Course grades were due last night by 7:00 p.m. At 6:30 p.m., I had just finished my last batch of exams and was geared up to get online and enter the grades for my courses. Except that I didn't have the grades for one of my courses: the 98-student course. My TA and I had finished meting out the final grades last week, but the Excel file that those grades were on was on my little flash drive...which was at the apartment. I hurriedly entered the grades for 3 of my courses, ran to the car, and peeled out like a bat out of hell for home. Fortunately, I don't live that far from the office.
Unfortunately, I didn't make it in time. As soon as I began entering grades, the site shutdown. Right at 7:00 p.m.; right on time. I'm staring blankly at the screen that says "Error!" I'm cursing the day I decided to become a teacher. I'm just cursing.
What must I do to remedy this situation? Fill out a change of grade form. For every student that didn't get a grade. Every. Blasted. Student. Student number, last name, first name, mi, school/college, course number, course credits, term and year, old grade, new grade, print instructor name, instructor signature, date. Ninety-eight times. I need a masseuse.
12.19.2006
12.17.2006
Sufjan Stevens has a 5-disc box set, Songs for Christmas, that came out at the end of November. And there are more goodies in it than just the music. There are no more at Amazon.com, but you can get one at BarnesandNoble.com*. Do it. Now.
*You can't get one at B&N anymore. I got mine straight from the source, Asthmatic Kitty Records.
Yep, it's been a while. Like I said, I don't usually have blogging fever at the office. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I ever had blogging fever. But, then, I don't think as much as I need to.
I got a new car stereo last week and spent much longer than expected or desired to install it. Alas, 'tis the case with most any "big" project like that -- you've got to allow for the unexpected. What I definitely didn't expect was to break a part of the car. It wasn't serious, nothing that some super glue and a 24 hour set time (it wasn't the brand, so it's not being capitalized) couldn't handle. The directions I got from Crutchfield (a great business to get some gear from -- they give pretty good directions, great customer service, and lots of freebies for self installations) weren't exact enough to the year of my car model. It's a 2000 model, but the directions were only specific to 2001 and 2002. Go figure. Anyway, not to bore with details, I got the stereo in, put humpty back together again, and am now zipping through my iPod artists and albums with the car receiver. It's not super quick and it always starts back at the A's, but I'm enjoying it so far. We'll have to see how it does on the trip home for Christmas holidays. I bought some speakers, too, but I'm afraid I'll break something else on the car.
Finals was last week. Grading is now. I took a couple of days off at the end of the week to run errands, install the stereo, etc., so I didn't get much grading done. It started up yesterday and will likely continue until the bell tomorrow evening. Then it's off to a session meeting at church to see if they'll let me teach a philosophy class for Redeemer folks (and whoever else wants to come) starting in January. For some reason I think it's a go, especially since people I haven't said anything about it to are asking me when I'm doing it (not if I'm doing it). I only told two people, for crying out loud.
I was watching a bit of NFL this afternoon. During one of the spots (on a football player or some such), Jane's Addiction "Mountain Song" was playing in the background. That song was the reason I bought Nothing's Shocking. Very nice.
Scott sent me this article from the New Yorker about Bible publishing. Still the highest selling book every year. But, as the article suggests (but doesn't make a point of criticism), it shouldn't come as that much of a surprise given the insane target marketing the Bible publishers engage in. Have you ever gone to CBD online and browsed through all of the different kinds of Bibles there are? And I'm not just talking hardcover or softcover, leather bound or paperback, NKJV or NIV. I'm talking the Extreme Teen Bible, or Revolve: The New Testament for Girls (made to look like a friggin' teen magazine, for crying out loud), or the Message Bible Remix, or the Chicken Soup for the Soul Bible, or the Men of Integrity Devotional Bible, or God knows what other ways of re-packaging Scripture people have thought of. I'm not sure exactly why, but it kinda disgusts me. It's not so much the "life applications" focus that they bring; we need that, and it will surely be different for different kinds of people. It's probably more the dumbing down that so often goes with making the Bible more marketable -- making it accessible, easy to read, un-daunting, not embarrassing to carry around, uncomplicated, etc. There's a certain lack of center when you've got so many different "versions" (which, unfortunately, needs to be in scare quotes) of Scripture out there. And a certain lack of rolling up the ol' hermeneutical sleeves with centuries of theological tradition and knowledge at one's fingertips.
