Here I stand once more on American soil, more specifically, Pennsylvanian soil. I have returned to the land where the bagpipes croon, to the house that Andrew built.
That's right, I have returned from my travels to Carnegie Mellon University. And I am tired. Jet lag sucks.
But I have learned much in that strange and distant land, and since Carnegie Mellon is virtually krawling with Koreans, I can try to keep my spoken Korean at the barely passable level I had groomed it to before I left. I'll miss the Korean food, and the people, and the karaoke, but I'm staying in touch with a few and who knows? My voyage may take me back there one day.
Since I've gotten back, I've been up to my eyeballs in things to do. Buying supplies, JayIsGames stuff, Nytethorn...there's just all this stuff for an aspiring writer to do, and such precious little time to do it in. Here's a basic rundown of my initial class impressions (I know how much you all love these):
Document Design: Basically, we discuss typeface and spacing and similar aesthetics. Remember, this is something I have absolutely NO aptitude for (you know, designy stuff), so this class could go either way. Thankfully, the teacher's cool and there's not much except projects, so maybe I stand a chance. Just MAYBE.
Argument: We learn how to argue things. Just blew your mind, I know. We all had to bring up one argument we got into once, so I cited the one time that I argued with someone that comics could be literature. I said yeah, they could definitely be construed as literature, call them "graphic novels" if it helps.
Magazine Writing: This has a lot in common with the literary journalism class I took last semester. Same general idea, same sort of writing being taught. AND it's being taught by the same professor, the ineffably awesome Jane McCafferty, who ALSO happens to be my advisor for...
Senior Thesis: Nytethorn is coming along...I don't want to say swimmingly, because in my opinion, I should really have more of it written by now, but it's definitely coming along. I told Jane that I really don't want this project to be about the writing; I mean, the writing's important and all that, but it's the publishing that I need the help with. Hopefully, we can get this sucker in print (or at least on its way) by the end of the year. Wouldn't that be awesome? I think that's awesome.
Calculus for H&SS: Math is math. If you want me to get more in-depth, I will, but it's late right now and I'm starting to wink in and out, so I think I'll bid you all adieu for now.
P.S. I'm not sure if new college-searchers are prowling these grounds yet or not, but if you are, I take any questions and answer them with relative agility. Don't be afraid to ask!