An open letter to my fellow Staircase 8 residents

Dear Colleagues,

Why, oh why, is our toaster greasy? Please advise.

Love and bagels,
Kaitlin

Thinking academic thoughts

I had serious fun last night and am feeling the effects of it a bit today, but for some reason here I am thinking academic thoughts, and I feel like blogging about them.

The dissertation topic is working itself out. It looks like I will be looking at how the paradox is used as a form of guidance, an aviso, towards a spiritual life in San Juan de la Cruz's poetry. At the time that these poems were written, traditional love poetry used the paradox for mere aesthetic value, to represent the anguish of the lover ("icy fire," "sweet death," etc.). Here, the paradox is a guide for spiritual development and growth. One of the things that sparked this topic was a passage in San Juan's Subida del Monte Carmelo (Ascent of Mount Carmel):

Para venir a gustarlo todo,
no quieras tener gusto en nada.
Para venir a poseerlo todo,
no quieras poseer algo en nada.
Para venir a serlo todo,
no quieras ser algo en nada.
Para venir a saberlo todo,
no quieras saber algo en nada.
Para venir a lo que no gustas,
has de ir por donde no gustas.
Para venir a lo que no sabes,
has de ir por donde no sabes.
Para venir a lo que no posees,
has de ir por donde no posees.
Para venir a lo que no eres,
has de ir por donde no eres.
(Subida I: 13, 11)

Basically, it means that if you want to experience the beauty and the knowledge and the pleasure and the perfection of God, you have to remove yourself from the beauty and the knowledge and the pleasure and the perfection of the human world. The soul must separate itself from the creatures (criaturas) in order to unite with the creator (creador).

So I am going to attempt to sort out these paradoxes of seeing, knowing and understanding in order to get a better understanding of San Juan's message. I haven't worked out all the details yet, but I'm excited about the direction in which this is going.

I might do work now, I might not. We'll see what happens. Have a good day, folks!
Much love,
Me

100 things about me

I've always wanted to try this but never got around to it until now. Wow, I should really stop procrastinating...

I didn’t travel on an airplane until I was 18. I don’t know how to ice skate. I’m a bit claustrophobic. My first job was as a hotel housekeeper. I would love to be really awesome at cake decorating. I can bake but I can’t really cook. I’m not an early riser. I started as a psychology major in college but switched to Spanish and communication. I like buying shoes but I always buy them too big. I have no wisdom teeth. I’m working on a second Master’s degree at Oxford University. All of my cars have been Fords. I wish I had been alive during the vaudeville era. When I was a senior in high school I read twelve books by George Burns. Pimms and Lemonade is the only alcoholic beverage that I like. I have low blood pressure. When I was in college I tried out for The Weakest Link. I like a cappella concerts. I don’t eat grapes or olives because they look like eyes. I buy products because I like their commercials. I wish I spoke better German. When I was a junior in high school my best friend and I went to the prom with twin brothers. I love the color of my hair. I hate the sound of my voice. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life until I hit graduate school.

I’m more comfortable barefoot than in shoes. I have four brothers and sisters. I prefer dogs over cats. Both of my parents are firstborns. I don’t like touching crocheted pillows. I love Italian food. I like doing things by myself, but that doesn’t mean that I’m lonely. I’m very good at spelling. My favorite subject in high school and college was Spanish. All of my siblings are going to end up being taller than I am. I love going to the beach even though I am very self-conscious in a bathing suit. I was a tap dancer for seven years. I played guitar for a year in college. I didn’t learn how to ride a bike until I was 13. I am a registered Democrat. My SAT scores are not a good measure of my abilities. I don’t like being called Katie. I love the smell of coffee but I don’t like to drink it. I have at least ten e-mail addresses but I only check three regularly. I loathed the idea of teaching throughout my entire undergraduate career, but now I can’t see myself doing anything else. I cry very easily. Coding webpages helps me fall asleep. I do Sudoku in pen. I look young for my age. I hate it when people don’t take me seriously.

I am the oldest child in my family. I am fourteen years older than my youngest sister. My youngest siblings are African-American and Latina. My parents tried to give us all “K” names for a while but we ran out after the first three. My name (Kaitlin Marie) is a variation of my mother’s name (Kathleen Mary). I don’t know anyone else my age with the name Kaitlin. My sister Kelly is a clinician’s assistant and works with children with anger management problems. She learned how to walk before I did. My brother Kevin is a senior in high school and wants to be a detective. PJ is autistic but is the kindest person I know. He weighed about a pound at birth and is now as tall as I am. Maggie has more street smarts at 12 than I will ever have in a lifetime. My father works for an international company that makes and distributes tubes for machines. I worked there for six months and I still can’t explain what he does. My mother is a nurse and has saved many lives (I’m not exaggerating). Both of my parents come from big families. I have 21 aunts and uncles and 22 cousins. I am related to that old guy from the Pepperidge Farm commercials. Gene Pitney is one of my father’s distant cousins. Almost my entire extended family lives in Connecticut. My family moved to Windsor when I was in the second grade. I look like my dad. My parents met at a party that neither one of them wanted to attend. Four of the five of us are adopted. We were all born early, ranging from three weeks (Kelly) to three months (PJ).

