The Gravedigger's Daughter

I've finished Oates' novel and I am impressed again and again with her writing style, sense of characterization, and most of all her ability to seem emotionally detached from her novels. I have always respected Oates for her bluntness. However, I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. Oates is blunt, very much so, but she isn't blunt in the manner of screaming in your face. She highlights the psychological aspects that most skim over, and the events that happen in the world that are plain and simply tragic. Without some form of analysis or contemplation how can we as a human race learn from such events. Oates doesn't focus on these things to depress the mood, instead she focuses on them to highlight possibility.

I was impressed by Oates' protagonist in this novel. She is described as an independent woman in a male dominated society. She overcomes so many trials as an individual but fails to include her loved ones in her emotional life. Hazel Jones truly is a near perfect example of an independent, successful, and hard working woman, but she is a horrible example of an emotional counterpart of a family. I am not arguing that the only way to live life is by marrying, but in this novel Hazel does marry and has a son. She profoundly affects her sounds happiness and emotional stability by being detached and only a figure of a mother. Hazel saves her son from an abusive father and a failed life but pushes him away as he grows up.

I was also very surprised by the ending. With the other pieces of work by Oates' I have read, I was really impressed by the stress the son feels and thought that it would catch up with him and the book would end in his tragic death or suicide. However, by adding an epilogue Oates sums up the lives of her characters in small details. We learn the son is married with his own children and Hazel is still married and reaches out to a long lost cousin. At the conclusion of her novel, Oates introduces yet again another side of Hazel Jones who reconfigures with her true self, Rebbecca Schwart.

The Chronicles of Narnia

I have owned the complete set of C.S. Lewis' The
Chronicles of Narnia for a very, very long time. I finally picked up and read the first three books... then I puttered out and my motivation to finish them has died. I enjoyed reading the first novel simply for entertainment purposes. The books were written for children and C.S. Lewis truly captures a child's attitude and perspective in the books. I'm excited to watch the movie sometime in the future and hopefully to finish the series.

This semester....SUCKS!

ALRIGHTY.... ITS MID-SEMESTER HERE AT USU AND IT STARTED GREAT! I HAD ESL CLASSES (WHICH SERVED AS A CHANGE) AND A GRAMMAR COURSE. I HAD MOSTLY NEW PEERS IN CLASS AND I HAD SET MY TWO JOBS UP CORRESPONDING WITH THE BEST TIME TO WORK, THE WEEKEND. I GOT ROUGHLY 30-35 HOURS A WEEK, ONLY HAD 16 CREDITS, AND I EVEN DECIDED NOT TO PLAY RUGBY. SOMEHOW, ALONG THE PATH, I GOT SCREWED YET AGAIN.

THE ULTIMATE "SCREWER" WAS A PROFESSOR BY THE NAME OF DR. ORTIZ. HE'S FROM CHILE, SPEAKS 3 LANGUAGES, HAS EXPERIENCE AS AN ESL TEACHER IN HIGH SCHOOL AND REALLY CAN TALK ABOUT THE SUBJECT FOR HOURS... JUST GET HIM STARTED. I HAVE TWO NIGHT CLASSES WITH HIM (4:30-7:20) AND HIS FORM OF "TEACHING" GOT PRETTY BORING QUICKLY. HE STARTS EVERY CLASS WITH THE STATISTICS IN IMMIGRANT POPULATIONS, THEN CONTINUES TO TELL ALL THE STUDENTS THAT 85% OF US WILL NOT TEACH ESL, BUT ARE ONLY GET ENDORSED TO HAVE A BETTER LOOKING RESUME. THIS IS JUST THE HONEST TRUTH, MOST STUDENTS WILL TEACH IN SUBURBAN SCHOOLS AND WONT SEE ANY TYPE OF CLASS BESIDE WHITE AND MIDDLE CLASS. BUT WHY DOES HE HAVE TO DEGRADE EVERYONE'S PURPOSE FOR TAKING THE CLASS??? ESL PROMOTES AN "EDUCATIONAL PARENT" FIGURE FOR TEACHERS... WHAT PARENT SAYS YOU SUCK TO THEIR CHILD?

