blegh The ball's just not rolling. I've read through two of my print sources, 4 journals, and a couple of websites, but I'm just not getting anywhere with my Stephen Crane paper right now. Yes, he writes hyper-realism. What is hyper-realism? Complicated. I still don't have a good definition yet, which is part of what's making my paper ("hyper-realism in Crane's 'Open Boat'") so difficult. In art it is the creation of an image more detailed than it would be in reality. This tricks the viewer into believing they are viewing a photo (in more modern examples) until they realize that no photo looks that way. In literature it's the same type of over exposure to truth, but whereas a picture develops color and depth, a story develops symbols and meaning.
Catharsis, really.
But that's the goal of all literature. Mostly. But Realists weren't exactly symbol people. They thought reality spoke for itself.
ugh, my head hurts.  ¶   0 comments

  CONFIDENTIAL Most of what I'd like to tell you about today has to be censored out. Not for explicit lyrics or content or anything exciting like that, just because it's RCA and SGA business. Business that, even if you are an MSU student, isn't yours. Yet.
I'm watching Dragonball GT, probably the best episode of it I've seen yet. It's made of 10% original footage, as usual. But the clips are good. Vegeta, the best character, is flashing back over all his failures and defeats. It's refreshing in a week that's been full of too many meetings.
Just. Wow.
I feel like Peter Parker the day he discovered his powers.
Actually, I feel like Pete after that first day of trying out his new powers. Happy, but exhausted.
I'm sure every RCA Prez has spent their time dreaming of things they can do much like I am now. I'm afraid to think of how few of their dreams have come true. Tonight Jess said she's taken baby steps, just like Kyser and Josh did before her. Some of those steps I can see, others I can't. They're all pretty heavy on my mind tonight, though.
We've got a long road ahead.  ¶   0 comments

  10% What?

Your Linguistic Profile:

60% General American English

30% Dixie

10% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

0% Yankee

I have no idea where the midwestern came from. Too much TV, maybe? Still, I'm glad it didn't overwhelm my "Dixie." That would have really freaked me out.
Sat up front in the SGA meeting today. The view's quite different from the Exec Board. I'll have to remember people can see me up there. Other than that, plenty of stress and not enough time. If I survive this next week I'll be basically finished with another semester.
Oh, by the way, it's utterly freezing here. Waking up to 40 degree weather in late April is just wrong.  ¶   0 comments

  A Trailer, Finally The Serenity Trailer's out. Behold.
For those of you that missed the gradual butchery of Joss Whedon's best project to date, Firefly is worth seeing. Its brief stint on Fox didn't do it justice. Find someone with the DVD set. I hope to own it soon. It's everything Enterprise wanted to be and couldn't. Great stuff.  ¶   0 comments

  English thoughts Blogger's been killing things, so I'm not sure this will make it out to cyberspace. They say they've got things fixed, but I know better than believe that for more than a day or two.
English 302 (Major American Authors or, as I like to call it, "Everything You Read in High School") was pretty good today. One of the girls in class is apparently super-enthusiastic about most late 20th century lit, which is good because none of the rest of us really seem to be. She carried us into a fairly good study of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. I don't really care for the play, but at least now I understand the significance of it a little better.
I still love being an English Major. Dr. Mark, our Honors Theatre teacher, was talking about getting his BA in English today. He's directed a bunch of todays movie stars while they were struggling across New York stages. He's pretty hilarious, too. Dr. Edminster's pro'ly more my role model, but it's always nice to see how many people have made something of themselves with an English degree.
I'm enjoying writing my papers, too. Steven Crane's "Open Boat" is a wellspring of ideas. I'm going with Hyper-realism, though. Just because I have a bit of a fancy for it. I think it's what makes some of todays writers especially strong, and others not so much. Sure, "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar", but just as often it's the key to an otherwise insignificant moment. People ask "why do you write these things?" but if you write them well the symbols, the implicit little facts and details can really bring it to life.
Of course, symbology is a real trick to do well.
But those that do....  ¶   0 comments