I don’t get our society’s obsession with clothing sizes. I don’t feel like I am “oppressed by the patriarchy.” I’m not very organized. I don’t believe in reading manuals. I like to think that I’m creative. Worrying about things makes me physically ill. It is my goal in life to write a book. I’m embarrassed by the fact that I don’t understand politics. Surprisingly, though, I was three courses away from a minor in politics in college. I think everyone should learn a foreign language. I cannot overemphasize the importance of being prepared. I love teaching people how to use technology. I agonize over difficult decisions. I am a firm believer in doing things that make you happy and worrying about the money later. Once I went to New York to go to a concert with 10 girls I didn’t know. In November 2005 I drank with the Spanish cultural attaché to Great Britain. I am trying to be more independent. When I was in high school I was always the best female in my gym class at weightlifting. I would like to win a trophy at some point in my life. I have never been on a roller coaster. I wish I knew how to dive. I think it’s fun to lie on surveys. I am getting tired of television. Sometimes I have a dream about something and then it happens in real life. (Does that make me psychic?) I am not sure what I want to study for my PhD.

Ups and downs

Up: I went to a lovely concert at Christ Church Cathedral tonight, which was conducted by St. Catz's very own Chris Collier. A bunch of Catz kids came out to support our guy, and I also saw a bunch of the ChCh linguists too.
Up: After the concert the ChCh girls invited me over for tea and brownies, which was fun. ChCh grad rooms are amazing! They have fireplaces!
Down: No dissertation topic yet...didn't get any work done today.
Up: I'm feeling very relaxed, though.
Down: Sweet Jesus, my neighbors are singing karaoke!
Up: I have earplugs.
Down: The earplugs make my ears hurt, and they don't even work.
Up: I think I have a topic for my theory paper.
Up: I also have some great ideas for publishable papers back in my ol' field of Communication.
Down: I have to get up at 7:45 tomorrow. Yes, that's early for me.
Up: I'll be out at 1:00, with plenty of time to work on the dissertation topic.
Down: Can't. Stop. Procrastinating!!!!!

So who wins???

Memetacular

I've been too lazy to blog lately so I thought I would pick things up again with a nice meme. If you want to steal it, go right ahead. Seen most recently at Cheeky and Badger's blogs.

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
"Damn, the water makes my hair look like crap."

2. How much cash do you have on you?
About £45 and $24 in my wallet.

3. What's a word that rhymes with TEST?
Palimpsest (hehe we talked about palimpsests in a lecture yesterday)

4. planet?
I've always been fond of Jupiter.

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list?
My friend Jenni, who called before I woke up.

6. What is your favorite ring on your phone?
The "Facts of Life" theme song from two phones ago.

7. What shirt are you wearing?
Hard to explain: it's one of those white long-sleeved undershirt thingys that you wear under things to be warm.

8. What do you label yourself?
Neurotic. (Yes I stole Cheeky's answer but it's also true for me!)

9. Name the brand of your shoes you're recently wearing?
*blushes* Generic Wal-Mart brand (Hey, I liked them and they were cheap!)

10. Bright or Dark Room?
I prefer dark. I know that's weird but it's true.

11. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Eating dinner. Yes, I eat late.

12. What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
"Pls do. I must go 2 Wadham 2morrow. If any probs, I will send it 2 u. I do not necessarily need it back bfr Tues!" (From a conversation with Jenni about borrowing an article for theory class)

13. Where is your nearest 7-11?
Thousands of miles away - no 7-11 o'er here, sorry.

14. What's a saying that you say a lot?
Blabiddy blah blah blah

15.Who told you they loved you last?
mi madre

16. Last furry thing you touched?
I guess I would have to say my purple fuzzy socks.

17. How Many Drugs Have You Done In The Past three Days?
Zero, unless you count caffeine.

18. How many rolls of film do you need to get developed?
Film? What's that? ;)

19. Favorite age you have been so far?
I dunno, 25 hasn't been too bad...

20. your worst enemy?
Too many people know about this blog for me to name names ;)

21. What is your current desktop picture?
Currently the family photo from a few posts ago. Before that a garden shot of Catz.

