Things that make you feel better

1. People reminding you that the world has not ended.

2. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

3. Going to the gym and working off said sandwiches.

4. Prompt package deliveries.

5. Cadbury creme eggs.

So I'm feeling a little better about the whole thing. Don't really have many other options. Easier to just talk about what I'm up to this week.

Wednesday (omg this is going to sound so nerdy) I'm going to the Hydrogen Convention with Lindsay! I really can't tell you how excited I am about this. It's going to be so great. They're going to have hydrogen fueled cars there and you can take a ride in them. They'll have lots of other exhibits too, and I really can't wait. This is one of the areas of research that interests me the most and I'm thrilled about going to this convention. I know, I know, as Amanda said, 'nerdy' is the understatement of the year.

Saturday is Scholars Day and I'm doing a big poster set up about marching band and basketball pep band. Which I need to go work on some more...

Anyway, feeling better from the desk of

Jackie

It would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic

I am the bearer of bad news.

My beautiful, beloved computer is in a coma.

After finishing wasting some time on it, I was cleaning out my backpack. I put a book that we had just finished in class on the shelf. This shelf is notoriously badly balanced. Well, the whole lot of books fell over, knocking a cup of water down. You can imagine the devastation that followed.

I did all the right things. I unplugged everything, moved the computer and my camera away from the spill. (the camera is completely unharmed). I dried with towels. I held it upside down while I cried. I used a blowdryer on the lowest setting and very gently dried it. I did all the right things.

But it won't come on.

I can't tell you how incredibly sad this makes me feel. Devastated isn't a strong enough word for how disappointed I am in myself.

Luckily, I have a warranty that covers accidental damage, such as spilling water on your computer. I also have StudentBackup, a service which protects my documents. But I will probably lose all my music and pictures, among other things. My computer will get sent away to be fixed, so there's that. And I don't have any papers or anything. I actually only have two classes that require me to use the computer at all.

For now, I am a slave to the computer labs of campus. Obviously, my posts will be much more irregular, so I hope you'll forgive me, but that's life. You can still leave me suggestions for the layout which I got 90% finished, just know that your suggestions won't go into effect as quickly.

Oh and you want to know God's response to all this? I got a leftover fortune cookie from my friends' chinese take-out and it read:

You would do well in the field of computer technology.

The Big Man Upstairs has a sick sense of humor.

Another Quote

"You can't be a sorcerer every day" 

~Pablo Picasso

Note: This is a picture of Pablo Picasso. 

I thought I would throw in a another nice quote for you. Please understand that while I am certainly entering the final stages of my layout overhaul, I am still working. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. 

Underconstruction

Please excuse my mess! I'm doing some overhauling on my blog and it will return to a semi-normal state within a day or two. Thanks!

I'm totally a quote person.

If you haven't got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me.

 ~Alice Roosevelt Longworth

* Note: the picture is not of alice roosevelt longworth. it's of Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, but I thought she looked the part. 

Some Other Bloggy Froggies

Good evening dear readers! For those of you who have never looked on the right side of my blog, there is a list there of the blogs I read. I would like to take a moment, as did Stephen (Life at Carolina) to identify some of my fellow USC bloggers.

Stephen: the technical genius behind Life at Carolina, who knows far more about HTML and RSS stuff than I will ever even attempt to understand. His blog is as his title suggests all about his life at USC. With blog categories ranging from "Pensive/Reflective" to "Stephen Stories", his posts are sure to keep you thinking. He was also the first of the UTF residents to put out a blog.

Cameron: his blog Closing Time came not long after my own. His tagline "What goes on inside Cameron's head?" truly says it all. With a rambling free thought style, he brings you stories of the day with a quirky twist. If you're looking for a fun, lighthearded blog post, let Cameron be your guide.

Sam: aka my roomie, and you can find her at August Every Month. Sam is well-known as the creative, artsy-craftsy person on the hall. She is also the resident expert on Photoshop. Great pictures + fun photoshop effects = one great picture blog. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Definitely a must-see.

