I've discovered what I can do that will solve all of my problems. All I have to do is write a best-selling book. You know, something amusing and yet insightful. Sheesh, I could probably get away with making it about computers. Provide a little politically-correct social commentary, point out the fact that I'm a just a little girl trying her best to make her way in a world full of guys, and the world is mine. Do it right, and I could even get on Oprah. After a few months I should have more than enough to pay off all my school loans and upgrade my computer. It would be terribly amusing; then I could come out with a sequel and pull apart everything I said in the first one.
Oh, well. That would require me having both free time and diligence. Definitely not gonna happen.
I heard an interesting discussion at lunch today. The church I'm going to had a potluck dinner today, and a few people were rehashing the Colloqium we had Thursday on Young/Old Earth, etc. What frustrated me most was how Christians are apt to put up with all kinds of horrible debating skills as long as the speaker is saying things they want to hear. I'm a young-earth creationist myself, so I agreed with most of what Kent Hovind said. However, he presented it in the worst way possible. You can't just get off the hook by saying everyone who disagrees with you is stupid. It just doesn't work. It's insulting, and it never comes across well to intelligent people. Why can't everyone get this through their heads?
I said something to the effect that 'he has some good things to say, but he comes across as pretty insulting to his opponents in a debate', and immediately I got a reply which almost went as far as questioning the faith of anyone who isn't a young earth creationist. But that has nothing to do with what I said. Whether or not your opponent is a Christian has nothing to do with how you treat them in a debate. There are certain norms which have to be followed in order to keep things from denegrating into a mud-slinging match. And this is from a person who would say 'be careful when witnessing; you don't want to shove God's Word down their throats'. Forgive me, but I don't see why you can't shove God's Word down someone's throat when witnessing to them, but you can shove your interpretation of God's Word down the throat of an old-earth creationist. Something just doesn't add up here.
And thus ends my diatribe on my frustrations with speakers who don't use a little common courtesy. Come on, people, it's not that hard. If you can learn not to eat peas with your knife, you can learn to speak nicely to your opponents.
Like any good Friday night, I managed to get almost nothing accomplished. Life is good. Makes for a rather boring blog, though.
Got myself a little hit counter so I can see how many people don't visit my blog. Be aware the first five or so are probably me refreshing my page to see if blogger got it put in yet...
So much for Open Office. It swore it saved my cute little powerpoint presentation as something compatible with Win2k/XP. So when I get there, does it open? No. Far be it from any presentation to actually work the first time for me. I ended up drawing little pictures on the whiteboard, but I think it went off pretty well. I knew what I was talking about, and I made some amusing anecdotes from my past experiences with overclocking. It was actually somewhat enjoyable. Maybe there's an extrovert hidden in there somewhere after all...
Nah...
Oh, and I added another few blogs to the list on the right. Yes, that's both my right and your right. I'm not exactly standing on the inside of your computer monitor. Anyway, you should read them. They're all most interesting.
I really hate giving presentations. I suppose that fact that I usually come up with them the night before doesn't help, but something still seems wrong about having to give a presentation in a computer science class. I mean, seriously. I should be coding, or doing something useful like that. Who in their right mind wants to see me talk about something incredibly geeky anyway?
And then there's the program which was due Tuesday, and still hasn't been started. Looks like it's going to be another lovely weekend for Ardith...
Yes, sanity has returned. For about 24 hours, anyway.
Oh, and just so I have it written down somewhere: I am never, ever, ever taking Nyquil again. It screws around with my head, and that does *not* make me a happy person. There's nothing worse than having your brain feel like it's running your body through a 56K connection. With bad error correction. In a thunderstorm. I know I may act like a zombie often enough, but feeling that much like one is a completely new experience for me, and I'm not at all eager to repeat it.
I hear thunder, and according to the weather page, we should be getting a nice little storm here in a short while. I may have to take a break later and go jump in a few puddles. Probably the most enjoyable thing about this activity is that it is the closest I can get to causing explosions on campus. That and the fact that I can completely freak my roommate out by coming in soaked and passing it off as 'taking a walk'.
Sooo....
I have a bad cold, everpresent circuits 2 homework, everpresent calc 3 homework, and a program due on Tuesday for Computer Architecture. Could my day possibly get any better? Maybe if people kept asking me to go places with them so I have to refuse because I don't want to give my cold to unsuspecting victims. Oh, wait, that's already happened. My bad.
