Return of the Jew

After a hiatus thanks to getting home, dealing with job hunting, and poor internet access, I've finally returned to the blogosphere.

Being home is nice. Having a short break from regularly scheduled days is nice. Tomorrow I start working again, at Warm Animal Hospital (requisite plug, recommend to all pet owners) as a receptionist. That's part time, so I'm looking for something else to fill the rest of the week - probably Kings Island, hopefully at the candy shop again. Two old friends are also returning, and apparently there's a "production team" that we're qualified for, having lots of experience making fudge and other varied items. So, that'd be fun. If not that, something third shift.

So that's the first two reasons for vanishing. The third is due to borrowing internet access from the local unsecured wireless, which is now in full force but for the first five days was inexplicably absent.

And so my summer begins. I hope to enjoy it, although I will certainly enjoy being back at school in the fall. I never thought I'd say that.

Almost there...

Homeward bound, and taking it easy at the pit stop right now. Spent my last night at Colby watching Iron Man again, for free this time. It pays to be the designated driver. I leave you for now with music.

SeeqPod - Playable Search

Three Days

Yeah, that's right, Penelope Cruz.

Anyways...the point of the post was to take pleasure in the simple fact that a.) in three or four hours I'll be down to one exam left, and on Tuesday I'll be leaving campus for a good long while. Ignoring the fact that my summer jobs are falling through, leaving me with unpleasant thoughts as to where I'll end up...(I absolutely refuse to work for Kings Island again), I'm looking forward to getting out of here. Come tomorrow afternoon I'll start packing up everything that's not already at my grandparents' house (which is not much), and Monday evening I'll sit back with a friend, a long movie (Lawrence of Arabia) and relax. Finally. I should be cramming for the chemistry final that's in an hour and a half...but that's why I got up early, and besides, it's multiple choice. Gotta love the ACS.

Monday is Italian, which I have a hate-hate relationship with. I think I'll head outside and study in the sun (somehow the rain that was predicted for last Thursday still hasn't come, and the skies are clear as can be). Campus is gradually emptying, which is kind of freaky, but at least all the seniors are here. Winter break was fun for leaving late because there were fewer than a hundred kids spread across campus. So few people...

So I should get back to studying...but really, why study when I can just go to Hollywood and get a job as a stunt double for any of my celebrity look alikes? I'm sure I'd make a great Amisha Patel (whoever the hell she is).

OH...Note to self: $7.50 back for a textbook that cost at least $80 (I don't want to know how much it really was) at the beginning of the year? Not a good deal.

What joy!

A calculus exam in the morning does wonders for the body. Especially at eight in the morning. How wonderful. Permission to strike the professor?

Well now

Just got back from a midnight showing of Prince Caspian, and I was totally won over by it. Go see it; it's freaking amazing.

One down...

Biology is history. First out of the exam room, clocking in at an hour and ten minutes. Some of my friends have identified me as "that guy." You know, the one who walks in a couple minutes late, grabs an exam and sits down, and the next time you look up he's gone? Yeah. I figure I might even have nabbed an A- for the semester.

Next up is calculus, at nine in the morning on Saturday. Sounds like fun, no? After that is chemistry, 12:30 Sunday, and then Italian at 12:30 Monday. And after that? Home free. Break out the champagne (actually, probably Harp lager) and start packing.

For now, Smash Brothers and other fun things. With the sudden loss of my CD-ROM based entertainment I've turned to things that are internet based or on my hard drive. So, lots of Yahoo euchre and GTA. If only Addictinggames would produce some decent new games...I personally have no desire to take naughty pics of child celebrities.

So...yeah. That's all fun. I win. According to these rules, which I just made up. Props for reference getters.

A precedent has been set

Since someone else already did it, I figure I might as well...I'm tired of studying anyway, and it's better than a long winded rant on whatever comes to mind...so here. Enjoy, nitpick, suggest new stuff...I'm going to bed with my notebook under my pillow (hoping for osmotic learning).

So that's all fun, then...

Counting down the days now. Unfortunately, as I gleefully consider three months of freedom, my computer has decided to sh*t itself. Although it has been an extremely reliable machine for a year and a half, the CD drive recently broke down in the middle of burning a CD. The drive now reads and plays DVD's but will not recognize anything else. This means no games, no audio discs, no burning...you get the idea. While not a critical issue, it is a minor annoyance that could potentially be problematic. The best part is that with the warranty expired as of last November, a new drive is costly. The best price I've found so far is a hundred dollars, and the worst is two hundred and forty. So...I'll probably have to buy a new drive eventually. Ah well.

