Corpus Linguistics

I suspect it'll take me while to be fully back into reading/thinking/writing-mode again. Well, the thinking part is never really absent, but as a student you'll also have to organize your thoughts and reproduce them in writing as something clever and innovative. I feel the pressure, selfinflicted as it is, and only a week into the semester I actually believe I'm behind. Ridiculous, I know, and I'm learning to live with the fact that I'm a slightly obsessed control freak who sets standards for myself almost impossible to meet.

There's also another "problem". As I'm not particularly ambitious careerwise, I'm not sure I have enough drive to expand on my ideas and give them wellfounded support, and having found a logic answer or seen a clear connection in my mind is more than often a satisfying experience in itself, with no need for further confirmations. On the other hand I then often go on missioning, filled with the conviction I could get everyone else to see the light.

Todays calling is to spread the word (!) of dictionary.com. Again. This website has been my trusty companion for quite a while now, but it's only getting better and better, with so many useful functions. (And a new beautiful layout as well.) The latest addition is CleverKeys, a program which allows me with a simple keystroke to access the dictionary from within the browser. Let's say I'm reading an article and come across an unfamiliar word; I highlight the word, press "Ctrl+L" and dictionary.com opens up in a new tab with the explanation right there. Or if I'm blogging and feel my vocabulary is in need of an update "Ctrl+M" brings up a menu and I can choose thesaurus.com; in an instant I'll have 101 results for: "feel".

As a user of these fantastic applications I believe I should support their creators in a more substantial way than just talking nicely about them, and therefore I am, as from today on, a subscriber; which will give them $19.95 and me some extra functions.

It's getting late and I realize I still haven't come any closer to what the heading suggested, i.e. Corpus Linguistics, and it really doesn't matter anymore. Let's just say it's one of my subjects this fall, and it's going to be quite interesting although it's only a smaller part of HUIN102, "ICT in the Humanities". I'm sure there will be other postings emerging from that topic, in some quirky way or another.

Time for bed, if I'm to succeed in my aim at hitting the sack before midnight.

Speeding Away...

I've got a monster at home. Not under my bed, where they usually hide; no, this one's got her own bed. Which she rarely makes, by the way. Today she was about to go on a schooltrip, a bikeride on "Rallarvegen". She's not the most active teenager, and I guess she dreaded the uphills more than anything. Therefore, when she already a couple of days ago complained about a beginning sore throat, I actually suspected her of beeing so extremely calculating that she not only planned to be sick on the day of departure, but put on a play in advance as well. Obviously I feel ashamed of mistrusting her like that, but it only shows how bad it can get here sometimes, and what's more - it takes one to know one... did I mention I used to be 13 once? Anyhow, this morning she woke up in a terrible state, asking for a bucket; and from then on the morning evolved into something fit for a DrPhil-show. Nasty indeed.

When I eventually drove her to the trainstation I was, to put it mildly, slightly upset and agitated. Not an excuse, but merely an explanation for what happened next. I got caught in one of those bloody photo radars! Totally unnecessary, and it'll cost me a fortune, I'm pretty sure of that. I'll be lucky if they let me keep my license. On the other hand, it could actually be quite nice not to be driving that little monster around for a while. Amazing how some fresh air can do wonders for spoiled brats. And also, as our gender expert at the section, Hilde Corneliussen, suggested: "You just did your womanly duty in evening out the statistics." Cute.

On the bright side of things, I must say I look forward to this semester and the courses I'll be following. "Digital Media and Digital Cultures" with associate professor Scott Rettberg, I'm sure will be a pure treat for my mind. At least until I have to produce something. He too referred to monsters, reminding us of our final 5000 word-paper, which are due at the end of November. My hope is that all monsters haunting me can be tamed and transformed into something beautiful, something that makes me feel good and smile with pride.

As If Nothing Ever Happened

Nothing really surprises me anymore, too many odd things have occurred lately for that. And even as you never should say never, I honestly didn't believe we'd ever see our cat again when she disappeared nearly 10 months ago. But due to some strange (but uninteresting) coincidences, this week I located her and brought her home. The same night she returned I found myself watching her in disbelief; all this time had passed, and yet there she was, lying on the sofa, as if nothing ever happened. While she contentedly was licking her fur, I couldn't help but wonder about what she's been doing these months. Who had cuddled her? Where had she slept? Had she missed us? And also, how fast could I loose every recollections of her scratching the doorframes and throw up hairballs on the carpet? Old habits die hard they say, and I found it almost too easy to let her come close and stroke her soft coat. I even think she snuck her way into my bed that first night...