Loopy Logophiles Love Lobsters

"Now remember, when you're stepping on acorns, you're stepping on baby trees. But it's the tree's fault for leaving it's babies out to be stepped on."

2010-09-23T19:29:00.000-07:00

Hahahahahaha. Paul and I went to Anne and Harry's house tonight so that we could borrow a drill from Harry. There were a ton of big, crunchy acorns on the path to their house, and as I walked out to the car, I took great pleasure in stepping on them and making lots of noise. Harry laughed and watched, and then told me about the baby trees. We also spent a lot of time watching really funny/cool/obscene videos on YouTube, such as a baby monkey riding a pig, an artificial reality game with Skittles and zombie-killing, and Paul's roommate's new ringtone.
By the way, Paul's roommate, Bryant, is really funny. I love going over to their apartment. We shoot Nerf guns, we bake (and I forget to put the eggs in the brownies occasionally), we watch South Park, and we laugh about some of the most ridiculous yet absolutely hilarious stuff ever. I love the fact that I get up in Paul's loft and snipe him and Bryant while they're moving about below me. Even the guys in the other room aren't safe. I aimed out the door and shot the cabinets in the kitchen, and one of the guys, Ben, walked out of his room and Paul let loose on him with the automatic.
You see, I think this is why I like hanging out with guys more than girls. There's generally less drama and backstabbing, more silliness and random fun stuff, and I just feel more comfortable overall. I feel weird around girls a lot of the time. I don't hate hanging out with girls (I really do like "the right kind" of girls.) but I just tend to feel a bit more comfortable and less anxious around guys.
Today's just been a wonderful day. I've felt really happy about everything. Sure, it was a busy day and it was really hot, but I really enjoyed it.
I love Stephen's class. I was really tired before then and I didn't really feel up to going, but I decided to anyway because I'd feel horrible skipping his class. As soon as he walked in and started talking, I cheered up. It was a great class, too. He mentioned something about how it was "dry" material, but I loved it. It was all about the history of object oriented programming and some of the underlying concepts. Sure, I knew most of it already, but it was still a great lecture.
Last week, we were working on a project for that class that stumped a lot of people. We had to make a "hobby manager" using JSPs that would allow the user to add and delete hobbies at a whim. I got stuck a little at first, but had some sort of epiphany and realized exactly what I needed to do. Stephen came over to me when I was working in the Unix lab (scaring me to death in the process by sneaking up on me--sometimes I swear he does it on purpose to get a laugh) and asked me how I was doing on the project, telling me that a lot of people were getting really stuck. I told him that I'd gotten a bit stuck, but I was working my way through it. He said that was great and the best way to learn it. It wasn't much, but it made me feel so happy and good about myself.
My confidence was kind of low after 230, but now I'm much happier. 230 was absolutely brutal, but the suffering paid off. I think 230 is sort of like fraternity hazing. Everyone suffers immensely, then everyone feels more like part of the "in-group" of computer science majors. Just an interesting thought.
By the way, I got a 94 on what my professor called the "hardest" test of the semester. Wooooooo :P

Computer science at its finest.

2010-09-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

This past week has taught me a lot. For example, I've learned that Computer Science is possibly the most social, group-oriented major there is. Seriously, people think we're holed up at our terminals in the lab. Well, yes, but we're sliding our chairs over to neighboring terminals and asking for help. We're getting together in groups and talking about our projects and how we should go about constructing them. All of this is encouraged. In my 330 class, the group coding project is 40% of our grade. And I love it. I love working together and being able to talk with my classmates about what's going on with our work. In just the past two weeks, I've talked to more people in my two computer science classes than I probably have in all of my other classes combined since freshman year. It's so crazy, and fun.
I finally decided to go to a PERL meeting, too. At first I kind of balked at it. My philosophy is kind of that I don't want to be known as a female computer scientist. I just want to be another person facing the same challenges and sharing the same successes as I work toward my degree. If I get to go to grad school, I don't want a bonus mark on my application because I'll be a female in the program and that looks nice on the department's part I guess. I don't want to be a female computer scientist; I just want to be a computer scientist, and a damn good one at that. But nevertheless, I went to the meeting. It was fun, too! I met some girls in my classes and we had a good time playing get-to-know you games and eating potato chips.
I've got to go work on some more coding, but I just thought I'd take a break and make a post. Man, I love my major.

This Summer.

2010-08-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

Blahhhh. I feel horrible because I had to go to the eye doctor which means I had to get my eyes dilated. I hate going to the eye doctor. I hate eye drops. I hate stinging stuff in my eyes. Ick. I'd much rather any other physical exam over the eye doctor.
It's been a wonderful summer. It's been really busy, but it's been really good.
Larry found me a job at a feed store, which was, eh, interesting. I have upper body strength now. Every Monday I had to load (and possibly unload) the delivery truck. After I would come dangerously close to passing out, falling to my death (ahh, I'm being dramatic, I would've only been seriously injured...), and being crushed and or suffocated by the sheer weight of bags and heat of the summer and overworking, I got to sit in the store. There are two cats who live at the store named Miss Piggy and Chickadee. They were both evil cats. They would climb on the shelves and throw things in the floor, and they would rip open boxes and break things. There used to be a fish bowl on the counter where a lady collected money for an animal shelter. The cats managed to knock it on the floor and break it. Good going, I'm sure your homeless buddies will thank you. One time there was a customer at the desk and the cats fought their way off the top of their huge scratching post and into the trash can, pulling the phone and a ton of other important stuff off of the desk and in the trash with them. They scratched and bit me, tried to eat my food, walked all over the keyboard, and were just overall very bad cats. I liked them though. It's hard for me not to like animals... Today was my last day of work. I'm actually kinda going to miss it. I liked the feed store.
I got a new computer this summer. It's another Toshiba Satellite. It looks a lot better than my old one, and runs a lot better (but you've gotta give the old one credit for being eight years old and still going strong) :) Yeah, so the Mac died in a flood. Good riddance. I've got my two Toshibas and Paul and I are going to work on getting all my stuff off the Mac so I can possibly sell it off to someone who is A) willing to put forth some effort to replace some waterlogged parts for a cheap Mac or B) extremely stupid. I don't straight-up hate Macs like some people, but I'm sticking with Windows for now and I might dual-boot some flavor of Linux on here (my new laptop) in the future, just to play with it.
I moved Ralph (my green spotted puffer fish, not sure I've talked about them much before) to a marine tank this summer. He was really sad and I could tell he was ready to move into saltwater. He lives with an ocellaris clownfish named Alex now. They're good buddies, but we had a week or so where Ralph kept eating Alex's pectoral fins... It was bad, but now the fins are growing back and the fish are happy :) Nikki, my plecostomus, is getting really big. I've also got four corydoras (Katie, Eddie, Julie, and Joey), plus four zebra danios (Wendy, Cody, Ashley, and Lenny). I've spent many hours watching the fish this summer. They make me so happy :)
Ehhh, what else happened this summer?
Paul's sister got married, and that was fun.
I went to Paul's a lot, actually. It was great. And Paul and I went to Busch Gardens because my mom won free tickets from the radio :)
I remembered how to make ice cream with two bags, milk, ice, and salt, and I've been obnoxiously flaunting my talent ever since. WHUSHHK WHUSHHHHK! What are you breaking in there? Is everything okay? I'm makin' ICE CREAM! WHUSHHHKKKKKKK! WHUSHHHK! Ughhhhh.
I dunno, it's just been a good summer.
I can't wait for school to start though.
I'm taking two computer science classes, a psychology class, a linguistics class, and statistics. I think they'll all be pretty interesting. I just felt like writing and now I don't feel like writing, so there you go :)

The End. For Now.

2010-05-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

I have so much to write. I'm out of school for the summer. I might take statistics this summer but I don't know for sure.
I got pretty good grades this semester, and I learned so much! I really did love this semester. It was so stressful and full of lots of doubts, but I made it through.
230, the data structures class, is known as the class that almost everyone fails. And I was kind of scared that I would. I couldn't get my first project to compile, which means I got a zero on it. I cried so much that night. I generally accept my failures and get on with my life, but the thought of failing the class hurt pretty deeply. (It hurt even worse when I realized a few days later that three lines of code would've made it compile.) I was determined to get a good grade in the class though, so I drove on. By the middle of the semester, about 20 people had dropped the class between the two sections of a total of about 40 students. It was a really scary class, but it was absolutely amazing. Every day I went in there, I could just feel myself smiling and thinking, "Ah, so THAT'S how it works!" and being so fascinated by it all. And I came out with a pretty good grade too :) I can't wait for what's coming next.
Linear Algebra wasn't my favorite class ever, but I actually understood what was going on and some of it was really fun. I even had a few lectures in there that I really enjoyed--I wanted to stay and keep learning it. The grade I got in there wasn't the best, but what can I do about it? I still have this fear of math. It's so beautiful, but I have these moments where I start to panic. It's a legitimate, full-on panic too. I can do math without getting nervous when I'm by myself, but the second Dr. K comes by and tries to check my work, I'm in a cold sweat and breathing rapidly. I guess I'm subconsciously thinking about high school?
Digital Storytelling was pretty fun. We did a lot of blogging, which partially explains my lack of posting here. We made our own web sites too, and I got to write a lot about computer science, like a tutorial for making the Lucky Seven game that I posted here last summer. I also wrote an article that was pretty much about artificial intelligence (based on my response to another article that we had to read), and the professor really liked it. He posted it on his blog and now it shows up on Google if you search my name. It's kind of funny thinking that maybe one day I'll get to research awesome things and publish papers and if people search my name, stuff like that will come up. I mean, who hasn't searched their own name out of curiosity and boredom? I never really came up before (maybe once or twice), but now I do. It's a very strange feeling. I loved the class. It was an experimental class and the work load was ridiculous at times, but I'm so glad I took it. It was great.
I took a phonology class too. It was harder than any other linguistics class I've taken so far, but it was really interesting. A lot of people had trouble with it. It didn't help that we never got grades back. The professor's wife passed away sometime in the semester (She was also a linguistics professor at the university), which was very unfortunate and it didn't really help that we also had about two weeks off along with that tragedy for the "snowpocalypse." On April Fools' Day, our professor brought in fresh doughnuts and hot coffee for everyone. I remember walking in, doing a double-take, and nervously taking my seat. Everyone else did the exact same thing. No one would touch it. We all thought it was some kind of practical joke, but apparently there's a tradition in his wife's church that a certain number of days after death, the mourning period ends and everyone should celebrate. It was a fun celebration :) I also got to research and write a paper on speech synthesis. At first I was really annoyed just because I had to write a paper (I actually do like writing, I was just burned out at that point and frustrated with everything.), but I realized that I'd chosen an amazing topic after I started doing my research. It was such cool stuff.
I took a weird linguistics class too. It was called Linguistics & Text. It was all about discourse and analyzing texts, uh, linguistically. Or something like that. I honestly wish I hadn't taken it because then I could've taken my linguistics seminar class instead. I did have a lot of fun though. I loved doing the theater exercises. They actually made me feel really comfortable just putting myself out there and they were great for stress relief during a really horrible week. Great timing, Parker, thanks :) Our final exam was theater exercises and a Middle Eastern meal. It was awesome. My group did a skit of a chapter on how censorship can actually increase discourse on the censored topic. I liked the chapter and thought it was really interesting. I actually found a real-world example of attempted censorship actually making me notice something that I'd NEVER NOTICED before in my life. Did you know that the Virginia seal has a boob on it? Hahahaha. Amazing. But we acted out a sex ed class. One guy was the teacher and he wrote "NO SEX EVER. PUT A RING ON IT." on the board. I got to play the "good Christian girl" who thought sex was a bad thing to hear about. It was hilarious. You could just hear the sarcasm dripping from my tongue. I think I made a good Christian girl though ;) Hahahahahahahaha. Really amazing.
I loved this semester.
I'm taking classes on computing theory, object-oriented programming, psycholinguistics, and general psychology next semester. I was thinking I'd take it easy and try to get all A's to boost my GPA. It's decent now but I'd like it to be higher for the purposes of applying to grad school.
By the way, my special major in Linguistics was rejected. I don't know what to do, really. I was actually relieved when I found out it was rejected. Hey, I could take stats, focus more on my computer science classes, and still take some awesome linguistics and psychology classes. I don't need a double major, really. I'm still doing what I love, regardless. I thought I couldn't resubmit my proposal because of the number of credits I have, but then Dr. Parker told me that I can. It'd be kinda nice to come out with two degrees (even though I'm going to request to have the golden hood thing--for a B.S. in Computer Science, versus the white for B.A. degrees--when I graduate), but having one major would allow me to do more with computer science. I'd like to do research and stuff, and that's going to take extra time that I probably don't have. I don't know what I want to do, but I guess I've got all summer to think about it some more.
I've still got to talk about visiting Paul for the past few days...and my fiiiiissssshhhhhhheeesssssss. My bad fishes. But I'm tired.

Phishers need spell check too.

2010-04-27T13:39:00.000-07:00

First of all, I'd love to start blogging again. Maybe I will once the summer's here. I've only got a few exams left and I'm out of here for a bit :)
I was procrastinating a bit on my phonology paper, and I decided to work on deleting some old e-mails. I found a bunch of phishing e-mails in my spam folder, and I decided to ridicule the blatantly stupid messages for all to see. Because that's what phishers deserve.

Here's the first one (with my comments in parentheses):

Your account have been compromised (The first thing that came to mind when I read this? "All your base are belong to us." Nice...). To validate your account click HERE<(URL removed, but I promise you...it was a fail. No knowledge of HTML, obviously.)>

Note that your email is not public (Okay?), so it is possible that a bad person was trying to login your mail box ("Bad person." Yeah, that made me laugh. And if my e-mail isn't public, how did they find it?). This would be a privacy violation if we let them do this (Sure, okay, makes sense...), but we didn't (Uh, thanks? Hahahahaha.).

To validate your account click HER<(Double linkage fail.)>E and login (But it would be a privacy violation if you steal my info and try to "login [my] mail box." Ugh, you bad person...)

Regards,
Olasupo Kolawole (Seriously?)
Ass Director of IT Security and ISO (Ass Director. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, yes.)

And the second:
Immediate Attention To Staff/Student (Blah...) Please be advised that there will be scheduled maintenance on the Internet and Intranet Web servers as well as the EMail Servers on Saturday, January 16, 2010 (OMG MY BIRTHDAY. Maybe for as a surprise the university e-mail will work better now?) beginning at 9:00 p.m. until approximately 12:00 midnight. All web and mail services will be interrupted during this time period, For you not to have problem signing into your account (But if all services are interrupted, this won't help, right? Or do you mean after? ;) ), you are adviced to send us your email account details (Yeah, because I definitely won't have trouble signing on once you've got my info).
After upgrading a password reset link will be sent to your email for new password (I'll be getting a new password alright, but I won't be the one setting it.).Reset your password immediately you receive your password reset link (Awww, don't butcher your language. It has feelings too.).

Details Needed For Maintenance:

User Name (Okay...)
Password (No thanks.)
Do you use outlook express: Y/N (Haha, obviously... That's the awful e-mail client they've got us on for university mail.)
Have you ever given your password to any body: Y/N (No. I'm not an idiot.)

Failure to do this will leads (FAIL.) to immediate suspenction (Love that.) of your email account and later deactivated (I thought I was just gonna have problems signing into my account...?).

This is a scheduled maintenance period that will be occuring each
month, due to the amount of junk email our staff/student are
receiving (Like your phishing mail?). If you have any questions, please contact the ITS Help Desk
by clicking your reply button. (Yeah, why don't you guys EVER sound legit?)

In case you didn't get the message from this post (and previous phishing-ridicule posts), these guys are bad. They're just trying to take your account. I love to ridicule them on here, but really you should just delete the e-mails and move on.

Pre-Semester Nerves

2010-01-06T21:19:00.000-08:00

Spring 2010 is looming in the not-so-distant future. I'm really excited, but I'm kind of nervous about a couple of my classes.
Linear Algebra is going to be miserable. According to some student testimonials that I've read, the only professor teaching the class next semester is both brilliant and completely asinine. I read that the professor would try to embarrass students for asking questions and that a majority of the class has to retake it. I'm sorry, but I'm no longer willing to tolerate verbal abuse from my professors like I did in high school. I'm not letting my Computer Science major slip away from me again.
I'm in two linguistics classes. One of them, Linguistics and Text, is supposed to be a very easy class. I have Dr. Parker again, and Paul's sister, Anne, who is also a Linguistics major, is in the class with me. She says that it'll be really easy, so I'm not worried. Anne said, however, that my other linguistics class, Intro to Phonology, is probably going to be a bit difficult. I really can't afford not to take it this semester, even though I found phonology somewhat difficult even in Intro to Linguistics and know it probably will be hard on me.
I'm taking two computer science classes next semester as well. One of them is a 100-level class called Digital Storytelling. Paul is trying to get into the class with me, and it's supposed to include blogging and playing video games. I assume it's going to be ridiculously easy, and it counts for one of my gen ed credits. I really didn't want to take a writing class for that particular requirement just because I knew it would add a lot of unnecessary stress to the semester.
The other computer science class I'm taking is a Data Structures class, Computer Science 230. It's taught in C++, which I've wanted to learn for a while. I think it'll be fun, but I'm worried about it. I've heard people describe it as the "make-or-break" class. If you don't like it or you don't do well...it's not a good sign. I guess that my only option is to go forth boldly and give it a good shot. Hey, that's all you can do sometimes.
I don't know why I always worry about my classes. It seems I repeat this same blog post before each semester, only with different classes. I consider myself on the same level with my peers, and whatever I don't have of skill I like to think I make up for with passion. Sometimes it's just that I think about coding something and it seems so overwhelming that I'll never be able to tackle it. I try to tell myself to stop being so silly and just think about it some more, but sometimes I can't help but feel like I'm lacking something.
I was thinking about GALL today. I never wrote about the one meeting where we went around one of the dorms practicing our ninja prowling. It was so much fun. We were all crawling about awkwardly, giggling and peeking around corners at each other. One girl knocked me flat out because I extended an arm in front of her leg, which she pulled forward and carried my support away with it. We all laughed about that too. We haven't done many things with GALL this year. Pretty much there are four members now: Mike, Mike's girlfriend, Chris, and me. I worry about the fate of GALL after Mike graduates. The responsibility of leading the club is probably going to fall on me, and I don't know whether the club will survive until my graduation based on its current membership and activity level. We also don't have any funding, so that makes it a lot harder to do impressive stuff without having to buy materials ourselves. It's very sad :(

Chatting with the Jabberwacky

2009-12-28T07:54:00.000-08:00

In my quest to learn a bit more about artificial intelligence over break, I've discovered something really fun to play with. If you go to Jabberwacky, then you'll be able to chat with a rather "intelligent" bot. Give it a try, it's a lot of fun! Here's my favorite part of our first conversation:

Me: I'm studying computer science and cognitive science.

Computer: How funny, a half grapefruit studying computer science.

M: Am I a half grapefruit?

C: Half grapefruit?

M: You're the one who brought it up.

C: No you brought it up.

(after a bit of arguing)

M: Computers are dumb. They're only as smart as the person who programs them.

C: How stupid are the people that programmed you?

So, it's probably my best friend after that remark. Hey, I thought it was clever and cute :) And we did make up after our argument.

I'm back

2009-12-17T21:44:00.000-08:00

I passed Calculus II, which means I'll be taking Linear Algebra next semester. I did well in all of my other classes too, which makes me happy.
I spent a few days at Paul's house during Thanksgiving break. His sister, Anne, had her fiance, Harrison, over as well. It was fun, but Anne was distraught because now it's even harder for her to get Harrison away from playing video games. Paul, Harrison, and I would play Halo and Smash Brothers Brawl for hours each night and wake up early to keep on playing. I thought it was funny :D
Paul has the cutest cat. His name is Mittens, and he's a Ragdoll cat. Mittens is very furry and very talkative. When they put up the Christmas tree, I got to see Mittens running around the house and hiding under the tree. One day, Mittens chose ME to feed him. He came over to me and kept meowing until Paul told me what he wanted and showed me how to feed him. It was really cute.

Squeak?

