Preemptive Week #1 Post

Alright, so the week isn't over, but I am pretty sure I can give an accurate summary of my classes and what they are going to be like based on M-R.
LING 435: Morphology and Syntax (Prof. Scott DeLancey)
THE CRAZY OLD MAN IS BACK! Ok, not true, I took this class this term BECAUSE he is teaching it. He is a truly amazing teacher, and it is fantastic to learn from him. For those of you who remember when I took intro to linguistics, it included several pieces, including morphology, syntax, historical linguistics, phonetics, and phonology. Well, these subjects have been split up into separate classes, and this one is about morphology and syntax, which go hand in hand. Syntax is the construction of words and sentences, and morphology is one possible mechanism by which that is accomplished.
Conclusion: class will be interesting, both the teacher and TA like me, and it shouldn't be that hard (challenging, but not difficult)
MATH 315: Elementary Analysis (Prof. Weiyong He)
Well, after we figured out that "modify" meant "multiply", this guy's accent wasn't too bad. However, this class is widely regarded as "the worst math class on campus" because, not only is it "the proof class" with automatically means it sucks, but the format is apparently crap, and I am believing this to be true. However, it is a prerequisite for every single upper level class, and so it cannot be avoided.
Conclusion: class will be boring, difficult, and will be the most crap class this term
PHIL 216: Philosophy and Cultural Diversity (Prof. Scott Pratt)
I was told this guy was both interesting and inspiring, and from what I have seen, they were right. The first unit we are doing is all about identity as it applies to race and culture, how identities are formed, and how they affect people/how people relate to other identities and cultures. It is a large lecture class, and so it is pretty boring, but the discussion section we had today about the 'Ground Zero Mosque' was one of the most engaging conversations I have had in quite some time.
Conclusion: I don't really care that much about philosophy, but as it goes, this could look to be an interesting source of conversation for Evan and I (we had a talk about the GZM last night, and he brought up some things I hadn't thought of)
DAN 251: Looking at Dance (Shannon Mockli)
In this class, we will look at movement through a historical, academic, and hands on lens. We will do readings and research, write papers on dances we see, and workshop dance activities once a week. The class is actually part of  FIG (Freshman Interest Group) about MTV, and their other class is  music class of the same variety, so it is largely freshman, which is not great, but it is a 200 level class, so it is to be expected. It really is too early to tell how good this class will be.
Conclusion: Going to be pretty easy, and hopefully interesting, and will not require a whole lot of work.
DANC 276: Tap II (Jean Nelson)
Well, it is tap dance, but harder than tap I. We learn more things, and learn them faster.
Conclusion: it's gonna be awesome, I just wish it was more than a 50 minute class.
DANC 271: Dance Improvisation (Brad Garner)
This class focuses on solo work, although we will do some contact things. We will work on how to get those creative energies flowing so that it isn't a thinking process when we dance so much as a feeling exercise. For example, today, we walked 50 feet in 30 minutes across the lawn in front of the library, while stripping off layers of clothing (I ended up in just my dance shorts) just to see how people would react. Yeah, it was hard... and it was really interesting to see how people reacted to 30 kids moving so slowly you could barely see them moving, but if you left for 5 minutes and came back they were in different positions wearing less clothes...
Conclusion: see previous

In other news!
I begin my adult classes tomorrow with Acrobalance. I have no idea how many people are going to show up, so planning that class is going to be hard, but I will do my best. I am running 4 rehearsals per week now to accommodate work schedules of my performers. Needless to say, I am not going to have a whole lot of time to goof off between work and school.
My one hour per day of pure relaxation, however, that I have made the rule is to be used only for that unless there is an emergency and I forget to write something for DAN251, is my lunch hour, between noon and 1 (when I have dance or work). This hour is spent 15 feet above the ground, in a tree that we have named Orpheus, or Orphi for short (the species name of the tree, according to Laura, someone who joined us for lunch, involves a word that sounded like Orphi, and we extrapolated Orpheus from that). Orphi has a place for my bag to go, and comfortable branches for everyone to sit on while eating! There is a big hollow area inside of where the needles begin to grow, so nobody can see inside. It is a very peaceful feeling in there, and it is a big time for me to cool down and let things go from the stressful morning.

I have two new projects as well.
1) I am doing a vlog, and the first entry in this, to be posted sometime next week (when I get done editing the hours of footage) will cover today. Things I did today, sort of a "day in the life" video, including me riding my bike around Eugene, walking around campus, eating lunch with Orphi, going to Bounce, and the first part of project #2.
2) By the end of this year, I will have footage of me juggling either by myself or with a group of people passing inside of every single UO building (not including dorms) on campus + Autzen. That last one will be hard. I am going to try to get inside Autzen to film juggling... I'm not sure how I am going to do that one, but I have 9 months to figure it out... Tonight, I checked Lillis off the list - I juggled in the Lobby, which is HUGE! I always have juggling stuff on me, and I always have a camera, so when I have a couple minutes to kill, I will just go to a building, set up the camera, and juggle for 30 seconds and then be on my way. It isn't a terribly difficult goal, but it will be a cool one. And to finish it off, I will video myself juggling in strange places around campus (in trees, on top of things that should not be climbed on top of, stuff like that).

I think that is all I have for you as of yet, but keep your eyes peeled for the entry containing the vlog entry (I will post them on youtube as well at Cobbledick's Vlog), but they will show up here first, and they will be accompanied by annotations and fun stuff. I am also waiting on the correct program to edit them (iMovie HD cannot speed things up properly, and iMovie '08 can't do it at all, so I need iMovie '09) and I need speed up capabilities, because I know you don't want 12 minutes of real time footage of me riding my bike from campus to the south hills... I don't like riding it, I don't know why you would want to see it... Except maybe the cool 2 minute piece in the morning through the fairgrounds when it is really foggy... That's pretty cool.