Welcome to hokie.us, the online home of the Sonny Waeshal Louie, beloved teacher and soldier. I graduated from Virginia Tech back in the spring of 2000, and I just started teaching at South Lakes High School after returning from my year-long vacation in Afghanistan. If and when you want to get to know more about Sonny, take a look in the About Sonny section, e-mail me at sonny.louie@us.army.mil, or find me on AOL instant messenger (CODENAME: thenewsonny).
| Sonny Louie 14836 Bodley Square Centreville, VA 20120 |
08 October 2005 1058 EDT
Right before I hang up, I ask if they had eaten yet since there was an hour before showtime. She tells me that they're eating Chipotle right now - "Vargas!" I say to myself. That's okay though. I ended up having a nice bowl of hi protein crunch cereal before I leave and we ended up calling Papa John's for some midnight pizza after the movie. The movie itself - Serenity, btw - was pretty good even though I'd never watched the tv show. I had more fun afterwards hanging out at Yenny's though. I caught up a little with my sisses, the friends, the dog, some video games, and we ended up spending a few hours playing an interesting board game whose name I forget at the moment. I eventually came home though. It was around 0300h and I just puttered around on the computer for an hour before finally deciding to go to bed.
I realized something this morning though...something that I never thought I would say. But in all honesty, I think that I am bored with the internet. *gasp*
No, say it ain't so. I'm not exactly sure when it happened, but I find myself just bouncing back and forth on Fantasy Football sites these days. And it's not that I care so much about what's going on. I just don't have anything else to do. My usual AIM friends aren't nearly as talkative any more and I talk to most of them on the phone now more than anything else. My porn collecting days ended about four or five years ago, so that's not so appealing any more. The blogs have gotten a little stale, though I still keep up with about a dozen of them these days. E-mail takes a few minutes, but it's nothing to write home about. And then there's the online shopping, but that's not as much fun when you don't have any money. So yeah, getting a little bored with the internet. I even started looking at DSL because I was considering cancelling the cable; but I'm not quite ready to make any drastic moves right now. It may just be a phase and I wouldn't want to do anything I'd regret later, you know?
06 October 2005 2323 EDT
This evening, I ended up taking some time to head back to Reston to do some studying/work with Ben. He was doing his usually test prep stuff and I was working on writing a test for my class while sipping on some fru-frooey drinks over at the Starbucks by his house. We had actually intended to meet up somewhere new this time; but after both of us got lost, we decided to play it safe before it got too late and everything closed down.
Dinner tonight = Soy Flaxseed Chips + Salsa.
06 October 2005 0006 EDT
Anyway, kids are funny. Have I ever said that before? A few kids noticed the scratches on my hand/arm today in class and asked me what happened. I told them that I fell down. They laughed a little, so I clarified that I fell down playing football. So then one of them responds saying that I looked more like a golf player than football. Interesting comment, I think to myself. I know I put on a real nerdy persona at school - I know, big stretch - so it doesn't surprise me that they have this particular impression of their physics teacher. To make up for that comment, though, it is followed with something along the lines of, "but you have really broad shoulders. What position do you play, running back?" I don't know. I thought it was funny...especially since it came during our conversation about the scientific method and we were exploring why it was that dogs lifted their legs up to pee. Good times teaching at school...you all don't know what you're missing.
04 October 2005 2310 EDT
I'm sitting here thinking about all of this right now and thinking back to a conversation I just had with my sister about our family. She was upset with everyone, I think...me included. But I'll be honest. At this point, I realize how off-center I am right now, and that kinda helps me to be more understanding when things start going wrong around here. Lenny's probably under more stress than anyone right now, and I'm definitely going to cut him a lot of slack right too. I mean, looking at Lenny, you probably don't realize he's under stress because he kinda has this dazed look all the time as if he's oblivious and nothing affects him. At the same time, I know what it's like going through your first year of teaching. So on top of having his interims due like me, he's going through a lot of the teaching stuff for the first time...plus he's got back-to-school night coming up. Then he's getting married and doing all of the plans for that while trying to figure out where he's going to be living after he gets married. There's just a lot of stuff going on. I don't know. I kinda feel bad for the guy, but envious as well. I wish I had a closer relationship with him though. I think out of all of my siblings, Lenny was always a bit of an outcast. I'm not sure how that happened...whether we forced him out of our little inner circle or whether his personality just pulled him away a little. I think religion might have had something to do with it at one point. And then there were those two years when he quit his job and moved over to China. Whatever it was, our relationship was always a little different than the one I had with my sisters. I mean, I know everyone is different and all, but Lenny is different. Hehe...I hope it doesn't sound like I'm bashing the guy. After all, I love him like a brother.
