Saturday, September 30, 2006
The mighty mighty Hedgehogs won their first Ultimate Frisbee game Friday. The other team never showed, thus forfeiting the game to us. Take that, Gigantopithicas! The members of the other teams informed us the Gigantopithicas had theretofore been undefeated. But we apparently intimidated them.
I seem to have hyper-extended something in my right foot (Dr. Lavigne told me I have "turf toe"), making the act of walking difficult and more awkward than usual. Consequently altering my gait to more heavily balance on my left foot as I stride has resulted in further blisters (over the old ones that finally began healing) to the pad of my left foot. Dr. Lavigne suggested I invest in new shoes with better support, but I believe, instead, that I should cut my feet off entirely and hop about on the stumps, for one cannot hyper-extend a stump.
Translating intermediate-level Greek texts would be much facilitated by a format similar to that of the textbook I am using for The Aeneid, which provides per page several lines of Latin with vocabulary printed directly beneath, thus eliminating the need to flip to the back of the book or to use a Latin dictionary. For Plato's Symposium, however, I must look up nearly every word in the lexicon. The constant interruption prevents me from understanding the grammar or the style. Otherwise, I might enjoy translating more than I have been- I've read and liked The Symposium in translation.
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 3:05 PM]
You've Been Saying That Since The Fifth Grade
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Jared rescued me Sunday- he drove me and my accumulated gym clothes to another and apparently more complicated laundromat. The joint was very clean and very large, but took cash for nothing- instead, one had to purchase a card and insert it into the washers and dryers for service. I saw too many buttons, of different colours, with directions clearly written beneath that nevertheless sent my poor brain into disarray. Jared helped immensely (by pointing and saying, "Press this.").
Whilst waiting for my loads to de-toxify we then travelled across the street to Denny's, where we seated ourselves in a back room that contained tables full of old people. The glances The Aged Ones threw upon us indicated that they perceived we were walking pieces of meat. The smell of our youth must have been pungent. I did nevertheless enjoy the bacon cheddar burger I was (eventually) served.
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 8:57 AM]
The Mighty Ducks
Saturday, September 23, 2006
After working out and swimming, I accompanied Adrian to Hobby Lobby, wherein which we procured a royal blue t-shirt, red glitter glue, and block lettering to make a "Coach Lavigne" t-shirt. The back reads, "Coach Lavigne" above double zeroes. Across the chest Adrian ironed, "The Hedgehogs" [here I suggested she drop the "g"], and at a bottom corner on the front side she placed Dr. Lavigne's initials, "DEL", for "Donald Edward Lavigne" [here I suggested she spell "Dr. Don" instead]. Then she took the shirt back to her house to dry, with further decoration in the form of glittery stars here-and-there to be added later. Unfortunately, at Hobby Lobby we saw nothing more ridiculous to include [though I suggested we make Dr. Lavigne a "Princess" or a "Hottie"]. It is to be noted that lettering does not come cheaply.
Tomorrow I dread that I must go through my ghetto laundry routine. It does give me time to read a little, though; this morning I began The Oresteia, which I will bring along tomorrow. Viel Spaß.
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 10:04 PM]
Drink It Down
Friday, September 22, 2006
Now that the Latin textbook has finally arrived, the past couple of assignments (about thirty lines of translation for every session) have proceeded much more smoothly. Greek, however, takes a bit longer, since I have no vocabulary lists for the Plato text- I manually look up anything I do not know (i.e. everything but "to be" verbs and the nouns for family members) in "The Great Scott", which is a massive Greek lexicon. I have put off studying forms and old exercises from the beginning-level courses I took last year, but this weekend I hope to catch up (in Greek at the very least) so that during the week I can concentrate on reading for the Greek and Roman sculpture class.
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 10:05 PM]
The Daisies Came And Tickled My Nose
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
The last book of my beginning-of-the-school-year Amazon splurge finally arrived this afternoon. It and two of the other books that arrived earlier ought to be useful for the paper I am to compose for the ancient Greek and Roman sculpture seminar. An initial bibliography and outline (basically a thesis statement) are due tomorrow; I chose to focus on pedimental sculpture. The first Greek and Latin exams fall this week, with this weekend left for me to begin research in earnest.
