You Have to Start Somewhere

Long Time

2011-01-06T18:33:00.000-08:00

So, I figured I would make an appearance. I am in the first week of winter quarter, and already have an obscene amount of work. Since I last posted, I moved into my own apartment, and have been exposed to the lovelyness that is the bus schedule.

I have just applied to grad school, but I'm probably not going to get in. I figure its good practice!

This is more of a reminder to me than anything of substance. So, I am going to go do homework and eat a yam while I battle my raging headache.

End of Spring Break

2010-03-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

So. Spring break is over. Yes, I know I still have ‘til tomorrow morning, but I consider it over. Of the two best parts of my break, one ended 4 hours ago and the other left 30 minutes ago.

On the bright side, my week and a half of break was amazing. It was kicked off with the arrival of Sam and the attendance of a quite enjoyable pokemon trading card game tournament. (Whoo! States down, regionals to go. Lets not talk about how bad I am at the game. < <) We also picked up the newest pokemon ds games… We are such nerds, I love it.

Then there was White day. Instead of celebrating Valentines day, me and Sam celebrated the Valentines day/White day combo. Essentially, the holidays are split by gender, girls give guys chocolate and gifts on Valentines day, and guys give girls (traditionally more elaborate/expensive) gifts on White day. So, it was my Valentines day. It was pretty awesome. ^ ^

Then, I got a blissful week at home. It was really nice to see my sisters and parents. I got to hang out with some of them and get updates on how things have been going. Sadly, it might be a while before I come back… Unless I go back for Easter, but that’s another matter. I played a lot of ds and Wii, ate a lot of yummy food(Yes! No dorm food!) and did laundry.

Then, it ended. Now, I have returned to my dorm. Its rather grounding. Back to earth…

So! School.

Summary of last quarter:
Anthro: Amazing class, I am sad that one is over… Did very well over all, and my ethnography got 98/100 points!
Bio: Ewww… That class sucked. I adored the material, but…yeah. The class itself absolutely sucked. I somehow pulled off a great grade in that class, which is weird considering my 80-something percent before going into the final. It was curved, so my only conclusion is everyone else sucked too.
Math: So, calc 1 at UW is unpleasant. They are not nice about what problems they give you. I somehow pulled off a decent grade, but… Yeah. I did not even finish that final, and it somehow pulled up my grade. I feel really sad for all the students who had to take it.

This next quarter:
Sensory psych: Was not sure about this one, since it was the least interesting part of biopsych, but I’m thinking it’s gonna be cool. It helps that the teacher is super on top of things. He had the syllabus up weeks ago.
Developmental psych: Awesome, ‘nuf said.
Personality psych: Also awesome. I almost didn’t get into this one…but they lifted a prereq at the last minute, so… I am excited.

So. Here’s for hoping this quarter is not as stressful as the last one…

Anthro video! And news.

2010-03-05T19:27:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf4znwkMXj8

So, there is is. My pride and joy. It sucks, yes, but it was amusing.

And, and, the best part is the end. <3!

Also, in the news segment, because this is the most exciting thing to have happened to me (that I feel like talking about, at least) in a very long time. I nearly got run over by a bus.

Like a total bimbo, I stepped into the road while I was waving someone goodbye. Luckily, another one of my friends was more observant and pulled me back just as a bus came by. How it was going so fast I have no clue, seeing as this was in the between class rush... Actually kind of weird.

So. Brief description of about the most terrifying experience of my life(maybe). Because, when you are standing as far away from that bus as you are sitting from your screen, and you realize it would have hit you, its kind of scary. And, at that speed, it would not have been pretty.

So, that was my near death experience of the day. I think I win. ^ ^

...But I finished the project!!

2010-03-05T05:39:00.000-08:00

So. I'm thinking there's a point where there is really no point in going to bed after you've been up late. I think I hit it... 1/2 hour ago(currently 5:30).

So, I now have an hour and a half before I had been planning to get up. Yeah, no point. Well, maybe, but I cannot be sure I'll wake up... Meh, I'll just shower early, do more homework...

Ooh, I have been busy though! I managed to make nearly an entire video ethnography in 6 hours. I am quite proud of myself. It looks rather nice too...but, I'm not exactly in the best shape to judge that, really. It is due today at 4... If it ever stops loading onto youtube, I'll stick it on here and you all can laugh at my demented late night/early morning brain processing. I would say look at it and give me advice before 4, buuut...yeah, not gonna happen.

Hmm...as a note, I do not often pull all-nighters for school. This is my second...ever. First for UW. I've only done them for projects and papers. As long as I don't need to actually think the next day, I'm good. So, tomorrows...ouch, I mean today's clicker questions might be doomed... but, yeah. My dismal 79% on those buggers has me rather discouraged and depressed.

