I started the Spring semester last Thursday, 14Jan10. It’s been a hectic week, to say the least. The University of Kansas always starts on a Thursday. I’m not sure why. That odd fact, coupled with Martin Luther King Jr Day, meant I didn’t attend my MW Fiction Writing class until today. It was strange for nearly an entire week to go by after the start of school to start an individual class.
I have a positive feeling about all of my classes. I believe that I’m over the initial shock of being at KU, and all of that stuff should have been worked out of my system last semester. I’m back in the groove at KU, and I hit the ground running this semester. My extra curricular activities are still in the process of getting sorted out, but that was expected. Next Monday I’ll be back at fencing and kendo and all that. I have a lot to read this semester. A LOT to read this semester…
Earlier this evening I signed up for a KAPLAN prep course for the LSAT. Starting in March I’m going to be taking in-class instruction and preparation for scoring as well as I possibly can on the entrance exams for law school. My GPA is slowly working its way up to where it needs to be, but the clincher will be if I can score well on the test. I took an online practice test and did pretty good for someone who’d never seen an LSAT before and was totally unprepared for it (a 150-something). I need to get in the 160’s to deserve the absurd amounts of self confidence I have about this venture.
I got myself a new cat last week, too. Her name is Drífa, which is an Icelandic given name that means something along the lines of “big snow drift”. She’s a young gray short-haired tabby, and she’s full of ridiculous energy. I got her because of Tomo, my other cat, who’s name is Japanese and means “wisdom”, something she definitely does not embody! Because of my crazy schedule I’m out of the house a lot, and ever since my room-mate moved out and took his cat with him Tomo has been sort of lonely and stir crazy. They get along surprisingly well for having known each other such a short time, and I think they will be fast friends in not very long at all. It’s nice to have the home occupied instead of empty, even if they both aggravate the crap out of me with some of their antics.
Lastly, my uncle Joe died last Friday morning. This may seem like something too sad for a blog about positive things, but there were several positive experiences that came with my uncle’s passing. Joe was a good man and I loved him. Unfortunately Uncle Joe fell into that category of family that one takes for granted, and doesn’t visit or communicate with as one should. He was a fixture of my young life owing to annual visits “down home”. I haven’t lived in Alabama or Georgia since I was five, but they will always be “down home” to me, and Uncle Joe is one of the reasons that this is so. I last spoke with Uncle Joe during Yule when he called to wish my mother a merry Christmas. It was one of those brief things; I hollered “Hey Uncle Joe!” at the phone when Ma was talking and she held the phone away from her ear briefly so I could hear his response. I was planning on visiting down home for spring break. I had planned on visiting during fall break, but opted to go to a kendo tournament in Chicago instead due to the timing. It didn’t occur to me that Death would have another scheduling conflict, so instead of going down home to see him in March I ended up making a last minute trip to attend his funeral this past weekend.
Uncle Joe’s funeral was a good thing, though. I thought the entire experience was fitting tribute to him. The pastor started his eulogy by extolling the accomplishments of his two sons, my cousins. My cousins are both good men, made in the same mold as my own mother, following designs that I can trace to my grandmother. My grandmother was an exceptional lady, and one of the best people I’ve ever met. Uncle Joe had many quality people around him, a big, loving family. Being down home among my kinfolk was a great reminder of who I’m supposed to be and where I came from. I haven’t seen some of those folk for far too long. Uncle Joe was a patriot who led a life of service to his community and drew around and inspired many good folks, and I’m proud of him, and I want him to be proud of me. I will remember the lessons of his funeral for the rest of my life. Uncle Joe’s eulogy included the theme “who am I to deserve God’s love”? Looking around at the people who gathered to celebrate his life, it was obvious that Uncle Joe was a very worthy man. The fire that’s been lit under me recently has a lot to do with having such positive people in my family to look to for inspiration. I will make myself worthy.
Reviresco!
Romantic Antihero™ 