The Tempest

Nightmare Incarnate

2010-04-28T09:32:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was the last day of finals. It was also the day that I had my Differential Equations final. I had spent part of Friday and Saturday studying for the test and all of Monday. The thing is, I had to do my studying without an answer key to the practice test. Last week I asked the professor if/when he was going to post the answer key so that we could study. And he said,"Oh, I don't know exactly, but, long before the final." OK. That was good. That meant it should at least be up by Saturday if our test was on Tuesday, right? Wrong. Not only was it not up on Saturday, it wasn't up on Monday. It wasn't up Tuesday morning. In fact, it was never up.

So, I had to study for the test without knowing if my answers to the practice test were correct. I was able to go to office hours and ask some questions, but since I assumed the answer key was going to be posted sometime soon, I didn't ask him to check all my answers, I just asked general how-to/DE-theory type questions. Anyway, all that to say that I spent hours and hours studying but I was never 100% sure that I had it all correct.

Fast forward to the test. It was supposed to be 2 hours long. There were 17 questions. You know, the sort of questions where each one uses all theory that you've learned in DE as well as quite a bit from Linear Algebra, Calculus 1 & 2, etc. Just the first three problems (which were the "shortest" and "easiest" ones) took me over a half hour. The questions didn't have to each be at least five or six different lengthy, complicated steps in order to test how well we understood Differential Equations. But apparently the professor seems to think that each problem should be as complicated as possible. Each problem incorporated things that were combinations of a bunch of different rules, each of which require multiple steps to sort out, and more if they're combined.

The test was so bad that no one finished it on time. In fact, no one finished at all. We just turned it in when we'd finished everything we could. Either that or when we'd been there so long it was starting to get absurd. Two other people and I were there until 45 minutes after the final was supposed to be over. And all throughout the test, people were getting so stressed out that they were leaving the room to pace the hall once or twice and then come back with "renewed zeal."

All-in-all, it was one of those tests that you "take" in your nightmares, but that you know would never happen in real life. How wrong was I...

Finals Week.

2010-04-22T16:35:00.004-04:00

Well, finals are in full swing, and I'm starting to get my grades back. I got a 92% on my Economics final. It turned out that I only needed a 68% on that test to get an "A" in class (the weight of each test is kind of weird--a lot of your grade actually depends on other components like homework, pop quizzes, and a paper).

I also got my Art History grade back. I just took the test this morning, and the grades are already posted which is awesome because that gives me one less thing to worry about. Anyway, I actually got 100% on the test. I was surprised because there were a couple of things in the matching section on the test that weren't really on the study guide...

Now I'm waiting on my grade in Multivariable Calculus. And I still have to take my Differential Equations and Accounting finals. But, so far, finals week is going well. I can't wait for summer!

Last Day of T/Th Class!

2010-04-15T13:01:00.003-04:00

Finals officially start next week Wednesday. So today was the last day of class for T/Th classes. And neither of my math professors this semester ever had us do teacher evaluations. Which is weird because they're required by the university to have teacher evaluations. It didn't really surprise me that my Differential Equations teacher didn't have us do the evaluations. He's a brilliant mathematician--he even helps the other professors with their papers, etc. I walked by his office once when he was "teaching" another professor; it was actually pretty cool. Anyway, because he's brilliant, and the whole math department knows it, they let him do pretty much whatever he wants. Plus, I'm sure he has tenure, and so the evaluations don't matter much anyway. But we didn't do teacher evaluations in my Multivariable Calculus class either. Hmm...maybe the entire math department is discontinuing the teacher evalutations.

I don't particularly care about doing the teacher evaluations. But I was hoping that if we did them in calculus 3 today, that we might get out of class early. Instead, we spent the first twenty minutes of so of class discussing the things in the book that we'd skipped either because we didn't have time or they were unimportant. And then we spent the rest of class watching him solve the homework problems that we'd just turned in. It was kind of funny, though, listening to the professor talk about and explain "the stuff we aren't going to talk about." I just kept thinking, "If we aren't going to talk about it then why are we talking about it?" Ah, well, we did have one really fun day of class this semester where the professor decided to talk like a pirate for the day because he was trying to help us remember to add an "r" to the integrals that you do with polar coordinates. The polar coordinate integral ends in "r dr dθ," instead of just "dr dθ." And every time he said "r" he would say it in this piratish "arrr!" So "r dr dθ" was "arrr! d arrr! d theta." I guess it worked. I've never forgotten to add the extra "arrr!"

Four-Test Week!

2010-03-23T21:04:00.002-04:00

So this week I had four tests. An economics test on Monday, art history and accounting tests on Tuesday, and a Differential Equations test on Thursday (today!).

I think they've all gone pretty well. My econ and art history professor both post extensive study guides online, so studying for those tests is pretty straightforward. And, although we don't get a study guide for accounting, the homework is a pretty good estimate of what will be on the test, so that's not bad, either.

The test I was most worried about was DE. I was going to start studying really early so that I could be sure to be prepared for the test. And last week Tuesday, my DE professor said he'd post our sample exam before he left campus. Well, it still wasn't up by class time on the following Thursday, and he again promised to post the sample exam before leaving campus. So on Saturday, I figured I'd better get a head start on studying for the DE test, and I went online to print out the study guide that was supposedly posted before my professor left campus on Tuesday and Thursday and it still wasn't there!

Finally, he put it online sometime on Monday. But then there was no answer key posted, so it was impossible to know if you got anything right! I mentioned this to the professor at our class this past Tuesday, and he promised to post the answer key to the sample exam before he left campus that day. And, gullible dolt that I was, I believed him. I kept checking online for him to post the answer key, and it was never posted on Tuesday.

I've been considering this mystery behind how my professor could post something "before I leave campus today," and yet not have it posted until several days later, and I think I've figured it out. I bet he lives on campus. Maybe he's homeless and he keeps all his stuff in his office. Then he can promise to post things before he leaves campus as much as he wants and not ever post them, and his promise is still good because he never leaves campus! Except he's often not in his office during his office hours and cancels them at the last minute. If he really did live in his office, he would definitely be there when he's supposed to have office hours. Hmm...

Anyway, I met him in his office yesterday at 1:00 PM (yes, he was there!) and had him help me with a few of the problems and check my work on some of the other ones. Apparently, he'd finally gotten around to posting the answer key to the practice test around noon yesterday (the day before the actual test). So, as much as I wanted to get "a head start" on studying, the only time I was actually able to do much studying was yesterday. Still, the test went really well, and I'm pretty sure I got an A, although with DE you never know...

2 Tests, a Calculator, and an Elusive Driver's License

2010-02-23T21:10:00.004-05:00

I had two tests today: Differential Equations and Accounting. I think I did pretty well on both of them. The DE test was much improved over the last one I had in that class. I'm thinking there's a possibility that I got an A, assuming he gives partial credit, which he did on the last test. Of course, I'm trying not to be too optimistic because it's way more awesome to get a test back and have a better grade than you thought than to get a test back and have a worse grade than you thought. I'm pretty positive I at least made a B, though. We'll see. I'm wondering when we'll get the grades back. Judging by how long he took the last time, we should get the grades back sometime after Spring Break. I'm hoping, though, that he'll have them graded by Tuesday of next week...

Oh, this morning when I was packing my stuff for class, I forgot my calculator. When I was on my way to my DE class, I noticed that I didn't have my calculator. I started to panic. But then I realized that the calculator doesn't actually do anything for the differential equations problems. I mean the calculator doesn't do derivatives, and it can't take the Wronskian of a set of functions so it's pretty much superfluous. I guess its only purpose in a DE test is a kind of "moral support" thing. I know it makes no sense that a calculator that can't actually help any is comforting on a test, but I'm not the only one who usually brings it. I suspect that most math and engineering majors suffer from a calculator addiction. Anyway, as I was finishing up problem 2 and moving on to problem 3, Mom waltzed into the room and set my calculator on my desk. I didn't even notice that she was there until my calculator magically appeared before my eyes! I told her I didn't actually need it. And I didn't, although I did double-check my multiplication on one of the problems, but it was right anyway... I would say more about the calculator thing except I think Mom's going to blog about it, and I wouldn't want to steal her thunder :)

My Accounting test was pretty uneventful. On the way home, I realized the car was really low on gas. So, I was going to stop at a gas station until I realized that my wallet was in my backpack, which was at home. That was OK; I could get home without filling up the car. However, that also meant that my driver's license was at home as well. I kept thinking it would be a great time for me to get pulled over for the first time. "Hello, Officer. I didn't know I didn't have my driver's license until I tried to get gas for the car and found out my wallet is at home and I really do have a driver's license--just not with me right now." Sure. Thankfully I made it home with no problems. Phew.

Straight No Chaser

2010-01-29T16:32:00.010-05:00

Straight No Chaser is an a Capella men's singing group. I bought a couple of their CDs for my family for Christmas. Anyway, they had a couple fun music videos on youtube that I thought I'd post.

They did an awesome version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."

And they wrote this song "Who Spiked the Eggnog?" for their Christmas album.

Ariel

Mental Institutions and Econ Professors

2010-01-07T18:09:00.004-05:00

So, the Spring semester has started at UTC, and I've had the first meeting for almost all of my classes. I have the same professors for English and Accounting as I did last semester so I pretty much know what to expect for those classes. And I think my Art History teacher is going to be good. Of course, I'm beginning to think that I must be committably, certifiably insane for signing up for a class that requires you to memorize the name, artist, time period, etc. of 60 works of art for each test, of which there are four, which makes a total of 240 items to memorize information about...sigh.

And then I have an economics teacher who I think is probably certifiable too, although my one request is that she please get stuck in a different mental institution than I do because I'd really love never to see her again. On the first day of class she told us all that no one had to come to class. Class is apparently "voluntary." She said, "If you're feeling really tired around class time, you probably need a nap, and you should just go home and take one." And, "If you think this class is boring, don't come." Etc, etc. Of course, she also said that there would be pop quizzes about once a week, so if you aren't at class you'll lose lots of points from missing the pop quizzes. And throughout her whole intro to the macroeconomics class spiel she kept inserting "jokes;" jokes that she apparently thought were enhanced by the addition of swear words. It was rather ironic when she started talking about classroom behavior and not being disruptive in class, etc. I wanted to raise my hand and ask if swearing was considered "disruptive behavior," and if so, what should we do if she was disruptive in class. Obviously I didn't actually do that, but I did consider trying to switch sections of Econ 101 so that I could get a different professor. Unfortunately, all the other sections are full. The wierdest thing was that I had multiple recommendations for this professor. This girl I knew from my speech class told me that the professor was "so nice." Hmm..."nice?"

Code Red

2009-12-23T23:14:00.004-05:00

Well, I haven't posted in forever because I've been gone on a ten-day vacation--my grandparents took our family on a cruise to the Carribean. I was hoping that there might be internet access. And there was; it was just really expensive. Since a cruise ship is a geographic monopoly, it can pretty much name any price for anything. Anyway, long story short, the monopolistic nature of the cruise ship made using the internet impossible. Being unable to check my email, I discovered when I got back that I had around fourty or fifty emails, which was pretty cool. I'd never had that many emails at once. Of course, by the time I deleted all the spam there were only four or five emails left, but still, the 50 had looked pretty impressive.

Besides spam, I have an excess of pictures. Not that I actually took any of the pictures. I stole them all off of my aunt's camera. I'll probably post some pictures soon, so consider this my official disclaimer: I did not take any pictures on vaction (except for maybe one or two) and thus (almost) all of the awesome photography is my aunt's and I only have pictures because I "borrowed" hers.

The trip was a lot of fun. I did, however, learn that the sun is different in the Carribean as compared to here--I refused to wear sunscreen the first day off the ship claiming, "I don't get sunburned," and ended up with "a slightly painful tan" (read sunburn) that I slathered in sunscreen the rest of the week. Also, two days before the ship got back to the US, we were under a "code red," meaning that a huge percentage of people on the ship were sick. Apparently, all the automatic Purell dispensers that they had on every floor of the ship, and all over the dining room, were not enough to dispell the spread of the flu.

During the code red, we weren't allowed to touch pretty much anything. At the buffet you couldn't serve yourself--you couldn't even get your own packets of sugar for your coffee! Dad was actually the only one in our immediate family who got sick, although both of my grandparents did as well.

In fact, in spite of instructions to quarantine herself if her temperature reached 100, my grandmother showed up at dinner and announced that her temperature was 101.5. I'm not sure she grasped the meaning of quarantine...

We probably would've run into problems with being allowed to get off the ship if we'd docked in Florida under a code red, but the ship's status was suddenly changed right before docking (imagine that) to code yellow. So, we ended up getting off the ship early Monday morning, and from there we drove home and got here around 2:00 AM Tuesday morning.

So, that's a quick recap of our week. Tomorrow I'll try and post some pictures.

Mandatory Hope Session

2009-12-01T11:17:00.004-05:00

A few days ago, I got an email from UTC with that as the subject line: "Mandatory Hope Session." The only reason I even opened it was because Luke got the same email and told me it was about financial aid and scholarship meetings. Otherwise I'd probably have figured it was some government-subsidized self-help session for depressed college students. Either that or an end-of-the semester meeting of the young democrats' club on promoting Obama for 2015. In either case, I would have promptly deleted it.

Anyway, we're supposed to go to this mandatory meeting either today or tomorrow at 10:00am or 2:00pm. Well, since it's already past ten today and Mom's going to need the car this afternoon for the boys' music lessons, that only leaves tomorrow, and tomorrow there's a fencing tournament at 2:00. So I guess we'll be going tomorrow at ten, directly after the econ test. I'd have thought that after making us sit through hours of information on financial aid and scholarships during orientation we'd be done with these superfluous meetings, but I guess I was wrong.

Party!!

2009-11-25T08:42:00.003-05:00

I am officially finished with Linear Algebra! I was going to go to UTC this morning and work on the "extra-credit" maple assignment, but I didn't feel like working on maple at seven a.m. So, when I got up, I pulled out my trusty calculator and calculated what score I would have to get on the final in order to keep my "A" in the class, and it turns out that I need to get a minimum of 69.5%. Well, I'm pretty sure that I got an "A" on the test anyway, but 69.5% is a lot of leeway. So, I managed to convince Mom to let me skip the extra-credit, which means I get to go straight from One-last-assignment-in-Linear-Algebra-*sigh* to Linear-Algebra-is-finished-party-time!!! Yay!!

