before i go into hardcore studying

so... basically, i'm an idiot, and didn't realize that i had an orgo test tomorrow.
fortunately, i've been looking through material, so i'm not as ill-prepared as usual. i went to review today, and understood most of the things going on. so that's a good thing.

i went to family group today. tamara, min-hee, brad (dolphyn), brandon dyer, and jane yoon are all in it, which made it more comfortable for me when talking about what we wanted to get out of family group today at the end to say

"i'm not christian -- but i'm here to get to know more about God."

there are some things that needs to be justified, while at the same time things that i don't feel should really be done so. i don't know how else to put that. i'll come to terms with one or the other.

so. while studying, current playlist consists of four albums and some random songs in between:

"get out of my yard" album, paul gilbert
"liberation transmission" album, lostprophets
"good apollo i'm burning star iv volume one from fear through the eyes of madness" album, coheed and cambria
"the electric joe satriani anthology" album, joe satriani
"panopticon" album, isis
select songs by racer x

i just saw shade alabsa in the library. he's back at tech!

back to studying.

con amor.

north ave housing: i will chew your soul and spit you back out

[edit] fire alarm goes off at 5:15 am. it was cold outside. and i had no morning shift.

home

the past few days have been interesting.

since thursday, i've pretty much been going to the pool, and then back home, exhausted. it was my first lifeguard class that i taught, and there were initially 40 of them that we were supposedly going to hire. between the seven of the lifeguard instructors, this was definitely bearable. but going up in front of them, talking to them in the beginning was the scariest thing ever. so many of them towered over me. seriously, the dudes could have been doubles for the incredible hulk. not all of them, but enough of them were massive i cringed at first. but as the class progressed, i definiteliy got used to the environment, and we all got to be comfortable around one another. i definitely developed confidence from teaching this class. even after working this job for years, practicing the skills, going through the instructor course -- i think it was nice to be able to prove i could teach it. and get to know people. i definitely hated the initial awkwardness. but a few laughs later, things were great. some of my favorite (new) guards:

• "weasley twin" - he has a twin brother working at a different part of the crc. they're redheads, and identical. what more can you ask? they also sound very much like each other, though i've only seen them together at the same time once.
• tech swimmer A - big, friendly guy. quiet giant. sculpted. holy crap. incredible huk #1.
• tech swimmer B - always had this mischievous grin. you'd think he was always up to no good as a kid. and never grew up. actually, he was hilarious. he told me he was going to take a turd in the pool today during practice. yeah. gross. but funny at the same time.
• philsky's little sister - i kid you not, this girl looks like my buddy's little sister. she's so TINY. potentially smaller than shawty. no jokes. apparently during the final scenario though, she had the voice of the devil. as in, everybody stopped as she was yelling and doing cadences. scariest thing ever. but similarly, funny.
  
• joe byrne look-a-like - sounded like him, only mini-me'd. also had the similar personality. he knew his stuff too, and was making my life easier as a teacher.
• G.I. joe - for the lack of a better name, because he was enlisted. also, cool student. so into the lessons. 'nuff said.

we had to fail a couple students at the last day, and we had to ask a few of them to leave on the first night. that was a bit of a shame, but had to be done. i'm looking forward to working with these guys over this summer and getting to know them.

still want to ride the bike properly. haven't gotten the chance to do that yet.

but here's a picture, blue with absurdity.

eddie -- i don't think i could go too far with it, it's prolly more for commuting purposes (it's a single speed). i'm game to try though, let me be a beast first though.

i love this song

This Year (If We Fall in Love)
Test Your Reflex

And if we fall in love
Can you promise to keep your eyes shut
And we can see what we wanna see
It doesn't mean that much to me
And if we settle down,
And make a home in some new town
Will my busy head begin to clear and
The loneliness just disappear
If so, I hope we fall in love this year

And if we fall in love
Can you promise to turn the lights off
And we can both fall asleep
There's nowhere else I'd rather be
And if you take my name
Does everything begin to change
Will you still enjoy the little things
You know it means so much to me

Don't be afraid if there's something that you wanna say
Please make it clear
Cause I really want to fall in love this year

Fall in love this year
To fall in love this year

And if we fall in love,
Can you promise to turn the lights off
And we can both fall asleep
There's nowhere else I'd rather be
And if you take my name
Does everything begin to change
Will my busy head begin to clear
And the loneliness just disappear
If so I hope we fall in love this year

Fall in love this year
I really hope we fall in love this year

Oh, to fall in love this year...

oh dear "god help us all" pt. 2

several themes to this --

1. the adventures of blue the bike -- there's "biking," and there's biking. one is from the phrase "it's like learning how to ride a bicycle, you never forget." just because you don't forget doesn't necessarily mean that you suck at it going through it the second or third time around. especially when you start off again on a road bike that's a little big for you. and it doesn't help that the saddle really rides up in the butt. i'm going to have one callused butt by the end of the summer. i now have a U-lock, and a helmet, so i can technically start riding a bike around campus. a couple problems: i'm still not comfortable with stop-and-go's, and i'm still not used to a road bike yet. so i think i'm going to start slow ont his. maybe just ride it in the afternoons after class and get used to it before really going hardcore. that seems like a good idea. and let my butt get used to the hard saddle. jeez. the sexual connotations to that are... wrong.
   