Nick: He's the newest member of our little blog community, so go show some support over at Nick at Nite. He's so new, we don't even know what his style is yet. Knowing Nick, his blogs are sure to be fun, interesting, and down-to-earth perspectives on anything and everything.

So there you go! The whole little bloggy circle!

Hoping you have as much fun reading their posts as I do from the desk of

Jackie

Is anybody working in France?

I'm sure someone in France is at work, but it can't be a very large percent of the population. 

First, all of the universities have been on strike for seven weeks. So all the professors, staff, and students of the universities are doing nothing. 

Then the transportation unions went on strike. So those people are all out. Plus all the people that depend on public transportation to get to work or school are stuck at home. 

So who exactly is working in France? 

The foreigners, of course. 

Big Shoes to Fill

Tonight I went to the McNair Scholar Dinner. I have a large scholarship at USC, and so they throw a big dinner for us in the spring to honor the seniors. Mr. and Mrs. McNair, the people who fund the scholarship, came too. It was such an honor to even be in the same room as them.

The food was delicious, everyone looked gorgeous, and the people at my table were wonderful. The president of the university was there, as well as the provost, and they both spoke. One of the seniors also gave a speech. Everything was just delightful.

After the meal, they introduced all the seniors, told us their major, and told us their plans for after graduation. These are some of the most accomplished people you will ever meet. I was flabbergasted. Some of course were going on to medical school or law school or graduate school. They all had marvelous plans to become these amazing things. Some were going on to unbelievable adventures. One girl is moving to Danali park in Alaska for a few monthes. One girl, who's graduating early, is going to start her own business. Another is going to be a scuba instructor in the Caribbean before going into work involving the education and interfield relations around marine science issues. And one guy, I could hardly believe this, did his senior thesis around traveling from China to Paris on a motorcycle, by himself over the summer, and now he's going to move to China and invest in a chicken farm. After he makes a ton of money (because Chinese agriculture is going to boom in the next 5 years) he's going to buy a motorcycle and explore the Chinese countryside.

The whole time I kept thinking to myself, what will I say? where will I be going? What will Jan proudly explain to the room about me? I'm hoping there will be slightly more to say than, this is Jackie, she's a chemistry major, and she's going to graduate school somewhere.

My Experience as a "Normal" Spectator

For those of you who don't know, I'm a little crazy about basketball. Like I really get into it. I scream the whole time, I live for group cheers, and I practically howl every time they miss a free-throw. I love basketball. Perhaps a little more than the average person should. I'm from Indiana, though. It's part of our culture. African Americans have February, Indiana has March. 

Normally when I go to a basketball game I am either surrounded by other bball nuts, like my family, or I'm in the band. Before high school, I went to or watched games with my family and we all screamed and cursed and had a great time. During high school I went with the band and we screamed and cheered and played our instruments as loud as we could. Now that I'm in college I go with the band and scream and cheer and curse and play my instrument and have a great time. It's my favorite sport. 

This time however, despite the fact that it was a "home game", the NIT forbade us from having more than 30 people in our pep band. The other team I'd like to point out didn't bring a band. My band director chose to take 30 brass players. So one of my band friends and I decided to get tickets like normal students and go to the game. It was an interesting experience. 

At first it was fun. We went in through the front entrance, we handed over our tickets to be scanned (instead of showing our instruments), and walked serenely past the concessions stand with the knowledge that we could get food later if we wanted it. It was even kind of fun picking our seats. 

The rest of the game sucked though. We somehow got stuck near a bunch of people who clearly aren't basketball fans. They hardly ever cheered and they kept giving me strange looks. What was I supposed to do, be quiet? I cheered and screamed and yelled nasty things at the refs like I always do. If you're not hoarse at the end of a basketball game, then you weren't paying attention. Plus, I assume this was due to the NIT, they didn't do any of the cool stuff. No cute promos, no halftime show, the band wasn't allowed to play hardly ever, no carolina girls, no awesome startup thing, no t-shirts falling from the ceiling. Nothing. It's like they sucked all the fun out of it. It wasn't like a home game at all; we might as well have been at Davidson's court. Stupid. 

