The Last Day

It's true. Hard to believe, but true. Today was the last day of class for this semester. Outside of my three exams, I'm done until the fall. Crazy. Seems like it was just Spring Break a few days ago. The semester always feels interminably long as it's going along, and then once it gets near the end, it feels like it was way too short. Or maybe I'm just weird.

So now I have about a week and a half of nothing, with about six hours worth of exams mixed in here and there. After that comes the long, relaxing drive back to Nashville, and then the summer. It's looking like I'll spend the first month to six weeks back home and then come back down here for the last part of the break. Should be alright. Summer break's kind of like the semester, during the break it just feels ridiculously long, and then once you get to the end, you feel like it just started. It will also be kind of odd getting back into the rhythm of doing things other than going to class every day. I mean, I spent a year and a half out of school, and by the time I decided to come back to school, I was really, really tired of the working-full-time routine. School has actually been more of a reprieve than a hassle. So I'm not looking forward to the summer as much as most people probably are. I am looking forward to Bonnaroo though. Best weekend of the year, every year. Without fail. OK, well clearly I really have nothing worthwhile to say today...

Oh wait, that's right, I went to the Girl Talk show last night. That was awesome. Great time. Good way to celebrate the end of classes. The opening acts...well, we'll just say they left something to be desired, but as always, Girl Talk brought it. The Rat's a weird place to see a concert, but it was definitely a good time. OK, now that's it.

Wow

Ok, it's been kind of a crazy week. All sorts of stuff going on since I last posted. Last Thursday night, I went to see a band called Virginia Coalition playing on campus at the Rathskeller. It was definitely a good time, pretty good show, especially when you take into account the fact that it was free. Always helps. Then I kind of hung out on campus with friends that evening. Good times, mostly.

This past weekend, as I think I mentioned the last time I posted, my cousin visited. That was pretty cool, we had a good time. Went to Nobu Saturday night, which as always was just ridiculously fantastic. If I could afford to eat there once a week, I would quickly become...well if not fat, then less skin-and-bones than I currently am. Also just kind of chilled out walking by the beach that night. Sunday, we went bowling and had dinner at Versailles, which was also very good. Not Nobu good, but not Nobu expensive either. And they make quite a good margarita, which is always a plus. We watched The Darjeeling Limited, which I love. He left on Monday.

Last night, a friend and I took the drive up to Fort Lauderdale to catch the insane triple-bill of Spoon, The Walkmen, and White Rabbits. Just an absolutely ridiculous show. We only caught about half of White Rabbits' set, but they were quite good. The Walkmen proceeded to blow the roof off the place. They're always fun to see because they don't at all try to be especially crowd-pleasing. They play new stuff, open with slow songs, play around with time signatures...but as I said, for those of us who got it at all, it was awesome. Of course, no surprise that Spoon just killed it. Just an excellent set. Good mix of their best-known songs and more unknown ones, stuff from their last three records, and some of my very favorites. There really were only two songs I could think of that I really regretted not hearing. And the fact that they closed with The Clash's "Hateful" was pretty great. I think more bands (or even all) should incorporate Clash songs into their sets. I mean, they were The Only Band That Matters.

Well, I guess that's about it for this time. The semester's winding down, I actually only have six more days of class. That's crazy. I can't believe it's almost time for the summer.

Fall

Well, it's official, I've registered for my Fall 2008 classes. I still think it's kind of crazy that I'm already having to think that far ahead, but whatever, I guess. Registration was even easier this semester than last, as I was able to register online between classes today. I got all five classes I wanted.

Let's see...I'm taking the 400-Early Shakespeare Plays course, a course on Literature of Imperialism, a European History 1914-1945 course, a 101-Spanish course and an Evolution of Rock Music course. So in other words...three classes that I need to graduate, and then a couple of lightweight but interesting courses to round it out. All in all my schedule should really be just about as difficult as it was this semester, so it won't be too bad.

