but essential nonetheless if I hope to raise my grade beyond its current status of "UGH!!!")
Finish Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey (which wouldn't take so long if he didn't insist on techniques such as using at least 20 different words to say "rock" and 30 adjectives to describe "dirt.")
Grading, grading, grading - I guess this is why professors need TAs, huh?
I haven't even talked about my life outside of school, but that's pretty much because it doesn't exist. I still go to the International Cinema, the Asian Cinema Club (well, actually I missed the last one - Yip Man - have you seen it, Kirsti? Joseph?), the occasional lecture (LOVED Terryl Given's presentation on the provenance and prominence of Christian themes in the Book of Mormon, by the way), and plays at BYU when I can. Yesterday I took Sarah and Hannah to BYU to see "Psycho" (1960) - it was the first time any of us had seen it, and I think we all enjoyed the experience, though none of us is likely to repeat it any time soon.
As for the movie itself, four things jumped out at/surprised/intrigued me: 1) How calm and tame the shower scene appeared in contrast to my expectations - the violin music didn't even seem all that grating or frightening, to be honest. 2) How many times I had to keep reminding myself that Norman Bates was despicable and villainous, and never mind that he's so attractive and friendly and softspoken and really just a poor troubled....ah, there it goes again. It was just so much easier to dislike him before I ever saw the film! 3) How WELL the strings-only musical score worked - it never felt lacking or inappropriate for the scene, kept the tensions high but not unbearably so, and gave me real live heebie-jeebies during the second murder and the fruit cellar scenes - yipes! Just thinking about it sends a shiver down my spine. Don't you looooove that feeling!?????? The answer is yes. Especially in October. 4) It's rated "R." I did not know this until the movie was over, and it struck me as odd since I couldn't remember any cursing, excessive or degrading nudity, or graphic violence at all in the film. I don't how big of a deal the "R" rating was in 1960, and ratings don't really bother me since I've come to terms with the fact that my own "moral sentiment," as Emerson calls it, is a stricter and more authoritative (as well as more correct) judge than the MPAA in my experience, but anyway, that little "R" ignited a heated debate in the car, which developed into a quarrel, which climaxed into a full-blown argument with all the family involved in a battle over grandiose themes of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. There were yells, there were tears, there were interruptions and impassioned pleas - it was like the Civil War happening right here in our living room. Anyway, we eventually separated, the North to the upstairs and the South to the downstairs, licking our wounds and preparing future amunition for counterattacks in our minds, but we eventually reconciled the next morning in the Appomattox Bathroom. So all's well that ends well, I guess. Though, as we know from both Reconstruction and "Psycho 2," it ain't over till it's over.
Grade exams, papers, quizzes, more exams, more papers, more quizzes. Did I use to think this was actually fun?
Rewrite a prospectus for my Civil War research paper since the one I wrote before was a) on a topic that I'm no longer interested in, b) quite awful, according to my professor, and c) counts for quite a bit of my grade. Did I mention I got points knocked off because it was marked "Late" when I distinctly remember bringing it to class and turning it in on the day marked in the syllabus? Mmmm-hmm. Oh, you better believe this is not the end of that little story. My professor will be in London over the weekend preparing a conference, but when he gets back, there will be a conflict beyond all comparison with the Civil War ones.
Write up a (immodestly humongous) proposal for a huge AmSt project that is supposed to take over my life for the next two months and change history for all time. I'm pretty much supposed to know exactly everything in the world about the project BEFORE I've researched it, and it's worth roughly 10,000,000 points plus my immortal soul, so yeah, it's kindofabig deal.
Write a 3-4 page paper on Emerson, due Monday. I've already got the outline and am pretty sure I could do it in a day, but WHO HAS A DAY TO SPARE!?
Read until my brain or my eyes give out - I have chunky (thick), clunky (boring) readings for all four of my classes, not to mention a ton of extra reading to do for the CW and AmSt paper/project/big monstrous deathtraps.
Spend all day Saturday at a (required) field trip - we're going to Arches National Park. Can I bring my laptop and write in the car? Maybe. Will I do it anyway? Yes.
And this is all for THIS WEEK. Next week, I've got THIS to look forward to:
10 reviews to start (thankfully, not finish) writing for my film class
Assignment on Experiment in Criticism for my film class (15 paragraphs... that's like, SEVEN PAGES!)
3 novels, whups, JOURNAL ENTRIES, required for my AmSt class
CW test and notes to type up (a relatively low priority, but essential nonetheless if I hope to raise my grade beyond its current status of "UGH!!!")
Finish Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey (which wouldn't take so long if he didn't insist on techniques such as using at least 20 different words to say "rock" and 30 adjectives to describe "dirt.")
Grading, grading, grading - I guess this is why professors need TAs, huh?
I haven't even talked about my life outside of school, but that's pretty much because it doesn't exist. I still go to the International Cinema, the Asian Cinema Club (well, actually I missed the last one - Yip Man - have you seen it, Kirsti? Joseph?), the occasional lecture (LOVED Terryl Given's presentation on the provenance and prominence of Christian themes in the Book of Mormon, by the way), and plays at BYU when I can. Yesterday I took Sarah and Hannah to BYU to see "Psycho" (1960) - it was the first time any of us had seen it, and I think we all enjoyed the experience, though none of us is likely to repeat it any time soon.
As for the movie itself, four things jumped out at/surprised/intrigued me: 1) How calm and tame the shower scene appeared in contrast to my expectations - the violin music didn't even seem all that grating or frightening, to be honest. 2) How many times I had to keep reminding myself that Norman Bates was despicable and villainous, and never mind that he's so attractive and friendly and softspoken and really just a poor troubled....ah, there it goes again. It was just so much easier to dislike him before I ever saw the film! 3) How WELL the strings-only musical score worked - it never felt lacking or inappropriate for the scene, kept the tensions high but not unbearably so, and gave me real live heebie-jeebies during the second murder and the fruit cellar scenes - yipes! Just thinking about it sends a shiver down my spine. Don't you looooove that feeling!?????? The answer is yes. Especially in October. 4) It's rated "R." I did not know this until the movie was over, and it struck me as odd since I couldn't remember any cursing, excessive or degrading nudity, or graphic violence at all in the film. I don't how big of a deal the "R" rating was in 1960, and ratings don't really bother me since I've come to terms with the fact that my own "moral sentiment," as Emerson calls it, is a stricter and more authoritative (as well as more correct) judge than the MPAA in my experience, but anyway, that little "R" ignited a heated debate in the car, which developed into a quarrel, which climaxed into a full-blown argument with all the family involved in a battle over grandiose themes of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. There were yells, there were tears, there were interruptions and impassioned pleas - it was like the Civil War happening right here in our living room. Anyway, we eventually separated, the North to the upstairs and the South to the downstairs, licking our wounds and preparing future amunition for counterattacks in our minds, but we eventually reconciled the next morning in the Appomattox Bathroom. So all's well that ends well, I guess. Though, as we know from both Reconstruction and "Psycho 2," it ain't over till it's over.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
P.S.
Kirsti's comment and an unexpected blessing today - in the form of my Civil War professor coming down with the stomach flu and cancelling class (bless these little children who make their daddies sick!) today - have compelled me add one more thing to the "Good" list: I'm NOT SICK!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Half-way Through
This week has been a bit of a roller coaster so far.
Bad news first. This week so far: I got a parking ticket, I stayed up past midnight grading papers on Monday and Tuesday, I racked my brains during both my Civil War and Emerson class but was unable to come up with a single comment on Monday or Tuesday, I forgot about and didn't get the email reminding me about the quiz for my Western class (yeah, I'm just going to call it that from now on) on Tuesday, I made a mistake grading one student's paper and had to fix it to my great embarrasment, I lost a writing contest, and I still haven't found a good book to replace my last one (sorry, Dad - it's been too recent since I've read That Hideous Strength).
Not quite related to this week specifically, but to my feelings in general this week - I STILL haven't been able to come up with a good project for my Western class, I'm not happy with my Civil War paper proposal, I have a ton of grading and typing up and busy work to do in ALL my classes, and I don't get enough sleep or exercise to make me happy. It doesn't help my mood any that the last three weeks my film class has focused on very dark, violent themes of injustice, betrayal and murder - it can be very touching and insightful but is also pretty exhausting.
Lest you worry that I'm contemplating suicide at this point, I'll move right on with the good news.
The ticket was only $10, one of my professors cancelled class on Monday, I FINALLY made a friend in film class, the bus was on time pretty much all week, my Western professor let me take the quiz anyway and I got 100% on the objective part, I made lots of comments in Emerson class today and did all the reading for film class, I went to and thoroughly enjoyed the dance devotional on Tuesday, I found out about a neat lecture being given tomorrow by Terryl Givens, I finally finished An Experiment in Criticism, I decided I didn't care about the writing contest and am too busy to start reading a new book anyway, it's October and I like October, and we had spaghetti for dinner on Monday.
How's everyone else's week going?
Bad news first. This week so far: I got a parking ticket, I stayed up past midnight grading papers on Monday and Tuesday, I racked my brains during both my Civil War and Emerson class but was unable to come up with a single comment on Monday or Tuesday, I forgot about and didn't get the email reminding me about the quiz for my Western class (yeah, I'm just going to call it that from now on) on Tuesday, I made a mistake grading one student's paper and had to fix it to my great embarrasment, I lost a writing contest, and I still haven't found a good book to replace my last one (sorry, Dad - it's been too recent since I've read That Hideous Strength).
