Summer going, going...almost gone

          I'm always startled to notice how quickly time passes. You think I'd be used to it by now. Time is a strange entity, though. So many memories feel simultaneously like yesterday and a lifetime ago. Talking with a friend yesterday [wait, yesterday? yeah], she expressed the same perception of time. Days run together, a month is more like a fortnight. Even now, I realized I spent a good four to six hours updating the design on my blog. Websites are too finicky about their image sizes. :/
          So what has happened in the past....six weeks? [cue more time shock] God pointed out Cris's boldness in sharing his faith with others; a boldness born out of love. Only then, did my mind finally rest on that issue. A couple days later, I stumbled onto another person's life. Somehow, I'm being a light in it. Another thing with God written all over it. I can only hope it continues to be Him and not me.
          My time as Guild Master of Hieratic is coming to a close. It was fun but I'll be glad to hand it off to another Commander come Sunday. I've never really considered myself a leader but here I am, herding cats across the internet. Those cats are the reason I keep coming back to WoW. I don't care about the game half as much as I do them. Sure, I like the quests & lore, hanging out in a fantasy world, imagining an epic tale revolving around my character...but if the game ended tomorrow I'd only really miss my friends.
          Speaking of games, I've gotten more into gaming-themed channels. I've been a fan of TotalBiscuit (aka the Cynical Brit, TotalHalibut on Youtube) for several months now. More recently I've followed Jesse Cox (OMFGCata on youtube). Through him, I've started keeping up with Aevynne, Chiib (Iamchiib on Youtube) on Chiib's sister Trish (WoWAcai). I'm really enjoying the content they put out. It's entertaining for so many reasons. It kind of takes me back to when my brother and I were younger. I used to watch him play video games more than I played them. He was always better than me, anyway. lol. It's also nice to see the co-operative play. I can't quite figure out why, maybe it's fun to see friends playing together and laughing about how badly they're doing. Who knows?

          Class was fun. I usually like my education classes. I took "Content Literacy Development" for the first summer session. I learned a lot about teaching reading and comprehension. There were so many useful strategies I can use. The class got me reading again. I had to read Speak for the class; a wonderful piece of young adult literature. On my own, I read Napoleon's Buttons and The Disappearing Spoon (which I'm still reading).
          As usual, I was TA for a chemistry lab. This time it was physiological chemistry 2, now called "Introduction to Organic and Biochemistry". Dr. Isom was a cool professor to work with. I'm assisting for the same class for the second summer session but with Dr. Yarberry. She writes so neatly on the board. I'm a little envious, to be honest.

          One last thing, my roommate is moving out. We didn't have a fight or anything like that. It was just time. God had a hand in it (naturally). That leaves me needing a roommate, however. I'm trusting that God will work it out. Either I'll get a roommate, another place will open up or I actually make enough from being a TA to keep the financial burden down for my parents. I suppose we'll see. :)

          I just realized I haven't eaten in about eight or nine hours, lol. Time and time again, you foil me, Time. Here's to hoping I spend it wisely.

Impressions

[Have you ever been going about your business and all of a sudden there's this explosion and you're left dazed, wondering what happened? It was like that. After an earthquake, it's best to get away from the rubble and gas leaks before an aftershock strikes.] Anyway, I have something more interesting to talk about anyway, school!
          So the first couple of days were great. I spend Wednesday writing notes for organic from the powerpoint the instructor. Oh thank God for internet and blackboard! Thursday was the start of classes. I got up early and met with a professor before class to talk about my job (going to be a TA for a couple of his labs this semester). The meeting was only about 10 minutes so I was half an hour early for my first class of the day (organic). I was pleased to learn there are about four people in that class I know. I immediately noticed a problem though, sitting next to one of my buddies has made me more talkative (it's related to the class but still not needed). I don't want to be a disruption in the class, otherwise I'll get on the instructor's bad side (do not want!). I actually like this instructor, he's energetic and clearly loves what he's doing. He checks often for understanding and as a result (at least in my opinion) his class moves along faster than the others. We usually end up a chapter ahead of them.
          My next class was (I want to say learning and development) classroom management. This is another good instructor. He taught junior high english for a few years. I had learning and development with him last spring and it was a great class. This will be 4000 (senior) level course but I'm not too worried about it. He doesn't make it too hard to make a B or even an A but we still learn a lot and are challenged throughout the course.
          There was an amusing moment in that class. We did an exercise where we had to walk around the room and talk at the same time; choosing three things to say about ourselves from a short, fun questionnaire we were given. The guy who went before me decided to go with the "I think ______ is overrated." line as of his three things. He chose science. I was going to say "I have never been [skydiving] but want to some day." but a few others had chosen that as well. Instead I went with the subject area and grade level(s): chemistry, 11th-12th grades because [blah blah blah]. We all had a good laugh. I really need to talk to that guy and help set him straight on his science literacy. Scientists are not full of themselves, thinking they know it all. We're not like that. Granted, we know more than you (lol) but we're fully aware that there's so much more to discover and that what we think we know and understand could be turned on its head with the next publication.
          Moving on: university physics I (again). This time is a different instructor. I actually had him for Descriptive Astronomy last year. I really liked that class; I learned a lot about celestial objects and what we know about our universe. It was easy, but then again it only required algebra, not calculus. His style is a bit different from the instructor I had last semester but I think I like it. The class is small, we only have 1 lab and about 30 people. He didn't use a powerpoint presentation for the first session but he didn't really need one. Now lab reports are a bit different, he doesn't want them written quite the same way as we did with the other professor. It's simpler but seems to convey just as much information. I like that. I'm just trying to figure out what I'm saying...
          The only class I haven't been to yet is Organic Spectroscopy. It's taught by the same professor whose labs I'm working.
          Okay, well I've avoided productive work long enough. Need to catch up on being ahead. If I finish early enough, I might play some World of Warcraft. :P