I am officially enrolled in all my courses for winter term and here is what they are:
Islam (and Politics?)
Physics: Color and Sound in Communication
Psychology (of the Brain)
Into to Creative Writing
17 Units in total.
I have class everyday, and on Wednesdays and Fridays, I have class four hours in a row, with ten minute breaks in between to get to my next class. But it's all cool!
Let's see how I do. :)
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Friday Night's All Right for Fighting
Weekends in Riverside have been getting pretty eventful with my newfound friends. It makes life here a whole lot more exciting, but it also has its ups and downs.
First of all, I've been staying up way too late on weekdays. It's a bad habit, but it's fun. I'm going to start going to bed earlier, though, because I've been really tired throughout the day and I CAN'T fall asleep in class [anymore]. And hey! I only fall asleep in Philosophy! My other classes are MUCH too interesting to fall asleep in. But my philosophy professor-- oh boy-- he's a droner; he's interesting but his voice has that sound that just makes me want to go to sleep. Luckily, he posts all his lectures online, and his nearly his entire lecture is based around his powerpoint.
Anyway, so, about the weekend.
On Friday, after classes were over and done with, Kat and I were left, not knowing what to do. Usually, we would hang out with Anthony and James, Mariana, Jason, Ben, Sean... Cave People (this is not all of the Cave People, by the way), but on Friday night, it seemed that most people were out and about, going out with friends, or staying in to do homework. We got so bored that we googled "What to do in Riverside when you're bored." Nothing. Really? That's not entirely true; there was a list of 101 Things to Do in Riverside, but those were cultural events with set dates throughout the year, not what we were looking for. So, we started calling people up. The first person I call seems up to hanging out-- we just want to get out of the dorms, and he lives off campus. But, after a few minutes of talking, he decides against it. A quiet night at home is what he most desires.
We go to the R.A. She suggests parks, bowling, miniature golf, movies... all fun things, but we need more ideas and more people! So, I called my friend ______. I say, "______! You're fun and social! What is there to do in Riverside?" And she shouts, "Come to a frat party with me!" And I say, "Okay."
So, we, four of us in total, all get ready and drive over to the house and we all go inside, and it reminded me exactly of those movie frat parties-- people in theme costumes, slutty girls everywhere, dancing in one corner, a bar in the other corner, dark and decorated and intimidating. Firstly, it was up between me and my friend to be designated driver, so I called it, seeing as I've been talking about that being my job since before I got to college. Secondly, I took everyone's keys-- car keys and dorm keys-- cell phones and school IDs and I put them into one bag. And then it started.
It was really awkward, and more of an observation for me. It wasn't like being at an Oakdale party-- it wasn't like being at any party that I have ever been to, and I really don't think I ever want to go to a party like that again, unless someone asks me to be designated driver again. It was for the Jewish Fraternity, and everyone seemed nice enough, except for that EVERYONE who was drinking was way over their limit. After barely two hours had passed, one of my friends couldn't stand up by herself; her boyfriend, who is also one of my friends and officially a brother, kept begging her to give her cup to him, pleading with her to go lay down in the garage. The three of us had to coax her out of the house while her boyfriend forced her out of the house; I got the car and pulled it up to the driveway so she could be shoved into the backseat easily, and then we were on our way. The entire way home, she was trying to tell me which direction to drive, and she was actually right, although I was relying on the direction of another of my friends; a couple of times she said, "I'm getting out of the car now." and reached for the handle; the other girl in the backseat was like, "You can't do that," but she kept trying until I yelled, "______! DO NOT GET OUT OF THE CAR!" to which she stopped. When we got back to school, she kept trying to run off, down the stairs, declaring that she had to pee and that she had to throw up. She did neither until we got her into the dorms, which was difficult. It was hard to sneak her in, she was being so loud. At one point, she saw her friends in one room, ran in there, and fell into the refrigerator. Luckily, one of her good friends in the hallway was awake and ran in there and helped us with her, took her to the bathroom, helped her throw up, fed her, put her pyjamas on her, stayed the night with her. She's so motherly and caring. I was very impressed. Eventually, they got her to bed, and my friend and I returned to our side of the hallway to see to the other one.
During the course of the night, my friend, who I will now refer to as "Rex", recieved a text message from her friend from her hometown, about a mile up the mountain, about how this creeper was at her house-- she didn't know he was a creeper because she hadn't had the full story told to her yet, but for the past few weeks, this guy has been stalking Rex, being overly emotional with her, sending her scary love letters, writing her songs and recording them to CDs-- it's really scary. So, Creeper is at friend's house. It's almost 2:30 a.m. and we have decided that we're going to drive up to friend's house and go get that guy out of the house. But, there's two people who have been drinking, which leaves me and two other people in the car, and only two of us can drive. So I drive up, and another friend drove down. We get there around 3:30, stay for about fifteen minutes, get her to kick everyone out of the house, wait until that guy drives away, and then leave ourselves. We didn't get back until around 5, and then we all passed out.
Very eventful night. In writing, it seems like not so much, but in reality, it was intense, and all in the course of six hours.
