A blase entry, seeing as this is my break and therefore no extravagant places were visited. I'm still mulling over going to Pompeii, Castel San Angelo, and the catacombs, and for a while Capri was thrown into the mix, but I don't think I'll be going to Capri. A sign of encouragement for another trip to Italy sometime in my future, perhaps?

( A little bit about the apartment, I guess. )

I was waffling earlier in the spring (and, really, even before that) about minors and the Classical Studies, but I guess I didn't have the motivation. I can say with confidence that this Rome trip has inspired me to pursue the Classical Studies minor with gusto. I changed my Autumn quarter so that I'm taking 18 credits, 8 of which are Classic Studies classes. I'm really not looking forward to one of the classes, History 311: Science in Civilization: Antiquity to 1600. I'm not science-minded at all, really, but this class A) fulfills Classic Studies credits, which I desperately need, and B) fulfills my W-credit, which I also need like none other. The other 3 credits I'm taking is an Architecture course focusing on the Ancient World, which...is exactly where I am right now, so I'm sure there'll be a few architectural marvels that crop up in the class that I've visited. I'll have to take 18 credits again in Winter, but I don't mind because the Classics classes I will take revolve around books (the Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, etc.), so I'm okay with that. It'll be kind of interesting, because I'll be taking that advanced class in winter, but in the spring I'll be taking an introductory course to Greek and Roman Classics. I'm sure I'm doing it wrong, but...there's nothing anywhere that says I need the introductory course first.

My only regret is that I don't know if there will be history classes available in winter/spring which are accepted for the Classic Studies minor. I'd be far more interested in the history than re-learning about the books and/or the Pantheon/Forum/etc. There's a book us Creative Writers in Rome are required to read which is a history textbook of Rome told in story-style which everyone has been complaining about. I unfortunately didn't start reading it until the day of the quiz (which, yeah, I did poorly on, but mostly because they asked obscure questions), but I was engrossed in reading it. It did start resembling a list at some point, simply naming kings/emperors/popes and the people who plundered Rome throughout the ages, but I was gulping the pages down. Again, I regret that dratted sophomore year, when I should have focused on my interest in history rather than somehow convince myself I could take Economics and a CSS class, but oh well. The minor should help somewhat.

They've also finally put up the requirements for the Korean minor and....3rd year is required. I can't take 3rd year, not without overloading on credits and dropping the Classic Studies minor. Even if I did drop the C.S. minor, I'd still need a W-credit, which none of the Korean classes are fulfilling, and even if they did I'd wind up having to overload on credits to something like 25 credits. It just won't happen. It breaks my heart a little, because I do really want to learn more, but...it just isn't feasible. Maybe if I come to the UW for a Master's program, which is a headache for an entirely different day (and not at ~2AM).

Random fact: Rick Kenney (my enthusiastic poet of a teacher) has a Wikipedia page. It boggles my mind, somewhat, and I wonder who put it up.

And...this post got a bit rambly. Eeps. I'll leave off with mentioning how I love having un-grated Parmesan cheese, Ravioli con carne, marinara sauce, and bacon bits all waiting for me to cook with it tomorrow. ^_________^


A poet can write about a man slaying a dragon, but not about a man pushing a button that releases a bomb. --W. H. Auden

After I got back from class today I checked my student page, and found they'd posted the next quarter's schedule up. And so, like the complete and utter dork I am, I went and tried to arrange my schedule about a month in advance. And I could very well make a schedule where I have classes ONLY on Tues/Thurs, but A) I would wind up having to make a mad dash across campus which would normally take me 15-20 minutes in 10 minutes, and B) I'm going to see what requirements there are for the Korean minor (which is FINALLY being offered!). If the minor requires a 3rd year, then I won't pursue it because I would go absolutely insane fulfilling all the other credits. If I only need to have taken through second year, then I'll probably take this Korean history class which also counts as a Writing credit, which would take care of all my GenEd requirements.

But, yes, I don't need to make those kinds of decisions until a little less than 3 weeks from now. Sooo....I'm not going to fret over Korean minor or No Korean minor.

I am going to (probably, if the teachers don't swap or something) be taking my Prose writing class from David Shields, an author whose books I have never read. I'll probably do that over the summer, before I take his class. I find it highly unlikely he would be so egotistic that he'd require us to have read his own book(s) for the class, but I'd just like to have some idea as to what his style is like.

I turned in all my visa stuff Thursday, one whole day before it was officially due, so that's over with. There was one tiny little section which the notary didn't know what to do with and I intended to ask the IPE person what I should do with it, but she wasn't there. >.< Sooo, I checked my email a little obsessively over the weekend to make sure there wasn't a message saying, "You screwed up. You need to come in PRONTO." As it's past the IPE's hours, now, I think I'm in the clear (at least for this portion of the application). If not, then it's IPE's fault, not mine. *sticks out tongue at IPE*

Washington weather really likes to be bipolar/insane. Over the weekend we got blue skies, rain, hail, and snow. In one day. With a few switches between them. *headdesk* My sister says she and Mom woke up to white on the ground in Olympia. In the UW's student newspaper, they forecast the weather in a little corner on the front page. They had rain, sun, clouds, and snow lined and bunched up to each other, and a little caption that said (roughly): "The weather's too wacky. We give up! Prepare for everything!"

See, this is why people in Washington/NW wear layers and all that. It's not because we think it's fashionable (though depending on what you do I suppose it can be). It's because of weather like this.

And now switching back to Rome topics...my first Official-Rome-Meeting is the 29th, so yay! I can actually jump up and down about it now since the visa thing is over with. So my Tuesday looks like:

9:30--Go to first class of the day.
1:30--Finish last class of the day.
3:00-5:00--Go to Rome meeting (YAY!!)
6:00-undetermined time--Go to review session for my Planets midterm on May 1st (and, on Wed., another review from the professor himself at 6:30). *twirls finger*

I'm not ecstatic about that last bit, but what can I do. The TA is supposedly going to hand out extremely comprehensive notes, soo...yeah. Want/need those.

I've also bought my flight ticket at long last, so now I know when precisely I leave the Seattle area. Huzzah for having to be at the airport 2-3 hours early, and therefore needing to be there by....well, actually, I'll have to wake up in the early early early hours of the morning just so I can get my stuff together, arrive at Sea-Tac, and be there for the 2-3 hour security check-in. @.@ Ooohh, I am sooooo sleeping on the plane. Or drinking an insane amount of caffeine. *headdesk repeatedly*

*Edit 7:25* My decree: Squirrels are much cuter than crows, and have my undying support over crows. Especially when 2 crows decide to bully one poor, cornered squirrel right under my window. And then proceed to stalk my window when I scare them off.


Zoe: You know, sometimes it sucks having a father who’s the town smokie.
Carter: Well sometimes it sucks having a daughter who’s the town delinquent. [Zoe glares at him] I take it back.
Zoe: Gee, thanks.
Carter: It always sucks. [exits the car] HA!

Zoe: Please, don’t make me do this. I hate old people.
Carter: You don’t do this, you won’t live to be one. --EUReKA, Dr. Nobel

First day of spring quarter!

Moving back in yesterday was sorta not very interesting (by this of course I exclude the AWESOMEness Nikki and I had watching Friday Night Project [think British SNL, with much less censorship] which featured David Tennant). For no reason whatsoever, though, I went to bed at 2AM, even though I thought I might have class at 9:30 (my wondering about whether I had class at 9:30 is explained below). I guess I just wanted to keep the spring break alive for just a little longer...

So, I am taking an astronomy class called The Planets, which is arranged in a way that quiz/lab sections are Monday and Wednesday and the main lecture is on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Obviously, since today is a Monday, there is no possible way we could be doing labs and such since we haven't even begun learning anything. So, I didn't know whether or not the quiz section met. Typically at the UW, the quiz sections don't meet during the first week of the quarter. So, by this reasoning, this quiz section wouldn't meet, right?

I didn't know for certain, though, since there was no email stating which case was true. Because I'm a paranoid person, I chose to go to quiz section. I figure, if it doesn't meet, then I can go take care of other stuff. Or possibly even eat breakfast, rather than making it a brunch.

I suppose I was rewarded. Quiz section was meeting. Blegh. I did not approve, though at least the TA is bright and alert at that hour, and by her own words she's TA-ed for the class a "million times" so she knows what she's about. Still....really? Convening the QS before the first lecture? Not cool.

