constant spiral

Reading Aristotle has been a remarkable experience. The reading for this week’s lectures are metaphysics (book 1), topics and post. an.. I read all this in one go a couple of days ago and had about 20 sticky notes with “?!?” Written on them. If you recall, I was mad at myself for not having bought the book earlier (amazon carries it for $15 less, but shipping takes any from 1-2 months and I didn’t exactly plan ahead). Anyway, I gave all these pages another go last week and eradicated about half of those WTFs. And then last night, I more or less understood what I was reading. Today in lecture, my professor confirmed most of my understandings of the text. It felt so good! I love it when things like this happen, because it reminds me how important and useful it is to read things multiple times. This also gives me confidence in my ability to read critically. It’s never easy, but it is all worth it!

It’s funny how I consistently underestimate the magnitude of a seemingly insignificant thing. I remember being obsessed with Melba toast in middle school. I thought I was being so cool and ‘grown-up’, eating microwave melted harvest cheese on those things. Some girl in my french lesson (this is outside school) asked during one of those inane ‘breaks’ “Is that Melba toast?” and I proudly exclaimed ‘yes!’ Till this day, I have no idea why she asked – and whether she got anything useful out of my answer. Did she hate Melba toast, and thus, anyone one who relishes in their inexplicable crunch? Was she craving for Melba toast and wanted some of mine (granted it didn’t have cheese on them)? So many questions, and all of them MAJORLY IMPORTANT and FRUSTRATING at the time. I can only laugh now. I think we all do when we look back on our youth.

I had a terrible night’s sleep – tossing and turning into the wee hours and scrambled out of bed at 8am to wash, dress, and run out to catch the 8:30am subway. I had an ice-capp last night because my Wednesdays are fiendishly long. It was only an ice capp, and being a java-junkie, i didn’t think much of it. But man, did I suffer through the night. I eventually fell asleep to the dulcet tones of my Shakespeare prof (whose lectures are really really great, but he’s got a really soft, subtle voice that you hate in class because you can’t hear the damn man (I had to sprint from my preceding class from the otherwise of campus to ensure that I got class in time to get a decent seat)). Anyway, suffice it to say that my head’s not in the greatest shape now, but I have so much reading and prep to do for next week, and I have a poetry deadline on Monday that hasn’t even sunk into my brain properly.

I had a pretty frustrating shopping experience today. Although the upside is that I only ended up spending $20 + tax on a northface hoodie (originally $60!!!), I also wasted a lot of time and energy picking and then ditching new winter coats. I can’t wait till I’ll fully independent, when my parents have no barring on what I buy/not buy.

I was supposed to skype with a friend early this evening to discuss and finalize reading week plans – but she never turned up. I detest that sort of thing. But I can’t even muster up the energy to be upset about it. Still, ARGHHHHH!

The 4th season of Cabin pressure started off on what I considered to be a weak episode. The voice actors are clearly trying to elevate the writing, but the story felt so stilted and inorganic. I hate that I feel this way, because I love Cabin Pressure (And not just because BC is in it. I really fell in love with the whole cast and their dynamics!)

I went to the gym today (and I shall spare you the thrilling tale of me being locked out of my locker because my lock suddenly decided to stop working. This ended with my lock being destroyed by a staff member) and did all my usual exercises, so I’m not even sure the soreness I’m feeling in my legs are due to inactivity or due to activity. Hahaa

I need to be more prudent with my spending. I’ve afraid that with the new semester, my sending habits are about to spiral out of control. I am consistently spending $15 on food on a single day. I used to be good at keeping it below $10. Time to bring my own coffee again~ And snacks!! Fruits! Stop buying biscotti singularly!

Sigh, i’m running out of steam and I haven’t started on my Plato and etc readings…

snail pace

[it’s 12noon right now–i just left this sitting in the drafts folder, that’s all]

here is the list of things I’d like to have completed by Tuesday Night. I’d allotted hours for each for practicality’s sake:

– Thesis & Outline for AFMAMH paper (4)

– Thesis & Outline for Henry IV Part 1 & Twelfth Night (3)

– Symb. Logic Unit 6 Review (8)

– Brainstorm thesis for Ling. Anthro paper (2)

– Symb. Logic Quiz 8 (3)

All of the above add up to 20 hours. I have 10 hours left of today. I have 10 hours free tomorrow. ARGHHH

OK. I shall be calm, and light some candles. It’s a lot of work (and that doesn’t include my readings for the second half of the week!) but I can do it!

UPDATE: Finished reading and highlighting Ch 3-5 for Ling. Anthro!

UPDATE: Have a fuzzy thesis for Shakespeare!! Need to reread second half of 12th Night though.

UPDATE: Attempted symb logic – gave up. shall try again later.

UPDATE: UGHHHHHHHH, I want KFC! I just watched a bunch of k-pop reality shows. Why do I do this?!?!

UPDATE (Nov 13): finished rereading 12th Night. The thesis is now pulling in too many directions.

UPDATE: Have fuzzy idea for AFMAMH.

manners

people have got to learn them! I’m encountering a particularly bad case at work. I teach on the side and there is one private student who is unable to stick to a schedule. Granted, she is an athlete, so I am giving her some leeway – but her organization does not impress me. I recently heard back from a friend who’s also dealing with some unreasonable people and I don’t understand why some people are unable to figure what what happens in the next week of their life!

