Guess who's procrastinating on his studying? :P
I'll do an actual RL post later this week, but for now, some things that have been gnawing at me lately that I need to get off my chest:
1. I've really been wanting to take a class called Intro to Sociology of Gender this semester; I went to the first class on Monday and I liked it a lot. However, I'm also taking the required senior seminar for my ES major this semester as well. I have to have a discussion section for my gender class, and with the seminar there's only one section I can go to.
.........And then I find out today that the seminar also requires me to attend a weekly lecture series, which meets at the same time as that discussion section. Which really pissed me off, because I really wanted to take this gender class, and not so much this seminar. I know I can take the seminar next semester, but I'm thinking more about dropping the gender class instead because I want to get this seminar over and done with. (Besides, the seminar is based on service learning, which means using what you learn in the class to solve real-world problems; in our class, it's well water contamination in parts of rural Vermont. Between that and the other classes I'm taking, I'm going to be extremely busy this semester, which means probably taking only three classes -- again. That kinda pisses me off a little, but having four classes while doing two community-based projects in November would really suck, wouldn't it?)
2. I'm deciding whether or not to go to a camping trip in Maine the first weekend of October with my geomorphology class -- after all, it's listed in the syllabus as "voluntary, but strongly encouraged." On the one hand: yay, getting off the college campus and exploring nature! On the other hand......well, let's just say I've been avoiding camping trips since I did Cub Scouts for a reason (plus nature is overrated anyway :PPP). Beh, I'm really conflicted about this, and I have to decide by the end of this week. DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD:
3. This article: s.e. smith: "My Friends in the Internet"
Everyone reading this right now: I know I recommend a lot of links and other Internet stuff on this journal, but if there was one link I would require people to read, it would be this one. Because it is so, so very true, and well worth keeping in mind every day. While the article comes from more of a social justice standpoint, you don't have to be a member of the PC Police to understand or appreciate it. It's made me think about a lot of things: namely, the fact that while my social anxiety and my having no IRL friends to speak of (or the skills to make them -- one thing no one ever teaches you, don't they?) is a huge problem, it's not something that can be solved simply by "getting out of the house" and deliberately putting oneself in very uncomfortable situations; that when someone criticizes me for spending too much time on my laptop, they're lying (I don't spend time with my laptop, but the people I can connect with using it); that it's hard for me to meet people who share my interests IRL, either in my hometown or at college, and even if they do, I can't click with them as well as I'd like, so the Internet opens me up to people I otherwise wouldn't have met and therefore wouldn't have gotten close to; that while I don't have it as bad as some people, it's still way easier for me to meet people and make friends online; that if I hadn't met my online friends, I wouldn't have gotten their different perspective on life, I wouldn't have let them inform the way I've been living my life and inspire me to make changes, and.........I'm not sure if I'd like this hypothetical me all that much. Basically, online friendships are "real life" friendships, and no one deserves to tell you otherwise.
The comments over at the related post at
are excellent, though hearing some of the stories about how people have gotten really close with people they met online, or even meeting future boyfriends, has made me a little bit depressed as well; I know I'm still a little bit socially awkward/anxious/unavailable even online. I'm definitely not the kind of guy that likes to initiate conversation, especially through IM, and I'm not as invested in fandom like some people on my f-list are, which may or may not be problems, I guess. I wish I could do the amazing things many of you have done for me over the past two years (the process of making packages still baffles me, because I've never done it before /failure at life XD), but words cannot express how grateful and thankful I am for all the support and advice you've given me -- even just the opportunity to connect with actualfax human beings. It means a lot. And I just wish what little I can say is adequate. And I also wish I can get closer with some of you in the near future, as well as meet new people as well (as I want to try to do as much as possible).
(Though I should make this perfectly clear: You are more than welcome to defriend me at any time, for any reason. I won't be offended or affronted by it at all. I hope y'all understand this -- you don't have to keep me around just for the sake of "being nice." ~_^)
4. So-called "political correctness" and satire are not mutually exclusive. PC and humor in general are not mutually exclusive. Being "inoffensive" and being entertaining are not mutually exclusive. You can find a work racist/sexist/misogynistic/homophobic/transphobic/ableist/classist/xenophobic/slut-shaming/fat-shaming/whatever -- and still enjoy that work and count it among your favorites; in other words, criticizing something and liking it are not mutually exclusive.
WHY IS THIS CONCEPT SO FUCKING DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND FOR SOME PEOPLE?
(Mini-rant inspired by comments in today's/yesterday's
, including some from one or more people I've seen around in TF fandom, whose name[s] I won't mention here. Hoo boy. =_=;)
5. Another Avatar AMV in which the whole of the series gets condensed into five minutes. The effects are a little annoying at times, but I really enjoyed that one overall. (And yes, the song is the one from that "Dancing 2008" YouTube video -- and I've fallen madly in love with it, because I haven't heard it until now. I can't stop listening to it. 8DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD)
1. I've really been wanting to take a class called Intro to Sociology of Gender this semester; I went to the first class on Monday and I liked it a lot. However, I'm also taking the required senior seminar for my ES major this semester as well. I have to have a discussion section for my gender class, and with the seminar there's only one section I can go to.
