Friday, December 4, 2009

All I Want For Christmas

Is time to read.

I want to read this book, Sanderson's Lunch. It's about this diner in Kansas City, that no longer exists. I found out about the book from a friend, who wrote about the diner on her blog.

It would be a good companion to On the Road, by Jack Kerouac, which I still HAVE NOT FINISHED! I started On the Road and Dharma Bums, also by Kerouac, in August, when my family was in Vermont. I had every expectation I'd finish both books in a matter of weeks. And then school started. And my classes started. And my reading time was shot to hell. All I've been able to manage is a few New Yorker articles here and there while grabbing a bite to eat. I still hung on to my copy of On the Road and renewed it as many times as the library would let me. And then I let it get overdue. I finally gave up and returned it shortly before Thanksgiving. Too many articles to read for class, too many papers to write.

But finally, this semester is lifting its chokehold on me and winding down. I turned in my last big assignment, a 14 page (double-spaced) research paper last night, a few minutes after midnight. I wrote about designing online tutorials to teach users how to use library resources. Did you know that "users" is oft-used in the library science lingo to refer to patrons? I guess the term user is big in computer lingo too---end-user, user-friendly... but it cracks me up how we're always talking about how to reach the "users."

I'm still not off the hook, school-wise. I have a take-home final with essays the week of the 14th, dang it, which really drags things out, and some pesky discussions I have to contribute to for participation points. But the worst is behind me, and I'm hoping that soon I'll be able to check out On the Road and Dharma bums and get both of them read over the Christmas break.

Next semester is my last semester. And then I will be done. I can't say that enough times.

4 comments:

  1. Maybe I'll borrow the book about the diner sometime.

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  2. I can't believe you are this close to finishing. Man, it really makes me want to do it...??? I want this book too. I'm putting it on my Amazon wishlist. I hope you have a fine Kerouac Christmas.

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  3. Thank you for the Kerouac Christmas greetings! We ought to make Kerouac Christmas greeting cards. All kinds of things I could think of to do that would take enormous amounts of time and would create a sea of crumpled paper from false starts all over the floor, but would be loads of fun.

    Yeah --I can't believe I'm almost done with school either! I can't believe I can say that now. If I hadn't done it I'd be kicking myself now. I think you should do it! I think there are aspects of the subject matter and philosophy that would totally suit you. It's totally a big fat pain in the ass. But as long as you can just accept that, it's not so bad. After a couple of semesters I became more accepting of the work load and got better about organizing myself so I was more prepared to handle the assignments. Most of it's not hard. It's just very very time-consuming. But a couple of years fly by and next thing you know, you're finishing up.

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  4. A couple of years DID fly by! Wow! I'm going to do it, but when??? I don't know.
    Kerouac Christmas cards are awesome! False starts are part of the fun! :)

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