This semester is different from the last. I am seeing myself not wanting to study even though I know I should. I am a bit distracted and I am not sure why. I was able to concentrate on my writing as well as school last semester without issue, but now something is different. Perhaps its because I am setting deadlines for myself and my editing which I was having to worry about before. In fact the assignment I am most concerned with is something that has always come easy to me which is just reading something and writing a report about it. It’s only to be a 2-3 page paper, yet I cannot decide which short story to write it on. Our instructor is wanting us to explore the theme in the story, and to make it easier he has asked us to use something from our text. There are plenty of good stories in the book, however I am not one to always look for something hidden beneath the story itself. I think I am stressing myself over it because I have never had a problem deciphering a story. Perhaps that is why I am fumbling with it and putting it off, thinking I am not going to be able to do something I have done a hundred times before. Although I do not look for any deeper meaning, it’s rare that anything underneath it all has slipped by me. It must be stress. This isn’t like me to put off school work. I need to get my head back in the game and get this rolling. I have till Wednesday.
Category Archives: School
First Real Assignment
Image by pennstatelive via Flickr
Been waiting awhile to get a real assignment out of my English class and it seems we finally have one. It’s a short story theme analysis and he is letting us choose either something out of our texts or something we find, but he has to pre-approve it. He seems to be a fan of Hemingway so I guess to play it safe I will go with one of his stories. Not sure which though, but he did state today in class that pretty much any Hemingway short story will do. aHas to be at least three pages long and in MLA format…this will be cake. The only thing I am worried about is he seems to very stalwart about his interpretations of stories and he comes across and someone who thinks only his interpretation is the right one. Today in class we were discussing a short story called Araby and I gave my analysis of it, but he felt I “wasn’t there” because what I took away from the story differed from what he took. Gotta play it a little safe here because my goal is to make an A in the class and not get into a debate over who is right and who is wrong.
Filed under School, The Writer
Editing Chapter 3
So working during the night and sick as well does have its benefits. I am able to work uninterrupted for extended periods of time. I have already emailed my professors letting them know I will not be making it in tomorrow. Being the teachers pet does have its perks as my math instructor gave me all my assignments ahead of time without an argument. She even let me sign in so that when I left early yesterday to come home and rest, i wouldn’t be counted as absent.
Regardless, I am glad to have this time to work on the book. I had let it take a backseat the first couple of weeks of school, but now that I have a good flow going for my classes, I am able to work on it and also keep up with my assignments. Chapter 3 needed very few edits, but a handful of sentences did need some revisions. I was able to get through it in an hour, and although I was looking to move onto chapter 4, I may call it a night as my cold / flu / Hemorrhoid or whatever this is seems to be getting worse even with medication.
Filed under School, The Writer
Chapter 2 Editing Complete
All done. Easy as pie. Not nearly the train wreck chapter 1 was and I completed it in about an hour. Chapter 3 will be easy as well. Most of the story from here on out will just entail a few seeds and plot twist fixes so I can make sure they all mesh and fit together. As has become my MO, I did my best work in the middle of the night so I should try and get some rest seeing as how today (its now about 7am) is Super bowl Sunday. Was figuring I could at least try to catch the game. Either that or worl on chapter 3 and get my reading for English class done.
Filed under School, The Writer
Disappointed
“Winter Storm Warning!”
That’s all i heard for days here in Corpus Christi. I was pretty jazzed not at the possibility at missing school cause I am so the nerd and wanted to go regardless, but at the thought of having real snow and ice accumulations so I could go out and photograph it all. What I got was the biggest let down and I am a tad annoyed. I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes because this is just CC and not Austin. I know, people will say “Go back to Austin then!” I am planning to so do worry about that. Either that or some place up north. I can hear the ice melting from the tree branches and tapping the roof from time to time, but it was nothing like I experienced up in Austin. There is nothing quite like seeing a 2 foot thick slab of ice covering the sidewalk or a good foot of snow on the ground. I know up north its much thicker and to be honest, I wanted that. I knew it wouldn’t get like that here, but a guy can hope.
I was looking forward to the meteorological equivalent to the apocalypse. All I got was a half melted Slurpee. They talked it up so much, saying accumulation was going to be massive for our part of the country. I guess 1/10th of an inch is massive for us then. So much for a great day of photos. Sigh.
