Mosaic Life

Spring semester

I scheduled my classes for spring semester. Finally, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I have no idea what I’ll do with all my extra time when I’m done in May, but I’m certain I’ll find something.

First term I’m taking Intro to Drawing and Philosophy of Religion. I’ve tried my hand at art and drawing in high school, and as I recall, I really enjoyed it. I didn’t prove to have an immense amount of talent, but hey, how can you go wrong with an art class? I’ll tell you how you can go wrong, you can take an Asian Art class in which the teacher can only dole out a certain number of A’s, therefore you get a B with your 89.95 grade point. I’m not bitter about that at all, actually. Anyway, I’d best make an A in the drawing class, because I’m bent on graduating with honors of some sort. Oh, and then there’s the Philosophy of Religion class. I figure that will be interesting, because I’m rather ignorant when it comes to other religions than Christianity and I’d like to be able to speak about them with some sort of familiarity.

Second session I’m taking Genderlect and Creative Writing. I’m excited about the Genderlect class because I’m taking it with a professor that I’ve had before, plus she usually starts the class by bringing in a transvestite. Talk about a good way to begin! As for Creative Writing, I feel like it’s something I should take to round out my college experience. Although I don’t really enjoy writing fiction, especially since I can never settle on names for my characters.

Anyway, that’s it for spring. I’m so excited that I’m nearly done. Hooray!

Second session

I just started two new classes. One is a World Lit class (the enlightenment to the present) and the other is a class on the Italian Renaissance. I really think I’m going to enjoy this session. I’ve had both teachers before, and I really enjoy taking their classes. Plus, my grades will be based on papers alone, which is good news for me since I’m way better at writing than I am at memorizing information. However, I will be reading quite a bit. I’m supposed to read Robinson Crusoe by Saturday. We’ll see how that goes.

So anyway, yeah, super busy. But I’m halfway done with my last fall semester as an undergrad, and I’m very much looking forward to graduation in May.

In which I work a Gone with the Wind quote into school talk

So when I tell people that I’m going to school and working full-time, they often ask me how I manage it. And each time I generally don’t know how to explain it. I’m not really sure how I haven’t gone crazy yet. I just sort of take things day by day, pray that I don’t have to work late the night before a paper is due, wake up at 6:45 am on a Saturday to go to class (often cursing because sleeping is one of my favorite things to do, but being sure to curse quietly enough not to wake Brandon), and just basically keep going.

There have been times that I’ve been so busy that I’ve had to allocate time to worry about stuff. Like one time I had to work overtime over the weekend, but I had a paper to write that was due Monday and one due Wednesday. So I had to pull a Scarlet O’Hara and say “I won’t think about that now, I’ll think about that later.” Obviously I wasn’t saying that because I was feeling guilty about shooting a yankee, but it was helpful. Sometimes I have to give myself a cut-off point, like when I have a huge reading assigment that I just don’t have time to finish without sacrificing the quality of a paper that’s due. I’ll read the first few chapters, the last few chapters, and fill the rest in with Wikipedia. I hate having to do that because I actually enjoy reading the material (most of it, so far The Song of Roland is exceedingly boring), but it’s what I have to do. Plus, honestly, I need time to be lazy, to watch one more episode of House, to actually do the dishes and maybe even do laundry. It’s all about survival until the end of April.

Monday again

Wow, it’s another Monday already. My weekend was fairly boring but productive. I wrote two papers for my last two summer classes. It was raining outside, so I really didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything outside the walls of our apartment. Oh, and by the way, I’m totally done with Hitchcock and Shakespeare! Woo! I mean, they’re nice and all, but I’m ready to move on to… Let’s see. World Lit, the classics to the Rennaissance and Media Writing. That should be entertaining.

Apparently the high today is in the upper seventies, which is insane. This is Hot-lanta, and it is August. I don’t care if it is raining, usually the temperatures do not go that low until, let’s see, October. So I’m all about this weather. It means that it’s cool enough to take a nap in my car during my lunch break, and I have missed those naps so much during the hot summer. I’m definitely the type of person that can’t function without a midday nap. Why doesn’t America have siesta time? That would be so awesome.

Happy Friday!

Yay, it’s Friday. I have one week left in my Shakespeare and Hitchcock classes. I can’t believe they’re nearly over. I do like 8-week classes though, because we get right to the important stuff and it’s over quickly. You get a nice sense of accomplishment afterward, so that’s good too.

In a few days we’ll have lived in Georgia for 2 years. Isn’t that crazy? I feel like we just left California yesterday. When we first moved here, we lived in campus housing, which was pretty much a complete dump, especially compared to the nice apartment we left. I remember standing in the empty apartment, looking at the elementary school-style carpet, still sweating from the heat and humidity outside, and having this panicky what-have-we-done sort of feeling. At first, I hated Atlanta. I didn’t know my way around, it was hot and disgusting outside, we didn’t know anyone. But it got better. I got a job. Fall came. The trees changed colors and the temperature began to drop. We made friends. We moved out of that 400-square foot dump and into a nicer apartment. Things got so much better in less than a year.

