If Chuck can write about reality TV, so can I. Actually, for a while now I've been mulling over some thoughts about why my gf and I keep watching Wifeswap on Wednesday nights.
A prefatory note: we don't actually watch much TV, for various reasons. We don't have cable, and because of our proximity to downtown, we can't even get some of the networks (or PBS!) very clearly. We don't really have the time to watch much TV (I read those statistics on "average" Americans and really wonder where they find 5 hours a day). And if we have the time, we tend to watch movies on DVD instead. I wasn't raised watching much TV, and for many years didn't even own one, so it's not an instinctive reflex. I hate having it on unless we're actually watching something. I don't like it as background noise, because I'm too sensitive to the noise and can't tune it out.
But this fall we've been watching three shows: Desperate Housewives, Lost, and now Wifeswap. All on ABC -- we only found Wifeswap because it's on the same night as Lost. (Which is a really interesting drama, but that's for another post.)
If you haven't seen it -- the premise of Wifeswap is that the wife/mothers of two families trade places for 2 weeks. During the first week, the wives have to obey the "rules" of their host family (rules are drawn up in a "manual" by each woman before she leaves her home); during the second week, the visiting wives get to set their own rules that the family has to follow. The families are selected to be really different from each other -- the strict Christian goes to stay with the rock-n-roll family, the fitness fanatic with the fast-food eaters, etc. Stress and difficulties arise, words are said, tears are shed. And most episodes end with at least somebody learning some lesson about themselves or their spouse. And, if you believe their "follow-up" tapes, some changes occur because of doing the swap -- children or spouses do more chores, couples spend more time together away from the kids, etc.
Why do I watch the show? Partly because it's fascinating to see how people actually live their lives. Like any home makeover/reality type show, it's reassuring to see that other people also have trouble keeping everything in tip-top shape on the domestic front. (Some of the "wives" work outside the home, some don't. I think all have had kids, in the episodes we've seen.) It's also interesting to see the dynamics between the couples, and especially with the kids. It's so clear from watching this show how much your environment while growing up shapes you -- we all know this instinctively, but you look at these sample families and can really see patterns.
We generally have one family we like, one we don't like so well. But there have been plenty of pleasantly surprising moments, like when the bossy redneck man broke down in tears once he realized how hard his wife was working to maintain a full time job and do all the chores, cooking, etc. One of the things I like best about the show is that it makes it really clear that domestic labor is labor -- tiring, boring, draining labor. Add to that an unreasonable spouse or irritating children, and you have a show that usefully deconstructs some of the mythology around women's roles in the family. It also makes clear to the women, especially, that things don't have to be the way they are -- just seeing how other people live, what choices they've made, can be really eye-opening and instructive.
As a spectator, the show is fun on a values-clarification level too. "Would you ever do that?" "Am I more like her, or him?" etc. Many of the show's themes/issues are the same for same-gender couples. There are chores to be done, food to be cooked, and various assumptions about whose job it is to do what. Every household involves complicated arrangements of money, time, and labor. For us, our arrangement follows many of the gender-typical roles -- my partner is more masculine, and I am more feminine-- but not all of them. The way that same-sex couples perform gender is always a negotiation, a choice, a performance. It's not just handed to you by the larger culture with your sex assignment. So I suppose that's also why the show is interesting for us, since we both are and are not like the couples profiled on it. And, to the credit of the show's producers, they've actually found a number of families who aren't following "typical" male-female gender patterns, even though all of the families have been two-parent heterosexual couples (not all of them married, btw).
Unlike a lot of "reality" shows, there's no competition, no voting people out of group. And no external authorities dictating changes to the participants. It's just opening up the windows onto people's lives for a little bit. I'm sure plenty of things are staged for effect. But even so, it's been pretty compelling.
12/09/2004
slogging
I was about to ramble on a bit about slogging through the grading when I figured I might as well check the OED:
1. a. trans. To hit or strike hard; to drive with blows. Also fig., to assail violently.
1824 Session Papers Central Criminal Court 21 Sept. 535/1 One of them said, ‘Go back and slog him.’ 1853 ‘C. BEDE’ Verdant Green xi. 106 His whole person [had been] put in chancery, stung, bruised, fibbed,..slogged, and otherwise ill-treated. 1884 ‘R. BOLDREWOOD’ Melb. Memories iv. 32 We slogged the tired cattle round the fence. 1891 Spectator 10 Oct. 487/1 They love snubbing their friends and ‘slogging’ their enemies.
b. Cricket. To obtain (runs) by hard hitting.
1897 H. W. BLEAKLEY Short Innings iii. 49 Mr. Dolly slogged sixes and fours until he had made about eighty.
1869 Baily's Mag. July 21 Not only did he ‘slog’, in the true sense of the word, which we take to be hitting blindly and high in the air, but [etc.]. 1904 F. C. HOLLAND Cricket 36 You should go to the nets, not to slog, but to play. 1935 J. C. MASTERMAN Fate cannot harm Me viii. 167 At the fifth ball the Admiral slogged with even crookeder bat and even more mighty effort; he missed it, and all three stumps were spreadeagled. 1980 Cricketer International Feb. 11/1 The incredible thing is that he never had to slog once to make his runs.
**************
Somehow all that cricket terminology makes slogging seem much more vigorous than what I had in mind. The 1876 quote under usage #2 was more what it feels like, trudging laboriously through puddles. A combination of sludge, effort, and sloth = slog. Or at least I thought so. But perhaps I can now reconfigure my mental attitude and go "assail" some papers "violently." Or something.
1. a. trans. To hit or strike hard; to drive with blows. Also fig., to assail violently.
b. Cricket. To obtain (runs) by hard hitting.
2. intr. To walk heavily or doggedly.
Halliwell's ‘Slog, to lag behind’ probably belongs to
3. a. To deal heavy blows, to work hard (at something), to labour away, etc.
**************
Somehow all that cricket terminology makes slogging seem much more vigorous than what I had in mind. The 1876 quote under usage #2 was more what it feels like, trudging laboriously through puddles. A combination of sludge, effort, and sloth = slog. Or at least I thought so. But perhaps I can now reconfigure my mental attitude and go "assail" some papers "violently." Or something.
