The Day after Yesterday
Well, I got up this morning and worked out on the elliptical trainer. After that I discovered I needed to tighten some of the capscrews that hold it together (in a lot of places), watched the first 45 minutes to an hour of Stardust checked email, showered, shaved, and then packed my bag and headed off to school. We (a group in my elang class) had to get together for a defense of a project we had (a couple of weeks ago) where we were defending our choices for why different translations of the New Testament were closest to the Septuagent Greek and which ones were the easiest to read and etc.
Apparently (and I can only share this because I don't share my blog with classmates), we were the best group by a long distance with actual reasons for our decisions as well as creating hypothesis, challenging our own assertions, and then changing according to what we'd determined. This was all done, effectively, in less than two hours of group work. What this means, we get the highest grade and spent a majority of our defense describing our process.
After that I decided to skip Spanish and head to the library to listen to Gail Carson Levine, author of Ella Enchanted, speak in the English Writer's Series.
I don't know what I was expecting, as I rarely (only once before today, actually), go and listen to published authors speak. I am interested in getting their ideas, and for those who believe that they should share (in writing or via blog) their ideas on writing fiction, I can find what I am looking for through the written word.
However, I wanted to listen to Levine speak. I enjoyed her book Ella Enchanted, enjoyed the movie based off of it (though I like it for its differences from the book), and purchased and have scanned, flipped through, and done some reading in her book on writing fantasy fiction.
I don't know if the experience was worth it, but I didn't mind being there either. I did note that we had a couple of my teammates going to the reading series and one of them did not transition from the reading series into class. That was a little disappointing as the group of us could've, easily, gloated without anyone knowing we were gloating (that's what happens with the Professor and his TA both tell your team you've done something no one else has); but instead we watched a movie on the transition of English language during the 11th through... err, maybe 15th century England.
There were wars. Famines. Plagues. And other things. Essentially, the rise of English as a language came about more as a result of the black plague than because English (as a language) was really more adoptable than French. We speak the way we do as a result of a plague which, in turn, created a middle class that spoke, dominantly, English leaving the aristocrats and aristocracy to adapt or die.
Which lends itself to being interesting as a result of the novel I am trying to read: Elantris by Brandon Sanderson (the writer who is finishing Book 12 for the Robert Jordan estate (actually James Oliver Rigney... but, you know, keep the myth alive)). I find it interesting in that it is, against all odds, actually good fantasy (and epic at that) reading. Moreover, one of the tenets of the books, and themes, is that Sanderson discusses the tenuous nature of aristocracy within a fledgling nation and how the merchant class of people rose to power; and moreover (and only in the first 100 pages or so) how easy it is to turn people (and other nobles) away from the current governmental body toward another governing body - and religion.
Sanderson is actually playing with the notion of religion and politics and how they intertwine, as well as social and customary beliefs and superstitions along with misunderstanding the world around them.
Moreover, he introduces, relatively quickly, a strong female presence and then plays against that stereotype by having her act dumb in many instances.
The book is, against odds, turning into a very enjoyable read (for me). Though, with Spanish, with Elang, with work, and with New Testament and American Government, finding time to read it is an option of beating my head against tomorrow's homework or taking a break for a few minutes to enjoy some good writing.
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