Ok, I know it's 45 degrees and drizzling, and that I've still got two and a half weeks of classes left and two decent-sized papers to write. But summer can't be far, because tonight I was inspired to cook.
I like cooking all year round when I have, say, a kitchen, and people to eat the food. I live alone with a microwave and no real kitchen, though, so most of the year I tend to think "I need a quick dinner; I'll make mac and cheese, or ramen, or canned ravioli...." Tonight, though, I saw produce at the grocery store that looked edible, and thought "I need to eat dinner; I'll throw together some tomato and mozzarella and olives with herbs and oil and garlic and toss it all with some angel hair, and a tofu dog on the side." Still not gourmet, still made in the microwave, still a somewhat unusual combination of hot dog and pasta that betrays my grad-student identity. But cooking nonetheless, and it reminds me that in less than a month I'll be living in a house, a house that contains a kitchen and people willing to eat what I've cooked for dinner (most of the time - my parents balk a little at "how about brown rice and tofu tonight, guys?).
Oh, summer....
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Friday, May 12, 2006
meh
It's raining. I do not want to go outside and forage for dinner. Yet, the refectory has forgotten that dinner is a meal, and should be composed of adequate amounts of edible food. Dinner tonight consists of a large amount of styrofoam and plastic wrap protecting very tiny portions of (pale-looking) watermelon and coleslaw and a chunk of cheese on an onion roll. I may return tomorrow for my overpackaged snack, but it does. not. qualify as dinner.
Harumph. Did I mention that it's raining?
Harumph. Did I mention that it's raining?
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
No cookies!
Ok, I think I've done this before, but the cause of death is new - and funny.
| Your Deadly Sins |
| Gluttony: 80% |
| Sloth: 80% |
| Envy: 20% |
| Greed: 20% |
| Pride: 20% |
| Wrath: 20% |
| Lust: 0% |
| Chance You'll Go to Hell: 34% |
| You'll die choking on a cookie in bed. |
Silly
One of the perks of being a reasonably competent grad student with no teaching responsibilities is that I can giggle freely right now at student responses/comments on others' blogs. I particularly like these from jane in the academy's spring term student comments (listed under "weaknesses):
~The assignments were confusing because we had to have our own ideas in the papers. I don't have ideas. (It's a good thing you're in higher education, then. That sounds like just the right place for you.)
~If you didn't read the readings you would be lost on the assignments. (Hunh. Who'da thunk it?)
~Make sure students are aware of the work load and that work piles up if you don't plan for it. (You think? Which part of life doesn't pile up if you don't plan to take care of it?)
Yes. well. For now, I choose to giggle.
~The assignments were confusing because we had to have our own ideas in the papers. I don't have ideas. (It's a good thing you're in higher education, then. That sounds like just the right place for you.)
~If you didn't read the readings you would be lost on the assignments. (Hunh. Who'da thunk it?)
~Make sure students are aware of the work load and that work piles up if you don't plan for it. (You think? Which part of life doesn't pile up if you don't plan to take care of it?)
Yes. well. For now, I choose to giggle.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Discrepancy
weatherunderground.com says the following:
The current temperature is 67.5 degrees.
Today's high is 66 degrees.
Tomorrow's high is 56 degrees.
Tomorrow is forecast to be nearly the same temperature as today.
Someone at weatherunderground.com failed Logic 101....
The current temperature is 67.5 degrees.
Today's high is 66 degrees.
Tomorrow's high is 56 degrees.
Tomorrow is forecast to be nearly the same temperature as today.
Someone at weatherunderground.com failed Logic 101....
Hmm.
So, I'm reading my introduction to the Oxford Movement so I can figure out how to research my paper on the Oxford Movement. This is admittedly an activity toward which I'm favorably disposed, but it seems to me that a lot of this history sounds remarkably familiar. Take the following, for instance - if I remove all the period markers from this paragraph, it sounds equally applicable to today (non-inclusive language notwithstanding):
It's an imperfect analogy, but it rings true for me.
*Credit where credit is due: this is from Michael Chandler's book An Introduction to the Oxford Movement.
