I, Madman

Today was day #2 of semester #3 (of 6 total semesters) for my classes.

My carpool partner & I have 2 classes together out of 5. We're in the same program in the same semester, but can't take classes at the same frickin' time.

Today was a solo drive in (fortunately for an afternoon class), but good ol' professional dump truck driver (AKA Asswipe Boy) managed to hit the shoulder of the road just before I was about to pass him in the fast lane.

I now have a nasty rockchip on my windshield. It'll cost me $100+ to have it fixed. I felt like taking my "The Club" and beating the guy at the next stoplight. That was 30 minutes into the 90-minute commute.

Parking, as usual, was atrocious at school and I went to the 2-mile-away supplementary lot only to find a lone car circling the lot waiting for a spot to open. He eventually left (I just pulled my car off to the side and waited) and as he left some kid walked up and got in his car. So, I moved my car to his lane and put my turn signal on to indicate "this is now my spot."

Well, freaky boy who'd been circling earlier all of a sudden cuts in front of my car to take the spot! So, out I get and walk over to his window, rap on the glass and say:
"If you even try to take this spot when I'm sitting here signalling for it, I will kill you. Back your car up and wait your damn turn." He backed up and I got back in mine in time to pull in. I wasn't wearing my photo ID card yet, but was just in a black jacket, black shirt, and jeans. Imagine him complaining to security "he had a goatee, black shirt and blue jeans." Yeah, one-of-a-kind at art school...

I get to class for 1:00 and the damn instructor doesn't show until 2:30. His schedule had the class slotted for a 6:30pm start time. Well, nope, it's one and he decides that since we're starting late "we'll just push on through 'til 6:30." My hand goes up and I inform him I'm leaving at 5. I have a meeting at 7pm and have a 90-minute commute ahead of me. I don't care that his schedule was wrong, mine was right and I was there on time. Didn't go over well with him, but the associate Dean (who'd come to the class to figure out where the instructor was) just shrugged her shoulders and left the room.

As it was, the course is a heavy one on 3D animation using Maya (which I've never used before). It has a prerequisite course (Introduction to Maya, dontcha-know?) that I'm apparently scheduled to take starting tomorrow. Nice program schedule, people! By tomorrow night, all the stuff I "learned" today will probably make a lot more sense.

Y'know, you'd think an art school would realize that the students are their best marketing tool. When teachers don't show up, we're scheduled in prerequisite classes AFTER major classes, and our program students are sent flying in numerous different directions (I've seen now 10 different schedules for the same 5 courses... there's only 25 of us) instead of building the "network" that could carry us through the next decade after graduating... does anyone REALLY think I'd recommend this place to anyone?

Rrrrgggg. Annoying pissy little friggy things today...

Oh, 2 more things. Prof. Lateasiwannabe also spent over an hour reading us the course syllabus. Um, hello? It's in front of us and you were frigging 90 minutes late, move on already!!

Secondly, my carpool partner had his second semester of life drawing start on Monday night. The instructor there spent 10 minutes griping about people using MSN Messenger and how he'll ask anyone doing it in class to leave.... There's no computers in that room. There isn't even a network connection from the school into that room. How the Hell does he expect people to be using MSN Messenger???

Oh, and apparently the class is going on a field trip to the Granville Island Market one night in order to draw the pigeons.

At night?

Fortunately, I have the same instructor for my second semester of life drawing as I had for the first semester, and not this dude. So there. We'll spend an hour each Thursday afternoon discussing anatomy before the model arrives and we draw for 3 hours. Sounds great.

Later this week: Prepare for a philosophical piece on whether performing air guitar(drums, piano, whatever) casts positive or negative emotions in other... drivers. Seriously.