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Finis!*

2009-11-19T10:47:00.006-05:00

Well, I just turned in my final portfolio for English! And I have my last speech test on Monday and my Linear Algebra final on Tuesday. So, I will be done with three of my classes by Tuesday*!

I also had this idea, but I can't decide whether it's brilliant or inane... So, here goes: I was thinking it might be nice to make Christmas cookies for all of my professors and give them the cookies and one of our church's "invitation cards." But I can't decide whether my professors will like that, or if they'll just think I'm uber-weird. I guess it doesn't matter if they do think I'm uber-weird since the semester is almost over anyway, because most of my tests are already graded, except for my finals, but I guess the finals are worth the most points anyway, hmm... To bake or not to bake.

*(OK, so I'm not quite done with English, but we're only meeting once more--on the 30th--to do the teacher evaluation. So technically the class is finished it's just that the evaluations aren't.)

Barney, the "Piggy," and the Real-life Fictional Sci-fi Game

2009-11-13T22:23:00.008-05:00

I recently found out that [one of] the best book[s] on the face of the earth has a sequel! That's right; there is a sequel to Interstellar Pig!! It's called Parasite Pig. Both books are awesome YA/middle grade sci-fi. They're lots of fun and they're really creative.

I know the fact that both books appear to be about pigs might make some people less inclined to read them, but actually they're not about any real pigs at all. They're actually about the "piggy," which is an item from a game in the book. The game is apparently a made-up sci-fi game, except that it actually becomes real, and Barney... Yeah, that's the main character's name. Shoot, I've been trying to convince you to read this book, and I think I've just done the opposite--first "pigs" and now "Barney"... Anyway, Barney finds himself thrown in the center of a dangerous real-life "fictional" sci-fi game. And even though he saves the whole world from the weird aliens, his parents just think he's crazy and send him to "the clinic." Of course, he knows better than to try and convince anyone at the clinic that he just saved them, and the whole world, from crazy, psycho, infiltrating aliens all intent on possessing "the piggy."

Also, in the process of saving the world, Barney kind of made a mess of their summer house. So he has to work at this bookstore until he can pay for all the damage he caused while "saving the world." And Barney has this new "friend" who randomly met him in the bookstore and is obviously all sinister and creepy. Barney is such a complete and utter dolt that he doesn't realize his new best friend is actually another creepy, infiltrating alien! How stupid of him! If I were a character in a book, I would totally be suspicious of anyone who conveniently bumped into me in a bookstore... especially if I was the main character of a sci-fi book and the weird person happened to smell like an alien.

Anyway, just saying, Barney's a twit. But then again, I guess without twitty characters there'd never be any stories because the characters wouldn't get themselves in messes where they had to destroy the house to save the world.

Spring 2010

2009-11-12T13:36:00.006-05:00

Yay! I have signed up for classes for the spring! I'll be taking the second semester of Rhetoric and Composition (English 122), Macroeconomics, Differential Equations, Accounting 202, Art History, and Calculus 3. Doesn't it all sound like fun?! I even ordered my textbooks from Amazon yesterday. And I typed up my spring class schedule.

But I guess I should finish this semester before I start getting excited about the next one. I still have the final and two quizzes left in my Accounting 201 class, two tests in Microeconomics, a Speech test--although I have finished giving all of my speeches, and a Linear Algebra test. I also have to finish editing my "final portfolio" for English 121, although I just sent in my last paper today, so I'll have to edit it next week. And I actually skipped revising my third paper because I hated it. (I decided to argue for something I didn't agree with, i.e. smoking regulations, because I thought I'd be able to find more sources for that than for my personal opinion, i.e. smoking regulations are pointless and unnecessary.) So that means I need to work on revising that now. Ah, well, I'm ready for spring!

"Problem Session"

2009-10-05T18:05:00.005-04:00

In preparation for tomorrow's math test, my linear algebra professor set up a "problem session" for the class to come and review stuff for the test. In class last week, he gave out review sheets with problems from an old test for us to review, and at the problem session we ask him questions about any of the problems from the homework or the review sheets that we had trouble with. So, one person in class asked him to work "Problem 8c" and the following conversation ensued:

Student: "Could you work problem 8c please?"

Prof: "OK. 8d?"

Student: "No, c. 8c."

Prof: "Oh, 8b." He proceeds to write problem 8b up on the board.

Student: sighs and shakes head

At this point, another student in the back intervenes to try and get "8c" across to the professor.

2nd Student: "No. Number 8c. C as in 'cat'"

Prof: "Ah, as in 'cat.'" He writes the number 8c on the board instead of 8b. But, then he starts working problem 6c. Yet another student raises their hand and explains that we were hoping to see him work problem 8c. Eventually, we did actually get to see problem 8c.

And then, at 5:00 pm, 15 minutes before the "problem session" was supposed to end, another professor came in and explained that her 5:00 class was supposed to be taking their test. Our professor apologized and explained that when he reserved the room they'd told him it would be open until 5:15. But I couldn't help wondering if that was another hearing problem. I can totally imagine it...

"5:00"

"Great. 5:15."

"NO! 5:00."

"Yup. 5:15; that's what I said."

*Sigh*

Anyway, he does do a great job of providing comic relief for his linear algebra class, even if he's not quite as good at teaching.

Week 5 of School...

2009-09-16T20:42:00.008-04:00

Week-Long Tests, Weepy Teachers, and Accounting Hundreds

Last week in my Elementary Linear Algebra class we had our first test. There were three separate sections on the test: the no-calculator section, the calculator section, and the proofs section. The no-calculator and calculator sections had to be completed the day of the test. But, the professor said that the proofs section didn't need to be finished on test day. If you didn't have time to get to the proofs during the test (or simply didn't study them) you could take the proofs paper home to study and then come to the professor's office hours and work the proofs then. Or you can stay late after class to do them. Anyway, the official due date on the proofs is tomorrow, after class--one week from test day. The idea of a week-long test has me in shock. (Of course, I did my proofs on the day of the test because I knew them, and there was an extra-credit point for getting them done during the test, and I simply can't imagine not doing some of the test questions the day of the test.) I ended up making a 94% on the test, which totally thrilled me because the professor's lectures had been so vague and haphazard that I was afraid I might've misunderstood everything he taught us!

So, this week in Public Speaking we've been having informative speeches, and about 6 or 7 people speak per class period. Today I had to give my speech. My speech was on the violin and how varnish affects its tone. Well, since we all had to have a visual aid anyway, and the computer likes to backfire for that, I decided to bring my violin to class instead of trying to mess with the projector and pictures. And since I was bringing my violin, I figured it'd be good to open my speech with a line or two of some well-known song. So I played the very ending of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" to open my speech. And then I talked on violins and varnish, Stradivarius's world-renowned violins, a nameless violin maker who burned down his kitchen trying to liquefy amber, etc. Thankfully, I didn't lose my place, drop my violin, go over the allotted time (which was 4-5 min, and I struck it nicely in between with 4min, 39sec), or cause any other terrible calamity. I also ended up being the last student out of the classroom because I had to pick up all my violin stuff. Anyway, as I was preparing to go, my professor said some really nice things about my speech--yay!--and then mentioned my opening music selection. She said that the song is just so beautiful that when I started playing it she almost cried. OK, I have NO IDEA what that was about. I played not even 4 measures of a well-known song and she almost cried? Hmm...was it that bad? I suppose it could've been--I hadn't practiced a substantial amount in around two weeks. Except she said it was pretty. I guess she must have some kind of emotional attachment to that song. Who knows, maybe the mere mention of it's title sets her off crying... Anyway, that was a weird professor phenomena.

And on a positive note, I got my accounting homework grade today--I got a 100%. Yay!

"Bored" of Sacrifices?

2009-09-10T22:07:00.009-04:00

I went to a campus ministry Bible study tonight. We're going through Mark right now and just finished up chapter 2 and part of chapter 3. I've been really enjoying the Bible studies. And I like the fact that it's not "topical," but that we're actually going through a book of the Bible.

The passage we read today was about how Jesus is the bridegroom and his disciples didn't fast like the Pharisees or John's disciples, and about Jesus and the disciples plucking grain--"The Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath," and Jesus healing the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath.

The speaker talked about the problems of legalism and about the sufficiency of scripture. And he talked about the blessings of the Sabbath. He also talked about the Old Testament sacrifices being done away with because of Christ. I assumed he was going to talk about how Christ is the perfect sacrifice, the fulfillment of all the animal sacrifices in the OT. But, instead of discussing the redemptive historical fulfillment of the Old Testament law, he said that, "The people [i.e. the Jews] were tired of the sacrifices, and so was God. God gave them something new instead of the sacrifices, Christ." He used Hosea 6:6 as one of the proof texts, "For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." This verse is in the context of a chapter describing the impenitence of Israel and Judah. In fact, the next verse goes on to say that Israel and Judah have transgressed the Lord's covenant. The verse Hosea 6:6, in its context, is not some kind of rebuke by the Lord to Judah and Israel for being too concerned about honoring God with sacrifices. It is a rebuke because their sacrifices were hypocritical and unrepentant.

Far from being "tired of sacrifices," God sent Christ, His perfect son, to be the true sacrifice for us. The sacrifices in the Old Testament were but pictures pointing toward the perfect sacrifice of Christ.

"For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshippers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins."
--Hebrews 10:1-4

"In those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year."--The purpose of the sacrifices was to remind the people of their sin and their need for a redeemer, for a perfect sacrifice. God didn't "discard" the sacrifices because He was bored with them. The sacrifices are done away with in the New Testament because Christ has come. Christ is the fulfillment of those sacrifices. He died and rose again! And to offer up the blood of bulls and goats would be to say that His sacrifice was insufficient.

Praise the Lord that Christ is sufficient! And that our God did not tire of sacrifices, else we'd still be left in our sins, without a redeemer.

Multiple-Choice Accounting

2009-09-02T15:18:00.003-04:00

Well, my accounting test was perfectly fine. Actually, it was a breeze. It was mostly multiple-choice, with a few matching exercises mixed in, and one "large problem" at the end. I was sure the large problem would be a classified balance sheet because the professor said that the test would generally follow the homework, and the large problem that we had for homework was a classified balance sheet. I was wrong. It ended up being a set of financial statements (income statement, retained earnings statement, and balance sheet) with the major headings already written in. We just had to fill in the blanks, and we didn't have to do any of the classifications on the balance sheet!

So, I'm hoping I got a perfect score on my accounting test. If I did, then I got more than 100% on it because I have extra credit points from the first day of class! Oh, yeah!

Test Scenarios...

2009-09-01T10:57:00.004-04:00

Well, I have my first test today. It's a 45-min accounting "mini-exam." The professor said that there would be 20 multiple-choice (scan-tron) questions and one "rather large" problem. And he pretty much guaranteed us that the large problem would be creating a classified balance sheet. I've gone over writing up classified balance sheets (and income statements, and retained earning statements, just to be safe). And I've reviewed my flash cards, which I know like the back of my hand, and I've reviewed superfluous definitions, etc. Of course, I can't recite the definitions word for word, but I know the gist of what all the cool accounting words mean. So, I should be all set for the test. The problem is, I can't help but run through all sorts of possible scenarios wherein I might not be prepared for the test. For example, what if the teacher also said that there would be words we had to define on the test, and I just didn't hear him. Or maybe he'll have questions on the test about the Statement of Cash Flows, even though he said we wouldn't deal with that until we do Accounting 202. Or what if...

See? I can't seem to calmly accept that I'm prepared for the test. It just doesn't feel like I've had to do enough studying. I guess I'll find out the extent of my preparation soon--around 5:30 tonight. At least this is also the test that I scored extra credit points for on the first day of class. That'll help.

Ozzy-boy

2009-08-22T12:28:00.007-04:00

Well, I took Oswald out of his cage and made him exercise today. He's so cute rolling around in his ball. Unfortunately, Jez took an interest in the rolling hamster, and wanted to "help" him get across the living room floor. I caught Jez before she'd shoved him too far, though. And I took advantage of the empty cage to refill Ozzy's food dish. So, when I put him back in, he found a bowl full of new food, and he spent the next fifteen plus minutes eating twice his weight in food. Oswald will only eat when he is actually sitting on his food, as well as stuffing it in his face. See below: Oswald sitting in his food dish and eating.

As you can see from the mess, whenever Oswald eats, he kicks out all the food he doesn't like, which then ricochets off the cage bars, the wall, and anything else nearby, and eventually makes its way all over my floor, and I end up having to vacuum up all of Oswald's "rejects."

Accounting--So Cool!

2009-08-20T14:25:00.006-04:00

Well, on Tuesday my accounting class met for the first time. And we had a pop quiz on the 53-page reading assignment from the weekend. Although it was only for extra-credit, so it wasn't a problem for people who didn't check their email. And there were only three problems (each problem was worth 0.5 extra credit points), so it wasn't major thing. But, I knew the answers to all of the problems, so I'll have 1.5 extra credit points for our first accounting test. Yay!

Anyway, I've been doing the reading for next week, and I've come across some interesting stuff. There was a blurb in my book on the importance of accounting standards, and the blurb used South Korea as an example of what happens when a country doesn't have any accounting standards. There are international standards for accounting, but South Korea didn't hold to them. Because of South Korea's lack of accounting standards, investors did not have faith in the accuracy of their numbers, and were unwilling to pay as much for the shares of South Korean companies as they were for shares of comparable companies in different countries. For that reason, if you were to invest in Korean companies, you'd get much lower share prices than for shares in a company in some other nation. That difference in share price was called the "Korean Discount." In response to the "Korean Discount," Korean regulators decided that as of 2011 companies will have to comply with the international accounting standards. Which also means that the stock for Korean companies will probably begin to increase sometime around 2011 as a result of the new accounting standards in Korea.

Very interesting stuff. I'm enjoying this accounting book. I wanted to write about the stuff I read yesterday on General Motors too, but I need to head off to class, so I'll do that in another blog post.

Yay! Finished!

