Just Another Day at the Office

I started work today. Yeah ! =(

went to the library yesterday to tell Kathleen, Amanda or Debbie Downer that i could start Tuesday at 1 o'clock. I figure i could work from 1-4 MTWTH and from 9-1 on Friday. I can't imagine being there all day, and with this amount of hours i can make a fair amount of money in June.

When i got to the office yesterday, of course no one was there. The door to Kathleen and Debbie Downers office was closed, and when i went to scan the aisle there were no familiar faces.
I saw some girl shelving and i figured i could tell her to tell someone that i was here for the summer and ready to work. She gave me the cold shoulder as if i was annoying her and said she would pass the message along. Whatever. I was too exhausted from my hectic first day to even think about shelving any books.

My first day of classes was interesting. My sociology of the sexes professor is this crazy, and possibly anarchist, man who curses like a sailor and gives us poignant advice such as "don't drink and swim. It's a dangerous thing to be drunk and near water". Other than his outbursts of insanity, he's pretty knowledgeable about the subject matter, and he makes me laugh. He spent about 20 minutes discussing why it's a lot more dangerous to have drunks on the road than crackhead driving. "You don't see too many crack heads driving and endangering the lives of people on the street. I'm just saying". He scares me with his loud voice and moments were he can't remember things, but i can handle this class.

Though i wanted my Art Criticism class to be "The One" it was not so. Last summer my American Lit class was "The One", which i describe as a class you love more than life itself. I'm usually not a participator but even for this class i made an effort to say something, even if it was stupid. Plus the professor loved me, so she favored the stuff i said. "The One" classes are the ones that change how you think about things. They are hard, and time consuming, but you learn so much that it doesn't matter how much effort you have to put in to it.

I wanted this class to be a critical approach to Art. Like a literature class but instead of analyzing novels, poems or short stories we would analyze paintings. It is listed as an Art Education class instead of an Art History which gave me some clue that my dream class would be a bust...which it was.

It was a small class of 11 people and one artsy teacher who lost her glasses before class started and spent 10 minutes searching for it. We met in my favorite building on campus (the art building) and introduced ourselves one by one. Not only was I the only non art major (there was a theater graduate student...but I'm including theater into the arts) but i was the only person who doesn't want to teach at the elementary or high school level. The class is not really a criticism class but rather how to approach teaching art to kids. The syllabus was ridiculous. She wants us to check out some art at gallery's, create some actual artwork, critique each others art, and then teach each other about art.

I dropped that class right after she let us go. I'm a writer. Yes. But i cannot do art to save my life. For the first assignment she wanted us to create something from things in nature. Our creation had to symbolize a social issue that affects us. What kind of bull crap is that. During the 15 minute break, everyone was throwing out ideas and i literally sat there thinking "Create what from what". The class was way out of my league which is sort of disappointing.

I am now taking a History class, which isn't too bad. I like history and my professor is pretty awesome. Apparently if you have a British accent, looking like Moby is considered hot instead of not. He is this skinny professor with no hair who wears a gold necklace that sparkles next to his chest hair. In all other circumstances he would be considered average. He's not ugly, in fact he's pretty nice looking in a "I wear a speedo and call people 'chap' " sort of way. He has a British accent though which apparently makes him the George Clooney of History professors. Go figure.

I'm not particularly thrilled with my classes this semester, but i don't hate them. I think i can deal with it for a month. After my fun filled day of lectures i went to work. I was nervous i must admit. Seeing all those new faces yesterday made my antsy and weird. I don't always make the best first impression and the people i saw yesterday didn't look all too...warm and welcoming.

When i walked in Debbie Downer was talking to this hott guy with dark hair. He had rock and roll written all over him and i knew he was crush worthy from the moment i saw him. Debbie was pretty excited to see me when i walked in, she introduced me to Rock & Roll and filled me in on the new people and any developing office drama. Despite being totally attracted to Rock & Roll (whose name is Stephen) i didn't make a complete ass of myself. We clicked instantly, which freaks me out because we know how i treat guys i like. Even if i had to fake being comfortable, i would not let myself get all weird around him. And so far so good.

We have a shit load of new people, all of whom i met today. There's Sam who has beaver cleaver written all over him. He looks like he was plucked out of 1950. He introduced himself with a huge grin and shook my hands. He is like the purest soul i've ever run into, and i have to make an effort not to curse in front of him. The girl i ran into yesterday is named Mary Francis ( and yes you have to call her by both names). She's sort of standoffish, and i don't mind because i don't really care to know her. There's this one huge dude, who had a wedgie that he picked in front of me and Amanda. And i thought i was bad with first impressions. There are a handful of newbies i don't really know, because they walked in and walked out.

One of the newbies is actually in my history class. He spells his name like Stephen but pronounces it the french way. Physically he's like the gay best friend i've always wanted. He's attractive, dresses nice and pays attention to you when you talk. On the negative, he totally has a "i am so much better than you " attitude. If the conversation bores him he doesn't try to hide it. He interjects with an annoyed "really" "wow" which smells of bullshit. I'm on the fence of whether i like him or not but i have a whole month of class and work to see if we would be okay friends.

Everyone was generally happy to see me. I didn't get too much work done because i was talking with everyone about everything. I hate that social situations leave me high and dry. Even though i had a good time laughing and hanging out, i left the library feeling oddly displaced. It's this weird side effect of anxiety that i have yet to explain. You can be with a crowd full of people enjoying yourself and still feel utterly alone and like you shouldn't be there.

I just have to remember to put that feeling behind me. People wouldn't make an effort to talk to me if they didn't think i had something interesting to say. All and all it was a good day, but now i have 40 pages of American History to read before bed. Geez.