I did not have any finals on Monday... so a free day of sleeping and watching movies and doing nothing, right?
No. I had two papers to write and my spanish final to study for.
First of all, my Crockett paper for Scholar Citizen.... those papers are infamous for being extremely difficult and time consuming. The topic: "Does Western philosophy and science grant us the knowledge to be effective citizens in a culturally complex world?"
Yeah, exciting.
I actually enjoy his papers. They're like a puzzle--its just a little difficult to make sure all the little pieces of argumentation fit together. This paper I had a lot of trouble with though; I worked on it Monday, got stuck and gave up, and then yesterday I was in the library from 5:00 pm until 9:30 pm. It was terrible. I was having problems.
Every once in a while someone I know would walk by, say hi to me, and then we would talk for a while..... I eventually figured out that putting on headphones and keeping my head down would make it look like I was extremely busy and I could accomplish a little bit more.
I argued that an effective citizen in a culturally complex world is someone that strives for social justice and peace. Western science and philosophy and their goal of discovering a unified redemptive truth is noble, but it does not lead to the creation of effective citizens. Science itself can lead to effectiveness, as a lot of tools can; a scientist might feel compelled to discover a cure for AIDS. However, that scientist is not motivated by science alone. Sure, he or she may be motivated by money or fame, but a lot of people are first motivated by intellectual experiences.
I defined intellectual experiences as both literary and experiential. One may read about the world through various pieces of literature (this includes worldwide religion and philosophy), and by reading numerous sources, that person will have a better idea of humanity. It is then that he or she is able to construct a more well educated view of humanity. The same goes for the experiential. People learn more from first-hand experience than anything else. Reading about something in a textbook will not do as much justice as actually visiting and touching your subject matter. Therefore, when trying to gather “truths” about the world and how people live, the best way to go about those goals is to personally experience as many different aspects of humanity as one can and to develop and interpret those experiences in order to comprehend one’s own opinions regarding the meaning of life.
And as someone develops their intellectual experiences, then they will be compelled to become effective citizens and strive for social justice.
Ta-da!
I have no idea if that gives my paper any justice at all... but I tried.
oh, and I was so angry last night... The paper is supposed to be 5 pages long double space... Only after printing my paper and rereading it, someone else said "Hey Adam, isn't it supposed to be double spaced?"
Yeah, I wrote my paper single spaced... which means I wrote about twice as much as I was supposed to.
And I stayed up even later fixing it and getting rid of some stuff. grrrr...
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Holidazzle
Last night Katie and I went on a date.
I've only taken her out once since we got to Augsburg (Loring's Pasta Bar), so I decided to taker her out and relax before finals this week.
So we went to the Holidazzle parade downtown. We took the lightrail (which was free that day to prevent people from driving downtown and instead park near the mall of america) and got downtown at 6:30, right when the parade was starting.
We probably should have got there, considering Katie is basically 3 and a half feet tall and could not even see the parade... So i felt kinda bad about that, but she didn't really care. We didn't really watch the parade anyway... We both prefer to people-watch.
And while we were kind of watching the parade, we were also looking for someplace to eat. We had absolutely no idea where we were going to eat and we were kidn of just walking around aimlessly. Luckily, Katie wanted to eat at Applebees (I was scared that we might eat somewhere more expensive) and split some food. (Orange chicken is bomb)
After that we went to see the movie Australia. And I realized that my Intro to Cinema class has made me way more cynical towards movies.
A year ago, I may have liked this movie, but after watching all the great movies in my cinema class, it seems as if my standards have been raised.
The movie felt like it was concentrating too much on trying to be epic, rather than actually being epic. The action sequences felt like it was a wannabe Australian Indiana Jones. The romance seemed cliché. The plot between Nicole Kidman and the Aboriginal boy seemed like an afterthought... until the last 45 minutes of the movie focuses entirely on their relationship.
Or maybe it was just that I was tired... and the movie was 2 hours and 45 minutes long.
