labellementeuse: a girl sits at a desk in front of a window, chewing a pencil (Default)
worryingly jolly batman ([personal profile] labellementeuse) wrote2008-07-16 12:22 am

(no subject)

It has been many moons (like three days, whatevs) since last we spoke, livejournal, which I fear is because lately I'm knitting instead of reading my flist. Sorry! Lately I have knitted: slippers. I have also stared at a lot of sweater vest patterns and tried to decide which one I want to knit with this blue DK I just bought. Pattern recs appreciated.

Also, I just started term again and got WHACKED with a bunch of reading. I feel like I've been run over by a postcolonial bus. Ouch. (This is a bus that really wants me to know the difference between post-colonialism and post-coloniality, but is doing a really bad job of explaining - so - if you happen to know the difference, I pay in karma! Or baked goods if you live within 50km.)

Classes this semester:
ENGL333: The Exotic. Had two classes of this and it looks fantastic; it's about exotification, chiefly from the post-colonial perspective; we're doing Aphra Behn (Oroonoko), Robert Louis Stevenson (South Sea Tales), Salman Rushdie (Shame), Yann Martel (Life of Pi), and Fiona Farrell (Mr. Albinoni's Ferrets), plus a selection of short stories (Allende, GG Marquez, and other usual suspects of magical realism). I can't quite articulate the aims of the class yet but it'll be concerned with exotification as a process of assimilation/conflict, a category of taste, and as an aesthetic. According to the course outline. Really enjoying it so far; only downside is what looks like vast quantities of highly technical reading.

PHIL/HLTH325: Bioethics B. This is the second half of a full-year, post-graduate Health class, on biomedical ethics; it'll feature a series of guest lecturers talking about real-life issues. We just had a philosopher who just spent the maximum 6 years on the Upper South Ethics Committee talk about a bunch of case studies; next week we're having a clinician. Carolyn was great; no idea what the clinician will be like! However, the class looks fantastic and there's a real mix of people/backgrounds/etc - there are people taking it for PhD, Masters, Post-grad diplomas, Hons, and of course BA/BSc/Health sciences.

DILEMMA: I'm not sure whether to take AMST science fiction and technologies paper (You get to study Snow Crash! And BSG!) or the ANTH Politics and Power paper I'm actually signed up for, so I'm sitting in on them both this week. AMST does clash with ENGL, but I'm comfortable with missing an alternating hour of each every two weeks; also, it's just a filler paper, and I know I'll love the material; the lecturer has a really great reputation and I've heard the paper is wonderful. I don't know anything about ANTH; I've never taken an ANTH paper; but that could be a good reason to! I don't know.

Also, grades are out: A+ (Supernatural, which I already knew on account of my fabulous essays), A+ (History of "Philosophy", AKA epistemology, which I HATED), A (Contemporary political philosophy, which I liked but found really really challenging - it was a 200-level paper, but IMO it was assessing at 300 level - certainly the amount of work done was 300-level equivalent). Thrilled with the latter two, totally don't deserve them (suspect good take-home essays dragged up the atrocious 0 hours of study exams I sat); happy with the former but in the good, I worked really hard, loved the paper, and totally deserve that mark way. Good results for a kind of crappy semester.

[identity profile] disturbed-kiwi.livejournal.com 2008-07-15 09:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Sounds like some very interesting papers for this semester, enjoy. And congratulations on the thoroughly expected excellent marks for last semester ;D

[identity profile] duskshadows.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
i took politics and power last year, it's a good paper IMO - but it is quite a bit of work. Richard is a good lecturer, though he is guaranteed to run overtime/run out of time in every single lecture, and there can be some quite heated discussions in the tutes. :P
but, on saying that, if that AMST class hadn't clashed with work this semester, i would so be there. XD
congrats on the marks! :D

[identity profile] greyling.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 07:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Yo! So I'm a friend of Catling42's, and she's having a birthday party on Friday. I'm thinking of attempting to put together an awesome birthday present for her. She's been mentioning these letterpress workshops that she really wants to attend, and I'm hoping to scrape up enough cash by asking every friend of hers I can contact to pitch in - what do you think? Would you be willing to chip in? If I get enough people, it may wind up being quite cheap ($5-10 a person?). Also, if you have any ideas for People Cat Knows Who I Should Contact, that'd be great! Thanks!
ext_2569: text: "a straight account is difficult, so let me define seven wishes" image: man on steps. (Default)

[identity profile] labellementeuse.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
We don't really have friends in common but I'd be glad to chip in - if I can. Is it paypaling or something? I live in new zealand and don't have a credit card so my options are reasonably limited, unfortunately.

(Anonymous) 2008-07-16 09:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh wow! New Zealand! Fantaastic. I'll get in touch with you if we get enough people? (I think I may be able to set something up via paypal.)
ext_2569: text: "a straight account is difficult, so let me define seven wishes" image: man on steps. (hot hot astrophysics)

[identity profile] labellementeuse.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 09:31 pm (UTC)(link)
OK, sounds great :)

[identity profile] rewihendrix.livejournal.com 2008-07-17 12:28 am (UTC)(link)
you got whacked? shit! so does that mean you're sleeping with Lucy's fishes now?
...sorry...been watching too much sopranos...
ext_2569: text: "a straight account is difficult, so let me define seven wishes" image: man on steps. (Default)

[identity profile] labellementeuse.livejournal.com 2008-07-17 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
you're so ridiculous. :P