The strange thing about a tragedy is how unifying it is.

It's so hard to find a job nowadays.

You would think we were in a recession or something.

>.>
<.<

I have now written enough words on each paper, but the one on Poe and Freud still needs some serious organisational help. I'm not freaking out today as much as I thought I would be! What the hell? Oh god I am going to be writing with British spelling until I die, aren't I?

Also I am now up to date on LOST so if you want to talk about it IM me immediately.

I have moved down to the computer lab because I find it easier to work on a computer that isn't mine? How does that even make sense? Also I think it helps that it is 1) a desktop and 2) a Windows. Something about it is nostalgic I guess and it's easier to work on. Why did I just blog about that?

WHY DO I DO THESE--oh wait, procrastination.

( taken from bubble )

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
my paper is due on monday ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I should be sleeping right now or doing more important things, but I had to come here and advertise...

LUDWIG KAKUMEI! *_______________________*

It's a manga by Kaori Yuki, which means gorgeous characters and a rather unusual story. xDDD Anywayz, I found out about Ludwig Kakumei by accident (I have the talent for finding things like this xD). O_O' It was rather bizarre, since I was googling for Meine Liebe (another manga Kaori Yuki did the design, but didn't write the story), which happens to feature another Ludwig, who also has long hair, beautiful features and is a noble. O___O And I adore both Luis! ♥ And in Meine Liebe Wieder (2nd season of Meine Liebe), the theme song for Ludwig (my favourite character, voiced by Seki Toshihiko) is called "Kakumei", which was my favourite song and I kind of stumbled over the manga Ludwig Kakumei by accident when looking for the song lyrics.

So here's the summary of the manga:

Prince Ludwig isn't your conventional prince charming. He is a prince and also a corpse collector. He collects bodies of pretty women. However his father the King isn't very happy about it and orders him to get a wife. So he searches and finds Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty. However things turn out to be rather different from the original story!

It's HILARIOUS. 8D There're so many funny jokes and twisted fairytales! It's very creative and refreshing~. *nodsnods* I just sent the link to the manga for my (MALE) friend today and he's LOVING it. xD Okay, we have dozens of beautiful girls with big breasts, but I still think it's a shoujo manga. xDDD Anwayz, go READ IT already, it's fantastic!

And on a random note (I tend to insert a lot of random notes, no? o.o): one of my bosses LOVES Pirates of the Caribbean! XD I wore my Pirates' medallion to work today (I got it from wonderful mystik_ivanow who went to the US last Summer) and we started to talk about it. 83 She's noticed a very interesting detail in the 2nd movie, I shall re-watch it. And she's seen the 1st movie about 20 times! T__T I only saw it 11 or 12, I must get to 20 too! *determined*

...I really have to take a picture of my medallion~. ♥ Pirates! *__* Lui! *___* LIFE IS AMAZING!

Why have I not been keeping up with LOST, why? This season is so fucking good and just why? Why? Augh. I am crushing so hard on Faraday it is just ridiculousness, and there is so much Will Kill You With Brain Smart!Ben and Why God Why!Locke and Jack has a gun and he cries with it in a manly way, and I actually didn't hate Kate for like 3 episodes so far and just UGH. UGHHHHH. I love the new people, love them, and there was like a whole episode dedicated to a Kurt Vonnegut reference and BEN WAS READING PHILIP K DICK and I just want to die with how good it is. It's like they're suddenly caring about all the cool people again.

Ugh, Tiago is seeing Radiohead at this very second in Atlaaaantaaaaaa. :( :( :(

So although I managed to get most of my late assignments in on time to the professors who wanted them, I still came up short on a lot of them.

I'm looking at a massive failure of class this semester.  This is something I cannot change.  It was a rough semester and I didn't know how to handle it.

I am to be out of my dorm by noon tomorrow, and at that point I will be again living in my truck.  Lucky for me this is summer, instead of mid-winter, and I won't freeze to death.  I will also be asking friends if I can stay with them at times if the weather looks like it's going to get a bit too cold for my liking.

I'm also in a desperate search to raise $900 so I can still technically attend college this semester.  I will be on financial aid suspension (and, given the way my grades will probably end up, academic probation) so I need to pay for at least one semester on my own, which hopefully can be a summer semester.  At that point I can get back into the swing of things with financial aid and move back into a dorm this fall and start getting down to the crunch on my classes.  I cannot, and will not, let this semester happen again.  I will become a recluse if I need to, only studying and playing music.

if only.

