GRE-Angst

Okay, this is probably going to be a short post, but I figure I should update-- mostly because I keep telling other people to post. So yes, as you might have guessed from the title to this post, I'm studying for the GREs. Thank you, Ana, for telling me I should start! I feel productive, and while I figure I'll never use half these words (like "adumbrate"), I figure like these are words I should be familiar with. You know, as an English major. It's also nice, I guess, since there are plenty of words I know that I can't really define. But if you were to ask me right now what "ameliorate" meant, I would let you know that it means "to make better or more tolerable." I'm a walking dictionary at the moment, provided you only want to know the definition for words beginning with the letter "A". My poor family members-- my books suggests that I try to fit these words into daily conversation. I try, but when I can't, I just tell my mother or father the definitions for various words whenever there's a lull in the conversation. 

So other than that, I've been trying to work a little on college apps. I've contacted a few professors and asked them to write recommendations for me. One already agreed, so that's one down. I need to get one or two more to agree to help me out. It's not really an onerous task-- only one page they need to fill out, so I don't think they'll mind. I hate the fact that I have to fill out college apps again, but what can you do? Emerson wants me to write a short essay with the following prompt: if my life were a story, what would I title it and why? I want to say "Great Expectations," but I think that's been taken already. If I come up with a good explanation, I wonder if they'd care. However, since I want to study creative writing, they might want me to be, you know, creative.

Speaking of creative writing, I've had a bit of writer's block recently. I mean, I've been writing - I force myself to - but I've been writing crap. I need to find some good poetry to read, a new author. Which means I need to buy books, but I am also poor. Not that 4 dollars is a lot or anything, but it adds up. 

I may have mentioned in my previous posts that I was reading a German novel. I'm putting that on hold for a while, since I don't want to confuse myself - I mean, I'm studying all these English words for the GRE, so why throw German into the mix? Besides, I'm in the middle of reading Proust at the moment, which is wonderful, so I'd prefer to just focus on that.

Apotheosis - deification, glorification to godliness, the perfect example. (Just thought I'd practice a little. Or give you a taste of what it's like to be around me at the moment. If you missed me before, I'm guessing you don't now. :)

My gmail account is convinced I love spam. As in, the food, not junk email (though it thinks I like that too, I guess.) It keeps sending me recipes such as "spam and french fry casserole." Would anyone eat that? Seriously.

Well, that's it for this post. Not like I have to go off and do something else, I just don't have that much going on for me to report.

-Kenny B.

It Will Not Stop Snowing

Well, as the title of this post states, it has been snowing almost constantly over here. The table out in the backyard has about a foot and a half of snow piled up on it-- I almost took a picture, but then remembered that my camera was out of batteries. I didn't really feel like charging it, so some other time, I suppose. I think it's supposed to snow for a few more days, so it's not as if it's really going anywhere.

The snow has also made me a bit homesick, seeing as Boston is usually covered in the stuff (well, not so much this year, but it was almost always storming the year before last.) It's not that I really miss having to walk a mile or so through slush and over ice patches, but Boston equals bad weather in my mind, and it's hard to think of one without thinking of the other. Things are slow here. Not to say that things are bad, they're not, but I don't really feel like I'm getting anything done or doing anything worthwhile. Sure, I read, embroider, write, etc, but still-- I don't know, I'm babbling. Haha, perhaps it's the lack of social interaction that's getting to me.

Speaking of social interaction, my dad might get a job in the NY/NJ area, and if he does, my mother said that I might be able to fly out with him sometime and visit friends. Ana, if you aren't dead next semester from stress, I'd like to stay with you at some point! You, Hil, and I need to spend some time together. How'd your storyboard go, by the way? Do you have a plot for your piece yet?

Now for some not-so-good news: my rabbit seems sick, and I'm not sure exactly what's wrong. She has had quite a bit of diarrhea as of late, and she doesn't seem terribly lively. I've been taking good car of her (at least, I feel as if I am) so I'm not really sure what's causing the problem. I know she's getting up there in years-- she's five, and while rabbits can live up to ten years, she's been sick for a while. The vet always says she's fine when we bring her, so I guess that means I'm overreacting. Hopefully she'll be all right.

On to less serious matters, then. My phone is dead right now, so if you try to call me, I won't pick up (since it's sort of, you know, impossible.) Email me instead, or send me a message through Facebook. Believe me, I will be delighted if you do. I'll read your message, I don't know, four times? Let's say four. I'm a little lonely. :)

Strange occurrence today: I woke up, but was still dreaming, and thought I saw a spider the size of my fist on my bed. This, for some reason, did not frighten me terribly. I just tried to kick at it, ended up kicking off my sheets, and then went back to sleep. Needless to say, I woke up cold and confused.

Anyway, that's it for now, I suppose. I'll update sometime in the future.

-Kendall

P.S. I didn't check the grammar in this post either, just the spelling. I'm lazy, I guess.

I Don't Have Much To Say, But That's Not Stopping Me

Okay, I was reading some reviews for new German and French books (I'm on the lookout for a German poet whose work I can translate. I figure if I finish it sometime in the near future, I can try to get it published, which would make my resume look better. At this point, I'm thinking either Marcel Beyer or Gerhard Falkner.) when I ran across this: "To those who enjoy reading French poetry, who take pleasure in being miserable, and who do not have troubles of their own, Mme. G. de Montgomery's "Immortalite" will be heartily welcome... [T]here is no attempt made to express Weltschmerz, but merely Selbstschmerz" (nytimes.com). Sounds like a fun read! I sincerely hope no one ever describes my work like this.

While I'm quoting stuff, here's another fun quote: "As soon as I left, / my friends had an orgy. / ... / I'm not a very naked person." (Dauer ln. 1-5). Strange stuff. I thought that was an odd way to start off a poem, but hey, what do I know. She's published and I'm not. No really, some of her other stuff is nice, I'm just not huge on the lemurs and orgies poem.

The job market is not great, so who knows whether I'll get a job or not. Most of the places around here aren't hiring, according to their websites, so we'll see. I'm hoping that I can sell my embroidery in town, but I have to go around to the local galleries and see if anyone will take it.  Meh, we'll see. It'd be nice if I could do something like that, since I could keep working on the pieces at school. That would be nice, since I don't plan on getting a job when I'm back at school.

Well, that's all for right now. I'm sorry, but I didn't bother to proofread, so if there are any glaring grammatical errors, then that's why.