![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hermionesviolinSaturday, Ginny and my grandmother took me to lunch at Piccadilly Pub. Ginny mentioned PP first, but was insistent that i could pick whatever place i wanted, like Old Country Buffet or whatever. Now, i’ve been to OCB plenty of times and i know there’s plenty i can eat, it doesn’t feel special. And i’d never been to PP, so i thought i’d try it out. It’s definitely not made for me (menu-wise), but i got the pasta with eggplant and it was yummy.
The now-dead Westwood Free Church donated their electric organ to us, so we’re getting rid of the pipe organ that a member of this congregation donated years ago. This may be what finally causes Ginny to leave the church. My grandmother still won’t leave, though. She’s just too attached, despite how much she dislikes so much of what has happened
She and Ginny were greeting on Sunday, and i said i might go to church since it would be nice to see people before i go back to school (i haven’t gone since like June). Grandma agreed, saying the services weren’t worth going for but that was really beside the point. Um yeah, grandma. Church is a wholly social occasion. *sighs* Though to be fair, as far as United is concerned, it has always been a social thing for me. I almost never get anything out of it in terms in terms of religion/spirituality/theology. This may or may not be why i think of spiritual quests as something between you, your god, and a large library. Church has always been about a group of people who will support you or whatever, and maybe about reminding yourself that you really do believe in all this stuff, but actual questing? totally individual research (introspection and reading books and conversing with people, the last of which does not at all have to be conducted within any sort of church setting).
I think i’m currently feeling bitter, and snobbish, about this and other things. It occurred to me that despite my obsessiveness re: certain television shows, i mostly look down on the whole thing and am like, “Sheesh, don’t you people have anything better to spend your time on [than watching television]?”
Anyway, i went to church on Sunday.
During the Children’s Message, Tim talked about how it isn’t nice to complain to your parents (“I don’t wanna eat this,” “I don’t wanna go there,” etc.) and thusly how it isn’t good to complain to God. Example: Numbers 21:4-9 -- the Israelites are out in the desert and they start complaining, so God sends poisonous snakes. (The resolution to this is weird, ‘cause they repent -- duh -- and ask Moses to pray for them -- i suppose this is the Old Testament God who turns a deaf ear to those who have turned away from him -- and God says “Make a bronze snake on a pole, and anyone who looks at it will be healed.” Um, okay. And then Tim paralleled this to Jesus put up on a cross and all who look upon him, i.e. believe in him, are saved.) I was really troubled that Tim was saying “Don’t complain to God.” Yes, you shouldn’t always be complaining, and often you should be trusting, but you can’t have a close relationship with anyone if you can’t tell hir about the bad things, and come on, God’s Chosen People were forever arguing with him. Wrestling with the Torah is a holy Jewish tradition. Jesus tried to say No to God. I wanted to discuss with Tim after the service, but of course he is always talking to umpteen people.
My mom came home with my Pooh newly bodysuited. (I got him as an early first birthday present, so almost all of his fluff had worn off and the plastic mesh keeping his stuffing in had begun to tear quite frequently, so i picked out a yellow fabric at JoAnn Fabrics and while my mother was relaxing at her in-laws, she made it into a new skin for him.)
And i gave her Harry and the Potters to listen to before i return it, and she opened up the CD player and lo, I Bificus. I realized that i had been inflicting it upon Allie when she visited and in all the shuffle i must never have taken it out of the stereo and by the time i was looking it for to make a mix for her i totally forgot about that. So now i have both the American and Canadian versions of the CD. *shrugs*
We went to the Venice for dinner ‘cause George never did get his birthday dinner and Daddy wasn’t back from his bike ride yet (it was 7:45 when we left; we saw him putting his bike away when we returned around 9) and we wanted real food. I got pasta primavera alfredo. It was yum.
I am now drowning in replies to my grad program queries.
One of the grad students i e-mailed at UC Davis wrote:
Hi there Elizabeth,
I am glad to learn of your interest in our program. I think what you are
doing could be a very good match. Please feel free to give me a call this
coming week. I would be happy to talk with you about my sense of the
prgram and to hear about your work. Also, I will be in Boston for a
couple/few days around the 30th of this month if you're around and would
like to talk in person.
I replied to the helpful UPenn Renaissance girl, and her reply [in part]:
Good luck with applying, and I hope you do end up
visiting Penn as a prospective student in the spring. Incidentally, one of
my dearest friends went to Smith, before going to Harvard to do a Ph.D. in
English (also Renaissance- we met in a colloquium at the Folger Shakespeare
Library).
The reply that made me die of teh squee, though, was from a Rochester prof. Her "Transforming Flesh: Wargs, Werewolves, Witches and Other Shifting Creatures" course reminded me particularly of the werewolf chapter in Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale (Catherine Orenstein), though discussion with Renaissance girl have gotten me thinking about transformation as a theme as well as my particular interest in the transformation of story tropes. Anyway, her response began [after the greeting, of course]: "You sound like an ideal student." Hence, dead from the squee.
And dude, how did i miss her "Alien Sex: Gender and Difference in Film and Fantasy" course?!
I’m also totally dorking out wanting to read the fascinating books professors mention in their e-mails. The professor mentioned above was also really helpful with not only mentioning other professors and students i might have common ground with, but also explaining further just how Rochester works with concrete examples of how i could work within that to pursue my interests. (And she offered concrete advice about applying, which i already knew but which is always good to be reminded of -- "When and if you apply here, note these different professors and their interests, and be as specific as you can about what you want to do; but also be flexible and multivalent.")
