Joyeux Nouvel An!
2011 is upon is! To close what has been a busy and eventful 2010, I present to you the final list of all the movies I've seen in the past year. I am proud to announce that I am in excess of my 52 movies per year goal by almost TEN WHOLE MOVIES.
Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about that. Armed with new resolve to continue my standing resolution AND a new membership at the Museum of the Moving Image (an AWESOME Christmas present care of my wonderful aunt and uncle), I'm confident my cinephilic zeal will carry over into 2011. I'm excited to see what movies the new year has to offer.
Aren't you?
And now: THE LIST
1. Fantastic Mr. Fox (3)
2. Up in the Air (4)
3. Year One (1)
4. Duplicity (1)
5. Bonnie and Clyde (5)
6. 12 Angry Men (4)
7. This Is It (4)
8. Shutter Island (4)
9. Wolfman (1)
10. Alice in Wonderland (1)
11. The Hurt Locker (4.5)
12. Remember Me (0)
13. Bean (3)
14. The King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters (4)
15. Kick-Ass (5)
16. The Tenant (3)
17. Shine (3)
18. Agua Fria de Mar (3.5)
19. Beijing Taxi (3)
20. Dogtooth (3)
21. Twilight: New Moon (1)
22. The Blindside (4)
23. Brothers (4)
24. Extraordinary Measures (1)
25. Surrogates (1)
26. La Vie et la passion de Jésus Christ. 1902. Silent. (3)
27. The Automobile Thieves (incomplete). 1906. Silent. (3)
28. At the Crossroads of Life. 1908. Silent. (4)
29. Old Isaacs, the Pawnbroker. 1908. Silent. (4)
30. The Jacket (2)
31. Obsessed (1)
32. Blindness (4)
33. Please Give (4)
34. Toy Story 3 (5)
35. Orphan (4)
36. Changeling (5)
37. Despicable Me (4)
38. Jindabyne (3.5)
39. The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1)
40. The Kids are All Right (4)
41. Zombieland (4.5)
42. The Devil Wears Prada (2)
43. Eat Pray Love (3)
44. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (4)
45. Enchanted (3)
46. Last Train Home (4)
47. Frozen River (3)
48. Tibet in Song (5)
49. Jaws (3)
50. Catfish (4)
51. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (3)
52. For Colored Girls (4)
53. Due Date (3)
54. Megamind (3)
55. Single White Female (2)
56. Boys Don't Cry (4)
57. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (3)
58. Tron Legacy (3)
59. The Invention of Lying (3.5)
60. True Grit (4)
61. Black Swan (4.5)
The highlights: Bonnie and Clyde (1967), the Hurt Locker (2008), Toy Story 3 (2010), Changeling (2008), Zombieland (2009), Tibet in Song (2009), and the out-in-theaters-now Black Swan (2010).
The lowlights, which I cringe even now to remember: Year One (2009), Duplicity (2009), Wolfman (2010), Alice in Wonderland (2010), Remember Me (2010), Twilight: New Moon (2009), Extraordinary Measures (2010), Surrogates (2009), Obsessed (2009), and The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010).
Best Movie Seen This Year: Changeling
This is a really tough decision, but this was such a riveting movie, and my impression is that it's under-viewed. So go see it!
Worst Movie Seen This Year: Remember Me
A very easy decision by comparison. Good holy God was that a terrible movie. I'm still angry I didn't ask for my money back, and that's not something I do lightly.
Also, rough year for Robert Pattinson if my ratings are any gauge.
With that, Boyfriend and I have some food shopping to do in preparation for our New Year's Eve celebratory plans. Have a safe and happy night tonight, and a wonderful New Year!
Onward and upward!
<3
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Conference #2: Are You Going to San Francisco? ...Because If You Are, I Have a Poster to Show You
Since I failed to extend them in my last post: Belated Season's Greetings!
So I'm back at the where-I-live-now home, in the great snowy North. My flight was punctual if my baggage retrieval wasn't, and now I'm snuggled in with my beloved kittens. Boyfriend makes four, and he's home tomorrow!
I was asked many, many times while at the where-I-grew-up home whether I was aware of the somewhat dire weather conditions striking my dear adopted city, seemingly being expected to wring my hands and swoon at the thought: SNOW in DECEMBER?!?!!