At the same time, we all have our strengths and weaknesses, and Lenny's strengths haven't always been celebrated and appreciated in our family. Yes, Lenny has lived at home and remained unemployed longer than anyone else in the family. But at the same time, he has accomplished a number of things that none of his siblings have been able to match either...not that this is a competition, but I'm just pointing things out. For instance, he has his graduate degree. He also speaks and writes Chinese better than any of us. He's also somehow convinced someone to marry him. That's definitely a first in our family...one that may go unmatched for a while to come.
So yeah...no real point here. I'm just rambling.
I was supposed to hang out with Ben tonight and we were going to study together. Before that, though, we were going to meet up at the Trader Joe's by his house so that we could do some healthy shopping. Anyway, I was sooo excited about replenishing my supply of soy chips, that I left my house without even bringing my books with me. I didn't notice that I was missing them until I was already 15 minutes down the parkway, though, so there was no use going back home for them. In the end, I just ate a lot of food and got a few questions written for a test for my students. I could at least accomplish that without my books. The studying part of our evening didn't seem to last too long though. After maybe 30 minutes there at Starbucks, we ended up just talking about management and career and a whole bunch of psychological stuff. He's been taking a lot of classes and read a lot of books on the topic - as have I - and it was fun to kinda just bounce ideas off each other. Anyway, it was a good conversation. I think I got to know him a little better if you can imagine that. I mean, we've been friends since high school...about a decade now. But you know how it is with boys...so many of our conversations are centered around football or computers or girls. We don't always get to the serious topics and really get to know what makes each other tick.
So, in summary, it was a good day.
02 October 2005 2308 EDT
I did end up going out to the Marriot Ranch for the reunion picnic with the unit today. There were a couple of random highlights there. Number one, we got paid for it. That was a pleasant surprise. I'm sure the turnout would have been even better if everyone else knew about that. The other part of it happened before I even left the house. My dad had forgotten to bring the directions to the place, so I went back in the house to print them from my computer. Unfortunately, when I did so I left the house without my keys and accidentally locked the front door. On top of that, both of my parents had already gotten in my car and let the doors lock on them. They also didn't bring their copy of the key to my house. So for about twenty minutes while we waited for Jane to arrive and rescue us, not only was I locked out of the house, but my parents were both locked in my car. I guess it could have been worse, but that was pretty ugly.
Anyway, it was great to see a bunch of the guys again. There was a lot of fun stuff set aside for people to do (shuffleboard, horseback riding, etc), but I pretty much spent my five hours there just making small talk and catching up with everyone. I guess that seems kinda uneventful, but I really had a good time. Hmm...you know what? I was just about to say how it'd be nice if the weekends were longer and then I remembered that Columbus day is next Monday...so next weekend will be longer. Fancy that. Sometimes, it pays to work for the G-O-V. I'm so happy now, I don't even care if I lose Fantasy again this weekend.
01 October 2005 2019 EDT
I've definitely gotten my share of sleep so far this weekend. I pulled in about eight hours last night and got another hour or two in napping this afternoon. I'm about to go upstairs and get started on some homework though. I'm so studious, aren't I? But yeah, with the reunion picnic tomorrow, I'll have to finish up my work now if I want to watch football with the guys tomorrow afternoon. The sacrifices I make, you know?
30 September 2005 2251 EDT
I first saw Birthday Girl maybe three years ago...after I'd picked it up on one of my DVD splurges at the Blockbuster in University Mall. I used to loiter around there all the time, either by myself after school some nights or with my friends from high school. Anyway, the movie itself is a little hard to explain. If I were to use an analogy, Pretty Woman : prostitutes :: Birthday Girl : clumsy guys who can't talk to girls. Yeah, I think that's a good analogy. Basically, Ben Chaplin plays this bank employee who has pretty much no life and decides to go on the internet to get himself a Russian mail-order bride. Nicole Kidman shows up and they live happily ever after...except it's not quite that easy because she doesn't speak English and ends up causing him to lose his job and a whole bunch of other stuff. Anyway, it's a really good movie. I watch it every once in a while because I feel like I can really relate to his character. Actually, I remember why I picked the movie out that time at Blockbuster. Tommy had rented it and we watched it together. Except when he and I watched it, I fell asleep after the first five minutes and woke up at the credits. The next morning, I ended up watching it by myself. Yeah, I know you don't really care about these random memories that I have, but it makes me happy when I remember things like that. I haven't seen Tommy in nearly two years. I wonder what he's up to these days.
