Down memory lane/Only I find this interesting
I have an email in my inbox from "smurnagh" which for some reason makes me think of Smaug every time I see it. This isn't a very nice association to have, since the said user-name corresponds with my current Greek prof who, while a formidable character to be sure, is hardly a fire-breathing, hobbit-eating, treasure-hoarding flying reptilian, or if so I have seen no evidence personally. Every time I get an email from this address it makes me inexplicably happy. I'm not sure if it is the juxtaposition of identities or the association with sixth-grade english that gets me. Today it reminded me of our group project on "The Hobbit" which required the "publication" of a newspaper chronicling events of the book. We had an interview with Bilbo, a bit on goblins (I think), possibly a crossword puzzle, a soup recipe, and a political cartoon of Smaug sitting at a restaurant looking at a menu and ordering up some Hobbits and Gandalf up for lunch. I traced the dragon from the cover of some book and put the rest in and naturally thought I was very clever. Ah the follies of youth.
While we're on the sixth-grade english track (possibly my favorite class ever aside from AP Chemistry sophomore year) we also had to do a Hobbit video project where we told the story of going to Beorn's house and then getting captured by the elves. We filmed in Katie's backyard (it was nice.. she's in the family that's heir to the Gamble fortune, i.e. Procter and Gamble who makes every product you've ever used in your house) and our scene starts with me moronically proclaiming "Hello, Beorn's house!". I still have no idea what possessed me to make this statement and actually remember when I first saw the final version that I had no recollection of making it. Maybe it is sadly true that I don't listen to what I say. I'd like to think that's a momentary and unusual fault, but I suppose I am the worst judge possible of that kind of behavior.
Sixth grade English was awesome though, I have to mention it - it must be immortalized somewhere! We learned how to diagram sentences (still one of my most favorite skills), had a formal debate in class about who was responsible for the destruction of Camelot (totally Mordred's fault), wrote stories, read Good Night, Mr. Tom which is awesome and sublime, ate gummi bears (I love teachers who use food as bribery), and created our own coats of arms. I had a motto although I don't actually remember it - my older sister translated it into latin for me since I hadn't started studying that yet. Something about truth being a good thing.
I ought to say something briefly here about style - I suppose I have my own style of writing but I do think that it fluctuates between levels of formality across posts. Today I think I have been highly influenced by some serious blog-hunting which ended up with me spending 40 minutes with Katina, or at least her written word, which was infectiously interesting. We weren't ever really close, but she's definitely one of those people that I think about every now and then and get nostalgic about. Which may be part of the reason for my current memory-fest, now that I think about it. But I've noticed that in a lot of my posts I tend to avoid contractions and sentence fragments (except for emphasis) and other features which I consider to be elements of a more formal style. Not so here. I have wondered if that makes my writing seem pretentious (now that I actually have people who read I feel a vague uneasy self-consciousness about my writing all the time, which probably confirms my fears) but no one's told me so I will continue merrily onward.
Anyway, for the sake of joyful nostalgia I would like to make a suggestion to all my friends in the area who read - anyone up for a home-movie kind of evening this summer? I know Joe has a fine piece of filmography and I have one from high school.. I would be surprised if no one else has anything - at the least I can attempt to make Ethan play any and all recordings from his high school band, which I think ought to count. I should mention that this event, should it ever occur, will need to involve some quantities of alcohol, or at least chocolate. So. This appears to be so far off-topic that it appropriately concludes my rambling nonsense for today. Apparently all that woozy plane stuff hasn't completely worn off.
While we're on the sixth-grade english track (possibly my favorite class ever aside from AP Chemistry sophomore year) we also had to do a Hobbit video project where we told the story of going to Beorn's house and then getting captured by the elves. We filmed in Katie's backyard (it was nice.. she's in the family that's heir to the Gamble fortune, i.e. Procter and Gamble who makes every product you've ever used in your house) and our scene starts with me moronically proclaiming "Hello, Beorn's house!". I still have no idea what possessed me to make this statement and actually remember when I first saw the final version that I had no recollection of making it. Maybe it is sadly true that I don't listen to what I say. I'd like to think that's a momentary and unusual fault, but I suppose I am the worst judge possible of that kind of behavior.
Sixth grade English was awesome though, I have to mention it - it must be immortalized somewhere! We learned how to diagram sentences (still one of my most favorite skills), had a formal debate in class about who was responsible for the destruction of Camelot (totally Mordred's fault), wrote stories, read Good Night, Mr. Tom which is awesome and sublime, ate gummi bears (I love teachers who use food as bribery), and created our own coats of arms. I had a motto although I don't actually remember it - my older sister translated it into latin for me since I hadn't started studying that yet. Something about truth being a good thing.
I ought to say something briefly here about style - I suppose I have my own style of writing but I do think that it fluctuates between levels of formality across posts. Today I think I have been highly influenced by some serious blog-hunting which ended up with me spending 40 minutes with Katina, or at least her written word, which was infectiously interesting. We weren't ever really close, but she's definitely one of those people that I think about every now and then and get nostalgic about. Which may be part of the reason for my current memory-fest, now that I think about it. But I've noticed that in a lot of my posts I tend to avoid contractions and sentence fragments (except for emphasis) and other features which I consider to be elements of a more formal style. Not so here. I have wondered if that makes my writing seem pretentious (now that I actually have people who read I feel a vague uneasy self-consciousness about my writing all the time, which probably confirms my fears) but no one's told me so I will continue merrily onward.
Anyway, for the sake of joyful nostalgia I would like to make a suggestion to all my friends in the area who read - anyone up for a home-movie kind of evening this summer? I know Joe has a fine piece of filmography and I have one from high school.. I would be surprised if no one else has anything - at the least I can attempt to make Ethan play any and all recordings from his high school band, which I think ought to count. I should mention that this event, should it ever occur, will need to involve some quantities of alcohol, or at least chocolate. So. This appears to be so far off-topic that it appropriately concludes my rambling nonsense for today. Apparently all that woozy plane stuff hasn't completely worn off.
posted by trophywife at 11:51 AM
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