Hall Halloween Party

The hall sponsored a Halloween party in the basement...I went with hopes of costume contest. Chris won "Most Topical" with his Evil Alternate Universe Carl Levin (the kid's a poly sci freak, what can I say). We danced a little (I did so very badly) and then watching "Rocky Horror Picture Show." It has Tim Curry in it. The first time I watched it, I had no idea who Tim Curry was...

"Runaway Bride"

Fantastic movie. I bawled like a baby. But seriously, I gave myself a chick flick today. Decided I deserved one. And it was wonderful.

Hermione

I am finally making good on my threat of many years...Hermione it is this Halloween. We actually get trick-or-treaters in the dorm. This should be fun.
Borrowed a white blouse and gray sweater from a friend, making some Hogwarts decorations to pin on it, bought a nice gray schoolgirl skirt with Diane and Hannah last weekend that can be used for things as well.
This is especially appropriate, seeing as how I levitated something in chem lab on Wednesday.
Wingardium Leviosa!

Halloween Harry and Fluffy

This is just classic...love it.

Chemistry Test!!!

I just took the most AMAZING chemistry test of my LIFE. It was really fun. I know that's sick and wrong, but I can't help it. It was a great test. And I thoroughly enjoyed doing it. Let's all hope the final is just as magnificent...

Leo the Lion

Okay...here's a question for my space-loving friends. Should I have seen Leo the Lion this morning while I was running? Because I think I did...but I couldn't find anything real quick online telling me whether or not that was possible.

Econ Quiz

We have an economics quiz every Wednesday...today's was good. It's sick that I enjoy these things, I know it is. But I do.

YallaVOTE

"Yalla" means "go" in Arabic. There's a campaign to get Arab Americans to vote...and they have the sweetest t-shirts ever. I can't wait to wear it to Arabic tomorrow!!!

Arabic Midterm

I knew I liked that test...got them back today. Did much better without the dictation included.

Chem Lecture

We have a test on Thursday. Prof is in Israel for a conference, so Zach (TA) has been teaching this week. This morning was just a review for the exam, which was nice to have. He used a yellow chalk that was so bright it looked radioactive. We had fun.

No Chem Lab Lecture

We usually have a lecture on our chem lab Monday afternoon, but we're doing a double lab this week and Kathy's out of town, so no lecture! Time for me! With which I will do lots of homework and PA research. We also don't have a formal lab due this week because of the double lab, so I'm rolling in time. So instead of talking about how much time I have, I'm going to go do something useful with it...lol.

Arabic

I got called on a lot in Arabic today. But I knew it all! And toward the end of class, Milad realized he'd been calling on me constantly, so he promised I get tomorrow "off." Milad also got a haircut. I don't know how that's relevant, but we did discuss it in class...lol.

LBGT Panelist Training

I was trained in how to answer difficult questions yesterday. Just in case I didn't know. lol. I went to Panelist Training through the LBGT Resource Center, who does 2-3 panels a week in classes and for groups around campus who request Q&A sessions with LBGTA students. 'Twas fun. Looking forward to actually doing a panel...

Church

We sang "Set Me as a Seal" in the choir with a student French horn player accompanying us. Gorgeous song. Pretty horn!
And then I got my baby fix. Kamden came today; we hadn't seen each other in nearly a month. I took him for longer than usual; Dad took big brother Keaton off and Kennetha met with some folks. I fed him a bottle, and he fell asleep in my arms. Happiest feeling ever, that is.

The Weekend

Friday: PA Research, Eat Dinner in Dorm with Parents, Grandparents, and friend Hannah
8 pm: Concert at Wharton with Mum and Hannah (Franc d'Ambrosio, the longest-running Phantom on Broadway)
After Concert: Church to help at a youth lock-in

Saturday: Church in the morning
Chemistry Day at Impression 5 Science Museum (made liquid nitrogen for lots of children)
Dinner and Shopping with Hannah and her mom
PA Research

Life is crazy, folks. But it was all grand fun.

