A Midsummer's Dream under a Star-soaked Sky

Partaaaay....

2005-12-12T14:16:00.000-05:00

Today's class was a lot of fun. It was somewhat awkward when we exchanged gifts and I did not know who to say thank you to, however. I think we all did pretty well on finding interesting gifts for less than $5. Dan's musical ties were pretty stinking cool, along with Tay's disc-shooter thing. I personally like my anklet set and M&Ms....delicious and beautiful..what a wonderful combination...

I also liked the audio and visual presentations that Schacht had for us. I never knew that Berlin's "White Christmas" had such harsh critics, especially Bing Crosby, who is the person I always think of as singing it. I think they were pretty tough on the poor Jewish guy.

Shopping...

2005-12-07T12:29:00.000-05:00

I have mixed feelings about shopping for Christmas gifts this year. Usually, I'm really excited because that's what I really like about the holiday. I like trying to find something for my family members that they've really wanted or needed. I like the anticipation and the nervousness that comes when they first open your gift, and seeing them wear the clothes you've bought them or use the object you've chosen. However, it seems like being in college has made the whole shopping extravaganza a lot harder to attempt. This year, I have chapter tests, finals, papers, and Track practice that compete for my usual shopping times. My last final is on the twentieth, so this makes my last option for shopping very rushed. And since I have so many other things to do, I'm sure that I'll have a lot of last-minute shopping to do. And I'm not sure that I like that....I have already bought some gifts for my mom and sister, but I still have to buy for a lot more people, including my Secret Santa. Unlike other years, I have no idea of what to get anyone this Christmas. Somehow I need to find the time and energy to devote to finding appropriate gifts, but I have no idea how yet...

Revising

2005-12-02T12:35:00.000-05:00

I did my revisions this morning and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was kinda easy. Granted, I pretty much just started the whole process so I could have something to hand in, but it was pretty simple. I still have a lot to do, but at least I know what I'm doing now. At first it was kind of annoying having so many windows up, but then you get used to it. I really don't know how we're going to peer edit it though. I mean how do you revise a revision....I guess I'll find out.

It's hard being Santa

2005-11-30T12:45:00.000-05:00

I have no idea what to get my person for the Secret Santa extravaganza. When you think about it, it's hard to find any gift worth giving that is less than $5. Also, its difficult to find something for someone that you don't even know. I have no idea what the recipient of my gift likes, wants, or even needs. I don't want to offend them or give them something they already have. I want to give them something that they'll use or admire, something that they'll cherish, even if it's for a little while. I think I've put a giant task before myself that requires a lot of thought. Now you can imagine how long it takes me to buy gifts for my own family...

Paper 6

2005-11-30T12:30:00.000-05:00

I was so glad to hear that paper 6 was moved back to Friday. I don't know why, since I'll end up doing it Thursday night anyway, but it was nice to have that extra couple days. So if, by any chance, I'm actually not a lazy procrastinator, I will work on it tonight. It would be a very slight chance, though.....

Break

2005-11-28T10:37:00.000-05:00

I wanted to work on the whole revising your paper thing over break, but for some reason my computer at home couldn't get on the internet, so that seemed a good enough reason to procrastinate. But that means that I have a lot of work to do tonight and tomorrow night. I'm just glad that its due Wednesday instead of today. Then I'd really be in a pickle. I hope everyone had a good break, even though I felt that it was not long enough, since it sure was hard getting up for an 8:30 lecture....

Secret Santa cont.

2005-11-21T12:34:00.000-05:00

Like I was saying.. I really like the Secret Santa idea. It'll be fun to see what students give other students on a budget as low as $5. It should be quite interesting if what my corner of the table was discussing is any sign....Schacht just told us to close our laptops.....to be continued again, I guess...

partayyyyy

2005-11-18T12:49:00.000-05:00

I think the whole Secret-Santa-party-fun thing is an excellent idea. It sounds like a lot of fun. Hold on. I just picked a name.....

Paper 6....Hooray for Extensions!!!

2005-11-18T11:02:00.000-05:00

I was so glad to hear that our last (isn't that great?? it's finally our last paper!!) paper is due after break and not today. I know it was just a draft, but that whole journal thing sounded kind of in-depth. Plus, I really was not in the mood to write it last night (oops, I meant all week, since I'm not a procrastinator or anything), since I've had some pretty late nights all week. I had a Bio test on Monday, a Chem test on Wednesday, and a book to read with a corresponding paper due Thursday. Seeing as how I did not start reading the dang book until Saturday, I had alot of reading to do along with a lot of studying for Bio and Chem. So last night, without a paper to write and no tests to study for, I did a little chillaxin' and went to bed at a respectable hour. And it was magnificent. So thanks alot, Prof. Schacht for letting this sick girl (oh, yeah did I mention I have a cold?!) have some down time. It was much appreciated.

