Radio Free Akron: Doing My Thumb

I'd already posted this, but somehow the people at myspace, who cause more errors than a Pee-Wee league shortshop, lost it.

Saturday is boring for me, since Amy's at work and I'm at home. There's nothing on TV (well, the channels we get) except infomercials and "This Old House." It's rough, man. I wish our book order would have arrived! We placed the first of our scheduled monthly Amazon orders. We've decided that money for cable can be better spent on books, so we've started ordering some.

I don't have any more reading to do for my classes in the coming week. I would go to the KSU library and do some literature review for my dissertation if I wasn't feeling like shit. I don't want to be out in public right now. I look like a hobo who's been assaulted with a crowbar.

Instead, I'm using today to make mixtapes. You may remember a week or so back, I put out a call for suggestions. Thanks to those who entered... you'll get credit for your suggestions later in the week when I post the finalized playlists. I vetoed a couple of songs, including Britney Spears and Madonna. I went in with an open mind, downloaded and.... tried to listen. Britney Spears's song lasted about 20 seconds before I hit delete. Madonna... about 40 seconds. Sowwy Chawwies... those of you who suggested these (and you KNOW who you are) should have SHAME.

Meh. I still appreciate the suggestions, I just couldn't do handle them.

My students BOMBED their exam yesterday. Bad. It was the lowest average of any exam I've given. Last semester, the first exam average was a 72, which is a little low but easy to bump. This semester, I took the old exam, took out the questions that people missed most and made them easier, expecting a natural, curve-free bump. Instead, the average was a 68.9. Nearly half of the class failed it.

It makes me feel a bit like a failure. Looking at it, though, I don't know what more I could have done. I taught with the same materials as last semester, but I thought I did better. I included all terms and concepts on a study guide. I gave them exact pages to read for the exam. They still bombed.

Looking at my website statistics, I found that only 9 of the 108 page views that the study guide received after I posted it came before Thursday. In other words, none of them took enough time to study. One student (who did well) came to see me, despite extended office hours. I got one, and only one question via email about the exam. I posted their scores (as you saw) and left them like they were. No mention of a curve or a possible curve. I've gotten a few panicked e-mails about the scores but I've purposely not responded. I think these kids need to panic for a little bit (over the weekend and maybe until Wednesday) before I tell them about the curve. They need to get their asses in gear, so maybe a little panic will do it.

Last night was also a colloquium. Burrell Montz, a widely respected hazards researcher presented on the recovery efforts of senior citizen mobile home communities in Florida after Hurricane Charley. It is an interesting idea, but she had a few holes that I brought to her attention. She was quite appreciative of my critiques. It was.... awkward, terrifying and rewarding to critique the research of someone so respected. I chalked up her holes to the fact that I had worked with mobile homes in hazards before and she had perhaps not.

Amy and I went to Ray's with Burrell and some other grads afterwards. It was fun but exhausting. I'm doing better with socializing, but it still wears my ass out to no end. The cheeseburgers at Ray's are to die for, and I appreciate the fact that they have Labatt Blue on tap.

I'm so bored. I think when I'm done here, I'm going to play NHL '99. Hockey for KSU is over, and I'm missing it. This is the best alternative I've got right now. If we got decent TV, we'd watch the olympics I suppose. We'd discussed going to see the Barons up in Cleveland, but $20 a ticket will be expensive really fast.

I got Sancha (chalk the link up to my never-ending sleepless nights) out this morning because I hadn't had time to play with her much lately. She was extremely hormonal today, and she kept trying to mount my thumb while I typed. Believe me, it was just as awkward and impossible as it sounds. I do feel for her, though... you can't spay a bird, it's breeding season, she is sexually mature and she has no way to relieve these tensions. Usually, she rubs my shoulder for a bit and is fine but today that wasn't enough. I tolerated it as long as I could, then I deposited her back into her cage.

I managed to get a picture of her while she was out.... well, her and the bottom of my chin.