But it was a great night... Relaxing. And now I've got to write a paper today (after the Vikings game of course)
I've only taken her out once since we got to Augsburg (Loring's Pasta Bar), so I decided to taker her out and relax before finals this week.
So we went to the Holidazzle parade downtown. We took the lightrail (which was free that day to prevent people from driving downtown and instead park near the mall of america) and got downtown at 6:30, right when the parade was starting.
We probably should have got there, considering Katie is basically 3 and a half feet tall and could not even see the parade... So i felt kinda bad about that, but she didn't really care. We didn't really watch the parade anyway... We both prefer to people-watch.
And while we were kind of watching the parade, we were also looking for someplace to eat. We had absolutely no idea where we were going to eat and we were kidn of just walking around aimlessly. Luckily, Katie wanted to eat at Applebees (I was scared that we might eat somewhere more expensive) and split some food. (Orange chicken is bomb)
After that we went to see the movie Australia. And I realized that my Intro to Cinema class has made me way more cynical towards movies.
A year ago, I may have liked this movie, but after watching all the great movies in my cinema class, it seems as if my standards have been raised.
The movie felt like it was concentrating too much on trying to be epic, rather than actually being epic. The action sequences felt like it was a wannabe Australian Indiana Jones. The romance seemed cliché. The plot between Nicole Kidman and the Aboriginal boy seemed like an afterthought... until the last 45 minutes of the movie focuses entirely on their relationship.
Or maybe it was just that I was tired... and the movie was 2 hours and 45 minutes long.
But it was a great night... Relaxing. And now I've got to write a paper today (after the Vikings game of course)
Saturday, December 13, 2008
The Finish Line
Almost there... Finals week is all next week. Nerve-racking, I know.
I was pretty happy to finally be done with most of my classes. It really hit me Thursday after religion... "I am completely done with this class..."
I am definitely happy to be done with Spanish... I hated that class... Not really because it was a bad class but because I was really bad at Spanish. I am also happy to be done with my religion class. I'm usually obsessed with all that jazz, especially studying Islam and other world religions however, I felt like I rarely learned anything from that class. I actually would not be surprised if some students lost faith by taking that religion class... I'm probably being a little harsh, but the class left me with more negative moments than positive ones.
And tonight my professor for that class sent me an e-mail telling everyone all the things we need to study for the test on Thursday. It will be very hard... which is expected. But I was a little disappointed when a lot of the things on the test were barely emphasized on in class. It's not all that bad, I just have a lot of work to do.
My Spanish final is on Tuesday. It will take 15 minutes.
I have a paper due on Wednesday for Scholar Citizen. There is no final in that class. I also have a test for my Film class.
And lastly, I have that religion final.
Sunday and Monday will be spent studying. all day. like A.P.
I was pretty happy to finally be done with most of my classes. It really hit me Thursday after religion... "I am completely done with this class..."
I am definitely happy to be done with Spanish... I hated that class... Not really because it was a bad class but because I was really bad at Spanish. I am also happy to be done with my religion class. I'm usually obsessed with all that jazz, especially studying Islam and other world religions however, I felt like I rarely learned anything from that class. I actually would not be surprised if some students lost faith by taking that religion class... I'm probably being a little harsh, but the class left me with more negative moments than positive ones.
And tonight my professor for that class sent me an e-mail telling everyone all the things we need to study for the test on Thursday. It will be very hard... which is expected. But I was a little disappointed when a lot of the things on the test were barely emphasized on in class. It's not all that bad, I just have a lot of work to do.
My Spanish final is on Tuesday. It will take 15 minutes.
I have a paper due on Wednesday for Scholar Citizen. There is no final in that class. I also have a test for my Film class.
And lastly, I have that religion final.
Sunday and Monday will be spent studying. all day. like A.P.
World Premiere
Wednesday we showed off the film we made for my Intro to Cinema class.
First of all, thanks to our Editor, Amanda. She did a fantastic job. I storyboarded and scripted out pretty much everything in our movie, so most of the shots and cutting was pretty straightforward....