CAN YOU IMAGINE???
I (perhaps snidely) responded to these somewhat fear-mongering inquiries by saying: "Most places, it snows during the winter. We can handle it."
Now, after a few short days of digging out, it appears my fair city isn't too much worse for wear. Though I will say I appreciated my luck in cab drivers on the way home tonight. The car bucked and bounded down my still-not-fully-plowed little street, but the driver negotiated it masterfully. And then the gentleman helped hoist my too-heavy bag over the considerable snow bank barricading in helpless cars parked along the side of the street. Definitely not something I'd ever have to deal with where I grew up, but the novelty hasn't worn off yet. In fact, real winters are part of what I love so much about being here.
And with that: A little montage of my extracurricular touristing from Conference #2, in beautiful San Francisco!
That boat ride was pretty awesome, but also a little scary near the end there. It started raining right as we got off the boat, and it didn't stop pouring for the rest of the night. Good timing on our parts!
It was a good trip.
So in spite of still being wholly exhausted, I'm feeling less panicky about my work. I had a nice, helpful chat with my testing supervisor today, and got his edits for the testing report I'm writing. He didn't make too many changes, which felt good given that it's my first attempt. On the plane, I completed the report's second draft and worked a little more on my CV for externship applications. With all the crap I've done since applying to grad school, it's doubled in length--also a nice little ego boost (see, I've actually ACCOMPLISHED stuff!). Finally, I worked a tiny bit on my thesis data stuff. A productive day all around.
The sad thing is, I've had the worst attitude for the last few weeks. That always happens around midterms and finals, but because finals spilled over into the holidays, this has been a particularly difficult patch. I've had a lot of "Well, at least I only have three and a half more years of this" thoughts... And if that's the best consolation you can offer yourself, that's pretty depressing.
The truth of the matter is that I know grad school is going to get more and more demanding over the next few years, and that kind of scares me. I like my boyfriend and my cats, my family and friends, my city and, well... my LIFE. It's hard to enjoy all of those things when I feel like my head is spinning, which it has been full tilt for weeks now. I'm worried that's how things are going to be more and more as I get farther into my program, and I'm not completely sure how to weather that without becoming a shrieking banshee all the time. I don't want to be a shrieking banshee. I want to figure out a way to endure this process with grace and hopefully a little enjoyment. A clear path to that state of being just hasn't fully emerged yet.
In any event, I'm probably awfulizing. No one would do this if it were really that awful. Right?
.......Right??
But all that said, still: I got some good things done today. I feel renewed confidence in my ability to do this work. I really needed that. I still have a few weeks to finish the big, scary things still looming. As always, things will probably turn out just fine.
Dare to dream.
It is so, so late. Bedtime!
<3
So I'm back at the where-I-live-now home, in the great snowy North. My flight was punctual if my baggage retrieval wasn't, and now I'm snuggled in with my beloved kittens. Boyfriend makes four, and he's home tomorrow!
I was asked many, many times while at the where-I-grew-up home whether I was aware of the somewhat dire weather conditions striking my dear adopted city, seemingly being expected to wring my hands and swoon at the thought: SNOW in DECEMBER?!?!!
CAN YOU IMAGINE???
I (perhaps snidely) responded to these somewhat fear-mongering inquiries by saying: "Most places, it snows during the winter. We can handle it."
Now, after a few short days of digging out, it appears my fair city isn't too much worse for wear. Though I will say I appreciated my luck in cab drivers on the way home tonight. The car bucked and bounded down my still-not-fully-plowed little street, but the driver negotiated it masterfully. And then the gentleman helped hoist my too-heavy bag over the considerable snow bank barricading in helpless cars parked along the side of the street. Definitely not something I'd ever have to deal with where I grew up, but the novelty hasn't worn off yet. In fact, real winters are part of what I love so much about being here.
