The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

So, I bought a T-shirt, as I am fairly often doing. I noticed that the sloshy t-shirts on Homestar Runner (as first seen in this sbemail and later in this wonderful bit of music.) were on the super clearanceness! So I snapped one up. Because, you know, why not? Seriously. WHY NOT?

Anyway, so, as per usual, my mother doesn’t get the reference on the shirt. She constantly has things to say about my shirts being inappropriate and whatnot, even when she knows not what she’s talking about and I can prove that I constantly get compliments and whatnot about them. Having a guy with a gun on your shirt does not mean I’m going to shoot you.

In any case, this time, instead of asking me, she decides that she has a computer, she’s going to just look it up. So she googles “sloshing.” This apparently comes up in Urban Dictionary or something similar as a word for female masturbation. So she runs downstairs to check my shirt to make sure…! And realizes it’s “sloshy.” But she’s still concerned, because it has a lyric from their song on the back of the shirt, “We Don’t Really Care About You.” Which, apparently means that I don’t care about my students? I mean, obviously, right? So we have a talk about it, and I show her the cartoon. Yay.

I dunno, does she really think that I’m going to wear a shirt with something that inappropriate in front of my class? Give me a little credit, you know?

Anyway, that’s my most recent T-shirt/Parental story. Yay.

So I guess Blackberries are magic or something? Because I put my school e-mail into the phone and it magically can check it somehow, even though it’s some crazy silly proprietary system. Not that I mind that it’s crazy magic and working.
In any case, now I get my e-mails about all the work associated with my TA position beamed straight to my phone!

I feel so professional.

This is just one in a constant string of things that make me feel professional. First it was the office, totally, and then it was just how I was being treated in class. My students still don’t have a thing to call me that I don’t dislike, but it’s just kind of a thrill to be treated as someone with the knowledge and know-how by such a sizable group. And now it’s this kind of thing, where I’m responding to students in real time and stuff, going all Crackberry like an executive or something…

I’ve never really felt more legit than this before. It’s just nice to have that. I mean, I knew I was good enough. I knew I was that good. I didn’t really question it. But it’s one thing to know, and it’s another thing to feel like you’re being constantly recognized for it, and to be treated as an equal, if one who’s still getting experience, rather than a cog in a wheel.

I think I might have said it before. But still.
I could really get used to this.
I really could.

Do you know what’s awesome?

Chainsawsuit.

You should all read Chainsawsuit. It is fairly random humor at its finest. I can’t stop laughing at this comic, for instance. And let’s not forget my personal favorite about the Fontalist.

Seriously, I have no idea if his other comic is any good, but Chainsawsuit? Now that’s something I can get behind.

Yep, that’s basically all this post is about. Go read it nao.

My class is quiet.

I don’t know, I mean, I suppose that’s to be expected. It’s an 8 AM class. Nobody is awake. I’m only awake because I wake up like 2 hours before so I can warm up to it, and I still have to down some caffeine beforehand. So It’s not like I can really blame them.

But man, I dunno.

As a teacher, I want to bring to the classroom what was effective for me. And frankly, until I realized that reading the assignments let me talk in class, and talking in class was where the education and the entertainment in education was… until I realized that, I hated literature classes, and I hated a lot of how they went on. Then, suddenly, when I could contribute, the classes became mine. Well, not just mine, but ours, It belonged to everyone in the class. It was a group journey. That’s just infinitely more entertaining.

I want to bring that to my class, to get them started on the right foot, because if they get used to that early, maybe they won’t fuck up like I did, you know?

But I am unsure what it is. Maybe they don’t think they can contribute anything. Maybe they’re coming right off of high school where they never had to say anything in class. But sometimes, it just really isn’t happening, and I can’t get anyone to say anything. Even in their responses, where they are supposed to be free to write whatever, and I keep writing comments constantly saying “TELL ME YOUR IDEAS” they just keep summarizing over and over. Bleh.

