Well I'm very happy that the Patriots were eliminated, but I'm disappointed the Jets had to win. I also was hoping the Steelers wouldn't make it, but oh well. I'm not doing so well this year, currently I sit at 4 of 8 correct picks. That means I've been no better at selecting winners this season than your average coin. On the plus side, a lot of announcers have made the same mistakes I have, so that makes me feel better haha. Only down to two games this week, then off to the pro bowl and the superbowl.
Packers at Bears: Packers by 14 points:
The Bears put up a worthy effort against the Seahawks and crushed the worst team to ever get into the playoffs. Enough about that though, the garbage time really showed the Bears' weaknesses to the other teams. The Bears played seemingly well until the fourth quarter, before that holding Seattle to just 3 points. In the fourth quarter, the Bears started slacking a bit, allowing 21 points in a single quarter from the Seahawks. Aaron Rodgers is a huge football nerd and does his homework. He is going to be watching that quarter over and over and he'll know exactly where to get the ball by knowing what Bears defenders are weak in what areas. On top of that, the Packers are really hot, they beat the number 1 seed after all. I'll be rooting for the Packers in this game and in the Superbowl, regardless of who wins the AFC game (I don't particularly like the Steelers (sick of seeing them win Superbowls) and I REALLY don't like the Jets (sick of seeing them...period)).
Jets at Steelers: Jets by 3 points:
Both number 6 seeds beat the number 1 seeds last week in big surprise games. I think that we'll actually see both 6 seeds in the superbowl for once. I'll be rooting for the Steelers in this game because I hate them less, but I think after what we saw last week with the Jets beating clearly the best team in the league this past season, there is something to fear from them there.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Ok well one week in and already I can't get another pick wrong if I want to beat my record (8 of 11 correct). I was surprised by the Packers and stunned by the Seahawks. The fact that that has happened has made picking winners this season near impossible for even professionals, let alone myself. I'll do my best though and hopefully I get them right. Before I get started on the picks, I want to post about that game.
It was by far my favorite Seahawks game that I have ever been to (previously, it was the game vs. Dallas a couple years ago where Tony Romo screwed up the snap, costing his team the win). Usually, the 12th man is super loud before the game and then as the game progresses, gets quieter to loud levels of other stadiums. This game, everyone was excited. We were in the playoffs and happy to be there even though we had a losing record. It maintained the loud volume THE ENTIRE GAME. Almost everyone was on their feet the entire time. Whenever our team was on defense, the stands were loud. I couldn't hear a person 3 feet away from me. We were even so loud, we were reported to have caused a seismic tremor when Marshawn Lynch ran that beautiful ninja touchdown. The atmosphere was amazing and the stands remained full the whole game. It was nice to see players on the team getting pumped up and it was refreshing to not see Drew Brees walk out like the god he is made out to be. The Seahawks defense made him look like any other mortal. That being said, time to get my picks on.
Ravens at Steelers: Ravens by 3 points:
I'm picking some upsets this week hoping that I get some right. The Steelers have faced Baltimore twice this season since they're both in the same division. The two teams split the season, each one winning on their away game surprisingly enough. The teams seem to be evenly matched this year, but I give the edge to Baltimore because I think they want it more and they are going to be capable of doing it. Plus, they're on the road so if the past season taught us anything, that means they're going to win.
Packers at Falcons: Packers by 7 points:
Yeah, I'm going with another upset here. I wasn't sure about the Packers, but after seeing them play last week, I think they can do it. Matt Ryan is a great quarterback with a great record (especially at home (only 2 losses in I think 22 games)), but Aaron Rodgers is also great. Their records this season are actually pretty similar. The Falcons were 13-3 while the Packers were 10-6. That may seem different to you, but consider that Matt Ryan played every game for the Falcons. Aaron Rodgers missed a couple. In those he missed, there were some bad losses. In the end, only four of the Packers' losses this season came while Aaron Rodgers was playing more than 5 minutes. I think that even though this is at home, the Packers are going to be a contender for the Superbowl and they'll come through the Falcons (and hopefully Seattle) to do it.
