9:13 PM:

I promised myself weeks ago that I'd be going out for karaoke the first chance I got once the semester ended. That would be tonight, so I need to make this fast...

The grades are in, and I'm getting e-mail from students, wanting to know why their grades aren't higher than they are, which is where being a teacher sucks, especially when the grading system you're applying isn't your own in the first place. Sigh. There are things I might have been clearer about earlier in the semester, if only I'd realized them at the time myself, and I feel guilty about it. The bad part about the whole "learning by experience" thing is that the mistakes you make affect other people too...

...that said, I don't think I did a bad job under the circumstances. The system is the way it is; I did the best I could. I just wish I could convince myself that that was good enough.

On the bright side, my grades are also in, and I've finally had a good semester, getting my first two A's in this program, and at least going out on an upswing. Makes my chances of getting into another program that much better, too, I figure...

Anyway. I've gotta shave, get dressed, and get moving. I'll type to y'all later...

11:58 PM:

A Holidailies triolet:

I promised this month that I'd write here each day
But now I have nothing to tell you.
My defense? I have none. Your indulgence I pray--
I promised this month that I'd write here each day.
If you feel you'd rather just lock me away,
To show mercy I cannot compel you.
I promised this month that I'd write here each day
But now I have nothing to tell you.

11:01 PM:

Done! Done! Done! Done!

My essay should be printing as I type this. I've been in this computer lab pretty much since last night, with the occasional break to stretch my legs, get a snack, say my prayers, and slip on the ice outside. (I hate the ice.)

It's not a great essay. It's probably about a minimally acceptable essay. But it's done. And once I get the printout, I am stapling it, I am taking it upstairs, I am putting it in my professor's mailbox, I am e-mailing my professor to let him know that it's there (and that, okay, I'm employing a somewhat unconventional definition of "Wednesday afternoon"), I am bringing a bunch of books back to the library, I am going home, and I am going to bed. With perhaps a stop along the way for a hot bubble bath; we'll see how I feel.

But... I'm done!

There really is no nicer word in the English language.

8:28 PM:

My students' grades are in, like 'em or not. And I'm drained.

Ideally, I ought to nap until midnight, then work through the night on my last paper. More likely, I'm just gonna stay too tired to be very useful, but not tired enough to sleep for the next while, after which... well, let's not pursue this train of thought too much further.

It'll all work out okay in the end. I hope.

11:24 PM:

Two days to go...

It would be one day, but I asked for My Very Last Deadline Extension here at Michigan, getting an extra two days to finish my 25-page research paper on Jewish dialect in English drama. One day would've sufficed, I think, but I need to finish all the grading for my students by the time I meet the prof. tomorrow afternoon.

I'm looking forward to it all being over.

Oh, in other news, My-Sister-The-Writer isn't gonna be coming here after all, on grounds that it isn't safe for an almost-19-year-old to travel unaccompanied across the country. Oh, well.