So I have 15 minutes before my Econ class, and I've had the blogging itch for a while, so here goes another ramble... Before the good stuff I have to get through the obligatory beginning of semester summary.

I have six classes, 16 credits. Last semester was a nice, easily managable 4 class, 13 credit affair that went pretty smoothly on the whole, except for my jackass of a native-French speaking Spanish prof. Considering how badly I did on some of his exams, the A- I got was higher than I expected, but my beloved 4.0 is now gone. I will miss it. It was good for raising eyebrows in the counselling office: "Well, you have to have a 2.5 to be admitted... Oh, *embarassed laugh* you'll have no problem with that, will you?" Nope. Although I guess you can't really sneeze at a 3.9 either, but it just doesn't have the magic of the 4.0. Mi professor no fue un buen tipo de professor, porque siempre gano un A en mis clases de espanol. Que lastima.



So yeah, this new semester is a bit of a rude awakening. For one thing, I have to write actual papers again. I've had a bit of a break from that and I am not looking forward to it. Especially since I'm pretty sure that the Macroeconomics research paper is supposed to be a group thing. How do you write a research paper as a group? Macroeconomics is definately the class I'm most leery of, (Prof w/ accent, projects up to wazoo) but Management Information Systems (lots of group projects, no idea what the class is about even after 3rd day, prof with accent) is a close second and Business Law (tricky subject matter, have to lead group discussion) could be a problem too. Stats seems easy enough so far, but we're only in the first chapter, it could get worse. *Since writing this sentance I have discovered that yes, indeed, it gets worse. For one thing, my mom's friend's son is in there too, and although we played together as infants, including him explaining his limited knowledge of the production process of chicken and stars soup to me, we really haven't had anything to do with eachother since. The last time we interacted at all was a year ago, I was babysitting his brothers, he walked in and yelled "Hi babysitter!" down the stairs, and went on to discuss his football game w/ the friends he had brought home. It was awkward. I am still trying to figure out if he even knows who I am. My Management Accounting class should be fine, I put my trust in good ole prof Stove from last semester's Financial Accounting class. He's a good egg. My 1 credit Accounting class shouldn't be a problem. It's just the acutal manual accounting and I get along w/ that okay.

So anyways, as usual, college leaves me with all too many opportunities to think and make observations, including but not limited to bus rides, waiting for class to start while trying not to make eye contact with anyone, and my breaks.

Observation #1: After having bought three semesters' worth of books, I have noticed an interesting trend in book binding techniques. Certain types of classes will always have softcover bindings, and other will inevitably be hard cover. Hardcover genres include all math books (including accounting) language books, and science books (when they are involved with medical majors). Softcover genres include gen ed classes (this is WITHOUT fail), computer books, and economics books. Why is this? Maybe the people responsible don't even realize what they are doing, but I like to think it has something to do with the age and permanancy of the information. Take your average math or anatomy book, for instance... The human anatomy doesn't change much, and neither do the ancient rules of algebra or geometry. They're old, they aren't gonna change, and therefore they get a hardcover binding. Your average gen ed book, however, isn't very large, or important, and is probably gonna be completely revolutionized as the fashionable ideas about the topic change. Take your average CS150 book. A signifigant portion of the content didn't exist 5 years ago. Almost none of it existed 15 years ago. In another 5 years the book will probably be completely irrelevant, so what's the point? That's kind of discouraging though... In most of my business subjects, everything I learn will be outdated in a few years. Why am I learning it at all? Why not just wait a few years and go to school then? Because what I learn then will then be outdated within a matter of months, if the exponential growth predictions are to be believed... What's gonna happen to us when we can't keep up anymore? This is annoying for other reasons too... Like buying a new computer. Buy one now, and have it become obsolete in a year, or put up with junk for another year so you can buy the latest technology and be cutting edge for a few months. But then that one will be outdated too. Same goes for speakers, cars, TV's, sound systems, etc... How is this gonna end?

Observation #2: In regular classrooms, the whatever it was in the old metaphor (chips?) tend to lie where they fall, which, being interpreted, means that within a few class periods an unofficial, unspoken seating chart has been created, to be upheld on pain of incensed glares from the owner of the usurped seat. This does not hold true for computer classes, however. The kids in my management class keep bouncing around like BB's in a boxcar, true, there is usually one or two unoperational computers each day (location varies) which tends to cause some disturbance, but honestly, why can't they pick a spot and usually stick with it? It's disconcerting to find the spot you had staked out for yourself one day occupied the next, leaving you to fend for yourself, and to have different neighbors every time.

