Outpost of the World

No, the title is not a quote from an Ace Attorney game. XD As of today, I am officially on-track for a major in Legal Studies. I talked to my (new) adviser, and he was so kind and helpful. Unlike the Pamplin College of Suck, he actually treated me like a person and not some anonymous unit forced into his office out of obligation. Beyond talking about what classes I need to take and where I should be by the end of next semester, he seemed like he just honestly wanted to get to know me and welcome me to the department. I'm so excited! I really think this is going to work out for me. I'm genuinely excited by a lot of the classes on the Graduation Check Sheet and think it'll be a good fit. I like the technical aspects of the law, but I also appreciate that there's room for debate and thoughtful thinking. There's no such thing in Economics. Markets clear, and that's all you need to know. XD

My tentative schedule is a nightmare though. D: On Fridays I have four straight hours of class with no breaks whatsoever, and I personally think that's a lot. With German being the exception, my class are comprised of two 75-minute lectures and one 50-minute recitations on Fridays. I have no idea what one does in recitation, especially in a lecture class where most of what you do is just read the textbook and show up to class, but alas, it seems I'm destined to find out. The courses I put in for request are:

GER-2106 - Intermediate German
PHIL-1204 - Knowledge and Reality
PHIL-1304 - Morality and Justice
PSCI-1024 - Comp Gov & Politics
PSCI-2014 - Intro to Political Theory

Also, for the record, I'm doing exceedingly well in school this time around. (Oh gosh... I hope I didn't just jinx myself.) XD I have a 102% in Introduction to Political Science and a 100% in German. The other class haven't given me any midterm grades yet, but my exam results have been pretty good, so I'm not terribly worried.

On top of all that, today was just a really good day. I'm getting along well with Stephanie at the moment, the weather is sunny and happy again, I was really school oriented and driven to do my work today (Which means less work to do tomorrow!), and I dragged my backside all the way over to ABP and had a delicious cucumber and brie sandwich for dinner. The only thing I can possibly complain about is the lack of Strawberry Parfaits at DX, and that's about it. XD

Anyways, sorry for this obligatory and boring school post. I just wanted to make it clear that I won't be contemplating throwing myself in the Duckpond ever again. If I keep my good work ethic up, at least. XD


Love,

Popo



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Oh, LiveJournal! How I've missed you so! TT__TT It's hard to believe—at least for me—but it's seriously been like, three months since I've made a normal post. Hopefully this entry will go well and I’ll be able to get back in the swing of things. It’s time for change! >:D

Speaking of the election, I did my part and voted yesterday. It was... interesting, to say the least. Not the actual voting aspect, but more-so getting to my polling place and waiting in line and all that. First of all, my voting location was in the middle of nowhere. It was at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, which is located in a desolate, barren field off of Interstate 81, and some four and a half miles from campus. As I have no car, and no knowledge of the area, I probably wouldn’t have been able to vote yesterday had it not been for a local community group shuttling students back and forth from their voting areas.

When I finally got there, I was shocked to see how tiny the place was. I mean, it was tiny. Queuing up was awful because they were trying to get three lines of people—each about a two-hundred or so deep—to funnel down this small, cramped back corridor of the church. ((It reminds me of graduation, when the entire senior class was forced to wait in the back of the Patriot Center. XP )) Everything was fine when I went to vote, but I was really happy to be out of there and on my way. I have no idea who was in charge of picking and choosing which students were supposed to vote where, but they need a new system. They sent the eight smallest dorms to the Blacksburg Library and Community Center—large venues. They sent the eleven largest dorms to, well, St. Michael’s. I don’t see a lot of sense in that, but… oh well, right? ;)



I wrote a few fun mini-entries over the last few weeks, covering all sorts of subjects. A lo of them were about my roommate to be honest, particlarly the early ones, but seeing as most of them were less than complimentary, they didn't get posted. I decided to choose one, and this entry was the clear winner. XD

"My room smells like curry and old ramen. My clothes smell like curry and old ramen. I smell like curry and old ramen.

I don't know what to do. O______O;

All my roommate eats is this freaking nasty, supposedly ultra-spicy ramen that reeks! She makes it for lunch every single day of the week and has it for dinner on occasion as well. The entire top compartment of her closet is just filled with boxes and boxes of it--it's like, an infinite supply.

At first, I didn't mind, because, you know, the smell hadn't permeated my sheets and clothes and the rug and my hair and all that. But now? When you walk into my room? You're hit with this disgusting blast of STINK that's reminiscent of week-old Indian food and B.O. I had my friend Sean come up stairs last night to get his opinion, and he flat out told me that yes, the room smells disgusting. I had Radeya--my spicy-food-loving Bangladeshi friend--check it out today, and even she said this placed smelled awf--OH GOD! NO! SHE'S MAKING SOME RIGHT NOW! TT____TT

Anyways, it must be pretty bad when someone from Bangladesh of all places tells you that your room smells like a nasty curried something-or-other.