A little humor for you:

Francis: You gonna be okay man?
Ezran Mereth: probably not.
Francis: You know, you're supposed to lie to me.
Ezran Mereth: oh.
Ezran Mereth: Yeah, I'll be cool.
Francis: I really don't know what to say man, cause there's nothing I really can.
Francis: I can't make it better.
Ezran Mereth: I know.  don't worry about it.  I'm like a fuckin' cockroach, I'll survive all you fuckers
Francis: I doubt that.
Ezran Mereth: yeah well when all of the world's food is contaminated you skinny people will die off first while I'm living off my stored fat, and then I'll eat you all after you die
Francis: So you think.
Francis: What makes you think I wouldn't eat you long before it came to that?
Ezran Mereth: I'll flash my man nipples at you and blind you so you can't find me.
Francis: Yes, cause I've never ever seen some shit like that on a submarine.
Francis: No way.
Ezran Mereth: hee hee

Here's hoping things work out, or you may be hearing from me from another state soon.


Et Kuratis Nurk Porhee (may your underwear never bunch on your taint)
-J-

The No Child Left Behind Act (also known as the NCLB) was a measure passed in 2002 by President George W. Bush and the United States Congress.  The measure was intended to ‘level the playing field’ in schools by keeping all schools in every state to the same standards of testing.  If any schools fell behind after a number of years, measures would be taken to bring the school back to optimal status, whether by federal institution of new programs or offering parents of students money to send their sons and daughters to other, more successful schools (whitehouse.gov).
    The explanation of the NCLB on www.whitehouse.gov notes several subjects as core academics, yet later in the measure it claims the arts, including music, to be extra-curricular activities.  This, and the fact that states were allowed to interpret the wording in the NCLB as they saw fit, has led to a massive increase in focus on two primary subjects : Reading and Mathematics.  Because of this, money has been removed from extra-curricular activities, which are not subjected to standardized testing under the wording of the NCLB.  This money has been placed into programs to encourage and improve reading and mathematics.  With less money, extra-curricular activities are finding themselves less interesting to students, who may become bored in class, which lowers their grades outside of standardized testing.  This in turn leads to even more budget cuts, and even deletion of music and arts programs from school curriculum.  This I call the “Vicious Cycle.”
    The NCLB’s primary focus is to ensure that all students have the same level of education.  This is accomplished by a series of standardized tests.  These tests are created by experts who believe the questions involved are the base level of knowledge any student eligible to take that test should know.  These tests are given yearly, at different levels of education (One or two in Junior High, one or two in High School).  
    Test results are compared each year to the previous year, in hopes that schools have improved over the past year.  If too many students fall behind, or if testing is not consistent or better each year the tests are given, a school can be put under federal probation.  After several years, a school loses government funding.  If the problem continues to worsen, the federal government steps in and implements plans to fix the school (whitehouse.gov).
    Because of this, schools place hard emphasis on the standard curriculum of reading and mathematics, and effectively ignore extra-curricular activities.  The standard of teaching is lessened as well.  Writing and expression in English classes are sacrificed for the ability to spell and read at a standard level.  Creativity is suspended or ignored just as music is in the eyes of the school administrators.  According to Cox, professional studies have shown that students who attend music classes in school have higher math and logic comprehension on standardized tests than students who do not take music classes.  These studies showed such a small difference that many professionals and administrators consider them unimportant.  However, the students that were tested did not have an extensive amount of music education experience, as the test required each student to only have two credits of music experience per grade level.  This would skew the results, as many students who take music have many more than two credits per year.  Still, the results given are the results consulted, and again are considered unimportant.
    While English and Math teachers enjoy bolstered budgets and the implementation of new programs to their own curriculum, music teachers find themselves floundering in the shallow end of the pool while they try to stretch their now-diminished budgets across events that they used to enjoy comfortably.   This also cuts down on their ability to attract new students into their programs, which is the lifeblood of any extracurricular activity, even legitimate ones.  With less numbers to show for enrollment, and a purported rise in test scores, Davis says administrators simply take more money from the music program, continuing the vicious cycle.
    While lower test scores mean the school faces reorganization by the government, it also means more money for programs.  English teachers implement the Presidential Reading Incentive, which gives students recognition for advancement in their reading level.  After-school groups are created to bolster reading and mathematics scores.  Some schools even hire more teachers to thin classes for a more direct one-on-one feeling with students.
    Where does this money come from?  According to Circle, it comes from subjects that are not considered important.  Although music is listed as a core subject in the NCLB, music is still considered an extracurricular activity, as it is not subjected to standardized testing.  This is because 75-80% of secondary school students do not take music.  Because of this, schools often ask themselves “Why should we make music a priority if it isn’t tested like reading and math?”  Some teachers are asking for standardized testing in music, if only for music students, says Circle.  This would prove that “music isn’t a frill”, and that music students are learning academically viable information.  Circle goes on to state that while the testing did not prove music students to be completely accomplished, it did encourage some teachers that nationwide testing was occurring, though music was still considered a lesser subject.
    Because of this ‘lower status’, music and art programs are gutted to put more money into core subjects.  Henley believes the childhood that students are enduring now is wildly altered from the childhood we enjoyed only ten years ago.  Students no longer enjoy recess, study halls, or the arts, as the focus has shifted from the individual to the mass when it comes to students.  They are just not having fun in school anymore.
    Are we approaching the end of music and arts in secondary schools?  According to Conrad, many schools have simply abolished their music and arts programs in order to use that extra money to implement programs for reading and math.  However, this seems to affect both poor and rich schools.  Talented students from every background are finding themselves without instruments.
    The US Government claims the NCLB is not to blame for the fall of arts programs in schools.  In July of 2004, Rod Paige stated:

