So. Things are a little better and a little worse than I wanted, in different ways. Temple thinks Black Ribbon will work for my thesis work--I showed him the site, and he specializes in early nineteenth-century lit anyway, and we talked a little about how I used a lot of early 19C Gothic influences even though I'd set the story in 1889, used some of the reform literature we discussed in class to build the back story, etc. I probably won't be able to use Vol. 1, but after chs. four and five, it's straight on to Vol. 2, which I've already written some on, and I can probably either set the thesis to focus on Vol. 2, or expand it to focus on 2-4, completing series 1 (yes, I have a series 2 in mind), depending on how much time I get or how many pages I need to have. I mean, we're talking about the difference between about 100 pages of work vs. maybe 300, but there you go. A lot of it is already mapped out and partly written (shhhh!), and a lot of the research--preliminary, at the very least--is done. I know very clearly what I'm doing going into the thing, so it's ideal for thesis work--i.e., it's not me dicking around for six months going, "Yeah, sure, I know what I'm doing it on (*runs away*)." And it's not too early to get started on rounding up an advisor committee and writing the proposal, which is good, because I basically didn't go to grad school straight after college because I couldn't get my shit together.
The bad news is, I thought I might have one more 600 to take, at the most. In reality? I have three. So it's Milton and rhetoric for me in the fall, and whatever else I can scrounge up while I'm working on the thesis itself.
(I don't actually get hives, by the way. I think they're... metaphorical... hives. Or something. I do get stress headaches and upset stomachs, though, and ended up just sitting in the restroom for about ten minutes, not doing anything, before I went to see Temple. Just because I felt that queasy.)
So. I got my student ID remade, and it looks hideous, as IDs do, but I've long maintained that IDs, driver's licenses, what have you, are not legal unless they're fug. So I'm in the clear on that one for sure.
Books I made off with: They didn't have Perfume: The Story of a Murderer in the catalogue at all. The Devil in the White City was supposedly in, but not on the shelf. This vexes me greatly, of the vexation I greatly am, etc. I did manage to haul off The Crimson Petal and the White, Alias Grace (Temple's recommendation, which will make The Lovely Emily v. happy), a collection of Louisa May Alcott thrillers, A Long Fatal Love Chase (also Alcott), and Rose in Bloom, *also* Alcott, because I loved Eight Cousins and I read Rose online through Project Gutenberg a while back, and wanted to be able to curl up in bed and read it for old times' sake. It's one of her Little Women-caliber books--geared mostly towards youngish readers. Anyway. The Alcott thrillers are for period (American) detail and that Gothic serial feel; the other two are for Victorian period detail. Also, there is now an August 3 event on my Yahoo calendar that reads BOOKS DUE OMG because I ended up having to pay $8.75 in fines this time, and my books were only three days late. One time my online renewal apparently didn't go through, and I ended up having to pay something like $165--and I had to, or they wouldn't let me register for class. It's highway robbery, I'm telling you.
While I was waiting for Temple's office hours to come around, I did get to work a little on the story for the fantasy project, which was nice, and before I left I got about half an hour in on ROTK in Fifteen Minutes.
As for the "poser" thing--really, I wasn't fishing for hugs and compliments (EVERYONE ON LJ: "Suuuuure you weren't"), but thanks for the love anyway. Seriously, y'all are so sweet. The thing is--I don't care what some random guy on some random blog thinks. I don't think that's how insecurity works. What you actually end up thinking is, What if that's what everyone else is going to think, too? Which is no way to live your life, either. And the thing is, one of y'all could have just as easily said the same thing about someone else--"Cleo's it, and everyone else is a poser." And it would be equally stupid. Just remember that when you go around defending my honor. :)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
