Some things I did in September 2015

The semester started, thus I started teaching again. This semester I taught Shakespeare Comedies for the first time. I settled on Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night's Dream. In the first semester I was also required to teach Shakespeare -- then I taught tragedies. I prefer the tragedies over the comedies. And I prefer reading / watching Shakespeare over teaching it.

I bought a car.

And for Chuseok I went to Everland with some friends. They had a Halloween theme. The House of Horrors was surprisingly scary. I nearly punched or kick several of the actors. I don't think they should allow martial artists in those places.

The end of September was also the start of the annual international dance festival in Seoul. The opening show was a really fun flamenco performance.

Most of the month was spent working (lecturing) and writing my dissertation.

Here is something I wrote to someone at the start of the month.

I'm at that part of my PhD dissertation where I know what I need to do, but I'm not sure how to do it. The problem is that my original research question recently changed after a fruitful discussion with my supervisor. While I agree that the new research question is much better, the clear outline I had previously doesn't fit the new trajectory of my study. In other words, the road map I was working from has suddenly become obsolete after using it as the bedrock of my contemplations for two years, so now I'm driving down a road with just a vague idea of where I'm going.

And at the end of the month (29th) I posted this on Facebook:

5 am. I spent the whole night working on my dissertation. There were times that I spent nearly half an hour on one paragraph, struggling with some difficult parts of my argument. In the end, staying up all night was worth it though because I had an important break through towards the end (several handfuls of chocolate later). I have two more sections to my current chapter before I can start with the concluding chapter. Luckily I don't work today (Tuesday) on account of it being a public holiday, so I can sleep late and then tackle the remainder of this chapter. God-willing, I hope to finish this current chapter during Tuesday, although I cannot yet say if that is feasible or not. I have to be finished with the first draft of my dissertation before next week, as my preliminary PhD defense (first presentation) is a week from today, at which point I also have to hand in the first draft. Time is running out, but that also means that the end is in sight. But now it is time to sleep. I'm really tired.

Five of My Random Favourite YouTube Videos

This is just a random post featuring five random videos that I've listed under "favourites" in my YouTube account.

This is Halloween

"This is Halloween" by Danny Elfman (from Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas")

This is Halloween
Boys and girls of every age
wouldn't you like to see something strange
Come with us and you will see,
this our town of Halloween
This is Halloween, this is Halloween,
pumpkins scream in the dead of night
This is Halloween, everybody make a scene,
trick or treat till the neighbours come and die of fright
It's our town, everybody scream,
in this town of Halloween
I am the one hiding under your bed,
teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red
I am the one hiding under your stairs,
fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair
This is Halloween, this is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween
In this town we call home,
everyone hail to the pumpkin song
In this town, don't we love it now,
everybody's waiting for the next surprise
Round that corner, then,
hiding in the trash cans,
something's waiting now to pounce and how you'll..
Scream, this is Halloween,
red and black and slimy green,
Aren't you scared?
Well, that's just fine,
say it once, say it twice,
take a chance and roll the dice,
ride with the moon in the dead of night
Everybody scream, everybody scream,
in our town or Halloween
I am the clown with the tear-away face,
here in a flash and gone without a trace
I am the who when you call "Who's there?",
I am the wind blowing through your hair
I am the shadow on the moon at night,
filling your dreams to the brim with fright
This is Halloween, this is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween
Tender lumplings everywhere,
life's no fun without a good scare,
that's our job but we're not mean
in our town of Halloween
In this town, don't we love it now,
everyone's waiting for the next surprise
Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back
and scream like a banshee,
make you jump out of your skin!
This is Halloween, everybody scream,
won't you please make way for a very special guy
Our man Jack is king of the pumpkin patch,
everyone hail to the pumpkin king
Now, this is Halloween, this is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween
In this town we call home everyone hail to the pumpkin song
La la la la la, etc, etc…

A cover by Marilyn Manson:


A great punk-rock cover by Patty Walters (vlogger):