"men who had been colleagues suddenly found that they had to choose between friends and the Church which had nurtured them. ...those who had converted felt the need to persuade others to join them. Because they knew intimately the Church..., converts were able to attack its weak points. As a result, many... felt beleaguered. This was further exacerbated by the attitude of the authorities of the Church..., which appeared... to be saying sternly to unsettled men that they should go, whilst simultaneously the [other] Church... seemed to be beckoning and welcoming."*
It's an imperfect analogy, but it rings true for me.
*Credit where credit is due: this is from Michael Chandler's book An Introduction to the Oxford Movement.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Oh, well...
The Seabury Saints lost their playoff game tonight. We got pretty soundly whupped, actually, but I guess that's what you get when you pit seminarians against Navy ROTC undergrads. I'm sad that the season is over (except for an all-Seabury game), but pleased that we made it to the playoffs at all - a first in Seabury history, I think. And we made up for it afterward with a team pizza party and fire circle, which was lots of fun.
The weekend as a whole has been a lot of fun, actually. I've gotten appallingly little done, but I really will buckle down tomorrow.
On a side note: Community Church of Wilmette has a new Senior Pastor! Yay, Tripp!
The weekend as a whole has been a lot of fun, actually. I've gotten appallingly little done, but I really will buckle down tomorrow.
On a side note: Community Church of Wilmette has a new Senior Pastor! Yay, Tripp!
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Pleased
I've had a lovely (also busy) last couple of days. I successfully preached in chapel on Thursday and received some very kind feedback on the sermon (which is posted below). I helped with a bridal shower that was a lot of fun. I scored a run (for the first time ever) in a softball game (albeit a very informal game against ourselves). I am scheduled to preach at my home parish Labor Day weekend, when a good chunk of family will be in town for my grandmother's 90th birthday. (I don't know how many will come to hear me preach, but my grandmother will be very happy that her family came to see her and her granddaughter is preaching, even if she doesn't actually hear most of the sermon, which is possible.) It's reading week, and today I am taking an Official Day Off. I'm doing lots of laundry (which I actually like doing), but otherwise I'm reading for pleasure, drinking coffee, watching movies (maybe even a baseball game tonight if I can get the TV in Junkin Common to tune it in). Tomorrow is back to work, but today is sabbath time.
Feast of St. Monnica
The Sheil Center, across the street, has a new copier. It’s a very helpful copier, from what I hear – very polite, and not at all passive-aggressive or confrontational the way copiers so often are. This one simply tells you its state and its needs, very calmly. For instance, “Please be patient. I am warming up.” Or – my favorite – “The job you have selected exceeds my capacity.” And I have an image in my head of standing at that copier, asking it to run off the lectionary readings for today, and an image coming on the screen, a digital image of Monnica, that says “My capacity exceeds the job you have selected.”
And she’d be right. Whoever put together this set of lessons selected a job for Monnica that’s pretty disconnected from the capacities for which we remember her in our calendar. We started with an Old Testament reading – all of three verses, sort of cobbled together – which tells us: Hannah weeps. Hannah asks God for a male heir. Hannah receives a male heir. That’s apparently all we need to know about Hannah. (The psalm is, well, a psalm – as well matched as most of our Lesser Feasts and Fasts psalms are. ) Then we have the Gospel reading, where Jesus tells us what childbirth is like – sort of a strange lecture to be getting from a man, and a single one at that, but ok. To hear it from these lessons, one gets the impression that there was one very important thing to know about Monnica: that her uterus was in good working order, so that she could give birth to a son.
That’s a strange sort of legacy. Certainly, there are plenty of famous men who presumably all had mothers, and most of those mothers don’t get their own feast days. Luckily, by the time the powers that be got around to writing a collect and biography, they seem to have gotten a better picture of Monnica’s life. Our collect points out her spiritual discipline, her perseverance, and her talent at sharing the Gospel. We don’t have a ton of information on her, but we know that she never gave up on bringing her son and her husband to Christ. In his Confessions, Augustine thanks God that she brought him “from her heart to life eternal.” He tells us also of her incredible discipline in her own life – how she would not gossip at all, for instance, and how she exercised such patience even with her difficult mother-in-law that the two women eventually became friends. Her capacity was great indeed.
