Seven Ways to Procrastinate

There are two things inspiring this week's post.

• I found myself browsing Imgur last night, and after reaching pictures I'd already seen, I was trying to think of other websites to waste my time on, and was horrified when I couldn't come up with anything. Facebook was too boring, and...well, what else is there? I don't have a pintrest account. I wasn't sure what to browse on youtube (no matter what cat video you send me, I promise I've already seen it). 

•  I had no idea what to write about today, but I knew I wanted to write something, so I googled "blog ideas," and this one list came up that included a "Seven ways to..." kind of post. I'm not really sure what I'm an authority on. Really not much. But I'm a fantastic procrastinator, and goddammit, I'm going to write about it.

Seven Ways to Procrastinate

1. Write a blog post. I almost wrote a post on how I've completed all of my homework up to this point, but I couldn't stop laughing long enough to get any words out. 
   GIFSoup
2. Play a video game. This is an obvious one. Don't have a console? No problem. That's what sites like www.vizzed.com and www.addictinggames.com are for. Also, this game. It's pretty cool. 
3. Read a book, knit/crochet, color a coloring book. You can tell yourself you're being productive if you do this one, because of course reading isn't a waste of time! It's good to read! And knitting/crocheting is productive because you're making something. And let's be honest, who doesn't like to color? If you raise your hand, you haven't colored in too long. Or maybe you haven't bought the coloring book that's right for you. In any case, this is kind of the Overachiever Procrastinator trophy requirement. I'll be honest; I kind of look down on people who claim to procrastinate when they're actually doing something semi-productive. Lame.
4. Find a sudden tv show addiction. I myself have recently become invested in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  This is one of those things that gives you the illusion that you're being productive, because you're making your way through a season (or a series, in my case) of something you haven't seen before. That's always a nice illusion. 
5. Start doing your work around your friends. One of my favorite places to do homework is in the music lounge on campus, because that's where all the fun music students go to socialize. If you get more than a page of anything written/read/accomplished, I will give you permission to name my first cat. 
6. While typing papers, keep a stream of youtube videos open on your laptop. Make sure that you constantly have something playing, preferably with words.  It's really helps.
7. Okay I'm getting bored, so I'll get to this one later. 

Since apparently I've been posting music videos more and more frequently with my posts, I'll keep to that tradition (because I like it), and post one for today. This one was a recommendation from my lovely sister. Happy Monday!

Fall Semester

So it's that time of year again where a new school year is beginning, and I'm looking forward to my classes, and then the first day goes by and the second day and I'm looking forward to the weekend, and then I realize I need to take another class this semester if I want to graduate by May, and then I take on a few jobs to make money for gas and the occasional off-campus dinner, and then I come down with a case of faux enthusiasm during which volunteer for too many things, half of which I might follow through with, and I'm left wondering where all my video game time went.

But seriously, I do think this will be a good semester. I started my first teaching practicum where I go to schools and work with middle and high school students, which is very exciting. I felt lucky to have such a good first day of class-- I was actually able to help some of the students with their English questions, which made me feel pretty cool. I never thought the day would come where I feel validated by successfully defining "simile."

And in case, god forbid, I'm getting too over-confident in the English department, the practicum is balanced by my course on Chaucer. After spending two and a half hours reading about ten pages of The Canterbury Tales, I realized several things:

1. I love reading textbooks
2. I love reading scholarly essays, provided they were written in the last hundred years
3. I love reading James Joyce, Thomas Pynchon, Gertrude Stein, and all of those pretentious authors who choose to write in modern English (barely) (except for the part where they write in other languages, but at least I can skip those parts with the excuse that they are not English and therefore I am not obliged to read them, unlike Chaucer, who wrote at a time when spelling was arbitrary and jokes about the Black Plague were fashionable)
1. But don't hold me to that-- I'm not really going to pick up Joyce or Pynchon or Stein and read them. I don't love them that much.
2. Please don't hold me to that
4. I have no idea how to spell "Canterbury"

And if Chaucer wasn't humbling enough, I'm taking Music Theory III (for fun) two years late. I have never been the oldest person in a class before, but now I know that feeling, and I kind of want to start a club. "Delayed Seniors" or something. But I do enjoy theory.  Along with history, it's one of the two aspects of music that I don't think I will grow tired of anytime soon. 

Oh, well. Here's to the beginning of the year. 

Since I like video games, video game music, and Skyrim these days, I'm going to close this post by posting a Skyrim piece that I've really been enjoying. 

In which I am too busy with classes, job hunting, skyrim, a dysfunctional laptop, scheduling conflicts, and the like to update this blog

I have had three or four posts planned in my head the last few weeks, but I just haven't actually gotten them down into a blog yet. It will happen, my friends! It will happen!