Sonja Denise's Notebook

Yeah, I can't do another year at Temple. I'll go crazy. And unless something spectacular happens in the next few months, I won't be setting foot inside SCAD, either. Sigh.

I really want to travel. Always wanted to, never have. After my trip to New York, I had a buzz the entire following week. And that was just one day, to New York. A couple of days, I swore to myself I'd build up my savings again, and use some of it to take a trip...somewhere.

And the night I decided that, I had a dream: there was something wrong with my teeth, so I went to my mother. She looked in my mouth, and touched one of my teeth, and it broke it in half. She was pissed. I remembered how she always talked about how teeth are stupid and everyone should just get them taken out and have fake ones put in, so, I decided "fuck this, I'm getting fake teeth!" Apparently, you get those at a train station. I walked out with my new teeth, admiring them, and amazed that it didn't hurt.

Easy enough to decipher. (It also helps if you know that "teeth" apparently represent "power" in dreams...I happen to know this already because I dream about teeth a lot.)

I told my mom about the dream, and I finally talked to her about the fifty ways being at Temple rather blows (I hate Philadelphia; I'm in the same area; it feels like high school; I'm not at my choice school; I'm not working towards any discernible goal). Pretty much got it out in the air that we know SCAD's highly unlikely. We're both on the same page now - looking into a different school; as she told me, "when I changed schools, I didn't decide until August!"

Now, my main problem is that I can't pick out a school without settling on a new major. What the major is doesn't matter, I know - but I need something so I have a particular goal to work towards. (I know I'm interested in copyediting, but that doesn't require a particular degree, so back to square one. I'm vaguely interested in psychology, too...but I'm vaguely interested in everything. Gyah.)

I also want to get out of this area, because I've been hear nearly my entire life. All I know right now is that I'm looking into schools in California, since I've always been interested in living there for a little while. Plus, other side of the country!

...yeah. *returns to research*

As always, one of my top resolutions is work on my Japanese. I haven't been on Lang-8 forever, but for some reason I was possessed to sign up at iKnow! Username's Sonja there, too. Hopefully I'll actually hang out at both consistently. Meanwhile, I intend to drown myself in J-dramas...I downloaded an entire series overnight (FiOS is awesome), so it's entirely possible now! I've got J-pop out the wazoo, listen to a podcast entirely in Japanese, can watch (or read) news online, have multiple readers, novels, and a good textbook. And, goddamnit, I will take the JLPT again this year! I also bought some kiddie books to read to my nephew, so that'll be good reinforcement for me.

( Yes, there's more! )

I am late to the party again because there were some issues with tuition payment...but I finally got around to doing course selection for the next semester. Just as frustrating as the first time around.

I was looking for general education (except for Honors Drawing) stuff I could get credit for at SCAD, as well as fulfilling Temple requirements. Classes on the Ambler campus were a no-no, because they're an hour from the main campus, and it already takes me an hour to get to the main campus. I didn't want 50-minute a day/3 days a week classes, because I have one this semester, and, though the class is great, as a commuter, it blows. No classes earlier than, say, 10, because then I would have to get up too early in the morning. I was also in search of honors classes, because they're fun and they make me look good. I was also looking to condense my schedule to 3-4 days a week.

I'm going to try to keep my eyes glued to OWLnet to see if anything opens up (or gets dropped) before the next semester. So far, I have Dissent in America, Gender in America, my required English course, and Asian Behavior & Thought. I was looking to cram a language (maybe Chinese) in there, since, why the hell not? But no beginning courses were open. Poo.

But the schedule looks good, though. Tuesdays 10:00-4:30, Wednesdays 7:00-10:00, and Thursdays 10:00-7:40. I really need to go job-hunting. If that really winds up being my schedule, I might go for full-time, because I want to make as much as I can to make SCAD happen.

(In other news, I'm apparently insane. I started a different novel for NaNoWriMo and have written about 12,000 words since Thursday night. Yes, I am very tired.)

Around 3 AM on September 13, I became an aunt.



=)

So I'm a crusty old college student now. Apparently the incoming class is freakishly large even by Temple standards (and at the same time, they claim this was also their most selective year). Between that and being the last orientation, there were no English classes left, so I have to take one in the spring. But without English, I can't take any business classes for my minor >=(

But I managed to find five classes after about two hours of sweat and tears. Three are honors - Science in Context, Religion in the World, and Gender & History - and Cyperspace & Society and The Art of Acting. So it's all pretty fun stuff :D

And my schedule's pretty nice, too.