Seahawks at Bears: Bears by less than 5 points:
I just can't do it. I can't pick the Seahawks. I sure don't mind being proven wrong by them though. I think that both teams are actually pretty evenly matched, but I don't know if Hasselbeck has it in him to play as well in an away game as he did last week at home. Once again though, I would like to point out that I'm calling this game close. I did this last week too because I want to acknowledge that the Seahawks really do have a fighting chance in this as I thought they did last week. I was surprised when they acted on that fighting chance last week and won, but I don't know if they can do it again, even though they beat the bears once this season. If the Seahawks win, I probably won't pick them over Green Bay, but boy would I like to see that as well. I think the game will be very close, but in the end, I'll be rooting for the Seahawks, even at the expense of my record.
Jets at Patriots: Patriots by 10 points:
Can't both of these teams lose? They are my least favorite teams in all of football. I always hate when they play each other because it means one of them will have to win. I don't know what I want to see more, a loss for my least favorite team the Patriots, or the smug grin to be wiped off Rex Ryan's face with another 45-3 blowing out of the Jets like in week 13. In the end, it doesn't matter because I will be unhappy that either team is making it into the AFC Championship game and I will be rooting for the winner of the Steelers/Ravens game, though I hope it's the Ravens because God am I sick of seeing the AFC only offer up 3 different teams (Steelers, Patriots, and Colts(well not so sick of them :] )) to the Superbowl year after year. The Patriots are on fire though and it seems a safe call to pick them.
Ok well that's it for this week. Hopefully I'm right on all my picks but the Seahawks game. Here's hoping for an upset and a return to Qwest field (only if the Packers win, otherwise we head to Georgia for yet another postseason rematch).
It was by far my favorite Seahawks game that I have ever been to (previously, it was the game vs. Dallas a couple years ago where Tony Romo screwed up the snap, costing his team the win). Usually, the 12th man is super loud before the game and then as the game progresses, gets quieter to loud levels of other stadiums. This game, everyone was excited. We were in the playoffs and happy to be there even though we had a losing record. It maintained the loud volume THE ENTIRE GAME. Almost everyone was on their feet the entire time. Whenever our team was on defense, the stands were loud. I couldn't hear a person 3 feet away from me. We were even so loud, we were reported to have caused a seismic tremor when Marshawn Lynch ran that beautiful ninja touchdown. The atmosphere was amazing and the stands remained full the whole game. It was nice to see players on the team getting pumped up and it was refreshing to not see Drew Brees walk out like the god he is made out to be. The Seahawks defense made him look like any other mortal. That being said, time to get my picks on.
Ravens at Steelers: Ravens by 3 points:
I'm picking some upsets this week hoping that I get some right. The Steelers have faced Baltimore twice this season since they're both in the same division. The two teams split the season, each one winning on their away game surprisingly enough. The teams seem to be evenly matched this year, but I give the edge to Baltimore because I think they want it more and they are going to be capable of doing it. Plus, they're on the road so if the past season taught us anything, that means they're going to win.
Packers at Falcons: Packers by 7 points:
Yeah, I'm going with another upset here. I wasn't sure about the Packers, but after seeing them play last week, I think they can do it. Matt Ryan is a great quarterback with a great record (especially at home (only 2 losses in I think 22 games)), but Aaron Rodgers is also great. Their records this season are actually pretty similar. The Falcons were 13-3 while the Packers were 10-6. That may seem different to you, but consider that Matt Ryan played every game for the Falcons. Aaron Rodgers missed a couple. In those he missed, there were some bad losses. In the end, only four of the Packers' losses this season came while Aaron Rodgers was playing more than 5 minutes. I think that even though this is at home, the Packers are going to be a contender for the Superbowl and they'll come through the Falcons (and hopefully Seattle) to do it.
Seahawks at Bears: Bears by less than 5 points:
I just can't do it. I can't pick the Seahawks. I sure don't mind being proven wrong by them though. I think that both teams are actually pretty evenly matched, but I don't know if Hasselbeck has it in him to play as well in an away game as he did last week at home. Once again though, I would like to point out that I'm calling this game close. I did this last week too because I want to acknowledge that the Seahawks really do have a fighting chance in this as I thought they did last week. I was surprised when they acted on that fighting chance last week and won, but I don't know if they can do it again, even though they beat the bears once this season. If the Seahawks win, I probably won't pick them over Green Bay, but boy would I like to see that as well. I think the game will be very close, but in the end, I'll be rooting for the Seahawks, even at the expense of my record.
