Ah, crap. Or, sleep deprivation.
I am not pleased to have to use that icon twice in a row.
So I slept pretty badly last night. It was unpleasant, particularly as I hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before. I was pretty well ready to pack it in at 3 pm today. Maybe I should have taken a nap; I don't know if that would have helped or not. In any case, I didn't. Instead, I went to bed at nine. I figured that if all went well, I could get up at seven having still gotten twelve hours of sleep. Good plan, right? Well, clearly, it didn't work out so well. I woke up at eleven thirty and haven't been able to get back to sleep properly since. So I gave up, got up, and I'm hoping that after some awake-time my body will be ready to go back to sleep again. *crosses fingers. I hope. I really, really don't function well without sleep, and I'm a lot more prone to emotional upset, which nobody likes. I shall try to keep a lid on that for this entry.
I suppose I could do the usual hey-look-what-I'm-taking this semester post. I haven't done that yet, and I sort of meant to.
So then. I'm technically taking 12 credits this semester, all English, which equals to three classes. One of them is an independent study to finish my thesis, so practically speaking, I'm only taking two actual classes. It's weird, my days are strangely empty. (It's also weird to be a student again, period. In a way, I kind of wish I'd done my student teaching second semester, because I'm losing my sense of professionalism, adulthood, authority, etc, which could be a problem. Or at least, next semester might have been easier if I hadn't.) Anyway, the first class I'm taking is a seminar, US Apocalyptic Lit. And it seems really neat. The professor likes to lecture a bit, but the material's pretty fascinating. Like did anyone know that the whole idea of American exceptionalism had its origins in apocalyptic beliefs? It's cool. The one thing is that some of the material (a lot?) is probably going to be disturbing. World War Z is on the syllabus, for instance, and while it sounds really cool, I was also uncertain about whether or not to read it because it is (if among other things) a horror novel, and I don't do well with those. And it apparently replaced something even more disturbing, a series of essays from seriously norm-bending people. Neo-fascists talking about the most efficient ways to destroy particular religions/races/ethnic groups, necrophiliacs apparently going into extreme detail, those extreme environmentalists who want to eradicate all human life...other things. Anyway, our teacher says that they're really, really intense. They're now optional reading. I might try to read a couple, just because they could be both interesting and enlightening, but I'm glad I'll have the option to stop if I start having nightmares.
Maybe I'm in the wrong class.
But it's so cool!
Anyway. Then, of course, I'm taking an intro-level course because Professor Essid is awesome, but never actually teaches lit courses: Lit, Technology, and Society. Which also looks to be interesting, particularly because the assignments are extremely non-traditional. Not a single paper, for instance. And part of our homework is going to be to create a character on Second Life. I'm intrigued by that, and also afraid that it will eat my life. *grin. The basic topic is also intriguing: invented worlds. Now, granted, you could go in a lot of directions with that, and with some teachers it could turn out pretty badly, but I have faith that with Professor Essid it will be awesome. Win!
Um, other stuff. Other stuff that is not going to get me into an emotional morass at 3 in the morning. Still not sleepy. Tired, but not sleepy. Well, I just had quite a good conversation with Matt-in-California, which was enjoyable, particularly as I don't talk to him much. Also, I temporarily do not completely fail as a correspondent. That's a plus, too. Umm...I have an interview tomorrow/Wednesday. For an RA position at the VA Governor's School this summer. I think I have a decent shot at it. The woman knows I'm really interested in the position (I contacted her about it last year, but wasn't old enough), and she told me that a lot of my background looks good to them. I just have to not fail at my interview. I'll probably spend a good bit of tomorrow (today?) preparing for it. It's funny, on the one hand I don't have a lot of faith in my interviewing skills, and on the other hand, I feel like I'm fairly likely to get the position. Maybe I'd best not jinx myself, though.
*yawn. Tired, not sleepy. Aack. Maybe I will putz around on the internet some, and that will drain my brain enough to let me sleep.
