Sorry chum, could you repeat that please?
Terribly sorry for being so distracted recently, and for not posting more of Napkins. The reasons for this are many and rambling, and thus shall be
Now, I'm a college student. Most (some, a few?) of you know this, so the reason I'm repeating myself is that finals are coming up. It's not the finals themselves that I'm concerned about (I'll freak out over those next week), instead its the papers that are due in the coming week. The papers (three of them) which have had me holed up in the library for nearly a week, sometimes for more than twelve hours a day. These papers range in length from two thousand to more than ten thousand words, and in topic from critically reviewing sections of history textbooks to rock history to the biological psychology behind music.
Our library is one of the best I've been in, full of comfy chairs and large windows (great when the sun is out, but this is Eugene so that's currently a scarcity). It's full of periodicals, books, portfolio's, and history. Phone books from the 50's, census reports going back more than a hundred years, dissertations written by hopeful grad students who attended here in years past. Books in Russian, Chinese, German and Spanish mingle cozily with their English counterparts, and some poor students wander the four floors of shelves with eyes wide as they are terribly, terribly lost.
I read quickly (when it was actual novels, I would sometimes devour three a day, and still have time for homework, food, and appeasing the parents), and I like reading, so that's not quite why these reports are taking so long. They're taking so long because of the referencing, cross-referencing, and different -ologies that I insist on bringing into the discussion. Sure, I could write a factual report about how such and such a book presents a moment in history, and this is how it actually occurred, but that's boring. Instead, I write about why the book might have presented the topic in such a way, and about the historical context of said topic. I ask and examine the why instead of merely the how, and so far all the professors have encouraged me. They mentioned looking forward to what I come up with, so now I'm searching for the bits and pieces that make up the whole that I can only vaguely sense the shape of.
This quest of mine is made more difficult by how facts and perceptions have changed over time. For example, the 1950 view on history was so wrong and biased that books were made detailing their faults and demanding changes. The 1980 view was better, but still not complete, and even the current view still holds enough bias and blatantly false statements to make me question everything the texts say. Why are we not told that Helen Keller was a socialist who campaigned for women's rights? Why is there no mention of how the people of the time disliked Woodrow Wilson, and actually believed him to be one of the worst presidents?
So, in between all this research, I play online to attempt to allow my brain (and eyes! damn it, I need to find my glasses) time to relax. It is during this time that I write the Napkin entries, chat, or play freecell (although I have been known to research and chat at the same time, as long what I'm researching isn't filled with too many medical terms).
I would do most of this at home (with my lovely bed and lonely kitten that begs for attention) but I find myself finishing and finding new books so often, that it's just not worth it to carry 12 books back and forth the mile and a half between my house and the library. Especially as the library doesn't close until midnight, while the buses stop running at ten.
Is it bad that I'm actually looking forward to finals?
So, to counteract all that emo, The Unbinding is a wonderful serial novel, which raises some interesting questions on what exactly this age of internet means to the people who live in it.
Also, Laid by James. Amusing song, so please take and enjoy.
(more napkins up later, I promise)
(also, Clay, I had a question about something for the WL fanfiction comm, how would you prefer I ask it?)
Now, I'm a college student. Most (some, a few?) of you know this, so the reason I'm repeating myself is that finals are coming up. It's not the finals themselves that I'm concerned about (I'll freak out over those next week), instead its the papers that are due in the coming week. The papers (three of them) which have had me holed up in the library for nearly a week, sometimes for more than twelve hours a day. These papers range in length from two thousand to more than ten thousand words, and in topic from critically reviewing sections of history textbooks to rock history to the biological psychology behind music.
Our library is one of the best I've been in, full of comfy chairs and large windows (great when the sun is out, but this is Eugene so that's currently a scarcity). It's full of periodicals, books, portfolio's, and history. Phone books from the 50's, census reports going back more than a hundred years, dissertations written by hopeful grad students who attended here in years past. Books in Russian, Chinese, German and Spanish mingle cozily with their English counterparts, and some poor students wander the four floors of shelves with eyes wide as they are terribly, terribly lost.
I read quickly (when it was actual novels, I would sometimes devour three a day, and still have time for homework, food, and appeasing the parents), and I like reading, so that's not quite why these reports are taking so long. They're taking so long because of the referencing, cross-referencing, and different -ologies that I insist on bringing into the discussion. Sure, I could write a factual report about how such and such a book presents a moment in history, and this is how it actually occurred, but that's boring. Instead, I write about why the book might have presented the topic in such a way, and about the historical context of said topic. I ask and examine the why instead of merely the how, and so far all the professors have encouraged me. They mentioned looking forward to what I come up with, so now I'm searching for the bits and pieces that make up the whole that I can only vaguely sense the shape of.
This quest of mine is made more difficult by how facts and perceptions have changed over time. For example, the 1950 view on history was so wrong and biased that books were made detailing their faults and demanding changes. The 1980 view was better, but still not complete, and even the current view still holds enough bias and blatantly false statements to make me question everything the texts say. Why are we not told that Helen Keller was a socialist who campaigned for women's rights? Why is there no mention of how the people of the time disliked Woodrow Wilson, and actually believed him to be one of the worst presidents?
So, in between all this research, I play online to attempt to allow my brain (and eyes! damn it, I need to find my glasses) time to relax. It is during this time that I write the Napkin entries, chat, or play freecell (although I have been known to research and chat at the same time, as long what I'm researching isn't filled with too many medical terms).
I would do most of this at home (with my lovely bed and lonely kitten that begs for attention) but I find myself finishing and finding new books so often, that it's just not worth it to carry 12 books back and forth the mile and a half between my house and the library. Especially as the library doesn't close until midnight, while the buses stop running at ten.
Is it bad that I'm actually looking forward to finals?
So, to counteract all that emo, The Unbinding is a wonderful serial novel, which raises some interesting questions on what exactly this age of internet means to the people who live in it.
Also, Laid by James. Amusing song, so please take and enjoy.
(more napkins up later, I promise)
(also, Clay, I had a question about something for the WL fanfiction comm, how would you prefer I ask it?)