Oh hai college
Moved in last Wednesday. I decorated with broadway brochures, pictures and one or two posters. Used too many thumbtacks on the wall as a result. Poster tape is for wimps...
Applied for a job at Andrew's Bar and Grill (as anything they would hire me for: bus-person, hostess, bartender, server...). Still haven't heard back from them. I miss having money.
Spent the evening with a group called the Free Thinkers and Jules (
darthmokona) at a vegan cafe off-campus called All Saints Cafe. It's a cute little place. Had Teriyaki Tofu for dinner and didn't hate it.
Roommate (Amber), Luke, and many others moved in on Thursday. Roommate is friendly, and our habits are very similar, although we're two pretty different people.
Spent the weekend running errands (book shopping, food shopping) and watching movies. Saw Inglourious Bastards and I want to have Quentin Tarantino's firstborn plzkthx. Brad Pitt made me lol with basically everything he said. The language thing made me nerd the fuck out, okay? Also saw Pulp Fiction for the first time, and again with the awesome, although I couldn't quite grasp what the movie was "about" per se. How do you summarize that shit? I can't even tell who the main character is... Saw The Fountain with Hugh Jackman as well, which was...a very strange movie. There are about three different ways I could interperate it, and I won't bore you by going into it. What I did like, is that instead of using CGI for the large pretty effects, they used up-close film of chemical reactions, and the result was gorgeous. I have also discovered that Hugh Jackman can be a bit...overdramatic. Which is probably why he's such a successful stage actor as well.
On another note, I've spent a total of $530 on textbooks. Thankfully, now that my scholarships/loans have all come in and been disbursed, I should be getting the leftover cash put into my account, so I can pay myself back.
So. Classes
Monday:
8am: Italian. Taught by a grad student, Angela Ceccareli. It's...okay. I really wish I had my German prof from BC just teaching me every language.... so I've kind of been spoiled that way. We have homework every night, but it's not horrible. And there is studying to be done anyway. Still, learning a romance language, especially this one, after German, is like doing everything left-handed. I can't see the logic in why things are named what they are! Rargh. I think she's also assuming some, at least minimal, knowledge of Spanish or typical romance languages, because she hasn't yet explained the exclusion of pronouns or masculine/feminine nouns yet. Grrr.
It's an okay class, but I'd rather have it two or three days a week as opposed to five.
335: Cultural Anthropology: Taught by an adjunct professor, Elizabeth Purdum. I'd make super-accurate comparisons to my high school teachers, but none of my flist is from CA =[. Let's just say she talks without saying anything for a long. Ass. Time. Still, the assignments and the material seem pretty interesting. I just got the order for the textbook today, so we'll see.
630: Honors Colloquium: Complete. Snoozefest. At least it's only on Mondays.
Tuesday:
Probably my favorite day, despite being so damn busy
8am: Italian again.
9:30: Religion and 20th Century Fantasy Literature: Taught by Adam Ware (Adam, not Prof, Dr. or Mr. Ware), who is amazing and dorky and awesome.
Okay. So. The "required texts" are Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, and Deathly Hallows. The Narnia series (all except Prince Caspian and Horse and His Boy). His Dark Materials. The Lord of the Rings. Yeah. You're jealous. Actually, this class is the reason why I won't get any personal reading done. Because I need to read probably 300 pages per week on average, and that's just a guesstimate. For Thursdy I had to read "On Stories" by C.S. Lewis, chapter 3 of "The Island" by Francis Spufford, and the 74-page essay "On Fairy Stories" by J.R.R. Tolkein. As much as they are interesting, they're kind of difficult, especially when putting them together and trying to get the -point- of what they're all saying. I only ended up reading the first two of the three for lack of time, and I think it really affected my understanding of the lecture. He's kind of scatterbrained, and he doesn't use powerpoints. At least the only major grades are 3 out of 4 available written papers (one on each series) at least 1500 words. Psh, I can do that.
11am: Physical Anthropology and Prehistory: Taught by Dean Falk, who looks like Edna from The Incredibles, in a giant lecture hall. Holy shit this woman is knowledgable. Unbelievably smart and experienced. Lots of textbook reading, but it's not all that bad and the material is interesting. It's like biology last year for me. Lots of work and reading, but not a gross amount (like Religion & Fantasy Lit). There are two textbooks, one of which is ~internationally renowned~ (for good reason, it's informative, interesting, and not too complicated). The other is a book my professor wrote called Finding Our Tongues: Mothers, Infants, and the Origins of Language. I've only read the introduction so far but this is wayyyyy up my alley.
