Day 2.

The start to this semester has been a hectic one to say the least. How was the second day of classes, after my first day that lasted thirteen hours and included working at the bookstore and Language Lab and classes? Here's most of an email I sent my dear mother that may provide ranting material in the future, since it seems like that's what most of my writing is actually about...

"I'm actually researching/scheduling the passport appointment I need and trying still to apply for studying abroad in Australia. I've been talking to one of the directors at IU, since I couldn't log in to that main screen, remember? Well, she called me back yesterday during class and told me to email her so she could send me information, so I did that last night at work. Then today she sends me an email with a link to create the new ID that I need in order to apply with a note that says to send her my confirmation and new ID for the site so she can put me through, so I clicked it thinking, "oh cool, I'm making progress," right? Wrong. It says I already have an ID associated with the "iAbroad" program. @#&*% (insert four-letter word here)!!! So I emailed her back and apologized for the hassle, asking WTF. I was on campus for thirteen hours yesterday, and I worked a total of ten hours and attended two classes where I nodded off in both (don't worry, one of the professors openly said that he doesn't care if we sleep--the other class happened to be Nancy's...). Today, I had class at nine (great subject content--Writing Styles--but this woman is about to croak and she was hacking up a lung the entire time soo not cool), I'm frantic now but will still try to do some homework before class at noon, then I'm going to the bookstore to work from 1:30-8:00. KILL ME NOW. Anywho, I only work for four hours tomorrow morning then I'm finished at 5:45, I only work in the Language Lab on Thursday and am finished at 6:00, and then it's Friday even if I do work 9:00-12:00, have class 12:00-1:15, then work again from 1:30-5:00...whew."

Later this same day, after multiple inches of snow had accumulated on campus, I was allowed to leave work at the bookstore where several customers felt the need to bitch at me because apparently it's my fault that they waited so long that all the used books are gone and that the prices are outrageous. I sympathize with you, okay? I pay these same fing prices. Find somewhere else to go and quitcherbitchin. So, at eight that night I dug my car out of the snow and slid my way over to Wendy's because earlier that morning the granola bar that I intended to eat for breakfast managed to jump out of my pocket at some point--chances are, I'll find it on my doorstep in another four months when the snow melts--so I went without breakfast. Anyone who knows the Nabel family knows that we do not do well without food, i.e. we're cranky sons of bitches when our blood sugar plummets, which I'm sure just made me an absolute joy to be around all day.

...on second thought, I think I'm going to write this story now. It's been a while since I've had inspiration and the blood is absolutely flowing and raging now. I'll post when I finish it...not that anyone reads this or is left hanging by this decision.

ADD much?

Well, I had every intention of writing a real post about something or another, but then I found the new templates and I played with the background pictures and colors instead. Whoops. I'm babysitting, but am entertaining myself while the little one naps, which won't be too much longer. In the mean time, here's a quick life update--my scholarship (which I lost after last spring because my GPA dropped) was recently reinstated after the two A's from my summer classes went through, and I was selected as one of twenty-five finalists for Glimmer Train's April submission for my story about my grandpa. Good things in the academic and writing world =) only the Writer's Group is this Friday, and I have yet to write anything new to share. This week's new goal: write! We'll see what I come up with since there isn't really a burning desire for any particular type of catharsis which seems to fuel my creative endeavors. I guess I'm crossing my fingers for inspiration until Friday...

I think I re-found my calling...

