Another day.

Public Service announcement, notice of trademark, copyright, whatever: I am the only person allowed in any circumstances to worry, wonder, be emo, angst, or otherwise think that the image presented in the journal is different than the person. If you want that ability, you can license it from me, but I'll bet you can't afford it. I am also the only person allowed to worry, wonder, be emo, angst, or otherwise be concerned about my social, academic, or other life. Licensing fees for those abilities are also available. The rest of you, by reading this notice, are prohibited from infringing upon my rights without a license, and have agreed to the terms of this statement, whether you like it or not. Period.

With that out of the way, Much work accomplished, although some results were not as encouraging as they could be. Got back an assignment that was three of five. However, there had been a deduction for what looked like incorrect style. Enough of us raised objections about it that a point came back. Not making that mistake again, have now switched styles for that grader. Still, getting things like three of five from the first graded assignment is not always a good thing. If that trend continues, I'd better hope that my other grades are so pristine they shine to make up for it, or I'm going to be in academic danger before I even get out of semester one. I sincerely hope this trend does not continue. And that all of my other courses simply rock out and give me excellent grades. (Maintaining a B average is the necessity. With some of my courses being graded on a curve, that is difficult to do. Will rave about "grade inflation" v. enforced curves later.)

Fighting dolphins on the loose! It's not quite Sharks With Frickin' Laser Beams Attached... but it'll do. It's also not Satellites monitoring panda nookie. Also, A rose by any other name might not smell like a rose. Some things, when marked as such, might smell like other things.

License plate jokes, through girtygrin. Some of them you might have to be a resident to fully comprehend, but they're pretty well spread out. If you're not quite sure about all this, read some Waz and come back to it.

Colouration memage, and such.

( Text, with commentary, behind cut )

So that's that. Next, rant #2: "Grade Inflation" and the Curve. Some, maybe all, of my courses are graded on the curve, where the average score equates to a B grade. There are only so many A grades that can be given out of X course. I find that to be very disturbing. If we are, indeed, a bunch of Bright Young Scholars, as they tell us we are, since we're at university, then there should be no worries - if we all do A work, we all get As that we deserve. Utilizing the curve means it is theoretically possible for a score of 95 out of 100 points to be a B, a C, or a D, although that last one would be a little weird. But is still theoretically possible. Understand why I might not like the curve? If I busted my nuts doing these assignments that turn out to have only been worth a B or C grade, that's unacceptable to me. I care not that all I have to maintain is a B average - if I did A-class work, goddammitall, I expect to obtain an A for it.

Thus, I hate the curve, although in my earlier years, I might have been a curve-wrecker.

Last thoughts for the night - Is religion harming our morality? There are probably more than a few people who would say "Absolutely" to that question. And more than a few that would wonder why I separated the terms. rain_luong brought it to my eyes by posting it himself, and he's likely to have a vibrant discussion in his comments.