Yeah, I'm terrible, and can never get anything posted on time. One of these days I might even post another "real" blog entry! *gasp*!

So here we go, thefridayfive:

1. How long ago did you join LJ?
I first signed up for a LiveJournal account on September 13th, 2002. I had been keeping my personal blog on my own website since 1997, and I didn't actually make a full transition until very recently.

2. How did you find out about LJ?
A few of my friends were using it to publish and maintain their own online journals. One of my friends wanted me to join an LJ community that was full of peeps from the old penpal circle I belonged to when I was in high school. I had the chance to get reconnected with a lot of amazing people that way.

3. If someone introduced you to LJ, is s/he still on your friends list?
Yes, indeed he is. He's one of my oldest and awesome-est friends in real life.

4. Have you introduced anyone to LJ?
In fact, I introduce about 50 students to LJ each Spring semester, as I use it as a platform for my blogging class at the University of Tennessee. I have this special teaching LJ account to help facilitate the class.

5. Is your LJ public or friends only, and why?
My personal LJ account is a mix. Some entries are public, and others are private. I've decided to "hide" any extremely personal information from the public at large, just because I want to have the option to "vent" about various situations in my life without fear that those posts will come back to haunt me later. Still, a great deal of what I post is completely public. Right now I have my personal LJ account linked up to my twitter account, which allows me to make very brief updates from my cell phone throughout the day. It is then published to my LJ via LoudTwitter, so that I can still update and keep a record of little events and thoughts in my life when I simply don't really have any time to sit down and compose a solid entry. Additionally, the twitter account is tied into my facebook account, so that each time I update via my cell phone, my status changes in facebook.

...but I actually really liked these questions, so I didn't want to pass them up. :)

Presenting (better late that never) thefridayfive!

1. Do you consider yourself to be a good housekeeper? Why or why not?

I'm not particularly good at doing *anything* domestic, to be perfectly honest. I *can* keep a house, but I'm not very good at keeping things spotless. I'm okay at keeping things relatively clean and neat, but I will never be Donna Reed.

2. Are there any household chores that you enjoy doing? If so, what and why?

I like washing dishes and vacuuming floors. I'm not sure why, but I find both actions incredibly soothing. I tend to daydream while washing dishes -- it is especially effective if I am also listening to music -- and I love watching the vacuum cleaner leave the big clean trails in the carpet.

3. Which household chore frustrates/angers you the most?

Sweeping and mopping floors, and cleaning the bathroom. I never can seem to manage to get a floor as clean as I want it to be without it taking hours. And the bathroom is okay until I get to the bathtub, which is just physically difficult to navigate. And then there's the floor-cleaning component again. Bleagh.

4. When doing household chores, what do you do to make them seem less of a "chore"?

As I mentioned in Question #2, I love to turn the stereo up really loud and dance around while I do chores.

5. Which chore do you find yourself doing most often, and why?

Just basic straightening of the house. Picking things up, putting them away. Stuff like that.

So, as ridiculous as it may be, I confess -- I do have an obsession with the television series Lost. I tend to follow very few television shows, and it's rare that I will stick it out once I have a feeling that the show has "jumped the shark" and I'm no longer confident that the writers know what they are doing -- for example, I was an avid Gilmore Girls fan for years, but I stopped watching somewhere in the middle of Season Six. However, despite the fact that I wanted to throttle the writers of Lost at the long-winded and seemingly pointless beginning of Season Three, I stuck it out anyway -- perhaps comforted when the writers announced that the show would be scheduled to end three seasons after the third season. I mean, if the writers have an end in sight, then the mysteries they continue to bring up have to lead us somewhere, right?

At any rate, watching the series recap episode and premiere on Thursday night reminded me how much I loved the character of Charlie Pace. Which, of course, reminded me of when I was working full-time in a corporate office building last year, and all of my coworkers *hated* Charlie Pace. Which inspired me to write an entire essay about the subject, and I thought -- partially out of nostalgia, and partially to demonstrate a notebook-format blog entry to my students -- I would repost it here. (Be aware that spoilers for the series are behind cuts, so don't click unless you've watched to the end of season three -- or, y'know, you just don't care.)

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I have noticed -- in office conversation, in dialog with friends, in the various forums concerning _Lost_ on the Internet -- that there seems to be an overwhelming dislike for the character of Charlie Pace. Now, to be perfectly honest, my opinion is not entirely unbiased, as this *is* Dominic Monaghan we're talking about, and we are all well aware of how much I love those hobbits. However, my love for the character of Charlie Pace goes above and beyond his basic attractiveness. Of all the characters stranded on the Island, he seems to be the one most changed, most developed, most transformed by the experience. Now, I will be the first to admit that the full extent of that transformation had not been completely actualized until the Season Three Finale last night, but I also believe that his metamorphosis over the course of 93 days on the Island is one of the greatest unsung sagas of the series.