I just don't know what to do. I've sprayed copious amounts of air-freshener/odor-removal spray around the room when she's out. I clean the microwave regularly. I have a normal air freshener in my closet. The windows are always open. SIGH."

I found out it wasn’t ramen. It actually was curry. Instant, microwavable curry. But that’s a non-issue now, so there’s nothing to worry about. There is an odor though. Have any of you been inside a Korean persons house? More specifically, their kitchen? There’s a smell… It’s like, pickled vegetables and ripe cantaloupe. That’s what my room smells like. I think Lori said she knows what I’m talking about. XP Anyways, I just mask everything with Oust and tactfully placed air-fresheners. I don’t know about Hahyung's side of the room, but mine smells delicious.

I also wrote this last week. It’s not roommate related, but still post worthy.

So--this boy from my Economics class, who’s been very blatantly trying to get my attention for the past two weeks, went out of his way to talk to me after class. It was cute. ^o^ I was on the phone with my mom on the way back from class, and I saw him walk up to me out of the corner of my eye, looking kinda… purposeful. I wrapped up the conversation, and before I knew it, he was walking beside me, trying to make conversation. I can’t really say he’s my type, but he seems very nice, for what it’s worth.

D’Awwww! XD We actually haven’t had class since that happened, but just this past weekend, I was out to dinner with a friend of mine, and he happened to show up at the restaurant with his family. Ironically enough, I was telling my buddy about him at the time. I looked up to see he smiling, waving figure in the window. LOL.



I’ve met a handful of people here who I can say I’m close with, though there’s only two people I can really say I’m particularly chummy with. One is Sean, who I met way back at orientation. He’s my awesome, gay male friend who I can talk to about anything and is always willing to hang out. And then there’s Stephanie. We hit it off instantly. She loves Nintendo ((Her first care package included an SNES and some games.)), loves anime, likes to draw, is totally normal/not an otaku, and conveniently lives with DS range of me. ((There’s one room between us.)) I can’t even describe how awesome it is that we’re friends—we were talking about Super Smash Brothers the other day and hugged when we found out that we each played as Roy in Melee. XD



“Goodnight room. Goodnight moon. Goodnight cow jumping over the moon. Goodnight light, and the red balloon...”

I’m getting a little sleepy, but I think I’ll be writing again real soon. It feels nice to be back! And next time I’m back in town, Andrew… I want to hear you Yo-Yo-Ma-reading-Good-Night-Moon-impression. XD



Love,

Popo

SO. I want to reach out and pretty much hug all of you for being so supportive of me the other day when I had my pre-orientation mini-meltdown. Even though I didn't reply to anyone's comments, I got a chance to peak at them via hotel computer and they made me feel so, so, so much better. :D Everyone was so kind at VT -- I know the Hokie community is famous for being very supportive and nurturing to it's members but I didn't realize how much until I actually got there and started talking to some of the current students. I actually ended up making a friend that was Facebook-worthy ((LOL!)) and we're planning to meet up again when school starts to explore the campus and find our way around. He managed to get into the school's prestigious architecture program so if I ever need to take advantage of the art buildings, I'll have a foot in the door. XD

I was really, really proud to learn that essentially all of my AP credits were excepted and verified when I went to create my schedule. I took eight AP courses in high school and six of them were accepted so... that pretty much means that I can cut an entire semester of school, which is awesome. ((As expected, I completely failed my Calculus exam, which doesn't mater because I was going to end up re-taking that class anyway. XD )) All that hard work definitely paid off in the end. Yay!

Anyways, Lori suggested that everyone post their schedules when they have them finalized, so here's mine:

---

Monday

GER 1105 - Elementary German - 9:05 AM - 9:55 AM
ECON 2005 - Principles of Economics - 12:20 PM - 1:10 PM

^ I get to jump into my major early because of those APs! :D

Tuesday

ACIS 1504 - Intro Bus Info Sys - 9:30 AM - 10:45 AM
SOC 1004 - Introductory Sociology - 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM

Wednesday

((See Monday))

Thursday

*MATH 1525 - Calculus with Matrices - 8:00 PM - 8:50 PM

This class is online so I only have to "show up" for it once. I can do the course work any time, anywhere I want, and if I need help, I can go to my assigned professor.

((See Tuesday))

Friday

((See Monday))

---

Hah! So that's a pretty nice schedule, I think. I'm not wild about some of the prerequisite courses I have to take ((example: Intro Bus Info Sys)) but it'll work out in the end, when I can pick courses that are a little more interesting. :)

I guess I never mentioned this but my goal is to graduate with a B.S. in Economics. Everyone's giving me a really hard time about this and insist that I should major in art, but... Ugh. Since I know people who intend to major in art, I'll just hold my tongue before I even get started. XD I have some many reasons why I would hate that major...