Dr. Lavigne had Adrian and me practice the "flicking" motion with a frisbee this afternoon. Cigarette in mouth, he explained the mechanics of the throw and patiently received a disc to the foot every other time I threw to him. Adrian begged to be shown how to throw "The Hammer", but Dr. Lavigne says we are not ready.
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 10:43 PM]
Con Queso
Saturday, September 16, 2006
The first Ultimate Frisbee games occurred yesterday with, of course, only half the people who agreed to play making any sort of appearance. Team Hedgehog consisted of moi, Adrian, Steve, Dr. Lavigne, Shane (a new graduate student), Jon (Classics Society President), and, later, Dr. Sharp ("Elizabeth"), a friend of Dr. Lavigne's. Having no relievers blew chunks.
The Hedgehogs were crushed in two games. I have only played Ultimate twice, in high school, and additionally could not run well due to the humongous blisters that developed on both feet as a result of walking from The Lauree Lair to campus for the past couple of weeks (the front tire of my bike went kaputt). Jon is an exercise-induced asthmatic. Adrian is less in shape than I am. Dr. Sharp had never played before. Dr. Lavigne knows how to play, but cannot run. Steve was all right, but does not run very well, either. Shane is built a runner like Forrest Gump, but he could only do so much with a team full of people who didn't know how to play.
Both teams we played were nice enough, though. The first team definitely knew what they were doing, but the second team was only so much better off than we were. Minus the physical exertion and confusion of only knowing the rules from paper, I might have had fun. By next week The Hedgehogs ought to have a more complete team, so hopefully I won't feel as ridiculous.
After playing Ultimate I went to work, where the night passed with relative ease, for many of the kids who live in the dorms left for the weekend to attend the football game in Fort Worth. Tonight ought to be similarly stress-free. Ausgezeichnet.
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 7:31 PM]
Ich Weiß Wie Das Geht
Friday, September 15, 2006
Dr. Lavigne approached me yesterday to determine if forming an intramural Ultimate Frisbee team with Classics Society members would be a viable idea. After I again closed my jaw, I agreed to be team captain and set forth to find members for the roster (due to intramural coordinators later in the afternoon). He came upon this notion very suddenly from one of his colleagues in the Russian department, who apparently has a team of Russian staff and students that dominates.
I want to dominate. With games occurring Fridays, most likely during Dr. Lavigne's graduate seminar over Homeric epic, I went downstairs and entreatied the graduate students, thereby solving any conflict of schedule. Another Classics Society member, Cody, who is farm-boy strong and built like a baseball pitcher, became adorably animated when injected with the proposed scheme, signing up himself, his brother, and another friend of theirs. Adrian and Jennifer agreed to play (thus putting the number of girls who will stand around at one edge of the field talking to three).
Concerns about having enough players (seven, plus a decent set of relievers) led me to conclude that perhaps it might behoove to involve the Germans. I spoke to Dr. Bonzo, who jumped upon the idea, having played a significant amount of Ultimate Frisbee before he married. He mentioned he was ambidextrous and used that to his advantage to get around blockers. Wie süß! He probably cannot play himself, though, for he has several article reviews he has to complete between teaching this semester. But it would be hilarious to have him play.
The particular Germans in mind were the deRiese brothers- Tamme, Johannes, and Heiko, who are all very tall and aggressive. I talked to Bonnie, Deutscher Klub Sekretärin, who plays Ultimate often already and knows more people who would assuredly join. Ausgezeichnet. Was für ein Spaß. Later last night Tamme saw me at the pool, and, as expected, he agreed we should mention the intramural team at the Deutscher Klub meeting this evening.
An initial roster was due yesterday. Games begin today, but I was given no times or exact information about at which fields we should meet when I turned our information in. The intramural website is incomplete (it doesn't even list Ultimate Frisbee as a sport), but I hope to figure everything out before three this afternoon. Teams are allowed two forfeits, so I suppose we should be fine.
Bringing on other people who actually play should hopefully offset the small fact that I have only played Ultimate Frisbee twice, in high school. But the game isn't rocket science.
