Ah Tuesday, Tuesday

So, I lost the 3rd round of the Absolute Write contest. This makes me sad. The number of people who posted and said, "What?! THat doesn't make sense! She should be in the last round!" was significant, but did all those people actually vote for me? Probably not. I was bummed for awhile. I really wanted to win. But then I got over it because I realized I was taking this way, way too seriously. I decided to brush myself off and get back on the horse and submitted a total of 2 poems and 2 stories to three different markets. I should hear back from them in, like, six months.

The lady from Sylvan called last night while I was at the grocery store and I didn't get her message until this morning. I'll call her back this afternoon when I'm sure she's in her office.

I'm so excited about Serenity that I decided to watch my Firefly dvds again, and we watched the pilot ep last night with commentary. Nathan and Joss crack my shit up. *hugs Firefly*

Let's see, what else? I've had the seeds of an idea for New Frontier Two: Electric Bugaloo floating around in my brain for the past day or so.

Man, I've totally checked out over here. I think I have to tutor in a few minutes, and I can barely keep my eyes open.

For my betterment...

I want to do some things this summer, other than write and work, for the betterment of me. The first thing I'd like to do is make a reading list and finish a novel a week. So far, my reading list consists of
The Secret Garden
Ivanhoe
Othello
Ethan Frome

I was thinking every Friday I would post my thoughts and dissect it like the English person I am. It would be really awesome if some of the fine people on my FL joined me. I'd love to get a discussion going and suggestions for further reading after I'm done with my shortlist. Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?

Also, I want to enroll in some classes at the junior college. Yeah, I know, I'm graduating in 18 days and I cannot fucking WAIT...but school! I love school! I need school! I was actually thinking of how awesome it would be to just take some classes for fun, because I like them. No credit, no pressure, no requirements. I want to take the History of California and Intro to Criminal Law for research purposes (since pretty much all my stories seem to involve California, Criminal Law, or both.) The problem is, you have to go through the hassle of applying. I think there should be a rule that anybody with a degree can waltz into any Jr College they like and take any class they please, no questions ask. Ok, not anybody with a degree, just me.

Sylvan Update

Last week I interviewed with a nice lady at the Claremont center. I like the Claremont center. It was a good location for me. Today I had a conversation with a nice lady at the Chino center who wanted to know if I'd be willing to work there instead, and if I could come in this week for a second interview.

I don't want to drive all the way to Chino! (Of course, it's only six miles away. Which is about the distance I drive to school...) But I told her Yes on both questions, and I'll be meeting with her on Thursday at 5:30.

So keep those fingers crossed!

Summer reading list

Ok, here's the Updated List (these are books I actually own now, that's why they're on the list...). The books in italics are books I'm re-reading.

The Secret Garden
Ivanhoe
Othello
Ethan Frome
The Handmaid's Tale
The Golden Notebook
To Kill a Mockingbird
The House of Seven Gables
The Metamorphosis

I'm going to go the used book store to see what other books I can find. I'm going to keep my eyes open for Watership Down and Their Eyes Were Watching God.

MSt3K Hamlet

What an interesting experiment. I watched it tonight, and it was simultaneously awful and intense (the guy who played Hamlet was hot). It was like, no matter what they did to to the text (and they really tortured it) they simply couldn't destroy/hide/maim/cripple the brilliance of the play.

I googled and found some reviews on the episode, and they all agree it's awful and painful and impossible to watch. I feel like it's all getting rather strange. I find most MSt3K episodes impossible to sit through. I challenge anybody to stay awake through Red Zone Cuba, for example. The argument seems to be that the play is overrated, the jokes were esoteric, and they didn't laugh. There were a few lines that made me choke with laughter: "Show the ghost! Show the ghost!" "Hey, that's from Hamlet isn't it?" "Do you get it?!" "Man, that old walnut?" "Great play, Shakespeare." And a few others...probably better in context.

Having said that, I slept through the entire ending of the movie. I still don't know how that play ends! (Don't spoil me!) (Heh).

Also, there are an awful lot of MST3K fans who seem to think "Hamlet" is over-rated. I can't help but wonder if they hear certain lines and their first thought is "That old walnut?!" Not to sound like a snobby English major, or anything, but I really do think they're the type of people who hate Shakespeare because he's so "cliche."

I still have Mel Gibson and Lawrence Olivier to watch...

My icon has nothing to do with anything, I just like it.