Not quite related to this week specifically, but to my feelings in general this week - I STILL haven't been able to come up with a good project for my Western class, I'm not happy with my Civil War paper proposal, I have a ton of grading and typing up and busy work to do in ALL my classes, and I don't get enough sleep or exercise to make me happy. It doesn't help my mood any that the last three weeks my film class has focused on very dark, violent themes of injustice, betrayal and murder - it can be very touching and insightful but is also pretty exhausting.
Lest you worry that I'm contemplating suicide at this point, I'll move right on with the good news.
The ticket was only $10, one of my professors cancelled class on Monday, I FINALLY made a friend in film class, the bus was on time pretty much all week, my Western professor let me take the quiz anyway and I got 100% on the objective part, I made lots of comments in Emerson class today and did all the reading for film class, I went to and thoroughly enjoyed the dance devotional on Tuesday, I found out about a neat lecture being given tomorrow by Terryl Givens, I finally finished An Experiment in Criticism, I decided I didn't care about the writing contest and am too busy to start reading a new book anyway, it's October and I like October, and we had spaghetti for dinner on Monday.
How's everyone else's week going?
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Feeling Happy
I took a little weekend off, from schoolwork and from blogging, and am feeling much refreshed now and ready to tackle the books and everything else tomorrow morning. We'll see how long that feeling lasts - I predict until 6 am tomorrow morning - but in the meantime, I'm enjoying it.
I mainly spent the weekend watching General Conference with my family. For any non-LDS readers, by the way, General Conference is a semi-annual meeting for all the members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where all the apostles, the prophet, and some other leaders of our church speak. It sounds a little crazy to be excited about listening to people talking for eight hours (in two-hour periods over two days, but still) but that's how it is, and I can't remember a time when I wasn't thrilled about General Conference. I used to draw pictures while I took notes, then I started drawing pictures of the speakers or their topics, but now I can take notes for the whole time without losing interest in the message. Too bad I can't have the zeal when it comes to all of my classes, eh? Anyway, I loved all the talks but especially Elder (Elder is a title of the priesthood in our church) Jeffrey R. Holland's, about the witness of the Book of the Mormon (The Book of Mormon is a second book of scripture that witnesses of Jesus Christ), and Elder David A. Bednar's talk about how we need to say, mean, and do certain things, like bear our testimonies to our families and express love to each other.
Well, I guess I'd better get to bed now. Tomorrow will probably be busy - I have three classes to go to, and a lot of grading and reading to do. Not to mention that I need a new library book to read... any suggestions?
I mainly spent the weekend watching General Conference with my family. For any non-LDS readers, by the way, General Conference is a semi-annual meeting for all the members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where all the apostles, the prophet, and some other leaders of our church speak. It sounds a little crazy to be excited about listening to people talking for eight hours (in two-hour periods over two days, but still) but that's how it is, and I can't remember a time when I wasn't thrilled about General Conference. I used to draw pictures while I took notes, then I started drawing pictures of the speakers or their topics, but now I can take notes for the whole time without losing interest in the message. Too bad I can't have the zeal when it comes to all of my classes, eh? Anyway, I loved all the talks but especially Elder (Elder is a title of the priesthood in our church) Jeffrey R. Holland's, about the witness of the Book of the Mormon (The Book of Mormon is a second book of scripture that witnesses of Jesus Christ), and Elder David A. Bednar's talk about how we need to say, mean, and do certain things, like bear our testimonies to our families and express love to each other.
Well, I guess I'd better get to bed now. Tomorrow will probably be busy - I have three classes to go to, and a lot of grading and reading to do. Not to mention that I need a new library book to read... any suggestions?
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Warning: Contents may be Incoherent and/or Depressing
It's late and it's been a long day, so I'll make this short and sweet. Or at least short. Today was disappointing in comparison with other days. I spent a TON of time - 10,000 hours, roughly - grading my students' papers and short writing assignments, and when I wasn't doing that I was reading for my classes or going to my classes.
I really love both of my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but there is a lot of pressure to do well on all the assignments, take fantastic notes, make profound comments, and sometimes I just feel inadequate. I found out today that my Western Culture teacher is teaching a class on the writings of Cormac McCarthy next winter semester and I REALLY want to take it! It took me a while to get on the McCarthy wagon, since he's dark and dreary and doesn't use punctuation, but after reading All the Pretty Horses, I'm on.
Civil War class is pretty much my very favorite history class ever (after American Heritage). We talk about politics, we talk about battles, we talk about economics, and I've never been so interested in anything in my entire life. That's how good my teacher's lectures are. And get this - I'm actually on top of all the reading and haven't failed a single quiz yet! Bad news though - I didn't do so great on the first test (the one I thought I did really good on). History teachers must just have a different mindset than me when it comes to writing! I've only taken two other history-based classes, and both of them were extraordinarily picky about my essays. Oh well, I can still definitely improve over the semester, and at least this teacher gave me some actual, concrete things I know how to work on to improve the next test (he took TEN points off because I hadn't known he wanted us to write introductions, conclusions, and transitions in between the "meat" of our main essay; other than that, he remarked that I had "covered all the essentials." So apparently, "covering all the essentials" gets you a B. Doh!). The last thing I want to do is have a repeat experience of my Fall 2007 semester (a B+!!!!!!!!! I WANTED TO DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), but I'm not feeling nearly as depressed as I was then. It could be because I really, really, really like this teacher, which means I really want to work super hard to impress him (rather than beat him over the head with a projector, like I wanted to do to my other teacher). I also LOVE his lectures (unlike those of the other teacher, which were more boring than the footnotes of a finance magazine). And of course, I love the material (and I probably would have loved the material of the other class, if we had ever gotten around to talking about it in English).
I stayed late in the American Studies office grading assignments and listening to crowds scream when it got late enough for all the volleyball/soccer/whatever games to start going. Apparently, there's a football game tomorrow, but I plan to spend the whole day reading/going to class/going to the International Cinema ("The Heiress" and "Crossing" are playing), so don't count on an update from me on that. The screams were a nice distraction from work, though.
I can't wait for the weekend! Although, wait, I have 17 poetry papers to grade and a zillion little assignments and Civil War notes to type up and several books to finish reading and library stuff to return before then. Will it ever end?
I really love both of my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but there is a lot of pressure to do well on all the assignments, take fantastic notes, make profound comments, and sometimes I just feel inadequate. I found out today that my Western Culture teacher is teaching a class on the writings of Cormac McCarthy next winter semester and I REALLY want to take it! It took me a while to get on the McCarthy wagon, since he's dark and dreary and doesn't use punctuation, but after reading All the Pretty Horses, I'm on.
Civil War class is pretty much my very favorite history class ever (after American Heritage). We talk about politics, we talk about battles, we talk about economics, and I've never been so interested in anything in my entire life. That's how good my teacher's lectures are. And get this - I'm actually on top of all the reading and haven't failed a single quiz yet! Bad news though - I didn't do so great on the first test (the one I thought I did really good on). History teachers must just have a different mindset than me when it comes to writing! I've only taken two other history-based classes, and both of them were extraordinarily picky about my essays. Oh well, I can still definitely improve over the semester, and at least this teacher gave me some actual, concrete things I know how to work on to improve the next test (he took TEN points off because I hadn't known he wanted us to write introductions, conclusions, and transitions in between the "meat" of our main essay; other than that, he remarked that I had "covered all the essentials." So apparently, "covering all the essentials" gets you a B. Doh!). The last thing I want to do is have a repeat experience of my Fall 2007 semester (a B+!!!!!!!!! I WANTED TO DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), but I'm not feeling nearly as depressed as I was then. It could be because I really, really, really like this teacher, which means I really want to work super hard to impress him (rather than beat him over the head with a projector, like I wanted to do to my other teacher). I also LOVE his lectures (unlike those of the other teacher, which were more boring than the footnotes of a finance magazine). And of course, I love the material (and I probably would have loved the material of the other class, if we had ever gotten around to talking about it in English).
I stayed late in the American Studies office grading assignments and listening to crowds scream when it got late enough for all the volleyball/soccer/whatever games to start going. Apparently, there's a football game tomorrow, but I plan to spend the whole day reading/going to class/going to the International Cinema ("The Heiress" and "Crossing" are playing), so don't count on an update from me on that. The screams were a nice distraction from work, though.
I can't wait for the weekend! Although, wait, I have 17 poetry papers to grade and a zillion little assignments and Civil War notes to type up and several books to finish reading and library stuff to return before then. Will it ever end?
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
It wasn't the best of days, but it wasn't the worst of days
I'm not usually a deep sleeper, and I usually have at least one dream a night, but last night was an exception. I slept for almost 11 hours straight, without even a whiff of a dream. It was practically like being in a coma!
Anyway, once the day or afternoon got going, I was feeling great. The weather was cold and blustery - in other words, PERFECT - and the bus was on time. I read part of an article on Emerson on the way to school, and we discussed it in class for an hour. Interesting stuff, but I was feeling kind of intellectually fatigued and overwhelmed since I hadn't finished the article, so I didn't really make any comments.
After Emerson class, I ate lunch and did all the reading for my film class, much of it while sitting in the classes I TA for. I felt a bit guilty for reading instead of paying attention, but since I've already taken the classes and don't feel obligated to contribute or participate in student-like activities, I justified myself. Anyhow, I was punished in the end with the recognition that reading in a quiet room while only one person is talking can be extremely difficult. I was reading various works by Wordsworth, Faulkner, and C. S. Lewis, but still managed to overhear quite a lot about Rococo Art, Tartuffe, Critical Thinking, and the "To be or not to be" speech from Hamlet.
