hey, it's been a while
Apologies to any readers for the hiatus; it's been a busy few weeks. So this might be a bit long.
Currently, we are dealing with a leak in our apartment, which originally we thought was coming from our shower but on closer inspection turned out to be the pipes in the crawlspace up under the building's roof. Good in that it's not our fault; bad in that work on our apartment has halted while they fix the roof instead. So we still cannot use the upstairs shower, and the kitchen is usable but looks like a hurricane has dropped by to visit. However, I have heard assurances that at least the kitchen can be dealt with tomorrow. We shall see.
I am also teaching English 4 over the summer, which is UC Riverside's solution for students not yet ready for standard freshman composition. One more week of explaining pronouns, and then the ritual Grading Of The Finals. Preparing for the onslaught of terrifying grammar now.
We did find time to watch District 9, which I quite liked. I spent the first 10-15 minutes afraid that it was going to be as not-subtle as some of the classic Star Trek episodes ("Look! Here's the moral! Racism is wrong! Let me beat you over the head with it!") but in fact the movie turned into a great character study of one man forced to re-evaluate everything he thought he knew, about his beliefs, his (initial) idea of Doing Good and Helping Others, and even his own body (insert science-fiction discussion of the grotesque and hybrid bodies here). And I liked the ending--hope there will not be a sequel, which would spoil the lovely tensions and multitudinous interpretations.
Despite the chaos of late, I am in an oddly good mood. Perhaps it's just that I have a new Barbara Hambly book to read. It's historical fiction and not fantasy, but that's just fine--she could write a cookbook, and I'd still go buy it as soon as it came out, because it would still have that lovely, literate, evocative style that characterizes everything she writes. Barbara Hambly loves books and writing, loves the settings and the characters, and that feeling just reaches up from the page and makes you love them too.
Currently, we are dealing with a leak in our apartment, which originally we thought was coming from our shower but on closer inspection turned out to be the pipes in the crawlspace up under the building's roof. Good in that it's not our fault; bad in that work on our apartment has halted while they fix the roof instead. So we still cannot use the upstairs shower, and the kitchen is usable but looks like a hurricane has dropped by to visit. However, I have heard assurances that at least the kitchen can be dealt with tomorrow. We shall see.
I am also teaching English 4 over the summer, which is UC Riverside's solution for students not yet ready for standard freshman composition. One more week of explaining pronouns, and then the ritual Grading Of The Finals. Preparing for the onslaught of terrifying grammar now.
We did find time to watch District 9, which I quite liked. I spent the first 10-15 minutes afraid that it was going to be as not-subtle as some of the classic Star Trek episodes ("Look! Here's the moral! Racism is wrong! Let me beat you over the head with it!") but in fact the movie turned into a great character study of one man forced to re-evaluate everything he thought he knew, about his beliefs, his (initial) idea of Doing Good and Helping Others, and even his own body (insert science-fiction discussion of the grotesque and hybrid bodies here). And I liked the ending--hope there will not be a sequel, which would spoil the lovely tensions and multitudinous interpretations.
Despite the chaos of late, I am in an oddly good mood. Perhaps it's just that I have a new Barbara Hambly book to read. It's historical fiction and not fantasy, but that's just fine--she could write a cookbook, and I'd still go buy it as soon as it came out, because it would still have that lovely, literate, evocative style that characterizes everything she writes. Barbara Hambly loves books and writing, loves the settings and the characters, and that feeling just reaches up from the page and makes you love them too.