Writers Write

Sorry for not posting yesterday. I was under the weather, with a sore throat and achy muscles. I'm on the mend today, but I had to cancel classes yesterday, which always makes me unhappy. It just means more work. Reorganizing lectures and syllabi schedules. Blah. I got a chance to do some at-home work like reading.

I have been trying to post each day, and if I can't I attempt to post twice. It's part of my new mantra that will help get the dissertation done: "writers write." I made an agreement with myself to write each day and to really think about writing. I had hoped it would make me more articulate and communicative as a writer. So my intention was to strengthen the practical aspect of my work, and I've come to realize it has also strengthened the theoretical aspect as well. You see, much of the academic work I read is boring as hell. Now, that doesn't mean that the ideas in the work are boring or that the topic is boring, just that the writing is so unnecessarily difficult. Many of my students get disengaged from the academic articles I assign because the first paragraph is so wordy it's like the author wants to prove he or she passed the GRE. I want my writing to be accessible and still be able to discuss complicated topics. I think it would make academic work much more useful in the real world. It might also make it more difficult for readers to misinterpret your work, which is always a bonus when the media gets a hold of something academic and decides to "report." So writing in an interesting and engaging way is, for me, both a theory and a practice. I hope I'm getting better. A fellow blogger recommended this book on writing, and I ordered it from Amazon. It should be here by Friday. Anybody ever heard of it/read it? I'd love to hear reviews.

Now, on to more pressing business, True Blood gets better every week. I heart this show. Each week the characters grow more complicated and interesting. This Sunday was the best episode yet, in my opinion. If for nothing else than the scene where Lafayette verbally and physically puts three homophobes/vampirephobes in their place when they send back food because it "has AIDS on it." That scene will be my strength this election season, when commercials about "protecting the family" from homosexuality are running rampant.

You know what show has gotten better? The Big Bang Theory. I used to watch it because it was on before How I Met Your Mother and because it had David from Roseanne (who BTW is in an on-again-off-again relationship on the show with the gal who played Darlene!). I love nerds and nerd humor, so I thought I'd tune in. It was OK. I was annoyed by the Sheldon character right off the bat. And Leonard was super whiny. Like, way more whiny than David, which is saying something. But something happened. I grew to love the characters after they fleshed them out a bit. Sheldon is a crack up! I love his interactions with Penny. Last night's episode with the World of Warcraft storyline was comedy gold.

If you want to find Sheldon's T-shirts, Howard's belt buckles, or Leonard's hoodies, click here.