At 4:50 I rushed off to my film class in the HFAC, and enjoyed some lecturing, film clips, and music clips presented by our wonderful, entertaining, knowledgeable professor. He also handed us back our first graded assignment - which I had spent one or two hours on, for the record - and I got an A. Hooray! :) He then proceeded to assure us that his harsh criticism was meant to be encouraging and supportive and that he had faith we would all improve and yada yada yada. I was wondering what on earth he was talking about until I remembered that there were 20 or so freshmen in the class. Poor little freshmen. Serves them right, though. And I can say that because...I once was one? It's true? Free speech? I'm heartless? All of the above? None of the above? Discuss.
We spent the last two hours watching Army of Shadows, a French film about the resistance during World War II, and then our despicable, horrible, unfeeling teacher STOPPED it. BEFORE THE ENDING. I and the other hardcore film/Humanities majors sulked and glared, but the freshmen looked relieved. He promised to show us the rest next week, but I'm going to look it up tonight because there's NO WAY I'm waiting a whole week to find out if Philippe makes it through the war or if Francois really is dead or if Mathilde decides to betray all her comrades rather than have her daughter sent to a Polish whorehouse for German soldiers. The film is emotionally gripping and occasionally terrifying (several parts reminded me of one of the most powerful and horrific films I've ever seen - The Last Days of Sophie Scholl), but it did lose me several times with its characters - I confused their faces and voices a couple of times - and contained many intricate steps and twists which I found hard to keep track of. It was a long film, and a war film, to boot, both of which in general are just exhausting, and even more so when the setting is in an unfamiliar land with foreign characters speaking foreign languages. But I think I'll remember several things from it for a very long time.
Hmmmm, I've just realized that all the films I've seen in the past week - Ben Hur, Amazing Grace, A Man for All Seasons, Pan's Labyrinth, and now this - have been really heavy, awe-inspiring films with profound messages about gigantic themes like war and violence and injustice. No wonder I've been so depressed lately - will someone please pass the comedies?
Well, I'd love to write some more, but really got to get going now. There's some papers I promised to look over for some of my students tonight, and then I've simply got to do some more reading in this potentially scandalous library book - I only have THREE chapters left!
Anyway, once the day or afternoon got going, I was feeling great. The weather was cold and blustery - in other words, PERFECT - and the bus was on time. I read part of an article on Emerson on the way to school, and we discussed it in class for an hour. Interesting stuff, but I was feeling kind of intellectually fatigued and overwhelmed since I hadn't finished the article, so I didn't really make any comments.
After Emerson class, I ate lunch and did all the reading for my film class, much of it while sitting in the classes I TA for. I felt a bit guilty for reading instead of paying attention, but since I've already taken the classes and don't feel obligated to contribute or participate in student-like activities, I justified myself. Anyhow, I was punished in the end with the recognition that reading in a quiet room while only one person is talking can be extremely difficult. I was reading various works by Wordsworth, Faulkner, and C. S. Lewis, but still managed to overhear quite a lot about Rococo Art, Tartuffe, Critical Thinking, and the "To be or not to be" speech from Hamlet.
At 4:50 I rushed off to my film class in the HFAC, and enjoyed some lecturing, film clips, and music clips presented by our wonderful, entertaining, knowledgeable professor. He also handed us back our first graded assignment - which I had spent one or two hours on, for the record - and I got an A. Hooray! :) He then proceeded to assure us that his harsh criticism was meant to be encouraging and supportive and that he had faith we would all improve and yada yada yada. I was wondering what on earth he was talking about until I remembered that there were 20 or so freshmen in the class. Poor little freshmen. Serves them right, though. And I can say that because...I once was one? It's true? Free speech? I'm heartless? All of the above? None of the above? Discuss.
We spent the last two hours watching Army of Shadows, a French film about the resistance during World War II, and then our despicable, horrible, unfeeling teacher STOPPED it. BEFORE THE ENDING. I and the other hardcore film/Humanities majors sulked and glared, but the freshmen looked relieved. He promised to show us the rest next week, but I'm going to look it up tonight because there's NO WAY I'm waiting a whole week to find out if Philippe makes it through the war or if Francois really is dead or if Mathilde decides to betray all her comrades rather than have her daughter sent to a Polish whorehouse for German soldiers. The film is emotionally gripping and occasionally terrifying (several parts reminded me of one of the most powerful and horrific films I've ever seen - The Last Days of Sophie Scholl), but it did lose me several times with its characters - I confused their faces and voices a couple of times - and contained many intricate steps and twists which I found hard to keep track of. It was a long film, and a war film, to boot, both of which in general are just exhausting, and even more so when the setting is in an unfamiliar land with foreign characters speaking foreign languages. But I think I'll remember several things from it for a very long time.
Hmmmm, I've just realized that all the films I've seen in the past week - Ben Hur, Amazing Grace, A Man for All Seasons, Pan's Labyrinth, and now this - have been really heavy, awe-inspiring films with profound messages about gigantic themes like war and violence and injustice. No wonder I've been so depressed lately - will someone please pass the comedies?
Well, I'd love to write some more, but really got to get going now. There's some papers I promised to look over for some of my students tonight, and then I've simply got to do some more reading in this potentially scandalous library book - I only have THREE chapters left!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Reprieved!
The bad news first: I was late for my first class, missed two out of ten in our morning quiz, missed breakfast, and was sleepy all day.
Now the good news: I don't have any tests, papers, quizzes, or writing assignments for the rest of the week! I think that deserves a moment of silence. Or thunderous applause. Or at least, its own paragraph.
So, after getting to bed at 3 am, I was lucky to wake up today at 8, with an entire hour to finish the writing assignment I wasn't quite able to get through last night. Mom drove me to school, I printed up my assignment, raced to class, and spent most of it leafing through the pages of my mostly unmarked copy of All the Pretty Horses trying to remember where I read what and who said what. Don't get the wrong idea - I did read ALL of the book, but it was about two weeks ago, and I still have a hard time marking my books up, especially my new books. On the upside, I got a quiz back with 15/10 on the first book we read, Last Buckaroo :)
After class, I was planning to go work on my Civil War prospectus (proposal for a research paper), but found myself heading up to the Marriott Center while I read The Meadow by James Galvin. I got there just in time to hear the tale end of a choir piece which sounded really fabulous. The speaker was Kim B. Clark, a General Authority who Mom says is the current president of Brigham Young University Idaho. He gave a nice talk about pride and avoiding it (we got into a big argument about it over family dinner, coincidentally - all of us are apparently too proud to let anyone else have the last word in any debate). I tried to pay attention but found my mind wandering a lot, thinking about all the things I had to do that day, and that week, and how I would ever get through them all.
After Devotional, I ate lunch and finished collecting my sources for the prospectus, which I then printed up. I did my Civil War reading - oddly, I have no problem marking up my by now well-battered copy of Lincoln and Civil War America - and headed off to class, which was fantastic as usual except for a most annoying buzzing sound that tortured our ears throughout the 4 or 5 minute clip from the Ken Burns documentary our teacher showed us about the battle of Shiloh. After class, I was pleasantly surprised to get a reading quiz - one which I had particularly been unhappy with - back with a check mark on it, meaning I got full points. It was, however, accompanied by the abrupt and cutting remark "borderline on Lee," which, I fear, severely devalues my reputation as an honorable Southerner. (But in my defense, he gave us only about 4 minutes to write paragraph-length responses about Lee AND Lincoln - so really, what examples do you think spring to mind first?)
After Civil War class, I went straight home. I haven't been home before dark in a LONG TIME, and it was definitely nice. I intended to get some work done, but I was really too tired to do anything besides read some more in my exciting library book and fall asleep. Then it was time for dinner. Then I helped walk our dog Teddy, just to enjoy the cool, windy weather, and then I watched "Amazing Grace." It was a good film and I enjoyed it a lot, particularly since my mind has been on these issues of late. I didn't find it as realistically and emotionally compelling as "A Man for All Seasons," (which we watched in film class last Wednesday) but it's still well worth watching.
Well, I'm off to bed to catch up on sleep and get ready for a busy day tomorrow. I have a lot of reading to do for my Emerson and film classes and grading to do for my Humanities classes and writing to do for all my classes. Oh, and I haven't washed my hair since Saturday. Uh...yeah. Perhaps I'd better...yeah.
Now the good news: I don't have any tests, papers, quizzes, or writing assignments for the rest of the week! I think that deserves a moment of silence. Or thunderous applause. Or at least, its own paragraph.
So, after getting to bed at 3 am, I was lucky to wake up today at 8, with an entire hour to finish the writing assignment I wasn't quite able to get through last night. Mom drove me to school, I printed up my assignment, raced to class, and spent most of it leafing through the pages of my mostly unmarked copy of All the Pretty Horses trying to remember where I read what and who said what. Don't get the wrong idea - I did read ALL of the book, but it was about two weeks ago, and I still have a hard time marking my books up, especially my new books. On the upside, I got a quiz back with 15/10 on the first book we read, Last Buckaroo :)
After class, I was planning to go work on my Civil War prospectus (proposal for a research paper), but found myself heading up to the Marriott Center while I read The Meadow by James Galvin. I got there just in time to hear the tale end of a choir piece which sounded really fabulous. The speaker was Kim B. Clark, a General Authority who Mom says is the current president of Brigham Young University Idaho. He gave a nice talk about pride and avoiding it (we got into a big argument about it over family dinner, coincidentally - all of us are apparently too proud to let anyone else have the last word in any debate). I tried to pay attention but found my mind wandering a lot, thinking about all the things I had to do that day, and that week, and how I would ever get through them all.
