The weather is remarkably bad today.  It’s been raining all morning, accompanied by a raging cacophony of thunder and tapping on the glass, and just when Matt went out to get lunch did it start pouring down in sheets and hailing.   It figures, right?  The earth is now conspiring to make me worry!   Anakin is sitting on my lap, shaking like a leaf, out of fear because storms scare the living wit out of him — typos are, therefore, not my fault.  If Matt were here, Ani would be cuddled up with him, but since he isn’t, I apparently make an adequate stand-in to his preferred crisis situation appropriate parent.  When Matt came back in, a few minutes ago, he said the water was up to the doors and that Stephenville is flooded out, conjecturing on the likelihood that class would be canceled tonight.  I told him that if it wasn’t, I had to go, no exceptions.

In light of the horrible weather (or perhaps in addition to it), I’ve had the pleasure of cuddling up on the sofa, under an blanket because it’s freezing in here, to read The Complete Poems of Sappho translated by Willis Barnstone.  Let me first say, I absolutely loved this collection!  If you’re interested in classical lyrical verse, or in the work of the first women poet known to western literature, you should get this book.  I read the entire thing in a few hours, the poems are mostly fragments, but they’re also remarkably beautiful.

I did take one small exception to the book: to me, to say “The Complete Poems of Sappho” seems like a misnomer.  I feel like it should perhaps be called “The Collected Poems of Sappho” as Sappho’s poems will never be complete.  Her work is largely lost, only fragments found in refuse heaps and used in the papier-mâché procedure in mummification in Egypt remain.  So, “complete” seems wrong, but it’s a minor distinction, at best.  Otherwise, the book is very comprehensive, well organized, and includes an amazing introduction by Willis Barnstone that just drew me in and held me.  I simply couldn’t stop reading it!

The introduction discusses Sappho, who’s name is Psapfo in her native language of Aiolic, and what is and is not known about her.  There’re so many bits of wrong information about Sappho and so many apologists covering up what is known, she’s easily one of the most notoriously inaccurate personalities from antiquity.  All that being true, she’s a remarkable poetess whose words are powerful and beautiful.  The fragments are filled with everything from complete poems, nearly complete works, one liners, and smart advice.  One of my favorite bits of that smart advice goes like this:

When anger is flooding through your chest/ best to quiet your reckless barking tongue [~Fury (158)]

Advice to live by, if you ask me.  So, needless to say, I’m looking very forward to tonight’s class and so hope it’s not canceled.  At a rate of one grad class a week, and one book a week for one of them, we really need every session.  I have a feeling that this will be one of my favorites and so want to hear what Dr. Chappell has to say about the work.  Fingers crossed that Tarleton doesn’t float away before I can get to class tonight and that the turn out is good.

To that, I’d like to add that so far, being a graduate student is going just swimmingly (yes, I feel that’s the appropriate word in celebration of the lake forming in my front yard!).  I’ve read Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Sappho this last week, which have both been amazing!  I had American Lit last night, where we talked at length about Gatsby.  Tonight, Comparative lit and the Sappho book!   I have a response paper for Gatsby due next Wednesday and had an annotation for Sappho due tonight, which I’ve already done.  Every week we have an annotation due (though we only have to do 10 of the possible 14), which I did this morning, and just got confirmation for.  I must have done it correctly, otherwise I’m sure Dr. Chappell would have told me.  I’ve never done an annotation before, which seems almost surreal to me now, so I did some snooping around the net about how it’s done.  Up next week, more Gatsby and Euripides’ Helen, which I’m also really looking forward to!

Sadly, I’ve not gotten much reading done on the first book on my Busy Bookworm Challenge List, Kushiel’s Avatar by Jacqueline Carey.  I’ve gotten about 200 of the 700 or so pages read, so far.  It’s the type of book that deserves to be savored.  It’s a great story and is beautifully written.  I loved the first two books in the series.  I just wish I had time to savor, rather than devour, right now.  So, it’ll probably have to settle for devouring with my apologies for not giving it the attention it rightly deserves.  I think part of the problem, however, isn’t my inability to offer it the time it deserves, but rather the fact that the next book, Kushiel’s Scion, is told by a different narrator.  The first three books are told by Phadré (a female narrator), the second are three by Imriel (a male narrator) and I’m feeling very uncertain about it.  When I get attached to a narrator, I want to keep them, but I’m also willing to give Imriel a chance.  We’ll see how that goes.

On one final note, I got all the books I ordered from Amazon earlier in the week!  I signed up for the free Amazon Prime 3-month trial, which gave me free 2-day shipping!  My books came in fits and spurts, but they’ve all come now.  I’ve got all the books for my class and the ones for my challenge list except for Wuthering Heights and The Lightening Theif, which I’ll get when I need them.  Of all the books I’ve gotten over the last few days, the one I was looking most forward to is Bathory: Memoir of a Countess, which is about Elizabeth Bathory, of whom I have something of a fascinated obsession.  I’ll probably make it second on my book list, since I never actually planned to read them in the order they’re listed anyway.