12/08/2004
follow up
I really appreciate all the suggestions I've received regarding the student who wants a rec letter from me. I have contacted her, and, as when I talked with her a few months ago, I have the distinct impression she's completely ignoring my advice. Be that as it may, at least I've signalled to her that a letter from someone not in the area she hopes to specialise in may not be that useful to her, and that I can only speak about how she performed in my class. My discomfort about this situation I think will help me in the future in how I handle rec requests -- I already ask students to give me copies of various materials (writing they did for my class, their app letter, their writing sample, a transcript, etc) and talk to me about what they hope to do in school and afterwards. But maybe I need to start adding some other criteria. At least for the MAs applying to PhD programs other than our own. Most of the letters I've written in the past few years have been for BA students applying to law school, for teaching jobs, or for MA programs. And there's just much less at stake in that sort of rec.
All this raised up a lot of issues for me about the profession, too, separate from this particular student and her misguided goals. I have real doubts about suggesting that anyone go and get a PhD. I always ask students what they hope to do, why they're going to grad school, and what's really motivating them. I talk to them frankly about the crappy job market, about how the system chews up a lot of people and leaves them emotionally maimed, and about the need for an almost insupportable dual identity: on the one hand committed to your field, your research, your academic goals; on the other, figuring out what else you can do if it doesn't work out. Because in English/American literature, anyway, it doesn't work out, for at least 50% of people who get PhDs. (If by work out you mean obtain a full-time job with benefits, whether tenure track or not.) But no matter how frankly you talk to students, there are always one or two who just blithely think to themselves "I'll be different." I suggest to students that they have to have some motivation that's internal, that doesn't have anything to do with the job/profession -- something that just makes you want to sit for hours in libraries reading and writing. If doing that will make you happy for a few years -- then by all means go to graduate school. But if you can imagine doing something, anything else, and also being happy -- think long and hard about it. It's years of your life, and probably thousands of your dollars even if you are funded, since most schools can't pay a living wage for 12 months.
Some of the greatest minds in my field have stopped teaching graduate students because the ethical issues are too painful. That's an extreme position (and one only the most esteemed scholars can choose, because they have already proven themselves etc) -- but it's an important counterpoint to the assumption that we all love to teach graduate seminars on highly specialised topics. Or that we want to produce younger versions of ourselves. I certainly don't.
All this raised up a lot of issues for me about the profession, too, separate from this particular student and her misguided goals. I have real doubts about suggesting that anyone go and get a PhD. I always ask students what they hope to do, why they're going to grad school, and what's really motivating them. I talk to them frankly about the crappy job market, about how the system chews up a lot of people and leaves them emotionally maimed, and about the need for an almost insupportable dual identity: on the one hand committed to your field, your research, your academic goals; on the other, figuring out what else you can do if it doesn't work out. Because in English/American literature, anyway, it doesn't work out, for at least 50% of people who get PhDs. (If by work out you mean obtain a full-time job with benefits, whether tenure track or not.) But no matter how frankly you talk to students, there are always one or two who just blithely think to themselves "I'll be different." I suggest to students that they have to have some motivation that's internal, that doesn't have anything to do with the job/profession -- something that just makes you want to sit for hours in libraries reading and writing. If doing that will make you happy for a few years -- then by all means go to graduate school. But if you can imagine doing something, anything else, and also being happy -- think long and hard about it. It's years of your life, and probably thousands of your dollars even if you are funded, since most schools can't pay a living wage for 12 months.
Some of the greatest minds in my field have stopped teaching graduate students because the ethical issues are too painful. That's an extreme position (and one only the most esteemed scholars can choose, because they have already proven themselves etc) -- but it's an important counterpoint to the assumption that we all love to teach graduate seminars on highly specialised topics. Or that we want to produce younger versions of ourselves. I certainly don't.
12/06/2004
rec letter ethics
I'm faced with something of an ethical quandary right now. In my department at Large Urban U, we have several graduate degree programs. Some are nationally ranked; others are not. In those latter programs, we mostly serve a regionally-based population of graduate students. One of my MA level students from last year asked me to write letters of recommendation for her as she applies to PhD programs. She asked me (and I agreed) last spring, at which point I also tried to counsel her about how to select an appropriate program. Only later, this fall, did she tell me which programs she was applying to.
Quite frankly, I think she's applying out of her range. There is no chance that she's going to get in to 2 or 3 of the 8 schools she's applying to. I hope she'll get in to a couple of them to have some choice and hopefully some funding.
My problem? one of the schools she is applying to is my own PhD-granting institution, which is in the top ten in my field. (This is the state of the academic market right now: semi-mediocre places like Large Urban get to hire people like me with degrees from Ivies/Ivy Equivalents. I don't have a problem with working at Large Urban -- the public service that I do in my undergraduate teaching is one justification for my professional existence. In fact, I'm happier here than I would be at many top ten places.) I don't feel that I can write her a strong recommendation for my own former department -- not only because she isn't of that caliber, but also because my own reputation is on the line in a sense, since they know me. Yet I have to write something.
Plus -- in looking over the forms this student gave me for some of the schools, I notice that she has refused to waive her right to see these recommendations. I'm not sure what to think about that. Is she simply clueless about how the system usually works? or does that imply lawsuit? or have things changed since my day, when we were told that basically you had to waive it in order to get a good evaluation?
I hate the inflated language that is so frequently used in these letters. I've often suspected that I'm not really that good of a rec writer, unless I really know the person quite well. Which too often isn't the case. I barely know this student, and her performance in my class was OK, but not outstanding. Not top-ten PhD material. Probably lower-40% PhD material -- which has its own ethical issues too, since I believe that too many depts are putting out too many people with PhDs who are then woefully underemployed or exploited by the adjunct system.
Do any of you flat out refuse to write letters of rec? I've never before had to write one for PhD programs, so I'm feeling a bit stymied. I'm going to be stricter in the future about who I write for (i.e., you have to have taken 2 courses with me, or something). I guess a lot of my discomfort this has to do with the fact that when I first agreed to write for her, she was talking about applying to our own PhD and some other less prestigious places. Places she'd have a better chance of getting into. I certainly did not encourage her to consider the places she's decided to apply to, because I'm just not that cruel. I know that sounds harsh, but it can be devastating for students to get 7 or 8 rejections, too.
Quite frankly, I think she's applying out of her range. There is no chance that she's going to get in to 2 or 3 of the 8 schools she's applying to. I hope she'll get in to a couple of them to have some choice and hopefully some funding.
My problem? one of the schools she is applying to is my own PhD-granting institution, which is in the top ten in my field. (This is the state of the academic market right now: semi-mediocre places like Large Urban get to hire people like me with degrees from Ivies/Ivy Equivalents. I don't have a problem with working at Large Urban -- the public service that I do in my undergraduate teaching is one justification for my professional existence. In fact, I'm happier here than I would be at many top ten places.) I don't feel that I can write her a strong recommendation for my own former department -- not only because she isn't of that caliber, but also because my own reputation is on the line in a sense, since they know me. Yet I have to write something.
