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wahleeThe very first thing I want to say is THANK YOU to my whole flist, and Great Big Hugs as well, because you guys are awesome, and have been there for me even when I wasn't able to be there for you.
I finally got all my papers turned in: My one for Victorian Lit on Olive by Dinah Craik and the Vorkosigan Saga was a bare two days late. :P My internship work logs and reports were turned in on Friday at about 3:00 in the afternoon, and my Lord of the Rings paper finally went out on Saturday. So what was supposed to be done on Tuesday only lasted for another 4 days. :P In some ways I think I prefer pulling paper topics out of the air and making them work to having Really Good Ideas and then trying to live up to them. These two papers have been Really Good Ideas. They're harder to write, I think.
Anyway, so far I've gotten two grades for the semester. I managed an A on my internship (shocking, considering I turned in every single assignment the last day of the semester, but they do tend to be lenient on internships, I've heard) and an A in my Tolkien class, which I completely do not deserve and can only account for in the kindness of the professor, because my last paper was a combination of supposed-to-be-papers three and four, the former of which I got an extension on in the first place, and the latter of which was nearly two weeks late. I told the prof when I turned it in to penalize me for it because I was a rotten ungrateful wretch who took advantage of his kindness in giving me an extension, but he e-mailed back and said there was no penalty necessary.
I don't deserve him.
So now I'm waiting for my last grade, and it's the one I'm most nervous about, because I have very little idea of how I was doing in the class even before the paper was late, and I know the paper itself is not even close to my best work. Hey, you try synthesizing a 13-book sci-fi series in an 11-page paper, at the same time relating it to an obscure Victorian novel, and trying to make a point about them both other than "Hey! The protagonists are both disabled!" Yeah. So I'm nervous about that one.
Anyway, after turning in the papers I breathed a huge sigh of relief, and then got down to the business of moving back home for the summer. Not as easy as it sounds, because it involves cleaning my room at home and getting rid of a lot of the uneccessary junk I've accumulated over the years to make room for the stuff I'm bringing back. This includes getting rid of books. I used to think it a sacrelige to get rid of any book, even one I hated, but I've had to face the fact that my shelves at home are overflowing, as are my shelves at Kate's, and I don't really have room for any more bookshelves. :P So I'm purging books as well-- some I'm giving away (like Billy Budd, which I absolutely hated and hope to never have to read again) and some I'm putting into storage for future use (like some of my kids books that I've been hoarding). I'm also cleaning my room at Kate's because I've let it turn into an absolute disaster area these last few weeks. Moving is further complicated by the fact that my brother has still not moved most of his stuff out since getting married in January, and having room for my stuff also depends on him getting his stuff out. Including my big computer desk that took up way too much space in my little room. Ben and Amanda are taking it to their apartment, where it will fit better than the desk he had, which was a corner unit. I'll be moving in the much smaller desk I bought for Kate's house. But the new desk doesn't have room for the mammoth 17" traditional monitor that came with Harry, so I get to take back the 15" LCD monitor that my dad bought for me to use when I was an undergrad, which was a loan only, and which was returned to him when I moved back home. I've offered to pay him for it, though, lest you think I'm a total sponge.
So I'm still working on that.
In the meantime, I've started Spring term. I'm taking one class on advanced critical theory that's a requirement for my program. I could have taken it Fall, but taking it now has several advantages. First, it's one less class I'll have to take while working on my thesis. Second, it's taught by a different professor than in the fall, and while I have nothing against said professor as a person, he talks so fast that I can't understand him. So trying to learn critical theory from him seems like a Bad Idea. Third, BYU had enough money for Spring tuition assistance that I don't have to pay for it. Fourth, there aren't any textbooks, and I can bring the .pdf files of the readings to class on Ginevra, which means I won't even have to pay to print them out. So it's cheap all around. And we get out in mid-June, which means I won't have to worry about the HBP release conflicting with finals. :D It is an accelerated class, though, being in Spring term (we meet twice a week for 3 hours), so it'll be tough, but I think I can handle it.
And now, back to moving.
I finally got all my papers turned in: My one for Victorian Lit on Olive by Dinah Craik and the Vorkosigan Saga was a bare two days late. :P My internship work logs and reports were turned in on Friday at about 3:00 in the afternoon, and my Lord of the Rings paper finally went out on Saturday. So what was supposed to be done on Tuesday only lasted for another 4 days. :P In some ways I think I prefer pulling paper topics out of the air and making them work to having Really Good Ideas and then trying to live up to them. These two papers have been Really Good Ideas. They're harder to write, I think.
Anyway, so far I've gotten two grades for the semester. I managed an A on my internship (shocking, considering I turned in every single assignment the last day of the semester, but they do tend to be lenient on internships, I've heard) and an A in my Tolkien class, which I completely do not deserve and can only account for in the kindness of the professor, because my last paper was a combination of supposed-to-be-papers three and four, the former of which I got an extension on in the first place, and the latter of which was nearly two weeks late. I told the prof when I turned it in to penalize me for it because I was a rotten ungrateful wretch who took advantage of his kindness in giving me an extension, but he e-mailed back and said there was no penalty necessary.
