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scottahillThe weather has been terrible for the past several days here. On Thursday I went to SMU to do some work in my windowless office, and when I left at 4:30 to get something to eat (hadn't had lunch yet), I looked out the glass doors and saw large squalls blowing by, along with thunder that I hadn't heard in my office. It finally calmed down enough for me to make it to the library and then to dinner with my tiny little umbrella. On Friday, the rain started up again just as I caught the bus; I ended up buying a large umbrella and a pair of flip-down sunglasses, splashing through flooded parking lots. The crazy thing is that it is alternating between heavy rain and sunshine, and it hasn't really let up. It almost makes me long for those 100 degree days: it's hot, but it doesn't rain. :)
Other happenings:
On Sunday night we had 35 of Jen's Baha'i friends descend on our house for a farewell party. Our friends the Gilmans had planned to host it, but Jen saw how stressed they were and volunteered our house instead. She had been expecting a small gathering, but the announcement was posted on the all-Dallas Baha'i mailing list so we didn't know how many people to expect. We counted thirty-five, eventually, which certainly tops any previous record we may have had for people in our house at one time. (Come to think of it, I doubt we've had 35 different people visit here in toto before last night.) I don't understand the appeal of such a crowded gathering, seriously. Well, I suppose for those who knew everyone, it was a delight. I know some of them by sight, but the crowd was overwhelming and I was in no mood to socialize, so after a little bit I hid in the bedroom and called my family. One advantage to having such a party in one's own home: when you need to escape, you know where to go, and you're not trespassing when you do so. :) I felt a little guilty by not playing host, but I was absolved of the responsibility by Jen, who thought it generous enough that I let the event occur to begin with.
I have one more week until I begin teaching for the summer. With no structure last week, I had a hard time getting the things on my list done: lots of anxiety and uncertainty as usual. I've done some unstructured brainstorming about the first couple of classes, and I have a general sense of what to do: what's left are the specific details. I've just written to the students currently enrolled in the course to let them know about the website and other things. I am trying to get them to agree to a schedule change: my youngest brother is getting married on Sunday, July 1st, and while the semester is supposed to go through July 3rd, I'd like to finish on the 29th so I can visit my family for a week instead of just a couple of days. I can't really do this unless everyone agrees, however, since they did sign up for the class as originally scheduled. We'll see what happens.
When I got my MacBook a year ago, I was surprised to discover that my copy of Finale 2005 wouldn't work on it...or rather, the program worked fine, but the bloody copy protection wouldn't let me register the software, so I could only use it for 30 days before it cut off my save and print functions. Furthermore, the Finale makers knew about the problem, but were unwilling to fix it because of course they had moved on to Finale 2006 by that point. I've been fuming ever since, looking into shareware alternatives that didn't lock me into the Finale format (although I'm so used to Speedy Entry for entering music that other methods are annoying). I'd also considered writing a letter to them asking for some sort of discount on a newer version of Finale that would work. Well, all that is moot: since then, Apple has spruced up their PowerPC-emulation software, and now I can register Finale. Huzzah!
Well, time to bed.
Other happenings:
On Sunday night we had 35 of Jen's Baha'i friends descend on our house for a farewell party. Our friends the Gilmans had planned to host it, but Jen saw how stressed they were and volunteered our house instead. She had been expecting a small gathering, but the announcement was posted on the all-Dallas Baha'i mailing list so we didn't know how many people to expect. We counted thirty-five, eventually, which certainly tops any previous record we may have had for people in our house at one time. (Come to think of it, I doubt we've had 35 different people visit here in toto before last night.) I don't understand the appeal of such a crowded gathering, seriously. Well, I suppose for those who knew everyone, it was a delight. I know some of them by sight, but the crowd was overwhelming and I was in no mood to socialize, so after a little bit I hid in the bedroom and called my family. One advantage to having such a party in one's own home: when you need to escape, you know where to go, and you're not trespassing when you do so. :) I felt a little guilty by not playing host, but I was absolved of the responsibility by Jen, who thought it generous enough that I let the event occur to begin with.
I have one more week until I begin teaching for the summer. With no structure last week, I had a hard time getting the things on my list done: lots of anxiety and uncertainty as usual. I've done some unstructured brainstorming about the first couple of classes, and I have a general sense of what to do: what's left are the specific details. I've just written to the students currently enrolled in the course to let them know about the website and other things. I am trying to get them to agree to a schedule change: my youngest brother is getting married on Sunday, July 1st, and while the semester is supposed to go through July 3rd, I'd like to finish on the 29th so I can visit my family for a week instead of just a couple of days. I can't really do this unless everyone agrees, however, since they did sign up for the class as originally scheduled. We'll see what happens.
When I got my MacBook a year ago, I was surprised to discover that my copy of Finale 2005 wouldn't work on it...or rather, the program worked fine, but the bloody copy protection wouldn't let me register the software, so I could only use it for 30 days before it cut off my save and print functions. Furthermore, the Finale makers knew about the problem, but were unwilling to fix it because of course they had moved on to Finale 2006 by that point. I've been fuming ever since, looking into shareware alternatives that didn't lock me into the Finale format (although I'm so used to Speedy Entry for entering music that other methods are annoying). I'd also considered writing a letter to them asking for some sort of discount on a newer version of Finale that would work. Well, all that is moot: since then, Apple has spruced up their PowerPC-emulation software, and now I can register Finale. Huzzah!
Well, time to bed.
