Mmm.

I am quite content at the moment. I feel like a happy little kitten, speaking of which, I hear there are fantastic photographs of Agnes meeting Bruce, Gwen, Cooper and Pekoe for the first time. Can't wait for those.

It's rainy out but I am all warm and cozy in my house, about to embark on reading for my classes. Also, Olga made all my favorite foods (Yes, she has been managing to cook. She sits on a stool in the kitchen apparently).... she makes this salad which is really good with corn and chicken and rice and then she made (just for me! she said as no one else eats them really) her delicious blini-like-pancake-guys filled with apple and I drank tea and am full and happy.

I also am in a good mood because the project I accidentally got involved helping Bryan with -- re-cataloging all of the old books and new books in the Bard-Smolny lending library in the office -- we finished tonight. It looks beautiful. It is all color-coded: gold (guide books), green (culture), orange (Russian as a second language), blue (reference), ugly light brown (Russian literature in Russian) and pink (Russian literature in English). The librarian in me is glowing with pride. I also made a beautiful sign for the "Good Old" GIVE & TAKE Area! I even took pictures -- don't you worry -- to remember this beautiful day when it was once all cataloged and organized and lovely before everyone in the program gets their messy little klepto hands all over everything and the library is never the same. At least we had this day.

But the reason why I am in the BEST mood is because my CLASS SITUATION IS FINALLY RESOLVED. Yesssssssssssssssssss.................. there is still a small chance printmaking might be offered later in the semester, as a half course or something, and Olga said this morning that she could probably introduce me to Yuri through Sveta if I wanted and all that, but I'm not counting on any of that since things often fall through in Russia. Instead, this is my beautiful schedule:

MONDAYS:
1pm - 2:30pm: RSL (conversation)
2:50pm - 6:10pm: Video Production (in Russian, 4 credits)

TUESDAYS:
11am - 12:30pm: RSL (grammar)
1pm - 4:20pm: Masterclass Seminar for Practicing Artists (in English, audit)

WEDNESDAYS:
1pm - 2:30pm: RSL (СМИ - learning about how to read newspapers, etc.)

THURSDAYS:
4:40pm - 8pm: Russian Film & Interpretation (in English, 4 credits)
8pm - 10pm: Visiting Artist Lecture Series (in Russian/English, audit)

FRIDAYS:
11am - 12:30pm: RSL (phonetics)
1pm - 2:30pm: RSL (reading & writing)
4:40pm - 8pm: JP's Bakhtin Class (in English, 3 credits)

I love it. It's so beautiful. Tell me when I have ever had a schedule that fabulous at Wellesley. The only shitty part is having class until 8pm on Friday nights, but no one does anything on weekend nights until 9pm at the earliest anyway, so that's fine. Beautiful.

Ahh, content sigh.

Things are good. Time to start about 200 pages of reading for film class and Bakhtin. At least it's all in English.