On Saturday, I woke up around noon (yes, noon; I don't make a habit of it on weekdays, but weekends here are different), and went to brunch with Ben and Persiah. After brunch, I thought I would be able to go into my room and get some homework out of the way, thinking that my roommate would be gone, but no. I ended up just walking in, grabbing my stuff, and running to Ben's room, where Ben and Persiah were. I didn't get much work done in there, either--we played Family Feud online. Around 3 I decided I would go into my room and try to get some work done. My roommate, when I came in, decided that she was going to leave, so what do I do? I take a nap. I slept for about half an hour, for fifteen minutes, then ten, then five, and then decide it's time to wake up. It's about 4:15, so I call Depeche, as I have promised to call him this weekend; he's busy, so we agree to talk later. Kat gets back, so I go hang out in the Cave again, to wait for Anthony so that we (James, Anthony, Kat, Dylan, Becka, and I) can all go to the beach. When Anthony finally gets here, it's about six, so we all pile into Kat's five seat car (quite uncomfortably and very illegally) and Kat drives to Balboa Beach in Newport. We get a bonfire going, and we just chill, talking and laughing, roasting marshmallows, splashing around in the water. Ten is the time the beach closed, so we stayed until ten, just kicking it. I drove back to school. When we got back, we played three rounds of Bang, this pretty cool card game, and watched SNL. Around 3:30, we went to Freshh Donuts, the 24 hour donut place around the corner, and then went back to Anthony and James' room, where we were up until about five, when we sort of decided it was time for all of us to go to bed.
Woke up today around 11:45, sat around 'til 12, went to brunch with Persiah and Ben around 12:30, came back, and wrote this blog. Today is homework and phone call day, but mostly homework day, and I don't plan on coming out of my room until I get all of my homework done.
My roommate has had a guy over for the past two weekends, and the reason I've been sleeping over in James and Anthony's or Kat and Mariana's room is that I feel so awkward that I can barely walk into my room. I tried to talk to Jackie about it, and she said they would try to leave during the day, but during the day isn't when it's awkward. Last night I needed to come in around 3 to get my blankets and pillows, and I unlocked the door so I wouldn't wake them up, and when I came back, they had pushed the lock button so that it would "pop!" when I unlocked it. The same thing had happened earlier that evening, around midnight, and it's getting even more awkward and annoying. I don't want to be feel like I'm being ostracized from the room every weekend, but thankfully, I have friends who don't mind sleepovers. :) Sleepovers are fun anyway!
Registering for classes tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.
SO! That's a synopsis of the PAST TWO DAYS! All of this in just two days! CUHRAZY!!
First of all, I've been staying up way too late on weekdays. It's a bad habit, but it's fun. I'm going to start going to bed earlier, though, because I've been really tired throughout the day and I CAN'T fall asleep in class [anymore]. And hey! I only fall asleep in Philosophy! My other classes are MUCH too interesting to fall asleep in. But my philosophy professor-- oh boy-- he's a droner; he's interesting but his voice has that sound that just makes me want to go to sleep. Luckily, he posts all his lectures online, and his nearly his entire lecture is based around his powerpoint.
Anyway, so, about the weekend.
On Friday, after classes were over and done with, Kat and I were left, not knowing what to do. Usually, we would hang out with Anthony and James, Mariana, Jason, Ben, Sean... Cave People (this is not all of the Cave People, by the way), but on Friday night, it seemed that most people were out and about, going out with friends, or staying in to do homework. We got so bored that we googled "What to do in Riverside when you're bored." Nothing. Really? That's not entirely true; there was a list of 101 Things to Do in Riverside, but those were cultural events with set dates throughout the year, not what we were looking for. So, we started calling people up. The first person I call seems up to hanging out-- we just want to get out of the dorms, and he lives off campus. But, after a few minutes of talking, he decides against it. A quiet night at home is what he most desires.
We go to the R.A. She suggests parks, bowling, miniature golf, movies... all fun things, but we need more ideas and more people! So, I called my friend ______. I say, "______! You're fun and social! What is there to do in Riverside?" And she shouts, "Come to a frat party with me!" And I say, "Okay."
So, we, four of us in total, all get ready and drive over to the house and we all go inside, and it reminded me exactly of those movie frat parties-- people in theme costumes, slutty girls everywhere, dancing in one corner, a bar in the other corner, dark and decorated and intimidating. Firstly, it was up between me and my friend to be designated driver, so I called it, seeing as I've been talking about that being my job since before I got to college. Secondly, I took everyone's keys-- car keys and dorm keys-- cell phones and school IDs and I put them into one bag. And then it started.
It was really awkward, and more of an observation for me. It wasn't like being at an Oakdale party-- it wasn't like being at any party that I have ever been to, and I really don't think I ever want to go to a party like that again, unless someone asks me to be designated driver again. It was for the Jewish Fraternity, and everyone seemed nice enough, except for that EVERYONE who was drinking was way over their limit. After barely two hours had passed, one of my friends couldn't stand up by herself; her boyfriend, who is also one of my friends and officially a brother, kept begging her to give her cup to him, pleading with her to go lay down in the garage. The three of us had to coax her out of the house while her boyfriend forced her out of the house; I got the car and pulled it up to the driveway so she could be shoved into the backseat easily, and then we were on our way. The entire way home, she was trying to tell me which direction to drive, and she was actually right, although I was relying on the direction of another of my friends; a couple of times she said, "I'm getting out of the car now." and reached for the handle; the other girl in the backseat was like, "You can't do that," but she kept trying until I yelled, "______! DO NOT GET OUT OF THE CAR!" to which she stopped. When we got back to school, she kept trying to run off, down the stairs, declaring that she had to pee and that she had to throw up. She did neither until we got her into the dorms, which was difficult. It was hard to sneak her in, she was being so loud. At one point, she saw her friends in one room, ran in there, and fell into the refrigerator. Luckily, one of her good friends in the hallway was awake and ran in there and helped us with her, took her to the bathroom, helped her throw up, fed her, put her pyjamas on her, stayed the night with her. She's so motherly and caring. I was very impressed. Eventually, they got her to bed, and my friend and I returned to our side of the hallway to see to the other one.
