Mmm, snow.
Feb. 22nd, 2005 10:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hermionesviolin[written before bed last night while the internet was dead]
Waking up to a world lightly blanketed in white... yeah, i'm easy to please.
"Snow in the night is like a gift." -Kathy quoting Skarda
"The best way to get through winter is to enjoy it. The snow will stop soon and a wonderland will remain." -Skarda's e-mail to ENG 205
Why does Smith declare a snow emergency every time it snows? Their e-mail says 6-8 inches is predicted. It has been the snow equivalent of misting all day with a total accumulation of maybe 2 inches.
Talking about Perelandra in class was like pulling teeth. I actually really liked the book, but since i didn't have any serious issues with it (interminable description as in the last book, and a section near the end on essential masculinity and femininity that i well could have done without) i hadn't posted anything on Blackboard, and since we only had the weekend to read the book i suspected a lot of people hadn't read/finished it. I ended up talking a lot in class, mostly explaining why i thought Lewis' arguments were effective.
Talking about hierarchy (which is clearly important to Lewis), one student said that if you know your place, then you know what to focus on doing/being responsible for (because you know what stuff other people are responsible for) which i thought was interesting, and which connects to the idea about the importance of the present, which is a big thing in Perelandra -- of being satisfied with what one has, not worrying about the past or the future, not trying to recapture joys but just being happy in the joy of the present moment.
Then during lunch Emma and i were dorking out about Narnia. (Is Aslan's breathing on all the statues outside the White Witch's palace akin to the Harrowing of Hell?) Much though i talk about wanting just the Text of what Lewis actually believed, it is interesting to tease the Biblical allusions and theological/philosophical beliefs out of his fictional works.
Our most recently revised syllabus has us taking a break to do G. K. Chesterton [chapters 1-4 of Orthodoxy, plus some sayings] next week (since he was such a big influence on Lewis) and then doing books 1 and 2 of Mere Christianity the following week and then That Hideous Strength the following week -- starting Tolkien after Spring Break (which, it occurs to me, means one can start Fellowship over Spring Break; possibly CZ's one moment of good planning for this course). I e-mailed CZ suggesting we read all of MC and skip THS -- esp. since no one's gonna read/finish THS anyway.
I also came home to part of Spike's Woodstock diatribe from "School Hard" on my newly cleaned white board and cracked up laughing. (Kate had apparently been waiting "months" for my white board to be clean so she could write it.)
And the best piece of the day was the return of someone i have missed very much.
I'm still working on this whole getting-up-at-9am thing, but i did manage to have some breakfast this morning -- and whether it's 'cause i've been conscientous about consuming iron or just what, but i've been feeling really good -- which is so welcome after the angry foul mood i spent much of last week in.
My hair has been bothering me, though. I'm considering getting it cut quite short.
In MAT class, the student presentation on the Berger essay had us looking at a variety of images and thinking about a variety of questions. Looking at an L.L. Bean ad, Marina described it as, "a handsome middle-aged man who's comfortable with his life and his decision to buy the red turtleneck."
After i came home, Emma and and Kate and i watched the first 3 episodes of Blackadder II. I had forgotten that the season starts with "Bells," which is my favorite episode of the whole series (though grr, FlashHeart).
While waiting for the living room to be vacated so we could watch, we chatted, including about movies. Kate says i am musical deprived. I maintain that i've seen a whole lot of musicals, and even quite liked many of them; just most of them date from after 1990. Thinking about it later, here's my list.
I loved:
Les Miserables
Into the Woods
Little Shop of Horrors (the play, not the movie)
Singin' in the Rain
1776
the Rogers and Hammerstein Cinderella w/ Brandy et al (i've never seen the original)
Jesus Has Two Mommies
Once More, With Feeling (the Buffy musical episode)
Godspell (the play moreso than the movie)
I have also seen:
West Side Story
Grease
The Sound of Music
HMS Pinafore
The Mikado
Pirates of Penzance
Damn Yankees
The Wizard of Oz
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
RENT
On The Town
Jesus Christ Superstar
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Waking up to a world lightly blanketed in white... yeah, i'm easy to please.
