In 15 years.....

.....I will be old. Damn. I've got a couple years on most of you youngin's so in 15 years I'll be 37, which is practically 40, which is practically the end of my life as I know it. Getting old is my biggest fear, because with age comes responsibility and, worse still, monotony. Ugh. I'll probably be drowning my suburbia soccer-mom sorrows in vodka and botox by the time I'm 37. This is my grim, inescapable future, seeing as how my mother says it is unacceptable for a "lady" to be unmarried past the age of 25. Great.

In the midst of my domestic nightmare, I'm sure that I will frequently look back upon my "glory days" with nostalgia and desire. Amongst my memories of better days, this class will surely have a place. I won't forget our "what is literature?" debate. I won't forget my first time watching Blue Velvet or The Wire. I won't forget our somewhat ironic field trip to the zen garden. And I certainly won't forget Lolita.

Blue Velvet was a trip for me. Watch a movie as an English assignment?! Watching movies is usually a passive activity, so close reading Blue Velvet was especially hard. I will never forget that experience and the observational techniques I picked up. If this movie had never been assigned I probably never would have seen it, and if I had, any literary merit would have been completely lost on me. The recurring idea of the necessary coexistence of good and evil is the major theme/idea that I am taking away from this class, for sure. I never noticed how this idea was laced into so many different texts and commentaries. I know that in the future whenever I recognize it I will be taken back to our circle discussions in our tiny, sad little classroom.

With what I learned from Blue Velvet, I was able to comprehend The Wire that much easier. I really enjoyed the depth of the social commentary and how Simon did not hold anything back. Some may see the content as shocking or a stretch of reality, but I was pleased to see these social justice issues brought to the forefront of television. And again, the coexistence of good and evil and how they melt together in people was one of my favorite discoveries.

Like I said before, our trip to the zen garden was somewhat ironic. There we all were, out in public in a beautiful garden, men and women talking and interacting with one another while discussing a book whose main characters would never have been able to do the same. Now that I think about it, I think Krzys may have done that on purpose. Sneaky.

And finally, Lolita. Light of my life, fire of my loins. Loved this book!! Definitely unforgettable. By far my favorite assignment for so many reasons. The language, the characters, the beauty, the horror, and yes, the story. (Sorry Krzys.) I will never forget my fist time reading Lolita and I will always remember that it was for this class. In fact, I think that it is mostly because of this class that I loved it so much. There is so much depth and richness in this text that my tiny little brain could have never figured all of it out on its own! I will be reading Lolita over and over again for years to come, and every time thinking fondly on the discoveries we made together.