YAY!

Today I passed the oral defense of my honors thesis. My committee asked some good questions, some of which I responded to better than others, but they were very complimentary about my paper and oral, so that was very exciting.

Yay! I'm glad that's over. I now have one class completely done.

Thesis Defense

Tomorrow is the oral defense for my honors thesis, after which my committee will decide if I will actually get to graduate with Honors in English. My anticipation of this event has been increased by the fact that I know several undergraduate and graduate students who have already passed their oral examinations, and I want to join that happy group!

I'm not that nervous -- I enjoy sitting down and talking to faculty about my work, and my defense is basically a conversation with my committee. I'm also confident that the work I've done is good (though obviously not perfect by any means). However, I will have to sit down and think a bit about how I might respond to certain questions that the committee might ask. For instance, what are the weak points in my paper, what bears further examination, and how would I improve it if I were given more time, etc.

Overall I'm excited for tomorrow, but keep your fingers crossed for me.

Childless Movie Theater

Anybody who knows me knows that I LOVE movies . . . I like to watch them at home, or see them in the theater. I really enjoy seeing movies by myself, even at the movie theater, which a lot of people think is weird. But frankly, who needs moral support to go see a movie in a theater? You're supposed to sit in the dark and be quiet, so having someone beside you shouldn't be a big deal unless you're planning to do something other than watching. I myself wouldn't pay 8 bucks to make out in a theater, but maybe that's just me.

So I was talking to my mom today and she said that one of the movie theaters in my hometown is being redone, and some of the theaters will be adults only -- this does not mean that those theaters will show adult films, but rather they are simply theaters in which no children are allowed.

Thank the lord. What a wonderful concept.

Children are one of the prime irritatants at movie theaters. When I go to a kid's movie, I except children in the audience. That is fine. But when I go to an adult movie at 10:15 at night, and some damn annoying parent has brought their kids, I am irritated. Get a babysitter. I understand parents' difficulties, honestly I do . . . trustworthy sitters are neither easy to find, nor cheap. But that is no reason for parents to inflict their little terrors on the rest of us at a time when we can reasonably expect to have a quiet, pleasant viewing experience.

This "adult" theater will have a separate entrance, and the food area will cater to adults. According to mom it will have a bar, and serve cuisine like sushi that more adults would eat.

I think this sounds like a wonderful idea, and I hope it meets with success. In the Netflix era it's so much easier to grab a movie from your mailbox and watch it in the comfort of your home, but there is still something about going to a movie theater that cannot be captured anywhere else.

So much YAY that I just can't contain myself

Today I handed in the final copy of my honors thesis, all pretty and bound, to my 3-person evaluation committee. My oral defense is next week, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

From here on our my semester will be pretty light . . . basically 2 finals and a paper, so I'm really thrilled to be done with this project.

In my eighteenth century novel course we've been reading Fraces Burney's Evelina, which is truly fabulous, and I highly recommend it. I just can't wait to get to the happy ending!

DOUBLE YAY!

I got into the Columbia program, so that is where I'll be attending. Yay!

YAY!

I received notice today that I was accepted to the summer publishing institutes at both U of Denver and NYU, so yay! Now I'm just waiting to hear from my top-choice program at Columbia. Keep your fingers crossed! But it's nice to know that even if I don't get in, I can still go to New York, which is pretty important to me since I hope to get a job and move there. Attending a summer program will give me time to live in the city, find housing and a job, etc.