Classes start tomorrow, and I am set to be sweating, gesturing, and pontificating about Modern Fiction in front of a room full of perky young undergrads sometime in the a.m. The night before a new term starts, I always lie awake at night, anxiously re-writing the first lecture over and over in my head, which necessitates at least a quart of strong coffee in the morning, which in turn renders my sweating and gesturing all the scarier. I like this.
Today was spent wandering aisles filled with bright, sparkling technicolor pens, notebooks, highlighters, and post-its. There is nothing like buying new school supplies, is there? Something about the coming of Fall and New Books renders that box of one hundred plain manila file folders a pristinely beautiful thing. I mean, they have those flappy tabs, and you can label them with anything you want! I have bought a pack of post-its so large and in such fresh,
spring-like colors that they are practically guaranteed to finish my
dissertation for me. This is what I was told, anyway. Coffee and post-its. Someone should make a movie about that.
vague - what are you worried about?! You know you will rock that class. Cheers to modern fiction.
Not worried–excited.
Another idea: sell quarts of coffee! Back in high school I could buy coffee at the nearby BP 32 ounces at a time, but I don’t remember that being possible at the 7-11 on 13th. Maybe I’m wrong.
They should also sell coffee by the half-gallon.
so long as it’s nothing like coffee and cigarettes. that movie sucks.
Maybe they should sell coffee in IV form.
Stationery! The one word I always have to look up before writing. I say “the one word” - actually there are several. I’m currently having a bass/base crisis. Maybe I should enrol in your class.
teh ones that awys boggle me are ‘marriage’ an ‘hierarchy’. my lizerdy hnidbrane says ‘ai’ an ‘ei’ raspectavely.
anyhow. kinda lame taht for so meny of us fall is teh time of new baginigns not spring. which is entirley due to teh acdemic year crap. vlad probly says taht somwhare.
So, here’s a little addendum to the post: First day of classes went fine, teaching-wise. But did I get my coffee? NO.
Apparently I was laboring under the illusion that paying a billion dollars for a parking permit might enable me to park on campus. That might be true if one arrives before 8 am, but is most certainly false between the hours of 8:20 am and 8:50 am: a half hour I spent circling the West side of campus like a vulture. So I sadly fed my coffee money into a meter and went on my way. The only plus here was that I had an excuse to go home at noon, since I had run out of quarters.
That’s my story.
Also, WWB, I think you’re right: as far as I know the 7-11 doesn’t have a coffee that big. But I like to have mine in two 16-oz servings, so it’s cool with me. I don’t think I could drink a full quart before it went cold.
Jen–I liked it (hence my missive to Mr Jarmusch)! I may be alone in liking it, but like it I do.
Ashley–I hope you are already at work developing the technology for this. Do you think you could preserve the coffee-scented sweat effect? I rather enjoy it.
HB–I learned that one in a riddle: “There is a stationery truck parked at the corner. What is in the truck?” Obviously there are a lot of loopholes there, but I remember the spelling bit.
HA–I am so stuck in the academic year I am unable to think of it any other way. What is this “Spring” of which you speak? Is that “exam season”?
aslo ‘medieval’.
an speakign of cofe… hadda nighmaresh expariance at logan intl apript on fridy. i was coraled inta a culdesac. mabe i can wrok taht up inta a post. god im desparate4.
did also ovarheare a silghly wierd covarsation in philly intl arpot this mronign. two ol guys like ‘oh yeah remembar whatsisname had taht piza place at 14th an market?’ ‘yeah him!’ ‘what4evar hapaned to him?’ ‘oh he disapread. teh gambinos were aftar im’.
oops forgot teh puchline! frist guy laughs an says ‘yeah thats no surprise’.
Have students ceaselessly churning coffee for you. Make it a punishment for all who dare place an apostrophe in the wrong spot in a sentence. I think there’s a line in Blake about this - “those dark satanic coffee mills”.