The Misadventures of a Native New Yorker

I am in shock, you guys. SHOCK. Like a big shocked thing.

I got my grades back.

I already found out a couple of weeks ago that the SEC class I thought I'd completely blown actually awarded me a B-. This was my lowest grade The other really hard test in Real Estate?
I got a B!

And for all of my (considerable) bitching about my Research, Writing and Litigation class? I GOT and A! (which is really two As, because the Litigation part and the Research & Writing parts are separate grades. I got an A in each). I also got an A in Trademark and Copyrights, but I kind of know my way around that forest.

So, I'm COMPLETELY DONE, my shiny shiny diploma is on its way, and I got an A in the class from hell.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't do the Carlton Dance when I learned of this:



j_bkl is off at HIS first class right now, so I will have to wait to celebrate with him until he gets home. But I'm excited. I can say with absolute certainty that I rocked this. I'm proud as hell of my B+ semester grade (both this and last semester). I did it. I'm done. My evenings and weekends are mine again!



My class's graduation party is on Friday, and BOY do I feel like celebrating!!

I have completed my last assignment ever for the Paralegal Program. (well, barring some proofing that I have to do in the morning, when I'm less close to the documents).

But it's done. And, this means, I actually have time to enjoy myself on my day off before I travel. Imagine.

I can't believe this is almost over. FINALLY.

So, they've clamped down on the internets at work. It's not a bad thing, really. It's actually a really good thing. Without the temptation of the great Digital SHINY SHINY, I've actually been super-duper productive. *sigh* I still have my blackberry, which includes twitter and gmail, to keep me somewhat connected. Of course, I would have been happier adjusting to this new reality without a sharp talking-to from Boss T, but that's how it goes, I guess. He semi-apologized later in the week, and it seems like it was a kind of Chain of Screaming situation, but still, the distractions of THE SHINY were um, sort of distracting me. So, I quit the internet during work/daylight hours. I can check it at home (like now) or someplace OTHER than work, but no longer at work. I'm even holding off on doing stuff at lunch right now, because that's what got me into trouble in the first place. ("Oh, no one'll care if I just take 15 more minutes...." was never quite 15 more, you know?).

Still, this clampdown has made me realize two things:
1. The workday really flies when you're busy, and I am!
2. The signal-to-noise ratio on Google Reader and LJ is really impressive. I can usually catch up on the events of the day in about an hour or less. Google reader is an amazing device, especially when you have it set for just headlines.

And, if that wasn't fun enough, I had my first test that I don't think I did so well on. Almost all of our tests so far have been multiple choice. And the one that wasn't? We were allowed to bring in a "cheat sheet" of crib notes to remember specific details. Not for this one. No, my SEC professor seemed taken aback by the stream of vitriol my class launched at him about the 30-question short-answer exam that was not multiple choice, nor was it open-book. "I swear to you people, it's an easy exam! It is! Hardly anyone ever fails! It's not complicated!!" And, when I grilled him, in class, about how much memorization would be required, he demurred, saying that as long as I read my notes and understood the classwork (which he said I did), I would be "fine."

See, the reason I grilled him is that I memorize about as well as the fish in my icon. I am TERRIBLE at memorizing things. It takes me a really long time. I don't remember the number of our landline. I have trouble with names, addresses (just ask blergeatkitty how many times I've had to call from her street to ask which building/apartment it is again. Once, I even got the block wrong. And that was after I'd been there before. I also can never remember teany's apartment number, either.) If I KNOW that I have to memorize lots of facts, I have to drive myself to the point of near-breakdown to cram some of them into my head. I had to do this last semester with a couple of classes that made it clear that we would need to memorize things. It was frustrating and exhausting, but I got through. But, this guy said I wouldn't have to memorize. So I studied like he told me to study, and guess what?

I definitely needed to memorize, not just study. And that made me really angry. And upset. I think I did okay, despite this (I don't know how he grades, and I did well on the homework and in-class stuff), but don't tell me that something is "easy" and that I just need to "understand" when the key word here is "memorize."

And don't even get me started about how when you work in a law office, you're not supposed to rely on memory EVER. You're supposed to look things up. Why? Because the law is about being specific.

