Venting, and an update

I hate my information technologies class.

We have a group assignment due today, basically a group web page. It doesn’t have to be 100% complete but it does need to be in web format.

No problem – it took me less than an hour to do it. But that’s the problem: it took ME, by myself, less than an hour to do it.

I’m no martyr. I mean, I volunteered to be “webmaster,” mostly by default, but the way this class is being taught makes no sense whatsoever. Instead of practicing HTML in class, the professor lectures about it and we read about it, but we never actually do it.

That’s all well and good as an introduction, but our assignments, ie what we get GRADED on, are web pages! For me it’s no problem. Our page is really simple and I do simple HTML for my job. But for those who have never done it before, all they’ll do is take what I’ve created and change the text. So unless they work really hard on their own outside of class, they’ll probably never learn to do even simple HTML coding.

Then again, maybe they will. In addition to the group page, we all have individual pages that link to pages that house our assignments. I’ve created the basic templates and now they need to go in and replace the verbiage, which forces you to try to understand what’s going on with the code. I’m definitely not going to do it for other people. They need to do it themselves.

You know what else gets my goat? Last night we were supposed to meet as a group to tie up loose ends before today’s presentation of our page. Only 3, including me, out of 6 showed up. One I knew couldn’t make it, though she was totally lame with her last minute excuse of, “Oh, I thought I could get out of class but I can’t – I owe everyone ice cream!!!” Yeah cuz ice cream’s gonna get the work done. One had a legitimate excuse of being stuck in traffic and was very apologetic. One just “forgot.”

*Sigh.* I don’t know why professors think group assignements are a good idea, especially for those of us who have been working. I mean, hello, I’ve worked in a “team” for a good 15 years, I don’t need a refresher.

My other class is a little boring, but at least I feel like I’m learning. Who knew there was such a process around helping people with their research questions?

For my last two semesters, I’m taking all traditional library courses. No more of this tech bullshit that I can learn on the job or read out of a book, or that I already know just from playing around on the web.

~ ~ ~

This weekend we thought we didn’t have anything planned, aside from a Margaret Cho show with YP and some of his friends on Saturday, but it ended up busy anyway.

MB forgot one of his friends was in town so at the last minute on Saturday, we ended up having lunch with him and his girlfriend, then taking them around SoHo and the West Village. It was fun. Both friend and girlfriend were really nice with good senses of humor. (You’d think that’d be more common but it’s not.)

After that we had just about an hour before meeting YP and his friend for Korean dinner. On that very day there was the first ever Korean Day Parade and Festival, so it was madness in Koreatown. The restaurant YP’s friend, who’s Korean, originally picked had a super long wait. Luckily she was able to find another one with no wait at all.

The food was good. Though it’s hard to go wrong with bibimbap and spicy tofu soup.

Margaret Cho was performing for one night at Radio City so the sidewalk outside was craziness! But once we sat, we noticed lots of empty seats. Weird. As always, she was hilarious. Lots of sex talk with a dash of mother impressions. Plus this guy was a guest. You know I’d never heard of that “shoes” video till I went to another one of Margaret Cho’s shows last year.

It wasn’t even 10 by the time we got out, so MB and I had energy to see a midnight showing of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I haven’t seen that quite as many times as other movies that have played at that theater (eg, The Shining, Spirited Away) so it was really fun. The special effects seem so cheesy compared to now. And Harrison Ford was hot! I’d forgotten.

Sunday was a practicing music day for MB and a shopping day for me. I need pants! but didn’t have any luck. I did manage to buy some other stuff I needed, including a shower curtain. At home I took the opportunity of a temporarily shower free tub to clean the bathroom. Yay, clean bathroom!

That night I finally got my schoolwork organized and realized that I’ve fallen behind in my reading. But now I’m all caught up. This upcoming weekend will be all about homework. I have assignments due Tuesday and Thursday.

It’s getting chillier and chillier. Yesterday I bought some sweaters from Barami, buy one get one free. But the turtlenecks, which I didn’t try on at the store, threaten to choke me so I need to exchange them for regular sweaters. Since moving and getting rid of old stuff, I feel like I have practically no clothes.

2 comments

  1. “Who knew there was such a process around helping people with their research questions?”

    Well, I just finished my reference desk shift and can tell you that most people are simply unable to articulate what they want. It’s immensely frustrating.

  2. i can imagine! i see myself being one of those “surly” or “sour” librarians who looks at you like you’re a dumbass if you ask a dumbass question. heck, i do that now without a degree! :)