Imperishable Beauty

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posted by Jessica @ 5:28 PM |

Hey, I have a job now!

Well I've finally gotten an on-campus job (well technically I still have to fill out some forms and stuff, but by tomorrow I should be unemployed no longer). And the job I got? Is awesome. Evidentally there's a student in my math class who has some sort of disability, so the Office for Students w/ Disabilities sent out an e-mail to everyone in my class asking if anyone would be interested in taking notes for this student, copying them, and bringing them back to the office once a week. In return you get paid $6.85 an hour. I was the first one to respond so I got the job. :) I'm not really sure how they'll be defining how many hours I'm working - if it's just the time spenting copying the notes and turning them in, I'd get like $2 a week, lol. But if I get paid for the hours in class - score! That's still only three hours a week, but the concept of getting paid to go to class is just so cool that I'm pretty excited.
Tomorrow I'm leaving for a freshman retreat with my friends Melissa and Chris. It's just off-campus (literally - at the seminary w/in walking distance) and only for one night, but it should be good/fun. Please pray for us!

posted by Jessica @ 5:04 PM |

Simple Pleasures

It snowed quite a bit last night, probably about 8", although its really fine and powdery snow so not very good for making snowballs. Still, we couldn't resist going out for a romp in the pristene whiteness. Melissa and I met up with John, Chris, Andrea, and Rachel between North and South quad and the snow was definitely flying. Andrea and Rachel had to head back to the dorm but the rest of us ran around for awhile. Then we figured that we had snow, and some hills...all that we needed were some sleds. Being the creative college students that we are, we went "dumpster diving" for some cardboard (don't worry, the cardboard boxes are next to the dumpster, not in it). It worked moderately well, and if we just ended up kind of sliding/rolling/falling down the hill, that was ok too. And of course we finished off the afternoon with hot chocolate.
In my personal opinion, not many of the "typical" college activities can top laughing hysterically as you slide down the hill, off your cardboard replacement for a sled, and into a pile of snow only to be pounced upon by your friends (with more snow of course). Sometimes simple pleasures are the best...
On a much more somber note, today is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade; the beginning of the 32nd year that abortion has been legal in the United States. Pray for an end to this tragedy.
Also, watch the news for stories on a March for Life to be held on Monday. At least a few buses worth of Notre Dame students went out there to participate.

posted by Jessica @ 10:09 PM |

Grr...

I was a little bit worried about taking a class called "Energy and Enviroment" but it was the only non-lab science that fit into my schedule really well. On the first day, the prof identified himself as "right-wing" so I figured it wouldn't be too bad. Ha. Today we talked about oil prices as a possible cause for the war in Iraq, which...I guess his reasons seemed valid (basically, if the new Iraqi gov't went into debt b/c of reconstruction, they would increase oil production which would drive oil prices down and conceivably save the US $180 bil a year). Still, I kind of doubt that was the only reason, I think there was something about this Hussein guy too... But then he said that US oil usuage would double in 25 years. Why? Not because of increased usage per capita, but because our population is increasing too rapidly, but, as he said "As a professor at Notre Dame I can't talk about that." ??? Ooh, the restrictive regime here is preventing its faculty from discussing birth control. At least I think that's what he was trying to say. Sigh. Anyway, even if birth control was supported by the church, as long as it remained a controversial issue a professor shouldn't identify it specifically as a good thing (or for other matters, a bad thing). Debate and discuss all you want but I don't think it would ever be appropriate to offer birth control (or other such things) as a main solution to a "problem," even if you were allowed to do so. Like I said, grr...

posted by Jessica @ 5:35 PM |

Another fun quiz

Just think - answer 20 questions and you'll find out exactly how your brain works! I'm left-brained and visually oriented, what are you?
Otherwise...12 Angry Men is a good movie, the Vikings lost to the Eagles, and it's cold here (around 10 degrees w/ single digit windchills), but not as cold as it is in Embarass, MN. Despite it being MLK day, it was a music/musicianship/spanish/math day for me, as ND stops for no man, no matter how politically correct. My math prof put us in groups of three, and now we only get one homework grade for the group. Isn't that kind of strange? In theory this means I could put off doing my math homework by surfing on the internet for awhile...oh wait...

