Contact Update

So May is typically the time of the year that I spend updating my contact list, which is what I did Friday. But I realize some of you readers are exactly who I need information from. So, fill out the following form and email it to me at elizamelvilleATyahooDOTcoDOTuk or to my MSU email address. Whichever one's easier for you.

First, Middle, and Last Name:
Nickname:
Email addresses(es):
Instant Message Names (of any kind, including, but not limited to AIM, Skype or IRC. Please indicate which name goes with which system.):
Mobile/Cell Phone Number:
Home Phone Number:
Fax Number:
Home Address:
Work Address:
Website:
Birthday:
Anniversary:
Notes I Should Have About You:

Thanks for giving me your information. If you want, I'm happy to send you all of mine. :)

Almost Done...

Paper update: More editing today. Of all three papers.
Teresa of Avila paper: Attempted to rework the thesis. Still sucky, but less sucky than it previously was. Professor will probably hate this paper, and not without reason, but maybe this time he won't call the writing sloppy. I suspect it'll still be better than some of the other papers in the class.
Matilda of Tuscany: Kelly read and loved it and thought it flowed well. It's okay. I feel like much of the paper is "evidence dump," by which I mean there's tons of evidence but not quite enough analyzing. Still, it's better than the Teresa paper. It's a little short length wise, but this professor loves me, so hopefully, it'll pass. Plus, I pwned the essay exam last week. I should be doing well.
Thesis: God almighty, where to begin? At this point, I think this was the worst idea ever. There's way too much info. And it's such a boring paper. 24 pages of close readings, particularly feminist and colonial interpretations. Counting appendix and bibliography, we're talking 43 pages. This one's going to cost me to print out at the computer lab. My thesis adviser is a tough grader; I'm probably in trouble.
God, what I hate most about this is that nothing is ever good enough for me. I would feel less bad about my raging perfectionism right now if what I wrote was great, but it's only so-so.
Tomorrow, my plans are to turn in papers, maybe hang with some people (like my fav professors and friends,) read outside (David Sedaris, Dave Eggers, maybe Louise Rennison), and go to the bar with Erin.
But seriously, people, do me a favor, and pray for me over these papers. Going to need it.

Black Gold

I watched this movie called Black Gold, which is about the coffee market. I actually dislike coffee, so watching all these people drink coffee made me want to throw up, but I thought that the ideas of the film (how free trade fails to provide adequate income for so many farmers, how unnecessary aide would be if there were fair prices, the ignorance of so many about what they consume) were all really good points.
I really liked learning about the film's main character, a man who represented a coffee growers union in Ethiopia who was trying to get a higher price for their coffee. I thought the movie did a good job of showing what was possible if certain forces worked. It was so hard to see the opposite of this, where they had to set up nutrition stations, which determine which children get food aid to prevent malnourishment. (They turned away children who were only kind of sickly because they wanted to try to help the desperately bad.) Also heartbreaking and sad was the tour of Pike's Place Starbucks (where two young baristas discussed Starbuck's success) and a barista championship (where a Canadian contestant came off as a total tool.)
I would have liked a little more information about chat, a narcotic that many coffee growers turn to because they are so desperate to feed their families, and about how food aid operates. The film also randomly flits back through time near the end of the movie, which was confusing. But, overall, it is a well-written film that does a good job of explaining how free trade works, who benefits, and what the alternatives are.