Let It Snow
So this is South Texas and for those not familiar with this area, we almost never get snow. Maybe once every 10 years and for about 20 minutes till it melts. Tomorrow it looks like we are going to get snow most of the day and it should stay on the ground overnight as it will continue well into the following day. I am considering not going into school seeing as how since this is the Southern part of the state, I am quite sure no one except me has much experience driving on the snow or with ice. I got plenty of practice living in Austin for all those years and although it wasn’t exactly Canada, it did snow there almost every year and there were several days of very icy conditions. I can remember sliding down that icy mountainside road and almost tagging a handful of cars as I slide, helpless to stop my vehicle from careening out of control. I can remember seeing various drivers losing it and smacking the crap out of trees, other cars, trucks, people, dogs, and the occasional flying squirrel. He wasn’t flying after getting nailed by an ice covered Dodge Ram though. Ah, good times.
Anyway, seeing as how in all likelihood we are going to be staying home tomorrow, I hope to get a little snow time in and tag a few random stray cats venturing out into the cold with snowballs. Last time I got to do that was about 2006 when Austin got a good concentrated snowfall for about a day. Had a massive snowball fight with the neighbors.
Filed under Current Events, School
Soundgarden
Picked up the latest from Soundgarden. It’s a greatest hits compilation and it has some really terrific stuff on it. It’s 2 discs with all their best known stuff plus a dvd that has all of their videos. It was $20, but well worth it seeing as how you get 24 tracks and 20 music videos. Been jamming to their stuff now for the last day or so while trying to get back into school mode. I was in class today and didn’t really feel like being there, but since it’s paid for I figured I’d at least pay attention and take notes. It was easy stuff. We didn’t have an assignment or homework in History and our English Professor flaked on us today so it was short and sweet. Still having trouble getting my last 2 books and it looks like I may have to order them online which means more waiting. The teacher for that class is pretty cool so he isn’t freaking about us getting the book, but says we definitely need to as the class goes on.
Talked to my friend on the west coast and she is dealing with some crap so I have been trying to keep her spirits up which is part of the reason I am not posting as often as I used to . That’s all fine with me though. I am not living to be a blogger, but mostly do it to keep things off my chest when there isn’t anyone to talk to. The editing on the book is still sitting, but I am expanding the idea for the follow up so it’s not as if I am sitting on my hands.
School
Just a couple of photos of where I can be found this semester. One or the other location. I love how our school is so little and poor that we cannot afford a better sign for the writing center. Also, I think our English building is like 70 years old; sure smells like it.
Filed under School
Sleeping
Been sleeping quite a bit lately. Then again, I have been staying up a lot longer than normal. Somehow I have managed two 30 hour days this week so of course once asleep, I stay asleep for upwards of 14 hours. Today i actually hit 16 hours, only waking because i figured 16 should be more than enough. Plus I need to make sure I am not all out of whack come Monday, first day of spring classes. I wish i were having worth while dreams at least. Maybe the sleep would be better if i were, but sadly my tiny muse had yet to visit me the last few nights. It does worry me, but its likely because I am focusing on other things and other people.
Did have a dream about high school that was somewhat graphic. I was in a math class in my old high school when the teacher told us to open our books and answer a few questions. I did this, but the the teacher went on to demean me in front of the entire class, calling me names and trying to embarrass me. I was somewhat self aware in the dream so I got up and slammed and broke a desk over him, leaving him sprawled across the floor in a bloody mess. I apologized to the class and left. I went down stairs and into the main office where there were two pianos. I sat down and played for awhile as more people noticed the songs I was playing. A small crowd gathered and I played on till my teacher made his way down and accused me of assaulting him, blood still on his face. I told the people why I struck him and they instantly turned on him.
Waking up, I wasn’t sure what to make of the dream. Honestly i didn’t recognize anyone in the dream either so I could care less about it. Unless there are certain individuals who are playing important roles in my life present, I am considering the dream pointless and if I become self aware, I just do anything I want and don’t care about the flow of the story my brain is trying to tell me.
Grades
They are in. Happy to report a 4.0 GPA. I know it’s just one semester, but it was a goal for me…to prove to myself that I could return to school after all these years and still blow things out of the water. There were a lot of people hating on me and trying their hardest to discourage me, but I blew them all off and I am glad I did. Next semester will be slightly more challenging, but there is not reason why I shouldn’t continue with my 4.0 until at least 4th semester. With the knowledge I am should acquire before then, I am sure I will ace those classes as well. If I don’t I am not gonna freak over it. All I want is to make sure I am giving it my all and the rest will fall into place. I knew I was going to ace my English and Intro to Comps finals, but I was worried about C++. I am happy to report I got a 95 on that one and when combined with my 97 average in that class, I was able to squeeze out the high A. Things are definitely different than how they were only a year ago. The future can only get brighter and next year I will assign myself some new goals to not only continue doing well in school, but also to breakout and be my own person again. With confidence running high, there is no telling how good things can get.
