First Day of Classes — Fall 2008

Well, my first day of classes (at BYU it is traditionally the day after Labor Day) has come and gone. No work. Woke up this morning and showered and dressed (I am wearing shorts these days and put on a pair) and then kissed my wife, said, “Goodbye,” to my mother-in-law Lisa and then drove to campus whilst speaking to my mother about stuff. What stuff? Not really sure. I know part of it was the play-by-play of the padres visit to Utah yesterday and subsequent return to Colorado. Part of the visit was to Jared and Emily’s where James and Jordan were visiting because (ostensibly) they knew that the padres were going to be there. In the same day, they went to visit Kimberly and co. in Layton where they were shown Kim’s new classroom and told about her first week of teaching (a whole week before I started going to school, JSYK).

Anyway, first class is American Literature Since 1960, which was interesting as the professor (old as dirt) introduced the topics and talked to us about the American authors we’ve read (recently) who could also be considered contemporaries. He introduced the idea of Literary History which I added to by suggesting that one author (in this case Eugene Zamiatin who wrote WE) and then other authors or artists or poets or musicians take up the theme and respond to it (in this case I used George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, and Ayn Rand and respective books) and that this pattern can lead all the way down to a whole genre or sub-genre being created as a result of a single literary event. I also added that history (and since the class starts in 1960 I dropped into JFK and Vietnam) often offers events that artists, writers, poets, and musicians might take a leap from (and in this case I specifically used John Lenin and Paul McCartney) and that the discussion will often leap to different forms and as a result we have literature with a very real history (and from this I pointed out that Abraham Lincoln’s death led to Walt Whitman writing Oh Captain My Captain which in turn led to the movie Dead Poet’s Society).

By this point in the class we were wrapping up and the discussion on Literary History came to an end and then the professor sent people on their way and I stayed to inform the professor that I have this wife who is pregnant, 37 weeks along, and that I have my phone turned on (though silenet) and that if she went into labor (which I actually expect will happen sometime between 2 and 4 a.m.), that I would abruptly get up and leave the class. Once that part of this semester was over (e.g. informing the professor about my impending absence and/or need to leave) I went to the Humanities building, road the elevator up to the top floor, discovered where the next professor’s class was located, and then knocked on his door.

I had two reasons for this:

1. I’d volunteered to have a BYU Van driver’s card which requires me to go to a class tomorrow afternoon and I needed to make sure I was not being relied upon (at least) for the next three weeks because;
2. Erin is 37 weeks pregnant and I need to drive my car to the field trips until such a time that my wife delivers said baby and I am back in class.

The outcome was positive. He has a couple of other people who can drive. I am still getting the van card just because and then I sat down and finished reading Scott Westerfeld’s Specials. I have to admit, I am not a fan of Westerfeld’s blog, and he doesn’t update very often, and I don’t know what finally pushed me over the edge to actually read this series of books (Uglies Trilogy), but I liked them a lot. In fact, I started the first couple of pages of another author and another blog that I am trying to decide whether or not I like it, but am thinking of (at least at first) checking out one of his books and seeing if he really is worth my time in reading (though that may have to wait until December and other factors), and kind of liked where the story was going in a coupe of pages while not being immediately offended. Anyway, the outcome has proved to be rather positive and makes me willing to take a next step in reading new authors (something I’ve been want to do for quite a few years now… at least in Science Fiction and Fantasy).

Anyway, that led into my going to the Cowboy Class. This is my senior course for the English Degree. As a result, the outcome of the class is about testing (in theory) all of the things I am meant to have learned after four years in a degree program. This will prove to be interesting as we are going through the history of the cowboy and cowgirl and some of the poetry and literature with the capstone being a project for the class. Since I introduced one of my interests in the class including a desire to translate modern fantasy from the medieval to the old west and moving forward with it; the professor of that class introduced the idea of chivalry as French origin and meaning horse and that the idea did exist in the old west and among the cowboy culture and that, at least on the surface, there was a correlation.

I am thinking of extending this into another offshoot of the cowboy culture and into modern culture, though I am also trying to decide how to interview the kinds of people I would need to talk to (and who are notorious liars).

After that class I went and looked at the room I had my last Tuesday/Thursday class in, at the south end of the Library, and noted that it was a large lecture hall. I did not realize that the class had 150 people in it, and, according to le profesor, had 75 people on wait list. I think I was lucky to get into the class in part because I am a senior, waited to take the class, and most people (from observation) are freshman or younger and have the lowest priority for getting into a class. Which means as a SENIOR I rule the world.

What I did discover in all of this is that on the top floor of the humanities building there is a balcony. When you go out onto the balcony there is little noise. As you approach the guard rail around the balcony the noise starts to grow. And when you stand at the guard rail, the noise from the courtyard bellow gets immediately very loud and you can hear people walking and talking between whatever they are doing.

During my last class of the day, World Civilization to 1500, I saw a T.A. from the World Civilation from 1500 class I’d taken about two years ago who was T.A.ing for a new professor and who gave a good recommendation for this one. Which is good. I was a bit excited that I was taking a class with a reading list (books and not a textbook) and I was even more excited when he decided to approach plagiarism and cheating from the perspective of: How Not to Get Caught.

Once again, I spoke to the professor and explained that my wife is pregnant and that I might have to leave suddenly, and that I appologized in advance if and when it actually happened. We talked for a little while and then I took off and came home. All-in-all, I think even with the tons-o-reading that I have, this is going to be a pretty good semester. I am excited about these professors. Once again, I think I got lucky with my lack of choices (I had to fit classes into specific time frames when I selected most of them, and a lack of availability on the one I chose a few weeks ago), but that luck will prove to be good. In short I am excited and think this semester (again, the last one) will do good for my academic health.

John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West

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