I Never Thought I'd Say This, But...

...please take me back to class! Can you tell I'm excited about Wednesday? After a basically uneventful summer, I'm definitely ready to hit the books again. Yes, it's nerdy to say, but there are a few elements of the campus/class environment that I really do enjoy when classes are in session. Additionally, I just need a change of scenery and something to really occupy my time. Although I work about 30 hours a week, my other hours are spent essentially being a complete waste, and I hate feeling like a lazy ass. This next semester will definitely be as difficult as the last, plus I really can't screw around with any of the classes--they're all pretty important.

Anyway, you readers should be excited for a completely different reason--hopefully, once class starts, I'll have more topics of some substance to write about as opposed to the irrelevant crap I've been posting on here lately. I feel like the subject matter has slowly deteriorated into something kind of like Livejournal (*hangs head*). My current mood is ashamed because of this. I hope to include on here some topics from class and maybe some experiences with a few of the extracurricular organizations I've applied to work with. I'm going to be an Honors Mentors for Dr. Tunberg's section of 101, and I've also applied to be an Honors Ambassador and a Peer Fellow. Those things could be interesting.

So I feel that this would be a pretty appropriate time to bitch a little bit about my current experiences in the retail business as a cashier. Before I go any farther with this, I should probably go ahead and state that this is only my 7th month in the retail business. I definitely haven't clocked enough hours to be considered a true veteran of retail; I'm not trying to give that impression, either. I'm merely going to discuss some of the most unbelievable and ridiculous incidents that have occurred within these seven months as evidence for my final point, which I'll get to later. Prepare to be amazed... or maybe not, if you've ever worked in retail:

While working as a grocery store cashier, I once gave a 15 cent refund to a furious foreigner who demanded to know why his Gatorade rang up as $1.00 instead of 85 cents. I can be a little understanding here, as this guy just might have not grasped the value of the American dollar yet. But 15 cents? Jesus. You could buy a pack of Wrigley gum for this... wait, no you couldn't.

This is the scenario: It's a busy as hell Friday night, and I have 15+ people in my line to check out. An older (60-something) couple comes through my line and buys about $60.00 (keep this number in mind) worth of merchandise. Three minutes later, the man is standing off to the side of my register with a ridiculous look of pissed on his faced, holding his receipt. I can see where this is heading. I ask him what the problem is. Apparently his swim trunks, which were on sale for $12.00, rang up incorrectly in the computer as $15.00. I proceed to explain to him that he will have to get back in line so that I can run a price adjustment in my computer, and he proceeds to bitch, bitch, bitch about how "unfair" it is that he has to get back in line for something that I "screwed up," making a scene all the while. The asshole apparently does not understand that cashiers are not in charge of everything involved in running the store and that I cannot simply take money out of my till then and there. The woman who is next in line overhears this exchange and offers to let said asshole get in line in front of her. He insists on getting in the back of the line (big surprise here) to continue his three-dollar-martyr routine. Of course, he treats me like shit when he finally gets back to me, as expected. Why the hell do some people act this way? I am completely understanding of the fact that people need to keep a close watch on their finances (everyone does to an extent), but considering that the... guy had already spent $60.00, was $3.00 really worth all that hassle and inconvenience to himself, myself, and everyone in my line? This jackass obviously just wanted to cause a problem and have an excuse to bitch at someone.

Another scenario: On an equally busy day, I overhear a squabble between a clothing associate and an apparently dissatisfied customer with a return. The clothing associate tells the upset customer that he has to get in a cashier's line in order for the return to be processed, and said customer begins to bitch about every aspect of our customer service and how ridiculous it is that he has to even stand in line for a return. Of course, by the grace of the good Lord, he gets in my line (would it be any other way?). When it's his turn, he proceeds to give me the same speech that he gave the clothing associate, only in a lot more detail. I tell him that if he'd like to speak to a manger, there is actually one right next to me in the opposite check-out lane. The customer of course does not do this after wasting all his breath on me--as if I could really do anything about his complaints other than apologize on everyone else's behalf. This was particularly interesting because the customer was from India. His attitude gave me the impression that customer service in India has relatively higher standards than in America. That's probably true, and I wouldn't mind to see customer service in America improve in certain areas, but that doesn't necessarily make this incident any less ridiculous from my perspective as a cashier with basically zero authority.

Here we go again: a dirty man enters my line to return three equally dirty shirts. He has no receipt and the shirts have no tags attached, so I have no UPC's for the shirts. He is already in violation of just about every aspect of our return policy, but we decide to be nice people and do the return for him despite the violations. We find two of the UPC's pretty quickly from merchandise currently on the floor, but one shirt is apparently so dated that our front end manager has to go in the caves of our warehouse to locate a book that would contain the UPC. The dirty man, in the meantime, is loitering around my register like a disoriented clown, making sure to occasionally complain about the inconvenience we're causing him while we search for the UPC's. "Uhhhhhh, I should just get this shit fuhr free, yall's tahkin' so long." The codes finally come out of the warehouse and I finally get the guy out the door. Here's a perfect example of a person who either (1) genuinely doesn't grasp the concepts related to products codes and how necessary they are for correct inventory and (more importantly) quick transactions, or (2) knows their importance and simply thinks that store policies don't apply to him/her and that he/she is entitled to whatever they want, when they want it. Based on his attitide, I'd like to think number 2 applied to this guy.

