Where did you go, Elvis?

Had a fun Rock Music & Society class today.  We read some articles and broke into groups to discuss them, and then regrouped as a class for general discussions.  I joined a group of people I didn't know (I don't know ANYONE in the class, for that matter), and was quite apprehensive about what I was getting into.  But the discussion was lively and I learned a lot from and about my teammates.

First, the shocker.  A lot of these people had no idea who Elvis was!  No shit.  When they read the articles, that was the first time some of them ever heard of him.  Oh the things from our youth that we'd take for granted.  Then of course I recognize that all of them were born some twenty years after his death...  Really made me feel old right there and then.

What was a very pleasant surprise to me was that every one of my teammates had actually read the assigned articles.  That's something like 70 pages of stuff.  So I was pleased about that.  And because of this level of preparation, we actually had a good conversation going.  They were surprised to learn, for instance, that women had such a different role in society back then.  How times have changed.

Unfortunately these were not sociology folks, so when I brought in Gramsci and hegemony, it drew a blank.  But that's ok.  They had their own insights.

In the general class discussion, I was surprised how few times someone said "like."  I didn't expect that.  But then I noticed another word that found a lot of usage.  Honestly.  One girl, for example, (not in my group, glad to say) interjected the word "honestly" into every sentence she uttered.  Honestly.  Is this a thing now?  Naturally the word doesn't carry the same meaning it did, or else it made no sense.  But has it become polysemic?  Or has it morphed into something entirely different?

Progress, eh?  Good thing she was not in a class I was teaching.

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Dear Reader,
I know I have not posted anything for a while now.  I have simply been way too busy.  And I am very surprised by how busy I've been.  This comes, too, after I had dropped a course so now I am only carrying four.  How do people do five?  The workload is quite heavy.  I dare say on average I am reading 300-400 pages a week.  And all these papers to write.  The first week of February alone I have two research paper proposals and one book review due.  Followed  a midterm the following week.  It's not easy to stay ahead of the game.  My usual two-week ahead schedule simply isn't happening this semester.

Over the weekend I managed to get my readings for this week done, and did a first draft of my two paper proposals.  And I am just starting the first book review (there are three) now.  This is my busiest semester to date.

On a happier note, surprisingly enough I did manage to maintain a 10.0 GPA last semester!  For what that's worth, since I don't get any additional merit scholarship than if I had maintained the threshold.  But good for the ego, I suppose.

It's been quite frigid the last few days, and it really dampens the mood when you wake up to -20 every morning.  And that's before the fucking windchill.  Still, I count myself lucky that it's not -30 like we had last year.  And so far there has not been a major ice storm.

Well, that's all the time I have today.  Have to get back to my class prep and working on the book review.  The fun never stops!

Down the (long) road, if and when you contemplate retirement, consider school.  It's fun to learn things you never learned before.  And interestingly enough, as we age we also benefit from my life experience and a lot of the stuff actually make sense and we can relate to them.

Au revoir!

Till next time,

Chunski