Sex is Apparently Responsible for Terrorism

Or the lack thereof, I should say. I'm exploring religious violence in my research this week. So here's a fun one:
“‘In Palestine, for example, where the unemployment rate among young men in their late teens and early twenties has hovered around 50 percent, economic frustration has led to sexual frustration. Without jobs, which is usually a prerequisite to searching for a wife in traditional societies, they cannot marry. Without marriage, in strict religious cultures such as that of Palestinian Arabs, they cannot have sex.’ Violence endorsed by religious authority, Juergensmeyer argues, provides the sense of empowerment that these marginal young men lack.”
And there you have it. Love really can prevent hate. lol.

That was fun!

MC 241: Politics and Markets, my core class for my Political Economy Class, is currently full. But I was playing around on MSU's schedule page...and the MC 391 (special topics class) for next semester is "Religions and Politics," focusing on Christianty and Islam. I wasn't sure that WebEnroll would let me enroll in the class, as I'm not a James Mad student. But it did. So I'm in it. I'd rather have MC 241, so I'll keep an eye on it and drop MC 391 if 241 opens up or I get a bump card, but I'll be happier with MC 391 than HST 364 (South Africa and its Neighbors). Not to mention HST 364 has 50 students, MS 391 has 30. Ha! Take that, WebEnroll! lol.

Oh, Men

Let's all give a big cheer for random hitting on women. Yeehaw. lol. It was mostly just funny...I was standing in the hall waiting for Arabic to start and a boy came out of one of the classrooms. "I just wanted to tell you that our teacher has been gone for a long time and John - you see that boy? Sitting right there - he really wishes you were our sub." Thank you, Y-chromosome.
It was rather entertaining and totally harmless, never fear.

AFJ's Debut

I almost forgot to tell you! Act for Justice had its public debut yesterday at the Traveling Chautauqua in the presence of President Simon. It went really, really well. Some folks liked the exercises, some didn't...but discussion was provoked and that was the whole point of the thing! So life was good. YAY!

There is something incredibly wrong

(or perhaps impossibly right) with the way an individual was raised if, when given the choice between Lucky Charms and Blueberry Morning "old lady" cereals, they choose the latter. But hey, whoever claimed I was sane?

Honors Humanities to be cancelled

Well, this is incredibly depressing. My favorite class at MPHS, Honors Humanities, is likely going to be cancelled due to a lack of funds. That was the only class at MPHS in which I felt like I actually learned something. I loved that time of day. It's actually, in part, a huge reason for why I got the full ride from MSU. The humanities were a huge part of the scholarship exam. But more than that, I LOVED IT! So I'm massively saddened. We're organizing a letter drive, asking MPHS alumni to write and talk about how much they enjoyed that class and how important it's been for their education. If anyone has other ideas as to how we can make the cancellation not happen, please share them.

Photoshop

and other picture-editing programs are getting way too good. And someone has way too much time on his or her hands. Seriously. This picture is terrifyingly convincing.

But here is the question of the day: Which one looks less likely? lol.

Facebook Status

The new Facebook has a thing where you can comment on people's statuses...and mine got quite a bit of attention this morning. It read "Rebecca loves running in the cold." I was mocked via status comment. And then compared to drill sergeants and squirrels. The three of us (drill sergeants, squirrels, and I) are apparently the only folks who enjoy getting up before dawn to run. Though Rachel has added herself. And I'm sure many other folks would as well...just not the people who felt inspired to comment...

Chem Lab

The chem lab was finished last night! This is a glorious feeling; I usually start them but don't actually get them finished until Tuesday night. Great feeling yesterday. The goal is to get the other two major assignments of the week completed tonight so I may devote myself to Arabic studying for the rest of the week. I may just make it, you never know.

Happy 150th!

This is my one hundred fiftieth post. And today's been good, but I've had a full morning of classes with nothing amazingly entertaining to report.
Oh, no, wait. Arabic today. We're discussing Arabic names. Given name=first name. The name that follows on official documents is the father's name. Last comes the family name. With family names, people can trace genealogy back a ways. So princes claim to be sons of the prophet. And Milad was quite entertaining as he talks about money and oil and how the kings and princes can claim whatever they want to. And if you protest, it's off to jail and you never come out. The actual issues involved are, of course, not in any way funny. But Milad's perspective was extremely mirth-provoking.

