Another Semester Ends

Because my dog's feeling a bit under the weather, I've been making him meals of boiled ground beef and rice. Let me tell you, the smell of boiling ground beef is repulsive, particularly for someone who's not eaten or cooked meat in years. Yuck. Fargo, on the other hand, seems to love it.

On another note, today was the last day of classes and so I'm now done with my class of "American Psychos." It made me a bit sad, actually. Though I always enjoy teaching, this semester has been particularly rewarding. They were such an enthusiastic, intelligent, and respectful group. In fact, their level of engagement made teaching the class a total pleasure. They seemed to genuinely enjoy the material and the discussions that material inspired. I even had the Assistant Director tell me that one of my student's friends, who he's worked with in the past, followed along with our course content, watching the films and talking about them informally with my student. Apparently she wanted to take the class but couldn't get off the wait list. Normally, teaching the composition classes can be a bit difficult as I invariably end up with a few students who are resistant, angry, or bitter about having to take the required writing class. Some are convinced they already know everything they need to knnow about writing and dig their heels in at every step along the way. This can make managing class discussion difficult and lead to students questioning my authority or acting in less-than impressive ways. Those issues never materialized with this group. In fact, I found it just as rewarding as teaching my women's studies class last semester, which I found remarkably easy and exciting--in large part because of the students' willingness to participate in class discussion. Overall, it's been a wonderful teaching year. Now I just have to make some more substantial progress on my own writing. Now that teaching is done for the year, time to hunker down and write, write, write.

Pulling an All-Nighter: Not Just for Students Anymore

So, it's 3:05am and I'm still sitting at my desk grading students' papers. Why, oh why, do I do this to myself? This means I've had two sleepless nights--the first one because of anxiety-induced insomnia, the second one because I'm too damned verbose when writing responses to my students' papers. I decided to write this post as an attempt to shake myself out of my sleepy haze. Now back to more papers on Fight Club, Bukowski, and American Psycho. Three more to go! I think I can. . . I think I can . . . I think I can.

Insomnia

Last night, I was plagued by one of the worse cases of insomnia I've experienced in years. I hardly slept a wink. I keep thinking about the article I'm writing and how much more work I have to on it in the next week, mulling over dissertation-related concerns, worrying about who's going to take care of our menagerie while we're in Germany/Spain for twenty days. Sigh. And Fargo, my dog, would not sit still. He kept pacing around the room, scratching to get out, and making all these loud sighing sounds and smacking his lips. I was furious with him--until I took him for his morning walk and realized the poor guy is sick. I suspect he ate one too many branches in the back yard yesterday. He has an unhealthy tendency to eat any piece of wood smaller than his head. And here I was getting mad at him. I feel like a horrible dog mom. I'm just glad he couldn't understand me when I was cursing his name at 3am this morning. He's normally a very agreeable little creature so I don't know why I failed to realize that it was out of the ordinary for him to act that way. I'll blame it on exhaustion. How could I be so cruel to this goofy but sweet face?

Well, I must turn back to marking students' papers. I'm trying to finish grading their research papers graded by tomorrow afternoon. I marked five yesterday but I still have 11 more to go. Ugh. My brain will be mush by the time I'm finished.

American Beauties, American Psychos

I finished teaching my highschool students today. Yipee! Though they were a fabulous bunch, I'm glad it's over as it made for a very hectic week. I also felt a bit sheepish about this morning's class as I had a bit of a "video clip" catastrophe. Here are the events leading up to the minor catastrophe. (is it possible to have a minor catastrophe?) Yesterday, I'd arranged to have my ten students work with two librarians in the research/training room. As usual, both of the librarians were fabulous and so helpful, finding books for my students, walking them through the use of the online databases and catalogue, etc. I'd asked students to define a particular genre by finding out information about its history and defining characteristics, creating a list of five films that are representative of the genre, etc. The final task asked the students to choose a film from our multimedia center that epitomizes that genre. One student wanted to include American Beauty as an example of melodrama. I agreed that it would be a good example, but also recognized that I'd have to choose the clip wisely given my rather young audience. Well, to make a long story short, I started the film only to realized a fraction of a second too late that the clip was starting just a moment too soon: there was Kevin Spacey, larger than life, jerking off in the shower. Ah well. Sure, his body is completely blurred behind glass and shower steam, but it's still pretty clear what he's doing. Luckily, we only caught the very end of that scene. Hopefully, none of my students will go running to their parents to complain as it might put the breaks on my plan to teach this class over the summer. Ah well. I'm sure they see and hear much worse things when hanging out with their friends.

