Pepto-bismol, how I love thee

Ya gotta love the bismuth subsalicylate.

Ratemyprofessors.com is an interesting and somewhat useful site. I have found out so far that my physics discussion leader and my calc professor are good ones. I have also found some good reviews of my uncle Kevin, the organic chemistry professor at Valparaiso.

Today is new year's eve. Once again, I am not sure how I feel about all of this... After all, 2004 seems too good of a year to be left behind.

Yesterday was spent at my grandparent's and today was spent at my parent's. What can I say?... my life is a huge adventure. (note the sarcasm). Tonight there is a party of the youth group, and, yet once again, I am not sure how I feel about this. We shall see... we shall see.

Ross has just showed up so I must cut this post short.

Words of the Day
- imply - to involve by logical necessity, entail; to express or indicate indirectly.
- infer - to conclude from evidence or premises; to reason from circumstance, surmise; to lead to as a consequence or conclusion.
- insinuate - to introduce or otherwise convey gradually and insidiously; to introduce or insert (oneself) by subtle and artful means.

I'm not sure what to think.

I went with Ross, Jake, Bonnie, and my mother to Bay City yesterday. Ross and I watched Pirates of the Caribbean on his new portable DVD player on the way there and back. Then when we were there, Ross, Jake, and I saw Meet The Fockers... it was alright... quite entertaining... somewhat painful at times. Jake unintentionally snuck into the theater twice. I thought that was a little humorous but Ross got annoyed with Jake instead of seeing the humor. When we returned home, Ross helped me deliever some Christmas presents to some people. I hope they did not dislike their gifts.

Stargate is addicting. I watched about 10 episodes today I think. Stargate sometimes brings up certain issues that are applicable, or at least interesting to think about. ...issues of morality, what is right for a society, changing others way of life to one's own "superior" method, and, strangely enough, Thucydides' conflict of justice vs. expediancy. Maybe I will lay out my thoughts more clearly at a later time.

Apparently, there was an earthquake and tsunami. I was unaware, but now I am not. It reminded me of something that I heard when I was in Jr. High... We were watching some movie in one of my science classes about something they were using to predict stuff and I remember that they said there would be a big earthquake in 2004, but I thought it was supposed to be in California. Well, they got the year right or something.

I have been contemplating the purpose of blogs. Some use blogs like a journal to tell of their day, their life... some use blogs to vent their feelings to world that is not obligated to listen... some use blogs to share their observations and musings of the world around them... some use blogs to entertain... some use blogs as a means of conversing with others... and some use blogs for a completely different purpose still. Which is the true purpose of blogs? Which format is the most normal, conventional, and accepted and, at the same time, the most interesting? This seems paradoxical, as originality is frequently connected with interest. I don't know what to think about blogs... a public journal, similar to a newsletter of one's life, updated frequently... and yet it's not.

Can we say 3.920???

Guess freaking what!!! My GPA at U of M is 3.920! I totally got an A in German, an A in Music Theory, an A in Calc, and an A- in Great Books!!! I was not expecting that at all. I'm excited.

I think I forgot to mention that I got some luggage for Christmas too.

One of the DVDs that I got was Hangman's Curse which was originally a book by Frank Peretti. It was pretty good once I got past the "it's a Christian movie so it has to be lame" stereotype.

After waking up at 11:45 this morning, I watched a couple episodes of Stargate and then my parents and I went to Saginaw. I like going shopping with my parents because then they pay for stuff instead of making me pay for it. I bought the Matrix: Revolutions DVD, Harry Potter books, an AC adaptor, a couple calendars CD-Rs, socks, deodorant (so I can stop wearing guy's deodorant like I have been for the past few days), and shampoo and conditioner among other slightly less interesting things.

I didn't see any of my friends today. That was a bit sad.

I love Christmas.

Christmas was pretty nice. I got some nice things from people: pajama pants, valparaiso sweatshirt, UM socks, necklace with my birthstone in it from my sister, books, CD and CDs from Ross, Stargate SG-1 seasons 4 and 7, The West Wing season 3, The Bourne Supremacy, Return of the King extended edition, other DVDs, Michigan ornament, Michigan stuff, Bam the Ram, electronic Catch Phrase game, and some other little stuff. Yeah, I got quite a bit... I don't mind though.

Speaking of Catch Phrase, the first time I played it was in 9th grade in Mr. Krohn's Introductory Physical Science class. ...fun times. That game has some memories attached to it... especially for the word "snore".

