I don't understand stuff

Why are all my students calling it a "colored TV"? I always thought it was "color TV." Is this like the chocolate bar - candy bar thing (which I had no idea about)? It seems effing weird and unsettling. Is this just proof that I'm old because the difference between a black-and-white and color TV was a real one for me? Or is this just a weird Americana moment where the word "colored" sneaks in everywhere? Yikes, either way.

Problem child from last term is on a plane home right now, having flunked out of his second semester and withdrawn from the college. I feel bad about it but also anyone could see this coming. Meanwhile, after somewhat absentmindedly handing out a "what did you think about the class?" sheet last week, I'm getting folded-up manifestos in my mailbox about how class changed anonymous so-and-so's semester and s/he was going to drop out but didn't and all kinds of stuff. It really is positive feedback, so I can feel good about that, but holy shit, I'd forgotten what it was like to be 20 and totally screwed up (like everyone else with half a brain). The melodrama! The hormones! The anonymity is bunk - I have 23 students, I know who writes what. Also, separating out who has emotional problems and who needs help with their emotional problems is impossible. I have my eye on the guy who only shows up when the syllabus promises a class about genocide or some other horribleness, but I am going to guess that the others are Normal-Crazy instead of Crazy-Crazy. Happily, the second the final is over, all of this drama will instantly disappear and they will forget everything except for that film clip I showed where the one guy peed on the other guy. (Thanks tmath)

What I'm saying is, I am SO glad that this semester is almost over! And there's something to be said for giant lecture sections with an army of TAs that hopefully preserve the sanity of the prof.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, my diss, yeah, yeah, yeah, I should do it. Certainly instead of thinking about this stuff.