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It's Time To Wash Your Bedding.

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We're back with another spooky story and literary analysis! This story gave me such whiplash and some terrifying imagery that I can't get out of my mind in the best way possible. Our class discussed a lot of different interpretations, so I'm sharing my take now.   The Feather Pillow by Horacio Quiroga was a thrilling and macabre tale with so many possible meanings. I had never heard of it before we read in class, so the ending was a whip-lash-level shock that I did not see coming. What seems like a story of a young couple, Alicia and Jordan who were recently wed, quickly dissolves into a tragic and then horrifying story about death and a blood-sucking pillow monster. We discussed whether the monster at the end that kills Alicia is meant to be figurative (what does it stand for? Is there a bigger meaning behind it?) or literal (it’s just a weird monster.). My figurative take is Jordan, the husband, is described as having a “rough character” and that he “loved her profoun...
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Why did she have to Annabel Lee-ave??

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  This week we're working on literary analysis and we started off strong with my favorite poem; Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe. If you haven't seen Shipwrecked's Poe series then my oh my do I have a recommendation for you!   It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me. I was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea, But we loved with a love that was more than love— I and my Annabel Lee— With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven Coveted her and me. And this was the reason that, long ago, In this kingdom by the sea, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee; So that her highborn kinsmen came And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea. The angels, not half so happy in Heaven, Went envying her and me— Yes!—that was the reason (as all...
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Weekend update!

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 Hello friends and happy sunday!   I just finished writing the first draft of our final formal writing assignment for class and submitted it so I'm feeling pretty good about that and while I still have some writing motivation left, thought I'd funnel it into another blog post. It's been an interesting and very hot week that I wanted to share or record for my own memory.   I'm working on revamping my lunches and eating habits in preparation for the fall semester because I know I'm going to be super busy and making sure I get enough food to fuel my brain and body is important. I have a difficult time eating when it's hot because I don't want to cook so we've been doing prep and finding easier options. I started making smoothies again and even got some collagen power to add protein. I want to try to find whey powder because apparently, that's pretty helpful when you want to up your protein intake. My partner baked me loaves of rosemary bread so I can ma...
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What's your reaction to nuclear reactors?

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Our next class assignment is to write a more in-depth argumentative essay on a subject of our choice and I chose nuclear energy. I wanted to get some ideas out and start narrowing down my conversation because it's a such a big topic and I started going down the topic of trying to fully understand nuclear physics (thank you Hank Green, we love you so much 💖), which considering this is an English class and not nuclear physics class, I need to reign it back in haha! So here are some practice paragraphs and we'll see what ends up in the final project?  When you hear nuclear power, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Reactor meltdowns and atomic bombs? Scientists and engineers in lab coats and hardhats finding new ways to use nuclear power safely? Maybe the origin story of so many comic book heroes and villains, being exposed to gamma rays from WW2 era nuclear power hype?  Nuclear energy has a complicated past and an even more complicated future. Nuclear power is alread...
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Just some nice things

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It's been a pretty hectic few weeks and blogging has fallen between the couch cushions for a little bit but I'm back again to try to just practice getting thoughts out, no matter how random they may be. I thought I'd do a little bit of a recap, partly because my memory has been struggling a bit so writing things down always helps. Plus I'm trying to be gentle with myself so writing about fun events rather than thought-provoking ones sounds a lot more doable right now and sharing some pictures also sounds like fun.  This Sunday my partner, our friend and I drove down to the Santa Barbra Botanic Gardens . The Botanic Gardens have 11 different areas that display all native Californian plants with cool art, lovely benches, secret trails and a creek you can cross.   My partner and I discovered them a few years ago when we were looking for something to do for our birthdays and once we discovered they have a mini redwood grove with a creek? Well, that's paradise for us. We...
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To Disagree or Not To Disagree?

I wanted to do a little exploration this week into criticism and disagreeing with another's point of view. For our last formal writing assignment, we had the option to praise or criticize the author of our chosen article and while I opted out, I was intrigued to the extent that criticizing or disagreeing makes me nervous and how far I'm willing to go to avoid it, especially in person.  Unsurprisingly, I think that disagreeing/arguing is something that is often taught as a "bad" or "scary" thing for people who grew up socialized as women. Women/fem folks are pushed in the direction of quiet, agreeable, and being a doormat when it comes to opinions or big decisions. I have a lot of opinions, thoughts, and perspectives on many topics, from the silly (like are ghosts real or what the best jellybean flavor is) to the very important (women's rights and police brutality) but I really only share those opinions with those I feel really safe with or people who alr...
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Monday ramblings while my potatoes boil

Compassion . Between the books and interactions I've had recently, compassion has been on my mind. I've been spending time with professors/faculty as well as students around campus and I've noticed that there are times were it seems like the professors and students are almost on opposing sides; where the students get frustrated with the professors regarding assignments or grades, either because they feel some assignment was unfair or too hard or too tedious. And professors can get frustrated when students are late turning in an assignment or don't complete the projects or get lower grades, because often the professors can see the potential in the students and want them to do their best.  Listening to both sides often brings to light an explanation of why something was late; a family member was sick, a stressful day that ended in a migraine, a job that's stressful, children, and pets needing care, or just straight-up burnout that leads to taking the exhaustion and fr...
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