What else is going on? I guess the best answer to that question would be absolutely nothing that comes to mind. For whatever reason I'm really tired today...I didn't sleep all that well last night. No good reason for it, it just happens de temps en temps. Fortunately I don't really have anything going on the rest of the week, so I can just recharge a little bit. My cousin comes into town this weekend, so that should be at the least a break from the monotony. And a chance to eat a bit better than I do on a day-to-day basis.

Well, that's really all I can think of today...I'll try to be involved in something shockingly interesting in the next few days so I have something more interesting to write about next time.

Already?

It's hard to believe that it's already time to register for fall classes. Tuesday. Seriously. I met with my advisor today to try to figure out what I'm going to take. Still not entirely sure, but have a better idea. I'm definitely going to try to take the 400-level Shakespeare class and a class on European Imperialist literature. And I'm definitely going to take a history class, though I haven't picked one yet. Beyond that...not so sure. I've already completed all of the requirements outside of my major and minor (assuming I don't fail any classes this semester which is a pretty fair assumption) so I can pretty much take whatever I want. Sounds great, right? Well, I'd almost rather have classes I have to take. That way I would have an easier decision to make. Right now, I'm thinking about maybe taking a 101-level Spanish course. I really think I've gone as far in French as I plan to at the university level, and living in Miami it would be nice to have that third language. For a fifth class, your guess is as good as mine. I'm thinking maybe an acting class, but who knows. Wish me luck; I'll let you know what happens Tuesday afternoon.

Not much else going on right now. Watching a lot of baseball...Braves finally got their first win last night...My cousin is coming to visit not this weekend but the next one, and that should be fun. I'm having my apartment cleaned today, so it should be neater than usual when I get home this afternoon...Yes, my life is amazingly exciting. Thrilling. I still have no plans for the summer, and I'm open to suggestions. I'm definitely starting to run out of time. Hoping to spend about a third of the summer at home and about two thirds down here, but that's as far as I've planned at this point. We shall see. Maybe something really cool will fall out of the sky and present itself. Maybe I'll join the circus for a couple of months. Or become a vigilante and fight crime by nightfall. Or I could always start a cult. And there's the old standby of becoming a reclusive wise-man living in the Himalayas. We'll see. I'll keep you posted on that too.

A Little Run-Down, But Hanging in There

This is always kind of a tough part of the year. Spring Break's long over, and yet there's still more than a month left of class. Not much more, granted, but you know what I mean. It's just kind of an exhausting time of the year. Finally through midterms, which is always helpful, but although that does lead to a lull in activity, it doesn't really mean much time to rest. Not to mention the fact that I have to register for my fall classes in less than two weeks. As I talked about last semester, it always seems to early to start scheduling next semester. I think I'd feel like it was too early if we picked classes in August. It's especially stressful knowing that if all goes well next year will be my last year of school. And, another thing I've mentioned before, I really have no clue what I'll be doing either a) this summer or b) (more importantly) after I graduate. I kind of feel like I'm running out of time.

And this has just been a long, long week. I was sick Monday and Tuesday, which never helps. Tuesday night and Wednesday night I took part in the College Week Live online college fair thing. It was a pretty cool thing, and at least once they got their act together on the second day it was very productive, but it definitely ate up some hours. Which of course means I was left last night with 200+ pages of reading for today. Fortunately most of that 200 pages was in a book that I'm enjoying and that is a very quick read, but a sizable chunk was in Assia Djebar's almost unreadable Fantasia. I am so glad to have finished working on this book. It's my second encounter with Djebar this school year, and hopefully my last, at least for a long, long time. Reading about 50 pages of her painful exercise in postmodern meta-textuality took about as long as reading 150 pages of the other book I was working on. So needless to say, I'm tired.

Let's see, what else? Last Friday I attended a really interesting event. It was a panel on "Paving the Road for Israeli-Palestinian Peace." It was quite enlightening and refreshing to actually hear people talking about the possibility of a peace agreement in the relatively near future and what needed to be done for one to be reached, as opposed to the general pessimism that usually surrounds the topic.

I don't even want to talk about my Commodores' showing (or lack thereof) in the NCAA's. Shameful.

