Freshmen suck

God these kids drive me nuts. First, I was missing about 6 students total between the two classes I taught. These are people that I now have to arrange to meet outside of class to catch up. When they miss the first day of lab, they don't get signed in to Webboard and then, they don't have access to assignments.

Naturally, those people that missed are also the ones that didn't send me e-mails (their first assignment -- they have to send me e-mails so that I can add them to my contacts list -- I'm on "exclusive" on Hotmail and they need to be added to a "group" for announcements, etc.). So, I can't get ahold of them to let them know that they need to meet me.

As I was trying to get through lab, the over-anxious students bombard me with questions that demand the response, "I'm getting there; just hold on."

Why can't Freshmen just wait until it is clear that I'm done? I make it clear that I'm done because I say, "I'm done." Duh.

So now other parts of my body have that pins and needles thing -- not just my face. I hope this is all the stress of the first week of school combined with heat. And, of course, I could be imagining things. Psychosomatic. Hypochondria. Whatever.

Trying some Pics of Lia, Again

Here's a pic of Lia floating around the pool. She does this just about every night. She poses for pictures. It's not too hard to get her to do this.







She also likes to float around -- unfortunately, she also chews on the expensive mats. Grandma is making Mama pay for new mats. $70.00 apiece, dammit.




This is her favorite toy -- she loves that damned octopus. She's already destroyed the "quacker" in the middle, but the "squeekies" on each tentacle still work. No, Tom, not testicles.





And, finally, this is Aunt Cat holding the baby. She's 60 pounds of the biggest lap-dog baby you ever saw.

General rambling

So Hong is now going to an ESL section. Funny cause I thought she was dead! Damn. I'm still pissed off -- not because she's not dead but because the University sucks.

I'm trying to busily keep up with all the initial paper work. I've got to check my enrollment lists, again. I had one student trying to get into the Wednesday night section. She can have the one opening I have left in the MW section, but ... I'm limited by the number of computers in our lab. Supposedly we have 24 and an instructor station. I only counted 23, but I was in a hurry.

I am already behind in assignments. That didn't take long. Only a week. I totally forgot about doing the reading for Dr. Baker's class. I flew through two of the three articles -- I highlighted some things that looked important while I skimmed -- I must be better at this than I thought because I highlightd the same stuff Baker talked about. Bonus. Not that it takes any kind of genius to pick out the important points ... but most of my students can't do this.

I'm really freaking broke -- until I get paid tomorrow, finally. $425.00 net. Whoo-hoo. Big money, no whammies. And then ... I get my student loans, I think, by the end of the week. A net of $5400 or so. I have to turn around and hand my mother $3800 of that (but it pays my rent through January and any other loans I incurred since June or so -- stupid shower/wedding gifts and the like). I have to also pay 4 months of storage (I'm behind up there, but they like me). I need an oil change, Lia needs to get fixed and I've got to get some clothes! After all of this, I can start paying some of the Doctor bills. But I'm going to put everything together to declare Bankruptcy because the stupid, stupid school isn't paying the $20,000 in medical bills I incurred in April. Bastards. I'm tired of fucking with it so ...

Got lots of work to do and reading to catch up on. Gotta go.

Naked Boys Singing

This is really a show in Chicago! My little brother had a part in a play at the Balliwick theater -- apparently a center dedicated to LGBT themed shows. His show started right after the end of "Naked Boys Singing." I was privilege to the goings-on after the show -- the throngs of women out for Bachelorette parties throwing themselves at these poor men. What in the hell?

So we (my parents and I) didn't get home until almost 3:00 this morning. Poor little Lia was alone from about 9:00 last night until we got home. I THINK Janelle picked her up for play time with Tally for a while. I have to assume she did because of evidence left here. Anyway, Lia was really happy to see Mama last night.

Today is Ophelia's 6-month birthday. I really need to get her fixed if I'm going to do it.

I have a brief To Do list that I need to record, here. (In order of importance)

1. Write Essay Prompt (Interview)
2. Read Essays
3. Decide on Shakespeare project
4. Fix Webboard
5. Read Phyllis & Rosamond
6. Work on Leonard Wolf presentation (get research at library)
7. Do scheduling for Giles’ class in planner
8. Find Local Color paper I wrote for Dr. Hipp
9. Find “A Room of One’s Own” in my room??
10. Schedule massage for Friday

Now I'm Really Pissed

Okay, I felt a little bad about the girl that "died." I was a little weirded out by the Tourette's. I am somewhat irritated with the writing samples.