Observation #3: I've been contemplating the ramifications of man being made of dust and woman being made from man's rib... First, that may explain why girls are on average smaller than guys. Second, I think this explains some of the big differences b/t men and women personaltiy wise. I've forgotten a lot of my conclusions about this, apparently, because none of the good ones are coming to mind, but one of them was that guys were made of earth, so they have colder personalities over all... Women were made of flesh, so they are more emotional and warm. Then again, earth isn't as strong a material as bone, which justifies my age-old theory that deep down men just aren't quite as strong as women. Another thing I think women being made of Adam's rib explains is why the sexes are so attracted to eachother. It kind of works like charged cells... Guys are missing a rib, and we have the missing rib... therefore we bond. Lol... Simplistic I know.

I'm glad nobody I know reads this blog anymore, because these observations offer a somewhat intimate glimpse into the weird wanderings of my bored mind. It's gonna be a good semester for the old blog, because I have a short break in which I am in close proximity to a few uncrowded computer labs, so expect more observations to follow.

Ice, Ice Baby

Well... today was interesting. First of all, I'm on my winter break from school. Work has been slow for the past few weeks, so I haven't had to work. Which is good, obviously, because it means I occasionally have been able to sleep in during my break. It is also bad, however, because I'm spending money like a drunken sailor and have nothing to replace it with. Along with that, the schoolessness and worklessness has lured me into a false sense of freedom, to be brutally crushed next Monday. Well, possibly tommorow even, as I will be buying books. Of course, that isn't really as painful for me as it could be, since I still have scholarship overflow checks coming. Still, book-buying is about the only time college students ever see $100 bills. Well, anyway, as has been established, I'm on break.
So are other college students.
Including a lonely rocket scientist-to-be, who asked a friend to hang out, and then me (because I just had to have my tart remark, even though I could guess at the consequences). We are both to nice to openly refuse, but we are also not interested in quality one-on-one with the guy. Our solution? Maxmize the girl-to-guy ratio. Four of us ended up meeting him for skating downtown, which really was fun even though the skates were crappy. I like skating, and I wish I had some way of taking classes to get more skillz. That and gymnastics and scuba diving and body surfing and snowboarding and ballet and modern dance and the list goes on and on and on. All the things my parents didn't get me into as a child, dooming me to a life of "good enough to get by" in all things physical. So anyways, I've been distracted from the point of this post, which is, a rant about coffee shops.
So after the skating we all head for this coffee shop one of the girls knew about. This involved going the wrong way on a one way street, stopping for a red light in the MIDDLE of the intersection (with a cop directly behind us, fortunately going off-duty), several foiled attempts (due to construction-based road closures) to get across town, and another driving infraction commited in the presence of a cop.
Needless to say, we all were ready for a cuppa. Now, I'm a noob where coffee shops are concerned, especially when I can't read the menu behind the counter since I forgot my contacts (again). I've never been to a Starbucks. The most elegant coffee drink I had previously ordered would be the English Toffee cappucino at Russ's. Luckily for me they had a little flip-style specials menu thing out on the counter, and this mint mochachino thing sounded good. A friend promised me I could get it warm, as opposed to iced. I can't abide iced coffee. Any more than a quarter cup and I am nauseated, as also happens with any variety of tea or soy milk. Anyway, my turn arrives and I cheerily ask for a warm mint mocachino. The guy mumbles something involving "hot" into his headpiece, and the girl on the other end apparently has as much trouble understanding him as I do, as he was forced to repeat himself several times. He then turns his attention back to me, and says something about "Mint Condition" this I knew to be a drink with espresso, and I was (and still am) wary of espresso, since I don't like strong coffee. Is espresso a really strong coffee, or is it just extra caffinated? I was about to let it go, but then I decided that I should start standing up for myself, and should make sure I got exactly what I wanted. Isn't that what these establishments are all about? So I told him, wait, I asked for the Mint Mochachino, and proceeded to show him the picture. He muttered some more on his headpiece and then culled $4.55 from my roll of bills. I moved on down the line, anticipating a mouthfull of warm, minty goodness. Talk started up again, as it will between girlfriends, and somewhere along the way doubt was cast on my drink. The statement about being able to get a warm mint mochachino was retracted, and replaced with the idea that the "Mint Condition" was actually the warm version. Which meant that by insisting on the "Mint Mochachino" I had actually procured for myself a clear plastic cup of what turned out to be mint-flavored brown water textured with little chunks of ice and chocolate chips. I lasted for about half of it, mostly due to the chocolate chunks, but then stomachache and chills set in, from which I am still suffering as I write, even after a restoring bowl of piping-hot homemade potato soup. I feel robbed.
Moral of the story: When in coffeehouses, don't order any of those fancy schmancy drinks. Especially if you're like me--I have a little more experience after tonight, but ordering coffee is an adventure for me, since no matter what I ask for I will be at least a little suprised by the contents of what I end up getting. You will be much better off with a bowl of the soup of the day. Or if you are feeling bold maybe even a plain old mild/medium blend coffee with a hazelnut flavor shot and enough cream and sugar to incite comment.
With that I would like to wish every one a blessed New Year!!!!!! The blog (still) lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!