Her capacity was great, and her example to us is great, and they far exceed the job the lessons have selected for her. But the most troubling part is not even that the picture these lessons give us is historically problematic, though it is. The most troubling part is the way that picture lends itself to being generalized. The calendar of saints is there to be generalized – to provide models of life and piety for all Christians. If Monnica’s achievements and contributions as a woman of deep prayer and absolute perseverance warrant less attention than her ability to give birth, we have sold not only her but also ourselves short. We have cheapened her example by turning her from a model for all Christians to an example of a woman’s proper place, just as we cheapen the work and the value of motherhood when we make it a woman’s only choice.
For Monnica’s sake, for the sake of all the women of the church who get painted with the same brush, and for the sake of all the baptized, we need our calendar to give us lessons that match her capacity. Perhaps we might consider the story of Abigail, who patiently negotiated what was in her husband Nabal’s best interest when he was too stubborn and boorish to do so himself. We might consider the parable of the unjust judge, who agreed to do justice for the persistent widow, who would not stop her prayers and her pleading until she received it. We might consider the story of Lydia, who also worked to bring her family to Christ. With such lessons, such stories, I could go to the Sheil Center and stand fearlessly in front of that copier, knowing that Monnica’s image would just smile at me as the copier did its work – for then her job and her capacity would be well matched, and her memory truly honored.
And she’d be right. Whoever put together this set of lessons selected a job for Monnica that’s pretty disconnected from the capacities for which we remember her in our calendar. We started with an Old Testament reading – all of three verses, sort of cobbled together – which tells us: Hannah weeps. Hannah asks God for a male heir. Hannah receives a male heir. That’s apparently all we need to know about Hannah. (The psalm is, well, a psalm – as well matched as most of our Lesser Feasts and Fasts psalms are. ) Then we have the Gospel reading, where Jesus tells us what childbirth is like – sort of a strange lecture to be getting from a man, and a single one at that, but ok. To hear it from these lessons, one gets the impression that there was one very important thing to know about Monnica: that her uterus was in good working order, so that she could give birth to a son.
That’s a strange sort of legacy. Certainly, there are plenty of famous men who presumably all had mothers, and most of those mothers don’t get their own feast days. Luckily, by the time the powers that be got around to writing a collect and biography, they seem to have gotten a better picture of Monnica’s life. Our collect points out her spiritual discipline, her perseverance, and her talent at sharing the Gospel. We don’t have a ton of information on her, but we know that she never gave up on bringing her son and her husband to Christ. In his Confessions, Augustine thanks God that she brought him “from her heart to life eternal.” He tells us also of her incredible discipline in her own life – how she would not gossip at all, for instance, and how she exercised such patience even with her difficult mother-in-law that the two women eventually became friends. Her capacity was great indeed.
Her capacity was great, and her example to us is great, and they far exceed the job the lessons have selected for her. But the most troubling part is not even that the picture these lessons give us is historically problematic, though it is. The most troubling part is the way that picture lends itself to being generalized. The calendar of saints is there to be generalized – to provide models of life and piety for all Christians. If Monnica’s achievements and contributions as a woman of deep prayer and absolute perseverance warrant less attention than her ability to give birth, we have sold not only her but also ourselves short. We have cheapened her example by turning her from a model for all Christians to an example of a woman’s proper place, just as we cheapen the work and the value of motherhood when we make it a woman’s only choice.
For Monnica’s sake, for the sake of all the women of the church who get painted with the same brush, and for the sake of all the baptized, we need our calendar to give us lessons that match her capacity. Perhaps we might consider the story of Abigail, who patiently negotiated what was in her husband Nabal’s best interest when he was too stubborn and boorish to do so himself. We might consider the parable of the unjust judge, who agreed to do justice for the persistent widow, who would not stop her prayers and her pleading until she received it. We might consider the story of Lydia, who also worked to bring her family to Christ. With such lessons, such stories, I could go to the Sheil Center and stand fearlessly in front of that copier, knowing that Monnica’s image would just smile at me as the copier did its work – for then her job and her capacity would be well matched, and her memory truly honored.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Alb!
Wippell has sent me an alb! A pretty one! In exactly my size! With a girdle that doesn't drag on the floor!
