The Absent Minded Instructor

Okay, so I managed to get through the day without my ID or my EXPO markers. Nothing short of a miracle.

The high school where I teach dual enrollment classes apparently knows me well enough that no one seemed to notice that I was ID-less. And I wasn't about to advertise it. Somehow I managed to get past all four security checkpoints (two at ingress and two at egress) sans the ID.

Then I showed up at the college to teach my second class. I didn't figure my lack of an ID would be a problem there since I can pass for a college student if I really want/need to (side note: a security guard at the college once informed me that I was parking in a faculty parking lot. I said, "I know--I am faculty"). Anyway, so the ID thing really wasn't a problem. And my students had a good laugh at my expense when I admitted to them that I'd forgotten my ID badge. It wasn't so funny, however, when I realized I was without my beloved EXPO markers, as well. Seems I'd cleaned out my bag before break and forgotten to repack the markers once the new semester began.

Aside from the goofy stuff though, it wasn't too bad of a day!

Hmm...

Was just reading Dos Passos' 1919 (published in 1932), and noticed he mentioned the scents of mustard gas and roses. I wonder if Vonnegut ever read Dos Passos. Granted, this mustard gas and roses came from WWI, not II, but there might be a connection there.

I must really miss grad school.

Back to Work

Well school starts next week. That means tomorrow we have meeting day. Yikes! I'm not ready yet. I still had things to do over break that didn't get finished. Eh, such is life.

This whole getting back to work after break thing is totally kicking my butt. I do like my job, I do like my students, and I am excited about the new textbook. I'm not, however, excited about putting together new class preps. That's why I'm starting them early--tonight.

I haven't technically started them yet, but I plan to very soon. Fortunately, my cousin just happens to have a copy of the textbook I requested for my Rhetoric class. Thisaway I can take a look at it before I get my own copy. Problem is, I've been traveling all day and I'm a little worn out. I took a nap before eating (I probably wouldn't have even eaten except that I was starting to feel sick), but I'm still really tired. I think after a break we should get another week or so to recover from the break. (Yeah, yeah, I know we get a week before school starts, but I'm talking a week before the meetings and the planning and all that).

Well, I suppose I could've come back sooner.

Anyway, I'm going to need all the support and positive reinforcement I can get here. One of my goals for 2010 is not to put things off. In other words, I want to get in and get things done. I'm not really a procrastinator, but I want to get even better about getting things wrapped up soon, thus freeing up larger chunks of free time to maximize the amount of stuff I can get done in any given day.

Whew! Just read back over that last one. Makes me tired. Maybe I should take a second nap.

Where Does the Time Go?

Well, the semester is certainly coming to a close. I had my last class meeting yesterday. Finals week starts Monday. That should be fairly easy. I don't know if any of my students are going to turn in late essays or not. I'm planning to grade in-class essays today, as well as (hopefully) finish To Kill a Mockingbird for book club. I've read it a million times, but I like it so well that I decided to read it again, rather than rely on memory.

The essay-grading plan is thus:

Saturday: grade and record all in-class essays
Sunday: maybe grade some essays (if any from Monday's class come in late); otherwise, chill
Monday: give first final; grade essays to be returned Tuesday; grade Monday finals
Tuesday: give second final; grade essays to be returned Wednesday; grade Tuesday finals
Wednesday: etc.
Thursday: I'm not sure what to do during their final, as I haven't received essays from the Friday class to grade; perhaps read The 42nd Parallel.
Friday: collect final drafts of their essay; give last final; grade drafts during final; catch a plane home for Christmas; grade Friday finals on the plane
Saturday: figure and post grades

And voila! From Saturday morning on, I'll be on break! And one of my top priorities is making some potato pancakes.

Another is picking up Ulysses again. I started reading it over the summer, but with my teaching workload and the book club and the writing group, and my own personal quests to read the U.S.A. trilogy and practice guitar and learn Spanish and conquer Call of Duty and pick up an embroidery project I'm still working on for a friend and occasionally update this blog, I just can't seem to find the time to try to wrap my mind around Joyce. Might be a nice Christmas goal though. At least to make some more progress on it.

Ah, the Weekend...

This has been a fairly relaxing weekend. Except for the heartbreaking emails I've had to send to students, the unnerving nightmares I never completely remember but still feel unnerved by, and the grading I ended up doing, though I told myself I wouldn't.

Tomorrow's a short day--one class, one advising hour, and however long I want to stay in my office doing the grading I've been trying to avoid this weekend.