During the course of the night, my friend, who I will now refer to as "Rex", recieved a text message from her friend from her hometown, about a mile up the mountain, about how this creeper was at her house-- she didn't know he was a creeper because she hadn't had the full story told to her yet, but for the past few weeks, this guy has been stalking Rex, being overly emotional with her, sending her scary love letters, writing her songs and recording them to CDs-- it's really scary. So, Creeper is at friend's house. It's almost 2:30 a.m. and we have decided that we're going to drive up to friend's house and go get that guy out of the house. But, there's two people who have been drinking, which leaves me and two other people in the car, and only two of us can drive. So I drive up, and another friend drove down. We get there around 3:30, stay for about fifteen minutes, get her to kick everyone out of the house, wait until that guy drives away, and then leave ourselves. We didn't get back until around 5, and then we all passed out.
Very eventful night. In writing, it seems like not so much, but in reality, it was intense, and all in the course of six hours.
On Saturday, I woke up around noon (yes, noon; I don't make a habit of it on weekdays, but weekends here are different), and went to brunch with Ben and Persiah. After brunch, I thought I would be able to go into my room and get some homework out of the way, thinking that my roommate would be gone, but no. I ended up just walking in, grabbing my stuff, and running to Ben's room, where Ben and Persiah were. I didn't get much work done in there, either--we played Family Feud online. Around 3 I decided I would go into my room and try to get some work done. My roommate, when I came in, decided that she was going to leave, so what do I do? I take a nap. I slept for about half an hour, for fifteen minutes, then ten, then five, and then decide it's time to wake up. It's about 4:15, so I call Depeche, as I have promised to call him this weekend; he's busy, so we agree to talk later. Kat gets back, so I go hang out in the Cave again, to wait for Anthony so that we (James, Anthony, Kat, Dylan, Becka, and I) can all go to the beach. When Anthony finally gets here, it's about six, so we all pile into Kat's five seat car (quite uncomfortably and very illegally) and Kat drives to Balboa Beach in Newport. We get a bonfire going, and we just chill, talking and laughing, roasting marshmallows, splashing around in the water. Ten is the time the beach closed, so we stayed until ten, just kicking it. I drove back to school. When we got back, we played three rounds of Bang, this pretty cool card game, and watched SNL. Around 3:30, we went to Freshh Donuts, the 24 hour donut place around the corner, and then went back to Anthony and James' room, where we were up until about five, when we sort of decided it was time for all of us to go to bed.
Woke up today around 11:45, sat around 'til 12, went to brunch with Persiah and Ben around 12:30, came back, and wrote this blog. Today is homework and phone call day, but mostly homework day, and I don't plan on coming out of my room until I get all of my homework done.
My roommate has had a guy over for the past two weekends, and the reason I've been sleeping over in James and Anthony's or Kat and Mariana's room is that I feel so awkward that I can barely walk into my room. I tried to talk to Jackie about it, and she said they would try to leave during the day, but during the day isn't when it's awkward. Last night I needed to come in around 3 to get my blankets and pillows, and I unlocked the door so I wouldn't wake them up, and when I came back, they had pushed the lock button so that it would "pop!" when I unlocked it. The same thing had happened earlier that evening, around midnight, and it's getting even more awkward and annoying. I don't want to be feel like I'm being ostracized from the room every weekend, but thankfully, I have friends who don't mind sleepovers. :) Sleepovers are fun anyway!
Registering for classes tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.
SO! That's a synopsis of the PAST TWO DAYS! All of this in just two days! CUHRAZY!!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Everybody's Looking for a Hero
I've been pretty stressed out as of late. Not so much with schoolwork as with other things, like how to get home for Winter holiday and how to get back to school. I feel like I'm not going to have enough time to see everyone that I want to see and do everything I want to do for an adequate amount of time. UCR is giving us three weeks off. There are other schools who get nearly two months off. Why couldn't they just up it a week? And why does it have to be on such awkward dates? December 12th to Janury 3rd? That doesn't even seem that long. And in reality, it's not.
Last night, I hosted a highschool student from San Jose in my room, so she could get an impression of UCR. I felt like a bad host; there's not much to do and she just seemed like she wanted to text the whole time, which isn't very fun. She and her friend weren't really into any of the activities that we were required to attend, even though Kat(herine) and I were having a good time making stress balls out of balloons and flour and playing with goo. This goo was crazy! You could, like, grap a fistful of goo in your hands and squeeze it-- you know it's solid-- but as soon as you open your fist it dissolves into water. WHOA CRAZY GOO! Anyway, we ended up playing cards and Jackie, Christy, and Christy came into the room a little later and they were pretty entertaining. She said she didn't have a bad time, that she had a good time, but I don't know. We had to get her back to the bus at 6:45 this morning; needless to say, I crashed when I got back to the room.
I joined Greenpeace yesterday! While I was walking around with Stephanie (my hostee), a guy runs up to me and asks, 'Do you love the environment? I love the environment!" Yeah, I love the environment. And then he used his amazing rhetorical skills to convince me to join Greenpeace. I have to donate $15 a month to them, which I will probably do for awhile but then put my donations on pause or cancel them, for a reason that I will get to shortly, but I don't mind donating for now, especially since it's for an incredibly important cause. Then we hugged and I was off on my merry way once more.