“It's disturbing not just because arts programs are being diminished or eliminated, but because NCLB is being interpreted so narrowly as to be considered the reason for these actions. The truth is that NCLB included the arts as a core academic subject because of their importance to a child's education. No Child Left Behind expects teachers of the arts to be highly qualified, just as it does teachers of English, math, science, and history (http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/secletter/040701.html).”

Again, as Circle said, music is not subjected to testing as reading and math are, and by interpretation schools do not consider it to be important.
    Not all schools find themselves in such a position.  In a study Fehr reported on, questionnaires were sent to many schools to ask principles and teachers their feelings about the NCLB.  Many teachers, specifically music and arts teachers, gave cry to the damage the NCLB was doing to their programs.  However, one teacher in Connecticut responded oppositely.  He stated in nearly 25 years of teaching music, he had not noticed any change from before the NCLB was enacted to the day he received the questionnaire.  His music program had wide support in a town of 11,000 people, an he did not expect to see any change anytime soon.  This one teacher appears to be the exception, however, not the rule.  
    One could question the support of the music programs in all of the schools who have lost their arts curriculum.  It would appear that most of the upset voices are from the teachers, not students or parents.  This lack of support, as well as the government-recognized misinterpretation of the NCLB, may be the true reason schools are losing their music programs.  Perhaps if those who are raising the most public outcry of the loss were to gather the support of the parents of music students, there would be more happening to prevent the slow death of music education.
    While attention is being paid to the extracurricular and music programs being cut and diminished, there seems to be nothing actually being done to slow or stop the process.  Even with the number of people doing studies to prove that music in schools is as essential as reading and mathematics, the politicians who make the decisions do not seem to be listening.  If this continues, then a quote from the motion picture Mr. Holland’s Opus will be truer than when it was first stated:

“I guess you can cut the arts as much as you want… Sooner or later, these kids aren't going to have anything to read or write about. (Duncan) “

So rather than working on my paper last night I went out and got super wasted.



RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!

I got this crazy plotbunny in the shower a week ago. Don't ask me how it occurred, it just did. And this time, no fluff Ye gods. :DDD

First, some backstory: please Google "Anita Blake vampire hunter" before reading this because if you haven't, you will be a bit confused. Not a lot, just a bit. After you get the gist of the characters, you should be fine. See, learning. Never thought that would happen on this journal, eh?

Enjoy.

( Your Fault )

I AM DONE WITH SPRING SEMESTER!!! *Does lil' dance*

So... My internship classes?

Now officially accredited.

So I didn't actually take a year off from college after all.

SCORE.

Why is it that whenever I mention that I'm in school for band director, everyone I talk to has been in band and was the section leader, even though they didn't play past 8th grade?