Plus -- in looking over the forms this student gave me for some of the schools, I notice that she has refused to waive her right to see these recommendations. I'm not sure what to think about that. Is she simply clueless about how the system usually works? or does that imply lawsuit? or have things changed since my day, when we were told that basically you had to waive it in order to get a good evaluation?
I hate the inflated language that is so frequently used in these letters. I've often suspected that I'm not really that good of a rec writer, unless I really know the person quite well. Which too often isn't the case. I barely know this student, and her performance in my class was OK, but not outstanding. Not top-ten PhD material. Probably lower-40% PhD material -- which has its own ethical issues too, since I believe that too many depts are putting out too many people with PhDs who are then woefully underemployed or exploited by the adjunct system.
Do any of you flat out refuse to write letters of rec? I've never before had to write one for PhD programs, so I'm feeling a bit stymied. I'm going to be stricter in the future about who I write for (i.e., you have to have taken 2 courses with me, or something). I guess a lot of my discomfort this has to do with the fact that when I first agreed to write for her, she was talking about applying to our own PhD and some other less prestigious places. Places she'd have a better chance of getting into. I certainly did not encourage her to consider the places she's decided to apply to, because I'm just not that cruel. I know that sounds harsh, but it can be devastating for students to get 7 or 8 rejections, too.
Closer
So we finally got out of the house today, to see Mike Nichols's latest film, Closer. I really liked it, for a whole range of reasons.
Aesthetically, it's fabulous. The 4 actors are cast and dressed in such a way as to suggest a spectrum of gender positions: the beautiful-enough-to-be-a-lesbian icon Jude Law opposite scruffy macho Clive Owen; and a butched-up Julia Roberts opposite waif stripper Natalie Portman. For once, Julia Roberts doesn't just look like Julia Roberts. She doesn't smile all the time. And she's wearing some great men's trousers. London, too, shines in the film -- everything looks amazing, whether old or new. Great architectural shots, etc.
It's from a play, and thus has a tight focus on just these four characters -- no one else even really appears in the film except in crowd scenes. That doesn't bother me -- in fact, with characters as interesting as these, who needs anyone else. And the actors really have worked to make this an ensemble piece. It's hard to single one of them out as superior to the rest, or to know who would count as "leads" or as "supporting." They're all really, really good.
It's a movie about and for grownups. Not just because much of it is about sex and relationships, or because of language or nudity (which is there too). But because it's about the randomness and intensity of romantic passion -- the highs and the lows. I think anyone over the age of 30 who sees it has to be able to identify with at least one of the characters, at least some of the time. These aren't necessarily people who you'd sympathize with consistently, or even like all that well. But they're familiar. Who hasn't been in a relationship and felt like they're just waiting for the other shoe to drop? Who hasn't felt cornered by a lover's questions, to the point where neither truth nor lie would satisfy? Who hasn't been tempted? Who hasn't done someone wrong, in one way or another? Who hasn't wondered exactly who your lover really was before you knew each other?
What I like best is the way the film refuses easy resolution of these questions, or the happy/unhappy ending that formulas usually demand.
Aesthetically, it's fabulous. The 4 actors are cast and dressed in such a way as to suggest a spectrum of gender positions: the beautiful-enough-to-be-a-lesbian icon Jude Law opposite scruffy macho Clive Owen; and a butched-up Julia Roberts opposite waif stripper Natalie Portman. For once, Julia Roberts doesn't just look like Julia Roberts. She doesn't smile all the time. And she's wearing some great men's trousers. London, too, shines in the film -- everything looks amazing, whether old or new. Great architectural shots, etc.
It's from a play, and thus has a tight focus on just these four characters -- no one else even really appears in the film except in crowd scenes. That doesn't bother me -- in fact, with characters as interesting as these, who needs anyone else. And the actors really have worked to make this an ensemble piece. It's hard to single one of them out as superior to the rest, or to know who would count as "leads" or as "supporting." They're all really, really good.
It's a movie about and for grownups. Not just because much of it is about sex and relationships, or because of language or nudity (which is there too). But because it's about the randomness and intensity of romantic passion -- the highs and the lows. I think anyone over the age of 30 who sees it has to be able to identify with at least one of the characters, at least some of the time. These aren't necessarily people who you'd sympathize with consistently, or even like all that well. But they're familiar. Who hasn't been in a relationship and felt like they're just waiting for the other shoe to drop? Who hasn't felt cornered by a lover's questions, to the point where neither truth nor lie would satisfy? Who hasn't been tempted? Who hasn't done someone wrong, in one way or another? Who hasn't wondered exactly who your lover really was before you knew each other?
What I like best is the way the film refuses easy resolution of these questions, or the happy/unhappy ending that formulas usually demand.
12/05/2004
blah
Reasons I'm feeling blah:
- I'm not yet 100% better -- I still have a cough, still get tired pretty easily. Being sick always makes me kind of depressed, not feeling like myself, not able to do my usual routine.
- Because I've been sick, and so has my gf -- it seems as though there's nothing very interesting to report.
- Everyone else in the blogosphere is full of thoughts and I'm just not.
- The semester is over but not over -- I don't have to teach any more classes, so that's nice -- but last week and the next 2 are really overloaded with extra stuff -- meetings, defenses, grading, etc. The end is in sight but there's a heavy slog until that point.
- The house is a mess, because it's end of semester and I've been sick.
- My study at home is an even worse mess. I have big plans for reorganizing etc during the winter break, but I can't really do all that until I'm done with everything else.
- I haven't done anything creative in days.
- I haven't done much yoga or exercise aside from 60-90 minute walks with the dogs. I'm easing back into my home routine, but I haven't been to a yoga class in 8 days -- I don't have the stamina yet for a full Bikram class, or the ability not to cough for 90 minutes.
- PMS
12/02/2004
hangin' at the PS
Hangin' at the Procrastination Station...
Why, oh why, am I reading blogs this evening? I need to be reading through a very large 3rd year review notebook in preparation for a report I have to write and a meeting I have to attend tomorrow. One of the joys (?!) of being tenured is that now I get drafted to do this review duty for my junior colleagues.
This was something I had fully intended to do over the holiday, but first I was having fun and then I was sick.
