Classes, saints, resolutions, commentary
Sep. 22nd, 2004 07:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tarigwaemirLowell House, on the Feast of St. Thomas of Villanova
Third day of classes, and I already feel as if I've been at school forever. The summer is a long-gone past to be mourned for in private. ::puts on black and sighs melodramatically:: Although strangely enough, I'm still optimistic about this year, despite taking three science classes, two of which involve four- and five-hour labs. This morning, Prof. Evans went into a detailed explanation and review of molecular orbitals, laying out the theory in precise, simple rules, and I kept thinking, "Oh, if I only knew or realized this before, I wouldn't have had such a hard time remembering that reaction!" Inch by inch, chemistry is pulling itself back into a coherent system, but I need to study intensely for it to all sink in.
My physics professor, by the way, began his first lecture yesterday with a statement of purpose: to convince us that physics is a beautiful subject. He spent quite some time on a long philosophical discourse on the need to establish truth and the scientific method as a means of determining truth (a limited one, to be sure, but the most reliable one we have, or so he believes). He also took a couple of similarly philosophical tangents in the middle of the actual lecture, which my roommate and I had absolutely no objection to. ^_^ Seriously though, he impressed me enough that I immediately decided after five minutes of listening to him speak that I would take 11a instead of 15a. So my course list for the year:
Chemistry 30 - Organic Chemistry
Biological Sciences 52 - Introductory Molecular Biology
Physics 11a - Mechanics
Korean 130a - Pre-Advanced Korean
Don't ask me what "pre-advanced" means. >_>
I would post up my schedule, à la![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tryogeru, except I've already made a preliminary one in Microsoft Word and the sight of it scares me.
Oh, an interesting tidbit: the proposed patron saint of Internet users is one Isidore of Seville. There's even a prayer for him, courtesy of Catholic Online: Saints and Angels:
A Prayer before Logging onto the Internet and the Catholic Online Forum
Almighty and eternal God,
who created us in Thy image and bade us to seek after all that is good,
true and beautiful,
especially in the divine person of Thy only-begotten Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
grant we beseech Thee that,
through the intercession of Saint Isidore,
bishop and doctor,
during our journeys through the internet we will direct our hands
and eyes only to that which is pleasing to Thee
and treat with charity and patience all those souls whom we encounter.
Practicing Catholic though I be, I find this prayer to be terribly amusing, not to mention bizarre. Why St. Isidore? Upon further research (a.k.a. mouse-clicking), one discovers that Isidore was born into a family of saints, and curiously enough, the very brother who used to beat him as part of his "education" is considered a saint in Spain. >_> Er...all right. In any case, Isidore kept away at his studies and became known for his great knowledge, which was compiled into the Etymologies, which seems to be the motivation for making him the patron saint of the Internet. (Although it's a rather optimistic sort of logic, by all accounts, since the Internet is the source of all information, whether it be beautiful, ugly, false or, very occasionally, true.)
I've made some resolutions for this semester. Hopefully, setting them down in writing will help me actually try to fulfill them. (Yeah, right.)
1. Avoid all fandom_wank links, no matter how entertaining the wank may seem. (Because I always get mired in the comment threads and endless links to links to links, and don't emerge for an hour. Besides, I find that most arguments fall within two categories: (a) people who explain/justify their position from their own assumptions, although they often fail or are unable to articulate those assumptions, and (b) people who point out the flaws and weaknesses of the opponent's argument within the logical system arising from the opponent's assumptions. Often, misunderstanding arises when (a) is confused for (b) or vice versa. In any case, the problem is that both people are trying to argue consistently while switching between two different sets of assumptions, and that's, of course, just not possible. Hence, all the "you contradict yourself!" or "you're a hypocrite!" insinuations. In any case, I believe that excessively insisting on consistency is the sign of an adolescent mind. Courtesy, of course, of Emerson's hobgoblins.)
