So, tomorrow I find out from Harvard Divinity School whether I've been accepted or not.

At every meal today, someone has told me another school that they've gotten into, and the choices that they have to make about their future. I am not at the moment inclined to be sympathetic to the poor gentleman who must decide if he wants to go to Harvard or MIT for graduate school in the sciences, though I am sure his pain must be great.

I am applying to something my mother suggested, because mostly beyond the poisoning fact that my mother suggested it, it looks like a good idea and an interesting program if I don't get into grad school.

I finally found the list of courses for Boston College School of Theology and Ministry- it's kind of removed from the main listing of stuff for that department. The stuff looks interesting enough. I just got an email that they want to meet with me for an Graduate Assistant position, which would give me a little stipend for the year, and would give me full tuition for a lot of the classes there. It would be a nice thing, but I am not really sure how viable a Masters from them would be.

This is how I deal with uncertainty- either I ignore it entirely to my detriment, or plan on failing so that if I get a good response back, it comes as a complete surprise.


In other news, I have to do a German presentation and a Greek quiz tomorrow, I did not get a stipend from the Classical Civ department to study Greek during the summer, and there is no "good time" to apply to grad school, grow up, get married, or have a kid. There just is not, you go on and just roll with the punches.

Ignoring all of the above:
I just watched Spectacular Spider-Man's 8th episode of the second season, and I was tickled pink by the dynamic between Hammerhead and Silver Sable. Though I cannot approve of her downgrade from Eastern European monarch (or something like that in the original comics) to mere mobster's daughter, and I think her reactions are heavily biased towards the Harpy-ish at the height of the fighting, the way she makes Hammerhead act is *hilarious*.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw_T_nJ8eu8&feature=related

School has begun, and it looks like the schedule which I created for myself the months ago will hold water and not overload me too much as I try to get the last drips of good out of my four years of education.

Latin 201- The Aeneid- May I just pause a moment to indulge my deep fangirlishness? ARMA VIRUMQUE CANO, MOTHERFUCKERS. This class is roughly on the subject that Latinists never stop talking about- how awesome Virgil is, and how much we love Latin. This is exactly what I needed to be incredibly geeky. I am well pleased. I need to be a bit more baddass about my translation, tho.

Greek 102- The second semester of Greek, which I miraculously passed last semester, is at the same ungodly hour four days a week, but the professor this time seems to be far more comfortable in her own skin than my last one. We are having fun, I am doing my homework, and I am enjoying myself. There are, just as a reminder, only four people in the class, and thus the pace of the teaching is rather faster than the professor is used to. This is because, in a class of FOUR, when one person slacks off, it shows. Oh, dear lord, how it shows.

German- 389- The Berlin Republic and Globalization. This is looking really, really fun. No high-faluting literature, but a fair amount of pop writing from the era after the fall of the Berliner Mauer. I know most of the people in the class, and none of the books. I really need to get working on reading it- I find I can read a sentence in German fairly easily, but I don't retain the information from it as easily as if it were in English.

Greek and Roman Religion- I am slightly disappointed by this class, but that's more to do with format than with subject matter so far. The professor has a distinct fan club, but this is my first class so I am not yet part of it. I am not sure that I will ever be part of, actually. The professor is clearly smart and competent, if unwilling to use technology, but the format of the class is more plain lecture than I usually get in my classes these days, and I am less into it than I thought I would be. Also, while the professor is indeed funny and charming, there is a practiced nature and slight arrogance to his witty asides that I find slightly personally off putting. Of course, I need not like the man to learn from him, and the topic is really, really interesting as well. This looks to be one of the more reading heavy of my classes.

Book Arts- I am terribly pleased with this class in a way that I am unable to fully explain. We're doing printmaking and some art-book binding, and I am looking forward too it just a little too much. It puts me in contact with large amounts of high quality paper on a weekly basis, and I am content. Our first assignment is a short run of printed broadsides of our own choosing and composition. I have selected something from Peter Pan, which I will add below. I am enjoying it immensely.

( Read more... )

I LIKE THIS MEME. I STOLE IT FROM alba_aulbath!

BAM.

You.
Can.
Only.
Type.
One.
Word.

Not as easy as you might think. Remember: one word answers to the following 34 questions.