Laptops are Lovely

2005-11-14T12:39:00.000-05:00

In the survey, it was asked whether the laptops are useful for the course and whether they are distracting. Honestly, I answered yes for both of these. It is useful to have them when we edit each other's papers, answer surveys, and look at the guide, and I have learned a lot about completing tasks electronically. However, when we talk about some not-so-interesting topics (which are few and far between, Prof. Schacht, but for example grammar), it is hard to pay attention when you have the whole world at your fingertips. And there are a lot of interesting things in this oh-so-convenient world. So basically, there are plenty of benefits to having the laptops, but it you're the instructor, there are a lot of drawbacks.

Free Friday...

2005-11-14T10:36:00.000-05:00

Pete and I discussed it, and we decided that we were a bit apprehensive about what our assignment would be for missing Friday's class. We had no idea what to expect; we knew it was something that would take the equivalent of a class period, but that could be anything. However, I was very happy to see that it was just a survey. Granted, it did require thought, but it was opinion based, which is a lot easier to do than something that requires research. So thanks a lot Prof. Schacht!!

Saying "God" in a crowded English theatre...

2005-11-09T10:33:00.000-05:00

I had no idea that actors were forbidden to say "God" on the London stage in 1844. In the commentary, it says that Tiny Tim's famous line, "God bless us everyone!", had to be changed to "Heaven bless us everyone!". This doesn't exactly carry the same sentiment. Heaven is great and all (this may be the biggest understatement ever....) but I don't really think the place itself has the power to bless a family, much less the world. I think the power of blessing comes more from the ruler of heaven, namely God, than the actual location. This is yet another instance where politics and art don't exactly mix beneficially, I believe.

Pudding...

2005-11-08T23:13:00.000-05:00

Did you know that the pudding that the Cratchits have isn't the pudding we usually think of? It's not the Bill-Cosby-jell-o-pudding-snacks pudding that we're used to. It's actually hard; not smooth and cold how we think of pudding today. When I was first told that, I was kind of disgusted. Why would you even want hard pudding? I mean any pudding has to be somewhat good, but how delicious would it be if it was baked? I don't think I'd find it all that scrumptious. But it must have been if all the Cratchits gathered around to watch it get cut open and to eat it. My 7th English teacher told me about this pudding conundrum, and ever since then, whenever I think of A Christmas Carol, I think of hard, warm, crusty pudding. Thanks for the curse Ms. Winter....

"Annotated" must mean "really stinking long"

2005-11-02T11:42:00.000-05:00

At first, the idea of the extra comentary in The Christmas Carol didn't phase me. I figured, hey, it'll just help me understand some of the slang from that time period. It can't add that much to the length. Well, I was totally wrong. Sure, some of the added notes did what I thought they would, but do I really need to know where some people think Dickens's story really took place in London?? First of all, I have no idea where ANYTHING in London is. Second of all, is this information really that relevant to the story?? It just got annoying to see the number of the footnote, go to the footnote, and see that it says "believed to be the church near the Royal Exchange, blah, blah, blah...." I have no idea where the Royal Exchange is, and if you tried explaining it to me, I still wouldn't know. The only way I would know, is if I was actually there, an instance I don't see happening anytime in the near future....

Puritans

2005-10-31T12:02:00.000-05:00

I'm kinda confused that Puritans would think of children as evil, since they are closer to the act of original sin agewise. Therefore, they have to crush their will. But haven't they ever heard the song "Jesus loves the little children"? Ok, so maybe this song was made up by people with a more Unitarian viewpoint, but its what I was taught. When I was growing up, I was told that children were closer to Jesus (and thus, God) because of their innocence. This is pretty much the opposite of Puritan thought, but isn't this in the Bible? Jesus tells the adults "Let the children to come to me." (I dont know where exactly its said in the Bible, but I'm pretty sure its in there.) Maybe the Puritans took this as meaning "Let the children come to me through whipping and spanking", but I doubt that any child would go to Jesus in this way by choice. They may go by fear, which is what the Puritans believed, but what kind of faith is that?! I just dont think that we are to go through life in complete fear of God. If this were so, why would we have so many good things?

Wednesday's Class

2005-10-28T12:38:00.000-04:00

Wednesday's class was a whirlwind for me. I don't really think that I should have made fun of the whole Jesus-in-the-tree thing, since its what some people believe in. I know that I would not be too happy if someone did the same to me. People choose what they want to believe, and I, of all people, have no right to judge them.