Everything else is looking pretty peachy in comparison...my grades, while not stellar, are turning out solid. Italian is consistently my worst subject, and I'll be glad to be done with it after next semester. The ironic thing is that I end up speaking better German when intoxicated than I do Italian when sober. Huh.

Got roped into working at the bookstore all afternoon yesterday. I didn't have any plans, and it was a good way to earn thirty bucks, so I can't complain too much.

Packing up to take stuff to Portland tomorrow. I've realized that despite the large number of cardboard boxes I've accumulated over the year, only a few of them are actually big enough to hold much. I have three blankets and a comforter that need to go in some sort of box, and I'll probably have to buy a rather large one at the bookstore tomorrow morning.

Again with the bookstore. On the positive side, we're clearing out old ARCs, which means I got three books to read. For free. It's a wonderful system.

Anyways...I should keep packing/studying/etcetera-ing. Whee!

Yay

One week of classes left! Excitement and joy! Not much going on; chorale concert was wonderful, blah blah blah...OH, and Iron Man was simply AWESOME...Did I mention that there's only one week of classes left?

True Story

If you've never heard of Gregg Jackson, you're missing out. Colby was wonderful enough to have this gentleman come and speak to the leftist mob, telling us all (twenty of us? twenty five?) about how Islam is evil and not the religion of peace, that homosexuality is unhealthy and wrong, that the left is destroying America through attacks on our foundational values, and that Christianity rules. We also learned that lazy hypocritical Republicans are to blame as well, and in Jackson's opinion are the biggest threat to America, but I was too impressed by his ignorant attacks on Islam and the "Left," as he called it, to pay much attention by that point. I took detailed notes of the whole thing, however, and some of the highlights include

Three threats to the survival of the United States: Islamic jihad, The Left, and Apathetic, Hypocritical, Lazy, etc Christian Republicans.

Europe is dead, citing "Londonistan" , and we are close to electing a president with links to Islamic militants: Barack Hussein Obama.

The Left is telling countless lies: about global warming, telling kids (indoctrinating our youth) that gays are acceptable; they are trying (and have been since WWI) to set up a "humanist theocracy" that would set man above G-d, they are teaching evolution (more indoctrination), amorality and moral relativism, self-actualization (which apparently is bad), trying to institute a society of classlessness, abolish natural marriage and destroy the traditional family, and establish socialism and globalism, which would invite micromanagement of the US by the UN.

Soon to come because of the Left are socialized health care and major rationing, Orwellian hate crime laws, increased illegal immigrants, and increased amounts of international law superseding US laws.

Democrats enjoy illegal immigrants because these illegals vote for them.

The Founding Fathers were religious; so should we be. Madison based the idea of separation of powers on Isaiah 33:22, Christian conservatives need to stop compromising, abortion is and always will be evil, G-d has blessed the US and will turn away from us if we keep killing babies.

The nation needs supernatural healing, and it is time to humble ourselves before G-d.



Now...that's fun, right? A man who is devoutly Christian (who styled himself a "Jewish-believing Christian,") is obviously far to the right (although critical of other conservatives, and is, quite frankly, slightly insane. To attack the Muslim faith like that, and then to argue on in the question and answer session after the talk (which took much longer than the talk itself) against a real Muslim...that takes balls. Or a lack of a brain. Either could be true. Calling Christianity a religion of peace, he dismissed the Inquisition and Crusades as non-scriptural based and therefore irrelevant. He didn't seem to know about the Huguenots or the rule of the Moors in Spain.

Repeated questioning by members of the GLBTQ Alliance revealed that he thinks that homosexuality is a mental disorder and should not be explained to our children as acceptable (or, horror of horrors, good). He cited many studies showing decreased life expectancy in homosexuals as showing that homosexuality is unhealthy, and ignored or scoffed at the repeated suggestion that lower life expectancy could be linked to higher suicide rates linked to a social stigma caused by homophobes such as himself.

Listening to this fellow was funny at first, but quickly became infuriating. Because of his religion, he assured us, he was always right. He pressured the Muslim student on whether she believed in everything the Koran says, to which the response came asking him if he believed everything the Bible told him, especially the Torah. That shut him up temporarily. We heard about how his idea of foreign policy in Iran would be to "stand by our ally Israel" and use pinpoint strikes on known nuclear sites in Iran. The Republican party, that of Lincoln and of Reagan, will always be superior, according to Mr. Jackson.

Civility was maintained, surprisingly enough, but I'm fairly sure just about everybody in the room, conservatives included, just wanted to hit him.

Anyways, I need to go to bed, and thinking about this idiot is just making me mad. May G-d bless and keep idiots like him...far away from me. Kudos if you get the reference.