I'd love to have this one.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Distraction
I don’t particularly feel like listening to my professor right now. I know, I know – you’re judging me already. You would be paying rapt attention to his animated explanation of row and column percentages and avidly examining his graph of the extremely pertinent and serious topic of how many freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors eat cat food. What could be more relevant to any ambitious student’s higher education? *rolls eyes*
At least I get amazingly amusing quotes from this guy. It makes up for his annoying cockiness and complicated quiz questions, at least to some degree. “For nominal level data, we’ll use the example of religion, so you could have categories such as Jews, Baptists, Catholics, Muslims, Atheists, etc, and you either fit in one or the other. Now, you can’t perform mathematical operations on nominal level data; they’re simply labels, or categories. That means you can’t subtract a Baptist from a Jew and get a Catholic. I know you might have thought you could, but you can’t.” Or… “How would you be able to collect data about revolutionaries in Mexico? (Marshall: “I can’t think of a safe way.”) Well, I wasn’t talking about a safe way. That’s what grad students are for.”
Don’t worry; I’m not going to fail this class. I’m half listening at the moment, and I already learned this material in my Poli Stats class last semester. Well, I’m assuming you care. If not, that’s just fyi.
LOL He just told us about a random statistical discovery he made. Evidently, Hispanics do not settle near clusters of mobile homes. Where you find great concentrations of mobile homes, you do not find Hispanic populations. So, my thoughts are…if we start replacing American buildings with mobile home compounds, we will have automatically solved our illegal immigration problem. They’ll just leave. Wow, I knew the South was good for something.
Yay, lunchtime!
At least I get amazingly amusing quotes from this guy. It makes up for his annoying cockiness and complicated quiz questions, at least to some degree. “For nominal level data, we’ll use the example of religion, so you could have categories such as Jews, Baptists, Catholics, Muslims, Atheists, etc, and you either fit in one or the other. Now, you can’t perform mathematical operations on nominal level data; they’re simply labels, or categories. That means you can’t subtract a Baptist from a Jew and get a Catholic. I know you might have thought you could, but you can’t.” Or… “How would you be able to collect data about revolutionaries in Mexico? (Marshall: “I can’t think of a safe way.”) Well, I wasn’t talking about a safe way. That’s what grad students are for.”
Don’t worry; I’m not going to fail this class. I’m half listening at the moment, and I already learned this material in my Poli Stats class last semester. Well, I’m assuming you care. If not, that’s just fyi.
LOL He just told us about a random statistical discovery he made. Evidently, Hispanics do not settle near clusters of mobile homes. Where you find great concentrations of mobile homes, you do not find Hispanic populations. So, my thoughts are…if we start replacing American buildings with mobile home compounds, we will have automatically solved our illegal immigration problem. They’ll just leave. Wow, I knew the South was good for something.
Yay, lunchtime!
Another gray day
Today was a normal day, more or less. Nothing spectacular. Classes weren't canceled, like I had suspected, so it was just another soggy, gray morning. I really enjoyed my voice lesson, though, and I think I'm beginning to make some progress with my tone. She's helping me to borrow some of the support from my lower register to blend my middle register with my upper register. Right now, it's really breathy, but it's improving. She said my high notes were " pingy " - which is evidently a good thing. Interesting adjective, that is. Anyway, I rushed off after lunch to an optometrist appointment in Cabot, found out that my eyes are perfectly fine (which was a relief -- they've been doing weird things which are evidently nothing to worry about), picked up stuff I forgot last week from Mom in the parking lot, and then drove back to school and went straight to voice lab. Despite the fact that I hated walking in the bitter cold from the parking lot all the way over to the music building, the lab was quite enjoyable. I liked listening to the older students sing since it gave me a lot of insight about technique. Dr. Antolik also did quite a bit of individual coaching with them in front of everyone, so we were all able to reap the benefits of their " lesson. "
So, I tried to spend some time on homework tonight, and I got through the chapter I needed to read for my quiz tomorrow, but I decided to put off the rest and go work out with Cameron for a little while, which was quite a good idea, if I do say so myself. I challenged myself a bit more than usual and tried some new things. I thought I was going to come right back and finish the homework...but as usual, God had other plans. I ended up talking about some pretty important stuff with a couple of good friends, and it was definitely one of those instances where people and spiritual growth took priority over school. The homework that I'll have half-finished for tomorrow isn't crucial, though, and the ability to watch God work in and through me is well worth a couple of homework points. I'm glad I've finally learned that lesson. Sure, there's a place for academic responsibility - I don't take it lightly - but spiritual responsibilities must take priority sometimes.
