Shoulda Been an English Major

Hey all...

I'm back in SLC and after spending Thursday and the entire weekend being abysmally and horrifyingly sick, I'm mostly well again. Looking for a job, trying to get all of my stuff together, and my life in order before moving away.

I took a "Find Your Major" Quiz for the hell of it to see (post-graduation) what I should have majored in. Thought it was quite entertaining to find that 3 of the top 4 majors were some of the only ones that I didn't actually try doing my first couple of years. And that's impressive, because I went through quite a few majors before settling on chemistry.

Here are the results:

1. English
2. Chemistry
3. Dance
4. Mathematics

English, dance, mathematics. Riigghhht.......

Final Today

Just found out that I got 99% on my american government final and the final I took today was A LOT easier than I thought it was going to be. Woohoo!

Ah, it's Christmas Time!

As much as I feel like living in Salt Lake is sucking the life out of me, I really do love Salt Lake City. There are so many things here that I love. The lights on temple square every Christmas are hands down one of my favorite things here. And now that I live just down the street, I get to see them every time I walk out of my house. Lovely! And I don't have to worry about crazy down town parking if I want to go see them because, hey, I can walk. Took some pictures last night and I really liked this one. The tree still has some leaves on it, so it looks especially red.



Also, on a completely different note, this is Jill, me, and Danny hanging out on Mars. We're supposed to be lost (that's why no one is looking at the camera) and clearly I didn't read the sign that said to stay on the trail. Whoops...


And Jill, Sam, and Danny on the moon:

And for the especially good news of the day - I went to talk to the Chemistry Undergraduate Secretary today and I found out that I do not have to take my senior comprehensive tests next week. Instead I'm scheduled to take them after finals. And she's letting me take them in a different order than most people take them in. I'm taking the Physical and Analytical ones the first day followed by the Inorganic and Organic ones. This is good because I'll probably need that extra time studying for the organic test. But to ease my fears, she said if I happen to fail it, I can take it again. So no worries.

I'm weak!

As graduation draws nearer and nearer I keep having thoughts about things I would like to do before December 15. I realized as I was studying last night that I have never once pulled an all-nighter while in college. Not ever. How is that even possible? I'm a major procrastinator and college is supposed to be full of late night/early morning studying. So I decided that I would try to pull one last night for my test this morning. How hard could it be? I know plenty of people who do them all the time. Not to mention it'd give me plenty of time to solidify the my knowledge of boron and group theory. It went swimmingly until about 3:30 when I sort of collapsed. I'm weak, it's true. I have no idea how people can go without sleep. I don't think it's physically possible for me. All I can say is it's a good thing I zonked out on my floor since I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to pull myself out of my warm bed at 7:00 this morning.

On a completely different note, I finally read "The Giver" by Lois Lowry yesterday. Most people end up reading it sometime in their growing up years, but somehow I missed it. It was an absolutely beautiful book. There were a few little things I didn't like in it, but I think it makes it onto my favorite books list. Even though it's technically a children's book, it has very deep themes running through it that can be enjoyed by any adult reader. Definately one of those stories that you can't stop thinking about after you read it.

Halloween Mayhem

Just wanted to post a few pictures from this past weekend's Halloween mayhem. Mal as innocent Snow White, Ben trying to look like a sexy vampire (though the vampire teeth sort of kill it), and myself as jolly Santa.


Mallory as a not-quite-so-innocent Snow White.


Meghan, Lyndsi, Michael, and I. You can't actually tell from the picture, but Michael was extremely proud of the fact that he fit into his sister's pleather pants .


On a completely different note, I spent a freakishly long day in chem lab making these metal complexes. Twelve hours for this? I was completely jipped.

Weird Self-Portrait

Although this is my last semester, I have unfortunately put off a couple of classes that I should have taken as a freshman or a sophomore. One of these classes is Physics 2 lab. Possibly the lamest class ever with the exception of Physics 1 lab. It doesn't help that I actually took Physics 2 about 2 1/2 years ago. But alas, I am forced to go for three hours a week and pretend that I really care about that class in the least. This past week we were doing an experiment with electrons inside a glass ball. I took this picture because we were trying to measure the radius with the mirrored ruler in the back. The picture didn't actually help with that, but I thought it was a kind of interesting picture anyway with myself reflected in it. Sort of a weird self-portrait.


A recent picture from the top of City Creek Canyon (one of my favorite places to go biking):

Those sexy little atoms

So while studying for my test tomorrow (uh, actually today I guess), I picked up some interesting tidbits about a few elements. Pretty sure none of these will be on the test.

1) Of all the elements, sound travels the fastest through Beryllium. A whopping 12500 m/s!

2) Roentgenium has never been seen by the naked eye, but theorists say if someone ever saw it, it'd be gold.

3) Group 5, also called the Pnictogens, got it's name from a greek word meaning to stifle or choke. Funny since nitrogen is in this group and it makes up the majority of the atmosphere.

4) When heated, arsenic smells quite a bit like garlic.

And now I am going home...

No more OChem! Ever!

First things first. Today I turned in my last lab report for my advanced organic chem lab. That means that after suffering through two OChem classes and three labs, I am finally done with it! Done Done Done!

Time to celebrate, I mean, errr... study for my inorganic test tomorrow. Sigh...

Yes, once again I am back at school. Since I was starting to fall asleep studying at home, I made myself come back. But let's look at the bright side. At least I'm in the chemistry building and not in the library again. I'm a firm believer that the library has full power to numb brains and devour souls.

Tonight as I was parking my car I think I finally lost my mind. I was actually contemplating spending the night here. In fact I still am. There's a wonderful room with very comfortable couches and I wouldn't have to waste time getting ready in the morning. If I was thinking of such things when I left my house, I would have packed a toothbrush and a change of clothes. But alas, I wasn't thinking of such things. I just don't know if I can actually bring myself to such a low, pathetic level.

No worries though, I'm sure to regain my sanity tomorrow after "Hell Tuesday" is over.

Let the Countdown Begin

After spending a great deal of my weekend in the library (and anticipating spending most of the next 48 hours in it as well) I have grown frustrated enough to calculate exactly how long I have until my last final of my undergraduate career is over.


Exactly:

60 days, 16 hours, and 24 minutes
Note: This includes daylight savings

Oops!

Ack! So I got to class today and realized, oh wait, everyone is silent and bent over working. Ummmm....do we have a test? Oh yes! We had a test! Why is that I've been such a space cadet lately? Hello! Who forgets things like tests? Apparently I do. Sheesh.

I went and bought Eric Clapton unplugged today. I think I will soon be in full Eric Clapton obsession. It's kind of weird how since my parents raised me strictly on things like classical music and marty williams, I now get to go back and discover music that everyone else has been listening to for ages. Not that I didn't know the most popular Clapton songs, I just didn't fully realize how fantastic it all is. A year ago this same thing happened with James Taylor. And now I'm a full fledged James Taylor addict.

On a completely different topic... I have recently been rereading Jane Austen's novels and the question my girlfriends and I have been discussing is this: If you had to pick any of the male characters (not just the lead ones) to marry, which would you choose. I'm having an awfully difficult time choosing between Colonel Brandon and Mr. Knightly. Both very gentlemanly and fantastically rich. Although maybe I would have to go for Mr. Knightly because he seems to have a more developed sense of humor.