I was meant for the stage

There was a weird vibe all day, like something, somewhere, just wasn't right. A couple of people whom I see every week weren't around for some reason. Things like that throw me off. As much as I hate to admit it, I am a creature of habit. Still, despite the disruptions, I had a highly amusing conversation with a couple of colleagues about the student body's same-old issues and the frustrations of "essay time." Some of may colleagues believe that I'm a cynic, others see me as a realist. If students only knew...

I went to class armed with decidedly low expectations. The past two weeks I've felt like Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller's Day Off ("Bueller? Bueller?") and, because they were handing in a paper for me, I figured it would be another 3 hours of me talking to myself. Surprisingly, that was not the case. One or two students spoke for the first time. Maybe they finally clued into the 15% participation grade?

I'm reading Elizabeth Bowen's The Demon Lover and Other Stories as part of a dissertation chapter. Bowen's a fantastic writer and easily the most interesting English "Blitz" writer. I was supposed to read her Death of the Heart during a class during my undergrad degree, but I don't think I actually read it ("Students don't always read thing?" you ask). I didn't read it until a year and a half ago and it quickly became an all-time favourite. Bowen's short stories, while quite different from that novel, deal with the psychological angst of Londoners living during the German bombings of Wolrd War 2. Some stories appear to be supernatural (like the titular "The Demon Lover"), others are realistic but just plain creepy. In short, I like Elizabeth Bowen.