Uncle Tom's Cabin

I'm finding this an extremely frustrating book to read. It takes me forever to figure out what the slave characters are saying, then I have to read it all over again so that I can put it in proper context.

Grr!

Another term bites the dust!

Grades are all in and I still made the Dean's List, and my overall GPA is still in honors. Not too bad for missing almost 3 weeks of class thanks to the flu.

I emailed my professors regarding next term's booklists; I'm getting a head start on the reading with Uncle Tom's Cabin for Civil War and Reconstruction.

Definitely on my January buying list is a microcassette recorder. My carpal tunnel is killing me of late.

Winding Down...

The last week of classes is always a whirlwind of (usually) hurried activity, for nearly everyone I know. In addition to "regular" coursework, I'm wrapping up papers, getting essays written and memorized for 18th C., figuring out my presentation in Criminal Law, and trying to absorb the information that I learned from Leadership Training Day.

I'm currently listening to Motivational Monday (once again, part of the Society of Leadership and Success... and yes, I am fully away it happens to be Tuesday).

Dr. Thomas is away in Germany for the rest of the week (Godspeed!) and that means we don't have class for the rest of the week. This works out for me in a great way, since I can finish up my extra credit paper for his class.

I have a schedule for the week, and will be busting my hind end to get it all finished and read and studied for. If anyone else out there is struggling, my best advice would be to make a schedule you can adhere to, put in some time to blow off stress (snow angels anyone?) and forge ahead! The semester is almost over!!!

Breathing Room...

It's Thanksgiving, which is good. Three days off of class is always good.

I'm not big on turkey, and the kids are not spending this holiday with me, so I'm hanging out writing papers. Well, writing *a* paper, and doing some research on an extra credit paper for 18th Century, since I have a B in there, and I really need to pull an A. Kind of difficult to explain to law school admissions why you can't seem to pull an A in a freshman-level class.

I am also considering pushing back my graduation date to spring of 2011, since I won't be taking summer classes, as I had originally planned. Overall, I just need to have some time to think out a plan... but not this break. Maybe after finals. Well, I have much reading to get done for my criminal law paper.

Enjoy the holiday!

Nuttin but WOW.

Sooo... last night I went to see Nuttin but Stringz at the Bromley Theatre (at UPB).

Oh. My.

A violin is nothing but some wood, strings, a few bits of metal... but last night they were magic. I'm still reeling from the way that Damien and Tourie played. I grew up going to the free concerts at the Hatch Shell in Boston. I've seen countless symphonies play. The fusion that NbS created of hip-hop, classical, and... well... their own personal style just leaves me breathless.

...Except for the Charlie Daniels part, which you had to be there to truly understand. I'm not from Bradford (though I've been here for 5 years now, with one more to go), but I think NbS and I shared a kindred "are you kidding me?" moment when the crowd started clapping when "radio guy" played a clip of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" so that NbS could hear what that was all about, since they were unfamiliar with the song.

Lastly, when I heard Nuttin but Stringz was coming to do a show in B'ford, I got really excited until I saw ticket prices on BPAC's website. I was pretty bummed, because I really do love their music. Imagine my surprise when I got an email to the student body on behalf of Dr. Alexander (the university President) offering tickets to students for FREE. I got one (obviously). What I didn't expect was to have such great seats... third row, center. I thought I'd be in the nosebleed section (which at UPB, doesn't exist... but you get the reference). Once again, I love this place!

I had some serious fun last night, and got to listen to the kind of music that makes you believe that there are limitless possibilities within each of us.

Surrender...

I would really just like the plague to end. It seems, with 3 kids in 3 different schools, plus the incubating viral spawn of 2,000 uni students... we have managed to cycle through several illnesses. Thanks to H1N1, I cannot send a child to school with a fever or other symptoms of illness.

We have all missed an unprecedented amount of school. I've managed to tenaciously hang onto an A in a couple of classes, but my goals for the most part have languished to B-status.

I hate missing class.

Studying, studying, studying... and not.

I have two exams this week; one I took last night in Criminal Law... the next is tomorrow. Today, however, I have to finish reading Undaunted Courage for Early American (in 90 minutes). I'm nearly at the end... studying for exams took precedence this week.

On Tuesday night, I attended The Great American Auto Race of 1908: New York to Paris presented by Jeff Mahr, as part of the History/PoliSci Club. It was beyond interesting and fun. If it happens to be in your area, I'd highly recommend it. To find more information, go here. I'm not into cars, or racing, or anything of the sort.. but this was like the Lewis & Clark expedition of the Automobile age. Imagine.. no highways, no snow plows (they left in February!), no auto parts stores in Siberia, no gas stations... It really was fantastic.

Okay, back to the books. 85 more minutes before class.