Deep and misty-eyed thanks to the cheering section! (BF for "best friend" sounds good!)
Had no problem getting up this morning. Like most kids on the First Day of School, I was up before my cell phone alarm rang (playing "Begin the Beguine" by Artie Shaw), and on the road by 6:45. Even so, when I got to the classroom, there were two kids there ahead of me.
But let me tell you about this teacher, hereinafter referred to as Prof. I may have mentioned that last semester our regular scatterbrained teacher was off one night and Prof substituted. He made a HUGE impression on me. Knowledgeable, good communicator, very clean and clear way of talking... no "edge" to his words and no "charge," if you kwim. Just straightforward answers to questions, and encouraging, even enthusiastic comments, when appropriate. I learned more in that night than in the whole previous semester. Even if I hadn't broken my ankle, I might have withdrawn from her class anyway and waited to take his.
He is THE most passionate, organized, committed teacher/artist I may ever have come across in my whole academic life. He really puts himself out there, stating his values (honesty is THE biggest one), his expectations, and standards (which are very high), his willingness to help and support if we do our part (he said "I will never abandon you"). Holy cow (excuse the expression), I may be in love already.
I've looked at his website and his design work is stunning. He takes himself and his students seriously as artists. He handed out (actually emailed to our class computers) a 50-page pdf with the calendar, the assignments, his personal teaching philosophy, a section on typography-- just general stuff that you need to navigate the class. He's a bit arrogant (which I like, as I've said, as long as the guy has something to be cocky ABOUT), and a bit of a performer (which I also like). His self-confidence seems tempered with a nice balance of humility. He said he will always own up to his mistakes.
He's single (don't know about dating). Has a daughter whom he raised as a single parent. (Possibly this is an indication that he's not gay, but not necessarily.) The daughter is a first grade teacher. He mentioned her twice. He walks with a cane, possibly due to a broken leg that happened while he was backpacking around Europe for SEVEN YEARS when he was younger. He is missing part of his little finger on his left hand. He referred to himself as "old" a couple of times in a humorous way, but I suspect I'm older than he is (but not by a whole lot). I'm guessing late 40's to mid-50's.
He's about two inches shorter than I am (puts him around 5'5"), average build, completely bald, black jeans, gray sweater with a slight v-neck, revealing a brick red crew neck t-shirt underneath. He's in his office every morning at 6:30 AM! He said to check in with him often and let him know how we are doing, ask questions, etc. He will do his part, but not if we don't do ours. He labeled himself as rigid and inflexible ("When people tell you who they are, believe them"), and I have no reason to doubt this. He seems highly disciplined. He did mention that he has cats. Also he made some kindly remarks about dogs.
K. That's all I know so far. Oboy, this is going to be fun.
One thing I'm sure of: at the end of this semester, I'm going to know a LOT about Adobe Illustrator!
