Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Oh, that's right. I DID do something productive.

I said I did something productive, and I wasn't lying. I decorated my cereal box with my Sharpie. For a long time. It's Fiberlicious!
I also drew a zebra on the barcode. Filled in all the letters, even the fine print. Traced all the cereal in the bowl. Gave a guy some glasses. Gave a guy a top hat and mustache. Gave a woman a stuck-out tongue and an earring. It was a fiberlicious good time. 
Told you I was productive today.

Whew.

I really need a Vicodin right now, but that's okay. I can explain.
I just got back from the first GALL meeting of the semester. There weren't very many people at all, which was sad. Mike was there, and we painted him. Mrs. McCranie would be so proud--I'm experimenting with lots of new media! Spray paint and wood, tempera and human skin (Or was it acrylic? Either way, it's staying on my poor jacket.)... What's next? We planned a few things, though I didn't share my idea just yet. 
I was riding in the elevator from my Latin class today, and I thought it would be interesting just to tape colorful paper circles to the walls and ceilings. With two people in the elevator, it could probably be done in a single ride. Bathrooms would also be an option, yet they're larger and have higher walls. It would take a bit longer, and it might be awkward  I think the entire Computer Science department covered in red dots--a computer virus--would be fun. That would be really hard to do, though, because the basement where the Computer Science department is located is actually pretty big. 
Being on the floor painting, though, was not good for my hip. Oh well. It was fun. 
This is going to sound really random, but I'm getting good at mixing up a bunch of weird foods and having them come out to taste pretty decent. In the dining hall today, one of the servers asked me if I wanted some pork. I politely declined, and he wanted to make sure. I declined once again, and he asked me if I'm a vegetarian. I nodded, so he offered me some mashed potatoes. I decided to take some mashed potatoes from him, even though I really didn't want them. Then I mixed in some salad dressing, some peas, some carrots, some green beans, and some garbanzo beans. It sounds repulsive, but it wasn't bad at all. I also had a slice of toast slathered with apple butter. I just realized why they weren't serving peanut butter this week. I mean, I've known about the recalls, but I've been eating my peanut butter cereal and my jar of peanut butter. I forgot about the salmonella and chunked down a whole load of the cereal, but I didn't get sick. I've eaten more of my jar peanut butter than I'd like to admit, too. So I'm okay. It just didn't dawn on me that they weren't putting out the peanut butter because of the recall. Seriously, people, I'm not usually that slow.
I also tried some veggie sushi today. It tasted like fish. It was tolerable, though. I liked the rice that was in it. The seaweed paper stuff on the outside just wasn't that good. I should've put some kind of soy sauce on it or something. 
I did other productive things today, I swear. I didn't just paint people and eat. I swear. 
I translated some of the Aeneid for class, and I also translated some Catullus (sight reading, just so you know :) ) for fun. 
I really should do some stuff for my classes tomorrow. I didn't have anything for my seminar class, and I didn't have anything for Chemistry. I GET TO RIDE TOMORROW. I'm excited. Sorry. Not. Did I have something due for CompSci? Not sure. I'll go check. 
I want oatmeal. Or some Gatorade. Maybe both.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Day off.

I came back to school on Sunday because I thought I might try to get some studying done. I did, in fact, read a little bit for my Latin class and get started copying the lines for my interlinear translation. That was about it, though. 
Last night, I went to bed around 11:30 (I know I'm lame.) and was dreaming something really nice. At 2:30-ish, there was a loud banging on the door. I had the room to myself last night because my roommates weren't around (I have no idea where they were.), so I had to get up and answer it. It took me a bit to realize that it was someone banging the crap out of our door, and then it took me a while to get down from the ladder. It was one of our suitemates who had locked herself out of her room and needed to come in through the bathroom. I was really confused, but that just made it even funnier when I woke up this morning and remembered it. 
I walked down to have breakfast this morning, and it was very good. I always love fruit in the morning. Then, I decided to cross the little bridge coming from the dining hall out toward the plaza where the big fountain is located. There's a steep path leading from the end of the bridge down to a little stream, then up the bank to a little bench. I decided to walk down there and sit on the bench for a while. I thought I was going to fall down the path at first, because it was very steep and full of holes. Everything was okay, though, and I spent a lot of time just sitting there listening to the water and birds. I also went out to do some photography, but I didn't really find anything or anyone I wanted to photograph. I worked on some dream analysis and wrote down the previous night's dream. I did some brainstorming for GALL because tomorrow night is going to be a brainstorming session and human canvas thing. I wasted a whole lot of time reading about Improv Everywhere's most recent "mission." 
If you haven't heard of Improv Everywhere, you should Google them. They're an improv group that causes scenes and does social experiments in New York. I think they're hilarious. GALL is basically a small-scale Improv Everywhere. I would love to travel to NY just to participate in one of their events. Maybe one day...
I'm so glad that classes were cancelled for today. I really should do some stuff now, though. I need to start translating before class tomorrow. Tomorrow I only have one class in the middle of the day, so it's almost as good as the whole day off. 

