azurite | Entries tagged with midterms

I don't think I'll expect more than a "C" out of my one midterm. I just finished taking my American Literature midterm, and because I completely neglected to study T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" and spent more time on the Harlem Renaissance than on the earlier poets we studied, I know I have several very weak parts to my exam.

Yeah, I definitely mixed up Countee Cullen and Wallace Stevens. For some reason I had it in my head that Stevens was more of a rhymer than Cullen. Oops. I wonder if I can still get credit for my explanation of the significance of the passage, even if I got the author and title wrong.

I mixed up Schuyler and Alain Locke, too, even though I was positive there was no way that was possible, because Locke writes so much more pretentiously than Schuyler (or at least I think so; Locke was incredibly difficult for me to get through).

And then there was the essay where I completely blanked out on how ritual plays into "The Waste Land." We only went over it FOR A WHOLE DAMN WEEK (that is, two days worth of classes) and talked about the "ritual" of life and death and the necessity of death to bring about new life, etc. How did I space on that?

*sigh* On the one hand, yay, it's over, regardless of what grade I get. I don't think I bombed so miserably that I'll get an F and be in danger of failing the class. There's still another essay (which I PRAY we don't do in class), and I think I'll make a habit of, oh, I don't know, actually doing the reading! I didn't think it was that bad while I was cramming last night, but then again, I did screw up some major writers, here.

The professor noted I was "very expressive when taking an exam." This was because I got halfway through the essay and realized I didn't remember a damn thing about "The Waste Land," and I was trying to knock my brain into remembering even the tiniest little thing that I could wax eloquent on. I got nothing. And now I find out I screwed up the identification parts, too? The parts I'd actually been semi-confident about? Grrrreeeeat. Expressiveness isn't going to save my grade.

This bites.

Current Mood: crushed
Current Location: Northridge, CA

My geology midterm wasn't nearly as hard as the teacher made it out to be. She gave us this big long comprehensive study guide and only some of it was actually on the 25-question, multiple-choice test. She had us freaking out at the beginning of the period with mentions of needing a calculator, and there wasn't a single math problem on the test (that I saw; I didn't skip any, and I don't think she had different "versions" of the test). There were no questions about the movement of hot spots or locating a point within a quadrangle using given longitude, latitude, as well as township and range. I only hesitated on two questions, and only one on the extra credit sheet.

It's Friday and I still haven't committed to a class ring (yet). It's probably a good thing, but what sucks is that even if I do make up my mind, the ordering at this point is either online or over the phone. If I want encrusting --and TBH, it doesn't look as good IRL as it does online; I thought it would be more like "dimensional" embossing, but it's really just like painted-on the stone (which has to be of a certain cut or they can't do it at all)-- I have to order over the phone. I have narrowed down the stone choices to either garnet or blue fire spinel, and I'm probably going to get an "antique" finish in some form of silver or platinum or palladium or whatever's available.

The hard part is the BAND size-- originally I wanted this one with these neat sides that had your major and/or other interest on them, plus wording around the stone that says the school name. I can also get these "ribbons" that say something like the year I'm graduating or custom characters...

I whittled it down to wanting:
* Journalism
* Sigma Alpha Pi (Greek name of NSLS)
* CSUN or Cal State Northridge or some variation of the school's name

I can do without 2009 or 2010, but those ones above are MUSTS. Problem is, the ring I wanted that can have all that is so THICK on my fingers, it looks weird. My fingers are pretty short and stubby, with no shape to them. They look like sticks. The one with a thinner, curvier band can't have customized sides, which takes half the fun out of the ring altogether. I like CSUN, but I don't want a Matador on my ring. I looked at some more elegant rings, where there are no side pictures, but I can still get writing on them, but the band looked too thin. It was like my finger was sprouting out of this pretty little delicate-looking thing.

I asked the Jostens folks, but they were basically like "Yeah, there's no middle ground." HELP!

Also, I feel lousy. I think I ate my breakfast too fast again this morning; I was running a bit late for a dentist's appointment. My appointment ended up getting cancelled anyway, so the five minutes that turned into eleven minutes ended up being meaningless. I've rescheduled for the 27th. But in the meantime, this wibbly, constipated feeling has stuck with me all day. I had Campbell's Tomato Soup and Ritz for lunch; the sodium content was just off the charts! I don't usually care too much about sodium --I like my eggs and potatoes salted, thank you very much-- but 790 mg per serving, with a single bowl being 2 servings!? WTF!? It was so salty I was smacking my lips the whole while (and not in the good way). I tried to water the soup down and drink tea to make the saltiness go away, but it didn't help much. I couldn't finish the bowl. I had rice pudding for "dessert," but I'm not sure if that was the best idea, either. On the one hand: rice, which is nice and benign, but on the other hand, PUDDING, which is cream and fat and more stomach pain.

I wonder if all this is caused by the new medicine I've been taking off and on for my dermographia or whatever-- basically all the itchy redness I tend to get all over. I wonder if it's working in conjunction with one of my many other allergy/asthma/heartburn/etc. meds and is making me fill ILL more often than not. Is there some sort of "input meds, see side effects and interactions" generator out there somewhere?

Also: weekend? What weekend? Tomorrow I'm going shopping with Baba and Grandpa in Porter Ranch, and on Sunday I'm planting trees in Granada Hills. Next week is the first meeting of NSLS this semester and I have to make sure to have all the materials and BE ready. Eek, I hope I can do this!

Current Mood: icky
Current Location: Northridge, CA
Current Music: My Life Would Suck Without You ★ Kelly Clarkson (All I Ever Wanted)

I told you I bombed my Geography midterm. I didn't think I'd bombed it so badly as to get a D (that's what a 65% is, right?), but alas! Such is the case. Half of me wishes they graded according to the Asian style, which would be something like this:
A = 90-100%
B = 79-89%
C = 59-78%
D = 39-58%
F = Anything below 39%
That would explain why Usagi always whined about 30%s, anyway...

