Well it's only day 3 of a new semester and I'm already fighting the urge to despair.
For starters, Educational Psychology is looking like it will turn out just as I thought it would - a class where I learn absolutely nothing but am forced to memorize a bunch of jargon to mask the fact that I'm not really saying anything (toss around enough theory names and I guess people will think you're smart).
Then there are my classes that have actual value. Prose comp is being taught by big K, whom I alternate between quite liking and quite disliking. It's a very odd mix of feelings. Hopefully it will be good, I'm holding judgement for now (although after I write this I need to write my Latin "diary" entry for the day... sigh). Medieval Latin is ALSO being taught by him, so this should play out interestingly. Meets tomorrow for the first time. Tonight we had our first meeting of Virgil. I've learned that even though I had a semester-long class on the Eclogues, I don't remember a single thing about them. Oops. I have never before had a class where the norm is 350 to 400 lines per week, and I am honestly pretty scared. That's of course in addition to Medieval. At least Roman Civ (which I'm TAing) shouldn't be much work, just read the materials and grade tests/papers. Oh, and I have to get my pre-practicum writeups finished and take the Latin MTEL and pray I don't fail.
I would really like to go home.
There are positives, though; over half of my students this semester are ones I had last semester. I love them. I got to read my feedback from last semester and some of them were so sweet it made me feel all good about myself. Overall they came out pretty well, which I hope means I'm doing something right. I'm pretty sure the teaching will be the best part again this semester, which gives me hope. Ryan's loaned me Prison Break season 1; it's superb and if I ever get time I'll finish it. And last but not least, I've gone out with some of my friends here more already, and it's good to not feel so isolated. So I'll remind myself that I haven't been beaten by school yet and keep my head up. Bring it on, grad school.
Songs of the night are "Easier to Run" by Linkin Park and "Nomah's Land" by Métisse. The second would be on the soundtrack to my movie.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
I miss Jason Newsted
I want Jason Newsted back.
Jason was a killer backup vocalist ("Creeping Death" live... just doesn't have the power without him), a great bass player with a unique style (heavy pick action), and a good composer (take a listen to "My Friend of Misery"). I love the rest of the band, but he was the most energetic (soloing on stage while the rest took a breather every single show). He was always the most available to fans. And probably best of all, in interviews he seems so much more intelligent than the stereotypical rocker and he's got a good sense of humor.
And the band fucked it up. They treated him badly for fifteen years and he finally decided not to take it anymore.
Jason, I understand why you left the band and I think you made the right move (not to mention that the album without you was pretty terrible), but I do wish you would come back. I miss you.
Song of the day is Metallica's "Creeping Death", the live version from Cunning Stunts.
Jason was a killer backup vocalist ("Creeping Death" live... just doesn't have the power without him), a great bass player with a unique style (heavy pick action), and a good composer (take a listen to "My Friend of Misery"). I love the rest of the band, but he was the most energetic (soloing on stage while the rest took a breather every single show). He was always the most available to fans. And probably best of all, in interviews he seems so much more intelligent than the stereotypical rocker and he's got a good sense of humor.
And the band fucked it up. They treated him badly for fifteen years and he finally decided not to take it anymore.
Jason, I understand why you left the band and I think you made the right move (not to mention that the album without you was pretty terrible), but I do wish you would come back. I miss you.
Song of the day is Metallica's "Creeping Death", the live version from Cunning Stunts.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Corporate dickery
I bought seasons 2-5 of The Sopranos from bestbuy.com over break and apparently managed to send them to the wrong address (Massachusetts, not Virginia). Sigh. Well damn. DVDs will be sitting outside my apartment for a long time just begging to be stolen. But wait! Ryan says he'll pick them up for me! Having friends rules!
But wait (again). UPS won't just leave the fucking package (sorry for the tone, UPS... I know you were just looking out for me and trying to prevent said theft, but I am in a rage), they keep putting up those failure to deliver notices. OK, no big deal, they've done that before, it just means a trip to Springfield (blah, but worth it for organized crime) to pick it up where it's being held at the UPS center.
OH WAIT. "Fuck you," said UPS. "Me?" I said incredulously. "Yes, you," they replied. This in the form of an email from Best Buy saying my product return had been successfully received.
WHAT?!?! No no no no no no no! Surely Best Buy will allow me to reverse this tragic mistake! Surely they won't deprive me of the best organized crime television there is! Call customer support, listen to groovy music. Groovy and repetitive music. OK now mostly repetitive. Yay, a person! Dear person, please say I can reverse this. Oh, I can re-buy the items at full price, even though they were on sale when I originally bought them and they were returned as a mistake? Thanks, kind representative, I never would have thought to USE THE WEBSITE TO PLACE MY ORDER A SECOND TIME if that were what I wanted to do. But, having been on the receiving end of many an angry caller during my days at ITC, I thanked her and kept my tone pleasant.
No Sopranos for me. Goodbye wonderful savings. Goodbye wonderful television show.
