while we're off topic, jeeves

No, I don't have anything profound to say about the Odyssey. Not one thing. It's late and I'm tired.

This is how tired I am: I was trying to write you a limerick about the Odyssey and I can't do it. I am not happy about this. I can ALWAYS write limericks. I promise you more limericks down the road.

Really, here is what I think when I read the Odyssey: This guy was a terrible sailor, couldn't steer, wrecked his boat, and made up all this rigmarole when he got home in order to save face. And then he hanged the maids, cause he's a bastard. Thus endeth the profound observations for the night.

This is just a little missive to explain my part of the Literary Iditarod. After all, Serena is (probably) going to grad school, and this is (it turns out not particularly effective) preparation for the GRE. But hey, at least she has an evident reason. But I don't want to go to grad school, unless it's to get an MA in something strange. I see no reason for me to go back to school -- though I love school. I always figured grad school would be fun, but it would also be postponing my real life. If I figure out what I want to do with myself and it's something I need to go back to school for, then I can go and not feel like I'm running away from anything.*

You like lists? I like lists.
Reasons Fiona Is on the Literary Iditarod:
» It's to fill holes in my own knowledge. I've read a lot of these books, but often when I was very young and didn't get them and barely remember them. It doesn't count as something-I've-read if all I can tell you about it I could get from reading a synopsis on Wikipedia ("So there's a guy and he turns into a giant cockroach for no reason and then...his life is...really hard. After that. Cause, you know, the cockroach thing. Roachism.")
» I finally can talk to someone about them. I imagine that having Serena (and the internet) will make The Fairie Queene much more bearable than I otherwise would find it.
» Honestly, I've padded the list a tiny bit. Is The Diaries of Adam and Eve truly essential reading to call oneself an educated person? No, but it's the Twain that's always made me laugh a lot. Is Twenty Days with Julian and Little Bunny really that important, compared to The Scarlet Letter? Nah. But it makes Nathaniel Hawthorne into a human being, and I think that's important when it comes to a writer like that who's so staid and difficult to feel a kinship with. We tried to make a list that would be educational, yes, but it's not just a list that covers the basics and I'm really happy about that.


*This applies to me only and is not a condemnation of anyone applying to or in grad school. I think grad school is awesome and I like grad students. I will never accuse anyone in grad school of being womb-bound or lame. Learning things is sweet. Some of my best friends are grad students.