2. Avoid checking LiveJournal more than twice a day.
3. Use the planner with school logo that I paid way too much money for. (Stupid Coop.)
4. Keep ahead with the readings. (I've already broken this one.)
5. Do not go on AIM for more than ten minutes at a time. Better yet, don't go on AIM at all.
Will add to list, as situations arise. >_<
Oh, and one more note, regarding the HP wank about the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
wizardsforbush community and other conservatives in fandom: It's strange, but as I was reading through the debates, the eloquent (and rather extreme, if I do say so myself) liberal BNFs actually made me feel bad about my own reasons for voting for Kerry. I suppose I'm politically liberal (although I'm more centrist than anything), and I definitely call myself anti-Republican. I despise Republicans. Actually, let me qualify myself--I now know very many Republicans who are probably better human beings than I'll ever be. I despise the Republican Party platform. There we go. So, I plan to vote for Kerry and am quite the opposite of the closet conservative...but my main motivation is not because of gay rights. I don't support Kerry because of Bush's agenda to make gay marriages unconstitutional. This issue, in fact, is probably one of the least significant on my own priority list. After all the mention of discrimination and second-class citizenship, I feel somewhat guilty that it isn't, well, more significant, but if I'm to be truthful, it's not on my mind at all. >_> Yes, I'm easily manipulated into feeling guilty. But that's not the point. Seriously, isn't it a little extreme to expect people to feel passionate about gay rights just because they read/write slash? I'm personally passionate about multilateralism (yes, passionate), and Bush's foreign policy enrages me to no end, but I don't wax ethical about it. One may argue that international relations doesn't quite have the same moral implications involved as basic civil rights, and I definitely see that point, but I really don't think people vote on moral grounds at all. They just invent moral justification after they come to the initial decision.
::looks at clock::
6. Update LiveJournal after doing homework. (I have so much reading to do. >_>)
Yours, &c.
Post-script: A huge thank-you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday yesterday, whether it be via LJ, thefacebook, text message, phone call, email, e-card, or face-to-face conversation! (A thank-you to everyone who wished me a belated happy birthday today too!) On that note, happy birthdaytryogeru! I think this makes it the fifth time I've typed that to you.
Third day of classes, and I already feel as if I've been at school forever. The summer is a long-gone past to be mourned for in private. ::puts on black and sighs melodramatically:: Although strangely enough, I'm still optimistic about this year, despite taking three science classes, two of which involve four- and five-hour labs. This morning, Prof. Evans went into a detailed explanation and review of molecular orbitals, laying out the theory in precise, simple rules, and I kept thinking, "Oh, if I only knew or realized this before, I wouldn't have had such a hard time remembering that reaction!" Inch by inch, chemistry is pulling itself back into a coherent system, but I need to study intensely for it to all sink in.
My physics professor, by the way, began his first lecture yesterday with a statement of purpose: to convince us that physics is a beautiful subject. He spent quite some time on a long philosophical discourse on the need to establish truth and the scientific method as a means of determining truth (a limited one, to be sure, but the most reliable one we have, or so he believes). He also took a couple of similarly philosophical tangents in the middle of the actual lecture, which my roommate and I had absolutely no objection to. ^_^ Seriously though, he impressed me enough that I immediately decided after five minutes of listening to him speak that I would take 11a instead of 15a. So my course list for the year:
Chemistry 30 - Organic Chemistry
Biological Sciences 52 - Introductory Molecular Biology
Physics 11a - Mechanics
Korean 130a - Pre-Advanced Korean
Don't ask me what "pre-advanced" means. >_>
I would post up my schedule, à la
tryogeru, except I've already made a preliminary one in Microsoft Word and the sight of it scares me.Oh, an interesting tidbit: the proposed patron saint of Internet users is one Isidore of Seville. There's even a prayer for him, courtesy of Catholic Online: Saints and Angels:
A Prayer before Logging onto the Internet and the Catholic Online Forum
Almighty and eternal God,
who created us in Thy image and bade us to seek after all that is good,
true and beautiful,
especially in the divine person of Thy only-begotten Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
grant we beseech Thee that,
through the intercession of Saint Isidore,
bishop and doctor,
during our journeys through the internet we will direct our hands
and eyes only to that which is pleasing to Thee
and treat with charity and patience all those souls whom we encounter.
Practicing Catholic though I be, I find this prayer to be terribly amusing, not to mention bizarre. Why St. Isidore? Upon further research (a.k.a. mouse-clicking), one discovers that Isidore was born into a family of saints, and curiously enough, the very brother who used to beat him as part of his "education" is considered a saint in Spain. >_> Er...all right. In any case, Isidore kept away at his studies and became known for his great knowledge, which was compiled into the Etymologies, which seems to be the motivation for making him the patron saint of the Internet. (Although it's a rather optimistic sort of logic, by all accounts, since the Internet is the source of all information, whether it be beautiful, ugly, false or, very occasionally, true.)
