Journal Short Circuit's Journal: Classes, performances, et al. 9

Well, Monday was an interesting day. I got to work at 4PM, ready do do some more system testing. Then a coworker mentioned it was his first day in class, and I realized, "Hey, I go to the same college he does..."

Twenty minutes later, I'd bought my textbook. An hour and a half after that, I was in class.

It's cool. I get to learn a little about an operating system and its underlying hardware that I'd barely even heard of, and with design concepts that are essentially alien to me. (A filesystem that's not stream-based? How dare you?!)

I won't get to touch the command line, or even the terminal interface (Another treat...I'd never heard of block-oriented terminals. They remind me of HTML forms, though.), but I will get to use a web interface, and learn how to work with the database built into the OS. (Ooh, IBM, you anticompetitive jerks--wait, you're supporting Linux, aren't you? No, I didn't say anything.)

All this to learn "Advanced Database Design and Implementation" ... This is going to be a fun class.

And after class, I went to an Open Mic night event. I'd invite all you guys, but I know nobody from Grand Rapids reads this. I didn't perform the piece I'd written for the occasion, but I did get up and perform They're Coming to Take Me Away, HAHA!, by Napoleon XIV:

Remember when you ran away
And I got on my knees
And begged you not to leave
Because I'd go berserk?

Well...

You left me anyhow
And then the days got worse and worse
And now you see I've gone completely out of my mind.

And...

They're coming to take me away, ha ha!
They're coming to take me away, ho ho, hee hee, ha ha!
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to those nice young men in those clean white coats
And they're coming to take me away, ha ha!

You thought it was a joke and so you laughed
You laughed!
When I told you that losing you would make me flip my lid,

RIGHT?!

You know you laughed.
I heard you laugh.
You laughed, you laughed, you laughed,
But then you left
And now you know I'm utterly mad.

And.

They're coming to take me away, ha ha!
They're coming to take me away, ho ho, hee hee, ha ha!
To the happy home!
With trees,
and flowers,
and chirping birds,
And basketweavers who sit,
And smile,
And twiddle their thumbs and toes,
And they're coming to take me away, ha ha!

I cooked your food,
I cleaned your house,
And this is how you pay me back for all my kind unselfish loving deeds.

EH?!

Well you just wait.
They'll find you yet.
And when they do they'll put you in the ASPCA
You mangy mutt!

And.

They're coming to take me away, ha ha!
They're coming to take me away, ho ho, hee hee, ha ha!
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to those nice young men in those clean white coats
And they're coming to take me away, ha ha!

And, well, I sucked. I performed that piece much better back in the class I memorized it for. Maybe I'll try again, maybe not. I got some encouragement from some of the audience members.

(Warning! Change in context)

The first time I performed that piece, one of my classmates wasn't there. I ran into him on campus a couple days later, and asked him what he thought of it. (I hadn't known he wasn't there...) He told me he hadn't been there, but he'd heard about my performance.

So here I am, exstatic that someone remembered my performance out of the ten or twelve that night. So, naturally, I asked, "What'd he say?"

"That there's no way in hell he's walking down a dark alley with you."

Score. >:-)

Last week, I was thinking about that song, and started singing it while at work. I got through the first verse and first refrain, before one of my bosses told me, "Mike, stop it. You're scaring me." And by the look on her face and tone of her voice, she wasn't kidding.

So I began thinking about why it worked so well. I went over the verses in my head, and noticed an odd-feeling grin spreading over my face as I internally recited the refrain. A grin born of the expectation of imminent, delicious revenge.

Wearing that grin, I walked toward one of my coworkers. He said, "Mike, Back off!" I explained what I was doing, and asked if it worked. He replied, "Well, don't get involved in anything involving small children."

(/change in context)

I know what went wrong Monday night...I got nervous. I didn't stutter, but there was no grin, my recital timing was off, and I used refrain 2 when I should have used refrain 3. Like I said, maybe I'll try again, maybe not.

Anyway, I've got this idea about writing an essay a week, and reading those, instead. I'm not that good with poetry.