And, slightly deviating: They took away the broken obelisk in Red Square!!!!
( An obscenely big image behind the cut, because LJ refuses my attempts to resize it )
It was true!! I read a post about it in the uw community, but I thought they'd bring it back in time by start of classes, since it was taken away for "cleaning" (...really? Why do they need to clean it??). 'Twas not the case. I took pictures ^.^

The Quad cherry blossoms were out, too, and I took a picture of that as well. ^.^ Was very happy. And, really, UW has this "Hogwarts-esque" thing going on. There's Hansee, which is like the school proper, and then there's all these little artsy-architecture-sculptures/whatever-you-want-to-call-it that's all around the school. In the Physics/Astronomy building, there's this neat little pendulum that swings according to the Earth's gravitational spin or whatnot, and in order to get to my QS classroom I have to take this winding staircase. Seriously. Hogwarts-extension.

Anyway, back to classes. 2nd Year Korean is the typical 2nd Year Korean, with lots of me panicking about being completely stupid. And I never noticed it, but they moved where the class was meeting! Originally we were meeting in the basement of Smith, which was fine by me, but now we're meeting on the 4th floor. 4 flights of stairs? NO. Yes, with all capitals. Elevator? Most definitely.

Chaucer....is where my lots nerdiness comes in. I had to run down the 4 flights of stairs and then another bit of stairs to exit Smith, run up the big long hill to Denny, climb another bit of stairs to enter, and get to the classroom, which took about 5 minutes, and then the 2 hour class started. The teacher's a bit...I guess absentminded? He kept starting a topic, waxing on about it and a few tangents, and then restarted the topic again, but it was alright since I kinda do that, too. But then he got started on the timeline and history of Medieval literature, and what those years encompass in terms of people and such, and I was enthralled by it. *shifts eyes* I guess if I'd been more on the ball about my college experience I would've been a history minor (or double major, even), but I was interested in learning about the different names for the eras and people of them. History of English literature, I suppose they'd call it. I suppose it's the feel of it being trivia that attracts me to learning/knowing it. Maybe something to pursue in grad studies--except I'm not intending to faint in horror today, so I'm going to stop right there on that idea.

I think I'm really going to like Paul (the teacher). He kinda gives me a Mr. Hesse vibe, which sorta isn't a good thing, but Paul has a good Mr. Hesse vibe. He obviously wanted to talk at length about how bad the UBookstore is about textbooks and which professors ordered theirs. He ordered his weeks ago, but they claim to have not received it, and he went on at length about how much trouble he went to in copying and pasting the different ISBNs and finding them and how there aren't convenient options and so on and so forth. I found it amusing, at least. AND he gave a good reason for why he wanted specific editions of the texts, which was my main concern and grief with the class, so I'm at ease about it now. And there's an OPTIONAL multiple choice midterm exam (read: Extra Credit), and a choice between writing a literary criticism or research paper that's due at the end of the quarter, and the only required exam is also multiple choice, and I actually want to read the texts, and and and and and....!!!!!!!!

....is it obvious how much of a nerdy English/Creative Writing major I am now? *angles herself to hide under her desk from all the rolling eyes*

Speaking of books, I'm waiting to receive my email confirmation from B&N that my books have been shipped to them, which should be today since I requested 2-day shipping and ordered them Saturday. Since the UBookstore is being stupid and the only text we need for the next 4 weeks is the book I have, I'm not too concerned.

I've written it in my Facebook, but I'll reiterate here for emphasis: Joss Whedon is making me into a comics collector. *headdesk* Buffy Season 8 which will be going for FIFTY ISSUES and Firefly comics which seem to be coming out in 3s, and Joss has said/confirmed that there will be a Shephard Book series (in comics, I assume) after the Better Days arc.

*flails* I'm a college student! I'm going to Rome! I have no money for all this fandom!!! *flails more*

Speaking of....Info session for Rome nao plzkthnx??? Y'know...so I can prepare all the necessary stuff BEFORE June???? Like, visas and such?? (which, visas are apparently paper/authorization saying a person can enter/exit the country.)

Anything else? Wellll, the weather's turned rotten after a sun-shiney day of blue skies, but that's almost like saying the Earth revolves around the sun. It's Seattle/Western Washington (because all Washingtonians know that the Eastern and Western sides might as well be different states), we can literally have blue skies, puffy clouds, overcast skies, hail, and rain all in the same day, if not the same hour.

I'll probably be posting random pics up on my Photobucket account; when I do, I'll link them here. Just a lot of random me-stuff.

Edit 7:00PM: Added the pic of the missing broken obelisk above. And if you want to see more pics of different parts of campus, leave a comment and maybe I'll give links.

Edit 10:00PM: I TOTALLY FORGOT!!!! 21 NEW EPISODES ORDERED FOR EUReKA!!!!!!!!!!!!! *FLAILS* It may not mean 22-episode season(s), but...21 EPISODES!!!!! *FLAILS MORE*


{Asked by Mrs. Clark if he knew what day it was.]
"Oh, yes; it is the glorious Fourth of July. It is a great day. It is a good day. God bless it. God bless you all. [He then lapsed into unconsciousness. He awakened later, and mumbled] Thomas Jefferson..." --Pres. John Adams
John Adams died on July 4, 1826. He is often quoted as having said "Thomas Jefferson still survives." with some depictions indicating he might have not expressed the entire statement before dying, i.e.: "Thomas Jefferson… still survi—", but some research indicates that only the words "Thomas Jefferson" were clearly intelligible among his last. Adams did not know that Jefferson, his great political rival—and later friend and correspondent—had died a few hours earlier that same 4th of July, 1826, exactly fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

I added the non-quote bit because it's interesting trivia--trivia that I actually learned from a non-school source, though for the life of me I can't remember from where.

I like sunny weather. It's even the good kind of sunny weather--not too hot sunny weather, but not bone-freezing cold sunny weather like Washington sometimes gets. And we even get some precipitation, so it's not like "OMG, we're heading into a drought!!! FREAKOUT!!!"

Last night at 11:20PM-ish I was sitting at my computer, thinking I might go to bed early 'cause I was feeling a little exhausted, but my iTunes just started a song I liked (Shounen Heart by Home Made Kazoku; JPop/Eureka seveN soundtrack) and I wanted to finish it.

My phone started ringing. I was totally perplexed, because I recognized the ringtone (but I am horrible at mental association, so I didn't recognize it as my mother's ringtone) but my first impression was that solicitors were calling me. Picked up my phone, saw it was Mom, and couldn't comprehend why she was calling me so late. Turned out she intended to call my sister, but hit my speed dial by mistake. *rolls eyes* Good thing I hadn't been in bed by then; I probably wouldn't have appreciated the wake-up call.

I was sitting in my Weather class today and the teacher put a bowl of water on the overhead for a demonstration, and the light from the overhead made a nice stripe of rainbow on the walls of the lecture hall. I think my attention was diverted for a good 2 minutes by all the pretty colors. *has bad, selective ADD*

Took a listening comprehension Korean test yesterday, which I was freaking out about, of course. I sometimes have to ask people speaking in English to repeat and enunciate what they say, how the heck am I supposed to keep track of what someone is saying in a foreign language?? The sheet Kim-sunsengnim handed out made it seem as though it was going to be a test of 25 diction (she speaks, we write down what we hear and translate it), and all of us were completely going insane over the idea of having to do 25 sentences in 40 minutes. Thankfully we only did about 15. It helped even more when she actually read the translation of a few sentences ^.^ I didn't do nearly as badly as I thought I would, though there were a few instances that I couldn't hear her clearly and didn't pick up a few verbs. Blah. It's done, and I didn't fail it, so I'm okay.

Korean's homework, however, is beginning to get a bit frustrating. My teacher is the head of the Korean program, and she doesn't have any faculty to help her, so we all understand that she's got a huge plate to deal with. But...she has this tendency to not be very clear about assignments and when they're due, if they're due at all. She doesn't collect or grade homework, though she assigns it in the hopes that we're motivated enough to learn Korean to do it on our own. Then, for this quarter, we had 2 compositions, a skit, and a project due. We finished 1 composition, so that's good.

The second composition she forgot about, and then decided to...merge it with the skit? Our composition becomes the skit? But then she also said that if we wanted we could do our composition on our own...... And there were 2 students who were saying that the composition could be done in lieu of the skit, which to me doesn't make sense because the skit is sort of an oral presentation, which is different from a writing assignment. But beyond giving us a topic, she hasn't really explained it to us. And now there's a project due (I think next Wednesday), but she hasn't said when the composition/skit/whatever-the-hell-it-has-become is due. *headdesk*headdesk*headdesk*headdesk*headdesk* BAH! Humbuggery.

And I swear I won't do this on a weekly basis, but I AM SO GLAD ANTM GOT RID OF KIM!!!! Well, technically, she got rid of herself, but still. I have no idea why they chose her in the first place. There were a few girls I liked so much better than Kim, and they were shafted so she could just quit before she was even judged. Grr. Plus...could she have fit anymore "like"s in her last hoorah? "Like, I don't believe in, like, high fashion, like, the $2000 clothes? Like, who would, like, buy that stuff, like, it's so, like, expensive?"