People are telling me that I probably did better than I thought I did, but I'm still really, really annoyed and worried about this test. *sigh*

And on top of everything, my stomach has been such a mess this past week and change that I've barely been able to eat anything. It's getting better (Subway is my friend), but I'm still not there yet.

And speaking of there, I have to get ready for work.

I enjoyed the list format so much last time, even though I worried certain stories would be buried within it. However, thanks to the cool people on my f-list, this was not so.

• I had a wonderful Easter with j_bkl's family. Unfortunately, after a lovely afternoon, my stomach decided to rebel and I've been violently ill since about 8:30 last night. No idea what caused it (a bug, an allergic reaction, Zachariah the Evil Angel), but it laid me out so hard that when I woke up to attempt to go to work this morning, my entire body said no. I figure that if exhaustion, dehydration, vertigo, and all sorts of TMI ick I don't want to get into here are enough to keep the average starlet home from a premiere, they wouldn't mind me taking a day from the office. I'm 75% better, should be shipshape by morning.



• We also got to hang out with my folks on Saturday (which was rad as always), and replace the shopping cart I killed back in November? December? So we have a mega-cart again. This is happy-making.



• I am continually staggered, amazed, and disgusted by rampant consumerism encouraged by the wedding industry. No, really. It's disgusting. And, so much of it is swathed in this beautiful cloud of guilt that if you don't buy [thing] or [service] OMG UR WEDDING IS GOING TO BE A DISASTER I'M WARNING YOU IT'S JUST $900 FOR CHRIST SAKE ISN'T THE HAPPIEST DAY EVAR OF UR LIFE WORTH IT!! ISN'T IT? Blah. Thank goodness for Offbeat Bride and A Practical Wedding, as I'm sure these wonderful sites will keep me sane over the months leading up to the Marriaging. But seriously? $35 for a Pantone Guide to make sure everything is perfectly coordinated? $120 to have access to Evite on Steroids. It never ceases to amaze. (Mom thinks I need a break from this stuff. Maybe she's right?)



• I am now fully up-to-date on Supernatural(FLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIILLL), Ugly Betty (OY.), Life Unexpected (My crack!) and The Vampire Diaries (HOMG). And, In Plain Sight is also back, and watched (Mary, I missed you!!). TV is so good right now it's almost not even worth it to pay $13 to go see a movie.



• I just got this out of the library, and I'm looking forward to reading it. I'm a fan of Not Eating Out in New York, though I enjoy her recipes more than her ranting. Still, I've heard good things about the book, and I've loved the hell out of all of the other food-related memoirs I've read so far. Specifically A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, Cooking for Mr. Latte by Amanda Hesser, and of course, Julie & Julia AND Cleaving by Julie Powell. (Oh, the screenplay I could write for Cleaving.)



• As previously mentioned on Facebook, this is some bullshit right here. I mean, what next? Are they going to add mortgage backed securities to Monopoly? Scrabble has been just fine for the last 62 years, thank you very much. It does not need updating. Stop it.



• Every day around the same time, I can hear someone playing the trumpet outside of my kitchen window. This person is a very good trumpet player, and I enjoy listening to his/her sessions. However, I am so frigging curious about who this might be, I'm tempted to post it as a missed connection or something. In the meantime, J and I have dubbed them "Trumpet Man" and will continue to enjoy the music so long as the windows remain open.



• 5 weeks remain in school. Just. Five. Somehow, I will get through this. I hope.

Okay, is too much, lemme summup:

• School continues to kick my ass in terms of workload and time, but I'm doing okay otherwise. I was super worried about this Summons and Complaint (for the uninitiated, the summons is a notice that says "O HAY UR BEIN SUED," the complaint is "AND HERE'S WHY!") I wasn't so worried about the summons (as it's sort of a form you fill out), but I was a tad concerned about the complaint. Well, I was, and then I got an A. Granted, I have miles to go before I can sleep in terms of this Research, Writing & Litigation class, but that A was a nice confidence boost. I hope I do as well on my document demands and evidence log. I also received an A in my technology and the law class, which really made me happy, as I worked really hard on that final. Remember the super-old professor who forgot what he was talking about mid-sentence and kept getting facts wrong? I managed a B. Huzzah!



