I've been thinking a lot about life lately. As you may have noticed, given that I whine about it constantly, I am quite worried about my grades this year - it's my final year, yada yada. As a result, I've really been trying to be as productive as possible and cut out distractions. But I don't think this is actually the best thing for me to do. Yes, I need to focus and get my nose to the grindstone, but also, I think the best students are the ones who are interested in a variety of things and study for the pleasure of it. It means you can make wider connections, you're more invested... It chimes in a lot with the discussions that have been happening in various logs about balancing various interests, wanting to be a polymath much more than a polyglot.
So currently, while I'm not adding in things like Spanish and I am still trying to focus, I'm also trying to read books/watch films simply because they interest me, and focus on enjoying what's left of my degree. We'll see how it goes.
RussianReading: I've been reading the 'Stories of Love: Gay Propaganda', that I mentioned over in the Russian Study Group. I've also been continuing with У войны не женское лицо.
Watching: I watched Legend No. 17. I would definitely recommend this, if you're looking for something pretty light and easygoing. It's very glossy and at times it feels a little like they're ticking off as many sports film cliches as possible. But it's very nice, it's engaging, the actors are good (and attractive
). They play a little fast with the truth, but it comes out as a very watchable film.
I also watched Впервые замужем, which I had heard of for some reason and therefore had high hopes for. It was fine - it's a sort of sweet little romance, but there's nothing very special about it and it feels a bit tired. (though I admit, that might be just that I have seen similar stories that were much better filmed). I actually liked the first half a lot more than the second, and there are some very fun bits in it.
Both, I found easier to understand than other films.
FrenchNot too much to report here. Class, watched a couple more Ainsi soient-ils...
Corrections appreciated.