how things change

My class for the day is cancelled. At RIT this would usually be cause for elation. Now I’m really worried. Chicago, like RIT (the Rochester Institute of Technology), is a quarter system school. I only have ten weeks of courses. Enthnography, the course in question, only meets once a week. So if it isn’t rescheduled, I miss one tenth of my ethnographic education. As the title suggests, things change.

This weekend was a strange mix of good and bad. On Sunday a shelf collapsed in my apartment, causing a huge mess and a lot of distraction. On Monday, while closing a stuck window, I impaled my right palm on a obelisk type knick knack that on the sill. But on the positive side, I reconnected via phone with some old friends, I met some new friends at a martial arts event, and caught Supersize me, which I enjoyed quite a bit.

Oh and I tried Giorgdano’s Deep Dish Pizza. I can’t remember if Tina like them or Gino’s pizza. Oh and I have seen Jamba Juices, but none have been in Hyde Park so I have yet to buy one.

So much for my time off before classes

I’m sitting in the library as I type this. Why am I in the library you ask? Because I’ve been dealt the first surprise of my graduate career: that I have reading assignments due on the first day of my classes. And what makes things more complex is that certain classes currently do not have syllabuses available. So I’m going to need to wait until a day or two before the class begins before I know what I need to read for that class. Or where the class is being held, for that matter.

This is all part of the school’s effort to put a fear of God and the program into us. Discussions have focused on how much work is about to come our way. Judging from the reading, it’s true. For example, my Perspectives in the Social Sciences class has nine full books and 75 articles associated with it. I’ve been told I should expect to read a minimum of 300 page a week. And that’s before I get to the writing assignments.

Still, I plan to explore Chicago this weekend. But for the moment, it’s nose to the books. And tomorrow I’ll be taking a bus tour of Chicago sponsored by the MAPPS program. I’m told it’s quite good and that the tour guide is quite saucy.

I’m heating up the ol’ MC3 and will start to post some videos and pictures of things really soon.

close but not quite there yet

ok. so I’m in Chicago and moved in, but don’t have a ke or access to my apartment until Monday. a long blog will follow soon, by soon I mean within the next few days, to explain what exactly happened. But the short, short version is it was all my fault and the fault of trying to save money.

a bear in his natural habitat! a studabaker! (aka. moving right along)

Well I’m typing this from Toledo OH, taking advantage of the Hampton Inn’s wireless network. Things with U-Haul did resolve themselves, though not without some additional drama that will not be discussed at this time (because it gets back to my own stupidity).

Yesterday I packed the last bit of my apartments and with Drea as navigator set off for Chicago. We made it more than half way, ended here in Toledo around 9.20pm. We ended up after a few minor misadventures finding a place called Jeb’s Bar B Que for dinner. While there wasn’t much BBQ, they did have deep fried pickles which we availed ourselves of.

In a few moments we’ll be departing for the final leg of the trip. Then the unpacking phase. Oy… I can’t wait. Seriously. Don’t expect any more blogs until early next week as I don’t know what my connection status will be.

Oh, as a final treat, I present in my opinon, the ultimate road song:

Kermit:

Movin’ right along in search of good times and good news,

With good friends, you can’t lose,

Fozzie:

This could become a habit.

Kermit:

Opportunity just knocked, let’s reach out and grab it,

Together we’ll nab it.

Fozzie:

Ya! We’ll hitch-hike, bus, or yellow cab it.

Kermit:: Cab it?

Kermit & Fozzie:

Movin’ right along

Kermit:

Foot-loose and fancy free.

Gettin’ there is half the fun; come share it with me.

Kermit & Fozzie:

Movin’ right along!

Kermit:

Doog-a-doon, doog-a-doon

We’ll learn to share the load.

Fozzie:

We don’t need a map to keep this show on the road.

Kermit:

Movin’ right along we found a life on the highway,

Fozzie:

And your way is my way–

Kermit:

So trust my navigation.

Fozzie:

California here we come, come pie-in-the-sky land.

Kermit:

Palm trees and warm sand–

Fozzie:

Though sadly we just left Rhode Island.

Kermit: (spoken) We did what?

Fozzie: (spoken) Just forget it.

Kermit & Fozzie:

Movin’ right along

Kermit:

Hey, L.A., where have you gone?

Fozzie:

Send someone to fetch us, we’re in Saskatchewan.

Kermit & Fozzie:

Movin’ right along

Kermit:

Doog-a-doon, doog-a-doon)

You take it, you know best.

Fozzie:

Hey, I’ve never seen the sun come up in the West.

Fozzie: (spoken) A bear in his natural habitat! A studabaker!

Kermit & Fozzie:

Movin’ right along

Fozzie:

We’re truly birds of a feather,

We’re in this together–

Kermit:And we know where we’re goin’.

Fozzie:

Movie stars with flashy cars and life with the top down.

Kermit:

We’re stormin’ the big town.

Fozzie:

Yeah! Storm is right, should it be snowin’?

Kermit:(spoken) No, I don’t think so.

Kermit & Fozzie:

Movin’ right along

Fozzie:

Do I see signs of men?

Kermit:Yeah, “welcome” on the same post that says “come back again.”

Kermit & Fozzie:

Movin’ right along

Kermit:

Foot-loose and fancy free.

Fozzie:

You’re ready for the big time–

Kermit:

Is it ready for me?

Kermit & Fozzie:

Movin’ right along!

Movin’ right along!

(repeat to fade)