I have several other ridiculous, funny stories that I could post on here, but I think these will suffice for my point. A career in retail really requires a certain adeptness and tolerance level for dealing with people--moreso than many other jobs require. The face-to-face interaction in the retail business adds an interesting element that can often create more stress than one anticipates. So the next time you encounter a retail employee, be nice--he or she probably deals with the aforementioned types of situations daily.

Let's All Get Muhrried + UK Deficiency

I'll go ahead and warn you that you won't find anything of any real relevancy written here, just a few rather useless personal opinions of mine. How awesome is it that I can legitimately say that I've written TWO posts in one month? And hey, for you readers of mine who have blogs (you know who you are), you're lagging behind like hell and you need to update more frequently. I like reading other people's blogs too! Don't make me do all the work!

So, I guess I've reached that age (almost 21) when a few of my peers will inevitably decide to get married or have kids. I certainly can't complain about that, and I really hope that these people will be happy with their personal life decisions. I've talked with some people who discussed the fact that college simply wasn't for them, so they went ahead and found stable employment or started a business of their own; understandably, some of these same people started a family. Then there are those who are still in undergraduate or graduate school and married their high school sweetheart whom they'd dated for years. These seem to be exceptional circumstances, but I think they're perfectly legitimate.

I believe that the problems with getting "muhrried" and having children begin when circumstances between two individuals don't really warrant a marriage at all. People who date each other for 2-4 months and decide to tie the knot are some of my favorites; I'm going to go ahead and say that three months of dating before marriage is too quick. Is that enough time to live with a partner long enough to really know what they're like? Probably not. It it long enough that both people are going to have to deal with a substantial problem together and see if they can work it out? Nope. Is two months a long enough time to figure out if your partner has any really annoying tendencies or attitude issues that may potentially create conflict? No. Anyway, I'm not trying to say that one should have to date his or her partner for eight years before any very serious commitments are made. However, people who want to very quickly tie the knot should probably ask themselves if they could stand to be with this person they've know for four months for the rest of their life. The idea may be a little... sobering.

Yet another great category of marriages are those I'm-going-nowhere-so-I-better-find-someone-to-take-care-of-me unions. Ladies, I think we do this a little too frequently. Yes, the girls who come to college fresh out of high school and find out after a year that their 3.9 high school GPAs don't mean shit in terms of their academic performance in college are the ones who come to my mind. (I have personally seen this happen way too many times.) Before they piss away whatever remaining financial support from their parents they have left, they begin to loiter around the law school or medical school in hopes of finding a guy that has a lot of academic... I mean financial potential. I guess there's nothing inherently evil in this, but these girls just need to pray that their husbands don't ever divorce them; if so, then they'll be forced to actually work or remain totally dependent on alimony. That's a blast.

Babies are smelly and emo. Enough said.

Anyway, that's enough about marriage and babies.

So, I'm pretty sure that most of you reading this are UK students. If you're not, maybe you intentionally chose not to go to UK for the very thing I'm going to bitch about. Before I say anything negative, though, I should go ahead and say that I still absolutely love going to UK. I would far rather go here than any other institution in the state. I favor the bigger campus and larger student population at UK; I'm really not meant to be at a small school like Transylvania or Centre. (At this point, I just have to add that Transy occasionally sends little student shuttle buses over to William T. Young when classes are in session so that its students can mooch off our resources, which is funny as hell to me. I'm not the one paying an inordinate amount of money for tuition to NOT have immediate access to Willy T... Mwahahaha.)

Anyway, it's my belief that the University of Kentucky has a serious deficiency when it comes to scholarship funding for continuing students who didn't come there initially on a scholarship. I think UK probably allots so much of its scholarship money for awards like the Singletary Scholarhsip that it leaves the rest of us in the shitter. I applied for two scholarships through UK last spring--the Arts & Sciences Academic Scholarship and the Alumni Scholarship. I did actually get one of them, but the amount of money I received barely covered the costs of my textbooks, let alone helped me with my tuiton expenses. Because of this, I started applying for external scholarships; hopefully I'll have more luck with those. Blech.

Attack of the Prostitots!

So, have you ever gone through one of your old yearbooks and cringed when you saw your school picture? Yes, there's a good chance that you probably looked like a magnificent dork if you judge by the fashion standards you hold now. Don't worry. You're definitely not alone, as it's pretty much guaranteed that the majority of your fellow 7th graders didn't necessarily give a damn for being "in style" for their school pictures. Yeah, it's a guarantee that there were always at least a few of those individuals who woke up at some ungodly hour to put on their $200 outfits and spend half an hour putting layer after layer of makeup on their faces, but they were most likely the exception; let's pretend they don't exist. It's better for our egos.

Most of us are familiar with that hilarious I-just-grabbed-the-closest-thing-and-put-it-on look that is rampant in elementary and junior high yearbooks: the mismatched colors, the semi-greasy hair, the enormous scrunciis and headbands, brands of clothes we totally forgot existed, or (for the girls) even a little hint of some ridiculous color of eyeshadow or lipstick that you thought looked pretty incredible at the time.... thought being the operative word here. Anyway, despite how hilarious those old pictures might be to you now, I'd venture to say having a nonchalant attitude about fashion is the right mindset for one to have at that point in his or her life; it's not my belief that a 12-year-old needs to be overly concerned with his or her appearance and/or clothes. Looking back on my junior high years, I'm still glad that I wasn't worried about staying fashionable or looking "hott" or whatever the hell you call it these days. Those were some of the last years of my life that I could afford to be generally carefree. I didn't wear much makeup or buy clothes very often. I simply took showers in the morning, threw on some clean clothes and went off to "skoo" (Pike-VUHL vernacular) to waste another seven hours of my life.