*cue eye-twitch and aneurysm* I hope I was never that bad (I am aware I overused the "like" to some extent in high school). If I was, I apologize to those who were inflicted. And hopefully I'm much better now. Being declared an English major has helped me become more self-aware of my speech, I think.

Which, minor random note that no one will care about: the MyUW page (a sort of homepage for UW students) showed I was declared an "English (Creative Writing)" Major about a week ago. Yay!! *does a happy dance*

This "XP Antivirus protection" thing just popped up, and while I'm glad it's wiping out the bad stuff....GRRRAAAAH! I just want to surf the net!! I tried to hit the "cancel" button, but it wouldn't let me cancel. At all. I hit cancel, and it just took me through a loop of "run this program" "if you cancel it won't run" "remove this harmful programs" and then back again. *headdesk*

This had better be a legit program. Because if not....I don't care if I don't know how to be a hacker. I will become a hacker and I will find the source and I will DESTROY IT FOR RUINING THIS ONE DAY OF INTERNET SURFING!!!!!

And now, to remove that malicious software, I have to pay $49.95 for the "license" or whatnot. Seriously? I went through 5 minutes of trying to get the hell out of that circle of "run program" just so it could tell me, "Oh, you have spyware/etc.....but we won't take care of it unless you pay up." *headdesk*

Okay! Getting this entry back to a happier (or less frustrated) note, I register tomorrow. Going for ASTR 150: The Planets, ENGL 321: Chaucer (WooT!); and then finish off 2nd Year Korean (but I won't register for this right away, because I'll be saving a space in another English class for a friend [no worries, Nikki, I didn't forget!]). I was thinking of taking the Architecture 151 class, which is an easy 3 credits (so I hear) but...that'd extend my Tues&Thursdays longer than I'd like. Plus, it'd mean that my Tues&Thursdays would look like: Astronomy lecture: 9:30-10:50, Korean: 12:30-1:30, then Arch: 3:30-4:50. That's 2 two hour breaks in my day, and....I honestly hate those kind of days. I'd much rather get my day done and over with early, even if it means I have no break. It would do nothing for me, except perhaps boost my GPA by some negligible amount, so...I don't think I'll take the class. I'm okay with 15 credit-quarters.

Hansee Hall Ball in about a week! I'm not a dance-person, but it'll be nice to be "social." Plus....chocolate fountain for $3. Um, yeah, sign me up! The only downside would be having to buy dress and shoes, but I figure I should invest in them anyway for later in life. I don't know precisely what "later in life" will entail, but...best be prepared, neh?

Okay! Randomly, livejournal logged me out of my own account, even though I have it set to never log me out. Um....it's a good thing livejournal kept the entire entry so I could copy it before I logged back in, because when I did the entry was about 3/4 missing.

Umm...okay. Is it some sort of hidden message sent to me by livejournal or some other unknown forces...??


(Wash is playing with plastic dinosaurs.)
Wash: (as Stegosaurus) Yes...yes. This is a fertile land, and we will thrive. We will rule over all this land, and we will call it...this land. (as Allosaur) I think we should call it your grave! (as Stegosaurus) Ah! Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal! (as Allosaur)Ha ha ha! Mine is an evil laugh! Now DIE! --Firefly (sidenote: I went looking through my previous lj-Firefly entries, to make sure I didn't use this quote already...and found out my last Firefly quote was Jan. 28. Heh, talk about unplanned regularity....)

I busted the toenail of my left big toe Thursday night. It wasn't bloody (thank goodness, though I think there's still some dried blood left under the nail), but it also didn't come cleanly off. So now if I push at it a little bit, it moves, and stings a little bit, but hangs on like Captain Jack outside the TARDIS as it traveled to the end of the Universe a stubborn thing. I was tempted to go to Hall Health, since they let students have one free visit per quarter (how nice of them) and I even skipped my Weather quiz section to do so, but...it felt fine when I got up that morning. I still skipped, maybe I'm too much of a queasy chicken, but I didn't want to walk midway there and then have my toe decide to commit suicide and make a bloody mess that I faint from. I still went to Korean and my film class, but those were far more necessary than my quiz section.

Tonight's the first time this year I ever went to take a shower, and found both showers occupied. It was a little strange.

Alright, alright, I'll move on from subjects that are TooMuchInfo for you.

I'm thinking that, instead of an alcoholic 21-run, I'll go have a milk-shake 21-run at all the major ice cream shops (which, at this point, is Haagen Dazs, Ben&Jerry's, and Baskin Robbins. Baskin Robbins.....*drools* Yes, yes, I realize this is pretty much a week and a half after my birthday, but since I never got a proper chance to do so on that weekend, this'll be my make up run. Though I may want to wait until the weekend...or at least Tuesday. Tuesday is when I get out early for the day. Or Thursday. I get out early then, too, and since the Greeks designated Thursday as their party night, maybe I should take a leaf out of their book.

I spent a good portion of Saturday out and about the campus, testing my camera and just walking. I went with Ally, who lives in my niche of the floor, and I saw a little bit more than I knew about campus. Actually saw the boathouse, and behind Husky stadium. I still haven't really explored the south end of the Stevens Way loop, which is really far south compared to where Hansee is and where I usually have class. Maybe this coming weekend.

After roaming I went to UVillage. I went to B&N (was there any question if I had, to be honest?) and was sorely tempted to buy 2 books, but it was too much (even if I could have gotten a 3rd one for free), so I steadfastly marched myself away. Went to QFC, bought a few little things, and bought pasta from Pallino's. Their to-go silverware and trays are interesting, to say the least. I think they're reusable, at any rate, so I'll see if the knife and bowl is reusable.

I'm ready for Spring Quarter to begin. Winter's been good (compared to my last 2 winter quarters) but I'm just more excited for my spring classes. I'm going to have to get up earlier, but at least they're not 8:30 classes. *shudder*

Also kinda looking forward to senior year, in spite of the fact that it's THE END. Because they'll mostly be English classes, and depending on what classes I choose and how I swing it, I might have one or even two days completely off per week. I could choose electives that aren't English classes, but...honestly? I'm interested in learning the different eras of English Lit and also learning about the English language in general, and after this spring most of my general graduation requirements will be fulfilled (except for one darned little Writing credit, which most upper-level English classes don't qualify as enough writing [I think it's at least 15 pages of writing] to be a Writing credit...go figure), so I don't really need to venture out of my major. Even the 90 credits outside the major requirement will be fulfilled. I don't know if that says I dinked around too much freshman and sophomore year, but oh well.

The bit really-super-lengthy-8-paragraphs-long-ramble under the cut is a rant about crossover fanfiction that I wanted to get down and off my chest; just skip it if crossovers or analysis of crossovers in fandom (particularly the Buffy fandom) or fandom in general disinterests you. (This should show you just how much of an English major I am, if it wasn't proven to you before.)

( Fanfiction Rant )

Yikes. I wrote a heck of a lot more than I thought I would. *shrugs* If you bothered to look under the cut and found it a waste of your time...sorry. But I did warn you above.

Not much more to add. Did I mention how I really want Spring Quarter to get here?

Edit 3 minutes after I initially posted: I lied. It happens.

I'm thinking about taking this 3-credit Architecture course, which (according to Kathryn) is really, really, really easy-peasy. 4 multiple choice tests, the last one you can choose not to take or you can take it to replace one of your worst scores, and still the worst test taken is dropped. And it's nothing but, "This building is pretty. This is why." It fits fine in my schedule, though sadly my Tuesdays and Thursdays would extend to 5PM, with a lengthy gap between Korean (which ends at 1:30) and that class (which begins at 3:30). I don't need the credit, or the class, but...it'd be nice to have a fun little class to take.

I may decide not to take it later. Or more firmly choose to do so. Who knows...

Every intelligent child is an amateur anthropologist. The first thing such a child notices is that adults don't make sense. --John Leonard

3 More Days until I'm 21.

The WGA-strike is (almost, I believe?) over! Yay! Lasted 3 months, and apparently cost SoCal's economy almost $2 billion, but I am glad that the writers got what they deserved. There was a mention in the article about how the showrunners lost a lot of money because their typical 22-episode season will be cut to about 12 to 13 episodes, but I think the showrunners are okay with that.

(And, btw Nikki, apparently Moonlight will have some new episodes produced for April/May.)

Now! Bring me back my EUReKA, House, and....and.....huh. Um.....that's it for American telly. Um....wow. I need more television in my life.

Season 4 of Doctor Who is coming to SciFi channel! It'll begin airing in April, along with The Sarah Jane Adventures. Yay!

Roy Scheider died Sunday. He was 75, so he had a long life, but it's still terribly sad. I'm frightened by how many actors I knew as a child are passing on (he's from SeaQuest, though if you're not a scifi buff you'd probably know him from Jaws).