posted by Jessica @ 10:52 PM |

It's the weekend

It's always nice to have those two days off of classes, even tho this week has been a short week. We don't have MLK day off either, sigh...
I went to see The Phantom of the Opera last night. It was awesome - a great movie!! The camera angle and styles (old fashioned black and white vs. color) were really cool, and the music was of course beautiful. Definitely worth seeing again (although I wonder if it wouldn't be as good on a small screen?). Plus now I know that going to a movie in south bend is only $10 including taxis there and back, which is really pretty good.
We actually went to see the movie with a group of Chris' friends as part of a surprise birthday party for two people he knew but Melissa and I didn't. Slightly awkward...but they seemed to be nice people and had excellent cake-baking skills, so it was fun.
Kind of a lazy Saturday. Another men's bball game, a win this time. Tomorrow is the big Vikings-Eagles showdown, in which I will valiently cheer for my team against any stupid Eagles/Eagles by default (ie anti-Vikings) fans. Skoal Vikings!
Oh, and anyone who still thinks Pius XII was "Hitler's Pope" should read this.

posted by Jessica @ 7:44 PM |

First Impressions

Well I've been to all of my classes at least once now, and this semester looks pretty good. Music theory is same old, same old, although the prof did say that he'd require more in-class participation from us, so that should be helpful. Spanish might be the class that keeps me busiest, I have to write half a page in Spanish every class day and talk with a native speaker an hour a week. Calc I have the cutest old Italian man as a teacher. He has white hair and an accent and talked about pulling all nighters studying in Italy with "a bottle of wine and a hunk of salami." My science class so far is rather boring (plus its right after lunch - naptime!), but I know a few people in it and so far we haven't had any homework. Weird. Finally I have a history seminar on the Vikings, which is also looking pretty easy. My poli sci seminar last week was like 100 pages of reading and a two page paper every week, this is like 20 pages of reading a week and 4 papers the whole semester. Its not the most thrilling class ever, but I think I like history enough to make it ok. So there's that and orchestra and violin lessons, no on campus job yet, but hopefully sufficient time to have fun.
Speaking of fun, here's a good way to kill time: the website 20 questions. An "artificial intelligience" will guess what you're thinking of, usually within 20 questions. We got it to 28 questions with "okra" and "boyfriend" and it never guessed "garter" (it gives up after 30 questions). Let me know what words you confuse it with - I have a feeling its not going to get "Tridentine Mass." ;)

posted by Jessica @ 3:21 PM |

Back to life, back to reality...

Yup, I'm back at ND and starting classes again. The last week of break was fun but it just flew by. The highlight was Neal and Emily's wedding on Jan 8. It was kind of surreal to see my friends getting married, but Emily was radiant, Neal seemed so mature, and dancing the nite away with my friends was so much fun that I couldn't help but be excited for them. Congrats!
The bus ride back went really fast (7 hrs 45 min plus 45 min of stops) and it was fun to pick up Emily Meyer in Madison and talk to her for the second half of the trip. We struggled in with our luggage to be swarmed with hugs as we got off the elevator. Chris and John had a slightly different type of welcome as they immediately began a snowball fight when they saw us. We did build a really big snowman and decorated him with candy before somebody knocked it down that night.
Yesturday I spent getting books and rearranging my room before the ND basketball game. My class schedule is pretty good, MWF I have classes straight from 9:30-1:40 (music theory, musicianship, spanish, and calc), TH I have PE at 9:30, science at 12:30 and history from 2-3:15.
I hope everyone else has a great spring semester!

posted by Jessica @ 11:49 AM |

Party at the Romens!

Today was a nice Sunday. Early Mass, brunch, watching the Viqueens lose...well that part wasn't so great. Then we packed up and headed over to the Romens' house (friends from homeschool group). The house was packed (seriously, my little sister Bekah counted 55 people on the second floor alone, not to mention all the adults on the main floor and kids in the basement and outside). I got to hang out with a bunch of the gang, chatting and laughing and having pillow fights. Fun times!

posted by Jessica @ 11:56 PM |

New blog for a new year!

Hey everybody,
So this is my first excusion into the realm of blogging. I figured so much of my life is connected to my computer anyway, I might as well have another way to kill time on the internet. Plus it will be fun to look back at what I did my second semester at Notre Dame. So yeah, I have no idea exactly what kind of stuff will be on here, but happy reading anyway!

posted by Jessica @ 12:33 AM |