As always, my visits to the Procrastination Station are fueled by resentment of authority. (See Fiore for full details on 3 main causes of procrastinating.) I am feeling resentful of my service duties, because today was my last day of teaching and I should be celebrating, or at least relaxing. But noooooooo, I have to do this very dreary task. It's important, since it has to do with my colleague's future. Yet, the 3rd-year review (which is sort of a mid-way to tenure practice run -- anxiety provoking but in our dept no one gets dumped at 3rd year--they wait until tenure to do that) is not something that the chair takes very seriously, or most of the people on the P&T committee. Very mixed messages, in other words. My own personal sense of responsibility says I need to take care of my part of the report in a serious and thoughtful manner. And I have no doubt that I will. But right now I'm still feeling resentful. Resentful too, I suppose, because it calls up thoughts/feelings from my tenure year, and from my own 3rd year review, which was royally f**ed up by the then-chair and the committee. Completely worthless for me in terms of feedback, and yet stressful. So of course, I want to do a better job for my colleague. But obviously having to do this is raising my own stress/issues in deeper ways than I had hitherto realized.
Why, oh why, am I reading blogs this evening? I need to be reading through a very large 3rd year review notebook in preparation for a report I have to write and a meeting I have to attend tomorrow. One of the joys (?!) of being tenured is that now I get drafted to do this review duty for my junior colleagues.
This was something I had fully intended to do over the holiday, but first I was having fun and then I was sick.
As always, my visits to the Procrastination Station are fueled by resentment of authority. (See Fiore for full details on 3 main causes of procrastinating.) I am feeling resentful of my service duties, because today was my last day of teaching and I should be celebrating, or at least relaxing. But noooooooo, I have to do this very dreary task. It's important, since it has to do with my colleague's future. Yet, the 3rd-year review (which is sort of a mid-way to tenure practice run -- anxiety provoking but in our dept no one gets dumped at 3rd year--they wait until tenure to do that) is not something that the chair takes very seriously, or most of the people on the P&T committee. Very mixed messages, in other words. My own personal sense of responsibility says I need to take care of my part of the report in a serious and thoughtful manner. And I have no doubt that I will. But right now I'm still feeling resentful. Resentful too, I suppose, because it calls up thoughts/feelings from my tenure year, and from my own 3rd year review, which was royally f**ed up by the then-chair and the committee. Completely worthless for me in terms of feedback, and yet stressful. So of course, I want to do a better job for my colleague. But obviously having to do this is raising my own stress/issues in deeper ways than I had hitherto realized.
12/01/2004
killah G
Well, she finally did it. All those hours of chasing and leaping in the yard paid off. She actually caught and killed a squirrel today. I wasn't home, but my partner was. Our puppy ran excitedly inside the house and jumped on our bed with something that my girlfriend first thought was a plush stuffed squirrel-shaped toy. But it was a bit larger than a toy. Turned out it was a dead squirrel on our bed. Yeccchhhh. Puppy was mighty proud of herself. (she's not really a puppy any longer, she's 2 years old, but she's still the baby of the family)
So my gf gets some major points for dead animal removal today.
G., our puppy, has really strong hunting and chasing instincts, much more so than our older dog. If she breaks out of the yard, it's in order to chase one of the stray cats that walk teasingly just outside our fence. She's super fast, all lean muscle and energy. I know it's her instinct that led her to catch the squirrel and kill it -- but as a mostly-buddhist vegan pacifist, it also kind of freaks me out. G is my child, and I love her completely. But I don't want her to kill other living creatures.
So we do our best to keep her away from the stray cats. And until now, we've always assumed the squirrels could easily escape her grasp. I just don't want our yard to become a killing field.
blog post, hold the content
Not much to say. Today or yesterday, for that matter.
I'm getting better, but I still have a horrendous cough that has forced me to leave my class, leave several meetings, etc, to have a coughing fit out in the hallway where I won't be as disruptive. And yes, I have cough drops. And I'm taking dextromethorphan, which is the cough suppressant ingredient found in most cough syrups -- you can now get it by itself OTC in little caplets, which is helpful. But I'm still coughing, the dry tickle-your-throat kind now. Which brings me back to being hunched over in the hallway coughing. Yuck. Dextromethorphan kind of makes me feel a little weird, though not exactly an adverse reaction. (It is a mild hallucinogenic, though supposedly not at low recommended doses. Kids in my high school used to suck down bottles of Robitussin for fun. Super gross.)
And, as of this morning, my partner is coming down with the virus herself. So she's cranky and coughing.
Luckily, tomorrow is my last class day!
I'm getting better, but I still have a horrendous cough that has forced me to leave my class, leave several meetings, etc, to have a coughing fit out in the hallway where I won't be as disruptive. And yes, I have cough drops. And I'm taking dextromethorphan, which is the cough suppressant ingredient found in most cough syrups -- you can now get it by itself OTC in little caplets, which is helpful. But I'm still coughing, the dry tickle-your-throat kind now. Which brings me back to being hunched over in the hallway coughing. Yuck. Dextromethorphan kind of makes me feel a little weird, though not exactly an adverse reaction. (It is a mild hallucinogenic, though supposedly not at low recommended doses. Kids in my high school used to suck down bottles of Robitussin for fun. Super gross.)
And, as of this morning, my partner is coming down with the virus herself. So she's cranky and coughing.
Luckily, tomorrow is my last class day!
11/29/2004
not my usual workout
When you've spent the last three days hacking up mucous, as I have, it really works some deep abdominal muscles. I do plenty of ab work, but the coughing located some muscles I don't usually use. My abs are now sore from coughing so much. That's ridiculous but true.
In good news, I'm slowly getting better. Felt like the walking crud at the office today, but it was an interesting conversational test piece:
Colleague 1: "oh, you've got what I had last week. And it lingers (coughs to prove it). I had to go home and sleep in between my classes." (followed by more sympathy)
Colleague 2: "How was your holiday?" (I cough and say "good, until I got sick") "Guess mine was better than yours!"
Colleague 3: "People always wonder if they're sick or if it's allergy." (me: "well, since I had a high fever, I know I'm sick") "And you know what? it's both! ha ha!"
In case you couldn't figure it out, Colleague #1 would best be able to pass in the so-called "real world." She's also disliked by many of her peers for her sophistication, professionalism, and social conservatism. (I disagree with her on most political issues, but we have a good working relationship anyway.) Colleague #2 is one of my favorite old guys on the hallway. I think this counts as "banter." Colleague #3 has been embittered by the system.
{Last comment edited a bit this morning to be less cranky.)
In good news, I'm slowly getting better. Felt like the walking crud at the office today, but it was an interesting conversational test piece:
Colleague 1: "oh, you've got what I had last week. And it lingers (coughs to prove it). I had to go home and sleep in between my classes." (followed by more sympathy)
Colleague 2: "How was your holiday?" (I cough and say "good, until I got sick") "Guess mine was better than yours!"