However, we were planning this huge extravagant dance scene that we were going to film in the student lounge... and rather than planning out the most difficult in scene in our movie, we decided to improvise it....
Let's just say that our big extravagant dance scene wasn't so extravagant... It was rather simple. We did make things pretty difficult for our editor though... we recorded the exact same scene from 5 different angles, handed her our footage, and basically said, "good luck".
The entire thing turned out fantastic.
The story line was ok... we basically made a pastiche-esque film. It definitely wasn't serious.
JUST DANCE - The Tale of Jeffery Mitchell:
Basically this guy dances all over campus, into class, everywhere he goes, etc... People, obviously, think he's pretty weird so he doesn't really have any friends. Hilarity ensues. Eventually, the guy gets so down on himself that he ventures into downtown Minneapolis in the middle of the night, alone. BUT, he runs into the place of his dreams: Spin Nightclub. He has fun and realizes that there is a place for him in this world.
Definitely not a serious movie... especially compared to another group that filmed a movie about a relationship between a man and a woman... they are fighting and something has obviously gone wrong. By the end of the movie, it is revealed that the woman caught the man kissing another man....
Deep, I know.
But we did pretty good. Definitely better than some of the other groups.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Annie, Use Your Telescope
I made a very difficult decision on Sunday.
I had my first training to be an Orientation Leader (OL). I went through the application process, a group interview, and then a personal interview (it was long, but definitely painless) and I was finally announced as an OL last Friday.
Sunday after training however, I had to turn down the position.
It was really hard for me to do... Basically, it comes down to the rule that a student can not be employed by both Residence Life and the Center for Service, Work, and Learning. Which means I can not be an OL and a Residence Hall Adviser (RA) next year.
Everyone knows that OLs have the most fun on campus... Yeah, there's a lot of overtime, but OLs go through all the training together, camping overnight at a retreat, and then the experience of welcoming all the incoming First Years.
Being an RA would also be pretty sweet. Getting to know a whole floor full of guys, and offering them help if they need it. The only bad thing would be that I would not get to live with my friends.
Oh, and after all the fun and games of both positions... you would of course get paid.
Yup, college is expensive... Keeping that in mind, I turned down the OL position hoping to become an RA next year and get paid a little bit more. That's not my only motivation, but I am REALLY short on cash right now... I was planning on getting a job this semester, but I'm just to busy... Hopefully next semester will be a different story.
And hopefully next year I'll be an RA.
On a somewhat similar note, speaking of money, Ethan was in the bathroom tonight with his own little business... He's offering hair cuts to people (genius idea). So far he has about 4 clients; he asked me if i wanted a hair cut (I desperatly need one), but I told him that nobody touches my head except my grandma :)
She has cut my hair my entire life (and done a fantastic job). I've probably got a professional haircut less than 5 times.... It's saved me a lot of money.
But kudos to Ethan.
PS. the new Jack's Mannequin cd is A-MAZING. (hence the title of today's blog). get your hands on it, asap.
It's all good.
I had my first training to be an Orientation Leader (OL). I went through the application process, a group interview, and then a personal interview (it was long, but definitely painless) and I was finally announced as an OL last Friday.
Sunday after training however, I had to turn down the position.
It was really hard for me to do... Basically, it comes down to the rule that a student can not be employed by both Residence Life and the Center for Service, Work, and Learning. Which means I can not be an OL and a Residence Hall Adviser (RA) next year.
Everyone knows that OLs have the most fun on campus... Yeah, there's a lot of overtime, but OLs go through all the training together, camping overnight at a retreat, and then the experience of welcoming all the incoming First Years.
Being an RA would also be pretty sweet. Getting to know a whole floor full of guys, and offering them help if they need it. The only bad thing would be that I would not get to live with my friends.
Oh, and after all the fun and games of both positions... you would of course get paid.
