Ok, so first things first; the misunderstanding between my friend and I regarding his “tits” comment has been cleared up. He’s aware of why I took his text the way that I did, it wasn’t how he meant it, and we’re good. Of course, with me being sick, I’m also being pretty forgiving–but I think he’s sincere. I actually left work early tonight, which is NOT something I should do, but I was off the phones all night because I could do little more than squeak. NOT good. Then again, it seems to happen every winter; I am prone to laryngitis, and I know this.

The Joneses gig was cool. I didn’t stick around, even to talk to Jeff. I went, I rocked, I left. Even Crystal was surprised. Her exact words when I strolled in at 1 AM: “Jesus, you ARE sick! This is an EARLY night for you!” Made me laugh, but there was definitely truth in it. I do feel pretty rough right now, although I think that a little more rest is probably all I need to make it through the next couple of days.

I finally got my “real” grade on my first Psych essay. I got a 100, which is groovy enough, but on the advice of a friend, I’m monitoring that instructor WICKED close. He seems to be a bit of a space case. I also took the next quiz in Healthful Living, and got a 100 on that. So, as of now, I’m one week into that class, and only have one essay standing between me and the midterm. Pretty bitchin’, no? And my grades in that class, while not perfect, are still decent enough (26% of my grades are in–fifty percent of the grade is based on the midterm and on the final–and I currently have a 96, so I can’t complain too much there.) Hell, at this rate, I’ll be done with that class before the end of November. That’s a good thing. Psych, of course, is going to take longer, seeing as there are more essays than there are short-form quizzes. I’m kind of tempted to go ahead and complete the rest of the quizzes in Healthful Living, then go back and do the essays and the exams, but I don’t know. “We’ll see.”

Well, the good news, such as it is, is that I did NOT get a zero on my first psych assignment. Apparently, it hasn’t even been graded yet, and the instructor is as confused as I am as to why it shows as a zero on my gradebook. He says he’ll be grading it no later than Sunday at 5 PM, which is good. However, I have ZERO motivation right now to do my OTHER paper for Psych, plus I still have a paper to write for Healthful Living (again, ZERO motivation.)

But that’s not what’s really bugging me.

You see, today, I got an email from the lead singer of one of my favorite obscure bands, and he very nicely offered to put me on the list for tomorrow’s gig. GREAT, seeing as I’m dead broke and still wanna hit the gig, right? Yeah, well, first of all, the guy doesn’t seem….well, let’s just say that the combination of years of drugs and time in jail combined with a recent head injury add up to someone that I’m not sure I really even wanna meet.

But worse than that? I told a friend of mine that I *might* have a plus one (not counting on it, after the conversation with said singer). And his reaction really hurt my feelings, worse than I like to admit. He seems to think that the only reason I get treated well is “tits”. Now, PLEASE, my tits aren’t “fabulous”, plus I find it more than a little insulting that he thinks the only reason someone would want me around is to bang me. That was my fundamental issue all along with when I started becoming friends with musicians–I NEVER want people to think it’s because of my body or sexual favors (that I happen not to be granting, btw).

Ugh, ok, HERE, FINALLY, is the revised schedule for my PSY 101 class:
11/08 - Deep Learning Essay
11/15 - Journal Entries 1-4
11/22 - Collaborative Debate 1 (there are parts of this that have to be submitted earlier, though)
11/29 - Journal Entries 5 & 6
12/20 - Collaborative Debate 2 (see above)
12/27 - Self-Improvement Essay
12/27 - Final Exam

Why ugh? Because I am still trying to understand how I got a ZERO on a PRETEST about our psychological beliefs. I know that my paragraphs were well-written, and since it was about our personal beliefs, I don’t see how I could get a fucking ZERO. I am HOPING that it was an error (remember, this instructor thought my papers were due on the 2nd), so when I complete my next essay, we’ll see if the same thing happens. If it does, well….then I’m going to raise a little bit of Hell.

I also got my acceleration approval for HES 100, so here is the amended schedule for that class (in which I currently have a 92, which is an A.)

11/08 Lesson 1 Essay
11/12 Lesson 3 Lab & Quiz
11/15 Lesson 4 Lab & Quiz
11/22 Lesson 5 Lab & Quiz
11/22 Lesson 5 Essay
11/29 Midterm
12/06 Lesson 7 Lab & Quiz
12/06 Lesson 8 Lab & Quiz
12/06 Lesson 9 Quiz
12/13 Lesson 9 Essay
12/13 Lesson 10 Lab & Quiz
12/20 Lesson 11 Lab & Quiz
12/20 Lesson 11 Essay
12/27 Final

Blah. I still need to write three essays today (they’re due on Saturday), and I should probably push on writing up Journal Entries for PSY101, so that I can “get ahead” in that course. Next week, I should be on track to post my first collaborative debate, and if I can have at least half of my journal entries done by that time, then it will be MUCH easier to stay on task and get things DONE.

So that’s the PSY plan–work as scheduled this week, PLUS three journal entries and the associated reading. Next week, post my first collaborative debate and do the other three journal entries and the associated reading. That gives me the week of Thanksgiving to prepare my second collaborative debate and my self-improvement essay, so that I will be on track to do my final by mid-December.

