beboots: (confusion)
My final exams: Introduction to Translation, Art History (1848-1914), and an American Women's History course.  A few thoughts I've had over the course of studying for them...

I learned a new word while studying for translation - "Aphorism", meaning "an original laconic phrase conveying some principle or concept of thought." Also, "laconic: "using as few words as possible to communicate much information; pithy or concise." Definitions courtesy of the most awesome online dictionary I've found to date, Ninjawords (based on the three principles of being a ninja: "They're smart, they're accurate, [and] they're really fast".) That's the most interesting thing I've run across besides a few interesting examples of mistranslations while pouring over my notes for this course. :P SO HARD TO CONCENTRATE ON STUFF I CARE LITTLE FOR.

With regards to Art History, I've really started to think about the whole nature of art, "what is art?", etc.,etc., ad nauseam. I still think that art, on a basic level, needs to be aesthetically pleasing in some way. I'm not big into the whole "it's art even though it looks like a three year old could do better" scene. :P I realize that a lot of thought and innovation goes into some of these "avant-guard" works, but I think what really, really bothers me about a lot of the developments in the art world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries is the insistence on innovative artists to dismiss all that came before. Like, the salons are too oppressive and won't let artists be free, etc., so we'll just dismiss the works of those who still follow the old masters. They want to break completely free, it seems, and so seem to be "forgetting" all that artists "learned" over the centuries

...And I don't know about you guys, but even though people like Bougereau and Frith may not have been big on Impressionism and neo-impressionism and other more "innovative" art styles, I still think that their paintings (for all that they're considered "conservative") are still amazing. I'm still not that fussed about people like Gaugin or Cézanne, for all that they get talked about a LOT in Art History textbooks. I only like a few works by Van Gogh - a lot of the stuff with wonky perspectives I really don't find visually appealing. I realize that they're all still skilled artists in their own different ways, but I just don't like that many later artists felt the need to dismiss those that came before to justify the style of their own works. I may  be bitter because I visited a show of Matisse's works at the Alberta Art Gallery last month and I was supremely unimpressed. The only thing that I found interesting about that show was the lengths to which the artist went trying to avoid drawing hands, which he admitted that he could not draw. Blah, "art". 

It's not that I'm that conservative when it comes to art - I mean, I really, really like Manet and many of Monet's stuff isn't bad either... I don't even know where I'm going with all of this. :P I really do love art! Why can't we all just stop hatin' on people who paint/draw/sculpt differently and all accept that art is awesome? 

In conclusion, studying for women's history is going well. Here, have a video with the Four Vagabonds singing their hit song "Rosie the Riveter", from whence one of the coolest icons of American womanhood came.

beboots: (Elizabeth)
 I'm done my final paper! \o/ That's the one that's due tomorrow, so good timing on my part. It's the last paper I have to write for this semester, and I'm immensely pleased to have finished it. It's printed off, in a folder, in my backpack. My alarm clock is set (tomorrow is my early day: I have to get up at 6am to make it to my 8am class on time), everything's good... 

And then I checked my agenda for the list of things I have to do today and it's completely and utterly blank. NOTHING. I haven't had a day in which I've had absolutely nothing to do, homework-wise, since the day before the first day of classes. It's WEIRD. I'm at loose ends.

Now theoretically I could start studying for exams tonight. Or I could work on my thesis - I have a small stack of books I've been meaning to look at, and I did promise myself that I would get at least 25 out of 50 pages of my thesis written this month... but I think that I've earned a bit of a break. Maybe. So I've been reading Invader Zim fanfiction and Artemis Fowl crossovers and watching clips of Trueblood on Youtube instead. I think I'll rewatch an episode or two of Dark Angel or maybe I'll watch the next episode of The Walking Dead (which you should watch too)... Maybe I'll write a review of something I've read or watched lately. Or maybe I'll work on that Draco Timetravel fic I've been working on. Or maybe I'll start reading the next in the 1632 universe, that series that you should definitely go and start reading right now

I'm free, guys! 

