THE NEXUS STRAGGLER

 

My brain is punching my soul in the face for signing up for another French class right now; accompanied with shouts of disgust:

"You moron! Why would you put me through this tedium?!? Typing this composition makes me want to crawl out of your head and do anything with an inkling of stimulation! LIKE READING ABOUT DEPRESSION!!!"

That article scares me and makes me want to live a life of frivolous acts of pure entertainment.

Faux-Mo(dern)

the new era in social and aesthetic theory (usurped by religious value judgement)! 

I found this sage advice from Amos Poe quoted on U of Wisconsin-Madison professor emeritus, David Bordwell's blog:

LINK

 

"  *How to learn screenwriting? Get a script version of a film you admire. Read the first ten pages, then closely watch the first ten minutes of the movie. Go back and read the next ten pages, and go ahead and watch the corresponding ten minutes. And so on until the end. Do this with three first-rate films, and you will have a concrete, intuitive understanding of how a screenplay works.

*A screenplay, Amos points out, isn’t a short story or novel or play. It’s a movie in words. It must make the reader see and hear an imaginary film, and not only the action, either. Without indicating specific shots, the descriptions should suggest the flow of long-shots and close-ups (”Her lipstick leaves a smear on the cigarette butt”). “The screenwriter is a filmmaker.”

*Write sounds into the background of scenes, setting them up for fuller presence later. If a train becomes important late in the story, mention the wail of a distant train early in the screenplay. This sort of auditory planting quietly strengthens the structure of the story in your reader’s mind.  "

MUSIC FIXES EVERYTHING!!

2 albums bringing me back to this world right now:

David Bowie - Hunky Dory
Elvis Costello - Brutal Youth

couple of snot-nosed punks!!

Just because you interlude a sappy pop song that sounds like the Goo Goo Dolls at their worst with, "SCREAM - SCREAM - SCREAM - SCREAM - *THUNDERING CLASH OF ALL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS - BANG! BANG! [singing in head, "I'm sooooo hardcore!]*," it doesn't make your sappy pop song that sounds like the-Goo-Goo-Dolls-at-their-worst cool.

The sweet sounds seeping through the floorboards in my room are making my eyeballs cry blood.

5:15 p.m. -- 
I promised my independent study prof that I would hand in my first paper tomorrow (it's almost a month late for the first due date that we decided on -- it's cool though... hehe), but I can't possibly foresee getting it done at any reasonable time tonight. I have, thus, sworn myself off the internet for the night with the exception of livejournal; I'm going to live-blog my way through an all-nighter. If anyone reads this before my night is over, feel free to hang out and converse with me; I'll be coming every hour or two (it's either that or I'd be on facebook all night).

Right now, I'm in the library and looking out the window into the darkness feeling depressed about it being dark out at 5:20 p.m.
ugh. 

5:25 p.m. --
Oh, yeah, I had a breakthrough with Mary Parker Follett today; I think she may be recommending a leader completely opposite to the Machiavellian leader. It sounds kind of easy, but it might be useful for my third paper.

7:08 p.m. --
"[One] must be always alert and ever ready to gather up the many threads into one strand of united endeavor." - M.P.F.
Who writes that kind of garbage... really?!!  Quit wasting words on bad poetry... PLEASE!!
COFFEE TIME!!    "WHOOOOOOO! [*whistle blows*]"

8:32 p.m. --
"Our great need at present is not to get a chance to express our wonderful ideas, but to get some wonderful ideas to express."
WOAH!! Thank you M.P.F.! Fucking awesomely hilarious! I want to be her friend again now. She should have been a graffiti artist - if you see that quote spray-painted anywhere, you'll know who did it. Kind of brutal, though... 

9:30 p.m. --
I'm pretty sure this all-nighter is turning into a get up at 4:00 a.m.. I'm starting to fade fast. Failure isn't so bad, though, when you re-frame it in a positive light...
Just listen to T-Rex's wisdom.

I may soon have this drum set... pretty much; I think the colour is a little more green and the bass drum size is 20" instead of 18" (not 22", either, like Ringo's set). There is a snare drum included, and a full set of cymbals and stands too. I've waited a long time for a classic in my price range; it's gonna be totally bangin'!

Mary Parker Follett on genuine discussion in neighborhood organization: "It is wretched preparation for the kind of politics we wish to see in America..."

"Do we have discussion in debating societies?  Never. Their
influence is pernicious and they should be abolished in colleges,
schools, settlements, Young Men's Christian Associations, or
wherever found.  In these societies the men as a rule take either
side of the question allotted to them, but even if they choose
their side the process of the debate is the same.  The object is
always to win, it is never to discover the truth.  This is
excellent training for our present party politics.  It is wretched
preparation for the kind of politics we wish to see in America,
because there is no attempt to think together.  Someone to whom I
said this replied, "But each side has to think together."  Not in
the least: they simply pool their information and their arguments,
they don't think together.   They don't even think; that artificial
mental process of maintaining a thesis which is not yours by
conviction is not thinking.  In debating you are always trying to
find the ideas and facts which will support your side; you do not
look dispassionately at all ideas and all facts, and try to make
out just where the truth lies.  You do not try to see what ideas of
your opponent will enrich your own point of view; you are bound to
reject without examination his views, his ideas, almost I might say
his facts.  In a discussion you can be flexible, you can try
experiments, you can grow as the group grows, but in a debate all
this is impossible."  The New State - Chapter XXIII

We are having a referendum at the U of L starting this Friday regarding an increase of CKXU fees and allowing the SU to put money towards a daycare at our school. I will be voting YES to both.
Here is video that CKXU put together showing why they need money.


They're really trying to win this time!

