Saturday, November 18, 2006

that's some wall

this must happen to a lot of people.

you know that wall? we'll i've hit it. lately i've been feeling really anti-academia. it isn't that i think intellectualism is a bad idea. i'm no dubya. it's just that sometimes i feel like the academics lose touch with reality and i'm stuck trying to cope.

i wrote thirteen pages of critical analysis of an article by Arnold Whittall recently. i think it was during the hours that i was writing that paper that i came to despise everything musicological.

what is the point of my paper? nothing. i go through the article and pick out the flaws in his argument. in the end, i propose my own idea about how interpretative musicology can work by allowing a one-angle approach that still creates a multivalent interpretation, overall. sounds boring? are you wondering where the life went, where the music went? hm. i wondered the same.

i sat through a techniques of ethnomusicology seminar on tuesday that was a real waste of time. the two professors sat and talked about their experiences out in the "field." we also talked about an article that one of the professors really could not stand. it was really frustrating. she could not let the article go. i would go into it, but there really is no point.

at this point, i feel like my seminars are useless to some extent. i really enjoy opera studies, that is true. music from the americas is alright. but ethnomusicology has been disappointing. i want to partake in ethnomusicological activities. i want to get on with my research, i guess.


when this year is up, i'm going to need a serious break from the university. i think i want to join the real world for a while.

in other news, i applied for a research assistant position in New York City. i know i am pretty qualified for the position because the research is based in NYC and is on some Jewish oreinted popular music. i've been to NYC to do research, i did my research in Jewish music---i'm good to go. however, i don't think i'll get the position since i doubt they want to spend all of their funds flying me back and forth from london. they said that pay is negotiable so i said that if they just paid for my flight and a place to stay while i was there i wouldn't ask for anything else. of course, that might be asking for a lot already.

and in other news i had my first news feature published in the london student newspaper. they gave me a whole page for it. i would link to it online but they haven't updated the site in a while. also went to a press screening last night. that was pretty nice. they served up free drinks and some snacks so i had a glass of white wine. it was pretty nice wine. there were about 10 of us from the press at the screening. we met at a small studio off of oxford street. i have to say that i am enjoying being a journalist than a student right now.

all in all, i'm doing great. :)

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