(At least for a day or two. Then I've got to buckle down and start studying and writing my thesis and doing research and applying for jobs and such. BUT FOR NOW... :D )

And so for now, here's a bit of why you should start watching Trueblood right now. It's Sam (a shapeshifter, and the boss of the main character, Sookie) asking Eric, the owner of a vampire bar (and 1,000 year old Viking) for help with a maenad attack, with two of another of his employees' kids in tow. Eric can be a total jackass most of the time, but with these kids he's adorable. In a jackass-y way.
"Can I see your fangs? :D "
Also, Pam (Eric's progeny) and her wise-ass remarks about kids (and her lack thereof) sometimes in Swedish are hilarious. And Eric remains awesome.
beboots: (Elizabeth)
 My eyes are starting to get sore, and I swear that my nimble fingers must have typed tens of thousands of words in this past month, but I'm nearing the end game. 

I've just almost-not-quite-but-still-nearly finished my four-way book review for my 400-level History of American Women's course. Huzzah! Over 1,050 pages of reading went into that book review (I now know far too much about the roles women played during the Second World War, especially Rosie the Riveter types), not to mention all of the writing and stress and sticky notes. I've just completed going over it, making sure I've cited everything properly, and wrote my conclusion. Mostly. I think it still needs a few more sentences; I like my conclusions to all but reach out and slap the reader in the face with its magnificence. That sounds problematic, but, uh, I like my papers to have a bit of "oomph" at the end. If you end on a strong note, the reader (AKA my teacher who is giving me a grade on it) will put it down and go "yep, that's A material". If you end on a weak note, it's just as bad as having a typo in your introductory paragraph: not good, dude. :P 

So that one is due this Thursday, in two days, but I'm right on track.

It's the paper due a week from today that I'm quietly worrying about. I can expand upon the document analysis I wrote earlier in the semester for the same class, so I technically have like three pages of it written, and I have been doing a lot of reading and note-taking for it... I just have to actually sit down and write the darn thing. It will get done soon. Hopefully. Probably tomorrow, and definitely this weekend. 

As for the other endeavours of the month... NANOWRIMO. See for yourself: 



I hit 50k (well, 51,060 words) on November 21st, and I've written only about 3,000 words since then. Shame on me. I also degenerated after about a week into writing fanfiction to make up my wordcount. My original characters were flat, you see, and my plot needed a huge overhaul and... it was too  much to do this month, what with everything else going on. So I wrote huge chunks of two Temeraire fanfics, and a significant amount of a Harry Potter fic that I've been meaning to write for a while. The premises/summaries are as follows:

The Tides of War
In a naval battle with the French, Laurence is presumed killed but actually captured, and Temeraire, thinking his beloved captain is dead, joins the British Aerial Corps anyway get revenge upon the French. Misunderstandings, epic escapes, and hurt-comfort scenes abound.

Reincarnation
The Tswana, despite their barbaric and backward reputation amongst the supposedly enlightened, Christian Europeans, did have the right idea when it came to reincarnation by way of dragons. (AKA the "executed Laurence comes back as a dragon" story)

No Tentative Title (Redemption? Something like that?)
Draco may be an arrogant, selfish little git, but even he has principles. When Voldemort kills his parents, well, he’s going to do something about it. Timetravel fic.

More on these at a later date, hopefully over Christmas break! I will edit the crap out of these and get something posted soon...
beboots: (Default)
 I was really stressed out yesterday. Right now, I'm just focusing on getting through this semester, and finishing my degree, while still trying to find stuff to actually apply for. As of now, I have no clue where I will be in September. 

So for now, here are a couple things to distract you (that may indeed even prove useful!)

-Ten Words You Need To Stop Misspelling. (Also, others in that Grammar Pack of Posters)

-Sounds Familiar? A neat-o compilation of voice recordings of different regional dialects in England, some of which has analysis. If you've ever been fascinated by English accents, linguistics, etc., definitely check it out!

-Have a picture of a white peacock on the attack. And a video of an incredibly shocked hawk while I'm at it. And a video of an animal that clearly enjoys life.

Also, for when things get really stressful, have a gorgeous nature time lapse video of Japanese landscapes with soothing piano music:


(And now I need to stop procrastinating and actually get back to writing that book review. Hey, cut me some slack, I've written 7 pages already!)
beboots: (Default)
 I've been working on my homework today, mainly that four way book review for a class I'm taking with my honour's research supervisor. It's not as terrible as it sounds: you pick four books on the same topic and compare and contrast how they're addressed. I picked American Women's roles in the Second World War, and I've finished reading the books and I'm working on an outline now. I really just have to sit down and write it... and finish it, of course, two days before it's due because some twit has recalled one of the four books and it's due back several days before the paper is due... and I would hate to suddenly need to look up something in a book that's in someone else's hands and isn't available online anywhere.

