|
|
Sunday, March 21st, 2004
| |
11:36 pm
|
|
Well, doritos and plonk definitely don't make the best dinner, but I'm in a much better mood now. Term's ending in two weeks, I'm starting to think about movies to watch over break. Any recs? I'm open to all genres, but I'm a bit hesitant about anything too highbrow or with an unhappy ending. It's vacation and, I admit it, I'm a genre slut. The Lady Eve is on its way -- I do adore Barbara Stanwyk -- but I'm scheduling at least five days of DIY during the day and movie marathons at night. In return, I'll rec John Woo's The Killer. Truly violent. Great gunplay. Insipid het romance, two great slashy friendships. And Chow Yun-Fat as a sensitive assasin. My kinda movie. Rowr.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| |
7:25 pm
|
Well, that went well. Chris' brother and his wife came to England for two days, and decided to visit us for three hours. Chris and Ted don't have the best relationship, but fortunately, the visit seemed to go alright. Of course, who knows what Ted thought, but what the hell, we didn't fight, and if he got offended that's his deal. I just don't get him. Neither does Chris. And now, having met Janine, I'm equally baffled by their relationship.
Whatever. We cleaned all morning and got the place semi-presentable. Not much of a reaction on their part to the place or the renovations, but hey, we're thrilled. Made us realise just how much we've gotten done. A lot still left to go, but a lot accomplished. For one, the DVD shelving that Roy made this weekend's makes a big difference.
So now we're recovering from the whirlwind clean and the oddity of Ted's visit by a dinner of doritos and cheap red wine. Snicker. I'm sure they're as baffled by us.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Tuesday, March 2nd, 2004
| |
6:52 am
|
Okay, I realised that I'm just a bit work obsessed and I've made a resolution not to be quite such a workaholic. So what do I do? Decide to do some renovations around the house. Painting to be more precise. Got to say that it helps with the zen. Of course, it could just be the fumes.
I also realised that I haven't been making any entries about (fan)fiction. So here goes: Sean Bean is so hot in Goldeneye and Chris thought they should have cast him as Bond. *Snicker* The slashy moments in the movie were great too. I particularly like the bit when Alec likes the side of Natalya's face and tells her the he and Bond shared everything. Good moment. Rowr.
And yes, I also realised that it's a bit hypocritical that I should laugh at the guy who got the job for being a civil war re-enactor considering my obsessions with slash. Chris also pointed out that unlike the evangelist, he doesn't bring it up academically, it's just that Chris' investigative skills are amazing. So, I take it back, and he really is a nice guy. Guess I just like a few sharper edges.
Off to Ireland.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Sunday, February 29th, 2004
| |
8:02 pm - BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
|
|
I just found out that the guy the hired for the job is a Civil War re-enactor. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! And the previous guy is a prosletysing Christian. So a re-enactor and an evangelist. And they wonder why they lost their 5* rating.
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| Saturday, February 28th, 2004
| |
7:37 pm - Interview update
|
Well, I didn't get the job. And I have to say that I'm not all that unhappy about it. I could have added a lot to the department, but anyone who asks fifteen years after the linguistic turn 'aren't you really just a historian of discourse?' is a troglodyte. And the fact that he is in his late thirties/early forties just compounds my amazement.
So they didn't hire me, but they also didn't hire the other person who I think would add a lot to their department. No, they hired a newly minted Ph.D. from their own department. Now the newly minted part isn't a problem, but it's like marrying a sixteen year old virgin: You can mold her, but she gets fucked in the process. He's a good guy, but man, it's going to be rough for him.
Good news is that the guy I would have hired is one of my colleagues in London and we continue to build what we've got there.
*Shakes head* The other time I realised how incompatible we were was when I asked about a potential MA in American Studies with Politics and English and it was like I had let a big smelly fart rip. And they wonder why they aren't getting enough Ph.D.s in American History. Knock-on effect, boys, knock-on effect.
