Book of Days: asher553

12 WEEKS AGO
I'd thought I would be taking the computer course in the comfort of my own home; as things turned out, I was at home but not very comfortable. I broke my arm on September 9, the second day of the course. But I still managed to finish the program (sitting in front of my laptop, clutching my shoulder, mousing with my left hand, and trying not to moan to loudly during the lectures) and ended up passing the exam. I was awarded my CompTIA A+ certificate on September 23. The last week of September - twelve weeks ago now - was my first week of classes at Portland State. I'd signed up for Linear Algebra, US History, Modern Physics, and Intro to Acting. This was my first time taking full-time classes in a number of years, and I still hadn't picked a major, but it was fun going back to school.

7 WEEKS AGO
Five weeks later, PSU's ten-week term was half over and I was taking mid-terms. I generally perform better, grade-wise, in the humanities than in the computational sciences, and that held true this semester: I did well in acting and history, less so in math and physics. PSU is not too far from where I live, about a 45-minute walk, and I usually prefer to walk it when the weather is pleasant. So, distracted by the pressure of mid-term week, I was blissfully unaware that my car had been towed until I looked for it that weekend.

4 WEEKS AGO
Four weeks ago, Dr. J was still in the shop; she'd been towed and had a window broken, and it turned out she needed a lot of engine work, including a new head gasket. My acting prof had assigned a "comedic monologue" to be read in class, and I wrote what I hoped would be an entertaining account of the towing incident, but the prof got side-tracked and several of us never got to give our presentations. This was where I finally started becoming really disenchanted with the acting prof - he's very likeable, but he is extremely erratic. But it was a short week, and it was nice having the Thanksgiving weekend off.

ONE WEEK AGO
After getting Dr. J back from the shop, I promised myself I'd start driving regularly - so that I'd keep track of the car, and also because I'd decided it was high time to get over my longstanding mild phobia of driving. So I started driving on a daily basis; last week I drove to Hood River twice. And I made concrete plans with the adviser at PSU: I'm now officially down for a BA in Liberal Studies, which basically allows me to take anything I want. And my dating life took a big step forward.

So that brings us up to date. Last Tuesday night was the first night of Hanukkah, and tonight is the last. Sometimes I like to take a look back and see where I've been, because it helps me move forward.