Immediate Music

My all time, favorite music organization: Immediate Music

The First Day of Many

Well, day one seemed to go well. My MWF class seems like it will be a lot of fun, though it will also be a lot of work. The professor is younger, and seems rather excited about the material and the class, which always helps things move along enjoyably (as enjoyable as grad school can be anyways).

My first official teaching experience seemed to go well too, though in a small room that echo's a lot, I'm pretty sure I sounded more like I was yelling than talking to my kids. At least in the lab I won't sound so boomy. I have my other section tomorrow from 5-9 (though thankfully it won't take until 9).

Otherwise, I have a break perfectly placed on MWF for daily mass, which is right across the street from the Chemistry building. I've also 'signed my soul' away to church, between choir, KoC, and liturgical duties, though there are far more people here so I won't have to work excessively.

And best of all, I got the new Immediate Music music from a friend. This album is even better than the last one. Sometimes I regret not having been a music major, or at least keeping up with my musical abilities. I really want to start playing again, but like most of my hobbies, they're rather expensive and/or time consuming (what isn't, but then again, most hobbies don't have multi-thousands of dollars in prerequisite expenses (though yes, I do have my own instruments, that's not my point)). I found a website that I can download the Big Phat Band sheet music from, but that's a bit costly. Time to decide on what recreational priorities are going to be after 1) dance and 2) working out and karate.

More progress

I made spaghetti sauce last night. I haven't made any in a while, not since before Spring Break that I can remember. It was fun as always. I love the smell of onions, garlic, and mushrooms sweating in a giant skillet. So I've got about a gallon and a half of sauce stashed in the fridge, and 4 pounds of wheat spaghetti, which should keep me fed for at least two weeks. Definitely cheaper than Jonny Carinos every night!

Made more progress on the unpacking, sorting, and deciding-where-everything-should-go front. Finally got my two big blue bins unpacked, so my SCA stuff could go in one, and miscellaneous stuff I'm keeping around in the other. Also finally got the new bed linens washed and on. They're 400 count - soooo soft. (= I have discovered, though, that my Narnia books and LotR DVDs didn't make it here, so I must crusade home and find them!

Sadly, there's still stuff I need to get from the store, little things mostly, but I have forgotten to buy new dance shoes! The closest place that seems like a decent place is in New Haven, so it looks like I'll be taking a trip down there some time. I should also probably go and see the family while I still have a bit of time. Maybe next week sometime. There's also several movies that I want to go see, but that's going to wait until this weekend at the earliest, though probably next weekend.

Otherwise, for the rest of the week, it's study time. Not that I haven't studied all summer (yea right). I finally got the schedule of events for next week too. I'm a bit nervous, and a bit excited.

It was the best of times...

You know the phrase "It's almost like Christmas!", and the accompanying usage for it? Say, you pull a book off the shelf, and inside is an envelope from the bank with $100 in it? (Yes, this happened to me once at home when I was 12.) Or, you've given up on finding that _____ and, one day, you pull a box out of the attic for something else, and there _____ is?

Well, moving can be a lot like that too. You never know what you're going to find inside of a box, especially when the movers are terrible and don't label anything. I've been unpacking all of my books, as you can see by the new LibraryThing widget to the right. Anyways, as I was replacing the book cover on one book, out fell a picture of... well we'll just say Her. I paused for a second, though it felt like an hour, and just looked at it. There I was, looking goofy and out of place as I do in almost every picture, no matter how hard I try not to. And there she is, her arms around me, a big smile, because no matter how much she hated pictures, she always made me look bad in them. And there was her bear, which was always sitting on her bed.

I couldn't be mad, in spite of what happened between us. I miss her, I really do. I just didn't expect to find that in a book. Of course, the next book I pull out to replace the cover on, has a letter from her. I read it, remembering the difficult times we were going through and, when it was written, just how bad things had gotten, and still how much they would improve.

The world goes on though. I've learned now, at least I think I have. I guess we'll see the next time I meet someone as amazing as Her.

