madnesshamster

In other uni related news, I had my first creative writing workshop last Friday. This is basically where we have to bring in a single page of something we've written (in whatever form) and read it for the class. They then get to comment/critique/discuss/opine on the work and you aren't allowed (until the very end) to explain/justify/contextualise your work.

As intimidating as this would be anyway, I didn't realise until much to late that the piece I chose (because I was lazy and this was the only thing I had edited to a reasonable level) was basically a page of explicit sexual innuendo. Reading this in front of a roomful of 19 year olds was possibly the most embarrassing thing I've ever done.

Luckily, most people got what I was trying to express and the comments from the teacher were aimed at a much higher level than she's given to anyone else so far. The biggest compliment was when my teacher, Kathryn Heyman, asked if she could keep her copy (usually she writes comments on her copy and hands it back to the student at the end) so she could use it as an example when she teaches her Masters class!

Me, pathetic lowly undergrad, now has a scientific paper and a creative writing piece being used to demonstrate writing to post-grads!

Plus, my Mummy is proud of me!

Many many many thanks to penguin2 for the editing advice, and to EngeryAustralia for causing the blackout that forced me to sit down and start writing properly!

I'm not sure if this is an epic fail or an epic win. It seems all the Anth lecturers at uni are awesome except the one I happen to have.

Drama drama drama!

EDIT:

The story of my week.

Bitch whinge moan rant!

*bang head on table*

674 words. Only, like, 3000 more to go.

Creative writing is a horrible, painful thing. I'm willing to admit that maybe it is only those things when there are deadlines involved, but there you have it.

Awesome things for this week:

* Erib Bibb last night!

* Discovering the existence of a 16 year old that looks like he might turn into a human being (and complimenting his parents on their achievement)

* Reassurance that I wasn't getting carried away with the enthusiasm displayed on my previous meeting with Greg Downey in relation to my doing honours with him. He came over out of the blue while I was studying to check on how I was going and give me a little direction on what I might focus on within the Anth class I am doing this semester. I guess that means not only does he remember me, but he really has taken an interest in me. Woo!

* Tim Minchin tomorrow night. And he is doing Storm as part of his act.


Not so awesome things for this week:

* Another year gone that I have wasted being fat.

* No phone

* Too many assignments due soon that I have not written. I wonder if there is a way I be exempt from essays which do not interest me. It's not that I don't have the knowledge, I just don't find that writing within their requirements will be of any benefit to me. I am beyond the stage of information regurgitation essays, as should all of my classmates be (but they are mostly Chiro students so I guess I should cut them some slack).

For reasons which aren't particularly important, I was looking up the lyrics to the jazz classic 'Fever'. The top Google hit gives me the lyrics of the last verse as:

"Now you listened to my story
Here's the point that i have made
Chicks were born to give you fever
Be it fair and have a sense of game"

Do they not teach children about temperature scales these days?

We had a black out and now my computer seems to think that it is a little after midnight on the 4th Jan 1980. Wow! I haven't even been born yet! I guess that means my birthday tomorrow has been cancelled.

In other news, having no power finally forced me to sit down and get over my self imposed inability to write for my creative writing class and I have written stuffs! That isn't too awful! I hope! I seem to have absorbed a fair amount of the Richard Ford that I've been re-reading lately, but managed to make it slightly easier to work out what the crap is going on.

I am now wishing I'd put myself down to do my workshop this week instead of the week after the break because I'd actually like to have some input on it instead of being terrified of the prospect of having to read my crap out to people. Crazy!

Does the formation of our identity take more input from outside than in?

If people don't believe me when I say that I am shy and awkward in social sitations, does that mean I'm not?

Because the panic attacks certainly don't seem to concur with the general consensus that I am, in fact, quite extroverted.

So if people think I am being sarcastic when I tell them that I'm terrified of people, does that mean I should stop saying it and start beliving that I am the person they see in me even if I don't feel like I am? Or is it better to keep reminding those around me so that they understand what's going on when I stop being able to cope and can't even do simple things like emailing a friend to say Happy Birthday or answer the phone or go to a party.

I suppose it comes down to having to make a distinction between personality and mental illness. My anxiety does not define me, but it is a part of me. I don't think I'll ever get to say "I'm cured", just "today I am not letting it get the better of me".

