A Long Night's Journey Into Day
Oct. 4th, 2005 09:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morrigirlYesterday proved great aside from the campus wide security system malfunction that cursed the first floor of Swinford with five hours of incessant high pitched beeping from the keypad. *twitch*
But on the positive side we completed and submitted the very first proposal I've worked on since coming here. We spent all day putting the finishing touches on it: proof reading the narrative ten billion times, correcting formatting errors, that sorta thing. We had a minor melt down upon discovering we couldn't convert a scanned document that had been saved as a JPG into a Word document, but the day was saved when I converted it into a PDF.
During lunch I had my second extended coversation with a student. There's this little alcove next to the library where I go and eat sometimes. More than once I've run into one of the graduate students I worked with on opening day in there. Her name is Natalie. We don't usually speak to one another, just kind of nod in recognition. Well, yesterday the alcove was unusually crowded and we wound up sitting close enough to warrent chit chat. It turned into a really nice conversation. She's in the second year of her creative writing MFA. She's working on her thesis. We talked about writing and literature, television and her pet bunny. We talked all through lunch. It was very nice.
After work I walked over to the sports center and went swimming. I was in there for about 20 minutes. I wasn't counting but I think I did about 10 laps. Man, I am so fucking rusty it's sad. I can't tell you how many times I accidentally inhaled water and wound up coughing at the side of the pool. I haven't even een in a pool since I was 12. Probably haven't employed real swimming techniques since I learned them at age 3. It was like I'd never known. Though when I told Brother Michael about it he said, "You didn't drown. You can swim."
Around 6:15 as I was boarding the 2 train to go home I got a call from Other Mike. "How do you feel about sharing your bed with me?" he asked. Turns out Hofstra is closed the next two days for Rosh Hashana so he wanted to know if he could come up and spend some time with me. I said sure and proceeded to Penn Station to pick him up. Due to unforeseen tranportatonal difficulties we didn't get back up to my apartment until 11:00. But that was fine. I really love spending time with him. He was still asleep and wrapped up in my comforter when I left this morning.
And last but not least the New Yorker of the Month Award for October goes the the guy wearing the rosary who was sitting across from Mike and I on the 2 train last night who proved to be our last line of defense against snotty kids. Round about Grand Concourse this mom and three year old child got on the train. The kid was throwing a tantrum, crying, kicking, hitting, writhing around. Her mom was trying to be a cool cucumber, not yelling or making a huge fuss, just occasionally whispering stuff to her in spanish. Usually it doesn't take kids very long to cry themselves out but this one was like the god damn energizer bunny. For over ten stops the kid just got louder and more obnoxious and totally unbearable. When we rolled up on Bronx Park East the dude sitting across from us finally snapped. He turned to the child and disciplined her in spanish. I think I heard him say something about listening to her mom. He even went as far as to undo his belt and threaten to whip her with it! That shut the kid up real fucking fast! The mother looked relieved and thanked him. It was one of the most awesome things I've ever seen.
But on the positive side we completed and submitted the very first proposal I've worked on since coming here. We spent all day putting the finishing touches on it: proof reading the narrative ten billion times, correcting formatting errors, that sorta thing. We had a minor melt down upon discovering we couldn't convert a scanned document that had been saved as a JPG into a Word document, but the day was saved when I converted it into a PDF.
During lunch I had my second extended coversation with a student. There's this little alcove next to the library where I go and eat sometimes. More than once I've run into one of the graduate students I worked with on opening day in there. Her name is Natalie. We don't usually speak to one another, just kind of nod in recognition. Well, yesterday the alcove was unusually crowded and we wound up sitting close enough to warrent chit chat. It turned into a really nice conversation. She's in the second year of her creative writing MFA. She's working on her thesis. We talked about writing and literature, television and her pet bunny. We talked all through lunch. It was very nice.
After work I walked over to the sports center and went swimming. I was in there for about 20 minutes. I wasn't counting but I think I did about 10 laps. Man, I am so fucking rusty it's sad. I can't tell you how many times I accidentally inhaled water and wound up coughing at the side of the pool. I haven't even een in a pool since I was 12. Probably haven't employed real swimming techniques since I learned them at age 3. It was like I'd never known. Though when I told Brother Michael about it he said, "You didn't drown. You can swim."
Around 6:15 as I was boarding the 2 train to go home I got a call from Other Mike. "How do you feel about sharing your bed with me?" he asked. Turns out Hofstra is closed the next two days for Rosh Hashana so he wanted to know if he could come up and spend some time with me. I said sure and proceeded to Penn Station to pick him up. Due to unforeseen tranportatonal difficulties we didn't get back up to my apartment until 11:00. But that was fine. I really love spending time with him. He was still asleep and wrapped up in my comforter when I left this morning.
And last but not least the New Yorker of the Month Award for October goes the the guy wearing the rosary who was sitting across from Mike and I on the 2 train last night who proved to be our last line of defense against snotty kids. Round about Grand Concourse this mom and three year old child got on the train. The kid was throwing a tantrum, crying, kicking, hitting, writhing around. Her mom was trying to be a cool cucumber, not yelling or making a huge fuss, just occasionally whispering stuff to her in spanish. Usually it doesn't take kids very long to cry themselves out but this one was like the god damn energizer bunny. For over ten stops the kid just got louder and more obnoxious and totally unbearable. When we rolled up on Bronx Park East the dude sitting across from us finally snapped. He turned to the child and disciplined her in spanish. I think I heard him say something about listening to her mom. He even went as far as to undo his belt and threaten to whip her with it! That shut the kid up real fucking fast! The mother looked relieved and thanked him. It was one of the most awesome things I've ever seen.
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no subject
Date: 2005-10-04 02:59 pm (UTC)when my sister and i were in california last, this kid got mad at her mom so she turned around and kicked me... it was a total "wtf" moment.
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Date: 2005-10-05 11:30 am (UTC)