Times are changing. Today, there is a new type of junior high girl emerging, one that actually gives a f*** about her public appearance. These "prostitots" are easily observable to the naked eye. A prostitot possesses, but is not limited to, the following qualities:

1. She wears Ugg boots; usually, her skinny jeans or Pink sweatpants are tucked into them. I won't even start on Ugg boots other than to say that certain varieties look like someone took a furry animal, beat it to death, and, from its fur, made some sort of monstrosity resembling boots. How fashionable. I for one have seen those Ugg boots with the two furry balls on strings attached to them. What are the manufacturers going for here? I can't fathom the answer to this question; perhaps it's simply beyond my fashion comprehension.
2. This girl is so damn orange... I mean tanned that I can barely differentiate between her nose/mouth area and the rest of her face, as everything just kind of blends in. Is she really Caucasian at all? By the way, this girl is in fact so crispy-burnt that she can actually emit cancerous UV rays.
3. She wears mini skirts and shorts so short that you can actually see her butt cheeks when she walks. This is definitely attractive to those hott college boys. Did I say that? I meant to say convicted child sex offenders.
4. Her $250 Dooney & Bourke purse looks as though it was decorated by someone on an acid trip. Oh well. She feels pretty cool about the whole situation because she knows the "LV LV LV LV" plastered repetitively across her best friend's purse indicates nothing other than genuine Louis Vuitton. I mean, c'mon, unless you have one of those really unique looking things, you just aren't cool enough to be spoken to.
5. She's in a competition with the ladies at the makeup counters in the mall to see how many layers of full makeup she can put on her face without it all sliding off into a pile of goo. Foundation, undereye concealer, concealer, lipstick, lipliner, eyeliner, mascara, eyeshadow, and bronzer are all piled on her face in a very scary manner that makes her look a little bit like a clown.
6. She's a regular fashion model, representin' for all the "cool" brands. Abercrombie, abercrombie (there's a damn difference people, c'mon!), Hoe-llister, Polo, etc...
7. If her cell phone rings, god forbid if everyone in a fifty foot vicinity can't hear about the life-or-death conversation between her and her boy toy about their respective plans to get rides to the movies that night. Parents will drive them, of course, since these spoiled brats still have a few years to go until driver's licenses. Before answering, the prostitot absolutely must let the phone ring a few times on the "loud" setting so that everyone will know that she owns a cell phone.

The absolute best thing about all this ridiculousness is that these girls aren't fooling anyone with a brain. Despite the makeup, the clothes, the purses, the Ugg boots, etc., etc., they still look like 12-year-olds who invaded their older sisters' wardrobes. I can't help but wonder about these girls' parents a little bit. Most of them obviously don't have a problem with blowing hundreds of dollars on their daughters' wardrobes to keep them "in style," but do they realize that some of these girls go out in public looking a little like child whores? Needless to say, there are some very perverted individuals roaming around out there. I would not for one second allow my young daughter to dress in such a way that would invite extra attention from weirdos.

I don't get it!

Aestas Denique Adest!

Yes, dammit, summer is finally here. I won't spend too much time elaborating on how much the last two weeks of my semester sucked; suffice to say that they were most definitely the hardest weeks of my college experience thus far. In a matter of 8 days, I wrote 5 papers, prepared a 10-minute presentation for my HON 102 class, and took 3 of my hardest finals (two of which were essays that combined easily to about 10 pages of my microscopic writing). I was very angry; I definitely had a minor mental breakdown a little more than halfway through the week after I'd slept an entire four hours in the matter of two and a half days. Oh well. All that is behind me now, and summer is finally here! It seems as if my hard work paid off, as I think I'll end up with 4 A's and 2 B's. As far ever taking another 18-credit-hour semester, I'll never do that again unless it's absolutely necessary! That shit was terrible.

A very random topic happened to come up in my HON 102 (Gender and Witchcraft in the Medieval World) class discussion a few weeks ago which I think would be pretty appropriate for this blog post. I don't think it will bore people to death, simply because it has a lot of modern applicability. Basically, we were discussing chivalry in the Middle Ages, and Dr. Holliday asked the gentlemen in our class if they felt pressure to live up to the standards of chivalry in their treatment of women. One of my male classmates blurted out something along the lines of "Hell no, I think women should open their own doors," and that comment of course produced a lot of feedback from other students. My Honors class was composed of markedly different personalities; the individual statements made by my peers in response tended to be either really subdued or pretty extremist.

On this particular issue of male chivalry, I found myself somewhere in the middle ground. No, I don't think my boyfriend needs to be at my beck and call at all hours of the day. I also certainly don't expect other men to treat me this way. However, I'll admit that I do really appreciate it when a guy holds the door open for me or does something "gentlemanly." I perceive it as an indication that a guy knows what common courtesy is, and I like that in a man. If my boyfriend were consistently doing courteous things for me, I would take it as a sign of his respect for me; I would also do similar things for him, as I'm just as capable of returning those favors.

What I didn't fully agree with as far as this particular issue was the perception that chivalry has an inherently female-degrading element in its practice, which is what some of my female classmates suggested. Their rationale was that if a man goes far out of his way to do something "chivalrous" for a woman then he obviously thinks that women need to be treated specially on account of their inability to do things on their own.

