Schoolwork @ MindSay 
school
Dixie currently feels:
Depressed
(Well what else is new...?)
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Yesterday was a bank holiday Monday, so I spent the day at Adam's house.
We played a few songs on Guitar Hero III co-op, and got him a couple of groupie points.
Then he burnt me Parappa The Rapper, and I tried it out, did the first few levels, and got the "U Rappin' Cool!" rank on level 1.
When I got home though, I kept failing level 1.
Which was annoying...
Almost as annoying as the fact that memory card slot 1 is broken on my chipped Playstation, so I'll never be able to save PTR, because it will only save to slot 1.
Anyway though.
We sat around drinking Cherry Coke, eating Oreos and sweets - milk bottles and cherry cola bottles - then crisps and salted peanuts.
Adam then suggested he get out the old PS1 and we play Resident Evil 3.
Of course, he played it, I watched and offered my hints. :)
It was great fun actually.
The weird thing was though, every time I seemed to speak - something would happen.
And this happened like five times - every time I started talking, either zombies would jump out of cars, dogs would jump out of windows, or Nemesis would burst out of a door.
Today's been shit though.
It's weird though - I don't think I've done ANY schoolwork today.
- OMFG THERE'S A SPIDER ON THE WALL BEHIND MY MONITOR...
...But yes.
Umm...
Lesson 1 - IT, exam prep, I'm not doing the exam again, I had nothing to do, I went on FPC.com.
Lesson 2 - English, revision, I didn't do a lot, just listened and read.
Lesson 3 - Science, Cowley just talked us through our coursework.
Lesson 4 - Maths, Wilson wasn't even there, we were down in humanities 2, and Miraan, Amanda and I just played hangman for like the whole hour.
Lesson 5 - Media studies, down the CLC, Sam and I just sat there playing hangman on the PC, because we can't really do an awful lot on our project.
Though, I felt depressed all day.
Just listening to a certain set of people who used to be friends with me until they met each other - talking and laughing down the aisle next to me.
So I cut myself a little bit.
At dinnertime, I did my left, and I did my right after school.
Which was a bad time to do it, because as Mrs Mac was talking to me, she took me by the right wrist - as she often does when she talks to people - but she pressed her fingers right into the fresh cuts, and it KANED.
So I just stood there wincing, trying to keep silence, despite how much it hurt.
Tomorrow I have to go and see those people, and I'm not looking forward.
At least mother isn't coming.
Sigh...
This update will be quick as I really don't have any patience for writing today.
Last night at about 4 a.m., someone decided it would be an excellent idea to light fireworks on 3 M-X, so the fire alarms went off and my entire building was herded out into the freezing cold. It was not fun; I've never shivered from cold and exhaustion so much in my life. Daylight Savings fucked me up, and I'd only been sleeping for an hour when the fire alarms roused me with their screeching from hell. Needless to say I was not pleased, and it took me almost 45 minutes to fall back asleep afterwards.
I also found out my grades for my psychology test and German history paper: C and C+ respectively. That put me in a mood for most of the weekend; I'm used to being a good student, so even though I was warned I would get these grades, I didn't think it applied to me. Obviously, I was wrong. I got the C+ in German history because my writing style, 'while intriguingly narrative', wasn't analytical enough. This is further proof that I can't pursue a career in history.
I got a letter from Student Accounts Friday afternoon saying I owe the school $2,000 because FAFSA didn't yet pay them the loan they were supposed to. It was only after a few hours of fretting that I realized I forgot to go online and sign my Master Promissory Note. That's all taken care of now, but it was still a pain in the ass and enough to make me geek shit. I thought I was going to lose my housing for next semester after I'd already planned to room with Caroline, Theodora, and Aly in my suite next year. Boo.
Aly and I went to the Oakdale Mall yesterday (during this huge thunderstorm) and were terrified within an inch of our lives but a thunder clap that set off every car alarm in the mall's parking lot. Not fun. Even more not fun? It rained all damn weekend except for today, but it was cold and cloudy and altogether blah today. It also changed from rain to snow yesterday, which was not cool.
I went to the Masquerade Ball yesterday dressed as a pirate with a mask over my face and I clearly missed the point of the Ball: I was the only one there (except for two other guys) who dressed in a costume. Everyone else wore beautiful dresses and handmade masks over top. I left after an hour to go see the Golden Compass; I was so uncomfortable I could barely stand it.
