Waiting for the worms to come
The past two nights, I've fallen asleep before 11 PM. Last night, I was lying on the floor of the living room half-paying attention to Chappelle Show. Eventually I notice the drool and went to bed. Got out of bed just after 9 AM. Yet I'm still tired. Perhaps it was the nightmare about Vietnam? Or the one about summer classes?
The dishwasher didn't get run last night. (Blame this drooling kid.) So there aren't any clean bowls. Cereal in a mug? Don't mind if I do! The cerealy milk is ideal for coffee, particularly after a rather sweet cereal like graham cracker Life or Honey Nut Cheerios.
Last Tuesday was busy as promised. The 110 exam had some moments:
-to start, we didn't have as many exams as students
-a girl asked me to translate Roman numerals for her ("I KNOW they're Roman numerals, but I don't know what they meeeeean")
-I amused myself by trying to correlate UR apparel with seat choice
-students had no idea how to turn in their exams despite the piles labelled "EXAM A" and "EXAM B". Even the students who had seen the previous 100 exams turned in were unable to figure out what to do.
Nas & Clifton meetings went wellish. Lots of work ahead on both of those. The ling talk (which was actually in Jeff's class?) about how some people's speech is perceived as "gay" even if they're not was interesting, though not presented as clearly as it could be. The speaker had no PowerPoint, just a handout of citations. And his works cited list didn't even list everything he cited! I'd been productive from about 8:30-1:30 straight, so I took the rest of the day off. Wednesday was my guest lecture in 111, which moved way too quickly. I panicked about time halfway through. Somehow, though, it turned out okay. Finished just a bit early. Exactly one student said "Thank you" on her way out. Good enough for me. Hopefully they couldn't tell it was my first time with a laser pointer. Thursday, I parked on campus for the first time in a long while during school hours. The information booth was taking too long, so I parked at a meter next to Hutchinson, then tried to find spare change. A nickel gets you two minutes. I needed to be there for an hour and fiften, during 110. Yeeps. Good thing I found some quarters lurking in my bag & car. (I later got my tag validated and parked in Park Lot, just as it threatened to rain.) In the evening, Meghan and I made granola for the camping trip. We made different batches in an attempt to compete. KK seemed to like them about equally, while silberzauber tasted them at ER and voted for Meghan's. (Did I get that right?) Friday night, we went to The Keg/German House to hear KK's friend's brother's band play. A bassoon duet played right before they went on. That's about all there is to say about that.
The camping was a good weekend activity. Meghan and I had to buy last-minute supplies before we got on the road, which took longer than expected, but I think in the end, we timed everything well. Dick's had some really cool stuff, and I am excited at the prospect of camping again. The park ranger gave us the wrong directions to the site, but didn't make us buy a car tag, even after we'd asked "Is there any paperwork we need to deal with?" Hm... We set up camp, then went on a hike with Ellen, Greg, Hal, Janneke(sp?), Ferenc, and Akira The Irish Setter. We went a couple miles in one direction, then across the gorge, then back, then back again maybe? Hard to say, because Stony Brook State Park totally lacks helpful brochures and maps and signs. This was frustrating for me, as an information junkie. What railroad went through there when? When was the park set up? (There was ONE plaque about this.) What are these rock formations? When we got back, antinats and Austin had arrived, and the fire got going. Chicken, potatoes, pudgie pies, hot dogs, bananas, and s'mores were cooked. State park regulations about beverages were skirted/patently ignored. A park ranger came by at one point and asked "Do any of your cars have tags?"
"Three of them do. A few of us came in and the ranger at the checkin point didn't make us get them."
"WHAT?!? I'll take that up with him.. the rest of you, make sure your tags are visible."
And then he went away. Saved us $7. Also to the park's credit, they did have running water at each site and hot showers available. To Greg's disappointment, there was no electricity, but it was CAMPING afterall. And we'd picked up an astronomy guide, but stupidly hadn't quite factored in the canopy of trees, so star-gazing wasn't that easy. Especially after a bottle of wine each. Whoops. But I saw a shooting star! Toot!
Sleeping on the ground is not all that it's cracked up to be. Especially when it's ass 40 degrees out. Especially when you're dressed for a summer night. Fargh. I remember I had some weird dream about New Orleans/Chicago/Rochester. The city was just filled with riots and famine and gangs, because of some major disaster. I was trying to make my way home through alleys and stuff without incident. A woman was giving away yams, but I knew it was a religious scam of some sort. Then I found myself on "South Averill Ave", and I thought "ah, I'll follow this until I know if I'm headed in the right direction and head home." Magically, I crossed over to the good, quiet, 1910s side of town. I found a newsstand/tobacconist/candyshop and everything was just fine.
Sunday, Meghan & I went to Corning. We had lunch with my parents at home, then we made Christmas ornaments at the Studio. (I really really want a huge tree this Christmas. Help me make this dream a reality, by, uh, throwing money at me and giving me access to a large vehicle!) We walked around downtown, such as it is. Stopped in to see gnothi_se_auton at W.E.G., and mad_jack was visiting her as well. I don't know the last time I saw him? Wow. Then a trip up to Spencer Crest for some nature walking. Closed out the day with dinner with my parents at the brewpub. They gave us the hugest "brownie" I've ever seen as dessert. I ate about 1/3 of it.
This week, I've been kind of trying to deal with just one project per day. Monday: recitation prep (which went awfully). Tuesday: Clifton stuff. Today: sitting in my PJs writing this entry for way too long, then eventually Nas. etc. Mike's on the couch this week because he's got interviews in town, so things are a summer kind of normal at the apartment.