Alecia, Jen, Kev, and I played three games of Cranium tonight. Kev and I won the first game, Kev and Jen won the second game, and Jen and I won the last game. Alecia's picture of a pregnant woman was, umm, "interesting". Ha... that game is intense and extremely fun once the bugs are worked out.

Ryan, Alecia, and I watched the extended edition of The Return of the King this afternoon. It had some really good new scenes... definitely worth the 4 hours and 10 minutes it took to watch it.

I don't like it when people lie with the intention of deceiving me. Some people are asses... in every sense of the word.

Did you ever notice that there are "assholes" and "buttholes" and then there are "buttheads" but there are no "assheads"? I don't know... I guess "butthole" isn't really too common, but one never hears "asshead". Anyway, that's my observation of the day.

Mein Kopf tut mir weh. Ich will jetzt schlafen. Ich werde jetzt schlafen.

...Ich liebe Weihnachten...

Christmas Eve!!!

Diese Sätze sind für Ben. Heute ist Weihnachtsvorabend. Ich bin glüchlich, weil ich Weihnachten liebe. Ich nahm gestern Ross, Alecia, Leslie, und Ryan Geschenke. Ich würde Ben die Geschenke schenken, aber er war nicht zu Hause. Ich muss noch Hannah, Isaiah, Ben, und BethAnne ihren Geschenke schenken. Ich habe am Mittwoch Vanessa ihre Geschenke geschenkt. Vanessa und ich sind am Mittwoch nach Bay City gegangen, und ich bin gefahren, weil Vanessa jetzt ein Auto nicht haben. Es macht spass.

Dan und Steph sind hier mit ihren Hund, Hunter. Der Hund ist ein bischen hertzig, aber er ist noch ein Hund, und ich mag Hunde nicht. Ich mag meine Katzen... ich liebe meine Katzen. Katzen sind sehr hertzig! Katzen sind am besten. ...aber genug über Tiere.

Ich will die Stargate SG-1 DVDs für Weihnachten. Ich weiss, dass ich morgen "Season 4" bekommen werde, aber ich möchte mehr haben.

Really, nothing has happened and so there is nothing to write about. Like I said before, it is Christmas Eve, Dan and Steph and their dog, Hunter, are here. We have a new computer, but "shhh" don't tell... it's from Steph and Dan and my parents apparently don't know yet.

The name "Jani" (pronounced yon-ee) is the Finnish form of "John" and the Hungarian pet form of "John". If I were to name my future kids with foreign names, I would name them Jani and Matthias (pronounced met-thee-us... the german pronunciation), which is related to the name Matthew.

Have a wonderful and merry Christmas.

My Final Final is Finally Finished

Well, I’m done. It’s all over. The end is here. I’m home sweet home. It would seem to be perfect "but for the warning in my heart." (What movie is that quote from? I know; do you?) The great books exam didn’t go badly, but it didn’t go well either. I totally did not read the directions for the second part until I was about to turn it in. Thanks be to God that I did choose the Thucydides quotes without reading the directions and finding out that one was required. Oh, and during the exam, while I was concentrating on my 4-page essay, my phone started to buzz. Great... just great. Who would be calling at such a time, you ask? Why, none other than Ross Eugene the 2nd, and he called three times in a row. Thankfully, I had my phone on vibrate. ...And then there’s the calc exam. Jani sent out a nice email to his 185 class (that would include me). In it, it said that the average was 36.5 (I’m guessing that means 36.5 points out of 55 points, and not 36.5%), but he said he was going to take it out or 50 instead of 55. Good. I’m still worried about it though.

But now time for some good news: I currently have a 4.0 at the University of Michigan. Yes, you read that correctly... a 4.0 GPA. Only one grade is posted but what does that matter? I can say that I had a 4.0 at U of M at one point. That lonely grade was my German grade. Yup, I got an A in German. You know I’m just that hot.

So, I came home Tuesday night. On the way home, I finished up my Christmas shopping and most of the presents are now wrapped. Being home is nice. Last night around 11pm, Ross and I played in the snow. It was hot... yet very, very cold.

The End Is Near

I believe that I am content. I didn't really think about it until I read this thing about happiness vs. contentment, and then I remembered that Brianna commented on how I always say "fine" in response to questions about how things are going. Maybe I am content. I don't know... I came to this conclusion as I was trying to go to sleep, so there's really no telling how exactly I came to that conclusion. I guess I'm content in some things and not content in other things. I'm content with my life I suppose...

