Weather

Two questions:
1. Is it seriously 70 degrees?
2. Why am I wearing a coat?

"This I Believe"

The ADS/UDS Spring celebration for the Honors College is doing "This I Believe." Check out thisibelieve.org for info on the campaign. And apparently I'm speaking...
Any thoughts on what I believe? lol.

Passport Application!

I have finally applied for my passport (been on the to do list for ages). They're turning them around in like four weeks, so I didn't even have to pay for expedited processing.
The lady at the post office was NOT happy about the fact that I didn't have a state ID. I brought Barb, Becky, and Judy all along. One of them had to sign a statement of witness. Judy started and then didn't have enough ID. Luckily, Becky had just taken Nate to Niagara Falls and had her passport with her. So we got through all the crazy paperwork eventually.
That being said...need to get my driver's license in May. I hereby swear to the internet at large that it will happen.

Kiddos!

Yesterday, the condo had a few visitors...Nate, Hollan, and Jorgen are all in town! We played outside in the gorgeous weather, did some science experiments, played some N64 (I stole Alec's extra one, I certainly have purchased a gaming system since we last spoke). The boys headed out around 8:30. Jorgen stayed the night! We had quite the lovely time.

Note to Granna - Colleen from across the street came out to chat while the kids and I were outside. We had a great conversation and she gave us some frisbees and a tennis ball to play with.

I'm so Productive!

I am apparently much more productive when fasting. I don't know.if it's because I'm not wasting time eating or I'm just trying to distract myself by consistently getting stuff done, but I am seriously plugging and chugging through work. I have gotten an incredible amount done in the last two days.

Physical

Needed to do my physical for the Israel Study Abroad.
Problems with doing a physical during Holy Week:
1. I utterly failed my urinalysis. Protein count was off the ceiling. Not surprising. So of course I had to fess up to my fasting. They were good about it, just told me to drink lots of water. And then declared that the physical said "if indicated" and marked N/A rather than making me come in again. (Thank you, Olin Health Center.)
2. A bit of...creativity was necessary. Have you had any of the following: "Weight Loss." Define weight loss. I mean, other than the thirty pounds I've dropped in the last month and a week, no, nothing unusual. Heehee. But nothing unpredicated or without just cause, so I just went with "no."

The True Consequences of Fasting

You would think that the thing I'd notice most, while fasting, is being hungry. Not so. I don't want food. I want heat. I am producing absolutely no personal warmth. And it's COLD! I would probably notice the fact that I'm hungry more if I hadn't been shrinking my stomach since Ash Wednesday. Since I have been, though, my body's mostly "Meh. Whatever." in regards to the lack of food. But it is seriously chilly. I would rather have a personal heater than a loaf of bread. But a loaf of bread would serve as both, I suppose. Only five days left!

(That being said - wanting heat, not food - I do really like chocolate.)

Ink

The world is a funny place. Several weeks ago, I bought a 74XL cartridge for my printer that requires a 74. And was seriously bummed for having spent a good deal of money on a cartridge I could never use. Then, while working on the fun scanner/copier/printer Grampa gave me, realized it uses 74XL cartridges. Hahaha! Triumph.

Hi, Ross

I bumped into Ross Emmett at the Union today. Broke the news that I was doing a full BA in Madison. For a man on sabbatical, he's certainly around a lot. lol. But it was good to see him; I miss class with him.

Amen to that one!

Gotta read it...for my Ethics of Global Public Health class.
"To Hell with Good Intentions"

Taxes are Done!

Hahahahaha! I have mailed off my state taxes. Fed got mailed off a while ago. We are done! Woohoo.

Quotation for the Day

Fun quotation from religion class for the day: "What did Buber do with his cat?" The actual answer to that question is not nearly as fun as the question sets it up to be...

Aww, poor Bai

She was a bit sad about destroying the duck...

Happy Holy Week!

And it's here! Palm Sunday and Holy Week are here! Just seven more days now, my darlings!

Behold the Duck!