• Work is work. *sigh*



• Thanks to the wonders of modern medicine, I'm healthy again. \o/ Thank jeebus. I had no idea how crappy I'd felt for so long until I, you know, stopped feeling crappy.



• I have many, many thoughts on this. It's hard for me to put them into words, because the rage makes forming sentences hard. When you're a survivor of this kind of bullying, the never-ending, day-in, day-out battery (be it physical and/or emotional), it's hard to sit and watch things like this happen again and again. I'm pleased that these miserable little wates of organs are being prosecuted (although considering what I believe these little sociopathic bastards deserve, being put on trial is the equivalent to a hug and a cookie), but I'm heartbroken that this girl felt she had to take her own life to escape it. I'm angry not one teacher stepped in and tried to do anything. I'm angry the authorities were not called. I can only hope that it's bringing more attention to the fact that kids are not "just kids," this stuff needs to be clamped down on not only early but ruthlessly, and attention needs to be paid. That's all I've got before my hands usually start balling up into fists.



• Wedding planning has started in tiny bits, despite my insistence that it wouldn't even be touched until May. I've emailed a couple of caterers, but it honestly feels like I'm back to internet dating. I see someone's page, I like them, I write to them. They write back, ask for more information, which I give. And then, nothing. (Although one said he really wanted to talk over the phone instead). I still have 2 or 3 more I hope to write to, but still, I keep excitedly opening up my wedding-crap email address and am disappointed to find nothing from caterer #1, the one I really, really liked. I'm also consistently annoyed at how much caterers hem and haw over price quotes. Just give me a damn ballpark, for crying out loud. More on this story as it develops.



• In other wedding-related news, I've already changed my mind 6 times on what colors I'll be using (and torturing quasisonic, blergeatkitty and my mom with all of my back-and-forth). And, photographers are crazy expensive. But I'm hopeful I can still find a good one that I like. It's not something I feel like I can go without on the day. There are many things I could go without (DJ, flowers, etc.) but I want good pictures of me, at least once in my life. I don't think that's so much to ask on an important day such as this one.



• I got to see quantumchick and her hubby last week, and it was spectacular. She looks amazing, and I'm so happy and excited for her about all of the cool stuff she (and they) have in store. ::sends hugs::



• j_bkl and I also got to see The Runaways two weeks ago, and I really liked it. It was atmospheric, and didn't spend ages explaining everything. And, I was impressed by the acting. Aparently Kristen Stewart isn't bad if there's not some sparkly moper in her line of sight. Dakota Fanning was also terrific - but she was always a good actress, so that was less of a surprise. It's worth seeing. Next up is hopefully Hot Tub Time Machine or Leaves of Grass, both of which I very much want to see.
  
  
• For years, spookshowbaby has called Timothy Olyphant Timothy Oly-fantastic. I mean, of course the guy was rad. His character in Hit Man had way more depth, humor, and inner life than the script called for, and that's all acting. Plus he deserves kudos for creating a villian in Die Hard Iv that I could honestly believe knew how to use a computer (and possibly hack NORAD on a laptop just to prove a point, but that's neither here nor there.) Then, I finally got around to watching the pilot for Justified, which I had downloaded when it was free on itunes. Oh. My. God. Hold the boat, because I'm boarding it in a big way. I knew the guy is a great actor - the best new one I've seen in a long time - but he's also blisteringly hot, apparently. I did not know this previously, but HELLO NURSE. It helps, of course, that the show is well written, smart, dark, funny, and, as surprised as I am to say so - beautifully shot. It's also subtle, which is a welcome change (as much as I enjoy Human Target, Guerro is the only semi-subtle thing on that shovel-to-the-face of a show.) The combination of a really well-written character and Olyphant's ability to raise an eyebrow and convey the entire scope of his meaning? Yeah. I'll be tuning in. Score one for FX.



• I'd like a nap. I'm so tired. We had friends over for dinner last night and while it was infinite amounts of awesome, I am TIRED. Oh, and more in love with my crock pot than evar.

That's about it.