Colleague 3: "People always wonder if they're sick or if it's allergy." (me: "well, since I had a high fever, I know I'm sick") "And you know what? it's both! ha ha!"
In case you couldn't figure it out, Colleague #1 would best be able to pass in the so-called "real world." She's also disliked by many of her peers for her sophistication, professionalism, and social conservatism. (I disagree with her on most political issues, but we have a good working relationship anyway.) Colleague #2 is one of my favorite old guys on the hallway. I think this counts as "banter." Colleague #3 has been embittered by the system.
{Last comment edited a bit this morning to be less cranky.)
Finding Neverland
So one of the movies we saw over the holiday before I got sick was Finding Neverland. On one hand, it's got all the ingredients that apparently are pulling in the crowds: it's got a family theme; it gives one version of the backstory to Peter Pan; it has cute little kids and a dog in it; Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, and Julie Christie for star power; and it has an amazing ability to turn the entire theatre audience into weeping puddles by the end. I kid you not -- I'll tear up at all sorts of movies, so I'm no litmus test. But the big guy who sat behind me? the senior citizens at the end of the row? the teenaged girls? Everyone. My gf and I actually stood outside and watched people coming out. Nary a dry eye to be seen.
On the other hand, there's a lot of potentially disturbing stuff here too. After all, it's about a grown man (J.M. Barrie) who likes to spend his afternoons in the park playing imaginary games with someone else's children. The first 20 minutes or so are really uncomfortable to watch. Depp gives an amazing performance that teeters exactly on the boundary between playfulness and flirtation -- with his wife, with Sylvia Llewellyn Davies (the mother of the boys), and with the boys, especially the one called Peter. Now, because it's a big-budget movie released during the holidays, we all know it can't possibly be about a pedophile, right? So one of Barrie's friends takes him aside and says, basically, "you can't keep doing this, people are talking about you." And Barrie says "You mean with Mrs Davies?" and his friend says "Yes. But also with the boys." Barrie denounces all such rumors, and we the audience are summarily dismissed too, asked to stay and enjoy the film only if we can agree not to worry about such questions.
To the extent that you can do that, then, you get drawn into the story of Barrie's life as this film tells it. Wounded by his own childhood and the death of his brother at young age, he's an adult who longs for the innocence of childhood. He both recognizes and projects his own issues in/onto the boys, who have lost their father. As a playwright, he's struggling against blockage and failure. The imaginary games he plays with the boys provide him with material that becomes the successful stage play of Peter Pan. Life is fodder for art, according to this film; and the imagination can transform life into something better, at least for a little while.
Anthony Lane's review in the New Yorker points out some of the many ways in which this film does not actually represent Barrie's life. It too is an imaginative construction, which I think is only implicitly acknowledged in that early conversation between Barrie and his friend. What 21st century audiences expect to find in Peter Pan is something a little more sugary than what is actually in Barrie's text -- most people today think of Disney before anything else. Why did the story of Peter Pan resonate with its Edwardian audiences? Because death, the donning of adult responsibilities, the loss of childhood, were familiar obstacles for all adults. Why do today's viewers weep at the end of this movie? For exactly the opposite reason: we don't have an intimate familiarity with loss. We are stunned by the multiple losses experienced by the children in this film. We live in a world in which people live longer, in which we can buy enough entertainment stuff to prolong our childhoods forever, in which the transition from childhood to adulthood is marked by sex, not loss/death. For us, we can't not see sex hovering around the edges of this story, even though the film tries to banish it from our sight. What really happened? What did Barrie's wife think? What did the first viewers of Peter Pan think it was really about? There's no way to know. This film gives us maybe a partial glimpse. But it also tells us a lot about our own time.
On the other hand, there's a lot of potentially disturbing stuff here too. After all, it's about a grown man (J.M. Barrie) who likes to spend his afternoons in the park playing imaginary games with someone else's children. The first 20 minutes or so are really uncomfortable to watch. Depp gives an amazing performance that teeters exactly on the boundary between playfulness and flirtation -- with his wife, with Sylvia Llewellyn Davies (the mother of the boys), and with the boys, especially the one called Peter. Now, because it's a big-budget movie released during the holidays, we all know it can't possibly be about a pedophile, right? So one of Barrie's friends takes him aside and says, basically, "you can't keep doing this, people are talking about you." And Barrie says "You mean with Mrs Davies?" and his friend says "Yes. But also with the boys." Barrie denounces all such rumors, and we the audience are summarily dismissed too, asked to stay and enjoy the film only if we can agree not to worry about such questions.
To the extent that you can do that, then, you get drawn into the story of Barrie's life as this film tells it. Wounded by his own childhood and the death of his brother at young age, he's an adult who longs for the innocence of childhood. He both recognizes and projects his own issues in/onto the boys, who have lost their father. As a playwright, he's struggling against blockage and failure. The imaginary games he plays with the boys provide him with material that becomes the successful stage play of Peter Pan. Life is fodder for art, according to this film; and the imagination can transform life into something better, at least for a little while.
Anthony Lane's review in the New Yorker points out some of the many ways in which this film does not actually represent Barrie's life. It too is an imaginative construction, which I think is only implicitly acknowledged in that early conversation between Barrie and his friend. What 21st century audiences expect to find in Peter Pan is something a little more sugary than what is actually in Barrie's text -- most people today think of Disney before anything else. Why did the story of Peter Pan resonate with its Edwardian audiences? Because death, the donning of adult responsibilities, the loss of childhood, were familiar obstacles for all adults. Why do today's viewers weep at the end of this movie? For exactly the opposite reason: we don't have an intimate familiarity with loss. We are stunned by the multiple losses experienced by the children in this film. We live in a world in which people live longer, in which we can buy enough entertainment stuff to prolong our childhoods forever, in which the transition from childhood to adulthood is marked by sex, not loss/death. For us, we can't not see sex hovering around the edges of this story, even though the film tries to banish it from our sight. What really happened? What did Barrie's wife think? What did the first viewers of Peter Pan think it was really about? There's no way to know. This film gives us maybe a partial glimpse. But it also tells us a lot about our own time.