But in remembering, I think not of the bad times, but only of the good.
For when thinking of friends you've left behind, you remember the good times.
So should it be with those from who we have parted company.

A whole bunch of stuff

I've moved into my new apartment, and except for finding the screws for my table, I'm mostly moved in. I've started unpacking my books, and have posted them all (as unpacked so far) on my LibraryThing. Now you can see just how nerdy I really am!

I have one week off until school, rather orientation starts. That means one week to catch up on/re-review all my stuff for my quals on Sunday/Monday. I'm a bit worried, but then again I'm not. I did rather well on my exit exam in the spring and, though I know these will be much harder, I know that I'll do well.

I spent the past week looking for a good TV stand that will take up as little room as possible. Of course, the only options that were good were in excess of $200. So I spent a few hours on Saturday building one that would sit on my window sill. I have 15' arch windows with a 2' deep window, but the sill has a bit of a taper to it. So now my TV sits in my window, in a great place to see in the entire room, and it's not on the floor. The best part, it cost about $25 for the shelf/stand. So I made a second, and probably will end up making a third (since my windows are also 8' across).

All I have to do now is finish unpacking books and the usual knickknacks that take forever to figure out where to put them. And hang the usual posters (i.e. maps/starcharts/periodic table) on the wall.

Yes, I am a nerd, and proud of it.

Virtual Terrorism

Once again, some looney has the notion to publish something about video games training people to be terrorists. Usually I read these, have a good laugh, and move on - much like the video gaming community does with Jack Thompson, the loud-mouthed moron who stands against everything from gaming to rap music (though he doesn't even know what rap is, as his son listens to some of the more... colorful artists).

But this reporter seems to think that World of Warcraft is a training ground for terrorism. Most of WoW revolves around sword-fighting and magic spells. Now, last I checked, we hadn't reverted to the middle ages, and Hogwarts does not actually exist. Now, those of you that know me know that I've trained in several styles of sword-fighting, and believe me, I'm no better at it from the countless hours I've spent playing WoW.

As a blanket statement - that games train terrorists and murders - oh please! There are some very realistic FPS (first-person shooter) games out there, that use weapons that do actually exist, but you can't call this training. From a game (Rainbow Six 3, for example) I know what it looks like, where the magazine is, the type of ammo, and the type of firing options. I don't know how to load or change the magazine, how heavy it is, how to properly hold it, and the list goes on and on.

It has been said that the Columbine massacre was 'trained' on Doom 2. Now, I've played Doom 2. The premise is to get a really big gun and spray ammo semi-mindlessly until everything is dead (since you're fighting your way out of the depths of hell). Spraying ammo doesn't require training, it requires a homicidal maniac with a gun.

Take the Washington Sniper incident, where the kid was involved. It was said that the kid was trained on video games to shoot a high caliber, high power rifle. Simply put - impossible. I don't care how much you have someone play a game, the common person isn't capable if firing a gun of any type with great skill, let alone a high power sniper rifle, when you're 13.

I'm getting off my soapbox now.

Moving

I am officially moved out, though definitely not yet moved in. The place is still a disaster of boxes in the front room. I think I have the living room figured out, which is complicated due to the sleeper sofa. I still have to fit a TV/Stereo stand and a desk in here somewhere. My bedroom has lots of space, but I really don't see a good place to put a desk, and besides, it's a good distance away from the windows, and I like light.

So the moving in continues, with AIM and my 40 days of iTunes to keep me company.

I really should remember to post more

Well, I get to move in to my apartment a week from this coming Saturday. I'm pretty excited. Not that I don't *love* living with my parents and all ( =P ), but it will be nice to do my own thing again. That also means it's time to really buckle down and re-study everything I've been doing so far. It also means that this weekend, I probably need to head around town to the many and frequent tag (garage) sales and see if I can find any nifty bargains!

Speaking of this weekend, my parents are going out of town, meaning I'll probably stay at home and be boring as usual... or pack and clean and sort...