A couple days ago I realized that I've been sneezing once every morning for a while.

The dumb fire alarms are stupid. It went off today around 12:45pm while I was studying for calc. Grr. I had to stand outside in the freezing cold wearing sandals and no coat for who knows how long. And then, not even 15 minutes later, the alarm went off again... except this time I was eating lunch. No one left that time. Someone commented on how when there is a real fire, a lot of people are going to die because, as a result of the frequent false alarms, no one takes the fire alarms seriously.

My calc exam is over. Number 9 kicked my butt, but the room was so cold that I could hardly feel it. My hand was on the verge of numbness by the time I finished. I don't think I'll do better than a B, but I guess I'll never know. Only one more exam and then I'm out of here.

Everything just needs to quit.

It is so very very cold. Seriously, it is only 5 degrees and it says that it feels like -13 degrees. I had to walk from South Quad to East Hall to Mason Hall, and the air was so cold that it hurt to breathe at first. In fact, it hurt to breathe until I stuck my nose and mouth in my sweatshirt. My legs were completely numb before I was even halfway to my destination and my nose felt like it was going to fall off.... just a taste of the joys to come next semester.

Well, I officially have only 2 exams and no papers left to do before I got home. I turned in my paper this afternoon... I wonder how the grade will turn out. I'm so sick of studying. My calc exam is tomorrow and there is stuff that I know I don't know (gotta love Socrates) but I've begun not to care. I have until 4ish tomorrow to study, so I guess I can look at it then. ...and then there's great books. I don't know how that exam will go, and then again, I don't know how the calc exam will go either. I just want it all to be done with.

No one from back home keeps me informed about what is going on. Grr. I just got a general email from Tom where I heard about the back sale for the first time (and how they did a wonderful job on it)... oh, and since when was Cedar Point on the itinerary for the Columbus thing this summer?

When I was going to sleep last night, I was thinking about one Sunday a long long time ago when Alecia wasn't at church, and when I asked her about it, she said proudly, "I got to stay home and watch the Magic School Bus." (yes, I did try to spell magic with a "j" there). The Magic School Bus was quality television.

Live Free or Die

...New Hampshire's state motto. I got a mini-lecture about that over lunch. Speaking of lunch...

I was all set on eating lunch by myself and I was halfway through my lunch when Craig and his friend came and sat with me. It was nice to converse with people over lunch that I haven't talked with much. I learned some interesting things.

Spiderman 2 was on the UM movie channel last night. I watched the second half of it. Just thought I'd share.

It looks like Ryan and BethAnne are competing for the worst bloggers ever. BethAnne definitely has the upper hand in this competition because she has only posted a couple times, but Ryan hasn't posted in over a month. Ryan has some catching up to do if he wants the title, and he's definitely on the right track at this point. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this intense nail-biter turns out.

I spent a good eight hours working on calc today. It should've been more but I got a late start this morning, had to make time for dinner, and then I got an urgent call from Vanessa, which turned out to be not so urgent. But I enjoyed doing my calc. It seriously didn't feel like I was working on it for that long... time flies when you're having fun.

Only (less than) 3 more days until I go home!!!

The Clouds and Misconceptions of Socrates

This title serves no purpose.

My German exam is over. I think I did fairly well. Hartmut (the language coordinator guy) brought in cookies for everyone during the exam. Apparently, Germans always eat when they take exams. Everyone, take German! It is the best... especially here at UM.

After the exam, I ate lunch with Leah and then we did a little shopping. I found some books in German at Borders, but they were quite expensive.

So I guess my great books paper isn't due until Sunday or Monday now... I don't mind. ...1 paper, and 2 exams left...

I accidentally took a really long nap this afternoon. I fell asleep around 3:40ish listening to my "slow mix CD #1" and I only intended to sleep for a little bit. But then after a while I thought I heard my phone ringing, so I sat up and looked at the clock on the microwave (which I could see because my contacts were still in my eyes) and it said 5:57. It was nice to wake up and see clearly, but I was a little annoyed that I had slept so long. Thank goodness for Alison... if she wouldn't have called, I would still be sleeping. (Wenn sie nicht hätte angerufen, würde ich noch schlafen)... kind of, I think.

Nothing I have to say is very interesting.