Over the last few days, we've had the best chapel speaker I've ever heard here. It's almost a little scary; I've never been able to agree so much on so many issues as I have with John Fischer. I don't know how he does it, but somehow, he manages to put what I've been thinking vaguely into very coherent terms. I've know for a little while now that I'm not as conservative as my family over some of the 'grey areas'. Things like tattoos, music, and whatnot. I just felt like these things weren't worth making such a fuss over. And they're not; they're external, and don't have anything to do with one's eternal destiny. There is no place in the Bible that calls them sins, and I would be assuming God's place were I to do so. Something else that really hit home was the realization that it is possible for unbelievers to do good things. It won't get them into heaven; good works won't get anyone into heaven. But just because they don't know God, doesn't mean we have the right to pass everything they do or say off as wrong.
So much to think about.
And whilst all this is going on inside of me, so much else is going on around the world; there are troops in Iraq now. They are moving towards Bagdad from three directions; it's all a lot more sudden then was expected. What's going to happen? Who knows. All I can do is sit here and do my petty little bits of homework, and keep up the struggle to have decent grades. It may not matter that much to the rest of the world, but it's my job here and now.
On a much lighter note, I had an amazingly good time doing things with some of the other 'Honors' students today. I really haven't hung out with them enough; we have way too much fun.
Sleepy, but I've got a ways to go yet...
Why on earth do I work so hard? Every time I see what elementary eds call 'homework' I either laugh because it's so ludicrous, or feel like crying because I put all this work into what I'm studying, and I still can't make A's all the times I want to. It's got to be a bit of a letdown for my folks; I breezed through highschool, finished my first semester with a 4.0, but then after midterms this spring I opened up my report card to see my very first C. I know, I know, I should be jolly happy since it's better than what a lot of people have to deal with. Still, I always have this nagging feeling that I should be doing so much better. Nagging feelings don't keep scholarships, though. Sometimes it's downright depressing.
Next semester looks like it's gonna have at least 18 credit hours. 14 of these I absolutely *have* to take now, but the other three or four are still pretty much up in the air. I ought to take Bib. Lit; as it is, I've put off the rest of my Bible courses pretty long. If I do that, though, I pretty much kill any chances of taking a 3-hour Honors class and still staying sane. And there are *two* that could be really interesting! It's just not fair. Spring semester of next year I should have a little more freedom, but I don't get to pick classes for that yet.
On the bright side, God is definitely watching out for me even when I'm not aware there's anything to watch out for. The night I came back to school, my dad called me up and told me I'd have to file taxes this year; apparently, I actually earned enough money last summer to make it past yet another of these financial milestones. When he told me how much I would get back from the refund, all that ran through my head was: "Nice! A little extra spending money!" The next day I got my course registration packet in the mail, and realized I'd forgotten all about the tuition deposit which is due when I register. My tax refund will just cover it nicely.
Bleah. I still need to write up that Circuits II design problem. I came up with something much more easily than I thought I would; it's a little scary. And, of course, I should really be doing that instead of writing this blog. I got the title page done, so I think I'll procrastinate just a little longer; all the while telling myself I've started it.
Another random note from my list of happenings: Apparently Scholl's precious Judge got stolen for a little while last night. After all his yakking about how it's a far more dangerous weapon than my imaginary quantum baseball bat, I was pretty amused. A nice bit of irony. *grin*
So anyhow, apparently we're going to war in a couple of days.
I knew it was coming, but it was still jarring to hear the words. It's about time, and yet I have no idea what the next few weeks will bring. War is never a pretty thing. Necessary in this case, but not pretty.
Classes have started again, just as I was starting to forget what it is like to be constantly thinking about what paper, homework assignment, design problem, etc. is due tomorrow. I think I'm ready for summer now. However, I got my weekly dose of intelligent discussion. I'm sure people wonder how much I really care about Historiography, but as far as I'm concerned, it's the greatest class I've had all year. I love to just sit and soak up the issues, hear different opinions, and realize that there are actually semi-logical people in this world. Next week should be especially interesting, as it's about the Southern Reconstruction. It's not a subject you hear a lot about, but it has a great deal to do with states' rights and the punishment of rebels.
I really should do my taxes now; I need the refund for the tuition deposit. Looks to be an exciting evening.
Ahhhh...
Completely relaxed. It feels great. Great weather, great food, great sleep, great talks. Couldn't have been better.
Of course, this means I'm not at all ready to go back to class tomorrow. Or do homework tonight. Oh, well. Such are the demands of scholarships...
Oh, and if anybody was curious, the cardiologist never called. This could mean one of two things: (A) It was nothing to worry about. (B) I do such a poor job of describing symptoms to my dad that he just thought it was nothing to worry about. Either way, if you get news that I died in my sleep, it's the cardiologist's fault. Knowing me, however, I won't die in my sleep. That would just be too easy.