Now, before some killjoy decides to point it out, I am in fact aware that this bears a strong relation to the fact that I custom-ordered it and they took my measurements. But I've given people measurements before and still had things come looking like they expect me to give birth soon or to have joined the WNBA while they weren't looking.
Besides, expected or not - I now have my very own alb, in time to press/steam and wear it to preach in chapel tomorrow night (assuming I can find a closing line for the sermon itself by then). Yay alb!
Now, before some killjoy decides to point it out, I am in fact aware that this bears a strong relation to the fact that I custom-ordered it and they took my measurements. But I've given people measurements before and still had things come looking like they expect me to give birth soon or to have joined the WNBA while they weren't looking.
Besides, expected or not - I now have my very own alb, in time to press/steam and wear it to preach in chapel tomorrow night (assuming I can find a closing line for the sermon itself by then). Yay alb!
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
New art
One of the things that occasionally happens when Pippa comes over, as she does every week, is that I end up with new art. Usually it's for one of my doors, though I have a lovely bouquet complete with butterfly in a vase on the coffee table. Today, though, I hung a new piece of art on the wall.
It's a score sheet.
We picked up a running game of Uno today, a game that shouldn't have taken more than one hand to finish, because Pippa was up 435-206 and only needed 65 points to win. Except that somehow I managed to get another 300 before she got that 65. It was remarkable. There ought to be some sort of Guinness Record for that kind of underdog recovery.
So the score sheet, which convieniently has a hole in the top, is now hanging on the wall in the blank space left when I took down another piece for a few weeks. It served during the rest of the afternoon as a sort of Icon of the Underdog, and I imagine it will stay there until the regular art comes back home - because it makes me giggle, and who can't use a giggle once in a while?
It's a score sheet.
We picked up a running game of Uno today, a game that shouldn't have taken more than one hand to finish, because Pippa was up 435-206 and only needed 65 points to win. Except that somehow I managed to get another 300 before she got that 65. It was remarkable. There ought to be some sort of Guinness Record for that kind of underdog recovery.
So the score sheet, which convieniently has a hole in the top, is now hanging on the wall in the blank space left when I took down another piece for a few weeks. It served during the rest of the afternoon as a sort of Icon of the Underdog, and I imagine it will stay there until the regular art comes back home - because it makes me giggle, and who can't use a giggle once in a while?
Copyright comics
Duke law professors have their first comic book, apparently - a development I thought might be of interest to some readers. I'm linking you there via BlogHer, because why wouldn't I send you through BlogHer if I could?
Monday, May 01, 2006
One more down
Not the history paper, sadly - I still have to write that one tonight. However, our preaching schedule has had to be rearranged, and so we each get to chop off a sermon. This means that I do NOT have to preach two different sermons two days in a row this week. Once I finish the history paper tonight, I can devote nearly all my energies to prepping Thursday's sermon - which is good, because it needs some work before I dare preach it in chapel. Then I don't have to preach again until May 19.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
yip!
I've finished and sent off my final paper for my Galatians class, and have even received notice of its receipt. This means my Galatians class is now DONE. I also have a Matthew reflection and a sample evensong ordo to turn in tomorrow, which means all of tomorrow's work is finit, fine, beendet.
It's only a yip, and not a yippee, because I still have a paper due Tuesday (for which I've yet to read, though I've started at least), a sermon to fix up for chapel Thursday, and a sermon to create from scratch for class on Friday. Still, I'm relieved to be as far along as I am.
And tomorrow, I will get to do something I haven't done in a couple of months now - sleep until 8 on a Monday morning. Then I'll go to Monday morning meetings and mass, which I haven't done since fall term. And then I'll go to the refectory, and eat lunch there like a normal person (well, ok, a normal seminarian), and go to class without a to-go box.
So maybe that's a yipp....
It's only a yip, and not a yippee, because I still have a paper due Tuesday (for which I've yet to read, though I've started at least), a sermon to fix up for chapel Thursday, and a sermon to create from scratch for class on Friday. Still, I'm relieved to be as far along as I am.
And tomorrow, I will get to do something I haven't done in a couple of months now - sleep until 8 on a Monday morning. Then I'll go to Monday morning meetings and mass, which I haven't done since fall term. And then I'll go to the refectory, and eat lunch there like a normal person (well, ok, a normal seminarian), and go to class without a to-go box.
