Thankfully, I have a bit of a reprieve from the constant stream of work that is my life, though it only will last for the weekend. And not really even that. But at least today will be laid back and chill. It is, after all, Halloween. And I'm writing this post on my sweet new laptop. It is badass. It's pretty, it's fast, and it's sexy. What more does one need in a machine?
Well I promised a long post updating things, and depending on other things going on (like making breakfast) that may or may not be this post. But if it isn't, I'll make sure it happens this weekend at some point. Yeah...
Let's see. Let's go back toward the beginning of the month. My trip to Louisville was fantastic. The conference itself was a low-key affair, and the presentation of my paper on Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet went well. The only question I got on it was about teaching Shakespeare in conjunction with film. Not quite what I was looking for, but hey, it was good. The actual extended weekend in Louisville was awesome. Chase came as well, so the Pine was reunited, sans Gizmo, who remained here in Tempe under Katie's care.
Erin and Joey were great hosts, taking us to see various parts of Louisville, including a cool hookah bar, and a couple sweet music stores. I brought back about eight or nine new cds (including Radiohead, Outkast, Miles Davis, and Thelonius Monk, among others), so that was pretty cool as well. Louisville is a nice place, and it was turning into fall. Being there has made me miss the changing of the seasons. Don't get me wrong, I love Tempe and Arizona, but I've had the four seasons all my life, so it's an interesting experience when you don't have them for the first time.
The best part of the trip was of course hanging out with my friends. Since we're all busy as hell, we don't get to talk as often as we should, so it was nice to get together with Erin, Joey, and Chase and just relax and unwind from some of the rigors of school. It was, as are all trips like this, way too short, and so I hope I'll be able to see my friends again in the near future. It will be easier to see Chase, since he is a (long) drive away, as opposed to an expensive flight.
Well, I have to get moving and shower before the Renaissance Colloquium this afternoon and then the Halloween shindig at Patrick's tonight, so I will post more later. Maybe tonight, but maybe tomorrow. You'll just have to wait and see.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
The Dice Roll My Way...
You know how sometimes, in the midst of all the insanity that is your Ph.D. program, teaching gig, and social life that keeps you sane (or is supposed to), you somehow have a moment where you feel fate is falling your way, if only for a second?
Yeah, that was today.
You know how great that feeling is, especially the relief that comes with it?
Fantastic. Which, by the way, if you didn't know, is the word of the year. Fantastic.
On a side note, it cracks me up that Firefox identifies contractions as misspelled. But that might be the English nerd in me.
Anyway, I bet your curious as to what happened today. So I guess I'll tell you.
As fate (we'll call it that) would have it, I stopped by Katie, Ryan, and Allyson's office today (if you weren't aware, we have about seven to ten people in our offices), and one of their officemates happened to be in there by the name of Valerie. Now, I have seen Valerie before, and we are actually in the same film class, but our paths had never really crossed until this point. As I was in the office, she introduced herself and pointed out the fact that we have the same class, and she asked me what I was focusing on for my Ph.D. When I said "Shakespeare and Film," well, things just started rolling my way.
Valerie is working in the same area I am, and so she started to tell me a lot about what she does and who she works with. This led to her taking me on a bit of a tour to meet some of the Renaissance faculty, and I finally met Ayanna Thompson, who is one of the faculty members that I hope to work with. She was more than glad to meet me, and she was actually somewhat amazed that she wasn't aware I was at ASU. Apparently I slipped through the cracks.
Now that I've been found, I'm participating in a Renaissance Colloquium and setting up meetings with faculty members to get the ball rolling. Where I didn't have guidance before, I now have some. And that's a great feeling.
Off to more grading for now. I'll post stories later about Louisville, students, and Gizmo.
Yeah, that was today.
You know how great that feeling is, especially the relief that comes with it?
Fantastic. Which, by the way, if you didn't know, is the word of the year. Fantastic.
On a side note, it cracks me up that Firefox identifies contractions as misspelled. But that might be the English nerd in me.
Anyway, I bet your curious as to what happened today. So I guess I'll tell you.
As fate (we'll call it that) would have it, I stopped by Katie, Ryan, and Allyson's office today (if you weren't aware, we have about seven to ten people in our offices), and one of their officemates happened to be in there by the name of Valerie. Now, I have seen Valerie before, and we are actually in the same film class, but our paths had never really crossed until this point. As I was in the office, she introduced herself and pointed out the fact that we have the same class, and she asked me what I was focusing on for my Ph.D. When I said "Shakespeare and Film," well, things just started rolling my way.
Valerie is working in the same area I am, and so she started to tell me a lot about what she does and who she works with. This led to her taking me on a bit of a tour to meet some of the Renaissance faculty, and I finally met Ayanna Thompson, who is one of the faculty members that I hope to work with. She was more than glad to meet me, and she was actually somewhat amazed that she wasn't aware I was at ASU. Apparently I slipped through the cracks.
Now that I've been found, I'm participating in a Renaissance Colloquium and setting up meetings with faculty members to get the ball rolling. Where I didn't have guidance before, I now have some. And that's a great feeling.
Off to more grading for now. I'll post stories later about Louisville, students, and Gizmo.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
A Brief Update
I'll put more on here later. Eventually. At some point.
As of right now I'm waiting to go to class. That's right, I'm back to the old joy of a 6:05 night seminar. Cool thing is, it's about video games. Bad thing is, it's after teaching back to back 101s. So, suffice it to say, my brain is fried come Wednesday night.
There's been lots going on, and I will get more up here later, but I guess the two big things are that next week, I get to see Erin, Joey, and Chase when I present at a conference in Louisville (and I'll be back in EST for 4 days), and that I'm now the conference director for the Southwest Graduate English Symposium.
I am insane.
As of right now I'm waiting to go to class. That's right, I'm back to the old joy of a 6:05 night seminar. Cool thing is, it's about video games. Bad thing is, it's after teaching back to back 101s. So, suffice it to say, my brain is fried come Wednesday night.
There's been lots going on, and I will get more up here later, but I guess the two big things are that next week, I get to see Erin, Joey, and Chase when I present at a conference in Louisville (and I'll be back in EST for 4 days), and that I'm now the conference director for the Southwest Graduate English Symposium.
I am insane.
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