Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Crises averted
I have a bad habit of staying up all night because I think it's annoying to have to sleep instead of doing something more interesting. I also have a bad habit of putting off essay-writing until the last minute. And I clearly have some sick fondness for overnighting in airport terminals. These things account for the fact that I've stayed up all night three times in the past five days. But even though my hands are shaking and I'm pretty sure I'm Norma Desmond, my mind is clear enough to feel relieved for a variety of reasons, involving some things that were bothering me from the back of my mind the whole time I was traveling.
1) My presentation on the classic Dadaist film Daisies is not tomorrow as I thought, but a week from tomorrow. This is good not only because it allows me to procrastinate some more, but also because in the state I'm in right now I would probably get up in front of class and be like, "This is what I see all the time now."
2) I finished my essay on Metropolis and turned it in on time. It amazes even me how close to the deadline my brain needs to push it before turning on and thinking of worthwhile things to say. I was watching Volcano with Rosie until like 1 AM. VOLCANO?
3) I found my tickets back to America. At some point while I was away in Germany, I realized I couldn't remember where I had stashed my plane tickets back home and the more I thought about it the more worried I got because when everything you own fits in a suitcase it's hard to lose track of stuff. Then I got home and turned my room upside down twice looking for the damn things and still couldn't find them. So I started to freak out properly, and made an appointment with STA Travel to investigate their policies on lost tickets and find out their thoughts on whether my parents would kill me if they had to buy new ones. But then it was okay because I found them. Whew!
4) Final exam schedules were finally released and it turns out I'm not going to be out of town for any crucial dates. I bought tickets to go to Amsterdam on the 8th of June, which is a few days before the end of the examination period, but considering previous experiences with this university I wouldn't exactly have been floored if my one exam had been scheduled for the very last day of a three-week-long exam period. But it turns out I'm all clear, so I can look forward to all the filthy pleasures Amsterdam has to offer without worry.
5) I picked up my final essay for Film & Literature and got away with a 14. (Scores here are out of 20.) I don't know if I mentioned it here, but for the only piece of graded work in the course we were meant to write a massive paper discussing two films and the books they were based on, and I only wrote on one because I didn't have enough room to cover a second. I emailed my professor explaining my slight topic modification before I handed it in, and after I handed it in I received a reply which can Britishly be described as "cross." But really, it was more like "outraged." I had no idea if he was going to give me a mark at all, but I managed to snag a 14 because it was so good for what it was. Yeah, you know. I'm just that awesome.
Now I have to go to bed.
1) My presentation on the classic Dadaist film Daisies is not tomorrow as I thought, but a week from tomorrow. This is good not only because it allows me to procrastinate some more, but also because in the state I'm in right now I would probably get up in front of class and be like, "This is what I see all the time now."
2) I finished my essay on Metropolis and turned it in on time. It amazes even me how close to the deadline my brain needs to push it before turning on and thinking of worthwhile things to say. I was watching Volcano with Rosie until like 1 AM. VOLCANO?
3) I found my tickets back to America. At some point while I was away in Germany, I realized I couldn't remember where I had stashed my plane tickets back home and the more I thought about it the more worried I got because when everything you own fits in a suitcase it's hard to lose track of stuff. Then I got home and turned my room upside down twice looking for the damn things and still couldn't find them. So I started to freak out properly, and made an appointment with STA Travel to investigate their policies on lost tickets and find out their thoughts on whether my parents would kill me if they had to buy new ones. But then it was okay because I found them. Whew!
4) Final exam schedules were finally released and it turns out I'm not going to be out of town for any crucial dates. I bought tickets to go to Amsterdam on the 8th of June, which is a few days before the end of the examination period, but considering previous experiences with this university I wouldn't exactly have been floored if my one exam had been scheduled for the very last day of a three-week-long exam period. But it turns out I'm all clear, so I can look forward to all the filthy pleasures Amsterdam has to offer without worry.
5) I picked up my final essay for Film & Literature and got away with a 14. (Scores here are out of 20.) I don't know if I mentioned it here, but for the only piece of graded work in the course we were meant to write a massive paper discussing two films and the books they were based on, and I only wrote on one because I didn't have enough room to cover a second. I emailed my professor explaining my slight topic modification before I handed it in, and after I handed it in I received a reply which can Britishly be described as "cross." But really, it was more like "outraged." I had no idea if he was going to give me a mark at all, but I managed to snag a 14 because it was so good for what it was. Yeah, you know. I'm just that awesome.
Now I have to go to bed.