OK, that's it. I'm done talking for one day.

Back Again for the Stretch Run

You know, Spring Break's never long enough. Starting back to class today, I feel more like I've had a long weekend than a real break. Oh well, I guess you've gotta take what you can get.

It was a pretty good break, though, I must say. I got to go to Langerado, the big music festival, the first weekend, and that was pretty awesome, despite some crazy weather. I've been a Beastie Boys fan for about as long as I can remember (strike that: far longer than I can remember) and it was really cool to finally see them live, as the Friday night headliner. Some other highlights were stunning sets by Les Claypool and Dark Star Orchestra on Thursday night, and the always fun live show of 311. Saturday and Sunday were less fun, as I was feeling under the weather, and it's really hard to enjoy a music festival when you're sick. Once again, oh well.

Monday and Tuesday were days of rest, Wednesday I got to see a great They Might Be Giants show in Ft. Lauderdale, and my parents visited from Thursday to Saturday. We had a good time, ate good food, watched some basketball, all that good stuff. I'm very excited about Vanderbilt getting a 4 seed for the NCAA tournament, and it's also cool that UM pulled off a 7. Both were pleasant surprises. I was expecting more like a 5 or 6 for Vandy and a 10 for UM. The tournament starts Thursday, and I can't wait. Vandy vs. Siena Friday night. Hopefully we won't be the monumental upset of the first round.

Well, now that I'm back, it's hard to believe how little time is left in the semester. We're really approaching the stretch run. Less than two months left. I have a test and a big paper due this week, and then I'll be able to take it easy for a little while all the way up to finals. Alright, I guess that's all for this post...

Walking on Air

Well, there really is nothing quite like having your basketball team knock off the top team in the country. Especially when it's your arch-rival. Last night my Vanderbilt Commodores knocked off #1 Tennessee in one heck of a game. That's the second year in a row that we've beaten a #1. But as I said, it makes it about a hundred times sweeter that it's UT. It's enough to take my mind off the fact that our baseball team's star third baseman is out for six weeks with a wrist injury...

OK, before I turn this into a sports blog, let's move on to other matters. Wow, yesterday was bizarre. I was sitting in my French class and suddenly the power goes out. Now, this would not be such a crazy event normally, but as I left I found out that the whole campus had no power, and then as I continued home I found that the whole city had no power. It came back on after about an hour, but it was just kind of bizarre. I found out later that, at least according to CNN.com, the outage ranged from Orlando south to Miami.

Other than that, things have been pretty much going on as normal around here; I don't have anything life-changing to report. We watched a really interesting documentary in one of my English courses over the last two sessions. It's called Hothouse and it is about the life of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. Really a very, very striking film. The amazing thing is that apparently prison often has a politicizing effect on the inmates. While in prison they join up with one party or the other (the more moderate Fatah or the more radical Hamas). During their sentences, many study political science, even obtaining college degrees in it. Once out, bolstered by the status given to former inmates, they become political leaders...If you get a chance to check out this doc, you really should, at least if you have any interest in the conflict.

I'm also really enjoying the book I'm reading in my other English course. It's called Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih. I would describe it for you, but it's really one of those books that defies description, at least without giving up the whole plot. I think it's rather brilliant though, so once again, if you get a chance, check it out. Come on, it's not even 200 pages long, it's not like I'm telling you to read War and Peace.

OK, I guess that's all for today. If I think of anything else going on I'll let you know.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It's finally, finally, finally here. After months and months and months of deprivation, it's finally time.

That's right, baseball! Now don't get me wrong, I love football and basketball (especially the college varieties), and I really get into those. I'm still completely immersed in the magical basketball season my Commodores are having. 22-4 is a pretty nice start. I know, I know, I'm supposed to be cheering for the Canes, and I was really excited to see them beat Duke (I mean, what a double treat, a huge win for my school and seeing Duke lose), but I lived the first nineteen years of my life in Nashville, and was raised a Vanderbilt fan, and I'm sorry, but twenty-two years of Vanderbilt fandom has me a little bit more invested than seven months of Miami attendance.

