December 10, 2011

This is similar to the look on my face after I sign up for another ridiculous race.  This look says:  "Uh, what did I get myself into?"  Thankfully, this look wasn't on my face today, just on my brother's face.  After a stellar performance at Rocky Raccoon, my brother qualified for the Western States 100.  Entry into the race, however, is by lottery and Kyle determined he had about a ten percent chance of getting chosen.  When his name appeared on the list, his was his reaction; my reaction, on the other hand, was shrieking and clapping.  Unfortunately, his friend, Brian, wasn't picked up in the lottery, so he likely will be Kyle's pacer for a large portion of the race.  Hopefully I will be able to join the two in California to crew, encourage, and soak up the experience of one of the most well-known endurance races in the country.

December 9, 2011

I'm a sucker for romantic movies; I need not going into an explanation of why for most people to understand that reality.  Through the marvel of a well-produced preview, I was convinced I needed to see "Like Crazy," a movie about two students, one American and one from the UK, who fall in love and grapple with the difficulties of a long-term relationship.  Unfortunately, the previews may have been better than the movie itself.  There was little development as to how they actually fell in love.  There were countless questions as to why one did this, or the other didn't do that, and why on earth one character in the movie stuck around?  The ending of the movie was equally unfulfilling.  I'd recommend avoiding this particular movie if you can help it. 

December 8, 2011

So this was a fun exam.  While some professors write very casual exams in that you are able to work through the exam at your own discretion, some professors detail how much time you should, and must, spend on a given task or question.  This was one of the latter exams.  For the first hour and twenty minutes of the exam, we were not allowed to write or type any answers to the questions.  Rather, this was "thinking" and "outlining" time.  I appreciate the necessity of thinking through a question prior to answering it, but this front loading of all of the thinking, rather than working, and writing, question-by-question, was difficult for me to handle.  Once I think through a question, resolve it, and move on to another issue, it is difficult for me to return to the prior question again.  With a twelve essay exam and a further two hours and forty minutes of "writing" time, this proved especially cumbersome today.  I suppose we'll see how the cards fall in a few weeks, but I'm hoping not to have another similarly written exam in the future.