Month: January 2007

I’ll make this posting somewhat orderly, because I need to read some American History, as well as some other work today. If I can give myself 4-5 hours of reading I’ll be in good shape for tomorrow, when I can do the same. On Saturday I’ll go through the reading again and take notes on what I’ve highlighted and emphasised, and rest on Sunday. That’s the plan, anyway.

I woke up early this morning so I could take my car over to the garage for a servicing. the usual oil, fluids, etc…When I came downstairs at 7AM, my mother was up, and had been since 4. When she saw me she yawned and mentioned how sleepy she was. I would be too, I said if I had been awake since 4. So she followed me over to the garage and drove me home. I have about an hour before the vehicle is ready.

It has occurred to me recently how old and fragile my mother is becoming. She is almost child-like in some ways. This is manifested in her truculence, stubbornness, and inability to ask for help. When she becomes tired she refuses to nap, or even admit that she is tired. The smallest of tasks wears her out. She also becomes very cranky. This is distressing to me, particularly because there is nothing that I can do about it. She refuses any alternative therapies (exercise, vitamins, napping, etc…) and continues on her plow-ahead-mentality fueled by memory loss, denial, and scotch.

On that note, I had a ‘drug dream’ last night, which are rarer than ‘drunk dreams’ for me. Suffice it to say that I used some ecstasy with some “friends” and had a thoroughly miserable time. There was so much crappy self-esteem issues revolving around the using that I woke up feeling really shitty and prickly about myself and the world around me. The upshot is that my patience level needs to be accentuated to deal with those around me, especially the elderly. This means more hugs than usual and perhaps even forced lightheartedness–anything to avoid a sharp tongue.

The chocolate milk? That was part of the dream. It’s too bizarrely stupid to explain. Make up your own scenario…

Johnnyboy

So I have begun yet another semester in college. I have had 4 meetings so far, two of which were study groups and a third a private tutorial. the fourth meeting was with my new faculty mentor, Karen garner. She seems like the right person for me. She is very knowledgeable and will help me a great deal to navigate my remaining time in school. She also has some cool ideas for my Fine Arts Gen Ed requirement, but that’s a secret…All I’ll say is that it will have something to do with PowerPoint, travel, photography, and music. No, it will not be one of those boring travel slide shows…

“And here is another beautiful mountain range…”

My two classes are both Gen Ed thingies, but I am looking forward to working hard and receiving two ‘A’s for my efforts. The first is American History 1 and the second is a natural science class called ‘From Genes to Galaxies’. The AmHist will be fun, because the teacher, a youngish SUNY PhD told us, at the beginning of class that 95% of what we have learned about the subject in most classes is wrong. We are welcome to argue with him, and indeed, he may give us better grades if we do, but most history (and most history texts) is taught with a specific agenda in mind that skews the facts to support a specific purpose. So I like that one already.

The science class is concerned more with scientific literacy more than science. the goal, the teacher explained, is for us to leave the class with a sense of what is going on in the world and to be able to discuss the scientific subjects of the day in an everyday setting. Our final project is a biography of a scientist (living or dead) we admire with a 10 minute presentation. My subject will be Neils Bohr, the Danish physicist. Why, you may ask?

Because quantum physics does it to me liike…like…Oh dear, I’ve done it again…

I have been mastering Excel as well, so by next September when my art report is due, I should be pretty fluent with the Windows toolbox.

Well, I’m off to do some reading before I head out and help another AA to a meeting.

BTW, my cumulative GPA is 3.87…Not too shabby!

Johnnyboy