Testing, testing, testing...

It took nearly all day yesterday but I have finally finished my "take-home" literary theory midterm. It is fourteen pages long and just shy of 3,000 words. I think I would have rather have had a traditional 'test' in class, because that would have only taken a maximum of three hours. This baby took... well nearly as long as giving birth, if that puts it in perspective.

This kind of writing, I'll warn ya, is not for the faint of heart. It was a full scale poetry analysis of a poem chosen by our professor, utilizing the theories and EXPLORING the philosophies of phenomenology, structuralism, and post-structuralism with emphasis on the philosophy of Jacques Derrida. If you've never read him: don't. Not unless you are into and I mean really into learning about literary theory. Derrida is incredibly hard to follow, but if you do decide to tackle a reading of his work, what he has to say is worth having been said. It is just getting to his point that is so daunting for the reader.

Aside from wrestling with my midterm this weekend, I did have the chance to take some away from my computer to go Halloween shopping with my daughter. Of course, no day of shopping would be complete without a trip to the book store. It was nice, my kid got to go rummaging for the next reads on her list and I got to have a cup of coffee. The new books were alluring but the last thing I can think about during midterms is reading something outside of my coursework.

Today is a day for study. I have four more traditional 'in class' midterms this week and one more exam that my professor promised I could take home to complete. She had mercy on another student and me because we have two scheduled midterms on the same day, back-to-back - hers and one for a class immediately following. We mentioned that we've been thusly scheduled and she offered to let us take her test home. Let's hope she remembers her offer.

I hate exam weeks because I feel so pressed for time. Everything has a deadline. I'm d-y-i-n-g to go for a nice long bike ride to get some fresh air and exercise but I feel like I don't even have time to do that. I barely have time to write this.

Which reminds me; I should be studying. Maybe I can get a bike ride in tomorrow. There's always hope!