11.19.2007

I Am Lecture! Also: I Am Wimpling!

Part uno:

1. I am lecture! Which is to say: I gave my first full-length lecture today for my TA class. You don't win a prize for guessing that it was on the existentialists. It went fine, although there were a few times in which I had to take moments (during which I thought: "hmm. What is this 'intellectual history' you speak of?), and also, other moments in which I noticed the kids starting to space out (during which I thought: "hmm. What I must do is JOKE in a FUNNY WAY!") I was pleased to be able to use the phrase "sexual hijinks" in a legitimate upper-division history lecture at a major research university.

Part zwei:

2. B has this theory that the reason I'm such a light sleeper and all-around noise-aware neurotic at night is that I was raised in a quiet environment. This may be true. The room I spent a lot of my childhood in was downstairs, kind of half-buried in the side of a hill in a fairly quiet neighborhood in Eugene. On a grander scale, this phenomenon might reflect on my all-around high levels of paranoia and anxiety, insofar as my basically stable and happy childhood left me ill-prepared for threatening weirdos outside of 7-11s, driving in California, getting punched in the eye (happily, it's been a while on that), and so on. In other words, as a happy, non-abused kid, I was surprised to discover just how ugly and awful most of the world is, and I'm still not quite over it.

[Part deux brought to you by my trip to 7-11 last night and the drive B and I just survived going to Bed, Bath, and Butt-related Devices for a new Brita filter.]

[SC friends: do you think the professor blog-reading mafia would disapprove of the phrase "butt-related devices"?]

In other news, I'm pretty sure that the highlight of my year is going to be the two days I spend sitting around at my in-laws' with no responsibilities except for washing the dishes after Turkey Day dinner. I'm finding it harder and harder to squeeze any productivity out of an average day and I really need the recharge.

5 comments:

Dolce Vita said...

So, what you're saying is that I should go wake up my kid and pinch her? (A pinch is as far as my imagination can go.)

The opposite is also true - if you were raised with a lot of noise you would need that in order to relax.

adamid said...

Don't forget that the wall between our rooms was made out of air and cardboard (or at least blocked the sound as if it was). You used to yell at me for laughing at night as I read Garfield books. So it was not totaly quite when you where young.

clumsygirl said...

I grew up with the sound of the ocean right outside my window (since we lived a 3 minute walk from the beach). It took quite some time to get used to the city sounds. I had to employ a small fan to recreate a similar white noise for a long, long time. I still sleep most soundly when there's a fan or some innocuous, repetative sound going on.

Rachel said...

dang upstairs neighbors were having a party last night. I started recognizing songs when I listened.

You used "sexual hijinks" AND butt-related devices in one blog post - tempting fate, there... or the professor blog reading mafia, as the case may be. :)

kungfuramone said...

Good points. Good points. I guess the point is: change in the enemy! Insomnia is endemic to modernity! More coffee more coffee more coffee!

Adam: I guess the point of me being unable to handle even you laughing at Garfield books is that even then I was a sleepless wimp.