Wednesday, March 10, 2010

What's in a Name?

Part of getting married has meant changing my last name. And while this sounds easy enough, believe me, it is not. First I had to change my name at the social security office before I could file taxes. Then I had to change my name at my new bank - I barely had time to activate my new debit card before I received an even newer one with my new name on it. I still need to activate that one. One step at a time. And the sneaky man at the bank pulled a few strings for us so we wouldn't have to get a whole new set of checks as soon as I came in to change my name - so the checks came with Jacobs on them to begin with.

I also had to go get new a student ID. Of course, I had to wait until I had a new social security card to do that, so I didn't end up switching my name with the school until a good ways into the new semester. I've been putting "Caitlin (Bishop) Jacobs" on all my papers so that teachers would find it easier to keep straight who I am. Apparently it didn't work. I had a teacher tell me yesterday that he didn't have a grade for me for the only assignment we've turned in. I informed him that it was probably due to my last name changing and proceeded to show him the assignment he had given back to me weeks earlier (I want my 96% thank you very much).

Same thing happened with a test I'm trying to take in April. I'm taking this test to become a Certified Health Education Specialist - which basically just means I get to put the letters "CHES" after my name and feel really important and smart. But I received an email yesterday informing me that they were missing a letter from my advisor and if they didn't get it by today, I wouldn't be able to take my test until October. Panicking, I called Tanya in Pennsylvania to straighten it out. I explained again that my last name had changed, and was it possible that this was the cause of the missing letter that I know was sent in over a month ago.

And so I echo the immortal words of Juliet - "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet". Or, we could go the opposite direction and quote Proctor from the Crucible as he cries out "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!" I think I'll side with Proctor on this one- I like my new name. Leave it to me.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Such a Strange Little Town

Today Terry and I wanted to go to the International Cinema to see Slumdog Millionaire. Now, I just wanted to see it because I'd heard it was such a good movie, but since I don't watch R-rated films, I hadn't ever seen it. The university edits films and shows them for free in one of the buildings on campus, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to see a film I wouldn't otherwise watch. There were two showings - one at 1pm and one at 8pm. We showed up to the afternoon viewing only to be sadly turned away because the theater was full. Thinking that we were being very clever, we showed up to the 8 o'clock showing just after 7. By the time we got there, the line wound all the way through the building, out the door, and several hundred feet past that. Seriously?! Other campuses boycott things like censored movies! It's something people abhor, and yet we encourage and embrace it. And the funny thing is, people actually waited in this line. We waited in it because we were just outside the building and thought we might actually have a small chance at getting into the theater, which holds about 300 people. But the hundreds of people behind us must have known that they weren't getting in.

The line finally started moving when the movie they showed just before it finished. We didn't make it.

And just a word to those who were saving seats while dozens of people were standing in the aisles, demanding that they be given the seats since they were actually there in person, or even waving money around and offering to pay for a seat to the FREE movie - rude. Very rude. Take a look at the situation, realize that the people standing in front of you actually waited in line, while the friend you're saving the seat for obviously didn't, and give up the seat. Ok rant over.

I've decided that if I really want to see the movie that badly, I can borrow it from my dad and take it to my mom's house and watch it on her clearplay. But the odds of me going through both of my parents to watch this movie are extremely thin. I suppose I shall just forever live in curiosity over what this movie really is about. Really, how much can I be missing?