Luna del'Corvo

So, I will try to inaugurate my return to LJ not with a meme or quiz, as has been my wont, but with...just life. Here we go!

I'm done with classes for the summer. I got me evaluations, and they are pretty good. My numbers are still above national, institutional, and departmental averages. As far as comments, it's a mix, as it usually is. And it's rarely a surprise, either. There will be one or tow disengaged students that will whine about too much reading, too much writing, too hard, etc. Welcome to college! I'm a big pussycat compared to some of the best instructors I had; count your blessings, you lazy sots! The enthusiastic students will be complimentary, and occasionally offer legit critique or advice, which I actually welcome. The rest can barely be bothered to fill out the eval at all, and therefore refrain from comment. All my peer faculty assessments are glowing, so I'm tickled, all in all!

I'm doing this thesis thing (again!). Still not 100% sure WHY I'm putting myself through the thesis process again, but it's gong well, if slowly. I'm trying to use COMM theory to analyze early illustrated manuscripts of Dante's Divine Comedy. COMM theory is resisting. I'm (slowly) persevering. Good news is, once I beat the theory into submission, the rest is cake; I can talk Dante all day long!

I'm teaching the Photoshop summer camp for the third year, and I seem to have picked up two more, as well: websites and movies (egad! wish em luck on those; I know how to do both, but necessarily how to teach middle schoolers!). But it's quick and easy money, so no complaints!

Otherwise, I am chilling and enjoying the summer! Rather unlike many parents I talk to, I am actually thrilled when my kid is out of school; I hate sending him back in the fall! Although, we are really excited about this fall. He's going to a very small private school that bases its educational framework on classical education and Socratic method. They are amazing, and I am hoping this is what the Niblet needs. He's SO damned smart, but he hates school, largely because he sees he's getting crap for education. Here's hoping this gives him something to sink his teeth into!

So that's it. I'm relaxing between wrestling matches with the thesis, gaming a bit, doing a little Latin and Art with the Niblet, and just living. I like summer. :)

So, I know I haven't been saying much. Part of this has been complete, utter, unbelievable end-of-semester/MA-almost-finished overloaded/tired/burned out like, whoa. Add on assorted family drama, and a nasty fall for allergies, and it's a miracle I've hauled my butt out of the house the last few weeks.

Not much left, though - one last test (Friday), one final (Wednesday), a short paper (7 pages - oooh!) and a brief essay (due the 9th). Well, and major revisions to the MA From Hell™, but those I actually have some time for. Really, it's not quite as much as it sounds like.

So, provided I can claw my way through the next, say, 6 days, I think I'll make it. Promise to post all the gory details then. Right now, though, solo un po 'più italiano prima di andare a letto. Auguratemi buona velocità, buoni voti, e tanto sonno! Buona notte!

P.S. I had my new faculty orientation today! I are a professor now! *squee* *yawn* (Well, a tired professor, but still...)

P.P.S. Er, when the heck did it get go bloody cold in this house! WTF? *shivers*

Still unpacking. Urgh! If I have to step over/on/around one more cardboard box, I'll..... well, remind myself to unpack it eventually is what I'll do. But I am taking the time to do things right, and trying to sort out a log of stuff as I go. Unfortunately, this equates with stuffing a helluva lot of stuff into the basement until some mysterious, fictional time in the future when I will actually deal with all the heaps of heaven-knows-what-all I haven't a clue what to do with. I need to grow a spine and rent a dumpster..... alas.

Back on track to finish this semester! Yay! New topic, new committee, new format - it's like all the crap last spring/summer never happened. Well, sort of. But it's forward motion, and I am pretty jazzed about the new topic, so all is good! Classes are proving to be enjoyable and relatively stress free, which is a big plus. I am working with all new profs, even in fairly new departments, which is odd, but all things considered, a good thing.

I don't see much of any of the faculty I used to, aside from the chance passing in the quad and such, but again, for the present, perhaps that's for the best. I'm not entirely over my sense of disillusion and betrayal yet, but I'm getting there. Or at least, I'm leaving it behind, which will suffice for the moment!

