First Days of Classes

So, the fall semester officially started on Thursday, Aug. 25. I also have all of my classes scheduled on Tuesdays & Thursdays, so Thursday was my first day of class. I find it problematic when professors don't tell you what the required books are until you get the syllabus the first day of class, then expect you to have two chapters read from a book by the next class meeting that you may or may not receive before 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Geesh! I ordered all of my books (5 of them for 2 classes) on Thursday when I got home. They will be here - in 3 different shipments thanks to Amazon - sometime this week. Most likely that will not be by Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. unless I get extremely lucky. Grrr! This semester has already started on a great note.

Lest you think I am lucky enough to have MWF's free, let me disabuse you of that notion. I TA in the ginormous Art Apprec class MWF at 3 p.m., and work at other times. Monday I have to be on campus by 9:15 a.m. W & F not until 12:15 p.m., which is not so bad. I do have time for meetings and whatever in my days. Maybe having class 2 days a week won't be so bad, except for the backache I'll get from carrying 5 books around all day. :(

At any rate, my schedule is what it is for now. I'm sure it will soon fill up with meetings for organizations I'm involved with, and all the other detritus that seems to accumulate during the semester. Then I'll be back to bemoaning my lack of time - LOL!

Concept Shakespeare

While I have no problems, per se, with concept Shakespeare, I do have standards. The trimmed down version of Taming of the Shrew I saw Thursday evening, was one such concept production. Trimming the script to a length suitable for those with short attention spans (the first half ran one hour and the second 45 minutes, with a 15 minute intermission), did not dilute from the basic story line, and in fact may have even helped to explicate it a bit more. My biggest problem with the show, which was conceived as a commedia dell'arte piece in modern dress, was that not all of the actors were fully committed to carrying off the concept.

The performance was in a black box space, so there were nine actors, plus a puppet, playing all of the parts. That worked fairly well. Modern dress is not an issue either. After all, Shakespeare's plays were originally performed in modern dress, albeit Elizabethan modern dress. So, why not? Yes, this is a comedy, and while it was witty, it was not cackle worthy funny. Someone sitting a row or two behind us, apparently disagreed. There was so much loud cackling I kept waiting for the witch scene from the Scottish play. (And speaking of the Scottish play, I'm sincerely sorry I missed the production in Kansas City. I read reviews and it sounded like a good time was had by all.)

Commedia is physical acting, and so is Shakespeare, most of the time. This production had only one actor who fully committed to the physicality of her two roles. She played Bianca and Petruchio's servant and was awesome. Petruchio wasn't too bad, but some of the other actors were either directed to be stereotypically crude (think frat boy humor), or took it there on their own. It did not work. The curtain speech before the show informed us that they extended the run because it had proved to be so wildly popular. I didn't get it, I really didn't. Perhaps concept Shakespeare really is beyond me.

Idiots Among Us

Here I am, sitting in Tampa, enjoying some down time. It's been raining, off and on, since I got here. However, this is nice, because I was beginning to forget what rain sounded, looked, and felt like. Now, if I only I could transfer some of this rain to Texas, I'd be golden. Driving across the bridge to St. Pete this morning was kind of scary. Low visibility, heavy rain, and idiot drivers make for a nerve wracking combo. And, other drivers - use your damn turn signals. I know you have them. You can't expect every other driver out there to be a mind reader. Do we somehow have the ability to determine when you are getting in the lane in front of us, almost causing an accident, when you are not using your turn signal? I think not. Also, learn how to drive for the prevailing weather conditions. Heavy downpour, low visibility does not equal Cali style freeway roulette and high rates of speed, with no headlights on. Grr! I am not ready to die because of your stupidity, thank you very much.