So maybe that's a yipp....
Books! By women!
I started this meme almost a month ago, but it's long, so it's taken me a while to finish. But finishing it made for a good dinner break activity tonight between drafting and editing.
Instructions: Bold the ones you've read (except bolding things doesn't really work here, so I'm going to cap them). Italicize the ones you have wanted/might like to read. ??Place question marks by any titles/authors you've never heard of?? Put an asterisk if you've read something else by the same author.
*ALCOTT, LOUISA MAY - LITTLE WOMEN
*Allende, Isabel–The House of Spirits
* Angelou, Maya–I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Atwood, Margaret–Cat's Eye
AUSTEN, JANE - EMMA
??Bambara, Toni Cade–Salt Eaters??
??Barnes, Djuna–Nightwood??
de Beauvoir, Simone–The Second Sex
* BLUME, JUDY - ARE YOU THERE, GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET
BURNETT, FRANCIS - THE SECRET GARDEN
Bronte, Charlotte–Jane Eyre
BRONTE, EMILY - WUTHERING HEIGHTS
Buck, Pearl S.–The Good Earth
??Byatt, A.S.–Possession??
Cather, Willa–My Antonia
CHOPIN, KATE - THE AWAKENING
*Christie, Agatha–Murder on the Orient Express
*CISNEROS, SANDRA - THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET
Clinton, Hillary Rodham–Living History
??Cooper, Anna Julia–A Voice From the South??
??Danticat, Edwidge–Breath, Eyes, Memory??
Davis, Angela–Women, Culture, and Politics
??Desai, Anita–Clear Light of Day??
*Dickinson, Emily–Collected Poems
*DUNCAN, LOIS - I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER
DuMaurier, Daphne–Rebecca
Eliot, George–Middlemarch
??Emecheta, Buchi–Second Class Citizen??
Erdrich, Louise–Tracks
Esquivel, Laura–Like Water for Chocolate
Flagg, Fannie–Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Friedan, Betty–The Feminine Mystique
FRANK, ANNE - DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL
??Gilman, Charlotte Perkins–The Yellow Wallpaper??
Gordimer, Nadine–July's People
Grafton, Sue–S is for Silence
HAMILTON, EDITH - MYTHOLOGY
Highsmith, Patricia–The Talented Mr. Ripley
*hooks, bell–Bone Black
*Hurston, Zora Neale–Dust Tracks on the Road
Jacobs, Harriet–Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Jackson, Helen Hunt–Ramona
??Jackson, Shirley–The Haunting of Hill House??
Jong, Erica–Fear of Flying
KEENE, CAROLYN - THE NANCY DREW MYSTERIES (ANY OF THEM) - except, aren't they actually written by more men than women?
Kidd, Sue Monk–The Secret Life of Bees
Kincaid, Jamaica–Lucy
*Kingsolver, Barbara–The Poisonwood Bible
??Kingston, Maxine Hong–The Woman Warrior ??
??Larsen, Nella–Passing??
*L'ENGLE, MADELEINE - A WRINKLE IN TIME
*Le Guin, Ursula K.–The Left Hand of Darkness
LEE, HARPER - TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Lessing, Doris–The Golden Notebook
??Lively, Penelope–Moon Tiger??
Lorde, Audre–The Cancer Journals
MARTIN, ANN M. - THE BABYSITTERS CLUB SERIES (ANY OF THEM) - many, many of them, in fact
??McCullers, Carson–The Member of the Wedding??
McMillan, Terry–Disappearing Acts
??Markandaya, Kamala–Nectar in a Sieve??
??Marshall, Paule–Brown Girl, Brownstones??
Mitchell, Margaret–Gone with the Wind
MONTGOMERY, LUCY MAUD - ANNE OF GREEN GABLES
??Morgan, Joan–When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost
*MORRISON, TONI - SONG OF SOLOMON
??Murasaki, Lady Shikibu–The Tale of Genji??
Munro, Alice–Lives of Girls and Women
Murdoch, Iris–Severed Head
Naylor, Gloria–Mama Day
Niffenegger, Audrey–The Time Traveller's Wife
*Oates, Joyce Carol–We Were the Mulvaneys
O'CONNOR, FLANNERY - A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND
??Piercy, Marge–Woman on the Edge of Time??