I got the paperwork to change my English Lit major to Creative Writing Emphasis taken care of yesterday, and in addition to that the advisor I saw helped me so freaking much with figuring out the financial stuff for the Rome program. Bridget is the kind of advisor who makes up for all the really terrible experiences I've had with advisors in high school. I kinda hope I can still meet with her, since she's in the English office, and not the Creative Writing office, because she knows her stuff! Thanks for pointing her out to me, Nikki!

I don't actually know how precisely I'm going to afford the program, but....Bridget said she'd email me once the budget for the program is hashed out, and I can go talk to a financial aid advisor about it. I was actually taken aback a bit because she said she'd email me specifically. Like.....she'll actually remember me later. My high school advisor didn't, and my high school was ~950 as opposed to the ~40,000 that attend UW (though, of course, not all 40,000 are English majors.... but you get the idea).


You're gonna need a bigger boat. Roy Scheider, Jaws. RIP.

Hoo-wa.

Yes, yes, I'm writing a lot this week; don't worry, I'll probably run out of steam sometime soon.

Today's the 5th Friday of the quarter, and I hadn't even realized it. Until I checked my email, and saw the subject heading "CW Track Application" from a random person.

It's kind of hard to describe what I felt when I saw that. My stomache was kind of in knots, but I was still struggling to keep a hold of a zen-like mood since it's the weekend. I put off opening it until after I checked the rest of my mail. It read:


Hi Sonya, Congratulations! You've been admitted to the undergraduate option in
Creative Writing with the English Major.
This means you can now register for upper division creative writing classes.
Please be sure to stop by the English Undergraduate
Advising Office in order to complete your paperwork to admit you to the track.
Let me know if you have any questions and again,
congrats!

So, yay-ness! I got in. I'd been so completely sure that my writing pieces were utter !#$% (I still firmly believe it, actually) that I had moved on from the CW major and was deciding my senior year based on the English Lit track.

And now....Now I have no idea what to do.

I want to be a writer. But...I don't know if the CW-track will let me become the writer I wish to be, since they don't "believe" in the science fiction/fantasy genre (maybe that's being a little harsh, but they certainly have no open mind toward allowing writers to practice that genre).

I'm going to go talk with an advisor sometime next week and ask them 1) Should I or should I not pursue the CW track and 2) Figure out the Rome program. The application is due the 10th of March; I need help deciding if I have a chance at the program or not, and I especially need that information so I can go to the Financial Aid office and scream, "Help me!" Not literally, of course. They'd be likely to throw me out if I tried that.

Given everything now, in the best-case scenario, I would pursue the CW-track. I was so dead-set on it, applied to only UW my senior year of high school because I saw "Creative Writing Option" and wanted it, wasted my sophomore year trying different areas of studies that I couldn't even convince myself I had interest in and sunk into a foul attitude because of it, and then I prepared myself for the application....I just don't want to look back later in life having skipped over this opportunity and think, "All that time wasted..." I already do that now with my sophomore year.

I've planned out my senior year already with 4 different scenarios. Two are the CW-track and the Lit track with the Rome program, and 2 are those tracks without the Rome program. The latter two make my senior schedule tight, with only 2-3 classes available for what I want to do. Being a part of the Rome program opens that to 4-5. If I do the CW-track with the Rome Program, I could even have a whole quarter just for doing whatever the hell I want to do. I like that prospect. I like it a lot.

Edit 10:40PM: I totally forgot! Vagina Monologues last night! I'm not a hard-core feminist by any means, in fact I'm pretty passive when it comes to "fighting" for women's rights. I believe in them (of course...be pretty sad if I didn't), but not to the extent that, y'know, men have to "recompense" women for the patriarchal society we live in. I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy it, really, I much prefer spending free time writing and reading fanfiction and compulsively updating/editing my livejournal. But this...this was not a waste of my time. I didn't go last year, pretty much because I didn't know/understand what it was, and I was a bit of a recluse at that point. The women performing and the monologues themselves were very intense. It was also nice because everyone could be comfortable "crossing" into that "subject." (not going to go so far as to say "taboo" subject, but....really? People are generally not allowed to go out in public and talk about that stuff without getting some looks and possibly a request to be escorted out of the establishment.) I highly recommend everyone to go, if not this year (since they might be finishing up soon-ish) then next year. Just make sure that when you do go, realize that the Monologues is a place where people (women and men) can go and speak openly without feeling uncomfortable.

Kathryn, Danni, Freddie, and I were going to go to Mix Ice Cream (think Coldstone's but not big-corporation) after the Monologues, but apparently it was closed due to health code violations. I hope it reopens. I personally am not that huge a fan of "mix" ice cream, but it's still excellent ice cream. So instead we went to Ian's, Freddie got ice cream and Kathryn got popcorn, and we came back to Kathryn's room and just hung out for a bit. 'Twas a nice, relaxed, girly evening.


Methos: Hey, grab a beer. There's a cold one in the fridge.
Duncan: I know - my fridge.

Joe: I did some checking on this (fake) Methos flake. (Duncan and Real Methos look at him) The other one. --Highlander: The Series

14 Days Until I'm 21.

It's not much of a countdown; I highly, highly doubt I'll be doing a 21-run at all. If I do, it would be for the ability to do the actual purchase of alcohol. Someone else could do the drinking (not that I'd have money to do the purchasing anyhow).

I went to quite a few "Career Discovery" panels this week. There was one about applying to grad school that was helpful in figuring out the actual application process, if not figuring out whether I should or shouldn't go on for my Master's. Then there was the What to do with a Lit Major session, which was kinda helpful in an, "Oh, these people actually exist and aren't street-bums," kind of way. Then the MFA panel was more geared toward those from the actual School of Art, rather than to, say, Creative Writers, so it kind of wasn't appropriate for me. I'd have to say the one today, Careers in Writing and Editing, was the best for me. It was...kind of nice knowing there were some practical applications for an English major, and that if I do go into freelancing I can still make a decent (albeit hard) living. But one of the most helpful pieces of advice I got was about whether or not people need a Master's or not:

Get a Master's in something you want to master.

I don't know who said it, but for some reason whenever the question of Grad school came up it was always "should I go for a Master's in English/Creative Writing?" It never even occurred to me to think of Mastering in something else, or that I even could. I just thought of a Master's degree as an extension of my Bachelor's. Plus, I don't think not one of the panelists in that session had a Master's, and some of them were at least in their 30's. So...maybe I don't need to invest $20-30,000 more into my education before I get into doing what I want to do. It's kinda strange for me to think.

The CiW&E session really motivated me into thinking about internships and freelance-writing. I'm thinking of looking into finding something that pays me to write small articles or blogs now. I suppose it dawned on me before that I could get paid to do that, but it never really made it through that I could enjoy doing that, or that they could be legit. I may think about starting a blog for my "professional" writing. I'm not sure what exactly I could write about, since my life revolves so much around fandom and what little snitches of my RL experiences are actually interesting, but I suppose I could just go randomly around the U-district and "interview" people for the sake of it. Maybe even do some restaurant reviews, if I could remember to focus on useful stuff while I eat.

You know a student's got graduation requirements to fulfill when the next quarter's course schedule is just put up and not a few hours later they've got their schedule planned. No ifs, no ands, no buts. *sigh* At least I know what I can look forward to in March-June. And...I actually kinda like my schedule. Sure, I'll be starting at 9:30AM M-Thursday rather than 10:30, but on Fridays I can sleep in until my class starts at 12:30, which will be Korean. And that 12:30 class is the only class I'll have on Fridays (barring any little minor 1-3 credit classes I take, or heaven forbid if I overload on credits this quarter).

The joys of taking an English class, I suppose. For some reason the English teachers at UW don't really like Friday classes, so they either do M-Thursday classes, or they do alternating days like Monday&Wednesday or Tues&Thurs classes. I'm (hopefully! though I'm not really that concerned, having junior standing) taking a Chaucer course. My heart kinda ached at the sight of the textbook's price (it was from the previous class offering, but I'm assuming it'll be the same required texts), but seeing as how I managed to avoid classes that had really pricey textbooks in my 3 years, I think it's safe to say it was inevitable. Still, I'm going to see what UBookstore's price is, then check B&N's price. I'm suspecting B&N's price will be cheaper, even with the UBookstore's refund.

