I’ve been having a really hard time finding time to write,
so I decided I would try cutting out different parts of the writing process to
expedite my work. Planning and preparation were never really part of my
process, so that wasn’t an option. I
decided I could live without editing or careful use of punctuation; or clear transitionsThis
post is about random things in my life (that I hope you enjoy) hearing about.
When I started out this semester music theory began to suck
out my soul. What should’ve been happy
and easy “I’m-studying-for-class-with-music-*excitement*” time instead became
horrible horrible “Oh my lord it’s 3 am and I’m only half-way through this
workbook assignment filled with things that I only have a vague perception of
how to do” time.
I was not a happy camper. (Which is a paradox because ALL
CAMPERS ARE HAPPY. Or at least that’s what I’d tell them when they weren’t
smiling enough. The campers I mean. Although I didn’t actually do that. I
promise. I wanted to put an exclamation mark (on the ALL CAMPERS ARE HAPPY) but
it wasn’t quite necessary. What was necessary was a very emphatic period.
Back to music and my struggling with intense workbook stuff.
Luckily things got somewhat easier later on, although my
music ear-training class is still very frustrating, especially for everyone
who’s nearby when I study. (I loop obnoxious simple classical melodies and play
them loudly, I’m constantly singing nonsense syllables like le or re, and
sometimes I spend 20 minutes droning on in a monotone, saying something like
“tatatatata,tatata,tatata,tatatatatata,tataata,tataataaa,taaaa,tatatatatatatatatatatatata,tatataa,
tatataa,tataatataatataaa,
tataataaataataatata,tatatatatatata,tataaaa,taaatatataaa,taatataataa.”
(Those sixteenth notes with ties will get
you if you’re not careful)
It gets pretty bad.
I was super excited when I started my English class this
semester too. My teacher is one of those
quirky old guys who speak Old English fluently (not as simple as it sounds [AND
IT SOUNDS SO COOL]) and he has really bad vision so he has to look at everyone
with crazy eyes. When I walk into the
room slightly late he stops and stares at me and his face scrunches and his
eyes get so big that all the characters from the Canterbury Tales could go for
a swim together in them. It comes off really intimidating but he’s only trying
to see me.
My Creative Writing class is nice because one way or another
it stirs my creative juices. Even if I’m
not paying the least attention in class, I’ll be staring down other people in
class and getting inspired by their confused and scared looks. I’ll write down
all kinds of random thoughts and ideas, from a question about why humans feel
the need to endlessly judge and categorize their fellow man to a tirade against
my fellow classmate’s vocabulary choices. (THE WORD YOU WANT IS DIALECT, NOT
VERNACULAR!!!)
I’m also taking news writing, which is weird because every day
I write about dead people and felons that don’t really exist.
I’ve learned a lot in
that class though. For example, without my News Writing class I would never
know that all criminals come from Mebane. And that people being hit by trains
make for great news. Especially when they fly through the air.
Another plus is that now I’ve memorized the names of all of
the law enforcement officials and attorneys in key positions in Orange County.
I also know by heart the street address of every large funeral home in the
area. Slightly morbid, but useful nonetheless.
New life philosophy = There’ll be plenty of time to
punctuate correctly when I’m dead. (parallel: No one ever laid on their
deathbed saying “I wish I had been more careful with my syntax”)
Full
comprehension and clear communication are my only ideals. (That’s a lie.) (And I think they mean the same thing.)
Sometimes I wonder if I’m in the right kind of mood to be
writing right now, but then I stop thinking.
I don’t hear the word “punctuate” used very often. That’s a cool verb. Let us explore its uses.
“Let us be careful to punctuate our briefs meticulously, we
don’t want the readers’ experience to be punctuated with brief bouts of
confusion. I’d like to be brief but I can’t punctuate that enough. It might
upset the reader to the point that they would briefly wish to punctuate our
shins with brief periodical kicks or punctuate our briefs with sharp objects.”
(I was reaching a little bit for a few of those. That last one was probably
supposed to be “puncture”)
I’m also taking a class on the Old Testament of the Bible.
(But the term “Old Testament” is ethnocentric and biased just like “New World”
or “prehistory” or “world religion” or “paganism” or “immigrant” or “possession,
demonic or otherwise, is a primitive and irrational concept incompatible with modern
bases of knowledge.”) Got a little bit off topic there. Sorry.
So instead we call it the Hebrew Bible. It sounds like a
really cool class, but there’s a few flaws.
First of all there’s a lot of repetition in the Hebrew Bible. The Prophets,
which sound at first like they’re going to be crazy and awesome and you’re
going to find an ancient Israelite prediction of the world ending in 2012. (I’m
going to start calling 2012 the Mayan Apocalypse. Because that makes it kind of
funny to me.) Oh I’m terribly sorry – that last non-parenthetical sentence did
not contain a single independent clause.
The Prophets sound interesting, but it turns
out that (for the most part) they’re just pages upon pages of metaphors and
parables explaining how Israel has behaved really really badly and they really
really deserve everything they’re getting.
Disclaimer: It’s actually really interesting to me. But not
exactly what I expected
.
The main problem with the class is that the teacher is very
concerned with organizing things and thinking about thinking about things. We
spend the majority of each lecture talking about how the lecture is going to be
organized and about how we are going to look at the things he has
organized. Then if we have any time left
and no one has any questions, we sometimes spend some time looking at the
material.
He is also not very blunt. He doesn’t want us to take notes
because the powerpoints are on his website and he wants us to listen to his
words, but he tells us this in a very ineffective wishy-washy way. He also very
ineffectively told us that we don’t need to do the readings or prepare for
tests very much or put any real amount of effort into journals, but I don’t
really understand why. (Although the readings *are* humongous.) (And the tests *are*
incredibly easy) (And the journals *are* a joke of a weekly assignment)
Disclaimer: These things I speak are true but I enjoy the
class nonetheless.
Now I’m going to try to do some more music homework before
my computer dies. Tell me how the lack of punctuation or any sort of practical
mental filter worked out.
I WENT CAMPING OVER FALL BREAK.
Details and beautiful pictures coming soon.