But that's not what I'm feeling panicky about: several other things are making my stomach get all knotted up. 

What prompted this? I quickly checked my school e-mail after my break for lunch (I have Fridays off... to do homework!), and I had received an e-mail whose subject like was "spring convocation". "Huzzah!", thought I, thinking that my application to graduate had gone through.

...Not quite. I'm apparently missing one course's worth of credit in something called "Group 3". I have everything else covered: my artsy-fartsy credits, my science credits, my second-language credits, more history credits than you can shake a stick at... but not enough in "group 3". The only hint as to what else I could take was that the half of the credits I needed for that were in a Political Science course from my time in France.

In big bold red letters, the e-mail told me that as it was I was not good to graduate in Spring.

This was me, inside:


Luckily, there was a toll-free number at the bottom of the e-mail so I called up a nice (if bored-sounding) lady to ask what I could possibly take. I'm waiting to hear back from her at the moment: she's promised to e-mail me the huge list of courses I can take to complete the credit in something called "breadth of diversity". Apparently poli sci, anthropology, economics, and a bunch of other things are on that list. I'm still trying not to panic. I mean, I'm only registered in three scheduled courses next semester (plus my thesis, which isn't a scheduled class), so I shall hopefully have space. I'm just feeling anxious. It could be for nothing. Maybe I can take Anthropology 101 and be fine. I think I can easily fit another course into my schedule, especially on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Hopefully.

This panic is related to the horror I felt at getting a poor mark on a big assignment in my introduction to translation class (9/15, or a C-, on a deceptively easy assignment worth FIFTEEN PERCENT of my final course mark). See, I'm in the honour's programme, so if my GPA dips below a certain average, or any one mark is below a certain point (I think that it's the equivalent of a B or B+), I will fail out of the programme. I don't have enough credits to complete a French minor, so I'd have to take at least another semester to complete my degree. I don't think that it has come to that, but... yeah. ANXIETY. (Most history profs know who the honours history students are, and unless you get a ridiculously low mark in their class they don't want to be the dick that kicks you out of the programme, but the translation professor is in a completely different faculty and may have no such compunctions.)

It's also related to the fact that I'm terrified of my future. I don't have anything planned for next year. Nothing confirmed. What I really need to do is go about and apply for a bunch of jobs, hopefully abroad. I'm right now tossing around the idea of applying for this paid internship at the Smithsonian Institution in the states, or possibly this tour guide job at the Vimy Ridge memorial in France. I want to improve my French, you see, and get out in the world before I leap into another degree. Next week I plan to visit the "study abroad" office in HUB to see what they have on offer for work abroad programmes. 

I also feel anxious because my original plan was to take a year off and go on the JET programme to get teaching experience and then go into education, but I'm not sure if that's what I want anymore. Maybe the latter. My twin sister just applied for JET, and asked me why I wasn't - I had totally forgotten about it. Maybe I was discouraged because I've heard so much about how difficult it is to get into the programme without any teaching experience... which my sister has. If she doesn't get in, then I had no chance. 

Right now, I'm planning on taking a year off after getting this degree (PLEASE LET ME GRADUATE) before deciding if Grad school is really what I want to do. My current thought processes/options are as follows, after my year off:
-apply for grad school, get a masters in history, become a professor (which would be cool, but jobs will be thin on the ground until more and more profs retire in five years or so)
-apply for a translation school in Ottawa, become a French-English translator (hinges on me becoming more comfortable in my French language skills)
-look into things like diplomacy, and what you need for that. Probably more political science courses.
-maybe go and get a two-year after degree in education and just work as a teacher? They get summers off, at least?
-WHO KNOWS MAYBE I SHOULD JUST JOIN THE ARMY THEY HAVE GUARANTEED JOBS POSSIBLY.

Also, somewhere in there I need to become a famous author and live off of royalties from my books for the rest of my life.

