This is the Second Day of Classes, and I'm already excited for the semester. I'm only doing one major-relevant class, so this semester is for my minors (and also Archaeology as a lab science, but that's sort of relevant to Classics).
First, I'm doing British Literature II, which covers the late 18th century to the beginning of the 20th. I'm mostly excited for this because the professor seems really cool. I'm mostly taking this because it's one of the required classes for an English major - this is not necessarily my area of interest. (Part I of British Literature covers approximately from Beowulf to Milton, and that was more my area of interest). Nonetheless, it'll be interesting to do a survey course again after taking several 300-level and honors English classes - I haven't done a proper survey course since freshman year.
I'm also taking Greek New Testament, which is exactly what it sounds like. I am EXTREMELY excited for this class; this is the reason I kept up with Greek for so long. (Well, I did also keep up with it so I could do the Classics minor, but I'M REALLY EXCITED FOR GREEK NEW TESTAMENT.) We're mostly doing Luke's writings - the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles. One of the major assignments in this class is to do an exegesis - a focused study on one passage from the Greek New Testament of our choosing. This includes translating the passage, comparing the major Bible editions (King James, Living Bible, etc) to find out which is the most literal translator and which best gets at the idea of the passage. We also have to pick one "very interesting word" to analyze - this could be "hamartia," for "sin" or "mistake" for example - and figure out how it is used and how other people used it. It's really exciting.
I'm also taking Archaeological Methods, which is essentially The Indiana Jones Correction Class. (not really.) We're studying the actual processes of archaeology: yes, killing scorpions is part of the job, but most of it involves digging and carefully cleaning and documenting everything and also trying to avoid bee stings and skin cancer. I'm really excited for this course.
I haven't actually had a class for Advanced News Writing yet, because it meets on Wednesdays, but I'm really excited for it as well. Hopefully, this semester we'll actually do some writing.
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Monday, October 20, 2014
Class Registration!
This week, I'm going to register for classes for spring semester. Something that I have become increasingly aware of is that I'm actually in the last half of my college career. In searching the website of Classes You Can Take, I've been writing down the various courses I might take to fill my requirements - and then I've been looking back at the course descriptions and putting a mark in my notes by the ones that say OFFERED ALTERNATE YEARS. These classes have a higher chance of making it into my roster next semester, simply because I won't be in school the next time they're offered. Two of the five classes I hope to take next semester fall under the two categories of "THIS COULD BE IMPORTANT IF YOU WANT TO GRADUATE" and "THIS WON'T BE OFFERED IN 2016, WHEN YOU MAY WANT TO TAKE THEM, SO IF YOU WANT THEM SIGN UP FOR THEM ON WEDNESDAY MORNING." These classes are Archaeological Methods (which counts for a lab science and possibly also on the Classics minor) and Communications 225 (Media Writing) (I KNOW I'm already taking News Writing, but Media Writing is for all media, so it's going to have a broader spectrum. Also, I should probably have another credit on my journalism minor while I can get one).
I still have to get cleared for class registration, though. My advisor might completely nix everything except the required courses for the English major. I could not get the Archaeology course, so I'd have to scramble to find another science course in order to graduate. I could fail a major course (I HOPE I DON'T FAIL), and I'd need to get some more English courses under my belt in order to graduate with a major on time. Hopefully I don't have to do that. I think I'll be able to do everything on time, simply because it's getting to the crunch time where I can't afford not to do everything right and on time while I still can. There's only a certain number of semesters left in college, and that means I need to get good grades. That also means I need to come to terms with my imminent graduation. Also, that I need to get a job after college, which means that I need to get an English-based internship or something in order to look good on my resume in order to GET a job after college.
You know, I should really stop now before I stress myself out too much. I'm off to go and do my homework reading and graduate on time. And by "On Time," I mean "In Three Semesters." Hopefully.
I still have to get cleared for class registration, though. My advisor might completely nix everything except the required courses for the English major. I could not get the Archaeology course, so I'd have to scramble to find another science course in order to graduate. I could fail a major course (I HOPE I DON'T FAIL), and I'd need to get some more English courses under my belt in order to graduate with a major on time. Hopefully I don't have to do that. I think I'll be able to do everything on time, simply because it's getting to the crunch time where I can't afford not to do everything right and on time while I still can. There's only a certain number of semesters left in college, and that means I need to get good grades. That also means I need to come to terms with my imminent graduation. Also, that I need to get a job after college, which means that I need to get an English-based internship or something in order to look good on my resume in order to GET a job after college.
You know, I should really stop now before I stress myself out too much. I'm off to go and do my homework reading and graduate on time. And by "On Time," I mean "In Three Semesters." Hopefully.
Monday, September 1, 2014
The Return of Classes
One thing never changes about going back to school: the first day is all about getting to know your classes and seeing your friends again. (Of course, in college, it's a lot easier to do the latter earlier than the former.)
Of course, classes in college are different than in high school. The only time my class schedule has been the same from one semester to the next was when I was a freshman, and that's only because the freshmen don't have many options when it comes time to register. This semester is the most imbalanced schedule I've had so far; most semesters, I've had one or two classes on one day and two or three on another. This semester, I have three classes (plus choir) on Monday, no class on Tuesday, four classes on Wednesday, choir on Thursday, and two classes on Friday. Needless to say, Wednesdays are not going to be fun. (I've had good Wednesdays before, but the prospect of those happening this semester are rapidly decreasing).
I'm really excited about the semester, though. I'm doing courses in Shakespeare (commence epic fangirling), Greek Historiography (we're reading Xenophon), Uses of the Bible in Literature (which, as an English course, has more emphasis on the literature and less on the Bible part of it) and Basic News Writing (this is the one that's happening on Wednesdays only. It may be the reason that Wednesdays are terrible, but I don't know yet). I'm also doing choir, which is a lot of fun.
Also, here's an update on THINGS WILD CARD IS READING RIGHT NOW.
As some of you may know, there's a very popular YouTube series called The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, which follows the story of Pride and Prejudice in the form of video blog posts on YouTube. Well, now it's come full circle, and The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet, the companion novel to the series, is the book I'm currently reading. It's written diary-style; while you could probably understand the book with some decency if you know the basic plot of Pride and Prejudice, it's definitely a lot easier to take out a few hours to watch the series before you read the book. (I realize that this may be the only time I advise someone to watch before reading, but the vlogs came before the book.) You should all go check it out on Amazon. I may do a proper review of it later.
But, for now, it's time to prepare for a lot of academia.
Of course, classes in college are different than in high school. The only time my class schedule has been the same from one semester to the next was when I was a freshman, and that's only because the freshmen don't have many options when it comes time to register. This semester is the most imbalanced schedule I've had so far; most semesters, I've had one or two classes on one day and two or three on another. This semester, I have three classes (plus choir) on Monday, no class on Tuesday, four classes on Wednesday, choir on Thursday, and two classes on Friday. Needless to say, Wednesdays are not going to be fun. (I've had good Wednesdays before, but the prospect of those happening this semester are rapidly decreasing).
I'm really excited about the semester, though. I'm doing courses in Shakespeare (commence epic fangirling), Greek Historiography (we're reading Xenophon), Uses of the Bible in Literature (which, as an English course, has more emphasis on the literature and less on the Bible part of it) and Basic News Writing (this is the one that's happening on Wednesdays only. It may be the reason that Wednesdays are terrible, but I don't know yet). I'm also doing choir, which is a lot of fun.
Also, here's an update on THINGS WILD CARD IS READING RIGHT NOW.
As some of you may know, there's a very popular YouTube series called The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, which follows the story of Pride and Prejudice in the form of video blog posts on YouTube. Well, now it's come full circle, and The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet, the companion novel to the series, is the book I'm currently reading. It's written diary-style; while you could probably understand the book with some decency if you know the basic plot of Pride and Prejudice, it's definitely a lot easier to take out a few hours to watch the series before you read the book. (I realize that this may be the only time I advise someone to watch before reading, but the vlogs came before the book.) You should all go check it out on Amazon. I may do a proper review of it later.
But, for now, it's time to prepare for a lot of academia.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
SUPER LATE IN THE WEEK POST
My apologies for not posting at all this week. I've just been lazy. Also, finals are this week, so this is the time when I say WHAT I LEARNED THIS TERM.
