I have been doing some different things this week and it has been good to break out of my normal routine and shake it up a bit.
First, I joined a yoga studio. I have an unlimited pass for the next nine weeks and my goal is to go 3 times a week.
Second, I went to the symphony again and have decided that I need to go on a regular basis. I absolutely love it. You can get rush tickets for $15 at the door. I'd pay that much to spend the same amount of time at a movie and the symphony is just as entertaining.
Third, I went to an art opening and a fundraiser for a art gallery. So far I am liking the art world. I have friends who are well connected and it helps. They can tell me which shows to go to, which events are good, and they let me tag along with them to get my feet wet. The people are fun and friendly and so far it's been a good time.
Last night at the fundraiser, we got there and almost right away we were invited upstairs into the office for a shot of tequila (this is when being with a well-connected friend comes in doubley handy). We cheersed, shot tequila and then went back down the darkly lit stairwell to the main room. When we got back to our table, my sister leaned over and said "We just did everything our parents tell us not to do...'Hi, nice to meet you. Do I want to go upstairs to a dimly lit private office and drink alcohol with you? Sure, let's go!'"
Good times.
Saturday, 8 May 2010
Friday, 7 May 2010
The Reference Letter
I debated on whether or not to post this and decided go for it. I have removed names of people and associations for privacy purposes. I am completely humbled by this letter and so grateful to my instructor for writing such amazing things about me.
Dear Ms. ___
It is my great pleasure to be able to write this letter in support of Ms. KT's application for the position of ______ . K took my English class (Introduction to Fiction and Composition) in the fall of 2009. I have taught hundreds of students at this level, and K stands out as being one of the most exceptional students that I have ever encountered in my ten years of teaching.
It was most certainly K's writing skills as well as her maturity, ability to handle sophisticated subject matter and complex tasks that set her apart from her peers. K wrote essays that were, essentially, superior. In fact, I used one of her essays as a model essay that I still distribute to students as a demonstration of an excellent piece of writing. Moreover, for her final research paper, K wrote one of the most interesting and original pieces I have ever read from a student; she wrote about issues specific to the ____ Community, and this piece of work was one of very few that I have seen that opened up an entire world for me about which I knew very little. With her passion, remarkable ability to organize her thoughts, and her tremendous insight, K's paper was the all-too-rare case of the student teaching the teacher.
In all of my interactions with K, it has been abundantly evident that she is extremely bright, and has a well-honed capacity to handle work in a manner that is efficient, independent and very well organized. She is certainly a very resourceful individual with a great deal of initiative and leadership. Her decision to pursue this position with her professional association is, I believe, a well-informed decision, and I feel absolutely certain that her academic background as well as her life experiences make her a unique and outstanding candidate for this job. I have absolutely no hesitations in providing K with my highest recommendation for this position; I know that she will not only succeed at, but will distinguish herself in all of her chosen pursuits.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further information.
Sincerely,
______, M.A.
Dear Ms. ___
It is my great pleasure to be able to write this letter in support of Ms. KT's application for the position of ______ . K took my English class (Introduction to Fiction and Composition) in the fall of 2009. I have taught hundreds of students at this level, and K stands out as being one of the most exceptional students that I have ever encountered in my ten years of teaching.
It was most certainly K's writing skills as well as her maturity, ability to handle sophisticated subject matter and complex tasks that set her apart from her peers. K wrote essays that were, essentially, superior. In fact, I used one of her essays as a model essay that I still distribute to students as a demonstration of an excellent piece of writing. Moreover, for her final research paper, K wrote one of the most interesting and original pieces I have ever read from a student; she wrote about issues specific to the ____ Community, and this piece of work was one of very few that I have seen that opened up an entire world for me about which I knew very little. With her passion, remarkable ability to organize her thoughts, and her tremendous insight, K's paper was the all-too-rare case of the student teaching the teacher.
