Humdeedum

I have lost the will to speed read “We Mean to Be Counted” by some historian or other so that I can pull answers out of my ass in two hours. Especially after I’ve been sitting in the library for three hours trying to get my hands on a volume of primary documents on reserve. Honestly — why don’t we have more copies? The school spends a bajillion dollars on installing brass water fountains in a new building. Like Madonna (education professor) said, I’d rather have air conditioning.

Mary’s right though. It’s time for a new post, and this one can hardly count as one. I really have been meaning to write something, but I haven’t had the time to truly hash out my thoughts. In the past two weeks or so, I’ve encountered some pretty inspiring men and women through my Rediscovering the Child class, where we spend half the semester developing a 7-week curriculum for kids at Adams Elementary and the other half actually teaching it.

To provide some entertainment, I’m going to publicly embarrass myself by announcing that I set off the fire alarm in my dorm a couple of weeks ago.  Yes, I’ve become one of those. It’s tragic. But at least it wasn’t from popping popcorn in the microwave. I was actually heating some yummy wontons on the stove for Joe, but forgot about it when I somehow — mysteriously and rather suprisingly — found myself very engrossed in “Ulysses.” Of course, the pot boiled over. It wasn’t till I heard the sizzling sound of burning soup that I ran out of my room — to see smoke wafting everywhere in my common room. The fire alarm better not go off!! Was the first thought that popped into my mind after a string of expletives. I turned on the fan in the kitchen and the bathroom, and propped open the hall and bathroom doors in hopes that the smoke would disperse. A few seconds later, steady beeps exploded in my ears and all Millbrook 3 residents ran out the building. Oops.

I’m back. Again…

It’s a full two weeks since school has started, I know, a full two weeks since I claimed that I was back on wordpress. And I actually had planned to be, completely and wholeheartedly. But as it transpired, I woke up on August 31st and began a post that went like this: It’s one of those days when it hurts to breathe and looking at the sun makes you shrivel up and die inside.

Let’s just say I was in no condition to write a public post, and decided there needs to be a line between the online realm and certain parts of my personal life anyway. I’ve waited until I’m at the place where the sun is my friend again and it only hurts to breathe because I have a nasty cold to write again. So here I am, blogging, despite the constant freaking out I’ve been doing over the 300 pages of Ulysses I must complete in the next week.

Checking in with the goals for the semester I had set in the my last post, I’d have to say I’m pretty proud of myself. Accomplishing half of those is pretty decent work, after all, considering that resolutions are made to be broken. What I’ve managed to achieve in the midst of emotional and psychological trauma:

1. Purplefying my dorm: My new purple sheets and comforter look so pretty!! And they feel so, so, sooo soft. They have been my only comfort and joy since this damn cold, which has forced me to be chugging hot water or guzzling cough drops constantly. Unfortunately, all my winter clothes remains unpacked and my boxes have not yet been flattened, so the prettiness is more or less confined to my bed.
2. Staying organized: My handouts and syllabi have not found their way into separate folders yet, but they at least are crammed into one folder — that is to say, not lost!
3. Finding time to cook: Yay for my kitchen! The cafeteria near the upperclassmen dorms actually really stinks. The options are fewer, the lines longer, the prices higher. Ugh. I wish I’d gotten a different meal plan, because I’ve been dreading going to the cafeteria so much that I indeed end up cooking half the time. Most of the other half I’m eating leftovers, and rediscovering the on-campus Subway, so that I can still avoid the bad place.
4. Keep blogging: Okay, so I’ve dropped the ball on this one, but I’m hoping it’ll count if I keep writing from now on

So there you have it. Half my goals accomplished despite it all. Next time, I’ll stop being lazy — making lists always somewhat feels like I’m cheating. For now, it’s back to freaking out about all the reading and projects and desperately trying to get over this frightful cold. Tips, anyone?