1. Where is your mobile phone?: Window
2. Your significant other?: Not.
3. Your hair?: Growing.
4. Your mother?: Cheerful.
5. Your father?: Curmudgeon.
6. Your favorite thing?: Computer.
7. Your dream last night?: Huh?.
8. Your favourite drink?: Beer.
9. Your dream/goal?: Novelist.
10. The room you're in?: Mine.
11. Your ex?: Non.
12. Your fear?: Deception.
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years?: Happy.
14. Where were you last night?: Home.
15. What you're not?: Serious.
16. Muffins?: Yum.
17. One of your wish list items?: Beer.
18. Where you grew up?: Town.
19. The last thing you did?: Buffy.
20. What are you wearing?: PJ's.
21. Your TV?: None.
22. Your pets?: Adopted.
23. Your computer?: Old.
24. Your life?: Decent.
25. Your mood?: Pleased.
26. Missing someone?: No.
27. Your car?: Never.
28. Something you're not wearing?: Socks.
29. Favourite Store?: Book.
30. Your summer?: Work'.
31. Like someone?: Maybe'.
32. Your favourite colour?: Purple.
33. When is the last time you laughed?: Today.
34. Last time you cried?: Today.

And a Merry Christmas, Happy Yule, Happy Kwanza, and Happy Hanukka to them as celebrate it!

The state of the Bean:
- Against all my predictions of what my mother would enjoy in literature, she has discovered my stash of The Song of Ice and Firenovels by George R R Martin, and has decided that they are the best things ever. Bravo on another convert there, Mr. Martin. Expect another howling reader for Dance of Dragons once she gets through A Feast for Crows.

The reason I thought she wouldn't like them was the intense levels of intrigue and plot twists. I had trouble keeping up with all the plot, though that hardly stopped me from getting into all the characters involved. (And, oh, aren't there a lot of them....) But she's entranced. Which means another set of books that I have to suddenly share amongst my mother, and inevitably her mother, which means I won't ever be able to find them again. I would attempt to sequester them, but that would contradict the household (and admittedly personal) law that Books Are To Be Shared.

-The household has succumbed to my taste in alcohol! There is both beer AND peppermint schnapps in my home! I am pleased and happy with this turn of events.

-My "Must Read" list grows without ceasing. Not only do I have to reread Watchmen, probably several times to marinate in the awesome before the movie ruins/changes it, but a number of books that I nominally own, but have never gotten around to reading have been touted to me as wonderful by the Boy. (One being Freddy Neptune, a Novel in Verse by Les Murray.) I haven't even begun to approach Neal Stephenson's newest Anathem yet, and I found a battered copy of The Reluctant Widow, one of the few Georgette Heyer romances that I've not gotten my hands on. I'm waiting for Connie Schultz's autobiographical ...And His Lovely Wife to come into the public library, and as soon as I get there I no doubt will have a whole 'nother pile to add to the list. Meg Cabot is likely to feature broadly in that category. I'm still in the middle of Claudius the God, and it makes me want to actually take up my goal of reading Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews and Wars of the Jews, since they keep popping up tangentially in all the research I'm doing for my religion and classics courses.

This of course neglects most of the reading in the realm of comics that I've had to forgo while I was in class.

-Everytime I see this icon I want Spectacular Spider-Man to magically reappear with new episodes.... or for Hammerhead to stop sucking. I'm mildly amused by his "Brand New Day" origin and reboot, but I still like the smart and smarmy version from the cartoon the best. John DiMaggio makes him sounds far more threatening than the series makes him out to be, and it just works better than having him forever running into walls and shouting curses at Spider-Man.

-Got my hands on Elllis' Global Frequency. ZOUNDS. Excellent.

-Tonight I shall make lasagna and praise the birth of my savior. There will be wrapping of presents. There will be cannoli. (My spell-checker does not think cannoli is a word. I consider this short-sighted on his part.)

-My perennial goal of luring my grandmother's dog into being MY dog begins to bear fruit. I am the bearer of walkies! Look upon my leash, ye mighty, and despair. (I have not gone so far as to permit her onto the humans-only couch, but desperate times may yet force my hand.)

I'm done.
Well, not entirely. Not till I actually get my German paper checked over and hand it in, but.... barring that. I'm done. My second to last semester in college has come to an end. Weird.

In other news, it is now snowing in that peculiar way where distant snow appears to be moving towards the left and nears snow towards the right. I have a great view of this overhang on the roof that gathers about a quart of snow and then lets it all just stream off. It's a great view.

I love that I am inside.

On the eve of an apparently oncoming massive snowstorm, here is the current shape of my existence.

1. I have printed out (on college-purchased paper, with college-purchased ink) the entirety of thehefner's draft of his Harvey Dent novel. He asked me to look it over. (I feel rather spiffed about this. Who says chatting to random sassy internet people leads nowhere good?) It sits on my desk at home, glaring at me to read it and write on it in red pencil my running thoughts.