And with that: A little montage of my extracurricular touristing from Conference #2, in beautiful San Francisco!
 |
| The architecture is pretty divine. |
 |
| This guy was singing opera on some random street. |
 |
| Approaching the piers. |
 |
| I've always loved photographing flying birds. |
 |
| Later, we decided to take a little boat tour around the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz... |
 |
| At first the weather was beautiful, if a bit chilly. |
 |
| We chugged along on our little boat... I decided I liked this buoy... |
 |
| We slid under the bridge... |
 |
| ...looped around it... |
 |
| ...and took some touristy pictures... |
 |
| It really was a stunning day. |
 |
| Almost perfect, really. |
 |
| But then: HOLY SHIT what happened?! We are on the ocean and suddenly the sky looks black. We may die. |
 |
| And yet everything looks so peaceful on Alcatraz (irony?)... |
 |
| Peaceful enough that I could appreciate this morbidly amusing sign (click to enlarge). |
 |
| But the birds knew better. They were hauling ass away from the ocean. |
 |
| But still: beautiful. |
It was a good trip.
So in spite of still being wholly exhausted, I'm feeling less panicky about my work. I had a nice, helpful chat with my testing supervisor today, and got his edits for the testing report I'm writing. He didn't make too many changes, which felt good given that it's my first attempt. On the plane, I completed the report's second draft and worked a little more on my CV for externship applications. With all the crap I've done since applying to grad school, it's doubled in length--also a nice little ego boost (see, I've actually ACCOMPLISHED stuff!). Finally, I worked a tiny bit on my thesis data stuff. A productive day all around.
The sad thing is, I've had the worst attitude for the last few weeks. That always happens around midterms and finals, but because finals spilled over into the holidays, this has been a particularly difficult patch. I've had a lot of "Well, at least I only have three and a half more years of this" thoughts... And if that's the best consolation you can offer yourself, that's pretty depressing.
The truth of the matter is that I know grad school is going to get more and more demanding over the next few years, and that kind of scares me. I like my boyfriend and my cats, my family and friends, my city and, well... my LIFE. It's hard to enjoy all of those things when I feel like my head is spinning, which it has been full tilt for weeks now. I'm worried that's how things are going to be more and more as I get farther into my program, and I'm not completely sure how to weather that without becoming a shrieking banshee all the time. I don't want to be a shrieking banshee. I want to figure out a way to endure this process with grace and hopefully a little enjoyment. A clear path to that state of being just hasn't fully emerged yet.
In any event, I'm probably awfulizing. No one would do this if it were really that awful. Right?
.......Right??
But all that said, still: I got some good things done today. I feel renewed confidence in my ability to do this work. I really needed that. I still have a few weeks to finish the big, scary things still looming. As always, things will probably turn out just fine.
Dare to dream.
It is so, so late. Bedtime!
<3
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Conference #1: Seattle May or May Not Be the Subject of This Post
Hello loves.
I recently discovered that including pictures in blog posts is really fun (even when they're not my own, though it's much more fun when they are). In that spirit, and because I'm too mentally exhausted to craft a proper post, I've decided to provide a little travelogue of my aforementioned conference attendances.
To start: Conference #1. Guess the supremely obvious Northwestern location!
 |
| It may or may not have a very famous marketplace and generally overcast climate... |
 |
| Said marketplace may or may not have a big fluorescent "Lower Floor" arrow with which I am in love... |
 |
| The marketplace also may or may not be staffed by friendly people eager to hand out delicious apple samples (like this guy)... |
 |
| This theater entrance may or may not be covered in chewed gum... |
 |
| The mass of gum may or may not have smelled overwhelmingly and deliciously fruity, in spite of being disgusting to behold... |
 |
| This peace sign may or may not have been spray-painted upside-down... |
 |
| I may or may not have seen these little robot men throughout this mystery city... |
 |
| I may or may not be sick of this "may or may not" convention I'm beating into the ground... |
 |
| I may or may not be able to sustain the sense of mystery much longer, since there are only so many cities where people famously throw fish around... |
 |
| You may or may not have guessed that the mystery city is... |
 |
| Seattle!! (Hurrayyyy no more "may or may nots"! Oh wait...) |
 |
| Molly Moon's honey lavender ice cream may or may not be to die for. (Hint: It most certainly may!) |
 |
| Do you love this "Lower Floor" arrow as much as I do? You may or may not. |
...Is it apparent I'm really tired yet?