Ta da. Yes, that's just a cake. Love it.

Wharton Season 2010-2011

"Jersey Boys" is coming to Wharton next year...
As is "Shrek: The Musical," "Mary Poppins," "Chicago," and "9 to 5." (Whatever "9 to 5" is; I have no idea.)

Birthday Parties!

This afternoon was Liam's birthday party (boy from church). They did a Mad Lab Science - made slime, transformed pennies into gold, that kind of thing. Was a lot of fun and good to see the boys.
Then tonight I threw Bai's party at the condo. Lots of fun. Rearranged the furniture this morning in a way Lindsey likes, so the house has a new look for spring. Kelsey made Bailey the most amazing duck-shaped cake. I'll get pictures up when I can; it really was incredible. We watched the old "Batman" movie based on the TV series with Adam West and thoroughly enjoyed making fun of how terrible it is.
Happy Birthdays, Liam and Bailey!

Ode to Yogurt

Yogurt is one of mankind's best inventions. Seriously. It's incredible. You can eat it plain, with fruit, with cereal. It's a breakfast. It's a dessert. Add frozen blueberries to it and it freezes around the berries, creating an incredible alternative to ice cream. Melt frozen fruit, throw vanilla yogurt in, and some bran flakes, and you have the world's best-tasting and most well-rounded breakfast. It's bloody fantastic. So here's to you, Mr. or Ms. Yogurt-Creator. Kudos. Major, major kudos.

"Duplicity"

Clive Owen, Julia Roberts. Absolutely intriguing and a lot of fun. Highly recommended. Good mix of ruse, romance, and brains.

So I wrote that before I actually finished the movie...and it's even better than I thought it was. Brilliant ending.

James Madison Scholarship

Woohoo! Approximately two days after I declared my BA in International Relations, I applied for a Madison study abroad scholarship. And got $500. Haha. Love life...

Before Exams

I really hate the fifteen minutes before exams. It's just terrible. Everyone around you is freakishly nervous, desperately asking questions of each other, forcing you to self-guess yourself. And you sit, feeling guilty for doing something other than studying. Even when you know full well there's really no need to study. It's incredibly aggravating.

Color!

I have seen color! The flowers are coming! A bud on an apple blossom tree by Berkey (I think it was an apple blossom...) is showing some pink.

Week and a Half!

It's past noon, which means we've officially hit the "only a week and a half until Easter" mark. Soon and very soon!

Chilly Morning

It's a bit chilly this morning...I'm currently reading 29 degrees. With a reported "low" of 38. Has numeric ordering changed somehow while I was sleeping? lol.

Nighty night!

The stars and the sky were absolutely gorgeous tonight. Goodnight, God! Good night, world! Rest thee well!

LeFrak Lecture

Had a lovey lecture on science and modernity today. Discussed the presuppositions of science in a higher order, a set of laws, etc. and how they might be grounded in religion. 'Twas fascinating. The lecturer presented a strong argument for both sides, essentially debating with himself. lol.

Happy Dance!!!

Everybody Cheer!!!! "The Proposal" is now available for instant streaming on Netflix! Woohooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Becca. : )
Best Christmas present ever, Bubba.

ANP Midterm

Hello. My name is Rebecca Farnum. You may call me "She who four-points exams in fourteen minutes or fewer." (Okay, okay. Fine. I don't actually know that I four-pointed yet. But I'm not too concerned, especially since I'm currently above 100% in the class.)

Happy Tuesday

Good morning, and welcome to Tuesday. Today is a rather boring day. I have a midterm in Anthropology 201. (Read: I have to bike from Holden to Berkey to take a 20-minute exam and then bike back to Holden for my next class. The good news is that I'll have the chance to run to the Union and do some errands. So that'll be good.)
Also on the agenda: Going to speak in Professor Peterson's Philosophy 353 class about student projects on the peace and justice studies website. And then at 5 I have a meeting with Dick and our undergrad researchers to discuss progress in research and teaching tools for the site.
Tonight is a lecture for the LeFrak Forum on Religion and Modernity.
And then home!

