Quick note before class
23-Mar-02
This is a quick note before Fred picks me up to carpool to our database class this morning. It’s Saturday, and the database class starts at 8:30. Whose idea was that?
I once had a creative writing seminar with Ursula LeGuin. It was scheduled for 9:30 AM on Saturdays, all semester long.
At one point during the semester, Ursula commented that the only thing wrong with Saturday mornings was that they followed Friday nights. She is so right! I got into the habit of having a weekly party (movie night) on Thursdays, just so that I could go to bed early on Friday. I eventually swore never to take a Saturday AM class again.
And yet, here I am. The database class is only 2 Saturdays, though, so it’s not a big deal. Last week, I bought a 20-oz. mocha at the drive-through espresso place. Highway 17 is a complete bitch, windy, trafficky (even on a Saturday), etc. Well, I took a quick curve and the mocha went OVER! I was annoyed, but glad none of it burned Fred, who was sitting in the passenger’s seat! This week, he promised to drive, as long as I have my coffee before we leave– true to my word, I have already finished it.
Getting back to LeGuin:
I never read her stuff when I was a kid and reading all the bad sci fi I could get my hands on. I mean, Piers Anthony was my favorite author– how sick is that for a 14 year-old girl? I eventually migrated to reading Mercedes Lackey, who will always have a place in my heart. But I have to admit that LeGuin is a better writer, all around, even if Lackey writes more convincing non-heterosexuals (and that’s saying a lot– LeGuin was a pioneer in this area).
When I was at UCSC, I took 2 classes during summer school to get rid of some requirements. Summer school cost the same if you were in-state or out of it, so I got a real break by doing this– saved $3500 and got to take a quarter off. Anyway, I took a Women’s Studies seminar on Ursula LeGuin’s works. We read her short stories, her novels, her essays– the woman is prolific, talented, and always has something valuable to say. Her essays alone are worth reading and many can be found in Dancing At the Edge of the World. I had read The Dispossessed shortly after I moved to CA.