First-day Jitters

The first day of school always makes me a little nervous.  It’s a good nervousness, though, the kind that’s mixed with the excitement of possibility.  In less than an hour, I’ll be in front of the first class of the new school year–class of freshmen, nonetheless–so the nerves for that class are extra jittery.  I’m not quite as nervous as I was last year, probably because it’s not the first day of my first year as a professor.  But I liken this nervousness to the feeling one gets right before going on stage to perform or before going out onto the field to play a big game.  I get these nerves just about every day that I teach, but it’s especially pronounced on the first day of school.  The slate is clean (on both sides of the desk), there’s new blood in the building, and the school year is rife with opportunity and untapped potential.  I know that once classes get rolling the nerves will fade away.  But I enjoy being nervous before school.  The way I see it, it means that I care.  Here’s to hoping I always have first-day jitters.

Easter 12 of 12

Happy Easter, everyone!

9:23am Bundled up on to take out Oreo. It LOOKED like Easter outside, but it sure didn't FEEL like Easter.

9:24am Yup, you're reading that correctly: Bright sunshine and 35 degrees, with a wind chill of 25 degrees. Like I said, it LOOKED spring outside, but it in no way FELT like spring.

11:09am Just before going into the church for Easter morning mass. Notice the lovely Easter wreathes on the doors and the fresh haircut.

12:24pm The beautiful Easter decorations in the church.

2:48pm Giving Oreo a long overdue bath. She was great--very calm and relaxed in the tub.

3:36pm Loaded up the dishwasher with a week's worth of dishes. I use a lot of dishes when I don't eat out. Plus, I'm lazy.

6:25pm Grading some Theory 2 papers. Ah, the deceptive cadence: one of my favorites.

8:20pm Oreo hanging out in front of the fire.

8:30pm Watching the Brewers' Ryan Braun bat in the bottom of the first inning. God, I hate that guy.

9:53pm Done with grading, I record the grades in the gradebook.

10:36pm iShoot for the iPod Touch is made by "Naughty Bits." (Mike, that one's for you. BITS)

11:34pm CUBS WIN!!

Insomnia, pt. 2

Yesterday was the first day of the spring semester at UML.  I’m usually a bit nervous before the start of the new semester, and the two nights ago certainly was no exception.  I didn’t get much sleep the night before, about four hours, due to my mind’s inability to relax and also to a fear of oversleeping.  I had trouble falling asleep last night, too, again because my mind just couldn’t settle down.  Among the various subjects my mind contemplated were:

• The new semester: I hope I teach well and I hope my students are receptive to my methods.
• Relationships: past, present, and future; platonic, romantic, familial.  It was a long weekend, to say the least.
• The first six measures of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”: I’m using that as an example in class on Friday, so I transcribed it into Finale Sunday afternoon and haven’t been able to get it out of my head.  Along with…
• “Get On Your Boots,” U2’s new single: I’ve lived with the song for a week now and I can say with full confidence that I like it.  It’s a new direction for the band, which was their intent on this album.  I was reluctant to write about the song until I’d listened to it enough.  I have, and it’s a keeper.  Like the rest of the U2 fans out there, I’m very excited for No Line On The Horizon.
• The impending snow storm: I hope my tires don’t get flat again.  I’ve spent a pretty penny getting them changed; I’d really hate it if I had to through the hassle of changing yet another tire.  On the bright side, Oreo will have more snow in which to run around.
• Travel plans for Spring Break:  My mom wants to go to Vegas, Mike is hosting FriendFest ‘09a in DC, and I’d like to visit Houston again.  Three place, one week…something’s gotta give.
• My country ’tis of thee sweet land of liber…DAMN IT!!
• The Australian Open: Djokovic has all the talent in the world, but no heart.  I realize that court temperatures of 142 degrees are torture, but he’s a professional with adequate time to prepare for the conditions.  It’d be different if this was the first time he retired, but he’s developing a trend of quitting when he’s down.  Federer, the game’s gentleman champion and ambassador, even called him out.  Not a good sign, Novak.
• Nashoba Valley Chorale: I sang with them for the first time last night and the music was tough.  Of course, I was rusty, but a lot of the music was in French, a language I have trouble with.

