Fall break was this week, which was kind of nice. It was Courtney's birthday on Friday, so we went hiking at Turkey Mountain with Mom and Caleb. That was fun, and it was a beautiful day. Even the Arkansas River looked pretty, somehow.
Homework for this week will be lighter than usual, I think. The last couple weeks have been incredibly hectic. I'll be presenting my capstone proposal Friday morning, which sounds a little daunting, but it hopefully won't be too bad. If it gets accepted, I'll be trying to prove the literary merit of country music lyrics, and why it ought to be considered a form of literature.
The post-Durant era of Thunder basketball begins Wednesday night, so it'll be another season full of intense roller-coastery emotions. The World Series also starts Tuesday, and it'll make history, however it ends up. The Cubs haven't won the Series since 1908, and the Indians haven't won it since 1948. They were last here in 1997, losing to the Florida Marlins in Game 7. (I remember watching this game; I was four. Bob Costas is still who I want to be when I grow up.) The last time the Cubs were in the World Series, it was 1945, and the Japanese had finally surrendered.
While it would have been cooler if it had happened last year (since the Cubs won the 2015 Series over Miami, according to Back To The Future Part II), one year off isn't bad. And the Indians were in serious jeopardy of moving to Miami in Major League, so that connection almost holds up. As a Cardinals fan, I just can't quite bring myself to cheer for the Cubs, so I'll be pulling for the Indians to win. (Besides, if Elizabeth and I ever agreed on a sports-related topic outside of the Thunder, the world might explode.)
The BCM state volleyball tournament is this weekend, either at UCO in Edmond or in Shawnee at OBU. Hoping the NSU teams will do well.
There was a country-themed dance held on campus Tuesday, and I dropped by that for a bit. It was kind of fun - I sort of picked up how to line dance, finally. It's not the same as a square dance, obviously, but it was still enjoyable.
November is coming up soon, and that means time (officially) to begin working on a new NaNoWriMo project. I think I'll try again this year.
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Friday, October 14, 2016
Welcome, Fall
It's a Friday night, which means I'm exhausted and cold and trying unsuccessfully to do homework, with hockey on TV for background noise. Chicago is playing at Nashville, Predators winning 3-2.
Trying to polish up my capstone proposal that's due Monday morning, that's been exceptionally nerve-wracking. But on the other hand, apparently arguing why country music ought to be considered literature seems to be a great choice for a project, if it's accepted, based on reactions from everyone who's asked(including several professors). Trying not to panic about that not getting accepted.
Dr. Dial-Driver was feeling merciful in letting our Children's Lit essay midterm be a takehome exam after none of us finished it in time on Monday, but that was kind of humiliating, too. My essay on E.B. White and Charlotte's Web got a decent grade, though I was kind of disappointed in it. Got an Early American Lit essay back Wednesday with the confirmation that it was absolutely crap, which I knew, but that was discouraging. And then that afternoon a profile essay for workshopping in Creative Nonfiction was appraised as "something from a Comp class." That was also discouraging.
It was mildly interesting, though, how much everyone hated that I managed to erase myself entirely from the narrative, because that's what you do in journalism: "Always be in the news, but never be in the news." There were lots of variations of "Who wrote this? I wanted to read something Wesleyish, and he was nowhere to be found. I WANT A REFUND OF MY TIME!" in the critiques. I guess that's good, since people have a certain enjoyable tone that they associate with my writing. I don't know.
Except for Audio Production, where I have a low A, I have no idea how I'm doing gradewise this semester, because no one can figure out how the new campus-wide computer system works. That not-knowing adds some more stress.
The college group from First Baptist-Claremore, Fusion, was holding a meeting on campus last night, so I filled my socialization quota for the week/month by going to that. It was fine, and I think maybe they're the kind of people I would fit in well with. Reminded me of the NSU BCM, which is a good thing.
Fire alarm went off earlier tonight, contributing to the lack of productivity. I was finishing a book by Chuck Swindoll, called The Church Awakening: An Urgent Call for Renewal, on what's wrong with the American church in general and his suggestions for how to (maybe) fix it. So I stood under a streetlight and kept reading outside. Some guy saw the title and asked whether it was for a class or just for fun, which I thought was humorous. How do you answer a question like that? "No, I just think reading about how sinful humanity is and feeling sorrowful because of that is good entertainment. And of course a state school would assign a book like this as course reading." So I just said, "For fun. It's a good book."
The weather finally turned coldish, dropping to 40something degrees fairly often. I've kind of liked that and kind of haven't, since it's one of those frequent bipolar weather weeks that happen so often - it's supposed to be 80something this weekend again. If it would just stick with one general temperature, that would be great.
Trying to polish up my capstone proposal that's due Monday morning, that's been exceptionally nerve-wracking. But on the other hand, apparently arguing why country music ought to be considered literature seems to be a great choice for a project, if it's accepted, based on reactions from everyone who's asked(including several professors). Trying not to panic about that not getting accepted.
Dr. Dial-Driver was feeling merciful in letting our Children's Lit essay midterm be a takehome exam after none of us finished it in time on Monday, but that was kind of humiliating, too. My essay on E.B. White and Charlotte's Web got a decent grade, though I was kind of disappointed in it. Got an Early American Lit essay back Wednesday with the confirmation that it was absolutely crap, which I knew, but that was discouraging. And then that afternoon a profile essay for workshopping in Creative Nonfiction was appraised as "something from a Comp class." That was also discouraging.
It was mildly interesting, though, how much everyone hated that I managed to erase myself entirely from the narrative, because that's what you do in journalism: "Always be in the news, but never be in the news." There were lots of variations of "Who wrote this? I wanted to read something Wesleyish, and he was nowhere to be found. I WANT A REFUND OF MY TIME!" in the critiques. I guess that's good, since people have a certain enjoyable tone that they associate with my writing. I don't know.
Except for Audio Production, where I have a low A, I have no idea how I'm doing gradewise this semester, because no one can figure out how the new campus-wide computer system works. That not-knowing adds some more stress.
The college group from First Baptist-Claremore, Fusion, was holding a meeting on campus last night, so I filled my socialization quota for the week/month by going to that. It was fine, and I think maybe they're the kind of people I would fit in well with. Reminded me of the NSU BCM, which is a good thing.
Fire alarm went off earlier tonight, contributing to the lack of productivity. I was finishing a book by Chuck Swindoll, called The Church Awakening: An Urgent Call for Renewal, on what's wrong with the American church in general and his suggestions for how to (maybe) fix it. So I stood under a streetlight and kept reading outside. Some guy saw the title and asked whether it was for a class or just for fun, which I thought was humorous. How do you answer a question like that? "No, I just think reading about how sinful humanity is and feeling sorrowful because of that is good entertainment. And of course a state school would assign a book like this as course reading." So I just said, "For fun. It's a good book."
The weather finally turned coldish, dropping to 40something degrees fairly often. I've kind of liked that and kind of haven't, since it's one of those frequent bipolar weather weeks that happen so often - it's supposed to be 80something this weekend again. If it would just stick with one general temperature, that would be great.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)