I'm totally fucking pissed, now, though. YOU DON'T SEND E-MAILS TO INSTRUCTORS SAYING THAT A STUDENT D-I-E-D WHEN THEY ARE ONLY IN ISOLATION!!

Apparently, they don't want to start a panic. They THINK -- they aren't saying anything else -- THE UNIVERSITY THINKS that poor little Hong has meningitis.

WHAT THE MOTHER-FUCK IS THIS SHIT?? So now it's okay for major institutions to upset instructors with e-mails that, and I quote, say: "We regret to inform you that your student [DELETED FOR "PRIVACY"] has passed away."

Either that or "passed away," in University speak, means, "has a really awful disease and we don't want to start a panic in the dorms."

Okay, I'm going to remain calm -- I will not overreact -- GOD-DAMNED, MOTHER-FUCKING, SON-OF-A-BITCHING, ASSHOLES! I'm okay -- I'm breathing.

Wanted to share.

Wouldn't That Be Something

"If I sorted it out; if I knew all about this one thing ... wouldn't that be something."

Can't get this song out of my head, this morning. It's been a while since I heard it -- I think I was dreaming it last night.

What does that say?

Sneezes

Lia thinks that a sneeze out of me is a signal that she is to quickly and forcefully throw her entire body into my lap to check to see if I'm still alive or not.

I was ... until she hit me with her full 60 pounds. Ow. And she's only 6 months old! (on the 28th). The vet informed me that his previous guess of about 60 pounds full grown may have been a little off -- ya' think? She hasn't even started to bulk up, yet. I'm betting 80 pounds.

She's a beauty, though.

It's Late

I gave the writing diagnostics today. There were, of course, the usual moans and groans.

Here's the horrible things for today: I had a student show up on Monday for the M/W class who DIED yesterday.

I got a horribly non-sympathetic and austere -- is that the word -- no, I think I mean antiseptic -- whatever -- not heart-felt -- e-mail from the University informing me that there was an opening in my much sought-after (time slot) class.

So the space was filled by a foreign exchange student who is auditing my class -- she was brought in to teach fuckin' Indonesian??? How in the hell does one teach "Indonesian." Aren't there like 300 languages and dialects in Indonesia? Is there even such a language .... Chris?

Whatever. The Wednesday night group is going to be a hoot. Over half of the students went to Catholic schools. Go figure -- not even one adult-returning student and only 2 commuters. Several of my students are from the Aurora area -- and a lot -- a LOT from the city.

One of my students informed me that she has recently acquired Tourette's Syndrome. Wow. She's more than freaked out about it ... but ... the NIU band director diagnosed her. Um, can we say "see a doctor?" I don't think I'd be running off on what the band director says. Hell, I didn't even listen to my Optomitrist. I got opinions from 4 more doctors before I even started to believe it.

On that note -- the Lyme disease test was negative. I feel a bit relieved because it was the last remaining possibility (that I know of) and now that it is out of the way, I can just move on. My face is still asleep -- and it comes and goes in the strangest ways. Again -- whatever. I'll call my doctor tomorrow and try to get in to see him when he comes back from the fargin' Himilayas. He'll probably jack me up on steroids again -- not a pleasant experience so I'll try to get some work done before that happens.

John called tonight and I tried to call him back three times -- kept getting a "this number not in service message." I called one last time and then got his voice mail. I'll try to catch him tomorrow.

Eventful day for a day where nothing really happened.

Shakespeare

This is going to be a great class. Dr. Baker is the same as ever. He is just the greatest. Really, the greatest (as far as middle-aged British librarians go, anyway). The class is going to actually edit a "questionable" text of Hamlet and of King Leer. This is going to be awesome. I whined a bit that college courses don't seem to ever look at the comedies. He agreed. I love it when he agrees with me.

It's going to be a fun class: Tony DiSanto, Mike O'Gorman, Sara Okey, Linda Reinert, Tom Peterson, and 4 others (I just don't know these people). We laughed through the entire evening. It was my first graduate course where I wasn't constantly looking at the clock and counting down the minutes until the next break. There are very few requirements: a few short presentations and a 15 page paper (that the presentations will work towards). There doesn't look to be a lot of research outside the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and the Shakespeare Quarterly. That works for me. Looks like I'm actually going to have to break down and subscribe to the Quarterly soon. It'll be worth it.

