the chesapeake knight

probably the most fun and exciting thing for me in the last couple days involved writing an "epic" limerick for my niece. perhaps i'm stretching things to describe it both as "epic" and a "limerick" considering the definitions of the two words below (from infoplease's glossary of poetry terms):

epic
A long, serious poem that tells the story of a heroic figure. Two of the most famous epic poems are the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer, which tell about the Trojan War and the adventures of Odysseus on his voyage home after the war.

AND

limerick
A light, humorous poem of five usually anapestic lines with the rhyme scheme of aabba.


however, that's the best way for me to describe it. it's not terribly serious compared to the iliad, but it does tell the story of a heroic figure. there are twenty limericks (or twenty stanzas) making up a story about my niece, my brother, our cat, his dog, and my parents. for your reading pleasure, here's one stanza--if you'd like more, just email me for the poem in its entirety. i'm going to see what i can do about illustrations for it sometime over break, and then we'll see what can happen.

Well, the cat, he kept running all night
And swore they’d never ever catch sight
Of his black and white fur
‘Cause the real saboteur
Was Charlie, the Chesapeake knight.


so that's been a little of my excitement lately. nothing can really compete for my time as much as grading and teaching, but i try to work on dissertation and prelim exam work when i can. i am really looking forward to the end of this semester at this point, which is quite close in terms of time, but quite far in terms of work to be done.

the following are my month playlists from october and november, having made minimal changes to them lately. as always, i really appreciate when people introduce me to new and good music (not just new), so send me recommendations, especially if it seems slightly out of character with these playlists.

october 2006 playlist

friday i'm in love by the cure
sunny road byh emiliana torrini
smart went crazy by atmosphere
not an addict by k's choice
high hopes by pink floyd
to be young by ryan adams
popular mechanics for lovers by beulah
on the radio by regina spektor
long way down by guster
hubris by rebels victorious
how it should be (sha sha) by ben kweller
the beauty of the rain by dar williams
we are the champions by queen
sunset soon forgotten by iron & wine
because the night by 10,000 maniacs
untitled one by sigur ros
alien by bush
no surprises by radiohead
3rd planet by modest mouse


november 2006 playlist

no children by the mountain goats
for martha by the smashing pumpkins
keep it together by guster
i of the mourning by the smashing pumpkins
sugar pie, honey bunch by the temptations
wasted and ready by ben kweller
wild honey by u2
are you lonesome tonight? by elvis presley
nightswimming by r.e.m.
linger by the cranberries
i think i need a new heart by the magnetic fields
river by joni mitchell
everybody hurts by r.e.m.
in god's country by u2
just wait by blues traveler
don't be scared by andrew bird
bird stealing bread by iron & wine
i will follow you into the dark by death cab for cutie
where've you been hiding by architecture in helsinki
old college try by the mountain goats