Anyhoo, this weekend'll be kinda busy. Flag football is tomorrow morning and then there's the reunion picnic with all of the National Guard people on Sunday. In between all of that, I need to socialize without spending too much money, watch the Virginia Tech/WVU game, win two fantasy football matches, and do a bunch of reading and homework for my classes. And to top it off, I am even going to go to sleep early. Fancy that.
29 September 2005 2245 EDT
In other news, I get my first paycheck tomorrow. That'll be nice. I've been spending way too much money. When I saw how much I was making though, I was a little disappointed. I thought a 10K payraise would look a lot bigger. But by the time you pull out taxes and retirement all that other stuff, I'm back to where I thought I used to make. After this next month, I think I'm going to be hurting a little. It's very different without the guard paycheck and without people paying rent. That's like an extra thousand dollars of spending money gone. But oh well. A month of cereal and ramen never hurt no one, right? Plus I still have about fifty steaks that I bought from that guy who drove up to my door. That'll last me a month or so as long as I stop myself from going out all the time. Oh, I should probably do my taxes sometime too. I'm bound to get a thousand or two back from that. Note to self...
28 September 2005 2320 EDT
Anyhoo, tomorrow is back-to-school night, so I am going to pick out my clothes tonight to ensure that I match. Other than that, I spent a bunch of money picking up some straws and balloons and clay and string to help out with some labs/demos in class this next week. I've got a bunch of plates, cups, and utensils to bring in to school tomorrow too. I always love doing that newton's first law demonstration where you pull the tablecloth out from underneath the place setting. I have yet to screw that one up, but there's always a first for anything, right?
I need to work on being a better teacher these days. I'm doing decent with the grading, but I haven't been spending nearly as much time after school planning as I used to when I was over at Mount Vernon. Part of it is a self-preservation mechanism. I promised myself that I wouldn't burn out this year. But at the same time, I could definitely pick up on some things. You see, kids don't think that they're learning unless you give them lots of tests and quizes. Either that or handouts and stuff like that. For some reason, those types of assessments seem to reassure them. If you do an activity or have a discussion in class, that isn't worth anything in their mind. Who cares if they learn anything. It's about the grade, you know? So yeah, I need to work on that a little bit or else they will stop participating in class.
School lunch, on the other hand, is really starting to hit the spot. I don't know why I never ate school lunch over at Mount Vernon, but I'm feeling so much better about my nutrition these days. I mean, school lunch isn't the healthiest thing in the world, but it sure beats loaves of bread and cans of tuna fish when it comes to taste and variety. But hey, I said that I was going to go to sleep early and I meant it. I'll have more tomorrow after I deal with the parents after school. Wish me luck.
27 September 2005 2200 EDT
Today, I stayed after school for quite a while, first for the hour-long faculty meeting which I was falling asleep at and then to grade a stack of papers in preparation for interim reports going out next week. After that, I went over to go for a 2.5 + 0.5 mile run with Ben over in his neighborhood before cleaning up and heading over to Ruby's for dinner. Interestingly enough, one of my new students was working there. I figure the Reston Town Center is going to be like that this year, so I may not be frequenting it as often for now. Anyway, enough chitchat for now. I've got a lot of work to do this week and sleep wouldn't be so bad either.
26 September 2005 2338 EDT
For example, after analyzing my own behavior in class, I think about my own students. Why are they talking so much in class? How applicable is my class in the lives of some of my students? In the past, I have been relatively willing to concede that it wouldn't really apply to some of them. And that's true and it isn't. For those students who won't pursue a career in science, science can become an art in a sense that art and literature may be arts to people who go into science...or at least for me. It's something that I can dabble in and just enjoy. I don't know. I know that's probably not their attitude toward science, but I guess that's what I'm going to work on this year. It's a different approach from what I've done in the past.
