Stress - I love You

So, an update. Midterms are past. 200 students is a HUGE number. Grading that many exams in 10 days is a nightmare. Grading that many papers is going to be crazy.

I LOVE IT. I love getting up every morning, even Fridays! I love it! This is what I want to do the rest of my life!

In other news, grad school applications continue to happen. Taking the GRE in a few weeks (old scores finally expired this year). Bleh. I suck at such exams.

Warhammer Online is eating my life. Final Fantasy is still eating my life.

And I'm thinking about a new podcast.

To Future Possible Readers

I should go ahead and get this done.
I live in a digital age, one which I embrace fully. Others of my academic peers may not quite have the understanding of the digital world that I do - I've grown up here, so it is hard for me to understand how you see the world much in the same way fish cannot understand frogs.

I make this post by way of an explanation to any students of mine, or any student which I have contact with in an academic setting, or any current and future colleague or peer of mine within an academic context. Upon finding this blog you may be confused, concerned, or really only curious. Read this first - but know it has been written well after the establishment of this blog, my online presence, and my life.

I am a human being, like you. I have emotions, attachments, interests, and these all change and grow over time. And this blog has been with me for quite some time. Since I was an undergraduate. In a way, it has been with me for much longer.

Outside of a professional setting, beyond our relation as or within any of the previously mentioned situations, I make no effort to hide who I am, what I am, or what sort of person I am. I will not bring these into the classroom beyond the way that they are a part of myself and my personality when I teach. I hope that you, as my peers or students, will regard this in a similar way. I will not go out of my way to search out the lives of those I interact with unless they open that up to me. I expect the same respect from you. We are here, individuals living in the digital, and by choice we place parts of our lives online at the scrutiny of others. I do so without shame - others may not be quite so open to the idea.

If you and I face each other across that gulf that exists in the classroom, I will treat you as my student, and I expect to be treated as your Instructor. If we engage in any other professional interactions, I will abide by the norms of those interactions. But I am a person, never forget. And this is my blog, and my story, and many other things. And I will always extend the same to you - you are a person, before all else.

Update

For those of you not following my twitter feed, here is an update on me.

1) I leave my current job on the 8th.
2) I start my new job on the 18th.
3) I'm teaching 5 days a week, 4 classes. 240 students. Fuck.
4) My fiance has reactivated mono.
5) I caught mono.
6) I feel fantastic.
7) I cant sleep for longer than 4 hours at a go.
8) wtf

There. It is Done.

For those of you interested, my thesis has been published in the ETD system at GSU. That means, other than hard bound copies, it is complete.
You can read it here.

Mixed Feelings

So, I hinted at a big piece of news on twitter last night and this morning - so here it is. I got the teaching job at Georgia State I interviewed for.

On the one hand, I'm overjoyed. It means 1) I don't have to feel like a total failure for not getting into a PhD program this year, and 2) I have a much better paying job than my current one. I can leave my cube job behind, move on to do what I want to do with the rest of my life, etc.

On the other, I'm both embarrassed and sort of depressed about it. I had a good friend also apply for the job, and he didnt get it. I feel like a bit of a prick that I got it and he didnt, because he's just as deserving of it as I am. Too, it means leaving the job I currently have, and love, even if it isnt what I want to do with my life. I feel as if I'm abandoning my boss, though I am trying to get her a good replacement. So, I am sort of left with this odd feeling of guilt and regret on having gotten this job.

I'm sort of bleh now, but happy bleh.

Substance

It has been a while since I've given any real substantive updates around here. Since finals are over, and since I've defended, the bulk of my time is composed of either Work, Sleep, or FFXI.
Work has been boring, yet somehow I'm working even more hours than previously. Monday-Friday, 10-4/4:30, and somehow, I have very little to do. I'm possibly applying for a WebDev job here, that is full time. However, that's dependent on not getting the VI position at GSU, which I applied for. I hope I get it, but I doubt I will. There is too much good competition.
FFXI has been going well, if slowly. I spent most of Saturday getting my white mage to 25, and Sunday doing my rank 5 mission to get airship access. Red mage is now 45, and I am thinking of leveling SCH. Today is a big patch, so we will see if they make any adjustments to those jobs. They are adding lots of fun stuff with this patch, so my hopes are high.
Sleep has been weird. I haven't been sleeping well of late, but at the same time, I've been feeling the urge to sleep quite a lot more. Dreams have been strange, if a bit predictable, given my mood. I've been dreaming of people I haven't seen in a long time, and dreaming of sleep. But given that I've been doing both on and off for the last four months, this should come as no surprise.
I'm going out of town this Saturday, to visit my little sis Gabby up at her place in NY. I'll be gone from Sat to Fri. I'll have my mac with me, and my cellphone, so I will hardly be out of touch. And I'll be spending a great deal of time on ffxi that week. And sleeping. Ahhh, vacation. I'll miss home, but I will enjoy my break.
In other news, there is no other news. Other than my Twitter feed, which I hope to get meshed into this blog soon.

Oo

I PASSED.

Translation

For those unable to decipher my ecstatic shout of joy: I defend Monday at Noon.

One word

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Bonus Points

Bonus Points to my thesis director for being nice enough to tell me she wouldn't contact me till tomorrow evening. I can at least avoid the "gotta check email again" feeling until 8ish tomorrow.