What do you assign to Orthanc?

[Thinlómien]

*hugs Form* It'll be fine.

On the same topic, I assign future. (Philosophical eh?) I should start thinking about picking minors (and thus what I want to do in my life) and student exchanges and whatnot, and it's very exciting but also extremely stressful...

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

The progress I made on my BA-project today. While it was nice actually getting my thoughts organized, it also made me realised just how much work i need to do before I can really start the writting process.

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

I also assign google maps.

I think it is amazing that you can navigate arround through the street of cities like New York and London on street level and I am exited that I managed to locate both "my" pub and "my" pizza place in New York, but it also makes me sad that I am not actually there.

[Hakon]

You do not want to be on google maps street view. I read an article a while back about a man in I think it was London who was caught peeing in public. He was only caught because of google maps street view.

[Mithalwen]

The tax return deadline. For some reason even though I have had all documents necessary since May, all those documents located and in a file together with the forms for a couple of weeks, it is only today that I have filled in the dozen necessary boxes (most of which were for routine information like telephone number and only two involved any calculation at all). It took well under an hour including photocopying, triple checking against previous years and finding sellotape to stick the defective envelope. Yet even though I knew there were postal strikes imminent I left it until I needed to cough up for special delivery to ensure peace of mind. Crazy.

[Thinlómien]

I assign deadlines.

I know I need them but it's not nice at all when they coincide.

[Lindale]

Grades. I know I deserve a Satisfactory for a subject I slept half the time in, but I poured my heart and soul into that one paper the teacher required, and I have very high confidence in it. But perhaps the prof didn't like me sleeping while pretending to be reading

[Aganzir]

I assign poetry analysis. Yeah, there are days you just wouldn't like to delve any deeper than necessary in any work of literature; days you would do anything rather than start writing that essay. But when you eventually grasp what the poet means by her choice of words, or why it is that this one line has been bothering you so - it's pretty awesome, and more or less makes up for all the trouble you have to go through.

[Bêthberry]

Spamming inboxes in a fit of silly boredom.

[Mithalwen]

Trying out some reading glasses and realising that not only is your eyesight failing but you aren't aging quite as well as you fondly imagined because you can now see the first hint of fine lines. Not sure not having to peer at things is compensation enough for that double whammy...

[Pitchwife]

I assign binge-cleaning to Orthanc. The satisfation you feel when you've finally exterminated the gathered dust and grime of months, the guilty knowledge that you might have spared yourself a lot of exertion with only a little regular maintenance, and your realism telling you that you're not bloody likely to act on this commendable insight in the future...

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

Winning an election on a general level, but loosing on a personal.

[Andsigil]

The ubiquity of sordid commercials for "Girls Gone Wild" and Extenze.

[kementari]

Wish they were vanished to Orthanc and never unearthed...Don't want to be reminded of my bills!

[Loslote]

I assign skiing on a lake, looking down, and realizing that the lake wasn't actually frozen. Still, it was a beautiful day.

[Hakon]

Originally Posted by Loslote

I assign skiing on a lake, looking down, and realizing that the lake wasn't actually frozen. Still, it was a beautiful day.

Are you okay? What exactly happened? It sounds like a good story.

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Loslote

I assign skiing on a lake, looking down, and realizing that the lake wasn't actually frozen. Still, it was a beautiful day.

So what did you do - go water-skiing?

[Loslote]

In the winter, my mom and I go skiing on the lake all the time. Only, the night before it had rained. So the top layer was slush. There wasn't any danger of actually falling in, but it was scary! My mom was about a hundred feet ahead of me, and I was only twenty or so feet out on the lake, when I realized that her tracks were just two long puddles. So I asked if she was sure the lake was frozen, she looked down, and we retreated as fast as we could go. Looking back, it is kind of funny.