What's interesting is that I honestly don't ever think about our society as a whole being sexist or misogynist until I'm exposed to hardcore feminist viewpoints. Perhaps that's partly due to the fact that I was raised in a household with two older brothers and was never given "special" treatment on account of being a girl. Alternatively, maybe it's simply that I'm blind to the disparities between men and women in American society. Regardless, I never felt less capable than men. However, when exposed to feminist writings or feminists themselves, I'm much more aware of the perceived imbalance between the genders. To be honest, I feel like feminism is much more of a defense mechanism than a progressive means of correcting any imbalances that might exist. Women aren't ignorant. Women don't make sandwiches all day long. Women aren't all housewives: these are facts that are quite obvious to me and many others. However, it seems as if feminism chooses to focus more on the sad state of women's affairs than on supporting and motivating women to rid themselves of the negative stereotypes associated with them. If women are constantly the victim in this philosophy, how is it going to really help them shed a perceieved inequality?

Even the very positive light that feminism often puts women under can, in my opinion, have inadvertent negative effects. If followers of this philosophy aggressively try to reinforce positive ideas about women, will this not simply draw attention back to the very stereotyes they are trying to banish? It seems somewhat desperate to me. Extreme example: if an uber-feminist becomes angry at a guy for going out of his way to open a door for her and gets to show her "womanly power" by rejecting his effort to be courteous, is this same guy not going to be just really confused and perhaps a little annoyed? Either that or the dude may just think the woman is incredibly rude. Either way, I don't think it's helping the case for the equality of women.

I think some perceptions needs to change. Ladies, if a guy opens the door for you, don't get offended; it's more than likely just a simple gesture of courtesy. Don't assume that he thinks you're an incapable inferior and don't feel less "empowered" by the gentlemanly offer. I'm sure many men do these things completely unaware of any negative stereotype for women that are often associated with them.

Well, it's definitely 3:00 am, so I need the hit the sack.... Big expedition to the land of Pikeville tomorrow... hooray for me.

Carpe... Deez Nuts!

Are any of you still reading my blog, or have you decided that I've abandoned blog writing completely? I wouldn't blame you if you did, but I've been on a pretty long hiatus for any and all of these reasons: (1) I've been too lazy to update, (2) I've been too sleep-deprived to update, (3) I've been too up to my ass in work to update, and (4) I didn't want to do anything which required any semblance of mental effort over spring break!

The lovely picture on the left is actually a picture I took over spring break at Gettysburg, PA. The monument was erected sometime in the 1970's to commemorate the Louisana soldiers of the battle; it was one of many that I really liked. I was amazed by the sheer size of the battlefield and the huge number of monuments and memorials there. I definitely plan on going back eventually, preferably with the American history knowledge that I had back in high school (I passed the AP US history test--it was one of the only subjects I cared about at all). I had trouble putting things into context on the battlefield. Oh well. I'll brush up on it before I go back, and hopefully things will be even more informative.

The rest of my break was nice. I just basically sat on my ass, ate Dunkin' Donuts (they are amazing! I should have gained 20 lbs.), played old video games, and slept an ungodly amount. But, before I knew it, I was back in the hell that is class. I'm definitely feeling the pain. Oh yeah, "Carpe Deez Nuts" was a random team name that I heard at Mellow Mushroom at trivia night on Wednesday; I think it's hilarious as hell. Anyway, only 5 more weeks of class left! In other random ass news:

Priority registration: the only time of the year that I really appreciate being in the Honors Program. Getting to register before 90% of other students is certainly a privilege that outranks other aspects of the program.

18 credit hours--never again! What was I thinking? Only three more weeks until I'm out of this hell! In the meantime, your help in keeping me sane would be much appreciated.

It's still hard to believe that one of my favorite South Park characters ever (Chef) has left the show in the name of defending Scientology; the writers of South Park are apparently "too intolerant" of religion (did he not figure this out years ago?). Anyway, it seems as if Isaac's decision arose more out of pressure from some other Scientology followers (Tom Cruise, that jackass) than from his own dislike of the way the show portrays religious or philosophical beliefs in general. Kiss my ass, L. Ron Hubbard.

Random much?

Snow! + A Long Week

Yes, it's been snowing today and tonight (the pic on the right is actually from like a month ago though), although I doubt the accumulation will be around for long. I just realized awhile ago that Kentucky--well, at least Eastern Kentucky--hasn't had a blizzard since around Christmas '95/New Year's '96. Where's the blizzard? It's so overdue! I suppose I could just be bitching, as I became too accustomed to sit-on-my-ass days in high scool on account of "snow" (aka frost on the ground), and I'm not quite 100% used to almost NEVER getting days off in college. Oh well. The snow is still pretty while it's here.

In other news, the past week (or has it been two since I've updated?) has been pretty crazy--so many things going on--hence the reason why I can't update as frequently as I did when I first signed up. But it's okay, my blog has kind of turned into a stress reliever/time killer now. Anyway, on to the random news/thoughts:

1. This has to be the most random thing, but... you know the Spanish siesta, the time when workers head home at mid-day for lunch and an afternoon nap? Despite the fact that it's supposely becoming an "endangered species" according to BBC due to the increased number of multinational corporations who have deemed it "unproductive," I still hope that the tradition doesn't die. In fact, the longer I'd been in college, the more awesome it sounded. I'd like nothing better than to be able to come back to my apartment in the middle of the day in order to eat decent, healthy food that doesn't cost a damn fortune and then follow up with a good snooze.

