School Year Update
I haven't properly updated since the Fall? Get fucked. *This and more in the phrases coined during that time.
WRIT 100 is over and I wait with bated breath for them to say I got a B- and have to take the course over again in order to proceed with my degree.
Fiction, unsurprisingly was the most enjoyable quarter for me. I didn't really know my classmates, nor feel any pressure to get to know them-- and the teacher was the very reason I got into the course.
Drama I think may have been my least favourite looking back, I don't think the teacher liked me very much and the classroom was laid out annoyingly (Rows of seats without any aisles, no door at the front of the rows. What the fuck Cornett?)
Poetry was quite enjoyable considering how little love for the genre I hold. Really I don't dislike poetry so much as hold no understanding of it. I got to know some of my classmates on my own terms as well, which knowing anti-social me is pretty good.
Creative Non-Fiction was just... eh. I have even less understanding of what CNF is than poetry. The best I can explain is "fancy word for journalism used by people who know what 'literary' genre is."
I've determined I won't truly have a writing degree, or be able to teach writing to other undergrads until I have a firm grasp on what in the hell the literary genre is. One thing I gathered loud and clear from WRIT 100 was that "genre" is nearly a "bad word", and anything worth anything is literary. I don't fully understand the hate on genre, when there's a formula to follow I think it's more exciting to work with. If a genre person and a literary person were given a box to sit on, the literary person would sneer and say a box is too confining and not literary-- and would assume the genre person will just sit on it. Sure, some genre people will just sit on it-- but it's the interesting genre person who does a hand stand on it instead. A literary person is pretty much a hipster to me though, it's not "literary" enough may as well be "underground". But I've got at least three years to try and figure it all out.
WRIT 310 (Forms + Techniques of the Novel) was the greatest thing ever. It completely affirmed my belief that it was the only course that I was truly completely interested in. The teacher (Lee Henderson) is slowly becoming my idol, but I think I'll track down his books first. He was pretty lax, kept things interesting and was enthusiastic about giving feedback.
The course is just write two chapters of a novel, and make up a layout to show that you have some idea of where things are going with it. In the fall when I had to write a short story for the Fiction quarter of WRIT100 I had scribbled out 5 pages of storyboard for this zombie epic that formed in my head when I put together the words "zombie" and "maid cafe" due to HvZ happening and watching Kaichou wa Maid Sama! (both were incredibly enjoyable), and I tried to form it into a novel. I got an A+ on my layout since I went through and indepth redid the original storyboard I had doodled. I'm lying in wait for the final grade. I've even talked about turning it into a graphic novel story with one of Chris and I's newer friends, Nik. Very exciting.
Over the year I also took beginner piano and intermediate guitar. Piano was a blast because it was one of my classes I got to take with Chris, which I had forgotten how awesome that was. Seeing him more often, having more fun in the class, and free reminder to actually do homework (practice, in this case). It's probably about 30% on him why I did pretty well in that class.
Guitar was quite good as well, it was noticeably more difficult than the beginners class I took last year but it was still enjoyable. More upbeat songs this course, so less fall asleep, more have the song stuck in your head for three weeks. There was one song Gerard picked for us that really rooted itself in my ears, to the point of one night I had to find it done by someone online and listen to it. Chris turned to me and asked how and why I knew the song (It was "Farewell to Nova Scotia), I said it was just stuck in my head from class. He told me he hated that song because when his family left Nova Scotia his dad sang it non-stop. Love that small world kind of stuff.
The rest of my year was by and large taken up by clubs. With the inaugural year of the Urban Gaming Club we gathered nearly 400 members in the first month. Apparently we're interesting!
We went Paintballing numerous times and held two HvZs which went off very well. But my real time sink was the Games Club-- our bi-weekly Games Night quickly turned into a weekly event. Over the year I've learned how to play Quarriors, Last Night on Earth, Bang, Arkham Horror, Diplomacy, and I'm sure countless others.**(I use the term "learned" loosely.)
Through Urban Gaming I met Cory and Nik, and through Games Club I met Paul, Gilbo and Serena (and a load of other people). Cory just kind of joined the Urban Gaming Mods during the first HvZ and made up shop-- next year he'll be the President of Urban Gaming.
And Nik stepped up and did 95% of anything visually linked to the Urban Gaming Club and is just now being roped into the Games Club for art purpose as well. But I figure if I doodle shit, he can just clean it up-- less work for him but still pretty! Right Nik? Maybe?
Anyways, tons of catch phrases for the Games Club came from Cory-- like the "Get fucked" from before. Games Club, while tiring me out a bit has been an immense joy getting to know all these random gamers. Over the summer Will, Paul, Gilbo, and I will be amassing a group of people and planning the Games Club's fall convention-- also very exciting.
pause game.