Tuesday is a regular day, except that I'm taking off after work to head home for Thanksgiving. Hard to believe--it'll be here before I know it!

Today is Pierce's birthday. I'm still not sure what we're going to do to celebrate. I've cloistered myself in my room most of the day.

Except when I went to the park for two glorious hours. Were it not for the fact that my bladder was urging me to get back to the house, I could've stayed in the park all day reading Dos Passos.

Have I mentioned that I really love Dos Passos? I don't recall Manhattan Transfer at the moment, but I remember liking it a lot. Well, I should clarify: I think I remember it, but some of the literature from that time period (Modernist) is pretty similar. And I've read a bunch of it. Maybe I'll just Google the novel to see if it's the one I'm remembering.

I just love reading in the park. If only I had more time to do that...

Additionally, I worked on a cross-stitch project! I usually don't have time for crafts, but today I was able to. I have several cross-stitch projects in progress. Two for friends and one for my mom, and some others for my cousin. I'm hoping to get the ones for friends done by Christmas, but I'm not holding my breath. I thought I'd get them done for last Christmas, but obviously that didn't happen. And I wasn't even working that much back then. I'm not sure where my time goes, but it seems to really get away. I think it has something to do with having too many hobbies.

Still Waking Up...

And now it's Saturday. Not sure what I'm going to do today. Have a bunch of papers to grade, but I've been doing that all week! Want a little time off. I have plenty of things to do today, it's just a matter of deciding which to do, rather than wasting the whole day.

Yesterday was a big day. Taught class from 8-11:50, then had a meeting from 12-2. Then in my office from 2-4. At a little after 7, went back to the college to hear my cousin and some others in the music department play a recital from 7:30-9. Pierce played some of his own compositions, as well as some Classical (opera?) pieces and the very impressive "Winter Wind" etude by Chopin. I'm totally at a loss on Classical music, but I really enjoyed "Winter Wind." It's haunting and a little creepy in places. If I'm going to listen to Classical, that's how I like it. Haunting.

Anyway, Thanksgiving is coming up. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and family. I have a lot of things planned for a very short handful of days, but maybe we can make it all work. I'll probably be so busy that I won't get rested up before I have to come back to work! But then, there will only be the last few days of classes left before we get another break--Christmas!

I can't get too excited about Christmas though, because I haven't started shopping yet. And I have a bad feeling that I won't have much time to shop during those last weeks of classes.

Anyway, I'll probably call some people today, play a little music and read my Dos Passos book. I'd like to do some embroidery, but I seem to never have the time. It is a very time-consuming hobby. But then, I guess I don't have to do much embroidery at once. We'll see about the grading.

P.S. Tomorrow is Pierce's birthday. I wonder what we will do to celebrate?

Catching Up

You know, it just occurred to me that I haven't updated this blog since Bob Weir's birthday. Let's see... how to recap the past few weeks into one post?

In no particular order...

I bought Halloween candy for all my students. That cost a pretty penny. I then handed out candy to trick-or-treaters here in the 'hood. That was fun, though I'm not very good with kids.

Courtesy of a joint co-operation between some of my students and Urban Dictionary, I learned the gaming term "teabagging." 'Nuff said on that one.

I read four essays from students telling me that PS3 is better than Xbox 360.

And one that World of Warcraft is better than City of Heroes/City of Villains.

I made gnocchi for the first time. It wasn't the disaster I feared it would be.

Got observed for work. Same day, a student brought his guitar to class and played "Dust in the Wind." During the break, of course. That was pretty cool. Speaking of guitar, I've been practicing mine almost every night. Mainly Grateful Dead tunes, but I occasionally mix it up.

I bought my own video game system. Betcha can't guess what it was! I also bought a Blu-Ray of Woodstock stuff and a Grateful Dead scrapbook. Early birthday gifts to myself.

Having four (4) parties at school next week to celebrate my birthday. Two of the classes really got into it and seem really excited.

Finally watched In Cold Blood, Dead Poets Society, and the original Stepford Wives.

Anyway, my birthday is coming up on Tuesday. I'm sad to see 25 go--it was such a good year. Andre says that 26 will probably be even better. I hope she's right.

Random Ramblings: October Edition

I thought it was time to update my blog because it's been a week since my last update and since I'm planning to get final drafts of a narration paper from one class this weekend and rough drafts of an argumentative paper early next week (read: I'm gonna be uber-busy starting with this weekend).

