Thoughts

I saw Where the Wild Things Are yesterday. Loved it. I went into it with pretty high expectations; I really like the look of all of the trailers, I enjoyed the book when I was a child, I have been reading interviews with people involved with it. I am happy to say that I really enjoyed the movie. A beautiful and chilling exploration of loneliness and the way that one boy deals with isolation in his real life through fantasy. I cried through a lot of it, though. Some of Max's experiences were a little too familiar to me, or at least to me 15 years ago, when I was Max's age. Really beautifully done and a movie that I think will polarize audiences. I can see where criticisms could and will arise (it is not particularly fast moving, the plot is simplistic, overrated, blah blah blah), but I came out of the theater with thoughts in my head and I am still working it out for myself.

I am also attempting to study for the exam that I have tomorrow. The American Folklore Society Annual Conference is this coming week and, though I am excited to go, part of me just wants it to be over already. I am nervous to present my paper (my very first conference paper presentation) and I wish that I could have just had the five days I will be in Boise to study for comps, get ahead on papers, do school related things, rather than AFS. Don't get me wrong, I love AFS. It is an amazing networking opportunity, I learn a lot from listening to papers (helps me to stay up on the most recent developments and directions of the field), but there is still a nagging part of me that wishes that I could just put time on hold for the duration of the conference and still have those few days just free for getting work done. Oh well.

I still have this nagging cough that won't go away. Part of me thinks I really should go to the doctor, but another part of me hates going to to the doctor. What are they going to tell me? Hey, you are still recovering from the flu and seasonal allergies. Keep treating the symptoms, watch out for secondary infections, blah. I dunno, I tend to not want to go to the doctor unless I absolutely have to. I go when there is something debilitating or if I can't treat the symptoms, but I don't see the point when I am pretty sure I know what it is and I am pretty sure there is nothing they are going to do to make it worthwhile. Le sigh.

Anyway, I need to do some reading and studying for my exam tomorrow. Just an update.

-B