ammogirl

You know, it’s pretty safe to assume that I spend a large quantity of the minutes in my day on a computer.  I work exclusively from databases, both online and internal, and conduct the majority of my business via email.  I take online classes.  There’s this, here, and that list of other peoples this-es that I like to read on a regular basis.

Also safe to assume?  That the last time I wrote any sort of paper by hand was…hmmm…during my senior year of high school.

Imagine my total horror, then, when I sat down to my mid-term exam this morning at a desk…that had no computer. “Hmmm…odd”, was what came to mind, as I looked around and saw that everyone else had actual instruments of writing in front of them.  And then, as the realization slowly started sinking in, my heart started beating fast and my hands started getting sweaty, because you guys, writing by hand!  HANDWRITING!  By hand!

So, there I was, with a PEN, because who knew I’d be having to for real write? And the proctor started handing out the tests, and oh my god.  EIGHTY-THREE QUESTIONS.  Twelve of which?  Essays.  Essays which had to be written…by hand.  In pen. With a time limit.

Let me tell you, there is an entire universe of difference between typing something on a computer, reading it, deciding you don’t like what you have typed, deleting it, and starting over, and writing something down by hand with a pen on paper.  Entire universes of universes of difference.  Regardless, I found myself with pen in hand, quickly reviewing the questions before I started.  Looked easy enough, okay, first essay question, go.  I turned to the answer key, placed my pen to paper, and jaggedly scribbled out the craziest looking S I had ever seen.  And then I realized this was not gonna work, my handwriting is barely legible at best.  Just jumping in all crazy like and trying to handwrite my essays - TWELVE OF THEM - was just not happening.   I figured the only thing to do was to answer all the other 71 questions first.  These ones were easy - definitions, multiple choice, true or false.  By the time I got to the last one, my writing jitters had pretty much cleared out, and I felt okay about tackling the essays.

But then I realized that for the most part, the first thing I think of and write down in response to essay questions is absolute crap.  Unfortunately, I didn’t realize this until after I had answered them all, because hi, what’s the point in re-reading your essays if you can’t correct them anyway, because you are writing in PEN on a piece of PAPER and there is no more room and your time is out anyway? God.  I mean really, GOD.

Twenty-five minutes in, I had to stop every two or three sentences and shake my hand out, due to an extreme (and surely fatal) case of writer’s cramp.  Well, probably not FATAL, or not NOW, anyway…we’ll see how extremely fatal my writer’s cramp was when I get my grade back.  You guys.  I’m not hoping for an A, nope.  I just want to not get a D…or WORSE.

And THEN!  I was almost the last person left in the testing room!  I almost ran out of time!  Of course, everyone else around me was taking math and computer and accounting classes, which, I think, do NOT have essays.  Either that or…I’m just an extremely slow writer.

Anyway, I just thought that was extremely unfair, to have the tests handwritten.  In Korea, all the tests were done online, so I don’t know what the problem is here.  Stupid.  Taking tests by hand should be banned.

Tonight is the season finale of The Office.  I don’t talk about TV much here, because I really don’t watch much of it, but I have to admit something to you.  I am fully invested - to an almost unreasonable amount - in the outcome of tonight’s episode.  Obsessive levels of invested.  It’s unhealthy.  And that is all.

Tschuss!!

Totally disenchanted with studying for the mid-term I’m taking tomorrow morning at 9am, I guiltily logged in here, averting my eyes so I wouldn’t see the date from my last post glaring up at me. And then I proceeded to start two really kick-ass posts, two really very, very different posts. And each time, when I got to the end of the first sentence, I erased it, and started over. And now, number three.

I have totally psyched myself out, you guys. I start typing, and then I think about how my subordinating conjunctions aren’t right, or that I haven’t modified correctly. And then I start thinking, “Waitttt a minute…is it really necessary to use more than one exclamation point?” And…I mean…I can hear my professor’s corrections in the back of my mind and oh my god I really, really want him to shut it, I do, but he’s so damn loud.

There are things to tell you: new things, old things…grammatically incorrect and very informally written things. Good things. But there are also things to tell my Professor: Mid-terms. Essays. Conferences. Every single sentence formatted and edited and proofread to the freaking nth degree until I can’t even think straight.

I read a blog the other day where the author said something like almost everywhere he turns right now someone else is posting an apology for not updating as frequently as they used to, and he vows to never do that. It made me blush, because that’s all I ever do anymore, post to say I’m sorry for not posting, and it’s stupid and trite and I wish I didn’t HAVE to keep saying it over and over but holy crap there is just so much to DO right now!

I want to mention something: I hate taking classes. HATE. Bleh.

Anyhow, hey! I am alive and apparently doing things besides studying until I go insane, but you wouldn’t know that because I don’t have time to tell you about them right now. And, when I finally DO have the time to tell you, I’ll have forgotten what I wanted to say in the first place! Fabulous!

By the way, I have to point out the obvious: No, I will never really think that more than one exclamation point is too much, ever. EVER!!!

Tschuss!!

Believe it or not, I posted the whopping seven photos I took in Italy! I know, how will you ever find the time to look at them all? Um…please don’t infer too much from the fact that all but one of them is a picture of the winery we visited. It doesn’t mean anything! I swear!

