Adaptation Paper on Pride and Prejudice

For those of you who don't already know (which isn't very many of you, I'm sure), I'm in love with Pride and Prejudice. In. Love.

We have a very close relationship. Very close. Bordering on unhealthy. It's really much closer to an obsession actually. I'm really obsessed. But I can't help it! I feel incredibly protective of the novel, and I often find myself having to suppress my combative tendencies when other people say that they love the book.

No, you don't love the book. I do. You couldn't possibly love it more than me. End of story.

It's pretty bad.

Don't believe me?

Proof: I have read Pride and Prejudice thirteen times. Or rather, I stopped counting how many times I'd read it after the thirteenth time -- and that was in high school.

Proof: It was my go-to therapy session after every breakup -- especially in high school (to reaffirm my faith in men and romance).

Proof: I can quote the first paragraph of the book verbatim. And I have a huge appreciation for people who think they are being super clever by adapting that first sentence into something else for journal articles, posters, etc.

Proof: When National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) rolled around last November, I wrote a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. And I started my first sentence with yet another clever adaptation of that first sentence (thereby negating the cleverness. Damn).

Proof: I go crazy with those silly internet pop quizzes on anything related to Pride and Prejudice, and I'm kinda miffed if I miss something. For example, the other day I missed a question on Colonel Fitzwilliam. I couldn't remember his name. How could I forget his name?!

Proof: Give me a passage from the book, and I can tell you exactly who said it, what was happening at the time it was said, and how that passage relates to the overall theme of the book.

I need to get a life.

That is, after I write this paper.

Because, ladies and gentlemen, I get to write a paper on Pride and Prejudice. Booyah baby!

It's a paper on adaptations and why the director adapted the book into a movie the way they did, and I am going to town with this one. I haven't had this much fun writing a paper in .... probably ever. In fact, I'm actually writing this paper on a Saturday and not experiencing convulsions and intense procrastination urges (except for maybe this blog). Not bad, considering senioritis has hit hard this semester.

All this P&P talk makes me want to pick up the book again. At this rate, I'll never get anything else done.

Oh well.

The Vagina Monologues

"I am woman. Hear me roar!"

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Sorry. Had to get that out.

I saw The Vagina Monologues this evening with my roommates, and it was fantastic -- like it is every year. In fact, this is my fourth time attending the awesomeness that is the Monologues, and I absolutely love it every time.

My favorite part about the Monologues is that they are all so honest and open. To me, it's fantastic the way each monologue can -- through beautiful language, plenty of metaphors, and a sprinkling of vulgar humor -- perfectly describe complex emotions about intensely personal things like a woman's sexuality. Things that aren't talked about very often, and words that aren't used very often, are thrown out in the open and discussed, analyzed, and celebrated. And, in the case of words like c*nt, reclaimed.

I love every part of the show (and the book). And while I wasn't able to participate in the performance this year (due to prior commitments and stupid things like missing the audition date), I haven't yet given up on the goal of participating in at least one performance during the course of my lifetime.

In fact, I think that's officially going on my Bucket List. Get excited.

This is me this weekend...

(from here)

I am having the hardest time thinking of things to write about. I’ve done some painting — finally finished a couple half-completed paintings that have been sitting around the house — but no writing.

Nothing productive at all, really.

I read a blog post today by a guy who claims that the best way to get into the flow of writing (or anything creative) is to remove your sense of time. Take the clock off the wall or laptop bar. Lose yourself in the moment, don’t care how long you’ve been at the same painting/blog/story, and just keep going until your imagination decides it needs a break and simply stops producing.

That’s great and all, but it requires actually getting started on something.

Which is where the difficulty lies.

I am currently inspiration-less.

I should follow my own favorite quote about chasing inspiration with a stick. But I’m too lazy. Running seems like a difficult task today. So instead I’ll just complain.

And I’ll leave you with some awesome new blogs I just found. Which should make up for what I lack, since these blogs are frickin’ awesome. I want to be like these people.

Enjoy!

The Everyday Minimalist

Maya Beus

Mink Blog

Final Memoir Piece

Today was our last day of the memoir writing seminar. Despite not really spending enough of our time in the class itself, I'm sad to leave it. I've been having such a good time getting to know everyone, and I am definitely enjoying the brief hiatus from reality.

Too bad I have to return from the magical land of writing tomorrow. So tragic.

The last thing we did for the seminar was read our personal memoir piece (that we'd been working on during the course of the seminar) to the rest of the group.

My piece -- included below -- is one of my earliest memories, when I was about two years old.

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Short Days are Frustrating

My Writing Memoirs class is a bit of a joke. Not the class itself (I love it!) but the fact that it only lasts for two and a half hours every day.

At first I thought, well maybe that's just for the first couple days while the visiting professor catches up on her rest and relaxation. Maybe it's a stressful time for her. Maybe she has big things to do in the evening, and so meeting with us for two and a half hours (and then individual sessions with a few each day for three hours) is just about all she can handle.

But then she let us out early today and didn't tell us that class would resume in the evening. So once again, we're done for the day way before any of us really want to be done.

Slam Poetry in OKC

Last night after the first day of memoir writing was over, all the students in the seminar went out for dinner at Coaches, a pub-ish on Main Street. We have each $100 in Sooner Sense (1 pt = $1) to spend for the duration of the seminar (more than we really need, but no complaints), and Coaches is one of the businesses in town that honors those points. Excellent. $5.99 burgers all around, courtesy of OU.

After dinner, a few went to Orange Leaf to spend a few more of those points/dollars on soft serve ice cream. I rode back to the hotel with a few others. About halfway back, Jordan (the driver) mentioned that he was heading into OKC for a poetry slam after he dropped us off.

I almost got whiplash, my head swiveled so quickly.