Jets at Patriots: Patriots by 10 points:
Can't both of these teams lose? They are my least favorite teams in all of football. I always hate when they play each other because it means one of them will have to win. I don't know what I want to see more, a loss for my least favorite team the Patriots, or the smug grin to be wiped off Rex Ryan's face with another 45-3 blowing out of the Jets like in week 13. In the end, it doesn't matter because I will be unhappy that either team is making it into the AFC Championship game and I will be rooting for the winner of the Steelers/Ravens game, though I hope it's the Ravens because God am I sick of seeing the AFC only offer up 3 different teams (Steelers, Patriots, and Colts(well not so sick of them :] )) to the Superbowl year after year. The Patriots are on fire though and it seems a safe call to pick them.
Ok well that's it for this week. Hopefully I'm right on all my picks but the Seahawks game. Here's hoping for an upset and a return to Qwest field (only if the Packers win, otherwise we head to Georgia for yet another postseason rematch).
Thursday, January 06, 2011
New Post for the New Year
Well hi. Hopefully you won't hold it against me that I failed to make an end of the quarter post after the fall quarter ended. I'm no longer good at keeping to a blogging schedule (though I think I will be now since I'm getting back into doing football posts weekly). I have a bit to cover in this post, mainly the end of the quarter as well as winter break and the start of this quarter, so I'll get started right away.
Last quarter ended on a high note what with me pwning the crap out of my three finals and performing well in frisbee again, recovering from my bad showing at the OMG tournament in late November. In Philosophy, we spent the last day just reviewing the whole course before starting our final essays. During the class, I got in a philosophical debate with the professor. We share the same views, but he took the other side and we were going back and forth for a couple minutes before remembering there was a class going on, so he had to end it with a nice "I'm excited to read your paper now." I had half written it already and had not gone in that direction, but I was more than happy to completely change it on the hope that I might get a better grade. It worked out well and he really liked it and offered some counterarguments to the ones I laid down in the essay. My favorite part about the essay was that I was able to incorporate Mass Effect into it. I was really proud of that. As for Macro and Stats, well those were just boring tests. Nothing too exciting to tell other than I must have totally rocked them because my grades came out nicely. That was probably going to be one of the hardest quarters I will have here at SU and I got a 3.43 out of it, which is heartbreakingly close to the 3.5 I want and need. I need that 3.5 cumulative by the end of the year so I can keep my Xavier scholarship (of as I refer to it, the Charles Xavier Scholarship (people give me weird looks when I call it that though, but I will not stop)). The scholarship gives me $10,000 off of the cost per year which is really nice because it makes it so the cost of attending this school is only about $2,000 more than the UW and since the classes are smaller here than they are there, I think it's definitely worth it.
Some sad news out of last quarter is that the Jazz Band folded. I guess the enrollment wasn't at total full capacity, so the school cancelled the program before our winter concert. It's especially too bad since I planned my Tuesday and Thursday oriented quarter currently around the time this class went on. We might start a small group to just jam, but I don't know if that's ever going to materialize. The class will be reevaluated next year and I will definitely be there for it. I was enjoying this band, finding that I was actually practicing pretty often (which explains why I was doing so well in the songs). With the free time that I won't spend practicing now, I might go back to the flute or bass (probably the flute for now) and try to learn one or both of those. I like being able to play as many different instruments as I can.
After the quarter ended, I was glad to sleep in (until 9:30!) the next few days, making up for totally screwing up my circadian rhythm throughout the quarter. I spent the first couple weeks of the break mainly just playing Oblivion and putting in a little Starcraft here and there when Keir was available. I wound up getting all my skills to level 100 in Oblivion. If you've played an Elder Scrolls game before, you know exactly how ridiculous it was of me to do that. If you've only played Morrowind, they don't let you train infinitely in Oblivion, so I had to do it the hard way. I spent the middle of the break playing Starcraft with Keir a lot. Christmas was pretty nice, I got a cool letter opener dagger looking thing from my Grandma (she likes to send random gifts) and a Hungarian winter military hat which was also cool. Another good thing I got was a lego Winnebago (a reference to scouting days (Black mountain and the idiot video in case Davis is wondering)). Mom also found a Colt McCoy jersey and she got that for me, which was pretty awesome. Now my man crush on him can be shown off to the world!
