My Milton Class

So school has started a new semester at UNLV. And I am starting to really worry about my major and if this is really what I want to be doing since it is getting close to crunch time. I only have one year of school left and its getting really late to change my mind. I am really starting to worry if it is right for me to be an English Major especially after my first day of my Milton class. The following is what I wrote in class on my first day as my professor droned on. My rationalization for writing this is I had to find some way to stay AWAKE during class. It was so hard AWAKE took dominance of ATTENTIVE. Sometimes that is just the way it goes.

My Milton Class 1/20/11

My Milton professor is the stereotypical boring professor. He is an aged, gray-haired, quiet, monotone, intelligent, talk-over-your-head, thinks he is funny, New York, lecturer. He talks, that's all there is, his soft, no inflection, voice for an hour and forty five minutes. There are no power points or visual aids to his lessons. You take notes on what he is saying and hope you heard him right the first time because that info will never be repeated until it randomly pops up on a test or paper. It will be a fight every class to pay attention to his soft-spoken ambient noises.
He does love his work and the subject matter, though. Milton is his literary god. But Milton is hard enough with his blank verse and anti-heroes and is only made worse by his inability to make things interesting.
I look around my classroom and I am scared. The shock of the English Major image hits me and I can not believe I am connected to this major. When I think English Major I think of a group of high intelligent, independent, individuals, ready to write about the woes of the world, to right the injustices, and personify the wrong doings. I see a group of united people, pens in hand, who will always be poor, but will always be liked, popular, and social. English Majors can go anywhere, talk to anyone, be and do everything. People and writers like Tolkien, Lewis, and Chaucer. That is what English Majors used to be and should be again. But the image has been hacked and mutated into a different thing.
Yes English Majors still write, but it is more to complain and whine. It is shallow, not well thought out, and self-focused. They are not well-dressed, social to anybody, or seemingly intelligent. They are grungy, clique-ish folk. I look around my class and see a boy with a bright purple triangled mohawk, other boys with scraggly unbrushed hair, dirty beanies abound through the classroom, girls with heavy eye make-up, and painted black nails on both genders. There are three large ladies who dot the class. One must be in her upper 40's, the other two have to be 50+. then there are those who walked into the class and head went straight to desk and they fell asleep. English Majors are not attentive knowledge seekers anymore. They have become the rejects, the outcasts, the anarchists.
They do not conform or talk to others who do not share their beliefs. They want to stand out but not for their brains, but for their looks. They have become a 'stick-it-to-the-man' type of group. The writings are dark, whiny, twists on mew dooms. And depression seems to be the only mood.
Come back scholar! Come those who want to learn and not because it might mean money later! Bring back the voices of the world and take away the wailings of the wild! Come back English Majors!

Yup so that's it. My thoughts during my first class of a new semester. Heaven help us all!

Booth Variety

Last night (actually quite early in the morning after a late night out on the town in Vegas), my boyfriend and I went to a 24 hour restaurant before we called it a night. We sat next to each other, shared french toast and an omlette, and sat down complimenting each other and talking sweetly about nothing at all. Everything was smiley and happy, and we were both excited to be sitting together all dolled and dressed up together in our little booth.
In walks a couple and they sit directly in the booth behind us. Why anyone would do that in a 'seat yourself' restaurant I don't know and I really don't know why you wouldn't go as far away from people as possible when you are engaging in the wonderful activity of arguing like these two were. These individuals trudged in, plopped down across from each other, and began tearing into the other's flaws, self-esteem, and any other issue that could cross their minds. They did it loudly and right behind us for the rest of our meal. Pretty soon my boyfriend and I could no longer focus on our own meal and conversation, but were drawn into theirs as we both tried to not look and listen in (feeling awkward and uncomfortable about the intrusion into our wonderful evening).
A couple of questions. 1)Why would you choose a restaurant to fight in? 2)Ok so you choose to fight over a late night dinner, your seating wasn't selected for you, why did you have to sit right behind me? I didn't barge into your evening. Why are you inflicting yourselves into mine, and everyone else's who happen to be around you? And 3)How could two completely different evenings exist back to back of each other like that? I find it amazing how two situations completely opposite of each other came into such personal contact last night. It shows how many different things can go on in the world at the same time. It is slightly astounding to me, and brought me to reality last night when someone was having a bad evening while I was having a fairytale night.
At one point the woman in the booth behind us left for the restroom, giving us some peace and allowing our own conversation to get back into flow. During this time I noticed the gentleman watching us. A little awkward. I wish I could know what he was thinking. What was going through my head was 'You two were probably like this once. Holding hands, laughing together, and wrapped up in each other's conversations. I hope to never end up like you and her, fighting in a restaurant.' When the woman returned, they quickly resumed their arguments (more loudly than before and with renewed vigor). We promptly gabbed our check and left the restaurant.
How strange all the little isolated scenarios one can find in every booth in a restaurant.

It has been too long

So I've left this blog dangling for a long time. But I am back at it with renewed vigor.
School will be starting up next week. And unlike most of my semesters I find myself having mixed feelings about this. On one hand we have the rebirth of my social life to look forward too as more and more of my friends trickle back into the school scene from their home towns and families. On the other hand is the death of my free time and fun times with friends since I'll only get to see these people at various school functions and the stressful study sessions for the weeks we're in school. So I'll have all my friends back in one place, but no unrelated to school time with them. It is a hard life.
Another thing I have mixed feelings about. In the past week four pairs of my friends have gotten engaged. Here is a congratulations to them all and a request: Please don't schedule your weddings and receptions all on the same day to make it a little easier on us who want to attend. It'll be so hard to choose between you all!
And you all know I'm happy for you, but who am I going to hang out with now that you're all getting married? Really, could you be any less considerate (just kidding of course).