With the holiday on Monday, classes started up yesterday, and I really can't tell what this semester's gonna be like.
Tuesday kicked off at 12:30 with English 303, Writing Creative Non-Fiction. My professor is a (former?) journalist. "I wrote for the New York Times and contributed to Newsweek". My only response is 'isn't that fancy don'cha'know' [/Minnesota housewife]. The basic idea is that by the end of the class, we'll have the first chapter of a non-fiction book that we could potentially submit to a publisher. Which is kind of interesting, but also terrifying, 'cause that means I have to write. Of note, the dude kinda looks like Mark Harmon but with a bit less hair.
My LAST GEN ED EVER is Geography 105, Introduction to the Atmosphere. It's about weather and climate and all that stuff, so it should be cool. I have it with Terumi and Kristy, which is...fun. And the professor is a spaz. He reminds me of Doug Walker but 20 years in the future or something.
ArtS 301, Drawing Composition and Techniques, takes up the nights. That's with Terumi, Jiaqi, and half our Illustration class I swear. The prof is retiring after this semester, and I really have no idea how that'll work out for us.
M/W I start with ArtS 447, Computer Raster Applications for Illustration, also known as 'finally learning Photoshop'. I have been excited for this class for years and am really looking forward to one project in particular, "commercial illustration for product advertising, label or packaging" MEANING I could potentially do a mascot line for the promotion of a Japanese-Mexican fusion restaurant. This is also the ONE class I have on Fridays arghf.
After lunch it's ArtS 437B, Intermediate Illustration II. Second verse, same as the first, though this time with a serious goal of trying to get an A. I have yet to accomplish that in any of my illustration classes so it'd be nice. The projects for this semester actually sound really fun (sans the last, yet another editorial), so I hope I can keep motivated.
The only thing left is the lab for Geography, though numbered 106 and well, yeap. It's a lab class. But why is it worth one credit for two hours a week whereas I've had classes that were three credits for three hours a week baaah.
There was also the adventure with the heater, which woke me up at 5am due to a choking heat gushing into the room. Somehow, the heater borked and was pumping 84 degree heat into the place, when we normally have it set no higher than 70. And as I tried to get it to cool down, it kept crawling up, and hit 92 degrees before I ragequit and shut off the system entirely. My face was like I had found out Jack Black was cast as the next Doctor. It was a horrifying experience for 5:15 in the morning. When I got up at 9, it had cooled down to 75 degrees and a repairguy came out and I guess fixed it. It's working fine now. ...Hopefully.
I keep having all these serious thoughts in my head concerning the fact that I graduate with a BFA in a year and a half. Tuesday marks the start of my sixth semester, and every so often I lapse into thinking about what I'm going to do after gradua...
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Two: The number of times it has snowed and stuck to the ground this winter.
One: The number of days said snow has ever lasted.
Once: The number of times the above happened.
Cold: The word typically used to describe northern Illinois winters.
Hoodie: The garment I have worn the most outside.
Awesome: The wool jacket I bought on Black Friday meant for a cold winter.
Alas. Finally. Real snow.
And now a post about Skyrim. And boy do I mean that.
Ever since a very short playthrough in Morrowind that made me decide I hate that game, I've played a Bosmer (Wood Elf) for all my Elder Scroll games. I can't tell you why, I just have. I also play completely against type, favoring to be a swordswoman rather than, say, an archer or thief. In fact, I am a terrible thief. Though I will say, I am MUCH better at picking locks in Skyrim (sorry Blank).
It's also important that when I say "all my playthroughs", that's important. I've had to re-start Oblivion at least four times due to reasons not in my hands. I was always upset.
Anyhow. I've finally been sinking my teeth into Skyrim after getting it for Christmas. True to form, I've ignored the main quest for the most part (though I'm currently in the quest The Horn of Jurgen Windcaller) and have been having fun running around, stumbling upon every Daedric quest ever, and doing random side bits. I have yet to choose a faction to join, and that is where I get majorly conflicted.
Imperials or Stormcloaks, which to choose. If you merely presented their ideas to me, I'd say Stormcoaks. I don't like how the Imperials came in to Skyrim, forbidding the worship of Talos, an important Nordic god, and trying to make Skyrim part of the Empire. The Stormcloaks just want their independence. I can dig that. But then I find out that Ulfric Stormcloak and everyone in that faction hate elves. Yeah, I understand it's due to the Aldmeri Dominion bein' all uppity and the White-Gold Concordat being signed between the Empire and the Thalmor and all this stuff.