Suffice it to say, in spite of being delighted to spend the Christmas holiday at the where-I-grew-up home, finals never really came to an end for me this semester. I've been working on the assessment report for my testing client, figuring out which externships I'm applying to, finishing up data stuff for my thesis, and thinking about finishing the paper that's due before spring classes start up mid-January (only at the thinking about stage on that last one... I can only handle so much at once).
I'm very very tired.
More than anything, I would love to have just one day where I didn't have to think about grad school (let alone do grad school-related work). We'll see if I manage to snag one of those days before the minute winter break I have disappears.
Up next: Pictures from Conference #2, the final list of movies I've seen in 2010, and if we're really super lucky, one last end-of-year review!
'Til then.
<3
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
"Hedwig and the Angry Inch" of Sanity I Have Left
Bonsoir.
So I'm rethinking my commitment to writing about a movie AND grad school every single time I create a post, since that makes my posts really long, and that makes me not write them because I'm overwhelmed by the (actually relatively negligible, cosmically speaking) time commitment involved in covering both tasks in every post. Maybe sometimes I'll just write about grad school? Maybe sometimes I'll just write about a movie? I don't know. I'm considering my options.
ANYWAY.
So a month or so ago, I decided it was finally, FINALLY time for my boyfriend to watch "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" (2001) with me. This was a big decision. "Hedwig" is my very most favorite movie ever ever ever, and liking it is very important if someone is going to like me. It's weird, loud, emotional, and complicated... and if you can't handle that for only 95 minutes, there might be a problem if you're looking to hang out with me.
Of course, the comparison between me and this movie is not perfect. I am a reasonably normal (again, cosmically speaking) clinical psychology graduate student from somewhere hot and conservative, living in a neither-hot-nor-conservative large city. Hedwig is an East German male-to-female transsexual rock star. Our paths are somewhat different. Still, I like to think that she and I would be friends.
The movie is based on Plato's Symposium, a discussion of the nature and origin of love. The theory goes that human beings were originally composed of two people stuck together, but the gods became displeased with us and chopped us in half leaving us in the form we take today. As a result, humans are doomed to spend their lives searching for their other half, in the hopes of negotiating some kind of imperfect reunification.
"Hedwig" is an examination of this theory: Is there really another half of every person, waiting to be found? Can any one person complete another? *Should* they?
I first saw the movie in theaters, when I was in high school. It was like hearing the favorite song of a past life. It resonated with me immediately. I purchased the DVD as soon as it came out. I've since watched it countless times. I bought the soundtrack. I memorized the lyrics to every song like the words were my own. I dressed up as Hedwig for Halloween twice in a row, devotedly tracking down a Farrah Fawcett wig, red glitter lipstick, fishnets, a zebra-striped miniskirt, and a t-shirt that said "Boy Scouting" in big silver and red letters.
In short, this movie means a lot to me.
So boyfriend and I watched it together. I was giddy and nervous. What if he didn't like it? What if he thought it was too weird? What if he didn't *get* it??
The best song in the movie is, appropriately, titled "The Origin of Love". It's a make-or-break moment in the film--a statement of its thesis, its central question. It's filled with drama, yearning, terror and exhilaration. I watched boyfriend so carefully during the song, trying to guess his reaction. He was riveted. And then, during a sing-along sequence later, he sang along! Best of all, when the movie ended, he wanted to talk about it a lot!!
Success!!!
It probably seems silly to be so invested in any one film. But as I peeked at my boyfriend during that fabulous opus of a song, my eyes brimming with tears, I was reminded of why I love it so much. After dozens of viewings, the movie still makes me cry (multiple times). After years of watching it and thinking about it, new nuances emerge each time I see it. The movie is messy, and there's no pretty, neat conclusion at the end. You don't know what happens to Hedwig, and you don't know the answers to all of the questions the movie asks. Characters assert their different arguments, change, and their feelings about their arguments change with them. As the film closes, it leaves with a spirit of enduring inquiry. After contemplating loneliness, love, meaninglessness, and failure, the film leaves you feeling renewed, almost reborn. It's a very special movie.
So you should watch it.
