Spanish will be the death of me.
I took a semester of spanish a few years ago in community college before I transferred. My teacher was a high-strung woman from Cuba. Now, I have no trouble playing music for large crowds, public speaking, reading bad poetry, or singing karaoke sober, but on the final exam (which was a conversation), I froze. Completely blanked, forgot all the vocabulary entirely. That woman scared the absolute shit out of me.
I signed up for the second semester last fall, and was in there for one day before I dropped it for another class. I took the first semester again last spring, because I was so uncomfortable with it. I blanked on the final again, but came out with a B anyway.
This semester I completely failed the first test and nearly got a C on the second. Midterm grades aren't posted yet, but I expect a low C.
Language is not my thing. I struggle to remember vocabulary. I'm so right-brained (I was horrible at math also), and it really is harder to learn a language the older you get. But I desperately need to finish this, it's the last gen-ed class I'll ever have to take.
I took a semester of spanish a few years ago in community college before I transferred. My teacher was a high-strung woman from Cuba. Now, I have no trouble playing music for large crowds, public speaking, reading bad poetry, or singing karaoke sober, but on the final exam (which was a conversation), I froze. Completely blanked, forgot all the vocabulary entirely. That woman scared the absolute shit out of me.
I signed up for the second semester last fall, and was in there for one day before I dropped it for another class. I took the first semester again last spring, because I was so uncomfortable with it. I blanked on the final again, but came out with a B anyway.
This semester I completely failed the first test and nearly got a C on the second. Midterm grades aren't posted yet, but I expect a low C.
Language is not my thing. I struggle to remember vocabulary. I'm so right-brained (I was horrible at math also), and it really is harder to learn a language the older you get. But I desperately need to finish this, it's the last gen-ed class I'll ever have to take.
It's finally fall! Right now it's about 50 degrees, overcast and kind of damp, and I fucking love it.
Maybe it's living in an apartment with sporadic AC and working in an art building that used to be a tobacco warehouse with no AC at all during a summer of record-setting heat.
Maybe it's being able to go outside in something besides jeans and a t-shirt without soaking in my own sweat.
Maybe it's campfires.
Or hot drinks.
Or blankets.
Or breezes.
Could be Halloween. Could be pumpkin farms. Could be Thanksgiving dinner.
Normally where I am, we get about one week of traditional fall weather, after which it starts snowing or raining constantly. And every year I want that week to stretch out to what it used to be, from late September to about Thanksgiving.
It hasn't escaped my notice that in the 18 years I've lived here, periods of fall and spring have dramatically shortened while the summer and winter temperatures have grown consistently more extreme. It's called global warming, but you'd be hard-pressed to convince a lot of people in this state that it's real.
Then again, we have a museum with Jesus petting dinosaurs.
I hear Germany has a good fall.
Maybe it's living in an apartment with sporadic AC and working in an art building that used to be a tobacco warehouse with no AC at all during a summer of record-setting heat.
Maybe it's being able to go outside in something besides jeans and a t-shirt without soaking in my own sweat.
Maybe it's campfires.
Or hot drinks.
Or blankets.
Or breezes.
Could be Halloween. Could be pumpkin farms. Could be Thanksgiving dinner.
Normally where I am, we get about one week of traditional fall weather, after which it starts snowing or raining constantly. And every year I want that week to stretch out to what it used to be, from late September to about Thanksgiving.
It hasn't escaped my notice that in the 18 years I've lived here, periods of fall and spring have dramatically shortened while the summer and winter temperatures have grown consistently more extreme. It's called global warming, but you'd be hard-pressed to convince a lot of people in this state that it's real.
Then again, we have a museum with Jesus petting dinosaurs.
I hear Germany has a good fall.
Welp...
After trying and failing to work Monday (which lasted an entire 45 minutes before I decided going home was preferable to passing out) I gave up and went to an actual real doctor.
He spent a whole five minutes pooh-poohing my concern over being sick for so long, gave me tetracycline, and shoved me out. Oddly, my near-worthless emergency insurance (or some shift in payment policy) eliminated my co-pay.
And, I am actually feeling alive again, outside of a rather disturbing drug reaction the other night. Will attempt to work today. Just in time to nickname the new temps, and witness more retarded freshman behavior.
>< It could've taken another week to kick in.
After trying and failing to work Monday (which lasted an entire 45 minutes before I decided going home was preferable to passing out) I gave up and went to an actual real doctor.