So in that case, well, I'll just side with the Imperials? Nope. They don't like elves either. They didn't sign the White-Gold Concordat because they wanted to, it's because after a certain point, both sides were exhausted from war and the treaty was the best way to go. It came from a war between the Empire and the elves.
The fun thing in all of this is that the Bosmer were...never really to blame during everything. Their country was taken over by the Altmer (High Elves) and made to do all these things. So really, me, as a Bosmer, is not to blame.
But then we also go back to how the Dunmer (Dark Elves) of Morrowind had to flee their country due to natural disaster and the conquest by Argonians. There's a ward of them in the city of Windhelm, and they are living in poverty. And that's a basic summation of how all Dunmer are treated in Skyrim: like pests and leeches.
So what it all comes down to are Nords (the natives of Skyrim) being extremely xenophobic, and the Imperials looking like nice guys but who really only in it for themselves. And as a Bosmer, I can either play for the side I played for in Oblivion, or play for the Stormcloaks and hope them having a Bosmer hero would help change their minds.
Or I could relax and remind myself it's a video game, but then I really don't see the point in playing a game with this much lore built into it at all.
For those kids who have yet to go to college, I'd like to take a moment to introduce you to the fact that buying textbooks sucks. And I think the only reason I have skirted out of sinking a lot of money into a book and getting little in return is because I'm an art major, most of my books haven't been hardcover, and I'm a lucky little bastard.
Now, keep in mind that when I say "whee I'm an art major", that doesn't mean I'm not spending money. No, I'm spending a lot of money (hi Rory), but I'm at least buying things I'll continue to use and can potentially benefit me in great ways. Except pads of newsprint. My God I hate those.
But on the whole, I've fared pretty well. The most screwed I got was having to buy my Stats 208 textbook new (my very first semester too) at $170 because it was a brand spankin' new edition. In defense of many professors who would rather not us shell out that much, it isn't the fault of them, but the companies. The companies bring out new versions, and professors are pretty much forced to make students get them, as things for the old edition vanish. And there's no guarantee of finding old editions, and at least every student can get their hands on a new one so everyone is on the same page. It's like software updates, basically. (I do know my Stats professor was apologetic for us having to buy the book new.)
There is always the glory of book buyback, which...tends to yield very little for what you shelled out. That $170 textbook only got me $30 in return. The only way you might earn a profit is if you a.) don't buy new, and b.) don't buy from the school.
I learned early on about buying from Amazon. And by that, I mean I bought all of my books from there save the few that I had to pick up at the university bookstore because of reasons. There are times when you'll find some cheap little paperback you need for an English class on there for a penny, and while the shipping may be 2.99, you still only spent 3 bucks on it. My thin little copy of Othello was obtained this way, and it sold for a minimum of $8 at the bookstore. Ridiculous.
My biggest triumph was my Grammar book, which was going for a minimum of $20 at the bookstore. I bought it for $13 and sold it back for $15, doodles and all. ...And yes, you can (usually) sell you books you don't buy online back to the bookstore.
Recently, my school picked up on the whole "renting textbooks" thing, and I highly advise against that. The reason is simple: they rent you the book for cheaper than it is to buy it (even used), but you can get nothing in return. And in most cases, the renting price really isn't that much cheaper than buying it.
I do advise trading, borrowing, or sharing books. Second semester, Terumi swapped me the Coms book for my copy of Hope Dies Last. Fourth semester, Jiaqi and I borrowed Kristy's Theater book and gave it back to her at the end of the term. Last semester, Jiaqi, Terumi, and I bought the Photography book and split it (nevermind that we never read the damn thing). And this coming semester, Terumi and I are splitting our Geography textbooks. It keeps costs down, and unless the course is reading/reference intensive (IE, Jiaqi and I didn't share our History books), it works out well.
I've rambled. The original intention of this post was to say that my English professor this semester is having me buy his book. This is the first time I've ever experienced such a thing. In the case of Grammar, when a book made by the prof would've been extremely beneficial due to how much she complained about the one we were using, I'd have no problem with that, and it would be the one book we used the whole class. But as it turns out, this is one of a few we need for my upcoming class, and I can't help but feel it's a bit of ego stroking.
Guess who's buying it off Amazon.