SO SINCE ALL EDUCATION PROFESSOR ACTUALLY SUCK AT TEACHING FOR BOTH OF MY CLASSES I HAVE THE EXACT SAME PROJECTS, REQUIREMENTS, AND DUE DATES. DOUBLE THE LOAD FOR WHAT SHOULD BE TWO DIFFERENT CLASSES, BUT DR. ORTIZ HAS SIMPLY LUMPED THEM TOGETHER. WHILE PREPARING FOR MY SECOND PRESENTATION IN CLASS A, I DECIDED TO CHANGE THINGS UP AND STEER CLEAR OF THE POWER POINT PRESENTATION. I CREATED A GAME IN WHICH THE STUDENTS WOULD ANSWER QUESTIONS THAT I TRIED TO CREATE TO SPUR SOME SORT OF DISCUSSION. AFTER BEGINNING THE CLASS BY GIVING THE STATS, AND THEN TELLING US WE ONLY WANTED A GOOD RESUME I BEGAN MY PRESENTATION AND IT WENT FINE... STUDENTS WERE DISCUSSING THE QUESTIONS AND CLARIFYING ANY CONFUSIONS THEY HAD WITH THE TEXT. UNFORTUNATELY DR. ORTIZ DOESN'T LIKE CREATIVITY SO HE PROCEEDED TO INTERRUPT MY PRESENTATION AND ASK IF I HAD DONE A CRITICAL READING OF THE CHAPTER. I SAID SOME QUESTION ARE BASED ON VOCABULARY, THEORIES, AND SO FORTH BUT THERE WERE INDEED QUESTION THAT CRITICALLY LOOKED AT THE READING. UNFORTUNATELY HE CONTINUED TO TELL EVERYONE THAT YOU NEED TO PRESENT WITH ENTHUSIASM, AND COMPLETE A CRITICAL READING OF THE CHAPTERS WHILE CONTINUALLY LOOKING AT ME. I FAILED IN MY PROFESSOR'S EYES AND HE MADE IT APPARENT TO EVERYONE IN CLASS.

I MIGHT BE A LITTLE BITTER, BUT I'LL ADMIT I SHOULDN'T HAVE STRAYED FROM THE COURSE. DR. ORTIZ ONLY LIKES POWER POINT AND WILL NEVER ACCEPT A DIFFERENT FORM OF A PRESENTATION. SADLY I HAVE ANOTHER PRESENTATION IN CLASS B TONIGHT... AND I'M GOING TO HAVE TO FACE THAT MAN AGAIN. DON'T WORRY ITS POWER POINT BUT HOPEFULLY I WONT FAIL YET AGAIN AND HAVE IT ANNOUNCED TO EVERYONE!!!!

Hell's Kitchen

God has blessed the minds of NBC or some other network and created hulu.com its a free website that offers television programs for anyone's viewing pleasure. Since we are too cheap to actually pay for cable we turn to hulu to watch just about everything we would want. We recently discovered the show Hell's Kitchen and are watching season 4 together. Now we come upon the real reason for this post, a man named Matt. He looks like a normal individual when he is smiling but in every scene in the show he looks like he is about to cry...... and its painful to watch. I pray that he gets kicked off pretty soon because I can't stand his physical appearance. These are some lovely pictures I found on the Internet and it seems that our opinion is universal : )

Another interesting point about this show is that every chef we have gotten to know smokes... heavily. When I think about this fact I compare it to doctors smoking. They know the health risks that comes with smoking, and chefs should be aware of the effect smoking has on the taste buds. Maybe I'm just not educated enough or empathetic to the stress, but to be a "top chef" you need to taste food.

Post Secret Tour

So if anyone reads my blog consistently he or she would be familiar with the Post Secret movement (if you can call it that). Its a man who has stranger's secrets mailed to him on post cards. These are anonymous and are sometimes funny, sad, repulsive, and down right shocking. But he is coming to USU on Wed. April 1st at 7 pm. I read the description on Facebook and it said that the author would talk about some of the secrets behind the post cards and his own secret. So I get the feeling that it will be somewhat inspirational/self mental help themed. I'm excited and plan on dragging Chris to it.

If wishes came true...

So we live in a basement apartment with crappy neighbors and currently a lot of mud. If I could wish anything I'd wish a new apartment (and preferably not a basement) and a brand new puppy. I had cats once upon a time and sadly it didn't work out. You can give me all the crap you want : ) Chris and I started looking at ksl.com because of a friend's success in finding a cute new edition to his family and came across the idea of a jackapoo. Its a mix between a jack russell terrier and a poodle. I know it sounds a little douchey but the poodle half simply makes the jack russell a little more scraggily. Unless of course you find a dog who has parents with more poodle in them. So a word to the wise if you are interested in getting and like the pictures get a puppy with more jack russell terrier in him or her.

But being an adult I have accepted the fact that I could not welcome into my home a brand new puppy until we either move into an apartment that is pet friendly or find an apartment in Texas that will be accepting of a cute little doggy.

Water for Elephants

Hello everyone! So I just finished Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. It was a great book to read because it sucks you in quickly and you fall in love with the characters. The setting is placed on a circus by train and you learn a lot of the lingo and experiences an older circus would have. The book was a little on the erotic side (compared to some of the books common to Utah reading i.e. Mormon lit.) but, I would recommend it to anyone. I was really surprised by the ending by it was truly picture perfect. I read a critique calling it escapism and I agree completely. Not only does it embody the idea of escapism for an individual but serves that purpose for the reader as well.

I am currently out of literature to read, so if you have any to suggest go right ahead. Although my next adventure might be a collection of short stories by Joyce Carol Oates, I still do respect her for her blunt reality.