11/28/2004
vacation virus strikes again
This is the first time in about 36 hours that I've felt up to sitting at the computer. I got hit with a chest cold/virus thing that started out slowly Friday night. Some congestion, nothing too terrible. I slept late Saturday and thought I was getting rid of it. But by 6 pm I had a fever of 101.5, headache, and a bad cough. I felt really lousy. Last night was really bad, because I was tired, but couldn't sleep because I couldn't breathe properly. Then all the shallow breathing started causing an anxiety reaction. Horrible. Plus I had to keep getting out of bed to cough up phlegm. I think I finally got sleep around 5 this morning. My fever broke around noon today, so I'm definitely on the mend. But I'm trying to take it easy. Once I get off the computer I'm heading back to the couch. I ought to grade some papers, or read my colleague's third-year review dossier. But I might just have to watch another episode of Queer as Folk on DVD.
If I get sick, it nearly always happens in the vacation at semester's end, rather than during the school year. Once I relax a little, my immune system also relaxes I guess. So maybe getting this now means I won't get sick in the longer winter break, right? I'm trying to put a positive spin on things, since I really hate to be sick. I am a lousy patient. I get really frustrated with not being able to do my normal activities. And then that often prolongs the misery because I start back too soon. So I'm really trying to take the rest of today off. I have to be functioning tomorrow and the rest of the week. At least the fever burned out the germs pretty quickly. But it left me feeling wrung out and tired.
Blech. OK, I'm heading back to the couch. Now I really wish I had a laptop so I could snuggle up in a blanket and read blogs at the same time.
If I get sick, it nearly always happens in the vacation at semester's end, rather than during the school year. Once I relax a little, my immune system also relaxes I guess. So maybe getting this now means I won't get sick in the longer winter break, right? I'm trying to put a positive spin on things, since I really hate to be sick. I am a lousy patient. I get really frustrated with not being able to do my normal activities. And then that often prolongs the misery because I start back too soon. So I'm really trying to take the rest of today off. I have to be functioning tomorrow and the rest of the week. At least the fever burned out the germs pretty quickly. But it left me feeling wrung out and tired.
Blech. OK, I'm heading back to the couch. Now I really wish I had a laptop so I could snuggle up in a blanket and read blogs at the same time.
11/26/2004
moon
Just in the past year or so, I have really noticed the full moon's effect on me. I don't sleep much on or around the full moon. It's not insomnia, exactly. More like a strong unwillingness to go to sleep. The dogs are definitely more restless around the full moon, too. I don't know if I picked it up from them, or if living with them has somehow put me more in touch with the lunar rhythm. So, two nights ago, which I think was the night before it was technically full, I was up until 5. Last night I managed to turn in around 3, which isn't totally unusual for me anyway. I aim for 1 or 2, but if I get that second wind, then sometimes I'm just up.
But any new change in my sleep patterns gives me a little bit of anxiety, because I have a fear of insomnia. I've never had it, I don't think. But my mother & brother had it, and my dad certainly had very peculiar sleep patterns. I've always been a sound and heavy sleeper. I can drink coffee at 10 pm and go to sleep a couple of hours later. Usually, my issues result from just not getting enough sleep due to scheduling, rather than any other sort of concern. But I know that all sorts of things are changing in my body as I get older. Sleep seems to be one of them. I wake up more easily in the night (partly since I'm the on-call dog mom, so if either of them needs something, they come to me to wake me up) and I have a harder time sleeping past 10 in the morning. Though today I managed to loaf around til 11:30.
So at least figuring out the lunar connection gave me some peace of mind -- for a few days each month, if I just can't seem to go to bed, I have a reason for it, not just general decrepitude and aging.
11/25/2004
Thanksgiving
Over the past few years, my partner and I have developed our own Thanksgiving traditions. This is how it went this year. We slept late, I fixed scrambled tofu and soy bacon for breakfast, and then we went to the gym. (My gym is open every year on Thanksgiving day -- and my yoga place had morning classes, too, which would have been a great option except for the sleeping late.) Then we came back and took the dogs to the park for a romp. This year, we met up with my father-in-law at the park -- we usually don't spend the day with any family members, but he was in town and wanted to see us a bit. Then he went off to his society shindig, and we went home to eat vegan Thanksgiving food from the natural foods place -- they do a pre-planned menu thing, where you just specify how many people you're ordering for, and pick it up on Wednesday night. It's pretty tasty, and it means that the day is a real holiday for me too. The dogs get special Thanksgiving food too. Then we went to the movies. Also a new twist on tradition -- we've always had the good intention of going out to the movies, but have often wound up staying in with DVDs instead. I think the key factor was that we didn't eat dessert before going out. Then we came home, and for the past hour or so our frozen vegan blueberry pie has been baking in the oven. We've each been writing/playing on our computers, geeks that we are. We'll rendezvous in a little while for pie and another movie.
All in all, it's been a great day. Very relaxing. Around Christmas time, we have to spend a lot of time with my partner's family, who are local. Travelling to see my mom is much more pleasant if we do it at some time other than the holidays. So we've been able to clear Thanksgiving for just us, which has been really nice.
I am so thankful for my partner, and for the life we've created together. I'm thankful also for the chance to share my life with two dogs -- over the past three years this new path has helped me to learn more about the web of feeling that connects all living beings together, and to become a better person through living in a new family group. I'm thankful for my friends old and new, face to face and virtual. Without all those moments of connection and support and laughter, this existence would be so much more bleak. And yes, I'm thankful for the internet, and for bloggers. When I stumbled into the blog world in May, I had really no idea how important it would become to me. Gratitude overflowing, y'all --
All in all, it's been a great day. Very relaxing. Around Christmas time, we have to spend a lot of time with my partner's family, who are local. Travelling to see my mom is much more pleasant if we do it at some time other than the holidays. So we've been able to clear Thanksgiving for just us, which has been really nice.
I am so thankful for my partner, and for the life we've created together. I'm thankful also for the chance to share my life with two dogs -- over the past three years this new path has helped me to learn more about the web of feeling that connects all living beings together, and to become a better person through living in a new family group. I'm thankful for my friends old and new, face to face and virtual. Without all those moments of connection and support and laughter, this existence would be so much more bleak. And yes, I'm thankful for the internet, and for bloggers. When I stumbled into the blog world in May, I had really no idea how important it would become to me. Gratitude overflowing, y'all --
11/24/2004
reading matter
OK. Maybe I'm not that detail oriented, in some aspects of my life. Because today was the first day that I actually read a Starbucks paper napkin. So I don't know if this poetry has always been printed on them or not. But in case you don't have one (or your politics preclude you from ever succumbing to the temptation of chain lattes) this is what it says (along with a spiraling design):
(I've formatted the indents to reflect the graphic design -- though the words are also curved around the spiral motifs, which I can't replicate here)
I suppose this is the textual equivalent of the abstract art you see in hospitals or corporate buildings -- abstraction works in those settings because you can order it up color-coordinated to your decor, and because you don't run the risk of offending anyone with representational art. (I'm also not against abstract visual art -- I just want to point out the marketplace value of it in today's world.) This is poetry that most people don't even see, or if they do, they pause only briefly and move on.
