Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Blarg

Blarg, I say, blarg. That's pretty much all I've had to say for the last, oh, two weeks.

More accurately, I've been saying "meh." I've dragged myself to class and to work, waiting to hear back from my doctor (who took Thanksgiving off because it was a National Holiday, or some such flimsy excuse), and people, seeing that I am as pale as a repeated victim of a vampire attack, keep asking me how I'm doing. So my answer has been "meh" because anything else would require way too much effort.

Moral of this story: blood is very important, do not let anyone tell you otherwise.

I finally have a diagnosis (anemia, Dr. Mom figured that one out, why did I need to see an MD again?) and the appropriate drugs (go go gadget iron supplement), so life is slightly improved here at the hovel.

The bug-killer guys have been dispatched by the apartment and will be here tomorrow to eradicate our pests with many chemicals which I probably would not want in my apartment if I had any say so in the matter.

I had my follow up meeting with the Registrar today. They conceded that my major does exist, and that I might have a degree. I am on track to graduate, and I do not need to do anything weird, such as take an inter-term class. Life is good, and I am now officially a degree candidate for a Baccalaureate of Arts in German and Comparative Literary Traditions with a Concentration in Medieval and Renaissance Studies. I am pretty sure that come May, no one else will have a degree that sounds anywhere near as impressive as mine. Heck, it even goes onto the second typed line. You should see it hand written: that's when it really gets imposing.

Now that I'm assured of my degree, I may get on with other important things, such as grad school applications. None of which I completed before Thanksgiving (as per my original plan) because there was no point in applying to a master's program if I wasn't going to have my bachelor's degree.

On the NaNo front, I am afraid that this year I am going to have to throw in the towel. I don't like quitting, and I really like winning, but this year it is just not to be. I am going to let my brain reset for a few days as I do school work (see below) and then finish Pearl Dust before I pick this year's project up again. I'm at a little past the 30k mark with 9 Revolutions, but the past week and a half or so I've been so sick I couldn't write. I couldn't do anything else for that matter.

I passed out at work last Friday, and went home early, which was an adventure in its own right. I ended up paying more for the pair of shoes I bought that day than I got paid that entire week. I may try to return them, if I can find the receipt.

Now that I'm feeling better, I find that tons of work has crept up on my while I was curled up in a ball on the sofa, waiting for the vampire to come finish me off. I have tests in French and Linguistics tomorrow, for which I am totally unprepared. I have not read a word of Kant, but since I'm doing quite well otherwise in Philosophy, I may sacrifice a level of my grade there in order to prepare properly for everything else. I have a paper due for History on the 4th, which is next Tuesday, for which I have done not one whit of research. Also on the 4th, I have a test in German Grammar, another thing for which I am not yet prepared, but I must do well on it in order to get any grade higher than a C for the class. [The vampire also apparently took my ability to remember the past participle of any irregular German verb, even the easy ones like haben and kommen.] If that weren't enough, I also have a review of an article for Linguistics due the week after that. There I have at least made the step of choosing my topic, but that's as far as I've gone. I'm pretty sure there is supposed to be additional work for Philosophy in there somewhere as well, but if Dr. R has forgotten, I am sure not going to remind him. If I live through all of that, then there are still final exams to contend with, and I'm done on the 19th.

Then I'll be able to rest my brain, but not the rest of me, because I work retail and we are officially in the busy season.

So, until noon on the 19th, St. Joseph of Cupertino, pray for me.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Fun with Technology

I finally got around to downloading the latest version of Firefox. For those of you, who like me, are kind of late adapters, I recomend that you go ahead and download it. It has in-line spell checking. You have no idea how happy that makes me.

Also, I've passed the 20k mark for NaNo.

-Yami

Friday, November 09, 2007

Have You Ever Felt Like You Were Stuck in a Kafka Story?

So, like the title says, have you ever felt like you were stuck in a Kafka story? I had that feeling today. Right now I do not think anyone will be dying randomly a the end, but today did feel like the middle bit of one of his stories, where everything you thought you understood about the way the plot is going gets turned on its head.

I started the day by getting something in writing from Dr. D, the chairman of the Modern Languages Department, saying which courses that I have taken (or will take in the Spring) will count for which requirements for the Comparative Lit major. Thinking life was good, I went on down to the registrars office to review my degree plan.