I really enjoy driving. It's one of the reasons I like going home so much. Sometimes I drive for the sake of driving. There's this one spot on US-23 that, when I'm tired and when it's night, seems to curve on and on forever. It's insane. I could drive forever without getting tired of it.

I know that I do not know.

I went up to the 9th floor, and on my way down, the elevator stopped at every single floor... 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, and finally 3... but someone I knew got on at the 5th floor, so that made it all worthwhile.

My first final is over. It was in music theory and I didn't study for it at all. I think I did well.

Mein Kopf tut mir weh... meine Augen tun mir weh. Es ist Scheisse. Ich bin sehr müde.

Goshen College is actually more selective than Grand Valley... as is CMU (in some ways). I become more and more glad everyday that I didn't choose GVSU... no offense to anyone who goes there. Heck, I was one breath away from going there. Just a few hours before my decision would have been made final with no option of turning back, I was talked into giving Michigan a chance. And I mean literally a few hours... less than 12. At that point I had already decided to go to GVSU, but I hadn't turned down my acceptance at UM yet... I was going to do that in the morning. If the psycho UM advocate had waited one more day, I would not be at the University of Michigan right now. The course of my life was significantly altered that evening. But anyway, GVSU isn't bad... it's better than SVSU. GVSU is a U of M wannabe... and it's never gonna be.

I'm procrastinating studying and writing my paper.

I am such a dork. I tucked a blanket into the side of my bed so it would hang down over the side of my desk and make a little cave for me. I like it. It makes my eyes hurt less. If only I could tuck it into the ceiling to keep the roommate light out at night when I'm trying to sleep.

I am humming... hear me hum.

Yesterday's "holiday dinner" was so good! There was chicken, steak, very good pasta, rolls, eggnog (which I tried for the first time), punch, cookies, and cheesecake. I was so full afterwards.

There were no classes today because yesterday was the last day of classes, so I worked on my paper off and on throughout the day. I have about five pages done. It's disheartening. I hate writing papers. I would rather take 4 exams (not essay exams!) than write one paper on something I didn't want to write about. My roommate thinks I'm crazy for thinking that, but Alison agrees with me.

My three favorite books in Great Books were the Odyssey, Plato's The Last Days of Socrates, and the three plays of Aristophanes that we read. The Medea by Euripides was rather enjoyable as well.

Socrates was executed by Athens in 399 b.c.

My area is a bit of a mess now. I'm officially the second messiest person in my dorm room.

I did a bit of flossing today. My dentist would be so proud. My teeth actually feel much cleaner now. Wow... imagine that.

I am very glad now that I went to U of M instead of GVSU. Their math classes are totally not as good a UM's. The 100's are all basically pre-calc stuff and their 201 is calc 1, whereas at Michigan, the only pre-calc math classes are 110 and below and calc starts at 115. So that basically implies that calc 1 is a second year math class at GVSU but it is a first year math class at UM. I like U of M a lot. I want all of my friends to come here because I only want the best for all of them.

Today's words are:
-culpable (adj) - Deserving of blame or censure as being wrong, evil, improper, or injurious.
-ascertain - To discover with certainty, as through examination or experimentation; To make certain, definite, and precise.

I feel educated.

Today wasn't like I expected it to be. Instead of it being "finally classes are over", it was a little sad. It reminded me of the last day of school in grade school (with the exception of my senior year... it wasn't that sad).

The great books lecture was good and at the end Professor Camerson gave a very nice little speech that contained many good points. He basically summed up the whole semester, saying what the main themes of the books were and how these books presented "universal human concerns in unforgetable ways." He spoke about the importance of humanities in a vocational sense (contrary to popular belief), and that led into the section about not choosing a career when you're young (or not being forced to choose a career when you're young, as it is done in many high schools) because you do not know what your interests will be in 10 years. He said that that is why you would take a wide variety of classes to set up a base so you can go wherever you want from there, instead of getting on a certain track and being constrained to it. These two points are things I have known and believed for a while.

Then in German we watched the rest of the roleplays, and at the end of class we took a class picture. Music theory was wrapped up nicely, and Jani gave us candy in calc. It was such a great semester that it's sad to be done with it.

Leslie and Ben have the same blog style and Ross and someone else on my list have the same blog style... and they're all right next to each other on my list. It confuses me sometimes.

I looked into getting my books for next semester. They didn't have a lot of the books, but I'm thinking it will cost around $500. It's $125 for just my great books books or $94 if I can get all my great books books used. My physics stuff looks like it will be around $200 or more and my German stuff will most likely be over $100. I don't know if I need a new math book or not.