Yup, college is expensive... Keeping that in mind, I turned down the OL position hoping to become an RA next year and get paid a little bit more. That's not my only motivation, but I am REALLY short on cash right now... I was planning on getting a job this semester, but I'm just to busy... Hopefully next semester will be a different story.
And hopefully next year I'll be an RA.
On a somewhat similar note, speaking of money, Ethan was in the bathroom tonight with his own little business... He's offering hair cuts to people (genius idea). So far he has about 4 clients; he asked me if i wanted a hair cut (I desperatly need one), but I told him that nobody touches my head except my grandma :)
She has cut my hair my entire life (and done a fantastic job). I've probably got a professional haircut less than 5 times.... It's saved me a lot of money.
But kudos to Ethan.
PS. the new Jack's Mannequin cd is A-MAZING. (hence the title of today's blog). get your hands on it, asap.
It's all good.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
The Colors of the Wind
Yup, still sick.
So today, I went down to Murphy's (the alternative to the main cafeteria on campus... burgers, fries, chicken, deli, all that stuff) because they sell some things that you might need for your dorm. Soap, cereal, milk, and most importantly, tissues... which i was in dire need of.
BUT, the football team was having their banquet in the main cafeteria, therefore, lunch was being served in one of the rooms downstairs and the booths in Murphy's were being used.
For some reason, the dining service then thought that it would be necessary to close Murphys, which means that i do not get to buy my tissues. which made me mad.
and then i was more mad because i wanted to eat at murphys because today's brunch was a nasty roast beef sandwich and leftover soup... luckilly they did have delicious waffles, otherwise i would have protested and screamed. and yelled. and probably cussed.
oh, and this weekend i accidentally walked into a girls bathroom. yup, never saw that coming.
the only sunshine in my day today was that the vikings won. yay.
Yesterday i went to the mall of america with katie to buy hannahs bday present. I was very happy with myself that i did not actually buy anything. Yes, i looked all around for christmas presents (for myself mostly) but i've been kinda fruggle lately.
And then that night we went to eat at Chino Latinos. It was excellent. Katie made me try sushi, and it was bomb. Soo goood... but sooo expensive.
And when we came back from the restaurant, they all partied.. and i went to bed because i didn't feel good. luckilly, i have the best girlfriend in the world and she kept me company and watched Scrubs with me till I fell asleep.
Today i finished filming my movie for my film final, but this week will be ROUGH....
And as i type this, i am also finishing some other school work while i also watch Pocahantas with Katie. she has to study it for her American Indians in Cinema class... there's nothing like watching Pocahantas at 11:30 at night...
I gots lots'a work to do.
So today, I went down to Murphy's (the alternative to the main cafeteria on campus... burgers, fries, chicken, deli, all that stuff) because they sell some things that you might need for your dorm. Soap, cereal, milk, and most importantly, tissues... which i was in dire need of.
BUT, the football team was having their banquet in the main cafeteria, therefore, lunch was being served in one of the rooms downstairs and the booths in Murphy's were being used.
For some reason, the dining service then thought that it would be necessary to close Murphys, which means that i do not get to buy my tissues. which made me mad.
and then i was more mad because i wanted to eat at murphys because today's brunch was a nasty roast beef sandwich and leftover soup... luckilly they did have delicious waffles, otherwise i would have protested and screamed. and yelled. and probably cussed.
oh, and this weekend i accidentally walked into a girls bathroom. yup, never saw that coming.
the only sunshine in my day today was that the vikings won. yay.
Yesterday i went to the mall of america with katie to buy hannahs bday present. I was very happy with myself that i did not actually buy anything. Yes, i looked all around for christmas presents (for myself mostly) but i've been kinda fruggle lately.
And then that night we went to eat at Chino Latinos. It was excellent. Katie made me try sushi, and it was bomb. Soo goood... but sooo expensive.
And when we came back from the restaurant, they all partied.. and i went to bed because i didn't feel good. luckilly, i have the best girlfriend in the world and she kept me company and watched Scrubs with me till I fell asleep.
