Musings on language and other things

[neadods]

I post on LJ, therefore I am. Or, more accurately, I am not busy at work, therefore I post on LJ.

I'm running out of ways to occupy myself between deadlines. There's only one more thing I can do with the missionary project before I have to start hitting up other libraries. I can't read or sew on the job, much less many of the other projects on the resolutions list.

So I'm flirting with learning a language.

Not, unfortunately, a particularly useful language. I'm torn between learning Hawaiian or Hindi. Hawaiian because of the missionary project - even though the missionaries came to impose a written language and there are no records of the relevant time period that aren't in English. It just seems like I ought to learn Hawaiian to get the package experience.

On the other hand, with some 20 Bollywood movies in my Netflix queue and a couple of LJ friends trying actively to pimp me into Bollywood fandom, I'd have a use, however frivolous, for knowing Hindi. I've already picked up a handful of words, and the BollyWHAT forums have pointed out some good self-study resources. If I get serious about it, there's a Hindu temple in the neighborhood and they could probably point me in the right direction for classes.

Then again, I do have that Tudor history self-study that I want to do, and I can maybe find some internet-based classes on Tudor history. Or maybe on Shakespeare. I hang with someone who's working on a book about Shakespeare, he's in the thick of Tudor history and literature, he's "in period" for the Renfaire, and I make annual pilgrimmages to Stratford. Plus, there's that city-wide Shakespeare fest planned for 2007. So that's a worthy goal - if not now, for sometime.

Research of some sort seems the best way of handling the downtime, the missionary project is approaching a pause, and I can't afford to really go back to school right now... and besides, I want something that can be dropped when I am in the thick of project deadlines.

Some sort of self-improving self-study seems called for. But what?

Comments

[shawan-7.livejournal.com]

Why don't you find a writing group, or create one? Do some more fiction writing and get/give feedback. I listened to Pat Elrod at MWC talk about her friends who provide feedback on her pro novels, including her talk about the Red Letters Day writer.

At the end of the day, you've sharpened your writing, you have people to bounce things off of, and you might even have something saleable.

Or you can learn Hawaiian -- useful for your next trip to Stratford or ordering pizza.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

The thing with writing is that it's not something that both work and I can pretend is self-improvement - ie, it would have to be hidden, whereas a class can be outright said "I'm taking a class and when I'm not on deadline, I plan on doing homework at my desk." It just looks better to the bosses that way.

On the other hand, a writing class might fit both notions... [keeps looking at online and correspondence courses]