It was pitch black and pouring down rain when I woke up this morning. Before yesterday, Durham only had 66 days of water supply left. This rain won't change that (although it may fool some people into thinking they don't need to conserve), but it is refreshing.
So, in honor of the rain, here's my favorite raining song.
Irma Thomas singing "It's Raining"
Friday, October 26, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
I Hear That Lonesome Whistle
Last night my bargaining paid off and I had absolutely no new work to complete for class today. I spent a few hours starting some review work (more bargaining) and spent the rest of the night relaxing.
After going out to dinner, Brandon and I came home and watched "Hustle and Flow." I hadn't seen the movie since it came out, and really enjoyed it the second time. From the reaction of one of my fellow students today (an amused laugh, on par with what you might expect if I had said I had watched "The Fast and the Furious") when I mentioned I had watched the movie last night, I assume that to the rest of the country it is a decent, entertaining genre film.
To someone from Memphis, love it or hate it, the film carries much more weight. I remember the fury in Wendi Thomas' response when it first came out, blasting it for how it represented Memphis to the rest of the world. And later, when she and Brewer met and talked, it was practically treated as a summit between diplomats, two of the major voices representing Memphis to the world.
I stand on the love-it side of the fence. I think the film peers hard and long into the despair that many people want to gloss over and finds a fairy tale of hope. I could delve into this more. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would spend plenty of time discussing or arguing this with me. (Oh, how I miss you Drinking Liberally of Memphis). But it isn't what I really wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about the train.
Of course, it was fun, watching the movie, to see Memphis in the background. It was fun to see Vance Grocery, the tiniest flash of Beale Street, quite a bit of Lamar and Brooks. It was fun to speculate whether or not the church was Calvary and to reminisce about the Poplar Lounge. But the movie didn't make me miss Memphis too much until I heard the train.
Early in the movie, during a transition, the sound of the train rolled across the scene and punched me in the gut.
When I moved to Dallas, I the landscape felt lonely to me in a way Chicago never had. I couldn't pin it down until I came home to visit in the spring. I missed the trees on the horizon. It felt lonely without them.
In Durham, there is no loneliness for lack of trees. The trees surround the city in a bear-hug of greens and (right now) ambers and reds. Durham has the normal sounds of small city, but it lacks the bass notes of Memphis, the trains, the airplanes, the low rumbling background. Memphis has wrapped itself around the train and laid itself under the FedEx flight path and incorporated it, often without even noticing, into every aspect of life. I miss the boxcar graffiti each morning taking Southern Ave to work, the way a long train in East Memphis equalizes everyone traveling the roads, the way my mind would listen to the sound distant in the background of my evening.
After going out to dinner, Brandon and I came home and watched "Hustle and Flow." I hadn't seen the movie since it came out, and really enjoyed it the second time. From the reaction of one of my fellow students today (an amused laugh, on par with what you might expect if I had said I had watched "The Fast and the Furious") when I mentioned I had watched the movie last night, I assume that to the rest of the country it is a decent, entertaining genre film.
To someone from Memphis, love it or hate it, the film carries much more weight. I remember the fury in Wendi Thomas' response when it first came out, blasting it for how it represented Memphis to the rest of the world. And later, when she and Brewer met and talked, it was practically treated as a summit between diplomats, two of the major voices representing Memphis to the world.
I stand on the love-it side of the fence. I think the film peers hard and long into the despair that many people want to gloss over and finds a fairy tale of hope. I could delve into this more. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would spend plenty of time discussing or arguing this with me. (Oh, how I miss you Drinking Liberally of Memphis). But it isn't what I really wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about the train.
Of course, it was fun, watching the movie, to see Memphis in the background. It was fun to see Vance Grocery, the tiniest flash of Beale Street, quite a bit of Lamar and Brooks. It was fun to speculate whether or not the church was Calvary and to reminisce about the Poplar Lounge. But the movie didn't make me miss Memphis too much until I heard the train.
Early in the movie, during a transition, the sound of the train rolled across the scene and punched me in the gut.
When I moved to Dallas, I the landscape felt lonely to me in a way Chicago never had. I couldn't pin it down until I came home to visit in the spring. I missed the trees on the horizon. It felt lonely without them.