Today i finished filming my movie for my film final, but this week will be ROUGH....
And as i type this, i am also finishing some other school work while i also watch Pocahantas with Katie. she has to study it for her American Indians in Cinema class... there's nothing like watching Pocahantas at 11:30 at night...
I gots lots'a work to do.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Down with the sickness
I am sick. It is the worst possible timing. Ever.
So yesterday Katie went with me to Target. (We no longer go to the Target on Lake Street... We found that going to the Downtown Target, although a longer trip, proves to much more of an adventure). I had two things I needed to get: cough drops and a box of tissues (what is the plural form of kleenex?). So we went there, avoiding all temptation known as subway/chipotle, and she found all the things she needed.
P.S. Macy's was an adventure all in itself... First, it took a long time to find the girls bathroom for katie, and while i was waiting for her, I met a person in line wearing a St. Martin sweatshirt... for those of you who dont know (basically all of you), St. martin is the teeniest tiniest town next to my home town... basically, population barely 300 people... It was extremely random and made me laugh. Also, while i was waiting for her, i found a blouse thingy that was supossed to be worn over a dress.. guess how much it cost? yup, $2,450... crazy.
And then on our way back, I realized that i forgot to buy my tissues. i think if i blow my nose one more time with the toilet paper from the bathroom, either: 1) my nose will fall off, or 2) my nose will bleed profusely and i will die.
Luckilly, Katie has been taking care of me, making me sleep, and force-feeding me tea.
Unfortunately, I have a lot to do today... aka film a movie, work on a powerpoint presentation.
Dang.
So yesterday Katie went with me to Target. (We no longer go to the Target on Lake Street... We found that going to the Downtown Target, although a longer trip, proves to much more of an adventure). I had two things I needed to get: cough drops and a box of tissues (what is the plural form of kleenex?). So we went there, avoiding all temptation known as subway/chipotle, and she found all the things she needed.
P.S. Macy's was an adventure all in itself... First, it took a long time to find the girls bathroom for katie, and while i was waiting for her, I met a person in line wearing a St. Martin sweatshirt... for those of you who dont know (basically all of you), St. martin is the teeniest tiniest town next to my home town... basically, population barely 300 people... It was extremely random and made me laugh. Also, while i was waiting for her, i found a blouse thingy that was supossed to be worn over a dress.. guess how much it cost? yup, $2,450... crazy.
And then on our way back, I realized that i forgot to buy my tissues. i think if i blow my nose one more time with the toilet paper from the bathroom, either: 1) my nose will fall off, or 2) my nose will bleed profusely and i will die.
Luckilly, Katie has been taking care of me, making me sleep, and force-feeding me tea.
Unfortunately, I have a lot to do today... aka film a movie, work on a powerpoint presentation.
Dang.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
The Science of Sleep
Yeah, I took a 5 hour nap yesterday..... Accidentally of course.
I stayed up really late doing homework the night before.. I woke up the next day extremely exhausted. It's actually a miracle that I went to both of my morning classes. After class, I ate a quick lunch, and immediately went up to my room for a nap... and I set my alarm for 1:15 so i could wake up and get ready for spanish.
Unfortunately I slept through my alarm and woke up 5 hours later.
I think my sleep schedule is completely thrown off.
Not only that, but finals are coming up. And it's stressful. I have a film due, a powerpoint presentation, and a test... things aren't going to be fun the next week.
Tonight I have to go downtown and film some scenes for my movie... at 9:30 at night.. I won't get back until late again.... grrrr..
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Let's Get Down to Business
Today I had a meeting with Peggy Cerrito, a business teacher here at Augsburg.
I came to Augsburg knowing that I would be a film major, and I knew that I wanted to double major in something to fall back on... I'm still not sure what I'm going to do.
But when I talked to my R.A., Avery, and told him that I was interested in majoring in business, he told me that he would set up a meeting with Peggy. He said that he was an assistant for Peggy (or something like that), delivered her mail and stuff, and that she was a very nice woman. So today, he brought me up to her office and introduced me to her.