2009-11-30T15:27:00.000-08:00

The computer science department Christmas party is this Friday, and I'm going with Mr. Paul :) It's going to be so much fun! I've been looking forward to this since I declared.
I've made it through 220 and I'm almost 100% certain I've got a nice A to reward me for lots of hard programming work. It was a fun class, though, and I can't wait for 230. I hear that it's hard, but I think I'll be fine.
Discrete Math is going well too. I never did proofs in geometry (Er, I basically didn't take geometry. Or any other high-school level math. I told you that.), so I had to learn them for the class. It seemed like I'd alternate between thinking the class was too easy and stumbling over silly stuff. It wasn't all bad, but I'm kinda glad it's over.
Calculus II. Oh, Calculus II. It was really easy in the beginning. Hey, I knew how to do a lot of that stuff already. The sad thing is, I did pretty well on my first two tests and sorta blew the third one (which counts a whole lot more than the first two combined...). I studied so hard. I thought I did really, really well. I was expecting an A, perhaps a very high B. That's why it hurt so bad when I finally got my test back. It was sort of like being back in Algebra II again, completely confidence-shattering. I did pass it, but I honestly think I'm going to get a C in the class and I don't want a C. I'm very upset, but I'm doing all I can do.
I'm angry with my Latin class. Well, not exactly angry, but I'm not thrilled with it. It's better now that we're doing Catullus. I LOVE Catullus. His work makes me so happy. It's just that my linguistics professor told me that it's unlikely I'll be able to count this particular class towards my Linguistics/Cognitive Science major that I'm working on. I do so much work for this one class (more than most of the others, really) and I'm only getting a speaking-intensive credit for it. I have enjoyed getting some practice with public speaking. Dr. Houghtalin's comments are very helpful. I gave a good presentation on Catullus 101 today. I did it almost entirely from a few scribbled-out notes and a beautiful translation that I prepared. Being the cunning linguist that I am, I discussed mostly grammar in my presentation. My posture and stance were awful and I could tell it. I kept shifting my weight and crossing my legs, but I made an effort to correct it each time I noticed.
My linguistics class has been pretty good. I like it. Two weeks ago, one kid in there picked up her laptop by the screen. I was absolutely shocked. It was a really expensive computer, too, and the computer scientist in me really wanted to scold her. That, and one girl in the class described an esh as "the derivative sign." Pfft, at least I'm not that terrible with calculus... Er, integrals, anyone? (BTW, I'm still stuck trying to sort out in my brain when it's appropriate to make a "ssssss" sound and when it's appropriate to find an antiderivative. And why does my spell check say that antiderivative isn't a word? Ugh.
My computer science professor said that sometimes her job is like telling people that Santa, the Tooth Faerie, and magic don't exist. I thought that was hilarious, because sometimes learning about how computers actually work does take away some of the "Ooooh, magic!" feel. I still get excited when my programs work, though, and I usually end by whispering to myself as I skim the source code: "That's beautiful." Not really my work, but the fact that computers do what they do.
I can't wait for that party on Friday :)

Are you sure you want me to start writing again?

2009-09-29T08:02:00.000-07:00

I haven't had much time to update my blogs for almost a month. That makes me very sad.
I'm working on a programming project that is due at midnight tonight... It's a pretty complex program and I completely forgot about it until last night. I've got most of it finished, though. I just started typing this because I've been at the program for a few hours and I need a break.
So...
I'm dating Paul.
Just thought I'd throw that out there.
Hahahahaha.
Mmmmmmmm, Java.
How's that for an entry? :P

I'm glad I'm not a dog.

2009-09-05T18:45:00.000-07:00

Because then I wouldn't be able to play Halo :) That's possibly the best thing I heard all week. That, and the thing someone said during the first GALL meeting.
This past week was pretty good. My linguistics professor said that I can add the class, and I really enjoy what we're learning. I'm dropping my classics class as soon as possible because I don't enjoy what we're learning. I love the language, but history isn't my thing. I hated history almost more than I hated math in high school. Unfortunately, I haven't made a turnaround in the history department.
I actually had the gall to raise my hand and volunteer an answer in calculus the other day. As soon as I raised my hand, I thought I'd made a huge mistake. I was absolutely terrified; I haven't done that since I first wanted to be a Computer Science major. I got the right answer, though. Calculus II isn't hard so far, and Dr. Helmstutler is very nice. I also like his teaching style.
I was wrong. Yes, I have a terrible history with math teachers--but math itself is actually quite pleasant.
There was a GALL meeting on Tuesday night. We met in my favorite academic building instead of in our normal spot. I did manage to add the new members to the e-mail list, and we had a whole lot of new members. Hopefully they'll continue to come to meetings. We went around in our circle and gave our names, years, majors, and spirit animals. Someone just randomly suggested that we share our spirit animals, so we did. That's GALL for you. We ended up folding sheets of paper into three parts and drawing the legs, torso, or head of a "monster." After one person drew the legs, he would pass it on to the next person. That person would draw the torso (without having seen the legs) and then she would pass it on to the final person, who would do the head. Some of the drawings were freakish and grotesque, just the way we like it. We did it just as a sort of icebreaking group activity, but Sara said that we should tape them up all over campus.
We did :) I taped one on a sign where it fit in perfectly, and I taped another inside the building's elevator. I love screwing with that elevator :D None of the pictures were around in the morning, but that was okay. It was so much fun. While we were taping the papers around campus, a random passerby stopped and asked, "Is this the monster club?" We laughed out loud and someone told her that WE are the monsters :)
My allergies were really bothering me for most of this week. It was terrible. I was coughing so much, and my nose alternated between stuffy and runny. My chest would start hurting a lot when I had coughing fits, and I finally had to cave and buy some allergy medicine at Wal-Mart. Paul and I made brownies after I got my medicine. Since we improvised a lot while mixing the batter (We put in all the right stuff, but we also fished around in the eggs for a piece of eggshell, had a hard time mixing everything because we didn't have a bowl that was big enough, and couldn't even tell if they were cooked when we took them out of the oven since we didn't have toothpicks.) and I got to taste the brownies first, I decided to do something a little devious. I put a piece of my brownie into my mouth and made a face like it was disgusting, making sure it didn't go unnoticed. Paul seemed a little surprised and asked me if the brownies were okay. I immediately told him that they were good and that I was just joking around--they were actually very good brownies.
I ended up not going to the ACM meeting on Thursday, but all of you computer scientists out there who are reading this and scoffing might be a little more understanding once I explain myself. Ina and I went to visit Paul in his room, where we all started playing Halo 3. Both Ina and Paul are quite experienced Halo players, but I'd never actually played myself. I was given a few minutes to play by myself before we launched into a three-player shooting game where Ina and Paul killed me over and over and over and over and over again. I'm serious. It gives a whole new meaning to the term "epic fail." I was able to escape humiliating defeat by running off to my discrete math class for an hour. We had planned to order some Chinese food and play Halo until my class, after which we would resume play until my ACM meeting, after which we probably would have continued to play until we all collapsed from sleep deprivation. We realized that we really wouldn't have time for me to eat before I had to go to class, however, so we decided to get food later on. When I came back, Ina had already left, so Paul and I got some dinner and Paul was thoroughly entertained by watching me play Halo very badly.
"Am I supposed to shoot him?" (After chasing and attempting to murder the alien guy who was on my side.)
"Oh nooooooo." (After accidentally killing myself with a grenade for the, what, twentieth time? I'm not exaggerating, either.)
"AGGGGHHHHHHHHHH." (After I kept running into the walls and couldn't even manage to go up some stairs.)
"I wasn't supposed to do that." (After jumping off a cliff into some water and dying.)
"Stop moving so I can shoot you." and "Stop shooting me!" (Both of those are self-explanatory...)
It was very sad. Very, very sad. I started to get the hang of it, though, and now I can at least move around without running into too much. Meh, maybe I'll get some more practice this week so I won't suck so much.
The dog quote at the beginning came from a conversation where I revealed that I wanted to grow up to be a dog when I was really little. I don't remember what brought that into the conversation, but I was reminded that I wouldn't be able to play Halo if I were a dog. So I guess it's good that I'm a person? :P

Kicking off the second week :)

2009-08-31T16:10:00.000-07:00

The week has started off pretty well. I was hungry this morning and really tired, so it was difficult to focus in my computer science class. I ate a quick lunch and then played Guitar Hero in Paul's room until Latin. I didn't do a great job with my sight translation today in Latin, but it was good enough. I also had a nice ride and I ate dinner with Amber and Heather. Amber is in my riding class this semester and she was in it with me last semester. Heather rode with me during the first semester. We had a nice, long talk about horses over our dinners :)
I went home this weekend to judge a therapeutic riding barn's horse show. I got back to school around 7:15 last night. Paul called me and asked me if I wanted to come over and see him, so I stopped on campus and made a quick run to the computer science department while he was coming back from dinner. I was going to do a little reconnaissance work (By now you should know that means I'm up to no good with some sort of ridiculous practical joke...), but there was someone down there and it just seemed awkward to have someone around me while I was in sketch mode. I don't know if I'll pull it off, but the idea is there in case I ever decide to do it. Perhaps later in the semester ;)
I stepped out onto the front porch of the building where I saw Paul. I came up behind him, walked beside him for several moments, then passed him. I greeted him, but I guess he didn't hear me. I finally sent him a text message and told him to look up. It was pretty amusing.
We went to his room for a while and watched a movie. It was a funny movie, but I can't remember the name of it. It'll come in time. Then, we went walking around town. We came to a park, but kept on walking. We walked all the way back to his car, which he drove to another park that was a short distance away from campus. We walked around and talked. It was hard to see where the path was in the dark, and I was worried that we were going to get lost. It wasn't so much the "getting lost" part as it was the "I have class at 10 AM tomorrow and I want to get some sleep and do my homework" part. I'm fully aware of the fact that I'm a nerd :P We took a few different paths. One led to a huge field. We walked through the field until we came to a fence. The fence would've been easy enough to jump, but we didn't know if it was the property of the public park or not. We turned around and took a different path, which led us to some water. We couldn't tell much about the water because it was so dark. We tossed pebbles to see where it started, but even then we weren't sure. I got my leg wrapped in some fishing line, but fortunately there wasn't a hook attached to it. Maybe one day we can go back when we can actually see the water. I bet it would be gorgeous.
After all of the trails were explored, we went back up to the parking lot. There was a playground near the parking lot, so we played on it for a while. Swinging was very fun. Going down the slide was not. I climbed up a little metal ladder with my wet, slippery shoes and wasn't sure if I was actually going to make it up or not. I went down one of the curvy slides, which was where I made a huge mistake.
The slides were designed for small children, not tall college students. When I reached the bend in the slide, one side of my hips banged into the side of the slide. I kept going and the other side of my hips banged up against the side. It was definitely not a pleasant ride, but I'm happy to report that they were more slide-y than the slide at the park near my house. I can't slide down the one near my house. I always have to jump off halfway down because it just isn't slick enough.
So, that little adventure was the reason why I had to wear my riding boots all day today and why I just got finished with blow-drying my shoes. They were still absolutely soaked when I got ready to put them on this morning, even though I unlaced them and took the arch supports and the little base cushions out. In case you didn't know, I have a pair of tennis shoes and a pair of riding boots here with me at school. So much for stereotypical female behavior :)
There should be a GALL meeting tomorrow night, so I'm extremely excited about that. I added all of the new members to the e-mail list early this morning, so hopefully Mike will send out the e-mail soon if he hasn't already. I want to do some crazy stunt on our first night, so I hope someone else has an idea for something. I'm dry right now.
The PERL meetings are, unfortunately, during my linguistics class. I'm still not sure if I got into the linguistics class or not, but the odds are definitely in my favor. The professor told me to come to this week's class having done the assignment, so I assume that means she's pretty sure I'll get in.
The ACM meetings are on Thursday nights, however, so I'm going to go to them to make up for it. I guess there will be a lot of overlap between PERL and ACM (but PERL is all girls, haha), so I'll still get to meet lots of the members and maybe I'll attend some of PERL's special events. ACM is supposedly having a water balloon fight, and the thought of that makes me very happy. If it's anything like playing with a frisbee at the spring picnic, it'll be very amusing indeed :)

Friday.

2009-08-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day.
I only had my Latin class today, so I didn't have to go to school until one. I decided to go a little earlier, however, because I wanted to see Dr. Helmstutler (my new Calculus II professor) and I had to meet with Sara and have my lunch before class. The "meeting" with Dr. Helmstutler was uneventful--it didn't happen. He was cozied up in his office chair and I actually think he was sleeping. There was no way I was going to wake him up just to tell him that I was actually able to get into the class and to ask him if I could have a syllabus.
I simply went downstairs to the computer science department. I translated my Latin for a little bit, but I got a cramp in my hand and I didn't really feel like doing any more. After I put my notebook away, I alternated between staring off into space and putting my head down on the table. I watched people walk by and listened to them. One guy rolled down a small "hill" in one of the halls and came flying past me in a rolling chair. I thought that was funny and I kind of wanted to try it, but I didn't want the whole department to be taken over by rolling-chair races. The place looks a whole lot bigger now that it got those new lab doors and some of the tables were removed, but it's still the narrow hallway that it's always been. Later on, I heard Stephen talking to a more advanced CS major about the "clueless 110 students." (And just so Dr. Davies doesn't sound mean--because he isn't--he also added that everyone is there at one point :))
It is pretty funny to think about just how clueless we all were. I really shouldn't say "were." Most of the class didn't continue with computer science, but the ones who did still are quite clueless--yes, I'm including myself in that statement. It's humbling to think about just how much I don't know yet. I made a lot of ridiculous mistakes in 110, a whole lot, but I honestly feel like I'm learning a lot of new stuff. It's an exciting process, one which isn't complete without screwing up a few good times.
That was my personal thought for the day. I basically turned that over in my head for the rest of my time in the department today.
After I left the basement, I went to wait for Sara. Sara is one of the co-presidents who will be taking over GALL after Mike graduates, and I think we're going to consider her the "main" president because most of the forms only allow a single president. She told me that she'd meet me in front of one of the buildings in order for me to give her the list of new GALL members that we got at Club Carnival. To make a long story short, it started pouring down rain while I waited half an hour for her. She never showed, but she just sent me a message, apologizing profusely and telling me that she completely forgot. I'm really not bothered at all; I just wish that someone else had the list so that we could go ahead and get an e-mail out to everyone about the upcoming meeting. It was actually kind of fun. I sat on one of the tables on the patio in front of the building and stayed under the umbrella. My shoes got wet, but it was okay. Mike actually ran out of the building, frolicking and shouting something about the rain, which made me laugh. I didn't even realize until after he was out of yelling distance that I could've just given him the list. I felt dumb :P
I did have lunch though, and it was very good. I had some delicious tofu stir fry. I always love a good tofu stir fry.
Latin class was also very good. I DID A GOOD SIGHT TRANSLATION. It was a fairly simple sentence, but I read it quickly and easily. It's almost like old times :) I miss being able to read Latin like that. I used to be really good with sight translations, but I guess I got out of practice once I left Mr. Wimer's class. AP Latin did nothing for me; in fact, it might've hurt me. And, of course, I couldn't take any Latin during my senior year. Maybe I'll get good enough to take the Latin Composition class. I would love that.

Blahhhhhh. Good blahhhhhh.

2009-08-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

I am absolutely dead. Today was brutal.
I woke up at 6 AM today to translate a whole bunch of screwy Latin because I still hadn't finished it. The "passages" were scattered throughout a nine-page packet that was typed in ridiculously small print. To make matters worse, the Latin that I had to translate was mixed with lines of English and German. And to make matters even worse, it was super-archaic Latin and I couldn't recognize half of the words--neither could the dictionary. My only consolation was that I finished a lot of it and everyone else in the class told me that they had had a terrible time with it too. I felt really dumb at first, but I was so glad to hear that I wasn't the only person who thought that the assignment was ridiculously hard.
I also had my computer science class this morning. It was a lot of fun again. We learned about Unix commands. Stephen already taught us a whole lot of really cool ones last semester, as well as many of the ones we learned about today. I did learn a lot of new ones, though, and I didn't even mind that the class is about two hours long. Normally I hate classes that run longer than an hour because my attention gradually starts to decline.
Dr. Zaidman was talking about how we should save important things in two different locations. She gave an example of keeping a copy of a term paper saved on our hard drive and on a jump drive, but she told us that we don't have to do that for "trivial things," such as a letter to our parents. I couldn't help it. I started laughing, which made the guy behind me start laughing too. Dr. Zaidman smiled and told us that she didn't mean that sending a letter to our parents is a trivial matter. I know what she meant, but I still found it very amusing :D
I don't know if she likes me or not yet, but I hope that she does. Life is so much easier when your professors like you (or at least don't hate you). I also think she was talking to me when she stopped in the middle of the lecture and said, "You look very thoughtful and focused," or something like that. I was in my normal "Thinker" pose, with my chin nestled in my fingers and hand and my brow furrowed because of all the stuff bumping around in my brain. I was most certainly paying attention, so she wasn't being sarcastic. It didn't sound sarcastic anyway. I guess it was a compliment...?
Discrete math was a real treat last night. We started out by learning about binary, octal, and hexadecimal numbers. I knew that all three of them existed, and I already knew how to go from binary to decimal. I also knew how to go from decimal to binary, but I only knew the slow way. We learned the dividing by two method, and life is so much easier now. Did I ever mention that I think binary numbers are beautiful? There's just something very aesthetically pleasing about rows upon rows of ones and zeros. I know I'm weird, but I like to think that I'm capable of seeing beauty in lots of places, things, and events that most people don't notice.
I don't know why I just started to discuss discrete math when I haven't even finished writing about my hectic day yet. Sorry?
So, after Latin, I went to my first riding class of the semester. It was great except for the fact that I nearly passed out from heat exhaustion. I don't drink much. I'm also hypotensive. The two are a dangerous combination, particularly in the heat or during most postural changes. Sometimes when I stand up, there's an overwhelming pressure in my head. My vision blacks out, I lose my balance, I have to support myself on any nearby objects, and sometimes my whole body goes numb. I've fallen down because of it and I've even had some sort of weird spasm because of it. I understand that the pressure comes from the constriction of blood vessels (an attempt to raise my blood pressure when it plummets), and I want to think that my vision blacks out because the blood wants to rush where it's more necessary--my brain instead of my eyes. I'm not sure if that's true, but it makes sense to me. Is there a casual reader who wants to confirm or correct this in the comments?
I went in the barn and chugged water from the hose until I nearly felt sick from binge drinking :P Then I went back outside and finished riding.
As soon as I got back on campus from riding, I went out to the club carnival to make sure that someone had taken over the GALL table--or that there was even a GALL table. Sure enough, a few members had already put out our flyers and a poster. They were holding their own, so I browsed the other tables for a bit. I hadn't been in the middle of the mayhem for more than a few seconds when I was accosted by two random computer science majors who were representing the campus chapter of ACM (Association for Computing Machinery). They were just bothering random people in hopes that some idiot would at least sign up (and never come), so they were extremely surprised when I told them that I'm a CS major. They informed me that I was practically required to put my name on their list after revealing that interesting fact, and they told me that Stephen would love me. I laughed at them too. They were funny guys.
I also found the PERL table, which was where I also signed up for the "girls' computer science club." I guess I'll make it to one or the other, perhaps both if I'm really lucky. I just can't miss GALL or any of my night classes (more on that later), and I don't know when they meet yet.
After I signed up for a few new clubs, I went to the GALL table to see if they needed any help. Sure enough, everyone who was there had other tables to tend, so I took over for an hour or so. It was fun to have people come over and ask me what GALL does. I gave them vivid descriptions of our most exciting projects. A couple of people asked me if GALL is like Improv Everywhere. It is; in fact, it's basically a local chapter of Improv Everywhere. Plenty of people asked me about guerrilla art, so I did my best to explain our activities to them. One girl approached and asked me what we do, but she stopped me after I described our April Fools' Day prank. She said that she didn't need to hear anything else because she was definitely in. One girl saw me in my riding clothes and asked if GALL is about riding. I told her that it isn't, but I gave her a lot of information about the riding classes at the school. She was very grateful for the information because she told me that she'd really love to ride one day. I was glad to help. Shanita, a wonderful girl who went to high school with me, even stopped by the table to talk to me. I asked her if she wanted to join GALL, but she told me that she doesn't do art anymore. She learned to dislike art in high school, which is a shame because she's an absolutely brilliant painter. I told her that she might like GALL because it's the kind of art we never would have done in high school. I gave her a pamphlet and I sure hope she comes :) I'm not much into drawing and painting anymore, but GALL makes me happy.
Shin splints, on the other hand, do not make me happy. I've been walking a whole lot. I didn't even wear my knee braces one day. Yeah. I've got shin splints now. It sucks because the fronts and sides of my calves hurt. I get shin splints pretty easily; I read somewhere that people whose ankles roll inward tend to get them more often. The chiropractor told me that mine do that a little, which is why my knees are so screwed up. I don't have an arch in my foot, which is why I need to wear supports in my shoes too. Hah, I wasn't sorry!
So...
After doing my duty for GALL, I rushed to the Intro to Linguistics class that I was hoping to get into. The professor told us in the beginning of the class that she doesn't normally do force-adds, so several people got up and left. I stayed, however. I figured I could at least enjoy the class and perhaps chat with her about a possible Linguistics/Latin special major. I'm so glad I did.
After the class was over, I approached the professor by telling her that I was hoping to create a major. She told me that she would be glad to help me. Then, she asked the obligatory year and credits question. I told her that I'm a sophomore and that I'm already declared Computer Science and Latin. She thought I was interested in combining computer science and linguistics for a Computational Linguistics major, but I quickly told her that I want to combine Latin with linguistics for a Linguistics/Latin (That title is actually short enough, so I'm either going to go with that or simply call it Linguistics.) major. The professor told me to come back next week--it's only on Wednesday nights, once a week--to sit in on the class and she'd know by then whether she could let me in or not. She told me that it was likely considering two people didn't show up for the first class meeting and no other students had approached her to force-add (read: She got all of the non-serious ones to leave and the stubborn one stayed.).
All in all, it was an exhausting but excellent day. I also got my Calculus I class approved--YES!--and I think I'm going to go to the class tomorrow and get the professor to add me even though the class is technically not on my transcripts yet. He was actually the one who approved the class since he's the one who teaches it, and he'd probably let me in if I just talk to him. Wooooooo :) I'm excited for this semester.

Get ready for blog post overload--school is back in session.

