Things About Which I Am Illiterate vol. 1: iTunes

Only recently did I even venture into the realm of the iPod. I've had one for a while, but since I tend to shy away from new things until the majority of the population has successfully integrated them into their lives, I have been ignoring it. Like when I was in middle school and everyone had CD players, but I still used tapes. Don't get me wrong, I had a CD player, but it was almost like I felt sorry for the three thousand cassette singles I had purchased at Camelot Music. What would happen to them?

Since giving birth four months ago, I have slowly started to get into working out again. Before I got pregnant with Griffin, I was running and loving it, so I am working toward that goal again. The iPod tends to be a bit easier to carry than a Discman (which I have), so I've decided it was time to get to know him. The problem is, that it seems to be so easy to use that I get confused. And iTunes, well now, wait, what do I do?

Since Rhett's music collection consists of a wide variety of what I can only label as loud guitarry music, I have been searching for something to run to. Long story long, my BFF Allison made me a super-awesome mix and I am very excited to utilize it but I spent OVER AN HOUR last night trying to figure out how to get the songs (which are now on my computer) onto my iPod. And by the time Rhett got home, I had given up and forgotten about the task altogether. What is wrong with me?!?! Why can't you just set the thing on top of the CD or point it at the screen and have them magically appear? Everthing else about the darn thing might as well be magic.

Poetry Analysis, the Spring, and My Over-Crowded Desk

Welcome to Spring-time at the relaxing retreat-away-from-home affectionately known as My Desk. Spring means Literary Analysis. Which means essays. And poetry analysis. And essays analyzing poetry.

The result, as you can see, is that my desk looks like this. Some people might think, "Wow! I could never leave my desk like that on a Friday. She'll be there all night getting through that pile. I'll bet it's all she can think of..."

But you know what? Not true. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I am looking forward to the weekend. In fact, I've thought of about 30 other things just in the last 5 minutes. And I'm 95% sure my desk will still look like this when I leave today.

Peace Montag.

Nothing says "summer's almost here" like a celebration of book-burning. After I get over the creepy photo of Ray Bradbury on the back cover of the book, I always enjoy a good romp through Fahrenheit 451. In 1953, Bradbury wrote about a future overrun by technology, where children no longer care about the validity of information, but consume what is set before them without question, quickly moving on to destroy things at the local theme parks.

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The story goes that the fireman's duty is to destroy knowlege and promote ignorance, all in an effort to equalize this futuristic society. The setting is full of over-stimulating images of fast cars, giant and ever-blaring television screens, and 200-fo0t long billboards. Reading has given way to faster means of consuming information; important and accurate information has given way to tidbits of purposeless banter. This cryptic novel is full of thought-provoking paradoxes such as "not empty" yet "empty indeed" and "dead" yet "alive" or "there" yet "not there". These paradoxes serve to further the certainty that, without substance, life would be uncertain indeed.

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This book becomes increasingly interesting to me as we plunge deeper and deeper into the Age of Technology. My mind was especially blown yesterday when 3 of my 90 honors students had heard of Maya Angelou, yet 90% of them picked right up on a reference I made to Nazi Zombies (apparently a level in Call of Duty 5).

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Missing my Lost rundowns? Don't worry, I'm getting to the finale.

But, I can make time! (an old draft, but finally finished)

RIP Daniel Faraday. Last night marked the end to my second favorite Lost character ever (Charlie being my 1st).

Danny Boy pleads with his mom to let him continue with the piano, but she insists that he must give it up "for the Greater Good" (read: Dumbledore and Grindewald, i.e. Deathly Hallows). Dan's reward for being diligent with his studies and becoming Oxford's youngest Doctoral candidate? More criticism from his mother. If it were me, at age 11 (? I'm terrible at guessing ages), I would have gladly given up the piano lessons. However, I was not a genius (contrary to popular belief) and I had a piano teacher who would kick my shin if I was off-tempo or missed a note. And his name was Ken. Enough said?

I just realized something: Penelope! Penelope is Odysseus' wife who waited 20 years for him to return home from Troy, and all the while he was drifting around at sea, encountering innumerable obstacles on a quest to return home to his wife. Sounds like...Desmond and Penelope? Why yes, it does.