I went midnight hiking a few nights ago with some friends from my hallway-- we were going to hike to the "C" (a big concrete C at the top of the mountain behind our school) but we only made it about halfway up because we all had forgotten water and Jackie didn't have her inhaler. It was still an adventure, though, hiking halfway. The path is very steep, and coming back down proves fairly tricky in the dark-- the trail is all sand and rock, and it is hard not to slip and slide downward. The meteor shower was pretty cool; I saw probably ten while we were up there. This is the second meteor shower I have seen since being at UCR; there is another one on December 13th, but I will be home for that one, so hopefully it's not raining or overcast and I will be able to watch that from there.
So, I have been keeping busy, making new friends, chilling out with the friends that I have made. I am officially a member of The Cave, which is part of our hallway that is sort of out of sight because of a bend in the wall-- if you didn't go exploring and if people didn't come out from there, it would be hard to know it's there. But I spend nearly every spare moment I have in The Cave or with friends from the Cave, and I have grown very comfortable with them. We are all very different, but I guess you can say that about any group of friends. They're all really cool, and I wish there were a way to introduce them to you (Mom) and you (Anna) and you (everyone else that reads this blog). They are, in no way, a replacement of my old friends; I have realized that I don't need to replace old friends to make new friends. Of course, I always knew that, but I'm saying it out loud now. You don't need to replace old friends to make new friends. I still talk to Anna, Jessica, Jessica, Zach, Yvette, Sarah, Depeche, and Cullen quite often, and there is no way, no how that I would ever stop talking to them unless Southern California split along the fault line and capsized into the Pacific. That would be quite unfortunate.
Now, for the bad news. If the UC Regents approve, my tuition is going to be raised 32% by this coming Winter quarter, and 44% by Spring. I will be paying nearly double what I am paying now for the same exact education. And WHY will I be paying more? I'm not quite sure, but I have a feeling it's so they can "generate more money in the education system and bring back blablabla..." In other words, so we can pay them for doing their crappy jobs and exploiting students. Of all people to target-- students. I know it's not just students; it's hospitals and it's small businesses. It is the groups of people who are below the elite, who cannot afford health care or higher education. Not even higher education alone! ALL education! People are always saying, "You are the future. You're children are the future!" But if they're beating us out of schools, if they're creating situations where we are not allowed to learn, then what kind of future are we looking forward to? We are the future; we have so much potential; we can do it. But right now, the future is looking pretty bleek.
There was even a proposition by the regent out of San Diego to shut down the UC Riverside and UC Merced campuses to save money for the other UCs. Just because we haven't established our names yet. Just because our established name is "University of College Rejects". Because we're the underdogs, the lower middle and lower classes on the socioeconomic scale. Because we are not the brightest, nor the strongest.
This is all crap. Maybe we're not the best at sports and maybe our students don't come out of highschool with the highest GPAs; maybe a majority of us couldn't afford to apply to more schools; maybe we're only here because we got accepted. Well, so be it. That doesn't mean we're inadequate; dumb, low, unworthy. That doesn't mean anything. We're diverse. We're friendly. Smart. A majority of our professors actually care about our education, unlike at the CSUs, where professors use their furlough days and spend their lectures complaining about pay cuts; where students have to sue because the school is cutting upperdivision classes so students can't graduate. At least we give a damn about the well-being of the state, the nation, the world; come together and fight for what we believe in.
Okay, it's true, I've officially got UCR pride. But when facing such a high mountain-- my school might get shut down; I'm going to be paying my tuition and a half in less than six months-- it's hard not to band together and fight for myself and for every other student, staff member, and professor in this school. We're a community, and communities are supposed to back eachother up, not just sit on the sidelines and watch as a few take on the challenge. We've all got to work together for this one if we want to change what is changing. We all deserve a chance, and these fee increases are going to leave most of us high and dry. That shouldn't happen. That can't happen.
We're the future. Aren't we?
Last night, I hosted a highschool student from San Jose in my room, so she could get an impression of UCR. I felt like a bad host; there's not much to do and she just seemed like she wanted to text the whole time, which isn't very fun. She and her friend weren't really into any of the activities that we were required to attend, even though Kat(herine) and I were having a good time making stress balls out of balloons and flour and playing with goo. This goo was crazy! You could, like, grap a fistful of goo in your hands and squeeze it-- you know it's solid-- but as soon as you open your fist it dissolves into water. WHOA CRAZY GOO! Anyway, we ended up playing cards and Jackie, Christy, and Christy came into the room a little later and they were pretty entertaining. She said she didn't have a bad time, that she had a good time, but I don't know. We had to get her back to the bus at 6:45 this morning; needless to say, I crashed when I got back to the room.
I joined Greenpeace yesterday! While I was walking around with Stephanie (my hostee), a guy runs up to me and asks, 'Do you love the environment? I love the environment!" Yeah, I love the environment. And then he used his amazing rhetorical skills to convince me to join Greenpeace. I have to donate $15 a month to them, which I will probably do for awhile but then put my donations on pause or cancel them, for a reason that I will get to shortly, but I don't mind donating for now, especially since it's for an incredibly important cause. Then we hugged and I was off on my merry way once more.
I went midnight hiking a few nights ago with some friends from my hallway-- we were going to hike to the "C" (a big concrete C at the top of the mountain behind our school) but we only made it about halfway up because we all had forgotten water and Jackie didn't have her inhaler. It was still an adventure, though, hiking halfway. The path is very steep, and coming back down proves fairly tricky in the dark-- the trail is all sand and rock, and it is hard not to slip and slide downward. The meteor shower was pretty cool; I saw probably ten while we were up there. This is the second meteor shower I have seen since being at UCR; there is another one on December 13th, but I will be home for that one, so hopefully it's not raining or overcast and I will be able to watch that from there.