He spent a whole five minutes pooh-poohing my concern over being sick for so long, gave me tetracycline, and shoved me out. Oddly, my near-worthless emergency insurance (or some shift in payment policy) eliminated my co-pay.
And, I am actually feeling alive again, outside of a rather disturbing drug reaction the other night. Will attempt to work today. Just in time to nickname the new temps, and witness more retarded freshman behavior.
>< It could've taken another week to kick in.
I've had a sinus/ear infection for a few weeks now. Two rounds of antibiotics, copius amounts of cough syrup, decongestants claritin, and three days off have not done a fucking thing.
I'm prone to sinus problems- you could drive a plane through my nasal passages, and I've got allergies on top of it. I usually get infections once or twice a year, but usually a few days and a z-pack and I'm fine, and I've always worked through it.
Could be this fucking weather. Ridiculously hot temperatures with high humidity, quick pressure changes, and thunderstorms are not helping.
One day my sinuses are all congested, and the next day they're clear....but my lungs are congested.
It could be something worse that got overlooked. I can afford the Urgent Treatment Center, but I'm not terribly insured and next month's rent is looking a little sad already.
Basically I'm down to hopes and dreams and posting speculations of doom in the hopes that I wake up tomorrow and fate's gone, "oh yeah, buddy. You've got TB, right...harharhar," and I'm just peachy.
Oh, and hey- 3 weeks without a cigarette. I'm sure it's cancer.
I'm prone to sinus problems- you could drive a plane through my nasal passages, and I've got allergies on top of it. I usually get infections once or twice a year, but usually a few days and a z-pack and I'm fine, and I've always worked through it.
Could be this fucking weather. Ridiculously hot temperatures with high humidity, quick pressure changes, and thunderstorms are not helping.
One day my sinuses are all congested, and the next day they're clear....but my lungs are congested.
It could be something worse that got overlooked. I can afford the Urgent Treatment Center, but I'm not terribly insured and next month's rent is looking a little sad already.
Basically I'm down to hopes and dreams and posting speculations of doom in the hopes that I wake up tomorrow and fate's gone, "oh yeah, buddy. You've got TB, right...harharhar," and I'm just peachy.
Oh, and hey- 3 weeks without a cigarette. I'm sure it's cancer.
I don't usually bitch about site shenanigans, but what's the deal with posting old interviews to the front page, as though they're new?
I get that it's tough times. One set per day. No more articles. I'm disappointed about those things, but I still feel I'm getting my 50-bucks-a-year of nude ladies and social groups.
However, there's no need to clutter up the front page with recycled feed. I'd rather see a bunch of recent "featured blogs" than an interview from three years ago. Pretending there's more new content than there actually is won't make me any more inclined to renew my membership.
Just FYI.
I get that it's tough times. One set per day. No more articles. I'm disappointed about those things, but I still feel I'm getting my 50-bucks-a-year of nude ladies and social groups.
However, there's no need to clutter up the front page with recycled feed. I'd rather see a bunch of recent "featured blogs" than an interview from three years ago. Pretending there's more new content than there actually is won't make me any more inclined to renew my membership.
Just FYI.
Argh. I get angry at fascist political movements, and the gullibility of people to delude themselves into seeing gold and magic or whatever the fuck they think the Tea Party will bring them.
Delusional, you say? My local July 4th snowcones-and-public-drinking shindig featured a booth selling a bunch of angry propaganda, including a shirt that reads 'Yep, I'm a racist' on the front and a list of Tea Party "values" on the back. Selling T-shirts that say "I'm a racist" may not necessarily make you a racist, but it does make you a shitty, antagonist cocksucker. I don't care what you claim the purpose of your shirt is. It's not funny, and there are plenty of ways to alert us to your political beliefs that don't involve raising my blood pressure. I don't take that shit lightly; I'm southern.
And this is entirely aside from whatever ideology is stamped on the back. I wish these sad people would take a good long look at their movement's leadership base, and perhaps their bank accounts.
Sigh.
Moving on...
Weezer cover band is back! We lost our bass and lead guitar players a year ago (to Austin TX and flaking out, respectively), so we recruited new people and are in the process of learning/ relearning new songs. I got talked into backup singing also, so that'll be different. I'm just looking forward to getting paid to make noise again, as it's not happening so much in the other outfit.
