Wednesday, 16 May 2012
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Dear Student...
Kristine,
I don't generally email students as I'm grading finals, but your exam
was worthy of comment. On the glass half-empty side, your IDs were
only so-so--on the other hand, your Bacevich essay was a pretty
amazing tour de force. I gave it a 98, which is a grade very rarely
encountered. I guess I kind of tipped my hand with regard to the
likelihood of that one being one of the essays actually selected for
the exam, heh.
Anyway, great job on that--you did a brilliant job of assessing his
argument, I thought. Have a nice summer and all that.
Regards,
ERCThis email makes me happy. It's from my US Military History Professor. I am freaking pumped!
Love,
Krissy
Sunday, 29 April 2012
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Heroic Cycle & Sisters
At one am on a Saturday night you'll find me working on an English paper with Sammy. She's working with the monomyth Heroic cycle and has to write an essay about a short story (Rules of the Game ~Waverly Jong) that can draw parallels to the Heroic cycle. I read through the story and am helping her pick out the parallels. Fact: I love all things to do with English. Part of me wishes I had been an English teacher. At the time when I considered it, I rejected the idea because I felt I could always dive into books on my own and explore them. Had I realized the frustrations of literature that I'm circling around now I probably would have made a different decision.
The most frustrating thing about reading, other than the fact that it isn't something our culture is passionate about is the lack of discussion on the written word. It's hard enough finding someone who actually enjoys reading, let alone someone who enjoys reading the same things as you. There are so many books in this world - both written in the past and in the process of being written. There's no way to actively read them all, so you have to pick and choose what you desire to read. Finding someone with similar interests is so hard. I'm sick to death of talking about books with someone and hearing them say on repeat, "Yeah it was good." It makes me wonder if they even bothered to read it. Where are their opinions!?
Nights like this make my inner bookworm happy. Sammy & I are actively talking about this short story. We're actively picking out parallels and nailing down our thoughts on it. I had to resist the urge to pick up my pen and just scribble down what I would write if it were my assignment. I want to help her, not grab it out of her hands. So instead I had her summarize the story and I jotted down what she said. Then we picked out the parts of the story she summarized and applied the heroic cycle chart to them, picking out the mono myths that were going to be used. After outlining it together, I've left her to write her paper.
Sammy makes me so happy, especially on nights like tonight. I'm so proud of her when she makes a discovery on something she's learning. It's like when I taught her to read. The first time she read 'Cat' I was so pleased. "Again, again," she would chant and I would write another word for her to figure out (after she had memorized the alphabet and the sounds they made. We worked on rhyming words: cat, bat, rat, fat, ect). She's really been getting into reading lately and has suggested some books that I really enjoyed but wouldn't have picked up otherwise [Ex/The Hunger Games trilogy, The Watchman ~Robert Crais, ect].
Truth: my sister is my best friend. I love her. ♥
Love,
Krissy
Saturday, 21 April 2012
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Unexpected
I've been working a lot of hours these last couple of weeks. This afternoon my boss let me out early. Friday night off! Whoooo!
I loved having a Friday evening to just hang out. I went outside and painted my nails and then read in the sunshine. :) It felt glorious! I called a few friends to see if anyone wanted to enjoy the sunshine with me & a friend I hadn't seen in awhile picked me up and we drove to Hinckley quick. We chattered, ate dinner, and bummed around at a bookstore. It was nice.
We also cleared the air. She had been upset with me because of how blunt I was with her girlfriend...a couple months ago, I said something that really hurt my friend's girlfriend's (also my friend) feelings. It came out totally wrong, which usually happens when I have a blunt thought. It's what I would have wanted any of my friends to say to me (and all my besties have & would say something of that nature to me), though I'm not sensitive about stuff like that...unless I'm feeling emotional. Needless to say, I managed to upset them both.
I told my friend that I had been upset because I heard from a couple of people that she was running around saying I was 'confessing my love to her' and/or 'starring longingly into her eyes.' Making me sound like a loser is not a good way to keep me happy. Seriously?! Even now, thinking about how much of a loser that makes me sound like irritates the piss out of me. Between that and the catty drama that was going on, it was just too much for me. That said, now that we've discussed it and have made it clear that that (and my bluntness mentioned earlier) will not happen again. I'll only be blunt again if I'm asked for my opinion & we've made it clear that I'm not romantically interested in my friend.
I'm going off the reassurance that we're passed the catty drama. I enjoy both of them & am hoping we can hang out and not have underlying ridiculous snappy fights. I just want to have a good time, talk about things (books, travel, thoughts, whatever) and not gossip in a mean way, and smile. I just want to be happy. I hope this will work. I enjoyed tonight. I have enough stress in my life that I don't need to court it.
I felt super pretty today. You can't see the back, but my hair was done up in an adorable up-do. Also, I was wearing a pretty white skirt! I love spring!
Love,
Krissy
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
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My idol ♥
This morning there was an article in the Washing Post {WA Post Article} written about Nora Roberts. Today, with the publication of 'The Witness' {I'm going to go and pick up my copy after work this evening!} she's published 200 novels. As someone who has read most of them, I can assure you that they only get better with time. Her stories are always fresh, I rarely guess the ending, am often surprised by plot twists, and in general I adore her books. You can see her writing improve if you start with her first novel Irish Thoroughbred {1981} and work your way through her novels as she published them. As anyone who knows me will tell you, Nora Roberts is my idol. She's the most driven and inspiring woman in the history of my life time...possibly the world. Though that might be over reaching. Emphasis on possibly. I think she's fabulous.
Why is she my idol?
She writes 8 hours a day.
She doesn't believe in writers block: “If you need to believe in the muse, let’s say, fine and dandy. Whatever works for you. But don’t tell me you can’t work today because the muse has left you. Go track down that fickle slut, drag her back, chain her to your keyboard, and GET TO WORK...I don't believe in waiting for inspiration. It's my job to sit down and figure out what to write. I think if you wait for 'the muse' you may wait a very long time." -NR
She's a novel writing whirl wind, and the quantity appears to have no effect on the quality.
She's driven. She's beautiful. She's diverse. Not only does she write, but she co-owns a bookstore, and now an Inn, with rooms that are based off of romantic fiction couples. {Side note: I NEED to stay there. Maryland is now on my wish list of places to travel to!}
All of that, & her book 'Taming Natosha,' was one of the first novels that sealed the deal for me. I may have enjoyed books before but I was never a bookaholic to the extent that it has become before my first Nora novel.
*swoon*
I love Nora. When I grow up, I hope I'm half as driven as she is. Even that will be well over the 110% the commercials tell us to give. ♥
Love,
Krissy
Saturday, 07 April 2012
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Easter Weekend.
It's Easter weekend, & I don't work! :) I'm going to be busy all next week because I picked up a bunch of hours at work, but for the weekend I have free time. Right now I'm waiting for my brother to wake up & get ready for the day. We're going to drive to our parents house later today. Last night when we talked about it he said we'd leave around 3pm.
I should probably get up & do some light cleaning before I leave. Right now I'm watching Law & Order Criminal Intent. I ate breakfast a little bit ago...two eggs & toast. My coffee should be done brewing by now, so I'll have a cup or two of that in a moment.
Happy Easter everyone!
Love,
Krissy
.Quick Thoughts.
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Done with school for the semester! :)
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My heart was in my throat when I woke up...PM, not AM. *Sigh* I guess I hadn't overslept missing my final and work shift.
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One final tomorrow morning. I'm feeling anxious. 8am, I both want you to come soon & want you to stay away. Text anxiety go away!
