Like a Bee, yo

I've been busy.
I'm preparing my graduate school applications (that's Glasgow U*, Brooklyn U and Hunter College), so I'm meeting with professors, tracking down scholarship titles and coming up with self-important position titles to make me sound more desirable. I've also written a Personal Statement illuminating my desire to obtain a Masters degree.
I'll soon have to go get transcripts ($7 a pop) from the University Registrar. I'm debating going to see another** old professor who might refuse to see me or who might write a letter of recommendation with some heft. What do you think?

I also need to go hit up Julie and Dr Moskell, other old professors whom I hope would say nice things.

I'm also busily working on Waiting for Godot stuff. I'm preparing an information packet for the actors, which I hope to be a pocket guide on critical thought on the play. I'm also busily researching the play itself. I should post some links so people can see what I'm doing.
Both of the above mean I'm doing lots of internet stuff, which is made easier by my keen new computer that works (roughly) a billion times faster than my old 1996 model. I can run /two/ programs at once now!

I also hosted Trivia Night this week with Keith and Alicia. It was fun -- Alicia got macked on by a hot guy. I got yelled at by a belligerent fag from the Professionally Gay team I loathe (Score!) and heckled by the Old Bastard. Both on the music ID round. It -- the round -- was the identification of song covers. We gave you the date and some information about each track and you gave the names of the performers, both originally and in the cover. The Fag shouted "And which of these bands have we heard?!" Let's see... Frank Sinatra appeared twice, and so did David Bowie. Bruce Springsteen, Bobby Darrin, and the Beatles all showed up, too. Real obscure folk... Even the one I thought was most obscure, an Iron Wine cover of the Postal Service, had half the teams get it right...

Our other topics were Current Events (all of us), Subtitles (we give the subtitle, you give the common title) by me, Comic Books by Miss A, and Beer Slogans by Keith. We had three ties and a different winner for each round, so we felt successful.

I've also been political, writing to Presidential Candidate John Edwards (who is also the senior Senator from my state) and Congressman David Price, a regular customer at my store, asking their takes on gay marriage. Edwards is personally against it, but against HR 56, which is the initial stages of the Constitutional Amendment defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman. Price doesn't give his stance on marriage, but also is against HR 56. I'll post his response to me below. Apparently, Mr Edwards is too busy campaigning to respond. Tellingly, Liddy Dole, our junior Senator, has no statement about marriage. I /assume/ she's all for HR 56.
And what about Edwards in the Iowa Caucus? Yay! Although -- and this is strictly a rumor from a Kennedy official who comes into work -- Kerry is going to ask Edwards to be his Veep.

I also got a DVD player. So far, I have bought the extended Two Towers, 28 Days Later, and Doctor Who and the Aztecs. Last night, I had the option to buy the new Belle and Sebastian DVD, Fans Only but I bought BlackAdder the Third instead. I'm stilling trying to figure out why.

I did, however, get a hold of a copy of the band's new single, Step into My Office Baby, so I sort of got my B&S fix for the week. "Love on the March" I adore, even though I didn't really like it on their Peel Christmas show last year. Friday is payday, so maybe then and can get some more B&S goodness. Their next one is due out next month. Camera Obscura is /also/ out this week, and though we got a copy at the station on Sunday, it was snitched away from me. Luckily, it only contained a rogue Lambchop album and no Scots Goodness. Although in the Scots goodness dept I'm already swimming since Martyn Spacekid sent me the Gone Aways EP.

Also, I'm swimming in Dr Who novels -- my two Previous Doctor Adventures -- amusingly, a first and second Doctor story came in this week (Ten Little Aliens and Combat Rock), so I still have... seven to read.
*drools like Homer

I missed the Rosebuds last week and still am feeling po'ly, but they play again in March. Kate's soiree was fun though, and ended in time for me to go home and sleep before work the next day.

Generally, I'm tired and busy, but happy.
Reason Baxendale rules: They mention Doctor Who in their song The 1960s

*They rule. Because they mention Belle and Sebastian on the first page of their prospectus.
**Long story. He was a creep.

Appendix I: My personal statement

The first time I applied to graduate school, the Personal Statement gave me some pause. ?What,? I thought, ?Ought I to write?? I had no concrete idea of what I wanted in post-graduate education, or what I could offer any potential institution I might enroll in.
Now, however, I have a much better concept of what graduate school means to me. I have had the chance to actually do some dramaturgical work, both as a production dramaturg for local theatre companies and as a literary dramaturg, working with playwrights at local universities to prepare their text for production.
As seems most appropriate, much of my desire in returning to school is to further my education in theatre history and dramatic writing. With bachelor?s degrees both in theatre studies and English literature, I have a broad, general knowledge of writing for theatre and its history, but I hope in graduate school to have the opportunity to make a more detailed and serious study of how plays are written, how they fit into their respective historical and social situations and how these works continue to adapt and intrigue audiences and artists today.
My other significant aim in seeking graduate study is to better understand the professional demands of dramaturgy. While I already know to a certain degree what the profession I wish to enter entails, I feel that for my own satisfaction, I need more formal training in what different kinds of dramaturgs are expected to do in their jobs and the best ways to go about doing these tasks.
I have other reasons for wanting to return to my studies as well, although these aren?t quite as acutely pressing themselves on me. I would like eventually to get a PhD in my field, and I cannot progress without first receiving a master?s degree. Also, I have found that working in the theatre in a university setting to be very different from the theatre Outside. There seems to me to often be a greater emphasis on learning the crafts of the theatre and a greater freedom to try very new techniques and methodologies.




Appendix II: The Reply I got from Rep. Price.

Dear Mr. Eckard:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Federal Marriage Amendment, H.J. Res. 56.

I oppose H.J. Res. 56 and will vote against it if it is considered by the House. I do not believe it is the business of the federal government to legislate a "definition" of marriage, much less to amend the constitution in this respect. Our religious traditions have their own definitions, which government should leave alone. Civil marriages and civil unions have historically been the responsibility of the states, and I see no reason to change that.

Furthermore, I have generally opposed federal efforts to limit the benefits or protections which businesses or governments might extend to nontraditional families. In fact, I have cosponsored legislation to follow the lead of many businesses and some states by extending healthcare and other benefits to the domestic partners of federal employees.

As you know, H.R.Res. 56 would declare marriage to constitute only the union of a man and a woman. It would also prohibit state constitutions or laws from conferring marital status on same-sex couples. H.J. Res. 56 has been referred to the House Committee on Judiciary for consideration.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please continue to stay in touch on issues of concern.

Sincerely,

DAVID PRICE
Member of Congress