Thursday, January 22, 2015

The Semester is Before Us...

Monday is the first day of class for the Spring semester. Oh, how time flyes. This semester will be different, as I will be taking all online classes. So... more time for Steve to hang out at the Starbucks on Colfax Ave. This morning I showed up to School, as I always do, to stand in line to buy my books. I was surprised to see there wasn't a line in front of the book store. I hardly had time to cruise Grindr before heading into the store for my annual book buying spree. My head filled with the thought it always does upon entering my college bookstore. " I should of just rented the book online, and saved all the money the nose-ringed hippy girl is about to rip from my hands."  Yet, every semester I forget, as school exits my little brain as soon as my final assignments are handed in.

Last year's Medieval History class went great online, so I thought, "Why not? More Toffee Nut Lattes for Steve."  This round we're taking  "Literature of Shakespeare" and "American History 355."  The Shakespeare class I'm excited about, as I'm attempting to go for a Diamond Rating in neardom. To pass the competency exam you need to either know computer code, or choose the oral exam of reciting Shakespeare Sonnets. I can't understand computer code, so I am going for the Lit-nerd certification.  The American History class is the one I dread. It's the last history class I will need for my degree, and I have avoided it for years. It's "America! from foundation to reconstruction." I find nothing more boring than this topic; other than the attempt to make that American Sniper movie resemble anything near the truth.

My head was filled with dread as I pontificated over the reading on the topic of rich white people owning poor black people as I walked through the stacks of over-priced books in the bookstore. Then I discovered something odd. My class don't require textbooks. What??? Yep, they're completely on line. 

We will bestow ourselves [to not] read on this book. Clearly an undiscovered country for Steve. 

I left the bookstore with a spring in my step. Looking forward to the new semester. 

6 comments:

  1. I daresay, after the american history course, you will be more knowledgeable about our country than the GOP members of congress!

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  2. So I know this sounds like a frat boy pick-up line, but what's your major? And what will you do with it?

    I am bored to tears with that part of US history, although I find the personalities involved to be very colorful. However, my father loves history, so visiting historic sites is something we do together. I am more interested in the architecture, but hey, anything I can do to share something with my preacherman father that doesn't involve me being told I'm going to hell is good. Best of luck with your classes!

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  3. I took a trigonometry class online. It was VERY challenging as I pretty much had to teach myself. I think that's the last time I will take a math class online.

    A couple of years ago I heard an interview with Peter O'Toole on NPR. He was a huge fan of Shakespeare's sonnets. He had all of them memorized and recited one during the interview. I would have bought a cd of him reading the sonnets if they had been recorded. It was amazing!

    Good luck this semester!
    Robert

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  4. If you ever find you need the dead tree versions, I saved my books from college. They're shelved alphabetically so if, for example, you're looking for "Othello", you'll find it between "Object Oriented Programming in C++" and "Perl".

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  5. Samuel Eliot Morse "The Oxford History of the American People" your local library or buy a copy online. There is no whitewashing here. It is a more difficult read than Grindr or the Starbucks menu. An A is possible!

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  6. Samuel Eliot Morse "The Oxford History of the American People" your local library or buy a copy online. There is no whitewashing here. It is a more difficult read than Grindr or the Starbucks menu. An A is possible!

    ReplyDelete

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