So, I have been keeping busy, making new friends, chilling out with the friends that I have made. I am officially a member of The Cave, which is part of our hallway that is sort of out of sight because of a bend in the wall-- if you didn't go exploring and if people didn't come out from there, it would be hard to know it's there. But I spend nearly every spare moment I have in The Cave or with friends from the Cave, and I have grown very comfortable with them. We are all very different, but I guess you can say that about any group of friends. They're all really cool, and I wish there were a way to introduce them to you (Mom) and you (Anna) and you (everyone else that reads this blog). They are, in no way, a replacement of my old friends; I have realized that I don't need to replace old friends to make new friends. Of course, I always knew that, but I'm saying it out loud now. You don't need to replace old friends to make new friends. I still talk to Anna, Jessica, Jessica, Zach, Yvette, Sarah, Depeche, and Cullen quite often, and there is no way, no how that I would ever stop talking to them unless Southern California split along the fault line and capsized into the Pacific. That would be quite unfortunate.
Now, for the bad news. If the UC Regents approve, my tuition is going to be raised 32% by this coming Winter quarter, and 44% by Spring. I will be paying nearly double what I am paying now for the same exact education. And WHY will I be paying more? I'm not quite sure, but I have a feeling it's so they can "generate more money in the education system and bring back blablabla..." In other words, so we can pay them for doing their crappy jobs and exploiting students. Of all people to target-- students. I know it's not just students; it's hospitals and it's small businesses. It is the groups of people who are below the elite, who cannot afford health care or higher education. Not even higher education alone! ALL education! People are always saying, "You are the future. You're children are the future!" But if they're beating us out of schools, if they're creating situations where we are not allowed to learn, then what kind of future are we looking forward to? We are the future; we have so much potential; we can do it. But right now, the future is looking pretty bleek.
There was even a proposition by the regent out of San Diego to shut down the UC Riverside and UC Merced campuses to save money for the other UCs. Just because we haven't established our names yet. Just because our established name is "University of College Rejects". Because we're the underdogs, the lower middle and lower classes on the socioeconomic scale. Because we are not the brightest, nor the strongest.
This is all crap. Maybe we're not the best at sports and maybe our students don't come out of highschool with the highest GPAs; maybe a majority of us couldn't afford to apply to more schools; maybe we're only here because we got accepted. Well, so be it. That doesn't mean we're inadequate; dumb, low, unworthy. That doesn't mean anything. We're diverse. We're friendly. Smart. A majority of our professors actually care about our education, unlike at the CSUs, where professors use their furlough days and spend their lectures complaining about pay cuts; where students have to sue because the school is cutting upperdivision classes so students can't graduate. At least we give a damn about the well-being of the state, the nation, the world; come together and fight for what we believe in.
Okay, it's true, I've officially got UCR pride. But when facing such a high mountain-- my school might get shut down; I'm going to be paying my tuition and a half in less than six months-- it's hard not to band together and fight for myself and for every other student, staff member, and professor in this school. We're a community, and communities are supposed to back eachother up, not just sit on the sidelines and watch as a few take on the challenge. We've all got to work together for this one if we want to change what is changing. We all deserve a chance, and these fee increases are going to leave most of us high and dry. That shouldn't happen. That can't happen.
We're the future. Aren't we?
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Pass the Sardines, Please
I just got back from an epic afternoon at the mall with a group of friends. We went and played this game that Kat calls Sardines, which is backwards hide and seek-- one person hides while the other players go out and look for them. Texting clues is legal, which is really cool because then everyone is like "OH THEY MUST BE HERE!" and then they aren't. I don't know. It was really cool, though. Top floor of the mall + Three hours + Eight People = Fun fun fun. It was intense.
Now, I have to study for a midterm. Philosophy midterm #2, to be precise. I got a C+ on my last one, and I'm aiming to do better. I really don't care about this class though. It's completely boring and the midterm is nothing but a spew of everything that the professor said in lecture regarding the readings. I honestly don't think I've learned anything in that class... philosophy just takes me in circles. I'm hoping I do better on this midterm though. Chances are I'll freeze up and everything I wanted to say will come out wrong. If I make it through that class with a B, though, I'm happy.
It's weird to think that. Usually, I won't settle for anything less than an A-; anything to do with grades below that bothers the hell out of me. And here I am saying that I'm happy if I get a B in that class. College isn't so much harder than highschool that I should be settling for a B. Maybe it's just because I dislike the class. In highschool math classes, I would strive for an A, but if I got a B, no big deal. Just try harder next time. And of course I want to work towards an A, but I don't really see myself getting one... the class is just so boring. It's so boring I don't even want to think about it. Complaining in type won't do anything; complaining aloud won't do anything; all I can do is buckle down and hope for the best.
My brain sort of just stopped working. I've been pretty frustrated for the past couple of days and it's all sort of building up and building up. I don't like it, but I don't know how to get it out. I want to paint, but there's no painting supplies except watercolours and my vision is a big, dark acrylic. I want to write but the words just won't come to me. I even write idea drafts but I can't feel them in my heart the way that I really want them. I don't know. I just kind of need a break.
And that's what today was, I guess. But now it's time to be serious. I've got midterms and papers coming up this weekend and I need to get to work.