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Everything But Chemistry.

I am, almost literally, doing everything except my Chemistry work. I'm eating carrots and typing this blog post. That should be enough for you right there. I was also on the phone with my mom for a while. I'm organizing my desk and trying to think of something to do with a nearly full can of spray paint. I went to the poetry slam and was one of the judges. 
Yeah, that was an experience. 
The whole thing was running late because there were no judges around, so a guy went searching around the entire room looking for a handful of non-poets to do the honors. I think they were really desperate, because I heard Mike say "Get Sam, she's in GALL." and I was thinking "Get me for what?!" 
I didn't think I'd make a good judge, and I told the guy that. Finally, he and Mike (not the Mike whose work I am currently avoiding, by the way) convinced me to do it. It was fun. All I had to do was listen, which I intended to do either way. I just had to add on a little writing and card holding. 
I'd really wanted to attend one of the slams before, but my chemistry labs last semester ended shortly before each one and...well, you're not in the mood for poetry when you get out of a lab at 10PM and feel hungry and unhappy. Now I guess I can go to them more often :)
Seriously, though, I need to study.
Oh, and two other people randomly popped in the room and asked me for CompSci help. I still don't know how they found me. I'm glad to help, though, even though I don't know what I'm doing either. I just happen to have gotten it to work well enough to complete the assignment and turn it in. I needed Stephen's help in office hours today, though. Office hours with Stephen are actually kinda fun, though (at least the most fun office hours I've ever been to, mostly because he's funny), and he was really helpful.
Study time. 

Er, yeah.

A guy just knocked on our door. I answered it, and he asked me if he could ask me a question about computer science. I gladly obliged, trying to explain to him how to save something while working in the VIM tutor. My only question is...how in the world did he know where I live? That creeps me out a little. Oh well. I was glad to help. 
I've really got to get working on my chemistry or I won't be able to go to the poetry thing tonight. Since I really want to go, I'm going to buckle down. No more computer science, no more blogging, no more Facebook, no more eating, no more cleaning, no more Latin... 
Just chemical kinetics. Brilliant...

Still Bored.

I'm done with all my classes for the day. I have nothing to do.
I should go see Stephen about my homework this afternoon. I've finished it, but I have to make sure he can see it and that it actually did get finished. I'm paranoid, but he said we'd be dropped from the class if we didn't turn in this first homework. I love this class too much to leave it! 
I guess I'll go to the poetry thing tonight. As I said, I have nothing to do. (I know it sounds like I'm only going to go because I have nothing to do, but that's not the case. I like listening to people reading good poetry.)
I was reading the Aeneid out loud in Latin last night. It was really awkward because I haven't read Latin out loud very often, let alone that much. I mean, it's not like they teach us to speak a dead language--which is rather unfortunate. It sounded so beautiful when I read it in Latin, so I tried in English. The translation didn't sound as good. I remember reading a few translated Catullus poems, particularly XVI, the one they always omit from the AP syllabus for its content :) The translation that I read for this one was REALLY good--it rhymed, had meter, everything. It wasn't just a prose translation of the poem. 
That makes me think of being back in high school, where the tech guys had to take down the computer filters so that I could do my coursework. We were assigned to look at some pictures, which included photos of nude statues, and the computer told me that it was pornography. I was absolutely offended, mostly because I don't see how the human body is offensive. It was artwork! I think the filters also had a lot of problems with the profanity and sexual content in some of the Catullus translations (Er...XVI again?), which also irritated me. 
I was also tagging some photos that Drew and I took in the hallway in our last year of high school. In the background of my favorite photo was...you guessed it, a security camera. I promptly tagged that portion of the photo with "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING." 
I really didn't notice how oppressive all of that stuff was until I got here. There aren't filters on the computers. I haven't seen a single security camera on the campus. The academic buildings aren't locked at night, at least in the late hours that I've gone to traverse through them. Professors say whatever they want. Clubs can say things on their posters that would have gotten someone in serious trouble in high school (Example: Today I saw a poster in the dining hall that incorporated the acronym "WTF?"). GALL exists on campus and is pretty much free to do anything. Until the other day--you heard my sob story in a previous post--students were free to spray paint whatever they wanted on the wooden wall. There is just so much freedom here, and it's just not like high school. 
I love this place. 
I'm sorry you had to read through that entire rant, but I was just thinking about that earlier. It made me very happy. 
I'm going to go for a walk, I think.
(I didn't help with GALL yesterday. I got back from riding late, I was cold, I was sore, I was hungry, and I really didn't want to see the animal rights club and have to explain why I've stopped coming. Oh well.)