I'll save a full textual analysis for later.
extract the secrets
of my soul
brewing
mine becomes yours
(I've formatted the indents to reflect the graphic design -- though the words are also curved around the spiral motifs, which I can't replicate here)
I suppose this is the textual equivalent of the abstract art you see in hospitals or corporate buildings -- abstraction works in those settings because you can order it up color-coordinated to your decor, and because you don't run the risk of offending anyone with representational art. (I'm also not against abstract visual art -- I just want to point out the marketplace value of it in today's world.) This is poetry that most people don't even see, or if they do, they pause only briefly and move on.
I'll save a full textual analysis for later.
11/23/2004
creative obstinacy
...might be one way of describing my persistence this evening in crafting a truly fabulous class plan for tomorrow. Even though I know that a lot of my students won't be there. As we get to the end of the term, I've learned that I have to lecture more explicitly, since they're doing less of the reading, and attendance gets more sporadic. Although my pedagogical philosophy and my teaching style are very much discussion based, I suspect that I'd also be pretty good at doing large lectures. It would take a heck of a lot of work, though. Every time I revamp one of my mini-lectures (since I never lecture for a whole class period -- maybe 30 mins at a time, tops) I have new respect for my colleagues in history who lecture every class day. Anyway, those few students who show up tomorrow get a cool presentation with some new slides that I'm pleased with.
I know, it's sort of silly at this point in the term to be putting this much effort in. But I hate the way the literature at the end of the term always gets short shrift. Maybe it's time to teach the course backwards.
I know, it's sort of silly at this point in the term to be putting this much effort in. But I hate the way the literature at the end of the term always gets short shrift. Maybe it's time to teach the course backwards.
11/21/2004
nano update
This weekend I went to an event for people in my area who are doing NaNoWriMo. It was interesting to see the range of people who are also going through this crazy and wonderful process. It's incredibly inspiring to me, that 40,000+ people are signed on to attempt to write a novel this month. People of all ages, professions, locations; and novels of all genres. Creativity is an innate human capacity, one that our culture tends to dampen down and cordon off, telling us that it's best left up to the professionals. If you spend time making something that matters to you just because you want to, it's a really great thing. Whether or not you show it to anyone, or get recognition for it, or any of that.
My novel? I am way, way behind on my word count -- the goal is 50,000 by the end of November -- and I may not make that target. But even if I don't, I've already gotten so much out of the process. It's been incredibly freeing to just sit down and write something that doesn't have an argument, an audience, a rhetorical strategy, or evidence. Something that is just pure play. Especially since I've been struggling with some blocks in my professional writing, this experience has been a good way to loosen them/me, I think. I'm behind on my word count only for time reasons. I'll know better next year how to plan my month to enable the furious composition necessary for NaNo. And I've got some extra time next week with the holiday...who knows how many words I might be able to crank out?
The NaNo event was also kind of interesting, since I'm rarely in social situations where I don't know a single person, and where there isn't one shared interest drawing us together. Obviously, there was some kind of interest in writing shared among all of us, plus the willingness to attempt this. But beyond that, not much. I made an effort to talk to people, maybe 9 or 10 of them -- kind of a big deal for me, since I'm introverted and pretty picky in choosing my friends. But this was an event mostly attended by other nerdy introverts, so I assumed most of the social weirdness was due to a general lack of social skills.
But the gathering also forced me to recognize one of my own biases. Two of the women I chatted with were wearing crosses around their necks. And as soon as I was standing close enough to them to realize this, I started looking for ways out of the conversation. Now, I have several friends who are practising Christians, and two close friends who are active in their Unitarian churches. But I don't know anyone who wears a cross. And for me, it signals a kind of close-minded religiosity that really puts me off. I know that's an unfair judgement. If I were in a work situation, or some other kind of relation that would require us to spend time together, then I would make the extra effort to get to know these individuals and perhaps do a little educating (of them and me). But in a casual social setting, the cross seems like a voice saying "BACK AWAY, you lefty non-Christian lesbian." I just don't want to bother putting out any effort at all to find out if that's really what its wearer would say or not.
Obviously, I don't usually encounter crosses in my social circles. So this was interesting. I've had students with crosses before, of course, but in that case my feelings about it are completely irrelevant, since we don't have a peer relationship in which one would share personal information.
My novel? I am way, way behind on my word count -- the goal is 50,000 by the end of November -- and I may not make that target. But even if I don't, I've already gotten so much out of the process. It's been incredibly freeing to just sit down and write something that doesn't have an argument, an audience, a rhetorical strategy, or evidence. Something that is just pure play. Especially since I've been struggling with some blocks in my professional writing, this experience has been a good way to loosen them/me, I think. I'm behind on my word count only for time reasons. I'll know better next year how to plan my month to enable the furious composition necessary for NaNo. And I've got some extra time next week with the holiday...who knows how many words I might be able to crank out?
The NaNo event was also kind of interesting, since I'm rarely in social situations where I don't know a single person, and where there isn't one shared interest drawing us together. Obviously, there was some kind of interest in writing shared among all of us, plus the willingness to attempt this. But beyond that, not much. I made an effort to talk to people, maybe 9 or 10 of them -- kind of a big deal for me, since I'm introverted and pretty picky in choosing my friends. But this was an event mostly attended by other nerdy introverts, so I assumed most of the social weirdness was due to a general lack of social skills.
But the gathering also forced me to recognize one of my own biases. Two of the women I chatted with were wearing crosses around their necks. And as soon as I was standing close enough to them to realize this, I started looking for ways out of the conversation. Now, I have several friends who are practising Christians, and two close friends who are active in their Unitarian churches. But I don't know anyone who wears a cross. And for me, it signals a kind of close-minded religiosity that really puts me off. I know that's an unfair judgement. If I were in a work situation, or some other kind of relation that would require us to spend time together, then I would make the extra effort to get to know these individuals and perhaps do a little educating (of them and me). But in a casual social setting, the cross seems like a voice saying "BACK AWAY, you lefty non-Christian lesbian." I just don't want to bother putting out any effort at all to find out if that's really what its wearer would say or not.
Obviously, I don't usually encounter crosses in my social circles. So this was interesting. I've had students with crosses before, of course, but in that case my feelings about it are completely irrelevant, since we don't have a peer relationship in which one would share personal information.