2009-08-15T19:58:00.005-04:00

I got an email today from my accounting professor. It said that he had put up the class schedule and syllabus online and that we should print those and bring them along to class. Great, fine. That's all well and good. Then he mentioned what accounting book we needed; I already knew that and had long since bought the book. He also said that since the class only meets once a week, we'll be going through a minimum of one chapter at every meeting. And we should have the readings done ahead of time so as to be able to follow the lecture (duh, right?). Then I looked at the class schedule which said that on our very first meeting day, we'd be going through all of chapter one and part of chapter two which totalled the first 53 pages of the textbook. So, basically my accounting professor just sent out 53 pages of assigned reading homework that needs to be completed before we even have our first class meeting. *Sigh.*

But, I spent all day reading about assets, liabilities, stockholders' equity (which consist of common stock and retained earnings), depreciations, dividends, all things "payable" and "recievable", operating activities, investing activities, and fincing activities, all sorts of financial statements (Income Statements, Retained Earning Statements, Balance Sheets, and Statement of Cash Flows) and the notes associated with them (Management Discussion and Analysis, Notes to the Financial Statements, and the Auditor's Report), etc., and now I'm finished! In all honesty, though, as fun as it is to complain about, it was actually kind of uber-cool stuff.

3 x Fajitas

2009-08-12T20:48:00.006-04:00

Well, I made a cooking error today, and I wasn't even tired. Of course, I guess I do make quite a few mistakes even when I'm not tired. I mean, both times that I set the stove on fire I was well-rested. (That's probably why I had the sense to squeal at Luke, who came and doused the burners with water.) And when I lit that potholder on fire, I wasn't the least bit tired either. Oh well, I guess my excuse wasn't very valid.

Anyway, today I was making the marinade for our fajitas. Mom told me that we needed to double the recipe. That was going well until I got to the part about the 3 garlic cloves. For some reason, at that point I forgot about the doubling thing. I just put in 3 garlic cloves. And when I went on to the next ingredient, I had the number "3" stuck in my mind. So, I tripled the whole rest of the recipe. Then I got to the end, and suddenly realized I'd been tripling everything since the garlic, but that everything before the garlic was only doubled, and the garlic wasn't even doubled at all. So I went back and fixed all the proportions, making a triple batch.

Then I called Mom, who was gone running errands with Dad, to explain and said, "Hey Mom, I accidentally made a triple batch of that marinade. Is that OK?"
And she said, "Oh, well, that's fine, we'll just have extra."

It turns out that I was a subject of amusement for Dad and Mom as they drove home. Dad said, "We were wondering how it was possible for someone to start making a double batch and end up accidentally making a triple batch. But then, we remembered it was you we were talking about. No one but you could do something like that." Hmm...I'm not sure whether that's a compliment or an insult. But, hey, at least I got the proportions right, so the dinner tasted fine.

Sunday Scrabble

2009-08-02T20:39:00.003-04:00

Mom and I were playing Scrabble this afternoon, and Dad walked into the room. He, somewhat jokingly, inquired if it was a Bible game. I assured him that it was, and then Mom and I went on to prove that every word we'd used had some obscure Biblical referent. Here are a few of the words:

Strained--Relations were strained between Moses and Pharaoh. (BTW, this was my word, and notice that it's an eight letter word. I managed to place all seven of my letters around an "i," thereby scoring a BINGO!)

Flutes--According to Psalm 150, David was a major fan of flutes, along with other instruments.

Coo--Baby Moses cooed a bit too loudly, so his Mom dumped him on the river in a basket.

Sold--Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt

Raw--The Israelites weren't allowed to eat raw meat.

Tap--Uzzah died because he tapped the ark.

Yet--The Already and the Not Yet. (OK, so that's more of a general theological referent, but still.)

Tails--It's safe to assume that all of Jacob's speckled sheep must've had tails.

Gape--David gaped at Bathsheeba (Sadly, I can't take credit for this one--Mom thought of it first.)

Well, we haven't finished the Scrabble game yet, so I can't announce a winner (although, I'm currently winning). Anyway, Bible Scrabble is fun! Y'all should try it sometime. :)

Something's Fishy

2009-07-28T17:46:00.005-04:00

We have Shakespeare camp this week--which is fun. But, it means I have to get up around 7:00 or 7:15 (of course, I’m not the only one, so does everyone else). And for some reason, I've been unable to fall asleep for the past three nights until sometime near 12:30 or 1 AM. So I'm tired. When I'm tired, and I try to bake and/or cook, I usually end up messing up the recipe. (You know, putting in 1 tablespoon of salt instead of 1 teaspoon, or using baking powder instead of baking soda or vice versa.) But, then again, confusing T. and t. or baking powder/soda is understandable. Yesterday while I was helping Mom with dinner, I almost made a really bizarre and completely not understandable cooking mistake.

I was making the sauce for some fish we were having for dinner. The recipe called for 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard. For some reason, when I read that, my mind leapt from Dijon mustard to ground mustard. Instead of searching the fridge for some mustard, I walked over to the spice rack.

The first spice container I saw was for paprika. So, my exhausted mind instantly switched from ground mustard to paprika. There I was, preparing to pour a tablespoon of paprika into the fish sauce. Except that the paprika smelled weird. I glanced at the name on the spice container which read, “Smoked Paprika.” (Apparently, we needed paprika and the store was all out of the normal stuff, so we had to get the smoked kind.) Then I wondered if the smoked paprika would work in the fish sauce or if it would just make it taste odd. So I double-checked the amount in the recipe, and realized that what I needed was not smoked paprika, regular paprika, or even ground mustard; it was Dijon mustard. Mom walked into the kitchen just in time to hear my exclamation. Since she knows my tendency to mess up a recipe if I’m cooking while tired, she yelled, “Oh, no! What did you do?” I explained that I hadn’t actually put the paprika in yet, so it was OK. Seriously, though, I never would have thought it possible to mistake Dijon mustard for smoked paprika. It must be a talent…

Driver's License

2009-07-21T10:18:00.003-04:00

I passed my driver's license test today! Yay!!

Of course, I went down to Jasper to take the test. In Jasper, the test consists of driving around the block--hitting a few stop signs and a blind intersection or two and, voila, you pass. I didn't realize it was going to be that short. I thought I might have to drive on the interstate and maybe prove I could park in the parking lot.

But I was afraid my biggest hurdle would be turning the car on. For some reason, I sometimes have trouble getting the car to turn on. I drove on the way down to Jasper to "warm up." And when I turned the car on then, it was fine. Still, you never know what can happen.

So, after I filled out the pre-test paperwork, the testing lady told me to go out and start the car and she'd be there in a minute. All that worry about starting the car, and she wasn't even there to see me turn it on! But anyway, I passed. She basically just wanted to make sure I could turn on my turn signals, stop at red lights and stop signs, and back up out of the parking spot. So now I have an "Intermediate Restricted License" instead of the (third) "Learner Permit" I had before.

Arielology

2009-07-13T13:30:00.006-04:00

If you like, let others know a little more about yourself, re-post this as your name followed by "ology"

FOOD-OLOGY

What is your favorite salad dressing?
Blue cheese.

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
Um, I actually don’t really like going to restaurants, and we don’t go very often. But, “The Southern Star” is good.

What food could you eat for 2 weeks straight and not get sick of it?
Chocolate with Chili. (Lindt makes dark chocolate with chili pepper bits in it. Yum!)

What are your pizza toppings of choice?
If it were my choice, we probably wouldn’t be having pizza. :) But, I prefer just pepperoni and cheese pizza.

What do you like to put on your toast?
Chocolate spread from World Market. Or sometimes butter, sugar and some cinnamon.

TECHNOLOGY

How many televisions are in your house?
One

What color cell phone do you have?
Blue.

What does the first text message in your in box say and who sent it?
I don’t have texting on my phone.

Who was the last person to call you?
Actually, the last call I got was a wrong number.

BIOLOGY

Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Right.

Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Nope.

What is the last heavy item you lifted?
Jezebel.

RANDOM-OLOGY

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
Absolutely not!

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
Um, I wouldn’t.

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
Probably not.

DUMB-OLOGY

How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
Not sure. Three, maybe…

When is the last time you had a run in with the cops?
Do hospital security-people count? When I was two, I was yelling at the doctor, and the security heard and came to see if the doctor needed help. So I guess it's been 15 years.

Last person you talked to in person?
Matthew.

Favorite Month(s)?
Spring (end of April- beginning of June)

CURRENT-OLOGY

Missing someone?
Lots of people.

Mood?
Tired. Does that count as a mood?

What are you listening to?
Jezebel breathing (she’s asleep on my floor).

Watching?
Jezebel, asleep.

Worrying about?
Nothing, really.

RANDOM-OLOGY

Last movie you saw?
The last movie we saw in Theatres was Star Trek

Do you smile often?
Yeah.

Do you always answer your phone?
Hehehe. Nope.

It’s four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it?
Hey, were you paying attention? I said I don’t have texting. So I’m not getting a text message. But, if I got a phone call at four in the morning it would probably be a wrong number—I did get a wrong number once at six-thirty a.m. Thankfully my phone was muted.

If you could change your eye color what would it be?
Green. Actually, I have contacts, so I could change my eye color, but of course I don’t/won’t.

Do you own a digital camera?
Yeah, our family camera is digital.

Have you ever had a pet fish?
Yes! It was named Oswald, or maybe that was my albino aquatic frog. Not sure. Anyway, it died. Now I have a live hamster—named Oswald.

Favorite Christmas song
“Reno erat Rudolphes” (Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer in Latin).

What’s on your wish list for your birthday
I don’t do “wish-lists” usually. Although, I love books… and awesome calculators, too. :)

Can you do pushups?
Yeah, I actually do too, sometimes. Mostly I just stick to sit-ups.

Can you do a chin up?
Never tried.

Does the future make you more nervous or excited?
I don’t spend much time thinking about “the future” in general. But, I guess college is the next thing in the future. So, both, maybe.

Ever been in a car wreck?
Yes. I wasn’t driving, though.

What is the last song to make you cry?
I can’t remember. Lots of songs make me feel sad, but not actually cry. I think the last sad song I listened to was "The Death of a Son" from Michael Card’s album The Ancient Faith

Plans tonight?
Yes. Mom’s American Art History class thing starts tonight.

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
I don’t know. Perhaps.

Name three things you bought yesterday.
I didn’t. So I’ll have to settle for “last three things bought,” with no time constraint. OK, I bought a bottle of Purel a couple days ago--I told mom I didn’t want to go to college (i.e. eat a bag lunch somewhere) without it. And Mom and I bought hair highlighting stuff—we do each other’s hair. And before that I had to get eyelets for my Shakespeare costume.

Have you ever been given roses?
Yes. Daddy brought roses home on my 12th birthday. (At least, I think it was 12th.)

Do you have an accent?
I don't think so.

Current hate right now?
Spiders!!

What were you doing at 12 AM last night?
Reading. I think I was reading until almost 1 AM. Hmm...maybe there's a reason I'm tired.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's...

2009-07-06T10:55:00.006-04:00

A bat?

After church yesterday evening, we were all outside talking. And this swarm of odd-looking "birds" were flying around above our heads. They were flapping their wings rather oddly, and they were flying really low. "Huh, strange birds," I thought. Then, suddenly Mom said, "Oh, look at the bats!" My mom has some weird fascination with bats--she thinks they're uber-cool, and that's not solely because the eat mosquitos. Actually, she's even bought a "bat house," although we haven't hung it up yet. And I have some weird fear of bats. Bats aren't as bad as spiders, but they're still pretty creepy.

I think this fear may have originated when we watched an episode of some doctor show thing. The sick lady on the show had some mysterious disease. Finally, the doctors figured out that she had rabies, which she had somehow acquired from a bat. And I also once read part of some book on animals that said bats were the animals with the largest percent of rabies-infected population. OK, so the percentage of rabies in bats was something miniscule, like 3% or 6% or something. But, still, say we saw around ten bats at church. That's a .3 or .6 percent chance that one of those bats had rabies! Yeah, really enormous chance, I know. But, hey, .6 % is .6%. And it wasn't dark yet, either. Bats are nocturnal. So, maybe the ones we saw were really a lone population of rabid bats!

Still, despite the rabies thing, the bats actually were kind of neat. Here's a picture. (No, I didn't take it, I got it from freestockphotos.com.)

The bat looks pretty dead to me, but apparently it's "sleeping."

Lipgloss and Epi-pens

2009-06-29T19:11:00.005-04:00

I've never been noticeably allergic to anything. Ever. In my whole life. Until yesterday. Guess what I'm allergic to? It's not dust, or mold, or some kind of animal, or peanuts, or milk, or anything semi-normal. I discovered that I am allergic to some kind of lip gloss. It's a lip gloss that I've worn dozens of times before with no problems. Well, OK, it sort of burned my lips every time I wore it. But it wasn't that bad. And sometimes lip glosses are that way. I mean, just because something burns your lips doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it! Right? Oh, I also woke up with weird, dry, scabby patches all over my lips 2 or 3 times, but that happened with weeks in between and on random days. I couldn't figure out how the incidents were all related--until yesterday.

I applied said lip gloss and went to church. My lips were all itchy during the 2-year-old Sunday School class, but I thought nothing of it. When we got home from church, however, my lips were burning, so I glanced in a mirror. Have you ever seen Monsters, Inc? Remember Randall's scream machine thingy? The one he tries to hook Boo up to? Except Sully and Mike rescue her and stick Randall's assistant (I think his name is Fungus) in the scream machine? Yeah. Well, my face looked like Fungus's does after Randall comes back and turns off the scream machine. Of course, that Sunday we had guests for lunch, and I spent the whole day trying to hide the fact that my deranged, alienish lips were about 3 times their normal size. I don't think it worked very well. Whatever. By the time we had evening worship, it was somewhat better. And now, today, my lips are a normal size despite being dry, irritated, and scabby.

Mom and I have decided that I must be allergic to the lip gloss. And my reaction to it is getting progressively worse. If I were to accidentally put on "the wrong kind" of lip gloss again, who knows, I might even have an anaphylactic reaction! Something tells me, though, that if I were to go to an allergist and explain that I needed an epi-pen to carry around because of "lipgloss allergies" they'd blow me off. Ah, well, I'll have to be careful.

Maybe I can do some sleuthing (like comparing some good lip glosses with the bad lipgloss) and figure out which ingredient must be the problem. And, in future, if I have anymore epi-pen-less lip gloss problems, it'll be au naturale for me. In the meantime, "Elementary, my dear Watson!"

