Tuesday, September 20, 2005

The cat came back: part two, or Computer Tower Triptych


Well, Clarence has settled into the swing of things pretty quickly here -- though I think he's a bit annoyed with my new computer, as it doesn't have the kind of monitor he can lounge on, leaning over the screen to bat at whatever happens to be moving on it. He's having to make do, as you can see here, with the tower. It's comforting to have him there -- my own little angel in the house. An angel who's petulant and needy and aloof all at the same time, and will occasionally leave little love marks down my arm with his claws. Much closer to a Miltonic angel than a Hallmark one, I think ...

I'm starting to fall into a routine here, which is good ... I'm pretty much on campus each day by 8:30, and then I round the day out at 4pm by working out at our rather impressive sports complex (which I must say puts Campus Rec at Western to shame -- not that that's really difficult). Teaching from 11-12 and 2-3 monday, wednesday and friday (not the time slots I would have chosen, but then I am the new guy), with office hours in between.

And here's a shock -- students have actually been coming to my office hours. WTF? This is a brand new thing for me ... usually office hours are empty stretches of time during which I can pretty much count on getting work done until around mid-November when essay panic starts to set in in earnest. Every year in my first classes I strongly encourage, cajole, implore and indeed all but beg students to make use of my office hours, telling them it will actually benefit them. But never till now have my office hours been so busy in the first few weeks of school ... don't get me wrong, I like this, this is a good thing, but I just have to get out of the habit of assuming I can use those two hours to prepare for my next class. Yesterday I had to wing it for the second half of my american drama class.

Which, as you all know, is difficult for me--I almost never wing it. Really. Hardly ever.

2 comments:

mr. tomas ubik said...

i dont believe that last statement....well actually in hindsight of writing those six words I may be wrong....I do think you had a few test lectures just to see how it would work out in alternate realities though.


but thats where the fun of comparing religion to heroin always surfaced.

Chris in NF said...

Mmmm... religious heroin.

Marx said religion is the opiate of the masses. I say skip the religion and just go straight for the opiate.

The rest of the masses can do what they damn well please.