Say, that reminds me. The TV told me the other day about kids who like to listen to sermons on their iPods ... instead of going to church. As long as they're getting the sermon. Sheesh. As if that's the only redeeming part of the worship service. Pun most certainly intended. But can the Church at large defend itself against this? I'm not sure the Church is at a point where she takes the worship service itself seriously enough to be able to.
There is a point at which the thoughts on Bible marketing and current debate about styles of worship come together: both tend to be about the target audience. There is an analogy here. I'm just not sure how good it is. We don't have a big organ, pews, or even hymnals at our church (though, thanks be to God, we don't have a projector full of praise songs). Why? Because when it started, the church wanted to reach a different kind of person in Athens, one who probably wouldn't like any of that. We have piano, guitars, strings, sometimes a mandolin, banjo, or pedal steel. Why? Because when it started, the church wanted to reach the kind of person who would probably like that. The structure of our service is straight-forwardly traditional (which, in this case, is a good thing IMO), but the trappings are different than traditional services. Is this analogous to a Bible where the language is paraphrased into the vernacular and that is full of all sorts of goodies that dazzle the eyes and tickle the ears of target audience member X? If I am disgusted by Revolve, should I also be disgusted by our worship service? Perhaps. Perhaps I am simply inconsistent on this point. I'll have to think about it later. Right now there is grading to be done.
I got a new car stereo last week and spent much longer than expected or desired to install it. Alas, 'tis the case with most any "big" project like that -- you've got to allow for the unexpected. What I definitely didn't expect was to break a part of the car. It wasn't serious, nothing that some super glue and a 24 hour set time (it wasn't the brand, so it's not being capitalized) couldn't handle. The directions I got from Crutchfield (a great business to get some gear from -- they give pretty good directions, great customer service, and lots of freebies for self installations) weren't exact enough to the year of my car model. It's a 2000 model, but the directions were only specific to 2001 and 2002. Go figure. Anyway, not to bore with details, I got the stereo in, put humpty back together again, and am now zipping through my iPod artists and albums with the car receiver. It's not super quick and it always starts back at the A's, but I'm enjoying it so far. We'll have to see how it does on the trip home for Christmas holidays. I bought some speakers, too, but I'm afraid I'll break something else on the car.
Finals was last week. Grading is now. I took a couple of days off at the end of the week to run errands, install the stereo, etc., so I didn't get much grading done. It started up yesterday and will likely continue until the bell tomorrow evening. Then it's off to a session meeting at church to see if they'll let me teach a philosophy class for Redeemer folks (and whoever else wants to come) starting in January. For some reason I think it's a go, especially since people I haven't said anything about it to are asking me when I'm doing it (not if I'm doing it). I only told two people, for crying out loud.
I was watching a bit of NFL this afternoon. During one of the spots (on a football player or some such), Jane's Addiction "Mountain Song" was playing in the background. That song was the reason I bought Nothing's Shocking. Very nice.
Scott sent me this article from the New Yorker about Bible publishing. Still the highest selling book every year. But, as the article suggests (but doesn't make a point of criticism), it shouldn't come as that much of a surprise given the insane target marketing the Bible publishers engage in. Have you ever gone to CBD online and browsed through all of the different kinds of Bibles there are? And I'm not just talking hardcover or softcover, leather bound or paperback, NKJV or NIV. I'm talking the Extreme Teen Bible, or Revolve: The New Testament for Girls (made to look like a friggin' teen magazine, for crying out loud), or the Message Bible Remix, or the Chicken Soup for the Soul Bible, or the Men of Integrity Devotional Bible, or God knows what other ways of re-packaging Scripture people have thought of. I'm not sure exactly why, but it kinda disgusts me. It's not so much the "life applications" focus that they bring; we need that, and it will surely be different for different kinds of people. It's probably more the dumbing down that so often goes with making the Bible more marketable -- making it accessible, easy to read, un-daunting, not embarrassing to carry around, uncomplicated, etc. There's a certain lack of center when you've got so many different "versions" (which, unfortunately, needs to be in scare quotes) of Scripture out there. And a certain lack of rolling up the ol' hermeneutical sleeves with centuries of theological tradition and knowledge at one's fingertips.
Say, that reminds me. The TV told me the other day about kids who like to listen to sermons on their iPods ... instead of going to church. As long as they're getting the sermon. Sheesh. As if that's the only redeeming part of the worship service. Pun most certainly intended. But can the Church at large defend itself against this? I'm not sure the Church is at a point where she takes the worship service itself seriously enough to be able to.