  VICTORY!!!! I AM RCA PRESIDENT!
All Campus Sing this afternoon was great. 17 groups with a varied degree of musical ability competed on the steps of Lovett Auditorium while a large chunk of the University spread out across the Quad. The weather was warm, the sky clear, and just enough wind blew to keep us all cool. Thanks to everyone who may or may not be reading this from the University. Ya'll did a great job performing and were a pretty good audience, too.
And THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO VOTED!
For those of you who don't know, the Residential College Association (RCA) is a collection of representatives from every Residential College. The Residential College system is modelled after schools like Oxford, where classes are held in the residence halls, faculty and commuters still belong to their individual colleges, and each college has its own unique niche. At Murray State they're not so well defined, mainly because there's only 10,000 of us (as compared to the 30,000+ at most schools on this system) and our RC's are not divided according to major, class, or any other common grounds. Still, the Residence Halls are more than just dorms, and they have potential to be a lot more even than they are now. We are finally starting to have classes in them, a tradition I hope will grow as the campus grows.
Anyway, RCA works with Housing and the SGA to ensure that the Residential Colleges are living up to their full potential. It's had a tendancy to lean toward the Residence Hall / Dorm mentality, but I hope that I can stretch it past that.
I'm pretty ambitious about next year. I hope I can pull of just a few of the dozens of ideas that're floating around my head.
Wow.
I still don't believe I won.
Tiff took me to a celebration dinner at Cracker Barrel. That was tasty. She's been great to have by my side through this, and did more for my campaign than I did.
Blair, if for some reason you come across this blog, you ran a great race. You're still a member of NRHH and several other organizations on campus, so I'm sure I haven't seen the last of you. I hope we can work together this fall.
Everyone else at Murray State, thanks again. I hope I make next year a memorable one.
Wow.  ¶   0 comments

  I was in the mood to write, but now that I'm finally here I'm a little short on things to say. I'm running for RCA President. I've been pleased with the support so far. It's going to be a close race, though. My rival is the current VP, and has worked with them more this past year. She's a nice girl, though, so if she wins I'll probably run for Clark Prez and be in her meetings once a week (if I win that).
I'm still attending classes, too. I promise.
Scheduling this weekend. I'm taking Shakespeare, Honors Humanities, and who knows what else. Tristen wants me to take Karate or some other martial art. I'm not sure that's going to happen. All I've done since getting back from Europe for exercise is walk to class.
hmm... Maybe I should try it.
I keep forgetting to go to the fencing club, too. That was supposed to be my physical activity this semester.
Apparently we're getting a Supreme Court Justice to come speak to us this fall. That should be interesting.
Ok, I think I'm out.  ¶   0 comments

  NINJAS We're watching Hero. It's a beautiful movie with the worst dubbing I've seen since Godzilla. We really should be watching it in subs.
Wait, cheesy fighting on strings just commenced. The dubbing fits now.
Commentary has commenced also. Ugh.
Ok, I'm not as in the mood for this as I had thought I would be. It's a little less Crouching Tiger and a little more Dragonball Z. But I'll try and give it credit still. It is very pretty to watch
I'm not feeling very talkative tonight. My keys are still missing. I don't think I'm going to find them. The Swiss Army Knife Tiff got me was on it. Grr. I've scoured everywhere I'd been that day and can't find it anywhere. It's Wednesday, 5 days since I lost them. Still nothing.
I was just asked to run for RCA president. I'm mulling over that one. The Residential College Association is a forum for all 8 residential colleges (dorms + teachers + commuters, semi-a la Oxford). Its President has more influence than any other on campus save the SGA and maybe CAB. It's suffered a little downsizing this year, but is still a powerful group. The only question is, am I up to it? It's a big job. 4 meetings a week (wait, I do that already), plus RCC appearances (one to 2 a week, advised), committees, office hours (?), and so forth. On the other hand, it's a scholarship / paid position.
Ugh.
Time to ponder while the black ninjas dance around me.  ¶   0 comments