First Day of School!

[Wally]

Ha! What's the essay question? Maybe in the week between handing all my essays in and class starting up again I can work on the assessment for your class.

[alex]

Hahaha, that'd be awesome. There's no specified essay question, though; it can be anything related to the theme of this book: http://www.amazon.com/Why-Life-Speeds-You-Older/dp/0521691990/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231345854&sr=8-1 (which was a surprisingly enjoyable read, but I would maybe not go as far as saying you should read it just so you can write an essay for me for the hell of it).

[G.C.R]

Dang man, what a fun assignment! I hope you get some good essays to read.

[andronicus]

On a whim I decided to take my first public policy class. 

Holy fuck, I thought I had seen all that there is to see when it comes to over-privileged UChicago douchebags.

Holy, holy fuck.

You guys don't even know.

One kid said, "I'm not going to [a panel on the Gaza conflict that's happening tonight]; if I wanted to hear Hamas's side of things I would just turn on the BBC."

All his little companions tittered and nodded their agreement.  One girl idly browsed instapundit [!] and some skin lotion web site as the professor lectured.

I really don't want to have to do another add/drop, but I really also do not want to be convicted of homicide. 

[diesel_powered]

Today was orientation day for me. Got my ID badge, parking pass, laptop (!), and the code to the faculty lounge (!!). I met a bunch of people, found out that my second section is running, and found out where everything is. I met a bunch of people and sat around in the official adjunct orientation for awhile. Dinner was involved. Then I went home and spent a long time on the phone with my parents followed by an even longer time researching and writing a proposal for an equipment purchase. Too bad I have to be at stupid freelance job in five and a half hours.

[Andrew_TSKS]

On a whim I decided to take my first public policy class. 

Holy fuck, I thought I had seen all that there is to see when it comes to over-privileged UChicago douchebags.

Holy, holy fuck.

You guys don't even know.

One kid said, "I'm not going to [a panel on the Gaza conflict that's happening tonight]; if I wanted to hear Hamas's side of things I would just turn on the BBC."

All his little companions tittered and nodded their agreement.  One girl idly browsed instapundit [!] and some skin lotion web site as the professor lectured.

I really don't want to have to do another add/drop, but I really also do not want to be convicted of homicide. 

I can't imagine that you're not a brilliant, scathing debater. Stay in the class and fuck their shit up.

[DCDave]

That was always my plan.

[andronicus]

I can't imagine that you're not a brilliant, scathing debater. Stay in the class and fuck their shit up.

I mean yeah, but at the end of the day it's these guys who are going to be running this country, not me.  I wasn't posting solely out of maudlin self-pity, more so you guys can know precisely how fucked we are as a country.

[elpollodiablo]

Save us all, kill them now

[Andrew_TSKS]

Yeah, what pollo said.

[Good Intentions]

I can't imagine that you're not a brilliant, scathing debater. Stay in the class and fuck their shit up.

I mean yeah, but at the end of the day it's these guys who are going to be running this country, not me.  I wasn't posting solely out of maudlin self-pity, more so you guys can know precisely how fucked we are as a country.

I wish I could say it's different elsewhere. I wish I could.

[davy]

One girl idly browsed instapundit [!] and some skin lotion web site as the professor lectured.

Who visits skin lotion websites anyway?

[andronicus]

Women who take pleasure in the thought of tiny Palestinian heads being crushed under Merkava tank treads.

In one of those conversations that college students undertake ostensibly to be funny but in reality to prove just how darn smart they are, they were joking about the IDF rolling into the South Side (because crime is just SO BAD in Hyde fucking Park, give me a got-damn break), and one of them made some stupid joke, and a guy replied, "Yeah, Merkavas are fucking indestructible."  The entire conversation was just so emblematic of everything that is wrong with life, I don't even know where to begin.  I detest poseur know-it-alls.

Trust me guys, if I had some terminal disease I would love nothing more than to fulfill your request.  (Supposedly Charles Whitman [the UTexas clock tower shooter] had some brain tumor that might have had some effect on his behavior.)  As it stands I'll have to settle for being morally and intellectually superior to them, I guess.

[Bernard]

Bernard I was going to ask you- how does your film schooling work? Do you specialise in a feild or cover lots of stuff, is it practical/theoretical, what qualification do you get after how long etc?

The degree I get is a regular BA, I think, so an arts degree rather than a BFA or fine arts degree. It's a four-year degree, assuming you get all your classes. It can easily take 5 years.

