A boring post

I hate doing these "newsy" updating posts. I feel like they are so boring so I will try to keep it brief. There is a new boyfriend. I probably won't write about him much because I feel like he probably doesn't want his life to be broadcast on internet and since my life now intersects with his and my life is sometimes posted here, that aspect will mostly be left out. I'm excited about this new prospect, as most people are when they start dating someone new. I never started a blog before because I was dating a guy that was very a private person and I didn't want to run the risk of posting something that he wouldn't want to rest of the world to know since our lives were so interconnected. I am worried about that a little bit now so as I said, I am probably going to avoid that subject all together whenever possible. I met my neighbors across the hall. They are two boys from the conservatory. So far, I really like them a lot! They are tons of fun. I get along with and feel comfortable with both of them and all of their friends, so far. They remind me of the people I was friends with throughout middle school and high school. I enjoy them. I went to their apartment to watch the big football game on Saturday night. I met a lot of really fun people from the Con. I felt very comfortable there, as though I'm not socially awkward. Then last night they invited the roommate and I over to watch a very interesting movie. I worked on a poster project while watching the movie so I didn't get the full effect of it, but I still really enjoyed it. It was one of those movies that makes you take a step back and take a good, hard look at life and the process of growing up. I am so sheltered. As much as I'd like to think I'm not, I truly am. The characters in the movie did and saw things that I have never in my 21 years even thought about. It was scary to think how true to life this movie could be for some kids. By the way the title of the movie is Kids I recommend seeing it, but not when you've been drinking because it will definitely put you in a depressed mood that is tough to get out of due to the intoxication. That reminds me. Last night was my big F-You to AlcoholEDU...something I had to complete for my sorority. I drank while putting together a poster presentation that was due the next morning. I got an A on it so I was satisfied. It's not the kind of thing I'll do again. I just wanted to "stick it to the man" in my own little way. If this had been a serious project that I was worried about, I would have never drank while doing it. That was my brush with alcoholism...drinking on a Monday night while doing homework. At least I wasn't drinking alone. Anyway, enough on that subject. I had dinner with a great friend tonight. I'm glad that I know her. She offers such great perspective on any thing I have going on in my life. She is incredibly sweet and caring. I hope after she graduates this year we can remain in contact. I promised to keep this short so I will end this now.

I am still marginally afraid of Virginia Woolf

I signed on to take Modern British Fiction without really know what "modern" fiction is. Apparently, this genre of fiction includes such authors as James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence and, of course, Virginia Woolf. Over the summer I thought I would try to tackle one of the books for the course to get a little head start. I already owned A Portrait of An Artist As A Young Man by Joyce, so I chose that one. I fell asleep on the second page because I couldn't pay attention to his writing. That's when I knew I was in for trouble. On the first day of class, Teddy frightened me more by telling the class that these novels are written in stream of consciousness style and are sure to challenge. Also, the kid next to me, upon hearing that this was my first 300 level class, told me that I was in for a big surprise with how hard the prof's grade at this level. At the end of my first day of class I thought I was in over my head. The first book we were assigned to read was To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. My only encounter with Woolf was in 11th grade English class. I had to read a selection of her work one evening for homework. I'm not sure if it was an excerpt from a novel or an essay, but whatever it was, I hated it! I couldn't understand what the lady was going on about. Nothing she wrote made sense and was boring! Because of this initial encounter with Virginia Woolf was so painful, I was not thrilled that I would have to read an entire novel by her in a week and a half. I decided it would be best if I read slow and really pay attention to commas and individual words, rather than skimming as I usually do. Also, I took notes and looked up words that were new to me. Around half way through the book, I realized that I was quite enjoying this novel. This was shocking to me! I thought, "Maybe Virginia Woolf was not as crazy as I originally thought." Subsequent reading of this novel has been quite pleasurable. The only reason that I am still a little afraid of Virginia Woolf is that I have to get through another novel of hers and write a paper on one of the two I will have read. Teddy said that of all the works we are reading, this is the most accessible, so it will all get tougher from here. I plan to continue to plow through these works of modern British fiction at least to be able to say I did it. Hopefully, my attitude toward this genre of writing will get more positive as the semester gets on.