The Great Graduation Lecture Caper

Well, I made some serious progress on my lecture this weekend! In other words, I gathered a lot of quotes from various sources and arranged them in an aesthetically pleasing manner on a Word doc. They are quite inspirational, believe me. And mostly by Flannery O'Connor. My lecture isn't about Flannery O'Connor per se, but it might as well be, because I quote her like a million times, and everyone else gets maybe one quote. Even me, which is maybe not so good since I'm kind of supposed to be giving the lecture and therefore talking a little bit more than Flannery.

But really, if I had my way, instead of giving the lecture, I'd just hand everyone a copy of Flannery's book Mystery & Manners (which is where I pulled all the quotes from) and say, "Here, read this." Then I'd say, "My work here is done", don a cool red cape and fly away to help fight crime somewhere that needs a superheroine who wears a cool red cape and can fly.

And as a plus, I'd avoid having to give the lecture! Bonus.

Hey, I'm just saying what I'd do if I had my way. Clearly I am not going to have it, but that's OK. It's not the best situation, because I really do like having my way, but I'm adaptable. I can make do. I've come to terms, as they say.

Anyway, I guess it would get expensive, buying books for all the people who probably won't show up to my lecture because maybe they'll find someone else's more interesting and go to that person's instead.

On a completely different note, I've finally discovered The Flight of the Conchords. Which is kind of bad news in a way, because I spent most of the evening watching the first-season DVD and not as much of the evening finishing my lecture. But the good news is it's almost as funny as the Beached Whale video sensation on YouTube. (If you don't find the Beached Whale funny, you probably need to spend more time in New Zealand. Or just be a New Zealander.)

On yet another note, I only have three more days before Thursday, which is when I leave for Louisville. In that space of time I need to a) finish my lecture; b) finish making final edits to my thesis; c) reprint my corrected thesis to turn in to the program office; d) read a whole bunch of stories and critique them; e) um, something else that is no doubt important but that I've momentarily forgotten; and f) avoid slacking off.

It's going to be a tough week. Where are the red cape and superhero powers when you need 'em? I mean honestly.