A new week...

I guess it seems funny that I would be writing about a new week on a Wednesday night/Thursday morning, doesn't it? To be honest, this is the first chance I've really had to breathe all week. It's been kind of crazy.

For starters, I'm taking an individual study class this semester to do some background stuff for my thesis. And, I was allowed pretty much free rein on which books to read. I had to come up with a bibliography and a schedule on my own. So, I did...and I assigned myself approximately one 400+ page book every week on which I have to write a short 2-5 page book review, as well as take copious notes as to how the book will help me in my own research. In short, I am horribly mean professor...even to myself.

The second of my classes this semester is a seminar, which means I must come up with a reasonably sized topic and research the hell out of it. Well, I did. But, as I may have mentioned before, it had nothing to do with my thesis topic, so the professor talked me into "killing two birds with one stone" type of thing. To this end on Monday, I went to the Resource Center of Dallas to dig into my research. They have a tremendous amount of documents and just great stuff in an "archive" there. I used quotes for the term "archive" because none of the stuff has actually been "archived" yet, so for the moment.....they pretty much have giant piles of crap. Valuable crap, but crap nonetheless. Great, so...in order to research my new topic, I have to become an archivist, as well.

The third class that I'm taking is another "reading class". That, basically, means a book a week with a book review and then a 15+ page historiography at the end. Except that this guy wants a 5 page preliminary historiography in a week or so to be able to help us out and give guidance before it gets too late. On the one hand, great idea and I'm all for it. On the other hand....GAH! I guess the good news about this class is that the books are all around 200-250 pages, not 400+. Of course, they aren't all about topics that I care about, so that makes it challenging.

On top of that, we have the TA gigs. Right this very minute, I have 50 blue books sitting on my kitchen table waiting for me to grade them. I've looked at them...they aren't good, this won't be fun. I need to have them graded by Friday...and I'm just severely unmotivated. Besides, I have had a lot of other stuff to do.

And my two nights in the Help Center, where I used to be able to get some work done? Well, the boys have gotten a little chatty this semester. I can't shut them the hell up to save my life. On the plus (?) side, I guess I learn new things. Like Tuesday night, for example: I learned the evolution of the airplane from about 1929 through WWII--with pictures included. Oh, and this dude, Kittinger, who parachuted from a balloon at 102,000 feet? He was in freefall for 4 1/2 minutes before pulling his chute, going at speeds up to 614 mph. Insane! And all the while, all I wanted to do was write a stupid paper.

This morning, I took my roommate to the airport at the asscrack of dawn. Seriously, we left the house at 6am. His flight was at 8:20. I know, I know...that's insanely early. But, he's a nervous traveler, so I just go along with whatever time he wants to go. I still have to go inside the terminal with him, too...just in case there's something that needs calm and clear thinking. I've learned to accept him for all his idiosyncracies. And he's gone for a couple of days, which would be great if we didn't have a whiny, clingy, needy cat. See, the cat likes Dave a lot, so she leaves me alone a lot. When he's not here...GAH!

So...THAT, all of that, is why I am just now writing a post that says it's a new week. I feel like this is the first opportunity that I've had to look at the week. I need a nap.