Sunday, December 17, 2006

God Bless the Winter Break

If I had to pick one adjective to describe this fall semester at VCU I would pick: bromidic!

Only one course truly inspired me academically, and that was African-American Literature.
The others, eh...not so much. My Poetry class was interesting, but the lackadaisical approach wasn't amicable to comprehensive focus, which didn't make the class as enjoyable as it could have been.

However, the champion of trite, as it were, belongs to my Chaucer course. My instructor felt that we, students, had the profound ability to suddenly comprehend Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Troilus & Criseyde (read in the original Middle English, mind you) without the need for supplemental class instruction.

To give an extreme example that accurately surmises my experience with the course, the class period after the mid-term elections contained absolutely NO discussion on Geoffrey Chaucer or one of his works. Instead, our instructor digressed (that's the polite term. I prefer "rambled incoherently," myself) on topics from politics, a quasi-famous prison break in Richmond that took place years ago, and (as was common in our discussions of other Chaucerian scholars) how our instructor thought another of her academic brethren was an "idiot." In fact, at one point during the semester, she iterated her elation upon hearing the death of a Chaucerian contemporary. No joke.

To give you wonderful readers (all none of you) an idea of how out of step she was with reality, she gave us an essay assignment that was to be handed-in during our final exam period. When did she provide us with detailed instructions for this assignment, you ask? One day prior to the exam. I kid you not. One day for a three to four page explication of a Troilus & Criseyde passage.

All I can tell you is that I am greatly looking forward to a month-long respite here in Springfield, VA, picking up hours at Michael's, spending time with friends I have not seen in a while, and trying to rid my imagination of the boredom that was this Fall semester.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Poem




Sura 54


hammer and sickle
amongst the mouse democracy.
the gentle hand of calligraphy
in the memory of Mujahideen.

an osama bin laden
party hat

adorned by

politics lovers who frequently
spat

and, just as the Soviet moon fell under
Afghanistan,

the stature of Albert Pujols
compliments the candles Little Richard
will blow out on his
Captain America

vanilla
frosted


birthday cake