On the plus side, made it to St. Pete in once piece, and met a dear friend for breakfast at the Dome. Biscuits & gravy & bacon - yum! Had a lovely visit and by the time we were done and ready to go our separate ways the rain had lessened. Also went to the Holocaust Museum while there. I know, you were all thinking I got that out of my system last summer when I went to Krakow and Prague, and when I worked on my final project for my museum ed class, based on the traveling exhibit from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Not so much. One of the things I appreciated about this museum was the fact that they also keep people informed about genocide all over the world, including the current situations in Darfur and the Congo. I feel we should always be reminded abut this, and do our best to put a stop to it, in whatever way we can. There was also an exhibit of children's art from the Czech Republic dealing with the issue of genocide and the Holocaust. The art work came from schools in towns that surround Terezin. Since I was at Terezin last summer, this art work had particular significance for me, and had a huge emotional impact as well.

Tomorrow will be the aquarium, the art museum, and a production of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. Supposedly this is a modern dress, commedia influenced interpretation. The concept sounds intriguing. We'll see how the execution goes. Stay tuned!

Researching Internships

Trying to find an internship is not as easy as it appears to be. Mostly what I've been finding is that they are all unpaid. Then the question becomes how do I support myself while spending at least six months not being paid for working? Maybe I don't want to finish this PhD program after all - HA!

I have found some locations of the country that are more tempting than others, and guess what? None of them are in Texas. I'm looking at the East Coast - Boston and Washington, DC - and the West Coast - Seattle and Portland. I also checked out a few in the mid-section of the country, but I feel the need for a definite change of scenery. Not giving up on my Midwesterness by any means, but a new atmosphere would be nice for a few months.

Of course, doing all this research for something I won't be ready to do until the 2012-2013 academic year is a bit of a downer, but it also gives me a goal to work towards. If all falls into place as it should (fingers crossed), I'll be finishing course work and taking qualifying exams in the spring. Then, it will be time to leave the dust (and I mean that literally) of Lubbock behind. I will miss people, but not the place. If there is one place I can ever imagine myself living forever and ever amen, Texas is not it!

On the plus side, there is only a week and a half of summer session II left. My last day of work for the summer is August 5 and on August 8 I fly out of Lubbock for a visit to Tampa. Then I get to go home on August 14- I can't wait! I haven't been home for a year and I miss everyone, and yes, I miss Kansas. I've got Jayhawk covers on my laptop and my iPod, but all they do is make me more homesick. Unfortunately I have to come back to Lubbock on August 21, but one more year. As long as I keep telling myself that, I think I can make it.

It's Finally Over!

Thank the universe that Summer I has now ended! Friday, July 1, was the last day of torture, which I thought would last forever. We all felt the profs were going to keep us there until 8:30 p.m. Luckily they decided that 7:40 p.m. was long enough to hold us, after we had all had our few minutes to share our final reflection papers, and they grilled us for feedback on the class. None of us felt willing to share our true thoughts. I wanted to say - just wait until you get the evaluations - but didn't. None of us did - we just gave them what they wanted, more or less, and got out as soon as we could. Then we all breathed a huge sigh of relief and skipped out of the building!

I'm going to take the next couple of days and just do nothing but read books that are not school-related and watch some mindless TV. I'm clearing my brain for the next month. Then I will finally get a chance to get out of Texas for a couple of weeks and I am starting to count the days! I'm leaving here on August 8 for Tampa, with a trip home from the 14th-20th, and reluctantly coming back to Lubbock on the 21st, for what I hope will be the start of my last year of classes. Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well in the 2011-2012 academic year! I know I am.

Summer I Has Issues

Why do I take classes in the summer? Why can't I do fun things like go to the National Playwriting Conference, or go home to Kansas, or anywhere that is not Lubbock? Because I want to get out of Lubbock sometime in the near future, that's why! That being said, the class I am inflicting upon myself in the first summer session is a clusterf**k, and that is being kind.

