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Sep252007
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Bloody O’Reilly |
Dad and I made it in to the office at about 10:30 this morning. It would have been a little earlier had I managed to get up on time. This being a quiet Tuesday, I was expecting to get a good deal of work done but it didn’t quite work out that way. One of the interns used the computer later in the afternoon and we left the office early at 3:45 because Dad had to take care of something at the westbank office this evening and he wanted to get me to campus before that.I arrived at Tulane at quarter past four. I sat in the student center for a while, browsing eBay and whatnot until 5:15 when I left to head to the classroom, still with plenty of time to spare.This evening’s history class was about the Spanish asserting control of the Louisiana colony after the War of Spanish Succession. The professor had some interesting stories this evening and the class was reasonably entertaining. The advantage I’ve had taking Colonial Louisiana History last semester should come to an end next week. I’m assuming we’ll get to the Louisiana Purchase.Later that evening after I got home, I started watching Giant, a sprawling epic noted as James Dean’s last film. It’s quite long though and I did not finish.
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Sep242007
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Dat Hurts |
Dad and I got to the office for about 11 this morning. Unlike Monday’s past, the doctor was at the Mid City office today to see a slew of new patients. I wasn’t there through the day, however, as I needed to get myself to class this evening. After picking at a couple reports, I left for the day at three. The weather was wet today and it looks like it will stay that way most of the week.I took a streetcar down Canal Street to the Tidewater building where I eventually caught a shuttle to get to the uptown campus. It wasn’t the quickest way but I did get there. With a couple hours before class, I went to the student center, browsed the bookstore briefly and then took a seat for some quality time with my laptop before heading to Norman Mayer.This evening’s visual communication class couldn’t have been terribly important because I can hardly remember anything that was discussed. The instructor was mindful of the Saints home opener this evening and class was dismissed early in time for the 7:30 start.I called a cab after class but one never came. I suppose between the rain and the football game this evening they were rather busy. Dad was still on the eastbank for a meeting and came by to pick me up. The game had been on for a little while already when we finally arrived home at about eight. The game itself was entertaining for about a half as they managed to stay in the game against the Titans. The second half was painful however. The Saints were plagued by turnovers and the defense had trouble stopping Vince Yong and the Titan’s offense either because they just suck or they were worn out being on the field so long. The final score was 34-14 and the Saints are now 0-3, which essentially guarantees there won’t be any post season action for the boys in black and gold.
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Sep232007
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Two Weeks |
On a couple occasions, I started work on a log entry to catch up with the last few days but never got far. Two weeks have passed with a few activities of merit. Generally speaking though, I’ve just been settling into my ‘new’ routine of class and work. My classes are working out well and are sufficiently entertaining. Even my art survey class, which began rather painfully, is getting better. There has been no risk of losing consciousness during the last couple sessions.Outside of work, I haven’t been terribly busy. This past weekend, I did some work on the old entertainment center which we’ll be giving away. On Sunday, I helped Dad install a new garage door opener, which was quite an ordeal but we did get it working fine. This past Saturday, Dad, Andrew and I went to the Tulane football game versus Southeastern Louisiana. The crowd was coniderably thinner, no surprise after a few painful losses. Speaking frankly, going to the football games, something we used to do completely without fail, now seems alot like a chore with the overwhelming likelyhood of losing. It didn’t look like we played particularly well against what is another bad team, but we did win. The final was 35-27.
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Sep112007
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The Rest of Last Week |
Regrettably, I let a few days lapse since my last post, which is only a shame because I generally like to document the first weeks of a new term. Since last week was much like the one before that, it’s not a total loss.Wednesday’s art class was another struggle to maintain consciousness. The class was about art (and architecture) of the ancient middle east. History of that region can either be characterized as “rich” or “really f’ing complicated.” Either way you’re right. Ruling empires changed like the weather so it’s quite hard to keep up. I’m hoping the upcoming test will be confined to the basics. I had even more trouble staying awake during this class than the first. The entire class was another slideshow with commentary in a dark room. I’ll be lobbying for a little light next time.Thursday’s math class was pleasant, largely about prime numbers if I remember right. I took a day off of work on Friday to be home to take delivery on my new TV. The TV made it to my house but not inside. The driver did not ring the doorbell or call and just left a door tag, which was both perplexing and infuriating. I never found out exactly what happened because the dispatcher I spoke with was never able to get in touch with the driver. Redelivery was scheduled for Monday.On Saturday, I went to Tulane’s first football game of the season versus Mississippi State. Although Tulane looked competitive early on, they eventually lost badly to a crappy team. The final score was 38-17. In the end it was a depressing affair which tells of a long season to come. I wish Dad and I had gone to Ruston for the LA Tech/Hawaii game which was quite a spectacle. Hawaii was supposed to dominate but Tech played extremely well, but lost on the outcome of a single play in overtime.I watched a couple movies on Dad’s new TV, which looks incredible, Babel and A Place in the Sun.Today, Monday, my TV finally arrived in the morning. It looks good but I think it will take some calibrating to get the best picture out of it. It doesn’t look quite right but I can’t quite put my finger on the exact problem. Luckily the TV is very tweakable (yeah yeah, not a word) so I know I’ll be able to get it just right.I got a cab to class this evening, my first “Visual Communications” class with Mr. Matthew Martinez. The class looks to be a very basic exploration of the mass media but it should be entertaining, both with the instructor’s dry wit and hopefully lively class discussion. The class was long tonight, running until 8:15. A lot of time was spent on student introductions. The professor wanted to know why everyone joined the class. After class I walked to Der Rathskeller in the student center for something to eat. I sat with my laptop and typed this entry while casually watching the Monday Night Football game. Later on I got a cab home.
