Today was the big day. It’s all about thesis presentations in class. Marshall talked about transitional life programs for parolees – that must be inspiring work. Joe Lucas wowed us with a vibrant reading of an excerpt of his life – it was well acted and well, I had no idea about his past and his addictions. He’s come a long way. I wouldn’t have recognized him then, I suppose. Gerald talked about ‘The Pocket Anger Manager” and the cycles of depression and anger that perpetuate themselves. He has inside his head a vast storehouse of inspirational knowledge. I’m happy to know him, and now that he has a working email address, able to talk to him in the future.Man, I was nervous. I’m not usually nervous in front of a crowd, but then I’m only singing most of the time. I think because it’s a cohort of people I know really well, I know I wouldn’t be able to bullshit any of them. I kept thinking about anything that could go wrong – the Powerbook getting water all over it, the connection to the TV not working, fumbling around, boring people.
It went off without a hitch. At one point I must have been getting Someone’s attention, because thunder rumbled as I was playing a clip from the “What Would Jesus Drive?” campaign. I think people were initially turned off by the politically incorrect nature of the ads, but I needed only to remind them that they weren’t the target demographic – that I was working outside the left’s bubble to accomplish this. I took 40 of the 45 minutes, with 5 minutes for questions – so much for not filling up the time available.
One more day of a weekend class, until this fall. One more paper to turn in. I’m going to miss my cohort.