ACADEMIC
1. Show up to class on time.
2. Second-person pronouns are fascinating. Especially in Middle English.
3. The debate about stuff that is condonable by Christianity has been going on forever. In Old English, the debate was whether it was religiously acceptable to translate the Bible into English from Latin. On the plus side, you could reach a lot more people with scripture. On the down side, THE LATIN TEXT IS SACRED, DAMMIT. (Ignoring, of course, that the text under debate was originally in Hebrew and Greek, not Latin).
4. The environment is messed up.
5. Humans most likely caused the environment to be messed up.
6. There's a thing called the Precautionary Principle. It basically states that the lack of scientific certainty that something is messed up should not be an excuse to do absolutely nothing about a possible issue. Alternatively, this means that if there is a possible issue about conservation, opt on the side of caution and do the conserving. It can't really hurt you.
7. People in government should probably take the precautionary principle when thinking about environmental policy.
8. We're all going to die.
9. Linguistics is cool.
ACADEMIC
1. Show up to class on time.
2. Second-person pronouns are fascinating. Especially in Middle English.
3. The debate about stuff that is condonable by Christianity has been going on forever. In Old English, the debate was whether it was religiously acceptable to translate the Bible into English from Latin. On the plus side, you could reach a lot more people with scripture. On the down side, THE LATIN TEXT IS SACRED, DAMMIT. (Ignoring, of course, that the text under debate was originally in Hebrew and Greek, not Latin).
4. The environment is messed up.
5. Humans most likely caused the environment to be messed up.
6. There's a thing called the Precautionary Principle. It basically states that the lack of scientific certainty that something is messed up should not be an excuse to do absolutely nothing about a possible issue. Alternatively, this means that if there is a possible issue about conservation, opt on the side of caution and do the conserving. It can't really hurt you.
7. People in government should probably take the precautionary principle when thinking about environmental policy.
8. We're all going to die.
9. Linguistics is cool.
Monday, June 23, 2014
HICCUPS
Hiccups irritate me. That is all for today.
Well, no, it isn't. I'm going to DO UPDATES!
Review of Hitchhiker's Guide will be on Wednesday and some other literary thing on Friday, since I'm behind on that. I need to fix that.
The Weird Happening Of The Day: a kid from my high school and a kid from my church now know each other. How? My school is hosting Governor's Latin Academy this year. So lunch was weird today, because three worlds that do not normally interact suddenly were shoved together.
Also, I really need to study right now, so I'm going to go do that.
Well, no, it isn't. I'm going to DO UPDATES!
Review of Hitchhiker's Guide will be on Wednesday and some other literary thing on Friday, since I'm behind on that. I need to fix that.
The Weird Happening Of The Day: a kid from my high school and a kid from my church now know each other. How? My school is hosting Governor's Latin Academy this year. So lunch was weird today, because three worlds that do not normally interact suddenly were shoved together.
Also, I really need to study right now, so I'm going to go do that.
Monday, April 28, 2014
On Majors and Honors and stuff
It's getting to the point where I have to officially declare my major. (By 'getting to the point,' I mean that I'm going into the registrar's office tomorrow to declare my major and sign up for my J-term travel course). This is a slightly terrifying concept; although part of me has always known that an English major was in the cards, there's still the part of me that is nervous about whether I'm making the right choice and whether I'm going to be offered ALL THE WRITING JOBS EVER or whether I'm going to be starving in Seattle, where the cost of living is apparently way lower than anywhere on the East Coast. Though the journalism minor is going to help decrease the chances of the latter scenario, the English major and second minor in Classics will probably negate any sort of benefit I might obtain from that.
I'm also starting to wonder whether I want to just major in English, or whether I want to possibly double major. The likelihood of this turning out well is slim, but there is the possibility that English could be joined by Greek or Classics. The trouble is, if I'm going to study abroad at all, I want to be able to take a lot of major-relevant classes, and I don't know how many foreign universities will offer credits that I can transfer for Classics. Simply put, English is an easier major to travel with.
The thing that brought up that question was an invitation to join an honors society for a department that is not in my major. I know that this only means that I'm doing well in the specified area, but this is making me wonder about my life choices and what I really want to do with my college years. Do I really want to go into writing at all? Do I want to spend my days reading and writing, or do I want to spend my time translating really old tablets and looking at tiny fragments of some pot from two thousand years ago?
Does anyone out there ever have this problem?
I'm also starting to wonder whether I want to just major in English, or whether I want to possibly double major. The likelihood of this turning out well is slim, but there is the possibility that English could be joined by Greek or Classics. The trouble is, if I'm going to study abroad at all, I want to be able to take a lot of major-relevant classes, and I don't know how many foreign universities will offer credits that I can transfer for Classics. Simply put, English is an easier major to travel with.
The thing that brought up that question was an invitation to join an honors society for a department that is not in my major. I know that this only means that I'm doing well in the specified area, but this is making me wonder about my life choices and what I really want to do with my college years. Do I really want to go into writing at all? Do I want to spend my days reading and writing, or do I want to spend my time translating really old tablets and looking at tiny fragments of some pot from two thousand years ago?
Does anyone out there ever have this problem?
Friday, February 21, 2014
On King Arthur
As some of you may know, I'm doing a course on King Arthur this semester. We've only had three classes - one class last week was cancelled for snow - but it's still very interesting. We're going over the various aspects of the Arthurian myth, starting from Arthur's origin story.
The thing about Arthur's legend is that, well, he's a legend. Someone important named 'Arthur' can be traced back to the Welsh writing during the Saxon invasion of what is now Wales in 410 AD, after the collapse of the Roman empire - and even then, it was a passing reference, as if everyone knew who Arthur was. (He's like Jesus like that... is that bad to say?) Since he's been around for several thousand years, the legend has changed.
Since the part we've focused on in class so far is just Arthur's origin story, that's what I'm focusing on today.
There have been four assigned texts for this portion: Geoffrey of Monmouth's A History of the Kings of Britain, which was finished around 1136 AD and contains accounts of other (also mythical) kings like Cymbeline and Lear; Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur, completed in 1467-70 (Malory, by the way, could have a novel written about his shenanigans, including the fact that he was knighted and then arrested and escaped prison via the moat... and again, with several swords and daggers); Lord Alfred Tennyson's Idylls of the King, written in 1839 to bad reviews and then re-released in 1859; the first 100 pages of The Once and Future King by T. H. White are due on Tuesday.
There only a few things agreed upon in the span of 800 years of myth: Igraine is pretty but married and Uther wants to get it on with her; on the night that her husband, Gorlois, dies in battle (that Uther started... probably), Uther goes in (possibly in the disguise of Gorlois because MAGIC) to bed her. This is the night that Arthur is conceived; a short while later, they get married and Arthur is born. There are some stories that say that Merlin has him whisked off to grow up in a more humble area with a knight.
There are differences in the accounts, however. Geoffrey is more concerned with Arthur's exploits in the battlefield than his origins, so this whole story is the work of a few paragraphs. Igraine is consenting to sleep with Uther, and Gorlois apparently dies while Uther is in the building. When Igraine finds out the truth about who the father of her baby is, she is completely okay with the whole thing and rejoices in her new marriage. She's more of an object than a person here. Merlin is around - he gives Uther 'medicines' to change his face to that of Gorlois (this is a very Christian work, so 'magic' is probably not the best word to use). In Malory's account, she's similar - not only consenting to the match, but outright rejoicing that the baby is Uther's. This is the first time that Merlin is mentioned as taking the baby away afterwards. Also, Merlin seems more magical here - he casts a spell over Uther and several others to make Uther look like Gorlois and himself and one other man to look like Gorlois's companions.
