On the mound

Before getting right into whats up next, I need to get to some updates.  So, first:

1) After talking to the Director of the program at Brandeis, he did inform me that having at least one recommendation would fare well in another review of my application.  I, of course, reached out to my main bitch at MHC, a professor named Jane.  I have always come dangerously close to actually building a shrine made of scrap metal, wood, and bamboo earrings and mailing it to her, but always conclude that might scare her.  I digress.  Jane has done AMAZING things for me over the years, including stepping into the role of teacher, mentor, parent, and friend.  In one email, she had a letter of recc on my behalf in the mail within 10 minutes.  *Round of applause*

2) I reached out to another professor in the History Dept at MHC, whom I took a brutally difficult class with and fared well for a recommendation.  Unbelievably, she replied that she couldn’t because I had not taken more than one class with her.  This is EXACTLY why I don’t give back to MHC.  Not that the $5 I could afford right now would not do anything besides cover the postage for 8 junk mail letters my alma mater sends out, but its the principle I’m talking about here.

3) When I become a professor, I am going to outline recommendation rules in my syllabus.  This will come right after the ‘getting the DVD collector set of ‘Friends’ is mandatory’ statement.  Get with it or get lost!

4) Things with Skun bunny are going very well.  Skun bunny, if you recall is the Black man I met at my former job at the Justice Dept who moved to MD.  I actually informed him I would try to publish a small anthology of poetry and short stories before I turned 25. Living off of the $14/year revenues I’m sure the book would generate will get me through buying wax to shape my own eyebrows.

Now to what’s on deck:

I’ve watched “Autumn Hearts”, an independent film with Susan Sarandon last week, but it was nothing to blog about.  If you’re interested, its about Sarandon’s character being reunited with a childhood friend and her “lost” love for him.  How did she meet this fellow?  They were in an internment camp together in France during the Holocaust.  Now in their late 50s, they are joined by their fellow ex-mate, a teacher now in his 80s, and Sarandon’s husband and adult son.  It makes for an awkward cast and the imbalance of gender throughout the film is only offset by the lack of history and weird ‘flashbacks’ to the camp.  The film seemed interrupted by intense scenes of the former teacher’s impending death, the husband’s awareness of his wife’s infidelity, and a guy (and son) who don’t quite fit into the film too well.  Note the film was originally titled “Emotional Arithmetic”, maybe that should have been a hint as to its overall confusion.  Even the first title didn’t make any damn sense.  Highlights include some good cinematography and sentimental dialogue, but other than that I would not highly recommend it.

I’ve also been reading “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle” a book almost as publicized as that damn ‘Eat. Pray.Love.”.  Unfortunately, I’m starting to think this book is being marketed by the same brilliant publicist that got “Eat Pray Love” flying off bookstore shelves, because this read is heavy and so far (130 pages into it) not well written.  It has a familiar “East of Eden” flavor to its initial set-up i.e. describe a family’s chemistry before children come into the picture, but lacks a luster of ambition for any of the characters and therefore the story seems aimless.  I’ll continue and let you know if I quit it altogether.  I’ll stay positive!!