After our visit back to California in July, people asked me if I missed it. I do. It was a beautiful place to live. When they ask where I like living better, it’s harder to answer. Both places are so very different. Southern California has amazing weather all year long, but fall and spring in Atlanta are gorgeous. I will say that it feels like it’s easier to make friends here in Georgia, but that may be because Brandon’s in seminary, so there are more people that have similar lives and interests to hang out with. Plus, it seems like there were more beautiful people in SoCal, and they have awful personalities. I’m sure they mean well, though.

Fall classes

Signed up for fall semester tonight. Here’s the lineup:

Special Topics in Writing: Media Writing

World Literature: The Classics Through the Rennaissance

The Italian Rennaissance

World Literature: The Enlightenment to the Present

Should be good fun! Now I just have three more papers to write before the end of summer semester.

Writing away the weekend

I’ve spent much of my weekend writing. On Friday night I wrote a paper for my Hitchcock class comparing the heroines in The 39 Steps and Shadow of a Doubt, and tonight I’m comparing Henry V and Macbeth as “great men” for my Shakespeare class. I really shouldn’t have put off the papers like I did, but it was sort of unavoidable since work was pretty busy last week.

Brandon got back from Indiana University early Saturday morning. It’s nice to have him back, since things just don’t feel right without him home. I think the nights are the weirdest. I mean sure, I have the cat here with me, but he’s not so much of a cuddler as he is a pouncer and a biter. But I love him for who he is, just like he loves me despite the fact that I accidentally locked him in the bathroom all day Friday in the dark without food. Woops.

Catching up

Man, this week has been rough. I’m not sure if it’s that I’m coming back from vacation, or if I have jet lag, or if it’s just that my body has decided to rebel against me, but it’s been really hard to get through the last few days. I feel like I’m going in slow motion or something. Brandon gets home tomorrow (he stayed an extra week for work), which will be really nice. Things will feel more normal then.

I was able to visit my sister and the babies the weekend before we left for California. Rylan and Dawson are doing great. Dawson is nearly 2 pounds heavier than Rylan now, and they’re both developing like crazy. Dawson can hold his head up, and Rylan can pretty much melt a heart of ice with her smiles. They are both excellent poopers. They’re going to be christened on Sunday, August 3rd, which will probably be the next time I see them, what with my terrible schedule.

California was great. It was really nice to be back. As we left the airport, I just kept marveling at how sunny and beautiful it was. It all felt so familiar, which it should, since I lived there 4 years, but it’s funny how a place littered with palm trees, beaches, and beautiful people could feel like home while at the same time, a place like my tiny hometown (which lacks beaches and palm trees but does have old homes and a Walmart) feels like home. It was really good to see some of our friends and Brandon’s family again as well. I haven’t been back since we moved, which was nearly 2 years ago, so it felt a little surreal. But we were able to relax and do some of the things that we were too busy to do while we lived there, so it was nice.

I started my Shakespeare class on Monday. We’re reading King Henry V and watching both movie versions of it. This play didn’t really do a great job of convincing me that I’m going to enjoy reading Shakespeare’s work. I couldn’t slog through the reading what with my lack of back story information and my annoyance at having to check the bottom of the page for a translation of every word, so I watched the movie with subtitles on. It’s silly to have to read the plays anyway, as they were meant to be seen. I think we’re reading Macbeth next, which I seem to recall vaguely enjoying in the past. Doesn’t it have witches and the quote, “Out, out, damn spot”? That may make it more worthwhile.

Just a few more days

So I’m nearly done with this session of the summer semester. Now I just have to write like crazy. (I suppose it’s to balance out the reading.) At any rate, I have to write a paper on The Great Gatsby and the twisted American Dream, an essay on the history of Christianity from its origins to the time it became legal, and an essay on the “calamitous” fourteenth century. Fun stuff! Wish me luck.

One of those update blogs, sans crusty eye talk

I’ll be finished with my first session of summer semester in exactly one week. I’m pretty excited about that, because I feel like I’ll finally have a chance to breathe. This session has seemed exceptionally brutal, even compared to last session when I was taking a language. I have three papers to write before Thursday, so we’ll see how that goes.

Next weekend I plan to visit my sister and the babies. I can’t wait to see them; I hear Dawson has become quite a chunky monkey (outweighing his sister by nearly a pound), and that Rylan still spends much of her time sleeping. I’m going to be taking Saturday classes starting next session (after July 7th or so) until fall semester is over. Definitely not looking forward to getting up early on Saturdays.

And then I’m going to be visiting California June 30 to July 5. Brandon is staying another week afterward for work. I’m really looking forward to the visit, especially since I haven’t been back since we moved. I’m hoping to spend a lot of time being lazy and getting sunburned on the beach. Good plan, right? We also plan to see friends/family, so that should be a good time.

I’m mostly looking forward to having time off. It’s been a while since I’ve taken a whole week of vacation. It’ll actually feel like summer, even if it’s only for 7 days.