What a difference from teaching my regular class where we read Charles Bukowski, watch American Psycho, and use terms like vagina dentata. This semester, my class seems to be more "vulgar" than usual, in large part because of the course content. I'm not normally afraid to swear in class but I usually keep it to a minium in order to stress the "seriousness" of the tasks at hand. This semester, that rule changed almost immediately. During the first week, we read the short story, "Thorazine Shuffle, by the director of Dialogues with Madwomen, Allie Light. One of my students referenced the scene where the doctor asks the narrator if she enjoys giving her husband blowjobs. All the other students looked shocked that he said "that word" outloud. They looked even more shocked when I repeated it a few minutes later and that seemed to set the tone for the course. Then again, how does one talk about narratives like these without swearing?

Ok. Back to reading Persepolis II. What a fantastic book. It's skillfully written, wonderfully illustrated, and has taught me so much about Iranian history. I read the first one in a single sitting--no great accomplishment really, given that it's a comic book. I had been avoiding the Persepolis books for months. I saw them as a distraction from my mountains of work. However, Aviva's prompting was slowly whittling away at my resolve. And I kept seeing the books in bookstores in San Francisco and London. The final straw was watching her parents fight over them when they visited briefly. In fact, they refused to leave town last Tuesday until they'd both finished the second installment. As I suspected, once I read the first few pages, it was impossible to set the book aside.

Hitchcock & High School

mmm. I somehow managed to delete the post I had just written. And when I attempted to published it, half of yesterday's post also dissapeared. Oh well. Nothing important was lost.

This week, I'm teaching an introductory film studies course for high school students who are on spring break. It's part of the University's "taste of college" program, Rochester Scholars. To be honest, I do it mostly for the money. The pay is pretty decent for a week's work and it gives me some extra income as I head into the long, lean months of summer. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy teaching the students who are often very eager, intelligent, and self-motivated. I mean, come on. How many teenagers are willing to spend their spring break in in a classroom? On the first day, we discussed a few key aspects of mise-en-scene and watched Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train. Today, I had them construct an analysis of the film's key characters and its various settings. The only down side is trying to devise classroom strategies that will keep such young minds interested and alert for three hours at a time. Hell, my regular students have a hard time staying focused for 75 minutes at a time. Because it's a film class, I resolve the problem by showing a lot of film clips and alternating ultra-mini lecutures with discussion, in-class writing, and more film clips or stills via powerpoint. It seems to work as no one has nodded off yet! I'm going to be exhaused by the end of the week, however. Luckily, there's only one more week of my regular class and then I can dig my heels into serious dissertation writing. Hard to believe that will be a welcome change.

Habemus Papam

I've been alternately laughing and shaking my head at the absurdity of people trying to read the Vatican's smoke signals. The NYT describes the folly: "Several minutes after 8 p.m., a wisp of smoke wafted out from a smokestack, and many thought it was white, meaning a pope had been elected with lightning speed. A roar erupted and people surged forward, shouting, "It's white! It's white!" Apparently, there are thousands of people hanging out around the Vatican in the hopes that they will be present when the smoke turns white, to witness first-hand the "historic" moment. Am I the only one who finds this entire ritual, and the media circus that's eagerly reporting on it, a bit absurd? I'm more impressed by the "pink smoke" protest being staged by Catholic nuns and other Catholic women in Chicago who are launching a protest to encourage the church to buck tradition. “We have to tell the cardinals this: We no longer want a secret, sexist selection process,” said Sister Donna Quinn of the Coalition of American Nuns. “And we really think that the people of God deserve more and that women deserve more.” Now a pink plume of smoke in protest of an exclusionary, misogynistic system is a historic moment worth watching.