Picoult, Jodi–My Sister's Keeper
Plath, Sylvia–The Bell Jar
*Porter, Katharine Anne–Ship of Fools
Proulx, E. Annie–The Shipping News
Rand, Ayn–The Fountainhead
Ray, Rachael–365: No Repeats
??Rhys, Jean–Wide Sargasso Sea??
??Robinson, Marilynne–Housekeeping??
??Rocha, Sharon–For Lac??
??Sebold, Alice–The Lovely Bones??
Shelley, Mary–Frankenstein
SMITH, BETTY A - A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN
??Smith, Zadie–White Teeth??
Spark, Muriel–The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
SPYRI, JOHANNA - HEIDI
??Strout, Elizabeth–Amy and Isabelle??
Steel, Danielle–The House
TAN, AMY - THE JOY LUCK CLUB
Tannen, Deborah–You're Wearing That
Ulrich, Laurel–A Midwife's Tale
??Urquhart, Jane–Away??
*Walker, Alice–The Temple of My Familiar
Welty, Eudora–One Writer's Beginnings
Wharton, Edith–Age of Innocence
*WILDER, LAURA INGALLS - LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS
*Wollstonecraft, Mary–A Vindication of the Rights of Women
Woolf, Virginia–A Room of One's Own
Instructions: Bold the ones you've read (except bolding things doesn't really work here, so I'm going to cap them). Italicize the ones you have wanted/might like to read. ??Place question marks by any titles/authors you've never heard of?? Put an asterisk if you've read something else by the same author.
*ALCOTT, LOUISA MAY - LITTLE WOMEN
*Allende, Isabel–The House of Spirits
* Angelou, Maya–I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Atwood, Margaret–Cat's Eye
AUSTEN, JANE - EMMA
??Bambara, Toni Cade–Salt Eaters??
??Barnes, Djuna–Nightwood??
de Beauvoir, Simone–The Second Sex
* BLUME, JUDY - ARE YOU THERE, GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET
BURNETT, FRANCIS - THE SECRET GARDEN
Bronte, Charlotte–Jane Eyre
BRONTE, EMILY - WUTHERING HEIGHTS
Buck, Pearl S.–The Good Earth
??Byatt, A.S.–Possession??
Cather, Willa–My Antonia
CHOPIN, KATE - THE AWAKENING
*Christie, Agatha–Murder on the Orient Express
*CISNEROS, SANDRA - THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET
Clinton, Hillary Rodham–Living History
??Cooper, Anna Julia–A Voice From the South??
??Danticat, Edwidge–Breath, Eyes, Memory??
Davis, Angela–Women, Culture, and Politics
??Desai, Anita–Clear Light of Day??
*Dickinson, Emily–Collected Poems
*DUNCAN, LOIS - I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER
DuMaurier, Daphne–Rebecca
Eliot, George–Middlemarch
??Emecheta, Buchi–Second Class Citizen??
Erdrich, Louise–Tracks
Esquivel, Laura–Like Water for Chocolate
Flagg, Fannie–Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Friedan, Betty–The Feminine Mystique
FRANK, ANNE - DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL
??Gilman, Charlotte Perkins–The Yellow Wallpaper??
Gordimer, Nadine–July's People
Grafton, Sue–S is for Silence
HAMILTON, EDITH - MYTHOLOGY
Highsmith, Patricia–The Talented Mr. Ripley
*hooks, bell–Bone Black
*Hurston, Zora Neale–Dust Tracks on the Road
Jacobs, Harriet–Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Jackson, Helen Hunt–Ramona
??Jackson, Shirley–The Haunting of Hill House??
Jong, Erica–Fear of Flying
KEENE, CAROLYN - THE NANCY DREW MYSTERIES (ANY OF THEM) - except, aren't they actually written by more men than women?
Kidd, Sue Monk–The Secret Life of Bees
Kincaid, Jamaica–Lucy
*Kingsolver, Barbara–The Poisonwood Bible
??Kingston, Maxine Hong–The Woman Warrior ??
??Larsen, Nella–Passing??