Health Care Debate

I think this pretty much sums up my feelings:
"‎Chris Heffner‎‎ ‎keeps hearing the Republicans say that the American people want to completely start over on the health care bill, but... I mean... regardless of what you think of the current health care bill... does anyone REALLY want another year and two months of constant health care coverage?"

Hahahaha

We had a great intellectual moment in religion class today. And then our next topic wasn't nearly as fun. Ben said he felt like he was on a high and then...he wasn't sure “If it was as good for you as it was for me.” Hahaha. I love my life.

Oh dear

My laptop battery very suddenly started draining very quickly...I wonder what on earth happened. I haven't done anything to it recently that I know of...

Welcome to Spring

Spring on MSU’s campus is a beautiful thing. The flowers come into bloom, there are pretty tulip fields everywhere, laughter rings through the streets. Unfortunately, spring is also the time when other people realize that biking is the world’s best way to travel. And so bikers are everywhere. Taking up my bike-parking spaces. Getting in my way. And generally being…there. Give me my parking spaces back! Meanies.

Why hello, Bubba!

Gregory called me last night. We had quite a lovely chat. Apparently I'm supposed to watch "Dr. Who"...

Lovely Weekend

'Twas a lovely weekend. Dad and Rachel came into town with Lisa for a Saturday meeting. Got to got to Bravo! with the gang. They all crashed at the condo Friday night.
Saturday I went to the Condo Owners Association meeting and met a bunch of neighbors. (Everyone says "hi" and they miss you, Granna). And then Saturday night I went to Sultan's with the Ellises and Alec. (Yeehaw for vegetarian grape leaves!)
This morning we sang "The Old Rugged Cross," "What Wondrous Love is Thus," and "Were You There." Loveliness.
And now I'm showing a friend from Wesley "Meet Me in St. Louis." Fun!

Howdy There

Welcome to another lovely day. A bit cooler, but it's not afternoon yet. I get to go home at like 3:30 today, so I'm rather excited.

And approved!

Dr. Fryer gave me the override for next spring. Wasn't sure if I was going to have to fight for it. Yay!

(21 credits, one last time. This means that I'll hit exactly 210 credits needed for the four degrees without taking anything more than the 12 during my program this summer. Not to mention taking a fun class that just happens to be 4 credits instead of 3.)

The Weather!

It's so beautiful! I had a few hours between classes and I sat outside and read a book. It felt quite utterly marvelous. Thank you, sun.

And I must also say that I thoroughly approve of Daylight Savings Time. Yesterday I biked home around 7:30 and, what do you know, it was actually light outside! Imagine.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

Okay. I guess I did well.

The highest score in the class was 4.15. It happened to be mine.

I think I'm going to 4.0 this semester. That would be nice.

MC Midterm

Ooh! That's fun. There was an identification question that was apparently misleading (for "institution," many folks answered with the organization rather than the social rules that govern human behavior). So Mark dropped our lowest identification score. I think this is going to mean a better grade for me! (Though I completely and totally nailed the institution question. Thank you, Ross Emmett and MC 241.)

Haven't actually seen my grade yet...to come soon.

Thesis Discussion

So, another note about a potential thesis.
1. I will not be doing an additional major - they have nixed the double-counted Senior Seminar for International Relations and Comparative Cultures and Politics, so I do not have room for it, even without thesis.
2. Papa's suggestion for a thesis (writing down how all my multiple degrees and specializations fit) is really quite tempting. It's an excellent suggestion. However, I am not sure that a Madison Honors thesis is the best avenue for this. I could do a senior thesis in philosophy, women's studies, or religious studies on it. But these aren't really the best avenues either. Hmm...

To do the thesis, I previously thought that an independent study was simply a part of the Honors Program and could be on anything (and I was going to do it this summer on Israeli Women of Peace). Fun, but would cost me an extra $1000 or so. Zierler informed me today that the independent study is really supposed to help determine what your thesis is going to be, start creating a project proposal, etc. So I nixed this summer's independent study. I'm still going to be doing the research, though, and will make it into my anthropology capstone course I'm taking this fall with a professor I know well (director of the peace and justice studies program).