Still tired. Perhaps lunch should be made and the office should be gone to. This "having nothing on the day until 2 PM" thing is good/awful.
The dishwasher didn't get run last night. (Blame this drooling kid.) So there aren't any clean bowls. Cereal in a mug? Don't mind if I do! The cerealy milk is ideal for coffee, particularly after a rather sweet cereal like graham cracker Life or Honey Nut Cheerios.
Last Tuesday was busy as promised. The 110 exam had some moments:
-to start, we didn't have as many exams as students
-a girl asked me to translate Roman numerals for her ("I KNOW they're Roman numerals, but I don't know what they meeeeean")
-I amused myself by trying to correlate UR apparel with seat choice
-students had no idea how to turn in their exams despite the piles labelled "EXAM A" and "EXAM B". Even the students who had seen the previous 100 exams turned in were unable to figure out what to do.
Nas & Clifton meetings went wellish. Lots of work ahead on both of those. The ling talk (which was actually in Jeff's class?) about how some people's speech is perceived as "gay" even if they're not was interesting, though not presented as clearly as it could be. The speaker had no PowerPoint, just a handout of citations. And his works cited list didn't even list everything he cited! I'd been productive from about 8:30-1:30 straight, so I took the rest of the day off. Wednesday was my guest lecture in 111, which moved way too quickly. I panicked about time halfway through. Somehow, though, it turned out okay. Finished just a bit early. Exactly one student said "Thank you" on her way out. Good enough for me. Hopefully they couldn't tell it was my first time with a laser pointer. Thursday, I parked on campus for the first time in a long while during school hours. The information booth was taking too long, so I parked at a meter next to Hutchinson, then tried to find spare change. A nickel gets you two minutes. I needed to be there for an hour and fiften, during 110. Yeeps. Good thing I found some quarters lurking in my bag & car. (I later got my tag validated and parked in Park Lot, just as it threatened to rain.) In the evening, Meghan and I made granola for the camping trip. We made different batches in an attempt to compete. KK seemed to like them about equally, while silberzauber tasted them at ER and voted for Meghan's. (Did I get that right?) Friday night, we went to The Keg/German House to hear KK's friend's brother's band play. A bassoon duet played right before they went on. That's about all there is to say about that.
The camping was a good weekend activity. Meghan and I had to buy last-minute supplies before we got on the road, which took longer than expected, but I think in the end, we timed everything well. Dick's had some really cool stuff, and I am excited at the prospect of camping again. The park ranger gave us the wrong directions to the site, but didn't make us buy a car tag, even after we'd asked "Is there any paperwork we need to deal with?" Hm... We set up camp, then went on a hike with Ellen, Greg, Hal, Janneke(sp?), Ferenc, and Akira The Irish Setter. We went a couple miles in one direction, then across the gorge, then back, then back again maybe? Hard to say, because Stony Brook State Park totally lacks helpful brochures and maps and signs. This was frustrating for me, as an information junkie. What railroad went through there when? When was the park set up? (There was ONE plaque about this.) What are these rock formations? When we got back, antinats and Austin had arrived, and the fire got going. Chicken, potatoes, pudgie pies, hot dogs, bananas, and s'mores were cooked. State park regulations about beverages were skirted/patently ignored. A park ranger came by at one point and asked "Do any of your cars have tags?"
"Three of them do. A few of us came in and the ranger at the checkin point didn't make us get them."
"WHAT?!? I'll take that up with him.. the rest of you, make sure your tags are visible."
And then he went away. Saved us $7. Also to the park's credit, they did have running water at each site and hot showers available. To Greg's disappointment, there was no electricity, but it was CAMPING afterall. And we'd picked up an astronomy guide, but stupidly hadn't quite factored in the canopy of trees, so star-gazing wasn't that easy. Especially after a bottle of wine each. Whoops. But I saw a shooting star! Toot!
Sleeping on the ground is not all that it's cracked up to be. Especially when it's ass 40 degrees out. Especially when you're dressed for a summer night. Fargh. I remember I had some weird dream about New Orleans/Chicago/Rochester. The city was just filled with riots and famine and gangs, because of some major disaster. I was trying to make my way home through alleys and stuff without incident. A woman was giving away yams, but I knew it was a religious scam of some sort. Then I found myself on "South Averill Ave", and I thought "ah, I'll follow this until I know if I'm headed in the right direction and head home." Magically, I crossed over to the good, quiet, 1910s side of town. I found a newsstand/tobacconist/candyshop and everything was just fine.
Sunday, Meghan & I went to Corning. We had lunch with my parents at home, then we made Christmas ornaments at the Studio. (I really really want a huge tree this Christmas. Help me make this dream a reality, by, uh, throwing money at me and giving me access to a large vehicle!) We walked around downtown, such as it is. Stopped in to see gnothi_se_auton at W.E.G., and mad_jack was visiting her as well. I don't know the last time I saw him? Wow. Then a trip up to Spencer Crest for some nature walking. Closed out the day with dinner with my parents at the brewpub. They gave us the hugest "brownie" I've ever seen as dessert. I ate about 1/3 of it.
This week, I've been kind of trying to deal with just one project per day. Monday: recitation prep (which went awfully). Tuesday: Clifton stuff. Today: sitting in my PJs writing this entry for way too long, then eventually Nas. etc. Mike's on the couch this week because he's got interviews in town, so things are a summer kind of normal at the apartment.
Still tired. Perhaps lunch should be made and the office should be gone to. This "having nothing on the day until 2 PM" thing is good/awful.