*L'ENGLE, MADELEINE - A WRINKLE IN TIME
*Le Guin, Ursula K.–The Left Hand of Darkness
LEE, HARPER - TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Lessing, Doris–The Golden Notebook
??Lively, Penelope–Moon Tiger??
Lorde, Audre–The Cancer Journals
MARTIN, ANN M. - THE BABYSITTERS CLUB SERIES (ANY OF THEM) - many, many of them, in fact
??McCullers, Carson–The Member of the Wedding??
McMillan, Terry–Disappearing Acts
??Markandaya, Kamala–Nectar in a Sieve??
??Marshall, Paule–Brown Girl, Brownstones??
Mitchell, Margaret–Gone with the Wind
MONTGOMERY, LUCY MAUD - ANNE OF GREEN GABLES
??Morgan, Joan–When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost
*MORRISON, TONI - SONG OF SOLOMON
??Murasaki, Lady Shikibu–The Tale of Genji??
Munro, Alice–Lives of Girls and Women
Murdoch, Iris–Severed Head
Naylor, Gloria–Mama Day
Niffenegger, Audrey–The Time Traveller's Wife
*Oates, Joyce Carol–We Were the Mulvaneys
O'CONNOR, FLANNERY - A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND
??Piercy, Marge–Woman on the Edge of Time??
Picoult, Jodi–My Sister's Keeper
Plath, Sylvia–The Bell Jar
*Porter, Katharine Anne–Ship of Fools
Proulx, E. Annie–The Shipping News
Rand, Ayn–The Fountainhead
Ray, Rachael–365: No Repeats
??Rhys, Jean–Wide Sargasso Sea??
??Robinson, Marilynne–Housekeeping??
??Rocha, Sharon–For Lac??
??Sebold, Alice–The Lovely Bones??
Shelley, Mary–Frankenstein
SMITH, BETTY A - A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN
??Smith, Zadie–White Teeth??
Spark, Muriel–The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
SPYRI, JOHANNA - HEIDI
??Strout, Elizabeth–Amy and Isabelle??
Steel, Danielle–The House
TAN, AMY - THE JOY LUCK CLUB
Tannen, Deborah–You're Wearing That
Ulrich, Laurel–A Midwife's Tale
??Urquhart, Jane–Away??
*Walker, Alice–The Temple of My Familiar
Welty, Eudora–One Writer's Beginnings
Wharton, Edith–Age of Innocence
*WILDER, LAURA INGALLS - LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS
*Wollstonecraft, Mary–A Vindication of the Rights of Women
Woolf, Virginia–A Room of One's Own
Is that an end I see?
There may just be a glimpse of light at the end of this tunnel. It's all of 3 pm, and I have a draft of the part of my paper that counts, as well as one of the two parts that doesn't. (Did I mention how bogus I think it is for a paper to have parts which are required but don't count?) I may actually have time to write the structure section and edit this thing by tomorrow morning. (I'd cross my fingers, but it's hard to type that way.)
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Nooooo....
Don't scare me like that! MS Word (:insert Rocky-Horror-style response:) just decided to taunt me for a while. I write in Word because I have to email in my paper in Word, and so I might as well compose there in the first place. But I despise it, and this sort of thing is part of why I do: I just told it to save after I created a new footnote, and it blew raspberries at me and said "Won't! I'm full!" It did this several times, and then finally when I tried to figure out why, it shut down altogether.
Now, it has agreed to reopen and allow me to cite the article I was trying to cite without further tussles, and the only thing I lost was the footnote itself, but I remain mistrustful (if relieved). I do not like software that taunts me (or that's made by MS, but I do what I have to do), especially when it taunts me in the middle of major papers that are due soon. How does it know that I am in the middle of such a paper and do not currently have my external hard drive available to back things up? How does it know just when to hit the panic button?
Well, back to writing - I assume. But I have the paper backed up in my email, just in case.
Now, it has agreed to reopen and allow me to cite the article I was trying to cite without further tussles, and the only thing I lost was the footnote itself, but I remain mistrustful (if relieved). I do not like software that taunts me (or that's made by MS, but I do what I have to do), especially when it taunts me in the middle of major papers that are due soon. How does it know that I am in the middle of such a paper and do not currently have my external hard drive available to back things up? How does it know just when to hit the panic button?
