Shouldn't I be doing my homework?

Whew. Now that classes have begin I'm feeling much more comfortable about the next eight weeks. My instructors are great.

Frankly, I hadn't remembered how much hard work college entails. In addition to 12 hours of class per week, I'm expected to do 4 to 6 hours of web design lab and 4 hours of guitar practice. Add in the blogging and video time, and, well.
you do the math. It's going to be a busy summer. In a good way. (I just now got the sinking feeling that I'm repeating myself. Please tell me if that happens.)

Here's a herky-jerky rundown on some of the last couple days' events.

First of all, I'm amazed at how much more time I have when I'm not watching tv. There is a huge screen in the basement and people can drop in and watch what's on, but so far I haven't had time.

I had been feeling a little bitter, though immature, because no one had officially welcomed me to the dorm. Tonight the folks in my section had a note from Matt, our CA (Community Advisor),explaining that most of the dorm will be used for conferences and programs like youth tennis camps. But he says there will be some community-building events for those of us actually attending summer school. I hope those events won't include power volleyball or "capture the flag."

If this were the sixties, there would have been a food fight today at lunch. Everyone showed up at once and the dining hall ran out of grilled cheese sandwiches.

Funny comment du jour: Our guitar instructor asked us all to introduce ourselves and share a little bit about our musical backgrounds. One witty millennial volunteered this: "I had a Fisher-Price xylophone."

My back has been killing me. I thought it was the crummy bed, but I think it's actually this Spanish Inquisition desk chair. My protective older brother Jim has a spare one in his basement, which he's lending me for the summer. College kids put up with some horrible ergonomics.

In my web design class, I had a flashback to third grade multiplication drills. The instructor was leading us through an html lesson, I got a little distracted and then had to scramble to keep up. It's surprising to me that I still get panicky when I'm not perfect, even when I'm learning something brand new.

As you'd expect, the final project in the web design class is the creation of our own web sites. I'd hoped to do something interactive, but because of server issues and the complexity of the code, we've been asked not to go there. So in my spare time, I'm trying to think of a site to design. We looked at examples from past semesters, and the sites have been quite diverse...everything from family reunions to wedding photography to Twin Cities beer guides. It's really difficult for me to narrow down the universe of options.

Wow. This post is really rambly. I have no deep thoughts tonight but wanted to get this stuff written before it gets lost in tomorrow's activities.