Not a lot to report on right now. I did buy a fairly inexpensive Squier Strat the other day. I've had a lot of fun playing some Grateful Dead tunes (my best so far is "Ripple," though I can do pretty well with "Mississippi Half Step Uptown Toodeloo" and "Me and My Uncle" and even "Mexicali Blues" (if I skip a particular chord).

Been reading Winesburg, Ohio, but I'll admit, it's not as good as I expected it to be. I'm gonna keep truckin' and hope to finish it before its due date (though I've already had to renew it once).

Also, I've been fairly sick; I got sick the day before I got the guitar. And that's been almost two weeks ago. Not sick enough to have to stay home from work, but sick enough to sound like crap. I was hoarse all last week. This week, my voice has reached the Janis Joplin level. That's what I like to call it. In other words, my voice isn't as hoarse, but is still gravelly enough that if I try to belt out a song like, oh, say "Mercedes Benz," I sound remarkably similar to Janis. It's kinda cool, but I'd also like to get over this sickness, too.

Well, that's all I've got for now. Plus, even though I don't have papers to grade, I do have other things to do. So I guess I'd better get to it, because papers will be here before I know it! Peace out, y'all...

Nostalgia

It's really cloudy and gloomy outside, but for some reason, I'm not depressed! Usually this kind of weather bothers me, but today I'm feeling cheerful enough. And a little nostalgic.

In the fall semester of 2005 I took probably the hardest college course I've ever had, but the texts were a thrill to read. The course was difficult for me for a number of reasons: #1 I was an undergrad in a graduate course, #2 I was enrolled in five other courses at the time, and #3 I was working two part-time jobs in between classes. Whew! No wonder it was tough! Anyway, this course was Victorian lit, and I remember Wednesdays at the library that semester. Wednesday was my longest day--I was on campus from 9:00 AM to 9:30 PM for classes. In fact, I had four classes that day. After my morning classes, I usually grabbed something to eat at the student union, then headed to the 4th floor of the library (I had a certain area I liked to study in) to the study area near the large south-facing window. If the tables were occupied, then I'd lounge in the soft chairs nearby. I always prayed for seclusion, though that was pretty selfish of me in a university library.

From the time I finished lunch to around 5:30 or 6:00, I was in the library, usually doing nearly a week's worth of assignments for that Wednesday night's class. It's not that I was trying to procrastinate, but this class only met on Wednesday nights from 7:00 to 9:30, and my other five met more frequently. Combined with the number of hours I spent on the job, I usually had time to start the Wednesday assignment sometime on the weekend, then finish it up during my big break on the Wednesday we would discuss it.

Several of my classmates didn't understand how I could spend literally hours alone in the library without going crazy. Many of them wanted to go out with their friends to eat together or go to the bars after class. The last thing they wanted was to be stuck in the library. I didn't mind it.

Being alone in the library gave me a chance to really pay attention to what I was reading, though I usually had to skim the long secondary text articles to save time to read the primary texts more closely. It was an intimate moment with the literature, and great literature it was, too. A few books I remember reading in this class were: Charles Dickens' Bleak House, Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Sign of Four (which is technically a novella). I remember reading much of The Moonstone in the comfy chairs near the window. It was such a cozy spot. I wish I had a cup of hot tea to sip while reading it. Another benefit of reading quietly in the library before class was that everything I read was fresh in my mind for discussion later that night. Yes, I had to do a lot of work for the class, and yes, the semester was very hectic that fall, but by golly, I miss those long evenings of reading by myself in the library.

Addicted to Academia

It just occurred to me today that I am addicted to academia. I haven't been out of school a whole year yet, and still I can't seem to stay away from my community college or my university. In fact, I went to the university today to meet with a former professor and visit the library, and this evening, I'm heading to the community college to take, yes, a noncredit course.

This is not the only noncredit course I'm enrolled in. No sir! This is the final meeting of a three-week photography course, but I'm also enrolled in an online writing course, and a one-day course in something elusive that appears to be of a scrapbooking nature. It's summer and I've enrolled in three courses? That's practically a full load (in grad school terms, that is a full load).

But wait, there's more!

As you all know, I'm currently reading Little Dorrit with none other than two of my former professors. I'm also reading Ulysses as recommended by one of the profs, and I just checked out A Clockwork Orange and Catch-22. I've been reading all kinds of literature this summer and trying to get as many MLA Top 100 novels under my belt as possible. And I've been writing. Creative writing, that is.

If I start writing academic papers, then I'll know I have it bad.