Well, it’s midway through my “week off” before summer session starts.  Funny how I’m working so much.  There are classes to plan and writing to put off . . .

Being a workaholic makes time off problematic, especially when you have the kind of job that means you can work all the time.

I did take a few hours off last night to watch Season 1 of Frisky Dingo.  Thanks, DJ, for the recommendation.  I have never loved a villain more!  I have also added Waiting for God, a British Sitcom recommended by Jenni to my Netflix list.

Cool things, though:  I have three Simpsons interns for the summer, so maybe some factchecking and website building will get done.  Woohoo!  I’ve never been a boss before (I know, being a teacher is very much like being a boss, but there is a difference between students and interns).

My grandparents are celebrating their 58th anniversary today.

I’m going to take at least a day off to attempt to show a friend around Oakland and Berkeley.  It would be better if I knew where things were, but we’ll manage.

And then classes begin.  Will my Humanities class begin?  That’s still up in the air.

As many of you know, my most common form of artistic expression is making lists.  Usually these free-form poems take the form of “to do” and “groceries,” but occasionally, something with more substance emerges.  For example, my book group is currently making a list of books we know we should have read, but haven’t.  We’ve also asked one of our members to compile a list of must-read graphic novels.

As it’s summer, I’m sure we’re all thinking about expanding our reading, our viewing, our cooking . . . something about summer makes us want new things.  So I want to make some lists, but I need your help.  Help me expand the following lists & help me think of new lists.

Shows you’re probably not watching, but should be (netflix them):

1.  Whitest Kids U’ Know–it’s the next generation of sketch comedy (currently on IFC)

2.  Breaking Bad–the dad from Malcolm in the Middle finds out he has cancer.  To provide for his family, he uses his chemistry teacher powers to make meth (currently on AMC).

3.  Slings and Arrows–this series ran for three seasons.  It’s a Canadian show about a repertory theatre troupe.  Their productions mirror the comic drama of their lives.  Very funny.  Mark McKinney, of The Kids in the Hall, is a writer, creator, and star.

Websites you should be checking out:

1.  www.mentalfloss.com  This is the companion site to Mental Floss magazine, which I love.  It feeds all of my trivia needs, but with a wonderful dry humor.  The website not only features articles from the magazine, but also great work by bloggers–they have links to other cool pages, quizzes, and daily trivia articles on awesome topics (best libraries, strange but true ways of death, etc.)

2.  www.theonion.com  This amazing satire site now has video reports.  The satire is so good that some people think the news is real.  For example, years ago, they reported on the annual “gay agenda convention,” which made fun of the idea that there is a gay conspiracy/agenda.  Several preachers sent the article to their congregations, citing it as evidence of said gay agenda.

While you’re perusing The Onion, don’t forget to go to the AV Club, which features media reviews, interviews, and Dan Savage’s sex column.

3.  http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html  Each day, they feature a different astronomy picture.  Discover the cosmos!

Nonfiction authors you should be reading:

1.  Sarah Vowell–she’s a favorite of NPR and Jon Stewart.  Her writing is clever & good for you history buffs.

2.  Mary Roach–she’s a science reporter with three great books.  Want to know how cadavers are used for research & health?  Want to know how people investigate the afterlife from a scientific point of view?  Want to know what sex researchers are up to in their labs?  Yes, you do.

3.  Terry Jones–yes, the Terry Jones of Monty Python, who got his degree in medieval studies.  Check out his editorials for The Guardian & his amazing Medieval Lives, where you can learn about the actual lives of knights, minstrels, and damsels.

Okay, I have to get back to grading.  Add to the list and to the list of lists!

The Good:

Alexander and I both wearing t-shirts given by friends today.

Medici Pinot Noir

Coming home in 95 degree heat to a cold beer

“Where The Wild Things Are” episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The Bad:

North Korea (well, its leader anyway)

Homophobia

The chiropractor saying, “Why can’t you be less flexible?”

The Coolest:

Kenwood Yulupa Chardonnay

Going to Powells and picking up the new book by your friend, Luis Alberto Urrea.  Then coming home and finding that you’ve unknowingly bought a signed copy.

Am back from Portland. Sock dreams not so dreamy, but Powells is magical, mystical place. Would worship there daily if I lived there.

Speaking of, anybody know how I can get a job in Portland?

Feel the need to move especially now that the California Supreme Court has upheld voter-initiated inequality.

Voters shouldn’t be able to take away each others’ rights–that’s why Jefferson wouldn’t sign a constitution without a bill of rights.

Some good news today–was having lunch today and a former student came by to tell me that he enjoyed my class and that he’d read all these books since I’d introduced him to certain writers and essayists.

is here:
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/25661

Yea! (Even if they did edit it down.) Yea!

is here:
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/25661

Yea! (Even if they did edit it down.) Yea!

In the news today, I had insomnia last night, so am working on very little sleep, all of which was obtained after five-thirty this morning.

My advertising blitz for my HUM 18 class resulted in one whole student adding this week.  We have to do better, people.  Picture me as a really sexy uncle Sam–I want you (to advertise or sign up for this class).

I read Atonement by Ian McEwan.  I had seen the movie first, but this is not a comparison of the film (there are things they adapt well and things they don’t–not news).  The one thing that was unfortunate about seeing the movie first was that I knew that McEwan was going to have his heroine choose a certain green dress, so when he goes on for pages and pages and pages about her changing clothes, I got even more annoyed than I usually would have.

Margaret Atwood has said that there are few characters who feed and clothe their characters.  McEwan does so, but I didn’t appreciate the laboriousness of the effort.

And that’s my main complaint–he labors and then the reader labors.  McEwan has said that he stresses about constructing his sentences because he’s insecure about his lower class background.  I don’t see why I should have to suffer for that.  It’s fine to have three (plus one briefly forgotten interlude by someone else) points of view for a day, but it’s not fine to have that day go on for hundreds of pages.  And don’t mention Ulysses to me–people only read that as an exercise.  I eschew exercise in all of its forms (all its unpleasurable forms, anyway).

The book does get better after that blasted day, but I’m not blown away by his metafictional “surprise” (he’s a little too m.night shamawhatever).  The only thing I really like about this book is that the reader is never certain about what happened on a certain afternoon, which colors what happened on a certain night.  And so I’m left to tease it out–not that I’ll ever know.

It’s an interesting look at classism, but won’t hold too many surprises for those of this generation–we know better than to take candy from strangers.

Well, there are three more weeks of the quarter. Lots of grading, lots of teaching, lots of celebrating (of birthdays and weddings and memorial days) to go.

Somehow or another, I have to also prep my summer course(s?) and work on the book and do a lot of paperwork (bills, letters of rec, reviews, etc) that have built up.

Feel boring–I’m mainly just working. But I’ll give you my silliest moment of the week. When I heard a certain Leonard Nimoy give a certain speech about going where no one has ever gone before, I teared up. Am weird, nerdy girl.

So, I’m in the final stretch–where I have been before and where I will be again, but somehow it’s all new every time.