It would seem apparent that the Plot to Wear Out Ardith has succeeded admirably. What's with all this traipsing about the countryside, anyway? It would be a shame to stay inside and miss all this lovely weather, though. I always enjoy coming here and getting such a completely different view of life from my cousins; several of whom would have been quite happy living in the 1700's. It forces me to remember all those rules of decent etiquette which are not needed in the informality of college life. Not that they're exceedingly formal, or anything; just a bit more, how shall I say it? I guess, Classical in their approach to life.
At any rate, I feel like I'm returning back to life after just these few days. After a whole week, existence is going to be lovely again. Once again, thank God for spring break.
On a slightly more morbid note, I may have to go in for an EKG in the next day or so. I've had two nasty fainting spells in the last week; well, I actually never fainted, but I was jolly close to it both times. At any rate, what with family history and my own slightly irresponsible heart valve, my dad is trying to get in touch with his cardiologist to see if I should have things checked out. Me, I'm thinking things will be looking up now that I'm away from SAGA for a week.
Hmmm.... just now got off the phone with my mom. Sounds like my health's not too much to worry about at this point; related to the faint feeling some people get when they stand up too quickly. My dad's cardiologist might be calling me up in the next day or so though. We'll see. Yet another exciting episode in the saga of Hoyt medical troubles.
Anyhoo, back to my life of reading, sleeping, eating, and watching movies. Don't you all wish you were here. *grin*
Ahhh... finally done with all classes before spring break...
And it's a gorgeous day! And it's going to stay that way nearly all week long. Should be some nice flowers blooming in Tyler.
I got the greatest package in the mail today from my mom. She'd been out to see her folks recently, and apparently got ahold of a box of stuff from her college and highschool days. So, what does she do but send some of it on to me! Complete with little notes for each one. Here's an example:
(attached to the cardboard case for something called a "Speed-up Geometry Ruler". Which isn't in there, by the way, but the instructions for using aforementioned ruler are.) "Always keeping my eye out for things to help you in your upper-level math course. Really, it's not necessary to thank me - I am _happy_ to do it."
I was sitting there laughing for ten minutes straight. When I told my somewhat curious roommate what was so amusing, she just gave me a funny look and went off to work. I can't understand why.
You know you're in a weird mood when you actually sit down and start watching a chick flick...
So, it's basically been one of those days. Started off all right; I thought it might actually be a decently warm day today. Nope. Good old East Texas weather, can't make up its mind. Instead, it got colder, water started dripping from the sky, and I realized how little real sunshine I'd had recently. Then I realized how dependent I am upon it.
Never mind the fact that it's only a couple of days until spring break; right now even two days seem like years. People are stupid. Guys are stupid, of course, but girls are just as stupid. And heartless, and unthinking. And everything else. The world's pretty heavy tonight, and I don't even have any reason for it to be so. I'm not in any trouble, my family's all fine, I'll be seeing cousins and aunts and uncles I love dearly in two days. I know I have a bunch of friends, and walking back from chapel I even had somebody I don't know just start talking to me out of the blue; he asked me if I was doing all right. I must have looked pretty down. I have everything I need, and yet I'm sitting here trying to pull myself out of a pretty nasty blue funk. I'll be ok in the morning; I always am. But right now the world's a cold, hard place.
Good thing my parents aren't reading this; they'd probably think I was in the midst of depression, and call, trying to cheer me up. I'd act like it was working, they'd hang up satisfied, and I'd be in just as weird a mood as I was before.
Oh, well. Life goes on. Tomorrow's another day, and the day after that I'm leaving this place for a whole week. Thank God for spring break.
*huge grin*
I have a new toy to play with! Now I just need to get my dad to send me another power cable. Until then, my online status will be slightly intermittent as I play with my new computer. Good thing I don't have a lot of homework tonight...
I've finally let myself start counting down the days until spring break. Only one week until I'm in Tyler doing all sorts of fun things: sleeping, reading, sleeping, watching movies, eating good food, discussing life with my done-with-college-and-out-in-the-real-world cousins, and sleeping. It's gonna be so great. :-D
I really enjoyed Symphony last night. It's been quite a while since I've actually been able to sit down and listen to classical music. Then, too, I got to surprise a few people and get all dressed up. Not something I'd want to do every day, but it's fun for a change of pace.
Oh, and this being the home of the Quantum Baseball Bat and all, I'd like to take this time to inform all the new blighters who have taken to calling me 'wench' in various online media that they will receive their due beatings as soon as I get around to it.