1789 Europe 1918

That's the title of my history class this semester. The very first say of classes, we used half of the hour discussing the course title. Why not "Europe: 1789-1918"? Why that time frame? Earlier in the discussion we'd talked about sustainability, so by eliminating punctuation, ink was being saved - a stretch, but we all laughed. Literally, the title indicates exactly the topic of the class - Europe between 1789 and 1918. And of course it's clever and witty and essentially set the tone for the class.

Later, when the floor was open for questions, it was brought up that Geoff (the prof) had neglected to mention Heart of Darkness as a required text. His reaction? "Oh yes! Huh." He checked his stack of books. "What happened to my Heart of Darkness? Well, everyone needs a Heart of Darkness." More laughter.

Geoff is always saying things like that. Here're some of the things I've jotted down:

"God loves cows."
"Ask some people, Hitler was a great leader - he embodied the people he led. Of course, we all know that can lead to...unpleasantness."
"The bourgeoisie were gaining power at this time. And they were for the most part literate, they could read and write." Student's response: "Oh crap!"

He also boiled the study of history down to two equations:

Em = (Rf + Ri) / Ra

where Em is modern Europe, Rf is the French Revolution, Ri the Industrial Revolution and Ra the Agricultural Revolution, and

C19 = Cfr + Pir + Pn

where C19 is 19th-century Europe, Cfr is change due to the French Revolution, Pir are the products of industrialization, and Pn is the power of nations.

He wrote those on the board, and our jaws dropped. I, for one, was impressed. Math that made sense to me! Amazing!

The actual course material is great as well - we're not reading textbooks, but literature (and things like it) and relating them to their corresponding time periods, while the lectures actually discuss history. The first book up is A Tale of Two Cities, and the part we have to keep reminding ourselves is that it was written retrospectively about the French Revolution. Good old 20/20 hindsight.

That's the class so far, and we're only four sessions in. It's gonna be a good semester.

I'll do Geology next, but not right now.

平和
Remus

Back to the Grind

Been back at school for a week. Already drama. Reckon it had to happen, since people were returning from Japan. Gonna be a great year, man!

Would you believe it...I haven't seen a movie since I moved in on Saturday. No wonder I feel so off-kilter. I need my outlet.

Classes are splendid. History will both be amazing and slightly tense (drama...), but I'm hoping it'll lean more to the amazing. The professor is hilarious so that's something. Psychology will be great (unlike last year's fiasco) since that prof reminds me of me, only slightly older and in a male body. Geology is going to draaaaaaaaaaaaaag, not because it's uninteresting, but because the prof just has one of those voices that is perfect to tone out and doze to. French is...Frenchy, bit tense due to last year, but I've already done more homework for that class in this first week than I did in the first half of last semester, so that's improvement, right? ...Right??

Then there's concert choir, which is all lovely and musical. Y'know.

Shaping up to be a good semester, I reckon.

That's really all for now; I still need to get some reading done. Maybe tomorrow afternoon or so, I'll go more in-depth about the classes, just so I can wrap my head around them. It'll be good times.

Catch you later.

平和

Remus

Only because the 'silly' blog was being twp and not letting me post.

One

Word

Survey

1. Where is your cell phone?

There.

2. Your significant other?

lol

3. Your hair?

Different.

4. Your mother?

Working.

5. Your father?

MIA

6. Your favorite thing?

Ummmmmm

7. Your dream last night?

Delicious.

8. Your favorite drink?

Tea.

9. Your dream/goal?

Awesomeness.

10. What room you are in?

Mom's.

11. Your hobby?

Film.

12. Your fear?

Failure.

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years?

Adventuring.

14. Where were you last night?

Home.

15. Muffins?

Please?

16. Wish list item?

Ability.

17. Where you grew up?

Home.

18. Last thing you did?

Laundry.

19. What are you wearing?

Pyjamas.

20. Your TV?

Off.

21. Your pets?

ADORABLE

22. Friends?

Life.

23. Your life?

Lonely...

24. Your mood?

Inquisitive.

25. Missing some one?

Always.

26. Car?

Negatory.

27. Something you're not wearing?

Glasses.

28. Your favorite store?

Books.

29. Your favorite color?

Any.

30. When is the last time you laughed?

Yesterday.

33. Last time you cried?

Forgotten.

