Just Because

So I know I been about as inconsistent about updating my blog as U2 are about putting out good music, but alas here I am again. Since it's 3 in the morning, I find rather appropriate to do a blog on something important to me, my fears and dreams. One of my roommates bought Planet Earth and we were watching it tonight. Sorry nature people, I'm a city boy in every way, thus this was about as enjoyable as, well, the anime I make my roommates watch. I especially was freaked out by the great white sharks attacking seals. Holy shit, that was some of the scariest stuff I've seen since George Bush getting reelected. These demon fish (yes, I called them fish, get over it all you grammar-correcting snobs) could jump like 10 feet out of the water and eat their prey. There's a reason I'm up right now. I know I'm gonna dream about those over-sized plot devices for sea horror movies. I got such anxiety from watching them...even writing about it is freaky.

Second thing, I've been going through the TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel, and I stand by it. Could I please become a vampire. I know I'm not too big into blood but at least I wouldn't have to worry about organic, fair trade, or added chemicals anymore. Also, I'd be hella (that's right, hella) strong. Throwing people across rooms. Chillin' in a layer thinking up plans for world destruction. What's not to love. And, of course, the most important part. NIGHT TIME! I love night time more than I like sarcasm. When I worked for Starbucks, I went insane having to get up at 3:45am to be at work by 4:15am. I go to bed at 4, not get up then. Even having to wake up at 8 is annoying (before everyone begins judging me and calling me a lame/lazy ass, I do get up at that time normally, just not enjoyably). I thrive at night...case and point, this amazing blog entry. Here are the key reasons why night time kicks some major nocturnal ass. First, there's not sun at night time. Second, it's easier to put on layers without worrying about heat (also another reason why the sun sucks). Third, people do ridiculous things as the night progresses. Fourth, there's just something about being around someone and watching to time go by. Fifth, it helps the days feel like they're longer. Sixth, any city looks better at night. Seventh, hide and go seeks. Eighth, midnight showings of movies rule. Ninth, the silence is rad. Lastly, if night time is good enough for Dracula, then who am I to argue. So there you have it, I love the night. If I could, I'd love to go to that city in Alaska that becomes night for a month.

Well, there you have it. This is my late night rambling. I think I'll finally go to bed.

Pop Culture for the Soul

I officially have all the classes set up to teach at APU this fall. I will be teaching Freshmen Writing Seminar, Intro to Journalism, and Studies in Popular Culture. I'm so incredibly thrilled. For FWS, movies will be my theme. I'm planning to have the students write critically about such films as Princess Mononoke, Pan's Labyrinth, Moulin Rouge, and Enchanted. They'll do reviews, a film journal, and a major paper about a specific film. I think it'll be a great way to teach writing. Intro to Journalism should be a blast. It'll be part writing and part critical understanding of the journalistic media. I'm planning to have the students read a book called The Rise of the Image, the Fall of the Word, which addresses the changing cultural environment that cares more about visual rather than textual mediums. I'm also going to address current journalistic trends through such books as Nickel and Dimed, Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop, Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, and When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost. The students will learn to write like a journalist and appreciate and critique the different styles of media coverage of contemporary society. I think Pop Culture might be my baby. I've already begun compiling a reader, which will have certain chapters from different books, along with three other books the students will read in their entirety. The class should be a lot of fun.
This and other things have really made me optimistic about my future. It's weird how paranoid I've been, and how things have really started coming together. It's all been rather surreal lately. I owe a lot to my old teacher Karen Sorensen. She plugged me for The Clause job and continued to plug me for other positions, which I now have. So, I've never written a syllabus or run a class in this kind of a setting. I have quest lectured before and spoken at conferences. This is going to be a very unique experience and should give me a good clue as to what I'll be doing in the future and how I should go about. I can't wait until fall...though summer should be interesting as well.