Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Film Studies...It was a good idea at the time.

I am NEVER ever watching a depressing, though provoking, kids-in-danger movie again. Who would have thought that so many critical films of the age would be dark and depressing. Laughter and happiness aren't good enough for critical acclaim.

Ok, we did get to watch some Buster Keaton features and they were enjoyable, and the documentaries on sound and how they did a lot of the effects on LOTR was really cool too. But Touch of Evil? Sunset Boulevard? Dr. Strangelove? and the Bicycle Thieves! I am tired of depressing ending after depressing ending.

 (Sorry if you like any of those, I didn't complain about High Noon because I have an uncle who I am fairly sure loves westerns)

I'm actually fairly certain that I just won't really be watching any movies for a long time after this class gets finished. I have watched 21 feature films in the past 30 days not to mention my philosophy films (and they were just as depressing). No, when I come home it will be books, the pool and just about anything besides watching movies for me.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Almost There!

One more week and then all I have is my Jane Austen class!! I am so excited for all of my finals and such to be done. I only have two this week though I have my first 300 level college paper due and well as sad as this sounds I haven't written a 10 page paper in a really really long time (probably ever) and am not sure how I am supposed to do that on a 2.5 minute scene from a movie.

Thankfully we have Monday off for Memorial Day. All of the students I know are taking it as an academic day rather than a holiday. I think we could call it the summer equivalent of a Reading Day. Oh well, soon enough I will have Tuesdays and Thursdays to myself with only one class that starts at 3 in the afternoon. I can't wait for June to get here!!!

Classes are going smoothly for the most part though. Philosophy is confusing me as it is supposed to, Film Studies is making me hypersensitive to things like lighting and sound -it's getting annoying actually, but our professor said that it will wear off in time- and I absolutely LOVE my Austen class. Getting to come in and talk about Jane Austen and how brilliant of a writer she is for two hours is my idea of a perfect class. There is more to her than chick-flick plots gentlemen! She has a mastery over narrative style that I haven't seen in practically any other writer and is one of the wittiest people who ever lived.

I hope all is going well with you and that you have a happy Memorial Day weekend with your family and friends!!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Apology

Sorry for all the complaints. Life really is good, though I am more apt to complain than not, and well you know that adage that no news is good news? Well I think that's simply because good news is boring. What can I say?

Well I shall try:
First off, I kind of have a front yard now. It's a shared quad with the rest of the apartment but it has a nice place with lawn chairs and a bbq pit. I love it. It is the perfect place to go out (in the few brief intervals between thundershowers) and read while eating popsicles. Because of this spot I am now ivory white rather than egg-shell white and may even have a hint of a tan by the end of the semester.

Secondly, well that's a lot harder to come up with...oh! we had a school activity last night were we all sat on the hill in front of Main Hall and watched MegaMind. It may have been because I was tired but I was laughing the whole time. I found it rather clever.

Oh dear I can't think of a "Thirdly" and if I am bothering with "First off's" and "Secondly's" I really ought to have one. Throws off the whole thing if I don't. I mean what's the point of making a list with only two things on it.

(Can you tell I have been reading a book...a well written one. I generally can - my writing style seems to change with what I read. Thankfully for you it wasn't anything like Chaucer or Milton for if that were the case either my spelling would be atrocious our I would be attempting heroic verse and no one really wants to read that.)

Ok this shall work for something. (And have a shameless plug)
THIRDLY, I got to spend a day of doing nothing but reading one of my favorite books. Oh that is going to come back to haunt me in as quickly as 15 minutes but I did so enjoy it. If you haven't read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society you really, very, really, ever-so-much-so should. If you want my professional review go to my reviewing blog talesfromabookaddict.blogspot.com Here I can just let things flow however.  I love it so much. The writing is witty and dear and there are some characters who I really wish I were real and that I was related to them.

I could go on for pages about that but sadly I haven't the time. I have about 200 pages of real homework that are waiting for me and I am hoping to go to bed within the next 4 hours.

Thanks for reading. I was a bit more rambling today than I normally am.

oh P.S. I want letters so family and friends please write me!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Isn't this Supposed to be Summer?

So...you know that big yellow thing that we are supposed to see in the sky during the day? I think it's called the sun. Well APPARENTLY Virginia did something to offend it because we haven't seen any of it since summer term started. It has been gloomy, rainy, with lightning with the thunder afterward. I am getting tired of it.

At least its just the same back home.

And with this weather it isn't too painful to stay in class for 9 hours a day. Or to study for innumerable hours at night. That's another point. I though summer was supposed to be lazy. I am doing way more work now than I did throughout the regular school year. Lots of reading, papers that are now the standard college length of 8-12 pages all to be done in a month...

Why did I do this to myself? It's like I'm an adult or something.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Take Two...

So if you are reading this you already know who I am, where I am and have at least a basic idea on what I am doing. You also most likely know that I have already had a personal blog before and around November began to fail miserably at keeping it up to date.

That ends here!...maybe...hopefully...probably...

Despite the fact that I am feeling swamped with all of the work which has been assailing me on the school front I am a supreme procrastinator (who has finally gotten bored with Facebook) and will most likely be adding this to my arsenal of delay tactics. 

Thanks for reading my ramblings.

Monday, May 9, 2011

My Eyes are Calling for Surrender.

This summer is going to involve a lot more reading than even I anticipated. Taking 9 college credits in a month really isn't a good idea unless you are reading ready. In less than a week I have read one and a half Austen books, a lot of Plato and Descartes with Kant, Hume and St. Augustine to follow. That doesn't include my text book for my film studies class or all of the texts for my institute classes.

As I only have a month to learn what is usually taught in four I have class every day for 2 hours with at least 1-2 hours of reading out of class for each class. This leaves very little room (or brain power) for free reading. This saddens me greatly because summer is when I usually get caught up, at least somewhat, on my list of things that absolutely have to get read.

I shouldn't be complaining however. I get to read and study Jane Austen this summer. She is, by the criteria set forth by Samuel Johnson (he is THE critic to impress when it comes to the 18th century and as he wrote the dictionary I will trust him) quite possibly the best novelist who ever put their pen to paper.

Now to male readers, she is much much more than a romantic writer. She is a comedian, and can come up with insults to rival Dickens and Shakespeare, all delivered with grace and elegance.  As the course continues I will be adding things I am learning hopefully in an entertaining manner. For now though I need to get back to Descartes.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

MayMester

So for some crazy reason I decided that I would forgo a summer of reading a book of day for fun in order to read a book every day for school. Yes, I have chosen to stick around at school for another 2 months in order to study Jane Austen; deal with the growing humidity for How to Watch a Film; and do battle with ginormous bugs for Philosophy.

Don't ask me why - I really don't know myself.

Despite the growing heat and worse humidity I have a house now, kitchen included. With that kitchen will come weekly batches of cookies for passersby. (The baseball team are probably going to become regulars if today was any indication.) I also hope to be more regular in my updates. My two best friends have left for home and so if this past weekend was any indication I will be pretty bored so with nothing else to do I could quite possibly become one of those blogging addicts. Perhaps I could even get to the reason behind my starting the blog in the first place...that is to do book reviews.

I will leave that for later however, there is a most beautiful thunderstorm starting up and I really want to watch it. May your May be as enjoyable, if not more, so than mine.