Thursday, August 31, 2006
Park School Blog
So much for anonymity. Check out the link for the Park School of Communications Blog in the sidebar.
Lovin' It
This has been a fine week. I am feeling really settled into my new environment at work. Yesterday I spent the morning in my office, which I share with five other adjuncts, getting my class list ready and other stuff. I am supposed to share a desk with one person but there's sort of an extra desk that she's taking. Anyway we probably won't be in there at the same times so it's not a big deal. I have a G5 on my desk, which runs like lightning and only reminds me that the MacBook I have at home has been disappointing.
I've met four of my office mates. Two are screenwriting adjuncts like myself, teaching the Advanced class. One person, who lives in Manhattan and is in town for the weekdays, was my "orientation buddy" last week - we hung out while traipsing around to get our IDs and parking permits etc. The other one is my desk mate who seems really cool, too.
Again I must stress, and I know the semester's barely begun, that I feel so at home on that campus. The physicality of it, the energy that's around me. I'm really sensitive to that stuff, you know. Not to sound like a flake, but I do believe that when a large group of people are gathered in a place for an extended period of time, there's like a psychic imprint on that place. A general feeling, nothing specific. My Humanist/Atheist friends will scoff, I'm sure, but this is how I perceive the world. At the last place I worked, I could feel the pressure cooker environment and it had very real, tangible expressions all around me. Here, of course people are busy and frantic and all that, but there's a spirit of "YAY BABY!" like everyone is lovin' their jobs and their work and their study. It feels, for lack of a better term, healthier.
My first classes are tomorrow. It's just the first day of class, syllabus, get to know each other kind of thing. I'm really psyched. A bit nervous, as to be expected, but I am SO happy to be there and I hope my students will be inspired and will learn as much as they can from me and from each other.
I've finally gotten back into "film mode" by renting a slew of flicks and watching them critically. It feels so good! I've also gone back into my notebooks and script pieces from my MFA program (god, was that REALLY 10 years ago?). Of special note, Wong Kar Wai's "Days of Being Wild" and the Korean telling of Dangerous Liasons, titled in English "Untold Scandal." I tried watching "Barton Fink" but the videotape has obviously seen better days and I'll wait til I can get it on DVD.
I guess I've rambled enough for now. I've writing to do.
I've met four of my office mates. Two are screenwriting adjuncts like myself, teaching the Advanced class. One person, who lives in Manhattan and is in town for the weekdays, was my "orientation buddy" last week - we hung out while traipsing around to get our IDs and parking permits etc. The other one is my desk mate who seems really cool, too.
Again I must stress, and I know the semester's barely begun, that I feel so at home on that campus. The physicality of it, the energy that's around me. I'm really sensitive to that stuff, you know. Not to sound like a flake, but I do believe that when a large group of people are gathered in a place for an extended period of time, there's like a psychic imprint on that place. A general feeling, nothing specific. My Humanist/Atheist friends will scoff, I'm sure, but this is how I perceive the world. At the last place I worked, I could feel the pressure cooker environment and it had very real, tangible expressions all around me. Here, of course people are busy and frantic and all that, but there's a spirit of "YAY BABY!" like everyone is lovin' their jobs and their work and their study. It feels, for lack of a better term, healthier.
My first classes are tomorrow. It's just the first day of class, syllabus, get to know each other kind of thing. I'm really psyched. A bit nervous, as to be expected, but I am SO happy to be there and I hope my students will be inspired and will learn as much as they can from me and from each other.
I've finally gotten back into "film mode" by renting a slew of flicks and watching them critically. It feels so good! I've also gone back into my notebooks and script pieces from my MFA program (god, was that REALLY 10 years ago?). Of special note, Wong Kar Wai's "Days of Being Wild" and the Korean telling of Dangerous Liasons, titled in English "Untold Scandal." I tried watching "Barton Fink" but the videotape has obviously seen better days and I'll wait til I can get it on DVD.
I guess I've rambled enough for now. I've writing to do.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Good news and MORE good news!
I am officially a Great Aunt! My niece had her baby a month early on Tuesday morning. Welcome, Owen Angelo, even though you won't have a clue who I am for many months. I will be driving to Boson on Fall Break in October to see the new addition to the clan and reconnect with my family (whom I haven't seen since before I went to Korea four years ago).
The other news is simply that today was the last day of the summer program. As always, I finished up in good stead and flying colors, whilst leaving a piece of my mind in the instructor program evaluation/feedback form.
I have two weeks to relax a little and get back into my schedule, also getting things ready to start teaching on Sept. 1.
Here's something to celebrate the auspiciousness of today: Check Out How I'm Prosperin'
The other news is simply that today was the last day of the summer program. As always, I finished up in good stead and flying colors, whilst leaving a piece of my mind in the instructor program evaluation/feedback form.
I have two weeks to relax a little and get back into my schedule, also getting things ready to start teaching on Sept. 1.