Well, back to writing - I assume. But I have the paper backed up in my email, just in case.
Grazer timeline
Yesterday at lunch (was that really only yesterday?), Baruch Grazer summed up writing like this:
You have two pages.
You have two pages.
You still have two pages.
You're getting anxious about having two pages.
You want to slit your wrists because you have two pages.
You're going to hurt people because you have two pages.
Suddenly, you have thirty pages, when you only need 15 or 20.
Today has been largely about "you want to slit your wrists because you have two pages." It's been helpful to hold out that last stage, ever so eschatologically, as a reminder that someday, perhaps, if I'm very good, I might make it past two pages.
(In fact, I have about eight pages of text; sadly, only 5 or so are allowed to count in the page count, which means I still have 5 more pages that count and 2 more that don't left to write - by Monday. I dislike having to write pages of actual analysis that don't count in the page count. If you want a 15 page paper, ask for a 15 page paper - don't ask for a 10 page paper and then decide that major sections don't count in the page count. Oh, and probably I should edit the damned thing too, since right now it bears a striking resemblence to something a monkey could have typed.)
I'm going back to pulling out my hair now. I mean, to writing.
You have two pages.
You have two pages.
You still have two pages.
You're getting anxious about having two pages.
You want to slit your wrists because you have two pages.
You're going to hurt people because you have two pages.
Suddenly, you have thirty pages, when you only need 15 or 20.
Today has been largely about "you want to slit your wrists because you have two pages." It's been helpful to hold out that last stage, ever so eschatologically, as a reminder that someday, perhaps, if I'm very good, I might make it past two pages.
(In fact, I have about eight pages of text; sadly, only 5 or so are allowed to count in the page count, which means I still have 5 more pages that count and 2 more that don't left to write - by Monday. I dislike having to write pages of actual analysis that don't count in the page count. If you want a 15 page paper, ask for a 15 page paper - don't ask for a 10 page paper and then decide that major sections don't count in the page count. Oh, and probably I should edit the damned thing too, since right now it bears a striking resemblence to something a monkey could have typed.)
I'm going back to pulling out my hair now. I mean, to writing.
How long, O Lord?
When's reading week again?
For that matter, how long till summer? I'm tired of being this tired, and am looking forward to a job that's really truly supposed to be only 40 hours/week (although I'm sure I'll find ways to squeeze in more...).
Oh, who am I kidding? My summer to-do list includes editing/rewriting two or three papers and reading a considerable amount of history for exams.
Ok. I'll keep writing now.
For that matter, how long till summer? I'm tired of being this tired, and am looking forward to a job that's really truly supposed to be only 40 hours/week (although I'm sure I'll find ways to squeeze in more...).
Oh, who am I kidding? My summer to-do list includes editing/rewriting two or three papers and reading a considerable amount of history for exams.
Ok. I'll keep writing now.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Friday Five: Procrastination
A procrastination-themed Friday Five couldn't have come at a better time - I am, even as I type this, meant to be writing about Galatians 6, eschatology, and community.
The Question: What are five things you do to procrastinate?
1. Blogging - particularly checking my RSS or posting memes (thinking up real posts is too much like work to be an effective procrastination technique).
2. Research - I can't possibly go on until I find that one perfect quote that I read ten years ago in one of Madeleine L'Engle's books, or maybe it was Harry Potter, or Augustine...
3. Organization - I'd be able to work better if all of my books were arranged just so, and I had a perfectly structured outline, and...
4. Eating - Not one of my healthier procrastination techniques, but there you go.
5. West Wing - Clearly what I need is inspiration/a short break, and each episode is only 45 minutes...
The Question: What are five things you do to procrastinate?
1. Blogging - particularly checking my RSS or posting memes (thinking up real posts is too much like work to be an effective procrastination technique).
2. Research - I can't possibly go on until I find that one perfect quote that I read ten years ago in one of Madeleine L'Engle's books, or maybe it was Harry Potter, or Augustine...
3. Organization - I'd be able to work better if all of my books were arranged just so, and I had a perfectly structured outline, and...
4. Eating - Not one of my healthier procrastination techniques, but there you go.
5. West Wing - Clearly what I need is inspiration/a short break, and each episode is only 45 minutes...
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