But on the bright side, I was jonesing for some Phil Collins last night and I didn't own any, so I bought some and it rules. Phil, what a marvelous crafter of songs you are. Plus I got a postcard from Leighton in Ireland (come back Leighton, I miss you and I won't be in Virginia much longer)! So take that Best Buy, my day carries on unruined.
Song of the day is "Can't Stop Loving You" by Phil Collins. Awwww.
But wait (again). UPS won't just leave the fucking package (sorry for the tone, UPS... I know you were just looking out for me and trying to prevent said theft, but I am in a rage), they keep putting up those failure to deliver notices. OK, no big deal, they've done that before, it just means a trip to Springfield (blah, but worth it for organized crime) to pick it up where it's being held at the UPS center.
OH WAIT. "Fuck you," said UPS. "Me?" I said incredulously. "Yes, you," they replied. This in the form of an email from Best Buy saying my product return had been successfully received.
WHAT?!?! No no no no no no no! Surely Best Buy will allow me to reverse this tragic mistake! Surely they won't deprive me of the best organized crime television there is! Call customer support, listen to groovy music. Groovy and repetitive music. OK now mostly repetitive. Yay, a person! Dear person, please say I can reverse this. Oh, I can re-buy the items at full price, even though they were on sale when I originally bought them and they were returned as a mistake? Thanks, kind representative, I never would have thought to USE THE WEBSITE TO PLACE MY ORDER A SECOND TIME if that were what I wanted to do. But, having been on the receiving end of many an angry caller during my days at ITC, I thanked her and kept my tone pleasant.
No Sopranos for me. Goodbye wonderful savings. Goodbye wonderful television show.
But on the bright side, I was jonesing for some Phil Collins last night and I didn't own any, so I bought some and it rules. Phil, what a marvelous crafter of songs you are. Plus I got a postcard from Leighton in Ireland (come back Leighton, I miss you and I won't be in Virginia much longer)! So take that Best Buy, my day carries on unruined.
Song of the day is "Can't Stop Loving You" by Phil Collins. Awwww.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Fun with observations, or how the pre-practicum sucked away my winter break
Well it's been a good few weeks since I posted my Amp of Glory. I've been playing a lot, picking up new riffs and fine-tuning my sound, etc. In the off-time I've picked up a Boss Metal Zone pedal in pristine condition at less than half price (yay ebay) and the difference is stunning. As I told my brother, it can sound like Satan himself is riffing when you turn up the crunch on that thing.
Other than that, I'm sorry to say the fun has gone down due to schoolish obligations (hence the title). We have to spend SEVENTY FIVE HOURS observing middle and high school classes over winter break. Come on now. That's overkill. We can call 20 of that out of our last semester's observations, which I'm doing whether or not I actually spent 20 hours in schools. The bright side of that is that I got to spend a good chunk of time with Mr. Mann (high school Latin teacher) and will be spending a day with Mrs. Webb (6th grade English... she rocks!).
But all has not been lost. I've been using the out-of-school time to catch up on 24 (aka the best show ever). I'd seen seasons 1 and 2, we have DVDs up through season 5. I'm now caught up and can't wait for the new one (starts tonight, but I can't watch it)! Jack Bauer is my hero. If you haven't seen it, watch it. No show in history is as addictive. I get almost no sleep when it's 24 watching time.
And now here I sit putting all my CDs on my computer (I had only done select tracks for most because of lower hard drive space back when I first went off to college, time to rectify that).
I think I'm the only person on earth (or at least in the USA) who owns either a) all five Spin Doctors albums (remember "Two Princes"? Yeeeeeeeah!) or b) more than five Blue Oyster Cult albums (I own eight... ten if you count the 2 hits CDs).
Song of the night is "Bad Horsie" by Steve Vai. Oh that guitar. It's heavy heaven.
Other than that, I'm sorry to say the fun has gone down due to schoolish obligations (hence the title). We have to spend SEVENTY FIVE HOURS observing middle and high school classes over winter break. Come on now. That's overkill. We can call 20 of that out of our last semester's observations, which I'm doing whether or not I actually spent 20 hours in schools. The bright side of that is that I got to spend a good chunk of time with Mr. Mann (high school Latin teacher) and will be spending a day with Mrs. Webb (6th grade English... she rocks!).
But all has not been lost. I've been using the out-of-school time to catch up on 24 (aka the best show ever). I'd seen seasons 1 and 2, we have DVDs up through season 5. I'm now caught up and can't wait for the new one (starts tonight, but I can't watch it)! Jack Bauer is my hero. If you haven't seen it, watch it. No show in history is as addictive. I get almost no sleep when it's 24 watching time.
And now here I sit putting all my CDs on my computer (I had only done select tracks for most because of lower hard drive space back when I first went off to college, time to rectify that).
I think I'm the only person on earth (or at least in the USA) who owns either a) all five Spin Doctors albums (remember "Two Princes"? Yeeeeeeeah!) or b) more than five Blue Oyster Cult albums (I own eight... ten if you count the 2 hits CDs).
Song of the night is "Bad Horsie" by Steve Vai. Oh that guitar. It's heavy heaven.
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