Along with Chaucer and finishing 2nd year (and probably my last year of) Korean, I'm going to take an astronomy class, called The Planets. I've always been a little more interested in the planets than the universe in general, though of course that was always in the context of mythology/fantasy, not scientific. I wonder, though, if they'll be including Pluto as a "planet" in the course.....they'd better...*shakes fist at the international scientific community*

I'm breathing a little easier about fulfilling my requirements to graduate. I decided not to pursue third year Korean, even if my mother will give me unending grief over it, which opened up my senior year A LOT. So much, it's ridiculous. With the Creative Writing major it's a little bit tight, and if I'm not accepted into the CW program in Rome it'll be even tighter, but it's still doable. If I did get into the Rome program and if I am an English Lit major, my schedule would be so free I could actually take some classes for fun! o.O Kind of a strange concept, really........

I need to make it a point to go into the English advising office and be like, "I have no idea what to do with my future! HELP!!" They might be able to help me with my specific brand of confusion, hopefully, even if I have to go in for several sessions. Maybe even an internship where I can figure out what I want to "specialize" in. That's probably what I worry about most: specializing. Every panel member in all the sessions had found their "specialization." It even seemed like they knew what they wanted to specialize in when they were still undergrads, before graduating. How the hell do people do that anyway????? Seriously, was there some sort of elementary school special class (like when they were teaching about "the birds and the bees") that I missed? "Now, here's how to figure out what you want to do after high school and college, even if it's work in the nonprofit sector of political and activist campaigning." ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!?????!!!??????

Another piece of advice I got from the CiW&E session was to volunteer at writing conferences. I'd thought about volunteering at Sakuracon, but it never occurred to me that there'd be writing conferences. I'm excited about that prospect, actually. I really, really want to do that, so much so that it's kinda surprising and frightening how excited I am. Frightening because usually I only get this excited over something that occurs in Fandom (like Rose coming back to Doctor Who....^_______^), and then it frightens me because the thought produced such a reaction in me.

Blegh. That was a lot of career-oriented rambling.

In the What to do w/Lit Major there was a novelist on the panel who engaged me in a little bit of conversation concerning Lolita (I was reading it). I didn't even know who he was until he was introduced, and then the person running the panel made the assumption that everyone knew who he was and had read his book and knew that his book was made into a movie, that sort of thing. David Guterson? Ring any bells for anyone? Well, when I found out he was a novelist I definitely became more interested, and now I'm thinking I'll probably make Snow Falling on Cedars part of my 50 Books. If I like his writing, I may try his other books, too. Met ("met" meaning "saw him on the panel") someone named David Quinn, who was apparently part of television programs, but also met Ryan White (and I cringe as I write this, because it's in rather bad taste that I'm so drawn into that fact solely because Ryan White is such a recognizable name). There's another book I'm kinda interested in at least borrowing, called "The Anti 9-5 Guide" which was written by another panelist (in the CiW&E session), which kinda covers how to survive the way I'm probably going to wind up having to.


There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. --Oscar Wilde

And I shall say it again for those who missed it.

OMG IT SSSSSSSNNNNNOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEDDDDDD!!!!!!!

I was actually up when it started layering, which was around 4 A.M. because I totally misjudged how difficult my homework/test was, but I couldn't really appreciate the full effect because, hello, 4 A.M. doesn't provide the best of light. It snowed some more while I was out and about at class, so I wandered aimlessly during my hour break, just letting the snow fall into my hair and probably brightening my cheeks up to a nice, puffy red that is entirely unbecoming of me, but you know what? I didn't care!!! 'Cause it was snowing and it made everything GOOD.

The snow's going away, which makes my friends (arbitrarily putting the plural there, because I know my friends love the snow too) and I sad, but supposedly it's going to snow more tonight. Hopefully this isn't like the "it'll snow over the weekend" kind of snow, because Saturday it was just cloudy and then Sunday it was nothing but clear blue skies. Kinda put a downer on things.

Because of some outside interference my Korean class didn't have class Friday, and thus made our test a take-home test. I printed it out at home, and I knew it was supposed to be more difficult than the in-class test for obvious reasons.

The level of difficulty was ridiculous! I spent at least 4 hours doing it all. That doesn't include the hour I had to put aside to type up my film journal that was also due today. It got to the point where, for some of the questions where I had to put a reply, I was sorely tempted to write, "He will want to shoot himself in the foot for taking so many classes." (don't mean to be morbid, it just fit really well with the prompt). Blah. I wound up getting 2 hours of sleep in total. I'm not feeling all that bad right now, in actuality. I don't know if it's because I somehow "stored up" sleep over the weekend, or if I'm just getting used to pulling all-nighters and my body's like, "oh, okay, it's one of those nights, is it?" I think it's the caffeine, though. *curls fingers possessively around her precious Pepsi*....and I totally didn't mean for all that alliteration. Are all the English classes finally having some sort of an effect? Good gracious, I hope so......

And then of course everyone got into a whole heap of panic when one of the students started tossing around, "Korean essay" and such, not really equating it with the composition. None of us were any happier with the thought of the composition, but at least they're not two separate assignments. That's due Wednesday, which makes me just so gleeful! </sarcasm>

Also have my Weather midterm this Wednesday. Blegh. At least it's only 30 minutes, and most of the questions are multiple choice.

I was thinking about being a Summer Orientation leader this summer, but A) I don't know if I'd be required to find my own housing (I think I would) and 2) I want to do the Creative Writing program in Rome this summer, which conflicts with it. I don't think I'm going to be an Orientation leader, but *shrugs* I guess it would've been a good way to have an entry-level position.

Speaking of the Creative Writing program....They finally have some semblance of a webpage up for it! Here! It merely states that prospective people should look back on 2007's program, and some bit about financial stuff, but at least I know they're planning on it! I just don't know if I can afford it or not; supposedly board is not included in the expenses, and then of course there's the plane tickets required, and then the tuition/program fee itself. I'd probably have to get a private loan to pay for a good portion of it, which I don't want at all. I don't think financial aid provided by the University would get me through both the abroad program and my fall quarter. *sigh* I'll just have to wait until they have info sessions and see what they advise.

I turned in my CW-application last Friday, and they are supposed to respond by the 5th Friday of the quarter (the Friday I turned it in was the 3rd of the quarter). I'm actually pretty okay with the thought of being an English Lit major if I'm not accepted. Completing all the credits will be easier as just a Lit major, and I could still go on the Rome program if I'm not a CW major. I have thoughts floating at the back of my head saying, "If I do get accepted...does that mean I'm beholden to it?" which I know is just the lazy bum side of me trying to avoid more work, but it's still something I should take into consideration if I do get accepted.

I got Nikki lured in with Firefly's series premiere, and she loved it. ^.^ I like getting people hooked onto shows I like. I get so easily pulled into other shows, it's nice to have a change of pace. There was a part where [WARNING: SPOILER FOR FIREFLY!] Kaylee seems to have died, and Nikki was just absolutely horrified at the thought, and I was sitting behind her trying not to crack up because I knew Mal's bad, bad ways. I managed to fake my snorts of laughter into what sounded like choking back tears, apparently, so it was all okay on that front.

My sister finally mailed my phone today (rather than Saturday like I was expecting), which I'm thankful for. I like to think I'm not dependent on the thing, but...without that phone, there's no immediate way to get ahold of me, which wouldn't bode well in case of an emergency or something. Email doesn't really do much of anything, unless I'm carrying around my laptop (which would be just plain dumb) or some sort of device that accesses the Internet...like a cell phone! Which defeats the purpose. So, yes, cell phone on its way = good. Now I just hope the UW mail system doesn't break down somewhere.

Nikki and Donald (her next door neighbor) found this really cool "experiment" where you take a bottle of Diet Coke and drop Mentos in it, and it creates a fountain of fizz and carbonation and all sorts of goodness. They had a free 20 oz Diet Coke from a Dominoes pizza deal, and they bought some Mentos from Ians, and we (Nikki, Donald, I-wen and I) all went outside onto Denny Field to try. It didn't work, and we decided to try again, except this time with a 2 Liter bottle. It almost-kinda-not-really worked, and we were sad and trotted back to Hansee, trying to figure out why it didn't work (we didn't really read through the directions all the way....not that the directions were explicit). I was carrying the bottle, and I dumped it into the garbage lid-first.

It exploded!

We realized we'd made a mistake in keeping the lid screwed on, which didn't allow air to come in and start the carbonation process. We're gonna try again later this week, with some improvements on our process. Hehehehehe.

At least now we know what to do if we have lots of dining plan money left (which is no longer refunded to us at the end of the year, curse you HFS!!!). Look up fun food experiments and do them. Hee.

And as I'm sure you noticed, I changed my layout. Went through 5-8 different premade layouts, and all of them had just one tiny little thing that was missing (first was a tags sidebar, then icons for each entry, couldn't change color schemes, then back to tags, etc. etc.)