Ah well, the commute would have been nice, but the frustration would have been jaw-breaking. I like the freedom that I have in my current job. And I like the fact that I don't need a drink when I get home.
|
|
(2 comments | comment on this)
|
| Monday, February 23rd, 2004
| |
8:31 am
|
|
Job talk at 11:00, lunch at 1:00, interview at 2:15. Color me queasy. Hoping charm will carry me through. Wish me luck.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Friday, February 20th, 2004
| |
6:05 pm
|
Mmmm... made it to half term. Showed 'O Brother, Where Art Thou' and the class really liked it. Best comment: First time I saw it, I thought it was really boring, but know, after having learned all the stuff we've studied this year, I think it's really funny. Really good. I caught tons of stuff I missed before.
Makes my teacher's heart warm.
Otherwise, interview Monday. Crash tomorrow, dinner obligation tomorrow night, preparing job talk like crazy Sunday. Hunkering down.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Monday, February 16th, 2004
| |
8:52 pm - Good weekend
|
So, Chris and I decided a while ago that we needed to take breaks around the fifth week of term. Didn't matter if it was my twelve week term or his eight week term, somehow fifth week just stands for stress and tension.
This term we decided to spend it in London. Not an unfamiliar place, but still a weekend away. It was only later that we realised that it was Valentine's Day, but that added an extra little sweetness to our down time. We had planned to do cultural stuff, but we ended up browsing shops in the Bloomsbury area, before heading off to South Kensington where there's a store that specialises in door handles. Yes, you got that right, a handle store! And we made our big purchase for the weekend: three handles for a new cabinet, and two pulls for two doors in our bathroom! Excitement plus in the world kidless bourgeois house porn.
After that, we decided we had to do something cultural, so we went to the new lighting show at the V&A. Give it a miss, Heal's has a better display of modern lighting. They had some Ingo Mauer lights, which were way cool, but other than that rather boring floral additions around light bulbs. Now that wouldn't have been so bad in context, but the curator didn't pull out any older works which could have provided an excellent juxtaposition and evolutionary comparison. Sigh. It's not like there aren't really cool decorative arts today, it's just that its no longer a category that gets the respect that it did say, a hundred years ago. As a result, I think that exhibits can be rather unimaginative: canonical modernist pieces and then a flailing to figure out what is post-modern. That said, the Wolfsonian in South Beach, Miami, is absolutely fantastic and brings wit, imagination, and depth to the display of decorative arts. Cool building too.
Now, I'm stressing about my job talk. I'm going to present on my new project, but since the project is more of a proposal than a project, I'm reading as I can and hoping I'll get through on a wing and a prayer. Big ideas, broad themes, who needs specifics?
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, February 11th, 2004
| |
3:11 am
|
Right. I know I should be asleep, but my whole system's out of whack. I got a nasty stomach virus this weekend. And on top of that, I had to get a representative sample of my work together for my job interview. And I did. I even finished the article that I've been trying to finish since September. So even if I don't get the job, at least I'll have submitted the article.
Of course, my stomach is still a mess. And while I'm totally weak, I also have enough strength to stress. Thus the early morning entry. I really haven't been teaching as well as I'd like. Although, some of that has do with the morale being so low in my survey course. Done what I can, but if three-quarters of the class is unhappy with their seminar leader, it carries over. I can soft shoe all I want, but it's not going to change the situation. Fortunately, the special subject is going well. They're really gaining confidence in interpreting sources. We've had some good conversations. And next week, whoo-hoo, I'm showing O Brother Where Art Thou?. Should be fun for all.
Now, if I just stopped slacking off and could get those papers graded. Damn. I keep forgetting, if I want to malinger, I'm not supposed to get sick. Verisimilitude only works when you're trying to fool Mom.