My own students are a bit scary to me this term. There are 25 in my MW class -- only 3 girls! And I swear that the boys -- well, 1/2 are Asian and 1/2 are white boys who all look alike! And the white boys all have the same names -- I think I have three Mark's in one class. At least 2 John's in that same class. It was hot in our classroom yesterday so I just did the quickie run through -- go over the syllabus and take attendance (I hate reading the syllabus out loud so since I just hit the high points, we were only in class for about 1/2 hour). Wednesday will go well with that class because I'm just sitting them down for a writing diagnostic. I hope it's not as hot in there -- if it is, I may do it as a take-home (though that really defeats the purpose).

From there, Monday we'll do a few name games and I'll conduct mini-conferences and then -- hah-hah! We're going in to lab. They're just gonna love it, I know.

I have to read some articles for Dr. Baker and I need to finish Orlando (I finished To the Lighthouse) and a few of Woolf's short stories. I don't have to leave for school, today, until 4:30 or so.

Oh yeah -- and I had a Lyme Disease Test and a TB test yesterday morning. The Lyme Disease test is a last-ditch hope that I don't really have MS -- the TB test is so that I can substitute this term (even one or two days a week -- that would make all the difference in whether or not I make it through next summer).

I wish Ophelia would let me sleep a little later. She's pretty quiet but I wake up and see her lying in her crate and looking at me with those big, brown eyes -- I can't leave her there. She's slept with me a few times over the last few days. She's getting more trustworthy -- I just don't want her chewing holes in the family room rug or "playing" with my expensive leather sandals. I take her out to swim around 10:00 at night and if she's worn out -- then I let her sleep with me because she'll sleep the whole night.

She's ringing the bell (probably because Daisy, the basset/dachshund mix -- adorable dog, I swear, is outside and Lia wants to play). Lia's 3x her size at this point and Lia is horribly misbehaved in general -- I think we won't be going out right now.

I've got some e-mails from students to answer so I'm signing off.

Short, I think

I am really nervous, today, about the fall term's start. I am more than a little worried that what little bit of my mind that I have, still, will leave me. I've always been proud of, if not stuck-up about, my ability to figure things out. I always thought I was good at pulling it off even if I really didn't have a clue (reference: MIG, student teaching, that presentation in Victorian Lit, every paper I've ever written). What will I do with all these fancy degrees if I'm just not smart enough anymore? What if MS takes my brain and doesn't give it back?

Yeah, this is what's been on my mind.

Okay, Here's One I Actually Like

You scored as Hermione Granger. You're one intelligent witch, but you have a hard time believing it and require constant reassurance. You are a very supportive friend who would do anything and everything to help her friends out. Hermione Granger 85% Albus Dumbledore 80% Draco Malfoy 70% Sirius Black 65% Remus Lupin 65% Ron Weasley 60% Harry Potter 50% Ginny Weasley 45% Severus Snape 30% Lord Voldemort 20% Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...? created with QuizFarm.com

AND THE BEST PART -- I READ THE HTML CODE ALL BY MYSELF AND FIXED THE SIZE OF THESE RESULTS! (THE DAMNED THING DOESN'T FIT ON THE BLOG) Ha ha. I can read code! Thanks, Techie Boy, Eric!

Virginia Woolf

Apparently, she and I are going to become much better acquainted this term. I've already read Orlando and A Room of One's Own. Also on the syllabus is The Voyage Out, Three Guineas, The Waves, and To the Lighthouse (coincidentally, a few years back I asked for a collection of critical essays on Mrs. Dalloway and I was given a collection on The Waves and To The Lighthouse, instead -- gonna come in handy now!).

We are also reading Lytton Strachey's Emminent Victorians, something on the artists of Bloomsbury, a book about Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell (as sisters), Forster's Howard's End and Vita Sackville-West's All Passions Spent -- and God -- I don't know what else -- these books cost me something like $200 -- most of which I got used at the bookstore. Wow. The books (4 of them combined) for my other two classes (including my Shakespeare Textual Studies taught by the librarian I love so much -- brilliant man -- and the short story class with the nicest and easiest teacher on campus) only cost me about $100.00. I hate the textbook racket. They all suck. If I could only get on top of it one semester -- I took the time to check Amazon for all my books -- mind I got a 10% discount for being a TA at the Village Commons Bookstore -- Amazon would have been about $100 less including shipping! Even after my discount! Fuck me. I have no cash. Had to charge everything to my student loans.

