This is the longest that I have gone without posting an entry :(. Six whole days. I have been incredibly occupied with school. Right now I am pressed with two papers: a two page explanation of what the relationship between romance and marriage was back in the middle ages for Western Civilization and a five page paper on a short fiction story of my choice for English. Both are due on Monday, but the English paper needs just be a rough draft with the final copy due on the following Wednesday session. I haven't really started either one, beyond just thinking about them. I've been trying to get everything else out of the way before I start writing since both professors seemed to suggest that there could be a potential quiz on Monday to ensure that we have complete the accompanying reading assignments - they can't just load you down with a paper it has to be a paper along with 50 or so pages of not-easy reading.
I have selected my short story from the ones that we've covered in class so far. I'll be looking at miscommunication in "Interpreter of Maladies." Lifted directly from my proposal that I submitted on Monday: "I want to show that while language can be a barrier to communication, at some level it is the most insignificant - command of another language can be achieved easily enough, but learning how to interpret another human being requires a more developed skill." I really need to refine that idea a little more in order to get a thesis out of it. My proposal came back to me on Wednesday with, "Good - sounds promising!" written in my professor's script down at the bottom of my typed page. I'm glad he thinks so, right now I'm not so confident. It's my first *real* writing assignment for the class. I've done well on everything up until this point, earning a check plus on each of the four response papers I have had to hand in thus far. That is, except my last one that discussed the short fiction "The Yellow Wallpaper" (see my Sept. 19th entry). When he handed it back the first time I was in between a check and a check plus, but I responded to his comments. He wanted me to engage the text more so I provided him with some quotes that had illustrated for me that the wallpaper was characteristically yellow and that everything else she attributed to it was a product of her own imagination. I am guessing that when I get it back this next time I will see that I have been bumped up to the check plus (maybe not explicitly, but implicitly).
As far as Western Civilization goes, I know what is expected from the writing assignments we are given every-other-week. The first and only one that I have handed in so far came back to me with full credit; 25 out of 25 potential points (see my Sept. 21st entry). That's not bad at all. And I was really terrified over it, too. I'm somewhat worried over this paper because I don't have a lot of time to go around.
I finished up with watching William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" early yesterday morning. I had started it on Wednesday night after arriving home from a late dinner with one of my classmates following our Recitation. Apparently, I at some point passed out snuggled with the iguana on the couch, but at least had the good sense to pause the film when I first started getting drowsy. This movie version came out in 1999 and features the acting talents of Michelle Pfieffer, Kevin Kline, Calista Flockhart, and Rupert Everett. I had never read the play before, but I enjoyed the movie even though I didn't have much time to reflect on what some of the language meant. When I sat down and read it I took the time I needed to do that and the story was a lot clearer to me. I recalled scenes from the film as I read the text and that helped. I enjoyed it so much that went past the first three acts (all that I was expected to have read by Monday for English) to complete all five acts. I was so inspired that I wrote little notes in the margin that slipped in and out of ballad form. It took me until the better part of the afternoon to finish it up and then I moved on to write another response paper for English. This one was a "free" response that can be handed in at anytime and on any topic that we have covered either in the literature portion of out class or the recitation. I was left with a lot of fodder for thought after Wednesday night's recitation lecture on P.O.V. in film so I wrote about that in 600 words or less (only double the requirement of 300). I next moved on to my Music reading assignment, about twenty pages that I had already started into on Wednesday while I was stuck from 4:15 p.m. until 5:55 p.m. waiting for my recitation to begin. I pretty much finished that, I just have listen to a selection each from Haydn and Beethoven. I'm waiting for Andrew to have a few minutes to point to what's going on in the music (we can follow along in the book, but it is not clearly started when interesting things have occurred). Today I have 57 pages of Western Civilization to delve into. I am dividing it up twenty pages a day so I don't jump out the window. I have to finish "reading" the video lecture, I'm presently halfway through. I'd like to have both Saturday and Sunday reserved entirely just for writing my papers. They may not even take me a full day a piece, I don't know, but I have to be prepared for whatever it takes.
If after all of that I have some time to spare I can do even more homework: read some more selections from Mencius (not pressure for getting that done since we are still behind in class) and study for an upcoming exam in Music. Maybe I'll even have time to pop over to the National Book Festival being held in D.C. this weekend. Frank Beilec and Paige Davis from TLC's Trading Spaces are set to be there at noon on Saturday. I really don't want to miss that. I'd really like to know what they'll be doing at a book festival of all events.
Hmmm, I know there were a few other things I wanted to mention in this catch-up entry. Oh yeah, the conversation I had the other night with my English classmate after she brought me to the Metro, I wanted to say something about that. We discussed our math issues. When I explained that I have this math block that prevents me from fully comprehending anything with numbers, it just felt like I was making an excuse for myself and I've never felt that way about it before. I shared with her my deep fear that I will go really far with my education only to be held back from graduating by math. I just felt silly. In that state of mind, she made me consider how I am so confident and good with everything else that there is really no reason why I can't be that way with math. I have decided that I just allow it to intimidate me. I used to let a 3 and 1/2 inch stick containing cancerous substance govern my life, too. I'm over that and I can get over this too. Rar! He he he.
Also - I have been updating the status of my resolutions on the first of each month, but it's not really worth doing for October - not a lot has changed. I managed to find time to color one or two more mandalas last month and I've even started to read Realty Check by Piers Anthony, but I haven't really made a significant dent in it as of yet. I wrote a total of 25 entries on this site last month, which doesn't seem too bad considering all the days I missed uploading anything at all. I visited the < ahref="http://www.ushmm.org/">Holocaust Museum last month. Sadly, that was the only time I could make time to get over to the District. See where my priorities are? It's always about my education and it is always to the detriment of my personal life. I can't wait until I graduate and get a job. I'd give anything to have consistent hours and some pay sure would be nice too. I figure it will take me another two and a half years to finish up, provided I can overcome my math problems. I plan to circumvent sitting through a math class by getting a tutor, working up to where I can test into the class I need to take for my Liberal Arts degree, then work up to clepping out of it. Oh yeah, and I have to pick out a language to study. I'm all divided up about that and I need to make a decision soon. Right now I am applying for a Fulbright Scholarship to do an intense immersion program out of the country. I'm not sure where I want to go. Perhaps Paris or Barcelona, it all depends on which language I pick. I'm eager to exercise my passport that as of yet lays inert with no stamps whatsoever. I really would prefer to visit London for my first trip out of the country, but I'm already pretty adept with English so that won't work. I do think a language program overseas would be an excellent opportunity for me to learn: I would have no other distractions and since it is intensive I can get nearly, if not all of my language credits in just one short semester. I'll have to wait and see what happens with this application.
I just had a cat hop into my lap. Aw, she looked up and kissed me, how cute.
I woke up this morning and to my surprise I had an e-mail from Allison waiting in my inbox. We had met each other through our common work place (Ruby Tuesday in Rosslyn) back in the summer of 2002 before I had started school. We became close friends and she eventually had to leave this area to live in Ohio to be closer to her family. Allison had a lot of things to work out in her life, a lot of changes to adjust to. Shortly before she went Darwin the iguana, then referred to as Princess, came to live with us. Over the time in between when she left and this very moment I've missed her terribly and so has the ig. I'm glad that she visited this webpage and was able to see for herself how her baby has been doing and what she has been through as of late (she is now off all her meds and is doing great). Anyway, I've got to write her back I haven't done so just yet. I also need to get moving on my mountain of homework.