Jan. 7: Kant touch this!

OK. I’ll get to the salient point. No, my geography teacher did not go topless today. I guess I somehow misread her signals. Of course, that wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened when it comes to the female population.

Instead, she wore some sort of outfit that reminded me of what some Catholic bishop from some obscure corner of the world might wear whenever a new Pope is trotted out at the Vatican. She even wore a funny-looking hat.

So, with the last bit of intrigue sucked out of the day, I proceeded to my two Friday classes – Geography and Mass Media Law.

And it occurred to me that the getting-acquainted period for classes is over. In both classes, we dove right into the subject matter. I wish I could say it was fascinating, but the truth is, the material in both classes was pretty much devoid of anything exciting. Mainly, the professor talked. We listened and took notes. Definition of professor: A person who talks in somebody else’s sleep.

OK. It wasn’t really that bad. But it was obvious to me that I am really, really into this college thing now and the grind has begun.

I bought/rented the last of my textbooks in the afternoon and my backpack now weighs the equivalent of your aunt Mildred.

The vague disoriented feeling I mentioned previously persists. Right now, the jumble of reading assignments and the class schedule are all mixed up in my head. In the morning, before my coffee could work its magic, I stare at all of my books, notebooks and binders in bewilderment, wondering which one I need to take with me that day.

I am also realizing that each day, I forget something.

Today, I forgot my iPad, which isn’t much of a big deal in the working world. But when you are a student, such an omission marks you in a most humbling way. It is a mark of shame, apparently, to walk across campus with those ear buds sticking out.

Also, I need to invest in an umbrella. I dodged a bullet on Thursday, when the rain I woke up to had diminished to a sort of misty cloud by the time I went to class.

In Arizona, nobody really has an umbrella. Well, I shouldn’t say that. Old Asian and Hispanic women have umbrellas. You see them out on the corners waiting for the bus, umbrellas shielding them from the angry Arizona sun.

But nobody else bothers. It just doesn’t rain often enough and even if you own an umbrella by the time you have figured out where you put it, the rain has stopped.

So I have to get an umbrella. I also have to read. A lot. I’m heading for Tupelo tonight to see my sister and pick up some more furniture, but I’ll be home Saturday night, reading about Western Philosophy, Geography, Journalism Ethics and case law for Mass Media Law.

This is not the life I expected. I expected there to be girls, girls, girls on the weekends.

Instead I’ve got Kant and U.S. v. Schenk...or is it Schenk v. U.S.?

Party on, dude!