To be too clever?

It’s getting pretty exciting over here; 3 posts in as many days! Scandal! I may actually have to keep this streak up. Let’s see how long it lasts… without further ado, on to the post!

A thing I’ve been thinking about recently is the idea that you can be somehow ‘too clever’. ‘Too clever by half’ certainly isn’t a compliment. Why is that the case though? Surely a society that values intelligence wouldn’t set limits on the level of cleverness you can reach? Unless there’s something more to it than just pure cleverness; it might have something more to do with ‘tall poppy syndrome’ than anything else.

I only really had to think about it when I started wondering exactly why it annoyed me so much when certain members of my seminar groups had lots to say. Really, I should be glad that they’re contributing things when I’m not really in the mood to say anything. And sometimes it inspires me to say something. We start a dialogue and I have ideas I wouldn’t have had otherwise. But why does it irritate me? And it does irritate me. Very much so, actually.

Part of it, I suspect, is that I’m jealous of their ability to talk in the seminar like that. Another part of it might be that I wish I’d had the idea rather than them. Another part of it (sometimes) is that they’re saying stupid things. I mean, come on guys. Just admit you’re a One Directioner. It’s not going to hurt anyone.

Recipe for disaster

Something I’ve discovered this week (due to circumstances mostly beyond my control) is that 5 times in one week is too many times to eat meatballs and spaghetti. Yeah. Its been a really… delicious experience. Really loved it.

The first time they were a teensy bit pink on the inside. The second time most of the sauce boiled away. The third time they were perfect. Then I got meatball fatigue*.

Food fatigue, the bane of my existence. As a reasonably lazy person who can’t be bothered to worry about food all the time (hahaha I practically obsess), I have a tendency to make similar meals on subsequent days. In a sort of, “I’ll make twice as much risotto today and then eat half tomorrow” way. It never tastes as good the second time, have you noticed? No? Just me?

Soup fatigue is the worst.

However, this has led me to discover a few things about myself:

1. There is no dignified way to eat soup with noodles in
2. People find my dedication to eating real food to be impressive
3. People think my dedication to meatballs is weird
4. No matter how full you think you are, there is always room for cookies
5. If you wear the same hoody at the gym that you wore while cooking, all you’ll be able to smell will be yesterday’s curry
6. Porridge is bloody boring

*For the record, I had nothing but meatballs left. It’s not like I can’t cook anything apart from meatballs, don’t worry about that.

And now, I will make a vow:

I will never, ever, ever eat the same thing five times in a row. Apart from porridge. And maybe cake.

Procrastination is my final destination

Yes, I admit it. I chose that title purely because it rhymes. I’m a terrible person, I know.

You know what I should be doing right now? My assignments, that’s what. I hate to admit it, but one of them is due in on Tuesday. Tuesday. What have I become? What manner of evil have I stooped to that means I’m writing blog posts instead of doing work? What strange being does laundry and cleans the kitchen instead of doing their assignment?

Admittedly, that’s my general life ethic. When I write essays, things like this happen

The Protestant Reformation impacted all aspects of life throughout Europe, including the ways in which music was performed and written. from the strict Protestant regime of Edward VI, to the devoutly Catholic Mary I, and back to the moderately Protestant Elizabeth I.

What is that last sentence even doing? I don’t know, it’s like the time I randomly wrote ‘coul’ on an assignment and couldn’t remember why. Why, coul. ‘Coulson’? ‘Could’? ‘Couscous’?

Problem number 2: Capital letters.

What do I do. How do I do? Do I capitalise ‘Church’? ‘Protestant’? ‘High Church’? I don’t even knooow

Also, it’s very easy to waffle. All you really have to to is add extraneous unnecessary words and before you know it the word count has leapt sky high.

(not literally, I haven’t been throwing my laptop around)

I hate the abuse of adjectives, but I find myself writing about the ‘strength and warmth’ of the bass line, the ‘haunting’ soprano, and the ‘magnificent echoing effect’. That’s another word I’ve abused. ‘Effect’. Poor thing. I bet it doesn’t even know what it means anymore.