Thursday, March 31, 2005
Home away from home away from home
Hello all! I’m reporting live here from the exciting hamlet of Wetton, where the biggest news since last I graced these hillsides was the neighbors’ sheep giving birth. That’s right, I’m back in rural England with the family they call Heeley, and by “they” I am referring to anyone who knows them because that is in fact their name.
I spent every day leading up to my journey here in the library, including the actual day I left, because I missed so many film screenings while entertaining my various visitors to Aberdeen. It hasn’t been hard work, but it’s been time-consuming. Not that I have any complaints -- I’ve been spending my days with the likes of Bergman, Renoir, and other names I like to drop when I’m trying to sound intelligent.
The train ride down here was seven hours long, but it wasn’t too bad because it takes me about that long to get through one article of my course reading. Actually, I’m exaggerating. It took me that long to get through two articles. It really is like reading a foreign language to me. I can extract a decent amount of meaning out of the text, but only if I break down the sentences one by one and reread entire paragraphs over and over to make sure I understand what each sentence has to do with the ones before and after it.
It takes me forever, but I like film studies reading. I like the little insights into the film they give me. I say “little” insights because most of the time I feel the author could have made their point in about half the word count, which is kind of annoying because they’re wasting their time and mine drawing it out the way they do, but I guess that’s what you have to do to sound “academic.” It’s one of the things I hate about university, but oh well.
It was so nice coming back to Laura’s house. I didn’t think I would have a chance to before I went back to America, but here I am. I don’t feel like a visitor at all this time around, which is a very good thing. It’s so nice to relax in a house with a family and home-cooked meals and sleeping in a real bed and having nothing to worry about (apart from my life, but whatever).
Even the kitty remembered me. When he saw me, he yelped and ran out of the room while I chased him screaming, “HERE COME THE CUDDLES!”
Laura and I watched Dodgeball today. I didn’t think it was all that funny, but it gives me hope that Sisters By Habit may one day be a reality. It’s nice to know that a studio will produce that kind of comedy, one that plays connect-the-dots with genre clichés and asks you to buy them but also makes fun of them. I’m serious. Y’all think I’m joking with this stripper-nun screenplay, but I mean business. It’s way the fuck funnier than Dodgeball, I can tell you that much.
I spent every day leading up to my journey here in the library, including the actual day I left, because I missed so many film screenings while entertaining my various visitors to Aberdeen. It hasn’t been hard work, but it’s been time-consuming. Not that I have any complaints -- I’ve been spending my days with the likes of Bergman, Renoir, and other names I like to drop when I’m trying to sound intelligent.
The train ride down here was seven hours long, but it wasn’t too bad because it takes me about that long to get through one article of my course reading. Actually, I’m exaggerating. It took me that long to get through two articles. It really is like reading a foreign language to me. I can extract a decent amount of meaning out of the text, but only if I break down the sentences one by one and reread entire paragraphs over and over to make sure I understand what each sentence has to do with the ones before and after it.
It takes me forever, but I like film studies reading. I like the little insights into the film they give me. I say “little” insights because most of the time I feel the author could have made their point in about half the word count, which is kind of annoying because they’re wasting their time and mine drawing it out the way they do, but I guess that’s what you have to do to sound “academic.” It’s one of the things I hate about university, but oh well.
It was so nice coming back to Laura’s house. I didn’t think I would have a chance to before I went back to America, but here I am. I don’t feel like a visitor at all this time around, which is a very good thing. It’s so nice to relax in a house with a family and home-cooked meals and sleeping in a real bed and having nothing to worry about (apart from my life, but whatever).
Even the kitty remembered me. When he saw me, he yelped and ran out of the room while I chased him screaming, “HERE COME THE CUDDLES!”
Laura and I watched Dodgeball today. I didn’t think it was all that funny, but it gives me hope that Sisters By Habit may one day be a reality. It’s nice to know that a studio will produce that kind of comedy, one that plays connect-the-dots with genre clichés and asks you to buy them but also makes fun of them. I’m serious. Y’all think I’m joking with this stripper-nun screenplay, but I mean business. It’s way the fuck funnier than Dodgeball, I can tell you that much.
