(no subject)

[phamos]

in my few free moments, i'm reading douglas coupland's "jpod". around page 100, he starts making very wink-wink meta references to early '90s gen-x culture, and he has one of his characters claim to have watched all of melrose place on dvd.

melrose place isn't out on dvd. music rights and whatnot. word is, the first season will be out this fall in england, but there's no date set for the US.

...i officially am in possession of more useless pop culture knowledge than douglas coupland. joy.

i also finished reading david foster wallace's book of essays, "consider the lobster", last week. the longest essay in the book is about power structures inherent in codes of english usage. the first page of the essay is a long, eye-squint-typefaced list of various misusages that make wallace bristle. now, it's not like i follow all the conventions of english usage when writing in this journal. note the lack of capital letters, that comma hanging outside the quotation marks up there. but i generally know when i'm doing something wrong, and there are certain constructions that set me on edge. i always notice and wince when people say "mischevious" or "lasvicious", but that's mostly because i got those words wrong until about the end of middle school, and it's my own inner shame that upsets me. but the one thing that always drives me crazy, and segev can attest to this, is when, at the end of any given airplane flight, the stewardess says "we hope you enjoy your stay in [insert city here] or wherever your final destination may take you." destinations can't take you anywhere! destinations are entirely static. they are an end result. it drives me crazy. every now and then, the stewardess will get it right and say "wherever your final destination may be", and i'll feel the urge to clap. i rank the enjoyability of any given flight almost entirely on the basis of those last few words to come over the speakers, regardless (not "irregardless") of turbulence, leg room, arm-rest hoggage, crappy snack food, or any other air travel deficiencies. it's completely insane, i know, but "wherever your final destination may take you" literally makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. (and i actually MEAN "literally", another one of wallace's pet peeves. he gives a pass to "hopefully", though, which i know drives a lot of people up the wall. not literally up the wall. whatever.)

Comments

[madfilm.livejournal.com]

George Carlin has a whole routine on the stupid things that flight attendants say during flights.

Things like "enjoy your stay here, or wherever your final destination may be." ALL destinations are FINAL! That's the meaning of the word "destination"--destiny!

[sundustrise.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, irregardless. It is a plague in Pittsburgh. I also can't stand "I could care less about XYZ," which, although the error may be intentional (I'm never sure), IS WRONG. IT IS WRONG. Especially when used in the movie Dead Poets Society and preserved for all posterity.

That is all. Thank you.

[bamzerlime.livejournal.com]

Hi! I'm Rachel and I'm a "prospective student" (if you will) of the University of Chicago (which I see you attended). I was wondering if you could tell me if the classes and academic focus was so rigorous that it made it hard to have a more social college experience..I'm not a bad student, I got a 29 on my ACT, but I'm looking for a school that doesn't push you so hard academically, that it's hard to be involved in other things.
Thanks so much :)

[phamos818.livejournal.com]

hi rachel! yes, i went to the u of c, and i managed to have a pretty great social life. i lived in the shoreland, though, which was a really social dorm. there were hundreds of people living in the same place, in luxurious rooms, with pretty much a new party every night. but the shoreland isn't a dorm anymore, so i can't attest to what the social life is like in other places. a lot of it really depends on where you live. from what i hear, living in the palevsky commons is really the thing to do if you want to be social. or pierce, if you're more into fratty stuff, but that's really not the main social focus of the student body. the schoolwork is rigorous, certainly, but my friends and i always had time to hang out and have fun. but a social life is not going to fall into your lap like it might at other schools -- you have to work for it a little bit.

good luck with your school-choosing! i absolutely loved chicago, and would recommend it to people who don't necessarily want the stereotypical college experience. do go visit and see if it's what you're looking for.