Monday 11:40-12:30
Tuesday 1:10-4:00
Wednesday 11:40-12:30, 4:40-7:10
Thursday 1:10-4:00, 5:10-7:40
Friday 11:40-12:30

Mondays and Fridays I'm barely there, Thursday's the most intensive day, and the two classes in Center City are late in the day so I have more than enough time to get to them. Even adding my one-hour commute, nothing is too early or too late in the day. Oh, and I can eat lunch a decent time every day. (Don't get me started on my hunger today...stupid ceremonies...)

I feel very comfortable at college already, even though this is just temporary until I get to SCAD. (I managed to finally meet some people on the third day of orientation!) I'm not pining for high school at all, and haven't once since graduation. High school...is best forgotten.

OMG. A DICK BLICK IS OPENING IN PHILADELPHIA.

AND I GET 40% OFF MY PURCHASE.

THE GODS ARE SMILING UPON ME. THIS IS SUCH PERFECT TIMING.

Long story short...I'm on a brand-new MacBook Pro now. My sister's getting my Dell at the end of the week. Mostly, I'm making this entry because I'll be a little, um, discombobulated for lack of a better word. I know how to use a Mac, but I have to figure out what programs are going to work on it, etc.

But, yay, free of Windows Vista :D

UPDATE:
Wow, this was the most painless move from computer to computer I've ever done. Partially because we have an external harddrive at home, and partially because the Mac is just fast. (2GB of memory!)

Lexique Pro is the only real casualty here, since it only works on Windows. ZuluPad works on this computer, but not the paid version...which I did buy. But, fortunately, it was only $15. My copy of ComicWorks is only for Windows. But then again, it didn't work on Vista anyway. Everything else either has a Mac version or was easily replaced with an open source program. And installation? SO. EASY.

And I ordered an 80GB iPod Classic this morning, since I've been wanting one for a while, and I'll have to reformat the iPod I do have anyway to get it to work with this computer.

Still need to get a new scanner, though.

But, yes, glad to have finally made the big switch! :D

I finally got a checking account and card. Yeah, took long enough.

I'm ordering Maya Azucena's and Nya Jade's albums from CD Baby tomorrow, once my paycheck clears. Yay :D

/loser

I just got my scores for the English Lit & Comp and Microeconomics AP exams. I got a 3 on the English and a freakin' 4 on Microeconomics. I seriously BSed some of the Microeconomics exam, so that was a pleasant surprise.

The English score isn't high enough for credits, but I took English Language last year and got a 4. So I just knocked out two courses at $81 each =)

I just need to remember to send the scores to Temple, now.

Today was my last day of high school. I still have to take one final on Tuesday, and then graduation (and rehearsal) is on Thursday. But today was the official last day!

Many of my classmates don't want to leave, but I just can't relate to that feeling at all. Ever since I started middle school, I've really, really hated school, and hoped every day that college would be what I'm looking for. So, oddly, I don't even feel excited about graduation, but more...I wouldn't say relieved. It's almost apathetic. Like I'm going through a few more motions on the way to what I really want.

I really am glad it's over, though.

My official plans for college - I'll be attending Temple University for, hopefully, just a year, and then transfer into SCAD. Not my dream plan, especially since I'll be a newb two years in a row, and I'm really not fond of Philadelphia. But at least I get to stay home for another year and enjoy my bedroom and studio a bit longer - and I'll be nearby when my nephew's born. Doing all the dull required stuff (and probably some business classes, for my minor) might not be so boring, since I've been accepted into Temple's Honors program.

The last couple of weeks have been surprisingly hectic, but now it's over, so I can get back to Idle Spirits (Kindred Spirits hasn't been posted yet, because I haven't had the time to clean up the pages). I'll be spending this summer break working, comicking, learning to drive...and going to strip clubs!

I just got a call from SCAD, and I got an academic scholarship for $5,000 each year! I was getting worried about how we were going to pay for this, but now it's beginning to not look so bad - we still need to fill out the FAFSA (hopefully that'll be done tonight), I'm working my way through a long list of scholarships, and if I do well on the upcoming AP exams, I'll have knocked out three courses.

(I still need to send my portfolio to SVA. Ah, my ass-backwards second choice, making me run around trying to figure out how to make slides, only to learn they don't need to be slides after all. Very funny.)

So in the new house, I have two rooms. While we were slapping some tester paint on the walls this weekend (GREEN!), I started thinking more about how I'm going to divvy up my stuff between the rooms. One is going to basically be my bed, TV, and my pile of books. The other is essentially going to be my studio, for my art and music.

I've been doing research about building a home recording studio, but I think right now, I just want to get a condenser microphone, since I'm not happy with the sound I get with my little cheap mic anymore. Good thing Musician's Friend is having yet another sale...