Economics Homework

Economics homework is good this week. As in quick and easy. Which is good, because I have an Arabic midterm on Thursday. And a philosophy written take home exam due Thursday. So this week is more crazy than usual.

Sunday Afternoon

I closed my eyes for a while Sunday afternoon when I got home from Church...but not for too long. I had an Act for Justice meeting and a Students for Peace and Justice meeting. Both were pretty good - great attendance at AFJ and we covered a lot of ground. SPJ also had good attendance. We're currently looking at a "don't shower in the dorms" day. It will be interesting to see how that goes over.

Preaching in Ionia

I preached today in Ionia for their UMW Sunday. First service was mostly older folks and a traditional service. I think they all enjoyed hearing me preach mostly because I was young. Second service, though, was a fantastically contemporary service. I preached on the floor from a music stand and totally engaged with the congregation (I almost typed "audience" right there). It felt really good.

Accatoberfest

Lots of a cappela groups singing in a concert. Fun life! I knew all of like three of the songs that were performed...but it was still fun. lol.

Today was also the ADS/UDS dinner. We ate at the official President's house and schmoozed with people. Saw I guy I'd met at ADS weekend; recruited him to AFJ. Turns out he actually lives like two doors down from one of the guys in AFJ. That worked well! lol.

Act for Justice Update

Exciting stuff in the justice theater group...we'll be performing next Wednesday in the Traveling Chautauqua as a dialogue-starter. It will be in front of President Simon (MSU's President). Talk about a debut!
We'll then move to researching Clayborne Carson, an MLK researcher at Standford. He was a student activist in his undergrad years, so his life is incredibly rich. We've been in dialogue with him - he's been very responsive! Very geeked about life.

YAY!!!!

I am extremely excited. I have just managed to switch my Arabic class time and get into macroeconomics. This was this huge thing I was worried about happening or not...so life is good. Life is very good. Now all I have to do is get into the full politics and markets class...but it will happen, I think. Yay!

I love my Honors College

I took this for granted at first, but then realized just how cool it is and how few places actually offer this...
The Honors College is looking to hire a new academic advisor. Emails were sent to HC students with interview times and we were asked to come in, speak with the candidates, and provide our input. That's pretty sweet. I love my school. It's a good place to be.

Thank you, Chinese TAs

While I am learning words like "church" and "university," Lena (who lives across the hall) is learning phrases from her TAs. Such phrases include (I do not know the Chinese for these phrases, I only know that Lena can say them):
"That is a really sexy girl."
"I want to drink beer really bad right now."
"You're not my type."
Thank you, teaching assistants. May I just say, not only is Arabic a better language (by which I mean I like it more), I'm learning better and more useful (at least for my life) things in the class.

I can write real sentences!!!!

Ooh ooh ooh!!!
I can say things!
About stuff that actually means something!
والدتي تعمل في بيت My mother works at home
والدي يعمل في الجامعة My father works at the university.
And it's true! Yay!!!! Today was a good day.

My Ten Names

1. YOUR REAL NAME:
Becca

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of real name plus izzle.)
Becizzle

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color and favorite animal)
Blue Dolphin

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (your middle name and street you live on/or
neighborhood if it's a number)
Leanne Garrison

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2
letters of your first name)
Farre

6. YOUR SUPERHERO/CRIMINAL NAME: (Your 2nd favorite color, and favorite
drink)
Green Water

7. YOUR FANTASY FICTION "OTHERWORLD" NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, 1st letter of your last name, 2nd letter of your moms
maiden name, 3rd letter of your dads name, 1st letter of a siblings first
name, and last letter of your moms first name).
Erfoagl.

8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (parents middle names).
Jean Donald

9. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one of your pets).
Black Princess

10. Your hood name:....first 3 of your first name and add -iqua....
Beciqua

My Record Remains

I have not yet missed a class, even though I slept today until 8:08 and had a 8:30...I would like to say that I set my computer alarm for 7, one for 7:30, and one for 8...and none of them went off. Or woke me up. Or something. And that's the fun story. Alrighty...time for lecture!