In the end once the novelty of having to get a ticket like a normal student had worn off, I really disliked the whole thing. 

NCAA BRACKET

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/tournament/bracket

YAY!

Wedding Wisdom

Don't worry, I'll post later about basketball. I haven't completely lost my mind.

The first weekend of spring break, my grandparents were staying at our house on their way down to a wedding in Florida. My grandmother chose to utilize this opportunity to give me some wedding wisdom, which I will pass along to you. In a few years we'll probably all be guilty of violating most of these rules.

1.) The photographer should be discreet, out of the way, and inconspicuous. Nothing worse than a wedding ruled by the agenda of the photographer.

2.) There is no reason for ugly bridesmaid dresses. They should look good too, and furthermore, their dresses should be simplified versions of the bride's dress, just in a color of the wedding theme instead of white. And above all else, the dress should be flattering on all the bridesmaids, not just the skinny one.

3.) Children, like the photographer, are not the focus of the wedding, and their parents' should keep them under control.

4.) Everyone should dress up for a wedding, even if it is not a particularly formal event. Personally, I want to have an evening wedding so everyone will be forced to go formal.

5.) The reception shouldn't be too long after the ceremony. Just give people enough time to get over to the reception hall, plus about ten minutes, and you're good. You should also serve food. A full meal is not necessarily required (unless the ceremony/reception is close to a meal) but hors d'oevres are expected.

6.) Outdoor weddings are only nice if they're private, and if there's a plan in case of rain. Having it on a public beach or park is not acceptable. You can't close it off from other people, and even if you could, what's to stop Joe Funloving from throwing a frisbee through the vows?

7.) There is nothing wrong with having a wedding in a church.

8.) Weddings should be on Saturday. Friday weddings are acceptable in specific circumstances, like if you're in the military and you're only on leave until monday. Any other day of the week is just silly.

9.) Asking for money instead of gifts is tacky.

10.) When shopping for the dress, take as few people as possible. Don't take two friends who will fight or kids. The groom should absolutely under no circumstances be there. Myself, I'm just taking my mom, and possibly my mother-in-law as a goodwill gesture. I will not be going with every female member of my family in tow.

So maybe we watch alot of wedding shows on tv, but really this is good stuff.

The Desk at Home

I'm wrapping up my spring break (second to last day) here at home. For those who are wondering, the original plan was that I would go home and then thursday I would go back to columbia, get on a band bus, and play with the pep band at the Men's SEC basketball tournament in Tampa, FL. On wednesday, I found out my band director had been limited to bringing 30 people (which we knew would happen) and he decided to only take the brass (which rumors said could happen). This equates to me spending all of spring break 09 at home. Oh well. It's been relaxing.

This is a blog about my desk at home. I can't actually blog at my desk at home. I never had my own computer before getting my laptop for college. We all use the family computer in the basement. We have a dell that's only a few years old, as well as an old windows 98 that is good for very little. We have a wireless router so that the old computer can get internet access as well. This is how I get internet at home, but the router doesn't cover the second floor, just the main floor and the basement. So I have to come to the main floor with my laptop if I want to go online. My current location is the blue chair (Calbert's favorite nap spot) in the family room. He's giving me evil looks because I also have his favorite green blanket, but as I remind him, they don't actually belong to him anyway.

Upstairs in my room, I have the same desk that I've always had, placed in my room when I was in second grade. My parents pulled it out of the basement, and I've been disappointed with it ever since. Technically speaking, it does go with the rest of my furniture, which is probably why my parents thought nothing of bringing up that desk. The entire furniture set was my dad's when he was a kid. When I was a junior in high school I got to switch rooms with the guest room (it's enormous and Mere can't wait to move in there herself) and so I got to have my parents' old queen sized bed (they upgraded) instead of the old twin. But the rest of my furniture stayed the same.