After Devotional, I ate lunch and finished collecting my sources for the prospectus, which I then printed up. I did my Civil War reading - oddly, I have no problem marking up my by now well-battered copy of Lincoln and Civil War America - and headed off to class, which was fantastic as usual except for a most annoying buzzing sound that tortured our ears throughout the 4 or 5 minute clip from the Ken Burns documentary our teacher showed us about the battle of Shiloh. After class, I was pleasantly surprised to get a reading quiz - one which I had particularly been unhappy with - back with a check mark on it, meaning I got full points. It was, however, accompanied by the abrupt and cutting remark "borderline on Lee," which, I fear, severely devalues my reputation as an honorable Southerner. (But in my defense, he gave us only about 4 minutes to write paragraph-length responses about Lee AND Lincoln - so really, what examples do you think spring to mind first?)
After Civil War class, I went straight home. I haven't been home before dark in a LONG TIME, and it was definitely nice. I intended to get some work done, but I was really too tired to do anything besides read some more in my exciting library book and fall asleep. Then it was time for dinner. Then I helped walk our dog Teddy, just to enjoy the cool, windy weather, and then I watched "Amazing Grace." It was a good film and I enjoyed it a lot, particularly since my mind has been on these issues of late. I didn't find it as realistically and emotionally compelling as "A Man for All Seasons," (which we watched in film class last Wednesday) but it's still well worth watching.
Well, I'm off to bed to catch up on sleep and get ready for a busy day tomorrow. I have a lot of reading to do for my Emerson and film classes and grading to do for my Humanities classes and writing to do for all my classes. Oh, and I haven't washed my hair since Saturday. Uh...yeah. Perhaps I'd better...yeah.
I think I have College Senioritis
So everyone, it's 2:07 am, and here I am, writing an essay prompt due tomorrow in my 9:30 class. The prompt was emailed to us today - since, of course, I had, like, nothing to do on Saturday.
Luckily, it's only 250 words, and I already planned out what I need to say about 5 hours ago sitting at a desk in the Wilkinson Center. So why did I wait until now to do it? Good question! Could it have something to do with the fact that I just spent the last four hours researching and writing a prospectus for a paper due tomorrow in my Civil War class!?!?! (Why yes, that would be the class I was ready to kill myself for last Friday) Or perhaps the news that I now have 40 new reading responses and 17 new student papers to grade before next week? Or possibly the fact that I just started a new book last night and it was SO interesting and I couldn't get to sleep 'cause I couldn't stop reading it and then I was super tired the next morning and I'm desperate to find out what happens but can't go to bed because of this silly essay prompt and can't work on the prompt either because I'm starting to go craaaaaaaaaaaaazy!?!??????????????
Mmmm. And all of a sudden, I feel better. Amazing what writing can do to you, isn't it?
Here are a few good things that I can think of that are going on, just to balance out any ideas you may get that I'm about to kill myself before the semester is even a third through.
1. After tomorrow, I will have a bit of a breather in at least two of my classes. This means I'll get to a) exercise more, b) read more, c) fiiiiinally watch Amazing Grace, and d) get caught up on homework.
2. General Conference is coming up this weekend. It's the best, really. If you don't watch it or watch all the sessions, you are missing out.
3. I have an exciting book to read that isn't school-related. YEEEEEESH!
4. October - probably my favorite month of the year - is just around the corner. Can't wait for this heat to go away!
5. Today I got a really sweet compliment from a guy. Too cute/embarrassing/private to share on the blog, but just know that it was that sweet.
6. My sister got a humongous harp - it's taller than my BED! - and, though it looks a little creepy in the living room all covered with a dark tarp right now, it adds quite the classical flair to our house. Can't wait for the next home teachers' visit!
7. I happened to be outside near the ASB when the flag was lowered today, and got to stand all still and quiet and reverent while the anthem played and the guard folded the flag. That makes the first time this semester! It's so neat to see everyone standing still on campus and showing respect for the country. Yea America!
Well, I feel a bit more invigorated now, so I'll try to finish this little assignment here and then off to bed and my book, if I can still keep my brain working, that is. Good night!
Luckily, it's only 250 words, and I already planned out what I need to say about 5 hours ago sitting at a desk in the Wilkinson Center. So why did I wait until now to do it? Good question! Could it have something to do with the fact that I just spent the last four hours researching and writing a prospectus for a paper due tomorrow in my Civil War class!?!?! (Why yes, that would be the class I was ready to kill myself for last Friday) Or perhaps the news that I now have 40 new reading responses and 17 new student papers to grade before next week? Or possibly the fact that I just started a new book last night and it was SO interesting and I couldn't get to sleep 'cause I couldn't stop reading it and then I was super tired the next morning and I'm desperate to find out what happens but can't go to bed because of this silly essay prompt and can't work on the prompt either because I'm starting to go craaaaaaaaaaaaazy!?!??????????????
Mmmm. And all of a sudden, I feel better. Amazing what writing can do to you, isn't it?
Here are a few good things that I can think of that are going on, just to balance out any ideas you may get that I'm about to kill myself before the semester is even a third through.
1. After tomorrow, I will have a bit of a breather in at least two of my classes. This means I'll get to a) exercise more, b) read more, c) fiiiiinally watch Amazing Grace, and d) get caught up on homework.
2. General Conference is coming up this weekend. It's the best, really. If you don't watch it or watch all the sessions, you are missing out.
3. I have an exciting book to read that isn't school-related. YEEEEEESH!
4. October - probably my favorite month of the year - is just around the corner. Can't wait for this heat to go away!
5. Today I got a really sweet compliment from a guy. Too cute/embarrassing/private to share on the blog, but just know that it was that sweet.
6. My sister got a humongous harp - it's taller than my BED! - and, though it looks a little creepy in the living room all covered with a dark tarp right now, it adds quite the classical flair to our house. Can't wait for the next home teachers' visit!
7. I happened to be outside near the ASB when the flag was lowered today, and got to stand all still and quiet and reverent while the anthem played and the guard folded the flag. That makes the first time this semester! It's so neat to see everyone standing still on campus and showing respect for the country. Yea America!
Well, I feel a bit more invigorated now, so I'll try to finish this little assignment here and then off to bed and my book, if I can still keep my brain working, that is. Good night!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Why yes, I have been insanely busy for the past thirty days or so. Could you tell?
So, I'm back in Utah and back in school and finally back in the ward as a member (but they still haven't given me my organist-entitled church key!), and life is BUSY. I'm only taking four classes, but I'm also working as a TA for two Humanities classes, and working on the American Studies Student Journal Americana, and teaching Relief Society, and trying to flirt with this super cute guy in my... hmmm, how did that get in there?
Anyway, though my life is pretty much consumed with school at this point, I do promise to try to spend a little more of my time writing my blog, since it's fun once I get going, and I've always wanted to keep a better record of what I'm doing over the semester besides attending class and writing papers.
So these are my classes, in the order of how I attended them on the first/second days of the semester:
Emerson: Meets at 1 on MWF. The official title is Humanities 440R, but I pretty much just call it Emerson, or Em in my notes (as in "Write em paper!" "Do em readings!" and so on). With a subject like the teachings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the class has a lot of boredom potential, but it's actually one of my favorite classes. It's a pretty diverse group of students: There are some graduate students, all of whom are real characters (more to come... so much more), and I have TAed (it's a spoken verb - trust me) (but don't put it in your paper, or I'll take off points) for classes taken by several other students. And two other students are in two of my other classes this semester. So pretty much, I always have someone to talk to and something to talk about in class, even if it isn't Emerson. The class material itself is great, though. We do a lot of reading, but not too much, and we can bring up anything we want to discuss in class - no stiff lecture/powerpoint formats here! Our teacher, Carl Sederholm, is one of my favorites from the Humanities department - so sensitive and sincere, yet funny and witty when he wants to be. Oh, and we're in a special "seminar" classroom on the 3rd floor of the JFSB (y'know, next to all the professors' offices), with a long table and swively chairs instead of desks - which adds to the class a distinct air of superiority over the hoi polloi (that's for you, Grandpa) taking 200-level classes in the basement.
Humanities 250: The subject is something like "Interdisciplinary Humanities," and the class is basically an introduction to the Humanities major - it covers what you need to know to analyze art, literature, film, music, theater, etc. It meets MWF at 1 and 3, but of course I can't go to the one at 1. The 3 pm class is small - only about 10 students - but low pressure and fun (well, any class is low pressure if you're the TA, I suppose). I basically sit around and study for my other classes, or take notes on a few of the new things Dr. Call (the teacher - he's an extremely nice, well-bred, intelligent, and enthusiastic young guy) has added to the course since I took it. I like Dr. Call, but he does me make feel a little uncomfortable - for one thing, he is so upbeat and enthusiastic that I can't help but suspect him of faking it. He's also very conservative and proper in his relations with me - to the point that I feel awkward and embarrassed when I have to talk to him alone. But this probably has more to do with me than him, and it's ten thousand times better than having to deal with a crabby teacher who doesn't care about the class or his relationship with the TA. Anyway, the class is fun and low-key because of the small numbers, and the students get more opportunities to express themselves and act dorky, which is great.
Humanities 202: The other class I TA for! It meets MW from 4 - 5:15 in a crowded room in the JKB, about 5 minutes walk from the JFSB, where my first two classes are. This was the very first Humanities class I took at BYU, and I love the material - Literature/Art/Music from the Renaissance to now.
