Sorry, don't now what my obsession is with XKCD lately. They make me laugh, and so does Car Talk, so there you go :) I love NPR, yes that makes me a nerd, or an old person or whatever, but hey, I happen to like to know what's going on in the world at least a little bit... We live in a world and a society, it's not just all about your little individual world. Anyways :)
Here is a random vid for today. A little Flute, a little beatbox... Enjoy :)
I am absolutely exhausted, so I thought I'd take a break from this paper to write a bit, randomly of course :) I've been writing a paper since 6:30 this morning, breaking only at 5 to go take a History final. Now I'm back again to try and finish this "loose baggy monster". It's not that long, only ten pages, but the research was kind of intense and all over the place. Basically I'm positing that Melville's Moby Dick can be considered a continuation of the Romantic Movement. That is, the British Romantic Movement, none of this American Romance novel -- although that would have been interesting since I happen to love Hawthorne, but I feel more at ease speaking about the Romantic Poets and quoting them than I do Hawthorne and other Americans. I am including Emerson in the group though, because his "Nature" and "Self Reliance" fit well. Unfortunately I had to exclude Johnny Keats, which is sad because he's my favorite. But really, I can't go writing a book here! It has the works, from commentary on the inefficiency of language to the Byronic hero, so if I can just get it all on paper in some coherent manner, I may just get a respectable paper out of it. Anyhow, it is going rather swimmingly besides me having trouble focussing. Obviously.
My original research project was about how technology drives the American novel/ life/ ideal/ something... not a very well thought out thesis apparently. It makes sense in my head though. I was going to use the daguerrotype in The House of the Seven Gables and fingerprinting in Pudd'n head Wilson and then something in Moby Dick but I couldn't find ANY sources or work on that subject. Seems ridiculous to me! It seems kind of an obvious connection... I did look up some stuff about the automobile and American Literature, but most of the works referenced were post 1940's. So yeah I scratched that yesterday, which left me one day for the new thesis. Yay.
Well, blah blah blah :) Back to tedium :D
Today is the last day of classes! I am beyond excited! I still have finals, and a ridiculous amount of papers to finish by Wednesday, but other than that Im good for the summer. Yay! Also I got my job for the summer all set. Things are looking up for now :) Hopefully Ill finally have some time to post, instead of making drafts and then never publishing them.
Also, I read today that Carol Ann Duffy was chosen as Poet Laureate of the UK. 341 years of the Poet Laureate and finally a female poet -- good deal :)
Oh yeah, one more thing :) I had one of my poems published in Gonzaga's Reflection. Print. yay! Finally :)
Well, off to Metaphysics and Central Europe for one last time!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
XKCD :) lol I've honestly wondered about this before...
I just might have to switch to Gmail solely because of this feature : Undo Send. Honestly, how many times have you sent a message and then wanted to kick yourself -- like forgetting to add an attachment, or hitting the send button on accident, or just having second thoughts. Another big mistake I have made is CCing to someone instead of BCing. Oops. In Gmail with a little feature from Google Labs you have five seconds to undo a sent email. Awesome!
Also this little feature from Google Labs, called Mail Goggles, made me laugh. Jerry Maguire, anyone? I wonder though, what if you're absolutely horrific at math? Could get sketchy! :)
And, since I've been adding Education blogs to my blog list lately, i thought this was rather timely :) Its a talk give by Sir Ken Robinson about education and about how schools kill creativity. Rather entertaining, and very insightful.
I thought this was well done, and slightly fascinating. I love simplicity :) Also, having lived on an Apple Orchard, this lil vid holds a special place in my heart. Enjoy :)
I read today with sadness that Nicholas Hughes, son of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, had committed suicide. What he must have gone through. You can read the story in the NYTimes or on MSN. I like the MSN article better because it speaks about Mr. Hughes, not just his parents. Anyhow, any suicide is a tragedy, no matter who it is. It reminded me of this poem by Taylor Mali :