Tax Day

Things have been incredibly busy lately and I'm anxious for a bit of down-time. What with the semester winding down, taxes to file, and coming down with the flu immediately after my return from London, I've been a bit of a mess. I am currently trying to write an article about this Canadian horror film trilogy, Ginger Snaps, and I'll be teaching a class for high school students all next week. In other words, things are only going to get worse!

As many of you know, yesterday was American tax day. And given that my non-citizen status makes me ineligible for the usual tax credits, I'm usually one of those people who is still completing calculations at 10pm, licking the envelope at 11pm, and rushing down to the post-office just before midnight to drop it off curb-side where, if you're lucky, they have USPS employees working late to assist the procrastinators like myself. This year, I was proud of myself for managing to get my taxes completed and in the mail by about 3pm . However, I was disappointed to discover that I owed about twice as much as I did last year. Sigh. Part of the problem was that I received some fellowship money to attend a theory program at Cornell last summer and I received it as salary but without taxes taken off in advance. I was a little stressed by the whole process and Aviva recognized that a good laugh might make it seem more managable. So she sent me this really funny Hallmark e-card called "the screaming banshee does her taxes." Below is a capture of the opening image. It's hilarious and I encourage everyone to check it out at hallmark.com. Canadian taxes aren't due for another two weeks so it can still provide some levity for fellow Canucks who may be struggling to file taxes.

Aviva's parents came for a short visit yesterday, and because it happened to be her father's birthday we went out for dinner to this barbeque joint called Sticky Lips. The food is super and really inexpensive. I love it because they also have lots of fish and vegetarian options on the menu. I had tasty blackened salmon, collard greens with black-eyed peas, and smashed potatoes. Yummy. We also started the meal with deep-fried pickles and fried green tomatoes. I know. Terribly unhealthy but ooooh so good. If you've never tried deep-friend pickles and think it sounds disgusting, don't knock 'em till you've tried 'em. They are super tasty--though you have to eat them very carefully. The pickle juice turns molten once they are deep-fried and it can burn the living hell out of your mouth. I've only eaten them twice and both times I've burned blisters onto the roof of my mouth. I also made Fred a birthday cake--a flourless chocolate espresso cake decorated with espresso beans and rasberries. Aviva bought Fred this really cool Guatemalan jaguar mask from Animas Traders, which he's planning to hang on his office door, and a cubicle "action" figure set. The action figure, named Ted, comes complete with his own cubicle walls, a motivational poster, and an in/out box. Fred and Rita also brought back tons of fun little souvenirs from their recent trips to Australian, Fiji, and Venice, including mini-koala bears, a stuffed wombat, a fish-shaped pot-holder, and a tiny Venetian parasol. We then watched a hilarious video of Rita improving a folk song with some folk singer they met in Australia. They sang improvised barbed lyrics back and forth until he finally admitted defeat.

Ok. Back to writing about blood, oozing bodies, and teenage werewolves living in the Canadian suburbs. More later.

The Birthday Bunny

I once told Aviva about the bunny cake my mother used to make me every year for my birthday and leave it to her to remember and replicate the cake. She did a stellar job. In fact, he was almost too cute to eat. Actually, he was delicious and I don't feel bad about the fact that he's been reduced to nothing more than his marshmallow nose and a few crumbs in less than five days.

Before I returned from London, Aviva kept him safe in the fridge, where he had plenty of carrot juice to keep him hydrated.

I'm including this photo of Regie because it's just too adorable. He actually has a bad habit of trying to steal food off your plate, but i just love the way he seems to be waiting for someone to serve him up a juicy tuna steak.

