Brian's still alive

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, It's been another week.  I've done nothing but play in the last couple of days, and it's been a blast.  Since Friday I have gone running, bowling, camping, and played racquetball once and ultimate Frisbee three times, and danced for two hours on Saturday.  I also had a little root beer and ginger ale drinking party with some wardies out by the pool wearing green on St. Patrick's Day.  I also saw three movies.  What I didn't do is homework, and I feel totally fine with that.

I did make myself slightly injured in the end.  By Saturday afternoon my right hip was hurting (possibly from sleeping on a rock the night before?) and whatever muscle is found in my right shin was aching pretty badly from all the running.  And I woke up Sunday morning with a headache that even ibuprofen couldn't relieve, which still hasn't gone away, and might not until this Thursday.  Why Thursday, you ask?  Well, the truth is that I get out of class at 1:20 pm on Thursday, and don't have to go back until Monday morning at 9.  And on top of that, I will have taken three tests and written one final draft of a 7 page paper, so I won't even have those classes hanging over my head like a guillotine like I do this week.  The rope looks a little frayed at the moment.

I have to confess that I only got a 63% on my New Testament test this morning.  I studied for it yesterday by reading in the Bible Dictionary, and I studied my notes and handouts from class this morning right before I went into the testing center.  And guess what, it was really really ridiculously hard.  I don't know how someone can even think of questions that hard.  I studied everything I could think to study, and yet, there was more.  I hate religion classes at BYU.  This is my third one, and the third one I've been slaughtered by.  I haven't missed class yet, you'd think I would have picked something up from lecture.

But my other tests are looking good.  I got one back today from Hispanic Linguistics, and I got another 96%, which dropped my average in the class about a third of a percent.  I have another Spanish test this week, which shouldn't be too bad, and a biology test which just might dig my grave and put me in it all at once.  I tried studying a little bit this morning and I asked the girl next to me in lecture if DNA and chromosomes are the same thing.  She laughed at me and offered me a quarter to ask it in front of the class.  I take that as a no?  I'm getting really close to understanding what a cell actually IS while the rest of the class is diagramming the Krebs Cycle and cellular respiration.  I honestly wish I could drop the class and try again when I'm a senior in hopes that I will have picked up some brains on the way to graduation.  Also, I petition that genetics should be changed to allelics, because I have a diagram in my book that labels the same yellow and green segments of the chromosome (apparently NOT also known as DNA) as both genes and alleles.  I'm not sure why.  I blame the artist's rendition of real life for all misunderstandings related to biology.

I guess my real point in these last two paragraphs is that Bio 100 and New Testament are neck and neck for the "Worst Course Offered at BYU EVER Award".  Shannon and Andrew, I have the feeling that biology might actually move up on my list that I made last week, and take second-to-last.  Does that make you feel any better.... ?  :)

I watched Oliver Twist on Saturday night.  It's a creepy movie to watch by yourself in the dark.  It wasn't the nice musical that I remember as a child, but rather the version that emits evil with ever flicker of light through the film.  Well, ok, it wasn't that bad, but it did make me pretty happy that I grew up in the days of child labor laws and adoption agencies.  At least in the northern hemisphere.  And I'm darn glad I live in the northern hemisphere.

I'm sort of in a weird mood today, it's been a long day, filled with pleasantness, some laughter in the morning, as well as bad news in the afternoon, generic brand mac & cheese (I don't recommend it), and lots of sun, that I really haven't seen much of.  I don't really know how to describe today, other than just plain odd.  But I hope that everyone who reads this is well and enjoying themselves immensely.  Have a great week!