I always end up doing this, just like my journal.
I write an entry or two, I get really excited about it, then I completely fall off the blog-train and fail to update for AGES.
Anyway, so I'm sitting here trying to think of something interesting to say, and failing a bit again. Maybe I'll complain a bit more, since I seem to do a fair amount of that, and for whatever reason, people find it funny. Or maybe I'm fooling myself there, too. I think I'll tell you about my crazy-ass history prof.
I probably shouldn't mention this, in case somehow she might manage to stumble across this little post and decide to hate me a little more for it.... So I'll give you a hint instead. She shares a surname with a certain medical doctor who got into a bit of trouble over that whole assisted-suicide thing... You know...Well, she teaches a class on the Renaissance, which I have a sneaking suspicion
she knows nothing about.
For those of you who do not consider yourselves scholars of this period, the word "renaissance" literally means "rebirth." In this case, it means a rebirth of Greco-Roman ideas and traditions.
(Basically, these guys thought the ancient Greeks and Romans were absolutely the shit, so they copied everything they had done.)
Like... making statues and stuff out of materials such as bronze and marble, in particular. There are a couple of famous ones you might know...
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| "STFU, Dave." |
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| "Hey, didn't I just see a remake of a film about you..." |
Well, I figured that they liked bronze and marble because the Greeks had been fond of the stuff. So I asked the prof, "Why did they use bronze and marble in particular, was it because the Greeks used them a lot?"
I've forgotten the exact response because my brain exploded a little when she gave it to me, but I can tell you that she ranted a bit about how bronze was probably easier to work with than marble, you could get more definition in a bronze casting, and bronze was shinier. Also, they could probably make things bigger in bronze than marble.
Um.
You know, the Greeks and Romans built entire FUCKING TEMPLES
out of marble, and
WTF happened to my actual question?
Did it wander off somewhere?
Did I randomly start speaking French?
Je ne comprends pas.
On another occasion,
my boyfriend, Oz, asked about something that came up later in the textbook. The concept is that England, at one point during the 1500's or so, bullied France into only using English ships for their exports, which seems like kind of a dick move. But also interesting. So Oz asks the professor, "How did England manage to control France's exports of wine, as it mentions on such and such a page?"
The prof glances at this page, talks for a few minutes about England's wool trade, and finally manages to get on-topic when her oversight is pointed out to her.
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| Eh? The question is repeated to her, and when she finally seems to understand, she splutters for a second and finally answers: "Uhh, well, you know, they did." (A classmate then leans over to Oz and mutters, "They did it with guns." This is the best answer we've received thus far. ) The more I write about this, the more aggravated I become. So that's all for now. More to follow on this one, I assure you. |
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