In all of my interactions with K, it has been abundantly evident that she is extremely bright, and has a well-honed capacity to handle work in a manner that is efficient, independent and very well organized. She is certainly a very resourceful individual with a great deal of initiative and leadership. Her decision to pursue this position with her professional association is, I believe, a well-informed decision, and I feel absolutely certain that her academic background as well as her life experiences make her a unique and outstanding candidate for this job. I have absolutely no hesitations in providing K with my highest recommendation for this position; I know that she will not only succeed at, but will distinguish herself in all of her chosen pursuits.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further information.
Sincerely,
______, M.A.
Monday, 3 May 2010
Job application
I applied for a job last month and I didn't get it. In fact, nobody got it and so the job was re-posted nation-wide. I decided, despite the very kind rejection, that I would apply again. The first time I applied all I submitted was my resume. The second time I decided to write a cover letter and get a reference letter as well.
The first draft of my cover letter was terrible. I copied and pasted it from sample letters and then rewrote it in my own words. It had no flow, sounded nothing like me and was even kind of ridiculous. I had my sister proofread it and she agreed that it wasn't good. Even writing it, I felt sick of reading about myself. It was all the great buzz words and I wasn't buying it even a little. If I were really so "goal oriented" or had "exemplary resourcefulness and initiative" or really "thrived on challenge and change" wouldn't I be somewhere quite different in life.
It isn't that I am not those things - I just can't quite pack the punch that those buzz words are pulling.
I stewed over that damn cover letter and finally put it aside, sat down at my computer and wrote from the heart. I wrote a letter telling them who I am and why I thought that I would be a good fit for the job. An honest, buzz-word-free letter. I will likely get turned down a second time for the job and honestly I won't even mind if I do. But it was a great lesson in being authentic.
As for the reference letter, I had approached my English instructor from last semester to ask if she wouldn't mind writing a reference letter that spoke to my writing skills. She went so much deeper. I am humbled by her words and kindness. I had expected something more formulaic and what she wrote instead is personal, thoughtful and graciously flattering.
I had told her that my goal is to write and last semester, when the course was done, she handed me back my final assignment and said "now go be a writer".
The first draft of my cover letter was terrible. I copied and pasted it from sample letters and then rewrote it in my own words. It had no flow, sounded nothing like me and was even kind of ridiculous. I had my sister proofread it and she agreed that it wasn't good. Even writing it, I felt sick of reading about myself. It was all the great buzz words and I wasn't buying it even a little. If I were really so "goal oriented" or had "exemplary resourcefulness and initiative" or really "thrived on challenge and change" wouldn't I be somewhere quite different in life.
It isn't that I am not those things - I just can't quite pack the punch that those buzz words are pulling.
I stewed over that damn cover letter and finally put it aside, sat down at my computer and wrote from the heart. I wrote a letter telling them who I am and why I thought that I would be a good fit for the job. An honest, buzz-word-free letter. I will likely get turned down a second time for the job and honestly I won't even mind if I do. But it was a great lesson in being authentic.
As for the reference letter, I had approached my English instructor from last semester to ask if she wouldn't mind writing a reference letter that spoke to my writing skills. She went so much deeper. I am humbled by her words and kindness. I had expected something more formulaic and what she wrote instead is personal, thoughtful and graciously flattering.
I had told her that my goal is to write and last semester, when the course was done, she handed me back my final assignment and said "now go be a writer".
Monday, 26 April 2010
Outside in the rain.
brrrrrr!
I am sitting outside on our covered patio in the pouring rain. I adore being outside in the rain and so am in a slight state of heaven right now. The catch is that I am also cold. I don't want to go inside because it is so nice out here and the sound of the rain is making my skin happy. Cooper doesn't know what to make of me sitting out here and so he is going in circles from the chair next to me, to my lap, to the door and then back up on the chair next to me. If I weren't so cold I would stay out here for ages. I'd drink hot chocolate and read a chick lit novel and revel in the joy of being outside in the rain without getting wet.
I think I need a Snuggie!
