I’ve been looking at conferences and journals to submit to for a little while. This would really help with trying to get into a Ph.D. program.
I submitted an abstract on Oprah’s Book Club miscontruing Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying to the Midwest MLA. I figured that it was a long shot, especially since the conference has MLA in the title, but oh well.
Today I found out that I got accepted!!!! Stooooked! So, I’ll be going to Minneapolis, MN in November. I get to go to the conference and visit my family too!
Wait…. Now I have to read in front of people. I’m so bad at that.
The weather is feeling more like spring and the air smells floral as everything is blooming. In between the rainfall and thunder storms this weekend, we threw a tennis ball around for Abed-nego by an open area at our apartment. No one was around, so we figured that it’d be an okay place to take him off of his leash. I hope that we don’t get in trouble for that…. Either way, Abed-nego clearly enjoyed it. Sometimes I really wish that we had a backyard for him.
I interlibrary loaned about a million books to begin my thesis research that I need to complete over the summer. By a million, I mean five. I requested the book below, but I am considering just buying it from Barnes and Noble this weekend since Chris has a 25% off coupon.
There are about ten other books that I need to interlibrary loan, but I don’t want to have them all due back at once and feel overwhelmed. I get way too excited about researching and writing papers. It is strange.
We’ve been reading Virginia Woolf’s The Waves in class. When it comes down to it, I really am a Modernist.
Published at April 14, 2008
in Blabber.
Pardon the multiple posts in one day, but I’d like to call everyone’s attention to ratemyprofessor.com.
I made it on and even got a tamale! Haha!
Also, both of my sections for the fall are filled up.
This might just be due to the fact that I have sections three and four, which are higher on the list.
I like to think otherwise.
Anyway, here’s a screen cap….
Does this mean I get a raise?
Published at April 14, 2008
in Blabber.
I call this installment “My Hip Students.”
Kt: You should remember this from Monday’s lecture….
Student 1: Monday, Monday, Monday.
Kt: Yes, like Tegan and Sarah.
Student 2: What are you talking about?
Kt: You know, the band Tegan and Sarah. They sang a song that went, “Monday, Monday, Monday.”
Student 1: Uhh. I don’t know what you’re talking about. They must have been from the 70’s or 90’s or something.
Kt: They were so 2005.
Published at April 13, 2008
in Blabber.
Kt: Guns are scary things to see.
Chris: That sounds like the intro to one of your student’s papers.
The weather was perfect today for going for a walk.
And Abed-nego was glad to be able to swim in the creek again.
More photos on flickr.
Kimmy brought this book to my attention.
It explores some super natural and New Age elements of Oprah’s beliefs and then connects them somehow to Barack Obama. I really don’t understand how other than the fact that Oprah likes Obama. I figured that I’d read the excerpts on Obama to see if they have anything at all creditable to say.
Here are their claims and my responses:
Obama is good at marketing.
Well, duhhzzz! He is in a campaign, you know?
At least five people have fainted at his rallies.
Lots of people in a space for a long period of time + probably hungry from waiting for a long time in line to see Obama + locked knees = fainting. The book didn’t quite suggest that it was something super natural, but what else is the author trying to say?
My favorite…. Obama is a cult leader because his followers wear pop art tee-shirts with his face on them very similar to Andy Warhol.
And your point is? Obama has a lot of young supporters who are hip and have style and order all their clothes from Urban Outfitters. Does that make him a cult leader? No! This is the worst argument I have ever read, and I read at least 160 freshmen argumentative papers a year. I’ve heard some dumb claims.
This book is all about opening one’s eyes. They need to open their own and get off of this fear mongering bandwagon. It is all good, all right? Chillax.
Published at April 7, 2008
in Blabber.
A house down the street from our apartment has a big sign out that reads, “FREE Maine Coon Cats.” I am animal person and have been harboring a burning desire for a kitten for some time. I know, I know. There is no way in the world that I need another pet. A dog and a rabbit are plenty. You know things are getting a little out of hand when you have more pets than people living in your home. Plus, we have no where to put a litter box.
Anyway, I googled “Maine Coon Cats” out of curiosity (ha!). I was hoping to find that it is a raccoon-cat hybrid, but instead I realized that this kitty is not for me. They’re huge!
FACT: the longest recorded Maine Coon Cat reached four feet in length.
So, if anyone out there wants a lion, I can get you one for free.
This week has been perhaps one of the most dangerous weeks of all time. By that I mean that everything feels fragile, like it could break at any second. The end of the semester is in sight. This thought is not very comforting. It means that I have a lot of work to do in short amount of time and also some decisions to make. Well, I wish that I had more decisions to make and more options to choose from.
Thursday was the last day that There Will Be Blood played at the dollar theater. Luckily, Dr. Yaw had to cancel our night class so Chris and I were able to see it. It wasn’t exactly my kind of movie, you know, but it was excellent for what it was. I liked how the music offered a commentary. The things that were occurring would have been good and profitable, but the music set a more menacing tone. Man, Eli creeped me out. The whole time, he looked so familiar. Then I realized why I recognized it. Little Miss Sunshine! Duhhhzz. It is amazing how he could change from one role to the next in just a year.
From There Will Be Blood
From Little Miss Sunshine
Published at April 2, 2008
in Blabber.
My dog Crystal died today. She was going to turn 17 this month.
We got Crystal when I was five years old. Chelse and I got her for our birthdays from my grandparents, my uncle Harvey, and my aunt Wanda. For some reason, I really liked the name “Rose” when I was a kid, but I knew Chelse liked the name “Crystal,” so I suggested that. We brought her home, and taught her to go upstairs. She picked it up right away. I remember her taking a nap in my baby doll crib, and I kept begging my parents to let me sleep in the crib with her, but I was too big, of course.
In second grade, I brought her to school for a pet show-and-tell. She won the “cutest pet” award. She then ate her ribbon later and I got really mad.
Crystal had been on the decline for over a year. She’s had weird growths for years and one on her chest had been getting very large. She would have coughing fits that continually been increasing over the past six months or so and had become more and more anti-social. These coughing fits turned from a weekly occurrence to multiple times a day and probably had to do with growth on her chest. Well, she began coughing up blood as well. So, today was the day.
Juno and There Will Be Blood are both at the dollar theater!
I was almost disappointed when I saw that these movies finally came to the dollar theater because then it’d be a little silly to see them with Netflix. Then I remembered that it is enjoyable to see movies at the theater too–especially when it only costs a buck. We saw Juno on Saturday. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I don’t recall ever seeing a teen pregnancy movie where the baby is given up for adoption that doesn’t end horribly in a fit of jealousy and regret. I hope to see There Will Be Blood this weekend since everyone just loved it.
In other news, I registered for class for the fall. My semester will look something like this:
Dante
Old English
Thesis Research on Vonnegut
(apocalypse due to attempting to gain influence through science/technology, religion, and social power)
