RIP Nermal, aka little bunnia

My poor little bunnia passed away last night. May she rest in peace.


She lived for nearly four years. She brought sunshine and smiles to Keith and I. She also became a lifelong companion and friend to Suki, aka big bunnia. She will be missed.

Jedi Skills

This is the beginning of the wind down for our first teaching session. All of the students now know the drill and have started re-challenging my authority. However, the classes in general have been melancholy -- I'm proud of my students for what they have accomplished, and I am sad that I will not see them again after next week. I suppose, teaching becomes a balance between caring and letting go.

Speaking of balance, here's that seriously long yet amusing Jedi quiz.
Per Christina and Keith:

You scored as Yoda. You are master Yoda. Yoda's teachings are far reaching within the Jedi order. Ever the diplomat, scholar and teacher - Yoda seeks to enlighten through wisdom, experience and discipline. Yoda employs the lightsaber form Ataru in which the practioner uses The Force in conjunction with his own physical prowess to achieve unparalleled acrobatic skill, accuracy and speed. Skill is stressed over raw power. He has trained many Master Jedi - most notably Count Dooku, Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi and is one of only four Jedi to have preserved his personal identity after death. Yoda 93% Obi-Wan Kenobi (Pre Death of Qui-Gon Jinn) 79% Bastila Shan 75% Obi-Wan Kenobi (Post Death of Qui-Gon Jinn) 71% Qui-Gon Jinn 68% Mace Windu 64% Darth Revan 64% Luke Skywalker 61% Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus 61% Darth Sidious 43% Anakin Skywalker 39% Darth Vader 36% Exar Kun 32% Darth Maul 25% What Star Wars Jedi or Sith character is most like your personality? created with QuizFarm.com

When you work on the weekends, you forget what day it is

So, this past week or two (I honestly have no concept of time any more) I've been working some extra classes because my fellow posse-people have been ill. This job has been so detrimental to the health of so many of us. Knock on wood that I don't get sick in the next 10 weeks. That seriously make me angry.

My friends and I from UNC did get into the MAPACA's conference on Popular Culture. We will be on a panel called "After Altamont: The Contemporary Rock Film Genre." I was attempting to be cool and witty, punning off of the Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter and the many interests in deMan-ish "After Auschwitz" courses in recent lit studies stuff. I'm hoping to make my title-creating into a new career. . . and of course, I'm only kidding about that last part. At any rate, we will be living it up for a weekend in Baltimore! I'm now hunting down a possible lift from Ivan. . . please???

I'm trying to revise one of my seminar papers into something a bit more cohesive. It's on Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and I've decided to focus my topic more on the issues surrounding invasions in the pastoral space. I think I'm going to call it "Space Invaders," which will probably give the paper a more sci-fi feel. Although, I whole-heartedly object to dubbing all anime, particularly Miyazaki's, as sci-fi. Don't we limit our experiences of these films when we label them as sci-fi?

Welcome to Mordor

My uncle mentioned that Phoenix is also known as Mordor. Well, here's to Mordor (survey per Christina):

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Sixth Level of Hell - The City of Dis!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Very Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Extreme
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very High
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	High
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Extreme
Level 7 (Violent)	High
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Very High
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

Take the Dante Inferno Hell Test

Yet another moment for surveys!

You are a Brainy Girl!

Whether you're an official student or a casual learner, you enjoy hitting the books. You know a little bit about everything, and you're always dying to know more. For a guy to win your heart, he's got to share some of your intellectual interests. A awesome book collection of his own doesn't hurt either!

What Kind of Girl Are You?

Your Style is 1950s

High heels, pretty dresses, classic makeup... You're a feminine beauty who knows how to play up her assets!

What Decade Matches Your Style?

Your Love Song Is

Your Body Is a Wonderland by John Mayer "One mile to every inch of Your skin like porcelain One pair of candy lips and Your bubblegum tongue" Why go out... when so much fun can be had indoors?

What Love Song Are You?

You Are Trinity

"Touch me and that hand will never touch anything again."

What Superheroine Are You?

First Full Week Finally Finished

Today was my day of recovery from my 9 class teaching load this past week. Let me tell ya, it was quite a load.

What they don't tell you in training:

• Wear comfortable shoes. Like nursing shoes. Otherwise, your feet will blister and bleed in places you never knew existed.
• Drink lots of water, but pace it. You need the water to prevent voice loss, but if you drink too much water, you have to pee. With nowhere to pee, where would that lead you?
• Moisturize. Moisturize. Moisturize.
• Advil is everyone's friend. Especially the 400 mg kind.
  
• Eat a big breakfast. That will be your last meal for the day.
• Don't choke on food that you try to choke down quickly.
• Put up that sun visor in your car. Seriously.
• Folks in the AZ think that air conditioning is great at 80 degrees.

It's safe to say that I learned a lot about the new sport I've labeled "Power Lecturing." It should be an olympic sport, like the triatholon. I can see it now: thousands of TAs lining up at the starting line with tatoos like the Ironman competitors. Good times, good times.