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School's back in session. Classes started last Wednesday though I had to miss the first day because my Aunt Jacqueline (who was actually my first cousin once removed) died and I had to fly to Atlanta for her funeral and final party. This woman was the last of the old time Southern Ladies with a personality too big for the city she lived in. She'll be missed. However, she was very sick and I'm glad she didn't have to suffer for too long. By her own request, her funeral arrangements were "to just be dropped in the ground, Darlin'" and her last words were an injuction to the family to "drink up all the booze in the house and have a good time."

On the school front, when all the dust settled, I ended up with only two classes: a 9:00 am Frosh Comp I and a 3:00 pm Frosh Comp II. The Nagasaki stuff is definitely still on, but it won't really kick in until Valentine's Day. In the meantime, I have to get Frosh Comp II as organized as possible, and plan the Naga kids' spring break trip to St. Louis. The practicum is still on in the evenings, and I'll be doing a few lectures for that. However, since I'm not officially in charge of that (I don't have a PhD, so they can't/won't attach my name to an upper level course), it's hard to think of that as work.

I've been spending the weekend reading the book Tuned Out: Why Americans Under 40 Don't Follow the News by David T.Z. Mindich. It's OK, and has the possiblity to be informative, though by chapter 4, the author still hasn't discussed any reasons. I do plan to use excerpts from this book in Comp II when we get to the lecture on Statistics and What's Wrong With Them. I picked up the book because I'm under 40 and I don't follow the news except very cursorily. By Mindich's standards, I'm unevenly uninvolved: I can only name two or three of the Supreme Court Justices, yet I have had communication with a local politician in the last year. It'll be interesting to see if he does anything except crunch numbers, since I, personally, don't believe the answer is either easy, or attainable through number crunching.

In other news, The Partridge Family premiered last night. Though I haven't watched it yet, I'll be holding this over tptigger's head for the rest of eternity. :)