What is certain is that the History of Love and Marriage class has won the contest for the most monstrous course packet ever.

At $61, it rivals an entire ream of printer paper but only holds roughly 35 readings.

I dropped Survey of Acting in favor of Music Appreciation, which I think will suit me and my insane load much better. I went to the bookstore to pick up the textbook, only to find it was one of those shrink-wrapped deals. The pack contained a smallish textbook and 2 music CDs — for $103. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I said to the bookshelf. I promptly went home and ordered the text and CDs from Amazon and, even with expedited shipping, it only cost a mere $65 and change. Screw you, textbook racketeers.

If you only see me on the weekends, you now know why.

Expand for comparison shots of the monstrous packet.

My Honors Senior Seminar requires two books and one packet. The $31 packet is 271 numbered pages with two lightweight cardstock covers, so it’s actually roughly 135 sheets of regular copy paper and two sheets of lightweight cardstock. For $31. We are all in the wrong field. You want to make money? Make (legal? illegal?) black and white copies of books and articles for professors and charge the students at least $0.23 per sheet. You’re guaranteed business because if students don’t buy the packet, they fail the course.

The $34 book is Social Research: A Simple Guide by Morley D. Glicken and the $33 book is Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality: A Symbolic Interactionist Approach to Social Psychology and Sociology by Kent L. Sandstrom, Daniel D. Martin, and Gary Alan Fine (one of the authors was also my professor’s doctorate advisor). For Symbols, I’ll be checking back at the bookstore to see if they get in either a used copy in better condition (I can’t stand someone else’s highlighting and notes) or a new book. I’ll pay the extra $15 to get a text without as much marking as the one I currently have has. Yeah, have has.

So, grand total for Spring 2006: $430.86.

Please don’t ever vote for someone who believes it’s good to cut funding to (higher) education. Some of us really, really need those state grants.

Like, for instance, the gal from my feminist theory class who hasn’t shown up once in the past three weeks. It’s her prerogative, and I’m sure she knows what she’s doing. Or how my statistics-for-sociology-majors class size has dwindled to a mere 13 or 14 regular attendees (out of at least 30). The rest only show up on Fridays for the quiz or exam, and they seem to be okay with that.

In a slightly different light, I’ve decided to stop attending my philosophy class — the one I overslept for on the first exam, the same one wherein I skipped the same first exam last semester and rightly failed. (Come on! It was Derrick Jensen!)

Why would I do such a stupid, stupid thing? Mostly because I can take one more stab at it (and will do so over the summer semester) but also because I loathe this course like none other I’ve ever taken. The class would be okay if we actually discussed the philosophy of eastern religions, but it’s a large lecture-hall course where the professor puts up outlines on the overhead projector and lectures at us for 50 minutes three times a week. Discussions? Philosophical inquiries? Not a chance. To me, that’s not a philosophy course. But excuses are just excuses.

I’m well aware that all the blame lies on me. I’m even more aware that this system wasn’t designed for folks like me and I can either play along or deal with the consequences.

I’m okay with that.