Sigh–is it really too much to ask?

Anywho, I am working on my Shakespeare comparative exercise. We are given a 2 page length limit so it’s a pretty short assignment – but that just makes editing that much harder!! Here’s a teaser (hasn’t been manicured yet–so beware):

Theses remarkable torrents of correlations also venture into the perimeters of their working lives. Social classes and cultural conformity were strictly enforced and were very much an integral part of everyday life in the Elizabethan and Victorian era. For Shakespeare, social hierarchy provided the backdrop and often, the major source of conflict in many of his plays. His characters are caught between the desire to break away from those customs to fulfill their own yearlings and the hesitation to reject social conventions. The central hurdle for Romeo and Juliet is the parental opposition from both families (who consider each other to be socially inferior). For Macbeth, the path to the throne is not by loyalty to the king, but by murder and deceit. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bottom, the simple minded weaver, is given the most profound vision of the ballad. Shakespeare was not a member of the aristocracy and had none of the usual symptoms of “high society” about him. He was particularly sympathetic to the plight of women and of the lower classes. He often attributes intelligence and insight to the under privileged characters, rather than those of the nobility…

(I can’t get the font size to stay consistent on this blog. sorry)

I am going to follow this paragraph with:

For Shakespeare and Holmes, the casts of characters are not only governed by social hierarchy, but also by sex. Even during the Elizabethan era, women were not permitted to be on stage and all of the female roles were usually performed by young, somewhat inexperienced boy actors. Shakespeare was a savvy playwright who knew to write to his actors’ advantage. And hence, there are very few women characters in Shakespeare’s plays. Holmes, in stark contrast, is infamous for his vocal pronouncements of his disregard of women kind in general. His treatment of women is generally regarded as racist… 

GET – SET – GO

Goodmorning, my lovelies!

I am dead exhausted, even at 9am in the morning. I got home from school at around 9pm last night and spent the better half of the night scanning PLAOT,  HUME, MILLS, and BORGES, which is all good and swell, but means that I had to refine my notes (I am in the habit of doing this, completing the half sentences and etc) close to midnight. And this means that i have to do my readings in this morning. Right now, if i am to be precise.

I am not a morning person, i can often seem like one because i force myself to be sociable (the effects of coffee, i assure you) and quite productive – but really, I am a true night owl. I didn’t even realize it was midnight last night until I got a reminder on my ipad about the readings.

So yes, I finally finished reading Meno (the correct translation, I was a fool and read the Gutenberg one) and I am heading into the Norton Anthology of Shakespeare (beauuuuutiful book, too highly priced for my student bank account – i scrambled and got a copy from the library) to reread A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I am indecently excited about reading the norton edition because of all the fabulous intros and contextual material and all that great stuff you don’t find in cheap editions.

I can safely say that I have been eating like a junkie lately – fries and rice and meat and some more fries. I’ve given up trying to bring food to campus because my backpack is hurting quite enough already without the addition of microwavable goods. It doesn’t bode well for my savings nor for my health – so I am going to arrange to have lunch with a friend who’s working in the city. She’ll have scouted places with good food – hopefully.

Astonishingly, i’m still on my first mug of coffee, though it’s gone cold now – i shall nuke it and return to my studies.

back in the saddle

I had to go to the library to renew my library card this morning. Like a fool, I forgot to bring IC with me, so the kind lady extended it till the end of Sept so I wouldn’t have to waste money on books.

That’s a lie. It’s not a waste, but it’s just money that I can’t spend.

Anyway, i got the RSC edition of Shakespeare’s plays. I am very very excited about that. I wasn’t too excited about it when I had to lug it and the Norton Anthology of Shakespeare (3000+ pages!) home (my right shoulder might still be aching). Ohhh, and i finally tracked down a copy of Laurence Olivier’s autobiography. GAH- cannot contain myself.

I’m doing good with one of my resolutions: be generous with friends. For the past year, I had to work on every single Saturday and this Saturday will be my last (my schedule changed). So I am buying breakfast for everyone. Granted, it’s only McD breakfast (it’s convenient – I’m not about to go anywhere else at 8:30am in the morning), but I think it shows my sincerity anyway.

On Friday, I am meeting up with a dear chum who is normally out of town. I have to teach at 7pm, so after a bit of juggling, we decided to do late lunch (involving more pastries than real food – I’m not sure how I feel about that, but she’s set on going to Pusateri’s).

I think this is a big improvement. I am usually so stingy with my time. I plan things so meticulously so that I don’t have to go out everyday (the travel time sucks). I like to stack things – is this terrible of me? Perhaps. But I am always scrambling from one thing to another.

It’s only a few more days before books and papers take over my life again. To avoid bingeing and being a fatty in general, I though I’d start charting my eating habits again. I’ll be doing this on the MyFitness app, but I’ll detail yesterday’s and today’s to get a head start:

TUESDAY

breakfast: Coffee

lunch: 2 microwave dinners (only like 250g each, so = bird food)

dinner: rice, steamed broccoli, one boiled egg, a slice of ham

WEDNESDAY

breakfast: Coffee

lunch: rice, eggplant and pork stirfry

dinner: ditto

snack: watermelon

I know, I know – it’s a tragedy! But at least the only way is up! And now that I have a somewhat solid schedule, I can return to my workout plan.