Western American Culture and Literature (also known as American Studies 300): 9:30 - 10:45 on TTh. This class is cross-listed with some class from the English department, and it's taught by Phil Snyder, who - surprise, surprise - turns out to be the husband of one of my favorite teachers from the English Language department, Delys Snyder ("Delys" rhymes with "police") -who has the power to make a 2-hour class three times a week on English grammar fun and exciting! Phil is a bit of an eccentric - starting with his preference that we call him "Phil" - but a thoroughly entertaining and smart guy to be around. He knows his stuff, and he loves it, and he cares more about getting us to know and love the stuff than torturing us with memorization and arbitrary busywork. We've already gone on two field trips (which included roping, seeing bulls up close, and riding horses) to his home and his neighbors' ranches in Salem, Utah, and I absolutely love doing the reading for the class - actual autobiographies and novels rather than textbooks! - so I have high hopes for the semester.
Civil War Era: 3-4:15 TTh. I love just about everything about this class. The reading is absorbing, the work is challenging yet rewarding, the lectures are absolutely fascinating, and the teacher, Matt Mason, has been one of my academic heroes for the past three years (ever since I took my favorite college class - American Heritage - from him as a freshman). I really love this class because I am passionate about the American South. It is the land where I feel the strongest connections of home, family, and country, and I know that in my dreams I want to live there and raise my own family there. But enough about that. My only problem with the class as of right now is that I don't have any good friends to sit with or talk to. Oh, and we had a big test last week and I didn't get to study for it as much as I wanted to, but I still think I did pretty well. We'll see when the tests get returned, I guess.
Great Films: My last class! Meets on Wednesdays from 5 - whenever the movie ends (usually 9 pm). I pretty much just call this class "Film," but its official title is Theatre and Media Arts 498R. It's not quite as low-key and entertaining as my Honors 304 class on Genre, but it's still fun and maybe even more stimulating - we actually have to do the readings to get credit, for one, and the readings are actually worth reading and discussing, for two (By the way, what IS that? Can you say "for two"? Why or why not? Discuss). Unfortunately, our class somehow got mixed up with the Freshman Academy group in the Film/Media Arts category, so we have about 15 freshman in our group of superior humanities/snobby film/crazily intelligent grad students. It's...interesting. Our teacher - Dean Duncan - is great, though. Just as casual and impassive and sardonic and shabbily-dressed as 100% of all my film teachers, and full of just as many great quotes (i.e. On the first day of class - "Don't feel scared if you're young or superior if you're old, because I'm older and superior-er than all of you."). And he actually STAYS in the room during the obligatory movie shown in the last hour and a half or so of class. I guess he wants to refresh his memory of the themes of the movie in relation to our class discussion. Or maybe he wants to catch the people who sneak out early. Or maybe he just likes watching movies - don't we all?
And that's the bulk of my life, attending and doing homework for these classes. All in the hope of four tiny little As on my transcript come Christmas. And, yeah, sure, knowledge and stuff. Wish me luck for tomorrow - I have to prepare a prospectus for my research paper in the Civil War class, finish up some grading for my Hum 202 class, and do a bunch of reading. Did I also mention that I'm also working to get a paper published in the Americana journal this year? Yep, yep, life is busy. Good and busy.
Anyway, though my life is pretty much consumed with school at this point, I do promise to try to spend a little more of my time writing my blog, since it's fun once I get going, and I've always wanted to keep a better record of what I'm doing over the semester besides attending class and writing papers.
So these are my classes, in the order of how I attended them on the first/second days of the semester:
Emerson: Meets at 1 on MWF. The official title is Humanities 440R, but I pretty much just call it Emerson, or Em in my notes (as in "Write em paper!" "Do em readings!" and so on). With a subject like the teachings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the class has a lot of boredom potential, but it's actually one of my favorite classes. It's a pretty diverse group of students: There are some graduate students, all of whom are real characters (more to come... so much more), and I have TAed (it's a spoken verb - trust me) (but don't put it in your paper, or I'll take off points) for classes taken by several other students. And two other students are in two of my other classes this semester. So pretty much, I always have someone to talk to and something to talk about in class, even if it isn't Emerson. The class material itself is great, though. We do a lot of reading, but not too much, and we can bring up anything we want to discuss in class - no stiff lecture/powerpoint formats here! Our teacher, Carl Sederholm, is one of my favorites from the Humanities department - so sensitive and sincere, yet funny and witty when he wants to be. Oh, and we're in a special "seminar" classroom on the 3rd floor of the JFSB (y'know, next to all the professors' offices), with a long table and swively chairs instead of desks - which adds to the class a distinct air of superiority over the hoi polloi (that's for you, Grandpa) taking 200-level classes in the basement.
Humanities 250: The subject is something like "Interdisciplinary Humanities," and the class is basically an introduction to the Humanities major - it covers what you need to know to analyze art, literature, film, music, theater, etc. It meets MWF at 1 and 3, but of course I can't go to the one at 1. The 3 pm class is small - only about 10 students - but low pressure and fun (well, any class is low pressure if you're the TA, I suppose). I basically sit around and study for my other classes, or take notes on a few of the new things Dr. Call (the teacher - he's an extremely nice, well-bred, intelligent, and enthusiastic young guy) has added to the course since I took it. I like Dr. Call, but he does me make feel a little uncomfortable - for one thing, he is so upbeat and enthusiastic that I can't help but suspect him of faking it. He's also very conservative and proper in his relations with me - to the point that I feel awkward and embarrassed when I have to talk to him alone. But this probably has more to do with me than him, and it's ten thousand times better than having to deal with a crabby teacher who doesn't care about the class or his relationship with the TA. Anyway, the class is fun and low-key because of the small numbers, and the students get more opportunities to express themselves and act dorky, which is great.
Humanities 202: The other class I TA for! It meets MW from 4 - 5:15 in a crowded room in the JKB, about 5 minutes walk from the JFSB, where my first two classes are. This was the very first Humanities class I took at BYU, and I love the material - Literature/Art/Music from the Renaissance to now.
Western American Culture and Literature (also known as American Studies 300): 9:30 - 10:45 on TTh. This class is cross-listed with some class from the English department, and it's taught by Phil Snyder, who - surprise, surprise - turns out to be the husband of one of my favorite teachers from the English Language department, Delys Snyder ("Delys" rhymes with "police") -who has the power to make a 2-hour class three times a week on English grammar fun and exciting! Phil is a bit of an eccentric - starting with his preference that we call him "Phil" - but a thoroughly entertaining and smart guy to be around. He knows his stuff, and he loves it, and he cares more about getting us to know and love the stuff than torturing us with memorization and arbitrary busywork. We've already gone on two field trips (which included roping, seeing bulls up close, and riding horses) to his home and his neighbors' ranches in Salem, Utah, and I absolutely love doing the reading for the class - actual autobiographies and novels rather than textbooks! - so I have high hopes for the semester.
Civil War Era: 3-4:15 TTh. I love just about everything about this class. The reading is absorbing, the work is challenging yet rewarding, the lectures are absolutely fascinating, and the teacher, Matt Mason, has been one of my academic heroes for the past three years (ever since I took my favorite college class - American Heritage - from him as a freshman). I really love this class because I am passionate about the American South. It is the land where I feel the strongest connections of home, family, and country, and I know that in my dreams I want to live there and raise my own family there. But enough about that. My only problem with the class as of right now is that I don't have any good friends to sit with or talk to. Oh, and we had a big test last week and I didn't get to study for it as much as I wanted to, but I still think I did pretty well. We'll see when the tests get returned, I guess.
Great Films: My last class! Meets on Wednesdays from 5 - whenever the movie ends (usually 9 pm). I pretty much just call this class "Film," but its official title is Theatre and Media Arts 498R. It's not quite as low-key and entertaining as my Honors 304 class on Genre, but it's still fun and maybe even more stimulating - we actually have to do the readings to get credit, for one, and the readings are actually worth reading and discussing, for two (By the way, what IS that? Can you say "for two"? Why or why not? Discuss). Unfortunately, our class somehow got mixed up with the Freshman Academy group in the Film/Media Arts category, so we have about 15 freshman in our group of superior humanities/snobby film/crazily intelligent grad students. It's...interesting. Our teacher - Dean Duncan - is great, though. Just as casual and impassive and sardonic and shabbily-dressed as 100% of all my film teachers, and full of just as many great quotes (i.e. On the first day of class - "Don't feel scared if you're young or superior if you're old, because I'm older and superior-er than all of you."). And he actually STAYS in the room during the obligatory movie shown in the last hour and a half or so of class. I guess he wants to refresh his memory of the themes of the movie in relation to our class discussion. Or maybe he wants to catch the people who sneak out early. Or maybe he just likes watching movies - don't we all?
And that's the bulk of my life, attending and doing homework for these classes. All in the hope of four tiny little As on my transcript come Christmas. And, yeah, sure, knowledge and stuff. Wish me luck for tomorrow - I have to prepare a prospectus for my research paper in the Civil War class, finish up some grading for my Hum 202 class, and do a bunch of reading. Did I also mention that I'm also working to get a paper published in the Americana journal this year? Yep, yep, life is busy. Good and busy.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Behold the cuteness!
A picture that should speak for itself. I honestly don't know how I missed it in the Sunday post. Anyway, feel free to come up with captions in the comments.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Freakin' Friday
On Friday, I went for the first time on Grandpa’s morning walk with Samson. We picked up trash and chatted and met one of Grandpa’s friends, a nice lady named Laura with a cute little dog named Scamp (but Grandpa called it something like “Squawk”!). Grandpa had given her my blog address, and she was very complimentary of my writing skills...blush.