OK, what was I talking about again? That's right, baseball. There's nothing better than baseball. And although the team I'm truly passionate about, the Atlanta Braves, doesn't start for a while, college baseball is always a good appetizer for the entree of the big league game. One of my only regrets in coming to school down here is missing the Vanderbilt baseball season. My dad and I went to a whole lot of the home games last year, and it was awesome. Nothing quite like rooting for a #1 team. You don't get that opportunity very often as a Vandy fan. And they should be almost as good this year, if not better. Oh well, I guess I'll have to listen to or watch their games on the net. And I guess cheering for a #10 team will have to suffice. If the weather holds (and you never know here), I'll probably go to the first game tonight.

As if the start of the baseball season weren't enough, the Academy Awards are this weekend. Now, I must be a glutton for punishment, for despite the fact that the right films never get awarded, I still follow the Oscars for months leading up to the ceremony every year. This year was a ridiculously good year for film, and the Academy even nominated some of the best films.

As far as Best Picture goes, my pick would be the brilliantly insane There Will Be Blood. But I would not complain in the least if No Country for Old Men took it. Both films are amazing.

Mostly, however, I am holding my breath in hopes that the Academy will actually award two of the greatest performances I've seen in years.

Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood gave a truly historically good performance. It's the best of his career, and that's saying something. I liked most of the other nominees in the Best Actor category this year, but DDL is in another league entirely. I will be despondent if he doesn't win.

Secondly, Cate Blanchett was nearly as brilliant in I'm Not There. Just a stunning, stunning performance. She'll probably lose, and it will truly be a farce.

Rounding out the categories, I want Javier Bardem to win Supp. Actor, but I'd be happy with Casey Affleck or Tom Wilkinson. Marion Cotillard deserves the Oscar for Best Actress, but I wouldn't be too terribly disappointed if Julie Christie took it. And really, I'd be happy with the Coens, Paul Thomas Anderson or Julian Schnabel (although Schnabel would be my pick) for Best Director.

Finally, I must say that the Academy's decision to disqualify Johnny Greenwood's score for There Will Be Blood was a truly horrendous decision on their part. Brilliant, brilliant work.

OK, I guess I've rambled enough for one Friday afternoon. Have a good weekend, and go see some baseball!

Don't Worry, I Still Exist

I know it's been over a week since my last post and I apologize; it wasn't intentional. This week has been kind of crazy. Add together one test, two essays, a very time-consuming project at work and for one reason or another not a whole lot of sleep and the sum is not pretty. I've been pretty much a basket case since Wednesday. Fortunately, as far as I can tell it hasn't gotten in the way of my classes or work; it's just made me a little less fun to be around. Well, I just hope y'all didn't miss me too much.

This week has really just been a bizarre week. Tuesday and Wednesday were two of the ugliest, rainiest, most depressing days I've seen since I've been here. Tuesday night I couldn't sleep the storm was so loud. Wednesday I got absolutely drenched on the way to a meeting with a teacher, despite the fact that I was wearing a raincoat and carrying an umbrella. Two days of just miserable weather.

And then, Thursday came. You know, the weather can change so rapidly and so sharply down here. There was no...transition of any kind between monsoon season and two of the most beautiful days I've ever seen. Blue skies, lots of sun, a light breeze...and best of all the storm must have brought in a bit of a cold front, because the temperature right now...perfect. It's odd, it takes days like Tuesday and Wednesday to remind you how lucky you are to live in a place like this when the normal, beautiful weather comes back.

I really hadn't noticed the change on Thursday, having not slept a whole lot the night before and just trying to make it through the day. I got to the end of my shift at work and walked outside, and it was like a revelation. Days like yesterday honestly just make me happy to be alive. Even on Valentine's Day....




And then I log on to the internet and I hear about what happened at NIU yesterday, and my short-lived elation disappears from whence it came. I'm not going to say much about those events, because this really is not the right forum. But I feel compelled to say something.