In Tennyson's account, however, Igraine is the most different from the other two. Not only is Uther not disguised, but he goes in after Gorlois is dead and takes Igraine right there. She is CRYING at the wedding and CLEARLY NOT OKAY WITH IT. The other interesting bit of Tennyson's account is that Guinevere is a bit different, too. She's beautiful, sure, but Tennyson's account really highlights that the relationship between Guinevere and Arthur: when they first get the chance to see each other, Arthur isn't wearing anything to distinguish himself as a king, so she barely notices him and he thinks she's the most attractive person that he's ever laid eyes on. This sets up the interesting relationship between the two - it's the first time that you see the one-sidedness of it. Also, Tennyson includes two life lessons that we now know NEVER TO DO if we find ourselves in a work of fiction: first, Arthur sends his wingman LANCELOT to go get Guinevere from her palace on their wedding day; second, Arthur says to Guinevere at their wedding, "Behold, thy doom is mine... I love thee to the death." words such as these have been said by John Grady Cole in Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy; Romeo probably said it to Juliet. Basically, the words "I WILL DIE FOR YOU" (or, you know, "I will love thee to death and doom and blah blah blah" or something) will be immediately noted by Fate and used for further reference.
That's all I have for now. Farewell.
The thing about Arthur's legend is that, well, he's a legend. Someone important named 'Arthur' can be traced back to the Welsh writing during the Saxon invasion of what is now Wales in 410 AD, after the collapse of the Roman empire - and even then, it was a passing reference, as if everyone knew who Arthur was. (He's like Jesus like that... is that bad to say?) Since he's been around for several thousand years, the legend has changed.
Since the part we've focused on in class so far is just Arthur's origin story, that's what I'm focusing on today.
There have been four assigned texts for this portion: Geoffrey of Monmouth's A History of the Kings of Britain, which was finished around 1136 AD and contains accounts of other (also mythical) kings like Cymbeline and Lear; Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur, completed in 1467-70 (Malory, by the way, could have a novel written about his shenanigans, including the fact that he was knighted and then arrested and escaped prison via the moat... and again, with several swords and daggers); Lord Alfred Tennyson's Idylls of the King, written in 1839 to bad reviews and then re-released in 1859; the first 100 pages of The Once and Future King by T. H. White are due on Tuesday.
There only a few things agreed upon in the span of 800 years of myth: Igraine is pretty but married and Uther wants to get it on with her; on the night that her husband, Gorlois, dies in battle (that Uther started... probably), Uther goes in (possibly in the disguise of Gorlois because MAGIC) to bed her. This is the night that Arthur is conceived; a short while later, they get married and Arthur is born. There are some stories that say that Merlin has him whisked off to grow up in a more humble area with a knight.
There are differences in the accounts, however. Geoffrey is more concerned with Arthur's exploits in the battlefield than his origins, so this whole story is the work of a few paragraphs. Igraine is consenting to sleep with Uther, and Gorlois apparently dies while Uther is in the building. When Igraine finds out the truth about who the father of her baby is, she is completely okay with the whole thing and rejoices in her new marriage. She's more of an object than a person here. Merlin is around - he gives Uther 'medicines' to change his face to that of Gorlois (this is a very Christian work, so 'magic' is probably not the best word to use). In Malory's account, she's similar - not only consenting to the match, but outright rejoicing that the baby is Uther's. This is the first time that Merlin is mentioned as taking the baby away afterwards. Also, Merlin seems more magical here - he casts a spell over Uther and several others to make Uther look like Gorlois and himself and one other man to look like Gorlois's companions.
In Tennyson's account, however, Igraine is the most different from the other two. Not only is Uther not disguised, but he goes in after Gorlois is dead and takes Igraine right there. She is CRYING at the wedding and CLEARLY NOT OKAY WITH IT. The other interesting bit of Tennyson's account is that Guinevere is a bit different, too. She's beautiful, sure, but Tennyson's account really highlights that the relationship between Guinevere and Arthur: when they first get the chance to see each other, Arthur isn't wearing anything to distinguish himself as a king, so she barely notices him and he thinks she's the most attractive person that he's ever laid eyes on. This sets up the interesting relationship between the two - it's the first time that you see the one-sidedness of it. Also, Tennyson includes two life lessons that we now know NEVER TO DO if we find ourselves in a work of fiction: first, Arthur sends his wingman LANCELOT to go get Guinevere from her palace on their wedding day; second, Arthur says to Guinevere at their wedding, "Behold, thy doom is mine... I love thee to the death." words such as these have been said by John Grady Cole in Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy; Romeo probably said it to Juliet. Basically, the words "I WILL DIE FOR YOU" (or, you know, "I will love thee to death and doom and blah blah blah" or something) will be immediately noted by Fate and used for further reference.
That's all I have for now. Farewell.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Spring Semester
Today is our first day of spring semester, and it has been interesting. I've only had two classes today, which is nice, but I'm not looking forward to having an 8:00 AM class every single day. Well, I might. My history professor seems cool enough, so I might be looking forward to his class. The other class I had today was the Greek Epic - in other words, Homer. This is going to be a challenge and a half.
I'm definitely not looking forward to his 18-page final paper, though. The last time I had a long paper, it was 10-15 pages for an honors class last semester, and I had 12 pages counting the bibliography (with a large-ish 12-point font... IT'S IN THE PAGE RANGE, OKAY). This, on the other hand, is a History 101 course. I understand that the 101 portion is designed to help the students with their writing, but I'm not sure if I can come up with 18 pages about the sexual revolution and/ or the LGBTQ+ movement in the 1960s. Those are topics I like, but still - Masau'u and other factors of Puebloan death mythology and their influence on Blood Meridian and its character of the Judge was also an interesting topic for me, but I could still only come up with eleven double-spaced pages on the topic. To be fair, there is probably more up-to-date literature about the sexual revolution and/ or the LGBTQ+ movement in the 1960s... and I can probably read it all the way through... (I didn't even finish Blood Meridian. Does that make me a bad Honors student?)
Anyhow, the other class I had today was The Greek Epic - we're translating The Odyssey from its original Greek. Greek is my fun-challenge course (except for the verbs), but apparently Homer is one of the more difficult writers to translate, especially coming from intermediate Greek that focused mainly on the Attic dialect. The reason for this will take a bit of explaining.
So, basically, there are a few major dialects of Greek - Ionic and Aeolic are two of them. I'm not sure where Ionic was dominantly spoken - I assume that it was more on the mainland of what we now call Greece, because Attic (from Athens) is a sub-dialect of that. Aeolic is more from the coast of what we call Turkey; it is, strictly speaking, the same language, but there are several differences in the rules for syntax and verbs. In The Odyssey, the Ionic and Aeolic styles are all jumbled up into lines that fit the meter. Since we're not actually sure who wrote the work down, it's easy to think that certain books of The Odyssey could be more dominantly Ionic and others could tend towards Aeolic - but it's not like that at all. Ionic rules and Aeolic rules are mish-mashed together into something that fits the meter. That's going to be a royal pain in the butt for me, because I've only recently gotten the hang of all the Attic verb indicators - the letters that indicate that a verb is imperfect or perfect or aorist - and now I'm reading Homer, who doesn't actually use any of those. Well, maybe I shouldn't throw away my Greek notes and textbooks yet - I might need them.
Tomorrow I have two honors classes (one involves yarn and one involves King Arthur, so that should be fun) and Journalism, which should not be fun because its textbook is expensive.
Anyway, I'll write again on Friday.
I'm definitely not looking forward to his 18-page final paper, though. The last time I had a long paper, it was 10-15 pages for an honors class last semester, and I had 12 pages counting the bibliography (with a large-ish 12-point font... IT'S IN THE PAGE RANGE, OKAY). This, on the other hand, is a History 101 course. I understand that the 101 portion is designed to help the students with their writing, but I'm not sure if I can come up with 18 pages about the sexual revolution and/ or the LGBTQ+ movement in the 1960s. Those are topics I like, but still - Masau'u and other factors of Puebloan death mythology and their influence on Blood Meridian and its character of the Judge was also an interesting topic for me, but I could still only come up with eleven double-spaced pages on the topic. To be fair, there is probably more up-to-date literature about the sexual revolution and/ or the LGBTQ+ movement in the 1960s... and I can probably read it all the way through... (I didn't even finish Blood Meridian. Does that make me a bad Honors student?)
Anyhow, the other class I had today was The Greek Epic - we're translating The Odyssey from its original Greek. Greek is my fun-challenge course (except for the verbs), but apparently Homer is one of the more difficult writers to translate, especially coming from intermediate Greek that focused mainly on the Attic dialect. The reason for this will take a bit of explaining.