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 9:50 AM]
Don't Let It Happen Again
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
I skipped the past two sessions of Greek in order to run errands that I could not accomplish at any other time. Thusly must I stop by the library for translations with commentary this evening before I return to The Lauree Lair. I did work through most of the passages assigned, but I need Steve to show me how to most effectively utilize the gigantic lexicon I purchased for the class.
Hopefully this weekend I can begin research on pediment sculpture. The book I am currently reading describes such works extensively, with different conclusions, in part, from the ones reached by the author of the class text. Sehr interessant.
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 3:42 PM]
Vates Charlatan- Passes Off Phony Oracles
Monday, September 11, 2006
The text I am to reference for translating portions of Books III and VI of The Aeneid has not yet arrived at the campus bookstore, despite having been ordered by my instructor before school began two weeks ago. This afternoon Dr. Lavigne allowed me the use of an old copy in his possession which, he told me, was his ex-wife's from high school. The only time at which any hint of bitterness crosses into Dr. Lavigne's voice occurs when he mentions his ex-wife, who I believe he married at some time during college. Otherwise, Dr. Lavigne rarely seems perturbed by anything and has, indeed, allowed Adrian (Treasurer of the Classics Society) to solicit five dollars from him to join the Classics Society, of which he is already the advisor. I spent twenty minutes this afternoon trying to make Adrian feel guilty about her guile, but she also is one rarely perturbed.
Nicknames:
Dr. Lavigne = The Don (his first name is "Donald") or Dr. Lah-Vig-Nah or Dr. Don
Dr. Larmour = Dr. L'Amour or The Larmourater
Dr. Lavigne + Dr. Larmour = Don and Dave (Dr. Larmour's first name is "David") or The Larmourigne
Dr. Bonzo = Bonzai or Der Bonz
Dr. Grair = Der Grair Bear
Mr. Lynn = Mr. Soon-To-Be-Dr. Lynn
This morning my "Greek and Roman Sculpture" classmates and I dibsed topics for our term papers. The TA handed a sign-up sheet to Jason, the boy sitting to my left, whose jaw dropped and who then exclaimed, "We have to write a ten-page paper in here? Over what?!" I looked at him and said, "Well, honey... Greek and Roman sculpture." Jason, still befuddled, "But how will I find information over that?"
How indeed- tomes have been written on the subject, and anyone who knows anything about (western) antiquity probably understands it through the sculpture and architecture of the Greeks and Romans. Having read this weekend through the seventh chapter of the text, I determined that the sculpture adorning Greek pediments (the triangular section under the roof of a temple)- specifically, the adaptations over the Archaic and Classical time periods to accomodate problems concerning spatial proportion and thematic unity- would be sufficiently described and analyzed from both ancient and modern perspectives, enough at least for me to compose between ten and twelve pages of my own analysis with relative ease.
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 7:18 PM]
Ich Habe Nicht Einen Fruend
Friday, September 08, 2006
Yesterday I breezed through the Latin quiz, having studied for it thoroughly, like a good little egg. My actual translations, though, are still rather shaky, for the text I paid for beforehand has yet to arrive at the bookstore. It contains notes, definitions, and long marks (distinguishing certain noun cases from one another). The library book I used to copy the lines from the chapter I have been assigned simply reproduces the Latin text, with no significant commentary. This presents an appropriate challenge to my translation skills which I both appreciate and detest.
I had plenty of time to ride Dieter and swim before I watched Barfuss at German Movie Night. I found the humour suitable. April wurde den Hauptdarsteller sehr heiß finden.
Pressure behind my eyeballs threatened to split open my skull when I arose at five-thirty this morning, but the pain disappeared after I played in the weight room. I studied, like a good egg, the functions of Greek prepositions for a quiz, which was again made simple by simple preparation. Studying for exams beforehand- an amazing concept just now realized.
The textbook for Dr. Reed's class describes the art and architecture of the Greek periods from the bronze through the classical ages. I read a chapter this afternoon at the Lauree Lair, then I took a most refreshing nap before returning to campus to ride Javier, swim, and go to work.
My routine seems to work well thus far, as long as reading assignments for my classes do not suddenly increase in volume. Less stress makes for a slightly less embittered Lauree.
