azurite: (twilight - fursplode!)
Whoo-hoo! I finished my five quizzes for Environmental Geology (chapters 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 and 13) and my Exam (cumulative for all of those chapters) and I KICKED ASS! I got As or Bs on all of the quizzes, and an A or A- on my exam (I got a 96%, that's an A or A-, right?). Last exam, I missed 6 questions, this time, I only missed 3! :) :)

But the fun never ends, oh no. I still have a biology quiz due tomorrow morning at 10am, my flood insurance rate map assignment due for geology tomorrow night (but I want to get it in earlier so I'm not thinking about it when I'm out with the gals... STALKING RPATTZ! I am kidding. Sort of. More on that later.), and a paper on war (or something like that) for my gender and women's studies class.

So yeah, no shortage of school work here. But I seem to perform best under pressure, so, armed with some delicious Green Tea flavored with honey and ginseng (iced, of course) and some freshly made fudge walnut brownies I SHALL EMBARK UPON THE NOBLE QUEST OF EDUCATION!

And caps-lock of rage, too. Except it's not rage, it's something completely different and bizarre.

This month is just non-stop. Aside from already having missed my deadline for my environmental lifestyle audit for my Recreation and Tourism Management class, I've also failed to update WDKY26 within one year. *hangdog face* I'm quite ashamed, but seriously, looking at all this school work and all the drama I've had in the past year, does it surprise anyone? I'll get that damn thing done... if it kills me. HA HA I MADE A FUNNY! -_-

Coming up: thinking about getting the new T-Mobile G1, since my contract with T-Mobile is just about up, I think, and I'm due for an upgrade. Plus, I wanna get my PSP. Of course, both of those involve spending money I DO NOT HAVE but... minor detail, seriously. Also: possible Bangra dancing on the 15th, Thanksgiving coming up (Dad is mysteriously and suddenly okay with me having a room of my own at the Hilton we're staying at in San Diego. I wonder what he did? He won't tell me), HOPEFULLY a new baby cousin (Brooke said last night there's no baby yet, which means she's kinda overdue at this point afaik) and Scott (and his twin brother Ryan)'s 29th birthday! Whew. Oh, and then Alcatraz in early December, because WHY NOT!? :D

Don't get me started on all those other personal projects I've got lined up, like getting my stuff on Fanworks Finder, working on Epiphany, changing the layout for BEA and the Secret Society Girl fanlistings, adding my stuff to AnimeXX, working on the RPGClassics Star Ocean 3 shrine, fixing my laptop iTunes library, working on all my fics, and, and, and...! I've probably forgotten a few. My brain feels like it might "asplode." But I guess that's better than FURSPLODE! Ha, ha.

Oh, I'm going to love it when this semester is over. Only two more to go. And then what? I have no freakin' clue, but I imagine at least a little bit of relief will be involved. Even if I love learning.
azurite: (ffx-2 - yuna will fly)
Today was one of those days where you're dreading it, "looking forward" to it in the way Marie Antoinette looked forward to her beheading, and you're freaking out to the point where you think if you subconsciously run a hand through your hair, clumps the size of Mothra balls will come out.

That was my day.

Today was the day I was supposed to give my presentation on "Gendered Language in the Double Standard in Final Fantasy X and X-2" in my Women, Men, and Media class (JOUR 371), and needless to say, I wasn't as prepared as I wanted to be. The whole time in Seattle, I'd made a lot of excuses why I couldn't go out shopping-- I had to work on my project. And work on it I did. But, as I discovered today in the library, working when I normally would have been at work (Ken gave me the day off, which probably saved my soul), I worked on the wrong parts.

I worked hard on assembling images (and I was mad because Sally's house didn't have Wi-Fi and sitting in Josh's room using an Ethernet cable was a pain in the ass), writing the script, and timing the images. I should have rehearsed the script and realized it was about three times too long (10-15 minutes); then I could have saved myself some of the grief I had today.

Well, during that woulda-been-at-work period, I did manage to get a successful recording done, but not with my mic as I thought; I ended up leaning in too close to the computer to use the built-in mic and nearly getting Carpal Tunnel from leaving hand cramped, finger on the touchpad to scroll through my script (I edited the paper one so much, it was useless). For some dumb reason, no "vocal instrument" wanted to work with my USB Mic and not cause a buttload of static, so I had to switch.

Then for some dumb reason, I thought I had to have my DVI cable (I didn't, since I planned on burning it to DVD), so I had Grandpa bring it to me (though he ended up bringing my whole shoebox of electronic gizmos). I got to class about 20 minutes prior to start time, but all of a sudden my project CRASHED. When I reopened it, a bunch of clips and timing adjustments that I'd made were gone. To make matters worse, in buying and installing Leopard yesterday, I neglected to consider the incompatibility with certain programs or add-ons, like my GeeThree Slick Effects that I was using for titles and such in iMovie '06. (I realize now, if I'd just gone to the website, I could have updated them and avoided the hassle of trying to create the titles in a still image in Photoshop.)

Well, I doubted God would strike me down on request, nor did I think any deities of Fortune would decide to randomly have Eisenstock cancel class today, so I stuck it out... and of course, class wasn't canceled and presentations went on as scheduled. At first, I thought, "I'm doomed, there's no way I can make my presentation. If she'll let me go next week, I can at least accept a grade deduction." But no, we can't next week, because it's our mock final.

Oh, and on top of all that stress, we had an exam I forgot about! I didn't study for it in the least bit, but it was all multiple choice, so I hope I did okay, anyway.