So, basically, there are a few major dialects of Greek - Ionic and Aeolic are two of them. I'm not sure where Ionic was dominantly spoken - I assume that it was more on the mainland of what we now call Greece, because Attic (from Athens) is a sub-dialect of that. Aeolic is more from the coast of what we call Turkey; it is, strictly speaking, the same language, but there are several differences in the rules for syntax and verbs. In The Odyssey, the Ionic and Aeolic styles are all jumbled up into lines that fit the meter. Since we're not actually sure who wrote the work down, it's easy to think that certain books of The Odyssey could be more dominantly Ionic and others could tend towards Aeolic - but it's not like that at all. Ionic rules and Aeolic rules are mish-mashed together into something that fits the meter. That's going to be a royal pain in the butt for me, because I've only recently gotten the hang of all the Attic verb indicators - the letters that indicate that a verb is imperfect or perfect or aorist - and now I'm reading Homer, who doesn't actually use any of those. Well, maybe I shouldn't throw away my Greek notes and textbooks yet - I might need them.
Tomorrow I have two honors classes (one involves yarn and one involves King Arthur, so that should be fun) and Journalism, which should not be fun because its textbook is expensive.
Anyway, I'll write again on Friday.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Back in the USA!
Well, I've made it back from another reasonably good trip abroad. I need to catch up on some posts on TravelPod (the blogging platform we used for class when we were in Greece and Turkey), but that should happen shortly - if only because the blogs must be completed by tomorrow night. If you want to see what I was up to when I was doing the travel course, go check that out over there. I have a link in my last post, I believe.
Anyway, now that I'm back, it's interesting to see the differences among cultures, and also the similarities. Greece and Turkey obviously have more in common with each other than they do with the USA, in everything from length of history to kinds of food to even the coffee (there is a strong, bitter coffee in both countries that is served in a small cup with the dregs at the bottom; the Greeks call it Greek coffee and the Turks call it Turkish coffee), but that doesn't mean that there aren't things that are similar to the US. For example, when we went out in a social context with some Greek high schoolers in Kavala, we did two rounds of bumper cars before going ice skating, and then we went for coffee (or hot chocolate, or alcohol in some cases). There are hookah bars in a lot of places (particularly in Turkey, because that's a Thing That People Do). Personally, if I go for hookah, I'm just there to talk to people; for me, the smoke smells good, but I don't want to inhale it too much. I did try it a bit, just to say for sure whether or not I like it, and my conclusion is that the atmosphere is more my thing than the actual smoking.
It's hard to pick my favorite archaeological site, because we went to so many. Going to the Parthenon was absolutely amazing, because it was something that I've really wanted to do since middle school. One professor at our school is the director of the Agora excavation, and he was able to give us a behind-the-scenes tour of the place, which was also really cool. Going to Greece especially was really cool for me: it's one thing to hear about these places in class; it's another thing to read about them in Ancient Greek; it's altogether a separate event to actually be there in person and to see each of the places that I've heard about so often. My dad asked if I could check in with the Oracle of Delphi about the winner of this year's Super Bowl, but the Pythia wasn't around for predictions that day, unfortunately.
You may be wondering whether I'm going to be posting my journal here later; unfortunately, I am not. Half of this is because we did so much that I just didn't feel up to writing a blog AND a journal for the entire second week. The other half is that it turned into something that had more of my personal thoughts - things that I wouldn't want people to see (for example, off-the-cuff opinions of people that aren't the most flattering, because I was writing in the journal in order to vent off the negativity). So, unfortunately, y'all are going to have to go check out my TravelPod blog if you want to go check what I was doing.
At any rate, it's good to be back in the US. The trip to Greece and Turkey was a wonderful experience, but it's nice to not be moving around every few days.
Anyway, now that I'm back, it's interesting to see the differences among cultures, and also the similarities. Greece and Turkey obviously have more in common with each other than they do with the USA, in everything from length of history to kinds of food to even the coffee (there is a strong, bitter coffee in both countries that is served in a small cup with the dregs at the bottom; the Greeks call it Greek coffee and the Turks call it Turkish coffee), but that doesn't mean that there aren't things that are similar to the US. For example, when we went out in a social context with some Greek high schoolers in Kavala, we did two rounds of bumper cars before going ice skating, and then we went for coffee (or hot chocolate, or alcohol in some cases). There are hookah bars in a lot of places (particularly in Turkey, because that's a Thing That People Do). Personally, if I go for hookah, I'm just there to talk to people; for me, the smoke smells good, but I don't want to inhale it too much. I did try it a bit, just to say for sure whether or not I like it, and my conclusion is that the atmosphere is more my thing than the actual smoking.
It's hard to pick my favorite archaeological site, because we went to so many. Going to the Parthenon was absolutely amazing, because it was something that I've really wanted to do since middle school. One professor at our school is the director of the Agora excavation, and he was able to give us a behind-the-scenes tour of the place, which was also really cool. Going to Greece especially was really cool for me: it's one thing to hear about these places in class; it's another thing to read about them in Ancient Greek; it's altogether a separate event to actually be there in person and to see each of the places that I've heard about so often. My dad asked if I could check in with the Oracle of Delphi about the winner of this year's Super Bowl, but the Pythia wasn't around for predictions that day, unfortunately.
You may be wondering whether I'm going to be posting my journal here later; unfortunately, I am not. Half of this is because we did so much that I just didn't feel up to writing a blog AND a journal for the entire second week. The other half is that it turned into something that had more of my personal thoughts - things that I wouldn't want people to see (for example, off-the-cuff opinions of people that aren't the most flattering, because I was writing in the journal in order to vent off the negativity). So, unfortunately, y'all are going to have to go check out my TravelPod blog if you want to go check what I was doing.
At any rate, it's good to be back in the US. The trip to Greece and Turkey was a wonderful experience, but it's nice to not be moving around every few days.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
On Geekery and College Majors
Right, I know now why I'm an English major. Well, I've always had an inkling that I might be an English major, but various reasons came to mind in the past - I like writing, I like reading, I like words. But my former choir director said something the other day that kind of made me think about it. He told me that one thing he liked about me is that I'm fascinated with a lot of things. (I was being a bit of a nerd and telling him about my honors essay on Pueblo mythology and death practices in Blood Meridian, and how I couldn't put in a cool detail about a supernova in 1054 AD, recorded only by Chinese scholars and Anasazi artists).
Anyway, that got me thinking about my major. I haven't officially declared yet, but I'm going to declare in English for the reason my choir teacher described. I'm interested in ALL THE THINGS, and lit courses study a lot of things. This semester was Cormac McCarthy, last semester was early Brit Lit (think Beowulf), next semester is King Arthur. I'm typing this on my new iPhone in Barnes and Noble; in front of me is a book on Pope Celestine V, who reigned in the 13th century for a mere 15 weeks before quitting. He was the only Pope to quit for almost 800 years, until the resignation that opened the way for Pope Francis.
Everything is really interesting for me - Popes AND prehistoric cultures AND GSM rights AND DnD AND writing scifi AND knitting geeky items and socks for cats - so it's sort of difficult to pick just one major. I think there are two important things about college: one is to learn how to make your way in the world; the other is to learn all the cool stuff you can.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Day 12: stress?
Current Page: 67
Target Page: beyond that
Written today: nothing
What's going on: a lot of things.
Right now, the internet on my computer is being really dumb - for some reason, it won't connect to the server, so I can only access a few academic sites as well as Facebook and Twitter and, occasionally, the NaNoWriMo site. (This is the reason that I haven't posted for the last two days. My apologies for that.)
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to write too much over the last few days. I've been involved in a lot of things with my fraternity, and I have an essay due tonight at midnight (I'm mostly done with it, which is nice). Additionally, homework is starting to get to me, because all my professors have realized that there are about three weeks before finals (if you count the rest of this week and the two days before Thanksgiving as one whole week), and so they've all decided that now is the time to give out ALL OF THE ASSIGNMENTS. So I had an econ test yesterday, an honors essay tonight, a Greek test on Friday (as well as a bunch of translations), and a bunch of math quizzes before finals begin. Needless to say, there's been a lot going on.
Hopefully I'll find the time to write today and tomorrow and catch up - I'm now running behind, even on NaNo terms, so that needs to get fixed.
Finals. Gah.
Grades. Gah.