Here's something to celebrate the auspiciousness of today: Check Out How I'm Prosperin'
Monday, August 14, 2006
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Clash of the Titans
Last night, Bizarro and I had a "date night." The Big Red Barn on the hill was showing the last of their summer movies outside, up against the wall of the museum. The movie was, in case you haven't guessed by now, Clash of the Titans. I hadn't seen this since it first came out when I was 13 years old. Wow, what a treat! The crowd was very appreciative and laughed at the appropriately hokey parts: Posiedon's super imposed tiny figure cranking open the Krakens's prison, the line "Release the Kraken," and of course Harry Hamlin's delivery of this line, when Perseus and company are trying to count their advantages in a tight spot: "We have.... we have a flying horse!"
When I got home I felt light, like I did when I was a girl and I used to watch these kinds of stories. I think it was this movie, in fact, which got me rolling on the mythology and fantasy kick as a teenager and into college. I remember play acting scenes "Clash of the Titans" and making my dingy basement into the Gorgon's lair, complete with swirling lights thanks to an old Christmas tree light - the kind that rotates a multi-colored plastic fan in front of a light bulb. AH, the simpler days of play acting and imagined terrors...
Yesterday morning I went to my T'ai Chi instructor (who's also a counselor and Chi Gung practitioner) for my first Chi Gung session. I'm hoping I can get a handle on some of the issues that have been plaguing me - all of which seem to be interconnected in the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). According to his diagnosis, my Kidney, Bladder and Liver systems are out of whack. From what I know of TCM, that's how I would have characterized it myself, since certain emotions and areas of the body are connected to each system. Go here if you're interested in TCM.
When I got home I felt light, like I did when I was a girl and I used to watch these kinds of stories. I think it was this movie, in fact, which got me rolling on the mythology and fantasy kick as a teenager and into college. I remember play acting scenes "Clash of the Titans" and making my dingy basement into the Gorgon's lair, complete with swirling lights thanks to an old Christmas tree light - the kind that rotates a multi-colored plastic fan in front of a light bulb. AH, the simpler days of play acting and imagined terrors...
Yesterday morning I went to my T'ai Chi instructor (who's also a counselor and Chi Gung practitioner) for my first Chi Gung session. I'm hoping I can get a handle on some of the issues that have been plaguing me - all of which seem to be interconnected in the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). According to his diagnosis, my Kidney, Bladder and Liver systems are out of whack. From what I know of TCM, that's how I would have characterized it myself, since certain emotions and areas of the body are connected to each system. Go here if you're interested in TCM.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Better Daze
Just finished my first week in the summer program. It went very well; I rock. I'm a good teacher and I love teaching ESL. It's good to know that even after the fiasco/debacle that was last year, I still love teaching language. HOpefully I will be able to reach this level again with my teaching of screenwriting.
Tonight I'm hangin and just relaxing at home. This morning was a real trip. I was awakened at 6:00 by a serious domestic quarrel next door, complete with screaming, yelling, obscenities, crashes, bangs, and the clear strains of physical abuse. After 45 minutes, I called the cops. They have a 2-year old over there. What else could I do? So after getting the morning off to a rather dismal start, the rest of Friday proceeded smoothly.
Oh, and last night... I was at the mall looking for a last-minute B-day present for a coworker. I stopped into Claires Boutique and while I was grazing, a hippie couple and their 3 year old came in to get the 3 year olds' ears pierced. The mother was ordering the father around like a dog, and she was loudly declaring that the Earring Pagoda in the mall wouldn't do the job, yadda yadda. On my way out, the woman did the girl's one ear and the screeches and sobs followed me all the way down to the Target. This little girl's screams spoke of pain, shock, surprise, but mostly betrayal. I could hear it. "Mom, how could you force this on me? How could you be party to this awful pain?" It was all I could do to hold back my self-righteous indignation and go back there to give the mother an earful. No pun intended.
yes, it's a full moon, alright. Bella luna!
Tonight I'm hangin and just relaxing at home. This morning was a real trip. I was awakened at 6:00 by a serious domestic quarrel next door, complete with screaming, yelling, obscenities, crashes, bangs, and the clear strains of physical abuse. After 45 minutes, I called the cops. They have a 2-year old over there. What else could I do? So after getting the morning off to a rather dismal start, the rest of Friday proceeded smoothly.
Oh, and last night... I was at the mall looking for a last-minute B-day present for a coworker. I stopped into Claires Boutique and while I was grazing, a hippie couple and their 3 year old came in to get the 3 year olds' ears pierced. The mother was ordering the father around like a dog, and she was loudly declaring that the Earring Pagoda in the mall wouldn't do the job, yadda yadda. On my way out, the woman did the girl's one ear and the screeches and sobs followed me all the way down to the Target. This little girl's screams spoke of pain, shock, surprise, but mostly betrayal. I could hear it. "Mom, how could you force this on me? How could you be party to this awful pain?" It was all I could do to hold back my self-righteous indignation and go back there to give the mother an earful. No pun intended.
yes, it's a full moon, alright. Bella luna!