I've made some resolutions for this semester. Hopefully, setting them down in writing will help me actually try to fulfill them. (Yeah, right.)
1. Avoid all fandom_wank links, no matter how entertaining the wank may seem. (Because I always get mired in the comment threads and endless links to links to links, and don't emerge for an hour. Besides, I find that most arguments fall within two categories: (a) people who explain/justify their position from their own assumptions, although they often fail or are unable to articulate those assumptions, and (b) people who point out the flaws and weaknesses of the opponent's argument within the logical system arising from the opponent's assumptions. Often, misunderstanding arises when (a) is confused for (b) or vice versa. In any case, the problem is that both people are trying to argue consistently while switching between two different sets of assumptions, and that's, of course, just not possible. Hence, all the "you contradict yourself!" or "you're a hypocrite!" insinuations. In any case, I believe that excessively insisting on consistency is the sign of an adolescent mind. Courtesy, of course, of Emerson's hobgoblins.)
2. Avoid checking LiveJournal more than twice a day.
3. Use the planner with school logo that I paid way too much money for. (Stupid Coop.)
4. Keep ahead with the readings. (I've already broken this one.)
5. Do not go on AIM for more than ten minutes at a time. Better yet, don't go on AIM at all.
Will add to list, as situations arise. >_<
Oh, and one more note, regarding the HP wank about the
wizardsforbush community and other conservatives in fandom: It's strange, but as I was reading through the debates, the eloquent (and rather extreme, if I do say so myself) liberal BNFs actually made me feel bad about my own reasons for voting for Kerry. I suppose I'm politically liberal (although I'm more centrist than anything), and I definitely call myself anti-Republican. I despise Republicans. Actually, let me qualify myself--I now know very many Republicans who are probably better human beings than I'll ever be. I despise the Republican Party platform. There we go. So, I plan to vote for Kerry and am quite the opposite of the closet conservative...but my main motivation is not because of gay rights. I don't support Kerry because of Bush's agenda to make gay marriages unconstitutional. This issue, in fact, is probably one of the least significant on my own priority list. After all the mention of discrimination and second-class citizenship, I feel somewhat guilty that it isn't, well, more significant, but if I'm to be truthful, it's not on my mind at all. >_> Yes, I'm easily manipulated into feeling guilty. But that's not the point. Seriously, isn't it a little extreme to expect people to feel passionate about gay rights just because they read/write slash? I'm personally passionate about multilateralism (yes, passionate), and Bush's foreign policy enrages me to no end, but I don't wax ethical about it. One may argue that international relations doesn't quite have the same moral implications involved as basic civil rights, and I definitely see that point, but I really don't think people vote on moral grounds at all. They just invent moral justification after they come to the initial decision.::looks at clock::
6. Update LiveJournal after doing homework. (I have so much reading to do. >_>)
Yours, &c.
Post-script: A huge thank-you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday yesterday, whether it be via LJ, thefacebook, text message, phone call, email, e-card, or face-to-face conversation! (A thank-you to everyone who wished me a belated happy birthday today too!) On that note, happy birthday
tryogeru! I think this makes it the fifth time I've typed that to you.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-22 07:55 pm (UTC)O.o
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 07:39 am (UTC)Oh yeah, belated Happy Birthday. Sorry I didn't get to greet you yesterday. I knew it was your birthday but my computer kept freezing up on me so I wasn't able to update my LJ with a greeting when I found out.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 08:15 am (UTC)The patron saint thing is strange to me as well, although I think it was a specific proposal by the site rather than anything actually set in motion. I find it particularly bizarre because St. Isidore must have lived in the Middle Ages, before the Church even rediscovered Aristotelianism. O_O
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 08:41 am (UTC)I wish that the LJ birthday reminder option was still active... Oh well. But never say that you don't deserve all this, because you do. We all deserve a little something on our birthday.
I find it particularly bizarre because St. Isidore must have lived in the Middle Ages, before the Church even rediscovered Aristotelianism. O_O
Not to mention the internet. But then, we're really short on modern day saints, aren't we?
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 11:32 am (UTC)(Yessss, I plan to mangle the language more. I mean, it's been sooo long since I've needed to speak with near good grammar, so imma give up on it bwhahhahaaa... >_>;)
Happy belated birthday... AGAIN! xD werrrd!
You have scary classes... you scientific person you (excluding Korean...)
And good luck on your resolutions. I think I'll write one up myself and post it up somewhere nice a visible.. >_> <_<;;; xD