Which leaves me with 8 credits of fun to play with my senior year if I don't do a Madison thesis. Or the need to take a 3-credit independent study the summer before my senior year and figure out exactly what I want to write a thesis on. This idea of Papa's really is good...but I would really have to find a professor who could do it. I'm not sure. I haven't found said professor yet. I shall keep my eyes and ears open...

Scholarship Lecture

I went to talk with my IR prof from last year about the Honors thesis in Madison and received a thorough lecture about applying for Truman, Rhodes, Marshall, etc. It's nice to be loved, I suppose.

Fun with Linguistics!

We did some fun stuff with linguistics in anthropology today...'twas quite delightful.

I will not add a major. I will not add a major.

Drat!

They have changed the policy (I thought they might)...the Madison senior seminar no longer double-counts. So I will not be completing that second major. It's still tempting to do the core courses, but it would probably be wiser to do either a thesis or other fun courses...

Good Morning

I did NOT want to get out of bed today. At all. But I managed. I'm not even tired...bed was just very, very comfortable...

Yay!

I LOVE it when my classes interconnect. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the interconnectivity between philosophy, epidemiology, and international relations. Heehee.
We've done the social determinants of health in my Ethics of Global Public Health class and are today looking at them in epidemiology.
We have just talked about intellectual property rights in international relations, including a good chunk on drug prices for developing countries. And I've just finished reading some ethical perspectives on corporations' social responsibilities in drug pricing and control.
Today in epidemiology, we're talking about malaria and socioeconomic class. Over break I just finished writing a paper about epidemiology and development: dams' effects on malarial incidence.
Heehee. I love college. It's the best.

Fun Moment in REL

Ben on varying types of compatibility: “You can sleep with your roommate or you can say ‘You stay over there.’” Neither one is necessarily more compatible than the other. Oh, Ben. Way to be awkward.

REL Midterm

Got out religious studies midterms back today...96. We'll take it, folks! No word yet on Madison midterm.

Yay for Getting Things Done!

Hahahah! I have been productive. More cleaning. Read an entire book for my anthropology class. Wrote a personal statement. Finished up taxes - just gotta copy and mail them now. Yeehaw!

Decisions, Decisions

So: I can do an Honors Senior Thesis in Madison. Or I can do an additional major in Comparative Cultures and Politics.

Pros of Honors Thesis:
In-Depth Look at Something (who knows what) I'm interested in
Freedom in Scheduling
Experience with Thesis Writing
Title of Thesis Appears on Transcript
Honors from Madison

Cons of Thesis:
Not sure what I want to do
Less time in class (I like class)
There's not one faculty member in Madison I really want to do a thesis with, at this point

Pros of Additional Major:
The core courses look really, really, really cool
It's another major. Woohoo!

Cons of Additional Major:
Scarier scheduling concerns my senior year
No Honors from Madison (but Honors from MSU)

Thoughts?

Taxes

Taxes make no sense to me...I'm getting like $400 back from the feds but owe Michigan nearly $600. What on earth? You would think there's a better way to do this...

Productivity!

Friday:
Dentist
Eye Exam and new contacts prescription
Haircut
Movies with Eric and Hannah
Hannah's hair for Jazz Night
Jazz Night

Saturday:
Eric safely to Kzoo
"Percy Jackson" with Hannah (I think they did a good job, though it's not as funny as the book, just 'cause it can't be, given the amazing writing style...)
Bravo! with Hannah (thank you, vegetarian pomodoro. Yummy.)
Cleaned the kitchen
Unpacked from the week
Caught up with miscellaneous folk and tasks

Jazz Night

Was in Mount Pleasant Friday night, when the High School Music Boosters do their annual Jazz Night. So got to go with Hannah and Eric to listen to the band, dance a tiny bit, and see some teachers and parents I haven't seen in a while. Lots of fun!