Our Mutual Friend

2009-06-22T15:21:00.005-04:00

Ugh! My body and every germ on the face of the earth are conspiring against me! First the flu, then a cold, now a throat infection (and judging by the way my ears feel, ear infection(s) may not be far behind).

Ah, well, at least this is giving me time to make a dent in the 900 pages of Our Mutual Friend, which is an awesome book! (And possibly the only awesome thing Dickens wrote if The Christmas Carol is anything to go by. Yes, Our Mutual Friend really was written by Charles Dickens.) There is even a no-less awesome BBC movie adaption of Our Mutual Friend which, though it is approximately 5hrs and 51min, requires much less time commitment than actually reading the novel. If you do watch the movie, it is broken up into five or six sections in case you don't have time to watch the whole thing at once (much like A&E's adaption of Pride and Prejudice). And, so far as I am in the book, the movie is almost exactly true to the book, except that it does things a bit out of order so as to get finished faster!

I'm not very good at writing book reviews especially with books whose plots are as complicated as this one, and if I tried to summarize it, I'd probably miss some stuff and the summary would be long and tedious anyway. So I won't even try. Suffice it to say, "WATCH THIS MOVIE" or better yet, read the book. Although I'll admit that it is very complicated, and I wouldn't understand it as well if I hadn't seen the movie first. (Hmm...I wonder if that is actually due to the complexity of the book, or just the fact that I hadn't picked it up in almost a month. Although, that's probably not the best thing to mention if I'm trying to convince you all that this is a great book.)

Anyway, if you have netflix, Our Mutual Friend is available for instant streaming on their website! Yay!

Baseball, Yay!

2009-06-20T14:54:00.005-04:00

Yesterday a group of people from our church all went to a Lookouts game. Baseball. Ugh. Honestly, I really didn't even pay any attention to the game. I was trying to help out one of the moms by watching her two-year-old little girl named Sarah. Sarah kept running into the aisle and playing on the steps, grabbing the back of the bench in front of us (on which this crabby lady was sitting who acted like the little girl had committed the unpardonable sin by touching the bench--please!), and eating my Altoids--I think she's the first two-year-old I've encountered who didn't spit the Altoid back out when I gave it to her! Watching Sara was certainly less boring than watching the game would've been. Apparently, according to by dad and brothers it was somewhat boring, and if they'll admit that a baseball game was maybe, kind of, boring, then it was definitely mind-numbing.

Anyway, after the game, Dad was explaining to Mom and Matt (they couldn't come to the game because Matt still has the plague) that the pitcher for the Lookouts was supposedly pretty good, and there was talk that they would move him up soon to triple A baseball. Dad said that he got several strike-outs, but he also walked a ton of people. Obviously I hadn't been paying any attention to the game, though I was able to comment that he had been throwing fastballs that were around 96 mph (that's one thing I do enjoy looking at during a baseball game: the "Speed of the last pitch" meter). And then Jacob said, "Yeah, but he walked tons of people! He loaded the bases and then walked in two runs!" And Luke remarked that he even hit one of the batters. So, yeah, the Lookouts lost. And I'm really sad about it. See? ... :(

"Awesome" Advisors!

2009-06-12T22:21:00.009-04:00

Well, I had orientation and registration at UTC last week Thursday and Friday.

Registration was on Friday, and there were two sessions for registration: one where the professors gave us a general overview of how to register online, and one where we actually registered. Actually, the math professor never even showed up for the first session so an OL (Orientation Leader) helped us math majors figure out where we were supposed to go for our second session. We were assigned to register in the same room as the Biology majors; which was fine, we could share a room. But, there were already more Biology majors in the room than computers, so that didn't work.

The OL took us upstairs to find the math professor who was supposed to help us register so he could figure out what to do. It turned out that the math professor did remember that it was registration, he was just running late. So, he led us back to the same overstuffed room that we'd just been kicked out of and marched inside. We all tried not to laugh and glanced at the OL who mouthed, "I'm sorry," and then tried to talk to the math professor before he initiated a professorial quarrel with the Bio people. The OL tried to get the math professor's attention, but the math professor didn't notice and continued to walk menacingly towards the Biology professor. The OL turned to us and said, "Ugh, I don't know his name!" And of course none of us did either because he hadn't bothered to introduce himself. Anyway, eventually the room issue got sorted out--actually, it was the OL who took charge of finding a room, not Mr. Math Professor.

Once we finally found a room, we all sat down at the computers. I waited for the math professor to tell us what to do. He eventually said, "Well, I'm sure you all know how to do this, right?" and I realized he wasn't going to tell us what to do at all. After we all got logged in and were looking at the Schedule of Classes, he said, "You have your class schedules figured out already, right?" And we politely said, "Um, not exactly." Really, if we knew what to do, and we already had figured out what classes to take, why did we even need him?

Thankfully, I had written down some classes to try to sign up for, and alternates too in case I couldn't get the ones I wanted, but I had no idea how to register. I ended up having to come up with two other classes to take because some of the classes I originally wanted to take were already full, and some were at the same time as my other classes. So the math professor decided to help me come up with those two classes. He looked over my RAP sheet and saw that I'd taken Calculus 1 and 2 at Chatt State and got a 4.0 GPA for each. So, he immediately tried to get me into classes way above my grade level. Here's what he said:

Mr. Math Professor: Oh, you've already had Calculus 1 and 2!
Me: Yes. I took them at Chatt State as dual-enrollment classes.
MMP: Well then you should take this (indicating multivariable calculus)
Me: But look, that has a prerequisite of Elementary Linear Algebra.
MMP: No, it's a co-requisite.
Me: Look. (pointing to the notation in the course catalogue under Multivariable Calculus that says Prerequisite: Mathematics 212, and then pointing to Mathematics 212--Elementary Linear Algebra--in the catalogue)
MMP: Oh, right.
Me: And I already registered for Elementary Linear Algebra earlier. We'll have to find something else.
MMP: Well, you do have the prerequisite for this one (pointing to Mathematics 300, Foundations of Mathematics)
Me: (remembering how in the first session, which math-man didn't come to, the head honchos did a powerpoint presentation on which, in big bold letters, it said, "Freshmen are not permitted to take 300-level classes") Um, that's a 300 level class. I can't take that!
MMP: Sure you can. You have the prerequisties.
Me: (doubtfully) Oh. Huh.
I look up Mathematics 300 in the Schedule of Classes.
Me: (smugly) Oh, look at that. I can't take this class; I'm already registered for another class that's in this same time slot!
MMP: Oh. Well how about this class (indicating yet another 300-level class)
Me: Um that has three prerequisites that I haven't had yet.
MMP: Right. Yeah.
Me: How about I just sign up for Public Speaking? That's required for math majors and it fits in with my schedule.
MMP: That sounds great.
I hurriedly picked out one other class that I knew I needed (English 121) before he could "recommend" anything else.

So, registration is finished! And I finally understand the jokes that Mom and one of the professors were making about the math faculty before registration. If only they'd told those jokes after registration, I would have gotten them.

Cold-blooded Murderer!

2009-06-09T10:24:00.005-04:00

Yes, OK, I'll admit to the second word. But, really, it wasn't in cold blood, it was just neglectfulness. (This will be kind of roundabout, but it'll get there eventually. So if you want to know exactly how I'm a "murderer", you'll have to bear with me :)

My mom has a beautiful collection of orchids; they thrive and grow and defy the very definition of orchid. There are several different types of orchids, and my mom has at least three or four different types of orchid, and sometimes multiples of the same type. This one type of orchid is only supposed to get three leaves. That's it; just three. Mom's has four currently, but it's had as many as seven or eight at one point. It's only supposed to bloom once a year, but her's blooms twice. Obviously these must be sentient beings that love her or something because this never happens.

At any rate, I must have inherited Mom's love of weird plants. See, we used to go to this fair when we lived in New England called the Big E. They always had very interesting things for sale. The things that always appealed the most to me were the exotic plants. One year they were selling cuttings of a plumeria tree. They said if you stuck the cuttings in water they'd grow roots and then you could plant them and they'd grow into a tree. I talked Mom into buying one. I think it was a total scam. We put that thing in water, replaced the water every couple of days, gave it sunlight, read poetry to it (OK, not really, but we did just about anything else you can think of to get it to grow), and then, after all that, the stupid plant up and died. So my first experiment with exotic plants failed. You might think I learned my lesson; you'd be wrong.

The next year at the Big E they were selling air plants. Air plants are fuzzy green little things that, and I quote, "Are the easiest plant in the world to care for, don't need any soil, and only need to be lightly misted with water about once a week." OK, I thought, the easiest plant in the world. That should be really easy. If I can't keep that alive, I can't keep anything alive. I should've passed on the plant, but I didn't. I bought it. And really, it did last for about six months, but then it died. I'd been forgetting to "mist it." Seriously, I couldn't even remember to mist a stupid plant ONCE A WEEK!!

I ought to have realized right then and there that I am cursed when it comes to plants. I'm almost positive that some fairy cursed me over my cradle that every plant I own will die. Yup. But I excused the air-plant incident by claiming that once a week is much too seldom--I simply forget if I have to care for a plant so little. So, I opted for a bonsai next. Bonsais are plants that require pretty much the most plant care. That's not something you can forget. Over the space of the next several years, I killed not one but two bonsai plants. I also had an African violet at some point along the way. I don't exactly remember what happened with that. I think I got too enthusiastic with the watering, and it developed root rot.

Anyway, I'm hoping this curse is like a lot of the other ones you hear about in the fairy tales where it wears off at 16 because I bought an orchid either last year or the year before. (Hmm...I may have been 15 when I bought it, but perhaps since it lasted until I turned sixteen, and since that curse has now expired, it will no longer be dictated by my curse.) So far it's doing well. Although, that's all to Mom's credit. I only remember to water it about once a month, and I never open the shades in my room so that it can get sunlight. Mom waters it regularly and opens my shades every morning, and in return it blooms and has way more leaves than it's supposed to.

Still, I suppose ELF must have heard about my past history with plants, and if I ever come across one of their spokespeople, I will be denounced as a cold-blooded murderer. I could probably plead mansl...er...plantslaughter, since none of it was on purpose, but something tells me that ELF wouldn't be very understanding.

Bio-Shakespeare

2009-06-04T09:49:00.009-04:00

Since we have a Shakespeare meeting tomorrow, I figured today would be a good time to learn the third quarter of my lines. So I pulled out my script today and did my lines. And actually, I knew all of my lines, with the exception of the very last scene that I'm in, and that's just by reading it and going over it a few times. I hadn't even looked at it much for almost a month!

Now this morning I'm trying to finish up a chapter in Biology. I'm supposed to be able to place each of a Frog, Shark, Lencelet, Carp, Sea squirt, and Lamprey eel into the correct subphylum. Ugh!! Why is it so easy to memorize Shakespeare lines and so hard to retain biological facts?

BTW, I can't imagine what weirdos ever cared enough to research where the air bladder, kidney, spinal chord, gall bladder, etc., of "a typical bony fish" are positioned. Didn't they realize they'd be making students' lives miserable for centuries?

The V-shaped State

2009-05-27T13:45:00.005-04:00

I asked Mom a question the other day about the location of something. I can't remember what the question was now, but anyway, she said, "Oh, it's in Minnesota." And I said, "Oh, yeah!" in this voice that meant "I know all there is to know about Minnesota." But after weighing the alternatives, I decided that my curiousity outweighed my desire to seem competent in geography and said, "So, where is Minnesota?" Of course I realize that it's a state, but you know, the USA is pretty large...

Anyway, then Mom asked me just how many states I could identify. And you know, I can do quite a few, actually. I know the places where I've lived and the states nearby them WA, CA, OR, CT, NY, GA, TN, and I could probably get NC and SC. And states with weird shapes: Nevada--that "V" shaped one, Texas, and Florida. So, yeah that's 12 states. Hey, 12 out of 50, not bad, right?

Actually, about 2 years ago I did Geography and I passed with an "A" (Of course I got an "A"; I'm homeschooled. If I didn't get an "A" I'd have to redo. In fact, I had to take the Geography Final 3 times because I missed a few of the names of the mountain ranges and Mom wanted me to get a 100%. I never did get the 100%; I think Mom ended up deciding to be satisfied with a 96 or 98% since it was now summertime; I can't remember which score it was.) I guess I've forgotten most of what I "learned" in Geography, though. But I passed, and that's what's important. Now I'm free to forget, and it's OK because I can always ask Mom, "Hey, where's Atlanta?"

Sniffling and Studying

2009-05-25T12:47:00.007-04:00

I'm taking my Calculus 2 exam tomorrow. It was delayed because of my 9-day case of the flu. I was sort of frustrated that I was going to have to go almost a whole month between our last day of class and the final, but I figured it's better to be 100% when taking a test. So, great, I was going to be healthy and well-studied come tomorrow!

Except this morning I woke up with a cold. I would like to blame this on the two-year-olds in the Sunday School class that I help with because then I would have an excuse to be sick again. Except, I don't think any of the kids in Sunday School had had colds recently, and I guess it wasn't really long enough (about 12 hours max) for that to have been where I picked it up. It's probably more to do with the fact that I haven't been getting enough sleep. But that's certainly not my fault. That's the fault of the obnoxious cricket that chirps very loudly at my window night after night. And then just when the cricket shuts up, Oswald decides to wake up and run his wheel. So, I'm sure it's Oswald and/or Mr. Cricket's fault that I have a cold. (It's OK, Oswald, I'll still feed you anyway.)

Oh, well. A cold's not going to stop me! I've already studied everything over the weekend--mostly on Friday, but some on Sat. And now I'm reviewing everything again. I'm definitely fresh on applications to physics and engineering. I will remember to add the "+C"s onto the end of all of my general antiderivatives, and I've re-aquainted myself with the nuances of Parametric Equations and how to type them in the calculator. Oh, and I've reviewed "trig identities."

So, I guess I'm all set. We just need to go buy some more cough drops before tomorrow.

Random Heinousity

2009-05-20T22:09:00.003-04:00

Jezebel has been really weird this past week or two. Perhaps it's the frustration of being an annoyance to the relatives and having to be shut up in one or two rooms for most of the week. Whatever it is, she's been really obnoxious. She will randomly decide to do something heinous and then run away to avoid getting in trouble.

