So, I love this semester thus far! There have been various social situations that add to the way I am feeling about school, work, and life in general.
School is great so far! I have a lot of reading to do and a bunch of essays, assignments, exams and such yet to come this semester but I look forward to many of these upcoming projects!
I will admit, I do feel a little like an idiot, I have my English class to finish off my minor as well as an Anthropology class (because it seems interesting) and a Music History class. I should point out that the reason I’m feeling like an idiot is because two of the aforementioned courses are in the 1000-level. For my degree I was allowed either eight or ten 1000-level courses and I think I only ended up with three or four by the end of my degree program. Now, I need to boost my GPA (as pneumonia last year at the beginning of my Spring semester = dead GPA) so I am taking things I am interested in or things I wanted to take and now have the time/room to take. The Music History class is “History of Rock ‘n’ Roll 1970-1990” and I took the first part of this course (up to 1970) but haven’t had time to take this one.
I am finding English frustrating thus far, mainly because I’m not big into Romantic and Victorian poetry but I am trying to be open-minded. The professor has had us listening to songs and such to help relate the older styles of writing to contemporary disciplines. Most recently, we listened to a rap by Common Sense. It was an interesting correlation, especially as I’m a Music major. I have to admit, I am still worried about speaking up in this class. I’m a perfectionist and I hate being wrong, especially when everyone in the class either laughs or I get the “WTF?” look… But when we began by talking about Romantic poetry, my first thought isn’t “roses, champagne, candlelight, moonlight, love” and so on. To me, it’s a time period in which the formerly used ways of doing things were rethought and many people (mainly composers in my thoughts!) reverted back to a prior way of doing things while adding new elements. It’s late 1700’s through to the 19th-century. I see it that way because of the fact that after that, there is a Victorian Era in writing, and the 20th-century perspective in music. Either way, it was interesting to see who knew the difference. When I mentioned it in class during her question about “what does romantic mean to you?” I asked, “Are we talking about the time period or…?” and she told me we were going to get to that! It made me feel not quite so stupid! (Not that I’m stupid, I just think in a different way than many of my peers.)
In my Anthropology class, I’m pretty bored thus far. Part of it is that the first couple of classes all we really talked about was what is theory, how does it apply to life throughout Anthropology and other disciplines as well as definitions of things relating to Evolution. I will admit, I believe in Creation, not Evolution so right now, it’s hard for me to completely relate. I am finding the discussions on Aztec sacrifices and debate about terms interesting though.
Music History… I love the music we discuss and the stories behind the lyrics in the music as well as the history of each of then group’s formation and membership. We have listened to groups such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers, Charlie Daniel’s Band and Black Sabbath. I love many of the songs we are listening to and I already downloaded many of the songs for the upcoming weeks and we are listening to Pink Floyd, Kiss, The Who, Genesis, Chicago, etc. I think this class will be a nice break (although it is a LOT harder than most people think… this isn’t a “rocks for jocks” or “scopes for dopes” class!) AND as it’s a music class, it means that I can take the time to study it and won’t feel completely pressured right now. Last semester I could have used a break like that but I didn’t take anything that allowed me that break and almost (or did) burn myself out. This week we are starting with Santana and going over The Doobie Brothers, Aerosmith, and more. I’m super excited! I think part of the reason that I like the class so much is that the professor is entertaining (meaning: she knows her stuff and makes it fun to learn about!) and seems to have fun teaching this class!
My social life has also been interesting. I think that I have been to more birthdays, parties and such in the last few weeks than I did in the last six months of 2007.
After my Christmas party, I had a few people over to watch movies and such a couple of times. Amber’s family, as well as Adam and Julie had New Year’s parties. It was interesting to see everyone at both houses and I’m glad that Matt offered to drive, it was nice to not have to that night. A bunch of us spent the night at Amber’s and it was a nice chance to hang out and not have to worry about being the hostess. Props to Amber’s family for having us over!
