I turned in four applications today. It would have been five, but the fifth position was already filled. As I not-entirely-joked earlier today, "If I ever somehow managed to go back and see how many of these things I've sent out, I'd probably crawl into a depressive hole and never come out again." An average of two applications a day for months and no turn out does not do wonders for my spirit.

There's an open interview process at Family Video right down the street this evening, so hopefully I'll make a good showing there and maybe even get a job. I hope, I hope. I've never been so nervous about a grunt job interview before. But I want it so much more than fast food work! And yes, I did put in that application, too. (Just wait, when I finally do a job - IF I finally do get a job - it'll be a minimum wage thing, and then I'll actually get one of those receptionist/secretary/clerical work positions that I want the very next week, and I'll feel all guilty about leaving the job that I wanted so much for MONTHS.)

Need to prep for ACen - we'll be driving up to Chicago tomorrow for it. Honestly, we don't have enough money to go, but not going will put everyone else in the hole, so... we're going! On the bright side, I'm so nervous about job stuff that I can't afford the nerves to lose over ACen!

Why is it that restaurants / malls / companies go ahead and make websites... WITHOUT PUTTING UP THEIR HOURS OF OPERATION? Seriously, you'd think it would be the most obvious, most asked for question, but no.

ARGH, frustrating.

In other news, I have a facebook thing, which I don't want traced backwards to my lj particularly much - like one couldn't cross reference and find it easily enough, but just the same. I got it for event planning. (bremathon kept pestering me into it because we're planning on going to the Printer's Row Lit Fest together.) Regardless, it's there, so if peoples want to hook up or whatever, that's fine. It looks good for pictures and inane quiz/test things, so that's what I'll use it for. But not the twitter feature so much. I am not a fan of the twitter.

In other news, there's a fast food place in the mall that's hiring now, so I'll probably end up working there. Part time, probably shitty hours, definitely minimum wage... but any money is money, even if it can't support me. Apologies in advance for any roleplaying gigs this messes up.

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. 1997.

The original title (I'm sure all of you know) is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which makes a lot of sense, since the sorcerer's stone does in the novel is what the philosopher's stone was always said to do. (Just check wikipedia!) But I read the American version, and that's what they changed it to. Speaking of, it's utterly impossible to buy the UK version of the Harry Potter series over here. I don't know why, but they're trying to do it over in textbook rental, and they can't.

Yes, there's a class on J. K. Rowling - and therefore Harry Potter - coming up next year. I've been given permission to sit in and participate, though not for credit. I have plenty of motive to read these books.... and you thought I was reading it purely for fun, ha ha!

Regardless, Sorcerer's Stone *was* fun. Extremely fun. I was a little worried, going in, that I wouldn't gain much by reading the first Harry Potter novel. I'd already seen the movie, and the entire series has been spoiled up and down (and right and left) for me. Fortunately, the book read easily and had a few fun gems that aren't in the movie, so it wasn't so bad. And there are plenty of things that I picked up simply because the series has been spoiled - hints that she knew what was going to happen all along - so I enjoyed the first novel for that aspect.

Rowling generally does an excellent job with description, providing enough to give an impression but not bogging down her text - something I think is particularly important in children's literature, because goodness knows I would drop a book in an instant as a child when confronted with page to page description (I'm looking at YOU, Tolkien). She doesn't talk down, though, assuming kids can handle difficult concepts and puzzling mysteries as well as any adult. Where she seems to have trouble is action scenes. In the first book, at least, she frequently looks away from the action or has another character describe it instead of describing herself.

But I didn't find myself minding much, because I was still entertained by everything else. And man, if I didn't watch that first Harry Potter movie, that twist at the end would have been killer. But, as I said in the previous paragraph, it's clear Rowling knew what was going to happen all along. She is a master of the gun on the mantle.

I get the feeling that I'll gain more insight into the Potterverse in the later books, when they (frankly) get so unwieldy that they're nearly impossible to make into a decent movie. (Personally, I really dislike whichever movie it was with the goblet thing... augh, that one was awful; I trust the book is way better as it wouldn't have far to go.) But we'll see, as I intend to read the rest of the series at points over the summer! For now, though, a break and something I picked up at Rehoboth last summer.

