update

Well, as those who may or may not check this blog will know by now, I am either very lazy at blogging or busy with school. I think it is both. I just finished my first paper (one of three) this morning, which is a cause to celebrate since it is one day ahead of schedule. Woo. But the celebration is short-lived because I am now researching another paper. Both of these papers interest me, so it actually is more of a pleasure to do this than anything. The first paper was unique (at least I hope so). I compared Tolkien's short story Leaf by Niggle with Joyce's novel "A Portrait of the Artist" using Dante's Divine Comedy as a common reference since both previous works use Dante intertextually. Fun stuff! My next Paper is looking at the Monstrous body in John of Salisbury's Policraticus. I just want to explore a paradox I found in the work where John is calling men to apply their learning to the public realm of politics (which is what he is) and he describes the ideal prince as one who is a sort of Platonic Philosopher King; however, he concludes that anyone who tries to be both learned and politicaly active is in danger of becoming a monster - a thing opposed to nature, since, like a hydra, they will have two heads that lead them in different directions. This is also a fun paper to write because the Medieval Studies I have been looking at are filled with cool tales of monsters and the afterlife that are just bizarre. Actually, one tale about journeying to the edge of the world was really illuminating of my reading of Lewis' Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Anyways, tomorrow my students hand in their final papers. So with marking, reading, writing...and sleeping/eating, I probably won't get another post in till May.