Well, this is a problem...

The summer school schedule is up, and things don't quite work out according to plan.

I need 3 classes. Analytical chem, analytical chem lab, and calculus 1. I need these classes because I've set up my classes for the rest of my college career rather strategically so that everything just barely all fits together. I need analytical so I can take o chem and intro to criminalistics this fall. I need calculus so I can take p chem this fall. I have to take p chem, o chem and intro to criminalistics this fall so that I can take criminalistics 1 (fall only class) the following fall. Everything times out so that with the classes that are only offered in the fall and the classes that are only offered in the spring, I have created an intricate net that will allow me to still graduate in spring 2015.

If I miss one of my classes, everything else crumbles and I have to push back my graduation date by easily a year.

So. Here's my problem. Analytical + lab + calculus don't quite fit together... Here are my possibilities:

Calculus 1: (4 credits)
John Ethier MTR 10:00-12:15
Larry Johnson MTR 12:30-2:45

Analytical Chem: (3 credits)
Michael Jacobs TR 10:00-12:30

Analytical Lab: (2 credits)
Gary Farmer MW 9:00-12:50
Michael Jacobs TR 1:15-5:00

Bonus, all these teachers have very good scores on ratemyprofessor.com. Un-bonus, no combination of classes works out... Unless I'm missing something obvious and some puzzle-lover wants to offer up a solution, but I'm pretty sure I've looked at everything. The best option I have is analytical with Jacobs (obviously. No getting out of that one), calc with Johnson, and lab with Farmer.

That would have me being no more than like 5 minutes late to calc on TR, but up to 20 minutes late to calc on Mondays... Is there any chance that we think Johnson would be ok with that? Perhaps I should go talk to him. If I can just get this summer semester to work out, then-- I already checked-- my fall classes (o chem+lab, p chem+lab, intro to criminalistics) will work out just fine.

Wish me luck...

He's the meanest man that you'll ever see.

Haha I found this today. It's a clip from Whose Line is it Anyway about Hitler jokes... Fantastic.

The entire episode was pretty good, too. I suggest doing the 52% good GorillaVid version.

It's all ended.

Actually, I guess it all about 8 months ago. I'm a little slower than everyone else. In fact, when the movies came out, I never intended to be one of those weird people who read all the books and adored them and everything. But, alas, I eventually gave in and read them.

And here's why. Movies 1, 2, 3 and 4 make perfect sense. I followed them fine, I understood what was going on in the plot of the Harry Potter world. All was good. Then movie 5 came out. It was so confusing. I managed to follow some sort of general plot, but mostly I was just watching for the cool effects. Movie 6 came out, and I had serious gaps (from movie 5) in my knowledge, but overall I felt like I sort of understood what was going on. I could have never pulled off an intelligent conversation with anyone about what was going on, but I ignored that and pretended like I still knew what was happening.

And then movie 7 came out. Way to ruin everything, Deathly Hallows pt 1. I was just so confused and angry at the end of that movie. I picked up on a couple of details here and there of what happened, but there were so many plot jumps that I had no idea why anything was happening. At all. It all just went straight over my head. So I talked to one of my friend, Ally, about the series, and she filled me on some gaps that just didn't happen in the movies. Things that are pretty essential to know, but couldn't be included in the movies for one reason or another. And it doesn't matter that these things aren't included for most people. Most people have read the books (and if it weren't for my friend Alli and my pretty extensive knowledge of the books she's read, I would be pretty sure I was the last person to read the Harry Potter series). Most people already know what's going to happen, they're just going to the movies to see the movies that have been playing in their imagination on screen.

Anyway, Ally's help with my confusion, although it definitely helped, mostly just gave me more questions than answers. And after enough of my questions, Ally just told me I should read the books, and I agreed. I had been pretty proud that I resisted the Harry Potter books and wasn't crazy and didn't play Quidditch in my spare time or buy wands and memorize spells and get scarves with the colors of the Hogwarts houses on them, or any of that crazy stuff. But my curiosity overtook me, and I started reading...