Target Page: beyond that
Written today: nothing
What's going on: a lot of things.
Right now, the internet on my computer is being really dumb - for some reason, it won't connect to the server, so I can only access a few academic sites as well as Facebook and Twitter and, occasionally, the NaNoWriMo site. (This is the reason that I haven't posted for the last two days. My apologies for that.)
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to write too much over the last few days. I've been involved in a lot of things with my fraternity, and I have an essay due tonight at midnight (I'm mostly done with it, which is nice). Additionally, homework is starting to get to me, because all my professors have realized that there are about three weeks before finals (if you count the rest of this week and the two days before Thanksgiving as one whole week), and so they've all decided that now is the time to give out ALL OF THE ASSIGNMENTS. So I had an econ test yesterday, an honors essay tonight, a Greek test on Friday (as well as a bunch of translations), and a bunch of math quizzes before finals begin. Needless to say, there's been a lot going on.
Hopefully I'll find the time to write today and tomorrow and catch up - I'm now running behind, even on NaNo terms, so that needs to get fixed.
Finals. Gah.
Grades. Gah.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Day 6: on gender and stuff
Current Page: 39
Target Page: Please, no.
What's been happening: Second encounter with the villains. They have got a trace on the ship that a pirate captains, and which is harboring a 'fugitive' (and by 'fugitive,' I mean 'a prince who was being used as a pawn who has escaped from his cell and onto an escape pod and just happened to wind up on the King's Stiletto because that's where the other escapee was going.')
The trouble with going so slowly (and procrastinating so much) is that I can't get anywhere. It's royally frustrating. I'm going to try to boost my word count over the weekend, but I'm going to have to apologize for my lack of substance on the novel front today.
So, in other news, I'm going to do a Wild Card's Life Update today.
In the front of classes, I'm taking five next semester (six, if you're counting choir): two honors courses, a course in journalism, advanced Ancient Greek (eek!), and history 101: the sixties. I'm not sure whether to be excited or terrified. Maybe both?
In the juggling front, I have finally found success. I'm hitting a point that most people found a few weeks ago, but AS LONG AS I CAN DO STUFF FOR THE FINAL PERFORMANCE I'LL BE FINE. This point is the one where I'm not getting an epic workout from chasing my errant bean bags for half the class, and also the one where I can regularly catch more than ten times. I also learned how to do cool things with a diabolo (photo here), which you spin really fast; one of the tricks I'm working on is to tighten the string so the diabolo goes in the air and then catch it on the string again. I learned a cool way of starting it yesterday, as well as started (and by 'started' I mean 'tried a few times in the last twenty minutes of class and probably can't manage again because my teachers' son won't be there tomorrow') working on throwing it to a partner. This only works when we're facing each other because I'm left handed and he's right handed.
On Saturday when I was working at Train Day (because this small college town started out as a train town). For the last hour and a half I was there, I was giving a little talk inside a fake caboose - what happened where, who stayed back there, why the seats were elevated (so, when checking to make sure the cargo hadn't fallen off, the crew's heads wouldn't get lopped off by a tree branch. Yes, really), that kind of thing. I started off one group of people by asking if they had any questions. One girl asked if I was a boy or a girl.
I'm not surprised she asked that - I have short hair and I'm not as well-endowed as some girls (I'm just fine with my cup size, thanks), and my style can be very boyish at times. That day, my loose green jacket hid my v-neck shirt and orange hi-tops tend to be gender-neutral. Also, my voice was probably in a weirdly ambiguous range after talking for an hour and a half.
At the same time, I'm glad she asked. She could learn to phrase it better - 'what pronouns would you like?' rather than a question that directly correlates to the gender binary - but I'm willing to concede that point on account of the fact that she looked to be around seven. At age seven, girls can be 'tomboys' and boys can be 'girlish;' the terms 'agender' or 'genderqueer' aren't really in the common vocabulary when a kid is seven. I'm glad she asked because it meant that she knew to ask questions if she wasn't sure about something, and asking about gender is something that's important. Why? There are people who don't strictly identify as male or female. This is different from trans* individuals; in the case of trans* individuals, they tend to identify as gender A when their birth certificate and chromosomes tell the world that their sex is B. Someone who is genderqueer can be assigned the sex of A or B, but can identify as the gender AB, A+B, AAAAABBBABABAABA, or 0 (or any combination).
So that's my tangent for today. The only reason I bring the last point up (aside from the fact that it's something I've been thinking about in regards to my own life) is that I've noticed that the two leads in the Novel-Ception (the Star Wars type novel, which is turning out to be the primary story line here) tend to follow interesting gender lines. The captain of the King's Stiletto is Spencer Watkins, who runs the show now that the old captain has officially given her the title; she's probably gotten laid more times than anyone on the ship combined (her standards: 1. your gravity must not kill me; 2. you must not have any deadly viruses or bacteria; 3. you must ask politely and accept a rejection, should Spencer choose to issue one). On the other hand, the love interest, Prince Art Pennington (SHUT UP ABOUT THE PRISSY SOUNDING NAME) is... okay, he is kind of prissy. His first impression of the ship was that the cockpit needed some decoration. In his defense, it's a cramped pirate vessel and he's used to, like, palaces and stuff.
Anyhoo, that's all for tonight. Need to go to bed. Farewell.
Target Page: Please, no.
What's been happening: Second encounter with the villains. They have got a trace on the ship that a pirate captains, and which is harboring a 'fugitive' (and by 'fugitive,' I mean 'a prince who was being used as a pawn who has escaped from his cell and onto an escape pod and just happened to wind up on the King's Stiletto because that's where the other escapee was going.')
The trouble with going so slowly (and procrastinating so much) is that I can't get anywhere. It's royally frustrating. I'm going to try to boost my word count over the weekend, but I'm going to have to apologize for my lack of substance on the novel front today.
So, in other news, I'm going to do a Wild Card's Life Update today.
In the front of classes, I'm taking five next semester (six, if you're counting choir): two honors courses, a course in journalism, advanced Ancient Greek (eek!), and history 101: the sixties. I'm not sure whether to be excited or terrified. Maybe both?
In the juggling front, I have finally found success. I'm hitting a point that most people found a few weeks ago, but AS LONG AS I CAN DO STUFF FOR THE FINAL PERFORMANCE I'LL BE FINE. This point is the one where I'm not getting an epic workout from chasing my errant bean bags for half the class, and also the one where I can regularly catch more than ten times. I also learned how to do cool things with a diabolo (photo here), which you spin really fast; one of the tricks I'm working on is to tighten the string so the diabolo goes in the air and then catch it on the string again. I learned a cool way of starting it yesterday, as well as started (and by 'started' I mean 'tried a few times in the last twenty minutes of class and probably can't manage again because my teachers' son won't be there tomorrow') working on throwing it to a partner. This only works when we're facing each other because I'm left handed and he's right handed.
On Saturday when I was working at Train Day (because this small college town started out as a train town). For the last hour and a half I was there, I was giving a little talk inside a fake caboose - what happened where, who stayed back there, why the seats were elevated (so, when checking to make sure the cargo hadn't fallen off, the crew's heads wouldn't get lopped off by a tree branch. Yes, really), that kind of thing. I started off one group of people by asking if they had any questions. One girl asked if I was a boy or a girl.
I'm not surprised she asked that - I have short hair and I'm not as well-endowed as some girls (I'm just fine with my cup size, thanks), and my style can be very boyish at times. That day, my loose green jacket hid my v-neck shirt and orange hi-tops tend to be gender-neutral. Also, my voice was probably in a weirdly ambiguous range after talking for an hour and a half.
At the same time, I'm glad she asked. She could learn to phrase it better - 'what pronouns would you like?' rather than a question that directly correlates to the gender binary - but I'm willing to concede that point on account of the fact that she looked to be around seven. At age seven, girls can be 'tomboys' and boys can be 'girlish;' the terms 'agender' or 'genderqueer' aren't really in the common vocabulary when a kid is seven. I'm glad she asked because it meant that she knew to ask questions if she wasn't sure about something, and asking about gender is something that's important. Why? There are people who don't strictly identify as male or female. This is different from trans* individuals; in the case of trans* individuals, they tend to identify as gender A when their birth certificate and chromosomes tell the world that their sex is B. Someone who is genderqueer can be assigned the sex of A or B, but can identify as the gender AB, A+B, AAAAABBBABABAABA, or 0 (or any combination).