Delusional, you say? My local July 4th snowcones-and-public-drinking shindig featured a booth selling a bunch of angry propaganda, including a shirt that reads 'Yep, I'm a racist' on the front and a list of Tea Party "values" on the back. Selling T-shirts that say "I'm a racist" may not necessarily make you a racist, but it does make you a shitty, antagonist cocksucker. I don't care what you claim the purpose of your shirt is. It's not funny, and there are plenty of ways to alert us to your political beliefs that don't involve raising my blood pressure. I don't take that shit lightly; I'm southern.
And this is entirely aside from whatever ideology is stamped on the back. I wish these sad people would take a good long look at their movement's leadership base, and perhaps their bank accounts.
Sigh.
Moving on...
Weezer cover band is back! We lost our bass and lead guitar players a year ago (to Austin TX and flaking out, respectively), so we recruited new people and are in the process of learning/ relearning new songs. I got talked into backup singing also, so that'll be different. I'm just looking forward to getting paid to make noise again, as it's not happening so much in the other outfit.
About being older, yet not.
I'll be 30 in a little more than a month. Age itself, that's not a big deal. I'm not the kind to freak out over whatever the fuck people freak out about at this stage.
Then again, I still look barely old enough to drink. I'm still an undergrad, cause I like taking the concept of 'late' to an extreme. I still play music. In one sense, I'm doing the same things I was doing 8 years ago, just better and (possibly) wiser.
I'm also feeling it. My arthritis is clearly worsening; there are shows I struggle to get through. Someday I'll have to choose between drumming and painting, and if I had to choose today painting would win. My eyesight is weakening. I haven't had a checkup since I was 14 and I'm terrified at what they'll find when I get another one. I have doubts that I'll ever make a living wage, and still doubt I'll ever be able to afford driving again, or that I'll ever want to. I worry about my mental state. The depression seems to be receding, but it's a monster and it'll never be gone completely. I'm afraid of schizophrenia and delusion.
None of those are new concerns. None of them have a fucking thing to do with being a particular age, and they're the same fears I've had since I was 20.
I'm also happier than I've ever been, and noticeably so. Aside from smoking and the occasional hangover (which is increasingly more occasional), I'm pretty fucking healthy. I'm not gonna win a marathon, but I've been in worse shape. I have a relationship with a fantastic woman who isn't put off by anything I listed above.
Those things, I didn't even think they were possible 10 years ago. I didn't expect to make it past 20. Certainly not to 30. I was either heading for an institution or a cemetery, and I'd have banked on the latter. So this is a pleasant step up from that, and I suppose that's all I can ask for.
But cake, I do want a cake.
I'll be 30 in a little more than a month. Age itself, that's not a big deal. I'm not the kind to freak out over whatever the fuck people freak out about at this stage.
Then again, I still look barely old enough to drink. I'm still an undergrad, cause I like taking the concept of 'late' to an extreme. I still play music. In one sense, I'm doing the same things I was doing 8 years ago, just better and (possibly) wiser.
I'm also feeling it. My arthritis is clearly worsening; there are shows I struggle to get through. Someday I'll have to choose between drumming and painting, and if I had to choose today painting would win. My eyesight is weakening. I haven't had a checkup since I was 14 and I'm terrified at what they'll find when I get another one. I have doubts that I'll ever make a living wage, and still doubt I'll ever be able to afford driving again, or that I'll ever want to. I worry about my mental state. The depression seems to be receding, but it's a monster and it'll never be gone completely. I'm afraid of schizophrenia and delusion.
None of those are new concerns. None of them have a fucking thing to do with being a particular age, and they're the same fears I've had since I was 20.
I'm also happier than I've ever been, and noticeably so. Aside from smoking and the occasional hangover (which is increasingly more occasional), I'm pretty fucking healthy. I'm not gonna win a marathon, but I've been in worse shape. I have a relationship with a fantastic woman who isn't put off by anything I listed above.
Those things, I didn't even think they were possible 10 years ago. I didn't expect to make it past 20. Certainly not to 30. I was either heading for an institution or a cemetery, and I'd have banked on the latter. So this is a pleasant step up from that, and I suppose that's all I can ask for.
But cake, I do want a cake.
First, a rant!
I got to work the afternoon shift in texts today and when I arrived, the morning shift guy (who's one of our better employees) told me about this woman he referred to as a "witch" (in a tone that told me exactly what he meant. like I said, one of our best ones). She had come in and asked a cashier if we had a book, and he promptly directed her to texts. She seemed to find this unreasonable and felt she was getting "the runaround", and told the text guy as much, and when he offered to go to the shelf and get it, she snapped at him and told him, "NO, I WANT YOU TO LOOK IT UP ON THE COMPUTER."