Davis came over after Christmas and we wound up using one of the Starcraft trial codes I had. We hopped online with Keir and played for the 7 hour duration of the code. It was actually really fun and I think we had a winning record by quite a bit at the end of the day. We got put into bronze (Davis hadn't played before), so Keir and I got to cheese occasionally which was really fun. Mass battlecruisers ftw. I got my Yamato achievement in that game. Orion also came back that week and the four of us along with Eric played some Munchkin one night. I guess Orion hadn't played before, but he picked it up quick which was really cool. On Davis' last night on the west side, the four of us decided to get Taco Bell and take it to the bridge again because as I said "It's been too long since I've had diarrhea and have been cold" (I hate to quote myself, but Davis did quote me so I feel like it's more ok (still feel like a douche though)). I also quote myself because that was about the experience I had. Maybe without the violent diarrhea though, but it was sub-freezing (and three out of four of us were wearing shorts like bosses!). While we were on the bridge, some rando walked by and said something to the effect of "Interesting place to hang out." It was a good sendoff I think and hopefully someday we do it again (see, already I have the happy memory of doing it because all I remember is leaving).
After that point, I've been mostly doing my usual things which consist of spending extensive time with Grandpa and playing videogames (not at the same time, Grandpa's not into CoD or Halo......yet). Steven recently convinced me to get Minecraft so I did. It's totally worth it. It's like all the fun parts of the Sims. The possibilities are really awesome and I don't see myself getting tired of it for some time. The day after I got it, I played for 12 hours. The day after that, 10 hours. The day after that, 8 hours. The day after that, Steven and I decided to try a multiplayer server. Since we went and did that, I became unaddicted to Minecraft. The multiplayer was so fun that it made the singleplayer seem like there was little point. I still enjoy it, but I only play for a couple hours at a time, less than I would spend playing Starcraft in one sitting anyway. Now Steven, Chris, and I have a cool server that we play on and that has been really fun. We're getting past the need to have all three on at any given time, so each time we sign on, somebody has improved our shelter in some new way. I'm going to post some videos eventually of what I have done and perhaps of what we have done as well. I'll keep you posted there.
Now the quarter has started and it seems I have a new problem on my hands. Where my last quarter classes were really math heavy, this quarter's classes are really writing intensive. In addition, there is a lot of reading assigned. I got assigned ~100 pages of reading from a Tuesday to a Thursday. I can keep up, but there is going to be a lot of reading and analyzing here. I must say I greatly prefer the math heavy stuff to this. I have to get good at the writing though if I'm going to be a lawyer. It also helps that I do this blog because I get practice and can see how well/poorly I write when I look back. Here are my classes:
Theology of Peace (7:45am-9:50am Tuesday & Thursday):
This is going to be an interesting class. I mean that because it seems like it is really geared towards watching disturbing clips of war and being in touch with your emotions. The professor lived in El Salvador in the '80s though, so she has an expertise in war-torn countries and stuff of that nature. In the first class, we watched some commercial about a person that wanted to grow up, but they were killed. The commercial only showed pairs of shoes though, no specific person. Being the souless robot I am, I didn't really take note of anything other than "damn the song they are playing is annoying." After it ended, I looked around and people around me were just sad looking and it was pretty depressing. They were taking notes about their feelings (as per instructions) and were writing paragraphs of information. I said everything that came to mind which was only really "That was an effective commercial." I've trained myself to avoid strong emotions (due to my aspirations in the legal field and my general stoic nature), so I think I'm going to have to fake a lot of emotional responses in this class to get by, but this is definitely one that I can BS my way through this quarter. The students seem pretty nice. As a bonus, this girl I like on the frisbee team happens to be in the class, so we sit next to each other. Today in the class, we watched a music video by Jackson Browne. The professor was asking if anyone had heard of him. Thinking "Well he was a big player in classic rock history," I proudly raised my hand. In the class of 27, NOBODY ELSE DID. That was kind of funny and disturbing to learn that. After hearing him sing though, the girl from frisbee recognized his voice because her father used to listen to him. I'm only 20, but I somehow manage to date myself all the time.