I'm on an academic high for the first time in a long time. Today, I got back my midterm for my Shakespearean lit class and I earned a 95%. Ninety-fucking-five bitch! On the thirty point essay, I got twenty-nine, I got 23/25 multiple choice questions right(I'd still like to see what the answer was for #2...), and 24/25 short answer correct, and that was only because I only named the battle and didn't give the year with it. Stupid mistakes I think, meaning I could have gotten a 98%. Damn. But it's still a solid A.
In my Food in Film course (yes, it's a legit, actual class!) I've seen my 32/35 for the online identification portion and am anxiously awaiting the return of my written portion. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that one because, not only is it worth a quarter of my grade, I only felt good about one of the two essays I wrote. But nothing I can do for right now, maybe I'll get it back in class tonight and I can stop worrying and obsessing. Because of course it hasn't left my mind since last Thursday.
I can't remember the last time I did so well or felt so confident in an exam. I've taken French classes in college and written papers and felt relatively well prepared for them, too, I guess. For some reason, these Shakespeare papers and assignments actually have me excited to write academically, not just creatively or for a blog. The bio lab reports I've been writing have been like pulling teeth, I hate writing them so much. But no more of that! Only analytical essays and explications and comparative essays! The weird thing is that I'm 100%, for real, downright excited to write them. Speaking of which, I have a comparative/analytical paper to write for my Film course and am supposed to take it to the Writing Center to look over it on Thursday. I watched all my movies for it yesterday--I've never been so ready to turn the TV off. Ugh. But I suppose I'll get to writing that, though I'm not as eager to write it, I'll admit.

Here's to re-finding my path and being excited about school, academic life, and working =)

The Travesty of Our Youth

Well, this -- http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1935635 -- is apparently what our generation has to look forward to. The next round of Britney Spearses and Paris Hiltons are among us and in full form at what? Age 8? Maybe 9 or 10? Good God. I'm not saying these little girls aren't talented. How many of us can bend and stretch like that and keep in rhythm? I sure as hell can't. But couldn't these children put their talent to a more productive, less provocative use? Try getting in to Juliard. Or put on a U-12 production of Swan Lake. With moves like that, these kids could surely manage a simple ballet or classical masterpiece. Or something fun, something Fame-esque. It's too bad the cat calls and applauding for which their mothers have undoubtedly taught them to yearn won't come from anything but this kind of performance to which they've probably already grown accustomed. It's sad. Really sad. Mothers, can we grow up and quit living vicariously through our pre-adolescent daughters? Or maybe that is the goal. To breed tiny sluts.

First female president? Doctor? Lawyer? Forget it. We've got a new batch of Mileys coming right up.

Sweet Summertime

Well, post #1 won't be such an upper. I'm only starting this blog business, but it seems like as good a place as any for a violent rant, so here goes. I finished my finals this morning, the second of two total. But before I go to the end, I'll start with the academic beginnings of this school year. At the beginning of the school year, I was a biology/pre-med major, working for a French minor. Had the whole doctor thing on lock, or so I thought. Not so much any more, though. Now I'm an English major with a concentration in writing, biology minor and the once-upon-a-time French minor may become a second major...not the most lucrative career plan, but I'm actually really excited about my English courses. When I switched my major, around spring break, I also dropped organic chemistry since I was already pulling a C. Not so good for the GPA.

This Monday, I had my genetics final, a class I still need for my minor. In order to pull off a B for the semester, I could only afford to miss fourteen out of a hundred and twenty-five points, or six out of seventy questions. Needless to say, that didn't happen, despite the all-nighter I pulled on Sunday so I could study more. Final grade for genetics: C.

This morning, I took my statistics final. If I scored 100% and some of the extra credit, I could have pulled off an A, but let's face it, that didn't happen either. Instead, I barely scraped by with a B.

On top of that, the research professor I'm working with for class credit sent an e-mail out. Guess what it said? If we haven't been in the lab (which I haven't) doing the amount of hours we committed to (which I didn't), we won't be getting an A (which I was depending on). I really shot myself in the foot with that one. Lucky for me, he's given us the option of taking an incomplete and making up the work from the semester over the summer (which I'll most definitely be doing).

Sadly, with this hell hole of a mess I've created for myself, I now need to land A's in the two summer classes I signed up for, make up for my semester research, and now I'm debating picking up a third summer class in order to ensure that I can pull up my GPA enough to maintain my scholarship. Did I mention that my scholarship is now in danger? Yeah, that'd be the worst part. To sum it up...goodbye and good riddance spring semester 2010, hello summer, and, quite potentially but hopefully not, hello impending debt and plummeting GPA.