British Phrase of the Day: Hook Up

Hook Up v.: to meet up one-on-one, often as in a casual date (not to be confused with the American to hook up, which implies a more sexual connotation)

Which type of hook up do you think Harry is inquiring after? ;)

Nerd Alert: Today's Shakespeare Reading

From the conclusion of my term paper titled: 'She hath no tongue to call': The Reading of "Silent Female Bodies" in Early Modern English Drama:

“her voice was ever soft, gentle and low; an excellent thing is woman” 

King Lear says this in The Tragedy of King Lear as he holds the corpse of his daughter Cordelia in his arms. There is much irony in his description of her excellent quality of voice. At the beginning of the play, Cordelia is rather vocal in expressing her views against her sisters' false and rather flowery declarations of love for their father. Yet at the end it is her softness of voice Lear seems to admire in a woman. I argue Shakespeare has a greater agenda here, one that superficially serves to represent the common Early Modern English notion that women should be less boisterous; however, he presents Cordelia as the only honest and virtuous woman in the play, and it is her voice, not a lack thereof, that reveals such character traits.

Basically I've just been searching for textual support for voicing my opinions. Found.

Special Collections

Gently, I ran my fingers down his spine, and held my breath. I read him like a book, and clearly, I had him in the palm of my hand. Ok, maybe I didn't literally have him in the palm of my hand, but I did literally read him like a book because, well, it was a book, and I was only allowed to touch and not hold. Today was the first day of my 'Idea of the Renaissance' class with one of my favorites, Andrew Hadfield, and the seminar is held in the Special Collections area of the University of Sussex library.  The three other MA students and I in this course will get to spend such intimate moments with these old texts from the Early Modern period for the next ten weeks, and while trying to contain my excitement and suppress my giddy grin, I asked an archivist if I could take a picture of the books from today's lesson (without a flash, of course!). "You're one of us, aren't you?" was her way of granting me permission.

Below are the three 15th century books I caressed today (yes, I learned how to handle the collections). The first contains stories of the lives of saints (and the oldest of our collection here at Sussex), as was a popular medieval topic, while the second was a monk's attempt to tell the history of the world. Finally the last is an impressively annotated copy of Virgil that would but both the Arden and Riverside Shakespeares to shame. 

British Word of the Day: Pouf

pouf n: ottoman (not to be confused with poof, which in British English is defined as gay)

Resolutions

For the last few years, I have made monthly resolutions. I have a mini white board in my room, and list the things (they're nearly always school or crossfit related) I would like to achieve that month. I've had surprising success by working towards something realistic for 4 weeks rather than 52.


However, I've set a few goals for myself for 2012 as I finalize my packing to head back to the UK tomorrow.


1) Consider school my job. I need to track and ensure I put in minimum 40 hours/week of class, study, research, etc. There will always be more reading, more writing, and more studying I can do not just to improve my scores, but also to eventually become a more knowledgeable educator myself.


2) Kick ass and protect my own. I'm fortunate in that exercise requires zero motivation for me; I absolutely love working out. My problem is that I never rest enough. I hope to focus on utilizing rest days for mobility, skill work, and other activities that satisfy my daily need to move, but also give me something to do instead of hardcore wod. I hope to see that more rest will actually come to prove more gains for me in the long run.


3) Explore Brighton/England/Europe. Who knows how long I'll be here for; I'd better take advantage of it.


4) Survive the Apocalypse. Just sayin.


Hopefully by posting I will hold myself more accountable, like the whiteboards does every month.