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| Tuesday, February 3rd, 2004
| |
9:56 pm - Ooooh! Research!
|
|
| Friday, December 19th, 2003
| |
7:33 pm - Saints be praised!
|
I survived. Lost my voice at the end of yesterday's lecture, so during seminar I had students talk amongst themselves and then debate the different sections (north, south, west) and their interests at 1850. Survived the staff meeting. Asked my department chair for a letter of reference for this job. And she was lovely. Wonderfully understanding and gracious. I adore her. I also adore my two grad school advisors who sent me incredibly generous and supportive e-mails. I'm so incredibly lucky to have them as my academic 'parents'.
And then, I collapsed. Fuck the Christmas dinner. I was at my hotel, in bed and asleep by 8:30. Which meant of course, that I felt loads better in the morning, but had absolutely. no. voice. So this morning's seminar was lots of fun. Mostly my team teacher led the class, and occasionally I interjected whispered comments. The students were so sweet. They all become really quiet and leaned forward when I tried to talk. I'll miss this class. The students were great and the material was fun to teach. From there it was a long slide home. The second part of Birth of the Nation took up most of two hours, so only intermittent snarky comments as commentary during the movie. Fascinating, horrific historical document. Wow.
And now? Now I get to go home.
|
|
(2 comments | comment on this)
|
| Thursday, December 18th, 2003
| |
5:09 am - Wee hours of the morning
|
So, on top of the cold, end of the term stress, a part-time teacher teaching three of the four sections in my survey course who is hated by the students, a syllabus I needed to update by two days ago, and an article I still haven't finished, there's now a job being advertised in my field at a very good institution, very close to home. Fuck. Needless to say, try as I might, I haven't slept a wink.
Right. Brass tacks. Today. I have a lecture at 11:00, a section at 12:00, a faculty meeting at 1:00, and the Departmental Christmas dinner at 7:00. The lecture's a review and I've given it before. The article for section was on the changing meaning of freedom from the American Revolution through the Civil War. They've got to have opinions about that. And the faculty meeting? I just have to look moderately alert through it. Check. I can do all that. Then, eep, sometime between the faculty meeting and the Christmas dinner, I need to ask my head of department for a letter of recommendation. That's going to suck. I really like her and I really like my job, but this other job is a great opportunity. Christmas dinner, drink like a fish and wobble to my hotel with out too many embarrassments. Can do.
Friday. Seminar at 10:30, seminar at 3:00. First seminar. Haven't done a lick of reading, but do have a team teacher. Will throw burden on Sam. Second Seminar. Showing the second half of Birth of a Nation. Thinking about popping popcorn for the kids. This I can do. Right. And then. Then the term is done. I'll have survived. Then it's a bit of a break. Lot's of things I now need to do over it. But that's later. Now, I just have to get through today and tomorrow.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Monday, December 15th, 2003
| |
2:12 pm
|
|
| Sunday, December 14th, 2003
| |
10:42 am - Renovations update
|
So another renovations landmark. Friday was the first night that Chris and I slept in our new bedroom! We have a bedroom! We have a bedroom floor! We have a bedframe! We have a matress! We have bedding! Wow! And it looks great. Maple floor, walnut bedframe. Lot's of light. 10 months after started the renovations, but hey, it's quality work and Roy the builder is a great guy. Sharing the England rugby win with him was most excellent.
And today? We're moving on to the upstairs. We're clearing the second bedroom so that Roy can take down the wall and extend the doorway while we're gone over the winter break. He's going to do the destruction with his son Aaron. Very cute. Father-son bonding time and Aaron gets to make some money.
Meanwhile, I'm still slogging through the end of term and all the preps for next term. But that's another whine for another entry. Mostly I'm just pleased that the renovations are moving along.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Friday, December 12th, 2003
| |
6:38 pm - Whew!
|
Only one week of classes left. Damn, but this felt like it should be the last week. I'm wrecked. The students are wrecked. And it's damn dark out there. Nine more days to winter solstice. Forget Christmas, I want to jump over a bonfire and bring back the sun.
I do have one bit of bright good news (well other than sneaking out to see 'Master and Commander' and adoring it -- good sailing scenes and I say that as a longtime sailor). My students in my special subject really, really like it. I just got student feedback and it was amazingly stellar. Unbelievably so. I mean, I've been slaving over this class. They've all been really quiet and I've been struggling to get them engaged. But hey, it turns out they're just quite and that they are engaged. The mind boggles. Nice way to end the week.