To make everything else better, my parents have been out of power for almost two days now, they can't find a heater to keep warm (obviously we have no heat at the house without power), and when Mum went to do laundry at the laundromat, she grabbed house cleaner instead of laundry detergent and managed to bleach out a good share of her brand new work clothes she got for Christmas along with some of Dad's brand new clothes from Christmas. All in all, they've had a shitty weekend and so have I.
My saving graces this weekend have been a visit to the Underground Coffeehouse (where I got to listen to a really awesome band called the Middle Eight [check them out]), a trip to WHRW (where my whole DJ issue and time slot issue were solved in one fell swoop), and two breakfasts comprised of chocolate chip pancakes.
Let's hope next weekend is better. Caroline and Theodora will be here, and Aubrey's coming to visit, so I hope to God things work out. Otherwise, someone will die.
I guess I really don't know what I think about a lot of things, but I suppose I shall know by the end of this entry as I sort out my thoughts.
So many things running through my head. Being back in the dorms is weird. Our floor is so much quieter this semester. For now, anyway. Ask me about that again at the end of the semester and I may not be telling you the same thing.
It's weird without having Kim here, althought I do enjoy having more space. I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but she decided to move out, and the housing department placed her at the other end of the hall. I'm not sure where we stand friendship-wise right now, but we really didn't talk by the end of the semester, and for no apparent reason. From the sounds of it, there's a lot going on inside of her and it's really affecting everyone around her. I hope the best for her and that she finds some happiness, or peace with whatever is going on.
The room is still as hot as ever. I'm roasting in here right now. At least I can run around in my underwear now (it's that hot!) and no one will see!
And it's weird having friends stay the night. I have a place for them to stay now. I think Dave and Ted will be here a lot. Hopefully anyway!!
Speaking of Dave and Tedward... They are currently working on recording a CD with their band, Memories Past. I'm hoping for the best, and that this will open the door to a lot of opportunities for them, especially since they've put so much work into recording. I don't really see much of Dave right now because of it, but I know this CD means a lot to him.
Back to the room. I'm actually getting a lot more work done this semester, and I don't feel as stressed out. Yes, I still either feel like doing work, or dont, but I'm able to actually think and work on things when I have the urge to, and I don't feel behind. I feel right on track, if not a little ahead of things. I have post-its everywhere. Yes, I had a 3.1 here last semester.. my first real semester, and I had 17 credits... but I feel like I can do better, and plan to this semester.
I will hopefully be purchasing a TV soon too. My first HUGE purchase ever, pretty much! Haha... I'm thinking about getting a TV that has a DVD player built right into it. Any suggestions as to what TVs like this would serve the purpose? I'm looking for affordable for a college student, and one that will last. Around a 20 inch screen as well.
Things with my ex have been interesting. I feel like I talk to him moer than anyone else, and I really don't feel like this is a good thing. I need my space. We aren't together, and I'm really happy with the relationship that I am in now with Dave. I'd rather not jeopordize that. But it's hard because I confided in my ex for over 3 years, and there's a solid friendship there still. I don't want to cut it off, but I feel like he's the friend on campus that I'm always with, and people are asking me about it. It's not good, not at all. Having a friendship? Yes, that's great. But this is too close of a friendship with an ex. It's really difficult to deal with. I really would rather not just... cut him off, but where do you draw the line?
I dont know.. leave me some love. Add me as a friend. Whatever. I still haven't figured out how to do that, by the way...
Okay a very long thing, I posted for anyone interested but it was for school not the general public. I will let you all know my grade when I get it back though. Although it did take very long to do, not that the typing and thinking of it was hard but procrastination. It took me about 10 hours to do, with work averaging an actual 1-2 hours at tops because I had to read something too. So that is about 8 hours of doing stuff?....
<The European states were in a medieval period with warfare tactics and armaments that rival any near Romanesque army. Despite any reasonable warfare, the 15th century introduced gunpowder to a medieval era that gave a whole new outlook on warfare and training. This, some say, marked the turn of the Renaissance.
