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and your eyes say the joke's on me.
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| 30 Days of Sharing: 19 & 20 |
[05 Dec 2009|08:44pm] |
Day 19 → A talent of yours
- I don't know. The three that readily spring to mind: Writing, playing the English handbells and (to steal a joke from Mike Birbiglia) making awkward situations more awkward.
Day 20 → A hobbie of yours
- First of all: It's hobby, not hobbie. Anyway, scrapbooking! I don't have time for it these days, but I love to do it. One of these days I'll have time (like when Allyson is 50 or so).
( The )
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[05 Dec 2009|07:47pm] |
My computer's still out of commission, so I've been spending lots of time at my parents' house using theirs (where I am now.) Sigh! I'm trying not to think about it too much.
(Even though not having the internet at home is driving me nuts, I do think it's good that I'm spending less time on the computer.)
LJ apparently isn't sending me replies to my comments, so *that's* awesome. :P
( Let's talk about White Collar [SPOILERS!] )
On an unrelated note, someone should buy me these Clan ornaments for Christmas. Or split them with me, whatever. WANT.
Enough for now.
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[05 Dec 2009|02:29pm] |
Oh my GOD the semester is almost over. How did that happen? I have a test to go for each class - well, three tests and a takehome essay thingy - and then I'll be done by, I believe, a week from Wednesday. Yesterday, for the first time since September, I chose my own book to read.
I have two tests in a row with nothing but essay questions on Thursday. My hand is gonna fall off. So that should be interesting.
Almost all of my classes have been really great this semester, though, and I'm glad of it; I had a rocky couple of semesters beforehand, but I feel like I've finally settled in at USM and gotten the hang of the place. One of the classes has been a disappointment (Irish Literature and Culture - look, I may not be an expert, but I'm pretty sure that writers in Ireland in the first two-thirds of the twentieth century wrote more than just poetry, okay, and it would have been great to have read some of that too), but the other three (the class on Oscar Wilde I've mentioned a dozen times, Soc 101, and Word Wars I and II) have been really interesting and enjoyable. I've learned a lot, more than I have since maybe my second semester at SMCC a couple years ago. It isn't the first time I've taken a Soc class, but it is the second try at it I've had since starting college, and here's a statement of the obvious: the professor makes all the difference in the world. The first one at SMCC was a dry asshole who was always right and graded us on our fucking notes. I withdrew from the class like a few weeks shy of the end of the semester because I just couldn't take his shit anymore. This one, though, was an awesome woman who'd been teaching Soc in various branches for years, gave really absorbing lectures, and took care to give us different viewpoints, even unpopular ones. ESPECIALLY unpopular ones, so we'd have them to think about along with the standard stuff.
The professor from the World Wars class is one I had last semester for Western Civ; I really like him and his dry sense of humor and the fact that he is so grounded in the past that he calls photocopies "mimeos." It's endearing. And he, too, made the effort to include different perspectives on events. I think I'm going to miss him next semester.
The Oscar Wilde professor is teaching a class on queer theory next semester that I'm taking. He assigns a lot of secondary essays written in Tiresome Academic Speak that make me want to hang myself, but next semester I'll be more prepared for it, thanks to having had the experience in dealing with it in this class. He taught the primary texts we read really well and I learned a lot about each of them, as well as the time period and the social and literary contexts for them. I look forward to taking another class with this guy; those stupid essays are worth it.
I look forward to next semester, in which I am also taking an English class about medieval popular culture, which should contrast nicely with the history class about American pop culture (note to self: talk to awesome history prof about possibility of History minor; might as well do something with all the history courses I keep taking), and have finally managed to sort my schedule out to get a class I need for a fine arts credit for a core requirement, Acting for Non-Majors. This is the third semester in a row I've tried to take that fucking thing, and I almost didn't get it this time around, except that someone was kind enough to drop out and I snagged their spot.
Of course, first I have a vacation, and I look forward to this too. Things to do during vacation:
* Work just enough to feed myself and pay bills; I should get either tax refund or student loan money or both in time to sort out my rent for next year, and I'm sick of wasting my winter vacation working enough to wreck it but not enough to cover rent. I need to start looking for a job where I can actually get full-time hours.
* Make dent in pile of books I have accumulated this semester. Start with Sweet Valley books; just because all the thinking and analysis has been fun doesn't mean my brain doesn't need the rest.
* Also dent stockpile of movies. Which got really big really fast.
