Classes in English

I am preparing to study abroad.

And it is weird.


I do not speak Spanish, and the more people ask me, "Well how are you going to communicate?" the more I get scared, despite assuring them that I am a proud graduate from the "Marcel Marceau School Of Language" and give them a winning smile.

What do I pack?

I heard once that in Spain it's considered rude to overuse the article "I."

What's the Spanish word for "faux pas?"

I do like their olives though.

Schadenfreude.

In the musical Avenue Q, an adult parody of Sesame Street, there's a song called "Schadenfreude," which explains the word's definition and lists occasions when one might feel it.

One of lyrics(besides "ain't it fun to watch figure skaters falling on their asses?") asks "don't you feel all warm and cozy watching people out in the rain?"

Yes. Yes I do.

Suckers.

Shakespearean Rooms

In my last Shakespeare class of the semester, Professor Mallette mentioned how when there was a scene in a bedroom, it was almost always a woman's domain.

It made me wonder, if you wandered around campus, or your own home, which rooms are masculine and which are feminine?

My room at school is female.
My room at home is male.
The library is female.
The chapel is female.


...I'm struggling to find something that I think is male. Maybe the science buildings? or is that stereotypical?

ZOMBIES!

Again, I know our apocalyptic unit is over, but I'm still fascinated by it. Also, my friend has been addicted to L4D (Left 4 Dead) so I decided to see what it was all about. And by that, I mean I went to it's wikipedia page.

It's a first-person shooter game in a post-apocalyptic zombie world.

My cup of tea.

Upon reading, I found this quote from a creator that relates to our discussion on the change of the source of zombie-ism, from mystic witchcraft to potent virus:

"Even though we obviously pushed well beyond the realm of believability with many of our "boss" infected, the core idea of a mind-destroying, civilization-collapsing pathogen is more horrifying to me than magically animated corpses, precisely because it is plausible. Rabies is a good example of a pathogen that can turn a loyal, friendly, protective family pet into a slavering attack machine. It's a virus that reprograms the behaviors of a complex animal – a mammal, in fact. What if something similar happened to humans? Left 4 Dead is one possible answer."

-Mike Booth

I am fascinated by zombies. I don't watch many horror movies at all, but if there are zombies, I'm always down. Weird.

males and females

This isn't necessarily environmental but I thought of the "male/female" dichotomy and their connotations at work today.

I am the properties master at the theater, however I spent two years on shop crew. I know my way around jig saws, chop saws, screw guns, squares, and levels. This year, shop crew is full of male newbies who are unaware of my history.

I was taking down a curtain that I had made of burlap stapled in pleats to a plank of wood. It was hanging in a very tricky spot between two walls, with about three inches of work space. I had taken out all the screws when one of them wouldn't come out of the plank of wood, jamming it between the two walls. I struggled with it for less than a minute when one of the boys came over and asked if I needed assistance. I didn't want to be rude, so I explained the problem with the screw and offered him the screw gun. Instead, he seized the plank of wood and yanked it downward, snapping the screw and freeing the curtain. "Or....there's....that.....okay..." I said as he handed me the 1x4, smirking.

I realize he was just being nice and trying to help, but every time I'm working on something in the shop, all of those boys fly to my rescue, even when I don't need it. However, I had a male coworker who was struggling with trimming the top of a plastic bucket. He tried multiple tools, and no one in the shop offered to help.

I'm not upset, and I'm not going to be indignant. I can't help but smile when they insist on "helping" me, even though I've spent more time around the theater power tools than they have.

prom

my friends and I took our prom pictures in weird places instead of the conservatory koi pond or the rose gardens or the new gazebo in the park.

we settled on a construction site across from a cemetery....

territory

It's funny to watch the athletes practicing in the field outside of Hixon come in to use the bathroom. Their faces convey confusion, curiosity, hesitance, submission, and a little panic. They never know where to go, and I don't blame them: the theater has a confusing lay out. There are always strange things being built, loud scary noises, and a ton of traffic on paths that are far too narrow to accommodate them. I confess, we tend to give people we don't recognize looks that say, "What are you doing here?" if they don't state their business immediately. People stop and look up from their work, as if we were a colony of meerkats standing on our hind legs and staring at an intruder. They say a few words about a bathroom, and we all point. Maybe someone will say, "Down that hallway." They think that when they leave we'll talk about them, and sometimes we do.

We are all animals, no matter what we build or create or teach ourselves.