I'm so lazy, I'll finish this later.

The Long Overdue Post

Greetings! I regret that I haven't posted anything in over a week, but I've been pretty busy. Last week, even though it was only a four-day week, was still pretty rough. I think I'm finally back in the mindset of school, although I'm anxiously waiting for those two or three hell weeks when all my teachers coincidentally decide to assign papers or administer tests within the same 3-day time span. My sleeping schedule is far from perfect, and I definitely need to work on improving it.I ended having to buy more books after the initial $460 splurge, pushing the total bill up by another $60 or so. But I'm happy--no more worrying about rushing to get books at the last minute.

I ended up dropping my evening class, History 240 (didn't I say earlier that it would perhaps happen?), simply because it was extremely incovenient and a little annoying. By the time I drove to to the parking garage, found a parking spot in a fit of rage (anyone from UK can sympathize), walked to class, sat through class, left, and got home, it took up about two hours of my time, which was something I really couldn't afford given all the other things I have to do on a daily basis. Well, here are some other really random things that have been going on in school and otherwise:

Did anyone else hear about Pamela Anderson's request to have the bust of KFC founder Harland Sanders removed from the state capitol in Frankfort? Does anyone else think it's absolutely ridiculous? Apparently, with some "help" (durrrrr) from PETA (People for the Eating of Tasty Animals), Anderson drafted a letter to Gov. Ernie Fletcher calling for him to remove the statue of Sanders because it "stands as monument to cruelty and has no place in the Kentucky state capitol." The cruelty, by the way, is a reference to alleged animal cruelty on the part of suppliers of the KFC chain. Wow. What actually struck me first when I read about this on CNN was not so much anger at the sheer suggestion of having the bust removed, but rather the complete uselessness of it. So what if the statue is removed? Pamela Anderson and PETA would have made a point, but I'm guessing that it would also offend a hell of a lot of Kentuckians. Removing the statue isn't going to affect how much business KFC receives or how chickens are supposedly being treated. This is just stupid. It's just another example of a B-list (or C-list) celebrity such as shitty movie star Ben Affleck (who's touring the country with John Kerry, pfttt) trying to get publicity. Or maybe PETA has to have a celebrity spokesperson in order to be taken seriously nowadays? Hey, maybe it could work--"Hey Ed, we better stop spray painting those chickens for fun or PETA might send nasty letters to our families.... wait." I think the bottom line is this--if an organization such as PETA is trying to make its voice heard and take a stand for animals or whatever it's advocating, its spokespeople should think of an action plan which could bring about a result that would actually be in accordance with the whole purpose of the organization. In this particular case, PETA should have done something which would have brought an end to the mistreatment of chickens (assuming it was actually going on) instead of doing something that just infuriated many people in Kentucky and elsewhere. Idiots.

With a little influence from my roommate, I decided to get my ears pierced yesterday! I had them pierced at one time but... I don't even want to discuss what happened; it was pretty gross. I can only hope that this time it's permanent, and that in six weeks I'll be showing off some nice earrings.

In my Honors class, we read some different excerpts from the Old Testament and New Testament. My instructor made the comment that we needed to try to treat them as objectively as possible, setting aside all the different interpretations we had accumulated previously from Sunday school teachers, priests, and everyone else. Being pretty deficient myself in terms of Bible knowledge, I had a pretty objective view while reading the excerpts. Although some of them made absolutely no sense to me (I suppose this was due to the fact that they were all pretty much out of context), one element of the writings really stood out to me--the situations or incidents that had modern day parallels. Even if a person gave absolutely zero validity to any of the stories, their moral lessons could still be utilized. In a broad sense, this is an aspect of many religions (not just Christianity) that I really respect. They can certainly offer different ways of looking at the world and dealing with situations, regardless of whether or not a person really believes in the validity of the written word itself.

Good News + Rants & Raves

Hello, loyal readers! I know I've gone 3 days (gasp!) without updating! My apologies, but I've been a little busy. Classes started yesterday, and I have a pretty decent first impression of all of them. The semester itself will by no means be easy, but I'm pretty sure I can handle it. I was in a great mood yesterday--that never happens. I know why I was in a good mood, but I'm not at liberty to disclose that information on the internet. Hehe. Anyway, my teachers seem to be easing into the workload slowly, which I really appreciate. It makes the transition from sitting on my ass to getting my ass kicked by class a little less stressful. Next week will probably be the first real test as to how I'm going to handle the classwork during an average week.

As always, I've been pondering some random things--What can I say, I'm a general intellectual. I should explain this rather vague label so that I don't sound cocky. While I was in high school, my mom randomly received a letter from my school in the mail. It was apparently some kind of skill/talent assessment with comments from a variety of teachers whom I'd taken class under. The high school's conclusion? I was a general intellectual. What does that mean? It's so ambiguous and shady. Was the school simply trying to assure my mom that I wasn't a total inept? I still get a kick out of it. Anyway, the random thoughts:

