Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Foxy Words

So while we're all furiously reading (we are, aren't we??) I thought I'd share a little something with you all. One of you has read this before but has not heard me read it. This is a poem I wrote several years ago. It's a popular one amongst those that have read my work. Feel free to offer comments. We're friends. If you want to share it, feel free. I don't share a lot of my writing (you understand.. it's like my diary really...) but this one I am okay with. I hope you like it. :)

A Confession; A Eulogy; A Plea

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Monday, June 25, 2012

Fleur's mettre à jour

I finally got two of the books I chose in the mail.  I decided to start with Tory's Tuesday.  So far, so good!  Is anyone else reading this one yet?  If you are, get over to the discussion page.  Yes, that's an order *she said in her best 'in charge' voice*.

I'm glad that you chicks are reading, AND enjoying, my picks!  Is it weird that I get nervous when I recommend a book?  I guess people won't always share my tastes but yeah.  That's the insecure me talking!

If you aren't reading any 'TLC' books yet, what are you reading?  I just finished a great book by CW Gortner entitled The Queen's Vow.  It's about Isabella of Castille and it was marvelous!!

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Foxy Updates

So I'm behind in my reading. My time has mostly been taken up by other things. Those other things may or may not have fabulous smiles and great taste in women. Almost halfway through Idol Hands. Will work on getting more read soon. Also, will get up a page for the books you've mentioned you're planning to read. :D

So sorry for keeping anyone waiting :)

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Thoughts from Ems

Okay! Here's a random roundup of thoughts from moi. :)

Firstly, I'm a little behind in reading. BUT NEVER FEAR! I'm a fast reader.

From Lynoth, I'm choosing On Basilisk Station since I've tried to read it before and failed. Not this time!
From Fleur, Havah looks fantastic and I'm super excited about it!
From my Foxy, Tory's Tuesday. I can't wait to discuss this one!
From the Austen among us, A Jane Austen Education. Men reading Emma??? I'm so in.
From Ponderiss, it was a tough choice. Blue Highways finally won out, for reasons which will become apparent in a moment.

The second English class I took at Uni was the required 102: Research and Academic Writing. Don't be fooled by the low class number; we had several papers due every week, culminating in a 10 page research paper that could NOT be on a topic anyone had written on before. Basically, if you could find a bunch of articles that talked specifically about your topic, you had to choose a new one. But I digress.

Our teacher was good, but he was young and trying to prove himself. (Degree envy, imho. He's the only faculty member without a PhD.) In week 7 of 8, he gave us a Works Cited assignment. Using very incomplete information on 10 resource materials, we had to put together a flawless Works Cited page. Furthermore, he threw out a challenge: no one has ever gotten 100% on the assignment.

Well, that's all you have to tell me! 10 hours of intensive research later, I turned in a paper that I knew was perfect. Flawless. Amazing. I couldn't WAIT to get it back.

92.

What???

Digging into the grading, I saw my problem. Our dear teacher included Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon for us to reference. After doing some research in the LOC, I had decided to list him as "Heat-Moon, William Least" just like the LOC had done. Well, my teacher wanted "Least Heat Moon, William," therefore marking me off 4 points for the name "mess-up" and 4 points for the resulting alphabetizing misorder. Why did he want it this way? Well, he "knows" William Least Heat Moon, and insisted that in his culture, everything but the first name is considered the last name.

To say I was furious was an understatement. Here I had poured hours of work into this assignment, and I lost 8 points for something that was not a mistake. Every library database used "Heat-Moon, William Least." I called our research librarian and asked for help, and they said it should be "Heat-Moon, William Least." Everywhere I looked, I saw that I WAS RIGHT. It's not fair to mark off a student because they follow convention, and don't know the author personally.

It was the first time I fought for a grade credit, and emails and emails later, I got my 8 points back. The teacher took it out on me on another assignment, but that's a story for another time.

All that said, it's time to read this book that caused so much turmoil for me. Here's hoping it's good! :)

Friday, June 15, 2012

So

I finished Havah, a most excellent read I might add!  Next up I think is Blue Highways, which the library has but is currently checked out.  Hopefully I'll get it in the next few days.