education (and hopefully edification)

    Dear Harriet Walter,

    HUUKAY. Let's talk school. I just got my schedule for next semester worked out. This is what it looks like!

• HUM112. Civilization and Culture II: From the 16th Century to the Present. More history! Basically the second half of the history class I'm taking right now. Or rather the continuation. Or something. History. This is good because I already know I don't have to actually read for it to succeed.
•  BTS112. Old Testament Studies II: Psalms, Wisdom Literature and Prophets. (Christian college, we kind of have to study the Bible.) Same situation as history, only instead of doing "ancient civilizations to the 16th century" followed by "from the 16th century to the present," it goes first-half-of-the-Old-Testament (the Pentateuch and the historical books) to second-half-of-the-Old-Testament (psalms, wisdom literature and prophets, obviously). New Testament next year. I am so looking forward to the Prophets bit of next semester, I love me some prophets.
• ENG101. Composition, Writing and Research. Don't know much about this one. I'm going to be taught how to write things.
• ENG 201. Introductory Studies in Literature. Usually taken sophomore year, apparently, but all the other class options had prerequisites, conflicted with Old Testament, or sounded too boring/scary. Upperclassman Shelli says both English classes can be handled at once (she did it herself).
• PHL111. Introduction to Critical Thinking. I have only a foggy idea of what this class is about, but I've heard it's difficult and fun and makes one learn things.

    So that's three professors for five classes. History and Critical Thinkin' with Dr Mac, Old Testament II with Professor Mine Enemy, and  the English double-feature with the young, beautiful new English professor. I sat at lunch with her a couple weeks ago when Shelli took her to the cafeteria, she seems nice. We admired the reuben sandwiches together. She's tallish and dark and lean and well-dressed and I've heard that she owns a cat named Gatsby.

    WAIT WHAT IS THIS I AM NOT READY FOR ANOTHER SEMESTER I NEED CHRISTMAS BREAK TO BE LIKE AT LEAST TWO MONTHS AKGH

    (but! on the upside, no more math or public speaking.)

this post is longer than six long things at a funeral

    Dear Harriet Walter,

    At last, this week is done! The first exam I had was a Bible exam on Wednesday (Professor Mine Enemy's class; he's the Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at this college and I'm in his general first-half-of-the-Old Testament class), which was predictably difficult. And P.M.E. was obviously amused by our wailing and gnashing of teeth, damn him. I think I did pretty well, though.
    The second exam was for my remedial algebra class on Thursday morning. Did I ever mention that my math class normally starts at 7:55am? The test started at 7:30am, which is just straight-up vulgar. I didn't manage to finish all 90 questions. Still waiting to hear if I passed that.
    The third exam was for my public speaking class, and started ten minutes after I was done with my math exam. This was not a big deal, though, as we weren't giving actual speeches or anything, just doing a normal papery test. I did well.

    I AM GLAD TO BE DONE WITH THIS WEEK IS ALL

    Now this weekend I have to revise my tribute speech for public speaking class and start practicing it before delivering it on Tuesday or Thursday, start writing a paper for Old Testament class, catch up on reading for History class and start thinking about my next paper for that and do a frig-ton of math homework.

    On a completely different note, I think the clearest and simplest difference between a Christian and a non-Christian might be the way they react to being given a free Bible. I go to a Christian college, see, and during chapel this morning our guest speaker (who is a different person every week) was somebody who - if I remember correctly - had been involved in the original marketing of the ESV (English Standard Version) Bible, which is a pretty commonly used edition on this campus, and he brought a few boxes of lovely, supple, engraved-faux-leather-with-gold-edges ESV Value Thinline Editions to give to us students for free. We were all totally thrilled like "SWEEEET, FREE BIBLES!" I chose a brown one and I love mine and appreciate getting it very much. But if I was a nonbeliever, somebody trying to foist a Bible on me would be super annoying and I would be irritated at them trying to tell me how to live my life and so on.

    Professor Mine Enemy had to go and murder my joy, however. He was in chapel that morning too, and I have his class right after lunch which is right after chapel, and in that class he made clear to us that we were not allowed to take our new, super-light ESVs to his Bible class but had to keep bringing our ESV Study Bibles for reference as usual. Have you ever seen an ESV Study Bible? They're different from the ones we got today, those are just the straight-up Bible with nothing added. ESV Study Bibles are the ones with a million billion trillion notes and maps and things. Their pages are so thin you can read the other side easily but nevertheless they weigh a ton. They are actual factual bricks. I use mine as a bookend to prop up my very very heavy collection of textbooks. I was so hoping I wouldn't have to lug mine to his class anymore! But no. Damn him.

    To be fair, that was a really good class he taught today. Much too exciting for a Friday afternoon, but good nonetheless.

