Allow myself to introduce...myself.

Pet peeve - when people use "myself" incorrectly. This problem is especially common among beauty pageant contestants, and it must be stopped! Here's a short lesson on how to use the word correctly.

Example: Dave and myself won the race. NOOOOO! The correct word to use in this instance is "I." Dave and I won the race.

Here's another example: The race was rigged against Dave and myself. NOOOOO! The correct word to use here is "me." The race was rigged against Dave and me.

But, Laura, when CAN you use "myself"? Answer: When the subject of your sentence is "I." For example, I rigged the race against myself. or I won the race myself.

You can also use it for emphasis: I myself also believe the race was rigged. Although this use is redundant, it is not incorrect.

There. Anyone who reads this blog should expect ridicule (and judgment) from me if they use this word wrong.

A Bad Day

I am feeling so overwhelmed by everything right now. I've felt sick all week. I am in the middle of my PhD applications which is completely intimidating. Last year's fiasco has me very scared, and despite all of the precautions I'm taking, I just know something is going to get screwed up. My thesis isn't done, and as my husband reminded me, I was supposed to have it written by Thanksgiving. The new goal is Christmas, and I'm starting to doubt that will even happen. I am feeling very down on myself and my ability to accomplish the goals I have set for myself. I am feeling very alone. I am feeling like a failure, although I haven't technically failed at anything yet. I have disappointed myself this year by my lack of accomplishment. And, I guess, in turn, I feel like I've disappointed others. Ugh. It's a bad day today.

I'm in Love with Norris Lacy

He's a French professor at Penn State. I want to study with him. I wrote him an e-mail this week:

Hi, Dr. Lacy,
My name is Laura Clark, and I am currently studying Malory with Dr. Bonnie Wheeler at Southern Methodist University in Texas. I expect to receive my Master’s degree in May of 2008, and I am considering applying to Penn State for the PhD program in English. I am an admirer of your work on the French Arthurian legends, and while I am most interested in the British versions of Arthurian texts, I would love the opportunity to study with you at PSU. Are there any interdepartmental or interdisciplinary options that would allow me to benefit from your expertise, yet maintain my focus on the British Arthurian texts?
Thanks, Laura Clark

He actually replied at length and was really helpful:

Hello, and thank you for writing. I'm happy to know of your Arthurian interest. My answer to your question is however a bit complicated. There are no "official" programmatic options that would permit you to do what you mention. However, the medievalists in English and Comparative Literature--primarily Caroline Eckhardt, whose work on Arthurian texts you no doubt know, and Robert Edwards (who is mainly a Chaucerian)--routinely advise their students to take one or more courses in French. And if/when I have students from English and Comp Lit whose oral French is not up to discussions in that language, I conduct the courses in English--but with most readings done in Modern French. (This semester, I'm accommodating an English graduate student whose reading knowledge of French is improving rapidly but was somewhat deficient at first: she began by working with English translations alongside the French texts and has now "graduated" to reading in Modern French with relative ease. We also spend a short time looking at Old French texts, but I rarely have the luxury of adopting textbooks entirely in Old French.)

There is another part of the answer to your question. I am relatively close to retirement, and although I have no solid plans yet, I suspect that I will teach for only two more years after the current year. If you entered the doctoral program here next fall, you'd certainly have time to take one or perhaps even two courses with me, but I'd probably not be around to serve on your dissertation committee (which I have regularly done for many students in English). I don't see the committee problem as serious, and I'd happily teach Arthurian literature during the semester(s) you were able to take my courses.I hope that explanation is clear and helpful. If you have other questions, please don't hesitate to write.
Best wishes, Norris Lacy

I think he loves me back.

Christmas Is Coming

We put up our Christmas tree yesterday. I love it. We always just do a 3/4 tree and push it up against the wall because it's too big for our apartment.

I think it goes well with the French whore poster on the wall.