Gonna be a busy term.

Finished my syllabus last night (nothing like waiting until the last possible minute).

Here's the latest medical update: I hope I'm imagining things. I'm seeing my doctor this afternoon and health services (for that long-awaited lyme disease test) Monday morning. I really think I'm just overreacting. The best I can explain it is that the left side of my face feels "tear-stained." You know, that kind of stiff skin/tight skin feeling your cheeks get after you've cried a long time. Okay, I cried a lot -- but I've showered several times since then -- come on. It's not droopy, it's not tingly, it's doesn't hurt, and it's not asleep. It just feels weird. I described it to one of my support group friends and he says not MS related. I suggested lyme disease -- he said probably closer. Bell's Palsy is Lyme disease more frequently than MS -- wouldn't this be a hoot! Optic Neuritis is usually diagnosed as MS, but can be misdiagnosed as MS when it's actually lyme disease.

I'm obsessing, I know. Nah. I am not going to get that "lucky." Bonus -- if it is lyme disease -- I would have had to have had it for some 3 or 4 years for it to go this far. Hmmm. Where was I that I would have been bitten by a tick 3 or 4 years ago? Hmmmm. This would be beautiful irony.

Irony with MS -- my elitist/snobbish attitudes towards "stupid people" -- well, perfect punishment from God.

Ukrainians

Yeah, that family knows how to do a funeral. After the initial uncontrollable sobbing, I was able to "enjoy" the beautiful traditions of the Ukrainians.

Stephany's wake was at a typical "neighborhood" funeral home in Bridgeport. This is what used to be a very Ukrainian neighborhood. Towards the end of the wake, the people were really packing in and no one was leaving. I was a bit confused at the sudden crowd, but there was a 7:00 service called "The Panakhyda." In Ukrainian, the many people there chanted along with a priest for over 20 minutes. Only the older people seemed to know this song -- chant -- sung chant(?).

The funeral at the church in Orland Park was really, really long -- at least 2 hours. The priest invited all Catholics to take part in communion -- intersting and different -- a "cube" of a host is soaked in wine and is only served to the people on a spoon in the mouth -- different than the Roman Catholic church, now, because we take it in our hands and put it in our mouths ourself.

For the Panakyda this time, though, we were given prayer books and could follow along in English -- here's the complaint:

Like I said, only the older people know this chant. Even the priest -- a newcomer from Brazil who speaks primarily English and Portugese -- sang in Ukrainian. Why don't Steve and his brother and sister, the other younger members of the parish -- why don't THEY know this beautiful tradition?

If I were to ever marry a Ukrainian man, I think that would be the first thing I would learn. They sang a beautiful Ukrainian song at Janelle and Steve's wedding, too. Shame on Janelle for not making this a priority. Shame on those kids for not practicing the CULTURE if not the religion of their ancestors -- let alone their mother!

I got a chance to chat with the priest at the funeral luncheon. He is a unique and interesting man. He's only been here for about 6 months and his English is excellent. He said he's now used to picking up new languages -- Italian, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Latin (of course) etc. He guessed that he was fluent in at least 6 languages and proficient in another 3. Amazing.

The church was incredibly beautiful. I wish I knew more about the Eastern Orthodox Catholics. I know a little: I know my sister, Janelle, was automatically "converted" after she married one by the laws of both the Roman and Ukrainian church; I know that they make the sign of the cross backwards; I know that they really guild the alter! Check out that picture from another Chicago Ukrainian church -- Stephany's church is done in almost the same kind of opulence.

Okay. I think I'm done talking about funerals. God that one hurt. I'm glad I didn't have to try to get out of working or a class or something -- explaining my relationship to Stephany would have sounded like a stretch for "death in the family." She's my sister's mother-in-law -- my brother-in-law's mother -- my grandmother's good friend -- but no one would have bought my relationship. I guess the fact that when I graduated from college -- she sent me $100 without even an announcement sent out, yet ... well, that didn't make me love her, but that did make me realize that she was a great lady in all respects. I loved her because she had a loud, obnoxious, (Steve's brother Ray called it "sometimes embarassing"), wonderful and genuine laugh -- evidence of a beautiful soul. I miss her.

