First Day of Class

Okay, so I'm blocked. I can't come up with any new material. Part of it is because the apartment is so disorganized with all of the boxes, and all I can think of is how to get rid of the roaches! I'm not used to this. I'm sure that will eventually find its way into something, probably poetry. Ooh, maybe some photography. But do I really want to remember this move that much? Other part - I can't focus, and now my left wrist is hurting and digits 4 and 5 are tingling on my right hand. I think I must have slept on my arm all night, therefore on the nerve. This is the shoulder I dislocated in high school (There's a memory). Too long. Will be in class shortly. Sitting in the hall outside the room now. I find that a girl (Stacy) from last night's class will be in this one. Looks like a lady I had class with Thursday will also be in class because she just walked up. Anyway, from the description of the course, it should be interesting. Here goes...

Venus Opal Reese, PhD is animated, laughs at her own jokes, has a semi-dirty mouth, is brilliant and knows it, but isn't stuck-up about it. And she remembered my name at the end of class. Think I'm going to love this woman.

Daddy before he became "Grandfather"

Now for the work: we have to learn theories, but we have to explain them or show that we understand them in creative ways. In other words, none of the typical critical essays. Yea! Of course, I will probably be regretting that yea very soon. One assignment will be a sonnet. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Slick Willie, but he was the master. Why try to duplicate perfection. The first assignment is a "legal brief" of How to do Things with Words by J.L. Austin. Gotta call Daddy for some pointers. Thought those were for when you wanted to get an appeal or something.

We have to keep a journal for the course (Here's mine!), one entry for each class, and we reflect on the class in some way. At first I thought video journal, but my skills are limited, and the video camera is actually Ashley's (my oldest daughter) and in Crosby. I have to look at what Dr. Reese said about the journal. Very specific when it comes to instructions.

Like today: She performed a poem with a male speaker. She asked us, "What did you see?" Simple, right? Of course, none of us, at first, took the question literally, so we talked about what we came to watching (and listening to) it, our understanding of the character. Eventually we got it. Because I had said that I saw a 30-something Black man dealing with his demons (which was actually me filtering what I heard), I finally came up with that I saw her (a thirty-something Black woman - I didn't say that part out loud) put on the character of this person, and I saw her do a performance. See, simple, right? But even that was filtered. How do I know how old she is? How do I know she is Black (in the American form of the term); why is she not West Indian or for that matter, Cuban? I had a Cuban friend in high school (Maria, no last names) that was darker than most people in my family, and we're considered (most of us anyway) the Black ones. How do I know she's a woman just because she has on a frilly top and jingly earrings? It's all filtered. It's my favorite literary term: intertextuality (I didn't make it up. Look it up!) in human form. Everything (not just texts) is influenced by everything else I have experienced.

She told us early on to do things full-out like a kid. A kid would have gotten what she meant when she asked, "What did you see?" the first time.

Quote (but not really a quote, just something that came up in class - can't remember who actually said it) for the day: Identity is a strategy for survival.