*flaily hands*

*MUST GO AND MAKE TEA*
beboots: (Civil war lithograph)
 (Oh hey, my post this morning on the wearing of the poppy in November sounds so angry! I just wanted to clarify that I'm not angry, I'm just frustrated with people who have the knee-jerk reaction of "war is bad and anything to do with war must also  be bad" and thus taking it out on people who only have good intentions. I hope that I didn't come across as some kind of fanatic. >_> )

ANYWAY I just wanted to share something interesting with you guys. As you may or may not have gathered, I'm doing my honour's thesis this year (all 50 intimidating pages of it...) on perceptions and innovations in American Civil War medicine. I've been reading some really cool books with interesting titles, like Microbes and Minié Balls, Gangrene and Glory, The blue and gray in black and white: a history of Civil War photography, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War... Of course, you get the opposite end of the spectrum with books with absolutely boring/uninformative/uninspired titles like The Civil War... which is in fact a brilliantly written book! (If, of course, I'm talking about the one by that title by a man named Paul Cimbala.)

But to get back on track, I just wanted to share a passage with you from a book called Patriotic Gore: Studies in the Literature of the American Civil War, by Edmund Wilson. It's bound in a serious-looking blue cover, with very thin pages that actually remind me more of books from the late 1800s, not one published in 1962. This, combined with the title and even the man's name (I always associate the name "Edmund" with sour-faced men with dark goatees), I expected this to be a serious, possibly even depressing, work. And it is. For the most part. Except for this one completely unexpected passage in the introduction in which he makes reference to something completely unexpected, right after talking about having lived through two world wars:

"In a recent Walt Disney film showing life at the bottom of the sea, a primitive organism called a sea slug is seen gobbling up smaller organisms through a large orifice at one end of its body; confronted with another sea slug of an only slightly lesser size, it ingurgitates that, too. Now, the wars fought by human beings are stimulated as a rule primarily by the same instincts as the voracity of the sea slug. It is true that among the animals other than man it is hard to find organized aggression of the kind that has been developed by humanity..."
Holy crap, guys. This author is... I don't even know what to think! I think awesome. He goes on to continue with a pretty serious philosophical/historical point about the inherent evil in humans and why wars are started and perpetuated and such, and he uses long words like "pugnacious" and "Lebensraum" and others, but I cannot get over the fact that he used Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID to start off this discussion. 

How did this serious historian, of at least fifty years of age (he lived through both world wars, remember?) encounter this movie? Did he go to the movie theater with his grandchildren with the American Civil War on the mind? 

Just thought I'd share. 

And always remember, guys: 
(Image courtesy of Harkavagrant.com)

 
EDIT: Wait, upon reviewing some respectable internet sources, I've realized that the Little Mermaid was only released in 1989. Now which Disney film was Mr. Edmund Wilson, the serious historian, referring to? He needs to source his statements better, OMG! :P 
beboots: (Civil war lithograph)
 My facebook status this morning read "in contemplating the pile of books sitting next to my desk, ready to be poured over for three separate papers including a 50 page thesis, I have had the sudden urge to flee the house. >_> Instead, I remain here, trapped and weighed down by several large hardcover books. Besides, they're in between me and the door. D: "

Almost all yesterday and today (granted, it's only 2:30 in the afternoon as I write this, but I began working both days before 9 o'clock in the morning), I've been chugging steadily away at my homework. Mostly readings. This is the first chance I've really had to start working my way through the research for my papers. 

I took out a whole whack of books about a month ago from the Rutherford library (taking full advantage of my extended library privileges now that I'm in my fourth year in the honour's programme), but they've just been sitting in my room as I've been distracted by things like midterms and Spooktacular volunteering. To be fair, there may be a connection between zombies and gangrene and thus Civil War medicine, but whatever. 

Anyway, a few days ago, I stacked the books I have out by category (AKA which paper they're to be skimmed through for), and as I got an e-mail reminding me that half a dozen of them are due within a handful of days, I began working on them first. I have a growing pile of books next to my school bag that are ready to be returned to the library. I feel like I'm getting stuff done! ... At least in my scholastic life. :P

I'm actually writing this because I just finished writing a rough, 2,000 word outline for my honour's thesis on innovations in medicine made during the American Civil War. Hopefully my research supervisor will like it and have lots of helpful suggestions (but not enough of them for me to feel like this isn't a solid base), so I can then use it as a template for my 50 page thesis. I'm getting excited about my topic again! ... But also slightly intimidated by the amount of readings I have to do, because I also spent an hour and a half trolling through the library databases adding things to my bibliography and my "to read" list. Lots of short documents have been digitized and are available for free online, though, which is a plus!