Being the freak that I am, I am re-planning my degree (yes, again) because of the organisational changes (hooray - CISAB is now part of ELS instead of SCMP). I've checked and re-checked to make sure I have fulfilled all requirements for my degree and still have two spaces left in second semester of third year (even with my addition of an Anthropology subject each semester this year). I can choose anything at all, provided I meet the prerequisites for the class and they are run in second semester. I have narrowed my choices down to:

SOC367: Naughty Boys, Bad Girls: Gender and Discipline at Home and at School
Are boys expected to be naughty, while girls are quiet but in danger of sexual entanglement as teenagers? This unit is concerned with the people who live out these expectations and yet complicate them in the home and the classroom: young children, 'tweens and teens, parents and teachers. It combines the sociology of education with the study of gender in early childhood, adolescence and youth. Class and race (or culture, ethnicity, and religion) play a part along with age, gender and sexuality. The focus of the unit is on discipline and punishment as these are directed towards children at home and at school. What are the problems, conflicts and disruptions faced by young people and their parents and teachers? What are the best strategies for managing them? What are the best tools for understanding them? Fairy tales and children's books (eg, Pinocchio, Naughty stories for good boys and girls), TV and film (The Nanny, Boot Camp, Mean Girls), expert advice and self help manuals (Dr Spock, Toddler Taming) are explored alongside the sociological, educational, psychological and gender studies literature offering insight into behaviour of boys and girls today.

PSY346: Appetite: The Psychology of Eating and Drinking (don't have prerequisites - waiver?)
The need to eat and drink is essential to the survival of all animals. This unit examines the psychology of these activities, with a primarily human slant. In particular, the course covers the anatomy and physiology of the whole ingestive system, what starts and stops eating, why we like and prefer some foods over others, and the psychobiology of dieting, starvation, obesity, anorexia/bulimia. The course adopts a broad perspective, so that the impact of human food choice on health, the economy and the environment, are constantly kept in focus.

PHIL249: Biology, Mind, and Culture (not scheduled until 2010 so may not be in 2nd Semester)
This course is devoted to examining the ways in which evolutionary biology can shed light on the nature of the human mind and culture. The course begins with an introduction to evolutionary theory and a discussion of some foundational issues concerning its nature and structure. What is fitness? What is adaptationism? What is the unit of selection? A substantial part of the course, however, will be taken up with investigating extensions of evolutionary theory to the explanation of human mind and culture. The course will examine recent theories of cultural evolution, evolutionary epistemology, and evolutionary psychology. A special study will be made of the ambitions and limitations of sociobiology: in particular, of sociobiological explanations of human sexual and ethical behaviour.

LING321: Anthropological Linguistics
This unit aims to develop the students' knowledge of how cultural patterns (beliefs, values and norms) affect or relate to language and language use. It is grounded in an analysis of the theoretical and methodological issues common to linguistics and anthropology.
Increasing globalisation, internationalisation and migration provide an imperative to develop awareness and understanding of issues associated with linguistic diversity. One effective approach is driven by a perspective of language as one part of cultural practice, and so focuses on the cultural meanings displayed in language use. Anthropological linguistics is interested in the meaning behind the ways in which language is used.

AHST101: Myth in the Ancient World (would tie in with Culture, Myth and Symbolism this year)
This unit is an introduction to Greek, Roman, and Near-Eastern society and culture through the study of myth. The unit begins from the earliest creation myths and examines the development of myth in literature and art. The study is largely based upon Greek and Latin texts in translation as well as the representation of myth in art; Near-Eastern and biblical texts will be studied too. The unit focuses on the relevance of key themes in myth to the cultures in which the myths arose, investigating their roles in the religious, political and social life of the classical world.

Unfortunately some that I'd really love to do, like Queer Theory, are only held during 1st semester and I really can't fit anything in. I had hoped to choose easy subjects because I need a GPA of 3.0 or 3.25 depending on which honours I apply for (or possibly the honours I apply for will be determined by my GPA) for 3rd year, but "easy" comes down to the ones I enjoy rather than the level the unit is aimed at I suppose. Or I guess I could always just do 2 units and focus on them. Anyone have any suggestions?

I didn't get the marks I wanted/expected, but somewhere along the lines I'd worked out that the minimum results to get the minimum GPA to enroll in some of my subjects next semester were a lot higher than what I did actually need.

I missed out on getting what I had aimed for by 3 marks in one subject - the one with the assignment that was marked ridiculously harshly (I got a C+ and that was the highest mark in my prac class) that I should have complained about but then the tutor went overseas and I didn't have time to find out who else I should speak to.

But in the end it comes down to the little numbers that will pave the way into the important subjects, and I have those.

Oh. And I didn't fail statistics. Most impressive result of them all.