Clarification for Tom and Hair Cut Issues

In response to a brief "discussion" I had with Tom -- that woman isn't there any more. I love the shop and still patronize the place when I can. But, I won't ever forget how awful her lie made me feel and in the middle of my baby sister's bridal shower (that I spent so much on and planned so carefully). I cried for weeks and was torn up for a long time afterwards. She had me thinking something about someone that I just didn't want to believe. I mean, I wasn't talking to that person, anyway. But she said some terrible things with seeming "innocence" in her relation of the story to me at such an inappropriate time. It made me feel even worse about an already bad situation.

I think I just had a relapse and wanted to bitch in writing. It's been nearly a year and I still have doubts as to whether or not I know the truth at this point. I really have let it go, but the picture brought everything back -- I'm a bit vulnerable, now, and most of my friends know that when horrible things happen, I usually cling to something else instead of dealing with the real problem.

This relates to Stephany only in the coincidence that the shower was the last time I saw her -- she was too ill, after that, to come to Cat's wedding, our traditional Easter get-together, etc. She was a great lady and I am obsessing, I know. I just have had a hard time dealing with it -- so ... the wake is tonight and the funeral is tomorrow.

I've made myself feel better, today, by sending condolences to my "mentor" on the loss of her father, running up a tab this morning at Janelle's shop (for a tug-toy for Lia, some new food, and some better dental chews that keep her busy for a while), putting the finishing touches on my syllabus, helping Joe pick out an outfit for the wake, and playing with my new haircut.

I've really got to start going somewhere else to get my haircut. I'm ticked off because I had hair down to the middle of my back -- it looked like hell. I had big handfuls of hair everytime I combed because the usual shedding hair was getting tangled up in the rat's nest that I was growing. It had to get cut.

I found this really cute style and took a picture to Jeannie -- It hit at the shoulders and swung really cute. Well, let's just say that in about 4 months, my hair might be that long! Dammit -- I hate short hair. The only consolation is that my hair grows pretty fast. Shit. I really hate this cut. It's not quite as short as it was when I donated my hair, but it's still short. I'm also pissed because I had a good 10" cut off and could have donated again ... but I didn't want it that short -- so I didn't tell Jeannie to bundle it for donation. She just kept clipping and clipping. WHAT THE HELL IS UNCLEAR ABOUT "SHOULDER LENGTH?" FFFFFUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKK!

I feel better, now.

P.S.

And the tea shop lady also told me a horrible lie that ruined the whole party for me and ended up bothering me for another 3 or 4 months -- until I had the guts to check for confirmation on the story with someone I knew wouldn't lie -- yep. Big lie. I really should have asked for my money back as compensation for the series of fuck-ups (check below)

Geese. What started out a short post with a picture of Stephany and an apology to Jeff for forgetting his birthday ... well, whoops.

And Then ...

I forgot Jeff's birthday, yesterday. I even talked with him in a lengthy conversation yesterday. Dammit.

So I put a picture up, instead.

The woman on the far right (in fuschia and pearls) is Stephany. My grandmother is in the center -- she's crazy. I love her, but she's nuts.

This was at my baby sister's bridal shower/tea party last fall.

Nana and Stephany were very close. Stephany's death has been a blow to all of us.

I wonder if I should use this time to now rant about the tea party -- for which I, personally, paid some $500, and for which each of the other bridesmaids paid $100 each. Remind me that next time I decide to give a party like that ... well, just remind me not to.

Everything worked out and no one noticed the series of screw ups except me:

The girl that catered our party did a bunch of shit for which I'd like to kick her ass -- she had my sisters and I into their shop for a "tasting." Wow -- all these gorgeous sandwiches and wonderful service.

So she showed up 10 minutes late for the party (annoying because she was supposed to be there 1/2 hour early); she had only one girl to help; she brought the wrong size of table cloths -- and the wrong color -- I paid extra for dark blue. Wrong size table cloths even after I told her what size the tables were like 3 times!

The tarts she brought were 1/2 the size of the ones she told us we were going to have (like the samples) and they had spilled all over the place in her car -- so they weren't served -- but did I get a refund? No.

The "sandwiches" were canapes, not sandwiches -- again, she gave us samples and told us they would be like that! And she brought a bunch of sandwich types I didn't order -- and then didn't bring the ones I did order -- and she didn't bring enough -- and we even had 3 no-shows!

