danajohnhill.org | Hard Times Come Again No More

I am working diligently to complete my non-thesis project, so writing for pleasure has had to take a back seat to writing for displeasure. But a few things merit mention.

First,spring is here officially, and so is Daylight Saving Time, which I love. I’ve been going in to work at half past five in the morning this week, and yesterday I was in class until after six o’clock at night. Still, though I had dinner out last night, I still made it home before dark. That makes me happy. The azaleas are just fading, but the jasmine is getting ready.

What also makes me happy is that we had the warmest winter I can ever remember. It was genuinely cold only a handful of days this year, and we barely ran the heater at home. Our electric bills were lower than ever.

We are in a Golden Age of University of Florida baseball. Last night was their first loss in something like nineteen games, and UF is the number one team in the country right now. But, sadly, it won’t last. Many of the team’s best players are seniors, or juniors who will be tempted to go pro. Next year’s team will look a lot different. Meanwhile, I have been doing my best to get to the ballpark for every game, but school work has made me miss a couple now.

I am looking forward to putting this writing project behind me so I can get back to the things I really care about.

Filed under: Current Events, Meteorology, School, Sports on March 23rd, 2012 | No Comments »

When you are in graduate school, you learn to appreciate the little things. Since the classes are in three-hour blocks, by halftime everyone is fading. But today, when I went to drop off a form in the graduate assistant’s office, I discovered an enormous bowl of Halloween candy, and I am talking about the good stuff: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Kit-Kat, Twix, those malted milk balls, and so on. When I got back to the seminar room with my booty, everyone asked where it came from. When I told them, a convoy was quickly dispatched, and soon enough the conference table was littered with wrappers as my classmate stuffed themselves with sweet, sweet candy. It looked like an eight-year-old’s bedroom floor on Halloween night.

Filed under: School on November 2nd, 2011 | No Comments »

My early-morning commutes continue as I fill-in for a vacationing colleague. Surprisingly, in spite of my drowsiness, I genuinely enjoy the pre-dawn bike ride. In the absence of a blazing hot sun, I find I can move much more quickly. And the absence of any traffic, and the cooperation of traffic lights speeds things up, too. Indeed, even if I reach an intersection where the light is red, pressing the crosswalk button causes the signal to immediately change. Meanwhile, I’ve been watching the moon wane. Each morning it’s lower in the east.

The downside to all of this, of course, is that I need to be in bed by nine o’clock at night in order to get enough sleep, and that isn’t realistic.

Lack of sleep made yesterday–the first day of school for me–especially challenging. In a small classroom with only six other students, it isn’t easy to hide one’s yawning from the teacher. Both my professors seem nice this semester, and certainly smart. But I fear one of my classes is going to be excruciatingly boring. And, since it requires a thirty-page paper, enormously difficult. Still, I have learned to stop worrying about it. I’ll pass, and that’s as much as I can hope for.

Filed under: School, Work on August 25th, 2011 | No Comments »

First off, I cannot believe it is already May. That said, I am happy Summer has finally arrived, if only unoffically just yet.

Friday night I went to another baseball game at UF.  This year the Athletic Association has made an effort to increase student involvement and attendence at baseball games with assorted “Bleacher Creatures” promotions.  These are fun giveaways that make the students feel a little more important.  This stands in stark contrast to the football games, where it is abundantly clear that the alumni matter far more than the students.  The alumni sit in the shade while the students sit in the blazing sun; the marching band faces the alumni at halftime, and so do the referrees during the game.  While there is a healthy contingent of UF alumni at the baseball games, and a good mix of townies, as well, the students don’t get short shrift.  There is no designated “student section”.  Indeed, while students get free general admission tickets, those seats can be found all around the ballpark: above first base, along the entire third base line, and everywhere above Dizney Plaza and the outfield.  Meanwhile, students who sign up online to be part of the “Bleacher Creatures” get free t-shirts, and students (and it can only be students) who get chosen to be “Captain K” also get a free t-shirt for their efforts.

This season, the University has posted about baseball promotions on Facebook.  Last night I finally won one of these promotions.  Late in the game the public address announcer called my name, and I made my way up to the press box to claim my prize, an enormous “Bleacher Creatures” banner.  Although I was glad to win the prize, I was even more excited by the press box itself.  First, it has the most amazing view.  The entire field is visible, and beyond it, the tall pine trees and dormitories.  All around the room are men with laptop computers, either typing newspaper columns or looking up stats.  The PA announcer has a desk, and the radio folks have their own booth.  Meanwhile, many other guys stand around the back, enjoying a variety of refreshments.  The Dazzlers were hanging out up there, too.  Everyone was nice to me, and several people introduced themselves to me.  I had a couple minutes to hang out while a fellow went and retrieved my prize, and I spoke to a guy who admitted that he had a pretty sweet job.  The only bad part, he admitted, is that they cannot cheer while they are up there.

People sitting near me asked about my prize, and even random students who saw me after the game asked what I won.  Anthony snapped a photo of me with the big “Bleacher Creatures” banner in left field.

Filed under: School, Sports on May 1st, 2011 | No Comments »

At five o’clock this afternoon I handed in my third and final term paper.  My semester is concluded.

Whew.

Filed under: School on April 27th, 2011 | 2 Comments »