My research these days includes text mining, characterization through verbs, characterization through reference, the creation of personal identity through reference, and the concept of a nation in the Anglo-Saxon period. It gets frustrating, because there's so much to do, and so much I want to do, and very little time to do it in. I would love to be able to spend a few hours a day in library for research, but I just can't afford the time. Oh yes, along with everything else, I'm trying to translate Wulfstan's Sermon of the Wolf in my "spare" time. Just one more thing I want to do but don't really have the time for. I've pretty well made up my mind that I'm not going to be able to do my own personal reading this semester -- I'm doing well if I can finish my reading assignments for my classes every week.
In the meantime, though, I'm really enjoying my classes this semester. Scholarly Writing is turning out to be very useful; it reminds me of how much I love writing, and of how much more I should be doing to write well. Medieval Literature is also interesting -- even if it does require a lot more reading than I can usually cover in one week. We just finished reading Bede's Ecclesiastical History, and are now about to start on Asser's Life of Alfred. Reading Bede has given me a whole new perspective on the early Christian church in Western Europe. I have a new respect for the men and women who were involved in church affairs.
I recently bought several three-ring binders so that I can organize all the papers I have. There's a whole binder just for Haj and the handouts I get every time I talk to him. And I've got a rainbow array of binders for all the articles I copy in my research. They're pretty empty for the time being, but I expect to fill them most of the way before the end of this semester.
Hmm ... So I really didn't intend for this to turn into a rant about how much I have to do this semester. It's just that that's what I think about these days. Here's something else for you --
I found out the other day that Muse is supposed to be coming to the US on tour this spring, supporting My Chemical Romance in their Black Parade tour. (And a lot of fans are really ticked about that; they hate MCR, most of them, can't believe that Muse have to be a support band for anyone else, and many are upset about them getting "more exposure" in the States -- since that makes it harder to see them here -- and playing such large venues.) Assuming this is true, they should be playing in San Antonio and Houston, as well as Dallas for the Edgefest concert. However, I can't find any confirmed information about any of this. When I found out the other day, I just about hyperventilated, trying to figure out how to get tickets. I finally asked NM, since she and her man frequently attend concerts like this, and I thought she'd have a better idea. Neither she nor her man could find anything more concrete than what I had. But, she did mention that her man is quite good at getting scalped tickets for a really good price (say, 1/4 of the regular price), so if we find out that they really are coming, she suggested that we just go and let him do his thing to get us in. That thought has me grinning foolishly even now.
Oh, and along with everything else I'm doing, I've been working on converting my protected music files so that they're just plain old MP3s. Sometimes that's quite fun, others it's just tedious.
The last quote was from "Short Skirt, Long Jacket" by Cake. Congrats to Erin.
So much time, so little to do. (Pause.) Strike that -- reverse it. (42 points)
4 comments:
That's from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, isn't it? Personally, I can't stand that film, but it does have a few good lines. :P
I need to e-mail you with my idea of PhD research. Since you're, you know, doing PhD research (and in the English department, no less!) you might be able to tell me whether it's good enough or not. :P Dr. Mason seemed kind of enthusiastic about it when I mentioned it to him, but as it was a job interview with another person, we didn't get very far. :P
Congrats on being so busy, and yet productive. Maybe I'll make it to that blissful state one of these days. :P
Isn't that Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka? It's been years since I've seen that so I'm not sure.
That is also one of the best stories I've ever heard. Thank you for sharing it. And good luck with scrunching everything you want to do into the time you have to do it in. :)
Oh, I'm all over this one too! I love it when you hit these runs of stuff I know! Ok, here's one of my favorites from that movie... "Violet! You're turning violet, Violet!"
BTW- Lo is on her six thousandth reading of Twilight/New Moon. She is doing a book report on them and pretending that is the reason she hasn't put the books down since December (there was a brief interlude with the Princess Diaries books, but since they aren't nearly as good as the movies that couldn't last). I mention this because it reminds me of our last months together, and it makes me happy. :)
Love, Erin (who still can't remember her blogger log in info)
Ah, the cell phone "angler".
http://nottoopensive.blogspot.com/2006/10/angler.html
Good times, good times.
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