Minor Crises
I sat down tonight to try to write another poem or come up with an idea for one or something. After all, I've got something like 6-9 due in 3 weeks. I had no ideas. I couldn't come up with any ideas. I turned to my notebook, in which I have dutifully copied every poem I have ever written, to see if there was a clever phrase or artful sentence I could steal. No. Nothing. Quite frankly, everything I have ever written is utter crap that lacks any hint of sutblety or talent. So I've got a bit of a crisis right now. It will pass, and I will gather up enough poetry by the end, but right now, I'm kind of freaking out.
My other current crisis is what to do about my majors. To be honest, I prefer the study of history. Except that I'm not very good at being a student of history. I'm much better at being a student of literature, because that involves much more bs. It's easier. Besides, the English major will be easier to complete, because it's more structured at St. Olaf. I am going to try to complete both majors, but I think I might die in the process. I still need to take, for the history major, a level 200 major seminar, a non-Western history class, and 3 level 300 classes. For the English major, I need 2 level 300 classes and a Global Literatures in English class. For my GEs, I need a math class, and ethics class (which I'm hoping I can get in either of the majors, but considering my luck, I won't and will have to take some dumb religion class or something. I refuse to do any more philosophy), and my two gym classes. Also, my advisor/the ONE medivalist in the history department is going on sabbatical next year. And she said that they might not bring in a replacement medievalist for the year. If that's the case, and I can't do both majors, I'm going to have to drop the history major. After all, it's not worth doing if they don't offer classes that I'm interested in, is it? I don't know what's going to be offered in the English department for medieval lit. I'm really hoping my English prof doesn't teach a Chaucer class, because I want to take another class with her, but there's no real point in taking Chaucer again. Anyway, the dilemna is between English and History. English is easier, but I prefer History, and have for a long time. I just forgot for a while...
Finally, I'm trying to decide what to do about my classes next semester. I'm enrolled in Norman and Plantagenet England, Romanticism, and Reading the Romance: Austen and the Brontes. I really really don't want to take that last one. I've really all of Austen's stuff on my own, and some of the Brontes (and I didn't particularly care for Jane Eyre. Just sayin'). I don't mind taking Romanticism, because I enjoy Romantic poetry and really, a class on them can't be that hard, but I'd rather take another class on medieval history or literature than that last one. I prefer to read novels, not study them, thanks.
In other news, I'm a bad person, because I think Troilus and Criseyde is the funniest thing I've ever read. My lecturer, on the other hand, says it's the most moving work in English. And I just can't stop laughing. Oh well. "And I ain't no fool for love songs that whisper in my ears. Still crazy after all these years," I guess.