But also, the subject of religion is somewhat difficult for me to express my feelings about. When I was in high school, my best friends were diehard fundamentalists, so discussion can get pretty explosive if you're a Catholic girl. Basically, I feel that God's reasons for many events aren't always made to be known to us. Who knows why the hurricanes happened, or why the World Trade Centers were attacked. Maybe there was an obvious meaning, like to punish us, or maybe there are many underlying meanings. Maybe its just not for us to know. We, ourselves, have so little knowledge of the world as a whole, so what we think are the causes aren't what other people believe are the causes. All we have are theories.

No paper today!!

2005-10-28T10:41:00.000-04:00

I was so glad when Prof. Schacht said that we could have an extension on the paper that's due today. I think I would have had time to finish it last night, seeing as how I watched a movie, but it was nice not to have to worry about it and feel rushed. At least now I can casually do it over the weekend, which means a lot less worry.

Paper Cuatro

2005-10-24T10:39:00.000-04:00

Sorry, Pete, but my fourth paper may not be that enjoyable to read. I kind of wrote it in a hurry because I had a huge Chem test on Friday that I REALLY needed to study for. Needless to say, I was very stressed out and the last thing I wanted to do was write a paper. So hopefully the peer editting will really help me out.

Commercializing Christmas

2005-10-19T11:04:00.000-04:00

In this weeks reading assignment, I was surprised to see how fast Americans took to commercializing Christmas. I was also surpised to find how popular books were as gifts. i knew that they would commonly be given during this time period, but I didn't know that they were among the first, if not the first, gifts given to children. I would have figured that toys, such as dolls and trains, would be the most popular. Oh, and how they would actually advertise in the books was very sneaky....How convenient it is that the main character just happens to enjoy reading a particular magazine and proclaims it in the middle of conversation....hmmm...

The end of Wiki...or is it?

2005-10-17T07:17:00.000-04:00

Well, the Wiki project is due today. Last night, I did some editting, and added some links. Can you believe that in all of Wikipedia, there is no site for John Pintard? Maybe someone should get on that... Oh shoot, maybe we should have done that.... But I added links to a variety of subjects, from Thor to Catholicism to plebians to Washington Irving. I do believe that the Wikipedia contains every fact known to mankind, except for the life of John Pintard, that is. I may think about using this plethora of human intellect for other schoolwork, since it is so easy and convenient to use. Or last least I'll use it to look up the lasted methods of cow-milking, or pretzel-making. That would be interesting...Thank you for this amazing breakthrough, Prof. Schacht.

Friday classes..

2005-10-14T11:34:00.000-04:00

I really hope that Professor Schacht is here today, because he hasn't been for the last two Fridays. I'm sure he has an excellent reason, but its kinda weird when he's not there. The whole independent thing is cool, sure, but after 20 minutes, it gets kinda old. Don't get me wrong, I love spontaneity, but I still need some structure, which was somewhat present last Friday, but structure is no good without a loud speaking voice, which was absent on Friday.

mmmmm....weekend

2005-10-12T10:30:00.000-04:00

This weekend was an excellent break. It was great to see my friends from high school and get away from schoolwork. However, this means that I did not work on the Wiki at all. Therefore, I am further behind than I was before the break. darn....guess i better get working...

Wiki = Wonderful

2005-10-07T10:55:00.000-04:00

This is the best writing assignment ever. The Wiki is so easy and convenient; I wish all of my assignments were like this. At first, I was slightly intimidated, but now its pretty easy to edit and post things. And we've already compiled so much information! I went on for the first time last night, and I was flabbergasted to see how much you guys contributed. Its pretty difficult to find something that may have been left out, but interesting to see what some people thought was important to post, and what they decided to leave out. Hopefully, you'll decide to leave some more things out, so that I'll have a chance to contribute more!

Wiki washy

2005-10-05T11:17:00.000-04:00

I have no idea what I want to do for the upcoming assignment. The papers are enticing, since I can just write them and get them over with. However, the Wiki collaboration is also attractive. Its something different, and I could do what I'm good at. What that is, I have no clue though. Right now, I'm leaning towards the Wiki. I guess I should get started on that....

No Class

2005-10-03T10:39:00.000-04:00

To be honest, when I found out that we didn't have class on Friday, I was overjoyed. Don't get me wrong, this is one of my better classes, but it was nice to finally get some free time. I spent this gift of time taking a much needed nap, and was so relaxed that I almost didn't wake up in time to go to work. So thank you to whatever circumstances that allowed my laziness.

Moore vs. Livingston

2005-10-02T10:39:00.000-04:00

After the recently assigned readings, I was very confused. I read the article praising Livingston first, and immediately I thought that he must have written "The Night Before Christmas" because of his generous, fun-loving nature. He seemed like the person who would create a tale to instill "visions of sugarplums" in children's heads. Moore couldn's have; he was such a curmudgeon who could care less about thoroughly enjoying any holiday, much less the sinful Christmas.