2. there was frisbee, and there was Frisbee. again. same sort of deal. i'm starting to play again, but i'm so out of shape. i don't feel like i contribute as much anymore. and it makes me a little sad because there was a time when i felt like i was bettering myself. i need to be confident again about playing.
3. first jca service i went to without hibisca, janet, stephanie, or rex -- was good. it was a very inspirational talk on trials and hardships. that all in all, we need them so we can grow for Him. i think while it seems like an obvious thing (conflict leads to growth), it's something that we tend to forget. i really liked the service because of that, because p. matt expanded on this. talking about how trials and difficulties reveal to us what we're attached to, how we live in the "now" secular generation, when we really shouldn't be. i'm looking forward to attending more services as the semester goes on. also, looking forward to trying out family group :)
   
4. school is... tough. dsp is a dry class. i don't know what it is that bugs me about it. we have a two hour recitation every week, and the recitation teacher basically spent the first hour and fifteen minutes repeating what our professor told us on the first day of class (prof. clements outlined all of it in 20 mins). it was torture, and a waste of time. the recitation teacher then followed with review. which was slow and detailed, which was a double-edged sword. but, i think it'll help as the semester progresses. so... fingers crossed on that. i like the orgo professor a lot. he's a young guy, makes class interesting by speaking in an engaging manner. i'd like to get to know him. i think i've already mentioned this. hm.
5. i miss people. a lot.
   

god help us all, i've got a bike

so... this summer should be interesting...

i got that bike. it's a little big, but nothing unbearable... except for the seat, and i think that's just default. i used to ride a mountain bike, so riding a road bike is definitely different. it feels fast, and single speed really isn't all that bad. i really really really enjoy it (so far). now i just have to get a helmet and a U-lock before i start using it.

also, having to deal with traffic. that should be interesting.

classes are decent so far. my orgo 1 professor (cameron tyson) is a young guy, makes class really engaging just by the way he talks and the jokes he cracks. which is great, since it's a 2 hour lecture. i want to really do well in his class, and, hopefully, it won't be too bad...? he doesn't curve, at all, supposedly. but he's a lot more organized than sys phys, so it should be more enjoyable. i'm going to break my bad streak with chemistry this summer. i'd like to get to know him too, (a) so he could write a letter of recommendation for me, and (b) because he just seems like an interesting, aweseome guy.

dsp on the other hand... well, the class is boring. let's just face it. but the professor seems to be fresh, too. his research is in speech recognition, and all in all seems like an interesting person. honestly, i'm shooting for a B in this class.

no homeworks due... yet. but due dates are already on the syllabus. and i need a dsp textbook... which i'll receive over the weekend...

goals for this summer.

1. A in organic chemistry, A in DSP (despite my shooting for a B)
2. work out every day at the CRC, lose some poundage, gain some muscles
3. eat healthy, save money.
4. hang out with friends
5. go to jca every sunday, take part in family group
6. tennis
7. frisbee
   

bike bike bike bike bike bike

so i've been thinking about getting a bike for the past couple weeks, and... it's been kind of tough. it's starting to make more and more sense after this year. having to wait for the stinger/ stingerette so i can get to west campus frequently for classes, etc. with summer, less of them running around, so i've been wanting to become less dependant on it. and be less lazy. i guess walking would be a good solution too, except it does consume time. see this? this is the logic i'm using to justify this hunt for a good bike. this, along with increased trips to piedmont park... and walking there is extremely inefficient.

currently looking at bikes that cost 100-200 dollars. have gotten a lot of help from gabe in this department.

going to go meet a french (?) guy today selling his for 200. crossing my fingers. other than the obscene blue of this bike, it looks amazing. and worth it. totally.

oh boy.

boy, this semester sucked.

grades came out today.i feel like i worked my butt off, and didn't get any of the grades i deserved.

physiology - B
statistics - B
inorganic - C
inorganic lab - C
bmed 2210 - C

statistics is probably the only grade that i deserved. i felt like the rest of the grades are off by one letter grade. i feel like all of them were due to the final exam. physiology was the worst exam ever, i had no clue how to study for that. 2210 was just a killer. i understood the material, but the level of difficulty for that exam was off the charts.

sigh.

guess i'm jsut gonna hve to work harder the upcoming semesters.