I need a bit of help. I can’t for the life of me figure out how to 1) add an “email me” link to my site, or 2) add a new notify list. I’m running on Wordpress but hosting on my own server (I’m not sure I said that right…did I say that right?) and I’ve gone through the forums but I can’t find anything that is exactly what I want. At one point, Slick made a valiant effort to solve my “email me” problem but I couldn’t figure out how to make it work. Anyway, I am not picky, any advice from ANYONE is welcome. Unless you are a spammer. Then I just want you to go away.

Robyn had this meme on her site the other day and I really liked it, so I stole it and modified it a bit (i.e. took out the questions I didn’t feel like answering) for your reading pleasure. I was planning on hanging on to it a bit longer, but I didn’t know where to put it without it getting in the way, so I made it a draft post, and now every time I log in it says at the top of the page in a big blue box YOUR DRAFTS: blah blah blah blah. This was somehow annoying to me, so.
1. What bill do you hate paying the most? Our cell phone bill. German cell phones are freaking expensive. We don’t even use ours, EVER, and it costs us almost $150 a month. Annoying.2. Where was the last place you had a romantic dinner? As in, a dinner out, without the kids? HA! Um…probably for my birthday, in California.
3. Last time you puked from drinking? Hmm…while I was very hungover on Saturday, I didn’t puke. So…it has to have been Korea. Last September sounds good.
4. When is the last time you got drunk and danced on a bar? September 2004, Coyote Ugly, San Antonio.
5. Name of your first grade teacher? Mrs. Bruncke. I loved her.
6. What do you really want to be doing right now? Having a glass of wine in a warm, tropical environment.
7. What did you want to be when you were growing up? A flight attendant.
8. How many colleges did you attend? I’m taking classes through University of Maryland right now.
9. Why did you choose the shirt that you have on right now? I didn’t choose it. It’s part of the uniform I have to wear–black t-shirt.
10. GAS PRICES??? We pay by the litre here, and I have yet to figure out the conversion to gallons, so while I’m sure it’s horribly expensive, I just see 1.67 and think, awesome!
11. Where would you move if you could move anywhere? Home.
12. First thought when the alarm went off this morning? “4:45? godddd…….”
13. Last thought before going to sleep last night? “11pm? godddd……”
14. Favorite style of underwear? Low cut bikini
15. Favorite style of underwear for the opposite sex? Boxer briefs.
16. What errand/chore do you despise? Folding laundry. Hate.
17. If you didn’t have to work, would you volunteer? Yes.
18. Get up early or sleep in? Depends.
19. What is your favorite cartoon character? Patrick Starfish.
20. Favorite thing to do at night with a girl/guy? Play cards, watch a movie, drink wine.
21. Have you found real love yet? I have.
22. When did you first start feeling old? When my back started acting 90 years old.
23. Favorite 80’s movie? Breakfast Club.
24. Your favorite lunch meat? Salami.
25. What do you get every time you shop at Sam’s club. Awwww! No Sam’s Club in Germany!!!! Cry cry cry!
26. Beach or lake? Lake.
27. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual? You know…I myself am happily married, but yeah, I do think marriage is pretty outdated. Mainly because I don’t think a ring=true love forever.
29. Favorite guilty pleasure? I have recently become obsessed with taking baths.
30. Favorite movie you wouldn’t want anyone to find out about? I don’t have any I wouldn’t want anyone to know about.
31. What’s your favorite alcoholic drink? Wine.
32. Cowboys or Indians? I’m equal opportunity, really.
33. Cops or Robbers? Robbers. Only because it’s fun to say.
34. Who from high school would you like to run into? As a matter of fact! (50 days! Yay!)
35. What radio station is your car radio tuned to right now? None. I listen exclusively to my iPod.
36. Movies or Documentaries? Movies.
37. The Cosby Show or the Simpsons? The Simpsons.
38. Worst relationship mistake that you wish you could take back? Eh. Taking stuff back doesn’t make it not have happened.
39. Do you like the person who sits directly across from you at work? I face the refrigerator. I like it.
40. If you could get away with it, who would you kill? I can’t say there is anyone I for reals want to kill.
41. What famous person(s) would you like to have dinner with? Shia LaBeouf. I don’t care if he’s only 20, he’s my new boyfriend.
42. What famous person would you like to sleep with? John Krasinski. That’s only because my boyfriend Shia is still a baby.
43. Have you ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose? No.
44. Last book you read for real? I’m currently reading The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon for the 3rd or 4th time.
45. Do you have a teddy bear? Yes.
46. Strangest place you have ever brushed your teeth? This is random. Um, I guess in a tent in Kuwait, with no running water.
47. Somewhere in California you’ve never been and would like to go? The Redwood Forest. I went when I was wee but I don’t remember it.
48. Do you go to church? Nope.
49. At this point in your life would you rather start a new career or a new relationships? Career. Oh god, every DAY I wish I could start a new career.
50. Just how OLD are you? 35.

Alright!  I have a mid-term to study for!

Tschuss!!