I am sitting outside on our covered patio in the pouring rain. I adore being outside in the rain and so am in a slight state of heaven right now. The catch is that I am also cold. I don't want to go inside because it is so nice out here and the sound of the rain is making my skin happy. Cooper doesn't know what to make of me sitting out here and so he is going in circles from the chair next to me, to my lap, to the door and then back up on the chair next to me. If I weren't so cold I would stay out here for ages. I'd drink hot chocolate and read a chick lit novel and revel in the joy of being outside in the rain without getting wet.
I think I need a Snuggie!
Saturday, 24 April 2010
Anthology
Things are coming together. One way or another they always do. I heard a saying not too long ago that has stuck with me - "Everything is always ok in the end. If it's not ok, it's not the end." In my times of fear and despair, that saying has been really helpful.
Life seems to be lived in a series of events. I am starting to wonder if the thing that ties it all into a grand narrative rather than a series of vignettes, is children. Is having kids the thing that weaves the novella into a novel? Or is just a novella with kids in it.
Or is it just me? Do other people feel this sense of life being lived in short stories? And do our vignettes collectively become a grand narrative that we just aren't able to see while we are living it. Like seeing the forest through the trees.
I must be having a philosophical day.
Life seems to be lived in a series of events. I am starting to wonder if the thing that ties it all into a grand narrative rather than a series of vignettes, is children. Is having kids the thing that weaves the novella into a novel? Or is just a novella with kids in it.
Or is it just me? Do other people feel this sense of life being lived in short stories? And do our vignettes collectively become a grand narrative that we just aren't able to see while we are living it. Like seeing the forest through the trees.
I must be having a philosophical day.
Sunday, 18 April 2010
catching up
This has been a busy semester for me and I am regretful that I haven't blogged more. I logged in more than a few times but never really knew what to write and ended up logging back out without writing anything.
And now here I am again, logged in and wanting to write something but without a clear idea of what to write.
The class that I took this semester was another English course - modern novel, poetry and film - and once again I loved it! I so love being a student. I'd never studied poetry in my life and this course seemed to ignite in me a 'like' of poetry. Or at least a curiosity to continue on and study it some more. I wrote my poetry exam last Thursday and think it went pretty well. We had two hours to read a poem, analyze it and write an essay. I think I wrote a good essay, I'm just hoping it's a good 'poetry' essay.
It was the film component though that I loved most of all. I adored studying film - watching movies, analyzing and discussing them. I may just take film study courses forevermore. One of the four films we watched was an Orson Welles film noir from 1949 called The Third Man. I ended up choosing it to write my term paper on and so watched it a few times and loved it. It was critically panned when it was released. Audiences didn't know what to make of it and critics thought it was terrible. In 1999 though, it was named the British Film Institute's best movie of the 20th century and is on the American Film Institute's top 100 films of 100 years. I got my term paper back last Thursday and got an A+ on it. Yay!
I should be studying right now, except I can barely call it that since what I need to do is watch a movie. Pedro Almodovar's All About My Mother. I watched it once already but was so caught up in the story that I missed a lot of the elements that I am going to have to write about on my final exam this week.
Hopefully inspiration to write continues to hit and I log on here with something to say rather than the rambling I'm doing today.
til then,
cheers!
And now here I am again, logged in and wanting to write something but without a clear idea of what to write.
The class that I took this semester was another English course - modern novel, poetry and film - and once again I loved it! I so love being a student. I'd never studied poetry in my life and this course seemed to ignite in me a 'like' of poetry. Or at least a curiosity to continue on and study it some more. I wrote my poetry exam last Thursday and think it went pretty well. We had two hours to read a poem, analyze it and write an essay. I think I wrote a good essay, I'm just hoping it's a good 'poetry' essay.
It was the film component though that I loved most of all. I adored studying film - watching movies, analyzing and discussing them. I may just take film study courses forevermore. One of the four films we watched was an Orson Welles film noir from 1949 called The Third Man. I ended up choosing it to write my term paper on and so watched it a few times and loved it. It was critically panned when it was released. Audiences didn't know what to make of it and critics thought it was terrible. In 1999 though, it was named the British Film Institute's best movie of the 20th century and is on the American Film Institute's top 100 films of 100 years. I got my term paper back last Thursday and got an A+ on it. Yay!