25 September 2005 2023 EDT
I had a pretty good time there at the Green Festival. There was a lot of organic and fair trade stuff there, and they gave away free samples of just about everything. I learned a little bit more about coffee and tea too - now I have a much more discerning palate. Oh, and hanging out with a girl was pretty cool too. I don't do that nearly enough. Of course, today, I had to sacrifice an afternoon watching football. I don't think girls understand that so much. But hey, I had a good time today. I'm not complaining or anything. I'm just saying.
Anyway, things are going to be getting busy with these next few weekends. There's the picnic reunion with the National Guard guys and Lenny's wedding coming up. Plus I've got a bunch of homework to do for my classes and back-to-school night this week. I don't know how my priorities are going to work out, but it promises to be exciting. I'll keep you posted.
25 September 2005 0013 EDT
Tomorrow will be even more fun if you can imagine that. Football will kick it off in the morning. I'm playing with Dave's team on the ellipse before I do a quick changeover to meet up with a female friend over at the Green Festival. That should be a good time. I just need to do a little mapping tonight so that I don't get lost tomorrow. Well, I know I'm going to get lost. I just don't want to be late for anything. But we'll see.
24 September 2005 0327 EDT
After the game, Thuy and I drove out to Reston to link up with Ben, who ended up missing the game because he was stuck working. We ended up grabbing some taco bell there after driving around for a half hour and burning about 1.2 gallons of gas. Then we went back to his place to watch Sorority Boys of all movies. I think it's one of Ben's favorites. Of course, me...I was so tired from the day and being stuffed on taco bell, that I slept through a good 80% of the movie. I could hear the two of them laughing the whole time though, waking me from my slumber every few scenes. Then we just chatted for a little while and I was off again, headed home for some much needed sleep. I'll try to stay in bed until noon tomorrow and then wake up to start on some homework and reading for my classes at Mason. We'll see how well that plan unfolds.
22 September 2005 2331 EDT
Anyway, after school, I went to buy a few pairs of pants over at Fair Lakes before changing and then heading back to South Lakes to watch the JV football game against Jefferson with Ben. We chatted with Coach James for a little bit at the beginning, and we ran into one of Lenny's classmates over on the Jefferson sideline. He was the freshman coach and noticed Ben's old school Jefferson football t-shirt. Of course TJ ended up winning the game. Was there any doubt? But yeah, that's just a preview of tomorrow night's game at TJ. I'm hoping to get a big crowd of family and friends to head over there tomorrow. We'll probably crash the boosters table too and pick up a whole bunch of TJ stuff for the house and the car and whatnot. I can't wait.
21 September 2005 2310 EDT
That's the boring stuff. In exciting news today, I finally got my oil changed. I'd been putting that off for a really long time. After that, I stopped by the parents' to grab some chow before class over at Mason. I got in a little QT with Lenny and Steph over dinner, talking about school and moving and all that stuff. They seem pretty happy these days...which is good considering all of the hectic stuff going on these days with their wedding plans and whatnot.
Other than that, not too much going on. We just got over the hump day, so I'm counting two days down until the weekend and flag/fantasy football this Sunday. I'm looking forward to both of those...and who knows, I might come up with something interesting to do on Saturday too. I ran across a commercial for this tree hugger convention in DC this weekend. But I might stay away frrom it because of all of the anti-war protestors who'll be in town this weekend. Who knows. And somewhere in there, I just need to find some time to squeeze in all of my homework.
20 September 2005 1004 EDT
After my department meeting at school this afternoon, I stayed after a little longer before heading home. The commute is really starting to make me smile...so much shorter compared to MV. I got home around 5:00 this afternoon and pretended to read for about three hours before waking up to go downstairs. I still have about an hour or two of reading before class tomorrow, so I'll work on that tonight. I am liking this idea of doing my homework and reading before class, but we'll see how long I can keep that up. I think as long as I stay away from girls, I'll have time to get everything done that I need to.
Other than that, it's just the same old same old. I'm starting to hit my stride and getting used to the routine now. For me, that's a very good thing. I really need to get cracking on learning everyone's name in class though. Back to school night is in a week and a half, and that's always a nice thing...knowing the names of the parents' kids when they show up. That's one of the reasons why I like to assign seats on the first day. But with me starting late, it's been a little chaotic. For three of my classes, I think I'm doing pretty well. But with my team-taught classes, I'm only matching names to faces with about a third to a half of the kids. I've got another week though. We'll see how that goes.
