Every Computer Needs This:

Thanks to my friend E from Myspace who showed me this site.....

Just click on the link, type in your first name when prompted and hit enter.

http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~geoffo/humour/flattery.html

Oooops

One of my Latin teachers told us in class the other day about his problems with the chalkboard. He said, "In grad school, they teach you how to teach, but not how to write on the board." True.

His first story was about teaching in a huge lecture hall. He was writing on the board and when he turned around to look at what he had written, he took a step back and fell off the podium-area. lol.

"If you want to hear a really embarrassing story," he says, "Listen to this."

Apparently he was teaching a Roman History course at the University where he used to teach.
On the board, he wrote:

OCTAVIANUS

Now, having learned his lesson about turning around entirely before, he attempted to underline part of the word without turning around. He did so, intending to explain how the form showed that Octavianus was the son of Octavius, and then asked if anyone knew what this meant:

OCTAVIANUS

I really hope I don't ever do that in front of the class....Ha!!

Ewww

Every day, I walk to class taking the only path I can....I walk under this railroad pass thing, which is kinda scary if it's dark...What is scarier, still--is this used condom. It is right in the middle of the sidewalk and it's been there since this semester started.

I guess I don't really know if it's used or just been taken out of its wrapper. Whatever it is, it's gross. If it weren't a condom, I'd pick it up myself...

Ewwwww...

Athena

The Piraeus Athena

...I took this picture, and about 40 others of this statue, at the Piraeus Museum in Athens, Greece. She is absolutely stunning--

What is it about Athena popping up in so many aspects of my life?

While wasting more of my time reading blogs (and not books) I ran across this quiz 'Which of the Greek Gods Are You? and felt compelled...

Sure enough, I am like Athena:

"The Greek God Athena, of Education. You're seen as sophisticated, smart, and a really down to earth person. Easy to get along with, Easy to understand- and with great prospects. You do well in what you enjoy and often excel in most things academic. "

First of all, I must say that the majority of all those stupid quizzes are crap. This one is no exception. I believe that anyone can create these things rather easily based on whatever they believe to be appropriate--and do. I've got to be the Classics nerd that I am and add that this quiz in particular is bullshit. I mean, if you have to boil down the all attributes of an Olympian deity into one word, Wisdom would be more accurate for Athena (not Education, Dummy! She represents so much more than that...)

That said, though I am a bit biased, I think the quiz is probably correct about me...I do hope that I'm sophisticated, smart, etc and I do believe that I am more inclined than most to excel academically (at least, I used to be...). Moreover, I could spend endless hours contemplating the significance of Athena's serendipitous presence in my life... and find it hard to believe that this quiz is not significant--this is too frequent merely to be dismissed as coincidence.

Athena is trying to tell me something.

Another clue, perhaps?

I'm beginning to get weirded out by this. Perhaps being a student of the Classics is affecting my sanity...

For now, I'll just be happy believing that I am Odysseus reborn, and Athena finds me irresistible because I'm destined for greater things....

Bad News for Michael Vick...

Sports

The World's Worst Grad Student

Wow--I have lots of shit I wanted to say today....yet I've spent too much time looking at other peoples' blogs to write anything significant before I have to go to class...I really shouldn't have to go to this stupid class. I could write an endless post about how pointless my presence in my TA class....I won't....I will just sit and write what I can and try to think of ANY reason not to go to this class...but I have to, Alas...just so I can figure out when is a better time for me not to show up. ....I've got to be the world's worst grad student....

Yesterday, while waiting for one of my classes to begin, I was talking with this girl who was in a split-level (grad & undergrad) Virgil class with me, as well as in the Ovid course I was the TA for. She and I didn't have much interaction. I tried to keep my mouth shut in the Virgil class bc many kids from my Ovid class were in it, and I didn't want to look like an idiot when I already felt like one for TA-ing my peers....Anyway, this girl told me that I made her feel better about grad school because all the other grad students she knew were so fucking perfect, and seeing me miss class/fuck up gave her some hope...'eased her anxiety.'

As soon as she said that, class began & I didn't have time to respond...I was kind of in shock. That's a hard thing to respond to... Once I thought about it--I just wanted to shake her and tell her that I am the worst grad student--that I am lucky not to have been kicked out after such a horrible start...and that all the grad students seemed so perfect to her because we have to be, if we want to be free to enjoy life and not have the scorn/disdain of the entire department...

I'm not sure that made any sense....Oh, well, I'll edit it later...Meanwhile, I gotta run to class....
To Be Continued....

You gotta admit.....

...This is pretty clever, and quite festive!

Ho Ho Ho....

Leave it coke-heads to come up with something this elaborate....I'm surprised as this seems like more of a tweaker thing to do...

one bad apple

Mala mali malo meruit mala maxima mundo.

--The jaw of a bad man with an apple brought great evils upon the world.

I just think this is awfully clever.

