My thesis, a work in progress

Instead of explaining what I've been up to these past two weeks I thought I'd might as well show you, for a change.

hooray for me

I finally started writing my thesis today. I was bored, I guess. Anyway, yippee! Oh, and I also baked another cake: cherry with chocolate frosting. I have to slow down seeing as people around here can't keep up so, cake anyone?

The wallowing continues

I’ve had two weeks worth of classes this semester and already I’m wishing I had some Prozac at hand. I’m counting the days til June 30^th when this torture will hopefully be over and done with once and for all. Alas, this semester is going to keep me pretty busy seeing as I’ve got more classes, more books and more futile assignments to do excluding my ever so blessed thesis which I’ll start writing any day now, seriously I mean it this time. I’ve done all my research, it’s just a matter of getting it on paper in a way so it’ll make sense to even the densest of academic brains. Seeing as academia and I don’t mesh well, it’ll be a challenge and a treat. As you can see I’m still lacking any enthusiasm or motivation but I’ve sought solace in the one thing that brightens my day, namely baking. Cakes, cookies, as long as it’s cute and sweet I’ll show no defeat! I even got a recipe book this weekend filled with chocolaty goodness so there’s no stopping me now. I often fantasize of chucking it all in to start my own little tearoom / pastry shop. Who knows, a girl can dream can’t she? And in the meantime I’ll just keep on force feeding my loved ones. Years of over analyzing beloved books and regurgitating other peoples theories without ever being allowed to create something new have left me bitter, cynical and desperately in need of chocolate. Trust me, if you love literature then never under no circumstances be foolish enough to study it, it’ll only make you cry. Instead of being a parasite and feeding of someone else’s creation I’ve decided to leave this all behind me (in 4 months time that is) and start my journey down the perilous and rip-roaring road that is called job-hunting. Trust me I’m ready, soooo ready.

Sassy Silverman

This weekend I stumbled across a very funny clip on YouTube. It featured Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon. We (meaning Belgians) all know the latter but for most Sarah Silverman won’t ring a bell. She is a truly talented American comedian, writer and actress who is best known for her controversial topics and celebrity slurs. She started out on Saturday Night Live in 1993 and now has her own show: The Sarah Silverman Program. She is currently dating late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. In honor of the fifth anniversary of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Sarah and Matt Damon (who frequently is the butt of Kimmel's jokes) sang a catchy duet with a unique video.

To be or not

I got a package in the mail yesterday with Shakespeare in it, Shakespeare by Bill Bryson to be precise. It’s a cute little book that’s been intriguing me for a while now. Firstly, I like Bryson’s style as he is always capable of telling his (often but not in this case biographical) tales so enthusiastically and matter-of-factly that you can't help but smile while usually learning a thing or two. Another reason why I wanted / needed / craved this book was because it’s about Shakespeare. Seeing as I’m an English major you’d think I’d have at least some basic knowledge of the man and his work. And you’d be right, just barely. Sadly my knowledge of Shakespeare has mostly been stimulated by movies and plays, not university. And seeing as every time I say I’m an English major people go: “Ah yes, Shakespeare and such.” I should at least know a bit more about the guy. Don’t you think? Especially seeing as he’s the first English writer that apparently springs to mind. And knowing Bryson, it’ll even be fun to boot.

Existentialism vs. me: 1/0

I handed in my last paper yesterday. Yippee, right?
How come that whenever you’re doing something you don’t particularly like (that’s a euphemism people), you come up with 1001 better things to do in the blink of an eye? And when that moment arises, nothing seems remotely interesting anymore. Hell, even vacuuming was a more blissful experience last week than it now. Maybe it’s just me? Maybe I’m just having a bad day. You know the kind I’m talking about, when you burn the milk, ruin the sauce, get caught in the rain and make a friend cry, all by accident of course. It’s a day when you spend hours and hours looking at a computer screen in a faint attempt to actually “do” something and nothing substantially is happening. As I sit here eating my carbon-flavored pudding, I keep on wondering: Is this normal? I should get started on my thesis, only three more months to go and I haven’t written a word not even a letter but though this thought is even starting to haunt my dreams I keep on wondering: Is this it? The things I loved to do like reading and writing have now turned against me. Weeks of wallowing in academia have scarred me for life. Once they were fun, but now they are mere modes or torture that consume my every waking minute until all the exhilaration has been sucked out of it and I am left with a pathetic and shrivelled up little heap of plain non-satisfying paper. To end on a more positive note (I am an optimist for god’s sake), carbon-flavored pudding isn’t that bad once you get used to it.

Every day is a winding road

I handed in three papers yesterday, hence the silence. I should be researching my last paper as we speak but seeing as I’m lacking inspiration or any kind of enthusiasm, I thought I’d keep you all informed about the joys of being me.

Not much has happened the past week: lots of researching (again DeLillo be damned), writing (about 30 pages a week) and I celebrated my 26^th birthday. I’m officially a big girl now. To commemorate this joyous occasion my sweetheart bought me the most gorgeous ruby necklace ever (meaning, as witnessed by me until now) which made me so blissfully happy that I need to share this with the world. And I just did.

I also read Starting out in the Evening by Brian Morton last week who was totally unknown to me. They just made a movie out of the novel starring Frank Langella and Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under’s Claire) which was getting rave reviews and through the trailer I discovered the book. Go figure. Anyway, it was a beautiful story about an aging writer and a young student who’s writing her master’s thesis (a concept that gives me the chills right about now) on his work. I highly recommend it and can’t wait to see the film.

Talking about movies, its been ages since I’ve been to the cinema, a few weeks at least. Bare in mind, I used to go twice a week but that was a long time ago in a land far, far away. When I’m finished with these godawful papers (which I suck at apparently seeing as I was told I can’t write, at least not academically speaking), then I’m locking myself into the multiplex for a day. Hell, I’ve deserved it.