The computers lock themselves after a few minutes of idle time, and they're also about 10 years old, so logging in takes a good minute or so, and then another minute to accept inputs.
Frankly, the summer sections take up all of 4 shelves, and it's far faster to physically get a book as it is to look it up. But I digress..
It turned out she didn't know her class abbreviation, so he finally just ignored her and walked to the shelf and handed her what turned out to be a rentable cd rom. The cashier who checked her out noted that she asked, specifically, if she could return it if the cd was missing.......out of a sealed package.
I thought the story was amusing. I've been in retail for a long time. Sometimes you get that customer, and the best you can do is hope they don't come back.
Around 3, right as I got my only customer for the day (Saturday, campus bookstore, summer session), I got a call from a woman who said she'd bought a cd package and the cd was missing.
Go fucking figure.
I told her we could exchange it if she'd bring it in, and her reply was, "I had a really bad experience there and I'd rather not go back. Could I speak to your manager?".
It turned out that she was basically angling to get the charge refunded to her, and keep the package. Most times, that's called theft.
Our manager, who was fed up with this but still trying to maintain some shred of professionalism, explained that he understood perfectly what she was asking, and that he was not a moron. She replied, "well, that's two steps ahead of your employees".
The manager working was our trade manager, who I've never seen angry before. And the man was visibly shaking on the phone with this woman. Eventually this all culminated in the usual "can I have the name of your store manager and her email address" bullshit.
I'm a little pissed about the whole thing. What this woman doesn't understand is that you shouldn't be unreasonable, rude, and antagonistic to people who have sensitive personal information of yours. Such as a sheet that you fill out in order to rent a textbook. And you certainly shouldn't call the college-educated employees of an establishment "morons" for doing their job.
So in case you're one of those customers who likes to go shop just to cause trouble, let me caution you to pay in cash and not give out your address. Just FYI.
Whew!
Second, an update!
I finished the semester, with only one B (which is an improvement as far as Spanish goes). I don't know how many more to go. I'm tracking down the actual individual who does the final audits for graduation applications to find out exactly what I need, because as usual I have 20 different answers from 20 different people in Fine Arts. We also have a brand-spankin-new Dean, so that's bad scene as far as my query goes.
So far, all I know is I probably can't even apply for the BFA this fall.
We'll see. Hopefully I'll run across an opportunity to show something this summer, possibly at the local coffee shop. Nothing really sells there, but at least my work'll be up and not stacked in my apartment.
I got to work the afternoon shift in texts today and when I arrived, the morning shift guy (who's one of our better employees) told me about this woman he referred to as a "witch" (in a tone that told me exactly what he meant. like I said, one of our best ones). She had come in and asked a cashier if we had a book, and he promptly directed her to texts. She seemed to find this unreasonable and felt she was getting "the runaround", and told the text guy as much, and when he offered to go to the shelf and get it, she snapped at him and told him, "NO, I WANT YOU TO LOOK IT UP ON THE COMPUTER."
The computers lock themselves after a few minutes of idle time, and they're also about 10 years old, so logging in takes a good minute or so, and then another minute to accept inputs.
Frankly, the summer sections take up all of 4 shelves, and it's far faster to physically get a book as it is to look it up. But I digress..
It turned out she didn't know her class abbreviation, so he finally just ignored her and walked to the shelf and handed her what turned out to be a rentable cd rom. The cashier who checked her out noted that she asked, specifically, if she could return it if the cd was missing.......out of a sealed package.
I thought the story was amusing. I've been in retail for a long time. Sometimes you get that customer, and the best you can do is hope they don't come back.
Around 3, right as I got my only customer for the day (Saturday, campus bookstore, summer session), I got a call from a woman who said she'd bought a cd package and the cd was missing.
Go fucking figure.
I told her we could exchange it if she'd bring it in, and her reply was, "I had a really bad experience there and I'd rather not go back. Could I speak to your manager?".
It turned out that she was basically angling to get the charge refunded to her, and keep the package. Most times, that's called theft.
Our manager, who was fed up with this but still trying to maintain some shred of professionalism, explained that he understood perfectly what she was asking, and that he was not a moron. She replied, "well, that's two steps ahead of your employees".
