is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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The Use Of Time.
The Use Of Time.
There are many things to write about, and very little time. Well, that�s not exactly true. There�s time all right, I just don�t seem to be using it well. I have a job interview tomorrow. I�m in New York right now. And all I want to be doing is sitting around doing nothing. I think I have some sort of illness because I feel entirely exhausted and slightly nauseated. But it could just be holiday exhaustion and philosophical nausea, I suppose. However there is also an intestinal component to this illness, so perhaps it is legitimate. Who knows. In any case, instead of doing anything I have been watching the entire HBO series called �Rome� on Linda�s TiVo. Oh, I�ve done some work and a little bit of practice-talking for when I get asked questions about work and teaching tomorrow. And I�ve seen Wendy, and Yoktan, and I�ve gone to exactly one panel at the conference I�m supposedly attending. I�m going to leave in about twenty minutes to go to another panel at the conference, and then I�m meeting Yoktan later, and we are going to look at things, and then eat some things.
Then tomorrow is the interview. Ah, the dread feeling of the impending feeling of being-in-a-hotel-room-with-ten-professors-whose-job-is-to rule-you-out-of-their-search. Fact is these things almost always go just fine. But included in the whole process is the nervousness and dread one experiences beforehand. I don�t get it as bad as some. I am pretty good at leaving the intense dread until the last minute when it has to be conquered anyway. But still. I�d rather be in San Francisco going to movies with Caroleen and Natalie, who both have the week off work!
I got some GREAT stuff for Christmas from my family. Pagemaker and a DVD player and some great clothing items and paint-by-number kits (you may remember my recent re-development of this crafty past-time, and my playing with the possibilities of its form). That is only a partial listing. I got everything I wanted and more, and of course that makes me lucky.
Day after Christmas I went to see Capote with Jeff, Caroleen, and Caroleen�s parents. We got there late-ish so we all had to sit separately. The movie was good, if slow. Phillip Seymour Hoffman did a great job, of course, since he always does a great job at his roles.
Then Caroleen and I watched a bunch of TiVo�d episodes of The Comedians of Comedy, featuring two of our favorites, Patton Oswalt and Zach Galifianakis. Zach G is a really twisted piece of human consciousness. Every time he told one of his really fucked-up jokes, Caroleen said something like �why! Why is he funny like that?� For instance, in an aside where he is talking about Patton, he says something like, �Patton is one of those guys who gets stuck in a certain place in their development. With him he is stuck in the age where comic books are the most cool thing. I�m not sure why it happens, but it does. If you think about it, if you�re a guy who has never been with a woman, and then the first time you see a woman naked, a snake pops out of her vagina and bites you, of course you�re always going to love snakes.� Hahaha.
Have you seen the Chronicles of Narnia rap on SNL? If you haven�t, a) where have you been? And b) you simply must search the internet and watch it, because it is VERY VERY FUNNY. It features: Magnolia Bakery, magic, the question whether mapquest or google maps is better for finding a dope route to the theater; a love for red vines and Mr. Pibb; an overt relationship to the Beastie Boys. I laughed very hard all three times I watched it.
OK, off to the conference. More later. Happy Holidays, get set for the eve of the new year. Thanks to my xmas gifts I've got something to wear whether it be a night of sleepovers and board games, or a night of fabulous dressing and cocktails. And anything in between. Never doubt my sartorial power. (As I said to Tom in Amherst when I said I had to change before we went out to dinner and he said, "why? this is amherst!": "Tom. I am Jill S----!"
12:44 p.m. - December 29, 2005
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