Work is going well, though that will probably be over once I move in, or not long thereafter. More to do with the studying - I've been through a lot of the important stuff, but I should probably go through that once more, as well as some of the stuff I've done more recently. I figured that I could let that go with only a quick glance the week before quals, since I just did it last semester.

And for the next week, I get to babysit our neighbour's garden. Free veggies! Off to weed, then dinner, then studying or other distractions.

Library Thing

Long time no blog =P

I'd forgotten about this, seeing as I was told about it at the end of April. It's an online catalogue of all the books you own, or feel like admitting that you own. It's called LibraryThing. You can make a free account and post as many as your books as you like. You can also comment on them, and read other peoples comments.

I don't plan on updating my list of books until I move into my apartment, and I can add them one at a time, so I know I don't miss any. Until then, you'll have to wait to see just how nerdy I really am. =P

CT vs. TX

Well, I've been here for almost a month now, and I would just like to say two things... 1) I *love* the weather, and 2) holy crap it's expensive up here! Now for details...

1) Yesterday was beautiful, and today will be no different. It's about 65 this morning, and it's not supposed to be much warmer than 80 today. The rest of the time, it might be 90 at most, which is still far better than 100+ down south.

2) Just... wow. I knew that things would be a little more expensive up here, but this is ridiculous. It's $5 for a box of cereal, and I paid almost $20 for a haircut yesterday! I think that Costco is going to be my good friend. All I can say is, thank God for student loans (minus the paying back part afterwards...).

On a separate but somewhat related note, I read yesterday that A&M and Chevron just made a deal for a 4 year research program in biofuels. Why couldn't they have decided this 6 months ago, I wouldn't be stuck up here in expensive-land.

Science Jobs

The ten worst jobs in science.

Work

Yep, instead of taking the summer off, I decided to abuse myself and get a real job. On top of that, I get up at 5:45 every day to be there at 7a. This allows me to do what I need to do before the really high-strung guy I work with comes in at 9, and also for me to leave by 3 to come home and study, work out, and play games (=

I work at an environmental laboratory in Manchester, CT. Now, if you know me (and what I think about individual branches of chemistry) you probably know that I hate analytical chemistry. Why then, you might ask, did I sign up to work at an analytical lab? Well, it was about the only real job that I could find that I was qualified for. Sure I could work at A&P or Stop 'n Shop(CTs big supermarkets), but that really doesn't do anything for the résumé or experience. I was also hoping that I would get to do more chemistry-like things than just weighing or diluting samples. And I do get to do a lot of stuff - I'm kind of the "Oh crap I'm really far behind" helper person.

So far this week, I've been learning one new SOP (standard operating procedure - i.e. experiment) a day. I'm currently trained to help about four different people, so when one person is done with me, I go check with the next. I still get stuck making dilutions of, well the last batch was 65 samples, but at least I don't do any titrations... the other new person does those.

School Stuff

Well, they finally sent out the study guide for quals in August. It's a bit frustrating really. It'd be nice to be able to take the summer off, even though I am working through the summer (see more about that above). Anywho, I have a study list, and absolutely no motivation at the moment to attempt to study. Getting up at 5:30a for work has something to do with that...

Starting this weekend, I'm determined to make a significant dent in half of one textbook. I figure that since I have about 8 weeks till school, then I have to get through at least half of one textbook per week. If I have to sacrifice a weekend to get caught up, c'est la vie. It'll be better off in the long run.

Also had to fight with the loan website so I could deal with that for next year. Apparently I had made an account on the Sallie May site forever and a day ago, but I was 99.9% sure that I didn't have the same e-mail address - provided I did actually have an account there. So it took a little creative work and a bit of frustration, but I finally got all of my information updated, and I am officially more in debt starting August 1st.

First Post (=

Well, now that I've moved halfway across the country from everyone I know, I figured this would be the easiest way for everyone to see what I'm up to... everyone who is interested at least. I'll be working on this during the weekend, and I'll post a real post sometime tonight. For the meantime, know that this is here, and you can see what I'm up to even when I don't answer my cell phone. (=