HES100, however, is a stranger beast. I have submitted a request to accelerate, but it has not yet been approved, and I am ok with the fact that I do not have a “perfect” score in there, but I have to pay closer attention on the next couple of quizzes. I have one essay in that class that is due by the end of this week, and have already worked “a week in advance” as far as my labs and quizzes (currently have a 92 in the course, which is considered an A, still). So for that one, I’ll complete the work as scheduled for this week, PLUS my labs and quizzes through Lesson 5. That means that next week, on my days off, I will be writing my Lesson 5 essay and preparing for my midterm, which I shall take the week of Thanksgiving. The week after Thanksgiving shall be me doing all the labs and quizzes up through Lesson 9, then the Lesson 9 essay the week following. Another week for the Lesson 10 & 11 labs and quizzes, then it’s time for the final and the Lesson 11 essay….again, I’ll be finished with the class by the end of December.

It’s not that rough of a schedule as long as I don’t get sidetracked!

Today went completely opposite to plan. Oh well. I feel genuinely good about a lot of things right now, so I don’t care. Obviously, there was the election and it bothers me that I’m not more excited by the outcome. What I *AM* excited by is that this was a record voter turn-out. Still not as high as I would like, but my bone of contention has ALWAYS been, “I don’t care if you vote completely opposite to me, still DO IT!” It’s a responsibility, folks.

The Danzig gig was ok, but nothing phenomenal. I had a good time, wound up with an extra ticket and a pass, but ….I don’t really “connect” with the folks I met, so it was just “meh” on that front and I wound up leaving fairly early. Again, a total 180 from who I was for a while there, and kind of nice to not feel “bound” to stay. However, the groovy news is that Skumlove have a gig out here on Nov. 14, so I shall be able to see some of my LA buds playing. I always love that. Of course, this Saturday is the Joneses gig. THAT is more exciting to me than the Danzig gig was, simply because the Joneses thing is such an obscure one.

My first Christmas present actually arrived today. Mom got me one of the USB turntables for converting my vinyl to MP3. Should be a fun toy!

What else? Oh, yeah….plans for Wednesday. Well, right now, I’m thinking in these terms:
9:00-11:00 Housework
11:00-1:00 Post Office/Mesa Library/Clean out car
1:00-7:00 Homework

VERY rudimentary.

My friend Anne has the COOLEST 3-year-old ever!!!!!!! Here is her tale of the night before the Election:

Suley and I were eating pizza while Tad was at MMA. I had CNN on. Obama came on, of course.
Suley: “You know, I’m voting for Obama.”
Me: “Really?”
Suley: “Yeah, I am. For president.”
Me: “Do you think he will be a better president than McCain?”
Suley: “Well, McCain is a vampire lord.”
Me: “And Obama’s not?”
Suley: “No, he’s not. McCain is evil.”
Me: “I see.”
(I change channel to HGTV for about ten minutes, then flip to more news featuring, of course, Obama)
Me: “Look, there’s your friend.”
Suley (indignantly): “WHAT?”
Me: “Obama.”
Suley: “He’s not my friend!”
Me: “Well, you said you were voting for him.”
Suley (getting worked up): “But yat doesn’t mean he’s my friend!” (Jumps off couch and waves arms frantically) “I just got sucked into the Obama charisma machine!”

BlackCat WILL NOT get off of my arm right now, so if there are typos, blame the kittie!

Apparently there was a mix up on my professor’s part, so I’m not “in trouble” for “late” assignments. Still, it has strengthened my resolve to bust ass and get the coursework completed QUICKLY so that I can just be DONE with it.

Tonight is Danzig. It will be strange going straight to a gig from work, with no time to primp. Then again, “primping” would only be switching over to jeans and a t-shirt anyway, so….I hope it’s a good time. I’ve loved Danzig for AGES and NEVER gotten the opportunity to see him live, so….

Then, when I get home (prolly in the 1 am timeframe) I want (if I’m not too exhausted) to get a bit of housework done so that I can get up early tomorrow. The polls open at 7, so I figure I can get that RIGHT out of the way, then head to the post office and the Mesa library. Back here, and punch out as much of the HES 100 coursework as I can possibly stand (all the way up until 6 pm). Of course, I’ll be doing laundry while doing my assignments, so it’s a nice multitask. From about 8 till midnight, I’ll see how much ass I can kick on PSY 101 assignments. Wednesday will be much of the same, with me again taking a full “work day” of time to focus on assignments. Honestly, I feel like I SHOULD be able to pretty much complete ALL of the assignments within a couple of weeks if I put the “big push” in on my days off.

WTF?

I have a course, PSY 101, which begins on November 3. Today is November 2. All the materials I have state that my first due date is November 8…yet I got an email from the instructor stating that my assignments are now PAST DUE??!?!?!?!?!

I am NOT a happy camper!

I can’t believe I slept through my freakin’ CPR class the other day. Oh well, shit happens.

It’s been a very peculiar week; I have a lot to do on my days off this week, just school stuff, but I want to knock out as much as I possibly can of those assignments, so I can be sorta done. That’s not necessarily a bad goal.
Hopefully the headache I have tonight will be gone by tomorrow so that I can ENJOY Danzig!

And as much as I hate to admit it, I teared up a little at the end of today’s episode of CHARM SCHOOL, when Riki had to take the dog from Brandi. I think I’ma go cuddle BlackCat right now!