2 Feb 06

Time:

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Money:

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More interesting things:

Grabbed a seat on the local headed down to the gym and was joined, a minute later, by a family of three: young woman and two older parents. Mom sat to my left and Dad, even though there was really enough space between Mom and me, slid in to my right, on the other side of the pole. It was fun to see, because the daughter was clearly sort of running the show - she made sure her dad knew it was okay to sit before she herself did, taking up the remaining space to my left. (The sense that the daughter was in charge was heightened after I read the zipper pull on Mom's ski jacket - it was in Chinese - and then looked a little over her shoulder to see an email confirming three tickets on a city tour originating in Chinatown.) I think part of the reason I liked getting a chance to see this little group was that it reminded me of the vicarious friend-visit thrill I wrote about back in, like, October or something, but other than that I couldn't be too specific. It was just a nice thing to observe.

Turned in my towels at the gym before shrugging somewhat sweatily back into my black coat, which gave one of the girls behind the equipment room desk the chance to see my gray, orange, and blue Florida sweatshirt. She asked if I'd gone there and then added that she had been at UCF. We talked a little bit about the two schools before I headed back upstairs, appreciative as always for these funny little points of connection.

Ate breakfast with Roey, who made a really cool observation: if I'm observing student-teachers, it's in the course of my own days as a student-professor, which is, as he also noted, "kinda neat." I've thought a lot about all the elements of my education here, of course, and even as they combine, but I don't think I ever added up teaching my own course, supervising interns, attending committee meetings, sitting in on hiring business, organizing for admissions decisions, and generally being immersed in a department's ecology to realize that together it all equals exactly the life of a student-professor.

Enjoyed, speaking of hiring, another candidate meal - lunch at a place near the park, which was quite good. I appreciated the conversation (to which, this time around, I actually had something to add), the forthrightness with which the professors involved answered my questions while the candidate was away from the table, and the walk back to the office, during which Professor Number Seven asked me what I was thinking in terms of projects for the class she and Professor Alpha teach and then gave me a reading suggestion. I just got done telling my sister that the most sure-fire method I know for kindling really good relationships with faculty members is to read the things they mention and then get back to them about what you thought; I don't think it has failed me yet, and even though it doesn't seem like I need to worry much about my relationship with this particular professor, I'm going to put it into practice once again - mostly with an eye to informing my project plans, but partly because I like these people to know I respect their input enough to act on it.

Waited for the E and spotted a girl with a bag from the university bookstore and a varsity jacket from Miami Coral Park High School, which was utterly incongruous and therefore very amusing.

Dripped home after riding the E a little too far - that is to say, under the river and into Queens - changing back for the 7 to Grand Central, getting on a 5 train that ended up staying right where it was because of a sick passenger at 59th Street, deciding against a 6 that was already looking like a cattle car, trying to get a cab in the cold dark rain (yeah, right), walking the wrong way (Fifth Avenue is WEST of Lexington, thank you very much), and finally walking the right way: back to 59th and Lexington, where they seemed to have taken care of whoever had fallen ill but which was still so crazy that it took two tries before hitting a train that wasn't ridiculously overcrowded. The important part is that for all of this, it was really quite a lot of fun.