Fall has been hanging on. We usually have at least one snowstorm or blizzard by now, but not this year.
That's a good thing because it gave me extra time to save fish. We removed the fish from the pond around the beginning of October. We always leave water in there to try and overwinter the lilies.
I happened to be in the backyard just a few days ago, and something made me take a peek at the pond...and I saw several minnows swimming around.
Of course I had to try and catch them and bring them inside. It's just too cruel to leave them out there to freeze. So now our careful plan (let's keep four big ones and six of the babies and give the rest to the pet store because it's so hard to maintain a ton of fish over the winter) has fallen by the wayside, and we are once again maintaining a ton of fish over the winter, lol!
Writing update
My nonfiction project is underway! I've decided that I'm going to do NaNoWriMo this year (National Novel Writing Month), but instead of a novel, I'm going to use the word count (50,000 words in November; 1667 words per day) to work on my non-fiction project. For day 1, I did 1730 words; for day 2, I did 1601. Woot!
With all the other things I have going on right now (plus the general seasonal malaise that the darker days bring), I'm going to just focus on this project this month. No other writing projects will be attempted.
Reading Update
I am SO excited about my reading this month. My non-fiction project requires a lot of reading for research. And while I was adding some of the research books to my cart, I received a notification that one of my favorite writers, Louise Erdrich, has a book out that I haven't ready yet!
So my plan for this month J(fingers crossed) is to spend a half an hour each night before bed reading Louise Erdrich's The Mighty Red.
What I'm watching this month
No new movies this month. It's been hard enough just keeping up with the reality-tv programs I enjoy watching: Survivor, 90-Day Fiance, Sister Wives, and House of Villians.
Classes Update
I'm still doing all my normal learning apps for Spanish, HTML/CSS, and full-stack programming. And I've added 3-Minute French to the list.
I'm flying through the 3-Minute French course. I'm shocked by how much I still remember from my high school/early college days.
My university class has me whooped. I don't know why. I don't know if it's the professor's teaching style (I really struggle with paying attention during the lectures), if I'm not putting the right kind of effort into it, or what the problem is.
But I know I bombed the first quiz.
Well, I'm pretty sure I bombed the first quiz. I don't actually know how I'm doing grade-wise because he's only graded the first two assignments.
I'm not sure why I'm struggling. It's not hard material. All of my programs have passed the auto-grader testing. Other classes I take, like the Udemy ones, I don't struggle with sitting through the lectures. So I don't think the class is "too hard" for me.
And there hasn't been a lot of issues I've faced with some of the other classes. The quiz was done by another proctoring company, so I didn't have the "oh no, your professor gave us the wrong password for the test" issue like I had for the one class. And the professor for this class has good sound in the room, so there is no problem understanding what he is saying.
But still I struggle!
I have already started to try and soothe myself with the mantra: All you have to do is pass. Which, really, I don't even have to do that. I could totally fail this one and it will have no impact on my major. And, since I have 9 bajillion credits, it won't impact my GPA much, either. So I've just got to relax and try to get through it the best I can.
But it still bothers me. Not just because I'm Type A and MUST get good grades. I actually like the logic of the class (program in four languages at once to see the similarities and differences), and I LOVE programming...always have. So it bums me out that I like the class but struggle.
It's definitely given me cause to rethink that whole, "Maybe I'll add a computer science minor/switch to computer science major." If I ever do decide to do that, I think I will probably start from scratch on it and go back to the 100-level classes and work my way up.
Next semster, I think I might finally be able to fulfill the "experience" requirement for the communication major. I talked to my advisor and found out that I can use my current job as the experience. I've set everything in motion for that, so as long as we haven't missed any deadlines, I'll be doing an internship at my own job next semester, lol. I'm not sure how it's going to work, but my boss is onboard and we have a special project all set for my internship hours.
This month's playlist.
The ten songs I'm listening to on repeat.
I'm continually awed by how it is 2024 and my playlist is full of new music from Duran Duran, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche mode, Peter Gabriel, and Tears for Fears. Two of the ones listed this month (“Evil Woman,” Duran Duran's cover of the ELO hit, and “The Girl That I Call Home,” by Tears for Fears), I am absolutely obsessed with.
Since I've got so much going on this month, I'm keeping this update brief. By the next time you hear from me, the US Election will be over (dread and joy) and I should have a better grip on the grades for my class and almost be done with it (dread and joy).
I should also, fingers crossed, have finished up Nano and have a LARGE chunk of my nonfiction project completed!
That's it for this month. Until next month, Stay Spooky, my friends!
~~Here be monsters . . . and corgis.~~