This Side of Lost

It would be misleading to say that the school year so far has not been good. Because it has. I've moved into a great apartment with the love of my life, I've spent time with friends, I've started another semester of class, I've joined choirs, we've had guests and made sushi... all sorts of things are going well -- indeed, better than I expected.

But for several reasons, it doesn't quite feel that way. One of which being the mess in New Orleans. The attitude I'm taking right now is that there isn't a whole lot I can do (I would give money, but I'll address that in a moment), so I've mostly been scanning the headlines when I have a chance and trying not to depress myself too much.

The schedule thing is still bothering me. I'm a guy who generally likes to have a lot to do -- I enjoy my free time, but only when I've earned it. Right now, I still have too much. I'm only taking two classes this semester, and they're both on Friday. I have three jobs, but they all have pretty pathetic hours. I work MW mornings for Gary Wiggins. I work Wednesday afternoon and evening in the SLIS lab (that's the new one), and I am an Instruction Assistant for the main library, which means I sign up for work at my discretion -- but there are a dozen people doing this too, and they seem to be a lot quicker to the sign-up sheet than I am.

Compound this mental feeling of low-income with the rapid exodus of funds that has been taking place. We've spent money on furniture -- desk, dinette set, bookshelf and living room tables -- and I know that it will serve us well for years, it is still rather expensive right now. Outfitting a new apartment isn't cheap. Oil needs changing, books need to be bought, rent needs to be paid. A year's worth of health insurance, even at student rates, is a big chunk of change.

Worst of all, one of our cats, Angus, has taken seriously ill since the move -- he won't eat, he is listless around the house, he has lost 5 pounds. The veterinarian is very capable, but he doesn't know what's wrong yet, and the blood tests and X-rays rack up really quickly. And, as if this wasn't enough, my student loan check is currently tied up in red tape for reasons beyond my understanding. I'm glad I got a credit card when I did, but I'm not looking forward to this month's bill.

Don't get me wrong, things are fine right now -- the creditors aren't beating down my door. It's just wearing on my mind. I'm thanking myself for saving money when I was teaching two years ago every time I dip into my savings account and I'm reminding myself that this is why I did. It still isn't my idea of a good time. And I feel bad sitting around when I could be using this time to pull in another paycheck.

I guess I've had financial security pretty much fall into my lap for a while. Now that it's not quite that easy, I'm freaking out. It's a good lesson to learn, I suppose. Just not easy.

Time to continue looking for Tues/Thurs employment. Peace.

The 1927 classic stars Al Jolson as a rabbi's son who becomes estranged from his family because he wants to be a jazz singer... and that's about it. There's not much more to the plot -- like many musicals, the plot serves as a vehicle for the musical numbers.

I can only assume that this film is on the list for purely historical reasons. Because it is not a good film. Admittedly I have seen very few silent films, but Jolson's acting isn't very good, nor is that of many of the supporting actors. Many of the more intanglibes I've mentioned in previous reviews (cinematography, costumes, etc.) are lacking. What I can tell you is what I know regarding my viewing and things I've read.

The film is oftentimes called the first "talkie" -- that is, the first movie featuring synchronized audio and picture. To be honest, though, it isn't actually. And much of the movie is silent -- the Vitaphone sequences are limited to the musical numbers and immediately surrounding dialogue. What it is, however, is the first monumentally successful talkie. And apparently this is largely attributed to a scene where Jolson breaks into an ad-libbed soliloquy to his stage mother (who appears visibly startled).

I must admit that I can understand this attribution. That was the only part of the film that really seemed like a "movie" in the sense that we currently understand it. The rest of the film felt like another art form (which silent film really was, it can be argued) interspersed with some musical numbers.

It's cool to see Jolson, who was a legend on Broadway in his time. I'm sure the original viewers felt the same way, also contibuting to the movie's success. I can dimly sense the kind of stage magnetism he must have possessed. Other than that, the film is pretty dull. But I expected an education in film history as well as fun films by undertaking this project, so I have to take the former in absence of the latter, right?

(See this post if you're confused why I'm reviewing movies.)

Make lemon bars. That's what I did. Well, actually, I had to go buy the lemon. And the zester I used to remove the lemon peel. And the lemon juice -- but you get the idea. They're pretty good, for a first time recipe.