Last one, I promise!

She's really not a scary cat--she's a sweetie and I'm very glad to have a 'roommate' who doesn't mind my odd sleeping schedule. But she is a strange one. I can not figure out why she is constantly plaintively meowing. Some meows have a more urgent tone, especially when she's in the kitchen or the bathroom. With any other cat I've met, their meow is a specific communication-- she meows no matter what (food or no food, attention or no attention, pick her up or put her down...) and I feel like she's asking me for something I can't provide, insisting upon it. She's not an unhappy cat, but I just wish she could really tell me what the hell it is she needs so fucking badly. Ha. As yet, I don't have a 'proper' name for her, and have just been calling her 'Loud Kitty' (original, I know). I'm tempted to be a complete Classics geek and name her something clever in Latin, (despite being reminded of exactly how ridiculous when people do that by a fellow grad student, MB--damn you) ...hmmm: strepitossia?? er, gemitissima? I know those are both very wrong...Must go consult OLD.....

Terrifying!

Now--> Watch the transformation as I attempted to get a good pic while in mid-meow...

(I realize now that I should have posted these in reverse order....)

Meet Loud Kitty!

--looking mostly like a normal cat in this one.....Beware! Pictures can be deceiving...In reality, I've captured in this pic a rare moment when she actually has her mouth shut(this happens only while eating, sleeping, or between mews...)

Blogging for beginners...

Wow. There's a lot more to this whole blog phenomenon than I thought...I hope I haven't gotten myself into something I have no business doing....But, I've been spending enough (ok, too much) time reading (lurking) the blogs of others--I figure I've got the gist...And after spending my sleepless Friday night alternating between Blogger Knowledge articles and Aeschylus' Libation Bearers, I believe I'm ready both for the blog and for Euripides....

If anyone ever reads this, please let me know if I've done something glaringly erroneous. Thanks...

A few years ago, I had a friend tell me that if I could learn Greek & Latin, HTML would be a breeze. Three years and a B.A. in Latin later, Max, you are still wrong. How do y'all remember it all? Bravo!

Meanwhile, I plan to post some recent 'blog' entries from my myspace profile--just so we're all up to speed.... I think I'm going to try to keep my real identity anonymous, if that is at all possible, as I was somewhat hesitant to post certain things (especially concerning my department, love life, and substance abuse) that could get me into trouble with people. More and more I'm seeing news articles on the horrible consequences of having your blogosphere identity revealed to the real-live people in your life...

And then, for real, I will get my ass out of this chair and get to some chores that I've been putting off for a week...

My First Blog!

Hello, and welcome to my blog.

After spending countless hours reading the blogs of others, I finally decided to set up one of my own. I doubt that many people will read this, if any--but, who knows? Maybe 1000's of people will find the aimless rants about my life as a 1st year female grad student in Classical Languages at a large Southern university to be fascinating! Maybe not....

M.A. Reading List Exam

Reading List for M.A. in Latin
I. ANCIENT AUTHORS:
Apuleius Metamorphoses: Books 1‑2.17; 3‑5.6; 7.13‑9.10; 10.1‑11.25
Augustus Res Gestae
Caesar Bellum Gallicum: Book 4; Bellum Civile: Book 1
Catullus Carmina (complete)
Cicero In Catilinam I; Philippic II; Pro Caelio; Pro Archia; Somnium Scipionis; Epistulae: Ad Atticum 3.8; Ad familiares 4.4, 5.7, 14.1, 16.12.
Horace Odes: Books 1 & 3; Satires: Book 1; Epistulae: 2.3 (Ars poetica)
Juvenal Book 1: Satires 1‑5
Livy Ab urbe condita: Preface; Books 1, 21, 22
Lucan Bellum civile: Book 1
Lucretius De rerum natura: Books 1; 3; 4.907‑1287; 5.783‑1457
Martial Epigrams: Book 1
Ovid Ars amatoria: Book 1; Metamorphoses: Books 1, 8, 14
Petronius Cena Trimalchionis
Plautus Mostellaria; Miles Gloriosus
Pliny the Younger Epistulae: Book 6.16, 6.20; 7.9; 9.23; 10.96, 10.97
Propertius Carmina: Book 1
Quintilian Institutiones Oratoriae: Book 10
Sallust Bellum Catilinae
Seneca Medea
Suetonius Divus Iulius; Divus Augustus
Tacitus Annales: Books 1, 12, 14; Agricola
Terence Eunuchus
Tibullus Carmina: Book 1
Vergil Aeneid (complete); Eclogues: Books 1, 4, 10; Georgics: Book 4

Read the entire list in translation. This section of the exam will be allotted one hour; students will be asked to identify and discuss the significance of several passages. In addition to identifying the quotation from the particular work, the answer must also reflect a knowledge of the author and his or her contribution to Classical literature.