    TOO MUCH BLATHER, TIME FOR A LIST
   
    Things I am looking forward to in October:

• October 8th Professor Mine Enemy is taking any students who are interested on a hike up to/around the Hollywood Sign and then driving us to Amoeba Records. I am excited for various reasons.
• October 14th-15th is one of the campus visit weekends, and because Best Friend is a high school senior now and looking at colleges, she is visiting my college to look at it and therefore she is also staying with Roommate Courtney and me. I am going to see her again! It will be exceedingly excellent.
• I believe that on the night of the 15th the dance club (which I am in) is going out to a contra-dance studio to learn a spot of contra-dancing. Don't know if Best Friend will still be here or not, but if she is she will not object to going out dancing on a Saturday night. I am looking forward to this.
• Sometime the week after that, Best Friend's father is flying down to my campus and is taking me out for lunch. He's not coming down specifically to take me out to lunch, he's on the board of directors or trustees or something and has to go to meetings or whatever. He's actually the reason I'm here, as I would never have heard about this college if he hadn't suggested it when I was looking at colleges.

    This is me ignoring the papers, midterms, exams and book reviews due in October. Blaahh.

    STILL TOO MUCH BLATHER, HERE IS A PICTURE

Some of my classmates and me next to a piece of the Berlin Wall.

    AND ANOTHER PICTURE BECAUSE THAT WAS A LOT OF TEXT

L to R: me, roommate courtney, freshman sheilla, also my posture is not always that bad

    i think being forced to write clearly and concisely on essay questions and papers is making me take out my natural piffle-mindedness on my poor unprepared blog and my long-suffering mother, i'm going to stop writing now

several reasons to be dehydrated

    Dear Harriet Walter,

    Okay. So. This month, recapitulated (for reference on current events in my life see this previous post):

• My parents moved with the rest of my family to Idaho in the first couple of days of this month, while I chose to move into Best Friend's home. My parents came back after a couple of days to continue working on our beat-up, rapidly emptying house.
• I stayed with Best Friend's family for a couple of weeks. My parents stayed with my grandma, who also lives in town. (Happy news: Shortly before I left, Best Friend's family volunteered to foster my dog for a year in hopes that my parents will be able to move into pet-friendly housing next year.)
• About a week ago we called ourselves done with the house and my hometown, leaving my grandma and Best Friend and Best Friend's younger sister to continue what work there was left to be done - mostly painting - to get it into a renting-ready state. Parents and I moved to the parents' student housing in Idaho, where my siblings were still stationed.
• I stayed in Idaho for about five days.
• Mother, Sister and I drove down to southern California starting the 18th, spent the night at a cheap motel in Reno and made it to my college on the 19th according to schedule.
• I am now on my third day of orientation. It has been difficult. Mother had to leave and fly back north yesterday.
• I have never moved before in my life and have now done so three times in one month. (There has been a lot of driving.)
• Sister is breaking down and talking about leaving me, dropping out and going back to Idaho.

    TURNS OUT STRESS PILLS CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH

status update

    Dear Harriet Walter,

    Here is a list of things that are going on:

• I am going to college in Pasadena, CA this fall. Mid-August.
• My sister is going to the same college with me.
• My parents are both going back to school this fall. They will move to Idaho. My father is going to study Computer Science. My mother is going to finish up her Bachelor's because she couldn't when she first went to college because she was too busy having babies.
• My oldest sister, having now gotten her Associate's degree (whatever that is), is going to go to the same college in Idaho. She is my father's study-buddy and she is also going to study Computer Science. She will be taking her toddler and her husband with her and they will all finally be living independently in an apartment and not with my parents.
• My slightly useless brother will live with my parents in their apartment and hopefully get a job.

    Here is a list of things I need to get:

• A passport
• A driver's license
• Medical insurance
• A new laptop
• A new home for my dog.

    Also need vehicle registration to keep a car on campus (sister and I are probably going to drive down when we go), need Californiappropriate clothes annnnnnd I should really stock up on handkerchiefs, stress pills and chocolate. Weeping is very much on the agenda.

    MEANWHILE, BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED WRITER'S BLOCK

HW Is Totally Engaged; or, I fail as a news source

    Dear Harriet Walter,

    Okay first off, one quick thing: HAHAHAHAHA. Jennifer Garner as Miss Marple. Oh, Disney, you're funny.

    But mainly I wanted to say holy what you are totally getting married.

    What?

    I found out last night (like, WEEKS after I should have found out) and was left literally pacing my darkened kitchen at 2AM trying to figure out why I felt like somebody whose best friend has just gotten engaged and who only heard about it from the town gossip's parrot. There's something wrong with the way my brain is wired.

    CONGRATUMAFATOOTIN'LATIONS

    (I think that you will be happy!)

    (quick edit the nextish day: I told my dad about you getting engaged and the only thing he said was "Nuuuuuu! Another dream crushed!" because he's just hilarious and cryptic like that.)