2009-08-24T13:07:00.001-07:00

I just finished with my classes for the day. I only had two actual classes along with a riding meeting, so it wasn't too much.
I left early for campus because I wanted breakfast and I assumed it would take forever for me to find a parking space. I got lost, re-oriented myself after finding my way out of a set of one-way streets that was obviously some sort of practical joke on the part of the planners, and finally went to the campus police station and demanded a commuter pass. For now, since I'm living off campus in some apartments that the college is renting out for us, I'm technically a commuting student. There were NO parking spaces available for me in any of the lots behind the dorms, and I finally took advantage of my temporary commuter pass to park in a special area of the college apartments (no, not where I live) lot. It honestly took 45 minutes of driving around, including the "infinite loop" that I got myself caught in.
Speaking of infinite loops, I did manage to have a little bit of breakfast before heading over to the computer science department for my first class. I even managed to get there early and look around.
Over the summer, the department got a major renovation. The computer lab got leveled out so that no one has to trip on their way in or out anymore. The lab got new doors that are glass, and the whole place got repainted to a creamy yellow. It looks much more open and spacious now. They even got some new furniture in the rooms, and I'm sure they were able to get some new equipment too. It was "very wow."
I sat down at one of the tables off to the side of the elevator and started to think. I mostly thought about my upcoming class as I stared into the freshly-painted walls of the basement. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder and heard the familiar, friendly voice of Dr. Davies. We chatted for just a few moments; he seemed like he was busy, so I was happy to let him go back to his office.
A girl approached me and sat down beside me. She asked me if I'm enrolled in 220, so we started talking about the class. She's also a Computer Science major. I was actually really happy when I looked around the hall at all of the tables and saw...four girls and two guys :D I realized just how odd (read: amazing) the school actually is when I realized that about half of the class consisted of female students. That's pretty much unheard of. I had thought that I might be one of only a few (or the only) female student in the class, but I was very pleased to discover that I was wrong.
The class went very well. The professor was very nice. She's the department head, the lady I visited when I declared the major. I sat through the normal first-day speech on classroom procedures. We also went through the syllabus. I'm not terribly worried about it. We did a little bit of learning today. I didn't know some of the stuff I thought that I should have already known, but I was able to follow the discussions easily. I'll get there in time; Dr. Zaidman wouldn't be teaching it if we were expected to know it already. In fact, I've already cracked the book once today.
I went to Latin after lunch. There were actually 12 people in the class, which I was definitely not expecting.
I'll finish updating after I have dinner.

It's almost time.

2009-08-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

I go back to school on August 23rd. I'm very, very excited about it, too :)
I've got a lot of my things packed, but I've still got a lot left to do. I'm going to be in temporary apartment housing until further notice. I don't even know if we'll be provided with a desk and chair, a refrigerator, seating in the living area, or anything else. I know they're providing us with beds that are similar to the ones at school, so I don't have to buy any new sheets. I'm just worried that I'll have to set up my computer on some of my packing boxes and sit in the floor to use it until I can get a desk and chair. I also really want a refrigerator--chocolate soymilk and Mountain Dew are best served cold.
I bought my two computer science books the day before yesterday. I'm so excited to get them. I got them off of eBay because they were both about $100--used--online at the school bookstore. CPSC 220 is, in fact, a Java class (hahaha). I already have a good Java compiler on my computer, so I won't have to search around and find one that works well with OS X. I have had a ridiculously hard time getting XCode to work, but I hope that I can. I'm going to keep trying because I hear that it's brilliant. The other book is a discrete mathematics and computer science text. I could only find one on eBay, but it was a whole lot less expensive than the one in the school's bookstore and it said that it was in good condition. The Java book was in brand new condition and saved me about $70 off of the used book price. I'm happy and I hope I get them soon. I still need to buy my Latin books. I didn't buy the books for my Classics class yet because I don't want to remain in the class. I want to switch out for a linguistics course and Calculus II.
I need to make sure that the community college sent my updated transcript to school for me. And I'm hoping that the school will take it. I'm hoping with everything I have.

Fireman's Carnival

2009-07-30T19:34:00.001-07:00

Tonight was the first night of the local fireman's carnival. My sister was begging me to take her, so I conceded and we went for a couple of hours. As soon as we arrived, she split off with her friends, leaving me alone.
I headed over to the bingo table, where I found a chair and put down a dollar for a card. I ended up winning on my second round, earning more than I managed to spend in the subsequent rounds of bingo and for my "dinner" (french fries and a watermelon snow cone, heh). I thought I'd spend most of my money, but I came out with more than I had going in :)
I didn't ride any rides because I didn't have anyone to ride with. I didn't play any games because the aquarium game (where you toss ping pong balls into tiny fishbowls and win a prize--I was glad to see that they've stopped the awful practice of giving away live fish to people who are just going to let them die) didn't have any stuffed lobsters like they've had for the past two or three years. I'm pretty good at the aquarium game, so I've gotten quite a collection of lobsters. I just ate and played bingo.
I did see Drew and Cassie. Cassie reminded me that I have to go to her grandma's house to help get the 4-H yard sale ready. Drew gave me his new phone number and updated me on his life; we haven't seen one another in a while. I saw a lot of people that I recognized from when I was in high school, but I didn't talk to most of them. I didn't care to talk to most of them.

Yes.

2009-07-29T18:32:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling quite content right about now. A little unnerved in a few areas, but still content.
I just got my Calculus I grade. I got my A, alright :) I got a 93.96%, which I round up to a 94. The college is on a 10-point scale, so I didn't "just" make it, either. I just hope it transfers to UMW easily! I posted something on my Facebook status about my success in Calculus--"...swore she wouldn't take math in college, got an A in Calculus I, and can't wait for Calculus II." Mrs. Weddle "liked" my status. I miss her so much. I wish I could send her an e-mail telling her that I'd declared myself an English major (so many of her other students have), but she would be disappointed in me knowing that I hadn't followed my dream. In my senior yearbook, she gave me my "final" homework assignment. I have to go out into the world and make a difference. I haven't failed to complete a single homework assignment for her yet, and I hope to keep my record clean.
I've been thinking about what I want to accomplish in this coming school year. I want to start using a planner. I've never bothered to use one because I've always been pretty good at keeping track of assignments and dates in my head. I just feel like I should start, though. I want to stay fairly organized. My side of the dorm room was always clean, as in my clothes were in the hamper and my dishes were washed on a daily basis. My desk, however, was a mountain of papers, books, and art supplies just begging to be stapled or otherwise contained. I'd like to improve on that. I want to get out and be more social. If nothing else, I really want that. I've come to realize that socializing with people and making contacts is going to be one of the most beneficial things I can do in college, even though it's proving to be quite difficult for me. I'm just naturally quiet; I don't assume that people want to talk to me and hear what I have to say. I hate that aspect of myself and I hope to continue working on it for the next few years. I want to go to all of the department picnics, all of the department parties, all of the random department activities (even the Video Game Olympics, even though I'd just make a fool of myself when I have to play Guitar Hero on easy), and all of the guest lectures. I would really like to see if there are any professors (particularly Stephen, because he's so nice and I think he's into artificial intelligence) who would be willing to let me help them do some research. It would be a lot of fun, and it'll be a big bonus on my resume if I decide to apply for graduate school. I want to join PERL, the computer science club, and I want to work really hard as one of the co-presidents of GALL.
Speaking of GALL, I made a pretty sweet slideshow about all of our activities from last year. I gathered up all of the pictures I'd saved on my computer and I snitched a few from the club's Photobucket account. For the background of each of the title slides, I used a photo that I took in the library of a sign that asks library patrons to report any "disruptive" or "suspicious" activity to the front desk. I thought it was appropriate :) The first title slide says "THIS IS GALL," then there's a gorgeous picture of the campus that I took from the balcony of the gym early one morning, and then it starts into the other events--Bottlecap Bead Curtain, Masky Flashmobby, Body Canvas, "Anatomical" Origami, Live Snake, Lightbulb Garden, Wacky Warnings, and Happy April Fools' Day. To top it all off, the whole seven minutes and 33 seconds is set to the equally-long "Corona Radiata," by Nine Inch Nails of course :) "Corona Radiata" is a spine-tingling industrial instrumental piece, and I thought the creepy-yet-beautiful feel of the piece reminded me a lot of GALL. I still don't know if I'll upload it on Youtube, but I might put in on Facebook. I didn't take all of the pictures (maybe 93%, but still). I heard that "Corona Radiata" is free for our use because Trent Reznor gave out free downloads of "The Slip," the album that the piece is on, and he's no longer on a big label. I dunno, maybe I'll put it on Facebook first and then put it on Youtube. I'm very proud of it, after all.

Scammer Grammar

2009-07-18T19:53:00.000-07:00

I checked my school e-mail today, hoping to hear more about my housing, something from my roommate, perhaps a scholarship or something fun from GALL or the CompSci department. I didn't get any of those, but I did get a good laugh from an e-mail that I received from the "help desk." It said that the message contained "urgent information" in the title, so I opened it up to take a peek.
They asked for my password, so I immediately took it as a scam. Come on, guys. Not only did I grow up using computers and protecting my own personal information, but I also happen to have some common sense. And the spelling and grammatical errors in the body--oooooh, they drive me absolutely insane!

Here are the winners from this particular message--

"You are adviced to send us your account details." -- "Adviced." Really, if you're going to try to scam passwords off of people, then at least have the decency to spell-check your stupid little e-mail that everyone laughs at and deletes (and possibly takes the time to blog about).

"All Staff/Student" -- "Staff" is plural. "Student" is not. Seriously.

"Further more be informed that we will not hesitate to delete all email accounts that are not functioning, to create more space for new user." -- "User" should be plural. Furthermore, "furthermore" is one word. I won't even get into comma placement...

"After upgrading, a password reset link will be sent to your email for new
password." -- First of all, that's just strange. And the latter half of that sentence is also strange.

"Once it is confirmed you will have no problem signing into your account." -- I just find this one hysterical because, well...if you fall for this scam, you WILL have a problem signing into your account.

"This is a scheduled maintenance period that will be occuring each month, due to the amount of junk email our staff/student are receiving." -- It's "occurring." Getting people to reset their passwords each month would be ridiculously inconvenient. And they made the "staff/student" error AGAIN. And...okay, I said I wouldn't start with the commas... :P

I'm not normally the kind of person who will call someone out for their poor grammar and spelling (even though it eats me up on the inside), but I'm willing to make exceptions for the idiots out there who make a poor attempt at scamming uninformed people out of their passwords. I just wonder if the people who write these types of e-mails are actually stupid or if they're just lazy.
I also have to admit that I've always wanted to respond to one of these e-mails with a fake username and password that are completely vulgar and disturbing, just for laughs. That's my sense of humor for you.
In case you didn't know and didn't figure it out from reading this, an e-mail asking for your password is a scam. I can't think of a single situation where it wouldn't be. Although the e-mail looks legit, it's NOT. There's a way to make a sender's plain old free e-mail account look like a university or company e-mail. Yes, the message is going to tell you that your account is going to be deleted and whatnot. Don't worry about it. I've gotten literally dozens of these e-mails throughout my life--haven't responded to a single one--and I haven't had a single account deleted yet. If you do respond to the message and share your account details, the person who sent the e-mail will have complete control over your account and any personal information that comes with it. And the first thing those people do when they access your account? Change the password so that YOU can't get in. So treat your password like your toothbrush and don't share it with anyone. And change it every few months. :P :P :P

Latin, Linguistics, and Computer Science

2009-07-14T12:19:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some hard thinking for the past few days. I don't know what I should do. I've been thinking for a while now about ultimately working in the field of artificial intelligence. It certainly sounds like an ideal career path for me. I'm interested in computer science, language, and the human mind. It would be fun!
With those thoughts came the idea of a major in Linguistics. The university that I attend doesn't offer a Linguistics major, but there are several linguistics courses offered that go along with the English and Communications majors. The university also offers the opportunity to design a special major that includes courses from two or more disciplines. I don't want to drop my Latin major completely. Rather, I'd like to create a hybrid Latin/Linguistics major that will give me a leg-up in a future career and excuse me from all of the mythology and Roman history courses that I don't really want to take. The school's "special major" page on their site even suggested combining linguistics courses with a language to form the Linguistics major. I think they were hoping students would choose a modern foreign language to create their own Linguistics major, but the only good language is a dead language :) (Programming languages are good too, but my favorite shirt doesn't agree.)
I think that creating the Latin/Linguistics major will help me graduate on time. I also think I'll be happier. I love Latin, but I love the language. I've always been into grammar and language over analyzing literature, studying mythology, and learning about history.
This isn't set in stone yet, but it's definitely something I'm thinking about. The only thing is that I feel like a bad Latin student for not pursuing the major in its entirety. But I'm silly, I guess.
In other news, I e-mailed my roommate for the coming year. Her name is Jasmine, and she sounds very nice and interesting. She told me that she likes animals, which is always a winner with me. She also doesn't smoke or drink, which also makes me happy. We share a few interests so far, and I'm really excited to hear more from her. The information that I got tells me that we're still in hotel housing, so we may not be together at all. They might find space for us on campus, which means they'll stick us wherever there are two open spots, together or not. I would love a great roommate, but I also really want to be on campus. I don't know, and I'm not going to worry about it. If we're together, great. Jasmine sounds wonderful. If we're not, so it goes. It's always nice to meet people to have as friends.
I also got an e-mail from Mike, the current president of GALL. He's graduating in the coming year, so he sent out a message to all of the current members of GALL asking for someone who is willing to be trained as his replacement. I hesitated to respond because I figured that someone else would want to take the three open positions, but I was worried that, if no one else responded either, GALL would die. I sent Mike a response telling him that I'd take a position if one still needed to be filled, and he told me that a co-presidency seemed to be forming and that I was welcome to be a part of it. I honestly love the idea, partly because I think it suits GALL more, and partly because I was worried that Mike's response was going to be something along the lines of, "No one responded, so you get to be president by yourself."
I've been trying to be more social and get myself out there a little more, and volunteering to help lead GALL seemed like a good way to take a few steps. It'll require me to get out and talk to people in order to get some great stuff done--and getting great stuff done with GALL is definitely worth it.

Mm, slushies.

2009-07-11T18:54:00.000-07:00

So, 7-11 was giving out free slushies today. I was really excited and all. I think they're great, especially that weird Mutant Berry stuff. I stopped in one of the stores and made a beeline for the slushie station, where I grabbed a cup and examined my options. There was a Coke slushie--yummy, but rather boring. There was a cherry slushie, but artificial cherry flavoring is disgusting. There were two orange slushies, but they were both diet. Diet slushies (and drinks in general) are completely undrinkable under normal circumstances. There was a watermelon slushie, which instantly attracted me.
I waited in the long line with my paper cup and purple straw in hand while people made their decisions and filled their cups with frosty goodness. I noticed that a few people were having trouble getting the watermelon slushie dispenser to work, and I was very worried that I'd have to settle for a Coke slushie.
I decided that I wasn't going to settle for a Coke slushie, however. I placed my cup down under the dispenser and turned the knob. Nothing came out. I was irked, but I held up the line and kept on trying. I really wanted the watermelon slushie. I pushed and pulled and forced and slammed on the little lever-knob to make the slushie come out, and, man, did it come out! Suddenly, the dam (probably a chunk of ice) broke and a cold, pink flood exploded out on everything in the vicinity.
The floor was splattered with little piles of slushie. My small slushie cup was overflowing, and the overflow catcher thing was, well, overflowing. There were streaks of reddish-pink running down my arms because I was holding the cup when the thing let loose. I even had some on my face and shirt. The two people who happened to be behind me just stared--didn't even crack a smile!--but I couldn't do anything but laugh hysterically as I carried my dripping mess over to the nearest napkin container and tried to clean up the mess. I did, in fact, clean myself, the cup, and the floor thoroughly before leaving the store.
The slushie was very good and totally worth being all sticky and cleaning up such a big mess. I didn't even get a brain freeze! I wonder if they'll dare to offer free slushies again next year. I wonder if they'll let me have one. Because I am SO ready if they are :)

Visiting Robert

2009-07-09T20:23:00.000-07:00

I talked to Robert last night. He suggested that we do a Free Hugs kind of thing at the next farmer's market, which is August 1st. The idea immediately took my interest; I do love stuff like that :) Hopefully his idea will be very successful!
I also went to go visit Robert tonight. We were going to go canoeing, but the marina was closed by the time I was able to come to his house after I'd finished all of my work at the barn. We played Guitar Hero instead, which was a lot of fun. I'd only played guitar and bass, never vocals.
I usually don't sing in front of other people. I sang for Mac right before he died. Sometimes I sing for Stella. I sing in the car sometimes. I do quite well singing with Morrissey, even though I can't always hit the high notes with him. I attempt to sing with Mr. Reznor, but I'm not very good at it. Usually, I'll get halfway through a NIN song and burst into laughter because I know I must sound ridiculous. Most people probably think that I'm completely incapable of yelling, yet I'm driving down the road screaming the lyrics of "Gave Up" at the top of my lungs. Sometimes I sing with the radio, but most of the time my car won't pick up any good stations and I have to stick with CDs.
For a while, Robert and I switched between guitar and bass. The bass was a lot easier for me to play (I still need to play on the easy level, but Robert plays on the expert level.), so I mostly did that. Then, Robert got me to sing while he continued with the guitar. I was completely unfamiliar with all of the songs I had to sing, which made the task very difficult. Being unable to see the tiny print also increased the level of difficulty... I really needed my glasses. I couldn't get the hang of it and it was very embarrassing, but it was still pretty fun. Robert also had his turn at the microphone. Despite his assertion that he sucks at doing the vocals, I thought his singing voice was quite nice.
It was really late by the time we decided that we'd had enough. I met Robert's cat, Karuna, and she is gorgeous. Then I went out onto the porch and almost fell flat on my face because I couldn't judge distances in the dark. Hehehe.
I have other stuff to write about, but I'm really tired and I think I should go to bed.

Reese's for breakfast!

2009-07-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

I woke up late this morning. I really just needed the extra sleep, so even when I woke up at 6:30 and started to climb out of bed, I made myself lie back down. I noticed that I was very distracted and weaved a lot when I was driving yesterday, and I really don't want to do something dangerous like that again. I eventually woke up at 9:00 and decided that I'd had enough.
I almost always have to have breakfast right after I wake up. Of course, I didn't do that on Monday. I had a small bag of peanuts and a can of Mountain Dew from the vending machines when I was working on the calculus project with Joshua, and that was after noon. Before that, I didn't have anything to eat or drink :( Ah, but I digress...
I had Reese's for breakfast. While I was rooting around in the box (I like my cereal dry.) for each handful, I looked at the back of the box. This box had a list of "18 Things To Do Before You're 18". Since I'm 19, I've kinda lost my chance at completing the list. But...what have I done?

#1. Ride the world's biggest rollercoaster.
I've been on some rollercoasters, yes. I've been on ones with loops. I've been on some really fast ones, ones with fairly large drops, all sorts of stuff. I'll get on just about anything as long as it has a sitting car. I've seen some of them let you hang, and the thought of that just freaks me out. I usually do close my eyes and hang on, though. I'm terribly scared of heights :)
I googled the "world's biggest rollercoaster" and didn't find anything useful. What makes it the "biggest"? Length? Height? Something else? I don't know. But maybe I'll get up the gall to go on one of those hanging roller coasters now that I've thought about it

#2. Bungee jump.
Uh...NO. Never. I'd bungee jump before I tried skydiving, but...no.

#3. Score the winning goal/basket.
Is the equestrian equivalent winning a blue ribbon? If so, I've got this one completed. I was usually picked last in gym class because I'm pathetic when it comes to all of those sports :P

#4. Win an award, trophy, or prize.
I got a certificate for a high score on the National Latin Exam twice (and I've taken the test twice). I won the "word processing award" in high school for being the only person who ever got my stuff done. I've won classes and prizes at horse shows. Yay me?

#5. Learn an instrument.
I attempted this one. I really did. But I can't help it that my middle school music teacher taught us how to play chess (I'm forever grateful.) instead of teaching us how to read sheet music. I attempted to learn to play the piano, and I can play a couple of things. I figured out the presidential march thing all by myself. I can play part of "Teardrop" by Massive Attack (Think of the "House" theme.) and the very beginning of "Blue" by Eiffel 65. I can play parts of "Something I Can Never Have," "The Frail," "Zero Sum," and a handful of other Nine Inch Nails songs. I have a very, very hard time playing with both hands, however, and I don't think I'll ever be a successful musician.

#6. Go backstage at a gig.
Let's work on "go to first major concert" first, and then we'll try this one. I've been to small concerts with local bands at school, but that's all. I would LOVE to go to a NIN concert one day, mostly because it's my favorite band that's still together. After all, Morrissey isn't as great without Marr by his side :(

#7. Meet your idol.
My idol? No clue. There are lots of people I'd love to meet, though. Most of them are dead. So it goes.

#8. Play a part in your favorite TV show.
I do play a part in "House." I try to analyze medical symptoms and make a diagnosis before the great Dr. Gregory House does. Hahaha. I also do that when my mom and I watch medical shows on the Discovery Health channel.

#9. Meet someone with your own name.
According to a Facebook application that I tried a few weeks ago, I'm the only person in the world with my first and last name and that there are probably around 100 people in the world with my last name. My dad and I have the same middle and last name, though, so I guess that's as close as I'll get.

#10. Make a discovery.
Hmmmm...

#11. Get away with the perfect practical joke.
I've pulled lots of fun practical jokes, both on friends and the general public. I plan to get away with lots more. I do love a good practical joke.
I don't think I ever revealed what I did on April Fool's Day this year. I cut lots of circles out of fluorescent copy paper, and then I taped them to the walls of the elevator in my favorite academic building. I figured that it would brighten everyone's dull elevator ride (The walls are an ugly, puke-y pink color.) and make people wonder who the perpetrator was (It did--someone actually asked me if I did it.), and it made for a fun, harmless thing to do on such a wonderful day.