The desk itself is dark wood, but it's incredibly plain. Four drawers, rather small desk area overall. I've always been able to fill it to the brim with papers and stuff. Storage is not its strongest asset. It's a kid's desk really, and I haven't done homework on it since elementary school. It simply isn't big enough for my books and everything else. Anyway, on top of my desk is a variety of things. A magazine holder with clear plastic sides with a cute circle pattern that holds folders full of old notes, essays, etc, a pink sparkly pencil holder that I've never liked, but never bothered replacing until college, an old brass desk lamp my dad gave me in 2nd grade, a Lisa Frank writing pad with rainbow cats and pianos all over it, which I've also never really liked, a mug a friend gave me that I've never used, a picture of my section from senior year that I love in a beautiful frame that they gave me, a bag of pins that used to be on my letter jacket, a lent devotional I haven't started, a bank statement I need to read, a bunch of surge protectors and converters for my trip to France, one of the handheld phones, and some Purell. Oh and my jacket is thrown over the chair.

And people wonder why I don't use my desk for work...

Just Something to Entertain the Masses

This was done by a fellow blogger, Willow of Life at Willow Manor, and I thought I'd do the same. 

Some "music albums" for you to check out. 

PS. None of these are real albums. These bands do not exist. The pictures are done by going on Flickr and choosing a random picture off the Explore Last Seven Days thing. Then you get a Band name by going to Wikipedia and asking for a random title. The album title is done by going for a random quote on quotations page, and then taking the last phrase of the first quote listed. Voila! Now you too can share random music albums with your friends!

My List of Things To Do...

...before I leave for Spring Break! I leave tomorrow afternoon, right after french class, which brings me to my to do list.

1.) Finish French hw. That would be watching the news broadcast, taking notes, and then doing the workbook pages. Ugh.

2.) Finish vector hw. I almost got it done before the basketball game (which we are not going to discuss), but I still have about 1.5 problems to do.

3.) Prelab for experiment 8 and postlab for experiment 7. These aren't as dire, seeing as I could just as easily do them at home, but I won't want to, so better to get them done now.

4.) My theater hw. Noticing a pattern? I would like to get the work for the Crucible done before I leave (two set designs and a costume collage) because I can easily read Our Country's Good while I'm away.

5.) Practice the piano one last time before I leave for the week. I'm hopeful that I'll have time tomorrow, but if not, it's not the end of the world. I know I won't be able to practice at home (the whole no piano thing), so it'll be a week without touching the keys.

6.) Laundry! I won't be able to take laundry home to get done, so I'd like to do it before I leave so I know that it won't be waiting for me when I get back.

7.) Clean up the room. Everything I won't be taking home with me that is of value, aka my printer, iHome, etc, needs to go in my closet. And get locked there. But that's a tomorrow morning kind of thing.

8.) Pack. This is the big one. Deciding what goes home, what stays, what clothing to bring...oy. This sort of has to get done last minute because it'll depend on how much work I'm able to get done tonight.

9.) Check my email and facebook voraciously for any word from Brozak on what/how/when we need to be ready for the men's SEC tourny.

10.) Get ready for the best week ever! Home cooked meals here I come!!!

See you on the other side!

Piano Post

Happiness! 

I played accidentals for the first time today and that went well. 

I played with two hands for the first time today and that went slightly less well, but well all the same. It will take time getting used to reading two lines at once, but I'll get there. 

So exciting! This is a major breakthrough and I duly rewarded myself with a piece of chocolate. I practiced for an hour today, too. 

Yay!

March Madness!!!!!!

It's March! It's March Madness! OMG!!!

ok, I just had to get that out of my system. I love basketball. You'll notice the new Selection Sunday countdown widget is prominantly displayed.

Random fact: Less than 1% of adults worldwide have a college degree. Thinking about it, I'm like yeah I understand that. That makes sense. At the same time, it's like whoa in four years I'll be in the top 1% of education attainment. Sort of makes you feel special.

Gave tours of maxcy today. I could go on and on and on about mcnair weekend and how much I love it and how much I love volunteering for it, and how much I want to do it next year. But I won't bore you.

piano is going well, practicing 30 minutes a day right now. I don't know enough at this point to do much more than that. Will hopefully be moving on to lesson 2 on monday or tuesday.