I mean, it’s early in the semester. Maybe I’ll get them to understand later. It’s silly to think everyone is going to start out perfect. It’s silly to think that my dream classroom is just going to come together before me, especially in a freshman-level core requirement English course.

But I can hope, eh?

Let’s talk about sexual attraction in a round-about, not as specific as I should be way.

When I first got into the whole “being attracted to people” game, I was pretty much a complete n00b and getting into it significantly later due to the whole “unsure about my gender, thus unsure about who it was okay to like” thing. So I really didn’t have any touchstones. I didn’t know what I wanted. I feel like I’m still figuring out what I want as I go along. And one thing I realize, more and more, that I want is realism.

Not like, I don’t know, the art movement. But just… I’m realistic here. The person or persons I am eventually with are not going to have perfect builds. Not that I don’t think I couldn’t find someone who was a model, perfect bodybuilder, or something if I really wanted to. But that’s not what’s really important to me. I want someone, a someone I like. A person’s body is really more a nice afterthought, it’s what’s in their brain that counts.

I like to think I have a nice brain. One people could like. I also know that I’m always going to be a little pudgy. A little soft in the middle. Whatever you want to say. Not like, fat, perse? But I’m never going to be thin and athletic either. And there’s a strong chance that my partner will be the same way.

I found that once I took that into account, and I just kind of embraced it, that not only did I feel much more attractive, but I found images of people who similarly accepted their builds and are just going with it equally attractive. Being seductive is all a frame of mind, and if someone shows me that they are, well, it doesn’t matter that they don’t have a six pack of abs or whatever the fuck, you know?

The internet lets you have basically any fantasy you want, and I love it for it. But at the same time, reality has its perks, because you can actually have that, you know?
It’s… nice.
It’s very nice.

So this first week had me pretty exhausted. Not because school was particularly draining or anything. It was simply because I was waking up really, really fucking early, and I am simply not used to that.

BUT IT APPEARS IT SERVES A PURPOSE!

I have been getting up early, and going to my office, and working on stuff. I’ve graded papers, done some planning, did some homework in my classes. I did stuff!
But on Thursday, I got distracted with certain nice conversations with certain nice people. So by the time I got to my office, it was already 8. I didn’t have time to get everything done! There were 3 papers left ungraded! Gasp! So I swore I’d come back around noon, and headed to the university press.

When I get back, instead of the completely empty office I am used to, I was greeted with an office with people in it. An office filled with people who are social.
Now, I’m glad that people want to talk to me. That’s neat. I’m happy to help people out with their computer issues and such. That is also neat. But goodness, it took me 45 minutes to grade those three papers. I had some nice conversations, but I wasn’t getting anything done.

So that’s why I’m going to keep waking up early, I suppose. I really don’t want to have to do that kind of work at home. It’ll help me relax better if I don’t. And I’m not going to get much done while visiting with people. So I’ll get there early when I’m the only one there and bang it out.

It is interesting, actually being in a real office enviroment like that, though. I’d love the visiting if it was just a matter of “work X hours and you’re done.” For better or worse, though, teaching does not work like that. So, you know, what are you gonna do. Gotta get my shit done.
Probably.

Cthulhu wins.

There, I said it. Are you happy, Great Old Ones? Are yah?

But I suppose I should start at the beginning. Essner was all like “We haven’t played Arkham in forever!” and I was all like “How about Wednesday?” and everyone was all like “That seems like an okay day to play!” So we played.

I ended up playing Mark Harrigan, the soldier. Normally, anyone who starts with a Flamethrower is going to be an asset in combat, but with Cthulhu as the great old one, Mark was really way too fragile with his 2 Sanity. Of all things, I ended up being the main sealer of gates. I got two, and almost had the last gate needed before Cthulhu was summoned to the table. It was kind of frustrating like that.
Everyone did a pretty good job holding their own, though. Spaeth was not completely useless, though he was probably the most! But no, he sealed a gate and did some stuff, no worries. Essner, strangely, barely got into any combat at all, and mostly ran around and sealed things as well, though he stalled on a gate at the Black Cave for like, 4 turns.
Jonathan, though… he got a Healing stone, took a beating, but kept on going and going. He got a madness and an injury, and still managed to kill over ten monsters and close (though not seal) at least 3 gates. He was a monster. Darrell Simmons had never done so much, let me tell you.