UPDATE!
I received this forward from a couple of departments at my school:


"Hello from Career & Employment Services - CES! (B-610) (PH: 329-2187)

The Government of Canada is actively recruiting for new graduates for
next year and so they are very interested in promoting their career
opportunities to YOU!!! There is a small window of opportunity during
the next couple of weeks so don't delay in checking this out!

As this Federal government New Graduate campaign has begun, deadlines
vary depending upon position.  This year there will be a wide variety of
career choices to apply on. 

**Degree requirements cross many disciplines so check the website below
for details & READ the information completely & carefully!"


Followed by a bunch of positions within the field of each department.
 I WILL apply. I know I've said I'm going to attempt grad school, but I might as well apply anyway.
Yeah government work!

Gillerman-Bob and I decided that this is the most random xkcd comic ever.



(link)

John Hodgman is great!

 Archaeology test tomorrow. so far so good - in practice. 
It's my goal to get straight "A"s this semester; EXCEPT, of course, my contemporary theory class, because that is complete madness.
I hope I succeed.

So there I was, sitting at my computer reading about Lethbridge's recent invasion by half-wit nazi wannabes, the Aryan Guard, and I hear Carli calling my name. I left our bedroom/office to see what was up, and she told me she had something really funny to show me. To my delight, I got to witness the ultimate in bird whisperer experiences -- she hypnotized our sparrow and convinced him that he loves Kozy Shack pudding. Now I know Kozy Shack rules, and everybody loves it, but convincing a bird to go from liking seeds to liking Kozy Shack is like convincing a normal human being to go from enjoying a warm bowl of cream of wheat, to wanting a cold bowl of gravel.

And just so you aren't jealous, you can witness this extraordinary event too...



And as for the Aryan Guard; FUCK YOU!! You know you wont last long. Canada has a history of fighting fascism, even if the people have to take it upon themselves.

            

I'm doing an independent study and I have to read all of these by the end of the semester; I am a tad bit horrified!
THUS... I may try to work them out on here; in a very non-academic way.
Warned!

   

                          

I know I'm, like, SEVEN days late on this one, but this is totally awesome... I love Bill Murray!



by Peter Karinen and Brian Sacca

So, I'm back. Hopefully I'll start posting like this is a blog... or something. I wanted to start a blog about a Sociology student struggling through the last year of his degree, and his attempts at getting into grad school... and his ridiculous side story of living in a ZOO! - but instead, I'll just continue with this lj and maybe change my "about me" section. I guess.

Stress is at a max tonight!

Warning: I am going to shut down my soul tonight and turn on my robot back-up generator for the next week, so be careful -- we all know that robots have bad intentions.

I decided that I'm going to live-blog as I try to do some work at the Library. I know that this might seem like I am slacking off (and I totally am), but my brain is mush right now and I need something to keep me excited.

3:43 p.m. I was about to write something about starting my work now, but I looked down at the keyboard and all I saw were keys that are used for emoticons.
:P   ;P   :)   ;)   :(   X(   8(   ... on and on, you know them.


3:48 p.m. Ok, I'm going to work on some sociology of Mass Communication...


4:01 p.m. After 6 minutes of reading a paper called "Threaded Identity in Cyberspace: Weblogs & Positioning in the Diological Self," and  getting the feeling that  this may be the worst paper I've ever read, my theory class partner (Devon) came and asked me to go get some food with him:
- I declined, as Carli and are supposed to meet up at 4:30.
- His buddy, who always wears a hood and has long scruffy hair, came over to my computer and grunted some greetings at us with his 'I'm-cooler-than-you indie rock face,' and decided food might be a good idea. *he exits stage left to get some money*
- Devon asked me what I was reading, and I showed him the worst sentence I have ever read:

       Likening the dialogical self to "a society of minds," Hermans (2001) adapted both the Jamesian (1890) notion of the "me" as socially            extended and Bakhtin's (1929/1973) theory of dialogism and heteroglossia in literary creation (Barresi, 2002).

*WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?! AND WHAT THE FUCK DOES IT MEAN??!!?*

- Devon and I had a quick discussion about how most of the new stuff we read doesn't have nearly the same 'poetic' value as the classics.
- We decided to kill all new Sociologists.
- Cooler-than-you guy came back and they left.
- Getting back to work right... NOW!


4:21 p.m. I was distracted by foreignshore's comment on this post... that was fast!


4:31 p.m. I checked my email and responded to Geography prof. about the geography department's trip to the south-western United States. I had signed up for the trip, but they told me they would get back to me. Too late now, my job's already lined up. I sent one more email to Carli, asking her out on a food hunting date.

Must get back to work NOW! This is almost pathetic.


4:37 p.m. I'm still impressed that someone commented while I was live-blogging.


4:57 p.m. Ok, the article isn't as bad as I thought it would be. It deals mainly with identity creation on the internet, specifically, on blogs. I actually really like studying identity creation, it is one of the neatest things people do (other than Taiko drumming, of course).


5:13 p.m. Well, it's been an hour and a half, and I am starting to become even less productive. My hunger is taking over. I'll eat and come back, then hopefully get some real work done. I'm out.

HOLY CRAP!

Sorry! I just realized that I hadn't posted anything on my livejournal for about a million years and decided it is time to update. I have been writing a blog for class on Mass Communication, and it has been taking a ridiculous amount of my time. I just finished writing that blog for the semester, so I have no formal attachments to it and thought I would come back here for a while.

Also -- school IS work. Most of my time for the next couple of weeks will be spent on unpaid labour related to my education and a NoMeansNo show on Saturday.

My good buddy 'Gil' gave me a swift education in funny when he turned me on to xkcd.com, and I like spend my free time (HA!) wading through archive comics; furthermore, as I have been reading a lot of sociological theory lately, this one hit home:



later dudezz