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with Pitfall and with Gin
Sunday, 13 November 2005 08:41 pmIt's true. One really can find something in Omar Khayyam to cover any possible subject line. I wonder how long I can keep this up? Given that my work-filled life is really (as you may have noticed) rather boring at the moment, probably indefinitely.
What I Did On My Weekend: marked. And wrote encyclopedia entries. The encyclopedia entries were fun, being as they included Neil Gaiman and Diana Wynne Jones, so the approximate process goes: read everything by favourite author. Spend three hours writing 750 words on favourite author. Spend another hour and a half cutting this down to 500 words, and sobbing at the ruthless extermination of pearls of wisdom. Rinse, repeat. Send to editor along with grovelling plea for more words.
The marking was less fun, although some of my second-years surprised me pleasantly by being intelligent and articulate on the subject of Frankenstein. Others caused hysterical giggling by various solecisms, including the substitution of the word "Harlem" for the word "Harem" (strangely apposite, in a weird sort of way), the reference to the character of Satin, the fallen angel in Milton's Paradise Lost, and a spirited account of the novel which started out by randomly and deliberately naming Frankenstein's monster "Frank", and referring to it by said appellation throughout the essay. The effect was curiously chummy.
I now have 106 dear little exam essays marked, alphabetised and ruthlessly tied up with string, and propose to spend the rest of the evening legitimately boozing with jo&stv, who have cunningly timed their arrival for this very instant. The subject line is somewhat misleading, however, since one cannot have a decent gin and tonic without lemons, and we're out of lemons. Wine it is.
What I Did On My Weekend: marked. And wrote encyclopedia entries. The encyclopedia entries were fun, being as they included Neil Gaiman and Diana Wynne Jones, so the approximate process goes: read everything by favourite author. Spend three hours writing 750 words on favourite author. Spend another hour and a half cutting this down to 500 words, and sobbing at the ruthless extermination of pearls of wisdom. Rinse, repeat. Send to editor along with grovelling plea for more words.
The marking was less fun, although some of my second-years surprised me pleasantly by being intelligent and articulate on the subject of Frankenstein. Others caused hysterical giggling by various solecisms, including the substitution of the word "Harlem" for the word "Harem" (strangely apposite, in a weird sort of way), the reference to the character of Satin, the fallen angel in Milton's Paradise Lost, and a spirited account of the novel which started out by randomly and deliberately naming Frankenstein's monster "Frank", and referring to it by said appellation throughout the essay. The effect was curiously chummy.
I now have 106 dear little exam essays marked, alphabetised and ruthlessly tied up with string, and propose to spend the rest of the evening legitimately boozing with jo&stv, who have cunningly timed their arrival for this very instant. The subject line is somewhat misleading, however, since one cannot have a decent gin and tonic without lemons, and we're out of lemons. Wine it is.