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Bored.

I have a half hour until lunch and an hour and a half until computer science. I guess I'll type here for a little while.
I'm actually feeling pretty good about Chemistry this semester. Prof. Pearson (Mike?) keeps mentioning Calculus, and I was getting really nervous. I took Pre-Cal in high school, but did I learn anything? Eh, no. I did other classwork, drew pictures, or napped. I also took Trig, Algebra II, and Geometry in high school, but I didn't learn anything in those classes either. Well, I learned a little bit in Trig, mostly because the teacher was my aunt and I had to pay attention and do my stuff. In Algebra II, the teacher was a complete idiot--the class specialized in discord, such as the "electronic poot machine," throwing paper balls, failed "book drops," and leaving class to get some cigarettes from the convenience store down the road. In Geometry, the teacher taught maybe three lessons the entire year. We spent the rest of the time coloring in geometric coloring sheets, making crude jokes, gossiping about a certain teacher who had a profile on a dating site, and...uh, I almost got jumped for something I didn't even say O_o
What? I digress, as usual... 
I'm feeling good about Chemistry, though. I understand all of the conceptual stuff. It's really just the math that I have a problem with, and I bet you know why now that I've explained my past history of math classes. The math really isn't that bad yet, though. The rest of the class will probably kill me if they see this, but I hope Mike assigns lots of Mastering Chemistry work. It helps me, even though it can be really frustrating. 
My seminar class today was pretty good. We had to analyze a paper on the effect of lunar phase on emergency room visits that require CPR. I thought it was really odd, especially since they also went off on something about also finding a correlation between cases of gout, bearing triplets, asthmatic problems, and other random conditions. Come on, that's ridiculous. Perhaps there was a correlation between the new moon and cases requiring CPR, but it could be a mere coincidence. Blah. It was an interesting read, though.
I can't wait until my computer science and riding classes this afternoon. I did all of my computer science homework already. We had to use Terminal to do something with something called VIM. I'm not exactly sure how to explain all of that stuff yet, mostly because I don't quite understand it all yet. Stephen gave us two options--working with the VIM thing and writing in Notepad or something similar. I have experience with writing HTML and such in Notepad, but he said that we should use VIM if there's a chance we'll become Computer Science majors. Hehehe. Right now, it's between Latin/Education and Latin/Computer Science. 
I'm not sure if I want to teach. I'm just not that good at it. Yes, I do have a fair amount of actual teaching experience. And I don't think I'm good at it. If this computer science thing works out, I'll probably double major in Classics (with a concentration in Latin, of course) for fun and Computer Science for a job. I guess this semester will help me decide--and I have to work to get into the teaching program soon, if I want to go that way.
I still wish I could be a cognitive ethologist. My seminar teacher specializes in animal behavior, and I wish I could do that without ever having to take Biology 112. I've already got 111 under my belt because I passed the AP exam, but 112 is the semester where they dissect the fetal pigs. 
If I'm a vegetarian for animal rights reasons, it's hypocritical for me to dissect--especially animals and parts that came from a slaughterhouse.
Plus, I cried just being in the room as my AP Bio class dissected the fetal pigs. Mrs. Smith told me that I could leave, which I did on most days. Once or twice, I forced myself to stay in the room and think about it. I was a little embarrassed, being so worried about "just a pig." But it's not "just a pig," at least not to me. No one, human or animal, is "just" anything in my eyes. I can't imagine doing it and then getting a good night's sleep. Perhaps I could design my own major and somehow work with just 111. Meh. Wishful thinking.
Speaking of biology and thought, I think I will go to lunch. My body is telling me that it needs something else to eat. Yum yum yum, I love lunch time. 
Oh, yes, and I might help advertise for GALL at Club Carnival this afternoon. It all depends on what time I get back from the barn, I guess. Mike (the other Mike) wants us to wear the white masks and walk around again since the GALL table sucks and we want more members. 
I'm leaving now. My tummy's rumbling.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Frustrated and amused...mostly amused.