#12. Own a pointless collection.
I collect...er, what do I collect? I could say that I collect pictures and video that I've taken. Is that pointless? Maybe.

#13. Invent a word that makes it into the dictionary.
When "wootle" makes it into the Merriam-Webster's, I'll let you guys know. But we need a definition for it, first.

#14. Conquer your biggest fear.
In some ways, I've definitely worked on it. As I said, I've gone on lots of roller coasters, and I actually like the view as long as I'm sitting securely and sure that I won't fall. A few months ago, I climbed up into the tree stand in the back field behind the barn. It was twenty feet or so off the ground and I was scared to death, but the view was great. I also helped Larry, my riding instructor, work when I was on winter break. I accepted the job offer on the condition that I would only be picking up the old shingles that he threw on the ground, but then Larry needed help with something on the roof. He knew that I was scared of heights, but he really needed me and called me to climb up the ladder. I freaked out but did it anyway. I think I would've been okay if I'd been on a flat roof, but the steep slope made me feel like I was going to fall. I did survive, however, and I guess I'm a little less afraid of heights because of it.

#15. Raise money for charity.
I've done lots of work for charity. I love to help the local therapeutic riding school. I judged a class for them at a local horse show about two weeks ago. I've helped them with their student horse show, and I've cleaned stalls for them. I haven't really given money to any charities, though. Maybe I'll do something one day...

#16. Pass your driving test the first time.
I actually did, believe it or not. I passed the learner's and license tests the first time around.

#17. Complete a road trip coast to coast.
I flew. Check.

#18. Reach 18 years of age--yes!!!
The cereal says that I'm old.

Food for thought. Yummy. I guess that's all for today.

Project Calculus

2009-07-06T16:31:00.000-07:00

I've been working hard at this calculus stuff, and it's paying off. I've got an 86 average, and I think I can get it up to an A by the end of the semester if I study a little harder. Perhaps if I'd known that we were actually supposed to submit our worksheets, I'd already have that A. Ah, so it goes :)
I still don't know whether this class will count as Calculus I and II or just the first one. At this point, I'm no longer afraid of Calculus II. My issues with math from high school math are fading away and, well, I actually smiled today when my professor was explaining a difficult problem to my group in her office.
Our big class project is due tomorrow, but we managed to turn it in this afternoon. The professor divided the class into groups. She put me in a group with a girl named Rachel and a guy named Josh. Rachel and Josh met a few days ago, and Josh and I met today. Josh worked on the first problem while I worked on the second. Mrs. Lee, our professor, came to her office for a while, so we ambushed her and asked her for a little help. The second problem was significantly more difficult than the first (The concept was actually a little easier for me to understand, but the numbers were terribly difficult to manipulate.), so I ultimately had to go to the office three or four times. We worked on the final part of the first problem together. Josh was surprised when he used my calculator and it gave him an answer in scientific notation. He knew what it was, he was just taken aback for a few seconds. Talking about scientific notation sent me into chemistry mode. The question had something to do with profit, and when we got one of several answers Mrs. Lee asked us how many decimal places the answer would have. I started mumbling out loud about sig figs, and then Mrs. Lee smiled and reminded me that we were talking about money. She has a degree in chemistry, so she definitely knew what I was talking about. I was a little red in the face, but I still thought that my cross-discipline blunder was very amusing.
We were in the library for about three hours when Josh finally finished and decided he was going home. I walked down to the student lounge and got myself some breakfast and lunch--a Mountain Dew and a small bag of peanuts. I've been running on a few hours of sleep each night since Wednesday because I've been off at a horse show, and I woke up at 4:30 AM this morning to work on some calculus. I needed the caffeine...
After a ridonkulously long time in the library, I was ready to head home. I need to study for my test tomorrow, but instead I'm listening to Nine Inch Nails (as I often do) and typing this (as I often do when I'm at school).
I guess I'd better get started.

Yay, my first game!

2009-06-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

I know it's lame beyond belief, but I did finish my game right after I finished that last blog post. It has been a constant source of entertainment for me: playing, coercing family members into playing ("Isn't this AWESOME!?" "Oh, yes...uh, that's...nice..."), tweaking, hoping that I might be able to think of new games to make.
I'm already considering an attempt at a "24" kind of game, where the object is to roll four dice and get as close to 24 total points as possible. I guess I could make it so the user could play against the computer, and I think I've got a way for the computer to "decide" that it "wants" to try a roll again. I need more ideas for fun games. I'd like to have a whole collection of games eventually. Maybe one day I'll actually make cool games for me to play, instead of a bunch of lame Javascript games. I want to make my own version of Minesweeper and Snake. Mm, yes... And a horsey jumping game. At the rate I'm going, I'll probably end up as a game programmer. I don't think I want to do that, but I'm bored and I can't think of anything better to code than a bunch of silly games. At least they're useful right now. I can still access some of the stuff I did in 110, but none of them are currently that useful or entertaining.
Oh, yeah, and I got new shoelaces. Pretty black ones with red on the sides. They look pretty sweet on my old riding boots. And...it's sad when I start writing about my shoelaces.
When I go back to college, I won't be as boring. I promise.

INFINITE LOOP...FAIL.

2009-06-10T20:34:00.000-07:00

I found some inspiration, and now I'm writing a Javascript program for a number guessing game. I would be able to finish it before I go to bed, but I'm not all that willing to stay up past midnight when I have to get up early tomorrow morning to study calculus. I'm having fun though :) The whole Java thing is not working out that well for me right now, mostly because I can't find a decent online tutorial to help me out. I'm thinking about changing focus and working on C++ for a bit. I know there are lots of tutorials floating around for that. The Java tutorials just seem...scattered.
Eh, so my program did incorporate an infinite loop because, in the two seconds it took me to refresh the page, I realized that I had inadvertently forgotten to add the all-important "i++;", which condemned the poor prompt to repeat itself over and over and over and over and over and over again until I could convince Internet Explorer (My mom is allergic to foxes.) to close.
My calculus test went well on Tuesday. It was fairly easy. I think I got an A on it. I got a B on my first test, but that's because it's the first test. They're always "harder" because no one ever knows how they're going to be. The test was all about limits and derivatives, and some marginal profit thing that I didn't pay much attention to. While calculating interest rates might come in handy someday, I seriously doubt I'm going to be using most of this business stuff at any point in my life. I'm focusing on the things I think I'm going to need for Calculus II, and ultimately the computer science classes that have it as a prerequisite.
Ooooh! I think I finished my game! :)
(Seriously, my life is boring. But maybe the game will make my life more exciting...)

Even more computer and college stuffs. (Have you died of boredom yet?)

2009-06-04T19:04:00.000-07:00

My life consists solely of studying calculus, mucking stalls, and screwing around with computers. Mm, and a little Latin. I'm boring. Sigh...
Today I played around with my Java hello world program. I wrote it and debugged it (Debugging a hello world program... Hahaha, that's a little embarrassing.) a while back, but I never tried to run it. I opened up Terminal, did the whole command-line thing, and had about fifteen minutes of sheer SQUEE while running it over and over again.
Hello, world!
Hello, world!
Hello, world!
Hello, world!
Yeah, that entertained me. I was happy :)
I studied my calculus today. I did lots of stuff with limits and continuity. It wasn't too bad. Limits are supposed to be really important, so I've been studying them extra hard. For the most part, I'm getting all of the practice problems right.
I studied Latin last night. I opened up my good old Wheelock's book and made some vocab flashcards. My vocabulary isn't as good as it should be. I was driving down the road the other day and trying to compose Latin sentences in my head. I couldn't think of any good words. It made me sad, so now I'm rebuilding my vocabulary so it's strong and healthy.
I worked on my old computer a few nights ago. It's about seven years old, running Windows XP, and, according to the guy at the computer shop, the slowest computer anyone's ever had the displeasure of booting up. No joke, it takes almost twenty minutes to be able to click anything, and almost twenty more before anything starts to work. After a while it runs almost as quickly as the Mighty Mac, but I can't use it without a little desktop fan blowing on it. It'll overheat in a matter of minutes without the fan. At this point, replacing the fan would probably cost more than the computer is worth. For a while, I've been thinking about cleaning everything off of it, hopefully making it run faster, and then trying Ubuntu on it as a fun project until the thing finally gives out. (Then it'll be my little "dissection" project, but--shhh!--don't tell it.) I've started the whole "cleaning everything off of it" part, and I've actually accomplished a lot. I took notes the other night because I knew it would keep me entertained while I was waiting around for everything. Maybe I'll type them out here later. They're kind of amusing, in an odd sort of way.
I went to go see Robert about a week ago. That was great. I dropped by around 8:30 and we played a spaceship video game. It was so much fun, but I don't think I was very good at it. I died a whole lot. I think it was after 10 before I left to go home. I've missed Robert.
Mm, I've got about an hour before I should go to bed. Calculus? Nah. Too late for that. I'll find something to do.

More computer and college stuffs

2009-05-18T17:04:00.000-07:00

I never found that disk (Does it even exist? I read about it somewhere, and I swear I haven't lost it.), so I'm trying to find a Java compiler. Evidently, I can't ssh into the school's server to work on my Javascript project that I was so hoping to tinker with over the summer :( So it goes. The page is still available, so I'll probably just "steal" my work from the source and maybe find some way to play with it. I still have my old Freewebs site that I don't touch anymore, so maybe I'll find a way to devote a page to my Latin Composition Tutor.
That meant nothing to anyone but me, I'm sure. Hahahaha.
I've been working on my calculus class. It's not that bad yet. I hope it never gets to a point where I think it's "bad." I think I'm the only traditional college student in the class. Most of the people who've posted their introductions on the message board are adult learners, which isn't a bad thing by any means. The teacher seems really nice just judging from our short meeting at the community college. I walked into the room and sat down, and she asked me to come to the front to get a syllabus. I looked at both of them and realized that both of them were for a basic arithmetic class, not calculus. She must've seen the confusion on my face because she walked over to assist me. I asked her about the calculus class and she told me that I didn't have to attend the meeting. I sat through it anyway because she was going over something we'd be using in class, and I realized that I had to use something similar for my chemistry classes. For the most part, my whole distance learning orientation wasn't very useful. I bought my books, and that was about it. I wouldn't be taking an online learning class if I didn't know how to use a computer, and I most certainly wouldn't be taking calculus if I weren't in a major that involved learning even more about computers. I was, fortunately, spared the annoyance of not being in the library computers already. I took many, many dual-enrollment courses in high school, all through this community college. I just had to have my picture taken (I looked silly, and I just happened to be wearing a shirt that was almost identical in color to the background so I looked like a floating head and neck. Hehehe.) and get an actual card. They messed up my last name once, so I had to do the whole thing again. So it goes.
My life is even more boring now that I'm home from school. Bleh.

Calculus owns me.

2009-05-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

The orientation for my online Calculus class is this afternoon, and I'm a little nervous. Sure, I looked at the syllabus. That made me feel a little better because the first unit is stuff that I already know and stuff that I will easily remember once I look it over. But I'm still nervous.
I need to buy the book and the required software tonight. Hopefully the software will be compatible with my computer. I always, always, always worry about that. I might have to switch computers with my family for a bit.
I've also got to find the "developer's disk" that came with my computer. Supposedly there's a disk with a compiler specifically for my computer on it. I'd like to go into 220 with as much knowledge of C++ and/or Java as I had of Javascript when I went into 110. Frankly, my knowledge wasn't great, but it did make life a whole lot easier. I guess, however, that once you understand the concept of programming in one language, it shouldn't be too much harder to learn a second, third, fourth, fifth, and so on.
In more amusing news, I went to the chiropractor yesterday. We were talking about math and computer science, engineering and anatomy as the cracks from my vertebrae made me cringe. He asked me what languages they teach at school. I told him that they teach all sorts, but then told him that I only know Javascript so far. He went off on a tangent about HTML and Fortran. It made me smile :) I dunno, I just thought it was humorous to see him standing over me, simultaneously snapping my neck and lecturing me on how HTML is not an actual language. I think lots of things are funny.
In not-so-amusing-yet-absolutely-amazing news, I OWNED CHEMISTRY THIS SEMESTER.
I had something else to write about, but I forgot it.

I went a little crazy with these things, but I'm bored.

2009-05-06T17:41:00.000-07:00

You Are a Mac

You are creative, stylish, and super trendy.

You are a bit obsessed with gadgets, and you like owning the newest devices.

You aren't the type of person who separates work from pleasure.

In your opinion, all work should be fun. You love creating.

Aesthetics are very important to you. You like to be surrounded by beautiful, sleek things.

You demand the best - even if it costs an arm and a leg.

Are You a Mac or a PC?

I don't consider myself stylish or trendy (I still have and wear clothes from 6th grade, no joke.), but I definitely need to make my work fun. I like beautiful things, particularly those that lead me to create even more beautiful things.
This would be a perfect time for me to tell the story about how Windows made me cry the first time I ever used a computer, but... I'll save that one :)

You Are 50% Boyish and 50% Girlish

You are pretty evenly split down the middle - a total eunuch.

Okay, kidding about the eunuch part. But you do get along with both sexes.

You reject traditional gender roles. However, you don't actively fight them.

You're just you. You don't try to be what people expect you to be.

How Boyish or Girlish Are You?

Ha! That proves it! I am HALF a woman. Screw you all :D

There Are 0 Gaps in Your Knowledge

Where you have gaps in your knowledge:

No Gaps!

Where you don't have gaps in your knowledge:

Philosophy

Religion

Economics

Literature

History

Science

Art

Do You Have Gaps in Your Knowledge?

Wow. Uhm... I guessed a lot.

Your Word is "Think"

You see life as an amazing mix of possibilities, ideas, and fascinations.

And sometimes you feel like you don't have enough time to take it all in.

You love learning. Whether you're in school or not, you're probably immersed in several subjects right now.

When you're not learning, you're busy reflecting. You think a lot about the people you know and the things you've experienced.

What's Your Word?

This one describes me quite well, in my opinion.

Yeah, I'll write about why I use a Mac on another day. Usually I forgive and forget, but first impressions last a long time... :) (I'm just kidding, I still use Windows occasionally--like when I sneak attack and install Firefox in place of IE on the family computer, muahahaha!)

Panicking solves nothing...or everything.

2009-05-05T19:02:00.000-07:00

After I posted that last bit, I went on a mad hunt through all of my college boxes. I didn't find my notebook. I was seriously flustered by that point, so I went up to my bedroom to peruse my PreCal text. I got bored, nodded off, woke up, and started hunting again. This time, I rummaged through all of my typical hiding spots. Ooooh, doesn't that make me sound shady? :P
I eventually found my notebook, and I was so relieved. Seriously, I'm so glad I found it. *sigh*

Oh no. Ohhhhh no.

2009-05-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

My notebook is missing. The one I write all of my dreams in. I'm almost panicking. First of all, I've been keeping it for almost a year and a half. If it's lost, there's all of that "research" down the drain. And if someone else finds it before I do... Oh man. "Embarrassing" can't even begin to describe it. I don't want anyone else to read some of what I've written in there. I forced myself to be completely open and honest with everything in that notebook, and I'm just not comfortable with being that open with most people.
This is bad. Really bad. But there's some good news, too.
I checked my school e-mail today just to see if I'd gotten any new mail. Stephen sent me my project and exam grades. I got 11.5 out of 10 on my project (because of the extra credit) and a 94% on my exam. He also added that I'm a natural, which really meant a whole lot to me. I'm still worried about calculus. The class starts in about a week, and I'm getting more nervous by the day. I'm going to try to believe that I can do it, though :)

Screwing around with my computer :)

2009-04-29T18:05:00.000-07:00

I've been having a lot of fun with my computer today. I changed my desktop background back to a picture of me riding Stella. I also changed it so that the dock (I'm a Mac user) hides unless I mouse over at the bottom of the screen, which gives me a lot more work space. Then, I was daring and changed my keyboard to Dvorak. I'm picking it up quickly, but I'm not using it right now for the sake of time. I still mess up a whole lot (I can't help but switch back to Qwerty out of habit) and sometimes I have to sit and stare at the keyboard to remember which key is which. I thought about taping pieces of paper with the new letters onto each key until I learn, but I don't think I will. I'm still slow and inaccurate, but I'm getting it.
There was a computer science study session tonight. It was fun just like class usually is, and we talked about the stuff that will be on the exam. I'm sad because 110 is going to be done with, but I'm excited for 220 and 125--CompSci I and Discrete Math. I looked at some study material online for Discrete Math, and I already know a whole lot of it. I don't think it's gonna hurt too much. I might even be able to take Calculus II next semester, which is what I'd like to do. I'm also excited about my Classics class and my Latin literature class.
Latin lit has Catullus on the syllabus!!! Catullus is my favorite, just because he's vulgar and witty and funny and sweet all at the same time.
I'll see about taking Calculus II next semester. I guess it'll all depend on how well Calculus I goes. I'll do anything to pass both of those classes, though. I'm taking one over the summer. Seriously, does that not scream, "I really want to be a Computer Science major!" ? :D

Sometimes I think I should post cool links and stuff here, just because my life is boring and no one cares about me and I do find a lot of cool (maybe?) things. So...
Here's an amazing video of a dressage test ridden by Isabell Werth. The music is all by Nine Inch Nails, one of my favorite bands in the whole world. Dressage and NIN--can it get much better?

Enjoy. I've got a date with Aeneas. Sorry Dido, you should go jump in a fire or something.

EDIT: I just posted that video to my other blog and... I attempted to save the entry by pressing escape, then typing ":wq" I don't know what to say to that.
Sigh. Nerdiness FTW.

The things I think of while brushing my teeth...

2009-04-26T05:35:00.001-07:00

I'm not studying for my chemistry exam that's tomorrow morning.
Why?
I was brushing my teeth this morning when I had an idea for a fun program to write. It's a "Latin composition tutor," and I'm already having fun with it. I think it's going to evolve into a summer project, mostly because I need to be studying and it's going to require a lot of Latin as well as a lot of programming--and surely a lot of debugging.
I'm excited.
...And hungry.
...And going to fail my chemistry exam if I don't quit doing this and start studying.

It's time to crack down

2009-04-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the Computer Science department picnic, which was awesome. I explored new lands, took shots of Liquid Javascript, chatted with CompSci and Chem majors, tossed around a frisbee, and even made an attempt at volleyball.
I kinda got lost on the way over there because I didn't know where the school's apartment complex is. Finding the buildings was easy enough, but finding the courtyard was difficult. I wandered about for a while until I spotted a bunch of people gathered under a tree. I asked a girl about it, and she confirmed that I'd made it to the right picnic. Her name was Becky (or some variation of it--I'm terrible with names) and we talked. She told me that she's a Chemistry major, which I think is pretty impressive. I also talked to a lot of actual CompSci majors, which makes me feel accomplished. One of my goals for this year was to be more social, and I think I've made some progress. We started tossing a frisbee around the courtyard, which was pretty funny considering how clumsy we all were. The disc frequently deviated from its intended path, flew right past the recipient, and even hit some unamused sunbathers. We had a good time with it.
Then, the "superstar of the CompSci department," Stephen, showed up and people started to eat. I gnawed on some Nutter Butter cookies, nasty vanilla wafer crisp cookies (I liked 'em when I was a kid...), and lettuce leaves from the burger toppings plate. I started with some Hawaiian Punch, then moved on to a hybrid Punch-Lemonade mix, then had way too much Mountain Dew, and finally made a smart choice to stick with water.
I was recruited for a game of volleyball, which wasn't too much of an epic failure. When we were practicing before the game, someone bumped the ball to me and I did a beautiful, ballet-like, jumping-on-one-foot number. It was pretty funny. I'm not good at volleyball at all, but it sure was fun to try. The team I was on lost, but it was all good. There were lots of awesome games afterward, and it was also lots of fun to watch.
The whole time they were setting up, I had one thing on my mind: "How many people does it take to set up a volleyball net?" The answer is... A Chem major, a handful of CompSci majors (One is required to wear a kilt.), and a professor.
There were lots of computer science discussions--people talking about the projects they're finishing, people discussing different programming languages, people talking about what classes they're in and what they're taking next semester. I don't know any programming languages other than Javascript, so I didn't have much to say even though I had a nice time listening. I've looked at Java, Python, and C++, but I definitely can't say I know anything about them. I think my next computer science class is a Java class, which is exciting. We talked about the way computer scientists start "slinking" around, which was really funny because it's kinda true :) Stephen's kid sat beside me and stuck a cup over my ear. At first I was confused because the kid was out of my peripheral vision and I had no idea what was happening to the side of my head. Then I thought it was pretty funny because I like most kids and think they're really funny. The title of "nerd" was officially bestowed upon me once Becky(?) read the front of my shirt ("Lingua mortua sola lingua bona est!") and found out about my double major. Now that I think about it... Aggh :P
All in all, I had a great time. I got all socially anxious and stuff, but I sucked it up and went anyway. I'm working on myself, and I'm making progress little by little.
Amber and I went to dinner tonight. The dining hall's food SUCKED. Most of the rooms are closed on the weekends. I started out with a PB&J, then had a salad, which consisted of romaine lettuce and some Italian dressing. I also made some plain oatmeal and added some hazelnut coffee syrup to it. It would've been quite tasty except the syrup made it taste slightly alcoholic, kind of like tasting artificial vanilla flavoring straight from the bottle. It took a few bites for me to determine that it was disgusting, and then my dinner was finished. We went to the Nest, a cafe on campus, because I have a whole lot of dining plan "dollars" that don't roll over to the next school year. I got a few things to snack on and a big scoop of the most amazing ice cream in the whole world.
Normally I don't eat ice cream. I just don't. But one day I realized that they had something called "birthday cake" ice cream. It tastes like a birthday cake. OHHHHHHHH IT'S GOOOOOOOOOD. That is one thing I will definitely miss over break :P

Yay life (no sarcasm this time).

