Friday, October 31, 2008
I do not celebrate Halloween, but I bought a couple of bags of candy in the unlikely event some little monsters might darken my door. Being sent away empty-handed, these hoodlums might have returned loaded with flaming pies to hurl on my porch. The night has passed without incident, and with only two high-school girls (in UK sweaters: "We dressed as college students") stopping by the entire evening. This leaves a bowl full of Snickers and Hershey's minis to be consumed. Am morgen I'll dump it on the neighbor's lawn, for those little munchkins to devour.
I do not like children.
Labels: candy, children, Halloween, Hershey's minis, neighbors, porch, Snickers, students
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 8:19 PM]
It Could All Go Up In Flames
Saturday, October 25, 2008
The space-heater in my bedroom must not be situated within three feet of anything, particularly, anything inflammable. Upon survey of my room, one discerns first the futon mattress on the floor. Next one may note the disassembled, wooden futon frame stacked to one side below the windows looking out onto nothing but the ivy that covers the side of the house. To the right, behind the space heater, stands a near-ceiling-high wooden bookshelf, containing at least two hundred books. On the floor, to one side, binders, documents, and more books (mostly dictionaries and writing supplements) rest neatly, if undecorously. On the mattress are piled six stacks of books and notebooks relating to my graduate classes and the section of beginning Latin I teach. If I shift heavily in sleep, these will bury me. If the space heater sets them alight, they will bury me in flames.
I spent the day reading about medieval archaeology and prosopography. At midday I broke off on a walk to the student recreation center, to read the first act of Kleist's Penthesileia on a recumbent bike, and then to swim about twenty laps. All this conducted in blissful solitude.
I do not like anyone.
Labels: archaeology, bedroom, books, bookshelf, flames, futon, Heinrich von Kleist, ivy, Latin, Penthesileia, prosopography, recumbent bike, sleep, solitude, space heater, student recreation, swimming
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 5:22 PM]
Give Me Back My Stapler
Friday, October 17, 2008
I know not what my sister's boyfriend's buttons signify. Ich weiß nur, daß meine Mitstudenten und der Professor gepflegt diesen Knopfen tragen. I brought them to class this afternoon, because a few weeks ago Professor Rabel noticed them on my hat and inquired as to their significance. I interpolate something with respect to Angst or Schadenfreude, aber wer weiß? I am content merely with wearing them; I provided them to my Greek professor and classmates in the hope that perhaps the true meaning of these buttons would one day illuminate them.
Labels: button, friends, hat, school, stapler
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 7:28 PM]