For example, she has been jumping up on me and then pelting off in the other direction. Or today, while I was unloading the dishwasher, she ran up to me, pounced up on me, and grabbed my arm in her mouth. Then, she fell back down to the floor while maintaining a grip on my arm and tried to run off with it to the schoolroom. Ouch!!

And that was completely unprovoked. I hadn't wrestled her, thrown her upside-down, picked her up, or even acknowledged her at all. She just completely randomly decided to "play." I guess I need to inform "random brat dog" that I don't like to play when it entails tug-of-war with human limbs--especially my limbs. I'm kind of attached to them.

Creepy or Dyslexic, Hmm.

2009-05-14T18:15:00.006-04:00

I got a cell phone from my grandparents for graduation. And I would put the number on here if I could be assured that only my friends were going to read this. But if some weird random creepy person decides to read my blog, I really don't want them to call me. (BTW, if you are some weird creepy person reading my blog right now, go away. Really, shoo. Be gone!)

And I'm going to be careful about giving out my phone number seeing as I've already got one bizarre voice mail from some lady I don't know who said, "Hi Girl, I'm just calling to see how you're doing in Chattanooga. Have you been to see the doctor yet? Anyway, talk to you later. Love ya, Girl. Bye." What is that about???????? Seriously! This must be some dyslexic person who typed the wrong number or something because that's just random. And weird. And semi-creepy.

Whimp! Who? Me?!

2009-05-12T18:05:00.006-04:00

Somehow, I pulled a muscle. (Which, by the way, my brothers came home today and informed me that their friends didn't understand what a "sprained rib" was. I explained that I'd never heard of that either and asked if could they please expound on it. They said, "You and Mom said you had a sprained rib, and so we told everybody at fencing." And Mom and I rolled our eyes and mused over how the words "strained muscle" could morph into "sprained rib.") Anyway, apparently it was the cough that did it. It didn't really bother me so much until after I had an hour and a half violin lesson yesterday. Then it really started to hurt. I tried not moving it for while. And of course, Mom gave me some of what she likes to call "the miracle drug," i.e. Aleve.

But, after a long while of this annoying stupidity, I decided that I was above strained muscles. I informed Mom that "This sort of thing happens to whimps. It can't happen to me." She raised an eyebrow that clearly was meant to portay her confusion as to the jump of faith in my logical argument. Did I mean that I wasn't a whimp? Yes. That's exactly what I meant. And I proved it by babysitting four kids for several hours--that includes one angry, flailing 25+ lb baby. And then afterwards I practiced some more violin. And my side feels great! See? No whimps here!

Directionally Challenged

2009-05-05T12:11:00.006-04:00

One of the things my parents try to remedy with driving practice is my "serious lack of directional skills." OK, admittedly I've gotten lost in buildings before, but who hasn't? In most public buildings every room looks the same! Take a hotel for example; aside from the smart ones who use different carpeting on every floor, a person could get lost in those in a cinch! I just need proper directions is all, and a map where every street is printed in a different color. Oh yeah, this could work!

Anyway, Dad is usually the one who takes me driving. One of his teaching methods is to try to give me directions ahead of time so I know what I'm doing which, actually, I really like. But sometimes that backfires. Once, he told me I needed to change lanes into the rightmost lane because he knew I'd want to know early, and it turned out that lane just ended only a matter of feet after where I merged. So, I tried to merge back over and some evil, maniac driver didn't want me merging in front of him, even though there was plenty of space. So he floored it, and I got stuck in the shoulder of the road. Thankfully there was a lot of space between the road and the barrier; I suspect I was not the first person to get stuck there. Because he'd accelerated so quickly, though, there was a lot of space behind him. So I managed to get back over.

Dad also sometimes tries to have me drive directionless to somewhere I've driven before. And when Dad and I were driving to a bookstore, that I'd only been to maybe 5 times, he didn't give me any directions once we got onto the interstate. He figured I'd know how to get there, after going a measly 5 times--none of which I'd actually driven! And, of course, I didn't know he wasn't going to give me directions. I was getting nervous because it had been a while since he'd said much, but I figured he'd tell me when we got to the exit. So, as we began to pass the exit lane Dad yelled, "You're supposed to be in that lane!" Well, how was I supposed to know? But, I merged over without accident. That time Mom was in the car. Actually, while Dad was busy explaining that a person ought to be able to get to a place they've been to before, Mom was giving me directions from the backseat. And she sat in the passenger seat when I drove home.

Driving with Mom is kind of the opposite from driving with Dad. She gives you "information overload." For example, I was driving with her and, besides giving me directions for where we were supposed to go, she was giving me directions for anywhere else I might ever have to go.

"That exit will put you on '____' road; that's the road the Army-Navy store is on."

"This exit is for the Lookout's Stadium."

"Greenlife is off this exit."

"That's the exit for the mall."

Etc.

And, of course, I forgot our original directions in the midst of all this informational overload. So, I had to ask Mom to tell me all over again where I was supposed to be going. And I'm sure she decided that I was a hopeless case if I couldn't even remember where we were supposed to be going. But how can I remember to get off at the proper exit when Mom is busy excitedly describing the next one?

My Fiendish Plan is Working (I Hope)

2009-05-04T09:29:00.009-04:00

So far, none of my mom's brilliant attempts at "flu-fixes" have worked. Today I was supposed to take my Calculus 2 final. I wanted to dose up on Tylenol and just get the test over with, but Mom didn't agree with that solution. I sort of understand; I mean, I suppose it isn't really fair to all my classmates who have a whole week of finals ahead of them.

Anyway, Mom called my professor this morning and "filled her in." And she said I can take the exam on my own (I assume in her office) anytime up through Thursday. On Thursday, grades are due for our class. If I haven't taken the final by that time I get an "incomplete." However, I can take the test sometime this summer to get rid of the "incomplete."

Well, maybe by Thursday, if I'm not better, I'll just take Tylenol--without telling Mom--then take my temperature and be suddenly "cured." Yeah! And I'll do that Friday morning too, before Luke and my senior recital. Good deal, huh?! That is, assuming I don't pass out in the middle of one of these important obligations. If that happened, nobody would fall for any of my fiendish plans ever again!

Mint Juleps

2009-05-02T18:33:00.008-04:00

So, I have the flu: dizziness, cough, etc. However, my very smart mother has come up with a cure for the flu. It's not "Tamiflu," or even her concoction of raspberry soda, vitamin C and Tylenol that she recently dubbed "Ariflu." No, it's Mint Juleps. I think the idea came from Mom's habit of swabbing her infected throat with brandy. (Mom gets strep throat all the time. Now when she starts to come down with it, she swabs her throat with brandy, and she's better within 24 hours.) Well, if brandy works for strep, why not bourbon for the upper-respiratory flu? Yes, that's right. Mint Juleps are made of mint and, well, bourbon. They're pretty good. And feel quite nice on a scratchy throat.

We watch the Triple Crown horse races every year, and each race has a traditional drink. Today was the Kentucky Derby, and with that, Mint Juleps. So, Mom was pouring spoonfuls of her Mint Julep into my throat. And I bet my cough will now be magically cured! At least, so far so good! Yea for Mint Juleps!!

Easter

2009-05-01T11:58:00.007-04:00

I know that's long since over. But, our Calculus 2 teacher seems to want to constantly have Easter. She always prints up our homework assignments and formula sheets on brightly colored paper. But, for the last two months, she's been talking about how she's going to print our next homework assignment on "Easter-colored" paper. I think somone needs to reminder her that Easter's not for another 11 months. Honestly, I think the real reason she makes our homework sheets such awful colors is because that way they keep her awake when she's grading them. She says she usually checks our homework at 5 am, because that's when everyone else is asleep and the house is quiet (her daughter and grandkids live with her).

Here are our "Easter-colored" homework assignments:

But really, I don't even get why specific colors, such as pink and purple, are associated with Easter..."Because we're celebrating the resurrection, we should also celebrate two of the world's ugliest colors!" That just doesn't really follow.

Snoring, Oh Yeah!

2009-04-28T19:36:00.006-04:00

I'm getting my pieces ready for Luke and my senior recital. Among these is the second movement (the "Adagio" part) of Mozart's Concerto No. 3 in G. Honestly, I think the Adagio movement of Mozart's Concerto in G trumps all other Adagio movements ever written. Trumps it how? In difficulty? No. In showiness? No. In beauty? No. In the sheer boredom it produces in the listener--well, in the player too, actually.

When my violin teacher gave me the CD of the Mozart Concerto I was playing to listen to, I was very excited. I was going to learn a new piece. It was going to be fun and hard. And I managed to listen to all of the first movement of Mozart, and about two minutes of the second, before I died of boredom. Well, OK, I didn't die of boredom. I mean, if I had, I wouldn't be writing this. So obviously I'm not dead. But, you get the point.

Several weeks later I played the "Adagio movement" of Mozart for the first time in my lesson. I had been practicing it quite a bit at home so that my teacher wouldn't even realize I hadn't listened to the CD. I was even sort of counting a little bit, maybe. And I knew it was an Adagio movement so it was going to be slow. So, I picked up my violin and started playing the movement at a much slower pace than I'd been practicing at home, just to be safe. Almost immediately I was interrupted with, "Ariel, did you listen to the CD I gave you?"
Me: Rats, I thought I was doing a swell imitation of I-really-did-listen-to-the-CD-you-made-me-borrow. "Not really."
My Teacher: "What a waste of your time."
Me: Whoa, I guess there's supposed to be a point to listening to sheer utter boredom. "Oh."
MT: "You need to listen to that CD."
Me: *Sheepish Grin*
MT: "You're starting this movement three times too fast!"
Me: I didn't think it was possible to play it any slower. It's like the whole point of this Adagio movement is to see how slowly you can play. So, I guess it's a compliment if, when you perform it, you hear lots of snoring? "Oh, oops."

Anyway, I have learned to play the Adagio movement excruciatingly slowly. The other day, I wanted to show Dad how insanely slow and boring that part is, so I played it for him. When I finished, I said, "See? Isn't that awful? I feel bad for everybody coming to our senior recital because they have to sit through that!"
And Dad said, "Oh, I liked that. I even liked it better than a lot of the faster parts."

Ok, so no understanding sympathy from Dad, but maybe Mom will get it, right? Wrong. She too likes the "Adagio Movement" of the Mozart piece. What is wrong with my parents?!

So, anyway, if you're coming to my senior recital you have my sympathy in advance for the second movement of Mozart. It's a good thing my violin teacher doesn't know about or read this blog, because I'd be in serious trouble if he knew how boring I find the "Adagio" part.

Dweebs, Dolts, and Taboo

2009-04-27T16:13:00.007-04:00

Everbody has a "pet name" for each of their siblings, right? I've always had special names for my dear brothers. I have individual names for them all, and then I have a "general reference term." My general refence term has always been "dweebs," for as long as I can remember. In fact, it's such a perfect description that I even use it individually as well as generally. You know like, "Hi, Dweeb," as well as, "What are the Dweebs doing?" And it worked, perfectly, until...

One day, the boys (specifically Jacob and Matthew) decided to protest their standing as dweebs. How did they do it? By proving how un-dweeblike they were? No. By explaining why that word was not an adequete description of them? No. By whining to Mom.

The Dweebs: "Ariel called us Dweebs."
Me: Thinking, Yup. Sure did. Nothing new there. Mom already knows that.
Mom: "Ariel don't call them Dweebs."
Me: "Mom, I always call them that. It's a term of endearment."
Mom: "Huh. Nice try, though."

Luke says he still doesn't mind being referred to as "Dweeb," but Mom doesn't care; "Dweeb" is fully and completely out-lawed.

I guess I'll have to revert to my fall-back word: dolts. It seems to me, though, that dweeb is a much better word than dolt. But, if The Dolts would rather be called "Dolts" than "Dweebs" who am I to protest.

Oh, speaking of pet names, my new special name for Jezebel (to be added to the list of Jez, Jezzie, Squirt, and Jezzie-Squirt--all of which she responds to) is Flea-Bait. Yes, Jez has fleas. Thankfully, she has decided not to share her little critter friends. In fact, I haven't actually seen any of them anyway. Although, Dad has informed me that he spotted a few on her while combing her the other day. Though, I think she's pretty much over them now. But her nick-name will definitely outlive the fleas, and Jez can't whine to Mom over it either.

New Glasses!!

2009-04-21T18:12:00.006-04:00

Dad and I ordered new glasses online about two or three weeks ago. And they finally arrived today! This time I decided to get a stronger prescription to try to solve my "weird eye problems." i.e. when I would wear my other pair of glasses all day, they would be fine in the morning, and by evening everything would be blurry again. So hopefully this new prescription will work better. So far so good. I also got a pair of prescription sunglasses! So I can wear glasses when I drive--even if it's sunny.

Here are pictures:

The website we ordered the glasses from is great. It's also really cheap. The glasses prices start at $8.00; that includes lenses too! Here's the website: http://zennioptical.com/ By the way, if you're wondering how it's possible to make glasses so inexpensively, the glasses, just like most anything that you buy in the US, are made in China. (No they don't say "Made in China" on the side.) And that's also why the shipping takes several weeks: they're shipped from China.

Everything and Nothing--All at Once

2009-04-20T22:37:00.006-04:00

I'm bored. So, I've decided to blog, but I have nothing to write about. I'd love to chat with all my friends on g-mail, but of course nobody is online at 10:39 pm--nobody except me. Sigh.

I guess I could blog about how much Jezzie likes to play tug of war with my fingers. But, now that I think about it, I've already blogged about that numerous times. I could mention my violin lesson today; that went pretty well, by the way. Or, I suppose I could talk about calculus class, in which we recently discussed the "Alternating Series Test." Or U2. Or how I have nothing to blog about.

Hmm... oh! I'm sewing a costume for our Jane Austen club's picnic, which will also double as Hermione's "mideveal maternity wear" in the Shakespeare play this summer! Speaking of the Jane Austen club picnic, it's on Friday, smack in the middle of Random Fun. I'm very sad and praying for rain, because if we reschedule, perhaps we can do it on a non-Friday afternoon.

