• Greek III
• Critical Analysis & Writing I
  
• Physics I
  
• Animal Biology
• The State, Religion, Economy, and Human Consumption

Total hours: 17

For those of you wondering about that last one, here's the description my honors advisor sent out:
The State, Religion, Economy, and Human Consumption — Until recently, the great thinkers of Western civilization have assumed that the economy and the realm of production and consumption must be radically subordinated to the State and Religion. This course will explore works both Ancient and Modern that express this idea, including the Prometheus Bound of Aeschylus, the Plutus of Aristophanes, the Miser of Moliere, Gulliver's Travels and selections from The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith. Evaluation will be through papers and an essay final examination. — Epstein — et cetera.

I thought this a happy compromise. No Intro to Music, but hey, I don't mind having a humanities floating around to be picked up later, and in a pinch either the seminar this semester or the Jane Austen seminar last spring can count.

The only downside: for the third semester in a row I've managed to line up 3-4 back-to-back classes over lunch. Another semester of being the idiot trying to chew quietly on my makeshift bag lunches in the back of a class. Ah well.

Beauteous chem lab beckons. Cheerio!

Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests. Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh. The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

-Theses 1-4, Martin Luther. I spent last week with the title to this post scrawled across my palm. Lord, help me remember.

Upon arrival home from church today, I and the older four of my younger siblings were sitting in the car remarking on the quick melt of yesterday's snow. It is all gone except for one lonely, dirty lump in the middle of our yard - the boys made an impressive mound there yesterday so that when all the rest had melted, there would still be one lonely peak. Shortly thereafter Greg flung the car door open, announced "I'm thirsty!" and took off for the very dirty pile of snow (it was practically black). Several sisters made futile grabs for his jacket in an attempt to restrain but I fear they were unsuccessful. I did not stay to see whether he used the less-than-palatable means to quench his thirst or not.

-Dorothy Sayers

Yes, the irony of today's quote fills my heart with happiness--shallow happiness, but happiness nonetheless.

I fully intended my next post (this one) to be serious and full of Thoughtful Discussion, but I'm really too tired to slog through it. For the last three days I've had the "Create Post" box open in a tab with a much more serious quote as the title. I knew what I wanted to put there, but writing it out was always one more task away and now it's four or five tasks away and I'm giving up. When I'm actually inspired to write those thoughts out it won't be so easily procrastinated.

Instead of Discussionful Thought, I shall provide you with randomly meaningless news. Of course, when one tries to think of a topic for energyless conversation, the first one that springs to mind is

The Weather. It is raining cats and dogs, and by 'rain' I don't mean the Almost-April Showers that sorta bring May Flowers. This stuff is cold (bliss! yes, I am going to take a walk later today...). I'm surprised we haven't had any ice here yet, though I know relatively nearby cities have some. Last night they promised a 100% chance of snow but it's still just...wet. My disappointment is immense (spoken without any sarcasm. seriously.). [Edit: IT IS SNOWING! Bop-bop-BWEE!]

The next thing one does is chatter aimlessly on about is

The Family. My "roomie" is still in bed. At 10:19 am. I tried to make her get up by telling her that it was really Monday instead of Saturday, but she didn't buy it. Meanwhile, my oldest-younger brother brought home a card from his prayer partner at school. When you open it, it plays a pseudo-bluegrass/techno/DisneyRobinHoodTheme tune by The Chipmunks. The wretched thing has been going off since I got home around 7:40 this morning. It is scheduled to mysteriously and spontaneously (oh, so mysteriously spontaneous) combust later this afternoon, although each time it plays the tune it loses approximately twenty minutes of its life. Later today my father returns home from an Abbey. He almost converted to Catholicism, but we got in a phone call just in time and convinced him not to (I had to read through Romans seventeen times, however, hence my sore throat). Actually, he's on a business trip to Mexico and stayed in an ancient church, but I was trying to make the mindless chatter about family more interesting.

The Education. This being a good humanist blog and all, we shall spend the most time talking about this.

Haha.

Heh.

Heh.

Hee.

Ahem.

No.

But I did take a chem test last week for which the class average was 34.4%. I don't know my score, but I'm thinking (hoping...no, actually, praying) it's at least slightly higher... The crazy thing is, I'm pretty sure this is routine for this professor and he refuses to curve. I don't get it. Does he like watching 90% of his students fail chemistry? Ack. And he hasn't responded to an email I sent him Thursday with a specific question concerning class material, which is making me itch and twitch just a wee bit. Professors aren't supposed to be Anti-Student-Learning. Gahhh.

Yeah, so the real reason I'm going to stop talking about school is because chemistry makes me want to tear my hair out. And I like my hair. *preens* So I might actually be a humanist. You never know.

The Religion. Oh, wait. That's what you don't talk about, because mindless chatter implies a lack of any valid importance. Sorry.

The Wardrobe. Today I am styling a sort of... at homish look? (that's at home-ish, not hawmish, as in a hick-pronunciation of Amish)... okay, so I'd never make it as a Fashion Designer. Moving onwards...

Things Lacking Category Which Now Have The Category "Lacking Category" Which Now Is Irrelevant And Misleading And No Longer Applies So They Lack Category Which Again Puts Them Under "Lacking Category" Which Is Irrele-- What?

Okay, yes, that was a bit of a cheaply-found quote, but it seemed to fit since I'd like opinions. So it comes up that my Physics professor for this fall is likely to give me a similar experience to my Chemistry professor's this spring. Since I've even less experience with Physics than Chemistry, this naturally makes me rather wary of signing up for the class. This is the best way I could find to manipulate the schedule out of Physics and into covering what's still needed:

(And yes, someday I will write about something other than my fall classes...)

• Greek 3
• Intro to Music
• Animal Biology
• Critical Analysis & Writing I
  
• Food & Human Environment
• The State, Religion, Economy, and Human Consumption

The latter one is an Honors seminar, which finishes up my general honors award requirements, and is also an Epstein class (I'd like to go out with a bang), the topic of which (no doubt) has many of you Epstein-alumni nodding your heads in solemn amusement - it's just the sort of topic he would choose. I think it would be interesting because he's always talking about it, and one would actually get to read all of the various and sundry books he references.

It's 19 hours instead of 18, but many of them promise to be better "time-management" classes (a euphemism my advisor uses for just plain easy...). I don't know. Should I grit my teeth and barrel through Physics, or use this?

What say you?!

Classes for Fall '09:

• Introduction to Music
• Physics
  
• Animal Biology
• Elementary Classical Greek III (yay!)
• Critical Analysis & Writing I

I'd love to give a lengthy commentary on each, but I'm pressed for time (I think the 'yay!' pretty much says it all anyway...).

Ta!

-C.S. Lewis, 'Surprised by Joy'


Oh, bless our God, you peoples! And make the voice of His praise to be heard, who keeps our soul among the living, and does not allow our feet to be moved. For You, O God, have tested us; you have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; you laid affliction on our backs. You have caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; but You brought us out to rich fulfillment. -Psalm 66:8-12

Something to remember.