Behind Infinity

Filed under: Things I did not need to know.
Eric is notorious around the office for eating/drinking things that have sat around for days, fallen on the floor, etc.

“This monster I’m drinking? Pretty sure it’s about 3 days old.”

-Cowboy Eric

Sometimes I wonder.
Does the frequency and constancy with which I am seen associating with certain persons of the opposite sex while I’m on campus cause other people (classmates, professors, bystanders, the like) to form erroneous assumptions about the nature of our relationship?

For example, the time Corrie calmly said that Devin and I were engaged. I still laugh at that one. Now, Corrie doesn’t strike me as the best judge of interpersonal dynamics. However when we were on the bus trip to Toledo, Jacob(who’s pretty sharp) assumed that Aaron and I were going out.

Though I’m inclined to fear otherwise, I certainly hope these two encounters aren’t indicative of what the general public thinks. The guys I hang around with have nothing but the best of intentions towards and behavior around me, and I entertain nothing but a sort of little-sisterly affection for them. That is to say, they fascinate, encourage, and inspire me. (The fact that they are taller than I am is merely a bonus, NOT a defining point.) For anyone to think our consorting with one another is based upon anything else would be erroneous…and possibly unjust.
And I suppose, in the long run, the nature of our relationship is nobody’s business but our own.

This is me, procrastinating my homework, signing off…

now.

In order for this family-ish joke to make any sense, one must know that both my Dad and I have a tendency to constantly misplace our car keys. It drives Mom insane.

Colin:(on his way out the door to a basketball game, CD wallet in hand) “Where are my keys? Have you seen my keys? I can’t find my keys.”
Me: “Oh, NO! Not you too!”
Colin: “What? Have you seen my keys?”
Mom: “Come on! We need to have at least one other non-key-loser in this house!”
Colin: “I can’t find my keys. Where are Mom’s keys?”
(Mom and I exchange eyeroll glances and sigh heavily.)
Mom: “Dad took my keys yesterday. He lost them.”
Colin: “WHERE ARE MY KEYS?”

I miss JVDM. (Pronounced “Jiv-Dim”. Otherwise known as “John VanderMolen”. Or, “That crazy boy who went off and joined the Marines for reasons I can’t begin to comprehend.”)
I miss him a lot.
I hope he’s ok.

Today in Classical World we did some writing exercises for which we were required to split into groups. I generally dislike group work. My dislike of it is compounded when we have no choice in who we get to work with. However, Dr. Morison was in charge today and he (unlike Anderson) is inclined to be benevolent when it comes to grouping, so he lets us take care of that ourselves.

So it was all good.
While we worked on the semi-boring writing exercises, I looked around the room and noticed a definite pattern to the way the groups had shaken out. It ended up being 5 groups of 4 people each, and each group could be given a definitive label. It was amusing to me. Issues of personality and interpersonal relations generally are.

So first of all, there was what I’d call the “happy-go-lucky” group. They’re fairly intelligent and come up with some good observations, but they don’t try too hard or get too overwrought over anything. Generally I’ve found them to be enjoyable to be around.
Then there’s the “mildly interested” group. They’re mostly health sciences/CS/psych fields, so this class, with its emphasis on writing and literature, really isn’t up their alley. However, they make an admirable effort and are able to produce some laudable insights.
Next to them sits the “we don’t give a hoot” group. (I’m sure they’d use a stronger word than “hoot”, however I try to keep things to a G or PG rating around here.) This group does not want to be in this class, and they’re inclined to hold it against the rest of us and show their displeasure with lots of eyerolling and pouty faces. Thanks to Dr. Anderson, I’ve worked with them before and found it incredibly awkward.
Across the room sit the “Grouchy Cynics”. They’re skeptical of everything. They have something to prove. And they’re somewhat intimidatingly smart. I stay away at all costs.
And then in the back, we have the “Majors and brainiacs”. We’re perfectionists. We spout off Latin and Greek terms and talk about substantive noun clauses. We dress funny. We’re the peanut gallery. For some reason when he’s in charge Dr. Anderson will go to great lengths to split us up.

4 days until the return of Devin…can’t come soon enough.

Colin’s “annoy the older sister” stunt du jour: Today he thinks it’s hilarious to sneak up on me and fire a cap gun in my ear. He’s done it 4 or 5 times since I got home. Sad thing is, I jump and scream every time. You’d think I’d get used to it or something. But no…I continue to cower in the face of his brotherly powers of annoyingness.