A very semi-regular dose of art

I haven't written about art in a while (Didn't I used to do a semi-regular dose of art? Something like that?)

Anyway, I give you Antonello da Messina's St. Sebastian. I LOVE martyr portraits, and this one is particularly fitting for me. I don't mean to complain- do that enough in real life- but I am still hurting pretty bad from my pox. My plague. My pestilence.

So I want to hear your thoughts on these images I steal from other websites, I mean, put up for your viewing pleasure.

Comment! Comment!

To Whom It May Concern:

Dear Bus Company who hauled me and a group of students to the Metropolitan Museum of Art yesterday-

Thank you for your excellent service. Willie, our bus driver, made our trip quite enjoyable. We had a pleasant experience, we on time and didn't get lost once.

Sincerely,
Professor Art Nerd


Except by "enjoyable" I mean "super scary." I don't know what that tollbooth did to him, but scraping the side of it with his bus seemed kind of rash.

Also, by on time I mean almost an hour late. Which is in part because the bus arrived at 8 to pick us up, and believe it or not, it takes a wee bit of time to load a bus up, even with only 17 students.

This situation was exacerbated by the scenic trip down random, rather bus unfriendly streets in New York City. The Met is at 85th Street and 5th Avenue. I'm not sure why we ended up at 110th and Central Park North, but eventually it all worked out.

Also, sir, the EZpass is not a magic wand, no need to wave it wildly in the air at the offending tollbooths, Harry Potter.

Overheard on campus

A for real conversation, brought to you by the nutty professor-

Actually, "overheard" implies that I had to try in some way to hear what this girl was saying. I didn't- she was flat out screaming into her phone. Good lord, woman.

Young Chickie in Uggs and Sweatpants- So, like, it's totally over between me and Mike.
Person She's Screaming At- blah blah
YCiUaS- Yeah, because, like, he's a loser. He goes out drinking like, two
nights a week!
PSSA- blahhhh
YCiUaS- I mean, he has to realize- ya know, when you turn 25, don't you kind of look around and take stock in your life? Don't you realize, like, HEY I'M OLD NOW, I need to be more responsible!

Oh my God, ya'll. I've been kidding myself, thinking these kids wouldn't take me seriously because I'm only 28. I am ANCIENT to them, for real.

I'm depressed. I'd ask you to send wine, but apparently I'm too old to drink.

A pox, redux

Last entry, I think I spoke too soon.
A car crash in which I was not involved- ha!
A day in which I was 12 minutes late to school- haha!
A day in which I felt like a sucky teacher- hahaha!

Last week, I did not know the meaning of Rough Week. Now let's try on for size a week in which I got... wait for it... A Medical Anomaly. (which is not all that unusual for me, really). You may recall, if you've been reading since last July at least, that I had the shingles last summer. Well. I think you may know what I'm about to say.

I fucking got the shingles. Fucking again!!

Come on, now, gob, how much of this can one person take?! I think it may be mother nature's revenge for my extremely mild case of chicken pox in first grade. I remember it, and I remember not feeling bad and being able to count on my fingers the number of pox on my body. Pretty much, I had a free week off from school, and I got to eat lots of cereal. That's it.

Now. Oh my Lord, now.

It hurts this time, you guys. It itches and it hurts. I feel pathetic and gross. And depressed. And gross. And gross.

But! I did not mean to bring you down, just make you aware of the reason I haven't written in a million years. I was having a hard time with the whole blogging thing, feeling worn out in general, and on the Spring Break from hell.

And now? Fresh material, plans for at least 4 entries and, I'm sure, plenty more to talk about. Just wanted to 'splain myself, if anyone is left, that is...

Rough Week

Ugh, what a week I've had. Feeling like the most inept professor ever right now.

Among the frustrations-

Tuesday- fricking digital slideshows were completely messed up. As in, only the top half of some images would download, no matter how many times I tried quitting and restarting. Also, images that I know I selected never showed up in the files. And? The images I did have were out of sequence.

Wednesday- Big accident on major road I have to take to get to campus. Or a breakdown, it's kind of hard to tell. All I know is that there was a big pickup truck with flashing lights and a cop behind it. And for some reason, the cop left him blocking a lane and a half. Was 15 minutes late for class.

But here's the crazy thing- The Students Were Still There! Well, one was trying to sneak out as I walked in, but five of the six students I have were still in the classroom. I always thought that if a prof was 10 minutes late, you got to leave, no counting as a missed class. Apparently this school says 20 minutes. I felt a little bad, then, walking in at the brink of a free day off.

Thursday- today. I have a hellacious earache. Like, stabbing pain in the head kind of thing. And a slight fever. So I cancelled class. And I feel like a jerk. If it were another job, I'd still definitely call out. But I feel bad if people traveled to campus only to have their classes cancelled. Though I did send out an email about 2 hours before one class started and the other class was an afternoon class. They all emailed me back with obligatory "Get well soon, prof" brownie emails.

Bring on Spring Break, please!