After Virginia Tech, I was shocked and appalled, but...it quickly slipped to the back of my mind, a single, anomalous, horrific event. To see it happen again...it breaks my heart. That people can do such things to each other and to themselves...This message goes out to all those affected by the tragedy: the victims, their families, and all of the other students at NIU...my thoughts are with you. Hang in there.

So...

I feel like a bit of an idiot after my last post. Of course, after Super Tuesday, we would have a better idea as to the nominees for president. That stands to reason, right? Of course, that's never how things turn out, right, the way they're supposed to? If anything things are less clear. Argh. Well, we know who the other side is sending out there. At least it's pretty clear, especially since Romney dropped out. But on our side of the aisle...chaos. Hopefully we can make a decision before the enmity between Obama and Clinton tears the party apart.

Now that I have that off my chest...Oh man, am I ready for the weekend. I was ready for this week to be over before the end of Sunday. Almost there. Just have to make it through one more day of class. And tomorrow shouldn't be too bad...My morning class got canceled, so I can sleep until 9:30 or so, which is always nice. And then I have an English class, which I actually look forward to, and just have to struggle through my science class and work. Could be a whole lot worse, that's for sure.

This ought to be a decent weekend, too. I'm going to see Yonder Mountain String Band in Ft. Lauderdale, and they always put on a great show. And other than that...I can just kick back and relax. Of course, it won't be nearly long enough. It never is. Until Monday...

Super Tuesday

That phrase seems like an oxymoron. For as long as I can remember Tuesday has been my least favorite day of the week. Most people hate Mondays, I hate Tuesdays. At least on Mondays I still feel some leftover elation from the weekend. By Tuesday I'm completely immersed in the school/work week, and Friday seems a lifetime away. I'm not sure where the hatred for Tuesday started. Maybe it was in middle school and high school when we always had assemblies on Tuesdays...I always hated going to assemblies...Who knows.

Luckily, my day doesn't have to start until 11:00 on Tuesdays. Having to get up for a 9:30 Tuesday class last semester was torture. So despite all of my complaining, things could be worse. And today is a pretty exciting Tuesday, as far as they go...by the end of the day we should have some idea of the presidential candidates. In other words, I'll either be in a very good mood by the end of the day or a very bad one. We'll see; I have my fingers crossed.

Of course, there's no primary in Florida today. The government down here screwed us over by trying to move the primary up a week, thus angering the DNC to the point where Florida gets no say in the choice of nominee. Well done, I must say.

Last night was pretty cool. The Dead played a benefit for Obama and I got to watch it streaming online. Dead Heads for Obama. Now that's a cause I can get behind.

Well, I guess that's all I have for today. Get out and vote.

Location

Wow, OK. So. The word is...and of course we'll see if said word is right or not...that I might actually get some more readers on this blog. Such as...maybe the kind of people it's aimed at, as opposed to family and friends. See, this week I contributed to an e-newsletter that UM's Admissions department sends out to loads and loads of prospective students, parents, counselors, etc. And when I say contributed to, I mean wrote. Included in the newsletter are two links to my blog. So...as I said I'll believe it when I see it, but at the very least it's getting some more exposure.

In honor of this, I've been asked to write a blog post that speaks to the topic of and kind of works in concert with the newsletter. So, I'm going to try to do so today. The topic was the importance of location in choosing a college. Those of you who have been reading my blog might want to skip this post, as it will probably seem repetitive.

As you may know, UM is not the first stop on my collegiate journey. I graduated from high school in 2004 and this is my fifth semester of college, so do the math. When I was first considering colleges, I looked at a lot of different things to make my decision, but location really wasn't one of them. I was of the camp that would suggest that a school's location is completely secondary to its academic reputation, class size, strength of programs, facilities, etc. My mother was (and still is to some extent) actually of the opinion that the college visit is a monumental waste of time. After visiting a bunch of schools the summer before my senior year, I agreed with her. I really didn't pick anything up then that I hadn't already judged from reading about the schools.