I should be studying right now, except I can barely call it that since what I need to do is watch a movie. Pedro Almodovar's All About My Mother. I watched it once already but was so caught up in the story that I missed a lot of the elements that I am going to have to write about on my final exam this week.
Hopefully inspiration to write continues to hit and I log on here with something to say rather than the rambling I'm doing today.
til then,
cheers!
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Oscar predictions
It's Oscar night tonight! And it's time for me to commit my predictions to the interweb.
Usually I spend hours researching the nominees. I watch the short films online if I can. I read up about the Foreign films if I haven't seen them. I read reviews and critic's picks. This year, I did no extra research; I have seen a lot of the movies nominated this year, (in fact I've seen all 10 movies up for best picture) but I watched them for entertainment when they came out and not as research for our Oscar competition. My competitors are my sisters and even with all my research, I usually come in third (out of three). So this year, research schmeesearch, I'm gonna wing it!
In black is who I think will win and if it's different from who I want to win then I will add that in green. (update - I am adding the winners in red if they are different than who I guessed)
Best Picture
The Hurt Locker
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges
Colin Firth
Best Actress
Sandra Bullock
Gabourey Sidibe
Meryl Streep
Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz
Best Supporting Actress
Mo'Nique
Best Director
Katheryn Bigelow
Best Original Screenplay
The Hurt Locker
A Serious Man
Best Adapted Screenplay
Up In the Air
Precious
Best Cinematography
The Hurt Locker
Avatar
Best Editing
The Hurt Locker
Best Art Direction
Avatar
Best Costume Design
The Young Victoria
Best Makeup
Star Trek
Best Original Score
Up
Best Original Song
Crazy Heart - The Weary Kind
Best Sound Mixing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Best Sound Editing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Best Visual Effects
Avatar
Best Animated Feature
Up
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Best Foreign Language Film
El secreto de suis ojos (The Secret in Their Eyes) Argentina
Best Documentary Feature
The Cove
Best Documentary Short
Music by Prudence
Best Animated Short
Wallace and Gromit in a Matter of Loaf and Death
Logorama
Best Live Action Short
The New Tenants
Usually I spend hours researching the nominees. I watch the short films online if I can. I read up about the Foreign films if I haven't seen them. I read reviews and critic's picks. This year, I did no extra research; I have seen a lot of the movies nominated this year, (in fact I've seen all 10 movies up for best picture) but I watched them for entertainment when they came out and not as research for our Oscar competition. My competitors are my sisters and even with all my research, I usually come in third (out of three). So this year, research schmeesearch, I'm gonna wing it!
In black is who I think will win and if it's different from who I want to win then I will add that in green. (update - I am adding the winners in red if they are different than who I guessed)
Best Picture
The Hurt Locker
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges
Colin Firth
Best Actress
Sandra Bullock
Gabourey Sidibe
Meryl Streep
Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz
Best Supporting Actress
Mo'Nique
Best Director
Katheryn Bigelow
Best Original Screenplay
The Hurt Locker
A Serious Man
Best Adapted Screenplay
Up In the Air
Precious
Best Cinematography
The Hurt Locker
Avatar
Best Editing
The Hurt Locker
Best Art Direction
Avatar
Best Costume Design
The Young Victoria
Best Makeup
Star Trek
Best Original Score
Up
Best Original Song
Crazy Heart - The Weary Kind
Best Sound Mixing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Best Sound Editing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Best Visual Effects
Avatar
Best Animated Feature
Up
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Best Foreign Language Film
El secreto de suis ojos (The Secret in Their Eyes) Argentina
Best Documentary Feature
The Cove
Best Documentary Short
Music by Prudence
Best Animated Short
Wallace and Gromit in a Matter of Loaf and Death
Logorama
Best Live Action Short
The New Tenants
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