Wednesday, September 03, 2003
Hoo boy. A lot has happened since I blogged last... it's been obscenely busy. Sigh.
Classes started, for one thing. I've had most of them by now... I have Chemistry, lecture and discussion. I had a lecture today. It was OK, the professor has an accent but he's quite understandable. He started right in with the teaching, but it was easy review stuff (solid/liquid/gas, what is the scientific method, etc.). I can tell that it's going to be incomprehensible shortly, though. As soon as we get out of the idiot stuff. Which should be in two days or so. My tears shall flow.
And yes, as you may have noticed, they gave me Chem lecture. Chem discussion. Not Chem lab. Don't ask me how this is possible, because I know not, but it evidently is. The lecture/discussion is Chem 130. The lab is Chem 125. I don't mind not taking it, I don't need it for the tests I'll be taking, but I really do not want to have to take it later in order to fill the Chem prerequisite for taking Biology. That would suck mightily.
The tech guy who set up the computer hookup (necessary for the powerpoint-like additions to the lecture proper) had on a sweatshirt today, although cat knows why, since it was plenty hot out. Anywho, his sweatshirt said 'All Your Base Are Belong to Us'. And on the back it said 'somebody set up us the bomb'. I nearly perished when he walked in. The guy sitting next to me turned to his friend and said, "Hey, you see his shirt? I don't get it." I did. Yes. Amusement.
I had an art lecture class yesterday... it's sort of an art history class, but sort of not. I have no idea what it's called, other than Art 150. Presumably it has a name, but I know it not. It's a vague class... we're supposed to take notes, but I'm not sure what on. Since it's not technically an art history class, I don't know if we should be taking down dates or what. Grr. Hopefully it will be clarified in good time. I frelling detest vague classes like that.
I also had a drawing class yesterday. This is my only 'real' art class. Well, sort of, but I'll get into that in a bit. It seems pretty good, but of course I can't really tell, seeing how I only had one class. The teacher seemed nice, although he did ramble on for an inappropriately long time about his personal life. The class is limited to 20 kids, but 4 didn't show up for the first class. Rather nice to have a small class in such a big school.
The class, as I said, seems pretty straightforward... it's like a drawing class one would take at MassArt or somesuchaschool. But the supplies I had to buy for it... oy, you don't even want to know. To make it merrier, they are bulky and heavy. I have no idea whatsoever how I am going to get them to North Campus tomorrow. So far as I can tell, the bus drops off right in front of my dorm, on it's southbound route, but I don't think the northbound ones pick up there, so I have to go all the way over the bridge and across the street. I'm not sure I'll be able to lug all this stuff out there.
Today I had another art class, called Human Being. It's sort of hard to explain. Have you ever read The Cheese Monkeys? You probably ought to do so, it's a thoroughly fine novel. And funny. Anyways, this Human Being class is, as near as I can make out, much the same thing as the class described in The Cheese Monkeys. A bit different, but with major points of similarity.
The way that our teacher described it, I get the impression that each teacher (there are several sections of this class) can teach it however the heck they wanted. The class, as we are being taught it, seems to have little, if anything, to do with the Human Being. It's essentially some sort of hyped-up graphic design class. So we're doing *some* art, but it's not a proper art class, like the drawing one. Aargh.
There's one other class... it's another art lecture thing, but I think it's some sort of guest speaker deal, where they shove everyone into a lecture hall for an hour and 45 minutes to listen to some mostly obscure contemporary artist talk. I've got that tomorrow from 5-6:45, and we shall see what we shall see.
this is my desk. you can see how over-wired i am.
I've met some more people, bien sur. I'm starting to know the people on my hall... Pam and Shelby are quite nice, they often stop by to say hi and see what's doing. This girl named Sarah (there are about 5 Sarah's on my hall, and my hall is tiny... no one knows why) is also pretty cool. Some guy named Tony who apparently lives down at the opposite end of the hall came by today to introduce himself. As usual, my roommate was not there. So he stayed and chatted with me for a time. Nice kid, film major. And not at all bad-looking, either.
I really shouldn't say stuff like this in public forum. Oh well.
I ate dinner at Stockwell (dorm next door) the night before classes started with Pam, Shelby, Sarah, and another girl from my hall named Raquel. We sat with a girl who lived in Stockwell named Kelsi. She's from Oklahoma. She's a freshman and she's engaged. We expressed surprise at this, and she informed us that it's standard practice in Oklahoma to get married right out of high school. She also went to a public school, but had a graduating class of 12. Mon freaking dieu. Oklahoma is wing nuts. She was awfully nice, though.
Of course I don't really know anyone in my lectures. I did meet a girl named Angelica in my Chem one, but that's because we both got there really early since we weren't sure if we were going to be able to find the room (it turned out to be really easy to do so). In the lectures it's sort of hard to get to know people, but that was to be expected.
I'm already starting to know people's names in my drawing class, since it's such a reasonable size. There's Abbas and Matt, who seem to know each other. There's a girl named Kate who looks a little bit like our Kate. When she walked in, I actually thought to myself, "Hey, she looks a bit like Kate." When the teacher did roll call, I nearly fell over. Such magical coincidence.
There's a guy named Brock (I kid you not) who looks like he might be in his 20s, but could, I suppose, simply be a hulking sort of teenager. There's Adamo, who seems genial enough. There's a girl named Stephanie whom I dislike already. A giggly, annoying sort. She's friends with a fellow by the name of Tom (I think), who has long hair (ick) and is also giggly and annoying. Not in a girly, giggly way, but you know what I mean.
There's a guy named Curtis who has some complicated history with the LSA and the film school, and somehow ended up in the art school. He's a senior.
And there's a kid named (once again, I kid you not) Shlomo. He's in both my drawing and Human Being classes. He's probably in my art lectures, but it's impossible to keep track of people in those. He's from Indiana and is majoring in graphic design. I didn't know that anyone was named Shlomo these days.
There are a bunch of other people in the class, but I cannot recall them at the moment. Undoubtedly I shall get to know them all better as the year progresses.
I met up with Qiao-xian today. I actually met her at orientation, and now she's living in my dorm, several floors up. We had lunch together. Good times. It was like I was hanging around with someone I already knew. Such a novel experience here at UMich, where I'm 800 miles from everyone I know.
The Mosher Jordan dining hall closes (!) at 6. At least, that's what someone told me today, and I know for a fact it's not open by 7, because I checked. Who has already eaten dinner by 6? Especially students. That's simply ridiculous. Many days I don't get back to the dorm until after 6. What in the world am I to do? It is looking like the only meal I'll be able to eat in the dorm is lunch.
This is a terrifically long blog, and I didn't even get into the stuff like my art lecture book of vast proportions, or the wait I had to endure at one of the bookstores, or finding the post office and Starbucks in one fell swoop, or trying to use Photoshop on a laptop, or the sunburn that just keeps on giving. But I shall spare you those tales until a later date, or never, depending on how I feel about them later.
You are prey to my whims. And you love it.
11:09 PM
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