J.D. Salinger died! Guess he'll have some new books coming out now. But sheesh, 2010 has been a shitty year for authors so far. Robert B. Parker, Howard Zinn, Salinger? Geez.

Ugly Betty was canceled. Not shocked, but still. Booo.

Let's see, what's been going on?

I had one of the greatest meals of my life last night at Primehouse NY, along with j_bkl, blergeatkitty, and kip3f. STEAK. (as well as pork belly, potatoes, and cheesecake. Oh, and wine pairings.) Oh, how I heart you, restaurant week!

For one, I'm exhausted. The first week back is always an ass-kicker, and this one is no exception. Plus, we're no longer in that nice classroom we'd been in, we're in a crappy one that I hate.

All professors but one have so far been re-runs, and all good re-runs. I have the fantastic Prof I had for Civil Practice and Ethics for Evidence and for Research, Writing & Litigation (which I'll have all semester). I'm enjoying things we're learning in those classes, as well as my Technology and the Law Office class, taught by the hilariously crazy dude who taught us Bankruptcy Law last semester. But he's more than ever proving himself to be crazy like a fox, as this new class could really be called "Really Valuable Search Tools and Shortcuts That Will Save Your Ass Time and Again." Sadly we only have him twice. He's a great instructor and marvelously entertaining.

Tonight, unfortunately, I am stuck in the 2nd of four classes on the topic of Corporations and Partnerships. I am certain this Prof is losing it. It's not because he's older. We had a lovely gentleman for Tax Law who was definitely not young, but was still sharp as anything. This guy? Totally out there. He frequently loses his train of thought mid-sentence (at least 5 times last class, although I plan to keep even closer track tonight). He'll go on bizarre tangents that have nothing to do with the topic, either. He can barely write legible notes. All he needs to do is present us with the information we need to pass his frigging exam in a timely fashion. I don't need to know about his grandkids or Jack Parr, or this one time he bought a sandwich at a place that used to be near A&S (really, what does that have to do with an S-Corporation, anyway?!) The class is ready to revolt after one session, but on my friend Sz's urging, we shouldn't complain based on the guy's age, because then they won't be able to do anything about him. It's not his age, it's the fact that he's halfway to senile. Ugh. The worst part is we have another professor later in the semester, who taught us Intro to Business organizations last semester, who could be whacked out on NyQuil and still do a better job teaching than this guy. Instead, I have to rely on our textbook, which thankfully is rather good. But still, if I have to miss Winchesters to be somewhere, at least fucking make it feel worth my time and effort. He gets one more class, and I may try to figure out how to complain more formally, other than on the Professor evaluation.

Otherwise? I need a vacation. Or staycation. Badly. Lately I've been overscheduled and overextended and I need some time to recharge. It's just not been possible, unfortunately, and I need to figure out how to make something possible, lest I snap. *sigh*

So, I've been home from work for the last two days. Flu-like symptoms include body aches, headaches, several varieties of stomach ick (I'll spare the details, but so far my stomach gave me a huge yelling-at for the toast I tried to have this morning), dizziness, a low-grade fever, and a sore throat.

I don't think I have the hamthrax, but others have asked if I do. This has been bouncing around the office, and I think it may just be a garden-variety flu-bug. Though it could be the Flu of Swine. If it is, I'm kind of disappointed. I was expecting something a lot more epic and Stephen King-flavored, this is pretty lame, honestly. This is nowhere nearly as bad as the Great Holiday Plague of 2007. Hell, I've even recently had food poisoning that was worse.

The worst thing about all of this is that my brain isn't really functioning up to normal standards. Concentration is hard, as are bright screens. I have to leave to go and take an exam in a bit, too. But luckily for me I have a good track record for taking exams while sick (NYC Elementary-Level Standardized tests and the English Regents were both aced while I was deathly ill. True story). Plus, the topic is Real Estate, and after two classes, I can say with absolute certainty that talking to redesignerreading Brownstoner have taught me more about real estate law than this class did. Plus? OPEN BOOK. And, just multi-choice/true-false, too. I've come up with a reasonable algorhythm for exams - depending on how invested your professor is, and this is easy to tell if you pay attention, you can figure out just how hard this test will be. Don't get me wrong, the instructors are all pretty good, but there are more than a few who think having to administer and grade exams is a bullshit waste of time, and they act accordingly. This guy is definitely in that category. I've been trying to study, but it's not easy, both due to the overwhelming feeling of "I totally know this!" and "Gee whiz, how come those letters are moving!"