2009-04-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

I got so much accomplished today. I'm feeling full of myself :)
I went to Professor Houghtalin's office hours today to get some help with scanning poetry. I was doing all of the lines correctly by the time I left.
In Latin, I "won" the "sack of Troy award" simply because I was the final person to translate for the semester. The clock was ticking by and I was a little sad because I didn't think I would get a chance to read today. I got called on for a single sentence, the final line of Book II, and I gave the class quite a nice sight translation. Now I'm ready for Latin 305 next semester!
I also finished my final computer science project for the year thanks to Stephen. His office hours were packed, so everyone went to the lab and worked in there. I had a few undefined arrays that I fixed myself and a few that Stephen had to fix for me. I was absolutely ebullient when my save and load functions finally worked once they were fixed. I was even happier when the whole thing worked. I felt pretty dumb when Stephen pointed out that I was missing a curlybrace at the end of two different functions, but at least they were easy to fix!
Javascript is crazy, but it's so worth it in the end.
Stephen tried to assure me that not all computer science is like Javascript. I thought that was funny. The debugging and high level of anal-ness doesn't bother me all that much. I actually think that's what attracts me to it. Debugging is like a game. I'm patient. Sure, I need a "victory" every once in a while, even if it's just adding a little CSS to the page to make it look good. But it's fun to dig through everything and sniff out problems. It helps that I'm crazy about misspellings and similar errors.
I was working on my chemistry project late last night, and one member of my group asked me what I'm majoring in. I got a few surprised, awkward looks and a half a laugh when I told them. It's a little strange at first glance, but I really do see a relationship between Latin and computer science.
The chemistry project work session was a little weird last night. We did get some stuff done, but we need to bust butt tonight in order to finish for tomorrow. I drew a diagram of the battery setup for the electroplating experiment, and the whole group was impressed. I hope they like the finished product! The work session was also where I discovered the Liquid Javascript that wouldn't let me sleep last night.
I should be working. I've been productive so far, so I shouldn't slack off now.

OMG CAFFEINE.

2009-04-23T03:15:00.000-07:00

I swallowed my pride and used Firebug last night to help me debug some Javascript for the project. Actually, this was the first time I was able to make it work, but... Hey, it's nice. Just sayin'.
I also discovered the wonderful thing called Mountain Dew. It has this thing in it called caffeine, which is a stimulant drug. Mountain Dew now has a new name:
Liquid Javascript.
As you can tell, this project is beating me.
Short post this morning. It's just after 6 AM, and I'm doing computer science, Latin, and chemistry from sunup to sundown. Yay life.

Wonderful day

2009-04-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

I'm currently listening to some Nine Inch Nails that's just loud enough to hear, a heavy rain, and the joyous laughter of a group of people who are frolicking in that rain. I'd love to be out there as well, but I've got to do Latin. I'll definitely try to complete this later, as I've had a wonderful day. It always makes me happy to write about wonderful days.

Success!

2009-04-17T07:04:00.000-07:00

I just finished my presentation for my Human Animal class--the powerpoint, the presentation, the paper, the blog, everything.
The guy who went before me had the same topic that I did. He did an excellent job, and he was obviously pro-vegetarianism. He defended the position that humans are actually herbivores and opportunistically omnivorous. I'm not sure I totally agree with that; I'm more along the line of thinking that we're slightly omnivorous, that we're well-suited to a vegetarian diet but that we can definitely eat some meat if we desire. I personally have never been comfortable with the idea of eating animals.
My presentation explained that we've evolved to be omnivores, but we should ultimately choose the diet that best suits us as individuals. For example, I eat about twice the recommended amount of sodium and my blood pressure is STILL through the floor. Yes, through the floor. I've even hit the floor on several occasions because I've blacked out and collapsed from orthostatic hypotension. Most people would be on blood pressure medication if they ate what I have to. I'm also perfectly happy and healthy as a vegetarian, but my presentation highlighted the Inuits as a group that simply couldn't be.
The presentation went very well. I got a little nervous at the very beginning, mostly just when I was walking up to the computer and starting with the introduction. As usual, however, my tension melted away as I got going. I did stumble over a few things, particularly when I couldn't differentiate my left from my right while discussing pictures on the screen and flat-out stating that herbivores are adapted to eat meat, but it's all good. I simply reoriented my thinking for the former and corrected my rather obvious stumble for the latter. I honestly don't mind public speaking after I'm settled and going with my presentation. I also didn't pick up on too many nervous things--no plucking today--except that I shifted my weight every once in a while and I said "um" a few times. I wonder if anyone saw how I knew the URL of my blog. I walked up to the computer desk, opened Firefox, and yanked my sleeve up to reveal the address to my blog written in gigantic letters along the inside of my forearm. My habits are so amusing.
Chemistry went pretty well today. We did a practice test for the ACS final, round two. Mike also gave us our quiz scores from Wednesday. I got a B, which was very exciting. I never thought I'd reach a point where I'd be getting satisfactory grades in chemistry, but I did it. The best thing of all, though, is that Mike complimented the lab project that we designed last week and are supposed to conduct today. Last Friday, he wasn't so sure that it was a good idea, but he later told our group that it was an amazing project, something he would even consider graduate-level. We all actually planned something together that's worthy of his praise, and we haven't even done it yet. Wow.
Mike is keeping me in check, though. I also went to see him for some help on a lab last Friday. When he looked at my lab sheet, he said, "Oh, wow, you actually almost got that one right." I wanted to laugh out loud because I thought what he said was really funny, but I didn't.
He's so brutally honest. I love it. Sometimes I go to his office hours and leave feeling pretty accomplished, like the day I finally mastered stoichiometry. Sometimes I leave and feel terribly stupid, and not even in the "haha-that-was-a-silly-mistake" way. I guess it all balances out, though. I've made lots of progress in chemistry since the beginning of last semester, but I'm never going to be truly good at it, nor will I ever be able to say that I love it. Ergo...not pursuing chemistry any further :)
I really don't go to office hours for any of my other professors, with the exception of my computer science professor. Sometimes I can't figure out how to upload images (I never would've figured that one out by myself.), or Javascript is being wonky, or invisible typos and logic errors undermine my entire beautiful program and I just need a little push in the right direction. Stephen's a really nice person, though, and I can't imagine leaving his office feeling like an idiot. I often leave having been reminded that I'm perfectly capable of making very silly mistakes, but it's always a positive kind of thing.
I need to go to office hours with Dr. Houghtalin in the very near future. I have meter issues. She claims that it's fun, so I guess I'll wait and see how it goes. She's really nice, and I really, really would like to finally learn how to scan poetry. How bad could it be?
I dunno, but I'm hungry.
Meh, I have lots more to talk about, but I'll do it later.

Progress

2009-04-16T07:17:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the Speaking Center. Dr. Dolby required all of us to visit at some point during the semester, and it seemed most logical to go for our first actual speaking assignment. I feel sorry for anyone else who wanted to make an appointment after me. They were basically booked when I got there. The session wasn't terribly mortifying, not that I expected it to be. In fact, I think my previous teaching experience has helped my public speaking skills. The girl who helped me said that I had decent eye contact, and she didn't mention anything about my volume even when I asked her to pay special attention to that. Everyone else's normal makes me feel like I'm screaming at people. I got a "louder" hand signal from Sara at GALL the other night. So, I "yelled" at the girl today and everything was good.
Public speaking doesn't send me into a panic, but I did have a few nervous things that I did during the presentation today. I started plucking at the side of the podium, which I noticed but didn't care to stop. It gave me something to do with my hands. I tend to gesticulate wildly during public speaking events, but not quite as much during normal conversation. When I wasn't plucking at the podium and relishing the loud, woody "plick," I was waving my hands around under the podium. I kind of wish I'd asked her to videotape me now. The only time I've ever seen myself speak was early in my teaching class, during the speech that I had to cut short because I had an averse reaction to the topic. All I had to do was talk about myself, so I printed out a picture of me kissing Mac and decided to talk about the horses. When I was standing in front of the class, I pulled out the picture and realized that I wasn't yet comfortable talking about my dead horse. The whole class got to watch me pause, close my eyes, mumble a little, and abruptly end my speech then and there--twice. So now, whenever I have to do a public speaking project, I just think about that and don't worry because that's about as awful as it gets. I completely blew it twice in that class. That was the first time, and then I lost my train of thought in the middle of a lesson on verbs. The rest of the class helped me out by being especially cooperative and volunteering to play the verb game for a majority of the lesson :) One of the first public speaking tips that Mrs. Weddle gave us in that class: people would rather see you succeed. I tell myself that before every single speaking assignment I've done since.
Ah, but I do wish I'd asked her to videotape me. I can't think of anything that can make a person feel as awkward, uncomfortable, and self-conscious, but nothing really compares when it comes to correcting those little things. Plus, I think it would've been funny to watch my hands.
I still need to work on my programming project, but I can't do it now. My problem is that I have to leave for Latin in less than half an hour. If I go in and start working on stuff, I'll consider skipping Latin because I can't force myself to quit. The same thing happens when I try to do some work before my computer science class. The same thing happens when I'm translating.

All GALL (A collective poem)

2009-04-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

We did writing exercises in GALL tonight. It was really fun, and the products of our labors were wonderful. My favorite exercise was the collective poetry, where each person wrote two lines, AB, and someone else wrote two more. It ended up as an ABAB rhyme scheme. The catch was that we could only see two lines of what was already written. We got some really wacky (and very GALL-like) poems, so I'll share the one that I started and ended.

ALL GALL
A poem by...all of GALL.

Squirrels play in the tree
And then one falls out.
When falling he felt free,
Twirling and spinning about.
When midair he met a bee,
That stinky, slimy lout.
And they copulated free
From self-consciousness and doubt.
Though no one suspected there'd be a fee
Which changed their expressions to a pout.
All the white men met at first tee,
Except the oldest, plagued with gout.
The youngest was infested with fleas.
They were so sad, they had to pout.
They weren't allowed to have their peas.
They went without.

That wasn't the best one, but I still like it. I just love the idea of everyone almost-blindly writing something together to make something. Squee :D
I might write some more here later on, but I'm really busy and I have to get some work done. My Human Animal project is the most pressing thing right now, though I'd much prefer working on my computer science project. Meh, actually I need to do some Chemistry. AGGGH. CHEM QUIZ. NOOOOOO! TOMORROW.
G'night.

Major justification.

2009-04-12T18:48:00.001-07:00

I forgot to write about how my Latin teacher inspired me the other day. We were talking about the life of Vergil, and my professor expressed her dislike for the "Georgics." She compared the didactic farming poetry to a computer programming manual written in dactyllic hexameter.
Well...
You know where that went.
No, I did not write a computer programming manual in dactyllic hexameter. I'm terrible with meter.
I wrote a few Javascript programming "tips" in Latin. They really aren't helpful, but hopefully they'll get a smile out of everyone who has had the wonderful experience of learning (and fighting with) Javascript. Maybe one day I'll be good enough to write them in Latin dactyllic hexameter, but that's a long way off :)
So, here we go:

Javascript Programming Tips (I don't feel like making up a word for "Javascript".)
IN LINGUA LATINA (In Latin)

Tene has in memoria: (Keep these things in mind:)
I. Est perculsus, sed noli desistere. (It is demoralizing, but don't give up.)
II. Desine cum semicolo, aut persaepe plorabis. (End with a semicolon, or you will cry very often.)
III. Annotationes utiles et festivae sunt. (Comments are helpful and fun.)
IV. Assuesce cimices-errores. (Get used to "bug-errors.")
V. Bonus somnus infimis est. (Good sleep is for the weak.)
VI. Aliquando de id somniabis. Noli sollicitari! (Eventually you will dream about it. Don't worry!)

I'm willing to bet that I did a bit of unintentional language-butchering, but that's okay. I'm learning. This was good practice with the imperative!
Do you like the computer term that I invented? "Cimices" was the accusative plural for the word "bug," but the word was actually referring to an insect and not an irritating coding mistake. Therefore, I added the accusative plural "errores" for "errors." I like it better than using either word alone.
Anyone have a good idea for putting the word "Javascript" into Latin? I was thinking "Javascriptum," simply enough.

Meh.

2009-04-12T16:49:00.000-07:00

I'm a little bummed about the Day of Silence on Friday. PRISM (the campus gay-straight alliance) recruited GALL to help with the Day of Silence this Friday. The e-mail just came out with the times to do our performances, and I'm in class during all of them. I was really looking forward to helping out with the demonstration, but I can't skip class. Nevertheless, I'll show my support with a black Sharpie and complete silence.
Today was quite a lovely Easter. I went out and blew bubbles with the kids, and then my uncle let us see his rabbits. One of them ate some bread out of my hand, and she was really cute. The kids hunted for plastic eggs in the yard. I stealthily went around snatching up Sixlets, which are amazing. I ate a whole lot of chocolate this morning and at various other times throughout the day. Mm.
I got to talk to Aaron, who's going to be heading off to a special language school very soon. We're the logophiles of the family, often spotted speaking in Latin at various family gatherings. We usually make off-the-wall, silly comments or ask random questions over dinner, and sometimes we make references to the textbook that everyone knows and loves, "Ecce Romani." He's much more fluent than I am, and I'm the Latin major :) He's also amazing with Arabic, and he's going to the school to learn yet another language.
Everyone kept asking me what I'm majoring in now. Most of them knew that I went into college hoping to become a Latin teacher, so most of them were pleasantly surprised when I announced that I'm pursuing something a little less "frivolous." I personally think my parents are a little happier, though I doubt either of them would admit it to me. I was chatting with my grandma and uncle earlier in the day, with my dad sitting nearby. My uncle is still set on the idea of me becoming a teacher, even though I think he's given up on the idea that I'll ever teach Latin. He dropped a hint that I should teach computer science at a community college. I don't think he's going to let go very easily.
I had another one of those amazing slushies again. It was yummy.
Things are starting to get a little stressful now that the end of the semester is coming. I've got a project due in my Human Animal class on Friday, and that's worrying me to death. I've also got a project due in computer science on the last day of classes. That's not worrying me too much, except for the fact that my friends are playing hard to get, even though I've promised them that helping me doesn't even require them to know how to turn the computer on.
I might work a little on the Human Animal project. Then it'll stop freaking me out so much.

Oh, snap. Catch it!

2009-04-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

I was going to write something last night, but I really just ran out of time. I've been very, very busy lately. Now I have to remember what I was going to write last night.
Oh.
I was going to write about all of the silly little things that amused me yesterday, particularly the rain.
I woke up with my to-do list printed clearly on the side of my face. I have a habit of writing appointments and other things I should do during the day on my hands. I made a note on my hand before bed, and I got a good giggle when I looked in the mirror. The ink print was surprisingly very clear. Maybe I should've scrubbed off my hand and gotten a reminder for my advising meeting each time I washed my hands! :)
I also had a whole lot of fun walking in the rain throughout the day. I enjoy that feeling of nice rain dripping on my head, eventually working its way down my nose so that I have to shake the droplets off. I like seeing the rain, and smelling the rain, and feeling the rain, and hearing the rain, and probably tasting the rain too. I like watching people walk with umbrellas. I really like watching people sharing an umbrella, particularly when a tall person tries to share a short person's umbrella. It's comical. I like watching people who don't have umbrellas scurry around like the rain is 12M hydrochloric acid that'll burn their skin off if they don't hurry inside. I love splashing in puddles. One time in high school, Robert, Gretchen, and I were caught outside in the morning during a torrential downpour. Robert and I sloshed through all of the puddles, sending up fantastic sprays of water. Robert got quite a bit of pleasure out of directing the sprays in Gretchen's general direction. It's amazing how such simple stuff can be so entertaining. I really do love the way the world smells when it's raining. When I was in my computer science class yesterday, someone told my professor that it smells like "worms." I've never sniffed a worm, but I don't think they're the source of that wonderful, after-the-rain smell.
Wow, that's a lot of talk about rain.
Today was also a good day. There were pancakes at the dining hall for breakfast this morning. I love their pancakes, particularly with strawberry syrup. Yum yum. I also like it when they have watermelon, but they didn't have any this morning. I got all of my translations finished this morning, and then I went to Latin. Class was quite good. Dr. Houghtalin received our National Latin Exam scores, but it'll be a while before we get them. I'm excited. I only got to take the NLE once in high school, but I received a medal for it, and a certificate that was signed by my favorite, favorite, favorite Latin teacher in the whole world, our dearest extraterrestrial :) That class with that wonderful man... One of the things I actually miss about high school. Ecphrasis. That's a new word we learned today. It's one of the many strange, strange poetry terms that we've learned, and it's a DIGRESSION. Which I've done once again. Dr. Houghtalin's husband taught our class last week and lectured on Book IX of the Aeneid.
One memorable quote from that lecture:
PROFESSOR: "And what do you think Virgil was doing at the time of his death?"
SOME RANDOM STUDENT: "...Dying?"
(ANSWER: Studying philosophy.)
Hey, I thought it was funny.
I didn't get to translate in Latin today, but that's okay. I think I'm finally picking up on meter, which is a miracle. I've had countless English teachers try to teach me how to scan, along with my so-called AP Latin teacher(s), and only Mrs. Weddle came close. I'm finally starting to get it, though, and I'm even starting to understand where to elide. I know I worry lots about my Computer Science major on here, but I worry about my Latin major quite a bit, perhaps even more.
I eventually have to take a Latin composition class, which scares me to death. I also know that if things get wonky, I have to drop a major--namely, the one that isn't contributing to the Sam Likes To Eat foundation. Sometimes I even worry that I'm not good at Latin anymore, or that I don't like it for one reason or another. Those feelings pass pretty quickly. I think most of those were the result of a terrible experience in AP Latin and then a whole year to brew on it before picking up with the language again. By that time, I was plenty bitter and plenty rusty for 201, but I'm getting back into the swing of it. When I read in Latin, I can tell my vocabulary is growing once again, and I'm getting back to the point where I can give all of the "vital information" on just about every word. I really need to teach myself about the subjunctive again. I remember that we beat a liar and some other things, but that's it.
After Latin, I went to my first protest. Mmhm. SDS had its sleep-in against hotel housing this afternoon. Things were slow for a while, but we had almost 25 people at the end. A lot of people came for a short amount of time and had to leave, too. It was a really fun event, and we had lots of blankets to help combat the chill. Someone cut four gigantic bamboo rods that we used to hold up an even more gigantic canvas banner with our message painted on it. Since we only needed three of the bamboo rods, we kept the fourth nearby in case things got out of hand ;) Seriously, the whole thing was a decent, peaceful, sane protest that simply requested more student involvement and more visibility. The head of Residence Life even came out to see us, laughing about how another student went to her office to warn her about our actions. She told that student that she didn't care because protests are good and students who care are good. We had a long talk, exchanged suggestions, and ended the whole thing with me feeling very satisfied. A few tour groups passed by, and we got a couple of questions. We got lots of questions from lots of people. It was a good thing. I guess I'll go to the meeting tomorrow night. Maybe they still need and/or want me for something.
There was also a GALL meeting tonight. We didn't do any sort of project, but we did some planning and played the Snap Game. I learned about the Snap Game at the SDS meeting, but I actually played tonight. IT WAS TOO FUN. One person "tossed" a snap to someone, and that person "caught" it. I couldn't snap my fingers very well tonight, but the game was great--dropping it, eating and regurgitating it, stomping on it, disinfecting it, baseball hits, volleyball hits, almost breaking the lamp, snap juggling, and everything else we could think of. It was a good improv game, and it really set a wonderful mood for the rest of the meeting. I think that I'll toss a few snaps around with myself when things get stressful from now on.

Another day

2009-04-05T17:03:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling a lot better, but I'm still not myself. I'm getting there, though.
I had the best slushie today. It was something called "mutant berry," which sounds like something you shouldn't put into your mouth, but you really, really should. I think it was Hawaiian Punch "juice" and citrus-lemonade stuff mixed together, and it was amazing. I couldn't even mix my slushies as I normally do. It was that amazing.
I'm so busy...agh. Yet, I'm still doing this.
Tonight, I have to finish my chemistry reading, finish two chapters for my Human Animal class, write a survey thing for my computer science class AND administer it (Don't think the administering thing will happen tonight...), and work on the press release.
I've got an advising meeting with my first-year/Latin advisor tomorrow at 4 (Why doesn't he schedule it for maybe 20 minutes later? Then I could make it there on time for once!), and I need to hunt down the head of the mathematics department. I think that's going to be a particularly difficult task. I also need to hunt down four guys and four girls who are willing to answer some odd questions to help me complete my computer science homework. See, my friends are really getting difficult to contact. It's depressing. Robert just deleted his Facebook for the umpteenth time, and I've completely given up on contacting Drew again. I could get Gretchen, Heather, Amber, and...maybe my little sister. There's four females. Where are all my guy friends when I need them?
I could go to my professor and tell him that I'm having difficulties in finding four more people, but... I feel like a loser already. There's no need to broadcast it. SOB. :( :( :(

:P
Seriously, though...

Yes, sick.

