Vacation

I am taking 2 full weeks off from school and studying and also largely my computer. We as a family are taking a short trip out of town and I am trying very hard to detach from my computer for a bit. Today I'm turning it off and it won't come back on for a week, so my apologies for not commenting. I am reading on my mobile doodad but comments just don't work on that thing. Pesky mobile doodad.

I am reading a whole stack of random romance novels, though. Brain candy. They span from modern Highland romance/treasure hunt to Regency romance to Nora Roberts. I've already tossed one into the "read" (rhymes with the color) pile without reading it because it was so awful. Just painful. Mostly they are intriguing enough to hold my attention. I like the formula.

Maybe you didn't know this, but when you learn about teaching English, you actually learn about 4 parts of it: teaching writing, reading, speaking, and media literacy. Everyone in my department in undergrad had a favorite one of those, and mine was the odd duck out. I really like media literacy. My favorite undergrad class was something about media criticism. I wrote a research paper about ads for minivans in different parenting magazines and how they showed the class differences in the way the magazines were marketed.

I just have a hard time turning off my media crit brain. I analyze structure and formula and ponder why about most things, especially in advertising or art that's meant to be commercial (movies, books, etc). It doesn't stop. Like I contemplate why mix photos of cupcakes and drawings of cupcakes on the front of some kid sticker/activity book, or why non-pretty girl characters are so unsuccessful in movies while unconventionally beautiful characters can succeed (Ugly Betty comes to mind).

That's why I like reading such formulaic books, I think. I know the formula well and therefore because the books adhere to it so carefully, I don't have to pay attention to the formula anymore. It lets me put my media crit sense on autopilot because there are no surprises.

Anyway, it's back to vacationing from the computer. I got it out to redeem a groupon for my very first board exam review course... so that's amazing. Only another year of classes! FINALLY.