1) Seems to like me, and therefore suggested said tet-a-tet session to study and also as an excuse to hang out.

2) Is there purely for business and thought I was the most competent (or something) person out of the group to pick.

Somehow the following doesn't give me much assurance:

"...I'll come prepared and hopefully we can leave there feeling geared up and ready to go."

The peppy 'let's study way in advance' vibe had been there over several e-mails. I'm not at all worried about the quiz. My advisor told me straight-up he'd be bowled over if I had any problems with it. But perhaps she's cautious and genuinely committed to tackling the material, which I guess for someone who doesn't specialize in it (i.e., me) could be kinda daunting.

I can identify with the 'use a sledgehammer where a nerf baseball bat is needed' approach.

Still, there's bound to be some lingering time when we're having lunch and afterward. I can't help shaking the feeling she's engaged or something, but I'll find out soon enough.

I know that all seems vaguely pathetic, but she seems nice and one of my types, so what the fuck.

* * *

In completely unrelated news, I got a forward from Ben of yet another frantic undergrad. In a class of over 400 people, there's weird shit that always crops up.

This was garden variety: the student had gotten a 16 out of a 50 and absolutely knew she'd put her exam in the wrong pile. This happens occasionally and it's only a minor pain in the ass (unlike the fucker who put his scantron inside his test, requiring a spelunking trek through 300 exams to find said scantron).

So I assured the student I'd get onto it this weekend. She emailed back all grateful, blah blah blah. She was leaving later tonight and she'd be much happier over break if she knew sooner than later. It was written relatively sweetly--and I have a soft spot for people who have to worry about lingering academic horseshit over an alleged vacation.

So I left Barriques early and trekked to the psych building. It was temperate and gorgeous outside. I'd missed warm weather so much, and I felt completely chill. Like I actually slow walked instead of my usual 'I am in the biggest fucking hurry but don't want to run' pace.

I got into my office and found her scantron in short order. Sure enough, she'd put it in the wrong pile. And I settled in to hand-grade it. Only one problem: while she says she studied "very hard" for the exam, er, well...she ended up scoring an 18 out of 50 on the right form. I double checked it twice. I double checked using the other answer form for form B twice. She bombed horribly in both cases.

So here was my moral dilemma: do I email a student that, yes, they put their exam in the wrong pile, but they still completely bombed an exam? Or, do I say jack shit, let them only vaguely worry but be hopeful during spring break, and come back to said bombing?

Hill was having her aniversary with Sven, so that was kinda out of the question. Instead I phoned Brian for a second opinion. He suggested just posting the grade and saying nothing. So I hung up with him, emailed Ben the grade, and left it at that.

Well my thoughtfulness was moot. He emailed her a letter about the whole thing. Ah well.

* * *

Oh, before I forget, Brian and I shot pool and watched The Aristocrats on friday. Pool ended up going well for me this time. We yakked about his borderline wanting to leave grad school, our similar socioeconomic backgrounds, what it was like interacting with others who came from fundamentally different backgrounds, why people were intimidated by his unorthodox methods, and finally why I come across as (and am) overly controlling of myself. We do cathartic shit like that usually.

The movie was, well, more interesting than funny. It's the type of flick where it would have been hilarious with 200 other people in a dark theatre. I got some good laughs, though.

* * *

There's an ending to this somewhere.

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