Saturday, December 04, 2004
Cheap Books and Legal Addictive Stimulants
Hey everybody. The finals I'm worried about are behind me...I've got three more spread out between Tuesday and Friday, but I'm not overly worried about them. So I'm pretty much considering my winter break to already have started. Woot!
A word of warning about the following entry: I've not been feeling well for the last couple of days, and my condition has worsened over the last few hours. I've been feeling very bleh for a couple of days. And then - the genius that I am - I had pizza for dinner and then went to watch Resident Evil in a stuffy dorm room...and now I feel quite a bit more bleh. I don't have any specific symptoms, so I wouldn't call myself sick. But I wish I felt better. Anyway, I'm just trying to warn you that what follows might not be the most coherent thing you've ever read. Plus, I'm watching You've Got Mail in the background. (Yes, I did just watch it. But before I was listening to the director's commentary, and now I'm just watching the movie. Give me a break! I need something to cure all the gore in Resident Evil.) Nonetheless, I'll start from yesterday morning.
I stayed up a little later on Thursday than I had planned on, but I awoke Friday morning with a lot more energy than I would have expected. So I rolled out of bed to meet the usual shower, backpack packing, Sandwich Factory for breakfast, physics, music theory, and calculus. Friday was the last time I would sit through these classes, aside from the finals. Kind of sad, really. I'm particularly going to miss music theory. I may not have learned all that much new material, but I have an interest in the class nonetheless and I really liked Dr. Barata. He really did try to make the class interesting, and he did - at least to me - succeed. Here are a couple of quotes from the last class meeting:
"Mary had a little...too much to drink."
"We have a sale in men's haberdashery."
Reading these back to myself I can see where anyone reading this blog who isn't in my music theory class wouldn't really see any humor. But trust me: when they come out of Dr. Barata's mouth, they're hilarious. In this case, he was demonstrating how seventh chords can make an otherwise cheerful song (like "Mary Had a Little Lamb") into...uh...something not as cheerful. And evidently, seventh chords are what the pianists at Nordstrom play the most. Anywho, I'm very glad I took this class, and I am going to miss it.
After calculus I biked back to the dorms for a bit of excitement: my key refused to open my door. Don't ask me why. I must have been pushing in too hard or something. I called my RA only to get her answering machine, but that seemed to do the trick because my key worked after that. Go figure. Anyway, I exchanged my books and left for the Vista Grande Restaurant to have lunch with some assorted bandos.
--------
This dashed line is here for a reason. I'll explain in a bit.
I had the "engineering club" sandwich at VGR. I had to order before everyone else had arrived and I ate while all of them were still waiting for their food because I had a class at noon. So that was fun.
I then went to my last physics lab (with no final...not to be confused with my physics lecture, which definitely has a final), then home for a nap and some last minute studying, then EE 111 for that final. This particular exam wasn't anything I hadn't seen before, but it still annoyed the heck out of me. It wasn't a test to see if I had learned anything (because, as I have said many times, EE 111 doesn't actually teach anything) but instead it was a test to see if I had studied for the test. For example, in the previous class meeting three current EE seniors came in to tell us about their senior projects. It was a waste of time: I don't know anything about EE yet so their attempts at technical discussions were lost on me, and they, being college seniors, have no experience teaching and therefore couldn't bring what they had to say down to my level. So, since I didn't learn anything at all that day, it would be completely unfair to ask me anything specific about the presentations. What, then, was I asked on the final? "What were the topics of the three senior projects that were presented in class?" It was a question to see if I paid attention, not to test my comprehension of a subject. Stupid class. But it's over now, and I think I BSed enough to get an A or A- in the class.
I was in my room with Jake (from my floor) playing video games a little later on when I noticed Amy (from the trumpet section) walking by outside. So I went to the window and yelled out to her, and long story short we decided to go and have dinner at the Avenue before the basketball game we both had to go to. Jake, of course, immediately proceeded to tell the whole floor that I had a date. Sigh. I told Amy about it later, so we jokingly decided it was a date, so that brings this week's total up to three. (Hey, if fake dates count then so do dinners at Light House.) Anyway, we ate and went over to the band room.
The basketball game was fun...we beat Sac State by a margin of only a couple of points. It was over by 9, leaving my Friday night pretty much wide open. Lauren called while I was en route back to Yosemite and we talked for twenty minutes or so. I called Ben after that to see if he wanted to do something, but I couldn't get hold of him. So I went and sat out in the common room and listened to everybody talk, not really having anything to say. I had thought about calling Rosalie to see if she wanted to do something but I figured I'd try to play it cool...I did just see her the night before. So my night was looking pretty dismal. But wouldn't you know it? Rosalie called me after about fifteen minutes of sitting in the common room, so I went over to her room and the five of us (four from Thursday night and a new friend, Jared) played Hoopla and Apples to Apples until 2 in the morning.