WRIT 100 is over and I wait with bated breath for them to say I got a B- and have to take the course over again in order to proceed with my degree.
Fiction, unsurprisingly was the most enjoyable quarter for me. I didn't really know my classmates, nor feel any pressure to get to know them-- and the teacher was the very reason I got into the course.
Drama I think may have been my least favourite looking back, I don't think the teacher liked me very much and the classroom was laid out annoyingly (Rows of seats without any aisles, no door at the front of the rows. What the fuck Cornett?)
Poetry was quite enjoyable considering how little love for the genre I hold. Really I don't dislike poetry so much as hold no understanding of it. I got to know some of my classmates on my own terms as well, which knowing anti-social me is pretty good.
Creative Non-Fiction was just... eh. I have even less understanding of what CNF is than poetry. The best I can explain is "fancy word for journalism used by people who know what 'literary' genre is."
I've determined I won't truly have a writing degree, or be able to teach writing to other undergrads until I have a firm grasp on what in the hell the literary genre is. One thing I gathered loud and clear from WRIT 100 was that "genre" is nearly a "bad word", and anything worth anything is literary. I don't fully understand the hate on genre, when there's a formula to follow I think it's more exciting to work with. If a genre person and a literary person were given a box to sit on, the literary person would sneer and say a box is too confining and not literary-- and would assume the genre person will just sit on it. Sure, some genre people will just sit on it-- but it's the interesting genre person who does a hand stand on it instead. A literary person is pretty much a hipster to me though, it's not "literary" enough may as well be "underground". But I've got at least three years to try and figure it all out.
WRIT 310 (Forms + Techniques of the Novel) was the greatest thing ever. It completely affirmed my belief that it was the only course that I was truly completely interested in. The teacher (Lee Henderson) is slowly becoming my idol, but I think I'll track down his books first. He was pretty lax, kept things interesting and was enthusiastic about giving feedback.
The course is just write two chapters of a novel, and make up a layout to show that you have some idea of where things are going with it. In the fall when I had to write a short story for the Fiction quarter of WRIT100 I had scribbled out 5 pages of storyboard for this zombie epic that formed in my head when I put together the words "zombie" and "maid cafe" due to HvZ happening and watching Kaichou wa Maid Sama! (both were incredibly enjoyable), and I tried to form it into a novel. I got an A+ on my layout since I went through and indepth redid the original storyboard I had doodled. I'm lying in wait for the final grade. I've even talked about turning it into a graphic novel story with one of Chris and I's newer friends, Nik. Very exciting.
Over the year I also took beginner piano and intermediate guitar. Piano was a blast because it was one of my classes I got to take with Chris, which I had forgotten how awesome that was. Seeing him more often, having more fun in the class, and free reminder to actually do homework (practice, in this case). It's probably about 30% on him why I did pretty well in that class.
Guitar was quite good as well, it was noticeably more difficult than the beginners class I took last year but it was still enjoyable. More upbeat songs this course, so less fall asleep, more have the song stuck in your head for three weeks. There was one song Gerard picked for us that really rooted itself in my ears, to the point of one night I had to find it done by someone online and listen to it. Chris turned to me and asked how and why I knew the song (It was "Farewell to Nova Scotia), I said it was just stuck in my head from class. He told me he hated that song because when his family left Nova Scotia his dad sang it non-stop. Love that small world kind of stuff.
The rest of my year was by and large taken up by clubs. With the inaugural year of the Urban Gaming Club we gathered nearly 400 members in the first month. Apparently we're interesting!
We went Paintballing numerous times and held two HvZs which went off very well. But my real time sink was the Games Club-- our bi-weekly Games Night quickly turned into a weekly event. Over the year I've learned how to play Quarriors, Last Night on Earth, Bang, Arkham Horror, Diplomacy, and I'm sure countless others.**(I use the term "learned" loosely.)
Through Urban Gaming I met Cory and Nik, and through Games Club I met Paul, Gilbo and Serena (and a load of other people). Cory just kind of joined the Urban Gaming Mods during the first HvZ and made up shop-- next year he'll be the President of Urban Gaming.
And Nik stepped up and did 95% of anything visually linked to the Urban Gaming Club and is just now being roped into the Games Club for art purpose as well. But I figure if I doodle shit, he can just clean it up-- less work for him but still pretty! Right Nik? Maybe?
Anyways, tons of catch phrases for the Games Club came from Cory-- like the "Get fucked" from before. Games Club, while tiring me out a bit has been an immense joy getting to know all these random gamers. Over the summer Will, Paul, Gilbo, and I will be amassing a group of people and planning the Games Club's fall convention-- also very exciting.
pause game.