There is a point at which the thoughts on Bible marketing and current debate about styles of worship come together: both tend to be about the target audience. There is an analogy here. I'm just not sure how good it is. We don't have a big organ, pews, or even hymnals at our church (though, thanks be to God, we don't have a projector full of praise songs). Why? Because when it started, the church wanted to reach a different kind of person in Athens, one who probably wouldn't like any of that. We have piano, guitars, strings, sometimes a mandolin, banjo, or pedal steel. Why? Because when it started, the church wanted to reach the kind of person who would probably like that. The structure of our service is straight-forwardly traditional (which, in this case, is a good thing IMO), but the trappings are different than traditional services. Is this analogous to a Bible where the language is paraphrased into the vernacular and that is full of all sorts of goodies that dazzle the eyes and tickle the ears of target audience member X? If I am disgusted by Revolve, should I also be disgusted by our worship service? Perhaps. Perhaps I am simply inconsistent on this point. I'll have to think about it later. Right now there is grading to be done.
12.08.2006
Late Night At The Office
So, it's 12:30 in the a.m. I'm at the office. I just finished copying final exams for one of my classes tomorrow. And there are a couple of black ladies sleeping on the couches in a dark corner of the foyer on the main floor.
I've been here at 2:00 in the a.m. before and the people who work here at night decide to let their buddies in for a little get together. Such a different world.
In the supply room, there's a clipboard on the wall above the copier to keep up with what needs to be replaced. It reads:
I've been here at 2:00 in the a.m. before and the people who work here at night decide to let their buddies in for a little get together. Such a different world.
In the supply room, there's a clipboard on the wall above the copier to keep up with what needs to be replaced. It reads:
I TOOK THE LAST
speck of dignity
small binder clips
blue ball point pen, fine pt
12.04.2006
Caffeine Headaches
I'm trying to wean myself off of caffeine. Why, I don't know. I just thought it would be a good idea. So far, it seems to be a really bad idea, as I've been getting headaches for nearly a week now. Granted, I don't know with certainty that they're caused by the lack of caffeine, but it seems more than a mere coincidence since I never get headaches. It makes me an even meaner SOB than I usually am. And, as you know, that's pretty darn mean.
Off The Air
I haven't been blogging much lately. I hate blogging while at the office: I'm usually too tired, too hungry, or both to spend 2 or 3 more hours in a windowless, flourescent-lighted, ill-ventilated room typing up a bunch of nonsense about my life and its surroundings. Why does it matter what I want or don't want to do while at the office? Well, because I haven't had internet access in the apartment since before Thanksgiving. Translation: the unencrypted router that I was leeching my wireless network from disappeared from the wireless radar. But, dang it, I don't want to spend $40/month on fast internet service. Could I bundle it with the cable TV provider? Sure...except that we aren't paying for our cable. Now, we didn't do any splicing of cables with nextdoor neighbors or anything like that*, but the fact is we're getting it (as basic as it is) and not paying for it. So, I'm not all that interested in bringing it to the company's attention by asking them to bundle DSL with services we have but aren't supposed to have. We can't bundle it with phone services, since we don't have phone service at the apartment and would have to shell out more cash for something we neither want nor need.
The question is, How much am I willing to pay for convenience? I spend $45/month for the convenience of a cell phone. I'm not yet willing to do that for internet service. Not yet. The convenience of it will likely break me--either that or one more person coming up to me asking me if I got their email yesterday. Or not being able to download "Dexter" episodes.
Moral of this post: Please don't look to me as an ethical guide.
*According to Bachelor Master Juris-Doctor Mitch, when he first came to the apartment (a year or two ago), he didn't think they had cable and neither did his roommate at the time. One day Mitch happens to turn on the TV (for what reason I can't recall) and lo! there was cable TV! We've been taking quite the hands-off approach to the whole thing.
The question is, How much am I willing to pay for convenience? I spend $45/month for the convenience of a cell phone. I'm not yet willing to do that for internet service. Not yet. The convenience of it will likely break me--either that or one more person coming up to me asking me if I got their email yesterday. Or not being able to download "Dexter" episodes.
Moral of this post: Please don't look to me as an ethical guide.
*According to Bachelor Master Juris-Doctor Mitch, when he first came to the apartment (a year or two ago), he didn't think they had cable and neither did his roommate at the time. One day Mitch happens to turn on the TV (for what reason I can't recall) and lo! there was cable TV! We've been taking quite the hands-off approach to the whole thing.
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