Well That Sucks

I apologize for being partisan (again), but this is a fairly established fact.
There have been tons of student groups getting people to register to vote. One of these groups, however, gathered around two hundred registrations claiming to be pro-Obama. The paperwork was then "lost," and people who registered with them didn't find out about it until the deadline had passed. And I'm sorry, but that's disgusting. It would be disgusting if it were the other way around too.

Tuesday

'Twas a Tuesday. Like most Tuesdays. Ooh, ooh, ooh! Happy news! We are now in the new book for Arabic! YAY!!!
I've finished my chem lab (yay!).
Life is good.
Also, I'm running again (as you saw in previous post). No more hurt toe! Yay!

Today is apparent yay! day.

Thank you, Michigan

for that lovely bout of weather.
5:30 am: Becca goes running down a beautiful fall trail. Temperature: Heavenly. Not too hot, not too cold. Precipitation: Not a chance for like a week. Wind: Nonexistent.
7:30 am: Becca, after showering, collapsed back into bed for an hour before class (that makes sense, doesn't it? Get up early, run and shower, and then sleep more. Whatever. I'm weird; I don't deny it.). Temperature: Flippin' cold. As in hot cocoa is now necessity of basic existence. Precipitation: Wet. Lots. Wind: Gale forces. Shrieking. Absurd.
12:30 pm: Becca has had lovely productive morning and is going to Arabic. Temperature: around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Precipitation: Not a chance for like a week. Wind: Nonexistent.
And that, my beloveds, is why I live in Michigan. Cause why not? Who wouldn't want this?

Formal Labs

are fun to write. My friends all think I'm insane. Am I? Oh well. I'll just have to accept the consequences.

Lack of Economics

Prof Woodbury has no voice...so we have no class. Which means I have an extra two hours today, during which I will be meeting with the dean of the College of Arts and Letters to discuss my new research job. Yeehaw.

"Flushed Away"

I watched "Flushed Away" with Lena, Kelsey, and Chris last night. It's very cute. And Hugh Jackman is the lead voice (always a plus). Highly recommended - lots of "crude humor" as the PG-rating states, but it's lots of fun and the kids just won't pick up on most of the "dirty" stuff, so go ahead and watch it with them.

CAL URI

I've been given another research job - this one through peace and justice studies. I'll be researching peace and justice groups in the area and writing up history on them. Life shall be grand - I'm really looking forward to it.

Good Morning

Hey All - Happy Morning. It's bright and beautiful in Chicago. We're essentially going to church and heading home...everyone's fairly burned out. Which is just as well; I'll get stuff done. It means I didn't need to cancel my five o'clock meeting...but oh well. Hopefully I'll get some stuff done! But it's more likely I'll just hang out with my floormates...oh well. I will be productive in the car at least.

St. Augustine

Was quite a jerk for the most part, by the way. I've been reading sermons and "The City of God" for my research job, and he just doesn't say some nice things. Though he is a remarkable feminist for his time. Every once in a while, that is.

Cluster Bombs

These things are terrible, by the way. See http://www.fcnl.org/weapons/clusters/ for information about them. The things are awful - they're used by our military but kill more civilians than combatants and kill more of our own troops than combatant troops. Awful things. There's a mother bomb that holds many bomblets. The bomblets don't all explode right away, though, so some bomblets are left around in parks and fields. They look like toys, so kids pick them up...it's terrible.
Students for Peace and Justice worked with the Greater Lansing Network Against War and Injustice to bring the National Campaign to Ban Cluster Bombs' Cluster Bomb Survivors tour into campus. We heard from a 17-year old Afghani boy who lost both legs to a cluster bomb, the father of a five-year-old boy killed by these weapons in south Lebanon, and the mother of a U.S. Marine who died in Iraq while cleaning up U.S. dropped cluster bomblets. Completely and totally awful. So please go email Senator Levin (who's chair of the Armed Services Committee) and tell him you hope he'll support the treaty in Congress that will ban US use of these bombs. And typing about them is incredibly depressing...but please do check out the website and do all you can to help.

