The English Department Social

Photos Courtesy of  Carlen Donovan

As part of my creative writing class, extra credit was offered to attend the English Department Meet and Greet. Heck yes, I'll take a free assignment or absence! That's just enough to get a long weekend if I need it. I even skipped one of my easier classes for it.

The party was in the LA student lounge/reading room. It was absolutely packed. I was glad to get there early. Professors had baked goods (or at least picked them up from Fred Meyer) and there was a raffle for bookstore gift cards. Students slowly filtered in as time wore on; that girl from my german class, two of my employees from distance learning, the guy who does the movie reviews on the local channel, the guy with the long hair that I saw at the quad concerts.

Everyone was very friendly. Writer students. It was a room full of eyes. Lots of observation. Lots of talking. The professors were milling about as well. Susan Goslee was in charge of coordinating the event. She got an excellent turn out. She had provided students with writing/talking prompts like "What sort of school uniforms would you implement at ISU?" or "Best movie adapted from a book."  I also met all of the Donovans, Carlen and Will and their adorable son. Carlen Donovan roved around getting photos of the event.

I made a few new acquaintances. I had an excellent brownie. I didn't win a raffle. But I did enjoy watching and talking with other students.

XO, Nanette
PS. Going to the Volleyball game this weekend at Reed Gym. Starts at 2:00p.m. Maybe I'll see you there?

Baby's First Game

Sooooo.... I went to an ISU football game. The first sporting event of my collegiate career. I didn't know what to expect. I mean, I went to a couple outdoor games in high school. What do you WEAR to an indoor game? What do you take? I'm a redhead. I don't wear orange. I have a black dress. That's ALMOST school spirit? right? Then I packed my bag full of homework and things to distract myself with incase it was SUPER sucky.

I went up to the Holt with a photographer friend. She hooked me up with an all access press pass. I wandered down on the field. The new field looks less fake and it's squishy. Feeling a little uncomfortable (not having attended any of these games and having privileged access), I returned to my rightful place in the stands.

Photo Courtesy of ISU Photographic Services

I sat near the band. My people. I was in the family section. There was an over-gelled and proud father bouncing his knee in anticipation in front of me. He had his video camera out in preparation for the entrance of the team through the inflatable Bengal head. The feeling was electric. Anticipation. I wasn't entirely surrounded by people. I wasn't ready for the real immersion. I'm still an outsider to this whole sporting event thing.

The game started without much hurrah until the first down. Then cheerleaders and band kids and bengal dancers all went crazy. Music! Movement! Shouting! The Idaho Central Credit Union (to whom we owe our thanks for the new field in conjunction with other contributors) handed out free horns to attendees. Each one has a number. If your number is called at any game this season, you can win $100. The horns droned like a traffic jam for the entirety of the game. We scored a touchdown only minutes in.

Was I mistaken? Isn't our recent legacy one of losing every game? I was posting facebook updates as the game went on. We were completing passes, interceptions, plays... TOUCHDOWNS. I'm not a sports person, but I do have a flare for the dramatic, and what a terrific way to start the season. People around me were shouting at random times. I guess you don't have to wait for the right time. It's like shouting "hallelujah" when the spirit hits you. I was tempted to yell random phrases like "GODSAVETHEQUEEN!" because it seems like if you were going to do it, the football game would be an acceptable place.

The father guy in front of me was talking to himself and whomever else was listening. He gave the play by play. He yelled at the refs. He jumped to his feet. He waved his camera around. He rocked in his seat. I suppose this is why people love sports. The immersion. The forgetting where you are.

I watched the band students in the times when I didn't know what was going on. They instrument dance. Whenever they play, the bengal dancers get jiggy in the endzone. Those poor students were clad in polyester in that HOT arena.

We won the game. 44 - 7 (in case you didn't catch the score). I might go to the next one...   Step a little further into the pool. Normally I'm a jump-head-first kind of gal. But this is taking some getting used to.

XO,
Nanette

The end of the world.

I may be in over my head. I've gotten involved alright. Three jobs this semester. 40 hours a week and 12 credits. Any bets on how long before melt down? I've been looking at football calendars. I keep seeing girls with "It's Game Day" shirts on. There are fliers everywhere I look for events every night of the week! I realize how much more time I'm going to need to get active in campus life.
 
All summer I thought "why were you never involved?!" Now I remember. By the time I get home from a full day of classes and five hours in an office, I realize my week is halfway over. I've missed 6 events (Shape UR Yoga Booty, End of Summer Pool Party, Zumba Flash Party, Part-Time Job Fair, Ice cream social, and a Bengal Wednesday) . There's no going back. Only forward. It means giving up one of my Friday nights to go to an ISU event. Or worse, a Saturday night. Choosing to go to a football game instead of a date, or heaven forbid, FOR a date. Choosing a dance over a movie night with friends or even getting my homework done. I'm not sure how I'm going to fit everything in.

Anyway... enough complaining. It's time to plan ahead. I pulled up the ISU calendar. Looks like there's a football game this Saturday. I'm trying to be positive. I'm trying to like it. This really is a first. Nanette Nielson is going to a football game. Hell might freeze over. Farm animals might start flying. The end of the world might come early. At least you've been warned.

XO, Nanette
P.S. I'm so excited for Gabriel Iglesias to get here. This man is funny people. It's Oct 7. Get your tickets.

The week concluded...

Week overall: win.
Being a more participatory student: fail.

There was SO much going on this past week. I didn't get to go to ANY of it. I suspect some of you are in the same boat. With working  in the evening and 6 classes, time just sort of escaped me. I am proud to say though, that I am current and slightly ahead on homework, although that will last a total of MAYBE three weeks and then I'll be looking for things to distract me. 

I never reported in on my Tuesday/Thursday classes. I might have made a mistake. They are LONG days. 

9:00 - 10:00    Swim 
11:00 - 12:00  Form and Analysis (aka, hard and frustrating, the second time I'm taking it). 
12:00 - 1:00    Diction (learning IPA and applying it to French, German and Italian). 
3:00 - 4:00      Dance Basics 
4:00 - 5:15      Pedagogy (learning how to teach voice lessons).
5:30 - 10:00    Work.

It's homework and reading intensive. But that's not the hard part. Those of you who have met me, understand through body shape alone that I prefer eating to moving. Two physically active classes in one day is a leap for this stationary/office job kind of girl. Thursday was the first day I experienced the full wrath of my laziness. It was hard. It was exhausting. Then Friday and Saturday came along. I could barely walk. Here's the other thing, these classes were NOT hard for some of the other members of class. But one should never measure progress by comparison to others, but comparison to self and MAN, do I have room for improvement. I'm hoping that after about two or three weeks, it gets less hard and my body will start adjusting.

Lately, as part of the renaissance of self, I've made it a goal to do something creative every day. Now, creative writing class's homework assignments do not count. I've taken to visual journaling. Trying to take a photo, paint (poorly) or doodle to pair with an observation that day. I'll post the less personal ones here when I get them scanned in.

Have any of you been trying new things this semester? Any classes that you might regret signing up for? Tell me about your first week!

XO, Nanette

First Day Of School... Side A

Normally, as a music major, the piece of paper in my planner would have between eight and ten classes listed and it would barely equate to 13 or 14 credits. This semester, I feel like a more normal student with my mere six classes.

Today was Creative Writing Workshop with Ms. Goslee. Now, she made it very clear that whatever happens in class, stays in class (very much so like Vegas). So I can't divulge too much about what goes on in there, but I will certainly say it's a classroom full of very interesting characters. The mom, the accountant, the handful of english majors that haven't decided to seek a more cash oriented degree, that girl with the emo hair and the skinny jeans, the overeager, but I'll tell you what's missing... the apathetic. It's absolutely lovely to have a class that everyone seems invested in. This isn't a prerequisite. This isn't a goal class. It's a collection of interesting people with interesting stories (I hope).

Great Aunt Loma - Look at those curls!

Ms. Goslee is chipper and fun. But firstly, I noticed her very curly and playful hair. She is humorous. She is definitely clever. Today during class I noticed a man through the window in the door going into his office, another English professor I assume. He sports the same curly hair. And Ted, an English grad student friend of mine, also sports the same natural perm. I can't help but be led to the conclusion that their brain is so crazy, so full of ideas and so creative that their hair is charged by the rapid electricity of constant thought.

