Reaching for Summer.

Early this afternoon I finished with my final regular class of this semester, and that fact does not come without a certain relief. There is a mingled sadness that goes with it. Some of my classes seemed like--and were!--pointless drudgery, but I have a couple classes I am really going to miss.

Bartky is incredible, and though I do not agree with everything that he says, at least he makes me think about my every political position. I leave his class feeling like a much more educated human being, and a better citizen for it. I have gained invaluable arguments and defenses for my political beliefs and a much greater understanding of the thought which shaped my beliefs. I will definitely be taking future classes with him.

The other class that I will miss is German. Again, this class always leaves me with the feeling that I know more than when I came in. I can feel and measure my progress. I can actually understand most of the lyrics when I listen to Revolverheld, and that is in itself gratifying.

History...it seemed rather basic; it was all things that I had heard before, only with a strong progressive spin. Dr. Erickson is excellent in her manner and style, but everything we did was so cursory that it didn't hold the mind as well.

Com...many idiots and pretty young women (though I might note that the two often coincided). I have no real attachment to this class. The professor was good, but the textbook was boring and the class--after I stopped answering questions in lecture--would often sit in total silence for 45 seconds or more while she waited for someone to answer. Who knows what I would have done were it not for the generally decorative aspect of the other members; probably slept.

I am afraid that I have come to loathe smalltalk, particularly the, "oh, I can't stand her," or, "oh, she is a bitch," brands which are so common amongst the younger population. I get along better with the upperclassmen and professors than I do with my fellow freshmen. I just need to keep reminding myself that those seething masses of dim and coarse bawds are holding down my tuition prices. Walking down a hallway in CM I passed this guy who managed to loose 4 f-bombs before I was out of earshot, and if you have ever seen how fast I walk when I am alone, you will realize what an accomplishment that is.

*harumph, ahem*

I am going to have to stay useful this summer; that or go nuts. I have been constantly barraged with busy work since January, and before that I had just finished the same a few weeks before. At the top of my list is getting a job. Next on my list is returning my strength and body weight to their pre-infection levels. Lastly, it is my intention to work on all of the German that I will have next semester. I want this next semester to be more a practice of my actual speaking skills than just harried memorization of exam terms, and that starts with having all of the vocab and grammar concepts down.

Now I am just looking forward to finals. Barring disaster they should all be A's...although I might be staring down an -A for com, which is stupid, but I bunged one exam pretty badly. That exam was the first C of my life, and all because I drew a total blank on the short essay. We will see in a couple of weeks.

Ugh. I'm cranky. I hope it isn't tinging this post too much. I lost about four hours of possible sleep to tossing and turning because of a stiff back, neck, and burning knees. Add to that an unnecessary yank on my neck--administered by my overenthusiastic little brother--which was executed in such a way as to catch only a muscle or tendon--who knows which--in the side of my neck, briefly producing stars of pain before I recovered.

I am tired.

And,

Oh yeah,

Let us not forget.

Happy Birthday, Boss!!!

Love,
~Eddie

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