[Blair has been using Larry in a research project to see the effects of television on monkeys]
Jim: They found Larry.
Blair: Where?!
Jim: That mini-kong of yours busted back into my apartment, and he trashed it. Now, Animal Control has the place surrounded, right? So I'm gonna give you half an hour to bag him, and if he doesn't come out with his hands up, well then I call in a SWAT-sniper.
Blair: Did they say what he was doing?
Jim: He was watching TV.
Blair: You're kiddin me!... What program? --The Sentinel

For some reason, I absolutely cannot do anything ahead of time. It's like, something in my brain doesn't register the lateness of the due-date until the day of, and then it's overdrive OHMYGOODNESSWHATTHEHECKAREYOUWAITINGFOR??? HEREISEVERYTHINGYOUNEEDTOSTARTFIXINGUPYOURCREATIVEWRITINGPIECES!!!

*headdesk*

I'm not at all satisfied with my short story piece, but I'm kinda in an "OK, did my best with my poetry pieces, I'm Zen" zone. We'll just have to wait til at the very latest Feb. 8th (hope??? maybe???? *sigh*). If I'm not accepted into the CW-major, then I'll just be an English Lit major. I think part of why I didn't get this app done and turned in earlier is because I'm so convinced I'm not going to get in, or if I do get in I'm not going to be happy as they try to mold me into a "literary-elements focused" writer. I realize many writers don't have a CW degree, and they all go on to be famous or whatnot, but...it's like the Marge Piercy poem says (if you want the whole poem, go to the "misc poetry" tag):

The reason people want M.F.A.'s,
take workshops with fancy names
when all you can really
learn is a few techniques,
typing instructions and some-
body else's mannerisms

is that every artist lacks
a license to hang on the wall
like your optician.....

I know, I know, it's merely a person stroking their ego or something, or maybe those who just have to have tangible evidence of their worth are too insecure, or whatever reason may have you, but it's my reason and I'm sticking to it. =P

In other news not related to me freaking out about my future in University.....



I <3 my John Simm icon ^.^ I actually have two of them now, and the other one is really what drew my eyes in the first place but really......*stares at icon*

Ahem. Tomorrow Today I have no Korean class, because my teacher is going through some really tough personal stuff and the substitutes....well, they're probably just lazy (or maybe they actually have classes to teach/attend...dunno).

Then on Feb. 1st my movie class is cancelled because of some really vague reason, which means I'm done that day at 1:30 instead of 4:00. I'd be happy, but....that's when we view the movies we're supposed to write film journals for and have discussions, etc. etc. She told us we need to watch it on our own. And this is a Korean film class, ergo not very common to find in the good ol' U.S. of A. There's a copy in the Odegaard Library, but.....40 students who ALL need to see it.....1 copy available to see in a small room probably not big enough to fit 10 people......probably 2 hours long...... = NOT PLAUSIBLE!!!!!!! *headdesk*

I was sitting in my Weather class Thursday and these two girls sat down next to me. I was tuning them out as I am usually wont to do, but then,

"Oooh, he's wearing such a nice shirt."
"He's so lean!"
"I just wanna go up there and ask him a question and have him answer me in French!"
"My only regret is that I don't get to sit in front row and stare at him all period."

They were talking about the teacher (who is indeed French and slim). And while I have had crushes on teachers when I was younger, I humored myself in the privacy of my own head. These girls weren't even keeping their voices down, and we were in the second row! With him dead-ahead! And not many people at all around us, either. Did they think he was deaf or something? I felt vaguely mortified on his behalf. And for a demonstration on radiation and light waves, he had this little instrument which measured temperature and to show whether or not the instrument measured temperature from light reflection or radiation, he stuck it in his shirt where it was dark. ....I'm not going to go into how they reacted to that. *facepalm*

I think Saturday is going to be devoted to me recovering from this week (I have no idea why, but for some reason the three day weekend wasn't very restful for me....) and doing nothing but writing/polishing my fanfiction. CCP's very own birthday is coming up in a day or two, and I do believe it has been going on an year since I've updated it. That's nothing to say of how my MK fanfiction has been doing. Poor, neglected fandoms. See, this is what college does to you. It makes you neglect your precious and wonderful fandoms of which Life on Mars--after seeing 2 1/2 episodes--has been taken under my ever-growing umbrella.

K. Gonna go read some fanfiction, then hopefully get to bed before 2 AM so when I wake up at 9 I won't completely die. Mayhaps?


"The door was the way to... to... The Door was The Way. Good. Capital letters were always the best way of dealing with things you didn't have a good answer to."

It kinda looks like greatestjournal is dying the slow, agonizing 404-death, so I went through and found pretty much just this one meme that I wanted to save. So...Random meme post!

( A Survey )

In other news, I'm thinking about doing the Classics and Ancient History minor (it's all one minor, in spite of the 'and' in the middle). The one downside of it is that I'd have to drop 3rd year Korean, and make ABSOLUTELY certain that one of those classes is a writing credit (which...since there's history classes I need to take, shouldn't be that hard to complete it) and also not eff up any of those classes. I suppose I could take 3rd year Korean alongside, but....it'd mean overloading on credits. And that is just a "hell f^(< no" scenario. Besides, I have to wait and see if I even pass second year with enough skill to join 3rd year.

I just know that my mother's going to be terribly disappointed in me for not pursuing it all the way through and "dumping it" for some other classes. If I stay here at UW for a Masters degree (*shudder*gasp*faint*), I'd probably move heaven and earth (and my courses) to take 3rd year if I hadn't, but that won't satisfy my mother. She'll just say, "Take it now. Take more later." (that is, if she doesn't say first, "Why a Masters? Get a job! You've done enough school!")

I'm not too sure why I'm obsessed with the desire to have a minor. I guess it's because having a minor sort of shows I have more knowledge in areas other than English, which is a major in a universal skill lots of people have (unless it's Creative Writing--if you don't think so, take a CW-class). I might've been an Earth & Space Sciences minor (which actually kinda freaks me out, 'cause I'm not a science-y person) but I realized the ESS classes were pretty fun too late. The UW doesn't have a Korean minor, and I really don't have time/credit space to do any other minor (prerequisites and all that). I've looked through the C&AH minor and I can plausibly do it, with the aforementioned conditions. There's even another minor that's just Classics, which is only 25 credits as opposed to 30, but I like History. It's tempting to do a History minor, but I can't do all three or whatnot. For one thing, it's not allowed (if you do Classics & Ancient History you can't have any other minor in the Classics and/or History field), and for another even if it were I don't have enough credit-space to fulfill all the requirements.

*headdesk* Why do I have to keep complicating my undergrad career? Why couldn't I have been a smart, dedicated little freshman and gone straight ahead with the English major, not screwed around with classes I didn't have interest in, and further explored classes that I did??? Oh, Doctor, where are you and the TARDIS and my chance to slip a little note to myself to go full-steam ahead with the English-CW plan (never mind the Reapers that might pop up from this slight alteration in time...).

I've decided that (teachers permitting) I'm going to skip out on my Korean and Korean film classes on the 27th so I can attend a "What to do with a Lit major" panel. Yes, yes, I'm making this huge hullaballoo about being a CW major, but I don't think it'd hurt to know what Lit majors can do, either. I'm sure anything they do CW majors could do, too. It's looking like my week of Jan 28-Feb 1 will be busy as heck:

Monday Jan 28: The Publishing World @ 3:30-5:20 (Don't know for sure if I want to do this one)
Tuesday Jan 29: Applying to Graduate and Professional School @ 1:30-2:30; Career Resources for Students in the Visual, Literary, and Performing Arts @ 4:00-6:30
Wednesday Jan 30: What Can You Do with a Literature Major? @ 12:30-2:20 (this is the one that forces me to skip class); Master in Fine Arts: How to Get There from Here @ 3:30-5:00
Thursday Jan 31: Nothing
Friday February 1: Careers in Writing and Editing @ 3:30-5:20

I'm going to have no free time at all that week. Ick. Luckily I don't have a lot of homework due in my classes. And there's the added headache of thinking about *cue scary music* Graduate School. A.K.A. "Life After Sheltered Undergrad Years" A.K.A. "Putting Off the Job/Career Search." Ugh. *headdesk*

Ummm, something more mundane than UniversityUniversityUniversity.....I thought I had shampoo still in my tote, but I got to the shower, turned on the water, looked in, and....no shampoo. Had to use my Satsuma soap in lieu of it, which isn't bad at all, but....that wasn't much of a pleasant surprise. Bought 6.8 fl oz. of Pert down at Ian's, but if/when I go to Target/QFC I'll buy a bigger bottle of shampoo.

Oh! And I finished the 2nd season of Doctor Who Saturday con Nikki! And... and.... ROOOOOSSSSEE!!! What they did was totally unnecessary. Completely. Just give Billie Piper enough money; she would've stayed on. Or else tie her up in the TARDIS and keep her there for the rest of eternity.