I should also note, before I move on to my very very brief synopsis of grad school: For all of its beautiful and emotional intellectualism, "Hedwig" is also fucking funny. It's one of the most delightfully quirky and entertaining movies I've ever seen. And the soundtrack kicks ass. And John Cameron Mitchell is intoxicating. Seriously. Watch it, and you'll love every second of it.
And if you don't... Maybe we shouldn't be friends.
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: I'm in the middle of finals, applying for externships, scrambling to get all of my thesis data together, and writing an assessment report. To be extra-special concise: grad school sucks. Hence today's title.
With that, I have to study for my research methods final.
<3
So I'm rethinking my commitment to writing about a movie AND grad school every single time I create a post, since that makes my posts really long, and that makes me not write them because I'm overwhelmed by the (actually relatively negligible, cosmically speaking) time commitment involved in covering both tasks in every post. Maybe sometimes I'll just write about grad school? Maybe sometimes I'll just write about a movie? I don't know. I'm considering my options.
ANYWAY.
So a month or so ago, I decided it was finally, FINALLY time for my boyfriend to watch "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" (2001) with me. This was a big decision. "Hedwig" is my very most favorite movie ever ever ever, and liking it is very important if someone is going to like me. It's weird, loud, emotional, and complicated... and if you can't handle that for only 95 minutes, there might be a problem if you're looking to hang out with me.
Of course, the comparison between me and this movie is not perfect. I am a reasonably normal (again, cosmically speaking) clinical psychology graduate student from somewhere hot and conservative, living in a neither-hot-nor-conservative large city. Hedwig is an East German male-to-female transsexual rock star. Our paths are somewhat different. Still, I like to think that she and I would be friends.
The movie is based on Plato's Symposium, a discussion of the nature and origin of love. The theory goes that human beings were originally composed of two people stuck together, but the gods became displeased with us and chopped us in half leaving us in the form we take today. As a result, humans are doomed to spend their lives searching for their other half, in the hopes of negotiating some kind of imperfect reunification.
"Hedwig" is an examination of this theory: Is there really another half of every person, waiting to be found? Can any one person complete another? *Should* they?
I first saw the movie in theaters, when I was in high school. It was like hearing the favorite song of a past life. It resonated with me immediately. I purchased the DVD as soon as it came out. I've since watched it countless times. I bought the soundtrack. I memorized the lyrics to every song like the words were my own. I dressed up as Hedwig for Halloween twice in a row, devotedly tracking down a Farrah Fawcett wig, red glitter lipstick, fishnets, a zebra-striped miniskirt, and a t-shirt that said "Boy Scouting" in big silver and red letters.
In short, this movie means a lot to me.
So boyfriend and I watched it together. I was giddy and nervous. What if he didn't like it? What if he thought it was too weird? What if he didn't *get* it??
The best song in the movie is, appropriately, titled "The Origin of Love". It's a make-or-break moment in the film--a statement of its thesis, its central question. It's filled with drama, yearning, terror and exhilaration. I watched boyfriend so carefully during the song, trying to guess his reaction. He was riveted. And then, during a sing-along sequence later, he sang along! Best of all, when the movie ended, he wanted to talk about it a lot!!
Success!!!
It probably seems silly to be so invested in any one film. But as I peeked at my boyfriend during that fabulous opus of a song, my eyes brimming with tears, I was reminded of why I love it so much. After dozens of viewings, the movie still makes me cry (multiple times). After years of watching it and thinking about it, new nuances emerge each time I see it. The movie is messy, and there's no pretty, neat conclusion at the end. You don't know what happens to Hedwig, and you don't know the answers to all of the questions the movie asks. Characters assert their different arguments, change, and their feelings about their arguments change with them. As the film closes, it leaves with a spirit of enduring inquiry. After contemplating loneliness, love, meaninglessness, and failure, the film leaves you feeling renewed, almost reborn. It's a very special movie.
So you should watch it.
I should also note, before I move on to my very very brief synopsis of grad school: For all of its beautiful and emotional intellectualism, "Hedwig" is also fucking funny. It's one of the most delightfully quirky and entertaining movies I've ever seen. And the soundtrack kicks ass. And John Cameron Mitchell is intoxicating. Seriously. Watch it, and you'll love every second of it.