After the walk, we ate breakfast and Daniel showed Grandma and Grandpa some of his computer science achievements. Then Grandpa took me swimming. It was early in the morning, so I had hopes that the lanes would be long, but nope, they were short as ever. Still, there was a bit of excitement going on. Five or so ladies were doing aerobics in a roped-off area, and they were playing music, which was fun to listen to—especially the Chariots of Fire soundtrack! I think it must be a standard track for aerobics classes, as I’ve heard it more than once in the Orem Fitness Center pool. Anyway, it’s one of my favorite movies and I love the music, so I had no complaints. Actually, I did have a complaint—how was I supposed to swim and listen to the music all at once!?!?
Back at Grandma and Grandpa’s, I ate a sandwich for lunch and packed a sack dinner of sorts—it was a banana, apples, a sandwich for Daniel, crackers, and a few cookies, as I recall—to eat at the airport. Then I went upstairs and packed, cleaned up the room a bit, and just sat in the living room and talked with Gma and Gpa until the Hughes came to pick us up. We said good-bye and drove away.
The drive to the airport was all too short, and soon we were checking in our luggage, then hugging Aunt Shelly, Uncle Billy, and Andy good-bye, and then we were going through security, and then—poof! We were stuck in the Nashville airport for a boring 2-hour wait before our flight. I read my scriptures and started Fablehaven 4 and somehow the time passed. The flight was long but not too uncomfortable. We got a lot of interesting and varied snacks—animal crackers, cheese crackers, oreo crackers, and peanuts—and two rounds of drinks—extravagant for Southwest, really. There was also a cute guy on the plane who offered to help me put my suitcase up in the overhead bin and passed me in line at the bathroom, but—errmmmm, *blush*—that’s a bit of a tangent.
In Phoenix, we ate our food and I got on the Internet in the exact same spot as the last time we were in Phoenix, and the time went by fast. I was surprised by how suddenly it got dark outside. There was some confusion about our gate—it changed about 30 min before departure time—and it was about 8:35 pm by the time our plane started moving (we were supposed to leave at 8). However, the airplane wasn’t crowded at all. We sat towards the front of the plane and had no one in the third seat, and there were plenty of empty rows towards the back. Uncrowded flights are the best!
The flight went by pretty fast; we barely had time to finish our Sprite and peanuts! I was glad to get in Salt Lake City safely, and even happier to see Mom and Dad waiting for us at the end of the now-familiar walk through the airport. For the first time ever, our suitcases were waiting for us on the carousel when we got there. Despite being pretty tired, I managed to stay in a chatty mood all the way home, and was even hungry enough to eat some leftover chicken pot pie when we got there. It was great to see everyone again and fall asleep in my own bed at last. To top it off, I had a long dream involving characters and scenarios from Fablehaven. Ahhhhhhh!
After the walk, we ate breakfast and Daniel showed Grandma and Grandpa some of his computer science achievements. Then Grandpa took me swimming. It was early in the morning, so I had hopes that the lanes would be long, but nope, they were short as ever. Still, there was a bit of excitement going on. Five or so ladies were doing aerobics in a roped-off area, and they were playing music, which was fun to listen to—especially the Chariots of Fire soundtrack! I think it must be a standard track for aerobics classes, as I’ve heard it more than once in the Orem Fitness Center pool. Anyway, it’s one of my favorite movies and I love the music, so I had no complaints. Actually, I did have a complaint—how was I supposed to swim and listen to the music all at once!?!?
Back at Grandma and Grandpa’s, I ate a sandwich for lunch and packed a sack dinner of sorts—it was a banana, apples, a sandwich for Daniel, crackers, and a few cookies, as I recall—to eat at the airport. Then I went upstairs and packed, cleaned up the room a bit, and just sat in the living room and talked with Gma and Gpa until the Hughes came to pick us up. We said good-bye and drove away.
The drive to the airport was all too short, and soon we were checking in our luggage, then hugging Aunt Shelly, Uncle Billy, and Andy good-bye, and then we were going through security, and then—poof! We were stuck in the Nashville airport for a boring 2-hour wait before our flight. I read my scriptures and started Fablehaven 4 and somehow the time passed. The flight was long but not too uncomfortable. We got a lot of interesting and varied snacks—animal crackers, cheese crackers, oreo crackers, and peanuts—and two rounds of drinks—extravagant for Southwest, really. There was also a cute guy on the plane who offered to help me put my suitcase up in the overhead bin and passed me in line at the bathroom, but—errmmmm, *blush*—that’s a bit of a tangent.
In Phoenix, we ate our food and I got on the Internet in the exact same spot as the last time we were in Phoenix, and the time went by fast. I was surprised by how suddenly it got dark outside. There was some confusion about our gate—it changed about 30 min before departure time—and it was about 8:35 pm by the time our plane started moving (we were supposed to leave at 8). However, the airplane wasn’t crowded at all. We sat towards the front of the plane and had no one in the third seat, and there were plenty of empty rows towards the back. Uncrowded flights are the best!
The flight went by pretty fast; we barely had time to finish our Sprite and peanuts! I was glad to get in Salt Lake City safely, and even happier to see Mom and Dad waiting for us at the end of the now-familiar walk through the airport. For the first time ever, our suitcases were waiting for us on the carousel when we got there. Despite being pretty tired, I managed to stay in a chatty mood all the way home, and was even hungry enough to eat some leftover chicken pot pie when we got there. It was great to see everyone again and fall asleep in my own bed at last. To top it off, I had a long dream involving characters and scenarios from Fablehaven. Ahhhhhhh!
The Post that was Thursday
For the record, this is the only day in the vacation that I didn’t really take notes on, so sorry if this post, er, turns out to be a lie or something…
Very very early in the morning, Grandma picked up Aunt Susie and took her to the airport to catch her flight. When I woke up eons later, I went running around the neighborhood for 30 min. It was cool and pretty and I saw a lot of dogs and said “Hi” to random nice Southern people. It was great!
After breakfast, I decided I wanted to go bike riding again, and Aunt Shelly and Daniel decided to come too. We rode through the neighborhood again, and made our way safely down Concord and to River Park. I was feeling a bit cocky since I had gone before on my own, and rode down the big hill on Concord without using the brakes hardly at all. It was super fun, but probably unsafe. The bike ride was mostly fun, but there were one or two instances where Daniel acted in the manner of a jerk.
Afterwards, we splashed in the river again and met a nice guy with an even nicer Labrador dog. It made me miss Yeller…
We biked home and ate lunch at the Hughes, and in a little while Aunt Shelly picked me up to go swimming with her at the rec center. I’m pretty sure I was the only person this vacation to go swimming with Daniel, Joseph, Aunt Susie, and Aunt Shelly! We looked in the locker room for Aunt Susie’s watch, which she had lost somewhere during her stay, but didn’t find it.
After swimming and showering, I’m….not….really…..sure what happened. Anyway, I know that I got to show Grandma and Grandpa and the Hughes my NMWA magazines, and signed two copies for them. I kicked myself for forgetting to show Aunt Susie a copy, but at least maybe someone can take her a copy when or if he or she goes to Mary’s wedding in November. Hmmm….did that sentence make sense?
Back to the day. Dinner was lovely as usual. We had strips of steak with peppers and rice, and the usual array of garden vegetables. There was probably some side dish too, but I’ve forgotten it—aaaarghhh! This will haunt me for the rest of my life!!!! Or at least the next five seconds.
For dessert we had Grandma’s delicious “Laura Bush” cookies. I don’t know why they’re called that either.
After dinner, Julie, Aunt Shelly, Becky, and Daniel went to play tennis. Uncle Bill (who had just come home that day from a trip) took Andy to scouts. I wreaked havoc in the empty house. Just kidding. I actually just fiddled for 20 min. with the DVD player trying to make it play “Secondhand Lions,” another movie recommended by Aunt Susie. The phone rang sometime in the night, and it was Mary! She and I chatted for a little bit, and she tried to help me out with the DVD player, but to no end. It was nice hearing her voice anyway. Finally, Andy and Uncle Bill got home and helped me figure out how to watch the movie. It was a great movie—really sweet and interesting and just fun to watch. It’s about a boy who goes to live with his two old, crazy great-uncles, who are rumored to be very rich and (duh) crazy. I still have no clue why it’s called “Secondhand Lions,” but it’s a great movie anyway.
Julie and Becky said “good-bye” to me before I went home, and I was sad that it was my last night and glad that I had had such a wonderful time. And I was mad because...well, actually I wasn't mad. I just like that it rhymes with "glad" and "sad."
Very very early in the morning, Grandma picked up Aunt Susie and took her to the airport to catch her flight. When I woke up eons later, I went running around the neighborhood for 30 min. It was cool and pretty and I saw a lot of dogs and said “Hi” to random nice Southern people. It was great!
After breakfast, I decided I wanted to go bike riding again, and Aunt Shelly and Daniel decided to come too. We rode through the neighborhood again, and made our way safely down Concord and to River Park. I was feeling a bit cocky since I had gone before on my own, and rode down the big hill on Concord without using the brakes hardly at all. It was super fun, but probably unsafe. The bike ride was mostly fun, but there were one or two instances where Daniel acted in the manner of a jerk.
Afterwards, we splashed in the river again and met a nice guy with an even nicer Labrador dog. It made me miss Yeller…
We biked home and ate lunch at the Hughes, and in a little while Aunt Shelly picked me up to go swimming with her at the rec center. I’m pretty sure I was the only person this vacation to go swimming with Daniel, Joseph, Aunt Susie, and Aunt Shelly! We looked in the locker room for Aunt Susie’s watch, which she had lost somewhere during her stay, but didn’t find it.