However, when I read the article refuting Livingston, everything that I had just deemed probable fact was turned upside-down. Moore was now seen as having periods of writing in which he wrote to entertain his children, so now HE must be the true writer.

So, I went to bed that night with even more questions than I started out with. Both writers believed that they were right. Both writers wanted to prove their point. Both readers succeeded in confusing the reader.

Grammar....yuck

2005-09-27T23:57:00.000-04:00

Grammar is so confusing! It seems like the more you learn about it, the more questions you have. It's like wondering what space is expanding into....If space is nothing, then what can it expand into?! Ahhh, its so frustrating! We explored the various and oh-so-interesting facets of grammar somewhat in my English class last year, but apparently we studied a totally different area, because I've never even heard of the different types of pronouns. To me that is so weird, that people actually spend their time debating how pronouns should be grouped. I mean, people are dying of cancer, and there are very intelligent men fighting on whether a word should be demonstrative, reciprocal, or indefinite.

A Visit from St. Nicholas

2005-09-23T10:39:00.000-04:00

I haven't read this poem in a couple of years, basically because everyone by now either knows it by heart and/or knows the basic idea. However, this year I found out that Donner and Blitzen are just replacement reindeer. Which makes sense, since the originals were Dunder and Blixem. Who would want a reindeer named Dunder anyway?! When I heard that name, I automatically thought of the name dunderhead, which is not exactly a compliment. I mean, how successful would St. Nick be if he always had one not-so-smart reindeer veering off-course in pursuit of some shiny object? Pardon me, but I think that a sleigh pulled by reindeer requires concentration from all of those involved. I don't know how successful the whole operation would be with some Dunder with ADD....

Paper 2

2005-09-20T20:35:00.000-04:00

Umm, I kind of have no idea what to write about for this paper. The problem is that I tend to have a Moderate view on several issues. I can easily see both sides of an argument, but I can never make a biased opinion.

I talked to my sister about it, and she said that I could argue against the rise in SUNY tuition. My perception could be easy to debate against just by doing some simple research into the reasons for the state's increase. So, this is a possibility, possibly.

Tour...

2005-09-20T19:14:00.000-04:00

That library tour was very informative. I have a research paper for history that is due this week, so it was excellent timing, too. I don't know as if I would have ever figured out the whole organization system on my own, but now that I know how it works its super easy. It was kind of awkward carrying around a laptop; I kept hoping that I wouldn't drop it. And the whole walking in a line thing made me feel like I was in first grade. But I guess it was a very productive class in the end.

Papers

2005-09-15T17:57:00.000-04:00

At first I was kind of wary of letting people edit my papers, but now I've decided that I like it alot. It seems very productive to let someone see your work; one more pair of eyes will find any holes in your logic or any sentences that just don't make sense. Since one of your peers is editing your paper, its alright to make mistakes because Lord knows they've probably made the same one. Now, I'm not nervous at all. Thanks!

Music

2005-09-12T16:19:00.000-04:00

I love the music that is played during class. I usually hate the traditional Christmas carols, where the only difference you hear is that of a different singer. They all seem arranged in the same key, with straight rhythms and easy harmonies. However, the music played in class is synchopated, with altering and interesting chords. It utilizes chromatics, which tend to "play" with the melody. Sometimes it actually takes me several minutes to realize what the actual Christmas song is. The challenge is kind of enjoyable.

Crazy Customs..

2005-09-09T03:40:00.000-04:00

Upon reading the first chapter in Nissembaum's book, I was totally flabbergasted. I never knew that America's early citizens were so sexually inclined. When I read the real verses of "Yankee Doodle", you could have knocked me over with a feather. Granted the verses that I originally knew did not make that much sense either, but it was interesting to see how crude this now patriotic song once was.

It was also interesting to hear how violent wassailing could be. In the traditional song "Here we come a wassailing", there are some demands, but I never thought there would be severe consequences if those demands were not met.

Another shocking piece of information was the fact that a boy was chosen to be bishop for a day. Back then, the bishop would have been a crucial role in society; how could a child fill that role?! I have heard that children are believed to be closer to God because of their innocence, but the idea of them being bishop- even for a day- seemed ridiculous.

People must have pretty crazy back then, but I guess that would have been normal at the time. Man is it weird to hear it now, though.

In the beginning...

2005-09-01T14:28:00.000-04:00

To start, I love Christmas. Most of all, I love the anticipation. It's not the receiving of the gifts that I love, it's the anxiety that comes with wondering if your loved ones will enjoy the gifts that you so thoughtfully got them. However it is because of this that I am disappointed when all the gifts are unwrapped, under the tree is empty, and all of the wrappings are thrown away. It's disheartening to feel so much excitement and then have it gone in less than an hour. But it really isn't. Later, I feel the gratification that comes when your sister wears the sweater you bought her or your father dives into his box of chocolate-covered cherries.