So, I’m off to try and get some reading in before I have to get ready to hop in the canoe and float off to class.  Just one thing to think about before I go, last night, Dr. Shipman was groping for a word when he said that he’d heard once that if you can’t think of a word, it’s a sign that you have an excellent vocabulary!  I’m going with it, especially since I have an abundance of those moments, where I can’t summon up a word I’m looking for!

Adieu.

I should probably be reading right now, rather than blogging, but here I am anyhow.  To be perfectly truthful, I’m just blogging really quick while I wait for my other form of procrastination to finish setting up.  Matt bought me a game, Dragon Age: Origins, and I’m waiting for the free downloadable content to install.  It comes in PC, PS2, and XBOX360, so I decided upon the PC version.  Unlike most computer games, the install was quick and smooth, so I’m sure I’ll like it.  Of course, I don’t technically have the time to play another video game and I do already have WoW, but this one looks really good and doesn’t require much from me in the way of dedication.  I can play it idly, in my own time, and when I want.

I had that job interview yesterday for the Writing Center position, which I think went remarkably well.  I was laying in bed last night, thinking about it before I went to sleep, and things I could/should have said kept popping into my head.  She asked me about my strengths in English, I told her my greatest strength is as a writer.  This is the absolute truth, but that isn’t my only strength.  I am a very good writer, which hasn’t always been the case, but is something I’ve grown into with maturity and education.  I feel very strongly that, as an academic writer, I’m excellent.  I’m also very strong with literary analysis.  I can read a poem or story and pull from it.  I really, really feel like I should have told her that, but right then, on the spot, it didn’t even occur to me.

Still, overall I think it went well.  I don’t want to talk about it too much because, well, I don’t want to jinx it.  I don’t know whether I got the job or not, I’m still waiting to hear.  My fingers are crossed, I hope I will, but either way I’ll let you know.

Matt is still sick.  I took him to the Quack Shack today and they gave him a shot of something (he doesn’t know what, but probably steroids) and a prescription for Augmentin.  When the Nurse Practitioner looked into his ears she literally said, “Jesus Christ.”  Apparently, his ears a really, really infected, which means the infection is spreading.  Aside from the shot and Augmentin, they gave him a generic Mucinex (dextromethorphan & guafenesin) but told him not to take it until he’s taken the Augmentin for at least 2 days because it’d just clog up his head.  The nurse also said for him to stop taking the Zicam because it can make you lose your sense of smell, which is something I didn’t know, but thought I should pass along.  I’ve always liked Zicam, but if it screws up your nose, it’s not worth taking.  Hopefully he’ll get better, because we’re both really bummed by his being down and out.

Nothing else to say for the time being, but I do have reading to do and I want to play my new game some.  Adieu.

Since I mentioned in the previous post that I was going for a much needed haircut, I thought I’d share some of the pics of my new cut with you.   There’s actually something of a story to go along with them, but pictures first…

Okay, so there you have it.  Please disregard the rather stupid faces I’m making in most of these pictures, I can’t help it, I’m not all that photogenic these days.  Besides, the pics are about the hair!

So, the wind was blowing like crazy yesterday and my hair appointment got moved up from 5pm to 1pm because the gal that was to cut my hair had some cancellations.  I jumped at the earlier appointment, but asked Matt to drive me because it was crazy windy.  Reluctantly, he agreed, but told me that he was going to go to Hastings to wait.  Since neither of us have a cell phone, I told him not to do that, just to wait.  He told me if I wanted a ride, he was going to Hastings to wait, to which I could not but nod.  When he dropped me off, I told him to be back in about a half an hour.  That’s what I expect a haircut to take, 30 minutes.  He agreed, but when I went inside, I found that the lady wasn’t back from lunch.  That’s my fault, not hers, since I was about 10 minutes or so early.

I waited for her for about 20 minutes and when she got back we talked about what sort of cut I wanted for another, oh, 10 minutes or so.  After that, it was off to the wash, which I think probably took about 15 minutes.  My hair is very thick, and honestly, I love the feel of someone else washing my hair. I could go to sleep like that and let them wash my hair forever!  She cut and dryed and flat ironed my hair and I left the salon looking like I’d just left a salon!  When I got outside and into the car, Matt looked at me like he might kill me and said, “You were in there two and a half hours!”

Now, he swears up and down that he wasn’t mad at me, but I think he probably was.  Of course, if he reads this and finds out I’m telling you he’s mad at me, he’ll be mad at me, so it’s really 6 of one, half dozen of the other.  Anyway, he liked my haircut, but it didn’t get the reaction I was really hoping for.  I told him that I was going to make him an appointment with the gal who cut my hair, to which he replied that he was NOT going there, citing the lengthy time it took for her to cut mine.  I hardly think it’ll take so long to run a clipper through his hair and scissor the top.

So, now I look fabulous for my job interview!  I can wear my hair down with much more ease and since she textured it, it feel much lighter.  Whether it is or not, I don’t know.  All in all, it was worth the two and a half hours it took to get it cut!  I am definitely going back to her… definitely!