My Birthday

It's never too early to think about it.

After a comment a professor made in class, I looked at all of my syllabi. I have two midterms on the 8th of October. One on the day after. What this culminates in is a busy birthday without even the cathartic suggestion of a full release of stress, as I'll still be studying for Tuesday. Ah well. I'm sure I'll find ways to have fun through it.

Thursday I had my second line-up of classes. I wasn't feeling terribly well that day (I'm feeling 95% better now), so I went through a lot of both classes with a good deal of impatience.

Renaissance Tragedies:

My honors seminar! The one class with people I already know (save the one where I have had the professor previously). Nick (cardboard club) and Richard (all over the place) are the main culprits, and there's also a couple of others (Kate and Allison) whom I know from previous classes but don't often talk to.

The professor is a bundle of energy. She was definitely the happiest person to be there, not that we were unhappy, as a whole.

First was the introduction, and we had to give, among other things, our tentative thesis topic. Uhhh...

One thing that both Leslie and I have noticed this semester is that professors have been going over the syllabi more. Whether that means glossing over it as opposed to just handing it out, or giving a more thorough rendition depends on the professor. In her case, it meant reading over the entirety of the text and explaining what everything meant. From the overview, and on through everything else. I admire her thoroughness, her excruciating detail. She is a very particular person about such things, and that will prove useful. I simply, due partially to my impatience, found the medium she chose to exercise it on lacking.

But the reading list seems engaging, and I actually like this translation of Aristotle (we're starting off with the Poetics), so... I hope the class grows on me. It should.

Women in American History:

I somehow expected my professor to be a modification of all the other professors I've had that have done Women's Studies or feminism, some variation on old and wise. While she has certainly earned her wisdom, she does not yet have the grey hair, which surprisingly cast considerable shock initially. Must... learn... not to cast too many preconceptions.

She seems like she'll be good. She had to restrain herself from cursing a few times (damn is off-limits, but smart-ass isn't, for an example of general limits). She also had the most interesting way of managing our introductions to each other. First, she made us draw a circle and write around it things that we identify with... rather, aspects of our identity. So, having done that (and not having gotten nearly done, as I realized later), she made us use that as a reference point... in talking about ourselves and then having others ask questions about us. One person liked Star Wars, a few people came from the same city and commented on that. Lots of cat loving and hating was going on.

Then it's my turn. "Hi, my name is James _____, I'm a senior in English. I hope to become a professor, but I know the job market isn't *terribly* good for that, so you could say I'm an optimist."
"The two aren't mutually exclusive," the professor observes.
"Yeah... I like my family and bowling and *insert a few other random things*... and I can't really think of other things at the moment."
"So, what field of English do you want to study?" A girl on the other side of the room says.
"Ah... I'm interested in medieval studies." Some murmurs go around the room.
"What's your highest bowling score?" someone else says, leaning forward a little.
"280," I say without thinking about it. There the murmuring really starts! I don't really know how such things happen (are they all simultaneously muttering, "What? 280?" or looking at each other or shuffling in their seats or...?), but there's a definite stirring only matched by a couple of other people.
"Wow, so you do bowl," the professor admits. Then the spotlight goes to someone else and I sit down, drained and relieved.