Home Sweet Home

Ah, home. You are lovely. Friends and family are too...but it is nice to be home.

Back in Mount Pleasant

And we're back in Mount Pleasant! Granna and Mum and I had a lovely time shopping in Lansing this morning. Eric had a...less lovely time. And now we're here for a couple of days, watching movies and chilling. Still not sure exactly how Eric is getting back to Kalamazoo, but whatever...

Israel Monies

I have been award the Levy Scholarship through the Jewish Studies program...the one that pretty much everyone gets. Sadly, I didn't get the Slade Scholarship (of which there are far fewer). They had more folks than usual apply this year...
Anyways, there's at least a bit of money for my summer. Have yet to hear from various other scholarships...here's hoping!

Woohoo!

"And another one down, and another one down, and another one bites the dust..."
Got my Madison honors option paper on the social construction of the nuclear taboo completed this morning. And then Todd and I went to Whole Foods for lunch and I had the most amazing sampling of yummy veggie mixes.

Love spring break.
So far, I have accomplished:
Application for internship at the GenCen (Center for Gender in a Global Context) next year
Write-up of the honors option for my anthropology gender roles class
Paper for my honors option in epidemiology
Paper for my honors option in Madison international security

Woohoo!

And now...do I do more work or be a naughty little fun-haver? (Pathetically enough, I am the type of person who could do both. Heehee. I'm such a geek.)

In Chicago

In good ol' Chicago. Well, not really. In Deerfield, with some of my favorite people. And actually managing to get some work done! :)

Thank you, microbiology

Wrote my honors option paper for epidemiology today...and used some lecture notes from my microbiology class! Wasn't useless after all. (I didn't really think it was. Just that memorizing it all, when I can simply look it up on my computer as I'm writing up a report, is.)

Spring Break!

And it is officially spring break! I'm currently at the Ellises. Grampa is driving Alec and I to Battle Creek tomorrow to get on the train for Chicago and go see family friends. We went to PF Chang's tonight; I was able to find a yummy veggies-and-noodles dish. They had a huge chocolate cake that looked incredible...someone named Becca will most definitely be visiting again after Lent is over.
Four weeks and one day!

A few memos

To a few of my fellow students.
Firstly, to the girl I panicked while opening a door in Landon dorm while wearing my black hood all tied up so I looked rather like a robber: Sorry for startling you.
And secondly, to a boy in the Wilson window: I understand that it's the Thursday immediately preceding Spring Break. Nonetheless, I feel like it's not truly necessary to be drunk at 4:30 pm and yelling out the window at girls on their bikes. Just saying.

Clear Skies

These clear skies are gorgeous - March has been filled with a bunch of absolutely beautiful days. However...it's 12 degrees out. Come on, world. Give me some love.

That was fun!

I am sick. That is the only possible way to describe the fact that I get true JOY out of taking midterm essay exams. It is entirely illogical...but I love it! A happy hour spent writing about religion philosophy...ah, life. How joyous and beautiful you are.

Happy REL Midterm!

Today is my Modern Jewish Thought midterm. It will be a piece of cake. And generally I tend to like exams. What makes me sad, though, is that on days when Ben gives me a blue book exam, he doesn't give me a lecture. And that's rather depressing...

Aww...Love you too!

I came home to a homemade card on my door from my roommate. "Just wanted to say I love you!" It was very cute. I don't think I'll be able to respond in kind...she scrapbooks and everything.

25 Degrees!

The current temperature is only at 25 degrees...but it is GORGEOUS and sunny. I think I might be okay with this. We even had a light dusting of snow this morning...

16 Degrees

I would just like to mention that it is hovering around 16 degrees. It was gorgeous yesterday! What the heck, world. I stick out my tongue at thee.

MC 221 Midterm

MC 221 midterm is down! Religion is Wednesday but won't be an issue.
The weekend was lovely - yesterday afternoon was mostly prepping for midterm and relaxing.

Happy March!