Laura has links posted to "modules" from a show called Look Around You. I can't recommend them enough. I laughed so hard I honest to God got lightheaded. And have spent the rest of the night saying, "What ARE birds?" and "How tall is Imhotep?" Which, after you go watch these, you will completely understand, and laugh at. Exceedingly.

Jesus. My throat STILL hurts. Bless you ants. Blants.

I am now on my third attempt to...procure a copy of The Queen. The first time, the audio was badly out of sync, the second time, it was dubbed in French. Hopefully this one works!

I made the mistake, after seeing the story tonight that Jeffrey Dahmer might have been involved in Adam Walsh's death, of reading all about Jeffrey Dahmer. Brrr. I wish I had more locks on my bedroom door! Although I do find it interesting that there are still serial killers working today, but it's just not publicized like it used to be, that "boom" of the 70s and 80s. I don't know if we just don't find it sensational anymore, or what. Not that I want them to publicize them, per se, just that I wonder why the press doesn't anymore. I would have looked up stuff on the Zodiac killer tonight, because I saw the first TV commercial for that tonight, but I got sleepy. :(

FINALLY caught up with 24. It only took a month. It makes me sad that I start every episode scanning the credits for Glenn Morshower's name, and am profoundly disappointed when he doesn't show up. Boo, 24.

Heh, every time I get online, I go to Laura's blog to giggle at her "epiphery" icon. I love many things about the Office, but one of my most favoritest is Michael not knowing how to say words, or even knowing what they mean, but just charging on anyway.

Instructor surveys finally came out from last fall. (Two people thought Polish professor's class was excellent? Seriously?) I am now going to copy/paste the four comments I got, because they make me happy. (There are only four, because now they do them online instead of in class, so most kids probably don't bother anymore.)

• Shannon was extremely helpful and available when we needed her to be.
• You were awesome. Loved the workshop environment.
• Really good. She was very helpful, often going above and beyond.
• Shannon was an excellent TA. She really had an interest in my writing and wanted me to do better. I felt that she was very knowledgeable on the subject and I hope that she may be able to help me and my writing even after the class is over.

It is to be warm inside. I mean, I felt last semester I'd had a good rapport with my students, but it's nice to see it in text-form. I have two students who are still emailing me this semester with questions, which is cool. Honestly, I really enjoy teaching, and being able to teach screenwriting at a university level would be something I actually wouldn't mind falling back on. Not that I'm not going to go out there and try to be a writer for reals, but it's good to know there's this also available.

Hey Caroline, I need your address. The only one I have in my address book is your original Wilbraham one, so...

(OMG, it is for sooper-sekrit reason.)

I think I forgot to mention that my History of Greece TA is from New Zealand. He keeps apologizing for his accent, and I'm like, "Honey, don't apologize." Although I guess most people didn't watch hours and hours of LOTR behind the scenes docs, so it's probably a hard accent to decipher.

I had a terrifying sleep paralysis incident last night. I woke up, and thought that I'd heard a loud noise, but I didn't know what it was, so I waited to see if I heard it again. And then, I heard my BEDROOM DOOR OPEN. Which, it sticks, so it's a loud, friction-y, squeaky sound. All I can think is, I left my keys in the living room, someone has broken in to the apartment and has unlocked my bedroom door, and now they're INSIDE, and now they're GOING TO KILL ME.

By the time I finally was able to move, I had so much adrenaline that there was no way I was going back to sleep, so I was up at 6:30 this morning. Suffice it to say, that's a lot earlier than I usually get up.

Saw The Queen yesterday, which was very, very good in a kind of deceptive way. I enjoyed it well enough while watching it, but wasn't quite sure if it was BP material. And then I ended up thinking about it the rest of the night, and replaying scenes in my head, and even ended up reading all about Elizabeth II online. (She was a mechanic during WWII! I had no idea! So awesome.) And what I loved about Helen Mirren's performance is how it's not big and showy, but it's still so real and powerful, and you get the sense of the person behind the facade. I have felt lately that winning performances, especially leading performances, have had a lot of histrionics and show to them, so it's nice to see so much acclaim for a performance that goes against that type.

In a bit of a coincidence (OR IS IT?), I watched the first part of Elizabeth I, the miniseries she won her Emmy (and assorted other awards) for, which was actually at the opposite end of the spectrum, performance-wise. Elizabeth is a hard character, because she was so mercurial, and Mirren captured that perfectly. You felt her moods along with her, as she swung from one pole to the next. And the rest of the miniseries--the other performances, the mise-en-scene--was also quite good (the costumes! I was disappointed at the lack of brightly dyed beards, though), so I'm looking forward to part two.