I started thinking about my paper that is due Saturday. Thanks to Vanessa, I have a topic (she randomly picked topic #10): "Discuss the portrait of Socrates created in Aristophanes' The Clouds. What is its humor based on, and why is it inaccurate as a realistic depiction of the Socrates of The Apology of Socrates?" It's not a bad topic, but I'd rather research Socrates and sophists instead of analyzing the books.

Because of Ross's bio grade, I've been trying to remember what I got on my calc semester exam last January. I know it was a D+ with the "curve", but I don't remember the exact percent. It might've been either 108/200 or 112/200... 122/200 is also a possibility.

***New picture on ImageStation***

Don't you just love my sarcasm?

It is snowy and cold, but I like it.

My hall smells like the sunday school room after we painted it... probably because it was just painted.

We were doing our roleplays in German today and Mitch's group (Mitch, Dave, Doug, and Nick) was one of the groups that went. I was involuntarily and enexpectedly included when Mitch, playing an exchange student in Germany from MSU, sat down next to me and said, "Hallo, schönes Mädchen," to me. I probably turned a nice shade of pink.

I've decided to start working on the ultimate-ultimate mix CD. It will be the best songs from ultimate mixes 1-3. As I was compiling a list of songs for it, I realized that ultimate mix #1 was a very very good mix... better than 2 and 3, because I had to stretch a little for those two. I'm sure no one will care about this paragraph except Alecia.

I like songs with poetic lyrics. Switchfoot and Falling Up seem to have quite a few. Kutless's lryics are pretty straightforward.

A word of warning: if it seems as though I'm being mean/crabby/whatever, I'm probably not doing it intentionally. I'm just naturally sarcastic and blunt/straightforward (or so I'm told) and sometimes that comes off badly, especially in my writing (more IMs than blogs though). I try to take the edge off of it, moreso when I'm speaking to someone face to face... that's part of the reason that I don't talk a lot: it's easier to control what I say if I don't speak at all. ...Just thought I'd explain myself...

Words of the day:
-explicate - To make clear the meaning of; explain.
-quintessential - Of, relating to, or having the nature of a quintessence (the pure, highly concentrated essence of a thing; the purest or most typical instance); being the most typical.

9 more days

There were only 2 male piccolos in the Michigan Marching Band this year.

If you had heard me scream "I don't understand this concept!" like I just did a minute ago, you would probably assume that I was studying for one of my finals that are rapidly approahing and that I had hit a mental wall... when really all I was trying to do was open up a box of Runts. Yes, I am that pathetic.

I decided to go to the Campus Band concert this afternoon and I was not disappointed. It was in the beautiful Hill Auditorium, and I was sitting in the good section (aka. not in a balcony). Admission was free and you could sit wherever you wanted. They played Celebrations by John Zdechlik, Shenandoah by Frank Ticheli, The Soaring Colors by Scott Hartley, Variants on a Mediaeval Tune by Norman Dello Joio, and Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral by Richard Wagner (adapted by John Bourgeois). It was the world premiere of The Soaring Colors and (unbeknownst to me) the composer was sitting one row ahead and four seats to the right of me. The band contained 180 people and the conductor, Damon Talley, seemed very nice and charismatic. I finally found Bob at the very end of the concert and I recognized Beth from my Great Books discussion in the clarinet section. In the last song, the percussionist playing the bass drum literally wound up a few times before hitting it. All in all, it was a good time.

Two new pictures were added to my Imagestation album... #46 and #47 I believe.

Every time I see the commercial for The Fellowship of the Ring on TV, I want to watch it... even though I watched it yesterday and a little the day before too.

You do not know nothing... you don't not know something.

Don't you ever use double negatives purposely? I do. I guess it's kind of a style thing. They have a different connotation than using "correct" English. For example, "I like it" and "I don't not like it". The latter seems to feel a little more uncertain than the other... a little more "middle of the road", wishy-washy, whatever. I like it.

Well, I experienced something new today. I was sitting here watching The Fellowship of the Ring and in walked Rebecca with a bunch of other people. She informed me that they were all Jewish and were going to light the candles in the menorah while reciting something in Hebrew (at least I'm assuming it was Hebrew). I think I recognized the word "Eloheim" in the recitation. I didn't know that Rebecca was Jewish until the beginning of Hanukah. Apparently one of her parents is Jewish and the other is not. I was then left to watch the candles until they burned out.