Gunpowder originated in China before 1000bc. during the Sung dynasty. The main purpose served as an incendiary from a distance. But because of strict Chinese regulations and high cost did not permit the wide use of gunpowder. Although the potential for wide spread of gunpowder was thought of the Chinese never sought to expand but to defend itself and saw that bows/crossbows had the same effect for defense purposes. After Mongol invasions of the Chinese borders they sought any new techniques to topple any fortifications that they could encounter along the route of their conquest. New siege weapons were one of them but gunpowder wasn’t a great priority to them but they took it anyway to test its benefits in the field. Although the Mongols never had any real potential for gunpowder it did have a stout effect on the Easter Europeans that inherited it after Mongol decline. First found in armories in and near Poland. Trade with gunpowder reached near all of Europe making an old discovery new to a civilization wrought in a dark age. This resurgence of gunpowder brought a new age of Europeans upon the world. The weapons defined this age; that they totted everywhere they went.
Warfare in Europe prior to gunpowder revolved around cutting off a fort, camping whilst building siege weapons that could not be carried yet built amidst the battlefield were constructed. This meticulous task was the product of painstaking siege weapons and other weapons that had benign effect to the castle but were deadly only to people. Gunpowder had an adverse affect on fortifications but was truly godsend to the offensive roles. Now the exploration of big guns was in play when laying down the siege to a castle. Big guns were now holding the potential to defeat any medieval fortification that lay in the way of any conquering general or something similar. Since iron ore was in abundance in Europe as opposed to the Far East counterparts this put the Europeans at an advantage to experiment with various types of big guns and small arms. Another situation that gave advantage to Europeans was the fact that they were expert bell markers for religious purposes. The shape of the bell was not very different from that of a cannon so the Europeans found this process quite easy.
Besides the advancement of big guns the Europeans also made hug leaps in the small arms department. This put soldiers in a new disposition making organization keener instead of singular power in one soldier. Tight numbers were required for effect sending huge volleys of rounds toward to their opponents. This required a revamp of the armies that defined Europe. Even traditional knights were becoming obsolete since the heavy armor provided little defense from bullets and the weight of the steel was more in vain than anything. These refurbished armies that were coming out of Europe were of different standards compared to the armies of the Far East such as china that didn’t.
As well as new weapons and military tactics, ships were of new importance too. The beginning of the 14th century had brought European ship builders ahead of the rest of the world. New designs in ships permitted larger sturdier ships that were able to hold the big guns that had dominated the European landscape. Now European ships prowled the seas that Muslims and other nations used to dominate. These ships now had an edge; the edge was that fact that they could attack from a distance, which was a devastating blow to the armies of the Muslim region that relied on boarding a ship then rushing the crew. “The battle of Dui” was one the perfect examples of European superiority of the sea. In the Indian Sea the Portuguese ravished the defending Muslim fleet that defended the region. The insight of the European armies dominated by the fact that they could pound the Muslims from a distance out of effectiveness of their ships. This worked in retrospect because the European ships were in fact few in number and the Muslim ships were heavily numbered but they required close quarters. Muslim ships, when fighting, required closing in on the enemy ship and boarding them and then rushing the crew in an onboard onslaught. But the fact that the Europeans had superior ship building techniques that allowed them to dodge the Muslim fleet and was sturdy enough the employ cannons made them the ultimate facet of military superiority on the sea.
Development of guns in Europe can be attributed to the constant turmoil in the mindset on taking offensive strikes on their neighbors. As well developing small arms for infantry fighting. This en-route made the organization and overall makeup of the European armies drastically change making them more equip for warfare set at a distance where they’re able to shoot an enemy from a safe distance instead of engage in close combat. Unlike the Chinese who were predominantly never on the offensive; defense and holding the defiance of their borders were of much priority. To say the Chinese never dabbled in gunpowder would be a false statement but it is true that they never really needed it. Chinese were trying to defend themselves from nomadic tribes so guns never really took major consideration. That as well as the fact that war was a bad sign of politics made any new war advancements bad government. So the offensive/defensive tactics in China never evolved beyond what was necessary.
The gunpowder age was something that was stumbled upon, not sought out. Despite this accident it had an adverse affect on the world on part because the Europeans held the rest of the world at their gunpoints. This gave way to European expansion beyond its borders it was a subtle form of rap in a way. Gunpowder and tactics allowed Europeans to conquer and take whatever and whoever they pleased.>
(Shotty work I know)
-Karl
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