Sniffle...

My body is convinced it has a virus. I keep telling it that it doesn't. I'm far too busy to be sick. And yet it persists in this fallacy. So I have no choice but to baby it a little bit, with innumerable cups of tea, and cutting anything I can possibly cut until such time as it gives up this facade and returns to its normal functioning state. I still have to be out of the house every night until Monday the 25th, but I will do my best to get it to bed at a decent hour each night, and provide it with warmth, nutrients, and fluids. And Kleenex. And lozenges. And painkillers for the sinus headache.

I managed to get the paper done. We'll see how it turns out. This week's lecture was post-modernism. It was very fun! Ah, I live in the constant hope that, someday, my mind will be activated for at least four hours every single day, rather than only once a week.

I've decided that fencing is a definite R-mode activity. So if I can perfect the shift into R-mode with drawing, will I become a better fencer? Hmmm... This calls for practical testing. Stay tuned...

Three and a half weeks until the Dominican! I am so not going to be sick for that...

Birthday

Happy birthday to me!

My first birthday living on my own. The day has been marked by busyness, craziness, some wonderful phone calls, wishes from fencers, and a nice glass of wine, which I didn't allow anyone to pay for. Overall, it's been a good day.

Happy birthday to Jen's blog as well, which turned one year old yesterday. October is a good month!

What's that? A review? Ummm... I'll try to come up with something. Maybe you all can give me suggestions of something you'd like to see reviewed. I like suggestions. I like reviews too.

Time to snooze...

Two thoughts

Thought #1: No longer buzzing with adrenaline, I am able to breathe again. As I watched the building opposite burn, I imagined how it might have been my building. And then I wondered what in my apartment it would hurt me the most to lose. My library? All the wonderful gifts I've received? Photographs? My many craft projects? Furniture? Recipes? Computer files? Some of it is replaceable; much of what I've named is not. And yet it's only material. Material is replaceable. Do we have it wrong, then, in our society? Why do we get tied to replaceable, material things? Strange.

Thought #2: Wow, it's been a while since I've done this. It's hard to write an essay, especially when I'm trying to keep the page count down. Go figure. But, call it half done. My desk is covered in books, which I'm trying to keep open any way I can. Much fun. Wish me luck. (BTW, Jen, you're right. This is a note to self. She didn't even insist on secondary sources! I mean, WTH? Second year course! No secondary sources required? Well, she's getting them from me. Semiotics!)

Fire

The building right across from mine caught fire no more than an hour ago. Or perhaps it caught fire around four or so, as I've been catching whiffs of smoke all afternoon (my window and patio door were cracked open to relieve the stuffiness), but it really caught fire just after five. That was when I notice the scent of smoke was fairly consistent, and I heard someone outside say, "Call 911."

The fire started on the exterior second floor balcony, the end unit. The fire department hadn't arrived by the time it melted the siding and got to the tar paper. From there, well, let's just say I now know why fire departments are so concerned about response time. It was horrific. It was also horrifically fascinating.

Visible flames were quickly extinguished with foam retardant, but they've only just now begun to pack up the hoses and allow residents in other parts of the building back in. I think the fire fighters will be here for a while. I saw one resident leave with a suitcase. I don't blame him.

My mind is full right now. I'll try to post again later.

Course Correction

No review this week, I'm afraid. There's a little too much going on for me to find something new to watch, read, and/or listen to, and although I could go back through my vast experience and pick something, I'm afraid I just don't have the energy for it. Next week, hopefully! It is the long weekend after all!

Jen requested an update on how my course is progressing, and I then realised I've been derelict in posting about it. In fact, the only post I made about was that I was going back! But now, as I prepare to write my first essay, it seems appropriate to talk about how it's going.

It's great! Well, not the getting up for an 8 am Saturday morning class and sitting in awful Social Science chairs for four hours, but the rest of it is great! We aren't applying the theory to works so much as exploring what the theory means and what place it has in our society, and the way each previous theory shapes the ones that come after. Much of this ties directly into my GNST and COMS classes, and that, I think, is where my trouble is. The first essay is 5 pages, double-spaced. I don't think I can even write only five-pages anymore! Our final essay is only 10 pages. Good Lord, this is going to be so difficult... But then, I always had more to say than the page allowance gave me room for.

The U of C's definitely changed since my time, though. While we only have one person in the class using a laptop to take notes, our professor uses PowerPoint each class. There are online resources, message boards, buildings have been renovated, parking costs have gone up (although I'm sneaky and park where it's free; I don't mind walking!). It's true, I guess; you can never really go back.

Still, I'm having fun, and our professor is really smart, and actually keeps me awake for four hours, so that's a good thing. We'll see when I get my essay back how the marks are going to go, though...