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 5:48 PM]
Sei Stil, Mein Herz
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Late last evening I sat at the coffee shop, parsing the last set of Latin translations in preparation for a quiz this afternoon. Then I translated the next assignment, which went relatively well, except that I missed a verb or a subject or the entire meaning of a word here and there. But oh, well.
I saw Dr. Lavigne there, and he pestered me again about graduating as soon as possible to join the Tech Classics MA program. The main advantage he put forth (that I would be paid to teach) does not appeal to me as much as it might, because I do not want to teach beginning Latin and Greek classes when I have hardly a mastery of the material myself.
In theory I really do not mind taking an extra semester or two of senior level literature and translation classes, because by the time I do attend graduate school, I would then not have to spend time between teaching trying to catch up on my own education. I would much rather focus on culture studies, art history courses, etc. than join a program where I am really nothing more than an extra instructor. Dr. Lavigne and Dr. Larmour could teach me a great deal, I do not doubt, but my position would definitely be open to some abuse. This would apply to some degree for any program anywhere, more than likely, but still... Lubbock blows. If I remain at Tech for another two years, it would be quite literally only to see Dr. Larmour's and Dr. Lavigne's handsome faces every day.
I want to drop out and live in a cardboard box.
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 7:12 AM]
Nein, Junge- Du Bist Nicht Heiß
Sunday, September 03, 2006
This afternoon and evening I would have plenty of time to complete my laundry, but it has been raining again all morning and looks to continue to do the same until after Labor Day. Ich haße mein Leben. I walked through pouring rain (listening to Björk) to campus so that I could use the computer lab to print off my translation of a German text. It is a brochure about cutlery. Nicht interessant.
A freshman came up to the register last night and told me he was depressed. "Wofür?" Apparently he has made no friends yet, because everyone on his floor drinks, fucks, and sleeps. I nodded sympathetically and told him to watch out for those STDs. Dorm life is most assuredly an animal existence, especially in this town of bars, tanning salons, cheap taco joints, and not much else. 'Welcome to Tech!'
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 11:33 AM]
Schnitt Für Schnitt
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Last night one person (a new hire) did not appear for work, another person requested off but did not provide a substitute, and after nine o'clock the store had no cook. I closed with only two people (three would have been feasible, four or five optimal) and did not arrive back at the Lauree Lair until three-thirty this morning. My managers have been slow to hire the right people (e.g. the student who politely volunteered as an evening weekend cook and who happens to have long, green hair) and slow to fire people like the little girl on my shift who didn't fulfill her responsibility of finding a replacement, or the girl who called in this afternoon claiming she was sick (background: this evening is the first football game of the season, and last semester she happened to be ill or otherwise preoccuppied during several game-day shifts). I am deeply saddened indeed to have forty hours of my life per week consumed with such mundane nonsense.
Classwise I am satisfied. Greek will be "easiest"; it comes much more quickly than Latin, for whatever reason. Dr. Lavigne said Greek is more intuitive. But I do want to significantly improve my Latin, and with Sundays entirely free I am determined to study through the afternoon and evening as I complete laundry. Right now it takes a couple of hours to translate a few lines of text, because I keep having to look up every other word. I should recognize things more readily after a few weeks of practice.
Last semester the German readings class I took focused on short stories of the post-World War II period. This semester I have a different professor (Dr. Borst, the undergraduate advisor) who decided, after popular demand, to structure her readings course around practical translations (coming from the Internet, newspapers, magazines, television, et cetera). The book is written in English and Dr. Borst gives most of the instructions in English, which suits me fine, because English is the language I speak (sort of- I've noticed I almost never pronounce the "h" in "have"). I miss reading literature, but this course will definitely be useful and slightly less demanding on a day-to-day basis.
Dr. Reed's seminar on the sculpture of ancient Greece and Rome only requires a course-long research paper with, it would seem, less stipulations than the one I had to compose last semester. This class requires no project model (I spent many days on the aqueduct for the ancient technology class last year) and no in-class presentation (I spent several days on a suitable Power Point presentation last semester). A little twelve-page paper about the art of period "x" to period "y" I can do. Tomorrow or Labor Day I need to read a couple of chapters from the book, and over the week I'll review the syllabus to dibs a topic. Viel Spaß.
End report.
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 4:32 PM]