Biology, Otherwise Known as the Eighth Circle Of Hell

[raven_cromwell]

Somewhere in the tumult of summer semester, I discovered the work of the inimitable C. S. E. Coony through her remarkable novel Saint Death's Daughter. The novel itself is a constant unfurling joy for me--it's almost six hundred pages y'all and it has footnotes and the feel of a grand Tolkien epic except it's queer and centers women and poetry and necromancy with consequences and I could wax rhapsodic endlessly and haven't even finished it. But, for the purposes of the post at hand: there's this passage where two friends discuss the fact that one has utterly failed to correspond for eight months. And the failing correspondent looks helplessly at the intended recipient and says: I have fragments of hundreds of letters I began writing you, but there were never-ending distractions. Y'all, I want a shirt or mug or something because best mood encapsulation ever.

Summer semester was a whirlwind: learning the online learning environment, remembering my unpardonably rust MLA. Fall is a delight and challenge, with profs who're pushing me harder than I've ever been pushed. Except. Except for biology, which is eating up time like a ravenous dragon and making it impossible to give my other classes the attention and thoughtfulness they deserve.

The college contracted with McGraw Hill, which is notorious for being vile on the accessibility front. They've claimed to invest significant time in righting past wrongs, and initially I was cautiously optimistic. But the activities that are accessible--and they have modified things in some cool and interesting ways, with good descriptions of graphics--still take two-three hours with a screen reader, compared to the hour they're "supposed" to consume. And sometimes, you run smack dab into something that just...isn't. Like they put in tremendous effort and then got exhausted and went fuck it, we won't implement the proticals we already have here; no one will call us on it. I'm getting by on a mishmash of scribes and complicated written explanations to show that I do understand how the other students are dragging and dropping.

So, for all of you I owe E-mail too, or who I've just dropped out of comment threads with, I'm so damn sorry. Know that I would vastly prefer engaging with fandom right now, but for the moment, hell's circle has a boa-like grip; eventually, perhaps, I will escape.

Comments

[delphi]

I'm sorry to hear about the Biology and about the obvious need for McGraw Hill to be yeeted in its entirety into the sun, but I'm very glad that Fall semester has its delights! Always good to hear from you, but I completely understand how all-consuming school is.