Hot damn. I’m finally finished my exam (4.5 hours later — granted, there was a mini-caffeine break in there) and I got 30/30 right on the terms and definitions section. Woohoo, that guarantees me at least a 30%.

I’m just glad that I’m D-O-N-E. I’m a little anxious about what the resulting grade will be, but right now I’m just looking forward to a nap and a viewing of The Corporation later tonight.

Thanks for all the good mojo/thoughts/prayers sent my way. Say another one (or TWO) for the actual grade I’ll receive. Any test worth 50% of your final mark is a bit daunting to consider.

ttfn.

A three hour nap, a three hour nap…

I’m sorta rearing to go. Mostly, I’m conscious and ready to get this exam behind me. I forsee a couple cups of coffee in my (very) immediate future, along with a nap later this after noon.

To quote a line from one of my favorite books growing up, “I think I can, I think I can….”

In other news, pardon me whilst I brag about my little sister:

The Johnson City Community Theatre is performing a faithful stage version

of “Ten Little Indians” by Agatha Christie through May 8. I caught the production

on opening night, prompting my thoughts about a new film adaptation.

I certainly found the JCCT’s live take on “Ten Little Indians” more engaging

than either the 1945 film or the 1965 rendering. Director Bradley Gardner

offered a well-staged production. I was especially impressed at how the

action shifted through the JCCT’s small set to avert the audience’s ey es

from key sequences. Had I not already known who the killer was, I’d have

been just as baffled as I was when I read the book as a teenager.

Look for Suzy Bomgardner as secretary Vera Claythorne and Ian Kille as

Lombard in standout performances. (Johnson City Press)

Way to go, Suz. She’s our aspiring actress/director/costume-maker extrodinaire in the family. I’m merely the aspiring audience member.

Stupid

Sarah McLachlan

Night lift up the shades

let in the brilliant light of morning

but steady there now

for I am weak and starving for mercy

sleep has left me alone

to carry the weight of unravelling where we went wrong

it’s all I can do to hang on

to keep me from falling

into old familiar shoes

How stupid could I be

a simpleton could see

that you’re no good for me

but you’re the only one I see . . .

Here’s to tomorrow morning at 10!

Due to some (unregretful) choices concerning my evening plans tonight, behold ye wonders of the all nighter.

To distract you from the Kenneth Burke you’re supposed to be studying:

Gaze at the Anatomy of an All-Nighter.

Rock out to They Might Be Giant’s All Nighter Hell.

Catch a nap on ye All Nighter body pillow.

And give a special shout out to T.H.‘s caffeine fix and his 24-hour drive thrus.

It’s officially crunch-time, regarding this upcoming exam tomorrow.

So, this means that all I want to do is stay home, clean my room, pick up some groceries, go out for a couple hours tonight — basically anything besides what is actually necessary. That’s bad, huh? And typical, for me.

But I will get everything done, one way or the other. I’m just looking forward to around 1PM or so, tomorrow. By that time, I’ll be D-O-N-E with the class and will be nursing a pretty vicious hand cramp from writing for 3 straight hours.

I’m purposefully stepping away from the computer so I can finish up my studying today. But, like any obsessive weblogger, I’ll leave you with some articles/links I came across while surfing insteada studying.

Big Brother (or worse yet, John Ashcroft) is watching what you post: Blog-Tracking May Gain Ground Among U.S. Intelligence Officials.

‘The Ultimate Reality Show’ on Adoption. Featuring Baw-baw Walters, of course. I actually first heard of this on The Daily Show last night. Walters has 5 families all vying for the attentions of a teenage girl, in order to win her over and adopt her baby. The concept of it all is pretty horrifying, I think. Then again, we live in a society that watches shows like The Swan — where average-looking women are “transformed” by plastic surgeries into beauty-pageant material. (gag)

Before Rome fell, I wonder what sort of reality shows were popular?

But speaking of the Daily Show, go watch their latest headline: The people of Iraq may not have electricity and running water…but they have a flag! Stewart made some really good points last night, regarding our occupation (and supposed rebuilding) of Iraq. What a mess.

Distracted Young Women May Need More Iron. Young women who have trouble concentrating might just need more iron in their diets, researchers say. Women in the Penn State study who were iron-deficient performed significantly worse on memory and attention tests than healthy women, and an iron supplement was all it took to correct the problem.

In my case, I just need to sit down and focus for a couple hours!

Happy Thursday!

(I’m exhausted, but can’t go to sleep until I transcribe this amazing dialogue from Atlas Shrugged. I literally got tingles, reading this before going to sleep tonight)

Aloud, she said, “I want you to know this. I started my life with a single absolute: that the world was mine to shape in the image of my highest values and never to be given up to a lesser standard, no matter how long or hard the struggle” — you whose presence I had always felt in the streets of the city, the wordless voice within her was saying, and whose world I had wanted to build — “Now I know that I was fighting for this valley” — it is my love for you that had kept me moving — “It was this valley that I saw as possible and would exchanged for nothing less and would not give up to a mindless evil” — my love and my hope to reach you and my wish to be worthy of you on the day when I would stand before you face to face —

“I am going back to fight for this valley — to release it from its underground, to regain for it its full and rightful realm, to let the earth belong to you in fact, as it does in spirit — and to meet you again on the day when I’m able to deliver to you the whole of the world — or, if I fail, to remain in exile from this valley to the end of my life” — but what is left of my life will still be yours, and I will go on in your name, even though it is a name I’m never to pronounce, I will go on serving you, even though I’m never to win, I will go on, to be worthy of you on the day when I would have met you, even though I won’t — “I will fight for it, even if I have to fight against you, even if you damn me as a traitor . . . even if I am never to see you again.”

Wow. Granted, out of context it may not seem nearly as powerful as when I encountered it — but I can’t tell you the times I’ve spoken aloud, only to have my inner voice narrating what I’m really saying.

Blogging double-duty:

For the next month I’ll be one of the blogsitters over at Darren’s blog while he’s out safari-ing in Ireland and Africa.

Hopefully I’ll have more interesting/provocative things to post after this final and 20 pager are behind me, next week.