In Durham, there is no loneliness for lack of trees. The trees surround the city in a bear-hug of greens and (right now) ambers and reds. Durham has the normal sounds of small city, but it lacks the bass notes of Memphis, the trains, the airplanes, the low rumbling background. Memphis has wrapped itself around the train and laid itself under the FedEx flight path and incorporated it, often without even noticing, into every aspect of life. I miss the boxcar graffiti each morning taking Southern Ave to work, the way a long train in East Memphis equalizes everyone traveling the roads, the way my mind would listen to the sound distant in the background of my evening.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Trading Time
One of the tricky things about getting all of this work done is the inevitable failure of trying to trade ahead for time. No matter how well you plan, how certain you are that you have gotten just a few hours ahead, something unexpected always zooms in to fill the gap.
For example, last night I did all of my work for today and, since I knew that my Property class reading would carry through Thursday (leaving me one less class to work for tonight) I started organizing my Contracts notes. This should have left me with only two subjects to cover tonight and enough time to either continue my Contracts review, get ahead for one of Friday's classes or meet Brandon and friends out for dinner.
What actually happened was that my Property professor had mistakenly allotted two days to the assignment that he finished in only one. Even though the schedule said that the next assignment would be covered in Friday's class, he finished the previous topic today, apologized and asked that we complete the next assignment for tomorrow (Thursday) instead. Great . . . so much for that extra time I had planned for.
I won't bore you with the other two or three little incidents that popped up to eat up 30 min here and there, but I can assure you that every minute counts. Today I had a total of 3.5 hours of class. I know that it doesn't sound like much, but it is a full day. Each of my classes had an extra long assignment tonight, so all-in-all I did 7.5 hours of homework. That's an 11 hour day already. You should also factor in that I get up an hour early each morning to work out so I don't develop a law student physique and that I tutor for an hour on Wednesdays. So, before you even factor in time to eat, shower, drive to and from school, or possibly talk to my husband for more than 5 consecutive minutes, I have already had a 13 hour day.
I'm not complaining. I knew it would be like this and I signed up for it anyway. I'm absolutely loving it. I just wanted to give a little perspective on how I manage my time right now, minute by minute. Most days aren't quite so intense. Today was an extra full day. And even today, I traded some of my time for more time tomorrow. I could have left some of my classwork to finish tomorrow between classes, but I did it all tonight, bargaining for a little extra time tomorrow night when I might start some review, get ahead, or just have time to eat dinner with my husband.
For example, last night I did all of my work for today and, since I knew that my Property class reading would carry through Thursday (leaving me one less class to work for tonight) I started organizing my Contracts notes. This should have left me with only two subjects to cover tonight and enough time to either continue my Contracts review, get ahead for one of Friday's classes or meet Brandon and friends out for dinner.
What actually happened was that my Property professor had mistakenly allotted two days to the assignment that he finished in only one. Even though the schedule said that the next assignment would be covered in Friday's class, he finished the previous topic today, apologized and asked that we complete the next assignment for tomorrow (Thursday) instead. Great . . . so much for that extra time I had planned for.
I won't bore you with the other two or three little incidents that popped up to eat up 30 min here and there, but I can assure you that every minute counts. Today I had a total of 3.5 hours of class. I know that it doesn't sound like much, but it is a full day. Each of my classes had an extra long assignment tonight, so all-in-all I did 7.5 hours of homework. That's an 11 hour day already. You should also factor in that I get up an hour early each morning to work out so I don't develop a law student physique and that I tutor for an hour on Wednesdays. So, before you even factor in time to eat, shower, drive to and from school, or possibly talk to my husband for more than 5 consecutive minutes, I have already had a 13 hour day.
I'm not complaining. I knew it would be like this and I signed up for it anyway. I'm absolutely loving it. I just wanted to give a little perspective on how I manage my time right now, minute by minute. Most days aren't quite so intense. Today was an extra full day. And even today, I traded some of my time for more time tomorrow. I could have left some of my classwork to finish tomorrow between classes, but I did it all tonight, bargaining for a little extra time tomorrow night when I might start some review, get ahead, or just have time to eat dinner with my husband.
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