Zhaf and the Cellar

Friday, April 23, 2004

School and Taxes 

I've paid my taxes, and thank goodness that they're all done. Normally, I would have taken them to a tax preparer and said "take whatever money you want, just get the darn thing faraway from me." However, my girlfriend persuaded me that my former approach was ridiculously extravagant, especially since my taxes are ridiculously easy. Consequently, we used the turbotax program that she had on her computer. It still cost about 25$ to file electronically, but overall, turbotax was a relatively painless experience. Maybe next time around, I should buy the program myself and have it installed on my own computer. A basic Quicken program was something that came with my new laptop, and, I have to say, I really think it's a really handy program to have. As a person, who has a lot of hangups with money, I think I'm beginning to relax about it a little.

School continues as always and I'm still behind in work, but what else is new? On Tax day, I sat in the back of class to watch the instructor I TA for try desperately to capture the utterly bored students' attention. He wasn't succeeding. In fact, one of the students near where I was sitting was actually doing her own taxes during the lecture. I watched her looking up information in the tax tables, and presumably filling out the short form. I admit I was impressed that she seemed to both start and finish her taxes all within class time. It's kind of amazing what students will do when they're bored in a large class of 100 students. They don't think the professor can see, or really cares (which he probably doesn't). Close to where I usually sit, two guys normally have their laptops open, and one of the students this last time was developing a website, presumably for a project in his computer science class. English professors who are a certain age are the worst with technology. Half of the time, they're not sure how to get the lights in the classroom to turn on. Usually, when I enter the classroom, which is always five minutes before the professor, I make sure to turn them on and raise the projector screen. Otherwise, the professor would spend about ten minutes looking for the buttons and asking if everyone can see in the dark. Although, I guess I should stop, because judging from the students' interest, those ten minutes might be the only amusing thing in class.

:: z. 11:44 AM [+] Permalink ::

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Friday, April 02, 2004

Dinars for Sale 

The other night me and my girlfriend were watching television and saw Iraqi bank notes for sale on a home shopping channel. These, apparently, are the old notes with Saddam Hussein's picture on them. (From a site that lists the bank notes of various countries.) Normally, I don't like to share my personal politics on the web, but I have to say that selling these things as mementos causes me feel a little uncomfortable.

On the one hand, I can understand the desire to have a personal connection to a historical event, or some other kind of personal experience that one wants to remember. After all, why does one take photographs of special occasions, or buy cheap souvenirs while on vacation if not to have a tangible reminder of something one wants to remember. My grandparents have kept a newspaper from 1969, the day astronauts landed on the moon, and I admit to thinking that it was somewhat cool when I saw it. On the other hand, in certain circumstances, the kind of mementos that come from difficult or tragic experiences could cheapen the original event somehow. Not many people are comfortable with political officials taking rubble from the trade center as mementos of September Eleventh, although it has already happened. I think that buying Iraqi dinars from a home shopping network to remember the Iraqi War has similar shades. Many horrible things have occurred during the war, and many people have died. Whether a hunk of rock or an Iraqi dinar, my sense is that it eventually boils down to the same thing.

I'm still ambivalent about this, but I guess I think it depends on one's personal connection to the event. If you were personally and directed impacted by the tragic events in question, then if having a memento or a souvenir helps your mourning process, I see no problem. But, if your goal is capture a bit of history by collecting something you can hold in your hand or place on your desk, then please move on to beanie babies, snow globes, or traditional antiques. Let the dead rest in peace.

:: z. 6:17 PM [+] Permalink ::

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Thursday, April 01, 2004

Password: The Simpsons 

A difficult term is now over, and with the cliched "promise of spring," I am looking forward to the new beginnings ahead of me. I have two new classes that I have not fallen behind in yet, and I have a new professor to TA for. Soon, however, things will pick up again, and once again, I'll have to confront the same issues, but with fresh mental armor and a new plan of attack.

Dr. Brown Shoes is now my instructor for my seminar in "Figures of Speech," and Dr. Too-tall teaches my "Science in 19th century American Literature" seminar. Both have written or edited texts that we are using in the course, which is something that I'm not sure how I feel about. On the one hand, I am getting information from knowledgeable people who are able to write an entire book about their subjects as they have obviously invested a significant amount of their careers in research and study. On the other hand, buying texts that they themselves have written is putting money in their pocket, in addition to the money paid for the class. Could be a conflict of interest, don't you think? Mostly, as the texts are relatively inexpensive, I feel okay about it, I think.

Dr. Khaki-pants is the professor who I TA for. In some ways, I feel sorry for the guy. He is unusual among most of the other professors in that he lectures for the full class hour. Most of the younger professors usually stop to have a class discussion or ask extensive questions. Today, he tried to point out the joke in a nineteenth century gothic novel. The irony, apparently, is that the scary, eerie stuff occurs during the day time. Illustrating a specific scene, the professor described how the main character slowly opens a chest placed at the foot of her bed expecting to see something truly horrifying. Instead, she peers inside and sees. . .gasp!. . .a counterpane. Here, the professor looked up expecting to see and hear the students' uproarious laughter. Instead, he got the bored stares of people who couldn't possibly have the slightest idea what a counterpane is. If he had told them that a counterpane was essentially a blanket, they might have gotten the joke and indulged his expectation a little, but just a little. He also tries to connect to his students by inserting passing references to The Simpsons within his lectures, but he uses the references like a secret password, expecting that the students will automatically connect to him if he demonstrates that he happens to know who Homer Simpson is. He means well.

As for future postings, I expect I'll be able to post more often for the next couple of weeks because it is the beginning of spring term and, like I said, I've got a fresh start. We'll see what happens around week seven or eight.

:: z. 5:05 PM [+] Permalink ::

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