* Rewatch The Thick of It and write discussion posts for episodes. Vacation should be long enough for me to do about one a day. Maybe this will get people to give it a try.
* ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) milliways_bar stuff: get rename token for Javert and start playing him again now that I have figured out how to go about it a bit better; debut Jonathan after approval; either get things started with Clay or suck it up and delete him; let Cal and Applegate do as they will, within reason, and set up some threads I've been wanting to do for them.
. . . no idea how much of that I'll actually do, but I'm excited that I'll have the chance to do it.
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| Still Making That Effort |
[04 Dec 2009|07:28pm] |
So anyways onwards through the posting everyday goodness in which this meme is on Day 4 which is "Your Favorite Books" so I will name off 5 of my fave books.
1) Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson -- Yes, I have a youth book in here. Loved the story, loved the time period it took place in, and it was just made of awesome despite the Mood Whiplash. Didn't see the movie, but man it was promoted so horribly. It's not really a fantasy book.
2) The Soul of Baseball by Joe Posnanski -- Buck O'Neill is awesome and I could read this book over and over again if I could. It's such a touching tribute to the man and Posnanski is a great writer. He's probably the best current sportswriter out there.
3) The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien -- read this in high school. I'm really into the 1960's period and how things just seemed to change so drastically. Also the Vietnam War is something I've always been interested in reading about.
4) Snow in August by Pete Hamill -- This is one of the few books I couldn't put down. It combines my love of baseball, my curiosity/fascination of Judaism, and my enjoyment of watching assholes get their due. It gets a little weird near the end. But honestly when I read this book, I started to read it at like 2am and I ended up staying up all night to finish it. It was one of those kind of books.
5) The Teammates by David Halberstam -- This chronicles the friendship of Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, and Ted Williams. Their friendship was awesome and the story takes place during the summer of 2001 while they were taking a trip to see Ted for the final time. Great book, though kinda short.
That's all for now.
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| In an Effort to Keep Posting Everyday -- |
[03 Dec 2009|05:31pm] |
Here's Day 3 of that Meme. I don't feel like linking the days before. This is basically Favorite TV Shows...I'll list 4 and one is kinda cheating
1) Red Sox Baseball -- Told ya it was cheating. Actually Major League Baseball in general counts here. Love it...it seems so mundane but yet so complex. (Baseball in general) Also I loved Eck in the booth.
2) Mad Men -- Started getting into it at the end of season 2, but really got into it this season. Granted, a lot of the season was kinda odd. It seemed like it was really disjointed compared to what I heard of the other seasons. However the last 3 episodes made up for the inconsistency and bizarreness because you see all the episodes actually finally coming together in that Trilogy of Transformation. But yeah, great show.
3) Top Chef -- I'm not huge on reality shows. Kinda think they're boring and blehh. I love this one though. You watch these chefs compete against each other and make these amazing meals with what they're given or what they think up. And this season was probably the best season in terms of talent. Hell Jen just got eliminated last episode and she probably could've won any other season. And Kevin I think has replaced Richard Blais as my all time favorite contestant (though I did love Carla and Stephanie)
4) How I Met Your Mother -- I'll be honest. I haven't really been that good of a viewer this season. I keep getting sidetracked. However, from what I hear, it's kinda a really bizarre season and disjointed. Also, they really fucked up with Barney/Robin relationship. Like a serious fuckup and that's a shame. They wrote them out of character which sucks. Though I do appreciate Ted being a lot less douchier this season and more amusing.
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| 30 Days of Sharing - Day 18 |
[03 Dec 2009|11:20am] |
Day 18: Whatever tickles your fancy
Two things:
That is the opening of one of my very favorite shows, Psych, as done up all special-like by Boyz II Men for the episode "High Top Fade-Out."
So since Ben is the director of our church praise band we've been listening to a lot of contemporary Christian stuff. And I love this song. It's got a great message, and it's so well done. It's called "More Beautiful You" and it's by Jonny Diaz (brother of Braves outfielder Matt Diaz).
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| Because I'm Sure You've All Played at least ONE of These Games |
[02 Dec 2009|10:42pm] |
Here's teh deal. This is the list from Game Informer Magazine's 200 Best Video Games of All Time. I'll jot down my beef with it in a few because I got some beef but anyways here's the gist if you all wanna participate.
*Bold the games that you played and loved
*Italicize the games you played in general
*StrikeThrough the ones you HATED
Ready? Go!
( CUT TIME )
Anyways onto 5 gripes with the list
( OMGWTFBBQ?! )
I swear I'll talk more baseball once the offseason actually starts going somewhere.
