October 2003

Thursday, October 30, 2003
Hep, hep, I’m drowning
Anyone want to volunteer to correct 78 essays, 30 grammar tests, 28 paragraphs on theme, and a few random exercises?
Sigh.
My life is a blur of red ink.
Thankfully, I have not encountered Sir Firstival so far. On the other hand, I’m valiantly fighting the dreaded sore throat dragon all by myself. To add to the tension, my Prep Plus students are writing their Prep exam next Friday, and I think I’m more nervous than they are about the results.
Wurstival, Dr. T got home from Malaysia Sunday afternoon, and I left for Lennoxville Sunday evening. So he’s finally home, and I’m not. TGTIF.
Thursday, October 23, 2003
Scrabble Update
Well, the results are in: Dr. T is officially the 37th best Scrabble player in the world!!
The first and second place finishers, who will play a best-of-five final tomorrow, are both Thai. The best Canadian was Dave, who placed 16th, followed closely by Joel Wapnick in 17th. Dave and Joel are Montrealers, too – the fourth Montrealer, Emmanuel, finished in 81st place.
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Scrabble Update
Dr. T has moved up to 26th place after 15 rounds.
The top Canadian at the moment is Dave Boys, in 7th place.
Regular play is scheduled to end with the 24th round tomorrow, but it seems they only played seven games today (in the middle of our night, that is), so I’m not sure what their plan is.
Watch this space!
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Scrabble Update
After the first day of play, Dr. T is in 30th place (field of 90), having won 5 of his eight games.
The top Canadians are Dave and Joel (both former World Champs, and both members of the Montreal Club, where, it seems, there’s something in the water). The fourth Montrealer, Emmanuel, is not doing as well, but there are 16 games to go!
Saturday, October 18, 2003
Sigh
Dr. T is on the other side of the planet. He’s playing in the 2003 World Scrabble Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Play begins Tuesday morning (which is Monday evening for us) – updates should be available on the link provided herein above heretofore nonetheless whereat.
This means not only two weekends without my man, but also random fits of jealousy and resentment because he gets to go way far away, and stay in this hotel:
hotelklccnew.jpg
In the words of Bill the Cat, pththththwpth.
Kick ass, and hurry home.
Friday, October 17, 2003
Proof of Purpose
One of my colleagues, who’s been teaching for close to twenty years, reported a brand new act of terrorism committed upon the language by a student in a recent essay:
Firstival.
As in “first of all.”
I kind of like it – especially as a Round Table name – Sir Firstival.
Ah, there’s nothing like a renewed sense of purpose. Some one has to stop these random acts of linguistic violence.
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Not that we’re into propaganda or anything…
Soldiers in the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment have been bombarding (no pun intended (oh, who am I kidding)) American newspapers with letters extolling the virtues of working in Iraq.
These letters are filled with positive, upbeat reports of how quickly things are moving ahead. So quickly, it turns out, that the individual soldiers didn’t have time to write individual letters. Thankfully, their command staff stepped in, whipped up a form letter, and all the overworked soldiers had to do was sign their names.
Somehow, though, the American newspapers discovered the snow job, and aren’t impressed.
Soul Food
Amnesty International (the local branch, I assume) are having a bake sale on campus today. Activism never tasted so good!
In other news
It looks pretty definite that I’ll be teaching two courses next semester. One of these will be English for Special Care Counselling – this is the “How to Write a Research Paper” sequel to the “How to Write an Essay” Intro course I’m teaching this semester. But Course #2 is my very own course!
I’ll be teaching a second-year course on Montreal authors. My biggest dilemma so far is who to exclude. We are a prolific island. Naturally, I’ll do my best to include Bill.
Did I mention that I am the featured New Teacher on the college web site? I hope this doesn’t count as my 15 minutes.
And can I just reiterate that I am definitely the least photogenic person on the planet? I should have a certificate or something.
Friday, October 10, 2003
Haiku-ku-ka-ju
See Hiroshima leaves on the road bed
Winter is a-comin’ in.
Wednesday, October 08, 2003
An interesting British study…
A recent scientific study found that the kind of male face a woman finds attractive can differ depending on where she is in her menstrual cycle. For instance, if she is ovulating she is attracted to men with rugged and masculine features. And if she is menstruating, she is likely to prefer a man doused in petrol and set on fire, with scissors shoved deep into his temple and a cricket stump jammed up his arse.
Thanks very much to my friend Mark.
Monday, October 06, 2003
Does Linus own a tux?
It’s the Great Pumpkin Ball!
(My alternative approach was to make a joke involving Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater and foreplay.)