living on the plain of Troy
Ξ Monday, 10 Nov 2008 at 21:38 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Normal |
and December’s upon us, although November’s just barely begun, as one week dies and another begins in this cyclical paradise in which we live. I accomplished a good deal this weekend on my thesis, but I’m going to get a lot more done in the next week and a half before I meet again with my advisor. We meet again on the 21st, which happens to be my darling Nicole’s birthday as well. I want to find her a suitable gift, either something wrought myself or possibly bought, but nothing too extravagant, just something special and from the heart. But I’ll sort that out.
Tomorrow is Veterans’ Day, and as a result I have the honour of the day off from work. More time to study, then, and that is never a bad thing. Ostensibly Nicole, Jenn and I are getting Popeyes for dinner and watching the new Indiana Jones movie, which Nicole and I haven’t seen yet; I believe Jenn’s already seen it though. So that’ll be nice — it’s also Popeyes “2/99¢” chicken day, so you can bet your dollar there’ll be a grip of lunatics raging for chicken. The fight is half the fun though I suppose.
My meeting with my advisor went well today, and he was pleased at my progress I think, and praised me on my philological work, but advised that I find a way to connect the dots, so to speak, to knit the raw material together into a cohesive paper. And I believe I can do that; as a result I am going to read secondary literature for the next couple of days and just sift it about in my mind, taking notes all the while. Much of the literature I have in PDF (hehe), so today I tried a split-screen OpenOffice/PDF viewer format which seemed to work quite well.
I don’t know if I mentioned it, but Nicole and I watched The Bank Job a couple of nights ago. It was quite good, contrary to my expectations, being one of those “based on a true story” movies that usually end up being a maelstrom of bullshit surrounding a tiny kernel of truth. It apparently was mostly true, at least, from what I’ve read. I just don’t like that tag attached to movies; it always feels like false advertising to me.
I’ve not felt like listening to anything but electronica lately, as it soothes my mind and doesn’t drag it along and make it meander with vocals, despite its glitchiness and harsh dissonance at times. At least on my iPod. And I’m still working through that “dark ambient” stuff, 90-95% of which I’ve found extraordinarily good. Dark, murderous, chthonic, occult, even satanic at times… yet delightfully decadent. I suppose the electronica is a phase. I like it a lot, though; that’s not to knock it at all. Music continues to inspire me and nourish my soul, and I suppose I should offer thanks to Hermes, for it is in my travels when I end up appreciating music the most.
Since I’ve gotten really into writing my thesis, like actually writing it, I feel like I’ve been living in the midst of the Trojan War, right in the middle of the action on the shores of the sea. Death all around, heroes glorious in their armour, and Amazons with shining helms making fatal casts with their spears. I feel like I know the first book of the Posthomerica inside and out, and I’m working on that with the next four books as well, but it’s all so vivid to me, almost real. And I think that’s the mindset you need to get into to be serious about writing a thesis — one needs to be immersed in the material, and it gives you life and inspiration in return for your immersion. Thank Zeus for his beautiful daughters, the Muses, quae pedibus pulsatis Olympum (Quintus Ennius, Annales).
I’ll continue to reside on the shores of Troy, and also on the plain where all the action takes place, and hopefully I can bring enough back with me to build a treasure-house of words (or songs, as Pindar would say). With about 23 pages down, I’m just going to keep going.
Take care, and if you’d like to come join me, you’re more than welcome to take a peek beyond the veil.
