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...