Next: The Enchantress of Florence, by Salman Rushdie

Tags: novels, reviews

Shikibu, Murasaki. The Tale of Genji. 1021. Ed. and Trans. Kencho Suematsu. 1900.

-or-

The Story Of How Genji Accumulates A Harem And Tries To Keep It That Way

Yeah, so, this book took me forever to finish reading! Almost a month! (I think; I didn't check before opening this window to write the review, and now I'm too lazy to go back.) It's not because I didn't enjoy reading it - I certainly did, as courtly love always amuses me - but it's written in such a style as to seem like a series of interconnected short stories of vignettes, so that each chapter stood alone while still being connected. That doesn't make for speedy reading, for me; instead, I'm inclined to read one section and then put the book down before starting on the next one, as it's all started and wrapped up in the same part.

The translation, on the other hand, hardly got in the way. I read an abridged version, and given the amount of time it took me to finish this novel, I'm glad I did. It was easy to follow, and the footnotes were comprehensible, so I never had to conduct my own research to look up references or figure out what was going on. I never felt as though I was missing large chunks of the story... and the one time I would have missed something that was vital to the plots the novel was following, a footnote explained it all very well. So no complaints there whatsoever.

On to the story itself. The Tale of Genji can be summed up as I suggested in my joke title, really. Genji LOVES the womens, and I mean LOVES them - in a courtly, almost appropriate manner, anyway. He's a nice enough guy, but that's his one failing, and he does a lot of stupid things because he's taken by this girl or that. I do like that he's not infinitely suave, and he doesn't get away with everything... and that sympathy can be had, and I think is intended, for characters such as his cold wife (who is understandably upset about the whole sleeping around thing).

My favorite chapter is probably one of the earlier ones, where a bunch of Genji's (male) friends get together and talk about how difficult it is to find the perfect woman, what qualities she should have, and how their various relationships went wrong (all of which, btw, were labeled by them as the woman's fault, not theirs - despite that their own behavior was pretty bad). I found it extremely funny, and I think that the whole book was worth reading just for that chapter.

All in all, this was a pretty good read (though as I said before, I'm glad I got the abridged version; I can't imagine how long it would have taken me to get through the whole freaking thing). It gave me some laughs, Genji was a deeper character than I expected (though to be fair I wasn't expecting much), and it was full of neat little ancient Japanese quirks. So good times were to be had on my end. Your mileage may vary.

Next: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J. K. Rowling

Tags: novels, reviews

Moore, Christopher. Fluke; Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings. 2003.

I picked up Fluke at dreol's insistence, as after my response to Lamb (the other Christopher Moore book I read), he was positive I'd really, really like it. Well, I did! Fluke successfully avoids all of the problems I had with Lamb, and while it isn't as funny - some parts of Lamb were VERY funny - I didn't feel like Moore was trying to be. And, y'know, I'm cool with that. A good story is a good story. The funny doesn't have to roll out in massive quantities, or I'd wonder how I ever survived as an English major for so long. (Which isn't to say I don't find things funny. I find A LOT of things funny. But authors frequently don't shoot for the funny, and I have fun anyway.)

What I ended up with was a twisty, surprisingly tight novel, which started slow and built up to relatively epic proportions - but a small kind of epic, still centered on the initial four protagonists. Speaking of, I immediately liked all four of the protagonists, which was GOOD. No Mary Sues off the bat. That alone can ruin a story for me. (Lamb had that problem, but this isn't a review about that particular novel.) The writing style was light and fun, and it made me giggle once in a while without my feeling like I had to.

Unfortunately, I can't really say anything about the plot of Fluke, since it is at turns a mystery novel, and I don't want to give stuff away! So I won't. (And I don't really feel like going all analysis crazy, since yeah.) If you decide to read this book, also read the author's notes and conservation information at the end; they're pretty comprehensive but also short, and I think they're worthwhile. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a fun book that's not what they were expecting - also, to anyone who wants to think a little about it, but not too hard.