And if you don't... Maybe we shouldn't be friends.
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: I'm in the middle of finals, applying for externships, scrambling to get all of my thesis data together, and writing an assessment report. To be extra-special concise: grad school sucks. Hence today's title.
With that, I have to study for my research methods final.
<3
Saturday, November 13, 2010
“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” is FILLED with Terrifying TESTING KITS
Why hello there.
So things have been going pretty well.
Weekly therapy sessions are ongoing, which is really wonderful. With each additional session, I feel less and less like a hopeless novice and more and more like an actual therapist who has the right to tell people what to do and make them talk about their lives. It’s nice. I’ve even taught skills and done fancy-sounding things like psychoeducation. I know. Doesn’t that sound AWESOME? It should. Because it is.
I’ve also recently picked up a testing case, which means that I have to torture some poor child with endless cognitive assessments. I’ve made them define words, play with blocks, write sentences with eraserless pencils... It makes me feel a little guilty, especially when we get to the tasks I would hate doing. For example: there is a subtest where I say a random sequence of letters and numbers, and my client has to repeat that sequence back to me, but in numerical and alphabetical order.
I would hate anyone who made me do that.
I haven’t had anyone launch across the table at me for making them do that subtest yet, but it’s probably an inevitability. It wouldn't be altogether unjustified.
Even so, testing is kind of cool. It’s a very different task from therapy. Someone comes in with a question, like whether they should get a diagnosis, or whether they can get a diagnosis ruled out, or they want to know why they’re having trouble in school, or whether they can get into a gifted program. You make them do all these little tasks that evaluate their brain’s skills in these incredibly discrete little ways, and once you put all the little pieces of information those tests give you together, you can give them an answer to their question. Really it’s just another way to learn about how people’s brains work, which is obviously why I’m doing this stuff in the first place.
Moving on. Conference number two is next week, and then from there I get to go straight home for Thanksgiving. This means in a few days I’ll be standing next to a poster with lots of statistical words on it, and then I’ll be eating homemade donuts and watching the post-parade dog show on Thanksgiving morning. I will allow you to guess which of these two upcoming events I’m more excited about.
Pre-conference number two, I get to give another lecture on sexual and eating disorders. I’m particularly excited to talk about gender identity disorder, because oh my is that stuff interesting. I’m particularly fond of the disorder based on my alma mater’s history of performing gender reassignment surgeries, along with some FASCINATING reporting NPR has done on children being treated for GID. If you’ve got the time/interest, you should take a listen!
Finally: I have officially entered phase two of my thesis data collection. I’m currently in the middle of reading abstracts to determine if they fit with my remaining search criteria, and so far it’s going pretty well. A lovely proportion of articles may actually make it into my thesis, which makes me happy. It would be nice to have a sample size I need more than two hands to count.
And now, on to the film talk.
To celebrate Halloween, a classmate and I went to a beautiful cathedral in our fair city to attend the fabulous Procession of the Ghouls. This included watching a scary silent movie, followed by a parade of elaborately costumed scary-looking demon people.
The film was “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1920), which was well-suited for the occasion. Silent films are by and large already kind of creepy, due to the unnatural muteness of their actors, the insane melodrama of gesture and music necessitated by the lack of spoken dialogue, and the foggy, jerky appearance of the images in much older cinema. Furthermore, given the surreal set design, it seems safe to say that Tim Burton took some cues from this movie. The actors rush around in spaces where structures create insane angles and are covered in jarring patterns, all of which foster a sense of madness and disorientation.
That being said, silent film isn’t really my genre. As a general rule, I really love older movies, but silents are just a little too anachronistic for me. Perhaps not surprisingly, I find it hard to fully immerse myself in a movie that has to jump between action and large chunks of text to get its story across. Also wtf, no zombies?! Nevertheless, the movie was fun, and a great selection for a Halloween exhibition in an already creepy nighttime cathedral. I gave it a 3.
So instead of my usual, more extensive film analysis, I have a treat for you:
Pictures!!
These are blurrier than my usual photography, but I feel like that captures the spirit of the experience.
Enjoy!
...You're welcome.
Happy post-Halloween!
Thanks, as always, for reading.
<3
So things have been going pretty well.
