The one in which Doug updates things numerous and diverse...

BLOT: (03 Sep 2010 - 12:23:01 PM)

The one in which Doug updates things numerous and diverse...

Ok, three weeks into the semester. I have stayed, overall, on top of things. Readings are a bit skewed. They always are. With the exception of LS542 (Instructional Design) class, I have not shunted any reading to the side. I am skimming some, getting the gist, and even skipping ahead in others. That sort of thing. It's not like I am being a bad student. I'm just being...off the beaten syllabus, I guess.

Actual assignments are going ok. I posted about my LS502 (Research Methods) problem statement. I've actually updated it from that, but more a thing of balance than character (reflecting a degree of difference between what was written on the assignment and how she described it in class). If you have, for any reason whatsoever, a burning desire to see the updated version: The Retention Factor of Ebooks in an Academic Library Setting. I hope. I'm still getting the hang of sharing documents directly in the new Google Docs system.

Up next, I need to prepare a presentation on astrophysics resources that can be used by librarians. And I need to write a paper on Youtube in the library, as well as a paper on public libraries and school libraries working together. Then I have to make a presentation for the Youtube one. Maybe for the other one. Then, on Tuesday, I have to meet my lab partner and go through practice sessions of chat reference (which, for me, is a little old hat but fun). I have no class on Wednesday night (which is when I will probably do the astrophysics assignment), and no particular assignment due next Thursday, but the following week has the two presentations and three papers. It appears the density equation of academic assignment scheduling has struck again. I know everyone goes through this, where five papers and two choreographed dances are due on the same afternoon and there hadn't been a thing due for the three weeks prior, but I couldn't begin to fathom why professors inexorably dance to that tune. There has to be a time unit which the collective academe unconscious considers appropriate between major assignments, in an way that both Hegel and Kant would have appreciated. "Four weeks? About a month in the class? Yes, perfect for the first long assignment and a presentation!" Times three.

No complaint, mind you, because with a little forward thinking, I just budget the assignments into earlier weeks as possible, and it tends to work out.

Outside of that, my life continues into that dire strait of boringness that I try and warn friends about but I always fail to describe. "What's up, Doug?" a friend might ask, and my answer tends to be, "Nothing". Now, this sounds like self-denigrating politeness, but what I mean is "Nothing that I can make sound interesting to you.". Outside of being in classes, the five most exciting things to happen to me in the past three weeks are:

I only have like four more Tom Baker serials left to watch in Doctor Who
I studied about 200 pages of copyright law and wrote a libguide for UAH/Kaplan student on it, and have been looking up information for educators, as well
My subscription for Fangoria should hit any day now
Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men makes me giggle
I saw Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

That's not hyperbole. Or, I guess, hypobole. For the first two weeks of class, I had only a few hours to do anything not related to school or work. In the third week, my free-time hour content has doubled, maybe even tripled, but part of that is spent just staring into the middle distance. In another couple of weeks, I may risk having a social life again. For now, I'm just a cranky old man.

Speaking of Scott Pilgrim, by the way, I have gone back and re-edited the entry about Sarah and I inadvertently disrupting everyone's seating chart. I often go back and tweak entries here or there, but this time I was so tired when I wrote it that it had some serious issues. Only one or two paragraphs weren't rewritten. If you liked it the first time, you might like it more, now. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, click the link to find out.

News continues to depress me. I skim it here or there, and then find out about another off-shore drilling platform exploding, about another group claiming to be about freedom but mostly trying to control others that don't think the same, about another failed bill, another promise dropped from the campaign, more stupid rhetoric passed off as legitimate answers, and—within minutes—have to turn it all off. I am managing to keep up my reading-for-fun more than I thought I would, but less than I like. Looks like this will be a good semester to devour graphic novels. I'm not a big YA-lit fan, but I know many of my class-mates read almost exclusively YA-lit, especially when in the middle of the semester, so through their talks I have a small handful of backlogs to get to (including the Hunger Games series and the Uglies series). I am going to continue to devour the classic Doctor Who episodes, and continue to watch through various bits of British TV. And well, I'll be boring for a semester. We'll call it training for my life as a librarian.

TAGS: Me in 2010

BY WEEK: 2010, Week 35
BY MONTH: September 2010