So yeah, the way I see it, it was impossible for my mind to shut down while all this crap swirling around.  I’m not sure how well I’ll survive averaging less than five hours of sleep a night.  Here’s to an early bedtime tonight!

Click here for “Insomnia” (pt. 1).

September 12 of 12

I was so tired last night I didn’t get a chance to post my 12 of 12 before I went to bed, as I like to do.  Here it is, a few hours late.

6:19 AM – The alarm had already been going off for 4 minutes.  Ouch.

6:24 AM – The parking garage on the first floor my building.  Oreo’s leading the way to the pet area.

6:55 AM – My clothes are waiting for me after my shower.  And yes, I did set them aside the night before, undershirt and all.

7:29 AM – My breakfast this morning.

7:45 AM – Making sure the playlist is complete for classes today.  Mozart?  check.  Sousa?  Check.  All-American Rejects?  Check.  Busta Rhymes?  Check.

11:45 AM – I head over to the convenience store adjacent to the Dept. of Music to grab some lunch before my office hour.  I decide to give Senor Miguel a try.  That was a mistake.  I should have known better.

12:15 PM – While waiting for a student (who never showed) during my office hour, I unload my bag and discover that I’ve a lot of grading to do this weekend.  A lot.

3:05 PM – Locking up my office, as I complete my first full week of classes (last week was only three days).  (P.S. You know it’s my office: amidst Red Sox Nation, it’s the only one with Cubs logos adorning the window.  Go CUBS!)

3:40 PM – I live only 2.0 miles from school, yet my commute averages about 25 minutes, no thanks to the Rourke Bridge, which I have to cross to get to and from school.  Essentially, three lanes bottleneck into one, then branch out again into three.  Here, I need to make a right, and would be able to if the jerk in front of me, who needs to make a left, would have gotten over to the left lane.  Moron.

4:07 PM - There’s a Dunkin’ Donuts right across the street from my apartment, and since Senor Miguel’s breakfast “burrito” didn’t do much for me, I decide to grab a sausage, egg, and cheese bagel.  This was not a mistake.

8:47 PM – Despite the mountain of papers I have to grade, I decide to take the night off because I’m utterly exhausted.  So, I play a little MarioKart Wii.  I won a few gold trophies in the 150cc league.  My only loss in this cup was due to a fluke pass right at the end, after I dominated the entire race up ’til that point.  Stupid spiny shells.

12:26 AM – I spend the rest of the night watching The Karate Kid and The Karate Kid Part II on AMC.  Oreo and I are in and out of consciousness pretty much the whole evening.  Man, my dog is cute.  Too cute.

One Week

My “grown-up” life as a full-fledged faculty member of UML has carried on now for a week and I can safely say that life is good.  I’ve got a pretty cushy schedule, only teaching Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at 8, 9, and 10.  When I first learned of my schedule, I was excited at the prospect of being “at work” only three days a week.  But as I soon found out, that’s not quite the case, as there are meetings and receptions and convocations and recitals scheduled throughout the week at all times of the day.  Also challenging about this schedule is the fact that I’m teaching three classes back-to-back-to-back, so I’ve got to be prepared with my lesson plans the night before as there’s no time between classes to plan for the next.  True, it’s only three hours of classroom time, but it’s three hours straight.  Being in front of 30 undergrads for that much time with no break is exhausting.  Add to that the fact that the copy center isn’t open before 8:30, so I’ve got to plan way ahead if I want to give a quiz or make a handout.

All in all, however, the job is great so far.  I know it’s still early, and I know that there will be days that don’t go well or weeks that are jam packed with extra-classroom events.  But the way I see it, until those days and weeks get here, I’m going to enjoy my free time while I still have some.