And tomorrow I'm working in the math lab again. Hopefully this time the people who ask me for help will listen to it. A lady asked me for help with her calculus homework last week, and she had a fraction to a negative power. The whole fraction was in parentheses, so the whole thing was raised to the negative 2/3 power. I mentioned that she should just invert the fraction and then drop the negative sign on the 2/3 power. She didn't believe me; she told me that in order to get rid of the negative she had to just move the denominator up. (Apparently she can just ingnore the numerator.) I drew out all the steps and explained why it was neccessary to invert the numerator as well, and she just smiled politely and said, "Thanks. I'm done. I think I'll ask my teacher." And of course, she didn't change her answer at all. Sigh.

See? I'm bored and have nothing to blog about. Well, everything or nothing. Or a bit of both. But either way, a very boring everything or nothing. Why is no one online at 10:39? Or I guess it's now 11:02. Whatever.

Function vs. Series

2009-04-15T13:22:00.006-04:00

We've been talking about Series in Calculus 2 recently. And we've been applying various things that we learned about functions to series. The annoying thing is that supposedly none of the things that can be done with a function can be done with a series.

Why? Because a series consists of a sum of numbers whose equation is written in terms of "n." A function is just an equation where y = something in terms of "x." So, really, in effect, a function and the equation for a series are pretty much the same thing except they're usually written in terms of different variables.

So, everything that can be done to a function can, after all, be done with a series--you just have to re-write the series as though it were a function (i.e. subsitute "x"s for all the "n"s). Then you can use things like l'Hospital's Rule and anything like that that is legal for an integral but not for a series. Then, when you're finished, you just replace any left-over "x"s with "n"s and say that "because this is the answer for a function of this equation, it must also be true for a series of the same equation." Wait? If that's how you do it, then it's the same as just using l'Hospital's Rule on the series itself. At least, the effect is the same. So, why do we even bother with all the redefining junk?

High Altitude

2009-04-14T12:38:00.006-04:00

Today at work in the math lab, we had a student who needed help. (No kidding, really?!!) He was doing simultaneous equations, and he wanted to know how to do them. He said, "Can you help me. I've been in this same module for almost a year now, and I need to have it finished in two weeks." Yes, I know. I can't magically make him pass the stupid test. But, it's a rather common occurence for students to come find a tutor and ask him/her to start at the beginning and teach everything the student should've spent the whole semester learning. However, this weird guy was different. He couldn't write in a straight line and his numbers were wobbly. I tried to explain to him how to solve the problem using the elimination method. So I talked him through it.

Me: "In order to get the "x"s to cancel out so that you only have one variable left, you have to multiply through by -2."
Weird Student: Unfocused glare at center of page. Stunned silence. Does nothing.
Me: "So you need to multiply your first term, 3x, by -2."
WS: Unfocused glare at center of page. Stunned silence.
Me: "Well, what is 3x times -2?"
WS: Stunned silence. Dopey out-of-it look.
Me: "It's -6x. So you need to write down -6x."
WS: "Oh." Writes -6x diagonally in the corner of a completely different page.
Me: "Alright. So, your next term is -5y; -5y times -2 is 10y."
WS: Stunned silence. Dopey grin. Unfocused glare at eraser of pencil.
Me: "You need to write down -10y."
WS: Writes -10y on the back of the previous page.
Me: "Um, you're going to have to add this equation to the other one in a minute. So, you need to write these terms next to each other and after the other equation."
WS: Does nothing. Stunned silence. Unfocused glare at blue pinstripes on lined paper.
Me: Sigh. "Alright your last term is 65. 65 times -2 is -130. So your finished equation is -6x + 10y = -130. You need to write this down next to the other equation so that you can add them together and eliminate the "x"s."
WS: "Huh?" Raised eyebrows. Loopy stare. Dopey grin.
Me: "You're doing a simultaneous equation. You need to multiply through by -3 and add the equations together so that you're only left with one variable!"

Imagine the above conversation in an endlessly repeating loop.

Finally, Luke came and asked me to look at something that the Calculus 1 students were working on that he couldn't quite remember how to do. I told him that I'd go and take a look at it, but that he'd have to help out the student I was working with if I was going to leave. He said, "Sure," and I went to look at the cal 1 stuff. Hah! Luke had never helped that guy before; he didn't know what he was in for.

When I finished helping out with calculus, another tutor walked up to me. She said, "I saw you were helping him," indicating Weird Student, "for a long time."
I said, "Yeah, I explained simultaneous equations to him several times, and I walked him through the steps, and he couldn't even write straight, let alone put the whole equation on the same page."
She said, "I was helping him earlier, and he wouldn't let me leave. Eventually, I just told him I had to help somone else."
Imagine me grinning mischeiviously, "I traded with Luke!" I looked up to see Luke stalking towards me, a grimace plastered across his face.
"He's insane!" Luke mouthed to me.
The other tutor said, "He must have a learning disability."
I said, "Maybe." And I thought or maybe he should just not come to the math lab while he's high. Hmm...he's been in the same module all year, wonder why.

We already have signs up that say no food/drink in the math lab. No children in the math lab. No pets in the math lab. But apparently we need to add something about altitude too.

Musical Organization

2009-04-13T14:07:00.004-04:00

Did you know that it's possible to manipul--er, organize--which music you play in your lesson, and thus whether you have a good lesson or a bad lesson? Well, I often play on that somewhat, like putting scales or excercises at the very back of my music notebook.

But, this is something that has to be thought through and done very precisely. I usually line up my music in the order of which music I'd like to play. But, of course, the music that I'd most prefer to play is the music we don't need to go over. So, if I put that first it triggers a whole series of thought on what we played last and what we ought to play this time, which means that my teacher immediately thinks of what I need the most work on: "Oh, Ariel, did you practice those second and fourth position finger excercises?"--Gulp.

I have to think of more than just what I want to play. I also have to think of what I can get away with with my teacher. For example, I know my teacher wouldn't mind playing the piece that would be my second favorite to play at my lesson, but I know he will have no interest in playing the piece I'd most prefer. So, I can't put my favorite piece first--there are other factors to consider. Last week, I just dumped the music in in order of what I'd like to play. That didn't work out at all. This week I pondered my teacher's opinion and came up with a piece that I could do OK, and that my teacher wouldn't be opposed to. And, you know what? I had a good violin lesson today! YAY!!!

Done! Now Shall I Swear out of Relief?

2009-04-10T21:44:00.007-04:00

Yay!! We have finished The Sword Thief!! And guess what? Amy decided that she does after all HATE IAN.

But, this book is still not worth reading. Because basically, the entire book is spent building up a pathetically unbelievable non-existent relationship between Amy and Ian. Then after Ian abandons Amy and her brother Dan, Amy realizes that Ian never loved her after all (took her long enough to figure out!) and is in serious need of confirmation because if Ian doesn't love her no one loves her and she must not be good for anything. (Sound like a typical lame-o skippable story? That's probably because it is.) So Uncle Alistair tells her how she's so brilliant and lovable, and then he "dies." Only, of course, he's not really dead--I totally called that before it was so astoundingly revealed.

And suddenly at the end of the book Nellie pops up out of nowhere, swearing, because she's so relieved that the kids aren't dead after all. Of course, when we read alound as a family, my mom reads the books in a kid-friendly way, which means she substitues things like, "Oh my gosh!" and, "Darn!" instead of what the characters are supposed to be saying. But we've done read-alouds often enough that we know when my mom is substituting. Plus, my dad took a turn reading, and he's less subtle; he usually just says, "Oh my swear!"

Well, I will give Peter Lerangis one compliment--swearing out of relief is unique to his book. Anyway, the last three chapters of the book are spent getting back to the way things were when the book first opened with the exception of one less clue left to find.

New Blog Name...

2009-04-10T16:09:00.003-04:00

Well, I noticed that the title of my blog has very little to do with what my blog is about. Really, I don't talk a whole lot about stringed instruments on here. I've probably made a few random references to violin, but I don't sit around writing editorials on the wonders of the violin. So, I have decided that I need a new blog name. The problem is, I'm not sure what to change my blog name to. Do you have any suggestions? I suppose I could opt for something like "Random Musings on the Glories of Calculus," but I bet nobody else would even visit a blog with a name like that. Besides, part of the reason I'm changing my blog name is that I'm convinced it's too long, and "Random Musings on the Glories of Calculus," is hardly any shorter. Oh well. How about a vote.

A) Random Musings on the Glories of Calculus

B) Magical Mathematics

C) My Blog Doesn't Need a Title

D) The Titleless Blog

E) Rambling Randomness

F) Wanna Listen to Some U2?

G) Silly Me (hey that rhymes with "G")

H) Insert your own suggestion; I don't really like any of mine anyway.

Thanks!

I'm Annoyed Already

2009-04-09T14:47:00.005-04:00

It didn't take too long for me to get annoyed with the blog-music-playlist thingy. I've turned off the "auto-start" so you don't have to worry about scrolling down to the bottom of my blog to pause the music every time you visit anymore. Well, ok, partly it was that I was annoyed, but partly it was that I was afraid you all might get annoyed with it.

Actually when I visit a blog that has a playlist, the first thing I do is go and pause it. So, I figured, if it would annoy me to have it start all the time, it might annoy you to have it start all the time. (Especially if you don't recognize U2's talent for creating awesome songs.)

BTW, if you haven't noticed, I have expanded my horizons for blog music: I have added a song from Prince Caspian. Three guesses as to which one that is :) And I have a song by Journey, one by The Cranberries, and a Michael Card song I managed to find. See? I'm not exclusively for U2.

I'm sure you all must listen to music sometimes, right? What are some of your favorite groups or songs? You already know U2 is my favorite musical group; my favorite song is "The Sweetest Thing."

Yet Another Post on Calculus--Are You Getting Bored Yet?

2009-04-08T19:39:00.003-04:00

I guess the only interesting thing in my life is calculus because probably at least half of the posts on this blog are labeled with "calculus." Oh, well, here's yet another blog post with that same label.

Only this one's more about the fact that I might not live past Friday. I made the infamous mistake of reminding the teacher about the homework assignment she'd "threatened" to give out today. She forgot about it, and was in the midst of dismissing class when I piped up to say, "Um, excuse me, weren't you going to pass out homework sheets today?"

Amidst groans and murmured death threats, Ms. Schoonover thanked me for the reminder and quickly followed that up with, "Don't kill her!!"

Oh, great, I hadn't thought of that. Now the class hates me for sure. Still, no one mentioned it to me after class, so either they're punishing me with the cold shoulder, or they're too mature to murder a classmate for something so petty. Either that, or they just don't think it's worth life behind bars. Though I suppose they could always plead self-defense. But I don't think the jury would side with them. A little extra homework never hurt anybody. Right?

Suddenly It Makes Sense

2009-04-07T15:29:00.005-04:00

I re-listened to the song "Defying Gravity" from the musical Wicked. The lyrics make so much more sense after having had Calculus. For example:

When Elphie says that it's time to start "defying gravity," what she's really saying is that it's time to start "defining gravity," by which she means finding the center of mass of some gravitational force.

Then, Galinda says, "You're having delusions of grandeur," which is, of course, a veiled reference to limits involving infinity.

Elphie responds to that with, "I'm through accepting limits 'cause someone says they're so." Obviously Elphie's teacher didn't go over the proofs for limits in class.

And then Elphie continues to express her intentions of defining gravity and how no one can "bring her down." I guess she's got her heart set on that center of mass equation.

See? Calculus applies to everything--even interpreting the lyrics of a song from a Broadway musical!

So, Skip It!

2009-04-06T21:07:00.006-04:00

Does anybody else read the 39 Clues series? No? I wouldn't either, but we're reading it as a family so I can't really get out of it.

However, if you do read this series, I suggest you skip book 3 The Sword Thief. I can sum it up for you if you like, so that you won't miss anything.

Summary of The Sword Thief:

Amy and Dan team up with Uncle Alistair and fly to Japan where they decide to team up with their formerly arch-enemies Ian and Natalie Kabra. Whilst occasionally making monumental discoveries, Amy and Ian are discovering that they no longer hate each other.

In fact, as Amy stands around meditating on how much she hates Ian, he kisses her and, instead of slapping him, (I mean, really, the girl's 14 and now the guy whose guts she hates kisses her, and she's not mad?) she decides she really doesn't hate him after all. Then she stands around meditating on how the quality of her life has improved since her realization that she no longer hates Ian.

She walks around with Dan and thinks about Ian. She talks to Uncle Alistair and thinks about Ian. She finds the next clue and thinks about Ian. (Do you spot a theme in this book?) And if you still can't figure out why this book isn't worth reading, I'll summarize what she's thinking. Most of the time, she's thinking something along the lines of, "I'm supposed to hate him. Why do I like him now?" (And really, I don't know, that's the whole point. This series would no longer work if Amy and Dan had no arch-nemesis. Not that this series ever worked very well anyway... And really, how original. Can you say "cliché"?) And then Amy thinks, "Oh, yeah, he kissed me, that's right. So I decided that I don't hate him." And on top of all that, Nellie seems to have vanished off the face of the earth. Apparently she's hanging out with them all, but the book hasn't even mentioned her name since probably chapter 4. Supposedly, the only thing that matters in the book right now is Amy's realization that Ian isn't heinous. (Although, I beg to differ.)

*Sigh.* The one good thing about this series is that they have a different author for each book, so maybe someone can fix the mess that Peter Lerangis will undoubtedly leave behind.

Real Math

2009-04-06T14:17:00.003-04:00

I have come to the conclusion that "simple" math facts like multiplication and division were invented by people who couldn't do real math. They just came up with the "simple stuff" so they could feel good about themselves, and then they imposed their new discoveries on the rest of us. I mean, who needs to know what 4x8 is? Honestly, that's what calculators are for!! Granted, I guess whoever made the calculator needed to know their times tables and all. But once the calculator was invented, the world should be able to move on to bigger and better things! Let's start working with functions involving ∞ and -∞. That's something calculators can't do. Hey, what about imaginary numbers? And algebraic simplification of secant and tangent, or "e" to the x power, etc. You know what's uber cool? Parametric equations. Yeah, calculus is math. 4x8 is... 28.

Oooh! Speaking of ∞, we learned about l'Hospitals Rule in calc today. (It's actually a Cal 1 thing, but Chatt State does it out of order.)

Interview!

2009-04-02T11:36:00.004-04:00

The following is an article/interview I wrote for our fencing newsletter The Thrust. Right after I sent this in, however, the newsletter was mysteriously cancelled. Perhaps Luke called in a favor or something because the newsletter hasn't been restarted since. Anyway, the fact that it was written for The Thrust explains the format. Luke is such an interesting person that I thought it would make a fun blog post. (You can tell it's a bit old because Luke's actually 18 now.) And, no, I'm not worried about Luke killing me because he doesn't read my blog anyway...

