The Happy Thread V

[Jonathan]

Originally Posted by katya

I got a Mew! Actually two of them (I traded for the other). Also I got a bunch of neat books from the library and I'm having fun reading them. A book of Victorian era vampire stories, a book on Swedish, and a couple books on WWI.

All good stuff to read if you're to stay in Europe. Especially the vampire stories, with the proximity to Transylvania and all. Bring garlic

[katya]

Originally Posted by GrayMouser

What are the WWI books?

One is called "How Did It Happen? World War I" (seems like it's part of a series). Looks like it should be in the children's section. But I still don't really understand how the war started or what it was about and I thought it would be a good summary. After reading the first chapter of that book I understand a bit better.

The other one is Fighting the Flying Circus by Ed Rickenbacker. I have sort of an obsession with WWI aerial combat, especially anything involving Manfred von Richtofen (AKA the Red Baron). I'm not sure if I'll read this one all the way though- it depends on whether it captures my attention or not.

Originally Posted by Jonathan

All good stuff to read if you're to stay in Europe. Especially the vampire stories, with the proximity to Transylvania and all. Bring garlic

There are really vampires in Europe? Gee, I thought it was just a myth! Well in that case I'm definitely going.


Today's reading list is "Kierkegaard Within Your Grasp", the "How Did it Happen?" book, and the rest of a book from the Opposing Viewpoints series on Religion in America. And then anything else that I can get around to. Kierkegaard is due back to the library tomorrow but I hadn't got around to starting it until last night. Looks like a quick and interesting read though.

[Jonathan]

Tomorrow will bring my last real exam at the university. Ever.

I'll be looking back at these periods of exam studying with certain nostalgia

[Gwaimir Windgem]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

*champagne*

[GrayMouser]

Yes, indeed! Though for 20 years after mine, I still woke up in a cold sweat from nightmares of the "Oh no, it's time for a math exam that I haven't studied for " variety

[GrayMouser]

Originally Posted by katya

One is called "How Did It Happen? World War I" (seems like it's part of a series). Looks like it should be in the children's section. But I still don't really understand how the war started or what it was about and I thought it would be a good summary. After reading the first chapter of that book I understand a bit better.

Yea, that is a toughie. "The Long Fuse" is a good older work on that if you ever come across it.

One of my European History Professors, an Austrian, told us that a Viennese newspaper had a contest in the 20s for the most startling headline; the winner was "Archduke Ferdinand Found Alive; WWI a Mistake"

The other one is Fighting the Flying Circus by Ed Rickenbacker. I have sort of an obsession with WWI aerial combat, especially anything involving Manfred von Richtofen (AKA the Red Baron). I'm not sure if I'll read this one all the way though- it depends on whether it captures my attention or not.

Last week I had to explain to a class of high school seniors who the Red Baron was. There was an article in one of the student ESL magazines celebrating Snoopy's 60th birthday, and they wanted to know why he was always sitting on top of a dog house with holes shot in it (in Taiwan, the image of Snoopy is everywhere on T-shirts, notebooks etc., but nobody's read the comics or seen the cartoons).

The article mentioned the Red Baron, but the Chinese translation was literally just "Red Baron".

And, as a Canadian, shoutout to Billy Bishop.

[Mari]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

Tomorrow will bring my last real exam at the university. Ever.

I'll be looking back at these periods of exam studying with certain nostalgia

Yay! Good luck on your exam Enjoy it

[Earniel]

Good luck Jonathan!

Originally Posted by GrayMouser

Yes, indeed! Though for 20 years after mine, I still woke up in a cold sweat from nightmares of the "Oh no, it's time for a math exam that I haven't studied for " variety

Glad I'm not the only one having that sort of nightmare. 20 years, huh? Joy, that means I'll still be having these in ten years to come...

[katya]

I often dream I'm a student at the school I teach at. Either I've forgotten about a test or I can't remember my schedule, usually...

[Tessar]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

Tomorrow will bring my last real exam at the university. Ever.

I'll be looking back at these periods of exam studying with certain nostalgia

GOOD LUCK!!!

[Mari]

I just found a CD I thought I'd lost. It contains a lot of memories and I've been searching for it for ages. I almost started to think I only imagined owning the CD in the first place >_<

[Rían]

ACK!! Put me on the school nightmare list, too!

And congrats, Jon - and I know what you mean about the nostalgia ...

[katya]

Well I passed my yellow belt test in karate. I'm thinking about taking November off for NaNo and stuff though (not worth paying for the month if I'm going to miss a lot of it). But yeah... I've definitely learned a lot. And the more I learn the further from mastering it it seems! Anyway I was a bit disappointed he didn't ask me any terminology questions, since that's the one area I really had confidence in (everything being in Japanese and all). Oh well at least I passed.

[Tessar]

Congratulations.

Well... in relieving news, I just finally figured out why I couldn't get my room to stop smelling like vomit despite spending forever scrubbing it out of my floor the other day. I spent last night sleeping on the couch again because I couldn't sleep in my room.

Apparently I puked on a pillow too, that fell behind the bed. So.... anyways. My room smells fine now. Hooray? I'm going with a happy thread on this one, because it means I can sleep in my room again.

[Jonathan]

Argh, school nightmares. I just woke up from one! I was back in those dreaded French classes that I thought I had escaped forever

Anyway, congrats Katya for the yellow belt!
And, uh, thanks Tessar for sharing. It's nice to begin the day with a giggle

My exam went fine. And I got a job offer!

[BeardofPants]

@Tessar um, dude, why does your room have vomit in it?

[Mari]

Wow, great news Jon!

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by BeardofPants

@Tessar um, dude, why does your room have vomit in it?

Is that a question you really want an answer to?

[katya]

I woke up from a nightmare about unruly classes instead. My brother was in one of them! Gross! Also I was not wearing pants. And one of the other teachers said, "Sometimes you can get away with wearing certain shorts, but..." and I said "Weird how it feels like shorts are too short but no pants is acceptable." The weird thing about it is that I was actually wearing pajama pants (I usually wear whatever I'm sleeping in). Must not have felt them.

[Tessar]

Originally Posted by BeardofPants

@Tessar um, dude, why does your room have vomit in it?

Apparently I threw up on Saturday evening. I don't remember it happening, I just woke up on the floor at around 11 p.m. aaaaaand there was vomit everywhere. Maybe I caught something from someone at school. Or possibly went on some kind of enormous drinking binge as I often do.

Allow me to elaborate for the curious.

Apparently I threw up on the bed, twice on the floor, on a pillow, under my bed, on a pile of white laundry (argh!!!!!), on one of my shoes, and all over myself.

I'm glad I don't remember it, although I'm not entirely sure why it happened.... but I got really frustrated because I spent forever cleaning it up, and my room still smelled horrible. But now that I found that pillow my room is pretty much back to normal. Sleeping on the couch was painful, so it's great to be back in my own bed.