The manager working was our trade manager, who I've never seen angry before. And the man was visibly shaking on the phone with this woman. Eventually this all culminated in the usual "can I have the name of your store manager and her email address" bullshit.
I'm a little pissed about the whole thing. What this woman doesn't understand is that you shouldn't be unreasonable, rude, and antagonistic to people who have sensitive personal information of yours. Such as a sheet that you fill out in order to rent a textbook. And you certainly shouldn't call the college-educated employees of an establishment "morons" for doing their job.
So in case you're one of those customers who likes to go shop just to cause trouble, let me caution you to pay in cash and not give out your address. Just FYI.
Whew!
Second, an update!
I finished the semester, with only one B (which is an improvement as far as Spanish goes). I don't know how many more to go. I'm tracking down the actual individual who does the final audits for graduation applications to find out exactly what I need, because as usual I have 20 different answers from 20 different people in Fine Arts. We also have a brand-spankin-new Dean, so that's bad scene as far as my query goes.
So far, all I know is I probably can't even apply for the BFA this fall.
We'll see. Hopefully I'll run across an opportunity to show something this summer, possibly at the local coffee shop. Nothing really sells there, but at least my work'll be up and not stacked in my apartment.
I decided over Christmas that I wouldn't worry about applying for any shows this year. I figured I should let formal training (ha. haha.) sink in, and spend my energy producing instead of stressing over submission deadlines and getting all my shit show-ready.
But there's a no-entry-fee undergrad show a couple of blocks away. With juried prizes (of real dollars, not accolades. accolades don't pay the rent). And an option to sell at a 30% commission. Not too shabby, so I'm putting up three older pieces I have slide-quality pics of. Besides, it's either that or they remain in storage.
But there's a no-entry-fee undergrad show a couple of blocks away. With juried prizes (of real dollars, not accolades. accolades don't pay the rent). And an option to sell at a 30% commission. Not too shabby, so I'm putting up three older pieces I have slide-quality pics of. Besides, it's either that or they remain in storage.
Way back in the spring of 2000 when all my friends were in college, I took my one and only overhyped Spring Break party trip. We stayed in a couple of cabins at a KOA campground for next to nothing, took a few trips to Daytona beach, fucked around and whatnot. To be honest: I was normally drunk or stoned anyway, Daytona was one long strip of head shops and frat kids, and the weather was overcast most of the week. It didn't suck, but it wasn't any sort of magical nonstop party (MTV, you promised bared tits and alcohol flowing from the faucets!).
But that's not what set a precedent. The day we left, I started feeling...off. We packed up about 8 or 9 in the morning, and by the time we pulled out of the camp I was doubled over in my friend's backseat. I didn't get out when we stopped at the beach for a while. I didn't even smoke the whole trip back, 10+ hours. We got back at 1 a.m. that night and I went straight to the E.R.
Fucking kidney stones!
I hindsight, it could've been much worse; I was sure it was a burst appendix. Nevertheless, once I started college a few years later and had my own legitimate spring break, I would be cursed with illness every single time. Usually it's a sinus infection, since the weather starts swinging 20 degrees twice a day and allergens are reintroduced around March. Three years ago it was a double case of strep (which, at 26, I'd never gotten before). Last year, miraculously, I was fine- although my SO was in Germany and I had no money to do anything with.
We were supposed to go to the zoo today, and of course I'm blessed with an abundance of snot and a desire to do nothing but sleep. I just want to see some fucking bears. I don't think that's too much to ask.
But that's not what set a precedent. The day we left, I started feeling...off. We packed up about 8 or 9 in the morning, and by the time we pulled out of the camp I was doubled over in my friend's backseat. I didn't get out when we stopped at the beach for a while. I didn't even smoke the whole trip back, 10+ hours. We got back at 1 a.m. that night and I went straight to the E.R.
Fucking kidney stones!
I hindsight, it could've been much worse; I was sure it was a burst appendix. Nevertheless, once I started college a few years later and had my own legitimate spring break, I would be cursed with illness every single time. Usually it's a sinus infection, since the weather starts swinging 20 degrees twice a day and allergens are reintroduced around March. Three years ago it was a double case of strep (which, at 26, I'd never gotten before). Last year, miraculously, I was fine- although my SO was in Germany and I had no money to do anything with.
We were supposed to go to the zoo today, and of course I'm blessed with an abundance of snot and a desire to do nothing but sleep. I just want to see some fucking bears. I don't think that's too much to ask.
