Friday, September 12, 2003

Finis Latinae
Class today was quite entertaining, as it should have been, since it is the last one I will be attending.
The regular instructor was absent, and a different grad student substituted. A very lively, snappy grad student. He made fun of a guy who's always asking all these questions. It was great to see that kid be made fun of, because it's obvious his motivation for asking all those questions is to try and make himself look smart.
But yes, the class was moved to the freshman campus.
I e-mailed the regular instructor Wednesday and told her if class was moved over there I wouldn't be able to attend any longer. I never heard back from her. I'm starting to wonder about the interaction of e-mail from addresses in the law school, and general university e-mail addresses. They have different suffixes. In the past, people with general university addresses have told me my mail arrives a long time after it was sent.
I have begun to wonder if Wednesday's message ever arrived, or if it was delayed, and didn't arrive until after whatever happened that prevented the teacher from being in class today.
If I let myself dwell on this I could get really pissed off. The reason the teacher didn't like the room is because it was really too small for the size of the class. The reason the class was so big is because many undergraduates take Latin to satisfy their foreign language requirement because Latin meets three days a week (if a Monday, Wednesday, Friday) or twice (if a Tuesday, Thursday). Introductory level modern language classes meet every day.
These kids don't care about classical language or the ancient world. They're just taking advantage of a loophole to have a couple days off from a class.

Wednesday, September 10, 2003

Sic Transit Latin Class
On the first day of class, my Latin class was in a room in the building where the classics department actually is. The next day, everyone received an e-mail stating that the class had been relocated to a room in the building next door. Periodically ever since, the teacher has been stating that she hates that new room, and that she is trying to hassel the departmental secretary into finding a better one somewhere.
This morning, at the start of class, she stated that possibly, just possibly, a new room had been found.
On the freshman campus.
A half-mile - or more - away.
Because I use my lunch hour on the days I have class to go to class, there is no way I can get over there and back in the time-frame that I have. If the class moves over there, I'll have to quit.
If I have to quit, I'll be thinking un-nice things about the teacher. Names like rhapsodos kuan.
To give you an idea of what that means, it's what a pissed-off Tireisias calls the Sphinx in Oedipus Rex.
Or wait. Did Oedipus say that himself? In his own defense to Tireisias' allegations? Something pote entha rhapsodos kuan ein, who saved your skins? I think that's right.
I'll find out on Friday.
About the class.
Not the quote.

Monday, September 08, 2003

Abu Simbel Is Hanging
My parents and my brother came to visit me Saturday. They brought a ten-gallon aquarium and a metal stand for it to sit on that I had left in storage at their house last time I moved away. I am going to get some koi carp for it. People usually keep koi in ponds in their gardens, but I had one that lived in that aquarium for about twelve years. Koi are smarter than goldfish. That old carp would eat from my fingers. Only my fingers. He knew me.
My brother reminded me about crown molding picture hooks. If you live in a place of a certain age, it probably has molding running around the top of the wall, right next to the ceiling. You can get hooks that attach to that and hang pictures from so you don't drive a bunch of unsightly nail holes in your plaster wall. I got some yesterday after noon and hung pictures. Including a nice print I have of Abu Simbel.