\nHep, hep, I’m drowning<\/b>
\nAnyone want to volunteer to correct 78 essays, 30 grammar tests, 28 paragraphs on theme, and a few random exercises?
\nSigh.
\nMy life is a blur of red ink.
\nThankfully, 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.
\nWurstival, 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.
\nThursday, October 23, 2003<\/b><\/u>
\nScrabble Update<\/b>
\nWell, the results are in: Dr. T is officially the 37th best Scrabble player in the world!!
\nThe 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.
\nWednesday, October 22, 2003<\/b><\/u>
\nScrabble Update<\/b>
\nDr. T has moved up to 26th place after 15 rounds.
\nThe top Canadian at the moment is Dave Boys, in 7th place.
\nRegular 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.
\nWatch this space!
\nTuesday, October 21, 2003<\/b><\/u>
\nScrabble Update<\/b>
\nAfter the first day of play, Dr. T is in 30th place (field of 90), having won 5 of his eight games.
\nThe 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!
\nSaturday, October 18, 2003<\/b><\/u>
\nSigh<\/b>
\nDr. 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.
\nThis 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:
\n
![\"hotelklccnew.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.golding.ca\/maggie\/images\/hotelklccnew.jpg\")
\nIn the words of Bill the Cat, pththththwpth.
\nKick ass, and hurry home.
\nFriday, October 17, 2003<\/b><\/u>
\nProof of Purpose<\/b>
\nOne 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:
\nFirstival<\/i><\/b>.
\nAs in “first of all.”
\nI kind of like it – especially as a Round Table name – Sir Firstival.
\nAh, there’s nothing like a renewed sense of purpose. Some one has to stop these random acts of linguistic violence.
\nWednesday, October 15, 2003<\/b><\/u>
\nNot that we’re into propaganda or anything…<\/b>
\nSoldiers 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.
\nThese 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.
\nSomehow, though, the American newspapers discovered the snow job, and aren’t impressed.
\nSoul Food<\/b>
\nAmnesty International (the local branch, I assume) are having a bake sale on campus today. Activism never tasted so good!
\nIn other news<\/b>
\nIt 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!
\nI’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.
\nDid I mention that I am the featured New Teacher on the college web site? I hope this doesn’t count as my 15 minutes.
\nAnd can I just reiterate that I am definitely the least photogenic person on the planet? I should have a certificate or something.
\nFriday, October 10, 2003<\/b><\/i>
\nHaiku-ku-ka-ju<\/b>
\nSee Hiroshima leaves on the road bed
\nWinter is a-comin’ in.
\nWednesday, October 08, 2003<\/b><\/u>
\nAn interesting British study…<\/b>
\nA 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.
\nThanks very much to my friend Mark.
\nMonday, October 06, 2003<\/b><\/u>
\nDoes Linus own a tux?<\/b>
\nIt’s the Great Pumpkin Ball!
\n(My alternative approach was to make a joke involving Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater and foreplay.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"