II. MODERN SCHOLARSHIP: Handbooks

A. Reading List for Historical Contexts:

1. M. Cary and H.H. Scullard, A History of Rome. 3rd edition. New York: 1975.
2. Colin Wells, The Roman Empire. 2nd edition. London: 1992.
3. Mary Beard and Michael Crawford, Rome in the Late Republic. 2nd edition.

Read all three selections on the list. This section of the exam will be allotted 90 minutes; students will be asked to give short answer identifications and to answer one in-depth essay question.

B. Reading List for Mythology and Religion:

1. D. Feeney, Literature and Religion at Rome: Cultures, Contexts, and Beliefs.
2. J. Bremer and N. Horsfall, Roman Myths and Mythography.

Read both selections on the list. This section of the exam will be allotted 90 minutes; students will be asked to give short answer identifications and to answer one in-depth essay question.

Drunken Self Loathing

--originally posted on my Myspace blog--

The secret of being miserable is to have leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not.
-George Bernard Shaw

I went out to a couple bars tonight with my rad neighbor, D. We had had a few beers earlier---just enough to get the itch to go out and drink some more...It is still break here, and most of the students are still away, so the bars were not as busy as usual. Regardless, it was a cool bar to check out and my neighbor is such a good kid...It is great to go out again.

I realize as we are walking there that I have only been out 3 times since I've moved here. Twice with kids in my grad program who for the most part ----------------- (you know what I mean...I don't want to talk shit; older and accustomed to different lifestyles...)This was a somewhat upsetting realization-- Anyone at OU who knew me even only slightly would not believe that not only do I not have a social life, but also that I got the shittiest grades for the past semester...((Pigs are flying; Hell has frozen over)) If the old me randomly met the person whose life I lead here, now, she would have pitied me.

......Anyway--We had a few drinks there at that first bar and I ran into this boy I know from the absolutely most random situation I've had experience with.....too crazy and long of a story to write down right now (or perhaps ever)... He told us to go meet him and his roommate (whom I also know via this earlier insane craziness; this roommate is a trainwreck of a (frat)boy, but completely hot--the kind of guy you know will break your heart through his own self-destruction if not disapparation if you know what I mean; but so handsome and charming you'd still sleep with him knowing full well the kind of Romeo he fancies himself to be.... )

We met them, and ended up back at my place with some other friend of theirs and smoked some pot and chilled...

But they left rather abruptly, with yet another guy, whom I met just last night [---he stopped by to see my other neighbor and left his wallet at my place. Earlier in the afternoon he came by to get it....Then the kid turns out to be friends with the boys at my house. weird.---] after one of them explained the 'boy's night out' thing as they headed to a party and told me I shouldn't come...

"boys night out" doesn't work for me. I don't buy it... I really don't think I'm the kind of girl guys think they can treat like the dumb bitches they usually prefer just to date...It pissed me off bc it makes me wonder why, exactly, they behave/d with me the way they do. Obviously I was mistaken in thinking that these people actually are friends or had respect for me. I don't really know these kids at all and half believe that their friendliness is tonight. and may have been from the beginning, merely a method of mocking me--- in such a way that my lack of awareness is a joke ....I realize that I'm most likely being stupid; drunk and thinking about it too much...it is that these boys left when I first spent some time with them in just the same way...or at least left me feeling just the same...
I refused to acknowledge it then.

My point is this: I'm such a loser. Or feel as such.

Old Lis would never be feeling/thinking this way. Such a lack of confidence in myself and my thoughts is not something I'm used to...in any way at all....

Now, as of yesterday*, most of my energy is devoted to my overwhelming feelings of inadequacy in both an academic and social respect. Most of the time I'm aware of my Midwestern awkwardness, but not ashamed of it really, just conscious of it... I feel like I may as well have a giant neon sign above my head that reads "She's not from around here." As though everyone I pass on the street knows that I don't belong in this place and don't really know wtf is going on.I'm always comfortable in the weirdness that comes with being a Classics major...It takes a special sort of nerd to do what I do...But, frankly, I feel that I'm a bit more of a (socially) normal chick than the majority.....and still pretty cool, if I do say so myself.

It is the isolation that comes from not only being a grad student, but one who spends all her time reading, discussing and teaching dead languages, as well as feeling as though I don't belong in the South...or at (this university)...this is what gets to me...what makes me feel like such a loser...

the combination of these things doesn't get to me always...I understand that I only do this overanalyzing after the fact for brief periods of time & am quite capable of pretending I don't feel like shit--so much so that I've almost convinced myself....

I can tell as I attempt to proofread this that the alcohol tonight is allowing me this psuedo- self righteous indignancy...and incoherance.... sorry y'all

Though I'd swear that somebody has to understand what I'm trying to say....

enough...I'll either delete this entry or clarify later...for now, I'll allow myself to sleep and forget this helplessness

sweet dreams

*to be explained later.....