Notes from the wilderness
It's been forever and a day since I did anything even approaching a normal update. That is, not including a quote from somewhere or other, or vaguely mentioning something that's not really relevant beyond noting it for posterity.
So. What have I been up to?
I finished my last exam on May 27th - this semester I only had two, and whilst they weren't a walk in the park, they weren't as taxing as what went before. What went before consisted of five essays, four of which were due on the same day (May 12th), the other on April 20th. The May 12th deadline was hellish, despite the fact that I got them all in on time. I think I gave the first three adequate time in terms of writing and researching. Drama and Medieval will be average, as the questions were dull and really didn't inspire me in any way. For language, I feel like I hit upon an interesting idea and executed it reasonably well. It's a tad rough around the edges, but I ran out of the time and energy required to properly go through it with a fine-toothed comb. I hope I pull it off - I wrote with enough confidence and self-assurance in my use of cognitive poetics to get a decent mark either way, I think. Theory was the essay that really might suffer. I wrote it in one goe, in 14 hours straight, sitting in the library jittering with caffeine and sugar. I feel like my research was sound, focusing around Foucault and Said, the ideas of literature, culture, tradition and the author-function. It's just a case of hoping that my drug-addled body distilled the contents of my overloaded brain down into enough of an argument, as the question didn't exactly throw any straightforward lines of attack out there. Time will tell.
I'll hear back on June 19th, when I also get my exam results. I got the April 20th essay back - I got a first in it and was pleased as punch. It was a straight-up literature essay that I'd been researching for over a week, so that felt gratifying. On or around April 20th I also received two other cool pieces of news. 1.) My dissertation proposal had been accepted, and I'd been allocated the supervisor of my choice. 2.) I got all my first choices for my module options in my third and final year. Happy times.
I've spent the post-essay/exam days putting my life back together, a phrase I'm at risk of overusing of late, but it's bloody accurate. This term (post-Easter) has taken a lot out of me physically and mentally, so it's been sheer bliss having the come-down. Staying up to stupid-o'clock in the morning reading books, comics, the internet, getting up after lunchtime, spending my days lazing in my bedroom or sitting room or in the park with friends and housemates. It's not without reason that the third years say that the end of second year is the most difficult part of the course. Or at least, I hope not! Next week is going to be filled with the inevitable drunken end of term fun, as everyone has their final house-parties, socials, BBQs, nights in the pub etc. I reckon all of my housemates ate going to disappear back to their respective corners of the country on about the 21st or 22nd, leaving me alone in the house for a week. Speaking of which, I need to find somewhere to put all my stuff during July and August, as my mum isn't driving at the moment and can't move it all back to London. Annoyingly, we're only moving two doors down, but have a two month gap between contracts. I should get on that...
On a closing note, I've been reading a few things: Shame by Salman Rushdie, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (this one surprised me and was actually really really good), The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy and American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Comics wise I keep coming back to both Phonogram: Rue Britannia and the first two issues of The Singles Club. I love how I get something new out of every reading. There's always something I didn't spot before, or some line of thought that eluded me, or just a delightful little detail in the artwork. I enjoyed Marc Ellerby's mini 'Chloe Noonan: Monster Hunter', and chucked a copy at
lowey for his birthday. I thought the general humour and style would be to his taste, and I was correct! He and airlight are on the Scott Pilgrim bandwagon, which I still am not, despite everyone waxing lyrical about it on the internet. I'll get there eventually. My housemate has been shoving The Memorykeeper's Daughter at me for months, so I will probably crack that open next.
Music wise... as ever I struggle to sum up. Hm. I've been listening to a load of Belle and Sebastian, interspersed with Okkervil River, In The Aeroplane Over the Sea, a few Bon Iver tracks. Which is almost embarrassingly indie looking at it like that, but the sunshine and my housemate next door's taste for RnB does that to me. My other housemate keeps blasting The Pipettes and Hot Chip and other highly danceable stuff through the floor, which equals fun times. I think, though, the song that will encapsulate these past new months will be the dreamy Já Sei Namorar, by Tribalistas. It's gone through a cycle in terms of house affections. James introduced it me, Cordy got obsessed, Natasha was at first unconvinced and has since been converted. It preserves that sensation of lounging around in the sunshine, feeling young, having finished your work and relishing the summer ahead.