1. For some reason, I think 98% of things are cute, including: old couples (they are adorable) and older people in general, shitty cars, funny clothing styles (esp. the professors who rock the cardigans and sweater vests), "nerdy" people and their fascinations with whatever, any example of OCD behavior (I say "Awwww..." about 4384385 times when I watch a single episode of Monk), and guys' general obsession with sports (to an extent, of course).
2. Stupid Lexington People Alert: Apparently, not only are a lot of Lexington inhabitants terrible drivers (see previous post), but they are terrible pedestrians, too! I was out and about this afternoon driving around campus to turn in a scholarship application and I noticed some pretty bad pedestrian tendencies, the first being jaywalking. I don't have much room to complain about this, because I do it all the time on campus. But the jaywalking I saw today while driving was far different from the actual campus environment where the power of the group, so to speak, would allow students to jaywalk and force a car to stop for them. No car is going to hit a group of 10 students walking together. But the guy I saw today was jaywalking across a regularly busy street (Euclid) at about the time rush hour traffic was growing. I've also seen people casually jaywalk across Nicholasville during broad daylight. Someone explain this.
3. Speaking of roads, Farm Road. Drive it! It's fun as hell. It's right off Nicholasville near campus. Get to it by taking one of the first rights after passing Alumni if you're driving in the direction of Limestone. I won't give away the fun part of it....... Okay, speed bumps. Big speed bumps. Big speed bumps on a straight road with little or no traffic.
4. One last driving rant: while I was driving down Rose Street today right in front of the Chem-Phys building, there were of course the usual masses of students crossing the street. A few of them pretty much walked in front of my car without even looking--not a glance. One girl was on her cell phone, and I suppose the call was more important (she didn't even give me "the wave" when I let her cross, the hoe). Those students were safe only because I pay attention when I drive. Unfortunately, the next guy driving down Rose with his body half out the window, hollerin' at the college chick wearing the ass skirt/Ugg boot combination may not notice the student who's just started walking across the street. Pedestrians should be very cautious; they can never just assume that drivers are always attentive and aware.
5. My left eyelid is still twitching. What the hell. I'm going to call an optometrist or something this weekend if it doesn't quit soon. It's driving me absolutely insane.
6. Myself and my fellow students played the damn name game tonight in my HIS 240 class as part of "getting to know one another." Well, if any of you have never played this game (I hadn't until this evening), it works as follows: one student (usually the student in the front seat on the far left or right side of the room) starts by saying his or her name. The student directly behind that student says the person's name in front of him/her, then says his/her own name. It works like this until each student gets a turn. I ended up being the second to last student to take my turn, meaning I had to say about 25 names. Blah.

Enough randomness for one evening. I've gotta go do some homework. I'll probably update sometime this weekend.

The Tower of Hell

The 30 or so books on the left are my required books for the spring semester. Kennedy's Bookstore raped me of about $450 today. Awesome! Luckily, I didn't need to buy two of the books because I already owned them. Unfortunately, even this huge tower doesn't include all the books I need, as Kennedy's had run out of a few of the texts. Oh well. At least I have the majority of my books and that's one less thing I'll need to do in the middle of craziness. To be honest, I'm actually pretty excited about getting started. I know this semester will require more work than I've ever had to do before, but I know I can handle it. My motivation on top of my intent to create a strict study regimen will combine with my (I'll willingly admit) general lack of social obligations to create a situation conducive to decent grades. If I approach this with the right mindset, I'll come out fine, although probably exhausted as hell. Stay tuned for the fun that's yet to come!

Summer classes? I dont want to even attempt to give a definite answer for that yet.

In other, less nerdy news:

1. I went to Friday's this afternoon to eat with my roommate. Since it was late in the afternoon/early evening (about 5 o'clock), the place was not very crowded at all. The only customers in a close vicinity to us were a young couple--maybe in their early 30's. As I was talking with my roommate, I took notice of how little the couple was communicating. I felt the need to lower my voice and use a little more discretion (hehe) when talking, because I was pretty sure they could hear everything I was saying. It was a pretty sad spectacle to watch, simply because the man and woman were engaging the waiter in more conversation than they were with each other. I'm almost positive they weren't angry with one another; they just had nothing to talk about, obviously. I thought that a spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend was supposed to be someone with whom conversation came naturally. I'm finding out that I'm incorrect in that assumption.
2. Bad drivers! Too bad there is an abundance of bad drivers in Lexington. Combine the bad drivers with roads whose inability to accommodate Lexington residents + visitiors results in eternal congestion, and you've got some pretty bad driving conditions. Although morning and evening/night driving is usually reasonable, I attempt to avoid rush hour traffic and Nicholasville Road (at all times) like a plague. I just don't understand terrible drivers. Decent driving isn't that difficult. It makes me wonder how crappy drivers actually learned to drive. Did their parents just hand them their car keys and wish them good luck? Damn. Here are some bad tendencies I've noticed when it comes to Lexington drivers in particular: (1) The owners of big trucks and large SUV's seem to feel entitled to drive aggressively everywhere they go. But, I mean, they do drive large vehicles, so I guess all of us small car owners must yield to them. (2) This is the worst: drivers who feel the need to stay at least 100 feet behind the next closest car. I promise, you won't wreck. The driver in front of you isn't randomly going to decide to slam on his brakes or put his gears in reverse because he doesn't like you and your car. Jesus. (3) Lexington drivers misinterpret road signs. "No Turn on Red" = "Turn on Red." "4-Way Stop" = "All Other Traffic Will Yield to Your Superior Car, So Gun it!." And what the hell is a "Left Turn Yield on Green," anyway? I've had my own share of driving mishaps, but...Wow. I'm from the county (Pike-VUHL) and I know I drive better than 80% of the people here.
3. My left eyelid has been twitching sporadically all day, and I feel like a freak. I think I need glasses or something.
4. My financial aid is processed, finally. No battling with financial aid people... At least for awhile.

