Hilda Fenemore

            On Friday morning I memorized the third verse of “Lucette et Lucie” by Serge Gainsbourg. 

            My guitar tuning problem continued and the frustration over that combined with my anxiety over getting a D minus made me almost cry a few times while I was singing. On the positive side I was able to tune my B string by ear a few times. 

            When I checked my email there was a response from Professor Teramura who seemed in total agreement with Alexandra that my assignment mark should be a D minus. Most professors would appreciate that the essay was well written, that it presents a good argument and shows an understanding of the material. That by definition would earn my essay at least a B from any normal instructor. Maybe he’s new to this job. Whenever someone responds to a complaint with "I appreciate that you ..." chances are it's just the veiled shrug of a blasé barista who got someone's order wrong. Maybe he was working at Starbucks before this. I’ve lost all trust in this course and worry now about how my final paper will be assessed. I sent this last sentence in an email to the professor. 

            Later he got back to me with an offer of handing my assignment in as an essay expanded to 5-7 pages that he would mark. He said the deadline would be December 18 and the value would be a the same percentage of my overall mark as that of the assignment. I told him it seems unfair for an expanded essay to be the same value but since it was less unfair than the current situation I would accept it. 

            For lunch I had a chicken wing with yogourt and scotch bonnet sauce. 

            I worked for about four hours on my essay and came up with a thesis: 

            In “The Hunting of the Hare” by Margaret Cavendish and “Bisclavret" by Marie de France the outcomes of both hunting expeditions are predicted throughout the poems. Cavendish utilizes setting, tense, imagery, assonance and word choice to communicate the inevitability of Wat’s death. France uses rhyme, internal rhyme and assonance to connect Bisclavret to his destiny of survival and friendship with the king. In both poems the main key of predestination leading to either death or life for the hunted is the absence or presence in them of humanity. 

  

            I had a potato, a chicken breast and gravy while watching the second episode of Quatermass II.

            The story begins just after Quatermass and Dillon arrive outside the restricted facility where they see the meteor fall. While bending over to look at the rock Dillon’s face is hit with gas from the meteor. It leaves a mark on his forehead at the hairline and suddenly Dillon begins behaving strangely. He wants Quatermass to stay away from him. A truckload of armed soldiers arrive who seem like they are almost in a trance. They say they are taking Dillon inside the facility and he wants to go, telling Quatermass to stay away. The soldiers tell Quatermass he has to leave and they drive away with Dillon. After they are gone a tramp emerges from under an old blanket. He tells Quatermass that he came because there used to be a village there but it was all bulldozed. He says that the residents now all live in a prefab village and work at the facility. Quatermass goes to the village of identical houses and enters the administrative office, where a little girl is sitting in a daze. They picked her up wandering towards the facility. On the wall is a poster with a very serious looking man holding a finger to his lips and it reads “Remember, Secret means Shhh Sealed Lips.” The staff are uncooperative. The mother comes to pick up the girl. Quatermass questions the little girl who doesn’t speak but nods answers. He shows her the meteor and she nods that she’s seen it before and that it released gas at her. He sees the mark on her hand. The administrator tells Quatermass to leave. Quatermass goes back to his lab where Pugh has put together some of the meteor pieces. They form an aerodynamic shape that explains why they did not burn up in the atmosphere. This indicates that there is intelligence behind it. He talks to the police about Dillon but they say it’s out of their jurisdiction. The army says Captain Dillon has been transferred. Mr Fowler at the ministry that funds Quatermass’s rocket research is a little more cooperative but it turns out they are financing the facility, or rather a special branch is. He is told that it’s to make synthetic food. Fowler doesn’t like it. He introduces Quatermass to a Member of Parliament named Broadhead who is investigating the facility. He shows him aerial photos of similar projects in Siberia and Brazil. He takes Quatermass to a meeting of members of the ministry but all the men seem to be in a trance and Quatermass sees they are marked. 

            The little girl was played by Shiela Martin, who was in The Strangers Came which was originally called “You Can’t Trust an Irishman.” 

            Her mother was played by Hilda Fenemore, who co-starred in The Wallet, was a cast member of the show Vanity Fair and played Jennie Wren on Dixon of Dock Green for six seasons. 

            Fowler’s secretary was played by Diana Chesney.