Act for Justice...Clayborne Carson

Clayborne Carson, professor of history at Stanford. Student activist during his undergrad and now an MLK biographer. We will be researching his life during Act for Justice and portraying portions of it. I emailed him personally on behalf of the group and got an awesome response - I am part of an online Gandhi-King community for peace and justice dialogue and have "Clay's" cell phone number. Kid you not. It's pretty blasted exciting, all in all.

Okey Dokey

Online. Meetings done. Most of economics homework taken care of. Time for blogging!

Wireless Issue

Hey Folks - Sorry, we couldn't hack into the church's wireless for all of last night. But we're online now and are in an official meeting "internet break." Kind of like a smoke break for adult workers, but a Facebook break for young people. I need to go back to meeting, but I'll be able to talk tonight.

I Haven't Deserted!

I'm sorry; life's been crazy lately. This means I have tons to tell you but no time to type it! I'm about to get in the car to go to Chicago...I'll blog a lot tonight; I promise.

Chem Lab Party Results

It was grand fun. Lots of work got done and everyone sprawled out in my room. Lots of people came through, though we never actually had more than six people at once. Anyways, it was a really, really good lab. Several people had trouble with it before I started, so I was a wee bit aprehensive. But I had a blast and life was grand.

Chem Lab Party!!

If anyone would like to join us, a group of us will be having a lovely chem lab party in my room tonight. Just thought I'd let you know. (It's break during chem lecture, so here I am. I don't dare start working on something, because then I'll keep working on it when lecture starts again, and I'd like to pay attention.)

Chemistry

is fun. But a chemistry professor who hates math is somewhat annoying. He won't let us do all the fun pretty calcular involved with Schrodinger's Equation...and it makes me sad.
On a good note, we have a very involved lab due tomorrow I'm having fun with.

Bruschetta!!!!

Just in case I wasn't already sold on MSU...today there was bruschetta at dinner. And my life is, if it weren't already, completely sold and in love.

Queen Latifah!

was on Saturday Night Live yesterday moderating the VP debate. It was great...you should check it out if you haven't seen it yet. Tina Fey was, of course, Sarah. Latifah got one of the best lines:
“Due to the historically low expectations for Gov. Palin, were she simply to do an adequate job tonight, at no point cry, faint, run out of the building or vomit, you should consider the debate a tie.”

"Airplane"

The movie of choice last night was "Airplane." I stayed on the floor (aka, off Bailey's bed) and worked on Arabic vocabulary since I'd already seen it. Chris, Lena, and Kelsey had all seen it. Bailey, on the other hand, was so very, very confused. She enjoyed it, but we had to remind her several times to just "not question it." Mum, I'm sorry, but the drinking problem story was told.

I do not recommend

breaking one's toe. It hurts quite a bit. Not only did I break my toe, but I did it in the most ridiculously embarassing manner. I got out of bed. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that's what it takes Rebecca Farnum to break her toe: getting out of bed. I slammed my foot on the shelf by my bed beautifully hard and broke it. It was glorious colors and shapes for several days.
I didn't run for a few days. But this morning the toe felt pretty good, so I went running. Another thing I don't recommend. It hurt. So now it's pretty colors again.
Note to Granna and others likely to get upset my this news: My toe is fine; no permanent damage has been done! I will buddy wrap it again this morning and all will be well.

Drumheads Chemically

We just had fun...I now know why one hits a drumhead off-center in terms of chemistry. It's not really chemistry, of course. It's the physics needed to understand chemistry. But my chem prof lectured about it today. And it was fun.

Absentee Voting!!!

That felt fantastic. Ladies and gentlemen, the envelope is sealed. And I have just voted for a certain young man for the next President of these United States. And I'm really bloody happy about it.

Obama vs. Palin Lines

This is funny...I know many people's views differ from mine, so forgive me on that. But it's entertaining nonetheless.

I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....

.....If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."
....Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, a quintessential American story.

....If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
....Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

....Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
....Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

....If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the First black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration Drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor,
spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the State Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people, while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
...If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.

....If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
....If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.

....If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
....If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.

....If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.
....If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now .