First Week of Grad. Schoolz

This will be most short, because I have to read two short stories for tomorrow for a class that I may or may not drop.

Tomorrow is my one week anniversary with graduate school! How will I celebrate? I will go to the aforementioned class at 9:50, then get a steroid injection into my shoulder at 1:00, teach piano from 3:00-8:00, and I will end the night by going to an "Arts and Crafts" event hosted by the gay fraternity on campus. When I write it all down, I wonder how I am actually going to do all of this? Especially since my shoulder will feel massively awkward for a good two days after this injection. NICE.

Being a grad. student at Rutgers is LONELY, y'all! I am only taking two musicology classes this semester because everything conflicts with everything else! How rude is that? Technically I only need to take two classes every semester because my Teaching Assistantship counts as 3 "non-billable credits," bumping me up to full time. All of my Carnegie Mellon friends will understand my inability to only take TWO classes. What the hell will I do with my time? I signed up for a Russian short story class appropriately called "The Russian Short Story." Will it be worth it? I don't know. There are only two papers, each 5-7 pages long, and the final exam is MULTIPLE CHOICE. What?? Seriously? Yes. I am still debating whether or not I should take this class, because I want to take three musicology classes next semester as well as a feminist theory course so that I can begin building credits towards my certificate in Women's and Gender Studies, and that adds up, y'all! Still, how could I only take two classes? Things to ponder.

I am most happy to report that I got a job teaching beginning and intermediate piano students! I will maintain the appropriate decorum and not discuss the particulars of my salary, but I will be working half of music as I did as Borders and I'll be making about three times as much. The keen reader will notice that I used the past tense. That is because I put my 2 (actually 3) weeks notice in today. I really enjoyed working for Borders...sometimes. When I was working by myself, gettin' great tips, and having some cool conversations with interesting customers, then I loved it. However, whenever I had to do "retail training," try to sell people things, meet quotas, and work with REALLY incompetent people who felt the need to talk down to me because I was new, then I hated it. Ultimately my decision to resign was based mostly on the fact that my manager did not post the following week's schedule until Thursday and, with all my school projects and teaching, I need to know what I am doing in two weeks so that I can plan accordingly.

I know you will all understand.

Next Tuesday, I am doing a 15-minute oral presentation on various sources of a 15th century chanson, including original manuscripts (yeah, neumes!!!!) and modern editions. I was the first person to volunteer, and now I am half-regretting my impulsivity. If I am proud of the work that I've done, I will discuss it on here. To prepare, I suggest that you all read The Decameron, some 11th century feminist literature by Christine de Pisan, and contract the plague. A basic reading knowledge of French is required.

Hugs!

- StevenJude