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Sep052007
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Louisiana History |
Today was a reasonably typical workday. It was very quiet around the office this afternoon. Dad was not in the office for much of the day because he had to be home to take delivery on a new television. Dad wasn’t around after work but Annisha was nice enough to give me a ride to Tulane this evening.Tonight was my first Louisiana History class with Kevin Fontenot. The subject matter and Mr. Fontenot himself were my primary motivations for signing up for this class. I had a cold war history class with him last semester and really enjoyed it. Looking at the students in this class, it’s obvious the man has a fan club. The first class was pleasant, although a bit longer than I might have liked. The professor discussed the Indian tribes present in the region before the area was colonized, as well as the state of affairs in France around the period colonization took place, mostly as a means to set the stage as there are significant parallels between France and what would become Louisiana.I took a cab home after class. I had a nice conversation with the driver who was from Ethiopia. He discussed a regularly scheduled civil war and his aspirations for a business there in the future.When I got home I found the Sony webcam I bought a while back was returned from warrantee repair. I bought the camera about a month ago to fix the webcam in my laptop but it was already broken. I extracted the CMOS module from the webcam and installed it in my notebook without too much difficulty. I finally have my laptop webcam working although the software I was planning to use with it is not stable. I don’t know why yet. I was up until two this morning for no particular reason.
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Sep032007
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Back to School |
The week started off kinda lousy with two bits of bad news involving lost mail. At item I sold on eBay was lost in transit and Paypal saw fit for me to serve as the de-facto shipping insurance and refund the purchaser, which was particularly infuriating because the item was a hard drive I bought by mistake. Since it was lost I ended up buying it twice. I later learned I could have used it to upgrade my Zune. My new TV was supposed to arrive no later than Tuesday but the shipping company said they lost it. Having it replaced costs me nothing but I’m without a television for another two weeks.School started back up this Wednesday. Dad took me to Tulane early so I had a chance to go to the bookstore and find my classroom. Wednesday night’s class is Art History 101. The professor seems nice enough and is well-rated online. If every class is like the first one though, I may have a problem. After introducing himself and discussing the class itself, he did a full lecture with a slide show in a darkened classroom. The subject matter was not necessarily boring but I had trouble keeping my eyes open, even though I was directly in front of the professor two rows up. He went up until the very end, 8:25. I’ve never had a class last that long, and certainly not on the first day.I had another first class on Thursday, Math for Information Technology. This class seems promising even though I suck at math rather badly. The professor is intelligent and approachable though so I think I’ll do fine. Several of the other students have not dealt with math since high school so I doubt I’ll be alone in my inadequacy. While I think the class will go well, it was incredibly disappointing in the scenery department.The rest of the work week was pretty dull. On Friday night, I got a call from Theresa, an event in itself, asking if she wanted to do something that evening. I agreed as I had nothing else to do. We didn’t have any solid plans at the outset but on the way I discovered Ellis Marsalis was playing Snug Harbor and decided that would make for a nice evening as she is one of the new people I know whom I have not dragged there before.It took a while to get a parking spot but we found a decent one. When we walked in there were two ahead of us who were soon seated in the dining room. Apparently they got the last seats because we were told there was a 40 minute wait. It was already getting late so we walked a few doors down to the Marigny Brasserie for dinner. I already had dinner earlier but Theresa hadn’t. I just ordered some bread pudding, which was quite good. She ordered a couple appetizers which were also tasty.After dinner we walked back to Snug Harbor. We arrived long before seating for the 10 o’clock show began, only because it started late. We were some of the first in and got a couple good seats in the back corner on the right. The show itself was very good. In addition to the master himself, his some Jason Marsalis was also there. Xylophone player Roman Skakun made a fashionably late entrance to the stage after a few numbers. Overall it was a nice evening. We were both tired after the show and went home. Theresa was good enough to give me a ride back.The rest of my three day weekend was rather dull as I was home the whole time. I think I can safely say nothing happened.
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