Sitrep: Parody/classes

I'm keeping busy with Parody stuff, which has been nice. It's a lot of work, having to juggle keeping a lot of different pans in the fire, but I've found the trick is to just choose to roll with it - and to enjoy it. So far, the worst we've had to deal with is having a few people drop out, which I'm hoping is just normal for the first week, as people realize what they've gotten themselves into. I'm pretty sure the same thing happened last year, at least. And we did cast 2-3 people more than we needed to, so we're still in the black. Still, I just hope we don't have to make any more changes. I guess Parody was just such a formidable experience for me last year that it's hard not to think of it as a privilege. And when people just choose to quit, after we've given them this chance, I feel insulted - because they've taken this opportunity to do something interesting and rare away from someone else. In any case, for those who remain I really hope that we can give to the cast this year what the cast last year gave to me.

Apart from that, my classes are going nutso. I chose all of them with the goal of not really having to work very hard, just to think and be entertained. So far, I seem to have gotten more than I bargained for. Dersh's Taboo Subjects is out of control - it's half undergrads who are completely (and reasonably) floored by the idea of being cold-called in a class of 400 people. One student actually tried to kiss up to Dersh by apologizing for everyone else "antagonizing" him - i.e., participating with him in the Socratic method. It was adorable and arrogant at the same time. The class takes place in the Science Center, which brings back all sorts of awkward, poorly lit memories. Second in my list of crazy classes is Entertainment Law with Bruce Hay, which is apparently going to be taught more by presentations from students than from Professor Hay. Today we spent most of the two hours watching movie clips - including clips of video game porn - supposedly to demonstrate various issues of creative control. I found it helpful. How else could I really have grasped the subtle differences between the U.K. version of "the Office" and the new American remake without seeing a side by side shot of Ricky Jervais and Steve Carell? Next is Free Speech seminar, a coup for me, since I took Free Speech lecture last term. Also, the professor is approx 800 years old, so I've got a pretty good shot at the "trauma A" if nature takes its course. (Knock on wood.) Finally, legal professions, taught by a practitioner from Philly who wears bowties and loves to wax philosophic and cancel class.

All in all, school is pretty damn cool.