I'm money - or gold...

Because everyone knows I love to avoid grading. Especially big piles of it.









I guess it's good that I have a set of ethics and no desire to be dictator of the world. Because, obviously, I could do it. If I so chose. Right. Onto other musings - it is waaaay too warm to be late November. Seriously.

I will be a non-married person for only one more month - which is super exciting but also sort of odd - some of my friends here tease me that being married will make me old, which is ridiculous. But I am really just super super excited!

I consume popular culture afterall

When I returned home I happily found my mail waiting for me - one of the pieces was a bit I had ordered awhile ago, which included the Soda Stereo Unplugged CD. Let me tell you, it's just as great as I had hoped it would be. What would make me happy would be if Soda had a reunion concert, and I could go to it. That would be just fantastic. Unfortunately that will probably never happen - but I can wish, right??

As to my pop culture consumption, which in terms of the US is abysmally low (I watched CSI for the first time last week - fun!)... I have seen the new James Bond movie. Now, I admit that I was skeptical and that it was my brother's idea to go see it - I wanted (and still would like) to see The Queen. But I love the new James Bond, and Casino Royale as a film, as well. I like the action sequences a lot (the Parkour at the beginning was cool) and I tend to like darker movies. And I finally at long last can see Bond as a ladykiller. FX conveniently had on all sorts of the old Bond films so I was reminded of how not convinced I was. The closest to convinced I might get would be a younger Sean Connery, but even then I'm not terribly convinced. On the other hand, Daniel Craig, you are an excellent James Bond. You've got the ladykiller part down, you're a cold and ruthless killer, and you play well off the other actors... I'd even go see the film again. I might even venture to get it on DVD. And I'll happily look forward to the next Bond film.

So now Steve in Coupling might have to revise his definition of being a "bloke" - instead of preferring Sean Connery as the best James Bond, he might have to allow some preferences for the new aesthetic. :-)

PS: I can't believe I just wrote a post about James Bond. That should say it all.

Black Friday

Happy belated Thanksgiving to those few who read this.

Grandma having passed away certainly put a cramp in the holidays.

The plans were to do lots of wedding stuff... most of which has not been done. Some of it has - but not nearly as much as I wanted to, and I feel like I haven't been here hardly at all. Perhaps that is due to the fact that the first two days of my *vacation* were spent driving the 7 hours to the memorial service and the 7 hours back, which was really just exhausting.

Despite that frustration... and many other little frustrations (I am so used to not living with my siblings, though I really love them lots)... it has been a pleasant and even almost relaxing time. I don't know why I brought all those books with me - wait, yes I do. I'm obsessive. But I haven't looked at most of them the whole trip. And tomorrow I get to try to pack it all back in again for the really really long trip back to my house.

PS I was all about FX's That 70's Show marathon. Best. Show. Ever.

1910 - 2006

My grandmother died today.

Though it sounds callous, I am at the point where I would just say, God was merciful.

She hasn't known who any of us are for ages, she hasn't really been Grandma for nearly a decade. I fear that there will be fighting now that she's gone, and there have been some (major) disagreements about her care. I also feel somewhat guilty because I never really liked Grandma. I thought she was a mean and bitter old woman who liked someone other than me best. I have three happy memories of her:

1. She would garden peacefully while us kids ran around her backyard.
2. She used to stand at the kitchen sink at our house pitting cherries that we had picked from our cherry tree.
3. Sweets at her house. She made wonderful cookies that were always at a level in the pantry that we could reach. Also, we would always get ice cream at her house - vanilla ice cream with Hershey's syrup from a tin, and we got to use special gold ice cream spoons. I lost my first tooth while eating that ice cream.

Other than that, I really just have impressions of her. She always had the same hairstyle that I swear no one else has used since the 40's. My time at her house I remember more for hanging out with my siblings and cousin than for hanging out with her. I remember horrible things she said, like a woman can't be a doctor because she would be taking a job away from a man. I can't even remember what her voice sounded like, and I regret that.

