Friday, January 18, 2008

Leos and Svaras and Books, Oh My!

Well, I thought I should post and assure everyone I made it back from UK-land alive. I also wanted to apologise for not being very available this week to the people who've tried to get in touch or who have commented I'm not as in touch as usual.

First, let me say I will be making a couple posts about my time in the UK, specifically, my adventures getting there and a new years post, mostly to go along with the fabulous pictures and videos I've uploaded to Facebook (if you've not seen them, please go visit!).

The reason I've not be around so much is simply: school. Yea, we're only a week in, but for some reason even I don't fully understand, I'm really feeling driven this semester. This first became evident when I returned from the UK and spent an ungodly amount of time completely cleaning out my room and bathroom - this included finally unpacking from Ecuador (*ashamed face*). Now my room is not only spic-and-span, but also a haven of order and prettiness (I manged to finally hang some pictures and put up some lamps that glow wonderfully in the evenings).

So, five days in, and I'm ahead in all my classes. Well, except programming, because the teacher is kind of nuts and I'm not even sure what we're doing right now. And he hasn't given any clue on what we'll be reading or what we should be doing. But, programming is my 'just for funsies' class anyway, and really is the least of my worries, since its a 'nothing' class, and doesn't count towards my degree.

I guess for many out there being ahead in classes is probably no biggie, but for one thing, this mostly means I've read ahead, and for me, reading textbooks is my biggest procrastination - I hate it! Last semester I didn't read any of my genetics book - too long-winded, too boring. Probably suffered for that though : (. So this week, I've read 2 chapters of microbiology, 4 chapters of prenatal/infant/child nutrition, and read five chapters of neuroscience - which, trust me here, is no easy task. Neuroscience is going to be my hard class this semester. Also, I've gone ahead and started some physics HW, though we're actually behind schedule and haven't finished the chapter yet.

So most of my spare time, even in the mornings before class, is being spent reading - either in the new bookstore, in that hidden little corner with the stuffed chairs that catches the morning and afternoon sun, in Einstein's at lunch, or at home on the couch. When I'm not reading and highlighting, I'm usually trying to keep peace between Svara and the cat I found (whom I've temporarily christened Leo). They hate each other, so I keep Leo in the office for most of the day, but he's lonely and isolated, and hates it, so then I have to put Svara in my room, and let him roam (and make sure he doesn't destroy anything - he's the clumsiest cat I've ever seen (he's a teenager)), and then do the daily 'acclimation' where I let them interact, much to Svara's deep dissatisfaction. Any time when Leo isn't in the office, I pretty much have to be following him around, to break up fights and pick up objects, and if I do sit down, he promptly climbs all over me, making it impossible to do much.

So - that's why I'm not around much! I'm also already sleep-deprived, which bodes really well for the rest of the semester...

But, overall, I'm doing good. I feel good about school, and I'm hoping to find a home for the cat (IF YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO COULD TAKE IN AN ADORABLE ORANGE CAT LET ME KNOW!!!!).

Well, I feel this post is quite an adequate length, and though I'd love to write more, I'll stop here, for the sake of your aching scroll bars and short attention spans : )