In other news... I'm doing National Novel Writing Month again this year! I'm not nearly as happy with it, though, as I was at this point in the last three years I've done it. My characters seem flat, and I'm having a lot of trouble writing action. Not like fight scenes, but just ACTION, like moving from one space to another. Told from the first person POV, my main character just seems to want to THINK all of the time. She's too perceptive! Stop it! D: 

I think that I bit off more than I can chew, and didn't do nearly enough planning, despite the fact that this is the first year I've even tried to create character profiles for everyone. I think that I should have thought of an entirely different novel set during the Civil War era so that I can use a lot of the research I've been doing for university. :P I may actually have to drop this plotline and make up my wordcount by writing out some fanfic I've been meaning to write for a while... Probably a Temeraire piece, so I actually have fun writing this month, possibly an Avatar: the Last Airbender one. Right now, I don't think that my novel will be going anywhere without significant overhaul, and while I'll cast my eyes upon what I've written so far again throughout the month, and I WILL try to add to it, I don't think that it's conducive to my stress levels (or my writing ability) to grit my teeth and type out something that clearly isn't working... 

Yeah, so that's the decision that I've made, for now, I think. I still need reassurance that I've made the right decision, though. :(

Also, here, see how I'm doing! 

beboots: (Elizabeth)
 Blah, I'm losing my ability to keep my eyes open... so tired... 

So today I met with my client for EISA (that's the Edmonton Immigration Services Association). Essentially, in lieu of writing a research project for my translation class, I have the option of volunteering with EISA! Once a week, I meet with a client, someone who has been in Canada for less than three years, and needs help getting to know the city and, most importantly, practicing English. I met with my client over tea at a little café called the Three Bananas on Sir Winston Churchill Square. Her name is Maria, and she is from Peru. :)  It was nice enough weather that we could sit outside the café and enjoy the crisp fall air and talk about a variety of things, including good vacation spots in Peru and Canada, Hallowe'en traditions in both of our countries, the bizarreness of English and French dialects in Canada, the preponderance and recognition of native languages in Peru and Canada, and so on. It was fun! ... and much more rewarding than a research paper would be. Also, guaranteed marks. :3

Other than that... I finished a few small assignments today, and I've been keeping up with my readings... as I think I've said before, I feel like I'm just treading water: I'm keeping afloat, but I'm not going forward. I really need to start - and finish! - some papers, especially that primary document analysis which is actually due TUESDAY. I've selected the book I'll be writing on, but I still need to identify the passage that I will be analyzing... but I still need to write the thing. I think that it's fairly short, and I sort of know what I'll be writing about... blah. It'll happen. I just need to sit down and FOCUS.

Luckily, because I have Fridays off this semester and we get Monday off for Thanksgiving, that means that I will have a FOUR DAY WEEKEND to work on some of this stuff. Let's see me get some proper sleep, first, then buckle down and get stuff done. I'll have to write off one of those days to help mum cook this year, though. I think that I'm going to make a cheesecake the night before - possibly eggnog & cinnamon flavour. 

ANYWAY I still feel stressed out about what I have to finish this semester - no time! - but I found the time this evening after my brain started to turn off to sit and listen to podcasts for a few hours and do some beading. I'm about two-thirds the way through this mystery project, and I will definitely post photographs once I've finished! (Along with a time estimate of how long the thing took me to actually make.) I felt very zen while doing this; it's a very repetitive yet intricate activity. I was listening to episodes of this amazing podcast by the BBC called A History of the World in a Hundred Objects. I would highly recommend downloading it off of iTunes. They actually talk about a history of the WORLD, and so aren't as Euro-centric as many "world" histories are. Also, they pick neat objects, have great voices and oral descriptions, and, well, I've been learning a lot! :) So even though I spent the last two hours or so essentially doing crafts, I was learning, and I was de-stressing. :) 
beboots: (Civil war lithograph)
 Okay guys, so some of you may be aware that I have a fascination with medical history, especially that of the nineteenth century, right? That's what I'm writing my honour's thesis on?

Well, a friend of mine just linked me to what looks like a fascinating website run by the British National Archives. Take a look!

