Of course, there is now a pending lawsuit by some folks in New Jersey who claim false advertising by Subway because their "Footlong" sandwiches were only 11 inches. Gasp!

Said Bill Weir on Good Morning America today after the piece aired, "When I'm doing carpentry, I use a sub sandwich as my ruler and this explains why nothing in my house is square."

Hah!

We didn't have class yesterday because of the MLK holiday. I was going to use class time for class work, but was distracted by the hilarity of Al Roker screaming for a handshake from the Vice President during the inauguration parade...and getting it!

I'm taking a course this semester entitled "Writing for Multimedia". The event I attended last evening commemorating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a true multimedia experience, featuring live solo singers, vocal ensembles, instrumental music, and dramatic readings against a backdrop of stirring visual imagery.
 

Then I went home and watched the evening news on my DVR, wherein Brian Williams used the term "meme" when talking about social media in the aftermath of the days events. (A term unfamiliar to me before said class last week.)

In the car on the ride home, NIPR was featuring music about, and songs enjoyed by, Dr. King, including one by Pete Seeger, whom we will be studying in my other class this semester: Folklore and the Arts. 

What might have been an ordinary, bitterly cold January day instead featured events woven together like the threads of a tapestry, much like the overall experience of my Liberal Arts education.

So, my classmate and I are showing our collaborative PowerPoint presentation in class tonight, a simple multimedia presentation designed to introduce ourselves. I wanted to mention my blog so I had included a screen capture of it, not realizing that there were multiple tabs in view, one of which featured the heading "irritable bowel syndrome". This is not typically a talking point I incorporate when introducing myself to a room full of strangers.

What I learned from my friend Cameron, the electrician. "Check stupid first."

The pendant light he installed in my dining room this summer quit working about two weeks ago. I finally got around to calling him yesterday. While I was talking to him, I pushed the light switch again...and turned up the dimmer. Lo and behold, my light magically worked again.

I should have learned this a few weeks ago when the package scale in my office seemed to be weighing everything incorrectly. That feels like 3 lbs. to me, I would think, but it's only registering about 1.4. Hmmm. Several days went by before I realized the switch had been bumped to kilograms.

Check stupid first, indeed. Oh, and trust yourself every now and then.

After all of my academic reading for this semester, for both classes, I am left with the burning question, "What do British writers have against commas?!"

And the letter "z" for that matter.

I have a postcard with a single word on it tacked to the small bulletin board above my computer. The word is ANGST, and it is rarely more appropriate than when the end of a semester is nigh.

One moment I'm euphoric: this research paper/project/essay is going so well! I'm an academic genius! The next, I'm in the depths: this research paper/project/essay is an utter failure. Who do I think I'm kidding?

It is altogether energizing, frustrating, stimulating, intriguing, maddening and gratifying.

Monday's peer review and individual meeting with Dr. Amidon was most useful in helping me with project clarification. Michael, fellow student, asked thought-provoking questions about the direction the biographical piece would take. He made some suggestions, which we discussed: a chronological progression? Thematic? Where does my voice come in?

I came to the conclusion (I think) that MJ's story might best be laid out story to story. It was her many interesting anecdotes over the years that inspired the idea to write about her life. Each chapter can begin with one of her amusing, outlandish, thoughtful stories and be fleshed out with factual, historical information of the corresponding time period, where applicable.

Talking with the prof similarly affirmed my project choice and encouraged me to take it from the literal transcription that I currently have to a fully realized work.