To make sure I cover the various topics I'm gonna break this down into sections. But you should note that I just had my first wedding anniversary Saturday with my gorgeous wife. Unfortunately, it was also my first day of class, and she had to work. We still had fun just hanging out together, though.
Spring 2010 Semester
So my last class in the History program at Middle Tennessee State University was a European research seminar on the Third Reich. My project studied OKW Chief of Staff Alfred Jodl, particularly his trial at Nuremberg and the justice (or rather, at least partially, injustice) of his sentence of being hanged. I enjoyed the class, and overall I think I learned more than I did in my Road Culture research seminar, but the latter class taught much more about the researching, writing, and editing process. I guess each had its merits, but the former's teacher was cooler, and I got to write about cars in cyberpunk lit. Sounds like the scale tips that way.
During the semester I worked at the Albert Gore, Sr. Research Center on MTSU campus. The project aimed to work toward constructing a historical electronic simulation (read: game) about Gore and his role in the passage of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 (which he voted against, FYI) using primary sources from the archives. The project was not disastrous; it was merely unfruitful and a wasted effort for various reasons that I won't go into. It was, though, the highest paying hourly job I've ever held, and that was cool.
Moving and School Part III
After graduating the first week of May, the Mrs. and I began to fully shift into panic, pack, and move mode. We moved the 18th to the town I grew up in, which leads to various mixed feelings of happiness, nostalgia, anxiety, and annoyance. We did it for school.
You see, after the obstacle-ridden path that was my experience at MTSU, I was tired of school and ready to just get a job. I spent the spring semester applying to various governmental jobs, but after none of those called back, I decided to get licensed to teach high school. Hence the move. As my parents remain in Freed-Hardeman University's employ, I reap the benefit of cheaper tuition, even for graduate classes. At the moment the plan is to be in and out of this program by December 2011. Then, hopefully, I can get a job teaching history, philosophy, or English in a high school somewhere (anywhere), and we can settle down for a few years. Maybe I'll go back someday and get a Ph.D. in History, but that's sort of in deep-space travel hibernation for now. Heck, if one of the jobs I applied to decided to offer me a position, I'd probably drop all this to go for it, depending on the variables.
TV, Movies, etc.
So most (traditional, American) shows have aired their season finales. Heroes was first, and was meh. Hearing it was canceled phased me even less than I thought it would. 30 Rock was pretty funny, but I'm just not very invested in the story arcs of it. Human Target was really good, and I like all the main characters and am excited to see where next season leads. Flash Forward wasn't spectacular, but it did suck me in with the various characters' story-lines, and I suspect this is how LOST fans feel about their show. Dono, I've only seen like one full episode of it, and have had more experiences with LOST fans than the actual show.
Fortunately this summer I still have Doctor Who with Matt Smith and the fun companion Amy Pond, played by Karen Gillan. I think Burn Notice should be starting a new season, too. I also plan to finish watching a few shows that I've been watching by season (My Name is Earl, Chuck, etc.). [that period, parenthesis, period felt very wrong grammatically. hmm]
Haven't seen many new movies. I did get to see This Film is Not Yet Rated, Choke, Up in the Air, and Where the Wild Things Are. I liked the first and third of those, but the second and fourth were just pretty good. Oh! Iron Man 2 was good, but not as good as its predecessor. Sam Rockwell's and Mickey Rourke's performances were both excellent, but my man-crush on RDJ didn't keep me from thinking he was just doing more of the same with too much of that talk-under-his-breath thing. P.S. Super excited about Thor. D'oh! We also watched Kick Ass! and it was as good as the comics (which were great). Wife and I are excited about both Avatar: The Last Airbender (calling it wrong title purposely) and Scott Pilgrim VS the World.
Gaming
Bah, I'll save this for the next post. Running late for dinner and games at my brother's house. Needless to say, I've been playing World of Warcraft, Lego Batman, Fable 2, and Dungeons and Dragons.
