Friday, November 4, 2011

Musings as I sit in the Elizabethan section of the library...

I'll say what everyone says: this semester has gone by the fastest yet and things are stressful like whoa. Somehow, though, I keep having this feeling of enlightenment. This feeling is fleeting, however, and is quickly replaced by that sensation you have when you're about 75% certain you're going to puke on your shoes. This back and forth between elation and nausea has been my every class. It's exciting to get paper assignments, but also really stressful because every paper you write is proof of your (in)adequacy as a human being. Here's the final paper breakdown:

U.S. Colonial: 10 pager on Slavery? Virginia? the Caribbean? No assignment for this one yet.

Fantasy and Romance:  10 pages-ish about Harry Potter. Guhhhhh.

Seminar: TWENTY-FIVE PAGES ABOUT BOOKS. Literally, books. The material artifact. As in the codex its very self.

Transnational Family15 pages of an analysis on the spectacle of pregnancy, namely through the venues of 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom.




Anyway, I read some books:

Moby Dick by my (and Nathanial Hawthorne's) best friend Herman.

I really liked it because it's slow and long and meaty. The cover art though? Disappointment major. Also, Moby's in the news! I have a lot of things to say about this book, most of which are dorky, so I'll spare you. In sum: if you get an extra 2-3 weeks and read about 100 pages per sitting, you'll get it read. If you don't want to read it, learn about it here.



I also read Good Omens by some combination of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

I had the one with the white cover. This is a beach book, a summer book, a fast read, a chuckle, and some poorly written baby-switching. Oh, and the climax was less than I hoped.



In other news, I think I've decided that I want to go to graduate school for Children's Literature. Yikes! Life decisions.

Happy Friday!