Financial Markets and Economic Development (10:00am-12:05pm Tuesday & Thursday):
I took this class because I thought it was going to be focusing on macro and I figured I could always use more practice on that side of economics. I wasn't totally wrong actually, but it's also going to have a big focus on microfinance which is something I don't have much experience in. What's more, the teacher is a real hard-ass. She seems at times like it's just a ruse, but from what I hear, she is actually pretty strict. She called "people" out on sleeping when I suspect it was just me the other day. She then proceeded to ask students for suggestions on how to stay awake. I couldn't help but feel it was a bit directed at me since I had had a sleep attack at that point. It's always a bit insulting to hear people suggest ways to stay awake because when I get tired, my brain is going at the same rate, realizing I'm tired, but I can't will my limbs to move or do anything and I have to accept that it's going to happen. Hell, I can even fall asleep while sitting upright, taking notes and not even feeling tired. Next thing I know, it's about 10 minutes later and evidently I fell asleep. I cleared it up with her though during the break. I told her it's why I sit in the back (it's colder back there and this way I don't call attention to myself if it happens) and I gave her permission to throw a koosh ball at me (hopefully I don't regret that). She was nice about it though, so hopefully it doesn't happen and the whole thing winds up being a non-issue. It didn't really happen in my macro class in this timeslot last quarter, so maybe I'll get lucky again. I'm not posting from class right now, she's down in Denver at some conference being interviewed for something so there was no class today.
Law, Politics, and Society (1:30pm-3:35pm Tuesday & Thursday):
I'm taking this as a general elective actually. It's really a 300 level polisci class, so there were prerequisites. The professor waived them for me though when I told her my plans, which was super nice. She seems to be living up to that so far. The class looks like it will be pretty cool.
Frisbee (2-4 Sundays, 3-5 Mondays, 8:30-10:30 Wednesdays, and 3-5 Fridays):
Not really a class I know, but something I am doing. We added a Sunday practice since people weren't making the Monday ones. The fate of the Monday practices is up in the air currently. They may become conditioning days or we may just drop them altogether. Either way, I won't be attending. Getting down to SU and back is a pain in the ass and since the practices are all on days when I don't have to go down there for class, I'm only going to make the other three. Having to fight rush hour on my own is bad enough once a week and I decided Fridays are the better day on which to do that. I think we're doing winter quarter this quarter, so that will be pretty cool.
Okay so my quarter is pretty busy. Tuesdays and Thursdays are pretty hellish, but I think the four day weekends will really make it worth it. I like it this way where I block the days off together because it lets me rest up and be ready for the week. It may increase the size of homework, but I have time to do that while I play Minecraft now, so no worries there.
I'll maybe do a big post like this again this month, but it would be at the end, so I don't know. Happy new year to all and hope you have good new quarters/semesters.
Peace out.
Last quarter ended on a high note what with me pwning the crap out of my three finals and performing well in frisbee again, recovering from my bad showing at the OMG tournament in late November. In Philosophy, we spent the last day just reviewing the whole course before starting our final essays. During the class, I got in a philosophical debate with the professor. We share the same views, but he took the other side and we were going back and forth for a couple minutes before remembering there was a class going on, so he had to end it with a nice "I'm excited to read your paper now." I had half written it already and had not gone in that direction, but I was more than happy to completely change it on the hope that I might get a better grade. It worked out well and he really liked it and offered some counterarguments to the ones I laid down in the essay. My favorite part about the essay was that I was able to incorporate Mass Effect into it. I was really proud of that. As for Macro and Stats, well those were just boring tests. Nothing too exciting to tell other than I must have totally rocked them because my grades came out nicely. That was probably going to be one of the hardest quarters I will have here at SU and I got a 3.43 out of it, which is heartbreakingly close to the 3.5 I want and need. I need that 3.5 cumulative by the end of the year so I can keep my Xavier scholarship (of as I refer to it, the Charles Xavier Scholarship (people give me weird looks when I call it that though, but I will not stop)). The scholarship gives me $10,000 off of the cost per year which is really nice because it makes it so the cost of attending this school is only about $2,000 more than the UW and since the classes are smaller here than they are there, I think it's definitely worth it.