I thought I was doing myself a favor by switching from the theory (not my favorite) and 25 page paper class to something that would possibly be a bit more interesting. Didn't work out that way. This is the first time this class has been offered, through the English department, and on paper it sounds great. In practice, not so much. I have never been in such a disorganized class. I understand that the 5 of us are the guinea pigs for this class, but come on people - at least know what your syllabus says and stop contradicting yourself every day. Geesh! Even I know how to organize a syllabus so that it makes sense to the students, and I don't even want to be an academic. This experience is not making me ever want to be an academic.

Originally, the class was to be in two sections, but since there weren't enough students to have two sections, it has become one. One of the profs is the professor of record, and the other one is there to be a pain in our collective behinds I think. Not really, but it seems that way. The kicker is that they are married to each other, so that dynamic comes into play as well. It really was apparent over the weekend when we went to San Antonio (Texas) to see three plays.

The car ride was very uncomfortable for all of us, and not just because we were crammed into a Durango (supposed to be a minivan), with all of our stuff, and only stopped once on a 7 hour drive, and that once was not for a food break. The two academic types spent their time arguing about directions, one of the consequences being that we got lost when we got to SA. Lucky for me, my daughter met me in SA, and I got dropped off at our hotel. We met everyone else at the venues and got to ride by ourselves back to Lubbock as well. Getting to the hotel was a problem because even though the Durango had a built-in GPS, heaven forbid the driver use it because he was trying to use his iPhone and the printed directions from Google maps. Needless to say, this was not an effective way to navigate, and not listening to your wife when she was trying to correct your navigational errors, is not helpful either. I was never so happy to get out of a vehicle in my life! From what I heard from the rest of the students who were staying at the profs' friends house Friday night, it didn't get any better. They all revolted and decided to stay in SA Saturday night, and ride back with another student who drove her own car because she stayed one night with an aunt and uncle.

Their behavior was totally unprofessional. You do not conduct your marital quarrels in front of your students. I suppose it's a good thing we aren't undergrads. As it is, we were traumatized. I can only imagine what it would be like for undergrads. They continued sniping at each other the whole weekend. It's a wonder they made it back to Lubbock, but they did. They also decided we could have a night off from class since we spent the weekend doing class stuff, and they got smart and gave us Monday off. It was very welcome, since that was the day the Haggards drove home from SA. None of us were quite sure what to expect last night, but she was the only one there - he was playing host to a visitor.

Tonight's class was very confusing. We still can't get much clarification on our final project, which is a mash-up video composed of the footage we shot while in SA. They kept pushing us to pick a thesis that was the thesis they wanted us to work from, so we finally decided it would be better to give them what they wanted, and save ourselves some hassle. Then, we all have to write a final paper of 3-5 pages about the mash-up process and present it as our final project. We have no idea what the paper is supposed to be about and how the presentation is going to go.

We are all counting the days until July 1, when we will be finished with this class. I found out from a fellow student that we have the option to petition the grad school for this class to be pass/fail. I filled out the form and dropped it off at the grad school yesterday. This class is not counting for anything on my degree plan, so it doesn't matter to me. Frankly, I needed a class to take to get 6 hours this summer, so I could qualify for financial aid. My class next session is the one that counts toward my degree plan. The reason two of us are taking the pass/fail option is because we all, except 1 person, got a B- on our first papers. We had no real guidelines for what to write, or how to structure the paper, so I feel we were supposed to do something we didn't know about. I really, really hate it when professors assume their students are mind-readers, because we are not!

On the plus side, I did get to go someplace that wasn't Lubbock for 3 days, and I saw the Alamo. I bought a cool sculpture at a little gallery in downtown SA. It's always nice to find fun and intriguing artwork. I saw three productions in two days, and finally got to see the Pirates movie. My daughter decided Johnny Depp was pretty hot for an old guy - LOL! I've been telling her that for years, but who listens to mom?

Well, I have homework to do, whether I want to or not. I had better do something productive now. I am hoping summer 2 will be better than summer 1 has been. It can only get better, right?

