Alone again

So the Thanksgiving weekend was a lot of fun, and C is on his way back upstate. That's of course the bad part. But overall everything was great.

He arrived Wednesday night and we had delicious Mexican food. Thursday of course we had dinner with Maggie (I prepared a chicken instead of a turkey just for fewer leftovers), and watched White Christmas (my favorite holiday movie of all time). Friday we went with Mags to see Burlesque (it was an okay movie but not spectacular...), and at night after she left we went out to eat at an Italian restaurant in my neighborhood (courtesy of 1/10th of our wedding present from his sister, thanks Bran!), which was also fantastic. At night then we watched Scott Pilgrim vs the World, which was fun but about ten minutes too long.

Yesterday we got new cell phones, had wings for lunch, and saw Harry Potter (after dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant near Lincoln Center). That was sort of miserable because there was this horrible woman behind me that was a total b. She first complained because I didn't lean forward to let people get by her (since she apparantly couldn't get up because she's just that perfect). Then right when the movie began, I shifted and she started kicking my seat, and I heard her say to her friend, "He keeps pushing back!" I turned and said, "I was just adjusting myself, I'm sorry!" But she kept sighing anytime I moved and I fought every urge I had to just lean as far back as I could. I'm sorry, there is no way she didn't have enough room for her legs, the woman was 5 feet tall. I really hope the whole movie was ruined for her.

But the movie itself was good, although we really should have rewatched the previous one, since I hadn't seen that since it came out...

I'll get used to it, eventually...

I'm still having issues being referred to as "Professor." It's not that I mind it, but it is taking a lot of getting used to. Sure, there were times when I was called that before I actually became one, but then it was just kind of funny, since obviously someone was making a silly mistake.

I've made my way out of the city and will be giving a talk tomorrow at huge-public-university-in-ridiculously-tiny-town, and on the departmental website there is a notification of my talk, with the prefix, "Prof." in front of my name. I was used to "Dr.", although that too took some time to get used to. This will be the first seminar I give officially with that title, so my intro will include this latest step in my academic journey.

But it reminds me of how odd it has been all semester for students to call out "Professor?" when they have a question in class (I imagine these are times when I've had my back to them for such a long time that having their hand up to wait for me to turn around and call on them just served the purpose of making their arm go numb). Or when they walk into my office and say, "Professor, can I talk to you for a minute?" It's odd and strange, and I don't think it really fits me, but alas, there it is.

I think I would get used to it faster if I didn't make certain references in class that make half the class turn red from embarassment. Who am I kidding, that'll never happen.

Why I take issue with sports

It's not a huge secret that I'm not a big fan of sports. I understand why people like them, and I have had fun at sporting events. (Watching them on TV is still a mystery to me, but that's a different story.) Of course, I won't ever jump on the chance to watch a game, but that's not the point. Right now I'm more interested in college sports. That is, to discuss them.

And really, I mean to discuss them in the context of a school that is not very big in sports (like the school I currently am at). I have several students involved in sports, and of course that requires them to miss class once in a while. My policy in terms of missing class is, "Go ahead, you can miss every class you want, so long as the work gets done." In other words, I don't care if you have a "note" excusing you from class, because either way, you missed what we discussed and it is your job to get the notes and still keep up in class. Along with this policy is of course the fact that despite official office hours, if I'm in my office and you have questions, I will be more than willing to work with you.

That having been said, I am distressed by the following (not terribly hypothetical) scenario. A student is not doing too well in class, and this student is on two different sports teams. I won't say which sports but suffice to say, they are the sports that make people riot when their team loses. This student has made little comments that rather irk me (For example when I jokingly referred to the idea of extending the class time by twenty minutes this student's response was, "I'm already missing twenty minutes of practice just for this class." One thing to note is that this is a class in his major, not just some general requirement for graduation.), but that's not the issue.

The problem is that this student is in danger of failing this class. Primarily it is due to not turning in work, and when doing so, not really understanding the material. From this fear, the student has come to me to ask for two meetings a week to work through everything. I commended this, and was more than willing to put aside time for this. However, twice now the student has canceled because of sports (both times at the last minute).

Now my main issue: If you are failing in a class that is your major, then perhaps in addition to your full course load you should not be playing in two different sports (especially if it is your senior year and you don't want to spend an extra semester here). While I know college is not just about "them thar book-learnin'," I do know that academics are ultimately priority one. I don't care that athletics bring in money (because that money is always earmarked for more athletics-related things, and never used for academics, and it bugs me that universities are more interested in the overall income of the school, so they feed into it), because quite honestly, it is just a game for crying out loud.

Not that social

Contrary to popular belief, I'm not that social a person. Right now there is a "pre-holiday feast" happening in a classroom in our department (although it is not sponsored by this department, it just happens to be occurring in this building), and I was welcome to attend. I went and it started with a few people speaking about the program that it was for, then row-by-row, people could get up and get food. I had already eaten lunch, and the room wasn't set up well to get people to mingle (it's a large lecture hall). So I bailed.

I figured since I wasn't that hungry there wasn't much point, and I was a little late to begin with so I wasn't sitting next to faculty that I knew, just a bunch of students, none of whom I have had any contact with. I really hate those events anyway, so whatever. It was better (at least for me) to come back to my office and prepare a bit more for my class. Even though I'm fully prepared and currently blogging.

Whatever. Don't judge me.

Still have to ask if she did it!

I went to the Social Security office today to get a replacement card (as I have somehow after 33 years managed to lose mine). The whole process didn't take long but while I waited in line I listened to the people being helped, and it was pretty funny. This one guy who spoke English was with two girls who did not (I think they were from Ghana. This is just because what they spoke sounded like an African language and I know there's a huge influx of people from that country here in the Bx.). So he would answer all the questions for them, and they would also discuss things while they waited.

The best question (after things like, "Do they have a birth certificate or driver's license?") was, "Have they registered to vote?" The man responded in a very humorous tone, "No, they can't, they're not citizens!" The lady behind the counter said, "I know, but I still have to find out if they did!" The man proceeded to relate this to the girls, and they all burst out in a fit of laughter.

I have to say, all-in-all, the SSA was kind of a fun experience, even if it meant wasting an hour doing something I shouldn't have had to do, since I shouldn't have lost my card.

Roman Holiday

I watched Roman Holiday for the first time yesterday, and it was an okay movie. Not spectacular, but there was a rather hilarious scene. Picture it: Gregory Peck plays a journalist who pretends to not know he's with the missing princess, played by Audrey Hepburn. She asks him what he does and since he doesn't want her to know he's a journalist, he says he's "in the selling game."

Princess: "What do you sell?"
(in the background a horse whinneys)
Journalist: "Uh, [noticing the horse in the background], fertilizer."

This made me laugh for several minutes, because I would like to think that the various layers of humor were intended here.

The week after

So it's odd, because I do feel very different now that I'm married. It's hard to put into words (although I can put into words how odd it is to type with a ring on my finger), but it's there. The weirdest part though is that it's all over. I want another wedding (but without planning it). I guess we'll get this in LA when Corbett's mom plans a big party for us with all of her friends. And then I won't have to plan it myself, so...

In other news, I finally figured out the trick for getting into my apt building without a key. One (or more?) of the apt buzzers is hooked up so it automatically unlocks the door for you to be let in. I buzzed three or four apts before I found the right one (I knew roughly where it was because I watched a lady going into the building as I came out, so that narrowed it down). I'm happy because this means I don't have to pull my keys out then to get into the building. If you ever visit, I'll tell you which button to push (less effort for me upstairs as well!).

I'm looking forward to the weekend, getting some sleep, and although it means the days will end sooner, I'm happy that DST is ending this weekend. Just that much more sleep!