The weirdest thing, though, was Cthulhu’s stronghold at Miskatonic U. At one point, the Miskatonic U streets had 6 monsters on it. They just kept constantly piling up. It was a bit ridiculous. It took most of the game to clear them out and get to the gate at the Science Building which had been open the whole time.

In the end, however, we just couldn’t keep the damage up against Cthulhu’s healing ability, even with my Grapple skill. Me blowing 5 clue tokens without a success didn’t really help, either. So, you know, as I said, the world’s destroyed. Yay.

What’s more important, though, was a very significant loss. Molly got into the game box, which Jonathan was leaving on the floor for no reason, and managed to destroy several game pieces, most notably the piece for everyone’s favorite researcher with a nice rack, Mandy Thompson. It was a sad night. We will persevere, though. Somehow, we will continue to fight the forces of darkness.

Somehow.

Oh, it’s going pretty well. Thanks for asking, title.

I mean, my first day went pretty well. I had some people write. I mangled some names on the roll. I went over a syllabus. You know, fairly normal stuff.

As per usual, I had some extreme performance anxeity right before I went into the room. I assumed this would be just like acting, and it was. I was really nervous. I paced around Grauel for like, 40 minutes, walking up and down stairs at extreme speeds and whatnot. And yet, once I got into the classroom, I was cool, casual, and did what I came there to do with no real hesitations.
For whatever reason, my students seemed pretty attentive and untalkative. But, you know, that’s to be expected at 8 in the fucking AM, isn’t it? I do hope we’ll be able to have some class discussions in the future, if for no other reason than I feel like I got more out of those class discussions than anything in my college career. A good class discussion is better than any other class activity, you know?

But yeah, I think it’s all going to work out fine.

I already got an e-mail from a student too, thanks to issues with textbook acquisition. That’s what I get for assigning things so quickly, I suppose. But I answered that like a champ.

I am a champ.
Maybe.

Okay, probably not, but I’m going to do a good job, okay?

So, who cares how good a job I do, right?

All that matters is that I’m dressed up, in proper, masculine fashion.

Who gives a shit if I’m engaging my students, or helping them learn to write better, or any number of actually important things. No, all that matters is that I am not allowed to be comfortable in my own skin. I can’t just be me, who is an intelligent, fun, and effective teacher. I have to be someone different, someone who is probably worse at a lot of things, but damn, they look good, don’t they?

That’s what’s important in life: Being a false person.

Ugh. Arg.

I haven’t touched a Broswer RPG since my classes started up again.

Blasphemy? Maybe. I don’t know.

But at some point, I told myself “these are for entertainment. If you don’t think they’ll be entertaining that day, you shouldn’t be playing them.” So I didn’t play when I didn’t feel like it, and kept it from being a commitment every day. It worked out well.

But goodness, it’s been so long. It’s especially been forever since I played Twilight Heroes, at least a month or two. I mean, I guess I should feel lucky that the farming grind kept me going in that game for as long as it did, and I’m sure as hell thankful for the awesome friends I made in the game, but every time I think about trying to play it, it sounds unappealing, so I don’t.

KoL has been similar. Ever since I got into a holding pattern due to the world event stuff, I just haven’t wanted to play, which I suppose is kind of ironic because the idea was to wait so I could play this new stuff, you know? And yet, I just don’t want to.

Even Improbable Island, which I just found and is still fresh, has no appeal for me at all right now.

I mean, it’s not something to fix, but it is interesting. It also means that, I dunno, there may not be IoTM reviews this month (not that anyone particularly cares, but it’s always something to write about) and such.

I don’t know. We’ll see. I assume at some point I’ll be suddenly all over them again.