(Side note-- I had only read the first 3 books when movie 8 came out, and it left me not-confused enough that I stopped reading Harry Potter for a solid 6 months.)

I honestly didn't love the first 3 books. I only read the first 2 because I knew there were probably gaps in my knowledge that I would need for later books, but I didn't like the style of writing. The first couple books are definitely children's books. They've got decent plots and everything, but they were clearly meant for kids around the same age as Harry (who was 11-12), and I was trying to read them as a 19 year old. And I didn't want to be reading a kids book, I wanted these books to already appeal to me as a young adult. I thought the 3rd book was alright, and the 4th book was pretty good. And although I learned a lot from these books, I didn't love the series until I got to book 5.

Movie 5 is the one I remembered nearly nothing about, so reading the book for it was a completely new adventure. I didn't have any experience with it, so I was finally reading a book that was completely knew. I wasn't comparing it to the movie at all. I was just enjoying a new book and a new adventure. Book 6 held up pretty well, too, though I did remember a very loose plot (and consequently, a couple of exciting plot twists). And book 7, though I remembered a lot of the last 3rd (which is what movie 8 was based off of), also held up well because of my constant confusion for the beginning/middle of it.

And now, I can genuinely say, that Harry Potter is an excellent series. I can look back at the beginning books, too, and appreciate how J.K. Rowling matured the writing of the book with the audience. That's a really cool quality that I would like to include in my writing if I ever were to write a long series. That started off with a young child. Though this hypothetical series is not in my plans. :) And, though I didn't cry, I did get teary-eyed when a couple of the characters died. But only 2 of them.

Lastly, though. Really? Can we stop telling me about things I haven't read yet? I have one friend (coughcough ALLYcough) who won't stop giving away things that I don't know yet. I think she likes to see the reaction on my face, and the chances of her being there when I actually read it are pretty slim. But really? Way to ruin the books for me. I took a good 2-3 month hiatus from reading the books because I found out all the characters who die.

And, as a last show of my nerdiness for this blog, here is a list of which houses I would hope to be a part of if I were a wizard going to Hogwarts, in order of least likely to most likely:

I'll teach the lot and treat them just the same.

Hard work

Patience

Loyalty

Fair Play

Pretty much the only thing I like about Hufflepuff is that it's where Cedric Diggory came from, and he turned out to be such a BAMF. Mostly, when I think of Hufflepuff, I think of people who weren't awesome enough to make it into any houses. And they're all puffy and mediocre at magic in my imagination. Haha. That's probably because they're named Hufflepuff. Puff.

We'll teach just those whose ancestry's purest.

Ambition

Cunning

Resourcefulness

I don't hate Slytherins, actually. Though, I sure I hope I wouldn't turn into a dark wizard by being there. :) I believe in my strength to a good witch who came from Slytherin. I also would like to think that I'd be friends with people from other houses if I were in Slytherin. (Though, obviously, since it had me, Slytherin would be the best and we'd win everything.)

We'll teach all those with brave deeds to their name.

Bravery

Daring

Nerve

Chivalry

I feel like most of the wizards in Harry Potter who were good characters (as in, not some sort of villian) were in Gryffindor. Which makes sense, since that's the house the main characters were in. Although there certainly are good character in other houses as well.

Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure.

Intelligence

Knowledge

Wit

Truth. Wit beyond measure is indeed man's greatest treasure. And seriously, who would want to just remember a password when you could answer a riddle to get into your common rooms? That would be so much cooler. You would learn!

I <3 Harry Potter. But I'm not signing up for any Quidditch competitions.

And, as a reward to anyone who made it to the end of the blog, enjoy a sweet video that I love very much. I hope you also consider it a reward, not punishment. :)

Time to read Mistborn...

But if I get a new car, how will I get my workout in?

Side note about my last blog-- I'm disappointed that more of you didn't tell me how you would have spent a million bucks. Unless Jason is really the only one who reads my blog, in which case this is rather embarrassing...