20 September 2005 0037 EDT
Anyway...I am not quite so tired because I actually got a nap over at the parents' this afternoon before class. But I need to get an early start tomorrow...as always. One of these days, I'm actually going to catch up and maybe even get ahead.
19 September 2005 0120 EDT
Anyway, I woke up early to do a bunch of reading in my Educational Psychology book today. That was tiring, but it felt very productive. I should do that more often...read. I'd forgotten how enjoyable it could be. Anyway, after that, I joined up with Arun and Rohit at Glory Days to watch as Carson Palmer helped me to a 2-0 start in both of my fantasy leagues. I'm kinda proud of myself for not spending the whole day in front of the computer checking on my stats. Oh, and I stopped by to see the parents too. That was cool. I spent some time talking to Jane about her house-hunting and chatted with Yenny on the phone for a little bit too. Overall, a very productive day if I say so myself.
But anyway, time for bed. I've got less than four hours before my alarm goes off in the morning.
18 September 2005 0315 EDT
I didn't leave the house until early evening when I stopped by Target to do a little shopping - you know, DVDs, a pair of pants, and tuna fish...the usual. Then it was off to the parents' for a little QT with them and the bro before ending the evening at Arun's where we just loitered and watched a couple of movies after deciding not to go out. Tomorrow, I need to get up early to finish the rest of my homework so that I will be free in the afternoon to watch football. Of course, that will require me to wake up before noon. We'll see how that goes. Anyhoo, there's nothing to worry about here. Things are going about as well as could be expected. MTF
17 September 2005 1121 EDT
We started off by grabbing lunch there by Arun's house at the Hopsfrog Grill. That was a pretty good start, and then it was off to DC for a little adventure. For me, I try to take every opportunity to drive around the city just because I have no idea how to get around. I figure if I get lost enough times, I will eventually know my way around. That technique has worked for just about any other city I've been in, but I haven't ventured into DC enough for my efforts to pay off yet. On the other hand, I usually don't do this experimenting with passengers in my car. I'm not sure if everyone else appreciated the fact that I was learning my way around. But hey, it's cheaper than everyone taking the metro in, you know? Anyway, we definitely got lost last night. I'll blame it on the fact that we were looking for the wrong intersection to begin with...one that didn't even exist no less. But after about a half an hour circling DC and dropping off a few unnamed passengers who really, really had to go to the bathroom, we found our way to our final destination.
Long story short, it took me about an hour or two sitting/standing by the wall and talking before I finally loosened up a little and ventured about six to seven feet deeper onto the dance floor and started swaying back and forth with what rhythm I could muster. It was a pretty pathetic showing, but a small step for mankind and all that. But yeah, around two or three in the morning, we wrapped up and headed back towards Fairfax for a bite to eat. IHOP was completely packed and the line stretched out into the parking lot. So we actually ended up overruling that decision and went with Denny's instead, where we were served by a Polish guy named Dariusz. Anyway, an hour later, we were done and everyone drove back home. I myself arrived at my door some time around 0430h and crashed on my sofa about a minute later. Good times, huh?
16 September 2005 0015 EDT
Anyway, not much to update on school stuff except that we're coming up on my first weekend. I'm really looking forward to that. I have a lot of reading and writing to do this weekend, and I should probably take care of that early on before I get too busy with the ladies, you know?
Oh well...I've kinda forgotten everything that I wanted to write about before, so I'll just wrap up for today. Oh, I think I wanted to write about stuff that we discussed in class yesterday...did more Myers-Briggs stuff and personality type analysis. It was a lot of fun. In the end, it just gives me an excuse and a way to explain away all of my inadequacies and shortcomings. That's one thing I like a lot about psychology. No matter how screwed up you are, it makes you feel normal because they have a name for whatever it is that you've got. Okay, enough chit chat for now. Time for bed.
14 September 2005 1511 EDT
With that said, let's gossip. I went to the school cafeteria and bought lunch today. It must've been the first time in a decade, plus or minus a few years. Anyway, it was a chicken filet sandwich, fries, an apple, and a carton of milk for $2.75. Not bad, you know? Anyway, Rohit has requested to stop by for lunch one of these days, so I'm gonna have to get in real tight with the cafeteria crew. Before I left the States two years ago, I actually took a girl out on a date the the Chili's in Tysons and Rohit was working there. That was an interesting time...though I haven't talked to that girl since getting back home. But yeah...go school lunch. It's just as good as I remember it to be.
