Saturday, May 22, 2010

Been too long I know...

So it's been forever and a bit since I've updated, but you mustn't hold that against me - in my defense I am a lazy butthead.

Further proof of this is the fact that I am logging this entry instead of revising yet another draft of my final essay for my WR121 class. It is titled: History Is Written By the Whiners and will be posted here once the final and 6'th draft has been completed to my somewhat narcissistic instructor's liking. He has the most frustrating comments I, with my admittedly limited imagination, could possibly have thought up. For example, to the paragraph:

"...Today, however, thanks to the modern achievements in archeological and historical interpretation, we are faced with another slightly more anthropological question: 'Does matter it what really happened?' Does it matter that 'Remember the Alamo' technically invites people to remember the U.S.'s shameful participation in an undeniably unrighteous war? Does it matter that Richard the Lion-Hearted, passive hero and patron of beloved Robin Hood, was a mass-murderer in the midst of genocide, while simultaneously bankrupting his own country? Does it matter that there were, in fact, no Weapons of Mass Destruction?"

He insists I add 'in Iraq' to the last sentence. Everyone who has read that paragraph, including those of a somewhat lesser intelligence, have managed to grasp which WMD are implied.

He also fervently disagrees with my representation of the 1917 Russian Revolution; particularly he takes issue with my claim that it was brought on in part by the peoples 'despair and poverty'. God save us from rabid anti-communist humanities instructors. However, thanks to his... I shall use the word 'nitpicking' in order to avoid a burst of vulgarity... I've discovered a few things I did not know about the execution of Nicholas II and his family:

The basement in which the Romanovs were murdered had a handwritten poem scrawled on one of its walls - part of a poem by one Heinrich Heine:
"Belsatzar ward in selbiger Nacht / Von seinen Knechten umgebracht," "Belsatzar was, on the same night, killed by his slaves." Referring to the king and the writing on the wall from the Book of Daniel. Heine's original spelling was 'Belsazar', one of the killers creatively added the 'tzar'. Ah, puns in the midst of carnage somehow lose what little humor they had.

In other news, I miraculously managed to cook eggplant Parmesan for the very first time this Thursday, and my roommates and I read the book of Ruth. Iliana and Yui had never read it, so I had the pleasure of presenting it as a Biblical Cinderella story.
We had farewell/birthday party last night, for me as well as many other recent/soon to come birthday people, as well as many departing international friends. I spent 50% of my time pouring drinks (you move faster than you ever realized you could when you see someone trying to mix Kahlua and orange juice, or Tequila with cream, not to say Voldka and Dr. Pepper), and another 25% outside shivering and happily arguing Western Philosophy and Middle Eastern Politics with a very nice young man whose name I don't remember, but whose plans to "either go to grad-school or work at Quiznos" might possibly stay with me forever.

Tomorrow a sweet and 31 year old classmate is coming over so I can help her with her Argument Analysis, a requirement for the WR121 class and what appears to be an exercise in cruelty on the part of the instructor - public speaking, yes, it is an important skill, but Dr. Mackay, my dear sweet despotic instructor, feels the need to sound his criticism to the entire class, while the student is still standing at the front clutching their measly sheaf of notes and quaking for all to see. One girl was moved to tears last week. Fucker. [disclaimer: I did very well on my Argument Analysis (A++) but I have roughly 20 years experience being a stage performer so I don't count.]

In other news... there is a batch of CoMecs set to go up once they are scanned, but between the essay and... to be honest, the copy of Good Omens I just received from Powells this morning(THANKYOUHOULTS), it might be a while before I do anything that requires... well, getting out of bed.

Not a bad existence overall.

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