So, those are the details. I'm pretty tired at the moment because after the long rides to and from VT, I had to hop in the car right after and drive to Maine, which is where I am currently and where I'll be spending the remainder of my break. Time for some much needed sleep! ;D



Love,

Popo

Hiya! I'm leaving for Atlanta tomorrow afternoon around one, so this is more or less the last instance of computer access that I'll have for while. How sad. XD

I'm pretty excited to compete! Naturally, I hope we do well, I hope it's as fun as last year ((You know... when we paid our way in... XD )), and I hope I don't get too bored and/or exhausted on the long trip down and back. XD

We don't get into our hotel until 2AM on Thursday, and we need to be at the Georgia Dome around seven, so... that's not a whole lot of sleep time. Luckily though, Thursday will be a practice day for both FRC and FTC, so I'll be able to snooze in the stands at various opportunities, as usual. XD I've finally mastered the art of getting comfortable in a really uncomfortable setting, namely, stadium seats. ((The New York Regional was the WORST EVER. They gave us benches to sit on for three days.)) When you're not actually participating on the field at a competition, which most members aren't, you're sitting in the stands for many, many hours on end, with any luck, playing video games or cheering. I'll have to remember to stretch my legs once in a while, otherwise, after the damage done at VCU and NYC, I might come back a cripple. XD 

EDIT: URGH! The schedule says that FTC is competing on Thursday! Seeing as Lori and I are the only two people on 519 going to Atlanta, we're screwed. D:



I've been playing Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword non-stop lately, to the point where I have to pry myself away from my DS to do important things like homework and feeding the dog and, you know, sleeping. XD Really, I'm falling in love with the series all over again. My passion for FE6 and FE7 knows no bounds, it seems. ♥ [Shouts out to wonderful_words ] It's a shame the newer games have been so... lacking, in my eyes, because it's keeping me alienated from the community. I don't like the fact that the last two games have appeared to severely deviate from what is expected of FE games. What bothers me the most is all these outlandish, shape-shifting, animal-like characters that seem totally out of place when compared with the rest of the series. ((Filthy half-breeds! XD )) I hope it's not going to be a continuing trend because it was a deal breaker as far as my buying FE9 and FE10 went.

On that note, I feel like Intelligent Systems in general has been letting me down lately. The most recent Paper Mario game, which I got for Christmas, was so awful that I don't think I made it past the first chapter, which is unusual because PM1 and PM2 are all-time favorites of mine. I felt bad because that's a $40 gift from my parents that was essentially a waste, and seriously the only instance in which I've wanted to return a game. ((I'm big on asking only for things that I really want so this dislike is making me feel guilty...)) Everything from the dialogue to the new game-play style to the Wiimote, right down to the sound effects they used to express characters talking made me cringe. I hated how they stripped the game of everything players loved and tried to market it as something different. Sigh. [/Lame rant about Paper Mario]



Anyways, it's late, and sooner or later I'm going to have to turn off my computer and go to sleep. 'No use fighting the inevitable. XD Sweet dreams, respond to this if you play FE so I don't look like a total dork, and remember to wear orange and maroon tomorrow, if not for your country, than for me, as a future Hokie. :D



Love,

Popo


PS: Memai... Many thanks for defending me on dA from that phrase-stealer. I was touched by your efforts. ♥ XD
 

"Blacker then a moonless night, hotter and more bitter than hell itself.. That is coffee." 

So. I finished Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations yesterday night... D: I cried when I made my last Objection! as Phoenix... Seriously. XD And as the rest of the plot unfolded before my eyes, I was even more upset, so I did the girl-thing and sniffled at how in the end, even a game about overzealous lawyers eventually rolls itself into a tragic love story. *sigh* It nearly broke my heart, honest to goodness. I felt for some of those characters. XD It was like reading a great book and finally reaching the end.

I'm so sad now that I've beaten the series! Playing the Phoenix Wright games have been a daily indulgence of mine for the last month or so, give or take a few days. It's like, I have this void in my schedule now. A hole! I don't know what to do... XD When I got home from school today, I was like, "Okay... What do I do for the next few hours...?" It's so pathetic how the end of that game moved me to tears...XD Sorry all you manly men reading this; I'm a highly emotional women, I'll have you know. XD

 Diego... you were so kind, and so hot. XD Please call me "kitten" again. ♥  



( Boring school and college stuff under the cut... )


I'm getting ready to leave soon, as Lori and I are sitting here at Robotics and she's about to take off, so I'll see you all later! Much love in your general direction!



Popo

PS: Oh my gosh... I went on an Icon-binge this afternoon. XD