Episode 536: Francisco Goldman & Jon Lee Anderson

So this morning, in lieu of our usual EN232 seminar, we had Francisco Goldman and Jon Lee Anderson in to speak to us. I want to rave about how inspiring it has been to be in the same room three days in a row with two journalists/writers, hearing them talk about their work and experiences, but I won't. It was a good three days and really made me value being on my course. Can you imagine getting this kind of exposure studying a similar course at NUS or NTU? (Readers studying at these universities, feel free to correct me.) Anyway, I did get a good mark for 'The Triptych Papers' after all, although George Ttoouli had some suggestions for improvement. I can see where he's coming from, and the ideas I dealt with in the story are definitely worth exploring in a longer work, but I think I'd have to write something completely new that's set in the same mythos, rather than trying to extend what I handed in for the portfolio. I entered the whole four-part story in a competition, which I'll know the results off by the end of May, thus breaking my own rule of not sending work off if I have to pay to do it. Honestly, I was just tempted by the mere possibility that my story could win between USD 600-2000, and since now I know it's definitely not a crappy story, I figured, why not take the chance? Didn't really manage to get a lot done for the essay in the end, but I did attend a Moroccan-themed dinner fundraiser in Leamington. Dan and I missed the last 12 home by mere seconds, a truly epic fail. Took the U1 instead and walked home from campus. We had a good conversation going about money, the future, class envy, and lots of loosely interconnected stuff. I still wish I'd written more of the essay though...