2009-04-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

I don't get sick often, but when I do...agh. I get hit hard. I didn't get to bed until late on Tuesday night (for obvious reasons), so I blamed sleep deprivation and a hard lesson for my Wednesday fatigue. I used the same excuses to explain my "blahs" on Thursday, at least until after my Latin class. Then, I actually took a nap. A half-hour nap (which is long for me, as I usually don't take naps) became an hour nap, and eventually I decided to surrender and sleep on and off for the rest of the afternoon and into the night.
Eventually, I woke up and couldn't move. I was weak and achy, my stomach was upset, I was alternating fever and chills, and I had an awful headache, so I assumed I was getting the flu. My inability to move was made all the more tragic because it was terribly difficult for me to climb out of bed. I've got a loft bed at school, and it can be difficult to climb down safely even under normal conditions. My roommates were really nice to me, though. One of them left the room to talk on her cell phone because I was "sleeping" (actually, lying there and wishing it were possible to sleep more), and the other was actually concerned when I banged my knee up against the safety bar.
I popped a few ibuprofen when I mustered the strength to work my way down the ladder, and that really helped me. I also wet a towel to help keep me cool when I started getting too hot. Even though I felt terrible and showed plenty of telltale flu signs, I never developed any of the nastier symptoms. I guess I'm pretty lucky.
On Friday, I ended up skipping my Human Animal class. I took a walk halfway across campus early that morning. The rain felt wonderful, but I was gasping for breath at the end of such a short walk. I went to the campus center to get a disposable thermometer, which I couldn't figure out how to read, and quickly decided that I was too weak to make it all the way to class without collapsing on the stairs. After that, I only had to worry about my chemistry lab. Missing a lab is something you just don't do. They're worth a whole lot and they aren't hard, so I make sure I do them well to help my grade. It's also impossible to make them up unless you plan in advance.
I did end up going to lab. I think it was a mistake, but at least the lab didn't take very long. We did a bunch of reactions involving magnesium, water, and various acids and bases. Some of the reactions were pretty cool, I'll admit. One of them made a beautiful purple solution, and one solution went from a brilliant, bright color to colorless once we stirred it. Some of the reactions involving HCl were spectacularly fizzy, and I enjoyed heating stuff over the bunsen burner, as always. Yeah, it wasn't a bad lab at all. It really wasn't. I felt terrible the whole time, though, and walking across campus twice really took a toll on me. I made it, though, and now I'm home and feeling much better.
I'm actually eating (rather inappropriate stuff for someone who was just sick) now, and I'm slowly regaining my strength. I did manage to go out to the barn for a bit today. There was a 4-H braiding clinic that I thought I'd attend just for the meeting portion. I hugged on Stella while she was eating in the paddock, sat through the meeting and the braiding demonstration, and snuck out after offering my starving buddies a few chocolate chip cookies. I also ate a cookie or two, but my stomach is fine now and I really do feel a lot better.
I normally don't go more than a couple of hours without nibbling on something, and I quit eating early on Thursday afternoon. By Friday afternoon, I was doubled over with hunger pains. I ate a handful of cereal and that made me feel a whole lot better.
IT'S CHRISTMAS IN APRIL.
Gretchen just dropped by to give me a Christmas/birthday gift. It's always so great to see her.
I think it's funny how I wanted to be a teacher when I was in high school, and she wanted to a pharmacist. Now, she wants to be a teacher and I'm doing something I thought I'd given up on. There are so many people from high school who were dead-set on a career and now they're jumping around, trying new things, learning about themselves, and changing their plans to fit. There's nothing wrong with any of that. In fact, I think it's brilliant. We're all learning, and half of it's not even within the walls of an academic building. Well, at least I am.
Meh. Hungry...

Sleep? No, writing.

2009-04-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

I feel kind of sick. I think I'm just hungry, as usual, and sleep-deprived. I hope I'm not actually getting sick. That would suck.
This "request to study at another U.S. institution" thing is a tad more complex than I thought it would be. It's going to take 10 business days for them to tell me whether my credits will transfer or not (They should...), and then I've still got to get force-added into Calculus II.
I can't decide whether or not this class is "for my major." It's a prerequisite for a prerequisite for a class in my major. I'm assuming that it's not, just because I don't feel like walking all the way down to my advisor's office and asking him to sign my sheet. I kind of feel like I should, though, just to be safe. I don't think I will.
Muahahaha, I stole a pen from the registar's office. It's a nice pen.
I still can't believe I'm subjecting myself to three more math classes. I swore I'd never take any more than I needed to graduate from college, but... Yeah. Plans change. The thought of being a Latin teacher terrifies me. I'm decent at public speaking once I get started, but I don't think I'm one of those people who have that amazing gift for teaching. I'd just add to the mass of tolerable-to-slightly-crummy teachers in the world.
I've got so many colored circles lying around on my desk and surrounding areas. I don't really know what to do with them. I don't want to throw them out. That'd be a waste of paper and all the time I spent tracing and cutting them.
Oh yeah. I wanted to write about my first SDS meeting last night. There's really an interesting story behind how I managed to end up there. When I was planning out my classes for next semester, I noticed that all of them were going to be in one academic building. I thought it was amusing, so I left my Facebook status as "...should just live in Trinkle next year."
A few days, maybe a week, passed until housing selection night. When I got there, I received a slip of paper that said that I was assigned to "hotel housing." Apparently, they ran out of rooms on campus and decided to dump us off in some random hotel. There are a lot of reasons for this that I really don't care to get into here. When I got back from housing selection, I changed my status to say "...is serious about living in Trinkle now. Housing assignment? Hotel." Later on, Mike (GALL Mike, not chemistry Mike) asked me why I didn't just live in the academic building. He convinced me that I'd spawned a good protest idea, so he asked me to come out to an SDS meeting and get it into action.
I told him that I'd come, so I felt obligated to go out. And, just as I felt all "socially anxious" about going to my first GALL meeting, I was absolutely shaking by the time I arrived at the meeting place. They were quite happy to see me, though, and I felt a little more comfortable since I recognized a few people from GALL. Sara even offered to sit by me, which was quite a comforting thing for me. They explained their hand signals--I don't remember all of them, but there were "upward sparkles" for liking something, "downward sparkles" for disliking something, "hand raising," "louder" (Of course, directed toward me when it was my turn to talk... Yet another reason I'm not going to be a teacher.), "clarify," and a bunch of others that I've forgotten--and a few other things, and then we got started.
I'm glad I was chewing a piece of gum, or I probably would've panicked. When housing came up, Mike silently urged me to speak up. I gathered some gall and raised my hand. Well, what do you know? We're gonna do it. Gah, what have I gotten myself into? I need to write a press release thing, and the guy who was supposed to help me has squicked out. It's exciting, though.
I need a nap and I need to finish this thing and I need to do homework and all sorts of other stuff.
My chemistry and computer science classes are cancelled tomorrow. Really.

Happy April Fools' Day

2009-04-01T20:27:00.000-07:00

April Fools' Day is here, and the score is unfortunately still 2-0, me in the lead.
Last night was absolutely amazing. GALL pulled off an excellent prank involving at least a mile's worth of rubber bands. We went out to the plaza where the fountain is located and proceeded to wrap the rubber band string around lamp posts, trees, benches, and the pillars in front of the two dorms and the academic building that surround it. Three people, including myself, sat around and made flags to aid in visibility while the others hiked up lamp posts and placed themselves in precarious positions for the sake of our prank. People passed through as we worked. Some laughed and smiled, while some attempted to maintain a straight face. My absolute favorite reaction was the dropped jaw. People watched as we tangled rubber bands above their heads and questioned our motives. At one point, I saw the campus police heading toward us with their lights flashing--I think it would've been hysterical if they'd actually come to stop us. Alas, they quickly turned off of the main walk and onto an actual road. It took a little over an hour to complete the project, and the results were impressive. I admit I didn't know how well this was going to work, but I was stunned when I saw a massive tangled web looming over the heads of pedestrians throughout the day.
I also did a little something by myself ;) When I was leaving chemistry this morning, Jane asked me about it, saying that it was either "a professor or someone from GALL," and that the "someone" from GALL would be either Mike or me because we both frequent that particular academic building.
I did squick out on one thing that I'd planned, mostly because I was tired and needed to sleep and not entirely sure about it. I don't really regret the decision, though I may eventually attempt it. It would be very, very fun.
No one managed (bothered) to pull anything on me. In fact, the only other mention of April Fools' Day I heard (aside from GALL, the occasional Facebook status, and my own conversations with myself) was from Stephen, who wrote out a really wonky, redundant array thing on the board and then assured a student that he was just messing around for April Fools' Day when she asked why he'd written it in that particular way. Meh.
I'm catching on to arrays.
...But I'm having some math problems.
I have almost zero issues writing Javascript, and I can pick out actual Javascript errors with relative ease. The thing that screws me over is that, when I'm writing programs, I mess up the mathematical parts and have no idea what I've done.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm making a huge mistake by majoring in computer science since I suck at math; I also worry about majoring in Latin on a regular basis. I just don't feel like I'm any good at Latin anymore. I signed up for Calculus I tonight. I'll be taking it over the summer via distance learning. Next semester, I'm taking Intro to Discrete Math, Calculus II (supposedly, once I get the registrar to force-add me), an advanced Latin literature survey course (CATULLUS AGAIN!!!), Classics 101 (the professor/my advisor said he'd force-add me), Computer Science I, and hopefully a riding class. Even with all my worries, I'm still really excited about next semester. I got almost all of the classes I want so far, and that's more than most people can say. I guess busting my butt in high school with so many "useless" AP and dual-enrollment courses really has paid off because I get to register much earlier than most of my peers.
Oh. It's bedtime. And I'm really in a writing mood, too. I should write about my first SDS meeting, too. That was an...experience. It was like going back to those years when I couldn't swim, walking up to the edge of a deep pool, someone shoving me in, and then realizing that there are sharks in the pool, and then realizing that the sharks are vegetarians and nice and use really cool hand (flipper?) signals. Did that last sentence even make sense? I dunno, but I'm going to bed.

I got bored.

2009-03-22T19:04:00.001-07:00

You Are the Artist

You are unique and inspired. You aren't happy unless you are making art of some sort.

Almost anything can be a catalyst for your creativity. You find the whole world stimulating.

You have beautiful visions, and you're good at expressing them. You like people to see what you see.

You also have an inventor's spirit. You're always thinking up new ideas and concepts.

What's Your Life's Mission?

Your Birthday Predicts You're Independent

Ever since you were born, you've loved doing your own thing.

You enjoy puzzles and games. Anything that stretches your mind interests you.

You are a quiet person - often lost in your own thoughts. Others find you completely mysterious.

You have so much fun thinking, dreaming, and planing. You hardly have time for friends.

What Does Your Birthday Predict About You?

Lovely

2009-03-16T15:45:00.001-07:00

I'm such a happy person :) I just thought I'd throw that out there. No, nothing "special" happened. It's just that sometimes I think about how terrible everything was after Mac died, and then I compare it to how I see life now. I'm a whole different person.

I guess I'll write about today.

I had a Chemistry quiz this morning. It wasn't that bad. I studied thermochemistry for hours last night so that I could remember all of the equations and how and when to use them. I think I did pretty well on it.

My Human Animal class was pretty interesting this morning. We're talking about sex and attraction. How fun! Dr. Dolby told us today that the same areas in the brain become more active when men look at tools as when they look at a bikini-clad model :D I thought that was pretty funny, as did most everyone else in the class. I love breaking our species down until we're "just" another animal, looking at what really makes us tick. I have to get started on our next paper, and I really should start researching for our final project.

Computer science went well too. We started learning about arrays. In order to introduce them, Stephen told us to warm up and write a Javascript program to find the mean exam scores for a class. That was easy enough. Then, he asked us to edit it so it would also count the number of students who earned scores that were at least 10 points below average. He left the room for a few minutes and came back when he'd heard a satisfactory number of frustrated groans and grumbles. He started laughing at us, informed us that what he'd just done was "mean," and then told us it wasn't possible--unless you ask the same "What is student X's grade?" bit all over again (which would irritate me, for sure), or use an array. I'd pretty much already come to the conclusion that it was impossible without some sort of new knowledge, though, and I thought it was pretty amusing. Arrays are interesting.

They had polenta with tomato sauce tonight for dinner in the dining hall. It was so good, and it was actually prepared properly. I've not yet mastered the skill of making good polenta.

I'm a Computer Science major.

2009-03-11T18:14:00.001-07:00

Yup yup, it's true. Tomorrow I'll be a Computer Science/Latin double-major, but I'm just a Computer Science major for today.

I finally un-squicked myself and went to Stephen. I simply asked him where the department head's office is. I didn't even bother asking him a little more about the major, because I think I can handle whatever Calculus has to throw at me. Pre-Cal wasn't that bad, and I'm handling Chemistry just fine now. Stephen directed me to the Computer Science departmental lounge place that I didn't know existed and I went to see the department head in her office.

She seemed very nice, but I was terribly nervous. She asked me a little about myself, so I told her that I'd taken two classes with Stephen and that I have (way over) the 28 credits required to declare. She surprised me by asking which professor I wanted as my advisor. I didn't know that I could pick, so I just chose Stephen. I turned in my green card to Academic Services and then trekked back down to Stephen's office. He was still there, but all of his other students had already left. I ducked inside and told him that the department head told me to give him something. He took my blue card and glanced at it, and then he started smiling. He was so excited, and so was I :) I told him I was a little worried, and he laughed at me. I told him that I'm not a brilliant math student, but he said that it would be okay. I'm happy now.

I went to riding after I was all set, and then I had to rush to make it to my advising meeting on time. My advisor was late, though, and I sat there for about 20 minutes wondering where he was. He's lucky I'm so patient! He came running in and was glad that I stuck around, so we went into his office for a nice chat.

We talked about how my semester has been going, and then he asked me if I've thought about possible majors. I proudly told him that I declared a major today and was planning to declare my second tomorrow. He was very curious about my decisions. I told him that I declared Computer Science today and he nodded, but his face lit up when I told him that I plan to declare Latin tomorrow. I mean, he was REALLY excited to hear that. I think he was a little disappointed when he thought that a person who came in for Classics had gone down (two flights of stairs) to Computer Science, but I'm going to have the best of both worlds :)

I think that, if I can survive next semester, I'll make a fine Computer Science/Latin major. I want to take Calculus I this summer at the community college, and then I would like to take Calculus II and Intro to Discrete Mathematics next semester, along with a Classics course, the next Latin class in the sequence, Computer Science I, and possibly riding.

I think I'd be an even better Computer Science major if I stopped blogging and started debugging my Javascript...

Swimming? Eh...not quite.

2009-03-07T08:50:00.000-08:00

I got really bored this morning. It also happened to be quite a beautiful morning. I'm pretty sure it's around 75 outside, and it's wonderful--especially since there was a massive amount of snow on the ground just a couple of days ago.

I decided to take a shower, get dressed, and go swimming down the road at the creek. I only have access to a mucky, shallow area where the creek kind of ends, but I figured I could keep an eye out for people on their docks and work my way out to some deeper water. I walked down to the creek, rolled up my shorts, and took the "plunge."

Agh. It was not a pretty sight. I stepped into the water and immediately sank to my knees in mud. And it wasn't just mud, either--it was decaying, nasty pond muck stuff. I did expect to sink a little, but I didn't expect to be trapped up to my knees (and, later on, to the middle of my thighs). I kind of waded around for a while. I mean, I was already covered in mud, so why not play around for a bit? It was actually fun, but it was still very cold and my joints started stiffening up. I decided to get out while I still could; the mud was making it hard to move, and my joints being stiff wasn't going to help me slog my way back to solid ground.

I did manage to wash off most of the mucky stuff before I headed back down the road. Then, I gave myself and my shoes a good scrubbing to get the putrid slime off. I have no idea why I bothered to take a shower before I went....

I should get someone to come with me next time. I don't think Drew would even try going out in the water, even if he didn't know how muddy he'd get. Robert might give it a shot. Maybe I'll talk him into it after a nice meditation session this summer. No one else lives nearby, unfortunately.

I should write some more about other things I've been doing over break, but I'm feeling antsy.

Must love madness.

2009-03-02T18:01:00.000-08:00

I squicked out on consulting Stephen about the major, so I'm still undeclared. Oh well. I didn't completely squick out, though. His office hours were packed on Wednesday, and he had to cancel office hours on Friday.

Speaking of Stephen's office hours, I've already got some things planned for April 1st on campus ;) Yes, I am 19 and still celebrate the wonderful holiday that is April Fools' Day. It makes me happy, and if it's done correctly, makes other people quite happy as well. How could there be anything wrong with that?

So... There's a GALL meeting the night before the special day, so hopefully we'll get that over with before too it gets too late. I'll still have to go out and do my things before I go to bed. I'm certain everyone else in the club enjoys the holiday at least as much as I do, so hopefully we'll plan something great--and nothing that'll detract from my personal shenanigans.

I have lots of ideas for the general public and two specific ideas for someone whom I think will appreciate my madness. I just need a few measurements, a few more "observations," and a trip or two to the store for some supplies.

I'm so excited, and I won't squick out! Wooooooohoooooooo!

All of this talk of practical jokes is making me think about going round and round with Drew back in high school. I also went round and round with Bunwich, but I got him a whole lot more than he got me.

Drew loved to torment me, but he couldn't stand it when I retaliated. Shortly after we met in art class my sophomore year, he started adding dirty little pictures and phrases to my drawings. Sometimes they were easily removed or worked over, but occasionally there was one or two that were quite visible even in the finished work. He also added his own artistic flair to my own body, dumping handfuls of glitter over my head and smearing green modeling clay over my entire back. He was very upset the day I blew a palmful of glitter in his general direction, but we continued to joke around together.

Junior year consisted of mostly verbal harassment from both parties. I won't go into that very much, as I've got quite a few "dirty little secrets" that I flat-out brought upon myself...and so does Drew :) Rob will tell you all of the times Drew would run up to us as we were saying our afternoon goodbyes. Sometimes we'd do all sorts of crazy things in Rob's yard, like the time Drew demanded a ride on the back of my car. I went really slowly, truly concerned for his safety, and then slammed on my brakes as hard as possible and with no warning, which sent Drew stumbling off the back of my old Taurus and fighting for his footing.

Senior year was when I really worked up some gall. The simplest trick I ever did was slightly moving Drew's chair from the lunch table as he sat down. He was furious as he explained that he could have been seriously injured and that I wouldn't like for him to do that to me. Meh, I wouldn't necessarily LIKE it, but I'd definitely see the humor in it (unless I threw out my hip, but that's what painkillers are for!). I didn't even attempt a full chair removal; I knew the mere thought of it would get enough of a rise out of him.

For my birthday, Gretchen brought "lobster cupcakes." They were bright red and had whistles on top of them which we thoroughly enjoyed during our lunch period and in the time after school where we played in the parking lot each afternoon. Drew begged us for a cupcake, and immediately unwrapped it for a big bite. He was standing within my reach, so he was fair game for my tricks. I slightly tapped the bottom of the cupcake as he leaned in for a bite, and he was amazingly close to a faceful of sickeningly sweet red icing. Once again, I didn't actually want to squish cupcake all over his face. Just the thought of looking so silly was mortifying enough for him.

The worst thing I ever did to Drew, though, was when I was chewing gum while sitting beside him. I often chew gum for stress relief purposes, so it was never abnormal for me to pop a piece of peppermint gum even at the most odd moments. I'd chew for several minutes as normal, and then I'd pretend to spit my gum into my fingers. Then, I'd press my pinched fingers toward his hair and...well, I've never seen anyone jump away from me the way he did each time I attempted this. Sure, I'd be pretty angry if someone actually put a nasty wad of gum in my hair, but pretending isn't a big deal.

Drew continued to torment me by wasting my time, turning up my radio to ridiculously loud levels, and reaching into the driver's seat to honk my horn at other drivers at inappropriate times. Rob also did that last one on several occasions, as well as jacking up the bass and volume every time we listened to the classical station.

If I may digress, Rob also played a very good prank on me one day at the grocery store. Whether it was premeditated or spontaneous I will never know, but I thought it was brilliant all the same. I had to pick up some distilled water one afternoon, and Rob, being a gentleman, offered to go in for me. I handed over the money and waited out in the car while he shopped, and shortly after he placed the bag into the back seat and buckled up in the front beside me. He said something along the lines of, "Okay, we can go now that we have the filtered spring water..." I was speechless because he'd so quickly forgotten the type of water I asked him to get. Then he started to laugh, reassured me that he'd gotten distilled water, and explained that he just wanted to see my reaction. It probably doesn't sound that impressive in writing, but I thought it was really funny and I completely went for it. Digression complete.

After we all graduated, we decided to go to homecoming together for a sort of alumni meeting. I allowed Drew to use window chalk on my car and...well, the results weren't all that pleasant. I also happened to have two cans of silly string in the back of my car, and Drew hijacked both of them. I managed to take back one of the cans (It was fair for him to have one!) once we arrived at the school, but Drew complained that he didn't want it on his clothes and skillfully snatched my only ammunition from my arms. Our silly string battle turned into a one-sided massacre as I took the whole of two cans. In case you didn't know, that's a WHOLE LOT of gunky string.

I kind of feel like a jerk now that I've skimmed back over all of that stuff I did to Drew. I know I would've been able to take back anything I did to the poor kid, but I don't think he took any of it quite like I would have--even though he was much more merciless than I was when it came to dishing it out.