In short, they're: "journals and diaries compiled by Royal Navy surgeons and assistant surgeons who served on HM ships, hospitals, naval brigades, shore parties and on emigrant and convict ships in the period 1793 to 1880." 

(This may also be of use if you're a fan of the Temeraire series and/or Master & Commander! The heroes do occasionally get injured!)

The photo gallery includes some super neat things, including:

-drawings illustrating the effects of scurvy on the lower limbs
-very nicely detailed coloured sketches of sea snakes, one of which reportedly killed a man on board
-in a different folder, a sexy picture of an actress named Mrs. Langtry from 1885

All available to you for the low, low price of FREE ON THE INTERWEBS. 


Edit: 

!!! In the "highlights" page, it says that some of the documents include: "A surgeon recounts the case of a 12 year old girl who vomited an 87 inch worm and in another journal a surgeon describes what is possibly the first recorded case of a hermaphrodite in the Royal Navy."
beboots: (confusion)
 So after I posted that list, yesterday, of all of the things I have to do in the coming months, I felt incredibly stressed out. I made tea, and that made me feel better, and then I did some more homework, which could have made me feel worse but at least I was getting stuff done... And then I remembered this photo that Erin took of me while I was in York in June! I predict that this will become my profile picture on Facebook towards the end of October/into November and December. It was the motto of our trip in Britain, what with so many crazy things happening to the members of our group. 

So when we saw a print of that famous Second World War unpublished propaganda photo in a poster store in York, we just HAD to take a photograph. And I think that it's the best photograph of me from the entire trip! And it really sums up certain emotions really, really well. Particularly how I felt for about ten minutes yesterday after writing that list. I just thought I would share with you guys. :)


Also, in other news: the Commonwealth Games in Delhi were kicked off today! :D Mum woke me up early (well, at 7am) to watch the opening ceremonies, live, with her. The drummers and dancers were cool - I particularly liked that bit where the children suddenly flipped off the golden outer layer of their outfits to reveal the Indian national colours, then painted those henna'd hands on the sheets above their heads. Uh... if you didn't see the video, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. But it was cool.

Furthermore, the march of the athletes was very much a geography lesson for me. Who knew that Britain had conquered so many tiny islands...? ;) Also, I couldn't spot dad in the crowd of 251 Canadian athletes, but I didn't really expect to. The Canadians had snazzy outfits! (As did many of the other athletes.) Go dad go! :D
beboots: (Civil war)
Let's get my thoughts on paper! I'm thinking, because I have so many ongoing assignments, it may be best to just write everything down and occasionally post updates with finished things striken out (so I can feel better about myself and my progress). 

At the moment, I mostly feel like I'm treading water: I'm keeping afloat, but I'm not going anywhere. I need to get in advance. Fortunately, this semester worked out so that I have a three day weekend every weekend! Huzzah! Fridays off! Also, (un)fortunately, I'm unemployed this semester, which means more penny-pinching (but not desperate straights: I live at home with my parents and I have scholarships and RESPs), but also means that I have more time to do homework. Hopefully I won't go stir-crazy first. :P

All right, things to do!

Soon-ish:
-Write reply to penpals Anna and Anri. It will happen soon, I promise!
-two paper proposals for two separate women's history courses. Better be brilliant, as the professors for these are the thesis supervisor and the second reader for my thesis respectively. 
-READINGS. SO MANY READINGS. Actually on track for this! I have like 150 pages of reading per week, but it's manageable if I do them on the day that they are assigned, or at least strive to do so. 
-Write out plans for honour's thesis, to see where the gaps in my research are. Prof. Smith, my supervisor, actually gave me the idea of writing out two plans, in which the order is flipped, to see which one's organization would flow better. 

October:
-Study study study (for midterms).

November:
-NANOWRIMO? I've been doing it since my first year of university, and I haven't failed in my wordcount goal yet... I have a brilliant idea for some characters and a world and such, but I need to plan this stuff out. Also, find the time. Which is related to my need to get stuff DONE in advance. 

Long term, but better get started:
-Research for honour's thesis! I want to get a really, really rough draft done by Christmas. We'll see how that goes!
-Primary document analysis on Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself
-Turn that primary document analysis into a full-fletched research paper. CHOOSE TOPIC.
-Finish three (Two to go!) 2-page reading response papers for senior-level American women's history course. 
-Start reading four books for comparative book review for the same class. I've chosen american women's roles in the second world war! 

