Today I completed my final exam in the Columbia Basin History and Ecology class. For better or worse the class is over and I am ever so glad. I feel like this has in some ways been the anti-summer, although I have had many great adventures it is as though the schooling never ended.
I suppose I must enjoy it, this protracted intellectual exercise, I only wish I had more time to linger in Edith Wharton novels and think about my thesis as an abstract rather than a reality. Although I had hoped to write thirty pages before the term began I have exactly zero pages written so far. I'm not very concerned. Despite the fact that this coming term promises to be ever so intense, I think winter and spring will be somewhat less loaded and allow plenty of time for Whartonizing.
Fall term, for certain, will not.
We went and got our books today in hopes of getting the best used copies. Bird found out that she had only one required text book, while Hobbit on the other hand had the worst deal with the most books and least cheap finds. My lot was in the middle with only one exorbitant book. In the world of the English major anything over 50 bucks is unholy. My Spanish text was 109...used. Eh, as if Spanish wasn't trouble enough on its own.
On top of all this I went and looked at the new WR121 packs. They're all shiny and shrink wrapped. I ran into one of my former students and we chatted about the summer. He was a hard worker. I was glad to see him and not one of my slackers. Maybe it is a good omen for the coming term.
I've already made PowerPoint shows for the first two days of class. I've also decided on borrowing Betjemann's daily reading checks as a way to promote homework completion. The time of new TA orientation is fast approaching, and I know in the next few days I will be working hard on that. Tonight is for resting, drinking good beer, and watching mindless TV.