No idea if I should go in to work or not tomorrow. Friends have advised me not to. Some people I work with are kind of martyr-tastic when it comes to being sick, and drag themselves and their germs in for all to share because they *arm to forehead* had! so! much! work! to! do! But, we'll see. I may give it a shot and see how long I last.

Now to get my things together to roll out.

So my first exam, the one for NY Civil Practice that I was all worried about and scared about and everything?  Where I had no idea how I did or if I passed?

Grades are in.

I GOT AN A-!!! 

i now know how David Cone felt in the above photograph.  

Was there a curve? I don't fucking CARE.  If I got an A- with a curve, it means I didn't tank without it.   *dances*  

(Thank you JESUS!  I know you can hit a curveball!) 

The usual case with me is that I never realize I'm tired until I stop moving. Score one for inertia, that.

But the last 3-4 weeks I've felt like a hamster on a wheel. Never stopped moving once. It's been stressful, too. Work was nuts, and school was kicking my ass hard. Of course, as is the case with these things, I ALSO had a ton of social obligations (granted all ones I was looking forward to, but still) fall on my head as well.

By Thursday? I was a crispy critter. I think it's kind of why I fell asleep before 11 on Friday. But this weekend? Aside from a brunch? I've done NOTHING. And it's been really and truly what I needed.

At the moment I'm taking a break from studying for tomorrow's income tax law exam (barf). But yeah, I'm still here, I've just been barely able to say anything longer than 140 characters. To pretty much anyone.

I'm still proud of myself for fighting through like a Winchester, and also remembering that sometimes it's really, truly okay to have a weekend where you really don't do much of anything. In fact, sometimes it's even important.

A few things, in brief, because I'm not sure if I'm going to get the chance to write more:

- I was really excited to get to see U2 with the people I saw them with. However, the show itself didn't impress me nearly as much as the first one I saw on the Vertigo tour. It felt a tiny bit like the band was phoning it in, but then again, I felt the exact same way about the most recent album. (There was a terrible, terrible, terrible dance remix during the set, too. Just awful. Bad. It sounded like one of the cheesy mixes WKTU plays late at night on the weekends. Blah.) I also could not believe that they didn't do Pride. I was stunned, really. What's a U2 set without Pride? It was also the end of a rather crazed and exhausting week, so by the time I got to the concert I was close to wiped out. Still, they played Mysterious Ways, and the Unforgettable Fire (which is one of my all-time favorite songs of theirs), a beautiful version of Stay and an awesome version of Until the End of the World. I would have preferred fewer songs from the new album, that's all.

- OMG YANKEES. I'm loving the ALCS so far, particularly how the Angels have been best described by the instrumental known as "Yakety Sax," best known for being the theme to Benny Hill. The opposing team's errors are grand, but even more grand is watching my boys come together in the post season like gangbusters. It's been SO exciting, and gratifying, because I know in my heart that this squad has it in them to go all the way. I know it. There feels a good combination of talent, chemistry, and enthusiasm that I haven't seen since the 90s Dynasty. I'm just trying not to let it stress me out, though. In my world, the post season is SRS BZNSS.

-Teevee: Ugly Betty returned on Friday and the writing is the strongest it's been since the first season (finally). I'm continuing to love new shows Glee and The Vampire Diaries (oh, great cracktastic fun!) But Eastwick is losing me, hard. I want more magic, and less bumbling. Everything is cliched and silly, and I can see coming from 10 miles away. I'm not caring enough about the characters, and some of them flat out annoy me (the journalist especially. I kind of want to smack her, repeatedly, at least once an episode). Still, Sara Rue is awesome, and she will keep me hooked for a little while longer. New-to-me show Big Bang Theory continues to severely rock my world. I started mainlining episodes Labor day weekend, and I absolutely fell in love with the show (Sheldon!! I love me some Sheldon. But the other characters fail to be stereotypes, and continue to be likeable. Plus, the writing is marvelous.)

