It is December 17 ... and I'm still teaching. The logic of this - I'm not begrudging my students their valuable time with moi - still escapes me. Last week - that is the penultimate week of term - I had a total of 9 students over two seminars. That's 9 out of a possible 40 listed on the roster. And in my 9am seminar, the two brave little students were two of my best. So we had a chat, discussed shoes and ships and ceiling wax, and then I sent them off home. I've prepared a lively seminar for today, tomorrow and Friday essentially giving them the keys to the kingdom as far as the exam goes. Of course, I'm sure if the 'last week' of term were two weeks earlier, the attendence would be the same.
First week of term, on the other hand, is a glorious 5 weeks away right now. Five weeks introduced by two weeks of Christmas hols with the library and universities CLOSED. I may accidentally lock my office keys in my office.
I'm kinda looking forward to Christmas this year. Albeit, it won't be the same so far away. But this year, we've made our own tree out of paper and stuck it to the wall (space saving! and recycleable!). Our Christmas box from Canada has arrived. Logan and Laila haven't yet ripped open the prezzies - they have a perverse fascinating with tearing paper. Office Christmas parties are done and dusted. A Christmas Carol is the book of the week on Radio 4. I found the music to Charlie Brown's Christmas special on Nasser's iPod. And we found a recipe for bagels so's to make Christmas morning extra special - since it will be extra emotional.
I was greivously dissapointed to learn that our German Christmas market is far from unique. My friend laughed when I explained my most recent disillusionment. But I really did think that Leeds was special somehow - that we got something original at Christmas. It's silly but it really did take the shine off the whole thing. Apparently, ours is just part of a chain. I guess I'm not as post-modern as I thought.
I'm feeling very blah today. I shouldn't as it is beautiful and sunny out. But then, I'll be spending the afternoon watching the sunshine recede from inside a seminar room. *sigh*
Three more days ...
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Monday, December 08, 2008
Ignorance is British - but bad literature is for everyone
So the first part of this title is from an adventure Nasser had with one of the more agressive locals. Call it the credit crunch, or Christmas, or just the freakin' cold weather - any way I cut it, the guy was (and I wasn't actually there) just plain mean. In response to Nasser's suggestion that screaming obscenities and pushing at the crossing was 'ignorant', our friend responded (among other colourful comments) that it wasn't ignorance: it was British.
Oh well.
I've been reading - on wikipedia - the synopsis and such for Twilight, the spectacularly popular series of young adult novels by Stephanie Meyer - now film. My friend, who lectures in children's literature, had much criticism for it. Having read the wiki entry, found some reviews, and looked through the truly god-awful, teenage-angsty website of the film, I've decided that it is the worst thing I haven't seen or read in ages. It sounds absolutely bloody awful - the kind of awful that's intensified by the fact that I likely would have devoured them like candy when I was 13. And I don't mean awful from a high-brow, academic-white-tower viewpoint; I mean awful as in insulting, candy-coated nonsense that panders to kiddy-Gothic, celebrations of the undead as Byronic heroes. Honestly. Who falls for this crap?
She said, a Gothicist.
Yes, but there are few things more tiring than a teenager and few things more unimaginably horrible than an immortal teenager.
Not to mention the gender politics that apparently get played out in this book. I have no problem with abstinence; but vampires and marriage? Honestly. I feel that I must shake my head a lot in any discussion of this book. Is marriage still such an ideal that a relationship with a vampire can be okay'd provided marriage is on the table? Hmm...it's possible that I'm being a miserable git. Likely from reading too much of this fellow and enjoying too much this program.
Cos otherwise, what've I got to complain about? It's nearly the end of term, teaching finishes in two weeks (two weeks is a long long time...), I've got teaching lined up for next term, and a job application to finish - and Christmas is coming. None too shabby for the second week of December.
Oh well.
I've been reading - on wikipedia - the synopsis and such for Twilight, the spectacularly popular series of young adult novels by Stephanie Meyer - now film. My friend, who lectures in children's literature, had much criticism for it. Having read the wiki entry, found some reviews, and looked through the truly god-awful, teenage-angsty website of the film, I've decided that it is the worst thing I haven't seen or read in ages. It sounds absolutely bloody awful - the kind of awful that's intensified by the fact that I likely would have devoured them like candy when I was 13. And I don't mean awful from a high-brow, academic-white-tower viewpoint; I mean awful as in insulting, candy-coated nonsense that panders to kiddy-Gothic, celebrations of the undead as Byronic heroes. Honestly. Who falls for this crap?
She said, a Gothicist.
Yes, but there are few things more tiring than a teenager and few things more unimaginably horrible than an immortal teenager.
Not to mention the gender politics that apparently get played out in this book. I have no problem with abstinence; but vampires and marriage? Honestly. I feel that I must shake my head a lot in any discussion of this book. Is marriage still such an ideal that a relationship with a vampire can be okay'd provided marriage is on the table? Hmm...it's possible that I'm being a miserable git. Likely from reading too much of this fellow and enjoying too much this program.
Cos otherwise, what've I got to complain about? It's nearly the end of term, teaching finishes in two weeks (two weeks is a long long time...), I've got teaching lined up for next term, and a job application to finish - and Christmas is coming. None too shabby for the second week of December.
