It's a little after Midnight and I got home a short while ago. Its been a very busy but productive day and I'm really wired right now. I'm in the throws of some hard core insomnia. Last night, I tossed and turned for quite some time until finally falling asleep around 4:00 a.m. That would have been okay except that I was up by 7:00 and on the 9:30 a.m. bus to Bar Ilan. I had two clear missions: 1) get my Tlash Kal so I could officially register for the year and 2) meet with Bret Lott before class met at Noon.
I made it to school with time to spare and was able to get my official Tlash Kal. However, apparently they have a made up Teudat Zehut number in the system, so now I have to go and photocopy my passport and my Teudat Zehut for them to make the switch. But, the good news, is that I am officially in the system so I can actually go register.
Now, here is the part where I complain about school. I've been super laid back up until now with all of the administrative snafus, but this one was really too much for me. I went with Tamara to the English department to meet with the secretary in order to register and I saw Merav from class and another woman waiting on line outside the door. When I asked them what was going on, Merav told me that the secretary informed her that she wasn't available to deal with anyone until 11:30 a.m. and not one minute sooner. So, I consulted my watch. 11:40 a.m. I asked Tamara to check her watch too, she had the same time. When I exclaimed that we were well past 11:30 a.m., Merav said that the secretary told her it wasn't 11:30 a.m. yet on HER watch and so they all had to wait.
Class starts at 12:00 and it was pretty much across campus. So, I am STILL not registered.
That was really annoying.
But, before Tamara and I attempted to deal with the administrative issues around the program, we both got to meet with Bret. I spent a good 30 minutes with him alone before Tamara joined us. Bret said a LOT of great things during our meeting but the most important issue I asked him to help me with, he really did. I basically told him that I start all of these stories but haven't been able to finish them. I get into the vivid and dreamlike state that John Gardner talks about but then the state peters out and I'm forced to either push myself to finish the piece and then I finish it in a really inorganic fashion, or I just give up and abandon the story altogether and start on something new.
Bret told me that I have commitment issues.
I asked him if he was chatting with my Mother recently.
He laughed.
Then he gave me some great advice. Basically, I told him that when I get to that stopped point in the midst of my stories, I forced myself to write an outline where I work out the rest of the piece.
He told me THAT was my big problem. He said that I take all the fun out of writing the story - and working through it to see where the story organically leads me - that I am getting bored and just abandoning the pieces.
So, from now on, no more outlines!! I hope this works!
He said some other good stuff about other issues I raised, and we discussed some authors I read and like and then we discussed some of my feedback regarding the program. All in all, well worth the early morning wake up to go in and spend time one-on-one with him. Look, as I told him, I am full on taking advantage of having him as a professor. The man published 12 novels people! Oprah selected one of his novels as her book of the month! Bret Lott is my Hemingway right now, and I'm just happy I didn't have to go to Cuba to learn from him!
So, after class, I took the bus with Noam from my class and we both got off at the train station. I walked the 35 minutes towards my apartment, and stopped along the way to pick up a comforter and duvet cover. So Dad, I got your message and anticipated your advice before I even got it. Hopefully, the huge synthetic comforter I bought (with a nice, black duvet cover to match my bed) will solve my sleeping issues. Thanks Dad for the message and advice!
Then, I got back home and had just enough time to hop into the shower before my date. All I'm going to say is that we went to this great sushi restaurant in the Bursa, which is Tel Aviv's diamond district (think 47th street but in one really big building), called Yoko Ono's. I kid you not. It was so funny dining at a sushi restaurant named after John's wife, but the sushi was really good, so it was an excellent choice! It also made me nostalgic for home, as I used to see Yoko Ono a couple of times walking around the neighborhood. She still lives in the Dakota, and since that was 2 blocks away from my apartment, I would sometimes run into her on CPW. (Yes The Instigator, I am once again name dropping!)
Before I log off and get ready for bed, I have to clarify something that Cousin Neil pointed out was confusing in a previous blog posting. My Wednesday Medieval Jewish Philosophy course is given in English but it is the ONLY Jewish studies required course that is given in English. If I can't get exempt from the second requirement, I'm going to have to take another class next year in Hebrew. Otherwise, all of my other classes are all in English. The only Hebrew I speak on campus is when I at the cafeteria ordering coffee.
Also, if anyone reading this will be speaking to Ilana Katz, please let her know that I tried to call her back when I got home tonight but the phone was busy. I am going to try her again tomorrow, but would like her to at least know that I tried and appreciated that an episode of Roswell on the SciFi Network made her think to call to say hi to me! Ilana - if you're reading this - I hope you're feeling better!
Song of the evening is Scummy by the Arctic Monkeys in honor of Britney Spears. The gal FINALLY kicked K.Fed to the curb and filed for a divorce today.
It's about time, y'all!
No comments:
Post a Comment