Wednesday, January 31, 2007

the good, the bad, and the pretty

The Good
- I've developed my first ever "can-do" attitude toward my exams; in other words, I'm actually beginning to imagine that I might be able to read just about everything on time and be able to remember enough of what I've read to answer questions with a degree of coherency. I'm not exactly the Master of Confidence, but I'm no longer generally pessimistic/freaked out about my the final stretches of my exams preparation. (Don't worry--I'm definitely still scared enough to know I have a ton of reading and studying to do.)

- I received several stellar papers from my students in this first batch, and some of my students seem to genuinely like 17th and 18th century comedies. Score!

- I drank tasty cinnamon spice tea today. I need to track down where our cafeteria purchased those teabags.

The Bad
- I borrowed my friend's fancy gear (a RoadTrip) for playing an iPod through your car radio (her car's being repaired, so she let me give the gear a test drive, so to speak), and within thirty minutes I broke it by trying to pull it out of my car's outlet. I don't think it's broken beyond repair, but I saw little bits of wire sticking out of its casing, and that can't be good. So my first priority now is to replace or repair it, and then consider whether I can really trust myself with one of my own.

The Pretty
- It rained and thundered last night, and the clouds today are gorgeous. I don't have a camera with me, so you will just have to imagine grey clouds laced with white moving through a surprisingly clear blue sky.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Casanova vs. Bach! (aka Procrastination!)




















"Oh, Ba-ach...where are you?"
















(Incoherent grumbling.) "I am up here, resting and enjoying the books."





















"Well, get down here! It's time to...well, you know. Our appointment."

















"All right, all right." (Grumble.)

















"Hello."

"Hello."

"Maybe we should shake hands?"

"All right."















"Good form."

"Yes."

"So, Bach, my dear fellow, are you prepared to battle?"

"...Bach?"
















"BACH! Oh my--OOF."















"That was refreshing."















"Woot!"