Bad Week

Except I wore a long-sleeved button down shirt which I liked a lot better than the one I'm wearing in the picture.


Except I forgot the white button down shirt at home, so it was not half as cute as this. Although I did add a camisole underneath so it didn't look so bunchy around the waist. I love the petticoat. I need to make more outfits with it. So fun!



I think this is my favorite outfit right now. I love it! It's so comfortable and I like the way it looks on me.

This has been a hard week. Jon was home sick with what he thinks is food poisoning on Mon and Tues. I had a presentation on Monday for my Victorian Poetry class on Matthew Arnold. I pretty much spend the whole weekend on it and stayed up almost all night on Sunday finishing it. Then, when it was time to go to class, my teacher was sick, and a different professor sat in on the class as a substitute. And he could only stay for an hour, so I had to condense the 2 hrs+ presentation I had into 50 mins. Which, if I were in high school, I would have been pleased about, but I worked really hard and felt very gypped. What a waste of my weekend!

On top of it all, I had insomnia and couldn't sleep even though I was exhausted, and it took me 4 hours to write a single page of response for my Middle English assignment the next day. When I got back to Dallas I broke down in tears and holed up in the back of the house.

Today was better - it certainly hasn't been the worst week ever, but it's been trying, and I always feel so lonely in Waco. Thank goodness it's Spring Break next week! Niagara Falls, here I come!

Gem of the Day

Tues, Jan 26

Here is a lovely sentence from one of my students' rough drafts. Her topic is racial discrimination on US Census forms:

"Before they even characterized themselves as Negros, people of that race would check the “slave” box due to the fact that white was the only race that was important during the late 1700s. "

OMG.

Signs of the Times

First off, the fashion photo:

Mon, Jan 25

Next, a little diatribe:

Tonight in my "Victorian Poetry" class, my teacher started talking about how the Victorians lived in a time period "with all these issues - religious issues, scientific issues..." She was actually making a very good overall point which is why I didn't make this comment in class, but the vagueness of her description of the "issues" made me uncomfortable. Every era has issues - religious issues, scientific issues... The difference is what those issues are, and perhaps those issues even to some degree define the boundaries of that era. Now it's gay marriage, stem cell research, and are video games rotting our brains? In the early Modern era, it was the Reformation, dissecting the human body, and is the novel rotting our brains? In the Middle Ages, it was celibacy of the clergy, germ theory, and are those pesky minstrels rotting our brains? I find myself really needing to do extra reading to get a historical perspective on the Victorian era and to understand its "issues." But I really don't want to.

Another Professor Story

So, my Contemporary Novel professor is a piece of work. Here's the latest:

We read Sandra Cisneros' novel "Caramelo" for this week. I didn't like it. But, that's beside the point. The book is about a Mexican-American girl who grew up in Chicago but went to Mexico every summer to visit her grandmother. Most of the book takes place in Mexico.

During class, we were discussing who the audience of the book is. I suggested that it was primarily for Mexican Americans and Latin Americans. My professor objected to this suggestion by asking the question, "But do those people really read novels?" I responded, "Why wouldn't they?" He then said, "Well, it's about literacy and having leisure time." Ummmmm, there are millions and millions of people living in Mexico, not to mention all of Latin America. I'm fairly sure a significant number of those people can read a book. And that they are not slaving away in the fields for 16 hours a day or whatever it is he thinks they do. I mean, Whaaaaat?

Next week we're discussing a novel about a black slave-owner in Virginia. I can't wait to hear what he says about that!

First Day of Class Again

I had my first day of class for this semester: Contemporary American Novel. There is a list of 13 books, most of which have won the Pulitzer in the last few years. Everyone in the class was talking about how they had already read like nine of the books on the list. I have read exactly one book on the list. And I read it last semester. But who wants to read Pulitzer Prize-winning novels when you can be reading "Twilight" instead?

So, in class, my professor asked the rhetorical question, "What was the first book printed in the West?" Meaning, Western Civilization, not the American West. The girl next to me was like, "The Bible?" I said, "The Fall of Troy," because being so close-minded as I am, I always take West to mean England because really that's where all the good stuff happened. And I actually placed my little grubby hands on a first edition of the Fall of Troy last semester at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, so yeah, I kind of know that's the first book ever printed in England. You can imagine my astonishment, then, when my professor proceeds to answer his own question saying, "Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur." WHAAAAT?!? That is just not true. He is just plain wrong. I wrote my Master's thesis on that book, and it was not the first book printed in England, much less the entire West. No, no, no. Maybe if by "book" he meant "novel" you might have an argument, but even that issue is hotly contested (well, you know, as hot as those contests get). What should I have done? Should I have corrected him so the room full of my fellow grad students would not be grossly misinformed? I'll tell you what I did do. I turned to the girl next to me and whispered, "That's not true!" in a scandalized voice and then just stopped listening.