Life is giving me less lemons currently, so that's good. My loans still haven't come through (are you listening, Financial Aid?), but the hemmorhage of funds from my account has been staunched somewhat. Also, UITS (or, as I like to type it, UITZ) contacted me about a possible instructor assistant position with them. So the threatened fourth job may be on the way. How ridiculous.

Angus is improving. He seems to be remarkably cooperative with the force-feeding he is enduring. He looks better and his appetite is ever so slowly coming back. It is time-consuming work -- somebody has to be home at least every 4 hours and it takes at least 20 minutes from start to clean-up -- but it seems to be working. And we have a lot of love for him. So keep thinking happy thoughts. (For those of you who want the messy details of what we think is wrong, I'll direct you to Samantha's post.)

Classes have started. We're in the third week now. I haven't mentioned much about this because honestly there's not much to mention. I'm taking two classes and they both have yet to ramp up to anything resembling real work...

• L520 - Bibliographic Control and Access. Popularly known as Cataloguing. Basically teaches the practical skill of building records for library materials -- the kind of records you see on the computer screen when you search a library's online catalog (or, if you prefer, what you see on the cards in a card catalog). Many library students speak of the course with dread in their voice. Not sure why as of yet. It seems to be very detail oriented work, but not hellish. Perhaps I will be eating my words soon.
• L571 - Information Architecture for the Web. A web course, obviously. I'm hoping to expand my stagnant HTML skills. So far all we've talked about is project planning. Sigh.

We were social last Friday. The student chapter of the ALA here had a meet 'n' greet at the City Grille. I had enough barbequed meat to make up for the rest of the time I eat vegetarian with Samantha. We also watched the Twins lose. (By the way, they are terrible and getting worse. I doubt I shall mention them again until the season ends.) We then went to a party at 805 S. Henderson, the abode of Andrew Estel and a couple other music geeks we know. They've got a nice place and we had fun watching Wrestlemania, playing with their touch lamp and tickling Adam Ragusea.

Gotta run. More recipes to find and sick kitties to feed. Peace!

I've been trying to post all afternoon and evening, but keep finding myself distracted, primarily by renewed evidence that for some reason the Gulf of Mexico has become a destroyer of lives. I will try and string something together despite this.

Things are plugging along here. Samantha and I both find ourselves pretty busy. Which is a little surprising, considering that neither of us are really doing more than we did last semester. I think it's because even though the time spent is probably the same, it's at much more awkward places in the day. Samantha has found herself with no opportunity to sleep in except for every other Monday off. I fear this is taking more of a toll on her than she figured it would.

But we need some sort of income, and contrary to popular opinion, the people in charge of graduate school do not make it financially easy on you. Case in point: My loans still have not come through. I am waiting to be contacted by Financial Aid (as they said they would). I have a credit card bill to pay which has my health insurance premium on it (the full year's worth). The same health insurance, which by the way, does not cover dental. Which is very exciting given that my left back molar is making itself known to me somewhat painfully right now. Yes, I know you have not been looked at by a professional in 14 months, Left Back Molar, now shut the hell up. Daddy's poor.

So, yeah. At least Angus is better. He is eating on his own now, though less than we would like. Hopefully we won't need to pour any more money into him for the time being.

Lest the more snarky of you read the preceding complaints as evidence that I made a bad decision to "shack up" with Samantha (note the severly ironic use of quotation marks), hear this: it is going better than I had hoped. I would be in the same (or worse) financial position if I had not done this. And I have the added -- and enormous -- emotional relief of coming home to someone who loves me, listens to my concerns, cares for me, makes me laugh, and all-around compliments my life better than I ever thought she would. I will take this with a little dose of exhaustion and scarcity any day.

On to better and brighter things. We're looking forward to an exciting weekend:

• Friday: OMG, it's Mari's SLIS Vegetarian Potluck! ("OMG" shamelessly stolen from Davin's invite.)
• Saturday: Maybe a matinee of The Corpse Bridge and IU Opera's first show of the season, Cosi Fan Tutte.
• Sunday: Some tour of Bloomington's historic houses and maybe the symphony.
• And Lotus Festival? How did I miss this? Sigh.

Anyway. Back to obsessing about hurricanes. Peace, friends -- for me and for you.

Upset at the president? Take it out by flinging his ragdoll-limp body through a nebulous grey void!