By a long shot, my top choice ended up being Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. Now, almost four years later, the reasons behind the decision are kind of foggy to me. All I know is I fell in love with the school. Questions were asked, of course. "Isn't it really cold up there?" "Can you handle living in as small a town as Middletown?" Well, I had never really been bothered by the cold and expected to spend the majority of my time on campus anyway, so these questions didn't bother me whatsoever. I applied early decision and was accepted.

To make a long (and painful to recollect for me) story short, my time at Wesleyan was a disaster. Along with many personal issues that I won't go into, I hated Connecticut, and I hated Middletown. Sure, I'd never been bothered by the cold before. I'd never experienced real cold before. Not to mention the fact that in Middletown it's a rare event to see the sun between November and February. And people were right, there is nothing, and I mean nothing, to do in Middletown. I was absolutely miserable. I stayed for three lackluster semesters before taking an "extended leave of absence." That's a nice term for dropping out.

Cut to this past summer. After a period spent working horrifically dull jobs, I decided it was time to give the college thing a second try. This time, location was a large consideration. My list of important things went pretty much like this: 1. Nice weather, 2. Near a city. The school that seemed to best fit the bill was UM. And despite my poor college record, I got in. So here I am. Now, there are good things and bad things about any school. But let me tell you, the location of UM really could not be better. To wake up every morning in January and not have to put on boots, or a coat, or any of that stuff is a gift. I mean, during the cold part of the year, it's in the high 50's in the morning. It was rare to ever see high 50's during the winter in Connecticut. And Miami, needless to say, has plenty to offer.

The moral of the story? Take location into consideration. Take it from me, please, don't make the same mistake I did. Visit the schools you are thinking about. More importantly, visit them in the winter. If a school seems like a good fit in November or January, most likely it will be an even better fit in September and April.

OK, that's about it for this post. Later.

Settling Back In

Or at least I'm starting to. Things aren't feeling quite as daunting or impossible as they did the first couple of weeks. That's not to say I think it's going to be an easy semester by any means, but I'm not quite as freaked out. So I've got that going for me. Which is nice.

Good news today (I needed some). Because the state of the syllabus in one of my classes has been in constant flux thus far, and is now finally seeming to come to rest, I have inadvertently finished all of the reading for this week. So that gives me a little less work, which of course is pretty much a good thing.

For the first time since I got back it was cool enough to wear jeans and a long sleeve shirt today. Barely. It was about 55 when I got up, it's up in the 70's now. So I was comfortable this morning and am now starting to roast, but...it's a give and take, like everything. At least I get to expand my wardrobe a little bit. Always one of my biggest concerns.

What else, what else?

Finished my first novel of the semester in one of my classes. Heart of Darkness. Shockingly, I'd never read it before. I tried once after the first time I saw Apocalypse Now, but I think I was about 15 at that point, and I was bored to tears long before Marlow even got to Africa. Very interesting book, though. It would have gone completely over my head if I'd read it then. Too dense. Probably wouldn't have caught any of what actually makes the novel interesting. I probably would have followed the basic plot okay, especially knowing that it was quite similar to that of Coppola's film, but...I mean...who reads Heart of Darkness for the plot? However, one of the interesting things is that although we have not once mentioned Apocalypse Now in our discussions, these discussions have definitely affected my thoughts on the film. The criticism leveled at Conrad that his novel is inherently racist, portraying the Africans as non-humans, could be extended to Coppola's portrayal of the Vietnamese. It's possible, of course, that this parallel was intentional. I'd guess unlikely, though, considering the fraught conditions of the shoot pretty much led to an accidental masterpiece. As many hardships as he had to overcome, it's a miracle that Coppola even made a film, much less the brilliant piece of work that is Apocalypse Now. Where was I? Oh who cares. I need to go back and watch that again. I think I brought it down with me. It's really long, though, so I'll need to set aside some time. I just finished Das Boot, so I might need to wait a while before I assail another film of such length. (I mean, 3 and a half hours? Really? Das Boot is a fascinating film, but man...that's a long time to spend in a submarine).

OK, I've rambled enough. I don't even remember where I started at this point. I'll talk to ya'll again sometime in the near future.

