Life got very busy suddenly, which I guess is what happens when you decide to take up a degree after you've been out of school for ten years. I spend eight hours at a computer at work, and then another two or three on a computer at home working on this degree every day. My first grad course is a month long, with a new module every three days. There's an assignment for every module, plus a final paper. I only have two other courses that will be this intense. The other seven courses are two months each.
The reading has been intriguing so far, and not a little ironic. This first course is pedagogy of creative writing - there's a lot of argument in the readings about teachers imposing their own views on their writing students so that instead of finding and strengthening their own writing voice, students are writing in imitation of, or to please, the teacher (I wonder how this will play out when I get into the heavy writing for this degree). My dictionary has been getting a workout from all the jargon I've been wading through, too. Polyvocal is my new favorite jargon word.
I'm still waiting to hear what they think of my writing portfolio. That's making me nervous, although one of the stories I submitted I quite liked, and I hope they like it too. I'm also still waiting to hear from the other program I applied to. The plan is that if I end up not liking this university, and I'm accepted at the other one, I have a back-up plan for transfer and hopefully not lose too much time - gotta maintain the momentum of my enthusiasm for this endeavor for as long as possible. So far, things seem to be going okay, but it's early days yet.
My elective choices are amusing, and possibly unbelievable. Vampire stories of the 19th Century, Gothic literature (the blog title is the title of the course), Shakespeare, medieval literature. I wish I had time to take them all.
My next course is two months of screenwriting. Who knew that Script Frenzy would come in handy so soon?
Highlights of the week:
- possibly moving upstairs into the new work suite in a week or two and was informed that I've been upgraded to an office, though I'll be sharing it, which is fine because I actually like the person I'll be sharing with, and she's the tech writer, so she needs quiet as much as I do (and did I mention that I still don't have a phone?)
- listened to the Christopher Marlowe Mysteries on BBC7 this week while working - campy and cute (The Curious Case of the Curs'd Quayside, The Perplex'd Plot of the Perilous Plague; I mean really!)
- found an MP3 version of Possession; the only other audio version available is on cassette, audible.com doesn't even have it; and not a bad price for nearly 23 hours of listening. This is the book I go to when I need a slow and detailed read. You can't read this book fast, don't even try, and don't bother with the movie version - it doesn't do the story justice, although Jeremy Northam is yummy as Randolph Henry Ash
- got a new cookbook: The Hippy Gourmet: the mocha mousse and the apple fig compote sound extra yummy
- since I'm in a brainy mood, I also got In Search of the Modern Myth
- managed to get the chirpy sound device out of Lyra's mouse toy, thanks to Lyra mauling it to the point where the stuffing is coming out
- had an amusing time watching Lyra play with a cricket last night; I feel sorry for the cricket
Just read that Madeleine McCann's parents may have had something to do with her death. Also just read that Madeleine L'Engle died. Sad. Sad. Sad.
Paper to write. Due tomorrow night. Bye now.
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