October Break

October break just concluded. I meant to post over break, because there was no immediate impending doom of academic assignments looming over my head (until Sunday night, when I realized I had two Physics labs and one Physics problem to do.) But, I guess I was too busy doing nothing.

I stayed here at Bates over break, just to mix things up and test my independence. Also, the parents had about 10 different doctor's appointments over the days I would have been home (my Mom messed up her retina and my Dad's just old.) So, I stayed here. What did I do? Not much, and, for the most part, it was wonderful. It got a little lonely once in a while, but, after taking a day getting used to having no schedule, I enjoyed being pretty much all on my own, not having to talk to anyone or do anything. That might sound anti-social, but I'm a hermit at heart.

I did actually accomplish a few things during break that I wanted to do. I read a book for pleasure, started getting ready for hockey (the ice is down!), walked around campus/town, caught up on my sleep, pressed leaves, wrote letters, and developed an addiction to online Monopoly. That last thing wasn't a goal but it was a defining part of my break, so I'm embracing it. I also watched the Sox play the Rays and got my heart broken last night, but I'm used to it -- it was reminiscent of the old days.

It's been mostly beautiful and sunny lately. Though it's starting to get chillier at night, the days are just light-jacket weather. The leaves are hitting their stride and the quad became covered in all the colors over break. I'll try to take some tourist/leaf-peeping pictures sometime for anyone out there missing the Maine fall to see. Let me know if you have any specific requests.

So, it's back to work. Five weeks of classes til Thanksgiving break, and then the semester is just about over. Crazy -- it's flying by. Love and miss you all.

Sociology, Etc.

Well, things are starting to get crazy. I kept meaning to post but whenever I had a spare moment I didn't want to think.

Here, quickly, are a few of the most notable things I've done in the past week or so: Called my mom and thanked her for giving birth to me, went to a lecture on ethnomathematics, got a cable so we can watch Arrested Development, etc. on the lounge TV, went to the Common Ground Fair, had my first real tutoring session at the peer writing center (followed soon after by four more -- it was a busy Sunday night), contemplated dropping physics.

Here are a few things I've thought about:
- Sociology. Theoretical Foundations of Soc continues to delight me. The lecturer on ethnomathematics could have easily been identified as a sociologist, so all his points directly to theories of society that we've been discussing in Theoretical Soc. I'm such a sucker for anything cross-disciplinary. I get to start on a paper for the class this week, which I'm looking forward to at the moment, though I'll probably complaining about it soon.
- The applicability of academic disciplines and the world-classroom relationship: I'm learning & enjoying learning, but does everything apply to things outside the gates of my brain? Sometimes I think yes, like when we talk about Prozac in Personality or the caregiver burden in Health & Illness, but othertimes I'm not so sure. Should I be out there in the world rather than in this classroom/campus that's miniscule in the grand scheme of things?

So I guess that's a tiny sample of what my body & brain have been up to. Weather right now is sunny and mid 60s -- a perfect late summer day. And, today was an admissions day -- they got lucky with that one! Take care everyone...I'm always thinking about you.