I don't know -- I'm just generally still pissed about the whole ordeal. I was put into a position that I couldn't complain -- first, because a friend recommended the place (and was, at the time, employed there); second, because the woman who catered was some 8 months pregnant and seemed incredibly uncomfortable; third, because the lady that owned the place was so entirely awesome; and finally, because I am a regular patron of the restaurant/shop. Pissed me the fuck off. OKAY -- I'M DONE!

Making dinner -- meatloaf, asparagus with hollandaise (sp?) sauce, mashed potatoes, and home made bread. Gotta go.

Only Bad News

Stephany died last night.

Good News and Bad

Here's the good news: I am willing to call it like the Florida elections -- Ophelia is potty trained.

Here's the not so good news (and there's a lot of it):

1) Chris had a horrible bike accident -- pray for the safe recovery of his Schwinn
2) Lois (Jay's dog) had a stroke and isn't doing so good (?)
3) The lady with the grayhounds down the street lost the first one about a month ago to cancer and then, last weekend, lost the other one and both of her cats to a house fire
4) Janelle's mother-in-law, Stephany, is really not doing good.

Oh -- here we are -- it's been pouring rain all day -- which is wonderful although poorly timed -- had to take Lia to the vet this morning -- I was too worried about her persistent and obvious digestive problems (putting it "nicely"). Dr. Sutkay (who is just gorgeous) says that she's fine and gave her a few pills to help fix the issue. I very much like Dr. Sutkay. He's at Sandwich Vet -- Mom makes me go all the way out there (even though the Oswego clinic is within walking distance from my house) because that's where the cats go. Mom hates Oswego after they "killed" one of our baby kitties just after we got him fixed. But, the view is worth the drive. I almost hope that Lia's sick sometimes just so I can go see Dr. Sutkay.

I also have to go take care of the Tally-nator for a few hours while her mommy (Janelle) is at work and her daddy is taking care of his dying mother.

Great and up-beat post, eh?

Making a list

My job is to list readings for my students to obligingly plow through so that we have things to talk about in class and for them to write about later.

I don't want to really talk myself out of a job, but I gotta say this is dumb. The students had to pay $45 for their text book (that I picked out -- it was less expensive than the others). They have to read a whole bunch of articles and essays in this text. Dumb. Why can't I just have them reading random blogs? Or the newspaper? Or Smithsonian magazine? Or anything other than a textbook that they will just have to sell back and only read maybe 1/2 the articles in it?

As a matter of fact, I think First Year Composition may be the dumbest class there is. Yeah, there's some methods for "teaching writing" that work, but really, the only way to learn how to write is to do it. FYComp focuses on "content full" classes because the students have to write about something. Actually, the best part of our FYComp program is the e-portfolio (and this is the part that most of my coworkers hate). This teaches realistic life skills -- webpage design. I need to totally trash my own e-portfolio and start over now that I know how cool it can be -- my own is really boring. I suppose it should be because it is a "professional" portfolio, but can't it be a little interesting?

Okay, here's my "to do" list:

1. Finish syllabus
2. Write exam for Dr. May
3. Write paper for Dr. May
4. Make up lesson plans
5. Make up a final exam for my students
6. Go to Savannah's & buy more Monks Blend (makes really good iced tea)
7. Go to Bath & Body Works (buy more foaming soap)
8. Go to Origins (buy new "relaxation" gumballs -- highly recommend these!)
9. Get a haircut (I think Jeannie's on vacation -- maybe I'll go to NeoClassique, then)
10. Get Lia a compressed rawhide (NOTE TO SELF: My sister is not always full of shit -- she said Lia is probably allergic to wheat -- I held the Greenies for 2 weeks -- nice response -- I gave her one freakin' Greenie and WOW! Very much bad).
11. Sign up for Mentor picnic
12. FYComp meeting
13. Department meeting
14. Turn in syllabus for copies

Progress

And I am about half way on my syllabus for the fall. A few hours will finish it off.

Going to Chicago tomorrow with Albina and her houseguest -- Yashuhiro -- taking the 15 year old Japanese boy to the biggest McDonalds in the world and then to the Museum of Science and Industry.

I am so happy -- I have just enough money to pay to go on the coal mine. No one has ever let me go -- the only time as a grown up and not with a school field trip that I have been to the Museum of Science and Industry was with my Canadian cousins and my tour-director sister. She said the lines were too long and we were in a hurry. I remember, now, that the "hurry" was that Janelle wanted to get home and that Joe and I were taking some of our cousins to the Five Year Jacket show at Gamekeepers in Chicago. Oh the time we wasted and the things we regret.