So it doesn't look like I"m playing favorites, here's a photo of Fargo.

The Last Day in London

On Sunday, my last day in London, I met up with Aubrey and we payed a visit to two of London's famous markets: Spittlefields and the Brick Lane Market. Though neither of us bought a thing, it was really fun to wander off the beaten path a bit. I particularly enjoyed hearing the barkers try to attrack people to their stalls. One guy's line was particularly striking: "Don't be shy girls. Your mother wasn't." He then followed that up by saying to some girl who ignored him: "Pretty girl. Shame about the ugly fuckin' attitude." After browsing the stalls and having a bite to eat, we headed over to Piccadilly Square where we stopped and had tea at Fortnum and Mason.

Here's Aubrey doing her best to look sufficiently proper as she pours her tea.

As we walked away from Piccadilly Square, I noticed a sign that said: "Buckingham Palace," with a small arrow pointing left. I said to Aubrey, "how about that. Seems we've stumbled upon the palace." She replied, "I guess we should go see that, huh?" So, we went on a short walk to admire the Palace, crossing a beautiful lawn where dozens and dozens of people sat on lawn chairs.

I took a picture of this gate because it said "CANADA" on one of the pillars. I thought perhaps there were pillars to "honor" all of England's colonies but I couldn't find any other colony names on other pillars. How puzzling.

I just had to take a photo of a palace guard. I couldn't help but notice that his very modern machine gun clashed with his old-fashioned costume.

London

After my day spent wandering, I went back to the hotel to meet up with a friend of mine who lives outside of London. He worked with Deb at Spring Street Networks in New York City and we used to go out for drinks, movie premiers, and other SSN debacheries. We met up with some of Martin's work friends and headed to a comedy club. Luckily, the humour seemed to translate for this little Canadian as I only had to ask Martin to explain one joke that seemed to be dependant on knowledge about British current affairs.

After things wound down at the comedy club, we went to a Japanese restaurant. As you can tell from the photo, we'd ingested a few too many cocktails.

SCMS and Visiting London

As promised, I'll post a few photos from London and give a more detailed description of my trip. I was lucky enough to have good weather while I was there. In fact, I didn't have to open my umbrella even once--though I did pack it just in case. Given that this was my first trip to London, I thought it would be ridiculous to come all this way and spend all my time listening to academic papers. So, on a particularly beautiful Saturday afternoon I decided to bail on the conference and explore the city. I went off in search of the Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe, London Bridge, and anything else I might find along the way. Here are a few pictures and comments from the journey.

Although I had a little pop-up pocket map with me, I started my walking trip without a particular destination in mind. My only plan was to get off at the Bank station and head for Bankside, south of the River Thames. After wandering a bit, I found myself in the middle of the Borough Market. It was a wonderful place, full of vegetable vendors, people selling sausage and venison, cheese mongers, and candy. I was particularly fascinated by this stand, which had a whole pile of rabbits strung up and ready to be purchased. It reminded me of the rabbits my father would bring home after spending a day hunting. I wondered if these vendors ever turn the feet into toys for their children. I know. Sounds morbid, but I loved that as a child. My father would dry the foot with the tendons exposed and extending from the foot. And, if you pulled the dried tendon just right, the foot would flex, mimicking the motion of the rabbit.

I bought some fabulous goat cheese and a rustic loaf of bread, which I brought back to my hotel and ate over the next few days. Luckily, my suite mate didn't mind the smell of goat cheese! The young man who was selling the cheese told me that he'd been making and selling cheese since he was about ten years old, first for his father who had a stand only a few feet away, and now for another local farmer.

There were several flower vendors at the Market and I wanted to buy big bundles of them to take home with me. Of course, I realized that was simply foolish because I was staying in a cramped hotel. Even so, it gave me tremenodous joy to see other people scooping up armloads of lilies and gardenias.