I ended up talking with Peggy about the Augsburg Business program for about 30 minutes... and she really sold it to me (like a real business woman, i guess). It actually made me pretty excited; she told me exactly what i was looking for.
I'm on the right track so far... I'm taking Marketing and Microeconomics next semester, and I really don't have to pick my Business emphasis for a while yet, but she definitely narrowed down my search.
I'm thinking of a business major with an emphasis in either: Economics, Management, Marketing, and possibly Financing (which I doubt).
Basically, it comes down to whatever emphasis i think will help me the most as a film maker.. I'm either leaning towards management or marketing, but I have a while to decide. Today definitely made me feel a lot better about the entire situation though... Peggy even gave me a free Augsburg mug as a kind of "welcome to the business program" gesture. She seems sooooo very nice.
I really can't wait until next semester now... ya, my classes will be much harder, but i'm just ready for my finals to be over...
I'm pretty stressed out right now.
I came to Augsburg knowing that I would be a film major, and I knew that I wanted to double major in something to fall back on... I'm still not sure what I'm going to do.
But when I talked to my R.A., Avery, and told him that I was interested in majoring in business, he told me that he would set up a meeting with Peggy. He said that he was an assistant for Peggy (or something like that), delivered her mail and stuff, and that she was a very nice woman. So today, he brought me up to her office and introduced me to her.
I ended up talking with Peggy about the Augsburg Business program for about 30 minutes... and she really sold it to me (like a real business woman, i guess). It actually made me pretty excited; she told me exactly what i was looking for.
I'm on the right track so far... I'm taking Marketing and Microeconomics next semester, and I really don't have to pick my Business emphasis for a while yet, but she definitely narrowed down my search.
I'm thinking of a business major with an emphasis in either: Economics, Management, Marketing, and possibly Financing (which I doubt).
Basically, it comes down to whatever emphasis i think will help me the most as a film maker.. I'm either leaning towards management or marketing, but I have a while to decide. Today definitely made me feel a lot better about the entire situation though... Peggy even gave me a free Augsburg mug as a kind of "welcome to the business program" gesture. She seems sooooo very nice.
I really can't wait until next semester now... ya, my classes will be much harder, but i'm just ready for my finals to be over...
I'm pretty stressed out right now.
Monday, December 1, 2008
On Eagles Wings
There was a special service during chapel today for an Augsburg student that passed away this weekend:
It was really a sad day for members of the Augsburg community... over thanksgiving break, an Augsburg student was killed in a car accident. The chapel service held today was a chance for everyone to come together and grieve, but ultimately, to celebrate her life.
She was a well-known student... She was in honors and was my teachers assistant for the honors play that all first years put together... Katie and Claire knew her well from the school of americas protest in Georgia... she was also an orientation leader, Augsem leader, and a member of the Riverside Singers.
At chapel today, it really hit me when i realized how close of a community Augsburg College is... there were a lot of people that were affected by this death.. I can only imagine being a student at the University of Minnesota and a death happening.. an organized chapel service attended by many members of the college would be unlikely.
I'm glad to be a member of such a close-knit community.
All my thoughts and prayers go out to Katie's family.
It was really a sad day for members of the Augsburg community... over thanksgiving break, an Augsburg student was killed in a car accident. The chapel service held today was a chance for everyone to come together and grieve, but ultimately, to celebrate her life.
She was a well-known student... She was in honors and was my teachers assistant for the honors play that all first years put together... Katie and Claire knew her well from the school of americas protest in Georgia... she was also an orientation leader, Augsem leader, and a member of the Riverside Singers.
At chapel today, it really hit me when i realized how close of a community Augsburg College is... there were a lot of people that were affected by this death.. I can only imagine being a student at the University of Minnesota and a death happening.. an organized chapel service attended by many members of the college would be unlikely.
I'm glad to be a member of such a close-knit community.
All my thoughts and prayers go out to Katie's family.
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