Unless I'm missing something here.

"I was the section leader" Unspoken part: "...for the third trumpets."

It bothers me.  I can understand everyone and their brother being in band, lots of schools require it in Jr High, but not everyone's a goddamned section leader.

Devon slumped the last body, that of Daranel, onto the waiting cart.  They hadn't bothered to re-roof the thing, as time seemed to be a precious commodity to the Powers that Be.  He brushed his shirt off and looked to the North, still feeling the eyes of the dark entity upon him.  Shaking off the itchy feeling he kept getting, he turned to Asana and Hoaka.

"Best we get out of here before whatever it is in this water starts to affect us again."

The two clerics nodded in unison, and clambored onto the cart, heeyawing the horses across the shallowest bit of the stream that fed the crystal-clear pond.  Hoaka stared at it again, still hearing the notes of the singing fish in the bottom.

...just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

"Hoaka."

The half-elf turned to the dwarf, a quizzical look on her face.

"You were singing that foul fish-song again."

Hoaka frowned, but said nothing as she turned her attention back to the horses.  Devon, following the cart on foot, merely grinned as they moved into the woods on the north side of the clearing.

*~*

Several hours later all of the hypnotized people were awake again, nursing heads from horrible migraines.  Loki attempted to sprint back to the pond area, but gave up after three steps caused her head to pound like a blacksmith hammering his anvil.  Devon and Asana set up camp for everyone as Hoaka looked for firewood for the night.  Again the pixies came to braid Daranel's hair, and she batted at them as Fluffy guffawed at her.

"Silence, you silly mutt.  These things are bothersome."

The dire wolf merely slumped to the ground, releasing one final 'harumph' of laughter before falling into a troubled sleep.

*~*

The next morning came without incident, and talk was made among those riding in the cart about stopping at the next town they came to that was inhabited and getting the rigging repaired so they could have shelter.  The terrain was rough, and again there was no room to walk astride the cart, only in front and behind.

A few hours before the sun was high noon, another clearing opened, only this time without a pond.  A single large rock sat in the middle of the clearing, and a dark-skinned white-haired female elf sat atop it cross-legged, smiling at the party.

"Howdy.  My name is Sarina Reqnivich." 

The blood in Devon and Daranel's bodies ran cold at the mention of the name.  Seventy years ago the drow with that name had been reported killed during the war.  Her body, however, had never been found.  Both Devon and Daranel's families had been directly affected by the viscious invasions of the drow during the Necromancer War.  Devon's hands began to emit fire as he stared at the woman.  She merely grinned, her red lips shining brilliantly.

"You made a big mistake coming here.  Enjoy the ride."

The white-haired woman made a curving motion with her hand, and the ground beneath the cart shifted and morphd into a giant scoop, then into a smooth tunnel that ran into the depths of the earth.  Loki, Asana, Ilona, and Sal all let out a shriek as it appeared the earth was about to swallow them up.  Devon's eyes never left Sarina's face, even as they fell into the earth and she came to the edge of the hole that was already closing up.

"Welcome to Drow Woods."

*~*

This is the ending of the first section of Darkaven Rising in my Tenaria D&D campaign setting.  The party has already been through so much, but they are already ahead of the Hope from 70 years ago, as they have yet to lose a single member.  However, as it was 70 years ago, the Drow show that there is no trust among the wicked.

Barring unforseen events, the next installment of Darkaven Rising will begin on August 29, 2008.  Until then, be on the lookout for short stories from around Tenaria, and how this new group is already gaining a name and reputation for themselves.

I am obsessed with this song in the WORST WAY. I mean, also: did Eddie Murphy become terrible because he did too much cocaine, or was it because he stopped? Think about it.

So for those who don't know, I am Primary Founder and President of the Western Gaming Alliance here at the Univeristy of Montana : Western campus.

There's a mouthful.

The idea was bouncing around in my head long before I ever got to my Political Science 101 : American Government class with Dr Sara Glasgow (you might know her as Corinthe here on MySpace), but I made no action towards it because I didn't know of anyone that I could ask to be an advisor, which is a requirement in any campus club. 