All of my grandparents have gone from me, now. My paternal grandfather has been gone almost 17 years, my maternal grandmother 13, my maternal grandfather 5, and now my paternal grandmother is gone, too. I'm not quite sure how to mourn her, since she has been effectively dead for years - what has been an affective and emotional fact for ages is now physical. I'm angry and I'm sad, and I feel guilty for not having liked her better. I dread having to get the family together and the problems that will ensue. But for now, I am just going to remember that she hasn't really been Grandma for years, and that God finally thought it was time.

Books and more books

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I love to read, and anyone who is either A. family or best friend or B. knew me before college knows that I have had a long love affair with fantasy and s/f writing. So, it caught my eye when the Science Fiction Book Club puts up a list of "Most Significant" Books of the past 50 years. Well, I know that I avoid certain types of books (or just Harlan Ellison for being a boor) and I have an affinity for things written by women... but anyways. I'm bolding that which I HAVE read.

The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
Dune, Frank Herbert
Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
Neuromancer, William Gibson
Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
Cities in Flight, James Blish
The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
Gateway, Frederik Pohl
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
Little, Big, John Crowley
Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
On the Beach, Nevil Shute
Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
Ringworld, Larry Niven
Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks I feel like I read it but I'm not sure.
Timescape, Gregory Benford
To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

Given that this list only has 6 books written by women on it... well yeah. I always find it interesting that a genre that I have always considered very non-academic for me - it's my fun reading, along with the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, and Thomas Hardy - is so, well, canonized. And who gets to decide the canon? Because my canon would be very different - I imagine all individuals might have their own idea of what the canon should be.

Last weekend I was driving a car of middle school girls and I nearly missed the exit because I got so excited - because they were talking about books! My best friend in middle school and I definitely connected about books - especially about scifi and fantasy. When we no longer lived in the same place, most of our correspondence was writing stories about characters we had created together and sending it to eachother. I was thrilled to hear the girls talking about these books - they are reading a lot of the same books I read when I was their age - and to be able to participate in the conversation and even suggest some new books to look into. Ah, reading. It's really great.

one word

You can only type one word. No explanations.

1. Yourself:

loving

2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend.....

almost-married

3. Your hair?

color?

4. Your mother?:

awesome

5. Your Father:

sweet

6. Your Favorite Item:

rings

7. Your dream last night:

dream?

8. Your Favorite drink:

wine

9. Your Dream Car:

saab

10. The room you are in:

comfy

11. Your Ex:

ex?

12. Your fear:

failing

13. What you want to be in 10 years:

successful

14. Who you hung out with last night?

books

15. What You're Not?

lazy

16. Muffins:

blueberry

17: One of Your Wish List Items:

books!

18: Time:

insufficient

19. The Last Thing You Did:

typed

20. What You Are Wearing:

tshirt

21. Your Favorite Weather:

fal

22. Your Favorite Book:

jausten

23. The Last Thing You Ate:

wine

24. Your Life:

happy

25. Your Mood:

happy

26. Your best friend (s):

amazing

27. What are you thinking about right now?

water

28. Your car:

none

29. What are you doing at the moment?

chatting

30. Your summer:

workign

31. Your relationship status:

fulfilled

32. What is on your tv?

off

33. What is the weather like?

night

34. When is the last time you laughed?

now

I'm still giddy.

As it turns out, my blue balloons were not at all inappropriate. I am so very happy that we have returned to what William Safire called "our renewed two-party nation." Oh, Democrats. Now let's do as much to fix the mess as well and as quickly as possible.

I'm chaperoning the middle school weekend again this year - and it is this weekend. I am excited about it because it is time away and it was a really good experience with the kids last year, but I don't know all the kids going this year - because they are from one of the classes that I don't teach. Either way, it should be interesting. Unfortunately it is supposed to rain on Saturday... I am hoping that it doesn't, but you never know.

PS when I found out Allen conceded, I totally did a hop, skip, and a jump. Literally. It was awesome.

Late night election returns obsessing

Oh elections. I really love democracy. And I love it even more when people I vote for win, which isn't always the case today but on the national scale, things aren't going too badly.

WE WON BACK THE HOUSE! Hello, Speaker Pelosi! You, a woman (gasp!) are third in line to be President. That is all kinds of awesome.