On an ACTUAL closing note, I had a fight with vodka the other night, which it thoroughly won, stealing my memory and ability to walk in a straight line, and leaving me with a fair few bruises. I'm such a dolt.
So. What have I been up to?
I finished my last exam on May 27th - this semester I only had two, and whilst they weren't a walk in the park, they weren't as taxing as what went before. What went before consisted of five essays, four of which were due on the same day (May 12th), the other on April 20th. The May 12th deadline was hellish, despite the fact that I got them all in on time. I think I gave the first three adequate time in terms of writing and researching. Drama and Medieval will be average, as the questions were dull and really didn't inspire me in any way. For language, I feel like I hit upon an interesting idea and executed it reasonably well. It's a tad rough around the edges, but I ran out of the time and energy required to properly go through it with a fine-toothed comb. I hope I pull it off - I wrote with enough confidence and self-assurance in my use of cognitive poetics to get a decent mark either way, I think. Theory was the essay that really might suffer. I wrote it in one goe, in 14 hours straight, sitting in the library jittering with caffeine and sugar. I feel like my research was sound, focusing around Foucault and Said, the ideas of literature, culture, tradition and the author-function. It's just a case of hoping that my drug-addled body distilled the contents of my overloaded brain down into enough of an argument, as the question didn't exactly throw any straightforward lines of attack out there. Time will tell.
I'll hear back on June 19th, when I also get my exam results. I got the April 20th essay back - I got a first in it and was pleased as punch. It was a straight-up literature essay that I'd been researching for over a week, so that felt gratifying. On or around April 20th I also received two other cool pieces of news. 1.) My dissertation proposal had been accepted, and I'd been allocated the supervisor of my choice. 2.) I got all my first choices for my module options in my third and final year. Happy times.
I've spent the post-essay/exam days putting my life back together, a phrase I'm at risk of overusing of late, but it's bloody accurate. This term (post-Easter) has taken a lot out of me physically and mentally, so it's been sheer bliss having the come-down. Staying up to stupid-o'clock in the morning reading books, comics, the internet, getting up after lunchtime, spending my days lazing in my bedroom or sitting room or in the park with friends and housemates. It's not without reason that the third years say that the end of second year is the most difficult part of the course. Or at least, I hope not! Next week is going to be filled with the inevitable drunken end of term fun, as everyone has their final house-parties, socials, BBQs, nights in the pub etc. I reckon all of my housemates ate going to disappear back to their respective corners of the country on about the 21st or 22nd, leaving me alone in the house for a week. Speaking of which, I need to find somewhere to put all my stuff during July and August, as my mum isn't driving at the moment and can't move it all back to London. Annoyingly, we're only moving two doors down, but have a two month gap between contracts. I should get on that...
On a closing note, I've been reading a few things: Shame by Salman Rushdie, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (this one surprised me and was actually really really good), The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy and American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Comics wise I keep coming back to both Phonogram: Rue Britannia and the first two issues of The Singles Club. I love how I get something new out of every reading. There's always something I didn't spot before, or some line of thought that eluded me, or just a delightful little detail in the artwork. I enjoyed Marc Ellerby's mini 'Chloe Noonan: Monster Hunter', and chucked a copy at
lowey for his birthday. I thought the general humour and style would be to his taste, and I was correct! He and airlight are on the Scott Pilgrim bandwagon, which I still am not, despite everyone waxing lyrical about it on the internet. I'll get there eventually. My housemate has been shoving The Memorykeeper's Daughter at me for months, so I will probably crack that open next.Music wise... as ever I struggle to sum up. Hm. I've been listening to a load of Belle and Sebastian, interspersed with Okkervil River, In The Aeroplane Over the Sea, a few Bon Iver tracks. Which is almost embarrassingly indie looking at it like that, but the sunshine and my housemate next door's taste for RnB does that to me. My other housemate keeps blasting The Pipettes and Hot Chip and other highly danceable stuff through the floor, which equals fun times. I think, though, the song that will encapsulate these past new months will be the dreamy Já Sei Namorar, by Tribalistas. It's gone through a cycle in terms of house affections. James introduced it me, Cordy got obsessed, Natasha was at first unconvinced and has since been converted. It preserves that sensation of lounging around in the sunshine, feeling young, having finished your work and relishing the summer ahead.
On an ACTUAL closing note, I had a fight with vodka the other night, which it thoroughly won, stealing my memory and ability to walk in a straight line, and leaving me with a fair few bruises. I'm such a dolt.