Sprung Spring Semester

2011.01.25
125 Days Remaining

01. I'm tired as I type this, so today's post will probably not go on for very long. Today was the first day of the Spring Semester at Baskerville College. It started off dark, literally, due to a snowstorm moving through the area. We didn't have much accumulation (I think it got up to 3 inches in some places), and was over around 1pm, but this was the first time I've had to drive in snow while living in New Aldwych. Sadly, several of my neighbors had difficulty, even on paved and completely clear roads (my favorite was the person who wouldn't go above 10 mph on a 35 mph road without any obstructions save the bits of downy-looking, very cold water drifting gently down from the heavens). Once I got to campus (early, mind you, it being the first day) I discovered that plowing was an ongoing project, and it took me 20 minutes to find a parking space. I mention all of that not to gripe, particularly, but to contrast the process of arriving on campus with the actual niceness of the day.

02. I'm teaching only two classes this semester, which is very odd. I have a 3 hour gap between them in the middle of the day, and will have to find ways to entertain myself (actually, I'll be fine - there's a library right there). My first class (1025am-1140am each Tuesday & Thursday) is Medieval Philosophy, which currently has only 8 students enrolled, although a 9th sat in today to see if she'd like it. I'm not particularly looking forward to this class, mostly due to the topic (which is interesting but not energizing, so I leave class tired). That said, the students seemed interested and involved already, and we'll see how that goes. My second class (245-4pm each Tuesday & Thursday) is the Supernatural in American Popular Culture. I love this class, having taught it once before 1.5 years ago. This one has 30 students, and a list of people who wanted to take it but didn't register in time, so even if some drop it, it will very likely fill up. The room is a bit cramped, but bright (very good for a mid-afternoon class, as many students like to take naps at that time of the day, I've noticed), and just from today I could tell the students were very enthusiastic and interested (much eagerness in responding to questions, offering examples, etc.). This was the case even after I told them that the trade off for taking a class that discusses things like vampire erotica, supernatural detectives (from Kolchak the Night Stalker to Hellboy), ghost stories, and the Princess and the Frog is that, "I will work [them] like dogs" with weekly essays and high standards for writing and content, an active participation requirement, and a lot of movie-viewing and book-reading each week. I've already had one student email me excited because the first reading mentioned something from her hometown that she grew up with (the so-called "Dover Demon" from 1977 in Dover, Massachusetts), and I overheard one student comment, as he was leaving class, that he could not wait for this class to start over break. So that all makes me happy. This is my last semester at Baskerville College, and this will be the last class I teach there, I'm very glad it's this one.

03. I had a somewhat surprisingly positive email exchange with my exing-wife yesterday about the divorce procedure, and she updated me about the pets. Everyone is fine, although her cat, Jasper, has apparently gone completely deaf (he no longer hears when she's eating, whereas in the past the sound of food being prepared and/or eaten would bring him running from a sound sleep to beg uproariously for food). When I sent her the divorce document last week I included dog and cat treats for the pets. Mo (the cat we adopted together, my little guy) is fine, skittish and affectionate as ever. Herman, my dog, is fine and was very excited to play in the inch of snow they got last week. She sent me a picture of him, which is basically him sniffing her iPhone camera, so it's very muzzle-prominent. It was the nicest series of emails we've exchanged, tone- and content-wise.

04.a Today on campus, as I walked around between classes through the snowfall, I was struck by how beautiful things, or the world, can be. I'm so very unhappy right now on so many counts, but that's because my perspective is very focused on specific circumstances and constraints in my life. And when I focus outward beyond myself, I am reminded sometimes of a phrase from a Navajo ceremony, which is not (in the ceremony) meant as a description of one's surroundings (it's actually meant as a sort of exhortation for propriety and order), "Beauty behind me, beauty before me." In that spirit, here are some songs that I think are beautiful, though I cannot vouch for the lyrics of the first:

04.b: Neutral Milk Hotel "The King Of Carrot Flowers" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZXtRP3mND0&feature=related is beautiful in part, because it feels to me like it's meaning is...just...over...there...

04.c: Sarah McLachlan "Ice Cream" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAhv0XGv8Pc is one of my three favorite songs

04.d: Midge Ure "Cold, Cold Heart" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2N7FI16K2M is a song I've loved intensely since hearing it on Pierre Robert's radio show on WMMR when I was in high school. I heard it exactly once, remembered the refrain, and finally tracked it down after college. The video is surprisingly enjoyable (desert rocking scenes notwithstanding)

05. And that's about it.