I was told that I should be alright for German, just as soon as Dr. E tells them exactly what was being substituted for what. I've been nagging him for a week, and he still has not forwarded me that information. We worked it out last month, I just did not get a copy of it at the time, and I can not remember which of the classes I took we decided counted as the introduction to German lit, and which one was most like Lit Trad III.

I was told that my Medieval and Renaissance Studies concentration is good to go, because I already have everything in order for that, and am currently enrolled in the last class I need for it. For the Core, I am likewise in good shape, all I have to do is take a biology class next Spring (either Basic Ideas of Biology or Darwin) and I will be done just in time for graduation.

Then I said, that's great, but I want do double major with Comparative Lit Trad. Here's Dr. E's signature on the major change request, and here's the list of what classes I have/am/shall take(-n)(-ing) [select appropriate]. She looks at the list and says something to the effect of, "you want to major in what? I don't know if that is allowed."

It's new I say. It is in the latest bulletin, the one that I did the paper work two months ago in order to graduate under. I show her the page number. I show her the print out from the department website with all the pretty colors that Dr. M gave me to line out the requirements in a clearer fashion. I show her the list of courses from Dr. D and his signature. The Department head is on board with this, I remind her.

Yes, she says, but some things got into the bulletin that were not actually approved, and she thinks that this is one of them because she does not have the forms for the degree audit. We need to talk to the dean she says. The dean is naturally not in her office when the call is placed.

I'm told to take the major change form upstairs for the filing minions to deal with, and to go ahead and sign up for what ever classes the Modern Language Department thinks I need. I now have an appointment to see someone with the authority to make a decision on the 27th, and the assurances that I will be allowed to do any and all add/drops that I might need.

I leave, fighting the urge to shout "IF THE MAJOR HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED, WHY IS IT EVEN IN THE BOOK? DID NO ONE READ THE BULLETIN BEFORE IT WAS PUBLISHED? IF IT IS NOT OFFICIAL, WHY DID NO ONE TELL ANY OF THE PROFESSORS IN THE MODERN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT? WHY ARE THERE COURSES LISTED IN THE CATALOGUE BOTH THIS FALL AND NEXT SPRING WITH A CLT NUMBER IF IT DOES NOT EXIST? WHY CAN YOU NOT USE AN OUNCE OF COMMON SENSE AND TELL ME WHETHER OR NOT I AM GOING TO GRADUATE?" But I didn't shout anything, nor did I throw anything, I just said "Thank you for your time."

So, long story short, I still do not know if I have the number of credits I need to graduate, if I will have to take a class over Christmas break, or if I need to do a Directed Readings class, because according to the registrar, my proposed degree does not, in fact, exist.

On another note, my Philosophy mid term and Linguistics Presentations (both of which were last Wednesday) went pretty well. Dr. M finally finished grading our French mid-terms and I got an 87, which makes me pretty happy. Some days I am sure that Joseph of Cupertino has my back.

On the NaNo front, I am storming right along at 14,404 words, not nearly as far behind as I have been in previous years (in fact, I'm on target and hopping to hit 16,667 tonight). Aerisith is no were near the mark to keep on pace for 50k, but she has passed 5,000 and is so thrilled about having written this much of one story that I can not help but be happy for her. Keep cheering us both on, because the writing is going well.

-Yami

Friday, November 02, 2007

Degrees of Insanity

My class ring arrived yesterday, nearly a month before I expected it. It still feels weird to have it on my finger, but I'm pretty happy. Also, after much running around to Drs. E, M, and D, it looks as though I will be able to double major and still graduate in May*. If that is the case, then I will receive a Bachelor's of Arts in German and Comparative Literary Traditions with a Concentration in Medieval and Renaissance Studies. This will net me a very impressive sounding transcript, and prepare me for a short and intellectually fulfilling life living underneath the Ponte San Angelo. (See photo at left.)

All that could change of course if I ever manage to sell a book. The Conclusion to Pearl Dust has been placed on the back burner for now, with the idea that I will polish it up in December and fob it off onto a few gullible wonderful friends who have agreed to beta-read for me. National Novel Writing Month has begun again, and with that I have started a new project. 9 Revolutions starts a few months after the end of Pearl Dust with a few old characters and a bunch of new faces. So far I'm having fun with it. At the end of day two, the old word count is 5,081, which means that I am a little over a day ahead. Hopefully I'll be able to use the weekend to turn that lead into an even bigger lead. I know from experience that I'll need every word that I can get when the inevitable week two slump hits.

-Yami






*Hopefully the Registrar aggrees with the Modern Language Department in that respect.