So that's my tangent for today. The only reason I bring the last point up (aside from the fact that it's something I've been thinking about in regards to my own life) is that I've noticed that the two leads in the Novel-Ception (the Star Wars type novel, which is turning out to be the primary story line here) tend to follow interesting gender lines. The captain of the King's Stiletto is Spencer Watkins, who runs the show now that the old captain has officially given her the title; she's probably gotten laid more times than anyone on the ship combined (her standards: 1. your gravity must not kill me; 2. you must not have any deadly viruses or bacteria; 3. you must ask politely and accept a rejection, should Spencer choose to issue one). On the other hand, the love interest, Prince Art Pennington (SHUT UP ABOUT THE PRISSY SOUNDING NAME) is... okay, he is kind of prissy. His first impression of the ship was that the cockpit needed some decoration. In his defense, it's a cramped pirate vessel and he's used to, like, palaces and stuff.
Anyhoo, that's all for tonight. Need to go to bed. Farewell.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The Closing
So this is my second-to-last night staying in my freshman dorm, and it feels really strange. I have only somewhat dared to start packing yet, which is sort of worrying, but I still have all of tomorrow afternoon!
Anyway, it has been a crazy year, and I can hardly believe that I am pretty much done with my first year of college. I'm glad I chose the school I did, even though it is sometimes not what I expected (or too much as I expected).
For all my friends (who probably don't read this) who are going to college next year, I give you Wild Card's Top Ten List of Things You Should Know For College:
1. Be nice to your roommate. You're going to have to deal with them all year. If you wind up not getting along and having to switch to a different room, then that's how things go, but that should not stop you from being nice to them. If you're switching rooms because of drama, deal with it as amiably as possible, and talk to them about it. It could be that they don't know their stupid habit is annoying you, and if it's something that can be eliminated, then they'll know that they should work on it.
2. Don't keep too much unsealed food in the room. You will get mice, which will stick around long enough for you to grow fond of and name (ours is named Indy, because we live in Jones Hall - Indiana Jones). Anyway, the mice can get all over your bed and poop where you may or may not want it (this hasn't happened to me, but Indy made two attempts on my bed today, which leads me to wonder where else he's been).
3. Be familiar with your hallmates. From experience, there may come an awkward moment when a group member in a class says, "Hey, since we live across the hall from each other, want to work on the revisions together?" Do not be that person, as I was, who does not realize who their hallmates are until halfway through spring semester. Also, if you need to tell someone to shut up because you have a final or a midterm or whatever, they'll probably listen to you more if you know them. (this may not apply if they're drunk.)
4. If you do not want to drink, you do not have to drink. There will always be the people who will watch Stargate, Dr. Who, or Star Trek with you on a Friday night without alcohol. Though these people are what are generally called 'nerds,' the difference between these people and the people who get drunk at fraternity parties every night is that the nerds will remember the stupid puns they made.
5. If you really want to join a social Greek organization, consider not going Greek right away. If it's something that you feel is part of the essential college experience, and you couldn't bear to rush as a sophomore, I'm not telling you to not go Greek right away - just that maybe you can make friends without the help of the social organizations.
6. If you really think social Greek organizations are dumb - go through rush just to see what it's like. I came into college saying that social sororities are stupid, and that I could never hang out with someone in Greek life. After going through rush, I do have a better understanding of what it's like to be part of a social Greek organization. I didn't get a bid, I don't really want one, and I'm probably not going to go back for one, but I'm glad that I went through it. The biggest thing I learned is that yes, there are the sororities that are better known for being ditzy or more of the 'party house' (I geeked out about DnD at this house... there's a reason I didn't get asked back), but there are also the houses that are super down-to-earth. Part of the reason I didn't want to go through rush is because I thought I would be the only non-blonde and certainly the only nerd there, but my host at the first house I went to turned out to be a huge Star Wars fan. (That made stuff a lot easier.)
7. If you're interested in going Greek but don't want to do something social, there are probably going to be honor societies and service fraternities (like Alpha Phi Omega). If it's an honor society, you're going to have to work up your major GPA and probably not going to get in your first year, but that's always an option. Additionally, service-based organizations are easy ways to bond with people because you can easily say that you can HELPED PEOPLE TOGETHER! HUZZAH!
8. In the realm of academics, do study. You'll probably have entire spans of afternoons free, which are there for you to keep your grades up. If you don't keep up your GPA, you may be asked to not return to the school. College is not there for you to get drunk all the time. If drinking is your thing, don't be dumb about it. Doing Tipsy Tuesday, Wasted Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday, and the regular weekend drinking is perhaps the stupidest thing you can do for your GPA (it also puts you on the fast track for being an alcoholic).
9. In terms of group projects, DO YOUR WORK. If you can't make it to the group meetings, LET PEOPLE KNOW. Don't be that one kid who shows up late or not at all without a good excuse. Good excuses include work, sports you can't get out of, class, or a paper that is 20% done and due in the morning. Bad excuses include everything else.
10. Talk to everyone. You meet so many new people in the first three weeks of school than you might in the entire rest of the year put together that it's easy to get kind of confused and mixing up names and faces and phone numbers, but it'll be worth it. Everyone else is going to mix up some faces and names and stuff, too, so you're not alone. You'll have friends, and if you wind up not hanging out with a lot of people you hang out with in the beginning of the year, you'll probably wind up with a few people that you're on good terms with in case you wind up in a group project together or something.
I'll probably make more of these lists at some point, but here's some tips for now.
Anyway, it has been a crazy year, and I can hardly believe that I am pretty much done with my first year of college. I'm glad I chose the school I did, even though it is sometimes not what I expected (or too much as I expected).
For all my friends (who probably don't read this) who are going to college next year, I give you Wild Card's Top Ten List of Things You Should Know For College:
1. Be nice to your roommate. You're going to have to deal with them all year. If you wind up not getting along and having to switch to a different room, then that's how things go, but that should not stop you from being nice to them. If you're switching rooms because of drama, deal with it as amiably as possible, and talk to them about it. It could be that they don't know their stupid habit is annoying you, and if it's something that can be eliminated, then they'll know that they should work on it.
2. Don't keep too much unsealed food in the room. You will get mice, which will stick around long enough for you to grow fond of and name (ours is named Indy, because we live in Jones Hall - Indiana Jones). Anyway, the mice can get all over your bed and poop where you may or may not want it (this hasn't happened to me, but Indy made two attempts on my bed today, which leads me to wonder where else he's been).
3. Be familiar with your hallmates. From experience, there may come an awkward moment when a group member in a class says, "Hey, since we live across the hall from each other, want to work on the revisions together?" Do not be that person, as I was, who does not realize who their hallmates are until halfway through spring semester. Also, if you need to tell someone to shut up because you have a final or a midterm or whatever, they'll probably listen to you more if you know them. (this may not apply if they're drunk.)
4. If you do not want to drink, you do not have to drink. There will always be the people who will watch Stargate, Dr. Who, or Star Trek with you on a Friday night without alcohol. Though these people are what are generally called 'nerds,' the difference between these people and the people who get drunk at fraternity parties every night is that the nerds will remember the stupid puns they made.
5. If you really want to join a social Greek organization, consider not going Greek right away. If it's something that you feel is part of the essential college experience, and you couldn't bear to rush as a sophomore, I'm not telling you to not go Greek right away - just that maybe you can make friends without the help of the social organizations.
6. If you really think social Greek organizations are dumb - go through rush just to see what it's like. I came into college saying that social sororities are stupid, and that I could never hang out with someone in Greek life. After going through rush, I do have a better understanding of what it's like to be part of a social Greek organization. I didn't get a bid, I don't really want one, and I'm probably not going to go back for one, but I'm glad that I went through it. The biggest thing I learned is that yes, there are the sororities that are better known for being ditzy or more of the 'party house' (I geeked out about DnD at this house... there's a reason I didn't get asked back), but there are also the houses that are super down-to-earth. Part of the reason I didn't want to go through rush is because I thought I would be the only non-blonde and certainly the only nerd there, but my host at the first house I went to turned out to be a huge Star Wars fan. (That made stuff a lot easier.)