We have added to the residents of our "Conservatory" (what my son calls our sunroom). The Conservatory houses all the house plants, the original 29gal fish tank, a newer 20gal tank, and now, a 5.5gal with three hermit crabs! And now my son's class is looking to adopt out a few anoles, so we may end up with a few of them as well.

I never thought I'd add 'zookeeper' to my list of job titles, but I must say, it's quite rewarding. Although, I do wish the mollies would stop already! We are on our fifth batch (spawn? brood? clutch?) of molly babies, and even though we have given away about 35 or 40, we currently have something on the order of 75 mollies! This is sustainable when they are no bigger than this---> • but gets to be a problem when they get to be regular fish-sized....

I think it's time to round up all but one or two of the last brood and take them to the petstore. Unfortunately, I think the gold male has been making eyes at the big silver female, so I am sure we have not seen the last population explosion by a long shot! (Is it dastardly of me to be considering a fish that tends toward the carnivorous? Those babies could keep an Arowana happy for a good long time.... Maybe our home is not the best place to teach the Niblet how the food chain really works....)

Anyway, off to read, cite and write! Cheers!

P.S. We've begun the spookification of the new digs! Whee! I do love Hallowe'en!

I'm going to maybe try to (cautiously) return to posting a bit more publicly. I finally know what happened in spring, and wow. What a mess! I won't go into detail, but let me say that Dr. B. was completely blameless, and undeserving of any condemnation that found its way here, even when it was voiced only in frustration. In fact, knowing what I now do, I have to say he behaved with all the integrity, decency and professionalism that brought me to admire him so much to begin with. And I will say that I am deeply, deeply disappointed in a great many other people I work with. The lesson I mentioned back then holds: I am far too quick to expect rational, mature, and charitable behavior from others, and to extend my trust. I have got to remember that petty gossip, schadenfreude, and mischief will win out almost every time. But enough about that.

Well, I'm back in school yet again. It's bittersweet this time, for many reasons beyond the above. For one thing, I had wanted to be done by now. I'm over it, but...grr. Still not at all motivated on this thesis business. Plus, classes have been a nightmare! I have one requirement left to fulfill the Med/Ren; an art history course. So, I signed up for Gothic Art - sweet! Along with that, I had Cultural Theory lined up, together with a History of Renaissance Italy that I was quite excited about (what with the Machiavelli, and Visconti and Sforza and all!) Not so fast, grasshopper!

Somewhere during summer, with no notice given, the Gothic Art was cancelled. (Don't know why, but there are some faculty shiftings and such in that department just now, so it may have simply been a question of having someone to teach it.) That means I need to scramble to find another art history course if I want to finish the Med/Ren. There's only one: Italian Renaissance Art. And guess what? It's at the same time as Italian Renaissance History!!!! (Like duh, folks, ever think maybe the same people would want to take both?!??!) So I take art history, but now I have to replace history. OK, I'll take Religion and Media! Oh, wait, BOTH are full. Hello waitlist, here I come. *sigh*

Fast forward to 1st day of class. R&M prof says that his course is set up for exactly 24 students, sorry! So no love there. Art History prof says he doesn't feel right letting me in ahead of the others on the wait list*, but I should ask him at the end of the week. OK, so I look to see what I can replace R&M (which replaced history, except I'm still enrolled in that because art history is full) Oh, Lord, OK. Italian it is. In the morning. Four days a week. Consolation? It's easy. "Uno, due, tre..." I get credit for this? Cool.

Still no word on art history though. So I will either get in and finish the certificate, or not and have a history class of which I have already missed two meetings. Joy.

Oh and then there is the Theory class. heh. You remember how I love theory, right? And this is the 'lizard people, reading auras' theory guy. (Let's call him "The Aesthete." Don't ask why, let's just.) Should be a blast..... Though everyone says it's a pretty low-hassle course, which is a good thing.

Welcome back..... *sigh*

*How about because I'm trying to graduate, and your department yanked out the class I needed without any advance notice, leaving an already full class as my only option? Call me biased, but sounds like a good reason to me..... Or am I back to that thing where I expect rational behavior already?