Enough of that -- I am in danger of saying something worth saying here -- I wouldn't want to spoil my aims of just keeping records here. I have MS -- it is likely that I will soon have short term memory loss problems. If I stick to a regular schedule and keep good notes, I won't forget stuff. So, it's morning -- I blog.

I am going to Janelle's shop to help her out. Her mother-in-law, Stephany, is dying. This breaks my heart -- the woman is an angel and has always been so kind to all of us. Janelle needs to go and be with her and Steve. I will, of course, make it to some of the services. I think I'm more upset that I haven't seen Stephany since Cat's bridal shower last fall (shameless plug for my favorite website). I love that woman like she was my own family. In fact, Steve's whole family is just all kinds of awesome. I mean, I like Shane's family okay (and they have had their fair share of heartache with Pete dying so young), but they just don't gel with us the way that Steve's family does.

I love dogs. My puppy is wonderful. She is so smart! "Ring the Bell; get a treat; go outside; go potty; get a treat." Don't think it took her 4 rings to figure this out. Lia now rings the bell every freakin' five minutes.

Peter Jennings died. I actually think I might miss him. When he left the air, I cried. I think I was under the influence of steroids at the time, but hey. I cried. He never finished high school. Go figure.

Visitors

I have been working on my syllabus for this fall. I am not getting very far. See, the thing is, I have to read everything I am going to make my students read -- so, basically, I end up having to read their whole text book so that I can pick out the pieces around which I will design my course.

Nadine came out to visit last night and to help me with my syllabus. Her English 101 teacher at UIC did a course similar to the one I'm planning. Alex (her teacher) has been a big help. Nadine's help is greatly appreciated here as they used the same text that I am using. I am doing things a bit differently as A) I have to include the electronic portfolio; B) I am having an additional reading of an American novel that represents the American Dream; and C) I am including a required Blog component. I am really hoping this works out well. If it doesn't, well, fuck 'em. I'm the teacher and I can do what I want ;)

Nah, I'm a little more flexible than that. I do want my students to succeed. I'll cut the blog if it's not working out, but I really think it's going to be an easier place for my students to write their required reflections, to keep a journal of their progress on the novel, etc. Webboard is great, but it lacks the essential "community" feel. The private conferences are nice, the broadcasted assignments and notices are good, but I want the students to be able to see each other's writings sometimes. If it needs to be private, then I'll use the private conferences. If it needs to be public -- the blog.

Interesting note for the day -- the "Em-Dash" -- this fancy, shmancy, long dash (or a double hyphen which, in Word, becomes a long dash) -- is really, truly a viable and recognized piece of punctuation! Ha-ha! I feel smart today.

Hey, DJ?

You Should Learn Swedish

Fantastisk! You're laid back about learning a language - and about life in general. Peaceful, beautiful Sweden is ideal for you... And you won't even have to speak perfect Swedish to get around!

What Language Should You Learn?

Bad Analogy, Maybe

Sometimes it's better to sit on the porch than to run with the big dogs. Yelling from the porch doesn't work -- they're running too far away to hear.

Got up early to undo something I had done without thinking. A bad night's sleep prompted me to see things more clearly in the cold light of day -- dreams have a way of telling you what to do and all you need to do is listen.

Hopefully, I undid the mistake early enough.

Have to Share

Ophelia has the prettiest way of sleeping. I look at her and I'm overcome by the almost prelapsarian simplicity and innocence. She makes me want to cry, sometimes, because she is so beautiful.

Of course, I also cry because she drives me up a wall. This pic is of her when "prelapsarian" was a good description. This was her first day with me. She's 3 months older, now. As I write this, she's sprawled out on her bed and tearing up the last remaining insides from another one of Dutch's old toys. Thank God that for a brief moment, today, she behaved in front of the photographer and reporter. At least she didn't pee on the floor.

NOTE: I used the word "prelapsarian" in a sentence. This is the same word I had to look up while hiding in the back of my Atlantic Crossings class last fall. I also needed to look up "ubiquitous" and "salacious." I think my instructor used all of these in the same sentence -- one of the first he uttered in the very first meeting of the first graduate course I took. Scared the feces out of me.