34. Who will resend this?

Nobody.

35. One place that you go to over and over?

Imagination.

36. One person who emails you regularly?

Mom.

37. Favorite place to eat?

Coney.

38. Why you participated in this survey?

Challenge.

39. What are you doing tonight?

Anticipating.

Random

So when my lovely Kindred Spirit was here (like a bajillion years ago, now) we had many epic adventures. The first night he was here, we went for a walk outside and hung out on the cement slab with the mailboxes, just chatting about life and friends. The next day, Picture Guy (yeah, the cause of the basket case) picked KinSpi and I up and we spent the day at the Museum, then ended up at their friend's house where PG's staying for the summer, and finally back at the apartment to watch Kick-Ass on his laptop. (Great movie btw.) Then Thursday morning, KinSpi went home, and there was much mourning in the land. But I get to see him a week from Saturday YAY!

I reread 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' this week. Call me a bad person, but having read that again, when I came across an article about Mary Magdalene and Jesus, the horrible going-to-hell part of me compared them to Bellatrix and Riddle. Oops.

The family reunion a couple weeks ago was fantastic - I actually have faces to put to the names now. Progress! I think the plan is to finally make it an annual thing. Hopefully the beer pong will become a tradition.

Frozen whipped strawberry yoghurt is incredible. Go eat some. Nao.

平和
Remus

Woo Hoo

Just spent a week in Ohioland. Hotter'n hell, but absolutely fantabulous.

~Got to spend more than five minutes with my newest youngest cousin! Lots of time was spent in the Dora tent - I had to sit down and pull it over me to get inside. We played peekaboo back and forth. Great kid.

~Got to meet a couple of my aunt's friends for lunch. Gave me further proof that there is no such thing as gaining maturity with age. You pretty much stop at high school. Giggity.

~Just got family chill time in general. Some days family can be a royal pain in the rear. The rest of the time, they're the most hilarious, immature, insane group of people I know. I may have my differences with them, but I love them dearly and am 100% thankful God gave me the folks He did.

In other news...

~A friend from college is coming to stay for a couple days! Yay! Let the epic random adventures commence!

~The cause of the basket case will also be involved in said adventures! Yay!...not so much.

That's pretty much it for now - will return with a flowery report of the madcap insanity we all get up to!

平和

Remus

Yeesh

I'm having a "does not adapt well to change" moment.

It's also a "I've been on a non-depressed high for too long" moment.

In the speak of teh interwebz, it's teh suck.

It's not like I won't get over it, I totally will, and probably wake up tomorrow trying to figure out why I was so mopey. No, you may not call me Myrtle.

Ten points to the House of your choice if you get the reference.

And if this post isn't emo enough, I'm listening to HIM's "Killing Loneliness". Timing certainly is everything.

This post is ridiculous and really needs to stop.

平和

Remus

May God have Mercy on my Soul

The Wizarding World

Would that I were in Florida today...

I wish I knew why Harry Potter means so much to me. I hear the music and something just wells up inside me. I haven't the foggiest what it is or why. It's just...incredible.

I may or may not embellish this later, we'll see what happens.

Family - the group of people you love to hate

I just hope they're not surprised when I quit spending holidays with them.

Genealogy Meme

Blank meme from RevGalPals; found via CoffeePastor.

1. Do you have any interest in geneaology?

I'd be a pisspoor history major if I had none at all. I love it. It's sort of a recently discovered hobby; I'm pretty shoddy at it and if I go a full hour with absolutely nothing new, I give up for the night. But if I actually start finding new jumping-off points, I could go for several hours.

2. Which countries did your ancestors come from?

Germany, Canada (from France), one or two from Poland, and a few from Prussia.

3. Who is the farthest back ancestor whose name you know?

Julien Beaubien dit Cuillerier. He married a Julienne. Creativity runs in the family, ne?

4. Any favorite saints or sinners in the group?

Technically he's only an uncle (wayyyyy back), but that would definitely be Alexis Cuillerier - accused and acquitted of murder. I have no idea if he really did it.

5. What would you want your descendants to remember about you?

Just them remembering that I was around is good, because that means someone else is doing genealogy, and keeping that going would be really cool.

Bonus: a song, prayer, or poem that speaks of family--blood or chosen--to you.

I can't think of anything off the top of my head, of course. If I think of one or two, I'll edit this.