I'm still waiting for How I Met Your Mother to stop being painfully lame. The episode last week about the couple dating was just terrible - although the Sexless inkeeper part had flashes of the old genius to it. When a Jason Siegel song can't save the writing? Trouble. I hate hate hate what they're doing to Marshall & Lily. Granted, there are moments where they remain fun and cool (the Lily Stripper especially), but why the hell have they turned into these lameass, trying-to-hard, bland-as-crap, typical sitcom couple? Bring back the Marshmallow and Lilypad we know and love! Not these pod people that book B&B weekends with their couple friends without asking, but the ones who blew them off to sit at home, order takeout and watch cheesy tv marathons ("Zip Zip Zip"). You know, the ones that would rather throw themselves out a window than have a wine-and-cheese night. (And literally did, in "O.K. Awesome") Please bring the real Marshall and Lily back, okay? Thanks.

(Otherwise, still loving Castle, NCIS, Gossip Girl, Bones, Supernatural [duh. this is on the way to be the best.season.ever!!], Dollhouse [though I'm two weeks behind!] and Mad Men)

-Cooking: Not getting to do enough of it lately. But I've had some good moments:

1. This curried shepherd's pie was such a big hit that I'm going to make it exactly as written next time, instead of just making one. I'm either going to invite others over to share, or I'm going to to freeze one, as written. We shall see.

2. Last Sunday, we had a lovely day with J's parents. We went to the Walkway Over the Hudson (which was so, so awesome), and had a lovely day in general. In the evening, we dined at a charming little old-school Italian place in Dobbs Ferry. His mom gave us her leftovers, some kind of sausage-and-peppers dish. I took that home, and a day or two later, added more peppers, spinach, and some rotini pasta and came up with a rather tasty re-imagining of the leftovers. It wasn't anything special or complicated, but it was delicious, and those usually wind up being the meals I'm proudest of.

3. Yesterday, I made a tuna casserole, my mom's recipe. We have plenty of leftovers for the week. Score!

4. Tonight I'm finishing other leftover items (another head of spinach, some sweet potatoes, some other leftover veggies) we have and making chicken cutlets to go with them. Also debating making some cous cous, which would go nicely with all of these things and be something nice to have in the fridge as well. I may have just talked myself into it, since it's so damn easy to make! Also, more leftovers = good things.

Speaking of, it's almost 6:30, and time to crank WRXP (the best station in NYC right now) and get cracking.

As most of you know, I started the paralegal program I'd previously mentioned on the 8th. (Although, if you want to get technical, I started it during my vacation to Provincetown Labor Day weekend, because I had a shitload of reaidng to do before classes started).

How's it going? It's interesting so far. What basically happens is I show up to the same room 2-3 times a week (more on that later) and we have a different instructor each night, depending on the topic. We also get a few repeaters, which is cool. Two of the dudes I've had so far are awesome and excellent, one I'm not sure about, and only one I'm actively worried about. Not bad so far. The guy I had for the intro session, will have for contracts and Criminal Law is a genuine performer, but he makes the material accessible and interesting. It's not easy to sustain interest for 3 hours and 45 minutes, but he did a pretty good job. The other guy is less of a performer, but he knows the stuff inside and out, has a cutting sense of humor (always a plus in my book), but is extremely approachable, and surprisingly easy-going about things. He demands a lot (I will be SO happy when his section is over and I can do other things besides the reading for his stuff, which is massive), but he will stop everything and explain it to you if you did the work and don't get it, which is good. I'm going to have him again, so provided he doesn't load us down with as much reading, I'll be looking forward to more of his classes as well.

The third guy I had for the first time on Monday. He's funny as well, but I have the suspicion he's sneaky laid-back. He suggested/required a textbook and mentioned topics we'd be talking about from it, and provided a vocabularly list (more on that in a minute, too) yet did not assign reading. He did tell us about our exam in detail, and apparently that's all scantron/short answer/true-false. So, it looks like I'll be looking up words and filling up that vocab sheet to prep for the test. And check out the sections of the book that seem relevant-ish, and hoping I don't get nailed on the exam, even though he swore and swore it wasn't his intention to do so, and he curves, and all that. We'll see. He's at the very least tolerable, if not pleasant, so that goes a long way towards making the hours pass.

The fourth guy is the instructor I have for the Research and Writing Class. The program I'm in touts the research and writing we're supposed to learn how to do to be the best in the land. At orientation, we heard all about how we'd leave the program with real-by-gosh writing samples to show ACTUAL EMPLOYERS (zomg!) considering us for jobs. All fine. I was supposed to have the guy who'd been doing it all this time, who was well-respected by the other instructors and whom I'd heard great things about.

Then I got transferred to the other section.

The evening classes started out as having so many students that they had to split research and writing into two separate sections. One had the Established Guy, one had the New Guy. Now, as someone who survived many writing classes as an English/Journalism student, I can tell you from experience that you never, ever, ever want The New Guy. The New Guy may know the subject. He may be well meaning. But he's green. He's never taught people before, most likely, and more than likely doesn't have the slightest gibbering notion what he's doing. It takes years, seasoning, practice, mistakes, and successes to truly learn the ropes of What Works and What Doesn't. It wouldn't be an issue if all the material were in a big general textbook that I could read if I felt the Guy was lacking. But, alas, there really isn't much in the way of a textbook in this class.

I could have planned the first lesson better (I really should have a Hermione icon, shouldn't I?). We went through some basic definitions and things mentioned on the syllabus, but that was it, and we were done by 7:30 (class is usually done at 9:45). We have homework and things to read, so I'll see what happens next time. It was like they pulled him in off of the street. He kept hemming and hawing (I should have kept an "Um, Ah" tally), and, I kept thinking of other things he could have touched on, given us examples of, or gone over in class and have had them reinforced in the homework. For example, we've already had legal citations mentioned to us in the reading for the introduction class as well as the class itself, AND in our CiV Pro class. There was no reason he couldn't have touched on citations and how they work in class yesterday. Or, provided us with more than one example of a document, or gone into greater detail of the document he DID give us. He would take too much time on some things, and race through others. None of the topics were terribly difficult to understand, but there was both room and time for more detail, more examples, and more reinforcement. I'm going to talk to some of my classmates who got The Established Guy and see what he covered the first day. Believe me, I'm not knocking getting out two frigigng hours early, but I'm worried about the rest of the semsester.

When I got the email that I'd been switched to the other class (which is the only one not in the room I'm usually in), I told the Manager/Assitant of my program that I really wasn't pleased about it, that I'd heard great things about Established Guy and was really looking forward to his class. There'd been a large number of people who'd dropped the program, and they'd hired this dude (whose full time job is with Legal Aid) so they could split the classes up, and most of those people were in his section, so they had to transfer a few people over to fill in the gap. The Manager/Assistants response was that New Guy was "a fine instructor." Maybe. I'm sure that Legal Aid would give him a great perspective on Criminal Law, Appeals, or the Court System, but nothing in the credentials he presented us demonstrated to me that he had any kind of genuine background in writing instruction, which is concerning, especially when that's supposed to be the cornerstone of this program. Agh.

Trouble is, he seems like a nice person. He has an Irish accent and looks vaguely like a balding Graham Norton, and seemed genuinely excited to be there. Still, he's not found his groove yet, that much is obvious. Unless his second class is a major improvement on his first, this Simply Will Not Do. I'm paying good money to learn things, damn it, and I will NOT settle for incompetence, inexperience, or anything else that will prevent me from getting the most out of this.

In general, it's weird having restrictions on my schedule, both because I have class and need time to study. The hours are killer, and I feel like a member of the walking dead (I've been averaging 5.5 hours of sleep a night, a radical drop from the 6.5-7 I'd been enjoying previously). And I'm trying to make my brain retain all of this, which it seems to be doing. I've been good at planning and managing to bring both lunch AND dinner, hopefully that will last. Right now, it's all learning how to manage time and energy, as much as information. I've been even nipping little tiny servings of caffiene here and there just to keep me continually functional. Not easy.

It's going to be an interesting trip towards December 17 (my last class/exam).