Summer School Blues

*Note: "Blues" in the titles of this post refer to a genre of music, not an emotional description or series of paintings by Klein.

So, I'm taking summer school. This is the first time I have ever taken summer school. It has its ups and downs (which I am about to chronicle here in case you hadn't guessed.)

The DOWNS (not the syndrome. That would just be mean.)

1. I can no longer sleep until noon every day. This is a big one for me, since I often sleep until noon even during the school year. I like to think that I'm merely on a different schedule than everyone else. You know, like people in California. They are pretty much on the same schedule as I am. Well, actually, Hawaii might be more accurate. The point being, I have to wake up before noon if I am to arrive at class on time, and it's weirding me out.

2. The commute from my house to the university is long. Ordinarily, I do not think of it as long, since it is only an hour from my house to the parking lot, but ordinarily, I do not drive this route more than once a month. Now I drive it every day, and it's boring. I'm running out of music, and I can't read while I'm driving because that would just be silly. My mom has tried to foist her books-on-tape on me (which she stole from my godfather), but the only things she has are John Grisham and others of his ilk and Harry Potter. (I love HP, but I have already read those books about 8,000 times apiece.)

3. My homework takes a long time, and we have a quiz every day. Except for the days we have tests, of course. I have taken to studying for the quizzes before class and during our bathroom break. It seems to be working fairly well.

4. Parking is a bitch. You would not believe how hard it is to find a good free space. I'm one of those paranoid people would normally refuse to park anywhere that is not completely legit, but summer school is wearing down my standards. I have taken to parking in the lot reserved for the freshers and their parents during orientation, which is going on all month. From there it is a 30-minute hike up a small mountain in 105 degree weather to class. AND the other day, the brilliant university had turned this very same parking lot into a handicapped-only parking lot! (Which makes me wonder if they decided to have all the handicapped come to orientation on the same day. I think that's racist.) I parked there anyway and narrowly avoided a ticket, pealing out of the lot right when Mr. Parking Ticket Man started his rounds. Shew. Now I just park in one of the reserved garages which, still illegal, is at least in the shade. And my new spot is technology-center adjacent for when...

5. ...my computer gets a horrible virus that destroys everything. My laptop caught a virus from my desktop computer via a corrupted USB drive. (I feel many STD-related jokes could be made about unprotected ports, but I'll refrain.) Today I had to take dear ol' Lappy to the technology nerds at the technology center for their omnipotent wisdom. And I must say, they have a pretty sweet setup. Which leads to number 6...

6. I don't work at the technology center. Let's set aside the fact that I do not possess the skills to work in IT, and contemplate the fact that they have a 20-foot projector screen and get to watch Iron Man all day. AND they get paid! Sigh. I'm in the wrong field.

And now for the UPS (not the postal service. Maybe I should give up on all caps.)

1. My class is tiny and all the people in it seem pretty cool. I like classes that are nice and intimate, and there's nothing like an archaic language to bring people together in a bond of hate and frustration so tight you would think that they were family. For who else but family would whisper the answer when you forget what the pluperfect conjugation of "to wish" looks like. Or help you remember what the passive periphrastic is? We must love each other a lot.

2. Long-term rewards. Now, I know we humans like to THINK we're so much better than all other of God's humble creatures because a Titan named Prometheus blessed us with the ability to look into the future, but...

Myth Time

Long ago, at the beginning of time, the Titan Prometheus, whose name means "fore-thinker," decided to make humans. So he did. Everything would have been fine if it hadn't been for Prometheus' dumb-ass brother Epimetheus, who he enlisted to help. While Epimetheus pounded on the clay that was to become humanity, some of his idiocy wore off, and we inherited it. Epimetheus' name, consequently, means "he who acts before he thinks." As a result, humans have the ability to plan ahead, but it is clouded by our Epimethean judgment, which seeks instant gratification. And that is why we now have high-speed internet, but it is also why we do stupid things that will hurt us in the future.

Channeling my Promethean heritage, I opted to take this summer school class so that I would get ahead in my studies. And I'm glad I did. It's just that Epimetheus, on my other shoulder, sometimes makes me forget it.

And now I should probably do my homework.