About Luke Keller
By Ariel Keller

So far we have covered Heather and Duncan McPherson, two of our clubs five fencing teachers. I have decided to follow suit, interviewing another of our teachers, Luke Keller. The following is an interview with Luke Keller:

The Thrust: So, would you tell our readers a little about yourself?
Luke Keller: My name is Luke Keller.
TT: Yes. And…
LK: I am seventeen; I am in 12th grade
TT: Uh hum, and how long have you been fencing?
LK: A year and one month.
TT: How do you plan to spend your summer?
LK: Unknown
TT: Do you fence at other clubs? What do you think of them?
LK: I fence at the Chattanooga Fencing Club.
TT: Well, thank you for this very informative interview. I’m sure our readers will appreciate the mono-syllabic answers.

Because this interview has been so informative, I have written up a true or false quiz for those of you who might actually like to know something about Luke. Indicate your answers T for True or F for False.

Questions:
1) Jacob once vomited on his head.
2) He’d rather eat an apple than ice cream.
3) He has named all six of his parakeets “Ralph.”
4) He will not eat anything that has come from a can.
5) He likes to shoot cockroaches with his air soft gun.
6) He once ate 22 tacos in one sitting.
7) He makes a habit of walking into fountains.

Answers:
1-7) The answers to all the above questions are true.

New Blog-Music-Playlist Thingy

2009-03-31T23:11:00.006-04:00

Hopefully this will be semi-coherent. I guess there are downsides to blogging at quarter after 11. If this is coherent, that's probably solely due to the coffee I drank a couple hours ago. Yay for caffine!

Anyway, as you can probably tell, I have added a "playlist." If you find the music annoying, you can scroll down to the bottom of the blog and pause it.

Or, if you decide that U2 is the best music group you have ever heard (U2 is the group all the songs on my playlist are by; I know, it's a very limited selection of music, but nothing else would sound very good after U2--except more U2! Well, actually I did look for some songs from Michael Card's album The Ancient Faith, but they didn't have any of those so...) you can scroll down to see the names of the very awesome songs that are playing.

After a while, I will probably get annoyed with the automatic start thingy and turn that off, but I figured that for the first couple days the auto start would be a good reminder. You know, "Oh, yeah, that's right, Ariel has those totally awesome U2 songs on her blog now!"

Well, it looks like I've used the words "awesome" and "annoying" a few too many times now; it's starting to get redundant. So I'll end this post, and let you listen to the music in peace.

"M" is for--

2009-03-30T14:51:00.009-04:00

"Monday" and

"Music Lessons"

Yes, I had a violin lesson today! The problem with having music lessons on a Monday is that I usually haven't practiced over the weekend. Obviously, I don't practice on Sunday. Saturday is clean house day, and Friday is "Random Fun" (usually). So, weekends are bad for practicing, which means that Monday is bad for music lessons.

My first teacher, Mrs. Lunin, was a Russian Jew who immigrated as an adult. She was a great teacher!! And she didn't speak good English. A "bad lesson" with her usually included being yelled at in multiple languages. Well, actually I guess that was just a typical lesson with her. And you know what, I discovered something with her. I perform best under duress. I guess it's the emotional "Russian style" or whatever, but I always played best for her when she made me angry. And she knew it. So, I guess that explains the yelling. (All my potential teachers could learn something about effectively teaching me from her.) She used to yell things like, "Why you play wrong note? You like make mistakes? Most people not like make mistakes. But you do!" Which would make me angry, and then I'd try very hard to play the music correctly just so I could prove her wrong. I learned a lot from her.

My next teacher Ms. Vendsel was a sweet, quiet American lady. She used to say things like, "Hmm, you should practice more maybe," and "Let's do better next time." Phrases like that don't do much for me. Especially when immediately followed by, "OK, great lesson! See you later." Certainly not after Mrs. Lunin.

In fact, if I practiced for five or ten minutes before the lesson, even if I hadn't practiced all week, I'd have a great lesson. In such cases, the "lesson conversation" would be something like this:

Ms. Vendsel: "Wow, Ariel. I can tell you've practiced a lot this week!"

I would think, ok, looks like she's expecting me to say something. So, I'd say: "Erm, yeah."

Ms. Vendsel: "You know a teacher can always tell if her students have practiced or not,"--my breath would stop, does she know?--"And, obviously, you did a lot of work this week. Good job."

I would breathe a sigh of relief and think, ha, I only practiced five minutes this morning and barely enough to mention the rest of the week but just say, "Thanks!!"

And then, my amazing lesson would be over, and I could go home.

Well, that teacher moved away, and I found a new and really awesome, demanding teacher. He's a very good teacher. And he's very different from my old teacher; he actually can tell if I've practiced or not. If I'd had him last year, things might have worked better.--I had more time last year.--Now I'm trying to get college/scholarship stuff in order, study for Calculus 2, and catch up in Biology class and Health class. I don't have time to practice three hours of violin a day! And Monday is a bad day for music lessons. Plus, because I'm pressed for time, I don't usually practice exercises at all. Only, today he decided that he wanted to spend almost my whole lesson going over exercises. *sigh* If I'd known that, I could have practiced exercises all week instead of working on my piece. Or, if he could just yell at me during my lesson, I would get it all right without all the extra work. Oh, well, I guess I should end this post so I can go practice.

BTW, just in case anyone cares, the answer to the calculus problem in the previous post was 64,680 Joules of work. And, by the by, I got 115% on that boring and unrealistic homework paper. Maybe I don't mind applications of integration to physics and engineering quite as much as I thought.

Applications to... What? Physics!! Why?!!

2009-03-26T12:21:00.005-04:00

We have Calculus homework due on Friday. Our latest assignments have been on applications of integration to physics and engineering. But none of the problems are very realistic. For example: A 12-kg bucket is used to lift 70 kg of water from the bottom of a well that is 50m deep to the top of the well. The bucket is pulled up using a 50m cable whose total mass is 100kg. Find the work done in raising the water and the bucket up to the top of the well...

That's all "well" and good; I expect we are meant to assume that the bucket is not leaky. But, what about spilled water? I sincerely doubt that it is feasible to draw water from a well without spilling some. And how would we in a real life situation know the weight of the rope? I mean, I don't know about you, but I don't walk around with a scale, weighing everything I come into contact with. All the information you're given in a problem is great, but in real life you wouldn't know half that. I'd like to calculate the work done to find all the information given so that you can even begin the problem. For example, how much work is done to get the weight of the rope. Carrying the scale out to the well, picking up the rope, balancing the rope on the scale, putting the rope back, carrying the scale back, etc. Someone would have to be pretty obssessed to do that. Don't get me wrong, I love calculus! But what nutcase came up with the idea of ruining calculus by applying it to physics? Science ruins everything!!

Driving with Pixar

2009-03-18T21:47:00.011-04:00

Well, so far my family has managed to survive "driving with Ariel." That's not my fault, though. And I think my brothers know that. At least, they seem to be vaguely aware of it --they kiss the asphalt driveway whenever we get home after I've driven them anywhere. And I guess I don't blame them. I mean, I have been known to mix up the gas and break pedals. And, actually, I made a right turn into opposing traffic once on the way home from my music lesson, but it was OK 'cause Mom was there. Oh, yeah, the other day when I was driving to music lessons, I was stopped at a red light, but I was looking at the wrong light. And the light I was looking at turned green, but the light I was at didn't. But, it was OK 'cause Mom was there. Poor Mom.

Thankfully, I have managed to avoid any accidents so far. But that's not my fault either, and Mom knows it. Thanks, Mom! So, never, ever drive with your mother? I guess I'll have to modify that phrase: I could never drive without her. (Sorry, Mom, looks like you're stuck with me.)

That's why, when I eventually do take my driver's test, I'm going to take it in Jasper! And maybe if I scare the tester, he'll pass me just because he doesn't want to have to get in the car with me ever again. Hmm...I'd better practice my "scaring tactics." Time to watch Monsters Inc?

~Ariel

Kleenex Anyone?

2009-03-16T17:15:00.009-04:00

I still remember when I first discovered that I needed glasses...

I'd been sitting on the couch watching baseball with my family (I'm not really sure why since I hate almost every sport known to man--baseball included) when my brother, who was in the next room, asked what the score of the game was. I said, "The reception is too fuzzy; I can't tell," just as Mom simultaniously spouted off the score.

I was amazed. "Woah, you can read that?!!"
Mom: "You mean, you can't!?!"
"Of course, I can't."

And, next thing I knew I was in the eye doctor's office pretending to read the letters on the chart for the eye exam. I'm pretty sure I got most of them wrong, though, judging by the appalled look on Mom's face. So, about a week later my new glasses had arrived at the store, and I had a great time on the way home noting all the new things I could see: license plates, street signs, the dotted lines on the road, etc. In fact, I learned that the octogonal red shape that meant you were supposed to stop had actual letters on it!

But, eventually, the newness of my new-found vision wore off, and I decided to try contacts. (Actually, I think that spontaneous thought had more to do with the upcoming auditions for a Shakespeare play in which I'd not be caught dead in glasses. As "Sir" says in Charlie Brown "But Mary didn't wear glasses!!") And, in spite of my eye doctor's warnings about supplementing contact use with glasses wearing, I wore my contacts constantly. It got to the point where my eyes would water and hurt and appeared red and irritated. As I would rub my poor eyes, I would notice people--even complete strangers--staring and thinking, "That poor girl. I wonder what personal tragedy she has recently undergone."

So, I reluctantly began alternating contacts and glasses. However, my eyes are still angry about "the contact incident," and whenever I put my glasses on, my eyes try to convince me to never wear contacts again. In fact, my vision will often go all bubbly, esp. when I'm trying to read. It's like the page starts to bend, and the words contort, and sometimes I even see double--and I really doubt that's all because of my astigmatism. But, then, if I put my contacts back in, my eyes are too busy watering and burning to remember that I'm still in trouble for "the contact incident," and I see normally again, despite looking like a walking advertisment for Kleenex.

~Ariel

51 Utterly Pointless and Untinteresting Facts About...Me!

2009-03-05T17:12:00.004-05:00

I decided to do an utterly pointless and uninteresting post: a tag!

So, here goes:

1: What time did you get up this morning?: 8:00…yeah, I wasn’t working this morning so I got to sleep!!!!

2:Diamonds or Pearls?: neither! Well, actually I do kinda like fresh water pearls.

3: What was the last film you saw in cinema: Inkheart; It was really good.

4: What is your favorite TV show: NCIS

5: What do you usually have for breakfast?: I like bagels for breakfast…when we have cream cheese.

6: What is your middle name?: Grace

7: What food do you dislike: hot dogs, American cheese, boloney, pizza.

8: What is your favorite CD at the moment?: The Joshua Tree by U2

9: What kind of car do you drive?: A silver minivan

10: Favorite sandwich: chicken salad

11: What characteristic do you despise?: pride

12: Favorite item of clothing?: shoes, esp. heels

13: If you could go anywhere in the world for a vacation, where would it be?: Ireland or England; we have friends there and I’d love to go visit them.

14: Favorite brand of clothing?: GAP

15: Where will you retire to?: huh?! Retire? Me?!! *shrug*

16: What is your most recent memorable birthday: I tend to forget birthdays pretty quickly…I barely remember my last one.

17: Favorite sport to watch: please, no sports!!!

18: When is your birthday?: April 9th

19: Are you a morning person or a night person: Absolutely Night Owl!

20: What is your shoe size?: 7 1/2 or 8

21: Pets?: one dog three hamsters and a bird

22: Any exciting news you'd like to share with us?: Um, no, things are pretty boring right now I guess.

23: What did you want to be when you were little: I didn’t really care too much, although, when I was two I told everybody I was going to be “A fighter-fighter’s wife.” (I meant firefighter, but I couldn’t say it properly.)

24: How are you today?: fine…bored.

25: What is your favorite candy: chocolate!!!

26: What is your favorite flower: daisy.

27: What is a day on your calendar that you are looking forward to?: Well. On Saturday we’re leaving for Florida.

28: What are you listening to right now?: peaceful quiet!!—my brothers have finished practicing piano, and obviously I’m not practicing right now either.

29: What is the last thing you ate?: a Dutch mint…they’re called “Kings”

30: Do you wish on stars? no...

31: If you were a crayon, what color would you be?: green!

32: How is the weather right now?: warm and sunny.

33: First person you spoke to on the phone today?: my grandfather

34: Favorite soft drink?: I don’t really like those…I much prefer juice.

35: Favorite restaurant?: The Southern Star

36: Real hair color?: light brown (if you asked my brothers, they’d say blonde, but that’s only because they like to make blonde jokes)

37: What was your favorite toy as a child?: a legless stuffed bunny called “Buh.” Yup, I was a really original kid…who would’ve thought of calling their bunny Buh?

38: Summer or winter: spring.

39: Hugs or kisses: hugs

40: Chocolate or vanilla: chocolate!

41: Coffee or tea: both!

42: When was the last time you cried?: I’m not sure…

43: What is under your bed?: I have a pull-out trundle bed under it.

44: What did you do last night?: read!

45: What are you afraid of?: spiders!!!!

46: Salt or sweet?: sweet.

47: How many keys are on your key ring?: one. It’s bright red, and it’s to our old house.

48:favorite sound: beautifully sad music

49: Your hero?: um…

50: How many towns have you lived in?: three

51: Do you make friends easily?: I'm not sure...

So there it is. 51 pointless and unteresting facts about my life. Hopefully I didn't bore you to death :)

Traits Cause Genes, Right?

2009-02-26T19:04:00.011-05:00

Yes, I'm behind in Biology. OK, now everyone knows it; actually, everyone probably already knew. But, still, if you didn't, you know now. But I'm catching up. In fact, I just crammed several weeks' worth of Mendelian genetics into one day! Yup. I read, studied, and took the test for the module on Mendelian genetics, and all it took was a few hours this morning. And I did really well on the test. Well, unless you count confusing the words trait and gene. But, I mean really, they're essentially the same! Trait, gene, whatever. Genes cause traits, so pretty much in terms of what we actually see (the phenotype) they might as well be the same thing. Of course, Mom, having worked as a cytogenetic technician in college, didn't agree with me (can you believe it?!!).