Oh, for anyone reading this...if you would pray for my computer, I'd really appreciate it. I wasn't planning on replacing it for another couple of months, but the bottom 1/3 of my screen is starting to go out. It's hung on for 4 years...a few more months is all I'm asking!
Anyway, I'm going to go shower now because I'm all sweaty and smelly from working out, and then I'm going to get some sleep. Wow, that combination sounds so good. I'm excited.
So, I tried to spend some time on homework tonight, and I got through the chapter I needed to read for my quiz tomorrow, but I decided to put off the rest and go work out with Cameron for a little while, which was quite a good idea, if I do say so myself. I challenged myself a bit more than usual and tried some new things. I thought I was going to come right back and finish the homework...but as usual, God had other plans. I ended up talking about some pretty important stuff with a couple of good friends, and it was definitely one of those instances where people and spiritual growth took priority over school. The homework that I'll have half-finished for tomorrow isn't crucial, though, and the ability to watch God work in and through me is well worth a couple of homework points. I'm glad I've finally learned that lesson. Sure, there's a place for academic responsibility - I don't take it lightly - but spiritual responsibilities must take priority sometimes.
Oh, for anyone reading this...if you would pray for my computer, I'd really appreciate it. I wasn't planning on replacing it for another couple of months, but the bottom 1/3 of my screen is starting to go out. It's hung on for 4 years...a few more months is all I'm asking!
Anyway, I'm going to go shower now because I'm all sweaty and smelly from working out, and then I'm going to get some sleep. Wow, that combination sounds so good. I'm excited.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
A Fresh Start
So, a lot has changed in my life over the past few months, but I'm not going to worry about explaining any of that here. As far as I'm concerned, this is a fresh start. :)
You know...I really couldn't be happier with life than I am right now. It's just ridiculous. And it's more than just having amazing friends, intriguing classes, rediscovered passions, or a sense of vitality and confidence; it's having a peace that quiets the mind, a contentment that calms the soul, and a joy that overflows my spirit.
I suppose it didn't all appear suddenly. Actually, I'm sure it didn't. I think it was born when I shattered my jar a couple of weeks ago, and it's grown since then as God has taught me to choose faith, choose hope, choose peace, choose contentment, and choose joy. I think I'm going to write all of those down and stick them to the ceiling above my bed tomorrow so that they're the first thing I see in the morning when I open my eyes.
Anyway, it's really late, and I'm not enjoying the feeling of tiredness quite so much anymore. Maybe classes will be canceled tomorrow; maybe they won't. Either way, life goes on, and God is good. What more can I ask for?
You know...I really couldn't be happier with life than I am right now. It's just ridiculous. And it's more than just having amazing friends, intriguing classes, rediscovered passions, or a sense of vitality and confidence; it's having a peace that quiets the mind, a contentment that calms the soul, and a joy that overflows my spirit.
I suppose it didn't all appear suddenly. Actually, I'm sure it didn't. I think it was born when I shattered my jar a couple of weeks ago, and it's grown since then as God has taught me to choose faith, choose hope, choose peace, choose contentment, and choose joy. I think I'm going to write all of those down and stick them to the ceiling above my bed tomorrow so that they're the first thing I see in the morning when I open my eyes.
Anyway, it's really late, and I'm not enjoying the feeling of tiredness quite so much anymore. Maybe classes will be canceled tomorrow; maybe they won't. Either way, life goes on, and God is good. What more can I ask for?
Friday, January 23, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Our first adventure in Angel Fire
Hey, I wrote this earlier while I didn’t have anything else to do…and thought I’d post it for posterity. ;)
It’s weird how difficult it is to type after an adrenaline rush and its subsequent crash. My fingers are still numb and I’m a bit weak and shaky, but at least I’m warm now. We were only about forty-five minutes from Angel Fire, winding through some beautifully glistening forests on a rural highway, when the tires started spinning and we realized we weren’t going to make it up the hill. Talk about an abrupt end to our jolly mood. Dad put it in reverse, backed down the hill, and tried again, but we started sliding and had to stop. The snow on the road was packed and frozen solid. Dad ordered us out of the van to start pushing, so there we were: Mom, Isaac, and me, pushing for all we were worth at the back of the van. My auto-response to emergency situations is to laugh, unfortunately, so I started to wonder if I was going to collapse from adrenaline or from giggling. It didn’t help that Mom was gripping the van with one hand and my pants with the other. Evidently she thought they were going to fall down. Anyway, it’s hard to push a sliding van up an icy hill when you’re laughing (just in case you were wondering.)