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| Effort to Post Everyday Again: Day 2 |
[02 Dec 2009|12:55pm] |
Okay Onto Day 2
Day 1: Your Favorite Song
Day 2: Your favorite movie
I'll name 10 of my favorites and include a Youtube Link to my favorite scene (if I can find it)
1) Airplane! -- I'm a huge fan of spoof movies and this one is my favorite. And seriously, hearing June Cleaver speaking jive is fucking hilarious.
2) Field of Dreams -- I'm a sap at heart and this scene gives me chills like crazy
3) Shawshank Redemption -- This is one of those movies that just transfixes you and just the ending...gahhh!
4) It's a Wonderful Life -- Honestly folks, this movie is the reason I love the song "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and "Auld Lang Syne"
5) Toy Story 2 -- Okay this is my second favorite scene but my favorite is the one with Woody seeing himself on TV singing "You've Got a Friend in Me" and realizing he needs to go back. With this scene just this one simple thing -- DO NOT WATCH THIS WITH ANYBODY AROUND YOU IF YOU HAVE A SOUL. You will be bawling like crazy and then feel bad about mistreating your toys.
6) Singin' in the Rain -- Okay seriously, haven't we ALL done this once or twice in our lives during a rainstorm? Or at least attempted to? Because I know I have.
7) Young Frankenstein -- It's "Fronkensteen"...but anyways this scene makes me giggle. And DYK moment -- Frankenstein was played by Peter Boyle aka Frank Barone from Everybody Loves Raymond. Of course I'm sure you all know of that...I think.
8) Casablanca -- I saw this movie in my Intro to Film and Video class and I nearly bawled my eyes out at this scene...yeah would've been embarrassing. Another DYK moment that you all probably know -- The screenwriters of this movie were the grandfather and great-uncle of Theo Epstein
9) Blade Runner -- Like tears in the rain...that line just...damn. And that line was actually improvised I believe. This whole movie was great. It just was great.
10) Lord of the Rings Trilogy -- I actually am partial to the second one if not just because of this scene. I also seriously thought Sean Astin should've been nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the third movie. I was riveted. Granted I can't really watch these movies anymore but I still like them.
Anyways that's all for now. Gotta go.
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[01 Dec 2009|11:32pm] |
Think I have a computer virus. A "security alert" from an antivirus program I've never seen before (Antivirus System Pro?) popped up & when I tried to open the task manager, a popup said taskmgr.exe was infected, & did I want to turn on antivirus program? SCARED.
Same popup when I tried to open Paint Shop Pro.
Am trying to update AVG, but it's taking forever. HELP!
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[01 Dec 2009|09:40pm] |
So one of the things I did, in the near-perfect radio silence of the last two weeks, is read Dracula for a class. And I'd read it before, technically, when I was sixteen and didn't have nearly the patience with nineteenth century writing that I wanted to have, and so didn't get much out of it. (Which is funny, since I grew up reading things like Frances Hodgson Burnett's books and Black Beauty and Heidi, so I don't know what happened in my adolescence to make me temporarily lose the ability to parse anything published before 1950. But I digress.) But this time around I saw how AWESOME it was, and as we've discussed it in class it has just gotten awesomer, and I appear to have a new fandom now. So. Have some fic. It's a coda to the novel set just after Dracula's death, in which Jonathan sees the only face in all of Romania that he is very glad to see again.
( We got as far as Bistritz before we were too fatigued, and the hour too late, to carry on. )
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| 30 Days of Sharing: Day 16 |
[01 Dec 2009|07:20am] |
Day 16: A song that makes you cry (or nearly):
Meep. Now I have to get ready for work.
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[30 Nov 2009|09:32pm] |
Day 15: A fanfic.
You mean, like one *I* wrote or one someone else wrote? Because if it's one I wrote:
http://aluminumtome.livejournal.com/1807.html#cutid1
A Mark Mulder/David Eckstein fic I wrote about four years ago. I've had a really bad case of writers' block for like two years now. SNAP ME OUT OF IT
That someone else wrote? My VERY VERY favorite is ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) caruso's Island in the Sun, but I don't have a link handy atm. I've also been scouring the How I Met Your Mother fic on fanfiction.net - there's a severe lack of Ted/Barney slash in the M section. BOO
An aside: HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO USE YOU IF YOU DON'T OPEN WHEN I TELL YOU TO, SEMAGIC?!
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