Practice Makes Perfect, Heat and Girl Scouts

Once upon a time, I had a paper due for a class. This paper was different from other papers I had ever done. The class was a 300 level course and I decided it would be a good idea to start it the night before. For every paper I've written, I've given myself plenty of time to review review review. I try to get them looked over. Good lord, did I just not care about my grade?

No, I did. I knew I could revise it for a higher grade if I needed to though. Perhaps that was something that made me less motivated.

Today was the day we got them back. As you can probably guess, I wouldn't be talking about this unless I did a lot better than expected or a lot worse. I was expecting a B at best. I got an A-.
Um, excuse me what? How did that happen? I know that being ill prepared can land me in trouble. I had experience with that when it came to my HPHY midterm. Oof.

However, I think there's a reason that I was able to do so much better on my paper than my science midterm: Practice.

Y'see, I might not blog everyday, but I blog most days. Due to this, I've been getting a lot of practice at writing. Sure it's not the best writing, but it's still writing. It's still trying to convey my thoughts to a larger audience by making coherent writings.

Funny thing is, even before I got my paper back we talked about how some writers practice writing at least 900 words a day. I don't even remember what the conversation was about, but it's just funny that it happened to come up.

Honestly though, who am I kidding? I got that grade because of my bomb comparison of the main character in House of Mirth to Mean Girls.

Other than that, it's been so hot out! Good lord. I managed to get my mile in for the run streak at 10pm, and it was still 66 degrees out. How that happens in May in Oregon I don't know.
Also, today was the last day of the Discovery Program with the Girl Scouts! I can't believe it's over. We still have some technical stuff to go over, but other than that no more planning for programs. No more coloring. No more activities. Aw.

Time for me to head out. I've got an interview tomorrow. If only that meant a job. Hmm.

What skill are you constantly practicing over and over?

Running Breaks

I've got a feeling that time is going to fly by until I get to my big project deadlines. Goodness, I'm not ready to deal with all of this. Hmm.

Due to the fact that I was on a houseboat, I wasn't able to do much running. When you're out on a boat, you can't really... run. You know?
I was able to run on Saturday because that was the day we got there. After a squabble with my mom about getting my run in, I managed to do it before I got on the boat. Sunday, I was on the lake with no escape. And Monday... I was either on a boat or in a car until 9:30pm. You know what that means? That means I went two days without running.

Sure, not running for two days isn't crazy for some people, but I haven't done that since December. Of 2010. So it's a little disappointing to admit that.

For now, I'm back on the running track. The mini half marathon my sister and I were planning kind of fell apart, but I've still been doing some pretty good running. One thing I'd like to do is the RW Runner's Streak I read about in Ann's blog. I'd do more than one mile for some of the runs, but I think this would be a fun thing to do!

Other than that, not much going on. Just trying to get done with this term!

When was the last time you took an unexpected break from running?

Weekend Return

Alright I'm back.

Things I was not expecting this weekend: Having absolutely no connection to the outside world. If I had thought about that, I wouldn't have brought my computer. I was without service as well, so when I say no connection to the outside world I really mean it.

This weekend  I spent my time out on a houseboat with family and friends. Honestly, I didn't know who was going to go until a hour before I was picked up.

As for the trip itself, there's not much to say. I laid out in the sun. I laid out on a floating island device attached to a houseboat in the sun. I entertained a little kid with animal noises. I caught a fish. That's about it.

One of the most shocking things happened to me, or so I thought. I didn't get burned! I always get a sunburn. This is what I thought until I finally took a shower and felt my scalp burnt to a crisp. Whoops.

A good, do-nothing trip. Yup.

Now it's Tuesday, my brain is all off schedule, and I'm back to deadlines looming over my head. Week Nine, here we go.

What did you do for Memorial Day Weekend?

Sleeping Patterns and Midnight Showings

Remember how I said that I didn't care about sleep, I was going to stay up? Well, that finally bit me in the butt. Yesterday was the second day in my college career that I overslept. I know.
I think it's just because I've had such an effed up sleep schedule that my body finally decided to say "You know what? You're just going to sleep through your alarm."
It was very surreal at first too. I looked at my clock and chuckled. What? My eyes are off. Then I looked again... Nope. Rushing to class with no makeup, mussy hair in the rain is not great. What sucks the most about it is it was a class that I actually like, and I didn't want the professor to not like me. That might be out the window.

Got another rejection letter for a job today. Bah. By the looks of it, it seems like I'm not going to have a summer job. Which is bad, because I need money. I'm so tired of every job being a full school year job, or going into September. Honestly, I just need more connections.

Speaking of summer, it's almost here. Gah! With that in mind, summer blockbusters are coming out. We've already had quite a few come out like The Avengers, and today Men In Black 3 came out.There's a trend that's happening with many of these movies, and that is the trend of midnight showings. Originally to me, these midnight showings seemed only meant for fandom favorites such as Harry Potter. Slowly it appeared that superhero movies wanted this too. Now Men in Black 3 has had a midnight showing!
I know why midnight showings happen. It's to get more people in watching the show. But for me, midnight showings feel like secret special things. Only the dedicated go to these things. However with more and more of them, it feels less... special. I know, it's a bit ridiculous to feel this way about the movies, it's just how I feel.

