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2000-11-01
I skipped Algebra class on Halloween.
I almost felt guilty about this, too, until I did something of likely more lasting value: I arranged my class schedule for the next semester.
I haven't registered it yet, but I will soon. Maybe I'll find a counsellor to run it by and make sure everything's kosher.
I think I can swing it so that I get an Associate of Science by the end of Summer Session II in 2001. With any luck, that'll make transferring to UT a lot less messy. (Robert didn't seem to have any trouble moving from his specialized magnet school, which grants something similar, as I understand it.)
I'm pretty happy about this. I was worried for the longest time that my stint at LCC would be the equivalent to being held back a year. Wow, I guess I used my time more wisely than I'd thought.
My only complaint is that my transcript is a bit muddled. Beyond my core courses, I have a smattering of low-level technical stuff that career-wise is likely just enough knowledge to get me in over my head. I'm in danger of becoming what I'd hoped to avoid: Someone that looks fabulous on paper (can we say 4.0 GPA?) but who has not bettered himself substantial way. I would've preferred not to have jumped the gun and just followed through with an unambiguous four years in one place, but it's too late for that now.
So I'm structuring my classes like this:
Spring 2001
Trigonometry
US History from Reconstruction Onwards
American National Government
Into to PsychologySummer Session I 2001
General Physics I
American State Government
Summer Session II 2001
General Physics II
Fundamentals of Speech
***Caught the debut episode of "Normal, Ohio" today. First about the name. The name of the show already had me on guard. It seems like whenever they decide to do a new show about a token minority, they always give it a faux-inclusive title that works as a bit of a back-handed compliment. ("Wow, you're pretty normal for a gay guy!") They did the same thing to Margaret Cho with "All American Girl" I'm just imagining the development sessions that went on for her show, poor woman:
Executive: Wow, you're pretty American-looking for a Chinese! You're not even wearing a kimono!
Margaret: [offended] Actually, I'm of Korean descent, and I was born in San Francisco...
Executive: [cutting her off] Wow, she speaks English!!
Well, maybe it wasn't that bad, but she claimed that they'd wanted to name her show things like "East meets West" and "Wok on the Wild Side". What pisses me off about names like these, ones that are based around some facet of the main character or star, is that it treats them like they have no appeal beyond whatever niche they've been placed in.
Will & Grace, I suspect, started on a similar impulse: "Let's get a gay-themed show out there. The gay thing ain't quite so taboo and it's guaranteed to get an automatic 10% of the population watching!" But they also had the foresight to give it a typically non-descript Sitcom type of name in the tradition of Friends, Sienfeld, and Roseanne instead of trying to be all coy and going with something like "Regular Guys" or something crass like "Under the Rainbow." I haven't watched Will & Grace too much, but it seems more character-driven than demographic-driven.
As for the content of Normal, Ohio, I think they came on a little strong in the first episode. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not against bitter familial infighting. Two of my favorite movies are Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and American Beauty. The characters seem pretty tense and hostile towards each other for a first episode. Goodman's father gripes with such vehemence that you'd think he just found out about him that afternoon. I guess that's where they screwed up; they tried to compress too much into 30 minutes. They try to introduce (and develop) Goodman's character, his sister, her two children, his parents, his ex-wife, her new husband, and his college-aged son. Nine whole characters. In comparison, Roseanne probably started with four major characters and one minor character (Deejay was pretty much restricted to one-liners for the first couple of season). Only over several seasons did they build up to the whole ensemble with grandparents, boyfriends, sisters, brothers in law, bosses, etc...
So yeah, it has flaws, but they're not fatal ones (besides the title, but I can live with it).
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