Bunwich was also quite easy to get, but he took it like a real bunwich and was quite slick about returning my favors. I threw a lot of paper balls at him. I remember that very clearly. I also liked to pluck pink feathers from Mrs. Crowther's feather duster and stick them in his hair, tape them to his binder, or tuck them with his things. When he discovered them, they always ended up in my hair. One day, I started taping "LOSER" signs to his personal belongings and to his back. Eventually, he caught on and I started to find those same signs taped on my back later in the day. I tried to fill our box fan up with paper confetti once. It was mostly a fail, even though a few pieces blew out onto Bunwich as soon as he turned on the fan. Later on during that class period, I attempted to step over the fan and tripped.

Sigh. I miss Latin and the electronic classroom...

I have no idea where I was going with any of that. I think I was just reminiscing. If you followed me with all of that, I applaud you. Have a cupcake. (Squish.)

Squeeehehehehe.

2009-02-25T07:21:00.000-08:00

We're all done with the light bulbs, and they're out in one of the big planter boxes. What an impressive sight!

I passed my Chemistry professor this morning while I was on my way to photograph the bulbs. He was heading to class, around a half an hour early, as usual. He looked at me and we said hi to one another. When I came into the lecture hall, he told me he thought I was going to skip class this morning (The planters are a little bit past the building where the class is held). I thought that was amusing, but I told him I was taking pictures of "the garden." I saw him admiring them while he walked down the sidewalk, so he knew what I was talking about. He said that they were really cool and that some of them looked like mushrooms. That made me laugh :P

I might go pick some flowers later. I'd like to keep a bulb or two for myself, and maybe I'll get some other people to steal them too. I really don't want to pick them up again, and I'm sure no one else does either.

I'm going to talk to my computer science professor today about the major. I feel really nervous, and I have no idea why. I need to go get the cards to fill out, too. I also have to go buy some stamps. That's completely unrelated to declaring my major, but I thought I might throw it out there.

I can't wait for spring break. I can't wait for warmness.

I can't believe I haven't done this in such a long time.

2009-02-23T18:20:00.000-08:00

I mean, things are changing rapidly.

I think I came close to acing my Chemistry exam this morning. I was SO pleased with myself. My professor even told me that my hard work is paying off and that he's really proud of me.

I also think I'm ready to declare my majors. I really decided last week, when I was doing my computer science homework. We had to design two web pages, and I don't think I've ever had so much fun doing homework. My professor thought my work was hilarious, and he really liked it. I really like everything we're doing in the class. I'd already done HTML and CSS before, and I was slightly familiar with Javascript. In fact, I wanted to be a computer programmer back when I was 13 or 14. I want to talk to my computer science professor on Wednesday or some time very soon so that I can ask him how terrible the math courses required for the Computer Science major are.

I'm not that scared of math anymore, though. Chemistry has kind of cured that.

But that's not all. I intend to double major.

I'm going to shoot for a Latin major as well. Think of it! I'll study dead languages and computer languages! How cool is that? I just want to major in Latin because I love it; I don't intend to do anything with it. I really don't think I want to be a teacher, unless I got a masters' in one major or the other and taught at the college level.

It's exciting to think that I have some direction in my life now.

We're still painting light bulbs in GALL. I had to pick them up last time, and that was kind of a fun adventure. I had to sneak into the basement of an upperclassman dorm to get a box for the light bulbs. Then, I carried the box halfway across campus and filled it with light bulbs. One of the light bulbs was broken, so I had to clean that up. The box was overfilled, but I decided to risk it and carry it back to the dorm anyway. I was lucky that someone opened the door just as I got onto the porch, so I was able to "piggyback" inside and back to the basement. The basement is really creepy. I had to go really deep into it to find the stash of GALL supplies that were hidden away. Since I didn't want anyone else to suffer the way I did, I even split the light bulbs into two separate boxes so that they weren't so heavy and easily dropped.

I want to live in that particular dorm next year--it's closest to the building that houses my majors, and it's REALLY nice--so it's nice that I get to see so much of it.

My professors are really entertaining. Today, my computer science professor told us about the meaning behind the name of C++. It made me giggle a little and I felt like such a nerd. Last Thursday, my Latin professor told us about Vergil graffiti. It inspired me, even though she warned us that she didn't want to see any lines scrawled out on the bathroom doors in the building :) I need a new pad of Post-Its...

My tape sculpture is going along nicely. I've got both arms finished (except for a little bit up near the shoulder, which I'll finish later) and most of both legs (minus some of my upper thighs and one whole foot). I have a plan, but it's just going to take a while for me to complete my upper body. I also like to have a little privacy when I'm doing it because...well, let's face it, I get a lot of odd stares. I try to do it when my roommates aren't around because the sound of the packing tape really does get annoying after a while. I hauled everything into the vending room a while back so I could do one of my legs, and it was so awkward every time someone walked in. I managed to have a conversation about it with one girl, who freaked out and thought I was injured. I had to explain tape sculpture to her, carefully avoiding anything that might hint to her what I plan to do once I have a life-sized, see-through me.

I'm making a sitting sculpture, so I intend to leave it on a bench. I'll probably use a little extra tape to hold it down, because tape sculptures tend to be really light and wind around here tends to be really strong. I don't really mind if anyone takes it. In fact, I'd probably be relieved if someone took it, because then I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore and hopefully it would make someone very happy to possess such an object.

I hate to admit it, though, but I think I'm going to need a little help once I get to my head. I might just try a rough once-over with some plastic wrap and packing tape. I won't be able to do either part of my nose or my mouth because...er, I've gotta breathe. I also don't know how I'm going to cut it off of my own face. I cut the inside of my elbow the other day when I was trying to remove an arm (That would sound hilarious out of context.), and that was with a regular pair of scissors. I thought I might try using my exacto knife, but then I remembered just how sharp those things are and just how much damage I managed to do with scissors. Ehhhh...exacto and face... There's no way that'd turn out well.

"These are about as sublingual as an MRI."

2009-02-12T19:01:00.000-08:00

I've been taking a sublingual B12 supplement for the past three or four minutes. Er, yeah. These tablets, although very tasty like fruit punch, are as sublingual as the orthopedic doctor's MRI. Yup. Read about that one, if you haven't.

I'm supposed to be writing a paper on human evolution, but I'm not. Obviously. Yeah.

So, I also made another tape sculpture of my left hand and arm today. It's awesome. I don't know what I'll do with it yet. Either I'm going to keep it, talk everyone in GALL into doing even more (A whole human? OH YES.), or strategically place it on campus for shock and entertainment value by myself. The first would be boring, the second one would be awesome if we did a whole person or two (I'd volunteer to be the model, especially since I've already got one of my arms done.), and the third would be also awesome, even though I'd be angry if someone stole my arm.

The other night, we painted light bulbs in GALL because Eco Club couldn't send them away to be recycled. It was great. Then we made a light bulb garden, which was even better. There were lots of flowers, all kinds of bushes and...plants, a few random bulbs, a strawberry, a pile of poop (inverted flood light bulb), a few frogs and turtles, a few parts of the human anatomy, and plenty of pride bulbs. We just stuck them into a planter and then chalked the top and sidewalk so that people would be urged to look into the planter. It was kind of hard to see the bulbs from the main part of the sidewalk unless you were looking for them. They looked so pretty. I mean, they were actually really pretty. I would casually walk over there and admire them, because I wanted to look and because I hoped that people might be curious and come over to look with me. Several people actually did follow my lead and admire the garden. I grinned each time I saw people standing by the planter when I passed by.

Tonight Rob asked me if I'd like to meditate with him this summer. I told him that I'd love that. I haven't spoken to him very often lately because we're at different schools--same with all of my friends, really...sigh--but it was great to have plans for this summer. I want to see all of my friends this summer. I miss them.

I really, REALLY need to finish this paper. I've got less than 50 words to go, but that's the hardest part. I wrote the intro and conclusion in less than half an hour this morning, but now I can't add 50-or-so more words because the essay insists that it is complete. (Oh, and, yes, I DID write the conclusion before writing the paper. I knew what I wanted and where I was going. It works pretty well for me. I didn't edit a single word for this particular essay.)

G'night.

Buh

2009-02-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

So... I still can't upload my images onto the school's server. I have no earthly idea of what I'm doing wrong, and the thing is due in about 20 minutes. I already submitted it via e-mail, though. I thought that, after five or six hours of tinkering around and getting error messages, I wasn't going to have a breakthrough before midnight. Oh well. I'll talk to my professor soon, so at least he can help me figure out what was going wrong.

Tomorrow is going to be epic. GALL has planned a live version of Snake in the middle of campus tomorrow. We've been collecting apples for the past few days, and...well, it's gonna be amazing, okay? The GALL rules for Snake are as follows: get apples and don't touch yourself. Squee, I'm excited :D

I've also got a whole load of work to do tomorrow.

I showed my Chemistry professor my little "hidden talent" this morning. I accidentally used the back of a lab sheet to write simultaneously with both of my hands--normal and mirrored. He mentioned it to me before class and said that he had a hard time writing backwards. He was shocked when I said that I did it with both hands, so I demonstrated. We played on the whiteboard before class.

Dinner was very good tonight. I'm still hungry, though. Yay almost-midnight! I'm gonna go shower, maybe get a snack, and then go to bed. Mm-hmm. G'night, all.

Lucidity At Last!

2009-02-02T10:04:00.000-08:00

I know I've written about my "dream journal" and my fascination with dreaming, particularly lucid dreaming. I've been working for over a year now to achieve lucidity in my dreams. Finally, for the past two recalled dreams, I've been able to reach a lucid state.

They were both dreams that involved me being in a situation where I thought that my life was in danger--both times I was being chased. Suddenly, I would think to myself, "I wish this would stop!" and then, "Then why don't I make it stop? I'm dreaming."

Then I'd be really excited and I'd calm down, and I'd have a strong urge to wake up and open my eyes. After becoming lucid in the first dream, I couldn't control how I woke up. I thought it was exciting that I was able to reach that state, though, so I was happy.

This morning, I was having a dream that reminded me of a hybrid of "I, Robot" and "I Am Legend." I was part of a small group of people who were roaming around and trying to hide from giant robot things that would storm the area and kill people. They would trick us and chase us down. They came out in the dark and in the day, and we would lock ourselves up. There were a lot of other details in the dream, but it isn't necessary for me to elaborate on them at the moment.

Eventually, we were in a dark underground cavern. One of the robot things came inside and was chasing us. It had almost caught us when I reached lucidity. I held on for a little bit longer than last time, trying to keep the dream from falling apart around me. The robot and all of the people disappeared, and I was standing in the dark cavern by myself in perfect silence. I looked around, trying to bring my dream back, and then I was standing in a completely black environment. I could still picture the reddish rock walls of the cavern, but I don't think I could keep them. Since I'd lost it and didn't think I'd get it back, I just decided to open my eyes. I wasn't sure if I was still lucid or if I'd come back to reality and was just remembering what I'd dreamed. Now that I think about it, I wish I'd kept my eyes closed and tried to do something besides just standing there.

I'm absolutely fascinated by this sort of stuff, so I've got myself worked up and all excited about going to sleep again. I think I'm getting better at it each time because I'm realizing what's happening, and maybe I'll be able to go lucid and stay asleep tonight :)

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

2009-01-20T19:33:00.001-08:00

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.

2009-01-20T19:04:00.001-08:00

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.

Day off.

2009-01-19T14:39:00.000-08:00

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.

Everything But Chemistry.

2009-01-15T18:38:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-01-15T14:48:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-01-15T10:15:00.000-08:00

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.)

Bored.

2009-01-14T07:23:00.000-08:00

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.

Frustrated and amused...mostly amused.

2009-01-13T15:12:00.001-08:00

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.

The deed is done.

2009-01-12T19:47:00.001-08:00

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.

2009-01-12T09:51:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-01-12T07:17:00.000-08:00

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.

I'm Back

2009-01-06T21:41:00.000-08:00

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 :)

Step Two

2008-12-12T06:34:00.000-08:00

I finished my cereal this morning. Contrary to what I wrote last night, I did NOT have a serving left. I had a handful or two, which did not make me happy. Now I'm desperate to eat something. But that's not what I came to write about. I guess I can suck it up for an hour or so.

I cut the big panels of my cereal box and saved them for my stencil.

Now I need an exacto knife--a scalpel, maybe? I know we have one of those at home--and some spray paint. At the rate they're going with Lee Hall, I hope the wall is still up by the time we come back from break. I would cry if they took it down before I got to paint my picture.

Oh, and I lost my Sharpie. My good, new, retractable black Sharpie. I used it the other night, and I swear I put it back in my cup holder, or at least somewhere on my desk. I can't find it. That also does not make me happy.

I need to get something to eat; I'm absolutely ill.

EDIT: I am retarded. The Sharpie was right in front of my face. Wow.

Puddle-Luscious

2008-12-11T19:34:00.000-08:00

Exam week hasn't been terrible. I've been studying a lot, making sure I eat good stuff (and cookies) and sleep plenty, and I've finished all but one of my exams. My Chemistry exam was absolutely BRUTAL. It was some kind of national exam from the American Chemical Society. I studied almost all day for it on both Monday and Tuesday, and I studied several hours on Wednesday and today. I don't know how I did. I guess I'll find out eventually.

When I got out of my Chemistry exam, it was 9:30 PM. That wasn't terrible, considering I was used to getting out of lab at 10 PM on Thursdays. It was POURING rain, though. I live all the way across campus from the science building--I can get from there and back in 15 minutes, running (If you can call "run, walk, run, hurt hip, limp, stop, walk" running...), and I can go one way in a little over ten minutes at a moderate pace--and I only had my Chemistry textbook and a light jacket with no hood. I actually enjoy rain, so it wasn't so bad. After walking for a minute or so, my feet were absolutely soaked. I only have a single pair of canvas-type shoes with me at school, and they take on water really quickly.

Since I was already soaked, I decided to jump in every puddle, splash water everywhere, giggle like an idiot, and probably make some people worry for my sanity. I had a great time. Water was dripping down my nose, my hair was soaked, it was dark, and I was just a happy, happy person. When I'd almost reached my dorm, however, my knees and ankles started hurting really bad. I guess they got too cold for their liking...

I walked into the room sputtering, wiping my eyes, and dripping water from every inch of my body, but I had a huge, goofy grin on my face that told my roommates that I'd been out having fun.

Was the rain a pathetic fallacy in my life story? Should I assume that I failed that awful exam? I don't believe in that stuff, but even if I did... The rain made me too happy. The rain always makes me happy.

It was actually raining, foggy, and a tad chilly the day I fell in love with this place. Every time the weather is like that, I'm reminded of the first day I set foot here, and I feel so happy.

I know I say this a lot, but I am desperate for some decent food. I'm going to see what I have on my shelf. I have just enough cereal and soymilk for tomorrow morning, a serving or two of chocolate soymilk (which I will probably drink as soon as I finish typing this), some pecans (which I don't feel like cracking because I want to play on the computer, and because they're messy and I'm lazy), some granola bars (I already had one today, so I won't eat another), the last of the chocolate chip cookies that I baked on Sunday (there's one more, so I'll eat that tomorrow before I go home), and...nothing. Soymilk time!

I probably should change my pants. They're absolutely soaked from the knee down; even though I have them rolled up, I'm still cold just sitting here in my room.

The Art of Computer Science and Falling Out of Bed.

2008-12-10T07:27:00.000-08:00

I just got out of my computer science exam. Believe it or not, I had fun taking the exam. That was mostly due to Stephen's brilliant sense of humor working its way into the exam questions.

One kid's hobby was "nose blowing," there was a true or false question about something he shared with us at the start of a lecture because he was frustrated ("You guys like gadgets? Yeah? Well, this is one that I really like. *holds up a stapler* They're pretty cheap; you can get them at the bookstore. You use it like this... *staples a paper* I suggest you guys buy one and try using it." He was joking around with us, but I'm sure he didn't appreciate how some people had turned in mountains of unstapled pages.), and the first question asked us about the most important thing we learned.

I told him that I realized that I like computer science and that I'll be seeing him next semester in 110 :)

Oh, yeah, and I woke my roommates up at 6:50 this morning when I "fell" out of my loft bed. It was a total accident. The alarm clock went off, I turned around and started climbing down the ladder, and then I felt a "hypotensive attack" coming on. I have orthostatic hypotension, which isn't a big deal until I stand up. My blood pressure drops rapidly, I lose my vision, and I lose my balance. That isn't usually a big deal either, unless I'm standing on a flippin' ladder. I knew that I was less than three feet off the floor, so I decided to jump off. That didn't work too well, because I couldn't make myself let go of the ladder with one hand and I lost my balance. I jumped and threw myself into the television, my plastic drawer, and the big cabinet. I had regained balance and vision by the time the cabinet caught me, and I wanted to laugh hysterically. Then I realized that my roommates were already awake and confused, so I kept myself quiet until I got into the bathroom.

I had an idea last night. There's a big wooden wall on campus that is open for clubs and individuals to paint and spray graffiti, and I always enjoy walking by and seeing fun slogans and wonderful artwork. I was tired of studying Chemistry (I'd actually been studying for almost two days straight, minus sleeping/eating/etc.), and I worked on a stencil design so that I could do my own picture on the wall. Right now, it's just Sharpie on copy paper, but I'm almost finished with my cereal, so I'll save the cardboard from that to make the stencil more sturdy. It says "AMO LATINAM!" in funny letters.

I don't know if Mrs. McCranie would be proud of me or not. On one hand, I'm actually using the lettering skills that she taught me. She's a calligrapher herself, so I had a lot of calligraphy and lettering lessons in my three years of high school art. On the other hand, she probably wouldn't approve of my doing graffiti in any form, regardless of whether it's legal or not (I wouldn't vandalize someone else's property--the wall is there for the students, at least until they finish renovating Lee Hall.).

I'm planning on visiting my old high school next week, and I plan to visit her when I'm there. The inevitable question will be, "Are you doing any art at college?" I'm going to answer with, "Oh, well... I painted a few t-shirts [I'll leave out the part about going Jackson Pollock at the Glow Zone party during orientation.], and I've done lots of photography. I've done a little bit of drawing. I've also done some graffiti, and I'm in GALL--you know, pseudo-vandalism, social experiments..."

She'll freak. I mean, she freaked when Robert splattered paint on his canvas and did a few drawings that were blatantly anti-religion. But I'm doing a whole lot more art now than I ever did in high school, and I'm having a whole lot more fun.

Stupid SQL

2008-12-04T20:07:00.001-08:00

"I didn't write this. I didn't make it hard. It's not Stephen Query Language."

Well, Professor Davies, who DID write it?

I want to know so I can put a bucket of ping pong balls at the top of his door and peanut butter under the door handles of his car.

I have about a million (Yes, a fine example of hyperbole. But it feels pretty close to a million.) SQL queries to write before tomorrow, and I still have to touch up my database for my presentation tomorrow.

Title? I don't need no stinkin' title.

2008-12-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

My mom called me during lunch to give me the results of my MRI. The doctor said that I had a very slight bulge in the disc between L4 and L5, but that it was nothing to worry about right now. Therefore, we're moving on to my hip joints. I don't know when I'll be able to get in for the next MRI. I guess I'll try to schedule it when I'm out for winter break.

Winter break is almost here!

I really don't have anything interesting to write.

I was on Pandora earlier, and it was being really, really slow. Nothing would play, so I opened Garage Band and got ready to play along with Massive Attack's "Teardrop." Right as I played the first note, Pandora erupted with some LOUD Rage Against The Machine, and I had no clue what was going on. I think my expression would have been hilarious to see.

I actually played the part of "Teardrop" that I know on an actual piano over break. My grandma's piano isn't tuned at all, but I had so much fun. It actually sounded really good, too, even though I made a whole lot of mistakes.

I have an advising meeting this afternoon. Blahhhhhh.

I butcher tofurkeys without remorse. NOM NOM NOM.

2008-11-29T09:20:00.000-08:00

Yeah, so Thanksgiving was good. I had Tofurky for the first time in my life. Normally I baste some tofu and eat that, but I got lucky and had something new. It was amazing--even better than I remember real turkey.

We also went shopping on Black Friday. My sister and I roamed the stores aimlessly, taking video for a new Tisk Leonard episode. We got some great material, and I hope we can get a new one up soon :) Elizabeth wasn't there, though, and it was the first episode where we had video instead of just audio. I also rode on my sister's cart because she had trouble steering it and I found it easier to drive when I was precariously balanced on the arm and trying not to knock things off the shelves or draw the attention of store officials.

Did you hear about the greeter at Wal-Mart who got trampled? That makes me sick. I simply cannot understand how human beings could do something like that, how they could just walk on by without helping the man.

I don't remember much of last night. I was still under heavy influence of prescription painkillers, sitting in my chair and listening to REM's "The Great Beyond." I remember going out somewhere between pushing an elephant up a flight of stairs and bending my flatware and regaining consciousness shortly after I realized that Michael Stipe was no longer singing. It was really nice, the music and relaxation and quiet.

The painkillers. That reminds me.

I did go to my appointment on Wednesday. The doctor was a little wacky and he made me laugh. He also made me very upset, but he was only speaking the truth. He said I'll probably have some nasty degenerative disk problems when I'm older. I knew that, but it still made me sad. He also was joking around with me, obviously unaware of just how much medical knowledge I have :) He asked me if I'd ever had an MRI, which I hadn't. Then, he said something about an MRI requiring really painful sublingual injections. I had no idea what he was talking about, but then I realized he was being silly. Just because I've never had one doesn't mean I don't know what they are... He made me laugh a whole lot, and he was very quick about the whole ordeal. It was nice that I was able to get the MRI that day; my mom and I have connections, so I got slipped in when a patient was having a break between his MRIs.

I also fell asleep during the procedure. I was comfortable, I was tired, I was just lying there. Why not? Waking up during the MRI was a little weird, though.