Anywho, I'm excited for all of the fun movies coming out. Then again, I haven't gone to the movies in awhile, so we'll see if I'll get to any soon.

Have you ever been to a midnight movie showing? What movies are you excited for this summer? I'm excited for the last dark knight movie!

Being Sorted

Sometimes you're awake for awakes sake. Tonight is one of those nights.

Truthfully, I'm only up because I've been avoiding starting a blog post but I wanted to do it tonight before it became Monday and I realized I hadn't done any in a long time. That tends to happen to me. And yes, that's probably the ugliest sentence I've ever seen too.

Last night I was up late writing as well, but that's because I was writing a play. Yep. I don't write plays. Especially since I have no creative drive in that sort of sense. However, no one else was taking over the job, so it was up to me to write something.
Remember how I've been saying I'm ready for summer to just get here?
Well, there are some things that are looming over my head that I'm just not ready to deal with yet. Like this project. And the big research paper that's going to go with this project. Hoo boy.

Still don't have a job. Every job that I've been applying to from the UO joblink that says it was JUST posted has told me, "Oh, we put that up a long time ago." According to the website, you put it up today. What is this?

Sooo... has anyone been to the Pottermore website? Have you been sorted? I finally moseyed on over to see where I would be sorted. I was not prepared for the whole back story thing (another reason why I'm up so late).

Soon, I arrived to the sorting hat. I started to get nervous, like for some reason a virtual hat would affect me in the real world.

I just didn't want to be sorted into Hufflepuff.

I wasn't. I was sorted into... Gryffindor? Me? Really? If anything, I'm a first year Neville version of Gryffindor.

At least I'm not in Hufflepuff.

What was the last type of personality test that you took? Did it fit with your personality?

What We Should Call Me and Doodling

Um, what happened to the sun? Today there was what seemed like a freak rainstorm. It poured. I suppose it's fine, because then we'll be able to appreciate all of the beautiful sunny days that are to come in the summer. Plus, after the rainstorm it was the perfect temperature for a run.

When I was on my run, I definitely was having a "Really?" moment due to earlier events. Like this:

Do you like Gifs? Because I certainly do. I don't know why, but they're so entertaining. Especially if you've ever been to the website What We Should Call Me. It's pretty much situations in life mixed with a gifs that fits the situation. Should not be as entertaining as it is.

My thoughts are all mixed up. You'll have to bear with me.

The other main thing on my mind is drawing. When I was in high school, art was my thing. I hung out in the art room constantly, I took independent art (and did the most work out of everyone, thankyouverymuch), and I thought that I would be doing art all through college. My favorite type of art was comic art, and my style has definitely been influenced by anime. Nowadays, it's a bit different, but that's besides the point. The point is, I've hardly been doing any art since I started college.
However, lately the art bug has bit me. I'm finding old characters and missing on the art thing. I'm also really wanting to do some fan art.
Art was such a big part of my life. What happened?

Two things:
1. The Internet
2. Actually concentrating in class.

Before in high school, I drew because I wasn't paying attention. Now, I pay attention just so I can pass my classes. As for the Internet... it's just so distracting! I dunno.

For now, I'm liking this doodling thing.
And really, it's never really gone completely away. Every so often, I've started doodling but right now it's getting stronger. Hmm. We'll see where this goes.

What habits from high school pop up with you from time to time?

Weekend Wrap Up

I'm slowly starting to clean/pack up things in my room for moving out, and it's making the room feel a bit... eerie. Just because it's so empty.

Grocery shopping is a weird thing to get used to. If I don't have certain foods in the house, I automatically turn to the closest type of junk food in my house. Why? Perhaps it's because I start to think, "Hey, if I'm not going to have this healthy type of food to eat in my house, that leaves me more junk food to fit into my meal." Yeah. The logic is not sound. Thankfully, I got my rear into gear and bought some fruit, veggies, and grains that I had been missing. I've had far too much sugar this weekend, and it made my body completely out of wack.

I'm slowly starting back on the responsibility train. I like that. True, it's taking a lot of work, but I'm getting there. Part of the FOUR BIG THINGS I NEED TO GET DONE list was buy a ticket for London. I've been looking at tickets and such for a long time, and tonight I finally grew a pair (plus the help of my mom) bought my ticket. Next part of that process? Figuring out where I'm going to be staying for the week and a half before I have official housing. Yeah.

This has just been an... interesting weekend overall. I had pretty much a mental breakdown yesterday, and it wasn't pretty. Maybe the overdose on sugar made my mental state unstable? Possibly.

Goals of the upcoming week: Spend as much time as possible in the library. I need to get a move on with these projects. Seriously.

What groceries do you run out of the fastest? For me, it's English muffins and frozen veggies. Also carrots.