After swimming and showering, I’m….not….really…..sure what happened. Anyway, I know that I got to show Grandma and Grandpa and the Hughes my NMWA magazines, and signed two copies for them. I kicked myself for forgetting to show Aunt Susie a copy, but at least maybe someone can take her a copy when or if he or she goes to Mary’s wedding in November. Hmmm….did that sentence make sense?
Back to the day. Dinner was lovely as usual. We had strips of steak with peppers and rice, and the usual array of garden vegetables. There was probably some side dish too, but I’ve forgotten it—aaaarghhh! This will haunt me for the rest of my life!!!! Or at least the next five seconds.
For dessert we had Grandma’s delicious “Laura Bush” cookies. I don’t know why they’re called that either.
After dinner, Julie, Aunt Shelly, Becky, and Daniel went to play tennis. Uncle Bill (who had just come home that day from a trip) took Andy to scouts. I wreaked havoc in the empty house. Just kidding. I actually just fiddled for 20 min. with the DVD player trying to make it play “Secondhand Lions,” another movie recommended by Aunt Susie. The phone rang sometime in the night, and it was Mary! She and I chatted for a little bit, and she tried to help me out with the DVD player, but to no end. It was nice hearing her voice anyway. Finally, Andy and Uncle Bill got home and helped me figure out how to watch the movie. It was a great movie—really sweet and interesting and just fun to watch. It’s about a boy who goes to live with his two old, crazy great-uncles, who are rumored to be very rich and (duh) crazy. I still have no clue why it’s called “Secondhand Lions,” but it’s a great movie anyway.
Julie and Becky said “good-bye” to me before I went home, and I was sad that it was my last night and glad that I had had such a wonderful time. And I was mad because...well, actually I wasn't mad. I just like that it rhymes with "glad" and "sad."
Miercoles
I was feeling pretty loose and limber in the morning, so I did some stretches, squats, push-ups, and sit-ups. It was too bad we only got to do yoga once a week with Grandpa; if only the class could have been held another day!
For breakfast, true to my word, I made an omelette for Daniel (and another one for me). I thought it turned out nice and tasty, though Daniel said it was a bit too oily. !@!#!*#)!*@!@!!!!!!!!!@!(*&@(!* WELL! THAT’S THE LAST OMELETTE I EVER MAKE FOR HIM!!@!@!**!*!**!*!&@!^%!
After breakfast, I read my scriptures and played the piano a bit, then went for a solo bike ride while Daniel and Grandpa went golfing. I can’t tell you anything about the golfing, but I do have pictures and videos—enjoy!
Grandpa in action. Take cover!
Well, I can see why it's called the green.
Golfin' guys.
The bike ride was wonderful. I rode my way out of the neighborhood—possibly the first trip where I’ve actually figured out how to get in and out of Brent Mead!—and went up and down a couple of formidable hills on the way. Feeling adventurous, I rode along the sidewalk on Concord (the big bad busy street) to River Park and retraced our trip from the previous two bike-riding days. And I loooooved it! The weather was perfect, I wasn’t ever really lost, and got to visit all the places I remembered from the last two trips. At the old school house (where we joked Uncle Bill went as a kid), I stopped and went to look inside. I saw some papers on a board and an old picture of George Washington, and the door had a lock on it, so I wondered if it was still occupied. The outhouse was torn up and empty, however, and there wasn’t any bell outside. The scene was very cute and quaint, and reminded me of Christy. About halfway through, I decided to nickname Becky’s bike “Hwin,” since I’ve always liked comparing my bikes to horses and since it seemed like fast and feminine, and since it had “Schwinn” on the side. Hopefully Becky doesn’t mind. After finishing my ride, I stopped in the river for about 10 minutes or so to splash around, skip a rock or two, and soak my bug-bitten legs in the water.
I had to ride up a steep hill to get back to Brent Mead, but I used the sidewalk and traffic lights and didn’t have any trouble with cars. A woman in a car stopped me just as I was turning into Brent Mead and asked if I lived there (stupidly, I said yes), and if I knew if there was a Senior Center. I was pretty sure there wasn’t one inside of Brent Mead and said so, but really couldn’t help her and wished I hadn’t said anything and that she had consulted the Internet first and that she would go away instead of just sitting there in her car waiting for me to say something else. Finally, she drove away into Brent Mead anyway, and I rode home.
I ate lunch at the Hughes. It was, as I perfectly recall nearly a week later, a delicious sourdough turkey/mustard/tomato/cheese sandwich with broccoli and carrots. Ha! Just kidding. I wrote that down last week.
After lunch, I went home and showered, then slept/read until it was time to go to Baskin Robbins for an ice cream outing. Hooray!!!!!!!! I remember this being a tradition of sorts whenever Grandma and Grandpa used to visit us in Georgia, and I still have fond memories of the Baskin Robbins there. I was planning to get my usual favorite, strawberry, but on a whim got a delicious looking chocolate cone that Becky was also having. It claimed to be world-class something or other, and I’m not sure that wasn’t a lie (insert *wink* at Grandpa), but it was quite good. After our ice cream was gone (and it was all too soon…), we went home and I got Grandpa to take me swimming again at the rec center. Anyone keeping track of how many times I’ve been so far? Oh well, it was fun as usual, even though the water is rather salty and the lifeguards always look bored stiff. I’m putting the butterfly stroke into my repertoire and enjoy making myself tired doing it, although I still feel not very good at it.
After I swam either 59 or 61 times across the pool and Grandpa finished 3 puzzles, I got out and we drove home. At my request, Grandpa told me what Dad was like at my age, and told the story of Dad’s college years less favorably than I had heard it before; however, I was glad to get Grandpa’s perspective. Dad himself would be the first one to tell me he isn’t perfect—although I don’t want to believe it—and I still am proud of him for all the accomplishments he has made, and more important, the father he has been. Life isn’t easy, and the people in my family are hard workers and survivors.
At home, I took a quick shower and we all went out for Mexican food at a place called Las Palmas. I’m not a huge fan of Mexican food, and I had no idea really what I was ordering, but I did like the enchiladas and the beans and rice. Grandma and Grandpa both let me have some of their dishes when I couldn’t finish my own meat-packed burrito. We also had lots of water, tortilla chips, and hot/drippy salsa. Olé!
For breakfast, true to my word, I made an omelette for Daniel (and another one for me). I thought it turned out nice and tasty, though Daniel said it was a bit too oily. !@!#!*#)!*@!@!!!!!!!!!@!(*&@(!* WELL! THAT’S THE LAST OMELETTE I EVER MAKE FOR HIM!!@!@!**!*!**!*!&@!^%!
After breakfast, I read my scriptures and played the piano a bit, then went for a solo bike ride while Daniel and Grandpa went golfing. I can’t tell you anything about the golfing, but I do have pictures and videos—enjoy!
Grandpa in action. Take cover!
Well, I can see why it's called the green.
Golfin' guys.The bike ride was wonderful. I rode my way out of the neighborhood—possibly the first trip where I’ve actually figured out how to get in and out of Brent Mead!—and went up and down a couple of formidable hills on the way. Feeling adventurous, I rode along the sidewalk on Concord (the big bad busy street) to River Park and retraced our trip from the previous two bike-riding days. And I loooooved it! The weather was perfect, I wasn’t ever really lost, and got to visit all the places I remembered from the last two trips. At the old school house (where we joked Uncle Bill went as a kid), I stopped and went to look inside. I saw some papers on a board and an old picture of George Washington, and the door had a lock on it, so I wondered if it was still occupied. The outhouse was torn up and empty, however, and there wasn’t any bell outside. The scene was very cute and quaint, and reminded me of Christy. About halfway through, I decided to nickname Becky’s bike “Hwin,” since I’ve always liked comparing my bikes to horses and since it seemed like fast and feminine, and since it had “Schwinn” on the side. Hopefully Becky doesn’t mind. After finishing my ride, I stopped in the river for about 10 minutes or so to splash around, skip a rock or two, and soak my bug-bitten legs in the water.
I had to ride up a steep hill to get back to Brent Mead, but I used the sidewalk and traffic lights and didn’t have any trouble with cars. A woman in a car stopped me just as I was turning into Brent Mead and asked if I lived there (stupidly, I said yes), and if I knew if there was a Senior Center. I was pretty sure there wasn’t one inside of Brent Mead and said so, but really couldn’t help her and wished I hadn’t said anything and that she had consulted the Internet first and that she would go away instead of just sitting there in her car waiting for me to say something else. Finally, she drove away into Brent Mead anyway, and I rode home.
I ate lunch at the Hughes. It was, as I perfectly recall nearly a week later, a delicious sourdough turkey/mustard/tomato/cheese sandwich with broccoli and carrots. Ha! Just kidding. I wrote that down last week.
After lunch, I went home and showered, then slept/read until it was time to go to Baskin Robbins for an ice cream outing. Hooray!!!!!!!! I remember this being a tradition of sorts whenever Grandma and Grandpa used to visit us in Georgia, and I still have fond memories of the Baskin Robbins there. I was planning to get my usual favorite, strawberry, but on a whim got a delicious looking chocolate cone that Becky was also having. It claimed to be world-class something or other, and I’m not sure that wasn’t a lie (insert *wink* at Grandpa), but it was quite good. After our ice cream was gone (and it was all too soon…), we went home and I got Grandpa to take me swimming again at the rec center. Anyone keeping track of how many times I’ve been so far? Oh well, it was fun as usual, even though the water is rather salty and the lifeguards always look bored stiff. I’m putting the butterfly stroke into my repertoire and enjoy making myself tired doing it, although I still feel not very good at it.