Papers Done

I turned in my final paper last night. Let the grading marathon commence!

Dream

So, last night I had this dream that my Bibliography and Research Methods class all went out to dinner together. My professor brought along a distinguished colleague of his from another university. Imagine my surprise when we pulled up to the Playboy mansion and there were, like, 20 topless girls walking around. There were also a ton of little cocktails that my professor had made in advance for us to drink. Getting into the spirit of things, I took my top off, grabbed a cocktail, and started looking around. The next thing I know, everyone is sitting down at tables waiting for dinner to be served. They are all dressed. I hear someone on a loudspeaker or something calling me to come sit down and eat. I, of course, have no top on, so I must find something to wear. Lucky me, I found a T-shirt stand, so I stole a T-shirt from it. By this time, though, my professor was really mad at me. He found me just as I was leaving the T-shirt stand and began to lecture me on my inappropriate behavior and how disappointed he is. I began to apologize when I realized that he hasn't graded my paper yet! OMG! I started to blurt out apologies and panic a little bit. I was about halfway through my "I was being especially inconsiderate of your personal time..." speech when I woke up, drenched in sweat, and started laughing at myself. The end.

Out of Commission

I am unavailable for social interaction until Monday, Dec. 15. I have one paper due tomorrow and another due on Wednesday, plus a group project due on Tuesday. I have barely started, and I have a total of 40 pages to write. That's like 2/3 of my Master's thesis. Then I have my students' last essays to grade. THEN I have to grade their final exams. What have I gotten myself into? Any and all words of encouragement would be appreciated!

Harry Ransom Center

Be prepared to nerd out with me for a second...

I got to see three original William Caxton books today - "The History of Troy," which is the first book ever printed in England, "The Canterbury Tales," which turned out to be only two pages, not the whole book, and "The arte and crafte for to knowe well to deye," which I wrote my Master's thesis on. It was awesome.

Then, I got to see a 1493 printing of John Gower's Confessio Amantis in its original binding: Two wooden blocks stuck together with a piece of animal skin that was drilled into the wood with wooden pegs which were held in place by pieces of twine. Amazing! I had never seen a binding that old before. I was so afraid I was going to break it. And there wasn't anybody even supervising me! What are they thinking???

So, it was a fun trip. Also, whoever re-bound "The arte and crafte" had randomly stuck in a page of Latin at the beginning. I haven't had Latin in two years, but I could read enough to figure out it was a wedding mass. I was proud of myself!

I'm a Huge Dork

I totally went to the wrong class today. Well, not really the wrong class. But I thought my Wednesday class was today, so when the professor walked into the room (luckily they are both in the same classroom!) I totally thought she was the TA b/c I know my other class is taught by a male professor. So, I'm sitting there thinking she's the TA, and then all of a sudden she started handing out syllabi and talking like she was the teacher. Which she was. Oops. I totally brought all the wrong books which didn't turn out to be a big deal, but I still felt like a huge idiot!

More Laidback

I've realized something this week while I've been at my graduate orientation and teaching workshop. Being older has made me a nicer person. Ten years ago, if you had thrown me into a room full of complete strangers and expected me to walk out with a good impression of everyone, I couldn't have done it. However, I can honestly say that I like all of the grad students that I have spoken to so far. I mean, I'm not going to be best friends with all of them. There are some of them that I obviously don't have a lot in common with and once we've exhausted the conversation about our research interests, there's not much left. However, even with the ones that I probably would have brushed off as impossible friends 10 years ago, I find that I have no reason not to be as friendly as possible. I've actually found myself making an uncharacteristic effort to remember the "unique thing" about themselves that we are forced to name every time we are in a group and bring it up later as a conversation piece. I am trying very hard, and the weird thing is - it's not that hard.

I think my previous experience in grad school has given me a lot of confidence. When I started my Master's degree, I experienced all kinds of feelings of inadequacy and thoughts like "Why was I even admitted to grad school? There must have been a administrative mistake!" But this time around, I don't feel that yet. Maybe those feelings will come back once classes actually start and everyone demonstrates their brilliance. But at this moment, I really feel like I belong here and that given time, I will fit in.

It helps that people are responding well, of course. When I make little jokes, they laugh. When I bring up their unique moment, they engage me in conversation. They are being nice back to me. That helps a LOT. It's a huge part of why I'm having a good experience so far.

Anyway, there's an update for you. I like it here. I really want to succeed. But at the same time, I'm ready to go home for the weekend and be surrounded by the people I love and the surroundings that are so familiar to me. It's going to be interesting to have two lives. I am excited to see how it turns out.

