I remembered the reason why I love Gambier. It is a hundredth the size of Exeter, which has a single co-op open til 2 a.m. six nights a week. Yet Gambier, with it's lack of traffic lights, has a full village market open until midnight every night. They go through 400 hot dogs and 11 gallons of chili each day. The co-op didn't even have hot food! [plus, hot dogs are only 75 cents... though they used to be 50... that's still only 40p]

Now, I am an avid fan of the Hellboy comics pjust got into them this summer]. So one night I sat down with one such hot dog and Hellboy: Conqueror Worm by Mike Mignola. Now, it's a great comic. Fantastic. But as my Fiction Writing professor [P.F. Kluge - an author of moderate acclaim] would say: full of gimmicks and nonsensical plot shit.    His view on literature is narrow.    So when I find the quote on the back of the companion Hellboy comic I'd just bought, I rejoice. They always have a quote by some famous, geeky person who loves Hellboy. This one read: "In the ruins of the American empire, what more appropriate figure of salvation/damnation than Mike Mignola's Hellboy?". Guess who said it? Joyce Carol Fucking Oates -- one of the leading American novelists and literary academics. Look at that Wikipedia picture! She's 70! And she reads Hellboy, ergo I am justified in reading it as a piece of American literature.

A-hem.

Anyway, classes have started again. My short story rewrite got done and reviewed with mixed feelings by the class. I already had a late night study party with Kaitlyn (poetrywolf ) and Libby and Kayleigh. On the first night of classes. Oy ve, this is going to be a rough two weeks. Oh, and I'm directing three things right now. Here's the schedule for when they go up:
F Dec. 12th - 20 minutes of Troilus and Cressida [afternoon]
F Dec. 12th - Macbeth [opening night]
S Dec. 13th - Macbeth [closing night]
Su Dec. 14th - The Director final projects [all day]
...so yeah, kind of wishing that being a student director wasn't so hard right now. Argh.

But the internet keeps me busy! Links of the week:
Everyone Forever - A blog of very sporadic posting that keeps track of the expanding knowledge of, well, everyone. Some of the coolest aspects of modern technology and art are showcased on this website. The DARPA dog robots are expecially cool/creepy. We invented that already. Actual robots can't be far off. There's also a video of what it's like to by a Synesthete. Oh, and Circuit Bending. Always one of my favorite groups of weird people.
jove - It's a Biology text book, but with videos. Ever want to learn about Biology or do a kick-ass experiment? Well hot damn, here you go.
Waiting for Godot at the Theatre Royal Haymarket this April/May will undoubtedly be the stage hit of the year. Look at who it's starring. I think, secretly, that Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart rarely appear together because they're actually Magneto and Professor X working for the betterment of strange, displaced teens everywhere -- but in different capacities. One to destroy us, one to teach us. All I can say is... 'fuck you' to people in England right now. Hot damn, the body parts I would hock to see this show!
Twelve Tips for Aspiring Playwrights by Maxie Szalwinska in the Guardian Arts Blog. Read the comments, too. A lot of good stuff in this artcile and the people reading it. Possibly more on this later if I have time about which I agree/disagree with.


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READ:
All is True (Henry VIII) - William Shakespeare
Hellboy: Conqueror Worm - Mike Mignola
Young X-men
The Astounding Wolf-man

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SEEN:
Strange Brew

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THIS WEEK: study parties, Taylor's playwriting thesis, Macbeth tech week, not much else...