After I swam either 59 or 61 times across the pool and Grandpa finished 3 puzzles, I got out and we drove home. At my request, Grandpa told me what Dad was like at my age, and told the story of Dad’s college years less favorably than I had heard it before; however, I was glad to get Grandpa’s perspective. Dad himself would be the first one to tell me he isn’t perfect—although I don’t want to believe it—and I still am proud of him for all the accomplishments he has made, and more important, the father he has been. Life isn’t easy, and the people in my family are hard workers and survivors.
At home, I took a quick shower and we all went out for Mexican food at a place called Las Palmas. I’m not a huge fan of Mexican food, and I had no idea really what I was ordering, but I did like the enchiladas and the beans and rice. Grandma and Grandpa both let me have some of their dishes when I couldn’t finish my own meat-packed burrito. We also had lots of water, tortilla chips, and hot/drippy salsa. Olé!
Andy on his best manners.
Becky and Daniel.
My name is Ruth and I will be your...photographer!
After dinner, we went home and I did some reading in my room for a bit before going over to the Hughes to use Aunt Shelly’s computer while the others played badminton outdoors. Aunt Shelly and Becky came home from a church meeting a little later, and we watched a movie recommended by Aunt Susie called “Waking Ned Devine.” It was an entertaining if rather shocking comedy about a tiny Irish village and two old men who try to claim the lottery on behalf of another old man in the village who had the winning ticket and died of shock when he saw it. It was comic and silly and improbable, but still fun, and it had Susan Lynch, who I think is one of the most beautiful actresses ever (she plays Rebecca in Ivanhoe). And skinny old men acting silly and speaking in Irish accents is just so cute.
Once upon a Tuesday - Pictures!
Here are the monkeys from the zoo... oh wait, that's the next picture. Hmmm... I was positive....
I have a movie that shows how NOISY these guys were, but Blogger isn't letting me load it up. Sorry.
Fancy signage!
The little-known spraying plastic turtle.
Hmmm...Ruth and a carousel... does this look familiar?
Apparently there's something about elephants that guys find fascinating...
Ha ha! There isn't really an elephant in this direction! Made you look!
And here's "The Elephant Man."
Were there really two giraffes?
We went inside this bird place where you could buy birdseed and attempt to coax birds to come land (and potentially poop) on you. We all passed on the buying birdseed bit, but Andy still tried the coaxing.
A creative fountain.
A one-horned farm goat.
Andy in the cool garden by the farm.
Never did figure out what this animal was...
The jungle gym. It really was as big as it looks.
Don't feed the snakes, now.
Sillies.
A trap they use for catching Andys.
If you are sinking in quicksand, climb on a crocodile.
The peephole where we watched the meerkats.
Squint and maybe you can see the tigers back there.
Andy looked a crocodile in the eye and lived to tell the tale!
Feed the fish....tuppence a bag?
It's....COSMO?
Bats. Not in the belfry. It was actually a lot darker here than it looks in the picture.Once upon a Tuesday
Joseph and Kirsti left very early in the morning, and I woke up early enough to say good-bye and hug Edward again and take a few pictures. Then I went back to sleep and slept forever – i.e. until 7:35. Finally, I got up and made myself an omelette for breakfast, the first time ever! It had pepper, ham, cheese, eggs (duh), oregano, salt, more pepper, avocado, onion, and did I mention pepper? Anyway, it turned out pretty well. Daniel was disappointed I hadn’t made him one. Ha! Anyway, cause I’m such a great sister I promised to make him one on Wednesday.
After breakfast, the adventurers – namely, Aunt Susie, Andy, Grandpa, Daniel and I – went to the Nashville Zoo. There we enjoyed seeing monkeys screeching, a giant anteater, a cougar posing, a meerkat peephole, elephants throwing mud, bats flying in the dark, small crocodiles from up close, and a jungle gym with fun ropes to navigate.
A little over halfway through, we stopped to eat honey/peanut butter sandwiches, but I had lost my appetite somewhere, and didn’t want any. I ate lunch at home, took a nap, and then went swimming with Aunt Susie at the fitness center. Grandpa, once again, took his puzzle and assured us he didn’t mind driving us there, and that it did his reputation good “to be seen with beautiful women.” 100 flattery points for Gpa!
After the swim, which was fun and uncrowded as usual, we showered and went to Aunt Shelly’s for dinner. We had a favorite dish which I recalled from last year – tomato pie! – along with green beans, squash, corn, and my favorite – ice cream – for dessert. Grandpa decided to educate everyone about manners, and offered instructions about elbows, letting certain people of a certain age and gender go in line for food first, and asking to be excused. I enjoyed the challenge of being on my best behavior and recalling the old-fashioned Southern way of being polite. The aunts discussed how Grandpa used to whack them to correct their manners as kids. (REALLY!!!!!?!?!??!!!!!!!) It seemed that Daniel and Andy were the worst offenders, though this could just be because the girls were more subtle.
After dinner, Andy and Daniel played croquet and badminton while the girls talked and then played a card game called Oh Heck, which turned out to be the same thing as Nerds from the Barlow Center, but more complicated since you weren’t divided into partners. We played to get 100 points, then a few more games, and I think either Julie or Becky was declared the winner, though I’m proud to say I came in ahead of both the grown-ups J. Now if only I can learn to shuffle the card deck properly… Seriously, Aunt Susie was doing a better job than me, and she only has one hand!
Back at Grandma and Grandpa’s I read some old Reader’s Digests before falling asleep. I didn’t want to start/finish the fourth Fablehaven book too fast—not before the airplane trip, anyway. I had some trouble getting to sleep, due to my itchy legs, but once I made it, slept soundly. There was a thunderstorm that night with lots of blue lightning and heavy rain. It was pretty exciting, and all too short. I loved seeing the blue flashes and remembering the thrill of being scared by a storm as well as excited. I miss Georgia!
After breakfast, the adventurers – namely, Aunt Susie, Andy, Grandpa, Daniel and I – went to the Nashville Zoo. There we enjoyed seeing monkeys screeching, a giant anteater, a cougar posing, a meerkat peephole, elephants throwing mud, bats flying in the dark, small crocodiles from up close, and a jungle gym with fun ropes to navigate.
A little over halfway through, we stopped to eat honey/peanut butter sandwiches, but I had lost my appetite somewhere, and didn’t want any. I ate lunch at home, took a nap, and then went swimming with Aunt Susie at the fitness center. Grandpa, once again, took his puzzle and assured us he didn’t mind driving us there, and that it did his reputation good “to be seen with beautiful women.” 100 flattery points for Gpa!
After the swim, which was fun and uncrowded as usual, we showered and went to Aunt Shelly’s for dinner. We had a favorite dish which I recalled from last year – tomato pie! – along with green beans, squash, corn, and my favorite – ice cream – for dessert. Grandpa decided to educate everyone about manners, and offered instructions about elbows, letting certain people of a certain age and gender go in line for food first, and asking to be excused. I enjoyed the challenge of being on my best behavior and recalling the old-fashioned Southern way of being polite. The aunts discussed how Grandpa used to whack them to correct their manners as kids. (REALLY!!!!!?!?!??!!!!!!!) It seemed that Daniel and Andy were the worst offenders, though this could just be because the girls were more subtle.
After dinner, Andy and Daniel played croquet and badminton while the girls talked and then played a card game called Oh Heck, which turned out to be the same thing as Nerds from the Barlow Center, but more complicated since you weren’t divided into partners. We played to get 100 points, then a few more games, and I think either Julie or Becky was declared the winner, though I’m proud to say I came in ahead of both the grown-ups J. Now if only I can learn to shuffle the card deck properly… Seriously, Aunt Susie was doing a better job than me, and she only has one hand!
Back at Grandma and Grandpa’s I read some old Reader’s Digests before falling asleep. I didn’t want to start/finish the fourth Fablehaven book too fast—not before the airplane trip, anyway. I had some trouble getting to sleep, due to my itchy legs, but once I made it, slept soundly. There was a thunderstorm that night with lots of blue lightning and heavy rain. It was pretty exciting, and all too short. I loved seeing the blue flashes and remembering the thrill of being scared by a storm as well as excited. I miss Georgia!
It Happened Last Monday - Pictures!
Horses at the Hermitage! The white one is Andrew and the dark one is Jackson...ha ha.
Edward and the famous brick table.
Which pair resembles the Jacksons more - this?
Or this?
Edward pretending to be a slave harvesting...grass.
Tsk, tsk, that Joseph and Daniel, listening to their rap music... oh wait, it's the audio tour.
Grandpa and Aunt Susie can smile and listen at the same time!
Here's the House. Love the trees.
It's an information board just Edward's size!
That's me and my big - snicker, snicker - brother.
Edward was sure he saw a white rabbit go down the hole, but being a boy, he was too distracted by the dirt to go chasing after it.
These paths were made for walkin...and runnin....
...and dancin'!
Grandpa. Doesn't he look like he could be the gardener?
Look how beautiful they are! I mean, it is! I mean, the picture!
Here Joseph is being so kind as to look at me instead of the mansion of Andrew Jackson behind him.
Two bees stung me while I was trying to take this picture of Kirsti in front of Rachel's tomb.
Ruth (right; alive) and Rachel (left; under the ground; dead).
Family of Floofs.
Video: The Meanderings of Edward.
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