Word
Here is my rather long-winded response to a discussion topic on PJC's blog
Read up on the discussion until this point, then you can navigate back here from his blog :
-------------------------
Of course all words are "made up," but there are words agreed upon as current and valid, and those that are created and used by a minority of certain folks to promote particular ideas, which either fall by the wayside as trite or become a common, accepted part of a language. Words change and meanings change over time, as any cunning linguist knows. However, if you're going to invoke the super-fluidity of language as a means of supporting the use of a term (which doesn't appear in any dictionary) in a public forum to express academic, professional or otherwise sophisticated ideas, you better be ready to accept others’ new interpretations of already accepted words, like MARRIAGE for example.
I gotta be honest - if someone uses a word like Islamofacist, it denigrates the position and reduces the viability of an otherwise well-taken point.
No, I'm not picking nits. Words are our tools, our weapons and our representatives.
BTW: jihad (n.) 1. a holy war against enemies of Islam, undertaken by Muslims as a duty.
2. any fanatical crusade for an ideal or principle.
(www.wordsmyth.com)
ji·had or je·had n
1. a campaign waged by Muslims in defense of the Islamic faith against individuals, organizations, or countries regarded as hostile to Islam
2. any hostile campaign, for example, a series of political advertisements attacking an adversary
Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
Clearly, jihad is open to interpretation (what constitutes "hostile" or an "enemy," for instance) depending on one’s agenda and level of brain-washing in an extremist cult. Just like most things (such as passages from the Bible), it can be taken out of context and made to fit a particular agenda of violence and hatred.
Read up on the discussion until this point, then you can navigate back here from his blog :
-------------------------
Of course all words are "made up," but there are words agreed upon as current and valid, and those that are created and used by a minority of certain folks to promote particular ideas, which either fall by the wayside as trite or become a common, accepted part of a language. Words change and meanings change over time, as any cunning linguist knows. However, if you're going to invoke the super-fluidity of language as a means of supporting the use of a term (which doesn't appear in any dictionary) in a public forum to express academic, professional or otherwise sophisticated ideas, you better be ready to accept others’ new interpretations of already accepted words, like MARRIAGE for example.
I gotta be honest - if someone uses a word like Islamofacist, it denigrates the position and reduces the viability of an otherwise well-taken point.
No, I'm not picking nits. Words are our tools, our weapons and our representatives.
BTW: jihad (n.) 1. a holy war against enemies of Islam, undertaken by Muslims as a duty.
2. any fanatical crusade for an ideal or principle.
(www.wordsmyth.com)
ji·had or je·had n
1. a campaign waged by Muslims in defense of the Islamic faith against individuals, organizations, or countries regarded as hostile to Islam
2. any hostile campaign, for example, a series of political advertisements attacking an adversary
Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
Clearly, jihad is open to interpretation (what constitutes "hostile" or an "enemy," for instance) depending on one’s agenda and level of brain-washing in an extremist cult. Just like most things (such as passages from the Bible), it can be taken out of context and made to fit a particular agenda of violence and hatred.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Sunny Disposition
I survived my three days of teacher orientation/calibration for the summer intensive program. It wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared it would be. In fact it went pretty well with only a few moments of ruffled feathers on my part, which I got over right quick.
Last night I went out with Pam and we had a good time drinking beers at the Chapterhouse, which has a real pub environment. The evening finished with us playing Legos in my livingroom, watching Glengarry Glen Ross and drinking wine.
Today I am focusing on my creative work, and tomorrow I will do some Dharma study and house cleaning. That's the general plan for the weekend. I also have to get some exercise in, one way or the other.
I'm now one of the editorialists (is that a word?) on P Cambio's blog. It's a scary thing for yours truly, coming head-to-head with other people's opinions, esp. when two or three of them are my family. Good practice, I suppose, in a relatively safe environment.
I am going to seriously give some thought to getting tested for allergies. I have been living with really irritating symptoms all summer and I'm about done with it. I think I've identified two food allergies: pineapple and eggs. Sucks, 'cause I love pineapple. Of course there's also the omnipresent mold in my house that is probably exacerbating it all. I have plans to see my new doctor when the summer program is over and get a referral for allergy testing.
And now I have to stop wasting time and get to the business of writing.
Last night I went out with Pam and we had a good time drinking beers at the Chapterhouse, which has a real pub environment. The evening finished with us playing Legos in my livingroom, watching Glengarry Glen Ross and drinking wine.
Today I am focusing on my creative work, and tomorrow I will do some Dharma study and house cleaning. That's the general plan for the weekend. I also have to get some exercise in, one way or the other.
I'm now one of the editorialists (is that a word?) on P Cambio's blog. It's a scary thing for yours truly, coming head-to-head with other people's opinions, esp. when two or three of them are my family. Good practice, I suppose, in a relatively safe environment.
I am going to seriously give some thought to getting tested for allergies. I have been living with really irritating symptoms all summer and I'm about done with it. I think I've identified two food allergies: pineapple and eggs. Sucks, 'cause I love pineapple. Of course there's also the omnipresent mold in my house that is probably exacerbating it all. I have plans to see my new doctor when the summer program is over and get a referral for allergy testing.
And now I have to stop wasting time and get to the business of writing.
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