First two years: general education. A little bit of everything. The last math I'll ever have to take, I hope.
Third year: general filmmaking. A little bit of everything film. Software classes (Final Cut, After Effects, Pro Tools, Photoshop), actual film-film (cinematography, a bit of flatbed cutting), film theory, directing (TV, video, 16mm, narrative, documentary, experimental), and screenwriting.
Fourth year: You have a senior concentration in either theory, screenwriting, or production (directing, producing, cinematography, etc.).

At my school you can also get a master's degree, or if you want to do research, you can probably do a PhD in film theory.

Information Technologies

Are you in an MLIS or other librarian-type program?

One kid said, "I'm not going to [a panel on the Gaza conflict that's happening tonight]; if I wanted to hear Hamas's side of things I would just turn on the BBC."

What? The fuck?

[davy]

Information Technologies

Are you in an MLIS or other librarian-type program?

You got it: the University of Alabama's School of Library and Information Sciences.

[elpollodiablo]

Women who take pleasure in the thought of tiny Palestinian heads being crushed under Merkava tank treads.

In one of those conversations that college students undertake ostensibly to be funny but in reality to prove just how darn smart they are, they were joking about the IDF rolling into the South Side (because crime is just SO BAD in Hyde fucking Park, give me a got-damn break), and one of them made some stupid joke, and a guy replied, "Yeah, Merkavas are fucking indestructible."  The entire conversation was just so emblematic of everything that is wrong with life, I don't even know where to begin.  I detest poseur know-it-alls.

Trust me guys, if I had some terminal disease I would love nothing more than to fulfill your request.  (Supposedly Charles Whitman [the UTexas clock tower shooter] had some brain tumor that might have had some effect on his behavior.)  As it stands I'll have to settle for being morally and intellectually superior to them, I guess.

It is your fault for going to private school SELLOUT

[Ignatius]

Women who take pleasure in the thought of tiny Palestinian heads being crushed under Merkava tank treads.

In one of those conversations that college students undertake ostensibly to be funny but in reality to prove just how darn smart they are, they were joking about the IDF rolling into the South Side (because crime is just SO BAD in Hyde fucking Park, give me a got-damn break), and one of them made some stupid joke, and a guy replied, "Yeah, Merkavas are fucking indestructible."  The entire conversation was just so emblematic of everything that is wrong with life, I don't even know where to begin.  I detest poseur know-it-alls.

Trust me guys, if I had some terminal disease I would love nothing more than to fulfill your request.  (Supposedly Charles Whitman [the UTexas clock tower shooter] had some brain tumor that might have had some effect on his behavior.)  As it stands I'll have to settle for being morally and intellectually superior to them, I guess.

You must fuck with them in that smart, aware style of which few are capable. They don't need to come to pain, and they don't (plus of course they won't) need to be proven dumb and wrong about these things. Just make cutting and informed remarks and chuckle at yourself and you will have done your part.

[jebreject]

Fuck that! Eviscerate them!

[Bernard]

I personally can never keep my temper long enough to do it, and I just start frothing at the mouth, but if you can manage to carry off that "oh my god, are you really that stupid? bored now" thing that I've seen some people do, it seems to poke at a tender spot in the psyche of some dickheads, and they at least don't say stupid shit where you can hear it.

[hannah]

andronicus, at least do something about these people:

One mother in TriBeCa, who is married, at least for now, to a Wall Street executive, put it rather bluntly: “My job was to run the household and the children’s lives,” she said. “His job is to provide us with a nice lifestyle.” But his bonus has disappeared, and his annual pay has dropped to $150,000 from $800,000 a year. “Let me just say this,” she said, “I’m still doing my job.”

[andronicus]

It is your fault for going to private school SELLOUT

You're more right than wrong here. 

[Andrew_TSKS]

Trust me guys, if I had some terminal disease I would love nothing more than to fulfill your request.  (Supposedly Charles Whitman [the UTexas clock tower shooter] had some brain tumor that might have had some effect on his behavior.)  As it stands I'll have to settle for being morally and intellectually superior to them, I guess.

Dude. Have you seen the movie "Targets"? You should really see that movie.

[Andrew_TSKS]

andronicus, at least do something about these people:

One mother in TriBeCa, who is married, at least for now, to a Wall Street executive, put it rather bluntly: “My job was to run the household and the children’s lives,” she said. “His job is to provide us with a nice lifestyle.” But his bonus has disappeared, and his annual pay has dropped to $150,000 from $800,000 a year. “Let me just say this,” she said, “I’m still doing my job.”

Oh god.

[diesel_powered]

First day of class tomorrow. Nervous. Need to somehow not over-prepare.

[diesel_powered]

Yup, still in the grip of anxiety. Not fun.