Friday

And I am ever so glad it is. I'm feeling a bit rundown at the moment. That concerns me a little, I'll admit, seeing as I'm only two weeks in, but my hope is that things will get better as I get accustomed to my new schedule as opposed to worse as more and more weeks of work pile on my back. We shall see. I'll keep you posted.

You see, those who know me will not be surprised when I say this is essentially the first semester when I've ever had to "work" at school. I mean, high school I just breezed through, did the minimum I could to succeed. The first go at college I didn't work hard at all, for obvious reasons. Last semester I worked a little, but I mean really only two of my classes required any work at all. This semester the number has doubled, and the workload has pretty much doubled as well, as I've mentioned in other posts.

The hope, because if this isn't the case I may be headed for disaster, is that my current state of exhaustion is a result of the newness of actually working, actually exercising my brain for any prolonged periods of time. I mean, I worked hard at my jobs during my hiatus, but I mean, it didn't actually require much (read: any whatsoever) use of my mind. It's funny, physically I feel in good form. My body is ready to go...I think the walking to and from class every day has kept me in reasonably good shape. It's my brain that has atrophied a little in recent years. Just like exercising a muscle for the first time in a while can be very painful, I think that actually thinking for most of the day, every day, is driving me into the ground right now. Hopefully, as my brain gets stronger, things will get easier.

That's the story I'm sticking with, because I think positive thinking will make me more likely to follow the golden path, and pessimism will point me towards doom. So, I'll repeat: I really think things will get easier as I get used to the increased workload. I have no doubts whatsoever. I'm utterly confident of my ability to do this.

Not lies, by any stretch of the imagination...but not whole truths either I guess. Working on it. Optimism doesn't come naturally to me. Until next time...

Week 2

Well, now things have settled in a bit. The first week is always hard, because you have to get back in the habit and rhythm of going to class, studying, working, all the stuff that I did little to none of over the Winter Break. The second week's one of the easier weeks, I think. You're back in the swing of things, but it's still to early for tests and major papers. It's kind of a grace period. It won't last too long, of course, but things won't get really bad until just before Spring Break. Then I'll have another respite and things will kick back up just before Finals. It's the nature of the system, I guess.

Of course, that's not to say I'm not busy. Class and work keep me busy from the time I wake up until 5pm or so. Every day. Last semester at least I had early days on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But you know, I shouldn't complain. Everything is a give and take. Last semester I had classes at 9:00 and 9:30 on MWF and TTh, respectively. This semester it's 10:10 and 11:00. And mornings are not a productive time for me, so all in all I guess I traded up. It just doesn't feel like it at 4:30 in the afternoon.

If this sounds overly gloomy, I repeat that this is how I feel at 4:30 in the afternoon, at the end of my day. I'm tired, and I'm ready to go home and crash. I can't do that, of course, but I think it's natural to start feeling that way in the late afternoon. There was that brilliant Super Bowl commercial last year about Robert Goulet coming in and confusing everyone by rearranging their stuff at 3:00 every workday, unless of course a person ate whatever snack was being advertised. It became a running joke at my last job that at about 3:00 every afternoon, everybody had to go to the company store for a snack to stave off Goulet. So I don't think my feelings right now are anything unusual. I think I'd be more unusual if I didn't feel rundown at the end of the day. And, as I said, the important thing is that the schedule change allows me to be, well, awake during all of my classes. Last semester I was the most engaged I'd ever been in my classes, and so far this semester, the sleeping-late thing is allowing me to be yet more engaged.

I mean, I even got back to my conversation-dominating habits in a morning class last week. I mean, it's not unusual for me to monopolize discussion time in an English class at all, but it is highly unusual for me to do it before noon. It was fun, we were discussing what makes a novel a novel, and I spent the whole period arguing against every constraint that anyone else tried to put on the form. Now, that might sound like I was being intentionally contrary or argumentative or annoying, but it really wasn't like that. I honestly believe in very, very few constraints on the definition of "novel" and my opposing view allowed for better discussion than the traditional one person suggests a characteristic of a novel and it's written on the board without discussion framework.