Weekly therapy sessions are ongoing, which is really wonderful. With each additional session, I feel less and less like a hopeless novice and more and more like an actual therapist who has the right to tell people what to do and make them talk about their lives. It’s nice. I’ve even taught skills and done fancy-sounding things like psychoeducation. I know. Doesn’t that sound AWESOME? It should. Because it is.
I’ve also recently picked up a testing case, which means that I have to torture some poor child with endless cognitive assessments. I’ve made them define words, play with blocks, write sentences with eraserless pencils... It makes me feel a little guilty, especially when we get to the tasks I would hate doing. For example: there is a subtest where I say a random sequence of letters and numbers, and my client has to repeat that sequence back to me, but in numerical and alphabetical order.
I would hate anyone who made me do that.
I haven’t had anyone launch across the table at me for making them do that subtest yet, but it’s probably an inevitability. It wouldn't be altogether unjustified.
Even so, testing is kind of cool. It’s a very different task from therapy. Someone comes in with a question, like whether they should get a diagnosis, or whether they can get a diagnosis ruled out, or they want to know why they’re having trouble in school, or whether they can get into a gifted program. You make them do all these little tasks that evaluate their brain’s skills in these incredibly discrete little ways, and once you put all the little pieces of information those tests give you together, you can give them an answer to their question. Really it’s just another way to learn about how people’s brains work, which is obviously why I’m doing this stuff in the first place.
Moving on. Conference number two is next week, and then from there I get to go straight home for Thanksgiving. This means in a few days I’ll be standing next to a poster with lots of statistical words on it, and then I’ll be eating homemade donuts and watching the post-parade dog show on Thanksgiving morning. I will allow you to guess which of these two upcoming events I’m more excited about.
Pre-conference number two, I get to give another lecture on sexual and eating disorders. I’m particularly excited to talk about gender identity disorder, because oh my is that stuff interesting. I’m particularly fond of the disorder based on my alma mater’s history of performing gender reassignment surgeries, along with some FASCINATING reporting NPR has done on children being treated for GID. If you’ve got the time/interest, you should take a listen!
Finally: I have officially entered phase two of my thesis data collection. I’m currently in the middle of reading abstracts to determine if they fit with my remaining search criteria, and so far it’s going pretty well. A lovely proportion of articles may actually make it into my thesis, which makes me happy. It would be nice to have a sample size I need more than two hands to count.
And now, on to the film talk.
To celebrate Halloween, a classmate and I went to a beautiful cathedral in our fair city to attend the fabulous Procession of the Ghouls. This included watching a scary silent movie, followed by a parade of elaborately costumed scary-looking demon people.
The film was “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1920), which was well-suited for the occasion. Silent films are by and large already kind of creepy, due to the unnatural muteness of their actors, the insane melodrama of gesture and music necessitated by the lack of spoken dialogue, and the foggy, jerky appearance of the images in much older cinema. Furthermore, given the surreal set design, it seems safe to say that Tim Burton took some cues from this movie. The actors rush around in spaces where structures create insane angles and are covered in jarring patterns, all of which foster a sense of madness and disorientation.
That being said, silent film isn’t really my genre. As a general rule, I really love older movies, but silents are just a little too anachronistic for me. Perhaps not surprisingly, I find it hard to fully immerse myself in a movie that has to jump between action and large chunks of text to get its story across. Also wtf, no zombies?! Nevertheless, the movie was fun, and a great selection for a Halloween exhibition in an already creepy nighttime cathedral. I gave it a 3.
So instead of my usual, more extensive film analysis, I have a treat for you:
Pictures!!
These are blurrier than my usual photography, but I feel like that captures the spirit of the experience.
Enjoy!
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| OooOOooooOOoohhh Creeeeeeepyyyyy!! |
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| Getting a bit up close and personal, or: why I declined an aisle seat. |
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| This skeletastic cellist greeted us when we arrived. |
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| Three posing demon-people. |
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| Skelecellist joined in the Procession fun. The blurriness makes him extra-special scary! Completely intentional. |
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| Point of clarification: this guy is flourishing his cape, not like.. fanning his butt... or something... |
Happy post-Halloween!
Thanks, as always, for reading.
<3
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