And then I came home and went to sleep.
I got up this morning, showered, and went to Light House by myself for breakfast. After assembling a hefty plate of an assortment of breakfast foods, I ran into Ann and Claudia from the third floor and the three of us ate together.
After that I had a lot of free time. I did two chapters' worth of physics problems, practiced piano for about two hours (I'm brushing up on my Christmas songs), and otherwise found unproductive ways to pass the time. The usual band crew and I went for pizza at Back Stage, during which Rosalie called to ask if I wanted to go to dinner (can't be there for them all, I guess...) We then watched a movie, which I vaguely remember writing about earlier. I came home from that and started writing in my blog.
I had gotten through up until noon on Friday, but (at the location of the dashed line above) a few people from my floor asked if I would lend them my car so they could drive over to the local frozen yogurt shop, Bali's. I wasn't too keen on the idea, so I instead drove Kristen, Jake, and Catch to Bali's, and the four of us had some frozen deliciousness together.
When Rosalie called earlier to ask me for dinner I asked if she wanted to do anything later tonight, but she had to study. So, upon arriving back at the good old R2 parking lot, I gave her a call to try and brighten her evening. Her window happens to be between the parking lot and tower 2, so I told her to look outside while I stood out there and waved to her. Very Romeo and Juliet, no? Well, she thought it was cute and funny, so there you go.
And then I came back here and finished writing in my blog. Hey! It's midnight, December 5, 2004! I'm 19!! I suppose I don't technically turn 19 until 5 this morning or whenever it is that I was actually born. (By the way, I'm turning off my cell phone tonight in case anyone decides I need to be called at the exact moment I turn 19. That's all well and good, but it's my birthday and I'm sleeping in!) This reminds me: thank you to Stacie, Mom, and Dad for sending me assorted birthday cards and presents. I love mail!
Okay, well I'm going to bed for the last time before I'm 19. Good night, all. I'll see you in a week or so.
Cheers,
Josh
mood: old
music: You've Got Mail, sans the director's commentary
location: dorm
Family Guy Quote-of-the-Day
Peter: "Joe, I've had new neighbors before but none of them were half the man you are. And since you're half a man already that splits them into some kind of fraction I can't even begin to measure."
A word of warning about the following entry: I've not been feeling well for the last couple of days, and my condition has worsened over the last few hours. I've been feeling very bleh for a couple of days. And then - the genius that I am - I had pizza for dinner and then went to watch Resident Evil in a stuffy dorm room...and now I feel quite a bit more bleh. I don't have any specific symptoms, so I wouldn't call myself sick. But I wish I felt better. Anyway, I'm just trying to warn you that what follows might not be the most coherent thing you've ever read. Plus, I'm watching You've Got Mail in the background. (Yes, I did just watch it. But before I was listening to the director's commentary, and now I'm just watching the movie. Give me a break! I need something to cure all the gore in Resident Evil.) Nonetheless, I'll start from yesterday morning.
I stayed up a little later on Thursday than I had planned on, but I awoke Friday morning with a lot more energy than I would have expected. So I rolled out of bed to meet the usual shower, backpack packing, Sandwich Factory for breakfast, physics, music theory, and calculus. Friday was the last time I would sit through these classes, aside from the finals. Kind of sad, really. I'm particularly going to miss music theory. I may not have learned all that much new material, but I have an interest in the class nonetheless and I really liked Dr. Barata. He really did try to make the class interesting, and he did - at least to me - succeed. Here are a couple of quotes from the last class meeting:
"Mary had a little...too much to drink."
"We have a sale in men's haberdashery."
Reading these back to myself I can see where anyone reading this blog who isn't in my music theory class wouldn't really see any humor. But trust me: when they come out of Dr. Barata's mouth, they're hilarious. In this case, he was demonstrating how seventh chords can make an otherwise cheerful song (like "Mary Had a Little Lamb") into...uh...something not as cheerful. And evidently, seventh chords are what the pianists at Nordstrom play the most. Anywho, I'm very glad I took this class, and I am going to miss it.
After calculus I biked back to the dorms for a bit of excitement: my key refused to open my door. Don't ask me why. I must have been pushing in too hard or something. I called my RA only to get her answering machine, but that seemed to do the trick because my key worked after that. Go figure. Anyway, I exchanged my books and left for the Vista Grande Restaurant to have lunch with some assorted bandos.