This dairy shop seemed to be attracting a lot of attention. I bought some bread to go with my goat cheese from a shop just next door.

A walk through this narrow street took me from the Borough Market to the Boardwalk along the river. There was also some dungeon museum along the way that attracted many families with small children. Just what I'd do with my kids on a Saturday afternoon--visit a lovely, historic London torture chamber.

Here is another shot of the streets behind the Borough Market.

Of course, as a literary scholar, I felt like I had to pay a visit to Shakespeare's Globe.

Though it felt like a veritable "tourist trap" in that over-eager guides practically dragged people in off the boardwalk for the tours, I did enjoy watching a sword-fighting demonstration, admiring pieces from the costume collection, and seeing the reconstructed venue where Shakespeare's plays were first produced.

After visiting the Globe, I headed over to Tate Modern where I spent several hours exploring both the permanent collection and the Beuys Exhibit. Here is a shot of the amazing Turbin Hall.

In addition to having several works by Beuys in their permanent collection, the Tate was hosting an exhibit dedicated to his work.

This is a shot of the Bankside boardwalk, which connects several of London's most famous sites, including London Bridge, The Globe Theatre, Tate Modern and St. Paul's Cathedral via the millennium footbridge. To be honest, I think the millennium bridge is kind of hideous. You judge for yourself!

The bridge was completed in 2002 by the architectural firm Foster and Partners. They describe it as "London’s only bridge solely for pedestrians and the first new Thames crossing since Tower Bridge in 1894." What I find most shameful about the bridge is that it actually obstructs the view of St. Paul's Cathedral. And, it cuts a rather harsh and ill-fitted swath across the river.

The Tate Modern also houses a little cafe that affords amazing views of the city. Here's a shot from the cafe balcony.

After visiting the Tate, I wandered over to London Bridge where I visited some of the shops in the area. I finally bought a watch to replace the one I'd lost and help keep me from missing any more important meetings! The watch was the only thing I bought as the exchange rate makes everything seem prohibitively expensive. Ah well. At least it's keeping me from filling up my suitcase.

Next, I visited the London Tower area and walked the periphery of the castle. I decided not to venture inside as it was getting late in the day and I wanted to ensure I had enough time to get back to the hotel and meet my friend.

Blogger Frustration

I've been trying to post for several days now and finally gave up because of all the Blogger glitches. Things seem to be working again so here goes nothing.

I returned late Monday night from the SCMS conference in London, England. I totally enjoyed the conference and tootling around London, though I was completely exhausted by the time I returned home. In fact, less than 24 hours later I came down with a a nasty cold and I'm still fighting with it now. That's particularly annoying given that I have tons of work to catch up on and it's pretty difficult to stay focused with a fever, headache, and the sniffles. Ah well. It's a small price to pay for having the opportunity to visit both London and San Francisco within the span of four weeks.

My trip to London consisted of a lot of conference going--in other words, sitting in rooms listening to people deliver papers on various films and topics in film studies. Not everyone's cup of tea, I know. I enjoyed it, however. I heard some great papers, got some solid feedback on my own work, met some interesting people, and ended most conference-going days in pubs where we drank way too much beer. I also took some time off to explore the sites while I was there, though most of the places I visited were fairly standard, beaten path places. I went on a long walk down to the Tate Modern where I visited most of the museum, including the Joseph Beuys Exhibit. I also went on a tour of Shakespeare's Globe and walked along the boardwalk by the Thames. I also walked across London Bridge, visited the Tower of London, and browsed the Borough, Spittlefields and Brick Lane markets. I ate some very tasty British goat cheese and bread at the Borough Market and had lunch with my friend Aubrey at this little spot along Brick Lane where there are food shops, some swanky clothing stores, etc. I also went out on the town with a friend of mine from New York City who's from London. We went to a comedy club with some of his work friends and then went for drinks and Japanese food in the Leicester Square area.

I'll post some photos from the trip in a few days. I haven't taken the time to download them yet. Perhaps once the fever breaks!