So, I did my little graffiti stencil last night. I was so proud of myself. I was going to take a picture of the better one today. I walked to breakfast, and I was so excited to see my work in the daylight...
The construction guys had JUST taken down the panel that my stencil was painted on. I mean, seriously. They could've waited five minutes for me to at least snap a picture! I was so frustrated, but then I just threw my head back and laughed. No one got to see it, but at least I got to do it. I did manage to run down to the panel that they hadn't taken down yet and take a crappy camera phone picture of the crappy stencil. 
Now I have to figure out what to do with a can of green spray paint, a mischievous mind, and way too much time on my hands. Perhaps I'll take up chalking the sidewalks. I could draw pretty stuff on campus walk and any concrete I can get my hands on. Meh. That's kind of unoriginal, and it doesn't help the fact that I have a can of spray paint and nothing to do with it. When's the next major building renovation? 
(Illegal graffiti is not my thing.)
Life is short, but some art doesn't stick around very long either. 
In other news, I had my first Latin class of the semester today. And that was it. I'm not sure if I like having just one class TH or not. I got a whole lot of free time for relaxing, going out for breakfast, and studying, but...eh, it was okay. I'm sure I'll find plenty of ways to entertain myself throughout the semester.

Monday, January 12, 2009

The deed is done.

It's 10:47 at night, very cold outside, and I just got back from spraypainting my first stencil thing on The Wall. I did a test one on a very secluded part of the wall, where very few people would see it if it sucked. I sprayed a little too close on part of the test one, and it was a little drippy. At least I realized my mistake so that the "real" one looked better. 
I don't know what I was supposed to hold the thing down with. I used tacky putty for the smallish pieces inside the A's and O's, and I used duct tape on the main piece. It turned out okay, but I think it would've been better if I'd been able to hold the thing closer to the wood. There was a light stray spray around some of the letters and around the edges of the cardboard, which didn't make me very happy. 
I'm inexperienced and I think I should've used something else to hold it down. Oh well. I guess if I do it again (which I should, because it was fun and I haven't used up the can of paint yet) then I'll remember my mistakes and do a better job. 
I can't wait to see it in the daylight. My camera phone didn't want to take a picture of it because it was too dark. I wish I had my real camera so that I could take good pictures of it. If people leave it alone until next week, I might actually get some good pictures. Hopefully people will leave it alone until tomorrow morning so I can at least get a crappy phone picture of it. 
So, I guess I'll elaborate on the actual painting instead of just the end result. I was a little nervous about it, and I have no idea why. Everyone's free to paint on the wall whenever they want with (I'm assuming) whatever message they want. I had fun having it as a little "secret" and pretending to be really slick and devious. I waited until no one was around, and then a guy came up behind me with a spaniel-type dog on a leash. It scared the living daylights out of me. He reassured me that it was okay, even though I wasn't scared of him and his dog. I was scared that it was some kind of creeper, even though I had my Maglite with me and could've knocked someone unconscious if they tried to harm me. I also poked myself with a nail when I was kneeling down on the ground. I should've thought about nails (especially since I got one stuck in the bottom of my boot when I was working with Larry the other day), but I didn't. When I went to work on the second one, there were a few people sitting on a nearby bench. They were mostly talking and laughing, but occasionally they glanced over at me. It felt awkward. It was fun, though! My fingertips are green. Hehehe.
I feel like such a nerd. I get up the gall to do some graffiti, and it's in Latin. 
AMO LATINAM!
(Yes, I know that's not normal word order. I think it looks and sounds better that way, though.)

Back from CPSC 110.

I just got back from my first computer science class this semester. It was loads of fun, as I expected. Everything in Dr. Davies' (Stephen's?) class is fun. He brought in a cooler of sodas and four whole pizzas for us. Then, he told us that we're going to be learning HTML, CSS, and Javascript this semester--I'm very, very rusty, but it's going to be great. He also went around the room and asked us for our names and a recent gift that we got. He said that his wife gave him a spiffin' black fedora hat, and he promised that he'll wear it on Wednesday. 
I'm so excited :) 

Back to school. Yay.