Today's my Japanese midterm, and I'm much more confident. I've only been here in the Collaboratory for a half-hour, so I have plenty of time before my 2pm class to study... I think what I need to get down is the various readings (ON and KUN) of kanji, and review the sentence structures/patterns that we've learned:
~ni shimasu (I've decided on...)
~ni narimasu (...is set to/will become/becoming)
~sugimasu (too much)
~tai (Verbs+tai indicate desire of action. e.g. tabetai = want to eat)
~hoshii (Nouns+hoshii indicate desire of possession. e.g. kuruma ga hoshii = I want a car)
Verb stems ("tabe" from "tabemasu" is the verb stem. Use it in a a sentence construction with a destination and a noun to indicate purpose of movement and action. e.g. In-N-Out ni cheeseburger o tabe ni ikimasu. I'm going to In-N-Out to eat a cheeseburger.)
Informal speech (finding the "root" of verbs. Sometimes they're the same as verb stems/pre-masu verbs, but usually not.)
Negative questions/responses in informal speech. ("Restoran ni konai?" is not asking "Don't come to the restaurant, okay?" It's asking "Won't you come to the restaurant with me?" It kind of functions the same way the ~masen ka? structure works for formal speech.)

I don't have school/work on Friday because of Cesar Chavez day. We don't get off for Veteran's Day or anything else, but we get off for this... and we're one of the few CSU campuses to get it, too. I don't mind so much though, because we get a perfectly timed Spring Break (first time in probably 10 years for me). The long winter break is a thing of the past though, because of the new summer session that forces us to reorganize the Spring and Fall terms. I think this Winter (assuming I'm still here in SoCal), we'd start again on Jan. 6th or something.

Anyway, since it's Cesar Chavez week, tons of LAUSD high school students have been protesting this bill that originally made it a felony to be an illegal immigrant in California. I would have thought the whole "illegal" thing sort of made it obvious that it was a felony, but something's going on with the rewrite of the bill that would let those people stay, become naturalized citizens, and pay a fine and back taxes. I suppose that's agreeable, but I wish those so-called "undocumented citizens" would make the extra effort to BE a citizen and participate in the country, even if it takes a long time for everything to get processed. (Then again, is it really all that great to be an American at this time?)

Also, Erin, Joyce, my aunt-by-marriage Susy's daughter Karin, and her boyfriend Guy have all been staying at the house the past 3 days, and will keep on staying through Friday, or thereabouts. They're all on their Spring Break, but I rarely see Karin. Erin, Joyce, Baba, Grandpa and I went out to dinner at the Hot Wok last night (good Chinese food!), but since I'd had a pizza during English class (which I was late to, because I was typing up the revision to my Emily Dickinson essay in the language lab. Bad Mer, bad!) I only had a few potstickers.

Erin and even Grandpa insist that poodles (like Erin's miniature poodle, the "rat" known as Mokie) are hypoallergenic. Even if poodles do have fur and not hair (or the other way around?), I still think it sounds like bunk. They might not have body dander, but they can still have fleas. Here's this snippet from Dog Myths Debunked:
Dog lovers allergic to their beloved companions long for a simple solution. Unfortunately, non exists. Certain breeds may not shed or may shed less than others, but that doesn't make their owners allergy-free. Allergic people usually react to dander. As a dog grooms and licks itself, saliva is deposited on the skin and haircoat. As it dries, microscopic bits of the saliva, or dander, enter the air and environment and affect the owner.

Still-experimental allergy shots are available to owners, but most choose grooming and housecleaning options over this often painful and time-intensive option. Frequent shampooing of the dog can keep accumulation of dander to a minimum, as can regular washing of bedding and vacuuming of carpets. Many people also find a household HEPA air filter helpful. Simply keeping the dog out of the bedroom provides tremendous relief to others.

Also, from "How Do I Find a Puppy?": Many people believe that certain breeds (like poodles) are "hypoallergenic". True, there are breeds that do not shed hair but anyone that's highly allergic to dogs can also be allergic to these types. And remember that the non-shedding breeds require regular grooming which takes time & can become expensive (even if you do it yourself).

Erin goes by her brother, David. He was severely allergic to cats, to the point where his eyes got swollen. But he never had any such reaction to Mokie. I hardly think that makes her hypoallergenic. The whole TERM 'hypoallergenic' is a human-created thing, anyway; I don't think animals can be naturally hypo-allergenic. People can be allergic to anything.

Current Mood: apathetic

Weekend Birthdays That I Would Miss If I Didn't Post This:
Happy Birthday Katia and Will!

;_; I may have done badly on my Geography midterm. I had another Attack of the Killer Headache and was basically sleeping for 14+ hours. I don't know how I manage it and still wake up "normal" (ish). I should have studied during that time, but with the half-hour or so that I stayed awake long enough to study, plus the half-hour from this morning, it wasn't nearly enough. ;_; Remembering all this stuff about landforms and weather patterns is hard! I hope I at least get a B. ^^;

It's all been done before... - An excellent (if amusing and occasionally graphic) list of all the tropes, kinks, and clichés found in fanfiction. Just when you think it HASN'T been done before... oh, it has. And to great effect. So sorry. Pick another letter of the alphabet, please.

( Ones that rang true for Yu-Gi-Oh as I skimmed the list )

^^ I want an LJ-hoodie for my birthday. :P

( Icon meme ganked from Stef )

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Kelly Clarkson - Behind These Hazel Eyes

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Entries tagged with midterms

Oh, blather

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Somebody set us up the bomb

Kinks, clichés, and birthday wishes