Relief

Freaking hate linguistics. That SOB had the whole class running around the library for some 20 hours during the last week of class looking for obscure information (i.e. The number of clicks in the Xhosa language, what they call a drinking fountain in Wisconsin and the profession of the creator of Volapuk) and we weren't allowed to use the Internet (short query: should Internet be capitalized?)

Thank God I came down of my "perfect" pedestal and took the incompletes. I might have shot myself -- Christine was ready to -- either that or she was going to murder our professor. There have been a few too many college professors in the news, lately, as victims of murder. I think I talked her down. I was surprisingly calm for a change -- I felt like I was still on Lexipro -- so THIS is what an incomplete feels like. Hmmmm -- I should have done this a long time ago. Oh wait -- Jack used to give me an incomplete at least once a year while I was in MIG. Fuck. That's two posts in a row with references to MIG. FYI, for anyone interested (DJ), I really don't miss it at all and it's been almost 4 years. YEAH!

I am spending the weekend working on my Victorian Lit final -- I have to write about 3 pages each on two complex questions. I hope to finish the final before school starts. I am spending next week working on my syllabus for the fall (and, by the way, Nadine, Alex has a really sexy phone voice *wink* and I can "hear" the attraction; he's been a big help).

Okay ... on the potty training front (and it feels like a war sometimes). It's been over two months since the last poo-poo incident -- in this house, anyway -- sorry Doug. It's been a week since the last pee-pee accident. Lia seems to feel a lot better now that the anti-biotics have worked out of her system. She now rings the bell hanging on the back door. Jay is going to funnel me a catalog of cool dog stuff. I understand there's a doorbell they just step on. I'm almost hesitant, though, to introduce this. She's just now getting the hanging bell. She's too damned smart, though. I have to take the bell off for periods of time because she knows that if she rings the bell, she gets a treat. After running her outside about 30 times in an hour, I decided that she needed to go in her crate for a nap. Really, I needed the nap. She's finally gotten over this little game and is on to the next game -- "Let's pull apart all of Dutch's old, broken, toys and destroy the already not working squeekies." There's filler fuzz everywhere!

I will post another picture, soon. Primarily because my princess puppy is going to be a big, famous star! She was photographed for the Enterprise (the Plainfield newspaper) and a feature story therein. I mean, the paper has 7,000 customers! My baby is going to be famous! I always thought I'd make a great stage mother. The next step is ballet lessons (thanks for the idea, Jay) and maybe even piano lessons (a chicken on the Golden Girls played the piano and my puppy is a lot smarter than any old chicken!).

This reminded me of the old family joke .... keep in mind that my father was on the Board of Directors for the Miss Illinois Pageant for some 10 years .... "And now, Miss Kendall County, who has had 13 years of ballet lessons, 10 years of piano lessons, 4 years of Clarinet lessons, has starred in several musicals, made it to the all-state choir four years in a row .... Miss Kendall County, for her talent, will now twirl the batton."

My Lia-Pia is so smart. And she's a wonderful swimmer. I love my puppy.

Whoa. Where did this post wander? I feel bad for being so hard on JK Rowling, now. But hey. I never advocated my blog as a children's book!

I've Still Got It!

Okay -- I haven't lost the BS skill I learned in MIG. I gave my presentation today in Victorian Literature. Whooo--Hoooo! I went out to school early today to add a couple of things to my presentation that I had ready for last Wednesday (but Dr. May asked me to postpone until today). Thank God!

I added only about 5 slides including two or three quotations from Tess of the D'Urbervilles and one question that was intended to be a cross-over between Tess and Mill on the Floss. Well, apparently, this was the "good stuff" in my presentation. The ensuing class discussion that I was required to lead based on my "discussion" questions ended up taking almost 2 full hours. The class was totally engrossed in my suggestion that Tess is an allegorical condemnation of the Victorian penchant for dividing up the countryside and destroying nature. Wow. I didn't believe a quarter of the crap I was spewing, but several of my classmates caught me after class to continue the argument -- when I shrugged off everything I had argued, my classmates were shocked -- "But you were so convincing!" Yeah, I also taught debate for 13 years -- usually from the perspective of the "other" side of the aisle!

Ha-ha! MIG wasn't a total waste of 13 years :) I am so happy!

I have a good feeling about the grade -- my instructor grades on "quantity" and "quality" -- but considers "quantity" to be evidence of "quality." Needless to say, I think I had plenty in the "quantity" department -- enough to cover up what I think was a lack of quality.