is this the swing of things? I think I may like to get back in.

[solaciolum]

I've had a pretty severe case of the mehhh this semester. I like all of my classes- I kind of wish Linguistics delved a little more into theory than practice, but the instructor had us translate "Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks that it could be more sonic?" from IPA to English on our midterm exam last week, so really, I can't possibly complain. My Politics and Society instructor continues to be the most inspiring teacher I've ever had (which is both delightful and kind of daunting, what with him being just a grad student). And my Gender and Sexuality class has improved a great deal now that we've covered the basics "this is the Qur'an, these are the Rightly Guided Caliphs, here are some examples of hadith" and have moved on to divorce cases in 18th century Syria and the religiosity of female circumcision. (The professor insisted we not call it FGM, which I found a little problematic- but we weren't discussing the actual act, but rather what, if any, religious justification of it there has been throughout history. This also led to a hilarious (in a *lolsob* sort of way) incident in class with me explaining to another student that no, it doesn't grow back.)

Persian remains pretty frickin' awesome, however- we learned simple subjunctive constructions the other day, and omg the subjunctive. :D I haaaated the subjunctive in Latin, but now I actually understand it, and it's fabulous. We're also reading excerpts from Simin Behbahani's memoir, which means that "fondle" is part of our vocabulary list. Occasionally, our textbook reflects our professor's sick sense of humor in hilarious and awesome ways.

Despite how much I like my classes, I just haven't been particularly engaged in the work- this is the first time in my academic career that I haven't taken a literature class, and I think I miss it. The lack makes me feel vaguely off kilter. (In contrast to my first semester without a math or physics class, so many years ago, which was like a joyous revelation of wonder and amazement.) And I only have one paper to write, which is just plain strange.


In other news, season finale of Burn Notice? With its SURPRISE GARRET DILLAHUNT? Man. That was some pretty excellent stuff. I have apparently gotten over my skin crawling reflexive D: over Garret Dillahunt, and now I delight in his every appearance.

I haven't been keeping up with Burn Notice this season, but I did catch the last few episodes- including the episode with the multiple CSI: Miami spoofs that had me falling out of my chair in hysterical laughter. The show has gotten pretty formulaic- even the finale feels a lot like the finale of the last two seasons- but the characters remain dynamic and awesome, and the show is still a lot of fun to watch.


Watching some Chuck right now (maybe if I watched less TV, I'd be more engaged with my homework *sigh*), and the show is still all sorts of problematic with regard to gender and geek stereotypes, and it tends to be unrelentingly depressing despite its incredibly goofy premise- but I do dearly love Casey and all the minor characters at the Buy-More. Also, apparently the show has decided to engage in the occasional random musical interlude- and there is never anything wrong with that. "This is the sound of liberation?"