I spent 7.5 hours on my German project with my German group today. We had much fun though => Wir machten viel Spaß. We had written a script in German and we filmed it this afternoon... Seven hours for ten minutes of good, complete film, but it was very fun. Another good thing was that I got a very good lunch at the Union for free. While we were waiting for Chris in the diag, the squirrels were surrounding us and I got my face within a foot of a squirrels face. They were cute. We nicknamed one "the godfather". Leah was a bit frightened.

Tomorrow I might go to the Campus Band concert in Hill Auditorium (yeah, that's right, Ross... Hill Auditorium. Eat that.), although I do not know who I could get to go with me.

1 paper -> arduous
4 finals -> torturous
10 days -> tedious
a Christmas break with nothing hanging over my head -> priceless

My arms are nauseating.

Last night at Friday's was fun and there was a moment at TNL that reminded me of camp.

My arms are covered in guy's collogne. I'll let you conjecture as to why that is.

We had a little party in German today. I had my last official great books discussion this morning. Calc was weird. After lunch, I went down to the music practice rooms that are in my dorm and played Christmas music on the piano. That was quite fun. I played Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, I Wonder As I Wander, The Coventry Carol, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Hymn (by Jars of Clay), and White Christmas. I don't care if those titles are supposed to be italicized or not... I am italicizing them. I was going to play Gesu Bambino but I had never played it before and I didn't want to risk it while people could possibly hear me.

I then met Leah in the Diag (in the rain) and we hopped onto a bus and went to Meijer. I bought Runts and Ziploc Snap 'n Seal Containers, but I forgot to buy shampoo. The bus trip was traumatizing. We had no clue what we were doing. The bus ride on the way back made me feel sickish. Blech.

Apparently I was ramdomly in the Arenac Independent this week for my "AP Scholar" thing. They published all of my scores and everything. I am only the 5th person from Au Gres to get the AP Scholar award. The article was strangely under the title of "University of Michigan", and of course it mentioned in the article that I go to U of M. I felt special. It made me smile. Look at me smile -> :)

I can't decide if I feel hungry or sick.

Today's words are...
...propagate:
-To cause to extend to a broader area or larger number; spread.
-To make widely known; publicize.
-In physics,to cause to move in some direction or through a medium; transmit.
...rhetoric:
-The art or study of using language effectively and persuasively.
-Language that is elaborate, pretentious, insincere, or intellectually vacuous.

It is now over three hours after I started this post and much has happened. As I was in the process of defining rhetoric, the fire alarm went off. A couple minutes later I was standing across the street in front of West Quad with Bob, Priya, and someone else who I don't remember. As we were discussing how it's probably just a stupid drill, someone yelled, "It's a real fire. Go somewhere else." Well, ok then. Bob and I went to the Union because he wanted food, but I didn't eat because I was still "affected with nausea" from the cologne on my arm. We met up with Alison, Erin, and Katherine and discussed how incredibly mad we'd be if our stuff was drenched by the spinklers. I commented on how it's weird that we say "the alarm went of" when it goes on. After we finished, we went back to the dorm and everything was ok as far as we could tell. Alison and I then went to Cru where we found out that some idiot guys had been playing football in the hall and broke the filament in one of the sprinklers which resulted in the alarm going off and their floor being flooded. That sucks.

WELL, today was.

I always have the urge to start my posts with the word "well".

This evening I had a nice conversation with Beth over a not so great dinner... and that was basically the highlight of my day.

Today was just a frustrating day. First, I was almost given a heartattack by my roommate's alarm clock. Then I got a stomach ache while eating my apple on the way to great books. I managed to draw and daydream my way through great books again this morning. I try not to, but it's just so early and rather uninteresting. German succeeded in frustrating me some more. I have been getting very sick of German lately. The day continued likewise, and by the time I got back to my room, I was thoroughly annoyed and frustrated. The fact that the good roommate went home for the weekend and that the bad one was staying in the room an awful lot didn't help either. On top of all of that, my desk lamp was broken... and my sanity was about to break as well. Then I remembered that I forgot to do my German homework for tomorrow, and so I had to do that. I became so ticked off at it that when I accidentally knocked something off of my desk, I flipped my lid and threw all my German stuff across the room, dropped my head to my desk, and surrendered completely to the suckiness that was my day. After a few minutes, I decided to clean up my desk area and organize some things, and that along with reading a couple magazines managed to calm me down.