That all changed when I met Sara.  It was pretty obvious from the start that she and I would get along pretty well: we're both very imaginitive, think wayyy too much, and are always on the lookout for fun.  So when I mentioned Dungeons and Dragons, she mentioned Vampire:The Masquerade, and things pretty much went downhill from there.  The good downhill, mind you.

So for a semester after Sara's class she was poking and prodding me to get the club off the ground.  I was still scared because A) Dillon, Montana is semi-religious and might not have taken too well to the idea, and B) this college is filled with cowboys and hawaiins, I don't think any of them would want to game.

But I swallowed my fear and petitioned for a group.  At a club fair (we were there to get people to know the club might be created soon) we ended up getting 15 signatures.  Which was....15 more than I expected. 

I wrote up a constitution, a club creation proposal, and submitted them to the Student Senate, who took my presentation ("The club's purpose?  Fun, camaraderie, fun, crossing cultures, did I mention fun?") into consideration and the whole thing went into subcomittee.

We had our first 'meeting' without actually being a 'club' sometime in September 2007, I believe.  I remember six people showing up, there may have been more.  I figured if nothing else, I would have some people show up every Saturday to play a D&D game and chat for a while, nothing big.

Since that first meeting:

=We were given a charter, and the Western Gaming Alliance was an official Campus Club with a $500 bank account and the world at our grasp.

=We put on The Big Night In, a night of card games, board games, poker, and music, which wasn't a HUGE success, but we did have a number of people attend, so it wasn't a total loss.

=We implimented Thursday Night Magic (or as it was first called, Card Night), and now every Thursday members of the club get together and play magic from 5pm until whenever the hell we get tired of playing.  Almost monthly we get new people stopping by to check it out and join in the fun.

=We implimented (and currently stopped) Console Night (which is going to be renamed to Video Game Night) where people can play video games with each other.  It's only occured twice but it was so much fun I don't think it's an idea I'm going to let die.

=We had the Big Day Out, where we had music, food, basketball, frisbee, hackeysack, all sorts of 'outdoors' games (even thought we had it indoors, it was too friggin' cold).  It wasn't a total loss, either, we actually had quite a few people show up and eat and hang out, but I think holding it during Spring Break probably wasn't the best idea.  We learn from our mistakes.

So we've done a few things.  The club has actually gone beyond my wildest hopes and dreams.  I can mention WGA and people turn their heads and ask "Isn't that the gaming club?"  Whether I have created a monster or an entity is difficult to say as of yet.

Tonight was an awards banquet sponsored by the Student Senate.  Awards were given to senators and other random people, then they started handing out awards to individual clubs.

The Western Gaming Alliance won Most Improved Club.

I was fucking -floored-.

My little idea, which started with a notion of five people in an intimate setting playing D&D had grown to a *counts* fifteen-sixteen person club with multiple venues for the campus students to join in on and plans for outreach and expansion in the future.  People know we exist, they are curious, and not a week goes by that we don't have people stop in and ask us what we're all doing on the couches in the TV room.

Yes, I may be tooting my own horn a bit here.  I cannot close this, however, without mentioning the invalueable help of Dr Sara Glasgow, our advisor, my friend, and Wizard Virtuoso in the Darkaven Rising D&D campaign.  Without her pushing nothing would have ever come to fruition, and without her guidance we would probably only be a 5 person club that only plays D&D. 

I can also thank my VP Danielle (Gidget) for all of her help with the advertising (POSTER WENCH FTW!), and Brianne Osgood for the introduction of Nox into our little society, KayDee for being the best cleric ever and a passable secretary, and everyone that shows up every week (or close to every week) to keep the club going strong.

What a boost of confidence to a rather deflated ego. 

Now to start having fun for next year...

-J-

God that is the sexiest picture of me ever.

There is just only so much I can write in a day. And I'm starting to think that is about 1,000 words. After that my brain just kind of... starts to die and the drool starts flowing and it's just bad. And also SNOOP DOG AS A KEYTAR ON THE TELEVISION WHAT IS GOING ON?

I am addicted to sites that let me list books, movies, or music that I like so I can flaunt my pretentiousness on the world. Why do I do this? Do I want friends? Do I want someone to look at that list and say "oh my god we like the exact same books we must be SOULMATES let's talk about James Joyce for 5 hours?" I mean no. I already have plenty of amazing friends and an amazing boyfriend. I think it's just because... I like cataloging.

That's my epiphany for today.