But anyway. Let me tell you about my adventures on Wednesday.

Before I do that, you should know some things. 1) My school schedule on Mon/Wed starts at 9:30 am and ends at 7:45 pm. I have one class, then a 3+ hour break, and 3 more classes all right in a row. It's not that bad, if I don't have a lot of homework to do between classes, I usually go home. 2) My car is sad. It takes all of 5 miles for it to overheat, and it doesn't go in reverse. It has other problems, but they're pretty minor. This "overheating" thing and the "only goes forward" thing are the big problems it has. And the "only goes forward" thing is the one important to the story today. A lot of people ask me how I get out of parking lots when they find out my car lacks that ability. I drive around until I find a place I can pull through (usually not too difficult, but ensures a far walk) or, if I'm at church or something, I just wait out whoever's parked in front of me. In rare cases, I've pushed my car, usually with the help of some friends.

So on Wednesday, I had a test in my first class-- history-- and I had to buy a Greenbook before class (just a little booklet with a bunch of lined paper to write essays on), so I made sure to get up early enough to catch the bus that would get me to campus about 15 minutes before class started. I managed to hit a bunch of red lights, so I was about to miss the bus, and as I pulled in to the parking lot, I could see it was just pulling up. So I hurried and parked as close as I could and ran up (turns out that wasn't my bus, and the bus driver was running a little late, so I still got to school on time). Well, parking as close as I could means that there was a car in front of mine. Not a problem, actually. I had some homework I needed to do, so I should stay anyway, and by the time I get back to the park-n-ride at night, there's usually only 5 other cars there.

And, if I really wanted to go home, I could just push my car. Done it before.

Well, I took my test (which I think went well, but I really hate essay tests), and I finished about 20 minutes before I would have usually gotten out of class. In my rush to leave in the morning, I didn't bring anything to eat, so I decided with the extra time I had, I could still push my car out of the parking space and head back home for a while. My homework didn't need to be done that day, so I would be fine.

As I'm walking toward my car, I just kept hoping that the car in front of me had already left. Make my life easy. But as I knew deep down, the car was still there. I get into my car and put it in neutral, and I start letting up off the brake. Aaand... I start sliding downhill aka toward the car in front of me.

This is a bit of a pickle. I decided to go ahead and gently love tap the car in front of me and push my car out while it wasn't rolling downhill, but pressed comfortably against the car in front of me. (As I get out and I'm pushing, I had horrible visions of this episode of Grey's Anatomy where someone's legs got pinned in a car crash. I was just really careful.) Oh, and does everyone remember how it was cold and a little snowy out on Wednesday? That made this so much more fun.

After 15-20 minutes of pushing and two people walking past me, I had made it about 6 feet. Something I'm proud of, but it wasn't far enough to actually leave. I sat there thinking... I was really tired. Pushing a car uphill for a period of time is not something I've been training for. Do I want to keep pushing and hopefully make it out eventually? Will I get enough time at home for it to be worth it? Should I just give up and go back to campus?

Unfortunately, I decided to get back in my car and put it back where it originally was. 20 minutes of my life wasted. I sat in my car being cold with wet knees and dirty hands, listening to music while doing some Chinese homework, then caught a bus back to campus. Incidentally, it was the same bus driver that I had earlier. I sat by my physics classroom for an hour waiting for the class before mine to be done, then proceeded on with my day.

Actually, because it was so cold, my Chinese teach let us go 45 minutes early. Told us to go home and eat dinner and be warm. Really cool, right? WRONG. Haha. I had another class an hour after she let us go which I had to stay around for. That's ok, I went up to this candy and soda shop that I've always wanted to go to and bought some Twix. This was the coolest store I've ever been in in my life. Very retro and awesome.

Results of pushing my car: Very sore forearm for the next several hours (which you can really feel when you turn the wheel of your car haha.) and a sore back the next couple days. Made for a kinda fun story, and I got a sure workout in, so I guess it was worth it.

Even still, I will be happy to get a new car. Someday...