After I call my mom...
Aaron was here this last weekend, recording at The Ship with Earlimart, so I went over to Eagle Rock and Silverlake and hung out with Aaron all weekend. Nearly 20 hours of drum tracks for the same three songs over and over again... but it's all good! Seeing Aaron and Aaron was great, and I can't wait until Aaron comes here for Thanksgiving. Thank you Joel and Kelly for letting us come over and feeding us. :)
Besides that, school has just been school. Trying to take care of business while keeping healthy and making friends and all that stuff. I really want to go running, but I'll just have to deal and wait until I got to ab attack tomorrow to go to the gym. I've picked out my classes for next quarter (just as long as they don't fill up before I register in two weeks...). I'll post my final schedule for sure as soon as I get it.
I guess that's just a little nonsense blurb of what's going on. My brain sort of just stopped working and I kept typing and... bleh.
Time to go do stuff.
Now, I have to study for a midterm. Philosophy midterm #2, to be precise. I got a C+ on my last one, and I'm aiming to do better. I really don't care about this class though. It's completely boring and the midterm is nothing but a spew of everything that the professor said in lecture regarding the readings. I honestly don't think I've learned anything in that class... philosophy just takes me in circles. I'm hoping I do better on this midterm though. Chances are I'll freeze up and everything I wanted to say will come out wrong. If I make it through that class with a B, though, I'm happy.
It's weird to think that. Usually, I won't settle for anything less than an A-; anything to do with grades below that bothers the hell out of me. And here I am saying that I'm happy if I get a B in that class. College isn't so much harder than highschool that I should be settling for a B. Maybe it's just because I dislike the class. In highschool math classes, I would strive for an A, but if I got a B, no big deal. Just try harder next time. And of course I want to work towards an A, but I don't really see myself getting one... the class is just so boring. It's so boring I don't even want to think about it. Complaining in type won't do anything; complaining aloud won't do anything; all I can do is buckle down and hope for the best.
My brain sort of just stopped working. I've been pretty frustrated for the past couple of days and it's all sort of building up and building up. I don't like it, but I don't know how to get it out. I want to paint, but there's no painting supplies except watercolours and my vision is a big, dark acrylic. I want to write but the words just won't come to me. I even write idea drafts but I can't feel them in my heart the way that I really want them. I don't know. I just kind of need a break.
And that's what today was, I guess. But now it's time to be serious. I've got midterms and papers coming up this weekend and I need to get to work.
After I call my mom...
Aaron was here this last weekend, recording at The Ship with Earlimart, so I went over to Eagle Rock and Silverlake and hung out with Aaron all weekend. Nearly 20 hours of drum tracks for the same three songs over and over again... but it's all good! Seeing Aaron and Aaron was great, and I can't wait until Aaron comes here for Thanksgiving. Thank you Joel and Kelly for letting us come over and feeding us. :)
Besides that, school has just been school. Trying to take care of business while keeping healthy and making friends and all that stuff. I really want to go running, but I'll just have to deal and wait until I got to ab attack tomorrow to go to the gym. I've picked out my classes for next quarter (just as long as they don't fill up before I register in two weeks...). I'll post my final schedule for sure as soon as I get it.
I guess that's just a little nonsense blurb of what's going on. My brain sort of just stopped working and I kept typing and... bleh.
Time to go do stuff.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Overdue
It's been two weeks since I last posted a blog. I'm sorry it took so long, but I've been frightfully busy (and still am), but I believed that you (whoever reads this-- Family and friends) should have an update as to what is going on in my life.
I will start with this weekend, as it is the most fresh memory. On Friday, I went up to Kat's house with Kat and Marianna (they are friends from my hallway, both are extremely nice) in the high desert. Kat's town is pretty much in the middle of nowhere-- they don't have a post office... there is one main road that connects the towns, and then all of the houses are built along dirt roads. Instead of the scenery being dotted with cows, everything is covered in joshua trees. Her house is super awesome. It reminded me of Dave and Lacey's house a bit, but with no cows.
On Friday night, there was a Halloween party with Kat's friends; everyone was very nice and almost everyone dressed up. When it got dark, we played Kick the Can, which is like a variation of hide-and-seek. There was a big campfire by the can so that people who had been caught could keep warm while they waited for their can-kicking saviors to come to the rescue. After that, we all went inside and played Rock Band until midnight, which was designated quiet time as dictated by Kat's mom, who had to get up early the next morning.
Saturday, we headed up the mountain to Wrightwood, where Kat's friends live, and went trick-or-treating. The common theme among us, I discovered, was that we were all wearing red, black, and white, unintentionally of course. The town is very small, but not as small as where Kat lives, but the main road consists of about two blocks of independently owned shops. Kat's friends Joe piled all 8 of us into his truck (however illegally) and drove us around to residential neighborhoods. It was pretty cool. Went back to Joe's house and watched part of Saw 1 (which was not scary at all-- I laughed at the Jigsaw puppet the first time I saw it on the screen), but were unable to finish it because we had to get going back to Kat's to feed the horses. Got back around 10:45 and went to sleep around 12. I had LOST dreams, which was pretty cool, probably spurred by Ben and Miles' appearances in Saw (Charlie wasn't dead!!). Stayed at Kat's until about 3:00 doing homework and laundry before we came back to Riverside.
I still have to finish a page long essay and about three pages of my Islam essay and then my homework will be done for tonight and tomorrow.