That was my day up to this point. I'm debating between going to TNL or watching ER tonight. Bible study is at Friday's tonight. We have reached the extent of my knowledge.

While you're thinking about finals...

Bob seems to have much fun confusing me from day to day. First it was his haircut and then it was his hat and yesterday it was his glasses. One time I walked right past him without even noticing that it was him. And then yesterday I mentioned my difficulties with reading clocks and knowing left from right. He said, "That must be a great education you got in Au Gres." LOL.

Yesterday's weather was not pleasant. It was rainy and windy, and on the way to Great Books, my umbrella was blown inside out (but don't worry, my umbrella is still ok). The wind was so strong I could barely keep my umbrella under control. Leah (from German) said she accidentally hit someone with her umbrella on the way to class because of the wind. Of course as my luck goes, as soon as I was done with my classes and up in my room, the sun came out.

I had a really weird dream last night, but I won't go into it. It was too weird to explain... entirely too weird. I can't even post little bits and pieces because it was so... out there. Plus, I only remember parts of it.

Today was my last Wednesday of classes. Slightly sad.

Since you all claim to read my blog, here is a test of your loyalty. Go to Vanessa'a blog and post a comment (if you are a known and loved friend of hers... if you are not, go anyway)! Her LiveJournal username is "allthatisme". You have all now been officially informed and instructed. Go out and make comments on all posts, commenting in the spirit of funness, friendship, and for the sake of commenting. ;)

I got a "care package" and now I have another hot beverage cup and a lot of candy and stuff to make hot beverages with (tea, coffee, hot chocolate, etc). It came with fruit too.

I can't think of what else there is to say. I read part of The Bacchae today, but I didn't enjoy it too much. There is a zit in my ear that is not condusive to anything... especially listening to music with headphones you stick in your ear.

If you had to go to an uninhabited, undeveloped island with no cell phone service or wireless internet or electricity, what three things (that you could carry) would you take with you? I don't know what I'd take, but I like to think about it.

"Why do you call it a washer?!"

The title is a quote from Jani today. In calc there is the "disc method" (as Jani knows it) but it's also called the "washer method" (after the little metal disc with a hole in the middle). Jani had his little outburst and then told us about his extreme confusion over the "washer method" yesterday when he was preparing for today's class. I guess in Finland they don't call the little metal discs "washers".

First, I was woken up at 6a.m. by my mother just so she could tell me that we wouldn't be able to leave for Ann Arbor on time because of the weather conditions. Great. She also informed me that maybe we could leave around noon when the temperature was above freezing. Double great. If that was the case, I should've just stayed home another day because I would've missed all of my classes anyway. So I slept for another 2.5 hours and that was nice. My mother woke me up again around 8:30 and said we would try to leave in an hour. We picked up Ross around 9:30 and made it to Ann Arbor around 12:00, just in time for my calc class.

Ross actually surprised me on this one. At the end of the class he said that he was basically able to follow what Jani was teaching. He said he wouldn't be able to do it yet but he basically understood what was going on. This was surprising because 1) Ross is only in pre-calc, 2) we're at the very end of the semester, 3) Ross has enough trouble in pre-calc, and 4) I was totally not expecting to hear that come out of his mouth. It was nice to hear though. Hopefully it boosted his confidence about calc a little. He was pretty much the sore thumb of my calc class though. I noticed some strange glances in his direction, but no one said anything so it was all good.

Next we had lunch in the Union. I had a pepperoni calzone and Ross had a huge piece of pepperoni pizza. It was good food. He then mentioned that he also noticed that not one person on campus was wearing a Polaris coat (which is why I had advised him to wear his Aero one instead). After lunch, I showed him around my dorm and stuff.

We then went to Music Theory, where he was anything but a sore thumb. I don't think anyone really noticed him as not belonging. In fact, when the homework was being handed out, one guy saw Ross didn't have one and passed him a sheet. I found that a bit humorous. After Music Theory, Ross said he understood calc more than he understood the stuff in my music theory class. But that's not extremely surprising because the stuff in Music Theory is really cumulative, whereas calc isn't as much. But I definitely wasn't expecting Ross to enjoy the calc class more than the music theory class.

