Snow in Slow-Mo and Other Recent Memories
Today we were walking home from a real chill evening at the grad student bar (when I say "real chill," I mean that our table of six was half of the crowd), watching the pairs figure skating and cheering for the Chinese husband-and-wife pair with the sweet backstory (they're in their 30s, which is old for figure skating, and they came out of retirement to try and get the gold... and they did!!). Anyway, we were walking home, and the most amazing snow was falling: big, fluffy, visible flakes falling slowly, like you see in the movies. It's no surprise that snow turns me into a little kid in no time flat, but this was something more. It was pure and unadulterated joy. I wish I could feel like that more often, I wish we all could.
Tonight was pretty fun in general. Megan Steffen, a fellow BU Trustee Scholar, was in town to visit (she applied to an M.A. program here, and she knows both Shari and me), so we got to hang out with her, grab some Pepe's, hit up GPSCY. It was just good to get out of my room for a while and relax.
The school work is piling up, as always, but I'm on top of things. Every Wednesday night, I sit down and plot out how many pages of reading I have to do for the next week. Then I break it down into smaller segments assigned to each day, taking into account everything else I have to do on those days (i.e. less reading on Friday and Saturday, more on Sunday and Monday, lol). It's super-nerdy, but it works.
We had the Winter Ball this weekend. It was a good time, an excuse to put on a suit and dance at the New Haven Lawn Club. But it probably wasn't worth the $20, since we do essentially the same things at the grad student bar, just not in nice clothes. And the drinks were mad expensive. But still not a bad diversion at all.
Let's see, what else? I saw Precious, finally. And it was ridiculously moving and very depressing. And it sticks with you, it claws into the seeming security of your thoughts and reminds you just how terrible modern life can be for some less fortunate individuals. It keeps things relative real quick. A Serious Man, on the other hand, was a serious piece of shit. I will grant you that Job (the movie is a re-telling of it set in the '60s with Jewish protagonists) is perhaps my least favorite Biblical tale. And I will grant you that there are probably resonances I miss because I am not particularly informed about Jewish culture. But my God, was it dull. I haven't seen a movie in so long where I was so constantly checking the clock. And the terrible dream sequences--ugh. Just, in general, not my cup of tea at all, and certainly not what I would consider a Best Picture-worthy film. Either (500) Days of Summer or even Star Trek would have been much more deserving candidates. Still need to see The Hurt Locker and maybe The Blind Side, though I remain undecided as to whether or not I'm willing to pay to see that film.
I'm falling more and more in love with my cinematic neorealism class. I find film fascinating (shock and awe, I know), and it's really satisfying to pick movies apart in an academic setting. If only the damn film showings weren't on Sunday nights, this would easily be my favorite class of the semester. Though Haun Saussy is a damn good lecturer, since he's quite possibly the first person I've ever met who can consistently make literary theory both quickly comprehensible and even genuinely entertaining at times. As a result, I'd say that for now Intro to Literary Theory is my favorite course. Futurism makes for amusing, bizarre readings, but the class itself is lackluster. And my Mythography class is mind-numbingly boring and generally pointless-seeming. It's hard to come up with ways to redeem this course, especially since it will really be in no way useful to my further pursuits as an academic.
I officially have a bus ticket to Boston for March 12-17, staying with one of my friends from Padova who's doing her M.A. at BC right now. Looking forward to being back in Beantown when other people are actually around. And the first half of Spring Break is still up in the air, but Montreal keeps being mentioned. We'll see.
The hockey season is winding down, and for the first time in a long while, both Yale and BU are ranked in the top 20 (Yale is actually #5 right now, which is awesome). The Beanpot final was obviously disappointing, but it could have been worse, and BU did follow it up with the weekend sweep of Maine, which was quite nice.
Unfortunately, I'm missing the last home games of the regular season this weekend because I'm heading to the grandparents' for a few days. It's been hard to visit this semester because of the Sunday night film showings, and if I don't go now, I probably can't go again until April. And I'm pretty sure my relatives would be pissed, since that would mean going three months without seeing them even though I only live twenty minutes away. Plus, I am perfectly okay with getting away from the shitshow scene for one weekend (the last few weeks there has been some crazy crap going on in social settings, not necessarily in my immediate group of friends, but certainly among our extended circle of acquaintances): I'll get a ton of work done, and I'll get free food. Win-win.
