Tuesday Afternoon

It's Tuesday, and I am certifiably bored.

Ruby Tuesday
by The Rolling Stones, from the album Between the Buttons (1967)

She would never say where she came from
Yesterday don't matter if it's gone
While the sun is bright or in the darkest night
No one knows
She comes and goes

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I'm gonna miss you

Don't question why she needs to be so free
She'll tell you it's the only way to be
She just can't be chained to a life where nothing's gained and nothing's lost
At such a cost

“There's no time to lose” I heard her say
Catch your dreams before they slip away
Dying all the time
Lose your dreams and you will lose your mind
Ain't life unkind?

Of course, I heard the song first by The Corrs.

Students have been dropping by the office all day to submit their assignments. One was due last Thursday, while another was supposed to be submitted yesterday, but being the nice and considerate lecturer that I am, I accepted them all. I haven’t looked at the papers, anyway.

Students’ assignments are a major source of heartache for the terrible English. I had a classmate from a French-speaking African country who spoke and wrote excellent English despite having learned the language only upon joining IIUM. The average Malaysian student has at least eleven years of English in school, but still cannot write complete, intelligible sentences; forget the grammar. Whose fault is it?

For the sake of my sanity, it’s a strong incentive not to give essay-type assignments.