Well, unfortunately I really don't have much else to talk about. Tomorrow I plan on taking it easy, reviewing some Latin, and buying some binders and paper for class. valete omnes!

The Last Supper

Well, no, it's not really as dramatic as it sounds (remember, this isn't emo), I was just looking for an excuse to post this painting. This is, however, my last night of total relaxation before I've gotta start preparing for class. How do I feel? Well, it's been a different feeling (apprehension, nervousness, excitement... pissed) every hour, but generally I think I'm more than ready to start again. I've had a substantial amount of sleep the past two weeks, enough so that I could probably pull an all-nighter or two in the coming week and be fine. I'll try to avoid that at all costs, though. I mean, I never pull all-nighters, isn't that right my loyal readers? Anyway, I've had enough free time to do all those things mentioned in my previous post and a bunch of other minute things. I have a tendency to ponder a bunch of completely random topics when I'm bored. I know you'd like nothing better than to hear them, so:

1. If I do become a professor, I'm definitely gonna attempt to start a fashion revolution for my fellow female professors at my university. No more mismatched colors, ill-fitting pants and tops, weird-lookin' frocks, (I'm rhymin' beotch) and terrible looking clothes in general. Okay, so they may not want to carry "fashionable" Coach or Louis Vuitton purses (neither do I: who wants one of those ugly as hell, elitist, overpriced things anyway?), but I don't think it would be too detrimental to their bank account to buy clothes that look nice on them. It actually is possible for women to be intelligent, attractive, and fashionable at the same time. Ugg boots for all! Totally joking, Ugg boots represent all that is wrong and evil in the fashion realm. Then again, I guess some people just don't really care at all about fashion, and I can really respect that. As for the male professors, the majority should just keep rockin' the sweater vests and cardigans and random brands of t-shirts, it's kind of cute!
2. This one's pretty nerdy--Is my major easy, and should I be taking more challenging classes? After a lot of consideration, my answer to both is no. In the matter of the relative difficulty of majors offered at UK, I think many would agree with me that certain majors are much more intense than others. At the same time, though, I think the matter of individuals' inclinations is extremely relevant in this debate. I believe myself to be more inclined towards history, classics, and anthropology than biology, math, or other fields of science. That's not to say that I don't think I could succeed in those scientific fields, but rather that I have a more natural interest and talent in the former ones. At UK, I've slowly learned through lots of observation that what may come natural for one person (a talent in physics, for instance) may be extrememly difficult for others to grasp. I'm sure that if I switched schedules with a second-year Ag. Biotech major, I'd have an extremely rough time handling the classes. I also belive that they might also have a large degree of difficulty succeeding in my classes. Although I'm still only in pretty moderate history/classics courses in terms of difficulty, I would by no means call them easy. They are all pretty intensive in terms of writing, reading, and research. The ability to write well is a must in these courses if one wishes to receive an impressive final grade. Decent writing entails not only the use of solid vocabulary and good grammar, but often the inclusion of terminology relevant to particular studies. The ability to organize, analyze, critique, and paraphrase information and present it in a logical, coherent manner is also essential. I found out quickly that this is not simple. Anyway, while I'm sure I'd take a "C" in Organic Chemistry and feel pretty good about it, I'd like to watch a chemistry major write a 16-page paper on Greek and Roman religion using only primary sources and see how "easy" it is for him or her. I've basically concluded that any college student at UK who talks as if his or her major is "the one and only," and by far the most difficult (I run into those people quite too often, they're usually biolog...yeah) are obviously extremely narrow-minded and have been unexposed to the numerous challenges presented by other fields of study.
3. Lazy people: I grow less and less tolerant of them every day; I guess this coincides with the increased effort I'm putting forth in college. While some degree of laziness is acceptable, I am absolutely amazed by how lazy some people allow themselves to be. Maybe I'm simply jealous because I could never let myself be that unproductive and still feel okay about it. Haha. I really admire individuals who are driven, motivated, and focused--single moms who essentially have two jobs, college students who perform well in the classroom while supporting themselves financially, etc., etc... I believe there's much to be said for these people, especially those who can take a really unfortunate cimcumstance (financial or otherwise) and not let it keep them from succeeding. But lazy people just annoy the piss out of me. If you're capable of doing something, do everyone a favor--get off your ass and do it.
4. And a totally random thought--I think I'll find my future husband in graduate school. How do I know? I know exactly the type of guy I think (take note) I would want to marry, and I think he'll likely be hiding somewhere in my grad school--maybe in one of my classes? We'll be nerdy together. I'm an idiot.

Well, I think I've written enough tonight. Tomorrow will be an exciting day, as I will have to purchase hundreds of dollars worth of books and go "battle" the financial aid staff until they agree to fix something they screwed up. Fun.

The Indescribable Boredom

The picture on the left (my attempt to make an emo picture, thwarted by my inability to keep a straight face) kind of exemplifies my recent ridiculous degree of boredom. Since the craziness of the Christmas shopping season has died down, I've really been left with absolutely nothing to do. Not that that's a terrible thing, as I really needed to take a break from class and get a chance to relax and be a lazy ass. But at this point, I can nearly say that I'm ready to get back into the groove of classes so that I can at least feel somewhat productive. Most of my friends are either in the bustling metropolis that is Pikeville or have decided to be cool and go to a completely different continent (thanks Nick). So it's just myself and my apartment. What have I done with my free time?