I was going to have a mini rant about Moore's wikipedia page to go along with this review, but apparently what I was about to rant about was taken down. Way to go, wikipedia. ;P So instead, I'll add this as an alternate side note: rowyn2001 is in the process of reading Fluke and, last we talked about it, was wondering if it's satire. Having finished the novel, I have to say, "Almost definitely not."

Next: The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu

Tags: novels, reviews

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. 1951.

As a general rule, I'll probably skip on the back-cover version of "what this book is about" in these reviews. Eh. You can pick it up from Wikipedia or something.

I very much enjoyed reading this book, though I haven't read for fun in a long, long time... so I might be biased, but hey. Good times are good times. There wasn't much plot to speak of, though; instead, Catcher came across as more of a character study, and that worked really well. I very much liked Salinger's portrayal of super teenager Holden (he is SO VERY TEENAGER also angst but not overdone) and how his personality comes through in the narration. Also, I was amused almost the entire time I read this book - though never actually laughing aloud - but I can't go into that without potentially spoiling the novel. (So I'll save it for the cut below.)

This is one of the few books that are taught to high school students (though it wasn't taught at my high school, or I'd probably have read it before now) that I think should be taught at that level. There are so many, many novels, plays, and so on which are taught (badly) at the high school level that just turn students off from literature. I'm looking at you, Scarlet Letter.

The Catcher in the Rye doesn't strike me as one of them. It looks perfect for introducing students to a potentially unreliable narrator without forcing them to question everything he says. There's also a lot of psychoanalysis to be done, and hey. Holden's a teenager. High school students are teenagers. He talks about sex, and they talk about sex, too! Oh yeah, maybe that's why this book's on the frequently banned list. Figures.

I actually did get this book second hand from a student... well, from the student's parents, at a garage sale. There's some fairly extensive underlining in my copy along with notes on who was speaking when pronouns were confusing. It was kind of cute! I was glad to see that he read the entire thing or at went through the trouble of underlining confusing/important sections in class, even if he didn't want to keep it in the end. That's quite a feat for a novel in high school.

( Spoilers: Where do the ducks go in the winter? )

Next: Fluke, by Christopher Moore

Tags: novels, reviews

So, it's been a while.

Life's generally sucked. I have no job, no thesis, no money, and no health care (and the need for such is increasing, as always happens when one has no health care). None of them are immediately forthcoming, though I'm trying, but "trying" doesn't mean "getting" at this point. Dre's been good for helping me with finances, at least, and my friends have been cool, as always. (Moti came over last weekend, and that was full of awesome.)

I've also generally been avoiding my parents because of all of the stuff in the previous paragraph. I did see them yesterday, though, which was nice because they didn't come on full force with the insinuations that I'm going about life all wrong. Instead, I got all of the awesome parts of my parents. Which is almost too bad, because I saw them because I was up in the Chicago area due to an old friend of mine committing suicide. We weren't close, at the end, but she was very much like a little sister to me, and while she's made some attempts, she really seemed to be getting better. But it only takes once, right?

Nrg.

So, yeah. Life is generally shitty. But I'm going to try to post in lj more anyway, and here's how: I'm reading for fun again. It's been so long since I've read for fun - years since I did it consistently - and I realized yesterday that I REALLY NEED TO. Especially now, when I'm thesising but the wheels aren't going anywhere. I got to get my literature on. And while I'm not sure I can post about my life all the time or whatever, I can at least post about the books I'm reading, starting with The Catcher in the Rye.

But that's later, because I'm not done with it yet. ;P

What this means for YOU, gentle reader... well, aside from the likelihood of book reviews from me going up in the future... is that I'm open to recommendations and such again. So recommend away!

Meanwhile, I've got to go throw dinner in the slow cooker. Making food for the DnD group today, for after we participate in Dungeons and Dragons Day.

I drove two hundred miles to my parents' on Monday and stayed the night just so I could vote. (I'm very bad about early voting and absentee ballots; always forget.) Blitz researched my candidates for the House and Senate the next morning and then went and got my I Voted Sticker... it was a very painless and FAST process, I think because Illinois participated in early voting, which kept the polls from being overwhelmed with people on November 4th. This was followed by a delicious sushi lunch and then a long drive home, with me pulling over at nearly every rest stop. I'm not good with drives by myself.