Some sad news out of last quarter is that the Jazz Band folded. I guess the enrollment wasn't at total full capacity, so the school cancelled the program before our winter concert. It's especially too bad since I planned my Tuesday and Thursday oriented quarter currently around the time this class went on. We might start a small group to just jam, but I don't know if that's ever going to materialize. The class will be reevaluated next year and I will definitely be there for it. I was enjoying this band, finding that I was actually practicing pretty often (which explains why I was doing so well in the songs). With the free time that I won't spend practicing now, I might go back to the flute or bass (probably the flute for now) and try to learn one or both of those. I like being able to play as many different instruments as I can.
After the quarter ended, I was glad to sleep in (until 9:30!) the next few days, making up for totally screwing up my circadian rhythm throughout the quarter. I spent the first couple weeks of the break mainly just playing Oblivion and putting in a little Starcraft here and there when Keir was available. I wound up getting all my skills to level 100 in Oblivion. If you've played an Elder Scrolls game before, you know exactly how ridiculous it was of me to do that. If you've only played Morrowind, they don't let you train infinitely in Oblivion, so I had to do it the hard way. I spent the middle of the break playing Starcraft with Keir a lot. Christmas was pretty nice, I got a cool letter opener dagger looking thing from my Grandma (she likes to send random gifts) and a Hungarian winter military hat which was also cool. Another good thing I got was a lego Winnebago (a reference to scouting days (Black mountain and the idiot video in case Davis is wondering)). Mom also found a Colt McCoy jersey and she got that for me, which was pretty awesome. Now my man crush on him can be shown off to the world!
Davis came over after Christmas and we wound up using one of the Starcraft trial codes I had. We hopped online with Keir and played for the 7 hour duration of the code. It was actually really fun and I think we had a winning record by quite a bit at the end of the day. We got put into bronze (Davis hadn't played before), so Keir and I got to cheese occasionally which was really fun. Mass battlecruisers ftw. I got my Yamato achievement in that game. Orion also came back that week and the four of us along with Eric played some Munchkin one night. I guess Orion hadn't played before, but he picked it up quick which was really cool. On Davis' last night on the west side, the four of us decided to get Taco Bell and take it to the bridge again because as I said "It's been too long since I've had diarrhea and have been cold" (I hate to quote myself, but Davis did quote me so I feel like it's more ok (still feel like a douche though)). I also quote myself because that was about the experience I had. Maybe without the violent diarrhea though, but it was sub-freezing (and three out of four of us were wearing shorts like bosses!). While we were on the bridge, some rando walked by and said something to the effect of "Interesting place to hang out." It was a good sendoff I think and hopefully someday we do it again (see, already I have the happy memory of doing it because all I remember is leaving).
After that point, I've been mostly doing my usual things which consist of spending extensive time with Grandpa and playing videogames (not at the same time, Grandpa's not into CoD or Halo......yet). Steven recently convinced me to get Minecraft so I did. It's totally worth it. It's like all the fun parts of the Sims. The possibilities are really awesome and I don't see myself getting tired of it for some time. The day after I got it, I played for 12 hours. The day after that, 10 hours. The day after that, 8 hours. The day after that, Steven and I decided to try a multiplayer server. Since we went and did that, I became unaddicted to Minecraft. The multiplayer was so fun that it made the singleplayer seem like there was little point. I still enjoy it, but I only play for a couple hours at a time, less than I would spend playing Starcraft in one sitting anyway. Now Steven, Chris, and I have a cool server that we play on and that has been really fun. We're getting past the need to have all three on at any given time, so each time we sign on, somebody has improved our shelter in some new way. I'm going to post some videos eventually of what I have done and perhaps of what we have done as well. I'll keep you posted there.
Now the quarter has started and it seems I have a new problem on my hands. Where my last quarter classes were really math heavy, this quarter's classes are really writing intensive. In addition, there is a lot of reading assigned. I got assigned ~100 pages of reading from a Tuesday to a Thursday. I can keep up, but there is going to be a lot of reading and analyzing here. I must say I greatly prefer the math heavy stuff to this. I have to get good at the writing though if I'm going to be a lawyer. It also helps that I do this blog because I get practice and can see how well/poorly I write when I look back. Here are my classes:
Theology of Peace (7:45am-9:50am Tuesday & Thursday):
This is going to be an interesting class. I mean that because it seems like it is really geared towards watching disturbing clips of war and being in touch with your emotions. The professor lived in El Salvador in the '80s though, so she has an expertise in war-torn countries and stuff of that nature. In the first class, we watched some commercial about a person that wanted to grow up, but they were killed. The commercial only showed pairs of shoes though, no specific person. Being the souless robot I am, I didn't really take note of anything other than "damn the song they are playing is annoying." After it ended, I looked around and people around me were just sad looking and it was pretty depressing. They were taking notes about their feelings (as per instructions) and were writing paragraphs of information. I said everything that came to mind which was only really "That was an effective commercial." I've trained myself to avoid strong emotions (due to my aspirations in the legal field and my general stoic nature), so I think I'm going to have to fake a lot of emotional responses in this class to get by, but this is definitely one that I can BS my way through this quarter. The students seem pretty nice. As a bonus, this girl I like on the frisbee team happens to be in the class, so we sit next to each other. Today in the class, we watched a music video by Jackson Browne. The professor was asking if anyone had heard of him. Thinking "Well he was a big player in classic rock history," I proudly raised my hand. In the class of 27, NOBODY ELSE DID. That was kind of funny and disturbing to learn that. After hearing him sing though, the girl from frisbee recognized his voice because her father used to listen to him. I'm only 20, but I somehow manage to date myself all the time.
Financial Markets and Economic Development (10:00am-12:05pm Tuesday & Thursday):
I took this class because I thought it was going to be focusing on macro and I figured I could always use more practice on that side of economics. I wasn't totally wrong actually, but it's also going to have a big focus on microfinance which is something I don't have much experience in. What's more, the teacher is a real hard-ass. She seems at times like it's just a ruse, but from what I hear, she is actually pretty strict. She called "people" out on sleeping when I suspect it was just me the other day. She then proceeded to ask students for suggestions on how to stay awake. I couldn't help but feel it was a bit directed at me since I had had a sleep attack at that point. It's always a bit insulting to hear people suggest ways to stay awake because when I get tired, my brain is going at the same rate, realizing I'm tired, but I can't will my limbs to move or do anything and I have to accept that it's going to happen. Hell, I can even fall asleep while sitting upright, taking notes and not even feeling tired. Next thing I know, it's about 10 minutes later and evidently I fell asleep. I cleared it up with her though during the break. I told her it's why I sit in the back (it's colder back there and this way I don't call attention to myself if it happens) and I gave her permission to throw a koosh ball at me (hopefully I don't regret that). She was nice about it though, so hopefully it doesn't happen and the whole thing winds up being a non-issue. It didn't really happen in my macro class in this timeslot last quarter, so maybe I'll get lucky again. I'm not posting from class right now, she's down in Denver at some conference being interviewed for something so there was no class today.
Law, Politics, and Society (1:30pm-3:35pm Tuesday & Thursday):
I'm taking this as a general elective actually. It's really a 300 level polisci class, so there were prerequisites. The professor waived them for me though when I told her my plans, which was super nice. She seems to be living up to that so far. The class looks like it will be pretty cool.
Frisbee (2-4 Sundays, 3-5 Mondays, 8:30-10:30 Wednesdays, and 3-5 Fridays):
Not really a class I know, but something I am doing. We added a Sunday practice since people weren't making the Monday ones. The fate of the Monday practices is up in the air currently. They may become conditioning days or we may just drop them altogether. Either way, I won't be attending. Getting down to SU and back is a pain in the ass and since the practices are all on days when I don't have to go down there for class, I'm only going to make the other three. Having to fight rush hour on my own is bad enough once a week and I decided Fridays are the better day on which to do that. I think we're doing winter quarter this quarter, so that will be pretty cool.
Okay so my quarter is pretty busy. Tuesdays and Thursdays are pretty hellish, but I think the four day weekends will really make it worth it. I like it this way where I block the days off together because it lets me rest up and be ready for the week. It may increase the size of homework, but I have time to do that while I play Minecraft now, so no worries there.
I'll maybe do a big post like this again this month, but it would be at the end, so I don't know. Happy new year to all and hope you have good new quarters/semesters.
Peace out.
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Hey everyone, if you came here today looking for a big Winter Break update, check back in 2 days, the post will be made then. In the meantime, it's playoff season which means every Tuesday, I'll be making my picks for the playoff games of the week. Before I get started, I made a video about the Seahawks getting into the playoffs that I have used to troll forums where Giants fans are expressing their rage at the system. It's a 45 second video, here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoQ85cG_rJU (I'm not Rick Rolling you, I promise)
Ok well time to make the picks.
Saints at Seattle: Saints by 7-12 points:
I love that the Seahawks are in the postseason again, but I don't think they're strong enough to win. A sure sign is that they're trying to decide which quarterback to start. They have to choose between a seasoned veteran or a younger guy who only has two starts, one being a huge blowout. When that's a hard decision to make, you have a quarterback crisis. Now since it is at Qwest, that can be the wild card in the game. It's outside, the Saints typically play in a dome, so it will be a different climate. If one team could pull off an upset with the home field advantage, it would be the Seahawks, but I think the Saints will get the win by at least a touchdown in the end.
Jets at Colts: Jets by 5 points:
This is a rematch of the AFC championship game last season and it's even at the same place. I intend to get the pick right this year as I did last year, but by picking the opposite team. I think the Colts are struggling a little this season (which is unfortunate because they're one of my three favorite teams) and the Jets have proven they are capable of getting the points on the board. That being said, I think the Colts defense can keep the Jets more or less in check, so it will be up to Peyton Manning and the offense to prove me wrong on this one. Jets will probably win, but go Colts!
Ravens at Chiefs: Ravens by 7-10 points:
After having the two of my three favorite teams in the playoffs on the same day, I get to enjoy two more teams I like the following day. Kansas City has done uncharacteristically well this season and should be commended for that, but not even the homefield advantage (undefeated at home (or maybe they lost only one, I can't remember)) will be able to help the Chiefs against the great defense of the Ravens.
Packers at Eagles: Eagles by 3 points:
This one is a complete tossup. Both teams have adequate defenses (Green Bay's being the better) and will probably allow high scores. The teams both have exceptional offenses however and I think (and really really hope) it will be a high scoring shootout between Vick and Rodgers. In the end, I'm going to give the game to the Eagles because the Eagles are playing at home and because I am biased (Michael Vick is left-handed).
So there you have them, my picks for the week. I'm pretty much betting against the home field advantage it seems, but that's fine. Hopefully I can beat my all-time playoff record of 8 out of 11 correct picks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoQ85cG_rJU (I'm not Rick Rolling you, I promise)
Ok well time to make the picks.
Saints at Seattle: Saints by 7-12 points:
I love that the Seahawks are in the postseason again, but I don't think they're strong enough to win. A sure sign is that they're trying to decide which quarterback to start. They have to choose between a seasoned veteran or a younger guy who only has two starts, one being a huge blowout. When that's a hard decision to make, you have a quarterback crisis. Now since it is at Qwest, that can be the wild card in the game. It's outside, the Saints typically play in a dome, so it will be a different climate. If one team could pull off an upset with the home field advantage, it would be the Seahawks, but I think the Saints will get the win by at least a touchdown in the end.
Jets at Colts: Jets by 5 points:
This is a rematch of the AFC championship game last season and it's even at the same place. I intend to get the pick right this year as I did last year, but by picking the opposite team. I think the Colts are struggling a little this season (which is unfortunate because they're one of my three favorite teams) and the Jets have proven they are capable of getting the points on the board. That being said, I think the Colts defense can keep the Jets more or less in check, so it will be up to Peyton Manning and the offense to prove me wrong on this one. Jets will probably win, but go Colts!
Ravens at Chiefs: Ravens by 7-10 points:
After having the two of my three favorite teams in the playoffs on the same day, I get to enjoy two more teams I like the following day. Kansas City has done uncharacteristically well this season and should be commended for that, but not even the homefield advantage (undefeated at home (or maybe they lost only one, I can't remember)) will be able to help the Chiefs against the great defense of the Ravens.
Packers at Eagles: Eagles by 3 points:
This one is a complete tossup. Both teams have adequate defenses (Green Bay's being the better) and will probably allow high scores. The teams both have exceptional offenses however and I think (and really really hope) it will be a high scoring shootout between Vick and Rodgers. In the end, I'm going to give the game to the Eagles because the Eagles are playing at home and because I am biased (Michael Vick is left-handed).
So there you have them, my picks for the week. I'm pretty much betting against the home field advantage it seems, but that's fine. Hopefully I can beat my all-time playoff record of 8 out of 11 correct picks.
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