My first day of classes has been busy so far, but it's been fun. I have four classes today--Chemistry lecture, Human Animal seminar, Intro to Computer Science, and a riding class meeting. I've been to the first two already, and they were great. I have the same professor for Chemistry as I did last semester, and my seminar professor seems very nice. I can't wait for my next two classes. 
They're a bit earlier than last semester. On MWF, my classes start at 8 AM, while my earliest class last semester was at 9 AM. I guess TH makes up for it, as I only have one class--starting at 11 AM, I think. It's Latin too, which should be nice. I hate walking to my seminar class because there are a lot of steep stairs leading up to the building, and I only have ten minutes to get to it. I don't have much time to stop and rest if my hip decides it can't take the stairs that morning. I also wish I could have my Chemistry lab midday on Tuesday rather than late on Friday, but I would have to move my Latin class...and, as you probably could have guessed, the Tuesday lab is much more desirable. 
I don't have much else to say except that I'm going to lunch in half an hour, right before I go to see Professor Davies again. I miss his class. 
I wish we were riding today. 
I also hate the taste and texture of not-quite-ripe bananas. I just ate one, and it was so disgusting. Yuck.
I also left my camera at home. I swear I packed it into my bag, right beside my gloves, chewing gum, and pain pills. Evidently, I didn't. I am not happy. 
In other news, I cut my stencil last night. I finally bought an Exacto-knife yesterday, along with a can of green spray paint. I was hoping to get some purple, but it was a whole lot more expensive. Oh well, green is nice too. I guess I'll go out tonight and do the deed, if it's not too cold. Well, crap. What did I just write before I started talking about the stencil? My camera's at home. I want to take a picture of it when I do it, as a way to preserve it even after someone paints over it. Perhaps I'll wait until next week. They're going to take the wall down before I get to it, it seems! I do have a camera phone, but they take crap pictures. 
I am so hungry. I know I write about how hungry I am a lot. I had peanut butter and rod pretzels last night. It was so good. I also had a sub from Subway before I got to school. That was good too. My Gatorade tasted disgusting this morning, probably because I used the water from the sink in the bathroom. Water doesn't taste good here. My banana also tasted disgusting this morning. My Cinnamon Toast Crunch was good, though, as always. I hope there's something good for me to eat at the dining hall. I have less than fifteen minutes before I think I'll leave to walk down there. 
It's warming up now, which is nice. I'm just wearing a t-shirt and a thin little hooded jacket, and I was really cold this morning when I walked to my first class. I was fine when I walked back from my second class, though. 
I can't believe I forgot my camera. 
Note to self: Remember to go to the GALL movie tomorrow night.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

I'm Back

I haven't written in this blog for ages. I guess my life has basically been all about the barn and horses over break, which is why my other blog has been getting all the attention. 
I have to go back to school on Sunday, but I have a few more days to enjoy at home. 
I got my car all serviced and schtuff, so I can drive it again. The inspection sticker ran out and it needed its 60k checkup. Overall, everything was fine with it. I hope I have my Protege for a very, very long time; if you know anything about my past history with cars, you understand that it'd be a miracle. 
I've been doing some dream analysis lately, and I've been having a lot of fun with it. I've been keeping a sort of dream journal since this time last year, so I've got a notebook full of my subconscious shenanigans. I still plan on writing down all of my dreams, but I've been trying to analyze a few of the more interesting dreams and answer a few questions about the content of my dreams. I think I'd enjoy keeping a third blog about my adventures in dreamland, but I'm not so sure. (You can tell I enjoy writing, right?) I already slack off when it comes to writing in the two blogs that I already keep, even though I don't think anyone else reads them or cares that I don't post something on a regular basis. It just bothers me when I don't write regularly. 
Also, some of my dreams are awkward--not really for me, but perhaps for other people that they involve. Some of them are vulgar, disturbing, frightening, and everything you don't want your children to see or hear. A lot of them won't make sense to other people, just because I can't begin to describe what I can remember perfectly in my head. 
A lot of them are really funny, though, and I think they provide a valuable insight for anyone looking for an honest peek into my mind. If nothing else, they're entertaining and worth reviewing for the sake of a writing idea or two. The analysis is something I like to play with. I'm not entirely sure I believe that each and every dream can be interpreted as something meaningful, but I still enjoy playing around.
Who knows? Maybe if I can think up a witty title for a new blog, I'll do it. 
It's 1:07 AM. Why am I still awake--as in, wide awake, listening to music, and typing clear sentences?
That reminds me of an experiment I tried the other day. I stayed up really late until I was tired. Then, I went to bed--with a pen in one hand and a notebook lying in the bed. I forced myself to write until I fell asleep or could not hold the pen. In the morning, I had several pages of messy, interesting, funny scribbles--including my plans to "write" my horse bareback the next day. I actually started to substitute similar-sounding words in place of correct words, such as "write" for "ride." I'm amazingly uninhibited just before I pass out...
G'night :)