So I slept pretty badly last night. It was unpleasant, particularly as I hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before. I was pretty well ready to pack it in at 3 pm today. Maybe I should have taken a nap; I don't know if that would have helped or not. In any case, I didn't. Instead, I went to bed at nine. I figured that if all went well, I could get up at seven having still gotten twelve hours of sleep. Good plan, right? Well, clearly, it didn't work out so well. I woke up at eleven thirty and haven't been able to get back to sleep properly since. So I gave up, got up, and I'm hoping that after some awake-time my body will be ready to go back to sleep again. *crosses fingers. I hope. I really, really don't function well without sleep, and I'm a lot more prone to emotional upset, which nobody likes. I shall try to keep a lid on that for this entry.
I suppose I could do the usual hey-look-what-I'm-taking this semester post. I haven't done that yet, and I sort of meant to.
So then. I'm technically taking 12 credits this semester, all English, which equals to three classes. One of them is an independent study to finish my thesis, so practically speaking, I'm only taking two actual classes. It's weird, my days are strangely empty. (It's also weird to be a student again, period. In a way, I kind of wish I'd done my student teaching second semester, because I'm losing my sense of professionalism, adulthood, authority, etc, which could be a problem. Or at least, next semester might have been easier if I hadn't.) Anyway, the first class I'm taking is a seminar, US Apocalyptic Lit. And it seems really neat. The professor likes to lecture a bit, but the material's pretty fascinating. Like did anyone know that the whole idea of American exceptionalism had its origins in apocalyptic beliefs? It's cool. The one thing is that some of the material (a lot?) is probably going to be disturbing. World War Z is on the syllabus, for instance, and while it sounds really cool, I was also uncertain about whether or not to read it because it is (if among other things) a horror novel, and I don't do well with those. And it apparently replaced something even more disturbing, a series of essays from seriously norm-bending people. Neo-fascists talking about the most efficient ways to destroy particular religions/races/ethnic groups, necrophiliacs apparently going into extreme detail, those extreme environmentalists who want to eradicate all human life...other things. Anyway, our teacher says that they're really, really intense. They're now optional reading. I might try to read a couple, just because they could be both interesting and enlightening, but I'm glad I'll have the option to stop if I start having nightmares.
Maybe I'm in the wrong class.
But it's so cool!
Anyway. Then, of course, I'm taking an intro-level course because Professor Essid is awesome, but never actually teaches lit courses: Lit, Technology, and Society. Which also looks to be interesting, particularly because the assignments are extremely non-traditional. Not a single paper, for instance. And part of our homework is going to be to create a character on Second Life. I'm intrigued by that, and also afraid that it will eat my life. *grin. The basic topic is also intriguing: invented worlds. Now, granted, you could go in a lot of directions with that, and with some teachers it could turn out pretty badly, but I have faith that with Professor Essid it will be awesome. Win!
Um, other stuff. Other stuff that is not going to get me into an emotional morass at 3 in the morning. Still not sleepy. Tired, but not sleepy. Well, I just had quite a good conversation with Matt-in-California, which was enjoyable, particularly as I don't talk to him much. Also, I temporarily do not completely fail as a correspondent. That's a plus, too. Umm...I have an interview tomorrow/Wednesday. For an RA position at the VA Governor's School this summer. I think I have a decent shot at it. The woman knows I'm really interested in the position (I contacted her about it last year, but wasn't old enough), and she told me that a lot of my background looks good to them. I just have to not fail at my interview. I'll probably spend a good bit of tomorrow (today?) preparing for it. It's funny, on the one hand I don't have a lot of faith in my interviewing skills, and on the other hand, I feel like I'm fairly likely to get the position. Maybe I'd best not jinx myself, though.
*yawn. Tired, not sleepy. Aack. Maybe I will putz around on the internet some, and that will drain my brain enough to let me sleep.