Well. College it is, then.

I didn't get the teaching job I applied for. Lame lane. They actually didn't even review my application. I have a feeling that the jobs were posted for technicalities, not because they actually needed more teachers. I think they were probably waiting for some of the current teachers to get back to them for if they wanted to stay another year.

These things happen. It's kinda obnoxious, but at least I have a job now that I like. I'll apply again next year if it's open, and if I don't get it then, I'll just... stop? My praxis score is only good for two years, and I'm not about to dish out another $200 for a job I haven't gotten 2 years running.

As it stands, I'm taking 3 classes this fall. I actually had signed up for 6 classes (sign language, intro to criminalistics, intro to linguistics, a couple psych classes) but then I realized I wanted something a little more relaxed, and I looked at everything I was signed up for. The criminalistics class and its lab were both at really inconvenient times, so I had some weird schedule where I would have really early classes on MW, afternoon classes TR, and big giant gaps between classes everywhere. It was just begging for disaster.

Now all my classes are on MW. I'm taking dynamics of health from 2-3:15, ASL 2 from 3:30-4:45, and intro linguistics after a 45 min dinner break from 5:30-6:45. It should be lovely. That'll go Aug 19th to Dec 14th. And, theoretically, that will still give me enough time to write.

Speaking of, I've been reading a lot so far this summer, which is an exciting thing to say, considering I've only really been done with classes for a week. I finished reading the first three books in The Mortal Instruments. It's pretty good, perhaps a step above Hunger Games. I'm in the middle of Nightingale (72% through or something, actually) and it's interesting, but I have yet to realize what the main conflict of the story is. Unless it's just about Bron discovering his powers and having some girl problems. In which case, this is an incredibly lame book. I trust that it will get better as the series continues.

And then I'm reading a couple non fiction books-- What Every Body is Saying, which is fantastic and I love it, and Million Dollar Outlines, which is also fantastic and I love it. It's definitely helped me become a better outliner, but more than that, it's made me a much more critical reader. I actually have well informed opinions about books and writing in general.

Which leads me to two things. First, one of my friends suggested the possibility of me becoming a book editor, which would mandate that I switch to a linguistics major. I think that might be a kinda cool path. We'll see how this intro linguistics class goes this fall, and then I'll decide from there if I want to keep my major in chemistry or switch it, and from there I'll decide what I'm doing with my life. And second, I want to start a "Mark Reads" type thing.

I know I've explained what Mark does on Mark Reads before, but I'll reiterate here, just in case anyone's forgotten. Mark takes a book and reads it one chapter each day, then writes a review for each  chapter. He does the same thing for TV shows. He picks books he doesn't know anything about, and for that reason, no one can tell him anything about it. No spoilers of any kind. He makes predictions about the books, and it's fun to watch him experience these books fresh.

So I need suggestions! If I do this, I don't think it'll be quite a 1 day=1 chapter thing. Probably a 2 days=1 chapter thing. Maybe a 3 days=1 chapter thing. I'd like to start asap. The only thing is that I need a book to start with. I prefer it's a book that someone who reads my blog regularly has read before. And it needs to be one I haven't read before, and not in a series that I've read before. So comment with your suggestions! Don't tell me anything about the book, though. Just a title and author. If someone else has already suggested the book you want me to read, please please say that. The more of you that have read this book when I start it, the better. Or you're also welcome to read along with me and make predictions as I go.

Should it so happen that all y'all are slackers and don't give me any suggestions, I will probably not do this. I would just pick my own book, but that wouldn't be fun because I wouldn't know if any of you had read it before. And it's actually really fun to be able to read about someone else reading the book. It's kinda like reading it for the first time yourself again. Yes. So what book should I start for Samara Reads?


... Maybe this college path will be fun.

[[UPDATE: I changed the link that Mark Reads goes to, so now it's a post he's written about what he does. It just sums things up nicely and links you to some of his favorite posts he's written.]]