...Yes, the post turned to that which is FANDOM (specifically Doctor Who). Are you honestly that surprised?

Edit 8:36PM: IT SSSSSSNNNNNNOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEDDDDDD!!!!!!!! Nikki and I were watching Doctor Who and at the end the Doctor made it snow, and then someone came by Nikki's room and mentioned it was snowing, and IT WAS!!!! THE DOCTOR MADE IT SNOOOOOOW!

"...The people and the friends that we have lost, or the dreams that have faded... Never forget them." Yuna, FFX

....to make approx. 130+ sheets of printer paper, standard quality? Cause I killed that many last night to make 24 copies of a 10-page short story, 2 copies of 4 2-page critiques, and 7 copies of a poem (one page). Though, to highlight my "environmental" side, I did double-side my short story, so it was really only 5 pages that I used for each copy, instead of 10 pages (which would have been SOOO much easier in terms of simply getting the job done).

I even went through the equivalent of 1 ink cartridge just printing the short story; I started probably a little less than half-way on one and then had to switch to a new one maybe after twelve copies, and now the new cartridge is just on the higher side of a quarter full. Thank goodness I bought 2 cartridges instead of one yesterday, which leads me into this next segment of the entry.

So after my last class of the day, at about 3-ish, I started walking over to the Office Max to buy ink cartridges, which is about 3-4 streets over and across a freeway. There's a little store next to it called "Cartridge World," where they stick to just selling ink cartridges and the like. I decided to check it out, since usually the specialty stores have competetive prices and whatnot. One HP-27 ink cartridge cost ~$13.50, as opposed to the $17.99-18.95 I've seen elsewhere. Sooo, yes, definitely bought it there. And they have this free rewards program where you buy 10 cartridges you get $7 off, and for every cartridge you return for a refill you get $3 back. It was a bit of a walk, maybe, but definitely worth it in my opinion. Plus, with joining the rewards program the Arbor Day Foundation or some such foundation will plant a tree! So, I get to make up for all those poor trees that died so I could pass my Short story class.

---- UPDATE LATER!!!!

RESUMED 9:30PM

Sorry--went to the University Bookstore Thank You Nite. 20% savings on top of other marked off prices, yay-ness. And some free stuff, too, along with raffles. I didn't win anything, though; sadness. They gave away MacBooks (while I am a PC user, I wouldn't have minded switching for free....) and iPods and such. 'Twas nice for the winners, but I still think they should've had a rule where if someone won something in an earlier raffle they were excluded from the next raffle. Oh well.

Aaaaaaaannnyway, back to the entry. Nikki came by and SHE'S GOING TO FREAKING LONDON AND SHE'LL SEE DAVID FREAKING TENNANT IN HAMLET!!!! Such awesomeness.

There was a girl in my Korean class who collapsed and suffered from some time of seizure today. The same thing happened to her (coincidentally) in Korean class last year, at around this time even. It was pretty frightening. Hopefully she'll take care of herself.

I'm feeling better about my chances to getting into the Creative Writing major. The same lady who spoke to my Short Story class came to my Poetry class and pretty much gave the same spiel, but she seemed a bit nicer about it--maybe she's just not a morning person? But she did say that they accept about 80% of applicants, and from what she said I took it to mean the 20% who fall through do so because of sloppiness, mechanics, and because they write genre pieces for their fiction sample (lame!). Since I'm not (planning) doing any of those three things, I should be safe. Right? Right, we'll go with that outlook. Because not getting into the Creative Writing major totally screws with my class plans for the next five quarters (5 quarters until I graduate OH RASSILON...).

I'd pondered doing a double major with Korean last night, but after taking a look at it I cannot honestly do it without being a fifth year senior, and even then I'd probably have to overload on credits a lot of that time. It's just not feasible. I really hope they announce a Korean minor, although even completing that is a bit iffy, depending on what credits apply and everything. If they do come out with a Korean minor and all I'd need to take is the third year of Korean, then I'd totally do it, since it's actually feasible (I've plotted this out entirely, that's how nerdy I am.....), but if there's too many history/culture classes that I'd need to take along with the third year, then I probably won't pursue it. Dropping the hopes for a Korean minor would actually free up my senior year to take classes I want to take (which are English classes.....Why did I ever think about turning my back on the English major sophomore year....? If I hadn't then credit- and requirement-wise I wouldn't be so freaking cramped).

Washington weather is back to normal, finally. All that sunny weather was scaring me. We had more nicer days in October/November than we did June/July. But the rain is here, so it's all good. Though, I need a new coat, sadly. The one I have (from all the way back in the 5th grade....eesh) is no longer resistent to the elements. I think I'll save that for a shopping trip with Mom, though. Just so I don't have to endure her nitpicking what I chose to buy and wear.

This Osmosis water I'm drinking (and got for free, too) is really strange to drink. It's Mint Tangerine Water, and it tastes like I'm drinking toothpaste, or peppermint gum. Every time I take a sip my brain goes, "No! Don't swallow, 'tis poisonous! 'Tis POISONOUS!"

I bought Sabriel today (wanted to buy all three books, but the UBS didn't have the second book that matched the 1st and 3rd), but I don't think I'm going to actually read it until after the New Year as part of the "50 books in a Year" thing I'm planning to do. I might (re: will) buy another book at B&N this weekend, since I've got a 25% off coupon, which will also not be read til the New Year. It's kind of going against my nature, especially since I want something to read now, but I'm going to wait so I don't stress my brain out over when a full year ends like I know I will if I start on some random day like November 21st or something. Yes, I know there are logical ways to get around that, but leave my OC-nature alone!

We're beginning to peer-review in my Poetry class now, which kind of makes me want to bang my head since I don't know how to critique. At all. Heck, I don't know how to write poetry, where do I get off telling someone their imagery or language or what-have-you doesn't work? *sigh* Oh well, one person in my critique group (we're actually segregated into groups, rather than having it be a class-wide critique like in Short Story) seems like a very strong poet reader; she always contributes in class and has really good insight about poetry, so I think I'll get a lot of good stuff from her. Will you see any of that poetry posted here? Probably; it'd be a much nicer post than, say, my short story that I'm writing. 10 pages long already, and it'll probably get longer because I feel that my characters need more development, as well as the plot. I don't know how I'm going to cut that down for my C.W. major application (which accepts 5-10 page stories), but better to have lots of good material than little bits, right?

Okay. I need to go do dishes that haven't been done in more than a week (or two) and actually eat something, since I've only had a bagel, chocolate milk, and a grande cafe latte (I'm becoming more and more of a Seattleite....I do feel very sad at that realization...) all day, which was....~1:30ish. So, food? Probably a good idea.

Ickis: [refering to the blob] And when he looks at us that way, you know he's thinking... breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Krumm: I wanna be dinner. --Aaahh!!! Real Monsters. I miss that show...... Where have all the good cartoons gone????

Here's what it says on my door at the moment:

CAFFEINATED! and here.

Kathryn, Nikki, Freddie, Dani, Rebecca, Teresa (the last two of whom I just met tonight and I knew Dani from last year McCarty 3rd floor), and I went out to Trabant and had the coffee tasting. We were educated about how to do coffee tasting and how coffee beans are harvested, etc. etc. and we had 5 different coffees from different regions. Ethiopia, Guatamala, Brazil, Columbia, and Panama (I believe...). Most of them were tangy except for the last one I drank, which I believe came from Panama or something. So, now I'm all jittery and caaaffffeinaaaaated.

We also stopped by the UBookstore, where Bill Clinton (yes, ex-President Bill Clinton) was having a book-signing. Such a crazy line. Kathryn, Nikki, Freddie, Dani and I were there when Bill came into the building and everybody cheered. So I can now say I've been in the same room/seen two powerful political people,. Bill Clinton and Sandra Day O'Connor. Woo.

A Creative Writing advisor came to my short story class and talked about the application process. They're actually accepting applications for Winter quarter, which makes me happy and joyous because that's one quarter sooner that I'll know what the hell I'm going to be doing for my life, either the regular English major or Creative Writing major. And they say that they accept about 80% of applicants, and she also told us what to avoid for our writing samples. Yay!

I'm not convinced by their argument against genre writing, though. They say it's too formulaic (which I guess it is) to demonstrate any "deeper meaning." They also are concerned that people who write genre won't be able to live up to the standards of writing literary fiction, and (the most horrifically stupid reason I think) they also feel, because a few people wrote 20 pages of science-fiction with only description of the space ship or the future government organization, that no one else can write genre that goes above and beyond storytelling or some such. Stupid as all heck. In fact, I'm not just not convinced by their argument, I'm completely disappointed by their terrible, horrible, no good, very bad reasoning-which-is-not-a-reason.