A little while after Music Theory, Ross and my parents left for home. I always get a little tinge of sadness when they leave. And then 45 minutes later I scheduled my classes for next semester. I was happy because almost everything was still open, but I was annoyed because the Physics lab that I wanted was closed. So I put myself on the waitlist... I'm in the first position so that is good, but it's still quite annoying. I don't know if I should just ditch it and go for the other lab or not. And then I had to run to Mason Hall and get an override for my calc class. That was intense and tiring. But 'tis all relatively good for now. Yes, Ross, I did register for Campus Band [I know I'm hot ;) ]. I have Campus Band, Great Books 192, Calc 2, German 231, Physics 140, and Physics 141 (the lab that I'm on the waiting list for).

And the title is...?

Quickly now, before I forget.

Well, here I am at home again. I know, I know... I was just home last weekend, but certain people managed to make themselves so busy that this was the only weekend that was free before Christmas. So here I am... it's not a bad thing at all, but it still is a little sad leaving Ann Arbor. I was talking with Beth (not BethAnne) last night about thinking of Ann Arbor as home and she said it was the same way for her. But she had a system so there wasn't confusion: "home" was U of M and "home-home" was her hometown.

My ankle was just attacked by the garbage can. No, I'm not joking.

Apparently, there was a fire at the Michigan League this morning. There were three fire trucks and police there, and they had the road (N. Univiersity St.) blocked off. Someone in my German class said that people were saying that the roof was on fire (or at least people outside were chanting, "the roof, the roof, the roof is on fire) and that he saw the smoke. How exciting.

That about wraps up what I have to say. I'm really leaning towards Physics 140 now, and that scares me.

I had a glass of apple juice this evening and I mentioned to my mother that it tasted fermented. She basically said, "Oh well. You'll get a little high." First of all, mother, don't say that ever again. Second of all, one glass of alcohol would not affect me at all. That is all I have to say about that.

Clear Crisp Winter Nights

I always think of things to write and then I always forget them.

I am more comfotable in sweatshirts than t-shirts.

I never would've guessed that I could love a set of colors as much as I love yellow and blue.

I love winter nights. They're crisp and clear and nice and I love them.

I am usually early, sometimes on-time, and rarely unintentionally late. Actually ...I am never late, nor am I early. I arrive precisely when I mean to. (Where does that [slightly modified] quote come from? Do you know? I do.)

Well, I'm sufficiantly at a loss. I don't know what to do. I'm leaning towards physics for my class next year, but I don't know whether to take 125 or 140. Physics 140 is required for a major or minor in physics, but who knows if I'm going to do that? I've never taken physics in my life. But what if I take 125 and really like it? Then what options will I have? I can't take 140 or 160 for credit after taking 125. And therefore I am at a loss. I don't know what to do. Whatever I pick, there's no way my schedule will be as easy or nice as it was this semester.

Because I finished my calc homework last night and because there was no German homework today, I have no homework. I finished The Clouds and even started reading The Medea (which I don't have to have read until Tuesday or Wednesday). I worked on my schedule a little and I think I'm going to do a little calc studying. But I actually have no work that I have to do. It's nice.

Words of the day:
1. Enigma - (n) One that is puzzling, ambiguous, or inexplicable. A perplexing speech or text.
2. Enigmatic - (adj) Of or resembling an enigma; puzzling.
3. Confound - (v) To cause to become confused or perplexed. To fail to distinguish; mix up. To make (something bad) worse. To cause to be ashamed; abash. To damn. To frustrate. To bring to ruination.

A Higher Productivity Level

It only took me 8 minutes to do my German homework this afternoon. I feel so productive despite my 2 hour nap this afternoon/evening. I went up to my bed to read The Clouds around 4ish and then I feel asleep until 6ish. But then after Stargate and after dinner, I finished my calc homework for Friday. That made me feel wonderful. Later tonight I'm going to study calc and read more of The Clouds.

A few days ago, I was walking to class in the morning and two military jets flew over campus. They looked like F-15s. Yeah, that's right, I know my military aircraft. My counsins and I were playing Cranium and Adrienne, Deb, and I (we were on a team) got a card that had a picture of a plane and said, "This plane is designed specifically for maximum speed" or something along those lines, but I recognized it to be an F-117 and was 75% sure that the statement was false, and so we got that question right. Yeah, you know I'm a military aircraft genius... or something.

My word of the day: convoluted.
Definition: Intricate; complicated.
Previous words of the day that I never shared with anyone: blatant, flagrant, juxtaposition, immutable, areté, and others that I have now forgotten.

I write a lot about memories and past experiences. Ëhhh, oh well.