I don't deserve him.
So now I'm waiting for my last grade, and it's the one I'm most nervous about, because I have very little idea of how I was doing in the class even before the paper was late, and I know the paper itself is not even close to my best work. Hey, you try synthesizing a 13-book sci-fi series in an 11-page paper, at the same time relating it to an obscure Victorian novel, and trying to make a point about them both other than "Hey! The protagonists are both disabled!" Yeah. So I'm nervous about that one.
Anyway, after turning in the papers I breathed a huge sigh of relief, and then got down to the business of moving back home for the summer. Not as easy as it sounds, because it involves cleaning my room at home and getting rid of a lot of the uneccessary junk I've accumulated over the years to make room for the stuff I'm bringing back. This includes getting rid of books. I used to think it a sacrelige to get rid of any book, even one I hated, but I've had to face the fact that my shelves at home are overflowing, as are my shelves at Kate's, and I don't really have room for any more bookshelves. :P So I'm purging books as well-- some I'm giving away (like Billy Budd, which I absolutely hated and hope to never have to read again) and some I'm putting into storage for future use (like some of my kids books that I've been hoarding). I'm also cleaning my room at Kate's because I've let it turn into an absolute disaster area these last few weeks. Moving is further complicated by the fact that my brother has still not moved most of his stuff out since getting married in January, and having room for my stuff also depends on him getting his stuff out. Including my big computer desk that took up way too much space in my little room. Ben and Amanda are taking it to their apartment, where it will fit better than the desk he had, which was a corner unit. I'll be moving in the much smaller desk I bought for Kate's house. But the new desk doesn't have room for the mammoth 17" traditional monitor that came with Harry, so I get to take back the 15" LCD monitor that my dad bought for me to use when I was an undergrad, which was a loan only, and which was returned to him when I moved back home. I've offered to pay him for it, though, lest you think I'm a total sponge.
So I'm still working on that.
In the meantime, I've started Spring term. I'm taking one class on advanced critical theory that's a requirement for my program. I could have taken it Fall, but taking it now has several advantages. First, it's one less class I'll have to take while working on my thesis. Second, it's taught by a different professor than in the fall, and while I have nothing against said professor as a person, he talks so fast that I can't understand him. So trying to learn critical theory from him seems like a Bad Idea. Third, BYU had enough money for Spring tuition assistance that I don't have to pay for it. Fourth, there aren't any textbooks, and I can bring the .pdf files of the readings to class on Ginevra, which means I won't even have to pay to print them out. So it's cheap all around. And we get out in mid-June, which means I won't have to worry about the HBP release conflicting with finals. :D It is an accelerated class, though, being in Spring term (we meet twice a week for 3 hours), so it'll be tough, but I think I can handle it.
And now, back to moving.
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no subject
Date: 2005-04-28 02:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-28 02:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-28 03:26 am (UTC)I'm like you- I hate getting rid of books. Even the ones I hated. But, also like you, I've maximized the bookshelf space. And 32 boxes of books does seem a little extreme...
no subject
Date: 2005-04-28 04:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-28 06:51 am (UTC)Good luck with your spring class and with the move. Personally, I'd probably find moving just as stressful, if not more so, than the class, but I may be weird that way.
(My mother's cousin is a professor at BYU. He teaches 19th-century British lit. I wonder if you've ever had a class with him....)
no subject
Date: 2005-04-28 03:17 pm (UTC)It's extremely possible that I have-- British lit is my emphasis, and I've taken quite a few classes. What's his name?
no subject
Date: 2005-04-28 01:25 pm (UTC)Oh I definitely agree. Somehow the best things I write (including HP posts) just kind out flow out from what is originally intended to be a short simple reply. The "essays" I attempt on purpose? Well, the movie quote thing was mostly research so that was easy but the commentary and conclusion, not so much. The massive Jo shippy quote one, I'm simply drowing in the commentary.
That professor that gave you a break probably knows that you still work hard and care about the finished product. And, he may find the finished product quite worth having made sure you were able to do it right. :)
no subject
Date: 2005-04-28 02:01 pm (UTC)I'm so sorry you have to take a critical theory class. I suppose it's a good thing, in a way, since it's basically the foundation of modern sociological/humanitarian academia. But still, I HATE critical theory, and I would be so thrilled if I never had to take another class in it in my entire life! I'm sure you'll do just fine with it, though.
Congrats on another semester down the drain!
no subject
Date: 2005-04-28 03:16 pm (UTC)I know how much of a pain moving can be but it's not like your moving a couple hundred miles away...
you didn't like Billy Budd ??? what's more shocking is that I did read it, half a lifetime ago...
Cheers
no subject
Date: 2005-04-28 03:42 pm (UTC)I'm so glad things have worked out for you! Good luck on your grades, and the moving and all that.