22. What was the last thing you said to someone?
"See you Thursday" to Jenni (Yes, I socialize with people other than Jenni, but she has been the one I have seen the most often recently.)

23. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly, which would you choose?
The money, sin duda. I'm not a fan of flying.

24. Do you like someone?
*blushes again*

25. The last song you listened to?
Boyz II Men, "Thank You." Boyz II Men was the first concert I'd ever attended, so they are very nostalgic to me :)

Back to school

Wow.

This week is flying by.

I arrived back in the UK on Monday and it is already Friday. Wow. Here's the rundown of what happened this week:

Monday: Arrived at Heathrow at about 9:00 a.m. It was FIFTY DEGREES WARMER than at home. I was sweating. Felt sick as hell, wondered how I was going to make it to the bus. I did, though. After a plane, a bus and then a taxi, I was back in the college by about 11:30. I lugged all my heavy-@$$ stuff to my room, took a nap, did a bit of shopping and came back and slept more. A very bad way to get over jet lag, but what the hell.

Tuesday: Woke up with every intention of going to 2 lectures and 2 seminars. I ended up making it to exactly 0 of those lectures and 1 of those seminars - the literary theory one. (Well, to be fair, the 5-7 Spanish research seminar was cancelled, so that doesn't count.) Jenni and I went to dinner at Pizza Express, which was fun.

Wednesday: Met with Colin, corrected papers. Ended the day with a horrible headache.

Thursday: Sure as hell didn't make it to the 9 a.m. lecture. Made it to the 10 a.m. (Intertextuality in Golden Age Spain) and noon (more Literary Theory) lectures, though. Enjoyed lunch in the Covered Market - the usual pasty and tea. Very nice. Came home, tried to photocopy my special subject papers in the library, but the copier kept eating the pages, so I rushed to the local copy shop and got copies made just in time. Whew. Finished grading all those #$$*%$&@ quizzes and calculated grades.

Today: Delivered my special subject papers to the Modern Language office. Paid my accommodation bill and ordered more dinner points. Bought a wrap to wear to tonight's guest dinner. Submitted my grades. Ate lunch in my room, took a nap, went to guest dinner. Left a bit early, came back to my room to relax and now enjoy the weekend.

Did I mention that I got a new camera for Christmas? It is awesome. It takes wonderful clear photos! I will post them soon, after I charge the battery.

Going to watch a movie now then get to bed. G'night!
Kaitlin

Damn.

Eye masks are my new favorite.

Every time I fly on Virgin Atlantic I get this cool amenity pack with stuff like pens, earplugs, toothbrush, socks, eye mask, etc. The first two times I left it on the plane, but this time I took it with me (no socks with this one, unfortunately). I've never used an eye mask for sleeping before, but I did this past time on the plane, and it was unbelievable. I've never slept so well in my life. I took it to the college and used it for my jetlag catching-up nap, and I slept amazingly.

Last night I went to bed, thinking about how well I was going to sleep, when it happened:

the eye mask broke.

The strap just snapped off.

Damn damn damn damn damn.

I guess I'll have to buy another one when I go out...or go on another Virgin Atlantic flight...

Blog plugging

I'm back in the UK. Details to follow later today.

But I couldn't go any longer without plugging a new blog: Brilliant Busted Thoughts. This blog belongs to Elizabeth, who is a Spanish and Chemistry major at the University of Hartford and a very good friend of mine. Check out her blog and let her know what you think about her poetry.

This one is my personal favorite.

Enjoy!

Hello out there!

Greetings and salutations!

It's National De-Lurking Week, so if you've been lurking around my blog for a while, why not come out of the shadows and say hello? I promise to do the same, and to try to catch up with the people who have linked to my blog but I have neglected to link back yet.

Looking forward to hearing from you, especially since Oxford-related posts will be coming back soon...
Cheers,
Kaitlin

Meet the Parents...and the Siblings too

I talk about 'em all the time, but I wanted to take a minute to introduce y'all (especially the Oxford folks) to mi familia. This is the first family portrait we've had in many years, and we took it in our new Christmas sleigh. We have, from left to right:

*Kevin, age 17
*Travis, age 16 (friend of Kevin's who lives with us)
*Kelly, age 24
*Maggie, age 11 (will be 12 in 4 days)
*Jim, better known as "Dad"
*Kathy, better known as "Mom"
*Yours truly, age 25
*and Preston James (P.J.), age 12, sitting in the front.

If I tried to tell you something about each person, I'd be here all night. So I guess I will save that for future posts. Friday Family Blogging, anyone?

Tomorrow is day 1 of teaching. Wish me luck!
Kaitlin

P.S. - Click on the photo to view full-size!