--------
This dashed line is here for a reason. I'll explain in a bit.
I had the "engineering club" sandwich at VGR. I had to order before everyone else had arrived and I ate while all of them were still waiting for their food because I had a class at noon. So that was fun.
I then went to my last physics lab (with no final...not to be confused with my physics lecture, which definitely has a final), then home for a nap and some last minute studying, then EE 111 for that final. This particular exam wasn't anything I hadn't seen before, but it still annoyed the heck out of me. It wasn't a test to see if I had learned anything (because, as I have said many times, EE 111 doesn't actually teach anything) but instead it was a test to see if I had studied for the test. For example, in the previous class meeting three current EE seniors came in to tell us about their senior projects. It was a waste of time: I don't know anything about EE yet so their attempts at technical discussions were lost on me, and they, being college seniors, have no experience teaching and therefore couldn't bring what they had to say down to my level. So, since I didn't learn anything at all that day, it would be completely unfair to ask me anything specific about the presentations. What, then, was I asked on the final? "What were the topics of the three senior projects that were presented in class?" It was a question to see if I paid attention, not to test my comprehension of a subject. Stupid class. But it's over now, and I think I BSed enough to get an A or A- in the class.
I was in my room with Jake (from my floor) playing video games a little later on when I noticed Amy (from the trumpet section) walking by outside. So I went to the window and yelled out to her, and long story short we decided to go and have dinner at the Avenue before the basketball game we both had to go to. Jake, of course, immediately proceeded to tell the whole floor that I had a date. Sigh. I told Amy about it later, so we jokingly decided it was a date, so that brings this week's total up to three. (Hey, if fake dates count then so do dinners at Light House.) Anyway, we ate and went over to the band room.
The basketball game was fun...we beat Sac State by a margin of only a couple of points. It was over by 9, leaving my Friday night pretty much wide open. Lauren called while I was en route back to Yosemite and we talked for twenty minutes or so. I called Ben after that to see if he wanted to do something, but I couldn't get hold of him. So I went and sat out in the common room and listened to everybody talk, not really having anything to say. I had thought about calling Rosalie to see if she wanted to do something but I figured I'd try to play it cool...I did just see her the night before. So my night was looking pretty dismal. But wouldn't you know it? Rosalie called me after about fifteen minutes of sitting in the common room, so I went over to her room and the five of us (four from Thursday night and a new friend, Jared) played Hoopla and Apples to Apples until 2 in the morning.
And then I came home and went to sleep.
I got up this morning, showered, and went to Light House by myself for breakfast. After assembling a hefty plate of an assortment of breakfast foods, I ran into Ann and Claudia from the third floor and the three of us ate together.
After that I had a lot of free time. I did two chapters' worth of physics problems, practiced piano for about two hours (I'm brushing up on my Christmas songs), and otherwise found unproductive ways to pass the time. The usual band crew and I went for pizza at Back Stage, during which Rosalie called to ask if I wanted to go to dinner (can't be there for them all, I guess...) We then watched a movie, which I vaguely remember writing about earlier. I came home from that and started writing in my blog.
I had gotten through up until noon on Friday, but (at the location of the dashed line above) a few people from my floor asked if I would lend them my car so they could drive over to the local frozen yogurt shop, Bali's. I wasn't too keen on the idea, so I instead drove Kristen, Jake, and Catch to Bali's, and the four of us had some frozen deliciousness together.
When Rosalie called earlier to ask me for dinner I asked if she wanted to do anything later tonight, but she had to study. So, upon arriving back at the good old R2 parking lot, I gave her a call to try and brighten her evening. Her window happens to be between the parking lot and tower 2, so I told her to look outside while I stood out there and waved to her. Very Romeo and Juliet, no? Well, she thought it was cute and funny, so there you go.
And then I came back here and finished writing in my blog. Hey! It's midnight, December 5, 2004! I'm 19!! I suppose I don't technically turn 19 until 5 this morning or whenever it is that I was actually born. (By the way, I'm turning off my cell phone tonight in case anyone decides I need to be called at the exact moment I turn 19. That's all well and good, but it's my birthday and I'm sleeping in!) This reminds me: thank you to Stacie, Mom, and Dad for sending me assorted birthday cards and presents. I love mail!
Okay, well I'm going to bed for the last time before I'm 19. Good night, all. I'll see you in a week or so.
Cheers,
Josh
mood: old
music: You've Got Mail, sans the director's commentary
location: dorm
Family Guy Quote-of-the-Day
Peter: "Joe, I've had new neighbors before but none of them were half the man you are. And since you're half a man already that splits them into some kind of fraction I can't even begin to measure."