Oh, well, I got a good grade anyway; most of the times that the test asked questions about genes and/or traits it used the desired word, and so I didn't have the opportunity to get it wrong. See? Cramming two weeks' worth of work into one day really does work. Mendelian genetics? That's all that stuff on genes and traits, right? Yeah, I did that. Yesterday.

~Ariel

Ron's Bouncy Ball Experience--Haiku vs. Limerick

2009-02-25T13:44:00.004-05:00

OK, more stupid poetry assignments. When will this class be over?!!! This assignment was to write a Haiku. For those who don't know, a Haiku is an unrhymed mumbo jumbo of present-tense sentences (which are about a single image) shoved into the following format: 5 beats for the first line, 7 beats for the second line, 5 beats for the third line. However, according to our poetry book, modern poets are dumping the syllabic requirements of the Haiku, and so the only real requirements for a Haiku are present tense and a single image.
.
So, anyway, here's my horrible Haiku:
.

Ron and the small blue ball

The rather small ball

That Ron picks up off the ground

Is actually blue.

.
Limericks are much more interesting. They have hame a rhyme sceme and specific beat requirements, and are long enough that you can say more than three random present-tense statements.
.
My lame Limerick sequel to Lord Voldemort and the Bouncy Ball Mishap (this probably won't make sense if you haven't read LVBBM, so if you haven't, read it here):
.

Ron and The Bouncy Red Ball

There was a big bouncy red ball

Ron Weaseley found in the hall.

And when he did try,

Put the lights on high,

He saw something'd broken them all

.
And the Limerick form of:
.

Ron and the Small Blue Ball

Ron grabbed the small ball off the ground;

It really was rather quite round.

He noticed its hue

Was actually blue

Unlike the red ball he'd last found.

What do you think, Haiku or Limerick? Or none at all? (Wouldn't that be wonderful?!)

~Ariel

Do I Look Like Chopped Suey To You?

2009-02-18T14:04:00.009-05:00

Well, Jez has this habit of biting/chewing/eating my arms and hands. I'm not really sure why. I don't look like dog food; nor do I smell like carrots (which is the only food other than dog food that she's allowed to eat). And I really doubt that my fingers taste very good--unless you like the way sparkly green nail polish tastes. Of course, this is the dog who likes to eat hamster food out of the bag; obviously, there is no comprehending her tastes. In fact, she chews her own tail, so I suppose there doesn't have to be any rhyme or reason to what she chews. Not only does she chew up my arms, but she doesn't do that to anybody else! Maybe I'm just special. Or maybe Jez has a thing for sparkly green nail polish. I should try painting her nails and see if she starts on her paws...

Me and Jez:

Jez prior to another arm-snacking onslaught:

"The Bozos"

2009-01-30T23:34:00.003-05:00

Today I got a letter from "The National Society of High School Scholars." It said that I had been nominated for acceptance to their special society. All I had to do was pay $60 which they would apparently use to "support the society." In fact, the letter had the gall to congratulate me on being nominated to pay their special group $60!! Please, not only is that total snob appeal ("you can become part of an elite group of high school students who have more money than brains and want to pay us to flatter you"), but it's just completely lame!!

Gee...I'm going to start a club called "The Bozos"; all you have to do is send in $60 in support of the club and I'll send you a free bumper sticker that says, "I am a Bozo." Doesn't that make you feel like part of a elite group? Not many people would proudly state, "I am a Bozo!" You could be one of the few who would! You can also purchase a stuffed animal version of our mascot: a black bear named Bozo. Hmm...that sounds rather nice, "Bozo the Bear." And, basically, The Bozos would be a group of people who sent in a bunch of money to their club all so that they could get a "free" bumper sticker that would inform the entire world of the state of their mental faculties. Yup, totally an elite group! Why don't you join? I'll send you a cordial, congratulatory letter!

~Ariel

Hmm...and green was always my favorite color.

2009-01-20T21:45:00.004-05:00

Well, school's started back up in earnest at Chatt State, and with that, tutoring at the math lab. Today was my first day back at work in the math lab. I had no idea what the math lab was like at the beginning of the semester! Last semester I didn't start working until part-way through the semester. So, I got to miss the first several weeks of tutoring. I didn't realize how much I'd lucked out until today...

At around 9:00 the math lab is overrun with dozens of students all waiting to be set up on the computers for their math courses. Each student possesses a green sheet of paper with all the information neccessary to log-in and their passcode. But, their professors must enter their information into their course in order for them to log-in. So, it takes about a half hour before the students can actually begin work. The following is an example of a conversation with one student, which is indicitive of the conversations which must be had with each of those dozens of students who walk in the doors, green sheet in hand:

The sudent walks in sporting a green sheet. I say, "Hello. Can I help you?"

Said student says, "Yeah. I need to be logged in to the computer."

I say, "OK. You can take a seat, and Mr. Peter will show you what to do."

"But I have my green sheet all filled out," points out the student. "And I have my password already."

I think, Yes, and so do the dozen or so other students sitting around the table; only, they've been waiting for twenty minutes--you've been waiting twenty seconds. But, I say, "Well, you can talk to Mr. Peter, but I'm pretty sure you'll have to have a seat and wait." He goes to talk to Mr. Peter and finds himself sitting in a chair less than a minute later, waiting his turn and wearing a scowl. I sigh and begin the same process all over again with the next student in line. And there's more of this to look forward to tommorrow. *Ugh*

~Ariel

Lord Voldemort and the Bouncy Ball Mishap

2009-01-13T14:13:00.008-05:00

So, I'm going to post a really lame limerick that I wrote for a school writing assignment. Hey, look at that, "lame limerick;" I just used alliteration!! Well, kill two birds with one stone. Oooh that was a cliche! I just used and recognized a cliche!! Maybe I can get extra credit in lit. class for this post!

Anyway, without futher ado...

Lord Voldemort and the Bouncy Ball Mishap

by Ariel Keller

There was a big bouncy red ball

Lord Voldemort threw down the hall.

It bounced to great heights;

It broke all the lights,

And he wasn't real sorry at all.

I know it should say "really." In fact, in my opinion using "real" when it should be "really" is the worst grammar gaffe ever! But what can I say? "Really" just didn't fit with the rhythm...

~Ariel

Yum, Mold for Christmas Dinner...

2008-12-24T12:17:00.006-05:00

This Christmas Mom and Dad decided to break tradition and make country ham for Christmas dinner instead of our usual duck. Well, I don't mind too much; it's not like I'm stuck on tradition. But, when I looked at the instructions for making country ham and saw that step one read "open the packaging, scrape off the mold, and you're in business,"--wait a minute, mold!!--I started missing that duck. Country ham is a very popular dish in the South; so, I guess Southerners must love food flavored by mold... *shrug* Mold just doesn't appeal to me.

So, anyways, after the mold has been scraped off, you're supposed to soak the ham in water for two or three days. Now maybe this is just me, but I would think that soaking an already mold-prone ham in water for forty-eight hours would be promoting more mold growth, not discouraging it.

I suppose when people ask me what we're having for Christmas dinner I'll just say, "Mold and mildew with a side of food poisoning."

~Ariel

A Color-Coordinated Christmas...

2008-12-09T19:20:00.006-05:00

We decorated our Christmas tree yesterday! We decided to make an attempt to end up with a non-ugly tree this year. So, the general consensus was to try to solve this problem by using a "color theme." The flaw in that plan was that our color theme was very broad, almost to the point of "any ornament that is at least 1/3 white, silver, gold or clear fills the bill." So, we have an extremely eclectic mix of ornaments, all of which satisfy the color requirements, because "oh, look there's a two-inch splot of white paint on the top of this ornament!" Mmm, hmm...so is that really paint or just a piece of cotton lint left over from the packing material? Yep. It's lint. "But I really like this ornament even though it doesn't fit the color scheme! Anyway, it sorta counts because it looked like it had some white paint on it." Yeah, our "color scheme" worked really well. :)

Well, ok, in all fairness, it's not that bad.

~Ariel

School, Math, and Shotguns

2008-12-02T12:20:00.009-05:00

Well, I'm pretending that I don't have a calculus test on Thursday, the SAT on Saturday, and a calculus final on Monday. In fact, if you were to mention schoolwork--specifically tests--I'd say, "Who has a calculus test on Monday? Certainly not me! ...And I don't have to write an essay this Saturday; nope, not at all." Then you'd flash me a puzzled expression and point out that you hadn't mentioned calculus or essays. And I'd sigh and say, "Didn't I convince you at all?" Or maybe I'd just quote daffy duck and yell, "Shoot me now!" After all, I certainly wouldn't have to worry about essays any more!

*Sigh* I suppose on Saturday, as I step into the austere testing room, I will simply remember that the SAT, while quite onerous, is also truly ephemeral. I mean, although it may seem, during the test, like it lasts forever, it really is only a few hours long... Did you know that The Princeton Review SAT study guide has a rather didactic vocabulary section? And any SAT study guide that feels the need to mention in the geometry section that there are 360 degrees in a circle and 180 in a triangle is bound to be a tome of a book...this one is certainly no exception!

Also, this Thursday before my calculus test, I have to work in the math lab and explain to all the girls majoring in "applied makeup" or "noserings 101" how to graph the line x=4. That's Chatt State for you, though. It's like I said before, "Yes, he does have to shoot me now; so shoot me now! ...Please?"

~Ariel

BTW, if you'd like to see the aforementioned bugs bunny cartoon, here's the link:
Rabbit Seasoning

The Closet

2008-11-19T13:44:00.005-05:00

It all happened two weeks ago. I was home alone, and I heard someone else in our house. I didn’t know what to do. I was standing in the hall between Jacob and Matthew’s room and Luke’s, so I was completely cut off from a telephone. I would have slipped outside through the door to the deck in Luke’s room, but right before I opened the door, I remembered that the house’s former owners had left electronic chimes on all the doors. If I opened the door, whoever was in our house would know I’d gone outside. So, I hid inside Luke’s closet. It was a snug fit with the door closed, but I made it. Once safely inside, I selected three weapons of self defense:

1st a long blue tie, OK, maybe it wouldn’t be a big help. But, still, strangling can’t take much talent.

2nd a union officer’s sword replica; Luke had gotten it for Christmas, and it had to be coated in petroleum jelly to keep it from rusting, so I figured I could drown the intruder in the grease.

3rd a shoe, after all, there was the off chance that what I’d heard was just a gigantic cockroach.

I prepared to attack if the intruder opened the closet door. I held the sword, still sheathed, in my left hand and the shoe in my right. The tie I held between my teeth. After all, of anything that this intruder could be, a gigantic cockroach was scariest. As the door handle turned, I raised the shoe. The closet door opened and I brought the shoe down on, um, Luke’s head. Guess I wasn’t home alone….

The End

(disclaimer: This story is entirely fictitious. No cockroaches, shoes, neckties, brothers, or any other things sentient or otherwise were harmed in the making of this story.)

~Ariel

To Drive or Not to Drive

2008-11-19T13:17:00.005-05:00

Well, since I am now sixteen and have been driving for a little while, I thought I might share some tips on how to prepare for your first time driving. First of all, never drive with your mother. For those of you who have never experienced driving with your mother, or who are too wise to try, let me describe it….

Picture yourself behind the wheel of a car for the very first time. You are three feet away from your driveway, and all you have to do, to pass your first lesson, is pull the car into the driveway safely. You have never driven a car before and you don’t know which pedal is the gas and which pedal is the brake. So, you ask your mother, “Um, the big one’s the gas, right?”
“Oh, no, you don’t even know that!!!!” she yells. You decide that you must have been incorrect and surmise that the “big one” is the brake.
“OK, the big one’s the brake. So how do I do this?” (What you really mean is, “How do I pull into the driveway; I’ve never done it before, and I find the ditches on either side rather intimidating.”)
Your mother replies, “You just pull the emergency break so it’s off, turn the steering wheel until you’re lined up with the driveway, and drive in.”
“Where’s the emergency brake?”
“You don’t know that either?”
You think, “I’ve never sat in the drivers seat before, let alone actually driven, how would I know that?” But you say, “No, I don’t.”
After you straighten out where the emergency brake is and take it off, you try to turn into the driveway, but you have never been informed that you can actually turn the steering wheel more than 360˚, so you nearly end up in a ditch, but somehow you remember, despite the noise of your mother’s yelling and “sympathetic brake stomping” on the floor in front of her, that the car will stop if you put on the brakes. Finally on your second attempt, after your mother realizes how little you know about driving, since you’ve never done it before, you make it safely into the driveway. You have then learned your first driving lesson, and it is, “Never, ever, ever, drive with your mother.”

:)
~Ariel

Hamster Equality

2008-11-15T16:18:00.008-05:00

Remember how Oswald escaped from his cage a few weeks back? Well, our family discovered the reason: he had formulated a plan for world domination and hamster equality, and he escaped from his cage to set his plan in motion.

Oswald, author of a great plot to take over the world. Note the scowl and conniving expression in his red, beady eyes...

He's already managed to accumulate followers. Clara, Jacob's cute female hamster, was all too eager to participate in "Comrade Oswald's" plan for hamster equality. As of right now, we know no more of their secret plan, but I supect Oswald has more surprises in order.

~Ariel

Crazy For You

2008-11-13T14:39:00.006-05:00

I'm in the pit orchestra at CCS for the Gershwin musical Crazy For You. It is a lot of fun, and the music is neat and challenging with lots of fun rhythms!

I would definitely participate in next year's musical if only for the excuse not to work on essays. Yes, that's my feeble excuse for not having completed my scholarship essays yet. Although, if I'm in college next year, I don't suppose my professors would accept that excuse...hmm...not that my mom does either; I just wish she would. :)

~Ariel

Gardens

2008-11-04T19:07:00.016-05:00

We went to Longwood Gardens last Christmas with some friends. It was so beautiful and we got some awesome pictures!!

~Ariel

Pictures

2008-10-31T16:23:00.004-04:00

Me and Jezzie:

Yes, she is eating my hand :)

The Bridge:

Isn't it a beautiful view?

Civil War Reenacting:

The only way you can get me to go to a history reenactment is to let me wear a hoop-skirt :) Otherwise all it is is loud cannons, lots of people, and awful heat!