I am typing this blog post a bit earlier than I usually would because I have a few non-academic related appointments coming up over the next few days, so I want to ensure that I don’t wind up having to cram last-minute or anything like that. Usually if I’m on campus I can comfortably do my research and assignments whenever, but off campus I find it tricky. I’m a creature of environment, what can I say?
Over the past week I have done a good chunk of writing. The brief hiatus that I took from obsessing over professional wrestling as much as I usually would seems to be exactly what I needed to rejuice my Juvi-Juice (that’s a very lowbrow professional wrestling reference for all of you, don’t take it literally plz).I was more able to enjoy a few of my other interests and revamp my academic rigor a good deal. A lot of what I’ve been writing still deals with more of my own personal analysis of professional wrestling on top of more memoir-esque puzzle pieces that reflect on my journey as a super fan of it.
On top of that though, I have been reading and annotating one particular text, of which I more skimmed through about a month ago. I am a bit of a toe-dipper when it comes to researching texts that are more lengthy. Once I warm myself up a bit I then dive in head-first, full throttle. At the moment I’m highlighting and marking up as much as I can, and am certain that I’ll finish doing so by the time Wednesday’s class rolls around. This text is really helpful in that it is essentially someone else’s thesis on professional wrestling, and while has strong similarities to mine in base-level intent has a completely different take on things, one that I (albeit) find a bit surface level – you can likely piece that together based on the title alone: A Rhetorical Genre Study of Pro-Wrestling: The Heroes and Villains in Pro-Wrestling and How They Have Been Shaped by Audiences.
Alright, so personally I think that the text is a bit too American-focused in regards to how it ties professional wrestlings extensive history to the present, with very little mention of a lot of great professional wrestling that was happening elsewhere at the time of its writing. It is also a bit dated considering that the most recent resource to be located within it comes from 2008 (the year I turned 10). Still, it provides a decent-enough introduction to other building blocks that I intend to research further in completing my own thesis such as the significance and progression of certain combat sports from Rome, Egypt, Ireland, Japan, etc. over the past few centuries and how they led to the modern day presentations of professional wrestling that I am so impassioned by.
A big problem present here is that I detest the act of annotating relatively long texts (book-sized texts) digitally. If that’s your groove, wonderful! I just prefer holding the text in my hands and marking it up tangibly. I suppose that I;m a bit of a geezer in that sense. But Holy Toledo, these books that I have in my queue are pretty damn pricey. I mean, I used to work in a bookstore years ago and got a 40% discount and all that, but I don’t remember paying more than $20 bucks for a hardcover since then. I managed to find one book under $20, and all of the rest are $35+ … paperback too! What the… ? The one I’m reading now cost me $70+ (I can’t return it post-reading because I accidentally spilled some of my post-workout hydration on it). I suppose that a subject as niche as professional wrestling leads to a lot of hand/limited pressing, which makes sense, but sheesh.
On the bright side, I’m certain that I’ll have the most pricey Lit. Review List in this class because I’m stubborn and hardheaded, and that totally seems like something that KanYe would brag about if he were in my position. So my ego is a tad bit boosted there. Regardless, my passion for this rejuvenated and I am enthused and excited to push forward, even though I might have to tap out and go digital.
TheThesisGrapple 
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