| ...So...school is back under way...And as per usual, I can't for the life of me remember why the hell I wanted to get back here, back to this, so badly... ...So, again, as usual, I'm here to fill everyone who cares in--and annoy those that don't care with my rambling about my first few days back at my current academic home... My first class was History of Religion (or HoR as I'm going to call it--partly b/c I'm lazy but also b/c I get a sick sorta middle school giggle over how it sounds when I tell my friends I've got HoR [read: whore] work to do.  ) It was a weird start to my day...There was a professor in the classroom from the class before ours and everyone was filing in and the prof. was putting things away really slowly, just watching everyone come in and the he asked someone what class this was and someone answered him, "History of Religion." And he asked, "With who?" And the same person answered w/ our Prof.'s name, (which I'll say is Professor "H" for the sake of privacy.) And after that, the professor at the front of the room kinda stopped putting stuff away and smirked. He stood there a bit longer and said, "Well, it should be a good class..." and then added, "...I'm not your teacher...I wasn't trying to be funny...But he's a good guy..." and then grabbed his briefcase-y thing and left...Weird. I'm glad he wasn't trying to be funny though, b/c from what I can tell, he'd totally suck at it. Our professor finally did come in though, and he looked NOTHING like I thought he would. (*See, I usually use MySpace's Professor Grading to check up on my teachers' reputations before I finalize my schedule, b/c after retrospectively looking up a few of my past professors, I've found it to be pretty accurate on the whole. Sure, you sometimes have to go through what is basically electronic bathroom graffiti, but there is good, helpful stuff to be found.*) He was late middle age for one thing, when I thought he was much younger. He also had this weird 1950s Ken doll-ish hair. Doesn't move AT ALL. Also was wearing a mustard yellow dress shirt w/ a red tie and blue--not denim, not navy, but blue--slacks. But Prof. H started talking and I quickly forgave him his primary color nightmare outfit. He's a great lecturer, super funny. He really knows the material and is really excited and passionate about it--which is what ultimately matters. And despite being kinda persnickety about ppl coming in late (*he closes the door the minute class starts, so if you're late he has to let you in*), leaving early, cell phones, leaving the room, switiching seats, and packing up early, (*and people breathing... or just ppl in general???* ) I still like him so far. I wish that this one guy I know wasn't in my class, but otherwise, it was a good start. My second class was Chemistry w/ the same fantabulous professor I had for my previous chemistry class last Spring. I've started to call him "Doc" when I'm talking to ppl about him, b/c, for good and bad, he sorta reminds me of Doc Brown fom the movie, Back to the Future personality-wise. (*And a quick sidebar apology to my frosh honors English teacher, Mrs. M., for using -wise as a prefix. *) He's a little weird, a little funny, really knowledgeable about science and pretty lovable once you get past the faint eau de crazy. He was my favorite teacher for spring term and I loved lab--lecture wasn't required attendance, but I went anyway...which, if you know me at all, is saying something. Doc has a uber-dry sense of humor--the first time I had him, I thought he was hilarious, but he never even cracked a smile, so I was like, *Is that meant to be a joke? Am I the only person who finds that funny? etc.*) He always dresses nice, even on his "casual" Friday. He has that Regis Philbin Who Wants to be a Millionaire? look. (FYI: Monocramatic colors and black.) Only thing that bugs me about him is that he fidgets...a lot. I don't know if it's nervous energy or if it's a side effect due to the massive amount of caffeine and energy drinks he chugs down throughout the day...But he's been driving me NUTS w/ this stupid meter stick he's been messing with during class...He uses it to point to stuff on the board that he's like two inches away from, points to ppl with it when they ask a question, taps it on the desk in the front of the room, and sometimes rests it on his shoulder like he's a soldier on guard duty or something...It's just weird and distracting! Then there's Anatomy & Physiology (A&P for short)...Again, repeat professor--same guy I had for Human Biology a bit back...He used to be a chiropractor but he moved here w/ his family from Chicago, and when he got here, decided the insurance prices were too high or something and decided to teach instead...Really. He's a nice guy, but aside from a slight goofball streak, he's just so...average. I don't mean to make it sound like "average" = mediocre...It's just...well, I like people with quirks; I just find them more interesting... But he's a guy, a dad of two almost-grown kids, someone who used to do something else and now he teaches. He wears polos and dockers to class and looks like almost any other random 40-something you might see...There's not much else to say about him...Although, he does attempt "jokes" every now and then...Mostly everyone rolls their eyes at him and waits for him to continue w/ the material. Unlike in Human Bio, however, this time we get to dissect cats...Not a huge deal for me, b/c I've already done that in high school (and also dissected frogs and fetal pigs, previously)...but I wish we didn't have to name them. See, once the cats are cut open, they'll start to look pretty similiar, but as you'd expect, they'll have slight anatomical differences, so we have to name our cat so my prof. can write the name on the bag so everyone gets the same cat every time. But I have a habit of getting overly attached to certain things and I think once I name it, it'll be harder for me to be objective and do the dissection, b/c I'll be thinking of it as "Mittens" (or whatever) instead of "my disssection cat". I mean, yes, it was a living thing, and yes, it deserves a certain amount of respect, but in addition to any potential attachment, it's also kinda freaky to be naming an animal that's dead...Like stopping to name roadkill or your hamburger or something...Anyway, off on a tangent...Lots of material in the class, slightly more difficult than Human Bio, but still a pretty good class, all in all... There's also my Calc class--Calc CXXVII by this point, I think...This will probably be my last college math class...which overjoys me about as much as it depresses me...I definitely have a love/hate thing with math...My professor is the head of the math department, and...he's really nice, helpful, & genuinely seems to enjoy math...He's also pretty weird. He's worn practically the same outfit every single night for class thus far...and that wouldn't be so bad if he wore an undershirt under his white shirt (b/c way not enough left to the imagination-- and I cannot stress this enough--*ewwwwwwww*)...Seriously! What is that?!? Second math prof. I've had here that's done that! And at least the previous offender was decent to look at otherwise, but this one reminds me of Gimli from Lord of the Rings (* mean but true*) and I'm really hoping as it gets cooler he'll throw on a sweater or something and cover up a bit...*shudders* ...So that's the basics of back-to-school-ness for me... Hope everyone else is doing well... ~Cheers!~ Comic of the Day: 
Pictures of the Day: Just some protest signs I liked... 
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* ...I feel okay about how I did...I only needed a 81.3% to keep my A, so I had some wiggle room, but... It's weird, b/c as I was studying/reviewing again right before class I kept alternating between freaking out because I felt like I didn't know/remember how to do anything & then feeling kinda cocky because I had done well so far in the class and this wasn't any new material really. My prof. said she'd post our grades within the next week or so online and I can hardly wait for the final verdict. I have my heart set on an A in the class, and I'll be crushed if I get anything else at this point. 