All in all, I think it's been a productive first six days of class, and that's really all you can ask for.

Three Days Down...

...And I'm not even going to think about how many to go. You know, that sounded pessimistic and unhappy, and that's not how I feel right now at all. Miraculously, I still feel motivated, so barring a last minute shift, those of you who bet on the over on Monday are looking good.

So far, my classes are looking good. I must admit, after the lecture today, I'm a little concerned about my Zoology course, as I'm pretty much convinced our teacher thought we were fifth-graders today...fifty minutes of "What is Science?", "What is the Scientific Method?", and "What Different Kinds of Animals Do You Know About?" is enough to drive a sane man mad. Fortunately, that happened to me years ago, so I'm safe. Or at least, I'm beyond help. Never sure which.

All of that being said, I guess I'm just getting what I deserve. All I asked for was an easy science class to finish off my gen-ed requirements, and it's looking like I'm getting exactly that. I'm sure (false confidence) it'll get more interesting as we get into the meat of the topic, though. My Tuesday/Thursday classes are really still for the large part unknowns to me. Judging a class from the first session is virtually impossible. My history teacher and my French teacher both seem cool...I was a little concerned about my French after about two and a half years without speaking or writing in the language for any significant period, but after hearing others talk in class and finishing our first homework assignment, I think I should be OK. As in, I wanted to throw the workbook out the window because it was so easy and tedious. Conjugations of verbs in the present tense? Really? At the intermediate level? Once more, I'm sure (false confidence) this class will get more interesting and difficult as we get into the meat of the semester.

All in all, things are still going great. That last sentence was for the benefit of my parents, who I know read my blog, but it's also true. The one potential snag I see so far is that I have about twice (no exaggeration) as much homework this semester as I had in the fall. In the fall, essentially I had to do significant amounts of homework for 2 of 5 classes. This semester it's 4 of 5. See, I'm not that bad at math, I know 40% is half of 80%. So wish me luck. Until next time, wear your seatbelts.

A New Semester

Welcome back, friends, one and all...I hope you haven't missed me too much during my month-long hiatus. Well, never fear, I'm back. Back in Coral Gables, back living on my own, back in school, back at work, and back on my blog. Winter break is such a weird thing. It's just a four-week pressing of the pause button. I feel like I have accomplished absolutely nothing since I left back in mid-December. Funny thing is, I don't even feel that rested. I just feel like I finished last semester yesterday, and today I'm starting a new semester, but there was a huge chasm in between in which no time passed and...OK, now I'm sounding like a crazy person. Let's see, what's a better way to put it? It feels like I just passed an extremely long intermission. That makes more sense. It's as if all I really did for the last month was wait for it to end, wait for my life to start again. Well, now it has.

That being said, despite not feeling rested, I do feel reenergized. I'm ready to seize the day, take the bull by the horns, live life to the fullest, and whatever other clichés you can think of. Of course, it'll be interesting to see how long that feeling lasts. I put the over/under at three days. If I'm really lucky it'll last the week.

I must say, however, I am genuinely excited about this semester. I've got some classes I'm actually looking forward to taking for once. My two English courses have an average of nine students in each, so maybe we'll actually be able to have some worthwhile discussions. Also, and maybe most importantly, neither one includes any in-class exams. If you've read any of my posts from last semester, you know how I feel about in-class English exams. Take-home essays make up the major grades in both classes, as they should. I'm less sure about my third class, an Intro to Zoology course I'm taking to (finally) finish my gen-ed requirements. At the least, it should be relatively easy. Thankfully, it shouldn't include much reading, which is crucial for a class on the same day as my two lit courses. Those two will have more than enough reading for the three.

Also, the hope is that I will increase my extracurricular activity load this semester. As in, I hope to do more than the class, work, movies, repeat cycle of last semester. Now, I'm not expecting any miracles here, I'm just hoping to go to some concerts, maybe an on-campus event or two, that sort of thing. Baby steps.

OK, I guess I'll sign off for now. Have a good week.