After this, I have a break for lunch. I've been spending these breaks in Luke's room eating my own crappy sandwiches (I suck at making sandwiches, don't ask me why) and watching Cowboy Bebop (he's experiencing it for the first time!).
430pm: Class Piano for Intermediate Non-majors. Relaxing one-hour class where the instructor basically works with you on your own level. I think I'm actually a little above the standard level, but who knows. The "textbook" I chose has Toccata and Fugue in d minor by Bach, which I haven't played before, so that should be fun! We can also play our own chosen pieces as part of a "semester project", so that's good too.
Wednesday was like Monday except possibly more boring and without the Honors Colloquium.
Thursday is like Tuesday, except I have a lab that day, but it doesn't start until next Thursday. The lab is off-campus next to a club called Chubby's. This is what I brought my bike for...
This particular Thursday, however, was interesting.
1. I slept through my 8am class because my alarm either didn't ring or I turned it off without realizing.
2. I woke up at 9:25, just enough time to be late for R&FL. I didn't shower, barely brushed my teeth, forgot about deoderant, threw on flip flops, clothes and my hoodie and ventured out into a TORRENTIAL RAINPOCALYPSE. I missed probably five minutes of the lecture, which isn't too bad.
3. I then had to RUN to Physical Anthro which is ALL THE WAY ACROSS CAMPUS. In the rain. Btw, flipflops + dirt + rain = epic chafing. I still have the bandaids on my poor foot. Managed to get to class in time, though just barely, which surprised even me.
4. I came back to my dorm soggy and un-caffinated and miserable and took a shower. And sat at my laptop and barely moved for a good few hours.
5. Did nothing in piano except go over scales and play my own thing.
6. Got home to find out that my roommate was going to go clubbing with a bunch of her friends. I would've declined but two of her friends also had an 8am the next day, so I figured what the hell. I tarted up and we went to a place called Big Daddys at around 11 or 12. I need to describe this place to you:
Surprisingly small, with wood floors and almost a tavern look. As you walk in the crowd is thin, with a few cup-and-bottle-littered booths to your left, a bar to your right, and about three TVs showing different ESPNs (one was showing the Eagles-Jaguars game, which I watched for a bit). Toward the back was the dance floor. And you may think I'm being cliche, but the music made the floor pulse, my entire body vibrate. There were posters on the walls and ceilings, things written in sharpie at eye-level. The ceilings were unfinished-looking, with posters, pipes, and hanging speakers. There were a few platforms on which you could stand and show off your dancing skills if you so desired. The lights made the smoke glow and turn the platform dancer's arms into flailing rainbows. Our group tended to hug the wall, especially me and two other guys. I'm a bit shy when it comes to dancing, and I only knew three songs the entire night (and all three were Britney Spears--Slave 4 U, Womanizer, and If You Seek Amy). I was told by a creepy-looking grad student that I didn't look like I belonged there (I had put my glasses on to check the score of the Eagles game--they won by one or two points, boooo) and that I should go somewhere I could find intellectuals and get fullfillment.... *sigh* Maybe I just wanted to stare at brainless man-meat and hoebags for a few hours, okay? (and trust me, I got an eyeful).
7. After leaving the club smelling like sweat, tobacco, pot and beer (and having ingested none of it), we went to Whataburger. Tasty tasty fries.
8. Collapsed into bed at around 330.
Friday:
Actually woke up in time. I had dressed for class the night before, but I honestly think the only thing that got me up was the knowledge that I only had to be awake for two hours before I could go back to sleep. I went to class feeling somehow hung over and like I was coming down with a cold (I am). Then, at the end, blissful, blissful sleep. Until 2. After which I did nothing productive whatsoever. Glorious.
Today: Got up, had the most amazing omelette ever at Swaunee Room (the dining hall). Plan on going shopping with the roomie when she comes back from lunch.
And now, a to-do list that's basically for my own benefit.
Errands: laundry, bookstore for textbook
chores: clean, organize "kitchen"
Extra things: Upload stories to brain_babies, beta a chapter of fic, read a chapter in Rapture for the Geeks
School things:
- Italian: (for Monday) homework, study for quiz
- CultAnthro: (for Monday) read Ch. 1 in textbook
- PhysAnthro: (for Tuesday) read Ch. 2 in txt, ch 1 in Tongues
- PhysLab: (for Thursday) read handout
- R&FL: (ASAP) finish "On Fairy Stories" (for Tuesday) read selected Gospels, and Lewis Letters
- Piano: (for Tuesday) study book, pracitce C major parallel motion 2 octives 8th notes.