things I forgot since the last time I was in school, research paper edition

I've been stressing about my final papers since they were assigned, wondering when I'd find the time to write what adds up to 20 pages, even while realizing that 20 pages isn't all that much.

Then, I counted the days I actually have time to write between today and when they're due, and decided to write 20 pages divided by that amount of days I have time to write. This ends up being a manageable 2 pages each day for all the days I don't have rehearsal late or will be away from Boston.

It occurred to me much later that this is precisely how I wrote long papers the last time I was in school.

brief update as i try to survive the end of the semester

1. Saturday morning (at 7:45 AM, to be precise) will mark the beginning of my Educator Licensure testing--I'm taking the Reading and Writing Subtests first; the theater portion will be taken at a later date.
2. I have a 10-page research paper due in 2 1/2 weeks that I can't seem to crack, and so, I end up staring at the first page and hating my life.
3. I have a 10-page grant proposal due in 2 1/2 weeks that I haven't even started because I am stuck on the aforementioned research paper.
4. The semester is over in 2 1/2 weeks.
5. On the positive sign, I am virtually done with my final work for one of my classes, which will include co-teaching 20 minutes of a class of which we have devised the curriculum. Should be exciting.

conversations with my teacher, vol. IV

My relationship with my classmate, M, is love-hate. We're like eight-year-olds on a playground, chasing each other and pulling each other's hair and pushing each other down until our knees are skinned, because we love each other.

He works on the same floor as I do and walked by RM's office today. Stopping, he snarked at RM, "I can't believe you have to work with her. They should have paired you with someone better."

I screamed back, "YOU LOVE ME!"

RM intervened, "All I can say is that I could certainly do without her.

Not."

pretty much, he's inside my brain

"I couldn't tell whether it was good or bad because it wasn't amazing."-SE

Barack and Roll

Yesterday was intense. To say the least. On my train to school in the morning, some older guy was speaking loudly about how he'd voted for McCain because of the Pro-Life issue. I laughed out loud and whispered to the woman next to me that he seemed to be speaking to the wrong crowd. She giggled and agreed. I felt like screaming, "Obama!" as I exited the train, in defiance.

As I've mentioned before, my Tuesdays are long. I have class from 9-noon, work from 1-5, and class from 6-10. I told RM I'd be late for work because I had to run back to JP to vote, which went off without a hitch and made me want to celebrate when I was done. I needed a drink at 1 in the afternoon.

Then I spent the hours at work speaking with RM about what a historic moment this was for the USA and how we were both flipping out about it. I'm very grateful that I get to work so closely with her. She's seen a lot and has incredible, insightful stories about a time I didn't experience. She's one of the first people I called when the victory was announced. We couldn't hear each other over the screams of joy in the background.

After my evening class was let out early, I went over to my friend P's house to drink wine and distract ourselves from the results. Neither of us has a TV, so we were just refreshing cnn.com all night.

At about 11, we heard screams from the street. "BARACK!!!!" We screamed back, confused because the page hadn't loaded any definitive results, "DID HE DO IT?!?!" We heard the response, "HE DID IT!!!!!!"

Then I sobbed, called everyone I could think of and was sorely disappointed that most of them didn't pick up. Made some video posts with P, which are hilarious. Cried some more. Jumped up and down a bit. Probably cried more.

I was sure I wasn't going to be able to sleep, got home at 1 AM, after watching Obama's magnificent speech, and woke up an hour early. Reading all the information I could about what exactly happened last night left me covered in goosebumps and welling up with tears.

I literally feel safer now. I feel like I'm on vacation. And I'm grateful that I'm living in a city (and a COUNTRY) that agrees with me.

YES WE CAN!