Back to the project-- everyone else but one person went ahead of me while I attempted to assemble and time the fragments of my project into something normal. And I thought I succeeded-- though I was nervous as hell, I sent it to iDVD, set myself a title screen, and then burned the DVD (which I'd bought at the bookstore only 25 minutes before class). Luckily, questions and the next presenter took long enough for it to burn, and it even worked in the DVD player without any hassle... but the timing was HORRID. Plus, the crash had removed one of the adjustments I'd made to a clip's volume, so I was completely drowned out by "real Emotion" during the second half of my presentation. Luckily, both the professor and my classmates seemed to take it in stride.

She asked the standard question of "Which analytical framework applies to the issue you presented," so I went on for a bit about how the reflection hypothesis theory applies, since video games don't accurately reflect the variety of women in society today-- only docile, demure women and provocative, sexy, powerful women. Hey, some of us can fall in-between, you know!

She also accepted my (true) excuse about my printer running out of ink, so I have until tonight to email her my media packet (unfortunately, I just remembered I have an NSLS meeting at 7pm, which means I'll have to take the meeting minutes and not work on this during then) and until the end of this week to put a hard copy in her Journalism department inbox. Whew... I think. I think she's also cutting slack for the Media Critique, because people couldn't download an evaluation form necessary for analyzing the websites that this week's critique was supposed to be about.

Anyway, with all this madness, I neglected to eat at all today-- until just a bit ago, when I sat down with a full El Pollo Loco meal. I wolfed the whole thing down-- burrito, salad, drink and all-- except the flan, that's dessert. I'm considerably less stressed (even if I have work ahead of me-- ugh, four, possibly five or even SIX more articles for the Sundial within the next 7 days!), and I hope to stay that way through December, make it through my winter break, and somehow end up in Washington, D.C. for my internship.

...And sometime this week I have to see Financial Aid and Prof. Bowen about that, too. Ugh. Always stuff to do!

I blame this all on Alaska Airlines.
azurite: (xxxholic - yuuko)
Hi all! First, some "me" updates, then onto the main course:
* WDKY25 idea! Oh, I love lightning bolts. With dumb luck, it'll be done -no, really, DONE!- by the end of this week. I pray.

* I finished my end of the project for my Vitamin K presentation in Nutrition for Life class tomorrow. I'm so thrilled I finally figured out (with the help of a Mac Rep-- surprisingly, not a Creative or Genius, because they were all stumped!) why there was sound on the slides that were build-less. I had the idea that the media icon might be hidden off-canvas, and once the Mac Rep told me how to resize the window so the canvas only took up a percentage, I found the sign! I also ended up having to fix lots of hyperlinks, but in the end, I tested everything out, and it looks great! Aside from the necessity of having to click the actual squares on the Categories Selection board (rather than have it select automatically), everything's great, and I hope we do well tomorrow!

Now, main course:
As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm participating in the SixApart/DonorsChoose.org Bloggers Challenge. I've chosen eight teacher proposals for San Francisco schools that I hope to fund, even a little. SixApart gave out $30 certificates for DonorsChoose.org to people who requested them, and I already gave mine to one of my eight proposals: Books That Add Spice.

Check out my complete challenge here, and donate even $1-- it WILL make a difference in a child's life!

And now, for some questions and my answers...
Why San Francisco?
It's where I grew up. My mom was a great participant in my school years growing up, and if it wasn't for her, I think a lot of the school projects that I remember the most wouldn't have been as fun, or may have fallen through altogether. My school was lucky enough to have a few parents who were really dedicated to participating in classes and helping teachers-- moreso than the school or the school district ever did.

While I can't speak for the kids or the school district now, from what I've seen when I've visited recently, things haven't changed much. If I can help a single elementary school kid get a new pack of crayons, or a classroom of high schoolers see a computer presentation via a new projector, then I'll do whatever I can.

Why did you pick the proposals you did?
It's funny, but once you start looking for proposals to help fund, there are so many that will catch your attention. That's what happened with me, and though I think eight is a bit of a crazy number (and I intentionally set my Fundraising Goal to $2000, which does NOT cover the complete costs of every proposal), I think there's a great variety of schools, teachers, students, and proposals in my challenge. If I can meet my Fundraising Goal of $2000, then that'll most likely get all of these proposals enough funding to get noticed, and at the very least, up off the ground.

The proposals I chose are as follows:
1. Let Your Fingers Do The Writing
2. Books That Add Spice
3. The Art Area is in Trouble!
4. Making 5th Grade More Fun & Interesting
5. Bring my Classroom into the 21st Century!
6. Rainbow World: Help Kindergartners Explore Colors
7. Think Before You Drink: Prom Gift Bags
8. Slide into the 21st Century

Why these proposals? )

Please take a minute of your time to read some of these proposal descriptions and, if possible, donate something. Whether it's $1 or $10, $20 or $30, every little bit helps! Do you remember what it was like to be in elementary, middle, or high school? Did you never want for anything? (If you say "yes," I won't believe you. :P)

DonorsChoose gathers teachers from all over the U.S., allowing THEM to say just what they need, how many students will be impacted, and what their proposed purchases will be used for. These eight proposals really stood out to me, and I hope that you can find it in your heart (and in your wallet!) to make a small tax-deductible contribution to help fund them-- even a little. It won't just make a difference for you and me, but all those students and their teachers-- for years to come.



I've emailed a note about this to my friends. If you read that email, read this post for more info, and be sure to tell your friends!

January 2016

S M T W T F S
     12
3456789
10111213141516
171819 20212223
24252627282930
31      

Most Popular Tags

Page generated Jul. 7th, 2025 01:22 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios