I've decided my new goal is to NOT start any posts with "Ok, so..." Maybe it is my upbringing in close proximity to the valley? At any rate, I don't like the repetitive sound of it, so hopefully I can keep myself from saying it.

Spring is finally here! Here is what irritates me, though. I spend about 9 months out of the year here in Pittsburgh, PA. For 6 of those nine months it is a frozen hell, and now that the time is rapidly approaching for me to leave again, it has turned many many shades of beautiful. The grass is nearly a surreal color of green, and the flowers are blooming all over the place. And now for the clincher? It's supposed to snow again this week. I protest. I don't think that is acceptable. No more snow for this year, I can't handle it, dammit! Besides that, the ducks are back, and I don't want them to leave again :(

I have a research paper coming up, and my topic is the effect of the Jack the Ripper crimes on mystery fiction. It's really a fascinating topic, and I might be more excited about doing the paper if I didn't have 5 billion other papers to write coming up. *sigh* Why do professors assign papers all at the same time? Is it some diabolical plot to distroy me? My Philosophy teacher, who is a parrot teacher, really, assigned a 5 page paper that basically asks us to regurgitate everything he says in class. I despise this on the level of principal, because really all I have to do is type all my notes and hand it in. It makes me want to vomit, however, because this is a class on philosophy, and all we're learning how to do is memorize and recite things other people said. To me, college should be a place to develope your own philosophies and to learn to think for yourself. Major thumbs down to his lack of creativity and free thinking. Boooo! I've already decided not to take any other of his classes, which given that I'm an English major, shouldn't be too difficult.

Other than that, school is ok. I seem to be the only person in my class save the professor who actually understands and likes Faulkner. Not that I'd ever admit that in class, I don't want to be lynched.

I'm looking forward to going home, but in a way I feel that summer is counterproductive. If I stayed here every summer, I could graduate more than a year early... *sigh* Then I could go to grad school and get on with my life. Alas, I miss my friends, so my willpower isn't that strong. Also, my mom and my sister would probably hate me if I decided to stay for a summer. Maybe I'll just take more credits next year. I can handle at least 18 units a semester, easily.

The book club is starting out nicely. If you're one of the people who signed up, by all means nominate a book on the message board. I'll be putting up the voting page sometime this coming week, and hopefully we can pick one book that everyone will be happy with.