netflix

I've succumbed to the pressure and finally joined netflix. Being an english phd student and all, I feel as though I should spend my spare time reading (and writing--the real reason i came here!) and doing other things to get myself ready to be a "future faculty member." (That's what they call us sometimes; it's a little funny and ridiculous--though hopefully true.)

Still, last night I finally gave in and joined the masses. I own about 20 movies, and don't get me wrong, they're great movies (LOTR, Narnia, Harry Potter, Purple Violets, the Holiday! an assortment of Austen). But, as much as I like them, I've been watching those movies every time I grade for about the past 3 years. So, until the next HP movie comes out (and I can, again, spend countless hours watching that one) I've decided to try out netflix, mostly for when I grade and/or do work that doesn't require a lot of mental effort. (Grading does, sometimes, of course--but often it does not.)

Already last night I watched a great movie--Saving Grace. It was totally worth my $8.99/month to see something new as I looked through another round of freshmen english paper drafts. So, we'll see if I get addicted to this too much (or wish I was just buying a new movie a month instead.)

This week I finished my first phd exam, first phd paper and first round of phd essay-grading. (I feel these things all sound more hard-core if the letters phd are attached. In reality, phd just signifies "long".) I also mowed my lawn. The mowing was probably the hardest of all these tasks since I still haven't recovered much of my arm strength and my lawn is huge. Actually I only finished half so far, and it totally did me in. I think I may start doing 1/2 my lawn per week. Regardless, I don't think I've been this ready for a weekend (& new movies! hip hip hooray) in a very very long time.