"Snow in the night is like a gift." -Kathy quoting Skarda
"The best way to get through winter is to enjoy it. The snow will stop soon and a wonderland will remain." -Skarda's e-mail to ENG 205
Why does Smith declare a snow emergency every time it snows? Their e-mail says 6-8 inches is predicted. It has been the snow equivalent of misting all day with a total accumulation of maybe 2 inches.
Talking about Perelandra in class was like pulling teeth. I actually really liked the book, but since i didn't have any serious issues with it (interminable description as in the last book, and a section near the end on essential masculinity and femininity that i well could have done without) i hadn't posted anything on Blackboard, and since we only had the weekend to read the book i suspected a lot of people hadn't read/finished it. I ended up talking a lot in class, mostly explaining why i thought Lewis' arguments were effective.
Talking about hierarchy (which is clearly important to Lewis), one student said that if you know your place, then you know what to focus on doing/being responsible for (because you know what stuff other people are responsible for) which i thought was interesting, and which connects to the idea about the importance of the present, which is a big thing in Perelandra -- of being satisfied with what one has, not worrying about the past or the future, not trying to recapture joys but just being happy in the joy of the present moment.
Then during lunch Emma and i were dorking out about Narnia. (Is Aslan's breathing on all the statues outside the White Witch's palace akin to the Harrowing of Hell?) Much though i talk about wanting just the Text of what Lewis actually believed, it is interesting to tease the Biblical allusions and theological/philosophical beliefs out of his fictional works.
Our most recently revised syllabus has us taking a break to do G. K. Chesterton [chapters 1-4 of Orthodoxy, plus some sayings] next week (since he was such a big influence on Lewis) and then doing books 1 and 2 of Mere Christianity the following week and then That Hideous Strength the following week -- starting Tolkien after Spring Break (which, it occurs to me, means one can start Fellowship over Spring Break; possibly CZ's one moment of good planning for this course). I e-mailed CZ suggesting we read all of MC and skip THS -- esp. since no one's gonna read/finish THS anyway.
I also came home to part of Spike's Woodstock diatribe from "School Hard" on my newly cleaned white board and cracked up laughing. (Kate had apparently been waiting "months" for my white board to be clean so she could write it.)
And the best piece of the day was the return of someone i have missed very much.
I'm still working on this whole getting-up-at-9am thing, but i did manage to have some breakfast this morning -- and whether it's 'cause i've been conscientous about consuming iron or just what, but i've been feeling really good -- which is so welcome after the angry foul mood i spent much of last week in.
My hair has been bothering me, though. I'm considering getting it cut quite short.
In MAT class, the student presentation on the Berger essay had us looking at a variety of images and thinking about a variety of questions. Looking at an L.L. Bean ad, Marina described it as, "a handsome middle-aged man who's comfortable with his life and his decision to buy the red turtleneck."
After i came home, Emma and and Kate and i watched the first 3 episodes of Blackadder II. I had forgotten that the season starts with "Bells," which is my favorite episode of the whole series (though grr, FlashHeart).
While waiting for the living room to be vacated so we could watch, we chatted, including about movies. Kate says i am musical deprived. I maintain that i've seen a whole lot of musicals, and even quite liked many of them; just most of them date from after 1990. Thinking about it later, here's my list.
I loved:
Les Miserables
Into the Woods
Little Shop of Horrors (the play, not the movie)
Singin' in the Rain
1776
the Rogers and Hammerstein Cinderella w/ Brandy et al (i've never seen the original)
Jesus Has Two Mommies
Once More, With Feeling (the Buffy musical episode)
Godspell (the play moreso than the movie)
I have also seen:
West Side Story
Grease
The Sound of Music
HMS Pinafore
The Mikado
Pirates of Penzance
Damn Yankees
The Wizard of Oz
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
RENT
On The Town
Jesus Christ Superstar
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum