To elaborate, I have spent a good deal of time this winter being sick. This is not because I have a poor immune system, so much as that I still think I am invincible, and have been diligently ignoring the memo that I am over 25 and a mere mortal. I'll explain more as I go on.
2007 E.B.O. (Extremely Brief Overview to be Filled in Later with Vague References to Things I Haven't Mentioned Yet) - Having finished my BA in Government Studies back in April of 2007, I went back to school last quarter (Fall 2007) at De Anza College, pursuing a new career direction in earnest: graphic design. No, I am not crazy, I am happier. By sheer accident I picked the one community college in my area that specializes in the arts. It actually is supposedly the best in the state of California. It's not hard to believe, because with only one exception in two quarters my profs have been outstanding. By the end of December I had a 4.0 in the Arts Department. (curse you, lingering Spanish grades!) Getting this GPA involved four all-nighters, which each time left me reeling the next day.
December helped me recoup and detox (all that caffeine, basically) in time to eat a lot of cookies, then stop eating altogether, replacing my entire diet with water and a general sense of guilt. I decided that I was poorly (as opposed to well-)read, and I needed to do something about it, and further resolved to start with science fiction and whatever else came into my mind. I drank a wonderful array of hot beverages while reading the following:
Unfortunately you have to read a lot more than 10 books over Christmas break to consider yourself well-read, and most would insist that that list isn't where they would start. But whatever.
2008 So Far - For New Years, My boss had the coughing chest flu from hell, which he promptly gave me with the instructions to duplicate ten times, distribute the copies to the office and my friends, and keep the original.
I traveled to Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina (respectively) from Thursday January 10 through Tuesday the 15th of January, for Jeremy Sewall's wedding. I was honored to be a groomsman and also to sing a song in the wedding. Bachelor party Thursday night, rehearsal dinner Friday night, wedding Saturday, drive back to Virginia Sunday, spending the weekend primarily with Knepper, Jimson and Mouse, but also spending time in protracted conversation with old friends David Sewall and Samantha Clark, and making at least one new friend in Jeremy Shull. During this phase I was miserable not only because I was sick and missing the second and third class sessions of all my Winter 2008 quarter classes, but because I am hard on myself when I am traveling. I don't work too well with jet lag, usually telling myself to ignore it, then feeling crappy. Nor do I work too well within the realm of "bachelor parties which are relatively clean but nonetheless driven by huge Cuban cigars and scotch," because apparently "losing weight" can translate literally to "becoming a lightweight." Last time I drank in any quantity (read: years ago), I was 30-40 pounds heavier, and the speed with which the 160lb version of me can get tossed was rapid. I found myself faced with this choice: (1) give in to the reeling nausea or (2) hold it in and get reeeeeallly drunk trying. Yeah, I let it all out. Felt pretty stupid. Drunkenness is not among the things I shoot for in life. Not gonna do that again. Needless to say I was more careful over the remainder of the weekend with the rest of the gallon jug of scotch that James and I had bought. James and I drove down to North Carolina to see Paul, help inspect his land holdings, do some sand-leveling and waste rifle ammunition, during the process of which we were hosted by his always delightful family, and accompanied by Daniel B. MacAdam and wife and clan of delightful rowdy youngsters. I flew out of Raleigh. Note to self: easier to fly out of Raleigh than to drive back up to Baltimore every time.
Upon return, I still wasn't well, and I was burned out from all the travel, but had to turn to catching up with classes. January was generally uneventful, except that I had a few surprises. (1) I needed to buy very expensive software as NOT defined in the Flash CS3 class description or materials and (2) I needed to know how to paint, as NOT defined in the class description or prerequisites of my "Color & Design" class.
College - I have one professor who is outstanding (ARTS-3TE "Today's Working Artist" - E. Rodriguez), one who is online and thus too impersonal even though helpful (ARTS-114.63Z Flash CS3 - P. Bruegger), and one who is not very good, though a very nice guy (ARTS-012 "Color & Design" - P. Chandras). I am still trying to get A's, but since most of it isn't actually studio work, and that which is seems mostly rote, I admit I am less motivated.
Career - I have an interview next week with the De Anza College Marketing Department for a job helping in Graphic Design. All I did was walk into the Marketing Department office suite one day after classes and inquire if I could help in any way. The gal I spoke with seemed very pleasantly surprised, and said, yes as a matter of fact they need a student employee right now. Considering my boss just gave me an unlooked-for raise, I think he knows he doesn't want to lose me, so I may find myself working two graphic design jobs in March, which makes me quite happy to think about.
Friday (today) - To bring things up to date, it's Friday February 22 (although I didn't start this post today.) Got really sick Wednesday night with either the flu or food poisoning, so there's the second nausea reference, and missed work and classes yesterday. Still a bit under the weather today, but mostly fine. I intend to work all week on homework and preparing a lecture for Basic Christian Training class I will be delivering at church Sunday. (That's another thing that happened last fall; they pulled me in to help teach Advanced Christian Training, and now that that class is over, they recruited me for BCT. I feel a little bit underqualified, but they think I'm doing a good job, so I guess that's cool.)
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