A couple of the birthday parties were for Jen’s 18th and Jade’s 16th within a couple of days of each other. We played funny games and such at both and both girls seemed to enjoy their parties, which was awesome to see! In the coming weeks, I have a LOT of friends who have a birthday. But… many of them haven’t told me what they want for their birthday so I may not be buying gifts, I may just get cards for many of them… C’est la vie…
A few of us (Ben, Amber, Matt, Mike, Kevin and I) went to see “Jawbone Hill” play at the Rusty Cage South. We ran into people like Neil, Anne, Vicky, Shaun and Troy (who I hadn’t seen in year!) and generally just had fun talking, listening to/singing along with the music, eating wings (I highly recommend them, they were excellent!) drinking and dancing. I was the DD so I think we need to go again when I can have a drink or two. Some people were doing shots together and I find it interesting what they like and don’t like tended to mesh more than I would have anticipated. The funniest part of the evening for me was watching my friends flirt with each other and the guys at the table behind us check out my friends.
This weekend was jam-packed, although it didn’t start out that way… Wednesday I was in Calgary and Kurt called to see if I wanted to go to Denny’s for food. He told me to invite Amber, he’d call Nathan and see who else I could invite and he’d see me there. It ended up being Kurtis, Amber, Mark, Jordan, Matt, Ben and I. The conversation was inappropriate at times but we had fun. Thursday I stayed in Calgary, mainly due to roads and weather, also because one of my classes was cancelled. Thursday night Ben, Kurtis, Amber and I hit the pool at the club and then they went for wings, I met Matt and we went out to Adam and Julie’s house. We watched “Mr. Woodcock” with Julie, Adam, Christine and Melynda. Friday night Janice, Jade, Amber and I went to see Kevin in “The Pirates of Penzance” at the University of Calgary, presented by the U of C Operetta Company. It was awesome! Afterwards, Amber was spending the night at my house so we randomly texted a bunch of people and went to BP’s. We figured we’d end up with my brother John (who was with us at this point), maybe Kurtis and maybe Ben. The final group was: John A, John S, Matt, Ben, Marshall, Amber and I. And while we were there Nathan and Ali stopped in to say hello. Amber and I went home and talked until really late… Saturday, Amber and I had plans to grab dinner together, then go to Trevor’s birthday party for a bit. Meghan came over in the afternoon and we decided (the three of us) that we would go see a movie. There were other reasons for that decision but I’m not going to get into them right now. I texted a bunch of people and it ended up that Matt, Megs, Amber and I went to Trev’s for a bit, then went and saw “27 Dresses” which was an amazing movie! One I would see again and will probably buy when it comes out on DVD. Afterwards, I took them home and to their vehicles respectively and went home. Ben came over for a bit and he and John sat and talked for a while and then he and I sat and talked. Sunday I had to work, I wanted to go the Hitmen game (I had been invited…) but it started before I was off so I had to miss it. I went and got Kalynda and we surprised the Hayward’s, who knew I was coming over but not that I would have Kalynda with me. We had cake and ice cream, Janice opened her present and then Amber and I drove Kalynda home. We ended up meeting Kurtis and Nathan for “coffee” at the Blackfoot truck stop… It was interesting. I’ve only been there once before, Amber hadn’t been there. We plugged the table-side jukebox with $2 and chose our 7 songs… I’m not sure if singing along in public was appropriate but we did it anyway! :) We had a blast!
This coming weekend won’t be quite as full… I don’t think. Thursday, Grace Baptist is having their annual “Beach Night” and I’m going to try to go for a bit. Then, Jawbone Hill is playing at the original Rusty Cage so we’re going to go check that out. Friday I leave for Edmonton for the weekend. I’m staying with my friends Dana and Mike and it should be a blast! I’m looking forward to hitting the mall on Saturday and going bowling with the other Rovers. Sunday is the ARRT meeting and then I have my work Christmas Party back in Calgary that night. Monday, I work… Then back to school Tuesday!
I’ve discovered something about myself recently. I’m not looking forward to some of my classes because I am bored. Boredom for me = lack of interest. Also, being sick and trying to focus is not one of my strengths. As I have said, there are certain parts of my week that make being in class worthwhile so I’m glad I get to be there. I digress… The thing I discovered specifically is that I’m not happy with myself when I conform to who people think I am, as opposed to just acting like myself. I’m at the, “if you don’t like me for who I am, buzz off!” stage right now. I love my friends and I think that they are God’s way of keeping me sane as sometimes my family drives me nuts… I have recently come into contact with some new and old people. New, meaning I don’t know them very well yet. Old, meaning people I haven’t seen in years. I look forward to whatever the future holds! :)
On that note, I think that’s all I can physically type right now! My hands are sore… ;)
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