Wooooohoo.

2008-11-24T13:01:00.000-08:00

The 4-H newsletter just came out today, and my article is on the second page :) There's also a really nice picture of me on Stella. I'm happy, considering I wrote and revised the 250-word piece in...half an hour, tops.

I wonder if anyone else has read it yet. I mentioned Mindy and Larry both, and neither of them know about the article yet. I don't think I showed it to anyone but Julie, to be honest with you.

And I just ate the best banana in the history of bananas.

And I just got back from "marking" a few more books in the library with my little cards. I also "marked" the window of the door leading to one of the upper levels. And I took pictures, because I happened to have my camera with me. Hehehe, so much fun...

I was bored after I got out of computer science.

And now I'm sitting around instead of straightening up and getting ready to leave tomorrow night. I have so much stuff to do. Well, actually, I've got almost everything ready to go. Never mind.

Raving and writing and databases and squirrel goes SPLAT.

2008-11-24T07:36:00.000-08:00

I'm really hungry, but I'm going to type this thing before I go to lunch.

On Friday, two squirrels were fighting on a branch over the sidewalk. I was watching them wrestle, and then one of them slipped off, pulling the other squirrel with him. Both squirrels fell, plonked down on the sidewalk, and scrambled away. I thought they were hurt. The noise that I heard when they fell suggested splattered squirrels on the sidewalk. They seemed okay, though, and it was hilarious. They fell right at my feet.

I'm really excited about break.

I'm really sad that there's no GALL this week, though. I dunno, it just makes me sad. I'll go raise a ruckus in my hometown to make up for it.

I know I just said this, but I'm REALLY excited about break. I want to go home and eat.

Chemistry class is optional on Tuesday, but I'm totally going to go. Come on, Mike's offering bonus points if we go. Bonus points in Chemistry! I'd do just about anything for bonus points in Chemistry.

I had to wake up really early this morning. I had to finish my health project.

Instead of working diligently on my project, I went down to Mason's highlighter dance thing. I did not know that highlighter fluid looked so cool under blacklights. I snitched a marker off the table and, as I tend to do, wrote all over my arms. Both arms. It looked amazing. And I had a glowstick. And I'm obviously colorblind. I thought it was green when I was under the blacklights, but when I went back to my room for my own private rave (Think New Order's "Blue Monday," a single glowstick, and me dancing like mad in my darkened dorm room.), I realized that it was blue.

I actually did work hard on my project last night, but I also had to finish entering data into my database and convince the database that the foreign keys I was trying to put on the thing were good foreign keys before midnight. And I did.

To reward myself, I'm gonna go to lunch. NOM NOM NOM.

Socks.

2008-11-20T20:39:00.000-08:00

Where have all my socks gone?

Seriously. I don't think I have a matching pair of socks to wear tomorrow. I don't care if they're mismatched, but I do care if they're different heights. And I probably have one sock of every height.

AGH.

"Tell your mama you won't be coming home tonight..."

2008-11-20T18:01:00.000-08:00

I'm listening to The Fashion now. Seriously, it took me four or five years to find the song that I'm listening to online, and I can only find it in one specific location. I was so happy when I finally found it, though. It took me back to those beautiful days in the electronic classroom, as they used to play it while we waited for the broadcast.

Enough words. I should type something interesting, if at all possible.

I was just looking for something in my bookmarks list, and one of the bookmarks was listed as "Veggie Joint Stuff." I knew when I typed that I wouldn't know what I was talking about later on. I did a search a few days ago for vegetarian glucosamine, and I bookmarked the site that had the best deal. I don't really want to take the stuff if I don't have to, so I guess I'll wait until I see the doctor on Wednesday.

Today was busy, busy, busy.

I woke up and translated Latin over a bowl of oatmeal, as usual. I went to class, where I realized that I translated a whole lot but didn't do my sentences. I was frustrated after that, but I got happy again when I went to lunch and then went off to riding. Riding went well, and then I had to study for my Chemistry exam. I didn't have very long to study because I had to go to a GALL thing, and then I went back to study again. I made some dinner because Seaco was packed for the Thanksgiving feast and then studied in Jepson until class started. The test was kind of hard, mostly because I didn't fully understand hybridization. There were three or four questions on that, so hopefully my "educated guesses" were correct. Professor Pearson bargained with us a bit, so I got out of lab tonight and Tuesday's class is optional. Attending earns extra credit, though, so I'm definitely going to go. An hour and fifteen minutes of lecture is certainly tolerable, especially when I could get some much-needed points on an assignment.

'Twas, all in all, another exciting day.

I regret that year, those months. I just needed a change of pace, that's all.

Yep.

2008-11-19T12:44:00.001-08:00

I'm pretty slick :)

"We're like crystal, we break easy..."

2008-11-19T08:58:00.001-08:00

Hehehehe, now I'm listening to New Order :) "Crystal" is one of my favorite songs ever.

Yeah. I had something specific to write about, but I forgot it. Oh well.

I went to health class this morning, I went to lunch, and I'm going to computer science in about two hours. I need to study some Chemistry. I also need to work on my health project.

I woke up and thought it was Friday. I've spent most of the day feeling like I'll be going home this afternoon.

Crap. I've got to remember that I have to go to the thing this afternoon. And tomorrow afternoon. And that I need to get an e-mail out that I can't do it on Friday afternoon. Yay for screwing with people :)

I'm gonna write that on my hand so I don't forget.

I really ought to work on Chemistry now, because I'm not going to do it later. I just know it.

Blaaaahhhhh.

2008-11-18T11:46:00.000-08:00

There were snow flurries outside today while we were driving to the barn. It was so cool. And super cold, too.

Latin made me really happy again today. I don't know why I'm always so happy in that class. I think my destiny is to become a Latin teacher, no matter how much I balk at it and try to inch my way into computer science. I really don't even care for the history and mythology part. I'm all about the grammar. I could study Latin grammar forever and ever and ever and never get tired of it, not even once. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but hopefully you know what I mean. I could read and translate all the time and not get too sick of it.

In fact, I only translated one chapter of "De Bello Gallico" for today, and class went by really quickly. I remember how quickly I translated Chapter 16 when I realized that we were almost done with Chapter 15 and still had a good 45 minutes left of class. Most of the class was scrambling to translate 16 just like I was, and Professor Houghtalin noticed. She stopped torturing us and lectured on Caesar instead.

See, professors do have hearts.

I really should do that more often. I did it at an amazing speed, and I did it fairly accurately. Hm. Something to think about.

Why do translations that I prepare the night before suck, when translations that I prepare during the reading are really good--and done ten times faster?

As I've always said, I work well under pressure.

Mrs. Weddle would NOT be happy if I told her just how many perfect-score papers I wrote for her the morning that they were due :D

My hip is a lot better than it was. It still hurts a whole lot, but I'm not screaming out in pain and I can walk fairly normally. I also rode and jumped today, which was great.

I think I close my eyes over every jump. I have no idea why, but it's funny.

I have Chemistry, House, and GALL tonight, hooray.

I'm also supposed to go to a floor meeting with the RA, but I'm just going to meet with her later on to talk to her.

I wish I had something good to eat around here.

I have cereal and oatmeal, but I have to save them for breakfast. I have ginger snaps, but I don't need any more of them. I have two oranges, but it's too cold for oranges. I could make some pasta or some soup, but I don't feel like getting up. I also have to save the soup for Thursday after Chemistry, when I walk across campus at 10PM, freeze half to death, and go back to my room hungry and tired. Especially hungry.

Oh. I got a doctor's appointment for next week. My sister has one too, with the same guy, on the same day. She has to see him for her broken ankle, and I have to see him because I'm a gimp. He's an orthopedic doctor. He'll probably send me to the physical therapist again, or he'll send me to a chiropractor, or he'll prescribe some awesome painkillers, or he'll tell me it's all in my head.

We'll just have to wait and see.

This coldness is probably not helping my joints.

Productivity

2008-11-17T16:04:00.000-08:00

I feel so good right now. I actually accomplished a few things today, which was really nice.

I printed out lots of pictures and used tacky putty to stick them on my wall in a sort of miniature collage. There are only 11 pictures right now, but I hope that I'll be able to find out where I saved all of my older pictures this weekend.

It's going to be a real pain to take down when the year is over, but I'll love it until then.

I also worked on entering some data into my database today. I'm almost finished with it, and I have plenty of time to work on it. I also had a good day in my computer science class. As usual, Professor Davies was hilarious. I answered my question correctly, too, which was a major bonus.

And I wiped off my new paddock boots. I wore them twice and they were already caked in mud. I love having pleather boots. I don't have to use soap, just a wet rag.

And I've actually worked on my Latin translation before 10 or 11 PM, which is a miracle. Of course, I'm not working on it now, but at least I've started :)

This blogging thing is so distracting.

Dinner at Seaco was actually really good today. They had some kind of barley pilaf, which was just what I was craving for my cold body and hungry tummy.

I feel like I ought to do some plotting. At my first GALL meeting, they were already asking me if I had any ideas. I kind of want to see what GALL is allowed to do and capable of doing before I throw out a bunch of random crap, but I also think it would be fun to get together some ideas of my own. Hmm. Maybe I'll get some cereal, quit the Latin for a while, and brainstorm.

Yeah. I want cereal.

"She's guilty by design, she's nothing more than fiction..."

2008-11-16T18:14:00.000-08:00

"She dreams in digital, 'cause it's better than nothing..."

Yeah, I'm listening to Orgy :) That song has been in my head all day long. Hehehehehehe.

I'm in a whole lot of pain right now. I forced myself to do my old physical therapy exercises that I quit doing a long time ago. I'm surprised that I actually brought my therabands with me to school.

Larry took us to jump at the local showgrounds today, and I had a terrible time because of my hip. I took some ibuprofen, but that really didn't help. I just don't know what to do anymore. My mom said that she would schedule me another appointment with the orthopedic doctor. I hope he doesn't make me wear a brace. Anything but a brace.

Unless that's the only way I'll be able to ride again.

I'm starting to think that my time in the saddle is coming to an end. I just can't keep going like this.

IT DID IT AGAIN.

Seriously, there are tears in my eyes now. It was like a spasm just below my right shoulder blade, and it's been happening pretty regularly since I started back to school tonight. I know my spine is all twisted and slipped and stuff, but usually it's my hip. My back normally doesn't do this kind of stuff. And usually it's only one particular rib on my left side that comes out of place, and this doesn't feel like that.

IT DID IT AGAIN.

I realized just how cruel life is when I watched my best friend die. I got the message the first time around. This is overkill.

I love the madness.

2008-11-15T17:09:00.000-08:00

Facing my fear of heights, sploshing around in the mud, being dangerous behind the wheel of my car, 4-H, whoa yeah. That was my Saturday.

I got a lot of video of a lot of random stuff, so I might piece the clips together for something on YouTube. That would be fun to work on.

I'm hungry and my calves hurt. I did a lot of gallivanting today, and I had a lot of fun. It's worth it.

I could go for some fruit right now.

Oh, yeah, and I got some new paddock boots. Woohooooooo. Now my feet won't get wet all the time and I won't have to carry duct tape with me every time I wear them.

I'm gonna go get something to eat.

Help me.

2008-11-14T08:39:00.000-08:00

The ibuprofen isn't working. I was so desperate to take it, I dry-swallowed. I NEVER dry-swallow.

The Sombra isn't working. That stuff is Hot Ice times ten. It should be working. But it's just making me smell good.

I can barely walk. I'm in so much pain. I actually took the elevator today so that I wouldn't have to walk all four flights of stairs to my first class.

What about people in wheelchairs? The elevator is meant for them, yet if a disabled person were to take my health class, he would still have to find a way up two flights of stairs.

I need some of those hardcore painkillers that they prescribed to me a while back.

Hey people.

2008-11-13T18:44:00.000-08:00

I'm eating an apple.

I also found my pants. I'm wearing them now. They were in Moire's car. That's where I assumed I'd left them.

My Chemistry lab sucked tonight. It was a worksheet about the arrangement of electrons. We were also supposed to build the things with these toys, but I thought the toys were lame and chose not to. No, seriously, even the lab aide thought that the toys sucked. I turned in my other lab tonight, though, so I'm very happy to have that load lifted from my shoulders.

My Latin exam went well today. Of course I couldn't translate everything, but I still think I did really well.

Riding was okay. My calves hurt from posting without stirrups. I normally don't post without stirrups because of my hip problems, but it was either one or none. One hurts even more than none, so I chose the latter.

Now I'm gonna eat some Cinnamon Toast Crunch, one of the best cereals in the world.

MMMMMM. Sugary, cinnamon-y goodness...

New Title

2008-11-12T17:34:00.000-08:00

Loopy Logophiles Love Lobsters.

Hehehehehehe. That makes me happy. My other title sucked.

Today has been pleasant. I went to my health class, as usual. It was a waste of my 50 minutes, as usual. I went to lunch and thoroughly enjoyed some fried tofu on my salad. I also went to my computer science class, which was the most amusing 50 minutes of my day, as usual. I love that class. Professor Davies is the best.

I wrote a letter to Mrs. Crowther, the woman who taught me the Dewey Decimal system and made me a compulsive chair-straightener. That got me thinking of what I had planned to do as my own senior prank. I hated the senior prank that my class pulled. Hanging a caged rooster from the ceiling and tying a goat outside isn't a funny prank. Animals aren't toys. Ah, but I digress. I planned to write/print several hundred slips of paper that simply said "Class of 2008" on them. I never found the time to do it, but come on. People would be finding the slips of paper for years! It would be awesome!

So. I did something like that today. I cut index cards into thirds and wrote messages on them. Then, I casually went into the library and stealthily slipped the papers into random books. It was simple, easy, and hopefully will make someone smile in the future :) That was my fun activity for today.

I need to do some Latin.

But not right now. I need to do dishes, and I want to continue typing.

And I'm listening to The Who. I'm right in the middle of "Won't Get Fooled Again." I can't stop now!

I want to blow some more bubbles. I always liked blowing bubbles when I was a kid, and I still have some leftover bubble solution from last night.

Nope. Song's almost over. Dishes need to be washed. Studying must be done. Life calls.

I cannot find my pants.

2008-11-11T20:28:00.000-08:00

Yes, you read that correctly. I was wearing a pair of...running pants, yeah...over my breeches earlier today. I took them off so that I could ride, and now I have no clue where they are. I was so cold while I was walking around tonight.

I finally had the gall to go to a GALL meeting tonight (Yeah, the pun is lame the second time around. Get over it.), and it made me immensely happy. We ended up going down to the Nest, a small cafe on campus, and blowing bubbles. I love blowing bubbles. I think the people at the Nest wanted us to leave; 'twas something about the soap bubbles being "unsanitary." Instead, we stood in the entrance hall and blew bubbles toward all of the people who were coming and going.

Observing the various reactions to the bubbles was amusing and interesting to me. Some people were completely apathetic. Some people were just as amused as we were. Some people seemed frustrated by our assault.

I think I'll be going back next week :)

I cannot believe that I lost my pants. I want my pants. Where are my pants?

The Plan

2008-11-10T07:26:00.000-08:00

I'm gonna make myself go to GALL tomorrow. Unless overwhelming social anxiety, you know, overwhelms me again.

Blah

2008-11-10T07:08:00.000-08:00

Meh, so I'm back at school. I spent my weekend slogging through mud, mucking out stalls, taking care of my cripple sister, and eating actual food.

I couldn't ride at all because it was so wet, but I got to play with the dogs a lot. Abby loves running and playing in the puddles, so she was really nasty by the end of each day. She jumped in my lap while I was in the lounge, and my shirt was covered in puppy pawprints. I played with Stella a lot too, brushing her, scratching her withers, and leaning on her.

I went to some comedy show last night. It was a thing to benefit breast cancer survivors, so I thought it might be a nice event. I was bored anyway. It was really good too, so you suck if you missed it.

After the show, I went back to my room and worked on my Chemistry quiz. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, especially since the majority of the quiz was a set of questions about a hypothetical lab that was almost identical to my group's last lab project. The question really just subbed in potassium hydroxide for...oh, crap, whatever we used. Hahaha. I forgot what we used. It was copper sulfate and... Nevermind. I'm still not finished, but it's not due until tomorrow night.

I'm hungry. Do I always write that at the end of these posts? I think I do. It might help if I weren't always so hungry.

I'll end it on a different note.

Note to self: Non-horsey roommates probably dislike muddy paddock boots and "horsey" jacket.

Note to roommates: Er...sorry?

Hooray for Weekends

2008-11-08T14:08:00.000-08:00

I'm at home once again. My sister's ankle is still broken (It'll be a week tomorrow.), so I went to the barn alone today.

I took a few pictures. It was really wet and muddy out, so my poor, cracked, pleather paddock boots filled up with water and let my feet get all wet. I couldn't ride because of how wet it was, but I played with Stella and Abby. Abby got me all covered in mud because she ran around in the puddles and then jumped up on me several times. I also inflated a latex surgical glove in the lounge and used it as a dog toy. Abby loved it.

I'm at home now. I spent a long time practicing my timing while playing part of "Teardrop" by Massive Attack. I honestly don't know how to play the piano, so I watched a tutorial to try and learn how to play the House theme. I think I'm doing well for someone who has no experience playing a piano, and I'm learning a lot. I don't have a piano, so I've been using Garage Band on my Mac. I've been listening to "Teardrop" on YouTube and using it to help me get it right. I wish I could use a real piano. I can't switch octaves that quickly while playing on my keyboard, and I have to do that for the beginning of the song. I haven't progressed much past the very beginning. I have to get that down first.

I know, I know. I should get piano lessons. I sound retarded :)

I also decided that college dorms should allow residents to keep rats as pets. I miss my old rat. I don't think most people would tolerate a rat living with them, though. Most people suck.

Very Nice, Very Nice, Very Nice...

2008-11-06T19:19:00.000-08:00

Today was actually a pretty good day.

Latin made me really happy for some odd reason. I dunno, I just really enjoyed myself in there today. I love me some Latin :D

Riding was okay, not great. I really want to work some of those horses, get them on the bit, and get them listening to me rather than responding to external stimuli ("Okay, guys, pick up a canter!" FSHHHOOOOM!) Oh well.

Chemistry was...ohhhhhh man. Our project was due today, and it was down to the wire getting it finished. I was actually doing little bits of it during the lecture, which I hate to admit. Then, Mike made everything due NEXT Thursday. I was really happy. Then, we went into lab. He asked us how many of us had read the lab. I'd skimmed it, and I actually did the lab in high school chem. We started talking about "that last House episode," you know, the one where House and Cuddy... Oh, I won't spoil it for you. And then he told us to go. I sat there at the lab bench for a good three minutes trying to figure out if it was all a joke, but then I decided to haul out before he changed his mind.

So, now I'm here at my computer, listening to NIN and typing blog entries, all while NOT doing Latin. Go me.

I wish I had something good to eat.

More Mindless Chatter

2008-11-05T12:41:00.000-08:00

The Health test today sucked. I seriously didn't study as much as I should have. I planned to study this morning, but then I remembered that I had to register for classes.

I got all of my registration done this morning. Surprisingly, I got almost every class I wanted. The "Writing About Medicine" class was full, but I have enough credits in line that I really ought to wait until next semester anyways. The Classics 110 classes were both full AND had at least five of what I assumed to be force-adds already, so I let them go.

I got my first choice of freshman seminar classes, The Human Animal. I guess it's about as close to a Bio class as I'll ever get here, so I'm psyched. I'm also in Latin 202, Computer Science 110 (with Professor Davies, one of the greatest teachers I've ever had in my life), the intermediate riding class, and Chemistry 112. I really want to get my Chem lab day switched to Tuesday instead of Friday. I e-mailed Professor Pearson about it earlier today, so hopefully he'll give me the POI so I can go into the other section.

We didn't have computer science today. It was kind of nice. I went to see Professor Davies in office hours, though. He was about to leave by the time I actually got in to see him (He's really popular, haha.), so I just asked him a quick question about foreign keys and then left.

I don't know what tonight will bring. I have to work on Chem and Latin for tomorrow, that's for sure. I kind of want to go to the library and read anatomy books again. That's one of my favorite pastimes.

I can't wait for dinner. I'm hungry. I only have crackers, granola bars, two pieces of fruit, soymilk, and cereal here in the room. Well, I have rice and pasta and crap, but I don't feel like cooking anything. I have to save the cereal and soymilk for breakfast and I've already had an orange today. The fruit has to last until Friday. I guess it'll be an apple on Thursday and a banana on Friday, unless Seaco has some decent fruit for me to steal. Psh. It'd be nice if they had some decent food for me to eat at all.

I'm going to eat some crackers. Hopefully that'll hold me off until dinner. Well, wait...dinner's in about a half an hour.

My metabolism is REALLY fast.

Mindless Chatter

2008-11-04T20:07:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I'm starting a new blog to complement my horses-only "Hold The (Stella)Phone..." blog. Hooray.

Uhm, so...my day, my day...

I went to Latin. Professor Hougtalin took the clock off the wall, so I couldn't count down the minutes until class was over. And to think I want to be a Classics major...

I went to riding. That was fun. I elaborated in the other blog, though, and I don't quite feel like detailing my ride again.

I went to Chemistry. That sucked, as usual. I'll never be Pre-Med because of Bio, so why am I in the class for majors? I have no clue. The quiz that was originally tonight turned into a gigantic take-home thing. Honestly, I think I would have preferred it in class. Oh well.

I almost went to a GALL meeting. Damn social anxiety. Maybe next week I'll have the gall to go. Hah, pun :)