.........And then I find out today that the seminar also requires me to attend a weekly lecture series, which meets at the same time as that discussion section. Which really pissed me off, because I really wanted to take this gender class, and not so much this seminar. I know I can take the seminar next semester, but I'm thinking more about dropping the gender class instead because I want to get this seminar over and done with. (Besides, the seminar is based on service learning, which means using what you learn in the class to solve real-world problems; in our class, it's well water contamination in parts of rural Vermont. Between that and the other classes I'm taking, I'm going to be extremely busy this semester, which means probably taking only three classes -- again. That kinda pisses me off a little, but having four classes while doing two community-based projects in November would really suck, wouldn't it?)
2. I'm deciding whether or not to go to a camping trip in Maine the first weekend of October with my geomorphology class -- after all, it's listed in the syllabus as "voluntary, but strongly encouraged." On the one hand: yay, getting off the college campus and exploring nature! On the other hand......well, let's just say I've been avoiding camping trips since I did Cub Scouts for a reason (plus nature is overrated anyway :PPP). Beh, I'm really conflicted about this, and I have to decide by the end of this week. DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD:
3. This article: s.e. smith: "My Friends in the Internet"
Everyone reading this right now: I know I recommend a lot of links and other Internet stuff on this journal, but if there was one link I would require people to read, it would be this one. Because it is so, so very true, and well worth keeping in mind every day. While the article comes from more of a social justice standpoint, you don't have to be a member of the PC Police to understand or appreciate it. It's made me think about a lot of things: namely, the fact that while my social anxiety and my having no IRL friends to speak of (or the skills to make them -- one thing no one ever teaches you, don't they?) is a huge problem, it's not something that can be solved simply by "getting out of the house" and deliberately putting oneself in very uncomfortable situations; that when someone criticizes me for spending too much time on my laptop, they're lying (I don't spend time with my laptop, but the people I can connect with using it); that it's hard for me to meet people who share my interests IRL, either in my hometown or at college, and even if they do, I can't click with them as well as I'd like, so the Internet opens me up to people I otherwise wouldn't have met and therefore wouldn't have gotten close to; that while I don't have it as bad as some people, it's still way easier for me to meet people and make friends online; that if I hadn't met my online friends, I wouldn't have gotten their different perspective on life, I wouldn't have let them inform the way I've been living my life and inspire me to make changes, and.........I'm not sure if I'd like this hypothetical me all that much. Basically, online friendships are "real life" friendships, and no one deserves to tell you otherwise.
The comments over at the related post at
are excellent, though hearing some of the stories about how people have gotten really close with people they met online, or even meeting future boyfriends, has made me a little bit depressed as well; I know I'm still a little bit socially awkward/anxious/unavailable even online. I'm definitely not the kind of guy that likes to initiate conversation, especially through IM, and I'm not as invested in fandom like some people on my f-list are, which may or may not be problems, I guess. I wish I could do the amazing things many of you have done for me over the past two years (the process of making packages still baffles me, because I've never done it before /failure at life XD), but words cannot express how grateful and thankful I am for all the support and advice you've given me -- even just the opportunity to connect with actualfax human beings. It means a lot. And I just wish what little I can say is adequate. And I also wish I can get closer with some of you in the near future, as well as meet new people as well (as I want to try to do as much as possible).
(Though I should make this perfectly clear: You are more than welcome to defriend me at any time, for any reason. I won't be offended or affronted by it at all. I hope y'all understand this -- you don't have to keep me around just for the sake of "being nice." ~_^)
4. So-called "political correctness" and satire are not mutually exclusive. PC and humor in general are not mutually exclusive. Being "inoffensive" and being entertaining are not mutually exclusive. You can find a work racist/sexist/misogynistic/homophobic/transphobic/ableist/classist/xenophobic/slut-shaming/fat-shaming/whatever -- and still enjoy that work and count it among your favorites; in other words, criticizing something and liking it are not mutually exclusive.
WHY IS THIS CONCEPT SO FUCKING DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND FOR SOME PEOPLE?
(Mini-rant inspired by comments in today's/yesterday's
, including some from one or more people I've seen around in TF fandom, whose name[s] I won't mention here. Hoo boy. =_=;)
5. Another Avatar AMV in which the whole of the series gets condensed into five minutes. The effects are a little annoying at times, but I really enjoyed that one overall. (And yes, the song is the one from that "Dancing 2008" YouTube video -- and I've fallen madly in love with it, because I haven't heard it until now. I can't stop listening to it. 8DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD)