Good and Even Better

Good.
Even better.from here

I Should Be...

....working on furthering my understanding of Scott's the Lay of the Last Minstrel for class in 40 minutes. but I'm clearly not.

I have stumbled upon another bit of honey and have to share. Okkervil River landed on a lot of year end lists last years with The Stage Names and last month they released a new album called The Stand Ins. It's an alight album worthy of a listen, but like their last effort I am sure this will grow on me.

But that's not the point. Here is the point: one of the innovative things Okkervil did to garner steam for this release was to solicit other musicians to perform the songs and submit videos of them which can be found here.

But what is truly blessed is that Bon Iver covered one. Like Midas, all he touches turns gold and what went from being an aright song that felt too long has been pared down and with the help of a classical guitar and untouchable falsetto has been made golden. If there is an MP3 version I can't find it so if you care to hear you'll have to watch the video.



yep.

Lucky

I don't have the slightest idea of when the divergence took place. It wasn't shocking enough or, by any means, hallowed enough an event to be entered into the annals of time, so like the mystery of what Dr. Claw actually looks like, we'll never know. However, there are now two distinct (albeit a blurry distinction) types of web logs: updaters and not updaters. There is nothing wrong with either camp, but there used to be but one.

In the halcyon days of yore the only person I knew with a web log was Joe and he wrote once a month, maybe, mostly maybe not even. Those were simpler times. Less informed and far less connected, but simpler. Simpler is not always better. I enjoy this little neighborhood of friends linked from page to page. It has been great to reconnect with Gillilliland and others while staying connected with James, Joe, Grant, my sisters, and all fine common folk over there on the right. Still, I am not an updater. Lindsey's web log will always be the one to check for daily anecdotes of Scot living. She is the uber Updater. Again, I am not. My posts are sporadic in topic and timeliness and will only grow more so as I delve into my schooling.

However, I have been asked to update my web log with an update on life. So, here is you have it, an update on my new life in the old world:

It is entirely satisfying to be back in the classroom. I can't even tell if my teachers are boring because I like listening to their accents so much I can't help but pay attention.

I have three classes this semester. They meet once a week from Tuesday to Thursday. That may seem like a dream for all the free time, but my professors plan to fill it. In my Walter Scott class alone I am assigned a novel of his a week, starting with Waverley. This say nothing for my Literary Studies class or The Theory of the Novel. the next semester I have 4 classes that also meet once a week and then the last semester is dedicated entirely to writing my dissertation.

Though still largely undecided on what to focus on for my dissertation I think that while here I should delve into the culture I am surrounded by and study 19th century Scottish authors, mostly Sir Walter Scott. I haven't really read much of his but my adviser thinks it impossible to study Scottish writers without studying Scott so I'm giving him a go. I can't even tell you the amount of sweat thinking about what I am going to write my dissertation on brings, it is ugly and not the least bit natural and should be the topic of some scientist's dissertation.

Mostly though, I find myself feeling lucky.

I will try to post when I can, but it will rarely be an "update". It will most likely be about movies, music, video games, comic books, Star Wars, and other nerdery.

Some photos I have taken thus far:

Moss and memory on a flat lying tombstone.

Tree -v- Wall. Tree wins.

River Don

View from Bridge of Balgownie. We live under those pipes in the background

Me on a felled tree