You sound great, and I hope you do come here and we do meet, though I'm
afraid I could never get into Buffy...a generational allergy I think.
-Nina Auerbach (UPenn)
The now-dead Westwood Free Church donated their electric organ to us, so we’re getting rid of the pipe organ that a member of this congregation donated years ago. This may be what finally causes Ginny to leave the church. My grandmother still won’t leave, though. She’s just too attached, despite how much she dislikes so much of what has happened
She and Ginny were greeting on Sunday, and i said i might go to church since it would be nice to see people before i go back to school (i haven’t gone since like June). Grandma agreed, saying the services weren’t worth going for but that was really beside the point. Um yeah, grandma. Church is a wholly social occasion. *sighs* Though to be fair, as far as United is concerned, it has always been a social thing for me. I almost never get anything out of it in terms in terms of religion/spirituality/theology. This may or may not be why i think of spiritual quests as something between you, your god, and a large library. Church has always been about a group of people who will support you or whatever, and maybe about reminding yourself that you really do believe in all this stuff, but actual questing? totally individual research (introspection and reading books and conversing with people, the last of which does not at all have to be conducted within any sort of church setting).
I think i’m currently feeling bitter, and snobbish, about this and other things. It occurred to me that despite my obsessiveness re: certain television shows, i mostly look down on the whole thing and am like, “Sheesh, don’t you people have anything better to spend your time on [than watching television]?”
Anyway, i went to church on Sunday.
During the Children’s Message, Tim talked about how it isn’t nice to complain to your parents (“I don’t wanna eat this,” “I don’t wanna go there,” etc.) and thusly how it isn’t good to complain to God. Example: Numbers 21:4-9 -- the Israelites are out in the desert and they start complaining, so God sends poisonous snakes. (The resolution to this is weird, ‘cause they repent -- duh -- and ask Moses to pray for them -- i suppose this is the Old Testament God who turns a deaf ear to those who have turned away from him -- and God says “Make a bronze snake on a pole, and anyone who looks at it will be healed.” Um, okay. And then Tim paralleled this to Jesus put up on a cross and all who look upon him, i.e. believe in him, are saved.) I was really troubled that Tim was saying “Don’t complain to God.” Yes, you shouldn’t always be complaining, and often you should be trusting, but you can’t have a close relationship with anyone if you can’t tell hir about the bad things, and come on, God’s Chosen People were forever arguing with him. Wrestling with the Torah is a holy Jewish tradition. Jesus tried to say No to God. I wanted to discuss with Tim after the service, but of course he is always talking to umpteen people.
My mom came home with my Pooh newly bodysuited. (I got him as an early first birthday present, so almost all of his fluff had worn off and the plastic mesh keeping his stuffing in had begun to tear quite frequently, so i picked out a yellow fabric at JoAnn Fabrics and while my mother was relaxing at her in-laws, she made it into a new skin for him.)
And i gave her Harry and the Potters to listen to before i return it, and she opened up the CD player and lo, I Bificus. I realized that i had been inflicting it upon Allie when she visited and in all the shuffle i must never have taken it out of the stereo and by the time i was looking it for to make a mix for her i totally forgot about that. So now i have both the American and Canadian versions of the CD. *shrugs*
We went to the Venice for dinner ‘cause George never did get his birthday dinner and Daddy wasn’t back from his bike ride yet (it was 7:45 when we left; we saw him putting his bike away when we returned around 9) and we wanted real food. I got pasta primavera alfredo. It was yum.
I am now drowning in replies to my grad program queries.
One of the grad students i e-mailed at UC Davis wrote:
Hi there Elizabeth,
I am glad to learn of your interest in our program. I think what you are
doing could be a very good match. Please feel free to give me a call this
coming week. I would be happy to talk with you about my sense of the
prgram and to hear about your work. Also, I will be in Boston for a
couple/few days around the 30th of this month if you're around and would
like to talk in person.
I replied to the helpful UPenn Renaissance girl, and her reply [in part]:
Good luck with applying, and I hope you do end up
visiting Penn as a prospective student in the spring. Incidentally, one of
my dearest friends went to Smith, before going to Harvard to do a Ph.D. in
English (also Renaissance- we met in a colloquium at the Folger Shakespeare
Library).
The reply that made me die of teh squee, though, was from a Rochester prof. Her "Transforming Flesh: Wargs, Werewolves, Witches and Other Shifting Creatures" course reminded me particularly of the werewolf chapter in Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale (Catherine Orenstein), though discussion with Renaissance girl have gotten me thinking about transformation as a theme as well as my particular interest in the transformation of story tropes. Anyway, her response began [after the greeting, of course]: "You sound like an ideal student." Hence, dead from the squee.
And dude, how did i miss her "Alien Sex: Gender and Difference in Film and Fantasy" course?!
I’m also totally dorking out wanting to read the fascinating books professors mention in their e-mails. The professor mentioned above was also really helpful with not only mentioning other professors and students i might have common ground with, but also explaining further just how Rochester works with concrete examples of how i could work within that to pursue my interests. (And she offered concrete advice about applying, which i already knew but which is always good to be reminded of -- "When and if you apply here, note these different professors and their interests, and be as specific as you can about what you want to do; but also be flexible and multivalent.")
You sound great, and I hope you do come here and we do meet, though I'm
afraid I could never get into Buffy...a generational allergy I think.
-Nina Auerbach (UPenn)