7. If you're interested in going Greek but don't want to do something social, there are probably going to be honor societies and service fraternities (like Alpha Phi Omega). If it's an honor society, you're going to have to work up your major GPA and probably not going to get in your first year, but that's always an option. Additionally, service-based organizations are easy ways to bond with people because you can easily say that you can HELPED PEOPLE TOGETHER! HUZZAH!
8. In the realm of academics, do study. You'll probably have entire spans of afternoons free, which are there for you to keep your grades up. If you don't keep up your GPA, you may be asked to not return to the school. College is not there for you to get drunk all the time. If drinking is your thing, don't be dumb about it. Doing Tipsy Tuesday, Wasted Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday, and the regular weekend drinking is perhaps the stupidest thing you can do for your GPA (it also puts you on the fast track for being an alcoholic).
9. In terms of group projects, DO YOUR WORK. If you can't make it to the group meetings, LET PEOPLE KNOW. Don't be that one kid who shows up late or not at all without a good excuse. Good excuses include work, sports you can't get out of, class, or a paper that is 20% done and due in the morning. Bad excuses include everything else.
10. Talk to everyone. You meet so many new people in the first three weeks of school than you might in the entire rest of the year put together that it's easy to get kind of confused and mixing up names and faces and phone numbers, but it'll be worth it. Everyone else is going to mix up some faces and names and stuff, too, so you're not alone. You'll have friends, and if you wind up not hanging out with a lot of people you hang out with in the beginning of the year, you'll probably wind up with a few people that you're on good terms with in case you wind up in a group project together or something.
I'll probably make more of these lists at some point, but here's some tips for now.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Preparations
Well, it's nearing the end of my first year of college, and there are several things going through my mind right now.
Firstly, I'm thinking about how I really should go to bed early tonight, because I lost sleep last night.
Secondly, I'm thinking about how that probably won't happen because I have to study for my finals.
Thirdly, I'm thinking that going to bed early is very unlikely, because I need to go get shots tomorrow, and that takes time.
Fourthly, of course, is finals.
The trip to Peru is going to happen in 12 days, and typing that made me realize just how close that is.
3 days until the end of classes.
8 days until my first final.
10 days until I go home.
12 days until I leave home for Peru.
I found out today that going to Peru means I need more shots than I thought I did, so I'm going to a walk-in clinic tomorrow. Then there's the fact that I need to sign and mail some stuff for Turkey this week, but I don't have any paper for my printer, but that got fixed when my friend agreed to lend me some. Then there's the fact that I'm depressingly underprepared for Peru. It's just now setting in that in a little less than two weeks, I'm not going to be in the country. I'm not going to be in the Northern Hemisphere. I'm going to be in the mountains of FREAKING PERU in less than two weeks.
AAAHHHH!!!
Needless to say, I'm going to be a wreck for a few weeks.
I need to go freak out some more, and maybe go to the gym.
Firstly, I'm thinking about how I really should go to bed early tonight, because I lost sleep last night.
Secondly, I'm thinking about how that probably won't happen because I have to study for my finals.
Thirdly, I'm thinking that going to bed early is very unlikely, because I need to go get shots tomorrow, and that takes time.
Fourthly, of course, is finals.
The trip to Peru is going to happen in 12 days, and typing that made me realize just how close that is.
3 days until the end of classes.
8 days until my first final.
10 days until I go home.
12 days until I leave home for Peru.
I found out today that going to Peru means I need more shots than I thought I did, so I'm going to a walk-in clinic tomorrow. Then there's the fact that I need to sign and mail some stuff for Turkey this week, but I don't have any paper for my printer, but that got fixed when my friend agreed to lend me some. Then there's the fact that I'm depressingly underprepared for Peru. It's just now setting in that in a little less than two weeks, I'm not going to be in the country. I'm not going to be in the Northern Hemisphere. I'm going to be in the mountains of FREAKING PERU in less than two weeks.
AAAHHHH!!!
Needless to say, I'm going to be a wreck for a few weeks.
I need to go freak out some more, and maybe go to the gym.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Final Weeks
My J-term class ends on Friday. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'm excited that we're going to be on break and that spring semester is coming, but I'll be sad to see the excessive amount of time leave.
More relevant, I'm also not sure how I'm going to feel about the final product of the class. If there's one thing I've learned about my own writing process, it's that the editing part is never done. I have a measly seven scenes - I originally had eight, but one got cut before it got typed up - but all of the editing won't help my nerves, in the end. Does the pacing work? Are the characters relatable? Will anyone be able to pronounce Siofra's real name? Am I using too many cliches? Is the timing right? The list goes on.
I know the reason that I'm getting nervous about it, too - more nervous than my other writing. It has nothing to do with my peers accepting it as decent work - that was what I had issue with at the beginning of the course, a long time ago when I only had to write five pages. At this point, the trouble is me accepting it as decent work. When you spend just as much time editing a piece as you do writing it (more time, actually), you tend to worry about it. If this were a longer work, it would be like a child. You want the best for it, but sometimes it gives you hell. A lot of times, actually. Some things you love to go over, other things you fear to even glance at.
Though this is not my longest work - it barely counts as 30 pages, even with the title page, the character list, and the page-happy formatting that a script must follow - it's still causing me a bit of worry. In comparison to some other people in the class, I think I'll do fine, and I don't mind how it's written, but sometimes I wonder how it would turn out if I had done things differently. I could have killed my main character. I could have made the future relationship of two of my characters less ambiguous. I could have made one character more sympathetic to the antagonistic party.
When it comes to it, though, I'm glad I had the chance to do this course. It taught me how not to format a script, and it taught me what to look at and what to ask when going through the editing process.
More relevant, I'm also not sure how I'm going to feel about the final product of the class. If there's one thing I've learned about my own writing process, it's that the editing part is never done. I have a measly seven scenes - I originally had eight, but one got cut before it got typed up - but all of the editing won't help my nerves, in the end. Does the pacing work? Are the characters relatable? Will anyone be able to pronounce Siofra's real name? Am I using too many cliches? Is the timing right? The list goes on.
I know the reason that I'm getting nervous about it, too - more nervous than my other writing. It has nothing to do with my peers accepting it as decent work - that was what I had issue with at the beginning of the course, a long time ago when I only had to write five pages. At this point, the trouble is me accepting it as decent work. When you spend just as much time editing a piece as you do writing it (more time, actually), you tend to worry about it. If this were a longer work, it would be like a child. You want the best for it, but sometimes it gives you hell. A lot of times, actually. Some things you love to go over, other things you fear to even glance at.
Though this is not my longest work - it barely counts as 30 pages, even with the title page, the character list, and the page-happy formatting that a script must follow - it's still causing me a bit of worry. In comparison to some other people in the class, I think I'll do fine, and I don't mind how it's written, but sometimes I wonder how it would turn out if I had done things differently. I could have killed my main character. I could have made the future relationship of two of my characters less ambiguous. I could have made one character more sympathetic to the antagonistic party.
When it comes to it, though, I'm glad I had the chance to do this course. It taught me how not to format a script, and it taught me what to look at and what to ask when going through the editing process.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
another week of writing
I'm halfway through the second week of J-term now, and, for the record, J-term has come with a few surprises, not all of them bad.
Good things:
1. I have way more free time than I do during the normal semester. If I don't want to go to the gym in the morning, I don't have to wake up until 9:30 or 10:00. After maybe 1:45 or 2:00, when I'm done with class and lunch, I have almost nothing to do except homework until 6:00, which is our normal dinner time.
2. The spare time has led me to actually get to the gym, which is always nice (except when I get scared of judgement from the actual athletes). Also, I actually have time to write for my class, which is nice, but I also tend to procrastinate on my own writing because of podcasts and yarn. Nevertheless, J-term has been fun so far because of all the time I can actually use now.
3. Since I actually have time to do homework during the day and I don't have to wake up early, the evenings can be spent doing things other than sleeping (sleeping does get involved). These new activities include Apples to Apples, Capture the Flag, Marco Polo (played on the football field and not in the pool), and Hide and Seek. All of these activities have commenced at around 10:00 PM and proceeded until midnight or later, which is fine, because I can still get sleep.
