Yes, my blog is totally revamped. The content will still be basically the same. I'm just taking it in a more useful direction. With any luck.

I wanted a title that would catch people's attention and stay true to my blog's theme. TELL ME YOUR STORY, TELL ME YOUR SONG works because:

1. I really do want to connect with people more and my blogs forum-like.


2. I want to help others improve their writing abilities.


3. The caps and the lyrics reference are catchy.

The new theme is more professional, less painful on the eyes, and beautifully clean. I love it.

So today was my first day back at USC. Oh my god. I love my schedule. Again.

1)  AMERICAN LIT with Professor Cowart

This class got me fired up. Looking online I thought Prof. Cowart seemed pretty scary, but in person I loved him. He's wonderfully eloquent and can recite lines of poetry. He spouted off three wonderful definitions of literature:

• "An excellent book that delights and informs" ~ Horace


• "The axe for the frozen sea within us" ~ Franz Kafka


• "News that stays news" ~ Ezra Pound

It wasn't like he made a show of it either. He was simply talking about something that interested him and needed use of those quotes to express himself. He went on to talk about impressions of America, still impressed upon the American psyche and reflected in literature, as Eden-like; immigrants saw the new world as an open chance to morally begin again.

Once they cleared out the Native Americans, anyway.

2) ELEMENTARY JAPANESE with Baba-sensei is always awesome. Very sweet lady, very laid back. My only complaint would be that she moves too slow. I plan to move at a better pace this semester and place out of an intermediate class.

3)  JAPANESE CULTURE THROUGH ANIME with Professor Miyazaki = Win. Several times over. We took a quiz that went something like this:

• Do you like anime from Japan?


• Would you tie your friends to chairs and force them to watch Japanese anime until they too became hopelessly addicted? (My answer:  Depends on how fiercely they bite.)


• Would you go without eating to buy the latest DVD release from Japan? (Not with corporations experimenting with letting things leak on the internet these days, we wouldn't....)


• Do you go home and watch Yuri and Kei, also known as The Dirty Pair?


• Do you go to anime conventions... dressed in only a teeny weeny itsy bitsy yellow tiger print bikini like Lum from Urusei Yatsura?

This class is going to be something else. Miyazaki-sensei is like supermodel pretty too. Lots of boys.

4) CREATIVE WRITING with Professor Waldron (Barilla)

I was terrified of this class. I'm very nervous about getting a Masters in Creative Writing, very anxious that it will destroy more creativity than it breeds. The first few classes I take will set that tone.

Tomorrow I'll find out about British Lit. And hopefully I'll be back in the language lab with Taku-san, our TA from Tokyo University! xD Now if only he weren't boring as crap....

A PROMPT FOR YOU

Tell me about your favorite class of all time. Was it a second grade music class? A college course with a crazy professor? Do you believe in education at all? Can't wait to hear from you!

Love & Peace

Yes, my blog is totally revamped. The content will still be basically the same. I'm just taking it in a more useful direction. With any luck.

I wanted a title that would catch people's attention and stay true to my blog's theme. TELL ME YOUR STORY, TELL ME YOUR SONG works because:

1. I really do want to connect with people more and my blogs forum-like.


2. I want to help others improve their writing abilities.


3. The caps and the lyrics reference are catchy.

The new theme is more professional, less painful on the eyes, and beautifully clean. I love it.

So today was my first day back at USC. Oh my god. I love my schedule. Again.

1)  AMERICAN LIT with Professor Cowart

This class got me fired up. Looking online I thought Prof. Cowart seemed pretty scary, but in person I loved him. He's wonderfully eloquent and can recite lines of poetry. He spouted off three wonderful definitions of literature:

• "An excellent book that delights and informs" ~ Horace


• "The axe for the frozen sea within us" ~ Franz Kafka


• "News that stays news" ~ Ezra Pound

It wasn't like he made a show of it either. He was simply talking about something that interested him and needed use of those quotes to express himself. He went on to talk about impressions of America, still impressed upon the American psyche and reflected in literature, as Eden-like; immigrants saw the new world as an open chance to morally begin again.

Once they cleared out the Native Americans, anyway.

2) ELEMENTARY JAPANESE with Baba-sensei is always awesome. Very sweet lady, very laid back. My only complaint would be that she moves too slow. I plan to move at a better pace this semester and place out of an intermediate class.

3)  JAPANESE CULTURE THROUGH ANIME with Professor Miyazaki = Win. Several times over. We took a quiz that went something like this:

• Do you like anime from Japan?


• Would you tie your friends to chairs and force them to watch Japanese anime until they too became hopelessly addicted? (My answer:  Depends on how fiercely they bite.)


• Would you go without eating to buy the latest DVD release from Japan? (Not with corporations experimenting with letting things leak on the internet these days, we wouldn't....)


• Do you go home and watch Yuri and Kei, also known as The Dirty Pair?


• Do you go to anime conventions... dressed in only a teeny weeny itsy bitsy yellow tiger print bikini like Lum from Urusei Yatsura?

This class is going to be something else. Miyazaki-sensei is like supermodel pretty too. Lots of boys.

4) CREATIVE WRITING with Professor Waldron (Barilla)

I was terrified of this class. I'm very nervous about getting a Masters in Creative Writing, very anxious that it will destroy more creativity than it breeds. The first few classes I take will set that tone.

Tomorrow I'll find out about British Lit. And hopefully I'll be back in the language lab with Taku-san, our TA from Tokyo University! xD Now if only he weren't boring as crap....

A PROMPT FOR YOU

Tell me about your favorite class of all time. Was it a second grade music class? A college course with a crazy professor? Do you believe in education at all? Can't wait to hear from you!

Love & Peace