I got my first Anthropology essay back... Dr. Harvey graded it himself and gave me an A+!!!! I have not been more excited in my life. I'm thinking about going to the gym tonight in a little while, when this blog is done, and coming back to write my essay when I return.
I have been going to the gym almost everyday, although I haven't gone running in a week, which is what I will do tonight, when I go. I just decided I would go when I deleted the IF from that sentence and turned it into a WHEN. Good job, me!! On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I go to this fitness class with Kat and Marianna called AB ATTACK. The instructor looks like Cruella d'Evil, but she's nice and she's in intensely good shape. She's in better shape than any other elderly woman I have ever seen. On Wednesday last week I went to Cardio Kickboxing, which I think I will start doing on a Wednesdaily basis (Monday is the other day, but I have class when it happens, so I won't be able to go). Kat and I tried our hand at tennis last week after Ab Attack... it was an epic fail, but it was still fun. I've found that exercise, though it takes up time that I could be devoting to homework (but I won't if I chose not to go to the gym) helps me in keeping my headstraight and gives me a time to listen to music without it distracting from my studies. Plus, gym membership is included in tuition and there's no way to cancel it and get a refund, so I might as well go if I'm paying for it, you know? :)
Last weekend, I went to Disneyland with Courney Holtzclaw and Ava. They picked me up on Sunday morning and we went all day-- it was totally awesome! I went on Thunder Mountain Rail for the first time, which I think might be one of my favourite rides so far. It was pretty funny... Ava was JUST tall enough to go on most of the "big kid" rides... so we took her on it. She was scared at first, started crying and saying she wanted to get off, so Courtney told Ava that she could hide her head in her shirt and hold onto the handlebar in front. Ava did this as we were going up the hill to one of the drops, but also had her hands in the air, ready for the drop. It was so funny! By the end of the ride, she was having fun, and we were all really proud of her bravery. Soarin' Over California at California Adventure was wicked cool. I saw Lake Tahoe and San Francisco... but the whole time I was looking for the valley and it wasn't there! It's not like it's one of the agricultural centers of California or anything, you know? I was slightly disappointed with their disclusion of my Home, but it's okay. Fantasmic was way cooler than I remember it being... they have an animatronic dragon now, the one that Malificent turns into, that breathes fire... IT'S SO COOL!!!! Pirates of the Caribbean is still as good as ever, although they did change it to conform to the movies a little bit, which sort of makes it more commercial (the same with Small World-- they inserted little Disney princesses all over the ride). It was really great seeing a familiar face after a month, AND going to Disneyland with them! Thank you so much, Courtney and Ava!!!!
I'm eating meat again!! After a month and a half of not eating meat, I decided that I would just go for it and eat some meat. I'm not eating meat everyday, but I'm not actively avoiding it anymore. I'd forgotten how good it was! YES ON PROP MEAT!!!
I'm starting to pick out my classes for next quarter, although my registration isn't until November 23rd. I have to take my next Islam sequence class (Politics with Professor Reza Aslan, if any of you have heard of his books "no god but God" and "How to Win a Cosmic War", or seen him on the news or on The Daily Show)!! Professor Aslan is also an assistant professor in the Creative Writing department, where he teaches Fiction classes, so hopefully I will be having him again the future. I am planning on taking English 1C, as I have placed out of the two English classes prior to it, so hopefully the class isn't full. I NEED to get into Creative Writing 56, as it is a prerequisite for all of my lower-div classes, but it's open to all majors in all colleges, and I don't have priority enrollment. I'm going to waitlist, if I can't get in, and hopefully go speak with the professor and see if there's any way that I can get added without having a waitlist. They should make it so that Creative Writing students get first dibs on Creative Writing classes, but that's not the way it works. I am deliberating with my last class... I need 4 quarters of a foreign language, so I think I may take Spanish this coming quarter and leave sciences for summer school at MJC. We'll see what happens, and I'll figure everything out so that I can register AS SOON AS my enrollment period opens.
Besides that, I've just been doing lots of work in my classes-- making new friends, keeping in touch with old ones. Aaron is supposed to be in L.A. next weekend, so I might get to get out of here three weekends in a row, which would be awesome!! David Depeche is supposed to come visit the following weekend; I need to get ahold of him tonight and see if the plan is still in action. The weekend after that is Thanksgiving at Joel and Kelly's, and then only two more weeks at Riverside and then I can come Home!!!! I can't wait to see everyone and take a break from this hectic life. It's not a New life, it's just a contiuation and a change from the old one.
I love everyone! Sorry if took so long; I'll definitely try to update more so that all of the excitement and anticipation isn't contained. <3 <3
I will start with this weekend, as it is the most fresh memory. On Friday, I went up to Kat's house with Kat and Marianna (they are friends from my hallway, both are extremely nice) in the high desert. Kat's town is pretty much in the middle of nowhere-- they don't have a post office... there is one main road that connects the towns, and then all of the houses are built along dirt roads. Instead of the scenery being dotted with cows, everything is covered in joshua trees. Her house is super awesome. It reminded me of Dave and Lacey's house a bit, but with no cows.
On Friday night, there was a Halloween party with Kat's friends; everyone was very nice and almost everyone dressed up. When it got dark, we played Kick the Can, which is like a variation of hide-and-seek. There was a big campfire by the can so that people who had been caught could keep warm while they waited for their can-kicking saviors to come to the rescue. After that, we all went inside and played Rock Band until midnight, which was designated quiet time as dictated by Kat's mom, who had to get up early the next morning.