11/20/2004
movie roundup
Until someone builds something like all consuming to keep track of the movies I've seen, I only sporadically keep up with them here. But that's better than not keeping track at all. I once knew a guy who had a notebook where he listed every single movie he saw -- and he'd been doing this since he was 15. I'd love to have a list like that. Mostly because my memory for titles or actors' names is lousy, so it'd be a big help when I want to recommend a film, or see something again. imdb and Netflix are a big help for looking things up, but only if you can remember some detail to get you started with the search, rather than the miscellany my brain holds on to: you know, that film we saw last winter that had the blond woman in it, who was in that other movie about the spy? and there was the car accident, and the little kid? I'm forever trying to trace back through the recesses of my lousy memory. The plus side of a bad memory, though, is that I can rewatch a film I saw 10 years ago and fully enjoy it a 2nd time, since I've forgotten everything but the broadest outline of characters and plot. (Not true for everything, but for a lot of movies.)
Anyway, some of things I've seen recently include:
Anyway, some of things I've seen recently include:
- Sideways -- we just saw this today, and I really enjoyed it. It's smart, it's funny, and it has the marvelous Sandra Oh in it (if you haven't seen her in Last Night, you really should! it's a wonderful bittersweet existential indie pic). Ostensibly it follows two guys on a trip through wine country during the week before one of them is due to get married -- it's a buddy picture, a last fling/wild oats picture. But it's also about creativity, about arriving in early middle age and trying to figure out your life, and about how deep knowledge acquired in the course of pursuing a hobby or interest -- in this case, wine -- can wind up offering the key to understanding the larger picture.
- Undertow: David Gordon Green can create a beautiful shot -- but there's not a whole lot of plot in any of his movies. I like All the Real Girls the best of any of his that I've seen. Unlike a French movie with no plot (like any Rohmer film, for instance) , where at least you have characters talking -- this movie you don't have much talking either. Green wants the setting/scenery to do the talking. But I enjoyed it well enough while I was watching it.
- The Incredibles. I saw it. I admired the technical aspects. I acknowledged the sweet family values behind it. I fell asleep. Really, I did. I knew I'd possibly have a hard time sitting through it, because I just don't really like animation. That puts me firmly on the margin of most American viewers -- it probably has to do with how I was raised or something. But it's true. I just don't like cartoons. No matter how cute, or sophisticated, or violent -- whether it's Loony Tunes or anime, it mostly leaves me cold.
- The Forgotten. Julianne Moore is definitely in my list of actors I'd watch reciting the phone book. And I really enjoyed this thriller up until the last 20 minutes -- there was really no way to resolve the movie in a fulfilling way. Interesting mix of the psychological and the extraterrestial.
- Birth. Fascinating to watch this one in a movie theatre, since there are a couple of scenes that had people (mostly men) freaking out -- giggling/gasping in discomfort. Intriguing premise, and some really interesting acting -- it's all about family dynamics. Points for the great haircut on Nicole Kidman, too.
- By Hook or By Crook (DVD). I LOVED this movie. It's beautiful, moving, funny, quirky. Best of all, it features two very butch women in a buddy pic that isn't about being lesbian or transgender. The characters (played by the co-writers and directors of the film) are just who they are. For me and my partner, it was extremely refreshing to see masculine women on screen -- you very rarely see butches, even in lesbian films, except as minor characters. IfThe L-Word is mainstreaming the representation of lesbians on screen, it's only presenting a certain version of lesbian sexuality (long haired femmes with femmes), one that's really appealing to straight men, who make up a big portion of the audience for that show. Not that any one show, or any one movie, can ever represent the complexity and variety of lesbian gender and sexuality -- any more than any one hetero movie can -- but because there are still far fewer lesbian films made, the stakes involved in such representations are pretty high. I'm a femme-identified lesbian, but because I'm attracted to and partnered with a butch woman, my identity as a lesbian is no more represented in The L-Word than my partner's is. By Hook or By Crook is also exciting because it's coming out of the Bay Area punk dyke scene (Sini Anderson and others were involved in the making of it) and there's a lot of creative independent energy visible in the film. Digital video is one tool for the coming aesthetic revolution . . .
11/19/2004
if only they would take a note
Dear English Department,
Please excuse Professor Mel from her duties today. She hasn't slept properly in several days. She woke up with a sore elbow, the result of excessive computing last night combined with the 45-lb puppy sleeping on her arm for 2 early-morning hours. She would really rather be at home, as she usually is, on Fridays, relaxing and recuperating from the long week. She needs to go to yoga class instead of sitting on this Master's thesis defense. She would rather not even have to finish reading this particular Master's thesis, which although excellently researched and written, is so dull that it makes her want to draw graffitti in the margins rather than comments. She's not too cranky yet, but we fear that Extreme Grumpiness may soon ensue. It would probably be better for all persons involved if she were excused.
Sincerely,
The Early-Morning Whine Generator.
Please excuse Professor Mel from her duties today. She hasn't slept properly in several days. She woke up with a sore elbow, the result of excessive computing last night combined with the 45-lb puppy sleeping on her arm for 2 early-morning hours. She would really rather be at home, as she usually is, on Fridays, relaxing and recuperating from the long week. She needs to go to yoga class instead of sitting on this Master's thesis defense. She would rather not even have to finish reading this particular Master's thesis, which although excellently researched and written, is so dull that it makes her want to draw graffitti in the margins rather than comments. She's not too cranky yet, but we fear that Extreme Grumpiness may soon ensue. It would probably be better for all persons involved if she were excused.
Sincerely,
The Early-Morning Whine Generator.
11/18/2004
let them be barking at nothing, please
Julie recently wrote about her watchcat going on the alert early one morning. For the last ten minutes, our dogs have been barking and running from one door to the other. Now, this could be due to one of the neighborhod stray cats. Or it could be something more menacing. Normally I wouldn't be that weirded out -- after all, our dogs bark at anything or anyone who comes near our house. Which in our neighborhood is a good thing. But last night, we were all in the front room watching TV and suddenly our younger dog started aggressively barking at the front door. My gf peeked out the side window and saw that there was a guy standing on our front porch! This was like 9:30 pm, totally dark outside, etc. Very disturbing. He went away after a couple minutes, probably because the dogs were barking. But it kind of freaked us out.
We have an alarm system, of course, and we have two dogs. All our neighbors have dogs. So stuff rarely happens around here without someone being alerted. But still.
We have an alarm system, of course, and we have two dogs. All our neighbors have dogs. So stuff rarely happens around here without someone being alerted. But still.
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