Random Happenings

So I haven’t yet begun my extensive list of things to do today related to school so I decided to update really quickly before I get started because once I start, I won’t be able to stop. Today has been an average day, I suppose. Extremely muggy and rainy. I am still awaiting the arrival of fall here in Mobile; I have witnessed its progress into Tuscaloosa, so I can only hope it is slowly creeping this way. I am starting to think that maybe I chose the wrong location to go to school. I mean I love the beach, but the muggyness needs to go away, like right now. It makes things so gross. I sweat just stepping outside, and it’s hard to breath. You almost feel like you are swimming the minute you step outside.

In other news, I had to go get assistance with calculus today. Since I have taken the class before at UA (and failed), I hoped this time would be smooth sailing, but I have found it’s not. Up until now, I have been okay, but last week she completely lost me with error bounds. I can tell you what they are, but I can’t tell you how to calculate one. My world literature class is going amazingly well. I seem to have a knack for interpreting ancient literature, and Dr. Jackson (my awesome professor) seems to get me ingaged in the discussion every day. Where in some classes I may not have anything to say, I always seem to have an opinion in his class and can base it with something from the text. I think if I wasn’t so interested in foreign languages or meteorology I might just have been an English major. My meteorology course is simply BORING at this point. I took Geography 101 at UA and this is simply a repeat of that, it seems. I find it hard to go to that class because of the fact that I am so bored and that it is at 8 in the morning. I vowed never to take an 8 a.m. class again after taking one at UA, but you see, transfer students are lowest on the totum pole when signing up for classes. My Spanish class is amazing. I got called “the best damn Spanish-speaker in the class” the other day so that made me feel really good. I just laughed and returned the compliment, and then proceeded to be called “too modest.” I guess that’s just me.

I guess that’s it for now. I know I have been very bad at updating daily quotes, and I haven’t posted anything I’ve written in Spanish yet, nor have I posted this week’s musical discovery. I intend to fix all of that momentarily.

Oh yeah, and all these couples make me want to projectile vomit.

Changing Seasons

So, I am definitely a fall person. There’s just something about the changing weather and environment that sparks some deep emotion within me. It’s really hard to explain. There’s just a feeling I get whenever fall is near that is unique; it’s not quite excitement but it’s something similar. Quite possibly, the excitement that Halloween brings me, being one of my favorite holidays, could offer some explination, but I don’t think that this fully explains the phenomenon. Maybe it’s change itself. After all, fall is the embodiment of “change.” I think experiencing something different after a long and hot summer would trigger some kind of response in anyone; however, I don’t feel that the response triggered somewhere inside of me can be categorized with that of the majority. Does anyone else experience this extraordinary feeling of anticipation, excitement, and mystery?

So Little to Do, So Much Time

As I finished off today and came back to the dorm, I was amazed to find how little I had to do. For the first time since transferring down here to South, I could actually have me time. When you have reflections to write for literature, literature to read, calculus to (well, attempt) to do, Spanish verbs to conjugate, and meteorological charts to analyze, you learn very quickly to prize the moments when you can just sit and think. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutley love being busy because it keeps depressing thoughts out of my mind, but it was absolutely wonderful to know that no important assignment looms in the near future and that I didn’t have a major test coming up to study for. The only drawback I can think of for being busy is not being able to read as much. I am an avid reader, and as much as I love classical literature, I really just want to read a non-intellectual novel to take the edge off, but that is utterly impossible.

However, I did find out this week that in World Lit, we are going to be examining a piece of classical literature and attempting to re-create the author’s style as a culminating project and so I am doing mine on Don Quixote. I have never read the book, which is ironic since I love reading and Spanish so much, as it contains a mixture of the two, and so I have decided to kill two birds with one stone. I will be reading it to gain insight into Cervantes style, but also be (or attempting) reading it in Spanish. If I succeed, it will be the first novel that I have read in another language. Well, one that hasn’t been translated. It is going to be a daunting task, but I feel up to the challenge.

Something new to look forward to: I have decided to totally copy Kylee and include a quote of the day. It will be in the sidebar under the heading of WrldTrvlr’s Quotes under the WrldTrvlr’s Links heading. Although I may not get around to writing a full post every day due to my heavy workload, you can expect a new quote every day relating in some way to my thoughts or feelings for the day. Until we meet again…

So it begins…

Okay, so first of all, I’m new at this whole blogging thing so you will have to give me some lee-way as I figure things out and begin to acustom myself to using WordPress. Though a little technical like you guys have told me, I think that after some time I will be able to do some really cool stuff with this. I plan on uploading pictures frequently of things I am doing and seeing here in Mobile and on any trips I may go on. I am also thinking about uploading some sort of weekly music video. This not only will give me a chance to showcase some of my favorite artists, but also possibly allow you guys to see and hear some artists you may not have seen or heard before. According to the song, I will discuss lyrics, the band, or an assortment of other ideas that I may developed by listening to the selection. That will definitely be something exciting to look forward to. I also plan on writing a weekly entry in Spanish. Most of you are already farmiliar with my love of the Spanish language and culture, but this will give my friends that speak Spanish an idea of how my life is going and allow me to practice writing Spanish. With that said, I hope all of you will check back soon for updates.

Since my aunt and uncle are down visiting this weekend, I tried to come up with some ideas for things to do this weekend, and one of those was the Seafood Festival in Pesacola. Though I was not entirely enthusiastic at first, thinking it would be the stereotypical festival with a multitude of generic arts and crafts, local music, and drunks, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was the festival a bit larger than I imagined, but many unusual and eccentric items made by the locals were showcased. Something else was included in the festival that I found interesting. Many of you may have heard of the restaurant Flouders in Pensacola. They have one or two restaurants there, and then I think they may have a few others in various coastal cities. Anyway, the chef who develops all of the menu items for Flounders was at the festival doing demonstrations for the public, cooking various dishes and explaining them all the while. I seriously thought I was on Rachel Ray for a moment. It was super cool. I can away with some very useful cooking tips and I learned that a basic alfredo sauce can be made at home simply by heating some heavy cream and adding the cheese of your choice. Although he used parmesan, he said that any cheese will do. How awesome is that? Who knew?