The first thing to keep in mind when thinking about the character development of Charlie Pace is the time frame that we are working with. From the beginning of season one to the end of season three, the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 have been living on the Island for 93 days -- that's just around three months time. To put it in perspective, think about what you were doing at the end of February and compare that to your overall attitudes, personality, and routines that are influencing you this morning [originally posted May 2007]. Unless you've been in the midst of some monumental life change -- such as childbirth, a death in the family, a physical or occupational move -- you are likely living your life relatively similarly to the manner in which you were living your life three months ago. Granted, humans are in a constant state of change and discovery, and, granted, the intensity of being stranded on an Island is likely to expedite latent personality developments. All the same, ( the first spoiler begins here. )

Charlie Pace is often criticized for being weak, for making poor choices, for precipitating events that often put other members of the stranded Oceanic survivors at risk. But let's face it -- as viewers, we are comparing Charlie to physicians, torturers, and murderers: individuals who have been faced with life-and-death situations on numerous occasions prior to being stranded on the Island. While Locke is energized by his faith in Island's power, and most of the other passengers are content to follow the guidance of the stronger characters, Charlie works feverishly toward finding his place and purpose in the larger scheme of things, and he stumbles as he does so, with little grace or finesse in his proceedings. This is exactly what makes the character of Charlie Pace so intriguing -- how perfectly he represents the struggle of the average human who longs for something more -- something meaningful -- but just can't seem to get it together. I would even venture to suggest that it is the fact that he *does* struggle -- that he dares to challenge authority and make his own decisions, even if they *are* often terrible ones -- which differentiates him from the other "average folk" on the Island.

I've always felt that the defining moment of Charlie's character development occurred in Season One, Episode 7 - "The Moth". ( There are some Season One spoilers here, for anyone who is just beginning to watch the series. ) Charlie feels like the world's most pathetic fuck-up, and more than anything he wants to do something important and worthwhile, and will take any opportunity to do so -- which he proves in "The Moth". He wants desperately to help people, and feels a moral obligation to do so -- unlike Jack who seems to be obsessed with helping people just so he has something/someone to control. ( Season Three spoilers under here. )

But Charlie's "greatest hit" of all time, as far as I'm concerned, occurs in Season Three, Episode 22/23 - "Through the Looking Glass". ( You guessed it -- spoilers. )

All of that to say -- I don't expect you to buy into my total adoration of Charlie's character, or even to believe that his development has been so vital to the overall progression and spirit of the series _Lost_. But it would be nice if you could keep this perspective in mind the next time you're telling the gal in the next cubicle what a terrible character Charlie is, or cheerfully bantering with your workout partner about ( the last spoiler. ) Give the guy a break, will ya?

I know I forgot last week! Here is this week's thefridayfive:

Soulmates

1. Do you believe you can have more than one soulmate in life?

I actually don't believe in "soulmates" at all, so.

2. Are you with that soulmate now?

Uh, as I said -- I don't believe in soulmates, and -- no.

3. If not, how long did your relationship with your soulmate last?

--!! I don't know! I've never had one!

4. Do you still think about your soulmate, if you are not together?


No! I don't even *believe* in soulmates! Gah!


5. IF you're not together, do you think your soulmate still thinks about you?

How would I know?!

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I am not a fan of this week's Friday Five.

If anyone is interested in subscribing to the UTK Crime Log, just add utkcrimelog as a friend! :)

As promised, I bring you thefridayfive:

Hodgepodge

1. If you could do one thing in the world, what would you do?

I'm not sure I completely understand the question. Does this mean I can do one thing that I'm not currently able to do? Or does this mean I am only permitted to do one thing for the rest of my life? I'd like to get a book published. Which, of course, means finishing a book to get published. Other than that, my life is pretty much perfect.

2. If you could be any character from a book, movie, or television show, who would you be? Why?

I very much love the character of Vianne Rocher from the book/movie Chocolat. On the other hand, I feel like I pretty much live her life already -- except that instead of making candy that inspires others, I teach writing. To-may-to, to-mah-to.

3. If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

Global warming. I really don't want the polar bears to drown.

4. If you could make out with one person of the same sex, who would it be?

Hmmm; this is probably not an appropriate subject for a teacher to discuss in a forum where her audience is primarily her students. How about instead I mention a celebrity of the same sex that I'd love to have coffee with? Sarah Gilbert rocks the cashbah.

5. If you could make out with one person of the opposite sex, who would it be?

Again, I question the appropriateness, and I stick with the "having coffee" route. Johnny Galecki would be cool. (And, yes -- I obviously watched a lot of Roseanne as a youngster.)

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So, if *you* would like to participate in the Friday Five, answer these questions in your own personal journal! :)

Also -- have a great weekend!

cembry from engl102064 posted the following question to his blog, and I thought I would respond in my own.


Last summer, I attended the Bonnaroo music festival in Manchester, Tennessee. It was my first multi-stage, multi-day music extravaganza, and I went by myself, which made it even more interesting. There were many misadventures with camping, condensation, sleep deprivation, and hygenic issues -- but it was well worth all the general aggravation of the trip to see the band Gogol Bordello as they took the stage for their set on Saturday.

Gogol Bordello, as Wikipedia so aptly describes, is "a multi-ethnic Gypsy punk band from the Lower East Side of New York City that formed in 1999 and is known for its theatrical stage shows." I was first introduced to the band via the soundtrack for the film Everything is Illuminated, and I fell instantly in love. Their music was fun, rebellious, loud, and strange, and it was exactly the sort of sound I needed at that particular time in my life. So, when I discovered they were coming to my home state, I decided to pay the ungodly and ridiculous amount of money for a single Bonnaroo ticket and brave the crowds and camping for a weekend.

I was not disappointed. I have never seen anything quite so powerful. Eugene Hütz was an absolute madman, jumping out into the crowd, hitting people in the head with his microphone. And his entire posse -- from the accordion and violin players to the back-up female vocalists -- were full of this incredible energy, jumping about the stage, and inspiring the audience to scream as loud as they possibly could.



Really, it's just impossible to describe. Even this YouTube video I found doesn't really do them justice. (However, that hand that pops up holding the disposable camera looks very, very much like my own hand, which is rather amusing to me...)