Back In School Again Maxwell Plays the Fool Again . . . and the Cunning Fennec Fox

06 January 2014

0734

            Well, Patient Reader-

            Here I am in the Mess Hall waiting for class to begin.  I am watching episode four of “Money, Power, and Wall Street,” which can be found on PBS’ website as a Frontline documentary.  Y’all ought to check it out; it sort of goes along with the essay you’ll find elsewhere on the blog.  I believe it’s entitled: When Does Capitalism Become A Felony?  or something along those lines.   It’s very informative.

            Anyway, instead of posting my first day of school as separate entries, I figure I’ll post this all at once, and you could perhaps see the evolution of my psychology as I navigate through the Straits of the Day.  Sound OK to you?   Splendid!

            It’s funny, I’ve been meaning to tell you about the strangeness of the way ads are chosen for my blog by what must be an algorithm some sick bastard designed.

            For instance, as I was ranting my atheistic viewpoint, based on scripture, I noticed that there were ads on the blog for Ministry degrees and how Jesus Saves.  If Jesus saves, well he better save himself . . .  To quote Ian Anderson. 

            Now that I brought this up (I had to block ads from these websites, even the Christian Mingles website, et al), I want to make it clear that, if Jesus really existed, I’d have no problem with him.  The problem I have is with his “followers.”  Jesus (no pun intended), when did Jesus represent such greed and intolerance?  I mean, look around.  We’re surrounded by Haters.

            Besides, I think that Jesus was a good Buddhist.  In his time there were Buddhist temples as far west as Yemen, on the Arabian Peninsula.  I’m not a Buddhist, though I do think I would adopt the philosophy long before I would Christianity.  Sure, I understand that, according to physics, energy is never destroyed; it simply changes form.  But I don’t see it translating into reincarnation. 

            Yet the idea that desire causes suffering which, in turn, can be . . . assuaged by compassion- I think the idea holds true.  Remember, the idea of karma is centuries older than that of the Golden Rule . . .  right?

            Anyway, this segment of the day is turning out to be longer than I intended.  It’s 0755 hrs and my class starts at 0900.  I’m going to show up for class probably 25 minutes early, as I am wont to do.  The class is an art class, which I hope I not only do well in, but excel in it.

            So I bid you a good morning and you will indeed hear from me again, perhaps a couple more times, today.  Until then, always I remain, CFF.

06 January 2014

1417 hrs

            Well, Patient Reader, it looks like I survived my first day at school.  Class let out a bit early because all the prof did was go over the syllabus and then tell us about the supplies that we needed to get by Monday.  Wow . . .  Lots of stuff:

            Two brushes, one sable and the other for acrylics.  I had to get a portfolio to hold the 18”x24” 80# paper I was required to purchase, too.  Let’s see . . . two erasers; one gummy and the other plastic; I needed a palette and a palette knife; black and white acrylic paints; a couple of graphite pencils . . . a spiral-bound no-line sketch pad, 9”x12”; the list goes on.  And you know it’s not cheap, either.  Set me back a huge chunk.  Also, it was only about a third of what we need by next week.  The list above is what we need just for Friday.

            The only thing that made it that close to intolerable was the damn line to get checked out.  It went all the way around the store and up and down two aisles.  No shit.  There was a point where it looked like two check-out lines, but I was just looking at the end of the line I was already in!

            Looks to be a pretty cool class, though.  I was 

warned that she was an Art Nazi, like the Soup Nazi

on “Seinfeld (no grade for YOU!),” but it turns out

 that she rubs some folks the wrong way because she 

is from New York City.  Brash New Yorker . . .  Those

of you Big Apples out there know what I am saying. 

 I love New York, don’t get me wrong- it’s just that 

the whole persona of a New Yorker born-and-raised

differs greatly from the laid-backs I see here in the 

Pac NW.

            Anyway, I just arrived at the library a few minutes ago.  Class let out and I went immediately to the store.  After that and then going home to drop off my stuff, that’s how long it took me to finally get here and situated to blog.  I promised I would, right?  I really try to keep my promises.

            So there is another art class tomorrow- on campus- and I am lucky that I have a buddy that’s in the same class.  She and I shared a class summer term, and she’s pretty wild.  I like her a lot.

            This is the class that uses the eBook that was such a bear for me; I blogged about it the other day, remember?  I need to read chapters 1 et 11 before I go in.  I also need to watch a TV show with the sound off . . . to see if I can follow along by gestures and situations alone.  Wish me luck . . .  I don’t have a TV!

            Class #3 is strictly online, and so I am going to have to do all of it around the other classes.  Class #4 is a hybrid; part online, part on-campus.

            So there you have it.  Day #1- on my way to become a documentarian.  I already have two of them outlined, as I may have mentioned before, and I am going to set up two interviews (possibly) later on tonight.  If anything, I may be able to at least schedule them.  These two ladies are pretty interesting- and I think they have some stories that need telling.  There may be a third, I’ll ask her as soon as I can, and there’s a fellow that may be interested, too.

            I figured I’d try to get the process down- at least a little- before I approach total strangers, which is what the documentary will have a lot of- strangers to me; maybe to all of us.

            I met a lady at the bookstore, I’ll call her Shmameron*, and then ran into her on my way off campus.  There she met up with her old man, Shmoshua, and her daughter, Shmaley.  They seem like good people.  Shmaley is an Art Major; Shmoshua is going into Nursing as a second career (I told him from experience that he was going into the right part of medicine- treatment is so much better than diagnostics, at least for the conscience . . .)  Shmameron never did tell me what she is going back to school for.  Pretty lady, though . . .  too bad she’s taken.  Seems like all of the good ones are, right?  And I suppose that makes sense.  Who besides me lets the good ones get away?

            Ugh . . .  I am still hypertensive from the crowded bookstore; tired from getting to sleep at 0330 this AM just to turn around and get up at 0530.  I wasn’t tired early early; I just knew I had to try to get some rest.  I figure my day will be officially over when I get home around 2000 or 2030 hrs.  I think I’ll forgo supper and just try to crash and burn.

            I finished watching the Wall Street doc I told you about earlier.  It was four parts and each one is excellent.  Not only do I recommend PBS.org to y’all, and not just the Frontline series (Nova and American Experience are two more of my go-to PBS shows; Nature too, if you can get past the 10-01 videos to films ratio . . .) but I strongly recommend you watch the one about Wall Street.  There is also League of Denial, which is about head injuries in the NFL; there is a doc about Superbugs, too . . .  drug-resistant microbes that are wreaking havoc as they manifest in hospitals as nosocomial infections.  Pretty scary stuff . . .

           Okey-doke.  I can’t promise I’ll be able to blog manana, 

but I will if something interesting happens.  Class is back in full-swing, and I, once again, am dealing with truncated timetables . . .

            

            So shall I let you go?  Splendid!  And always I remain,

The Cunning Fennec Fox.  

Pax Vobiscum, Tomodachi . . .