I finished my latest Lit assignment by the skin of my teeth. In the realm of ironic, the professor I was doing the essay for happened to be just around the corner from the computer I was vigorously writing my last minute paper on. And whatever n00b used Gmail on the PC before me failed to log out. Kenny’s inbox was full of links to Naruto fanvids on YouTube. For those that don’t use Gmail, it displays approximately the first line of each email after the subject; I did not open his mail. I’m not that evil.

But I did leave him a message in his Drafts folder. (^.^)

I was doing research for my creative writing assignment, flipping through the Sinosplice blog archives, when I discovered Austin Kleon’s blackout poetry. My favourite:

I feel a little guilty having just submitted poetry involving natural disaster in China only to discover they suffered a serious earthquake today. Over 10,000 dead and thousands more trapped beneath rubble. And looking very creepy and plague-like, thousands of toads abandoned their oxygen-deprived river and flooded the streets. This is all on top of the HFMD outbreak.

As far as building stability and health goes, I guess Japan is preferable, but I’d still love to study at the Beijing Language and Culture University.

I finished Stephenie Meyer’s new novel The Host last week. I can’t remember if Steph M. ever revealed the length of the book before its release, but for some reason I was not expecting it to be so massive. The weight of it surprised me, I almost dropped it while sneaking a copy off the bookseller’s cart Tuesday morning.

Late Thursday night I was on page two-thirty-something when I peeled the Barnes&Noble 40% Off sticker from the cover and stuck it inside, not even half-way through the novel, as a marker. I thought, “I’m going to bed. I can read in the morning… But let me just skim ahead a second to see…” 6AM the sticker was still poking out the middle of the book, but I was finished.

Oops.

That said, I liked it. There were a few parts that dragged and I didn’t find it as good (or as quotable) as Twilight, but Steph M. is nothing if not a great storyteller.

There’s also Stephenie Meyer in another Borders Media chat, this time talking about The Host with the Arizona desert, the setting for much of the novel, as the backdrop. Is it possible to feel homesick for a place you only lived for six months, because I do. Right now, I miss Phoenix a lot.