Fortunately, we’d only just started our arduous journey when an SUV appeared at the top of the hill, and four guys in their 20s jumped out and hurried down to help us. With the seven of us pushing, pulling, and tugging at the van, inhaling the fumes of burning rubber, we finally arrived at the top of the hill and the van gained enough traction to move on its own. Every electrical system in it was on the fritz, though, and we couldn’t get the automatic side doors to open. It was then that I really noticed the pain shooting down my fingers from the cold. No wonder -- it was only 15 degrees outside. As we were attempting to get back inside the van, another driver rolled down his window to let us know that there were a couple more hills to climb. Dad decided to go for it; after all, we didn’t really have any other choice. We made it around one or two more curves, but we slid to a stop on the next hill, and there was no way we were going to make it any further on our own. So, Mom pulled out her cell phone to call AAA and promptly realized that there was no service – at all. :P
There was an extremely nice man in the next vehicle that happened along, though, and he drove Dad a few miles down the road to a place with cell phone signal so Dad could get a call out to a towing service. The rest of us hung out in the van, thankful that we had a full tank of gas, while Dad stayed with the guy in his car and talked with him until the tow truck arrived about 45 minutes later. He towed us to a point where the snow plows had cleared the roads, and we finally arrived at Angel Fire after seven. It was definitely a more adventurous day than we had expected. Hopefully it isn’t an indicator of what’s to come this week! Anyway…sorry this was so long – I just wanted to write about it before I forgot how crazy it was. I’ll probably be posting a lot more on here this week since I’ll have some time for reflection. Snowy weather is perfect for that. I think that why I want to live where it snows sometimes.
It’s weird how difficult it is to type after an adrenaline rush and its subsequent crash. My fingers are still numb and I’m a bit weak and shaky, but at least I’m warm now. We were only about forty-five minutes from Angel Fire, winding through some beautifully glistening forests on a rural highway, when the tires started spinning and we realized we weren’t going to make it up the hill. Talk about an abrupt end to our jolly mood. Dad put it in reverse, backed down the hill, and tried again, but we started sliding and had to stop. The snow on the road was packed and frozen solid. Dad ordered us out of the van to start pushing, so there we were: Mom, Isaac, and me, pushing for all we were worth at the back of the van. My auto-response to emergency situations is to laugh, unfortunately, so I started to wonder if I was going to collapse from adrenaline or from giggling. It didn’t help that Mom was gripping the van with one hand and my pants with the other. Evidently she thought they were going to fall down. Anyway, it’s hard to push a sliding van up an icy hill when you’re laughing (just in case you were wondering.)
Fortunately, we’d only just started our arduous journey when an SUV appeared at the top of the hill, and four guys in their 20s jumped out and hurried down to help us. With the seven of us pushing, pulling, and tugging at the van, inhaling the fumes of burning rubber, we finally arrived at the top of the hill and the van gained enough traction to move on its own. Every electrical system in it was on the fritz, though, and we couldn’t get the automatic side doors to open. It was then that I really noticed the pain shooting down my fingers from the cold. No wonder -- it was only 15 degrees outside. As we were attempting to get back inside the van, another driver rolled down his window to let us know that there were a couple more hills to climb. Dad decided to go for it; after all, we didn’t really have any other choice. We made it around one or two more curves, but we slid to a stop on the next hill, and there was no way we were going to make it any further on our own. So, Mom pulled out her cell phone to call AAA and promptly realized that there was no service – at all. :P
There was an extremely nice man in the next vehicle that happened along, though, and he drove Dad a few miles down the road to a place with cell phone signal so Dad could get a call out to a towing service. The rest of us hung out in the van, thankful that we had a full tank of gas, while Dad stayed with the guy in his car and talked with him until the tow truck arrived about 45 minutes later. He towed us to a point where the snow plows had cleared the roads, and we finally arrived at Angel Fire after seven. It was definitely a more adventurous day than we had expected. Hopefully it isn’t an indicator of what’s to come this week! Anyway…sorry this was so long – I just wanted to write about it before I forgot how crazy it was. I’ll probably be posting a lot more on here this week since I’ll have some time for reflection. Snowy weather is perfect for that. I think that why I want to live where it snows sometimes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)