Other commitments:
-volunteer at Spooktacular, the Hallowe'en special event happening on the two nights immediately before Hallowe'en, at Fort Edmonton. History dial is turned down. I'll talk more about this later in a separate blog post, but for now, please accept a link to a video of the Thriller Dance that took place during the 2007 Spooktacular.
-Continue volunteering with EISA (Edmonton Immigrant Services Association) for credit for linguistics class. I get to meet with a lovely Peruvian lady once a week to wander about Edmonton so that she can get out of the house and practice her English! (But it's time-consuming)

So, uh... I'm busy? D: I feel restless, but I've been reading straight for the last several hours... I think that I'll take a break to go for a jog, then make some tea and leap back into reading. 
beboots: (Default)
 Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Do yours before you read anyone else's....


(Beboots' note: these are in no particular order. Tagged from [livejournal.com profile] voiceofanarchy on Facebook.)

1) The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

2) The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

3) Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

4) American Gods by Neil Gaiman

5) Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel

6) River God by Wilbur Smith

7) A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

8) The Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce

9) The Raging Quiet by Sherryl Jordan

10) The Taggerung by Brian Jacques

11) Ghost Stories of Alberta by Barbara Smith

12) Animorphs #29: The Sickness by K.A. Applegate 

13) His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

14) Owl in Love by Patrice Kindl

15) Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
beboots: (Default)
 Well, I've returned to university! For those just tuning in, I'm in my fourth year in the honour's history undergraduate programme at the University of Alberta. 

What better way is there to celebrate my return to academia for the autumn than a senseless discussion of academic styles? I encourage anybody on my friends list (or anybody else reading this who has had experience with such things) to put in their own two cents. 

My question is this: what is the best citation style?

Inevitably, during the first lecture or two, the question is brought up: how do you want us to cite our sources in our papers, professor? Inevitably, the professor gives a very specific answer - something they clearly want the student to use - but, of course, reluctantly admits that such-and-such a style would be (only barely) acceptable, if you must. (The last part must be spoken with at least a hint of disguised distaste.)

Perhaps it's merely a matter of which one you learn to use first. Rather like a native language, anything other that that first style seems stilted and, well, foreign. Cumbersome to use, even. 

What am I talking about? MLA vs APA vs Chicago vs anything else I've missed vs, well, chaos. Some professors will accept anything "as long as it's an actual style." 

Personally? I'm a huge fan of the Chicago Manual of Style. (As much as anybody can be a "fan" of such things, of course.) Why do I feel so strongly? Well, I had to learn how to use MLA for an English class that I didn't particularly like, and I've had to use APA for a psychology class before, but, well, quite frankly? In-text citations look UGLY to me. 

I have no idea why English majors and English professors don't insist on Chicago style. Aren't they all about the flow of language and such? When you  have to stop a sentence to stick in a huge set of dates and authors' names and such, you can't just skip over.

It's not that the Chicago style isn't clearly citing one's sources... it's that we're just not obvious about it. No, we're subtle, discrete, even. It's all in the footnotes and endnotes. Tiny little numbers, barely visible, but with informative footnotes just within easy glance. A random date and even a name tells me nothing. But a footnote can contain FAR more information in a much more stylish way.

My mother tells me (rather like a horror story) that in the style she must use at the hospital where she works (I think it's APA style), one can't shorten a list of authors in-text to "et al" until after five or six names. And with all of these modern, empowered and educated women (with, of course, hyphenated last names to show that they're married but still modern, empowered and independent women), well... That doesn't look graceful at all.

Is it just a matter of placing the authors one's citing front and center? Is it all about narcissism after all? 

(Isn't Chicago style the best?)

What say you, f-list? 

(And that's it for your daily dose of dweebery. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming. :P )
beboots: (Civil war lithograph)
 
Maybe it's because I've been at this for at least three or four hours, but I ran across a funny coincidence while accumulating a bilbiography... See, I've found many documents that have been made into microform by the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions (CIHM), which is in itself a bit of a mouthful... Each of these documents is assigned a number, I think either at random or the order in which it was microform'ed in relation to other documents. 

Well, I've run across something different - a speech argued with evidence from the bible, instead of, y'know, in terms of economic advantages or the formation of a common national identity or what have you. 