1. I cleaned my living room and kitchen at least five times each.
2. I cancelled both my MySpace and my Xuqa accounts. Why? First, they were both distractions that I signed up for only as a result of the same utter boredom that I'm experiencing now. Secondly, they were distractions that I sure as hell won't need next semester. It's actually pretty funny, because if you cancel your MySpace account, you're asked to write the reason as for your cancellation in a comment box. Normally, I would have kept it short and sweet with something such as "It was f'n terrible," or "It's a playground for pedophiles and guys who suck at getting laid," but, given my boredom, I really took my time to explain why I wanted to get rid of it. Reasons included: (1) Visually-challenged members who thought it would be awesome to make their font colors and backgrounds blend in so that reading anything on their pages is nearly impossible. It reminded me of Where's Waldo?: Where Are the Damn Words on This Page? Find them and reward yourself by proceeding to the next member's eye-straining page! (2) The aforementioned guys who can't get laid or who think they are entitled only to college or high school girls. "Damn, ur beautiful. U got a man?" Nope, but considering you're 35 and have two children, you probably shouldn't be asking me that. (3) The ridiculous amount of shit that people uploaded to their pages--pictures, animated graphics, audio clips, etc., etc. First of all, my computer couldn't handle it. Second of all, I couldn't handle it, as I didn't know what to concentrate on first--the animated, glittery "DIVA" graphic on one side? The huge (and often lewd) background picture? The horrid, loud emo music that I want to stop ASAP? I think I know how it feels to be ADD. Anyway, MySpace is in some serious need of restructuring.
3. I finished reading The Magician's Newphew and began reading Prince Caspian. I've read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe too many times to read it again, plus I just saw the movie recently. The Magician's Nephew was pretty decent, and it also sheds some light on the causes of events in the proceeding books. For instance, readers discover why humans (and only humans) are capable of ridding Narnia of the White Witch. You also figure out why the wardrobe is a portal into Narnia--it's rather complicated actually. I don't want to give the answers away, so read it yourself! It's worthwhile.
4. I finished watching all the sixth season episodes of South Park on DVD. They are absolutely hilarious. I love the show not only for the comedy but for its ability to exemplify both extreme (and equally ridiculous) sides of political or social issues in certain episodes. Red Hot Catholic Love was a good example. The Catholic Church's less-than-stellar handling of the child molestation issue was evident in the Catholic assembly's staunch refusal to alter the Holy Document of Vatican Law to allow priests to marry. All the priests also thought the way to remedy the situation was simply to find a way to prevent the accusations from molested children from coming out into the public in the first place. Simultaneously, though, South Park fans could see the equally condemnable actions of the South Park adults, who decided on the spur of the moment to all be atheists. "Let's kill God!" (This idea was suggested by one of the adults at the pinnacle of their discussion regarding their disgust with the Catholic church.) Kenny's father had a valid point, which the other parents disregarded fully: "Just because some priests molest children doesn't mean all of them do." Funny shit.

Well folks, I hope to have something of some actual substance here soon to discuss. Hopefully this will occur next week when things have picked up the pace again.

Animal Withdrawal!

So, I came across this cute as hell picture last night on the internet and for a moment became a little depressed (in an extremely un-emo way) because I realized that I haven't had a pet of my own in about a year and a half. When my family moved to Lexington in August 2004, we had to leave our cat at home. My brother ended up eventually taking her back to Lexington with him to stay at his apartment, but I didn't get to see her that much. Since then, my campus apartment living situation combined with an immediate family member's distaste for certain animals have kept me from having a pet. I'm sure I could get away with smuggling a small rodent or kitten (or this baby penguin) into my apartment without any of the resident advisors or directors knowing, but the space is still pretty restricted and I wouldn't want to infringe upon my roommates. I'm going to have to wait until I get my own place, but then I'll definitely buy my own kitten or other pet. Pets are excellent stress relievers! I'll need one.

Welcome to My Wonderful Blog!

Welcome! I hope at best to have maybe five or six loyal readers after I get this thing going! I'm sure you've already figured out from the title that this is going to be an extremely un-emo blog. I don't see the point in subjecting my friends or random people via the internet to my personal woes, as I'd like them to stay personal. Moreover, my friends already hear me bitch enough about relationships, school, and ignorant people, and I'm sure random visitors would probably not care at all about these things.

For those who don't know me--I just turned 20 (1 year from legal boozing!) and I'm a sophomore attending the wonderful University of Kentucky. I'm a double major in History and Classical Languages and Literature (Latin emphasis). What the hell am I going to do with these degrees? At the moment, I'd like to get a Ph.D. in either History or Classics (haven't decided) and teach at the college level. If not, I guess I'll continue my family tradition of attaining a law degree from UK. This is definitely just an option, though, as I think I'm more inclined to the research and writing aspects of the academic realm. If I can't improve my fear of speaking in front of large groups of people (imagine that!), I think I'd really enjoy conducting research and writing articles for a university/scholarly journal or a magazine like National Geographic.

I've turned into a bit of a nerd since I left high school--I'm proud of my 3.8 GPA and I'm trying to keep it high! I study a lot when classes are in session, as I would absolutely love to attend a great university for my graduate studies.

When I'm not being a nerd, I basically love to relax. I'll watch South Park DVD's or movies, take naps, sleep, eat great food, and occasionally go to a party to social drink and get my mind off of class. I'll try to post some of my other interests in my profile.

With that being said, I guess I can actually start the real posts!