Actually, a lot has me discouraged and depressed lately... Its been the past few weeks of general horribleness. With the exception of last weekend... And, yeah. The horribleness shall continue... Only a few more weeks 'til finals are over though! And...yeah. I'm excited. I just have to survive a bio final(. .), a math final(Meep! . .), and an anthro test(Aa-...wait, that ones easy. ^ ^"). But, then I have spring break and other fun stuff. Just to get there...

Over one and a half hours later...

M'kay. Its still processing. Soo... If I feel like it, I'll post it later. Otherwise, meh. ^ ^

Strange Sign of the Day

2010-02-03T18:47:00.000-08:00

This is in the middle of campus, right next to the fountain and right in front of Bagley. That would be the dead rose garden you see behind it. I thought I would share it with you. I found it amusing. ^ ^

This Quarter

2010-01-31T01:21:00.000-08:00

In case you hadn't noticed, there are a few major elements in my life right now. I eat, sleep, and breathe these, its rather frightening. However. School is the big one. So, you get to hear about school...lots.

Biology:
I love biology. It is soo cool, I could read the text for fun, if I weren't lazy, and I love the lectures. Despite the fact that the teacher is kind of intimidating and could care less about the students in his class of 700.

However, this class employs a torture device called a clicker. Simply said, they give you multiple choice exam questions during class and you use a small, phone sized device to submit your answers. These question make up a good 20 percent of your grade. Sadly, this destroys my whole strategy of coming to class in a zombie like state and taking super detailed notes. These are hard questions, which, combined with the phenomenon I have observed where, in every testing situation you will miss at leas a couple questions, is putting quite the dent in my grade. My good exam scores are not making this loss of points look any better.

We happen to discuss these clicker questions with the people sitting around us, I believe I already mentioned those I sit with. For once, I am sitting with a bunch of cocky, rude males. They are doing more poorly than I am, which is not helpful. Well, maybe not quite. I can explain stuff to them...quite a task. I can also thank them for my vague understanding of Hardy-Weinburg. They are all physics people... (What is it with me and math/physics people? I swear...)

Luckily, we have a weekly, 2 hour lab, which is awesome. Our TA is hilarious, and we get to do the most random things. We spent last week looking at the bacteria grown from samples from out face. My bacteria are slightly resistant to Penicillin, but sensitive to the other three. In case you were wondering. But, anyway. The TA was talking about the mechanisms of genetic variation, using the facial bacteria as examples He kept this up when he came to gene flow, or migration. Which, would require the two colonies mixing... Then he can up with this example of how it might happen, which consisted entirely of "So, its late night at Earl's place...and things are happening." It was amusing, to say the least.

Math:
Math 124, oh how we love thee, (maybe?)weed out class. Honestly, this stuff sucks. The Teacher is amazing, she explains things really well and is very cool. She uses 'blah' as a descriptive term, makes arm motions whenever she uses brackets for something, and plays really random music in the 10 minutes before class.

Sadly, we spend half the week with out very unclear, confusing TA. Sure, she's nice, but she's rather useless as far as help goes. The work is also school-wide, so all calc classes cover the same stuff at the same pace. They love these complex, terminology problems, and rely on the very ineffective worksheets(in section, led by our own TA) to teach us core concepts.

On the bright side, I am learning some pretty awesome stuff. I love limits, just the whole idea is so cool... That a line is approaching a certain y value as it approaches x, yet it does not actually matter what that y value is... Yeah, just cool. And, then there are derivatives. Which, are just fun, as long as they're the nice ones. I feel a bit odd though... Here I am, struggling this stuff that it seems like a vast majority of my friends already know... Its more than a little embarrassing.

Verdict, I wish I had taken this class at CBC. Badly. That I have my own, personal math tutor is probably the only reason I have not died yet. I am so lucky he is patient with my denseness... Or feels obligated to help his poor struggling girlfriend. Either way, I may pass this class. so...not complaining. Although, he gets props for teaching me this stuff over MSN.

I took a test this morning, actually... It wasn't too scary, but I'm sure I missed something, so... Well, next Tuesday! I get to know how poorly I did...

Anthropology:
Anthropology of Rock and Roll, my fun class for the quarter. So far, it is absolutely awesome. The teacher is awesome, lectures are interesting. We have a really boring textbook to read, that he disagrees with on a great many concepts. He also plays music in the 10 minutes before class. Only, he plays rather epic music videos and concerts on a massive projector.

Our final project for this happens to be a video ethnography. We are supposed to create what is essentially a short essay, in video form. Only cooler. Its actually going to be really awesome. I'm thinking about doing mine on casual music players in public environments, and whether that is participatory or presentational music--both concepts discussed in class--or both/neither, my personal view. However, the project is not looking like its gonna be easy... I really need to go videotape some people. So far I have one random piano player, who wants to not be recognizable, and okay from the music players on my dorm, and a great deal of footage of my experimental victim (aka. Sam).