Longest Semester Ever!!!!

Yay - my semester was officially over on Thursday, May 12. Actually, the last day of finals was Tuesday, but I had two days of cleaning to do in the computer lab, which wasn't too bad. Pizza from Orlando's makes cleaning, while not my favorite thing to do, go much better. :) I managed to get all of my end of the semester projects finished, in spite of going to the boonies of Texas to attend one of my "other daughter's" wedding the weekend before the end of classes. Haven't checked all of my grades yet, but so far, so good.
Right now, I'm de-stressing from the semester. I've been reading all of the Anne of Green Gables books, and watching "Dark Shadows" (thank you, Netflix). I'm trying to recharge my batteries before summer school starts on June 1. I had a really rough time this semester, and reached a point after my core exam, and yearly program review, that made me feel as if I didn't really care anymore whether I finished my course work and all of my projects, or even if I passed any of my classes. Very bad attitude to have in grad school. I'm not sure why I got to that point, and I hope I won't feel that way in the fall. I only have one more year of course work (knock on wood), my quals to pass, and then an internship. I think part of the problem is that I haven't had a chance to go home for almost a year, and I really miss my people! I also really am not fond of Texas, and am tired of being here. I want to go somewhere else, and right now, I don't care where that is as long as it's not the Lone Star state. No offense to those who love Texas, but I'll never be one of you.
I do get to research internship possibilities this summer, so if anyone has any good ideas about that, send them my way. I'd love to do an internship abroad, but it would also be nice to find one that pays. I know that's a lot to ask for - I'll have to look long and hard for a paid internship I'm sure. Ah well, hope springs eternal, or something to that effect.
I am extremely glad that this semester is finally over. There were times when I never thought I'd make it to the end in one piece. I did, but I'm not sure my sanity came along for the ride. I'm thankful, even though I can't afford to leave Lubbock right now, that I have a couple of weeks to get it together before the intense work of summer classes starts. Maybe my brain will be recovered from the semester of art history and art theory by then. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy reading what I want, catching up on "General Hospital," and having time to work on my playwriting, which has been sadly neglected lately. Who knows, maybe I'll actually write something someone will want to stage. At any rate, I'll be writing something besides precis' and art history papers!!!

New year, new semester - better or worse?

Okay, so it's a new year, new decade, new semester. A time for fresh beginnings, if you're lucky. A time to think about goals, or at least I usually do, and decide which ones are worth keeping, and which ones should be tossed. I know I did a lot of pondering earlier this month about my situation. I felt discouraged after the end of last semester, straight A's notwithstanding, and was seriously considering if I should just give it up, join the Peace Corps now, and get on with life. It was really, really tempting, but I decided I would suck it up and keep going forward where I am now.
Where I am now is still in Lubbock, still at Texas Tech, and still slogging through classes. I do have a degree plan on file now, and I believe I may actually see the light at the end of the tunnel, at least as far as classes go. If all goes well I should be able to finish my course work by the end of next year's spring semester (May, 2012), take & pass my quals, find an internship, write & defend my dissertation and be out of here at the end of 2013 if I'm very lucky. Of course, I have to hope that all of the classes I need to take align in the right way this summer and each semester, and that I do well in them. There's also that pesky core exam I have to retake this March. I need to pass that as well.
At least I feel a bit more settled with the path I'm on. It helps now that I can see an end in sight. Transferring programs didn't put me that far behind. I got to start my museum studies classes this semester, which I'm jazzed about, and looking forward to. I've finished my arts administration courses and my core courses, so that's a big chunk of classes out of the way. I try to remind myself to be a glass half-full kind of person instead of a glass half-empty type. Things seem to flow much better when I'm positive about whatever I'm doing.
Here's to all of us finding the positive this year and going with it. There's plenty of negativity out there and my goal (I don't do resolutions) is to spread the positive vibe and not the negative. I encourage everyone else to do the same.