What is also cool right now is that the test of the abortion ban in South Dakota appears to be going the way of saying the ban is too restrictive... while I'm still not going to crow about that one, there is hope!

I'm nervous about TN, MO, and VA. Allen is ahead of Webb by only a few thousand votes... though if Allen wins that will be sad. On the negative side, evidentally this country hates people in committed relationships - because the same sex marriage crap keeps passing, which is depressing. Stem cell research is failing (barely) but on the positive side, MO is poised to raise it's minimum wage and a friend told me that CO is going yes for legalizing marijuana (that surprised me).

But I'll still enjoy my cascade of blue balloons, because now we will have a stronger opposition! Bush won't be able to screw us up as much! Though now the Dems have to figure out what it is they are doing. I'll vote for them, but that doesn't mean that they have their plan all set out.

PS Despite my overall pleasure that the Dems have control of the House, I worry that these new Dems may be too conservative for me too... and I don't know how the gender balance (or lack thereof) is affected by these races - I know some female Republican incumbents have lost their seats, but also some female challengers have won... I'll wait for the dust to settle on that one.

Vote!

Tomorrow, as everyone who doesn't have their head under a rock should know, is election day. I voted a few weeks ago via absentee ballot, but if you are a registered voter, and have not voted absentee (or early? what is that? weird) then be sure to vote tomorrow!!!

And no, three exclamation points is not excessive. Though I worry as much about the security threats and potential disenfranchisement of electronic voting as much as the next person...

Though what is excessive are people not following express directions. That kinda gets on my nerves a lot.

Why I still love school

So today was just awesome.

Since I entered Grad School, I have been exposed to the variety of my field, and while I find it mostly all interesting, I am still pretty much really into what I was really into when I came here. Perhaps I have a bit more knowledge about the larger context, and I have certainly read a lot more, but my interests are pretty much the same.

I still enjoy reading everything - because I enjoy reading, because the history of the text is interesting, because there are all sorts of elements that contribute to what I am interested in, and history, intertextual issues, and connections in general have a lot to do with it. However, at least last year, it was really hard for me to tailor my big projects to my own scholarly tastes. Part of that was due to the fact that I didn't have as clear a focus within my interests as I do now; however, part of it was that I didn't have the materials or ability to make the necessary connections.

This semester is totally different. Both of my big projects relate to my greater interests quite explicitly, and in fact are opening up new approximations to my original interests that I hadn't considered before. I admit, I'm excited about both of them. So. excited. Yes, I'm a big academic dork but I'm OK with that.

Last year, all of the speakers who came gave presentations about things I didn't really have a background in, or a great deal of interst, though I did try. However, today was just awesome. Why, you might ask? Because the speaker who came is working on people I work on, but from a perspective that I hand't considered before. I got to have lunch with this individual before the lecture and it was really fascinating to chat about all of these things that I am really passionate about (academically) with another professional in the field - up to this point, my dorky academic happiness moments have come with one particular grad student who also has interests similar to mine. So you might say that both of us had really exciting and good days. I also loved that the speaker was really interested in what we had to say, which though I admire a lot of my professors, is not always evident in our interactions. I just feel very engaged in the profession right now and I think I have made my first out of department that I have studied in academic contact. Plus, I'm super excited about an article idea. Super excited. Just you all see.

I'm so excited that the cold doesn't even bother me. Awesome!

Happy day

Oh, I love red wine. If anyone serves me white wine... well I just won't drink it. So I do find myself chuckling when I read all of these articles that have come out in the past few weeks about the health benefits of red wine (and white wine, people? See, red is better).

It is also November 1 (as you would note from looking at the date of this entry) and too warm. This is sick. As I was saying to my sister, it really needs to start getting colder. Not because I want to turn on the heat, but because it is just weird that it is warm right now. I want my winter, and I want it now. Though I will probably not say the same thing come February.

For whatever (multiple) reason, I am very happy right now. I feel on top of things, I get to see my family in a few weeks, I'm getting married(!) in less than two months, I feel like I am prepared for next semester, I am reading a book for *fun* (OK not really, there is a lecture about it but it is a book I have read for pleasure in the past), my students make me laugh, and life is good, despite the random warmness.