It was a great 50 minutes. Now, let's get serious, Nanette. You WILL go to class. You WILL be prepared. You WILL NOT get lazy or procrastinate-y or excuse-y. You will be curly headed and full of creativity. And THAT is the bottom line!

How was yours? Do you have any goals for yourself this semester?


XO, Nanette

Chicago

One of the great benefits of making friends in different majors all over campus - free stuff. For example, last night I got to go to the final dress rehearsal of Chicago for free because it's "friends and family night." Totally cool. Totally the right price. However, after seeing it, I'd pay the $10 for a ticket. It was colorful. It was sparkly. It was sexy.

Sherri Dienstfrey, the director, took a great interpretive step with her crescendo-ing theme of circus. As the show progressed make-up was added, costumes got more colorful and the spectacle became more grand as the trial of Roxy became more involved and more ridiculous. It accentuated the message that the perception or sense of justice held by an audience (or country) can be manipulated by our want for the fantastic and gruesome. In a way, the things we're fascinated by reflect our nature: The yearning to find a bit of good in a criminal, our want to believe that people are innocent, our want for violence and drama, our tendency to look for the next bit of grotesque and curiosity that will keep our interest piqued.

That's why Chicago is a great musical. It's themes extend beyond the time it was written (1975) and the era it was set in (1920's). We see the same sensationalism capture audiences with reality TV today. Honestly, Snooki? Tila Tequila? Kim Kardashian? Paris Hilton? These characters (or more appropriately caricatures) are the parallel entertainment equivalent as the characters in Chicago. Why do we keep coming back to watch them? What about them is so enthralling that they have their own television shows and near-cult followings? It's like real life soap operas... or at least people that have turned their lives into such. I guess it's the drama, the sexuality, the brash and aggressive natures that we don't dare share of ourselves... Are we allowing them to live out situations we only entertain through imagination?

Anyway, what I'm getting at is that it was a fun show. It's not appropriate for all audience members. There is swearing, innuendo, slinky costumes and insinuation of violence. I'd rate it PG-13. There is also a lot of great energy coming from those performers. There is outstanding stage chemistry between Zeke Robinson and Bridget Close. Megan Griggs, Kyle Anderson and Kim Mumford are vocal stand outs. Debbie Bray out did herself with the glitzy and glamorous costumes. The choreography was clever. All in all, It was a night of music, humor and debauchery.

Photo courtesy of A Day To Adore Photography

As school draws near...

It's weird. But this year I'm getting a little excited to start going to class again. Now, I used to feel this way as a little kid because school was a great place to be with friends. It was also a great place to do art projects and play on the playground. It's also invigorating to get new crayons and notebooks... pristine white pages that line up so neatly. I still get a little buzz when I get to go office supply shopping. "A [sharpie], a [sharpie], my kingdom for a [sharpie]!" - Shakespeare.

In the life of Nan, summers are the time when we press the giant "RESET" button of life. They usually have themes. Last summer was the summer of read, the time before was the summer of write and this summer is the summer of rediscovery. It's been a revisitation of all the things I've forgotten about loving.

• Doodling on saturday mornings while watching cartoons. 
• Reading more than one book at a time. 
• Afternoon naps
• Swimming in lakes 
• Collecting freckles
• Going yard sale-ing
• Taking pictures
• Making myself write again. 

Hard life, right? The summer of rediscovery has been light and refreshing. This semester (my last) is padded with classes that I needed to meet financial aid requirements. You know, swimming class, beginning dance, creative writing workshop... stuff like that. I'm hoping that before graduating and going to the great beyond (professional life), I can, again, find what is important to me, thus guiding the career search. 

Now... All these office supply sales are happening and I have yet to get my financial aid refund. Word on the street (aka website and email) is that if you're getting a direct deposit that ISU will be processing those Friday, August 12. This happens every year. The 12th rolls around and no one has gotten their check or deposit. Friends are freaking out. Gradually, the kids at the ISU credit union get theirs first and the people using other banks tizzy even harder. 

FACT OF LIFE: Bank transactions and financial stuff will take time to process. 

Just plan on it coming a few days later. You'll still have time for book shopping, paying rent and buying new clothes. Just sit tight. Be patient. Also... as you read this, keep in mind I'm a student with no more knowledge than most other students. I'm not making a promise on behalf of the university... just a prediction on behalf of myself. 

XO, 

Nanette