I interrupt for a random announcement.

I've been holding back on my posting for an important announcement. I am now one with the mobile crowd.

Today my laptop arrived, an IBM Thinkpad 380ED (you can check out the stats on the link). I'm hoping having this oldie-but-goodie will make work on the road a little easier to accomplish. That and it was $50. Cha-Cha-Cha.

No more having to borrow laptops from the college for me!

Shifting from Mach 5 to 0.00025 Knots

Today was the big finale: My Calculus final. A nice little two-hour wade through hellfire. There's plenty of burn scars that I think I'll have from taking that class, and I doubt that many of them will be the scars of success. I'm not trying to be too opmistic or build myself up so high that it results from a larger crash, that is, about my final grade in Calculus. If worst comes to worst and I actually do fail it (which would be the first time I failed a class, period), I won't cry myself to sleep over it.

Of course, with all that jazz out of the way, I have an entire month till the college life continues. A whole month at home, five miles from campus. I have strong intent on concentrating more upon here in the next month. Coming up with stuff to talk about may be difficult, but no more than as usual.

I probably should clarify why not much discussion on my college experience other than on classes makes it here. That's because my college experience is rather limited. Living off-campus is a trade-off: More freedom from the college conglomerate (especially housing), more money I have availible for other personal needs, but less opprounities for partaking in on-campus activies, particularly those that are after-dark. An insider of mine and solid friend who's a "dormitorian" has regailed in person and on his blog (possible future link? maybe) of the many events, some major college-sponsored events and others which are of the more private or niche-type, which he has had the chance to be entertained with.

By the way, I know this is an abrupt way to finish this post, but I'm too entranced listening to Wil Wheaton's Podcasting. That and roleplaying online. More whenever.

Finals Week: Day Two

I seriously need to stop trying to commit myself to an entire day of studies when I have nothing to do. That train of thinking doesn't work for me.

Last night was my first ever college final, my General Chemistry I final. I think it went rather well, with only 2 or 3 questions I couldn't wrap my head around. Hopefully my effort at that will make up with what's happened with the last two minor exams. They're not pretty, trust me.

No finals today, which was good. I got some odds and ends done in the studying department (did some early Calculus problems as a refresher, glanced over my Native American Studies lecture notes and read a chapter on "Impostor Indians"). The rest of my time was spent, as I can vaguely recall:

2 1/2 hours playing Call of Duty
2 hours playing Resident Evil 2. Tried to get through the game without saving, died about halfway. (Note: carrying extra herbs might be a good idea)

Tomorrow I have to work a few hours, then I head back home for more studying/procrastinating, followed by a group study session that night. One of these days I might go crazy enough from all this college study to hunker down and hit the books non-stop for 8 hours. No pep pills, please.

I sit here in the comfy chair, awaiting my fate

Right now I'm trying to avoid the cliche of asking someone to just shoot me in the head, with finals starting tomorrow.

Finals, for the most part, are spaced-out well this week. I have my chemistry final tomorrow night, so I go to work in the morning, head back home and study, then head over to campus to take it. Tuesday and Wednesday, besides work and study groups, is devoid of testing. Thursday will be the busy day with my ASL and Native American studies exams both in one afternoon. Calculus, the bane of this gauntlet, lies in wait for Friday, which is a double-edged sword. It's been proven beyond a resonable doubt that I need the time to prepare for it, but having it at the very bottom of the list only makes the anticipation more annoying and draining upon myself.

I Want To Believe...

I want to believe I'm studying adequetely enough for finals, but higher academics can have some side effects on one's psyche.

I went to a deaf party tonight at a museum that's currently hosting the History Through Deaf Eyes exhibit. I ran into a friend of a friend and introduced my mom to my ASL instructors. Between this outing and the ASL Club meetings this semester, I want to believe I'm getting enough exposure with deaf culture, but I'm not sure if my ASL skills are developing fast enough.

For the last three years when I was in high school, I took Spanish. I picked up and can still recall odds and ends, but if someone were to come up to me and engage in full-blown espanol, I'd need a few repeats. My receptive skills from those years of Spanish aren't as polished as they should be and the same holds true for ASL. Granted, I've had only one college-level semester so far, but this is a language I really want to learn, in contrast to the "popular" western-based dialects they force you to learn in grade school.

I want to believe lots of things, but for now I have to go with what's conceivable in my mind.

Procrastination in Progress

I know these posts linger too long between one another, but I guess it's a part of how I procrastinate.

Also, being in college I would think I would have some some experiences to write about, but not much happens to me other than classes or the like. I live 2-3 miles away from campus and I take the bus to and from there, plus the bus doesn't operate into most of the night so that cuts down on the after-dark activities I can participate it on campus.

I'm sort of looking forward to winter break. Of course I'll be more than happy once finals are over with, but I only have to head up to my old home for 2 days out of break. The rest of that time will be spent here in Coralville, enjoying a nice rest until classes start up. At least I don't have any damn calculus next semester. Still, Maple is awesome.