It's entitled "The Canadian dominion tested by the evidence of scripture and history." It's CIHM number? 04666

I am highly amused.

... In which case, I probably need a break. :P
beboots: (Civil war lithograph)
 Why don't we have as interesting names anymore? Granted, George Brown and John Alexander MacDonald wouldn't look out of place in today's phonebooks, but what ever happened to names like D'Arcy McGee? Or G.E. Eyre? Or, my favourite: W. Spottiswoode?

What interesting names have you run across in your travels? I recall a girl in my third grade class whose name was "Heaven-Leigh" (AKA "Heavenly"), and I was very jealous of the cleverness of the pun. 
beboots: (Civil war lithograph)

I have decided to blog about the research I am doing. I swear that some of it must be of interest to others who enjoy history!

Cut for an explanation of the course I'm helping to design, as well as quotations from a particularly interesting source... )
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Okay, so it's all-but confirmed.

And it's completely different from what I just said!

After having phoned up to confirm with the Antique Photo Parlour people and setting up the date for my first training shift, I got back from grocery shopping with my father to find an e-mail sitting in my inbox: I have the research assistant position, should I want it.

And my parents and many of my university friends convinced me that I should. I think that I'd have super fun at the Antique Photo Parlour, but at the end of the day it's over $6/hour less than the research assistant position, and wouldn't look as good on a resume, especially if I wanted to apply to grad school, for an internship, or for a teaching assistant position (all distinct possibilities).

There was also no way of doing both - the first three weeks of research would be the most intense, because I'm going away right afterwards, and a chunk of it needed to be DONE by the time that I leave, and that's just at the time when I would have to do like half a dozen full-day training shifts. So it's a no-go for both of them.

SO I called up the Antique Photo Parlour people to ask about the possibility of part time work. Fay is the one who answered, and she was super-nice, and just made me want to work for her more because she was so ridiculously understanding. Part-time is a no-go as well, but I expected that. BUT she surprised me because she actually anticipated what I was going to say: she suggested that she keep my resume on file, and I could call them up AFTER my trip, because they may not have a full slate of workers. Essentially, when the research gets less intense, I could perhaps get a second job with them... perhaps, even if summer doesn't work, I could have a job for the rest of the school year.

Fay said that she totally understands that working for her is a fun part-time job to make money and friends, not a career, and she congratulated me on getting such an awesome research assistant position. She told me that she really respects my decision to do something for the good of my degree and future career. She said not to be a stranger, and that she'd love for me to call her back sometime. ;_; She was so understanding it was beautiful.

SO I may still be able to work for them! Just... later!

I e-mailed my professor back, but that was ten minutes ago, so I'm not surprised that I haven't gotten a message back. But it's looking hopeful! :) Wow, that's a weight off of my chest... I'm glad that I took care of this tonight and not tomorrow, or I'd have been anxious all night and unable to sleep.

I have a summer schedule! This is great!

(And one of the best things about the research assistant position is the flexible hours - I have days off when I want them, mostly. So I can do the camping trips and attend the conventions that I want to! <3 )
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One of my favourite pieces of fanart ever:


John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes by `spacecoyote on deviantART
Few historians know of the heartwarming friendship between French Reformation theologian John Calvin and English political philosopher Thomas Hobbes, the latter of whom may or may not have been real, considering he was not even born yet.


I thought that I would let you guys know what's going on with my life, just to make sure that I don't have that negative post from last week lingering on in your minds.

I just wanted to say, first, that I really do appreciate all of the kind words and kind thoughts you had for me last week. I really was going through a tough time, and I think that having good friends and a supportive family have helped me become the person I am today. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Cut for info on job interviews and other happiness )
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All right everyone... so I thought that I'd do a little catch-up post, here. I've been anxious for quite a bit of time, and I have had some bad news, but I THINK that everything is going to be working out. I've just got to think positive, right?

Sad face about job opportunities.... )

... Aaand positive thinking! )
beboots: (Hikago Sai)

"If General McClellan did not want to use the army, I would like to borrow it."
-Abraham Lincoln



"Ce ne sont pas les pas d'une personne qui danse!" ("Those aren't the steps of a person that can dance!")

So I have a few things to glee about, and a few things to be anxious about. Sadly, more of the former than the latter.

I have the interview at Fort Edmonton! ... But there are problems! )

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