It's a nice feeling to have other English majors on my floor. We can talk about how papers suck and really understand each other. An even better feeling? Having people who obsess/fangirl over shows like me. Freddie has Buffy, and Nikki loves Doctor Who, so if I ever felt like I need someone to squeal over something with I can go to either of them and they'd be all like, "OMG, I so totally know!"

I believe I have a new arrangement for my room whenever I feel like rearranging. It won't be this weekend, though. This weekend is reserved for going down to either Office Depot or Max and getting paper (and possibly other supplies for class) and possibly QFC so I can get shampoo and such. 'Cause I'm not really digging Suave's "Juicy Apple" or Lilac scents. But yes, I think I'm going to bring my bed over to the wall underneath my bookcase where my desk is at the moment and swing my desk around to where my bed is, so I'm facing the door. I'd draw/type a little diagram and such, but I'm not quite that caffeinated. Maybe another time.

And for all those who haven't heard about it: a great way to make PB&J sandwiches. You put peanut butter on both sides of the bread and put the jam/jelly on top of the layer(s), and then the bread won't get soggy. Yes, it's probably old news, but I only found out about it probably 3-4 weeks ago, so. Yeah. I tried it out earlier this week because I was absolutely craving PB&J (have no idea why) and it works magnificently.

For my poetry class on Tuesday we had to turn in a "persona" poem, which is a poem that uses a character/personality to deliver a message to the reader. Not a caricature, but just using the character to be the vehicle (wow....so many big words.....O.O). I'm kinda scared about what I wrote, because I'm not sure how "accessible" it'd be to a reader (especially if they're part of the older generation...not even "way" older but just beyond the Internet generation). It's written about how idiots (no, they don't even get to be labeled as teenagers, just "idiots") use chatspeak to write in papers (such as English papers, etc.). I haven't gotten it back yet...will most definitely get it by Tuesday, but still. I was kinda hoping I'd get the flambe-ing over with by today.

Wanna see? I'll just decide that I'm being open because of all the caffeine.

( An original poem of mine....*hides from the haters* )

Alright. I think I'm gonna go now. Because all this sitting and typing and the caffeine running through my system? JITTERINESS OF DOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!

[An AIM conversation between a friend of mine (whose screenname I'm changing because I don't want evil stalkers spamming her) and about how she's skipping class.]

^~^deDOOM (10:08:44 PM): but i feel like a bad stuent
^~^deDOOM (10:08:51 PM): its just at 8 in the morning
lilsweet3000 (10:10:44 PM): eeeewwww!!!!
^~^deDOOM (10:08:59 PM): so i sleep thru the alarm
^~^deDOOM (10:09:08 PM): and i can't sleep at night sometimes
^~^deDOOM (10:09:09 PM): yeah..
lilsweet3000 (10:11:00 PM): see, if it were at 10 or something it'd be kinda bad
^~^deDOOM (10:09:18 PM): i have to wake up at 6 every day
lilsweet3000 (10:11:08 PM): but at 8 in the morning it's understandable
^~^deDOOM (10:09:25 PM): lol
lilsweet3000 (10:11:21 PM): but, really, it's all how you look at things
lilsweet3000 (10:11:40 PM): yes, skipping means you're not a very studious student (I seem to like that phrase a whole bunch..don't know why)
lilsweet3000 (10:12:07 PM): but skipping means you're living the college student experience, which is good in its own strange and not-understandable-unless-you're-a-student way
^~^deDOOM (10:10:39 PM): wow
^~^deDOOM (10:10:45 PM): i really apppreciate that
lilsweet3000 (10:12:35 PM): see, isn't it deep?
^~^deDOOM (10:10:52 PM): cuz i really felt shitty about it
^~^deDOOM (10:10:57 PM): but that makes me feel beter
^~^deDOOM (10:10:59 PM): *better
^~^deDOOM (10:11:02 PM): LOL
lilsweet3000 (10:12:49 PM): ^___^
lilsweet3000 (10:12:52 PM): it's the caffeine
lilsweet3000 (10:13:04 PM): it makes me so much smarter than other peoples

Probably no one who reads this will remember the entry in which I mentioned a certain little thing called the AVEVenture; it was a few weeks ago, approximately the last few days of September.

Nikki and I went out and walked all up and down the Ave, and got this "passport" which was to be stamped by eight separate places so we could turn them in and get prizes in a raffle. We got the first one done (and also happened to stop by Jet City Improv's station, where we both won frisbees), submitted it, and then....didn't know what to do. Nothing on the passport said we couldn't fill them out multiple times, and since there were ~32 stations, we figured we could fill more of them out. We filled 4 of them in about 2 hours, and we got a whole bunch of free stuff. Satisfied, we went home.

The raffle had loads of prizes. And I mean loads, from all sorts of different shops. But up until today, I figured I hadn't won anything because, hello, almost 3 weeks later and they hadn't emailed me, plus nearly 7500 people were predicted to have done it, and who knows how many of them used the same strategy as Nikki and I.

But then they emailed me today. And guess what I won?

A free private coffee tasting at Trabant Coffee.

................

*bangs head on the desk multiple times*

I know many people who like love coffee. They pretty much make up the majority of this school (Seattle, coffee....kinda goes hand-in-hand, right?). And out of all the people in this 40,000+ populated school, I get chosen for the free coffee tasting????

Can I get a do-over? Or maybe trade for someone else's prize?

Well, enough of that. What's done is done. I'll just have to admit to the Trabant people that I'm not a coffee person, and maybe they'll let me pick a friend to go in my place since they probably want an honest opinion.

My mind works in mysterious ways. I'm not a poetry reader, I don't like writing poetry, and I can never understand what any poem says unless it's plain as day. But for some reason....I like going to my poetry writing class. In fact, I almost like going to it better than I do my short story writing class (the free food in short story kinda tilts the balance in its favor....). I like the teacher, she's fun and she doesn't try to make us "read the deeper meaning" in a poem while actually teaching us what the deeper meaning of the poem is. And I sort of feel more free to express myself in that class; the short story class is more about writing a literary short story than branching to other genres (like scifi and fantasy genres--no, it's not scifi/fantasy, it is scifi and fantasy, they are exclusive!). I don't do the literary fiction. I've tried, and for the most part I've failed pretty damn well.

Another, slightly random tangent that only has a connection in my mind: I miss the merry-go-rounds at playgrounds. I miss spinning them and jumping on and lying back and hanging on to the bars and then jumping back off. I miss it dearly.

There's a third year Korean class at the UW, which I was kinda aware of but not really, because it's titled, "Readings in Contemporary Korean." So...people would assume it's a class based on reading Korean works of literature and not a language class, right? At least, that's what I thought. Apparently it is the third year, but the university takes so long to change the title in the course catalogue they haven't bothered.

I don't know if I want to take a third year or not (first I have to survive second year....). I especially don't know if I'd even have room to take it. It all depends on if I get into the Creative Writing major or not. After this quarter finishes I have 30 credits I need to complete in order to graduate as a Creative Writing major, in addition to the 15 General Education Requirements needed to graduate the UW that I haven't managed to take yet. I can only apply to the CWM in spring; if I don't get accepted, then I'm pretty much screwed and have to resort to English Lit, which (aside from the 5 credits/1 class that I know will be transferrable between CW and Engl. Lit [yes, I'm already planning for winter quarter even though fall isn't even midway; I am a nerd]) I would need 25 credits by spring next year. And out of those 30/25 credits, 10 of them need to be pre-1900 coursework.

I really shouldn't be doing this to myself. I'm only going to freak out even more.

Friday I end class at 1:30, get to go take care of some financial stuff, and then.....I get to go stalk do some research for my short story class. ...Was no one else convinced? Me neither. Which is why I'm taking the paper that says "This is the assignment: go follow someone around and take notes on what they do" so that when if someone approaches me demanding why I'm sitting in the coffee house watching someone suspiciously close, I can wave it at them and say, "Call my professor! He made me do it!"

Saturday I go to Mt. Rainier. I'm predicting of bringing something with me for the bus ride, because I am a pretty quiet person when I'm around people I don't know, and I get bored of looking out a window for an hour. I should probably bring food, too; my geology professor/TA hasn't mentioned what will be provided on the trip aside from fare.

Sunday I'll probably go to Trabant and get that coffee-tasting thing settled. And then I WILL do my creative writing homework rather than waiting until Monday night to do it! I will!

For anyone who reads my lj in the hopes of seeing something pertaining to my fanfiction: I am working on it! But, you've read my lj. You know that I have 2 creative writing classes. I write fanfiction for fun; it's going to get scooted to the backburner if something important class-related comes up. For those eagerly awaiting an update to Crash Course Parenting--I know how it's going to go. I have a bit of it written already. I just need to get off lj and write it. So....I'll go and do just that.

Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.... -- T.S. Eliot