Spring break is begun, and I'm not sure why, but I'm grumpy. Is it because I'm already missing my regular class routine that ended over a week ago before exam week started? The lectures, the rapt absorption of every fun fact in art history, the Olmec carved heads that make me want to sculpt big things, the smug satisfaction that I felt upon realizing I knew more skeletal bones' names than I thought and that wasn't going to be tough after all---basically, the last week wasn't fun as usual, today I feel seized with the pending home invasion of Homo habilis, (a handyman installing a window) and knowing I have weeks of unmade plans to catch-up on in this tiny shrinking little week of break. Fah! (I want to watch more Deadwood DVDs and eat ice cream, but the hours tick by relentlessly.) I already hear the jingling of H. habilis' toolbox coming up the walk. It's all for the greater good, I know. Make the effort, do the dishes, vacuum, deal with the pile of magazines. Iron. Fold and put away the clean laundry from Thursday. Grrr.
It's like Betty's coming to visit all over again, I think that's what is making me crabby about this. I resent it for no reason other than I'd rather be doing something else that's fun, not necessary. Like going to get a new laptop, or seeing a movie, find a couple orchid plants on sale at Fred Meyer's, starting a new knitting project, falling into some margaritas with friends. Bah humbug.
There's no one to blame but myself. Clearly, at some level I'm too in touch with my inner 13 year old and she and I are sulking upstairs in our room, waiting until we turn 18 and our lives will really start. Those were 5 long long years, as I recall. Let's fast forward, shall we?
Someone else over the weekend remarked that an anthropology degree was a gigantic waste of time and money, what were my real plans, and that may be the real catalyst for the slump today. Either I am a complete and indebted fool, or too many people in the world have no imagination and bigger vision about handling practical reality. You can buy a $40,000 SUV and make crazy payments on that for years and that's normal today, but racking up some bills on a college education and a degree or two for about the same price is foolish. Explain this to me.
Okay, I'm going to "get real" for a few hours anyway and do some hausfrau stuff, see my favorite dog a bit, and then maybe pick up some mint chip. Betty's not coming, stand down and relax, spring break is only a week and it will be school again in no time. A smart anthropologist can create her own dream job, mull that over while vacuuming.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Spring Broke
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3 comments:
It is so absolutely worth it! And it's worth it for its own sake, which most of the "practical" expenditures of time and money are not, at all. If those "practical" expenditures don't pay off, you really would need to feel a fool. But this one pays off right now. If it pays off later, too, that's lovely, but there's no way it can be a waste, not the way you're doing it.
(btw I just bought an IBM refurbished t-41 thinkpad for $422 -- free shipping. I've been researching and thinking about how to do this cheap for months now, ever since my old laptop died. t-41's are a couple years old now, but they were beautifully built. You should make sure you can live with a trackpoint (a little nubby thing you push to move the mouse pointer about), though, before you buy one. I like 'em but not everyone does.)
http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?categoryId=2576396&storeId=1&catalogId=-840&langId=-1
Bah. It chopped off the end of my link. Well, if you google "ibm refurbished laptop" you can get there.
Hi--
Thanks for the encouragement, I know school is the right thing, but feel almost broadsided when someone isn't as positive as I am about my choice.
Silly, I know, as there are sure to be people who have this opinion who will crop up and let me know it, and I can't have a tumble-down-blue reaction each time. There may not be a 'designated job' that goes along with this degree, but actually doing it is the purpose for me---school loans can be repaid doing lots of work I'm able to do, leavened with the years spent mid-life studenting and all that happiness stirred in.
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