I love all the exposure to new music I am getting in this class... Its actually rather amazing. I mean, my tastes were broad before, but I am hearing all these new people/bands, and being forced to ones I had always avoided. Its got to be really good for me, and I quite enjoy it.

Work:
Still working in the bird lab. I've gotten to go out to the field more this quarter, which is nice. We get to tromp around the woods, hunting down small, brown ground-foraging birds, trying to see their leg bands, and recording their songs. When I've gone out, they've had playbacks, and if we're lucky, one of the birds gets pissed and attacks the speaker... Its amusing. I'm a little worried about how I'm going to get all my hours in though, because I really only just got an actual task this week... I get to clip repertoires out of field recordings. Which, is pretty cool, actually... One of the lab people followed the bird around with a mic and just recorded him singing. I get to learn how to do that soon, I hope... As cool as it it though, I've been working on hbms for 3 days now, and hes getting rather repetitive.

I have also been assigned to help with one of the main projects. This is what you get when you ask for more stuff to do when they are running out of tasks... They stick you on their baby and say "Good luck! You'll do fine." Really.

A little background. I work in the song-sparrow lab. For the past quarter, I have looked at a lot of graphs of the songs of song sparrows, organized them, cleaned them, and printed them. Each bird has about 8 songs, and they have several hundred birds recorded. Needless to say, I was pretty busy. Each bird learns their songs from another bird, or tutor, when they are young. Then, as they mature, their repertoires crystallize and become set with certain songs that they will sing for the rest of their life. They use songs to communicate with their neighbors, songs that they have in common, specifically.

The lab's main goals are to examine the song learning process and neighborhood dynamics via shared songs.

The big job they set me on it seeing what songs match in a neighborhood between birds. There are a total of 4 people on this task. Me, the main grad student, the lab coordinator, and someone who has been involved since the lab's beginning, over 10 years ago. Needless to say, I am rather concerned.

Wow...this turned into a novel. Don't worry! I did not write it all at once. And, well, I have a captive audience, its rather unusual. ^ ^"

Introducing...Me

2010-01-29T20:56:00.000-08:00

So, here I am. At college. This is my "New chapter of my life" introduction.

Actually, this new chapter started 4 months ago, but we are going to ignore that small fact.

Although, having lived here, in Seattle, for several months, I can give you a nice rundown of how things have changed, and how they haven't.

I had all these lofty plans. I was going to leave for college and recreate myself. I was going to become a more interesting, fun, social person mainly. Because, after being a hermit for all those years, I decided I wanted to try something new. I was gonna go to a concert, go dancing, get involved in clubs, make new friends.

I mean, here I am, about ready to go off into the wild blue yonder(Seattle) to become infinitely wiser(get my BS[I suck at BSing, and I was hoping the degree would help...]). I figure maybe, when I'm not studying like crazy, I'll do something.

I have been to Pike Place, the aquarium, and Imax. The closest I've gotten to a concert is my Anthropology of Rock and Roll class. I have gotten involved in no campus groups, and I'm struggling just to manage all the stuff I already have on my plate. And here I thought things would be easier once I quit dancing five hours a week... I look exactly the same as when I left, plus an inch or so of hair and several pounds. My roommate has to practically drag me out of my room to get me to go anywhere.

That is a plus, actually. I have met pretty awesome people here. I socialize a lot more than at CBC... With lecture halls this cramped, you make friends with your neighbors. Even when you don't want to. Okay, fine. Those bio people I sit next to may be rather dense about bio, but they are the only reason I almost get Hardy-Weinburg equations. On to cooler people, there is my truely awesome roommate, Siri. We both agree we are lucky to have not gotten an airheaded roomie, though she does seem to tire of my disinterest in going places... And then there are the TrIG people(Transfer Interest Group. We all took the same set of classes), and study mates that I hung out with for a quarter, and wave/talk to whenever I see them on campus.

I still play Pokemon, procrastinate, am antisocial, and hate the rain... Okay, I'm working on the last one.

So, point...I know I had one...

Oh! I told myself I was gonna make this blog more official than my last one. Well, I changed my mind. I am just as ADOS as before (Attention Deficit-Ooh! Shiny!). [By the way, that still does not beat IID, Irrational Irritation Disorder, coined by...one of my siblings.]

However, I have a lot better spelling and grammar(maybe), as well as a sense of what is appropriate to write about and what isn't.

This is for my own entertainment. I hope you enjoy my random rantings as much as I do. ^ ^

Testing

2010-01-29T20:32:00.000-08:00

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