Saturday, we headed up the mountain to Wrightwood, where Kat's friends live, and went trick-or-treating. The common theme among us, I discovered, was that we were all wearing red, black, and white, unintentionally of course. The town is very small, but not as small as where Kat lives, but the main road consists of about two blocks of independently owned shops. Kat's friends Joe piled all 8 of us into his truck (however illegally) and drove us around to residential neighborhoods. It was pretty cool. Went back to Joe's house and watched part of Saw 1 (which was not scary at all-- I laughed at the Jigsaw puppet the first time I saw it on the screen), but were unable to finish it because we had to get going back to Kat's to feed the horses. Got back around 10:45 and went to sleep around 12. I had LOST dreams, which was pretty cool, probably spurred by Ben and Miles' appearances in Saw (Charlie wasn't dead!!). Stayed at Kat's until about 3:00 doing homework and laundry before we came back to Riverside.
I still have to finish a page long essay and about three pages of my Islam essay and then my homework will be done for tonight and tomorrow.
I got my first Anthropology essay back... Dr. Harvey graded it himself and gave me an A+!!!! I have not been more excited in my life. I'm thinking about going to the gym tonight in a little while, when this blog is done, and coming back to write my essay when I return.
I have been going to the gym almost everyday, although I haven't gone running in a week, which is what I will do tonight, when I go. I just decided I would go when I deleted the IF from that sentence and turned it into a WHEN. Good job, me!! On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I go to this fitness class with Kat and Marianna called AB ATTACK. The instructor looks like Cruella d'Evil, but she's nice and she's in intensely good shape. She's in better shape than any other elderly woman I have ever seen. On Wednesday last week I went to Cardio Kickboxing, which I think I will start doing on a Wednesdaily basis (Monday is the other day, but I have class when it happens, so I won't be able to go). Kat and I tried our hand at tennis last week after Ab Attack... it was an epic fail, but it was still fun. I've found that exercise, though it takes up time that I could be devoting to homework (but I won't if I chose not to go to the gym) helps me in keeping my headstraight and gives me a time to listen to music without it distracting from my studies. Plus, gym membership is included in tuition and there's no way to cancel it and get a refund, so I might as well go if I'm paying for it, you know? :)
Last weekend, I went to Disneyland with Courney Holtzclaw and Ava. They picked me up on Sunday morning and we went all day-- it was totally awesome! I went on Thunder Mountain Rail for the first time, which I think might be one of my favourite rides so far. It was pretty funny... Ava was JUST tall enough to go on most of the "big kid" rides... so we took her on it. She was scared at first, started crying and saying she wanted to get off, so Courtney told Ava that she could hide her head in her shirt and hold onto the handlebar in front. Ava did this as we were going up the hill to one of the drops, but also had her hands in the air, ready for the drop. It was so funny! By the end of the ride, she was having fun, and we were all really proud of her bravery. Soarin' Over California at California Adventure was wicked cool. I saw Lake Tahoe and San Francisco... but the whole time I was looking for the valley and it wasn't there! It's not like it's one of the agricultural centers of California or anything, you know? I was slightly disappointed with their disclusion of my Home, but it's okay. Fantasmic was way cooler than I remember it being... they have an animatronic dragon now, the one that Malificent turns into, that breathes fire... IT'S SO COOL!!!! Pirates of the Caribbean is still as good as ever, although they did change it to conform to the movies a little bit, which sort of makes it more commercial (the same with Small World-- they inserted little Disney princesses all over the ride). It was really great seeing a familiar face after a month, AND going to Disneyland with them! Thank you so much, Courtney and Ava!!!!
I'm eating meat again!! After a month and a half of not eating meat, I decided that I would just go for it and eat some meat. I'm not eating meat everyday, but I'm not actively avoiding it anymore. I'd forgotten how good it was! YES ON PROP MEAT!!!
I'm starting to pick out my classes for next quarter, although my registration isn't until November 23rd. I have to take my next Islam sequence class (Politics with Professor Reza Aslan, if any of you have heard of his books "no god but God" and "How to Win a Cosmic War", or seen him on the news or on The Daily Show)!! Professor Aslan is also an assistant professor in the Creative Writing department, where he teaches Fiction classes, so hopefully I will be having him again the future. I am planning on taking English 1C, as I have placed out of the two English classes prior to it, so hopefully the class isn't full. I NEED to get into Creative Writing 56, as it is a prerequisite for all of my lower-div classes, but it's open to all majors in all colleges, and I don't have priority enrollment. I'm going to waitlist, if I can't get in, and hopefully go speak with the professor and see if there's any way that I can get added without having a waitlist. They should make it so that Creative Writing students get first dibs on Creative Writing classes, but that's not the way it works. I am deliberating with my last class... I need 4 quarters of a foreign language, so I think I may take Spanish this coming quarter and leave sciences for summer school at MJC. We'll see what happens, and I'll figure everything out so that I can register AS SOON AS my enrollment period opens.
Besides that, I've just been doing lots of work in my classes-- making new friends, keeping in touch with old ones. Aaron is supposed to be in L.A. next weekend, so I might get to get out of here three weekends in a row, which would be awesome!! David Depeche is supposed to come visit the following weekend; I need to get ahold of him tonight and see if the plan is still in action. The weekend after that is Thanksgiving at Joel and Kelly's, and then only two more weeks at Riverside and then I can come Home!!!! I can't wait to see everyone and take a break from this hectic life. It's not a New life, it's just a contiuation and a change from the old one.
I love everyone! Sorry if took so long; I'll definitely try to update more so that all of the excitement and anticipation isn't contained. <3 <3
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