4. The course itself is really interesting - though it is a workshop class, the feedback really helps with what I'm writing.
Bad things:
1. Though the class is fun and I like that I get to write, sometimes the peer editing aspect can get kind of irritating. Don't get me wrong: I do like to read and comment on other people's writing, as well as receive feedback on my own. However, quite a few people in my class seem to be unaware that Spelling and Grammar check is correct on many occasions (there are times when it is incorrect, but when one is in college, one should be able to tell the difference). Sometimes I have to edit my classmates' grammar and spelling as I read their work because it can get rather distracting.
2. Sometimes having all of the extra time can get kind of boring. Though it's easy to find ways to pass the time, afternoons can get long, tedious, and unproductive.
In all, though, I'm glad I took the J-term class that I chose: at the very least, it shows me how not to write a script.
Good things:
1. I have way more free time than I do during the normal semester. If I don't want to go to the gym in the morning, I don't have to wake up until 9:30 or 10:00. After maybe 1:45 or 2:00, when I'm done with class and lunch, I have almost nothing to do except homework until 6:00, which is our normal dinner time.
2. The spare time has led me to actually get to the gym, which is always nice (except when I get scared of judgement from the actual athletes). Also, I actually have time to write for my class, which is nice, but I also tend to procrastinate on my own writing because of podcasts and yarn. Nevertheless, J-term has been fun so far because of all the time I can actually use now.
3. Since I actually have time to do homework during the day and I don't have to wake up early, the evenings can be spent doing things other than sleeping (sleeping does get involved). These new activities include Apples to Apples, Capture the Flag, Marco Polo (played on the football field and not in the pool), and Hide and Seek. All of these activities have commenced at around 10:00 PM and proceeded until midnight or later, which is fine, because I can still get sleep.
4. The course itself is really interesting - though it is a workshop class, the feedback really helps with what I'm writing.
Bad things:
1. Though the class is fun and I like that I get to write, sometimes the peer editing aspect can get kind of irritating. Don't get me wrong: I do like to read and comment on other people's writing, as well as receive feedback on my own. However, quite a few people in my class seem to be unaware that Spelling and Grammar check is correct on many occasions (there are times when it is incorrect, but when one is in college, one should be able to tell the difference). Sometimes I have to edit my classmates' grammar and spelling as I read their work because it can get rather distracting.
2. Sometimes having all of the extra time can get kind of boring. Though it's easy to find ways to pass the time, afternoons can get long, tedious, and unproductive.
In all, though, I'm glad I took the J-term class that I chose: at the very least, it shows me how not to write a script.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
December 2: just after the end
Well, yesterday marked the end of another NaNoWriMo, and the first year where I did not make it to the finish line.
Oddly, I have come to terms with this, for a few reasons:
Oddly, I have come to terms with this, for a few reasons:
- I still have a novel out, and this year, I really do only have a couple of scenes - no more than two or three - until I can tie together the ending I wrote on the computer. Altogether, that's better than what I've done in the past. My first year's novel still has two bosses to beat, not counting the final boss; my second-year novel, I wound up adding a TON of stuff between the final fight and where November left me. I'm more done than I have ever been at the end of November.
- In all honesty, I wasn't as excited about this novel as I was with my others. Maybe it was because I just didn't plan, and NaNo sprang up almost out of the blue - I have a lot of friends who were also doing it, but I lost track of time when I was doing other things to realize, "HEY! IT'S ALMOST NOVEMBER! How about a plot?"
- Speaking of which, it seems like an excuse, but business was a factor. If you are a high schooler and you are reading this, then let me tell you: time management in college is a LOT different than it is in high school. NaNoWriMo can be done - of the group I did NaNoWriMo with, and of the people that it was obvious would finish, I was the only one who didn't - but it is more difficult than high school.
- after all, it IS my first year of college. School is actually important - you aren't paying thousands of dollars to write a novel for free.
I still enjoy NaNo, and I still want to do it again next year, but I'm kind of glad I didn't finish. Everyone has to have at least one NaNo loss, right?
Unless, of course, your name is Chris Baty.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Day 20: I'm behind! :(
It is the 20th day of NaNoWriMo, and my word count is wretched. I hit 30,000 words last night, which was supposed to happen on Sunday.
On the upside, I will be leaving for Thanksgiving break tonight, which I'm thankful for. Though I have break work - a project, a reading, and general studying - I'll be glad for the chance to get some actual sleep and some time to write.
If the concept of a 'break' will let me - haircuts, doctor appointments, seeing friends, and the like. Sometimes I wonder why it's called a 'break' when really all you do is do all the stuff you should have done at some other point, but now actually have the time to do it. Maybe I just won't do anything fun at all, and study the whole time. I could live with that, but I don't think my mom could. She would... it wouldn't be pretty.
Anyway, I'm off to lunch now, but afterwards I WILL work on my word count.
And pack.
In all, I'm glad Thanksgiving break is on its way.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Day 14: close to halfway?
Right, I'm not doing my stats, because I have no time and a test tomorrow. I did write and go to the gym today, though, and I am kind of glad I did.
Anyway, I am reaching a bit of a roadblock on how to get the three main characters into a walled, heavily guarded city that does not allow half-elves (because the guy who runs the place is a butt); it is on the edge of a cliff and the only way in at present is a hole for rotten food and other things that my main character does not want to climb through for a second time. The way in should preferably somehow get them into the dungeon and/ or a torture chamber; using legal means is preferable but not entirely necessary.
What I have noticed during NaNo is that prime study time and prime writing time are the same time. Though I am NOT neglecting my studies (entirely), I'm sometimes faced with the choice of study now and get really frustrated with my word count later, or breeze through my word count and push through homework later.
So far, the second option seems to be working out better, from the two or three times I have done it.
And I have to go now, but I'll be back... tomorrow.
Anyway, I am reaching a bit of a roadblock on how to get the three main characters into a walled, heavily guarded city that does not allow half-elves (because the guy who runs the place is a butt); it is on the edge of a cliff and the only way in at present is a hole for rotten food and other things that my main character does not want to climb through for a second time. The way in should preferably somehow get them into the dungeon and/ or a torture chamber; using legal means is preferable but not entirely necessary.
What I have noticed during NaNo is that prime study time and prime writing time are the same time. Though I am NOT neglecting my studies (entirely), I'm sometimes faced with the choice of study now and get really frustrated with my word count later, or breeze through my word count and push through homework later.
So far, the second option seems to be working out better, from the two or three times I have done it.
And I have to go now, but I'll be back... tomorrow.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Day 12: I don't know why I do this anymore
The motivation behind the title is merely a wondering about my sanity. I am not wondering why I do NaNoWriMo; I am wondering why I bother trying to do 2,000 words a day when I obviously cannot keep up with the word count I want to keep up with. I have a test tomorrow and another one on Wednesday, and a take-home test due on Wednesday as well. Projects for Intro to East Asia are going to be due soon after Thanksgiving Break.
And I always have to study and go to the gym before I can write. And in the moments when I could be writing, I am doing something completely arbitrary - Facebook, Twitter, the like. I should have my notebook with me. I should be writing. I should be.
But I am not.
I am ahead of the NaNoWriMo predicted word count for today, which is good. But I do not know about what I am going to for the rest of the week.
For the rest of the month.
Blargh.
Welcome, my friends, to Week Two. This is the first time when the Week Twos have hit me hard; I think it is because this is college and my arbitrary interest in things other than writing has increased because of the increase in afternoon time.
Maybe I should just write first and do homework later.
I honestly have no idea.
Blargh.
I need sleep.
And snacks.
And a better word count.
And I always have to study and go to the gym before I can write. And in the moments when I could be writing, I am doing something completely arbitrary - Facebook, Twitter, the like. I should have my notebook with me. I should be writing. I should be.
But I am not.
I am ahead of the NaNoWriMo predicted word count for today, which is good. But I do not know about what I am going to for the rest of the week.
For the rest of the month.
Blargh.
Welcome, my friends, to Week Two. This is the first time when the Week Twos have hit me hard; I think it is because this is college and my arbitrary interest in things other than writing has increased because of the increase in afternoon time.
Maybe I should just write first and do homework later.
I honestly have no idea.
Blargh.
I need sleep.
And snacks.
And a better word count.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)