I KNEW I recognized her ...!

Madame Pomfrey is played by the same woman who plays Bridget's mother in Bridget Jones's Diary. Who knew. ^_^;

And now for a fun little meme:

Become a God or Goddess by zerogirl
Name:
God/Goddess of	Love
Element:	Ice
Animal Companion:	Crow
Weak against	Acid
Weapon:	None
Created with quill18's MemeGen!

Become a God or Goddess by zerogirl
Name:
God/Goddess of	Fear
Element:	Earth
Animal Companion:	Lion
Weak against	Cold
Weapon:	Katana
Created with quill18's MemeGen!

Just got back from the open movie night in the Quad. Froze my butt off sitting in the grass like that, but it was worth it. ^_^ They showed Grease first, of which we saw the last half hour or so (I swear I'll never get see that movie straight through in one sitting ...), and after that was Chicago. I'd only seen it once before, and it was wonderful to see it again. Kinda odd, since my favorite musicals tend to have some kind of redeeming message, whereas this ... ^_^;; Vixen!Catherine Zeta Jones. Diva!Renee Zellweger. Sassy!Richard Gere. Not to mention sexy!Queen Latifah and puppy!John Reilly and Taye Diggs Taye Diggs Taye Diggs! Ahhh~~ I love that movie. XD

(And, um ... remind me again why I'm *not* going to buy the soundtrack? @_@)

We analyzed Keats' poem "When I have fears that I may cease to be" today, and I hadn't realized until then that it was supposed to be a sad poem. ^_^; He talks about his mortality and his inability to realize all the poetry inside of him (here if you haven't read it), but I always interpreted the ending as being hopeful. Bittersweet, yet comforting. When he has "fears that I may cease to be" before accomplishing all of his writing ... he simply lets the enormity of the world wash over him and ease his frantic worries by reminding him of his insignificance. Okay, so that doesn't sound very hopeful. ^_^; What I mean is, he realizes that John Keats, and John Keats' poetry, are just a small part of *all* the humanity and poetry in the world, and he need not worry about fulfilling some artistic duty to the universe through his writing. That fear being eased, he can return to the pleasure and wonder of writing without any external pressures strangling him. The same goes for the rest of the poem. He does not escape from the awareness of mortality that shadows his acts of living and loving; but through his identification with the rest of the world -- that lives and dies and changes as well -- the stifling dread is removed, and he is free to appreciate his existence, however brief, unencumbered.

My teacher, on the other hand, gave a darker spin to the poem -- the fears, in a sense, become the good that is to be embraced, and his resignation at the end more tragic. His feelings of worry and despair are more 'correct,' given Romantic notions of the importance of emotion. In the end, when he decides to "think" -- that is, to apply rational analysis to his previously irrational emotion -- that is what causes his feelings and artistry to "sink" into nothingness. His fear is bad, to be sure, but what's worse is when it leads to contemplation and the examination that kills his art. The ending becomes a defeat, instead of an acceptance. This is a very Romantic interpretation -- elevating emotion, warning against rationality. But then again, I would say the same of my own -- Romanticism is also about the 'oneness' of the world, right? So my version works. XD;;

She also said today that "Ode on a Grecian Urn" was about the anonymity of poets in ancient Greece; I took it as a tribute to the immortality of art. >_>

Then again, she is the teacher of my Romantic Poetry course. But. ^_^;

The first day of the quarter was rather anticlimactic for me, because I only had two of my classes. I spent more time in the club than actually in class. ^_^; But! So far, things are looking good, and despite it all I'm glad to be back doing this learning thing. Especially my Philosophy of Religion course -- after hearing the professor talk today, it looks like it'll be just what I was hoping for. I'm quite lucky, actually, because they don't seem to offer it very often, but the exact quarter I wanted to take it, it was just *there*. Yay. :D

(However, because of the rarity of this course, I can't bring myself to drop it -- as would be necessary to take the English tutoring course that would qualify me to work as a tutor in the on-campus writing center. Erk. I hope I don't regret this decision. >_<)

Oh, right, yes. I need that job (or *some* job) because I'm currently job-less. >_> One of the convenience stores was closed over the summer, resulting in a loss of available work hours -- however, a new store was opened up on south campus, which *should*, theoretically, balance everything out and allow me, a campus employee, to continue working. However, I somehow found myself without work, lacking any sort of notification, until I went in person and asked. To which I was told, "Whoops, sorry, we're out of space. Try again later!" Right. (Well, I *did* say I wanted to look for a better job once I got back to Seattle ...)

Anyway, in the meantime, I'm looking for other positions on campus, preferably some which a) involve marketable skills (i.e. not mindless repetition), b) provide some worthwhile service (stocking a convenience store is only as worthwhile as the student body cares, which can mean ... not much), and c) pay better (I got a ten-cent raise for working four months, yo). I want to be more productive with my time, and get properly compensated for it -- now, while I have the chance. Who knows what'll happen once I get outside the wonderfully insular world of university? o_o

Otherwise, things are good. My RA is nice, and I suspect he is a bit of a socialist. It's great. :D I'm commencing operations as the internet officer of the ADP, yay. (Or should I say, 'eep'? ^_^;;) Tomorrow is the first meeting for Dragon's Pen, and I'm doing tabling for them at the big campus hoopla on Wednesday. And tomorrow is my Romantic poetry class. We'll see how it goes. ^_^

New layout. Rather simple, but Anna had been up for a while; and besides, I wanted to use this image. I had to shrink it down, so the image doesn't do much justice to the original, but it's a nice taste. Go read The Dream Hunters, do. ^_^

And now I'm (semi) moved in, and it feels ... weird. ^_^; I'm in the same room as last year, but it was remodeled over the summer -- so even when I forget and it feels like I never left, I'll catch myself and remember I haven't been here in over three months. It's a strange feeling. ^_^;

I can't believe classes start tomorrow though, eep~~