Classes have been going pretty good. Well, actually more than good. It’s great. I love all the courses I’m taking this semester.

My sociology professor is a commie lib, but that’s just because he’s just a really compassionate guy (plus the fact that he’s resentful that he doesn’t get paid more than he does). I’ve been reluctant to get in any arguments with him because he seem so unsure of himself, but we have had a couple of good discussions. I’ve decided that I’m a functionalist capitalist, so if you want to label me anytime in the near future, you’ll know what terms to use.

Chemistry has been a doozy, even though I got 20 out of 20 on my last quiz (I am so happy). I’ve been listening to The Origin of Species (abridged) by Charles Darwin and A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking on tape. It was great because, while I was finding the result of a positron emission in Chemistry, I was learning what a positron IS from Hawking. Chemistry lab was pretty fun (although I broke a cardinal rule and wore contact lenses). We did all sorts of chemical reactions with a penny. It was cool. What chemistry lab should be, except, alas, with no explosions. However, now I can’t look my professor in the eye.

Religion is okay. We’re going through the synoptic gospels. As academic as my professor was last semester, this one is exceedingly conservative, a real fundamentalist. I like it. The other day he made the statement that angels have emotions. I asked him after class what scripture he could use to back that claim up. The next class period, he had a list of references for me.

English, as ever, is cool, even though Nathan isn’t in there. We did some William Faulkner and are now reading Billy Budd by Herman Melville. We’ll do The Death of Ivan Ilych later on. Dr. Allums is trying to persuade me to become an English major. Actually, double major. I told him, yeah right.

Philosophy is fun. It’s a discussion class, so that usually makes it interesting. We had our first test today on the Orestia. It was easy. I hope.

Russian History is great. Right now we’re at the 1917 Revolutions. Today I stayed after and another student and I talked with the instructor (a 44 year old woman from Russia) for over an hour and a half! It was great. She expressed the difficulty it is for her to adjust to a new way of thinking after years of believing that socialism was the best way. It’s fascinating to gain her perspective and understand why people accepted communism for so long.

Along with school I’ve had to pick up a bunch of the slack in household duties left off by mom, since she spends a majority of her time down at the hospital with my grandmother. I have a LOT of reading to do this semester, but I prefer that to papers, projects or other “work.” In the meantime, I haven’t had any. Time, that is.

Hey, did you know that time passes slower at higher altitudes than it does at sea level? No wonder Colorado has such a relaxed attitude.