Back in Waco

I drove to Waco today to attend my teaching workshop and new student orientation this week. Here are my initial thoughts so far:

1) Katie - my new roommate. She has got to be one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen in real life. I mean it. Absolutely gorgeous. She's very nice so far and friendly. She is super-girly and the apartment is very decorated and frilly. Not in an obnoxious way, but definitely not Spartan like my room is right now.

2) Baylor - Wow! They have really classed this place up! The buildings are gorgeous, and I'm looking forward to walking around campus tomorrow and seeing all the new and old places.

3) Wal-Mart - my checkout girl told me I looked like Zooey Deschanel. I love her forever. It makes me want to go back there again and again.

4) Big Daddy's (the local hamburger joint) is now a tanning salon! Whaaaaaat? I hope they just moved locations instead of going out of business.

So, all in all, it's been a good experience so far. I am excited and nervous about tomorrow. I hope the other grad students are nice. They have a lot to live up to considering the group of Medieval Studies grad students at SMU were awesome!

Summer of Boredom

I'm tired of being bored. I had grand plans for this summer, and I've kind of half-assed most of them. Which I'm actually fine with, but I'm ready for school to start. I'm ready to be busy again and have stuff to do. I'm ready to meet new people and be responsible for things again. It's been a really nice break, though. I felt burned out when I was graduating, and I'm definitely not feeling that anymore. So, I guess mission accomplished! I ordered the rest of my books for the semester, and I can't wait to get them in the mail. Only 10 more days of nothing to do!

New Roommate

I found an apartment in Waco! It's exactly what I wanted - I really can't believe my good fortune! I will be staying with a first-year law student named Katie in the graduate student housing complex right off campus. She is cool with me only sleeping there 2 nights a week, and this way I have a place to crash on Mon and Wed nights as well as between classes on Tues and Thurs. The rent is exactly the amount I had said that I wanted to pay, and it just couldn't have worked out any better. Yay! I can officially cross this one off the List of Things to Do. So happy!

Graduation

I graduated last Saturday. Much fun was had!

This is me getting bonked on the head by a large 16th century book titled "Prince Arthur: A Heroick Poem." I had never heard of it before, but it's about Arthur, so I guess it was appropriate. It looks like she's going to hit me pretty hard, but it wasn't that bad.

Afterwards we all went to Medieval Times for dinner. It was pretty fun. I had never been before and was shocked to discover that they do not give you utensils! You have to just drink your soup out of the bowl and eat half a roast chicken with your fingers. Weird! But fun. It's officially over! Yaaaaay!

I Am the Master (of Arts)

I just defended my thesis and passed! Yay! I am officially done!

Back to Baylor

So, here's the drama. I e-mailed all three schools I hadn't heard from on Tuesday afternoon asking about my admission status. I got the nasty e-mail from Purdue that I posted yesterday, I heard nothing at all from Penn State, and I got a lovely e-mail from Baylor telling me that I had been accepted, but they couldn't offer me funding. Boo. So, I e-mailed Dr. Ray at Baylor asking him about future funding opportunities thinking if I couldn't get funding for the fall, maybe I could get it for Spring or for 2009. He wrote me another lovely e-mail saying that he was working on getting me funding and that if nothing else he could probably get a couple of hours of tuition remission.

Then, at 11:oo last night, I got an e-mail from him saying that one of their TAs had just quit, and they could offer me her TAship. I accepted! I am going to Baylor! I am getting my PhD! And I don't have to pay for it! Huzzah!

Grad School Woes

I got a rejection from Purdue. Here's the e-mail:

Laura -

I'm sorry but we can't offer you admission or a teaching assistantship.

Jill

Seriously, that's it. Way to break the news gently, Jill.

5 Down, 3 to Go...

Just got my official rejection from NYU. It was a very polite, professional e-mail which is more than I can say for the jokers at SMU. I am obsessively checking both my e-mail and my regular mail to find out about the last three. AAAAAAAAAAAH

And We're Back!

We got in yesterday after several flight delays and over 24 hours of sitting either on planes or in airports. We are lucky to have gotten back yesterday at all since DFW had been closed and everyone was trying to make up for their missed flights. American Airlines took really good care of us, so I don't really have much to complain about.

Our trip was great. We won't have pictures to show for a little while because a guy we asked to take our picture dropped our camera and broke it. Brand new camera finito. We are going to take it to a shop and see if they can repair it, but I think we will probably have to buy a new one. We'll see. We bought a disposable camera after that, and some people who ended up in almost every place we were in offered to take pictures and e-mail them. We took them up on it, but I don't know how long it will be before we hear from them.

All in all, Peru is just gorgeous. So lush and green, and the people we met were very friendly and happy we wanted to see their country. I would go back someday.

In grad school news, I got into UT Arlington. Yay! I actually got in somewhere. I don't know about financial packages yet. I'll keep you posted.