Now for a drink at the pub and then the commute home to my honey.
|
|
(3 comments | comment on this)
|
| Monday, November 24th, 2003
| |
5:37 pm
|
Feeling just a little under the gun. Trying to finish my article (I'm sooooooo close). Have a stack of essays to mark, and three stacks to evaluate for the fairness of their marks. And soon I have to put an official proposal together for a new MA course on Conspiracy in American Culture. I'm kicking through some library catalogs and I'm finding great stuff, and I'd love to browse through the actual texts, but damn I don't have time to do a leisurely look through the soft white underbelly of American political culture. I want to do this proposal right, but I don't have time.
One of the things I hate most about being an academic in England is having to deal with closed stacks. It's not just that sources are more limited for a U.S. historian here, but also that the sources that are here are more difficult to access. A lot of the books that I'd like to look at are so not rare, and all I'd need to do is flip through some pages, see if it's useful or not, and move on. Even better, when I moved on I could look at those books which I couldn't find through keyword search, but that might be on topic. Of course, I'd like to look at the rarer books, too, but damn, I don't wait to have to wait a couple of hours, let alone a couple of days to figure out if something is useful or not. Instant gratification girl, that's me. I want to read anti-Mormon tirades now, I want to learn all about the slave power conspiracy now, I want to know how trusts are destroying the fabric of America, or whether the federal government is a tool of Satan or not (okay, I don't have to read up to know the last one, but...)
Maybe I'll just have to go home, put in All the President's Men and do either some footnotes or mark some essays. Maybe after that some Krycek episodes. Snicker, I'm not kidding about the last one. Week 11 is on Roswell and the X-Files and I have to pick out an episode.
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| Sunday, November 23rd, 2003
| |
12:17 pm - Violence after Buffy
|
Last night, Chris and I watched Scream for the first time in a long time. I remember when I first saw it, I was all like "Hoo-rah! You go girl! Kick him in the balls! Throw beer bottles at him! Fight back babe!" I was really impressed by the (violent) agency the movie dames showed. I had a similar response after watching La Femme Nikita.
But now, years later, having seen both movies again, I didn't have that reaction. I know that they were precedent setting, and I still enjoyed them, but in a post-Buffy world, women fighting back has become more of a media norm. I like that. I don't know about the causality -- I can't remember if the Replacement Killers or Long Kiss Goodnight pre-dated Buffy, and I know that Terminator 2 did come before TV-Buffy -- but certainly seven highly successful seasons of Buffy reinforces the message that woman can fight back. And it pleases me to see that message becoming canonical.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Friday, November 21st, 2003
| |
11:19 pm
|
Must go to sleep. Four-day week in London. Presented a paper on Tuesday. Hosted a friend at a research seminar and drank hard afterwards on Thursday. Hungover and five hours of teaching today. Addicted to  hp_dungeons and dungeon_watch. Flooring delivery person coming at 9:00 tomorrow morning. *Shakes head* Maybe I'll have some more of that medicinal Ukrainian honey-and-chili-infused vodka.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Sunday, November 16th, 2003
| |
7:49 pm
|
|
Arg! Must leave hp_dungeons. Must go home. Wah. What will happen to the poor dears (and the Weasley Rat Bastard).
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| |
5:56 pm - Cranky
|
No internet at home! Grump. I'm sure it's just like last time, BT just needs to flip a switch resetting our broadband, but I just know that we're going to have to go through Freeserve, then get a BT guy to check out our phone line, he'll find nothing wrong, call up BT and then and only then will the flip the reset switch. Don't need this, not going to be home for four days this week and probably three days next week.
I'll probably continue to use Chris' office when I'm in Oxford, but I like working at home, I want to work at home. I have my files there. And my books. And I like my files and books, but I can't do my work without the internet.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
|
|
|
|