I've got third block off every day, so my lunch can be interesting. Since my off period is the one with lunch, I end up having a nearly two-hour long block where I get to mix work and play a little. I also get to pick and choose who I eat lunch with. I've had one lunch with the math department so far, one with my fellow physics teachers, and today was spent with the social studies department. Oh was that an interesting crew. Since I don't really know anyone yet around here yet, I won't shoot myself in the foot and say something that I'll regret later. But after a year of eating in the chow hall at Bagram and down at Ghazni, it was refreshing to have such lively banter in the lunch room. I'll leave it at that.
Clothes...that's been tough so far this year. There is so much anxiety in the morning when I have to choose what to wear because I'm just not used to doing it. If I could go with shorts or jeans, I'd be fine, but my wardrobe just isn't what I remember it to be. I don't know if that's because Lenny has some of my teacher clothes now or if I'm just pickier. But yeah, today was a bad day and I was so mismatched that I felt somewhat uncomfortable being out in public. I had on some blue cargo pants with a light tan short-sleeved shirt and a maroon tie with little yellow ticks. I don't know. I may volunteer to go overseas for another year just so that I don't have to worry about choosing what to wear every day. There's something very comforting about that.
Anyhoo...I've got a bunch of work to do these days, so I need to stop blogging so much and get to it. On my list for this afternoon includes tux fitting for my brother's wedding, grading, Staples visit, and of course my three hour class at Mason. With some luck, I can even sneak in a nap. We'll see.
13 September 2005 2218 EDT
Today was day two for me at South Lakes. It went about as good as yesterday. As always, the kids are great. My schedule is a little different this year. I have three periods of Active Physics and two periods of Physics I. That gives me a little more freedom, but I can't be as much of a math nazi as I've been in the past now that I have more conceptual-type classes. We'll see how well I adjust. If not so good, I may end up shifting to teach math next year. Who knows. Anyway, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now. I mean, I know how to teach, but it's just been very hard to get back on pace after starting nearly two weeks behind. Not only did I miss a week of prep work at the school, but now I have to take care of all of that planning while I am teaching and learning names and taking six credits of graduate work over at Mason. The only consolation is that I have a stay of execution on the National Guard drills until November. If I had to do that in addition to all of this, I think I would wind up falling asleep behind the wheel at some point and driving off the road.
So...physics teachers...they're an interesting bunch. I had lunch with the two other physics teachers at school today. Lunch for me was one of those flavor sealed pouches of tuna. Yeah, I've never been good at preparing lunch for school. My preparation usually consists of scanning my cabinets in the morning as I hurry out the door. Plus, the food I grab is usually enough just for one meal and I split it up between breakfast and lunch. But the other physics teachers aren't much better. One of them has a box of food that he bought and just leaves in the equipment closet. So when lunch time rolls around, he goes into the box and mixes and matches until a meal is created. I guess that isn't a bad idea. When I get around to it, I may end up doing the same. It'll take me a while to rebuild my goldfish, tuna fish, and canned soup supply at school.
So yeah...I'd write more, but I am going to actually start on some work so that I will actually have some time to sleep tonight. Hopefully, I'll be all caught up by this weekend and things can settle down. Who knows.
12 September 2005 2327 EDT
Anyway, after school, I finally cleaned out my car and brought all of the 100+ pounds of school supplies from my back seat into my new classroom. It took a little while to set up some things and I made a small list in my head of more things that I needed to pick up. It's really hard not having that full week before the start of the school year to get settled in. Heck, right now, I can barely find my way around the school. I'm hoping I can at least get that fixed by the end of the week. And hopefully by then, the place will feel like home.
After hanging out at school for a few hours, I drove over to the parents to hang out for a little bit before class. I was hoping to take a short nap before class too, but no one was home. Of course, I haven't had a key to the house since coming home from Afghanistan, so I hung around for a minute or so before heading over to campus. There, I spent about half an hour napping in my car before heading to the Johnson Center to grab some dinner before class. Class itself wasn't too much to write home about. It looks like it'll be a lot of work though. I already read a chapter and a half and I have another 70 pages or so and a five-page paper to write by Monday of next week. The class composition doesn't seem too bad though. There was actually some decent discussion...and a couple of cute girls. You know, that never hurts. Anyway, time for bed now. I'm pretty exhausted.