While I do generally follow a party line, I think that it's important to know who I'm voting for - always. I cheerfully skipped judge retention and ended up with one entirely empty ballot to go with my full one. Seriously, I don't know any of those people. ;P

Today, Mr. Obama is our president elect, and I'm very happy about this. Mr. McCain gave the most gracious, comprehensible speech I've ever seen from him last night... though it's a pity that it had to be a concession speech. I mean, I wanted Obama to win, but if McCain could have strung words together like that over the course of the campaign, he would've stood a much better chance. As it was, I ended up going, "Buh? Gold-plated Cadillac?"

No riots in Chicago last night! My city behaved better than I thought it would! Though just about every major road was closed down. I'm looking forward to Obama as president... I do hope things will work out, though yes, it will be rocky and messy and not very fun regardless what he does. But hey! If he does a really good job, maybe my state will find something to obsess over BESIDES Lincoln. That would be really crazy. :D And awesome, because seriously, we're completely obsessed.

ninjadebugger started it!

I love the penguins;
I love MeMORPeGers.
I love weird tasty food
And obscure literature.
I love the whole world
In all its silliness.

Boom de yada, boom de yada, boom de yada, boom de yada.

Current Mood: giggly

Sooo... I'm putting up an entry after letting my journal wallow for who knows how long. (Someone can do the math. I don't feel like it.) The problem with these lj things is that if you don't post anything for a while, it gets harder to post. One of those horrible dilemma whatsits because you feel obligated to fill in everything that's happened to you over time, which is pretty much impossible after a point, so posting becomes pretty much impossible after a point. The LJ Dilemma.

As such, I'll give up on posting about everything and just post about some major stuff. Probably not even all major stuff, because I can't remember it all at the moment. (Nor do I want to; can you imagine the headache that would cause?)

I'm still going to EIU. Still working on my MA in English. Looking to graduate in the summer; going to do most of my thesis work then. This semester, my classes are an independent study on novels in the 18th century, the structure of the British novel in the 19th century, and mentored teaching.

That's right, I'm teaching. The professor I'm working with is looking to tie literature to song in his class. Means we'll be doing things like the Beggar's Opera, Sonny's Blues, and analyzing song lyrics alongside sonnets. He's also into Gothic literature (good - I am, too), so I predict at least one Poe short story, which I'll probably have to teach. It looks like I'm also going to be in charge of response papers: grading, offering topics, and talking about them.

First class I'll have to teach is actually tomorrow - the first class of the semester. It's my fault. I suggested Title of the Song, and the prof loved it so much that he decided to use it as the class kicker offer thing: that and a sonnet. At least he'll teach it with me. (Actually, I think he'll do most of the teaching, since I'm SCARED OUT OF MY MIND, but I'm scared out of my mind, so eek.)

Also was accepted to present at a conference which will take place in De Kalb (NIU, my old university) at the end of February. I'll be presenting on fatherhood in Stoppard's Coast of Utopia. I still have to write the paper. Not sure why I'm doing this to myself.

jrenken and jaeai are married. I went to the wedding, and I'm still not sure how that happened.

Got Rock Band for Christmas as a joint gift with dreol (he's the one with the PS3). It's a stupid amount of fun, and I proceeded plan out / make a stupid number of roleplaying characters and bands with it. Who's surprised, really?

Speaking of consoles, I share a wii with dreol these days, and rdmgryphon owns a 360. Conveniently, he lives with us still. So it's something like console heaven over here. I guess that makes up for my desktop breaking, but then we fixed my desktop, so it more than makes up for breakage!

And I joined weight watchers, along with dreol. I really ought to lose weight. (I really ought to eat more healthy-like, but the idea is they'll help with that, too.) So I'll do that! Hooray. It's actually kind of fun. Like a game! How can I get the right amount of food in the right number of points? Everything turns into games for me. But it's very not a New Year's Resolution, because if it were, I'd never manage to do anything.

That's about it for now, I think. I'll try to be better about posting. Maybe.

Current Mood: nervous