2. I have finished my Latin class! Which makes me sad, honestly, because this is the last time I will ever be able to take a Latin class with Prof. Starr. He is delightful, smart, and funny. The test was not bad, I think.

3. I need to write my German paper on comparing Novalis' "Christendom or Europe" to Lessing's Nathan the Wise. It should be cool. But since it's in German, I am putting my trust in my own little laptop to chug its way through one more demanding finals seasons rather than typing the essay on another computer. The German keyboard I bought for myself really, really helps on this. I need ümläütß, and I shall have them!

4. My Greek test will be tomorrow morning, which is the last chance to take the test before the giant snow storm comes in. I am slightly worried, because while I know essentially exactly what will be on it, I have not done the memorizing for this that I should. I fear the repercussions. Fortunately, I am taking the class pass/fail on top of my normal course load, so failing it will not hurt my GPA and I will not be short a class for graduation. Mostly it's my own pride, I think? But I would like to take the Greek and do well in it for future reasons, though it will probably not hurt me too much to fail it. I mean, if I do fail it, I still might be able to talk my way into the next level of the course or take an exam to qualify into it. I'd have to see.

5. My eyeballs feel like someone has scrubbed them with salt. Ouch!

I am an hour's work and about two clicks away from being able to send in my first grad school application. I have the essay done, I have submitted my resume, there is nothing holding me back but the acquisition of those last three recommendation letters, and then I am as a free as a bird in the sky.

Well, okay, fuck it, I still have finals: two papers and a project to do, not to mention two finals in two dead languages but blow me down and paint me blue, I am can still see the light at the end of the tunnel.

University of Chicago Divinity School? Please accept me. I will study very hard and write you pretty papers and come back for my Ph.D and be a wonderful smarty-pants in my later professions. Pleeeease like me?

Currently- readying myself to do a presentation on the James Ossuary. Which is pretty damned cool, but has the problem of getting bogged down by issues of authenticity rather than more interesting ideas.

In other news, I survived another fairly delightful Thanksgiving in RI with the extended non-related family. There was much feasting. One of my age mates shares my love of rosemary and feta pastries, the other finds my mad German skillz highly intriguing.

There were also five dogs there who mostly behaved themselves and allowed me to get my full shared of pettings and paws. It's bizarre to see that the Golden retriever that I met first as a puppy has become an old dog before my eyes. She's sweet and slow and full of tumors, but will still follow you to force your continued pettings and attention. The only flaw dogs have is that they don't last long enough. However, there was a new addition to the pack- Pumpkin, the unholy mix of Golden retriever and basset hound. Picture a honey colored basset with smaller ears and no face droop. Personality was.... interesting. As determined and stubborn as most basset hounds I know of, but very very friendly to people. Kind of a strange mix, but I am determined to steal the dog eventually and bring her back to my lair for cuddles and munchies further experimentation.

Worked all last night on my Novalis presentation, which is too long but rather fun to think about, and awoke to find that my Greek professor has canceled the early morning class for which I did not do the homework. The universe favors German poets, apparently.


I had four meetings with professors yesterday, three directly related to my recommendation letters, and one just as life direction. The things I've hear are, that they all want me to figure out my direction in academics before they write their letters, so that they can coordinate, and that waiving my right to see the letter will make the people reading it feel more assured of its contents being sincere.

A number of people told me that I am well-organized and on top of things. Doesn't feel like it, but hey, I'll take it.

I also heard back from the admissions person I emailed at my current top choice university, who told me the general range of verbal scores they take (mine was inside the range, tho perhaps on the low end), and that if I retake the GRE's and the results come in before mid January I can probably get them the information before too late.

So, in other words, one bad day did not fuck up my life entirely, and I can relax and work these things out.

I am in a weird position of have a partner who thinks she's not doing anything for our project, but will probably end up doing the majority of the hard work simply because she knows what she's doing, and I don't really.

Ah, well. I can live with that.

I'm reading Novalis' "Christianity or Europe," a short essay that formed a big part of the Romantic movement in Germany. He waxes glorious on the unifying powers of emotive religion- it's kind of cool. But rather slow going. I'm researching and making a presentation on this guy tonight and tomorrow.

I have to write my statement of purpose for grad school, and I kind of don't know what I'm doing, but that's okay. I'll get there someday.

I have been sitting in one place for a damned long time now, and it begins to grow wearisome.

I'm turning 22 next Sunday, and while I promised myself that I would do something about it, I kind of forgot how busy this time of year is. I think my birthdate kind of sucks for parties, actually. Anyone in academics is freakishly busy at this time of year, and that's the field I want to go into.