Some Days Are Longer than Others...
Time is at a premium these days. On one hand, I've been filling my time (relatively) productively, grading a lot and watching movies - for the average person, these might be diversions, but I feel good about the amount of work I've put in my for my students and I feel like I can have a near CA-100 free spring break (that's what I call a vacation). This week, I've finished grading a big pile of speeches, a midterm, and several smaller assignments like short papers / quizzes. I'll send my students off for break with a progress report in hand, and I feel like a legitimate teacher all over again.
Last night, I saw a tremendous film -
Landscapes in the Mist (1988, by Greek dir. Theo Angelopolous). It was my kind of movie - two kids go off in search of the Father they've never known and have a heartbreakingly difficult journey. Lots of long takes, meditative compositions, spiritual monologues, and other strange details. It was truly horrifying at times, paints the human condition grimly, but it was a solid meal of cinema. During the afternoon, I watched the three-hour tour de force that is
Children of Paradise (dir. by Carne, and released in 1954 - the first film released in France after the German Occupation). This movie is much more deliberate - very stage-y and features lots of theatrical performances / it is written like a stage play (for better or worse), but it has some amazing performances and the sets are beyond lavish. This is proof that the French Industry (when completely run and re-organized by the Germans) can put out Hollywood league productions. Tonight I am going to watch
Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (Kuleshov, 1924) and I hear that it is wonderful. Our colloquium film tomorrow is called
This Car Up, an Eric Mueller film from 2003. I have no expectations about this film / and even IMdB isn't coming to my rescue, I can just see that it's a "boy meets boy lovestory" shot mostly in split-screen, I can't tell if that'll be terribly clever or just terrible. Tomorrow will mark three days of 4017 screenings... I feel myself growing paler with all this time spent in the dark.
I feel like I've seen a respectable amount of film lately (and a wonderful variety). It'll be a challenge to keep this up over spring break because there is
little worth seeing in the multi-plexes or other local theaters. By the same token, lots of film lately, light on the studies... so some library time, paper writing, and catch up is certainly in order. This week feels like a throw-away, just passing back papers and mentally gearing myself up for a week of solid writing / thinking (for the first time this semester). I wish I had something more interesting to write about, but it's been a pedestrian week of crossing things off my to-do list and getting ready for break.
Jeremy and Jody come on Friday to continue their apartment hunt and they've promised me two great things (something edible - they are cooking me dinner in exchange for housing accomodations) and use of their car for a few hours. Honestly, I still don't feel the overwhelming need to have my OWN car in Madison, but every now and again, I miss the freedom and individuality a car allows for. They've promised me use of the car for a few hours to do my own errands / grocery shopping. Not that I mind the company, but it's nice to do things un-chaperoned. I feel like a teenager who's just gained their parents' trust... eager to go out on the open road on my lonesome. Sad as it may sound, this is exactly a great treat I am already excited about.
As an aside, if it wasn't already apparent, this place and these people are wearing off on me... since I've moved to Madison I think I've been undergoing a preppy to hipster make-over, slowly, gradually, but just the same, it's happenning. This week, more Brooklyn rock bands, a post-punk haircut, and now colored new balance sneakers (purchased to fit the still swole foot) - I am just a shell of the pearl-wearing Gap girl I use to be. Some would surely admit that this transition is for the best, others might mourn the passing of an era...
posted by lmjasinski at 5:31 PM
