It's all just dandy

I sit here, again in the library, checking my email, Facebook, and Sepiated Spirals (which I may reformat, soon....maybe.)

The first day of classes was today. First, Japanese is going to be very different, especially as a tutor. My show-up days are optional--I can choose which ones I want to come to--but seeing as I immensely want a good refresher course, I'll be showing up every day. I'll most likely be doing just as much work (if not more to really learn it to teach it) than the fresh, new....erm....freshmen.

A Cappella Choir is very different, too. The usual crew is gone, and all new faces have popped in. They're new to me, at least. Ya know, years pass and students come back and all that.... We're hitting it hard sooner this semester to learn Brahms Requiem. Dr. Meredeth says it's high-intensity music in German, nonetheless, but it doesn't surprise me because I know that back in the day I played some Requiem in one band or another. I should remember what it sounds like, but I don't. Meh.

Pre-calculus has a grand total of 10 people in it. Maybe 11. I don't know; apparently I can't count. Ironic, isn't it? What's great is that we already have something due: a little 5 (maybe 6; again, counting) question worksheet about real numbers. I appreciate how we're starting simple, but my roommates are in lower-end maths, and they have homework on the same stuff. Oh well. I had a chance to teach EJ a bit, and learn it better myself.

On the roommate note, things are looking up. A good ol' friend of mine said I need to give them a chance. I halfheartedly agreed, but I guess my subconscious wanted to be reasonable and made it happen. So beyond the blaring profanity and slightly inappropriateness of a couple of the guys, I have a little sanctuary in my room where I can escape. EJ is a return-missionary, so that bit adds to it. I am fortunate, and I'm glad I won't be a nobody to them. I'm still germophobic about the shower, buuuut..... Oh well. It's livable.

Mission prep restored a feeling in me that I haven't felt for quite a while. It was comforting. Home-y. Definitely a, "This is where I should be. Right here, right now, this is it," feeling. Brother Scott is amazing at teaching. I hate to downgrade any other mission prep teachers I've experienced, even if for only a couple lessons total, but Brother Scott is immensely better for me. His style is in-your-face, heartfelt, and presented as, "Do it not only because I said you should, but because this is what you want, need, and should do."

I won't consider this work--that seems too negative in today's light. It's a positive, inspiring word that eludes me.

Imagine that word left you inspired, even though it's not really here.

School again (again)

Here I sit, in the Snow College library, wondering what the heck I'm going to do. Classes start tomorrow, yet they don't offer any release yet.

I'm living in Pinetree I, now. Those are those old, shared apartments that were probably built around 1980. It shows--the cupboards are that strange, sticky, brown wood that my grandparents have in their kitchen and bathroom. The toaster, when ignited, heats up the underside of said cupboards and makes it all smell of Old Trailer.

I'm currently slightly [is an understatement] germophobic at the bathroom and rest of the floors, but I'm usually germophobic anyway. The problem here, though, is that I'm rooming with football/rugby players. I think. The good news is the carpet and tile are both new, and relatively clean, for the most part.

The bad news is, I don't think it'll last. My shared bathroom, for one, doesn't look like it was cleaned very well to begin with. The rug in there has something that looks like old pizza cheese stuck to it. Needless to say, I didn't find out. The shower/tub itself is what I'm hoping is just stained from many years of use and is still clean regardless. I don't want to think about it.

My sanctuary is my room. I was lucky and have an RM roommate with all these nice, spiritual pictures and things around, and the carpet gives it a fresh, new-house smell. It ends with the fact that walls are not sound-proof, especially to heavy R&B bass barely 2 feet away. I passed it off as being the downstairs neighbors playing some pretty mean bass guitar, but it was much closer. If that happens every morning, I don't think I can take it.

I don't think I can take it anyway. I don't fit in. I wanted to come back for a good, social environment with like-minded potential and return missionaries to get my own butt out there. I don't believe I'll be doing anything in the vicinity of the guys there, and I'm okay with it. I don't feel a desire to make friends with them beyond, "Hey, you're my roommate. Don't sit on me, and I'll give you wi-fi."

I are afeared for how this will end up. I feel somewhat miserable already. Save me?

Polarized

This one is for all you photographers.

You know those glasses you get when movie theaters charge you $3 extra for movies in the third-dimension?
Google -- It's your turn, Google. Work your magic...

 Yes. These. Thanks, Google.

These radially-polarized glasses have very interesting properties. You can read about how they work on Google somewhere. (I tried to find a good site to link, but there are too many of varying informative values. Too bad for you.)

One thing in particular, though, is how a single lens, when looked through it properly, limits reflected light.

After rigging up my camera with one of these lenses, I took these two pictures of my hardwood floor:

Left is the non-filtered shot, and the right is filtered. The color is better, and the reflection is virtually gone.

Supposedly, overcast days (like today...) don't allow the full effects of these types of filters to show through, but what you see is still very dramatic anyway, eh?

So go see a good movie, snag some glasses, and make a filter if you're bored.