Tomorrow: class out the ass, Idol, and a game of Settlers. I'll miss Lost, but I'd rather miss a TV show than miss out on time with my friends. And I can watch Lost on Wednesday morning.
And really, that's about it. Time and life march on, I'm quite happy with how it's all going, and really, I can't ask for more than slow-motion snow and the little daily reminders that this seeming dream is my reality.
Tonight was pretty fun in general. Megan Steffen, a fellow BU Trustee Scholar, was in town to visit (she applied to an M.A. program here, and she knows both Shari and me), so we got to hang out with her, grab some Pepe's, hit up GPSCY. It was just good to get out of my room for a while and relax.
The school work is piling up, as always, but I'm on top of things. Every Wednesday night, I sit down and plot out how many pages of reading I have to do for the next week. Then I break it down into smaller segments assigned to each day, taking into account everything else I have to do on those days (i.e. less reading on Friday and Saturday, more on Sunday and Monday, lol). It's super-nerdy, but it works.
We had the Winter Ball this weekend. It was a good time, an excuse to put on a suit and dance at the New Haven Lawn Club. But it probably wasn't worth the $20, since we do essentially the same things at the grad student bar, just not in nice clothes. And the drinks were mad expensive. But still not a bad diversion at all.
Let's see, what else? I saw Precious, finally. And it was ridiculously moving and very depressing. And it sticks with you, it claws into the seeming security of your thoughts and reminds you just how terrible modern life can be for some less fortunate individuals. It keeps things relative real quick. A Serious Man, on the other hand, was a serious piece of shit. I will grant you that Job (the movie is a re-telling of it set in the '60s with Jewish protagonists) is perhaps my least favorite Biblical tale. And I will grant you that there are probably resonances I miss because I am not particularly informed about Jewish culture. But my God, was it dull. I haven't seen a movie in so long where I was so constantly checking the clock. And the terrible dream sequences--ugh. Just, in general, not my cup of tea at all, and certainly not what I would consider a Best Picture-worthy film. Either (500) Days of Summer or even Star Trek would have been much more deserving candidates. Still need to see The Hurt Locker and maybe The Blind Side, though I remain undecided as to whether or not I'm willing to pay to see that film.
I'm falling more and more in love with my cinematic neorealism class. I find film fascinating (shock and awe, I know), and it's really satisfying to pick movies apart in an academic setting. If only the damn film showings weren't on Sunday nights, this would easily be my favorite class of the semester. Though Haun Saussy is a damn good lecturer, since he's quite possibly the first person I've ever met who can consistently make literary theory both quickly comprehensible and even genuinely entertaining at times. As a result, I'd say that for now Intro to Literary Theory is my favorite course. Futurism makes for amusing, bizarre readings, but the class itself is lackluster. And my Mythography class is mind-numbingly boring and generally pointless-seeming. It's hard to come up with ways to redeem this course, especially since it will really be in no way useful to my further pursuits as an academic.
I officially have a bus ticket to Boston for March 12-17, staying with one of my friends from Padova who's doing her M.A. at BC right now. Looking forward to being back in Beantown when other people are actually around. And the first half of Spring Break is still up in the air, but Montreal keeps being mentioned. We'll see.
The hockey season is winding down, and for the first time in a long while, both Yale and BU are ranked in the top 20 (Yale is actually #5 right now, which is awesome). The Beanpot final was obviously disappointing, but it could have been worse, and BU did follow it up with the weekend sweep of Maine, which was quite nice.
Unfortunately, I'm missing the last home games of the regular season this weekend because I'm heading to the grandparents' for a few days. It's been hard to visit this semester because of the Sunday night film showings, and if I don't go now, I probably can't go again until April. And I'm pretty sure my relatives would be pissed, since that would mean going three months without seeing them even though I only live twenty minutes away. Plus, I am perfectly okay with getting away from the shitshow scene for one weekend (the last few weeks there has been some crazy crap going on in social settings, not necessarily in my immediate group of friends, but certainly among our extended circle of acquaintances): I'll get a ton of work done, and I'll get free food. Win-win.
Tomorrow: class out the ass, Idol, and a game of Settlers. I'll miss Lost, but I'd rather miss a TV show than miss out on time with my friends. And I can watch Lost on Wednesday morning.
And really, that's about it. Time and life march on, I'm quite happy with how it's all going, and really, I can't ask for more than slow-motion snow and the little daily reminders that this seeming dream is my reality.