[Laurinquë]

Originally Posted by Loslote

In the winter, my mom and I go skiing on the lake all the time. Only, the night before it had rained. So the top layer was slush. There wasn't any danger of actually falling in, but it was scary! My mom was about a hundred feet ahead of me, and I was only twenty or so feet out on the lake, when I realized that her tracks were just two long puddles. So I asked if she was sure the lake was frozen, she looked down, and we retreated as fast as we could go. Looking back, it is kind of funny.

That has happened to me more than once too.

I assign searching for a university. It's fun to look at where I could go and do but rather less fun looking at the prices. Why does it have to be so expensive for international students to study in the UK? I may have to actually go to an American school as I lack the $90,000 it takes to do a full course abroad.

[Brinniel]

Originally Posted by Laurinque

I assign searching for a university. It's fun to look at where I could go and do but rather less fun looking at the prices. Why does it have to be so expensive for international students to study in the UK? I may have to actually go to an American school as I lack the $90,000 it takes to do a full course abroad.

You know, there are a lot of schools in the US that offer programs to study abroad for a semester or year. I spent a semester in Europe and it was an amazing experience. I have friends who have studied a year in Spain taking courses at a Spanish university in Spanish and well, that's certainly one way to become fluent in another language.

Anyway, I don't know if spending four years at a foreign university is the best idea. It's enough of a headache for me to travel across the country during breaks; going overseas would make it really hard to come home very much (expensive and inconvenient). I love living away from home, but I wouldn't recommend studying out of the country for your freshman year at least. Living away from home is a very different experience and it can take a little while to adjust. You never know how you might handle it; some people get homesick. If you move out of the country, you're not just dealing with being on your own but also with culture shock...and that's a lot to handle all at once.

Good luck with the college hunt. Tuition prices in the US can be very high (mine is close to $30,000), but keep in mind that some schools offer good financial aid. And I know the whole application process can be a major pain. But then, every college student has to go through it.

[Hakon]

You can also go for a loan for tuition. Strangely I am already looking at colleges even though I am only a sophomore in high school. As for studying abroad there are great ways to do it as Brinniel said. My cousin did a year abroad in Cuba, another one of my cousins did his year abroad in Australia and my dad did a year abroad in either Denmark or Finland. I am not sure which one I think it was Denmark but while there he took a trip to Finland.

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Originally Posted by Hakon

You can also go for a loan for tuition. Strangely I am already looking at colleges even though I am only a sophomore in high school. As for studying abroad there are great ways to do it as Brinniel said. My cousin did a year abroad in Cuba, another one of my cousins did his year abroad in Australia and my dad did a year abroad in either Denmark or Finland. I am not sure which one I think it was Denmark but while there he took a trip to Finland.

My best friend is two years older than I. She has a lot of university talk, so I have started thinking about uni and monies to pay for it. It is polluting my mind.

[Laurinquë]

Originally Posted by Brinniel

You know, there are a lot of schools in the US that offer programs to study abroad for a semester or year. I spent a semester in Europe and it was an amazing experience. I have friends who have studied a year in Spain taking courses at a Spanish university in Spanish and well, that's certainly one way to become fluent in another language.

That is what I am planning on doing now, but I am still holding out hope for a transfer abroad after two years at an American institution, one year of which would be abroad. We shall see. I have heard word that some universities also allow you to do two years out of the country if you are doing well and plead your case. I will have at least one year abroad at any rate.

Originally Posted by TGEW

My best friend is two years older than I. She has a lot of university talk, so I have started thinking about uni and monies to pay for it. It is polluting my mind.

Well, it is never too early to start thinking. But yes, I will stop talking about it if you want me to. And I am only 1 year, 9 months, and four days older than you though - not two whole years!

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Just realize that the average undergrad changes majors several times, so whatever school you settle on, you may wish to be sure that they've got a few programs you're interested in, in case you change your mind. It's usually easier to change majors than to change schools, but that would be especially so if you're abroad and have a change of heart about your course of study.

My assignation to Orthanc: ear drops. Yes, my ear feels better. No, I'm not a fan of squeezing liquid into my ear and having to feel it slosh around in there.

[Boromir88]

Originally Posted by Feanor of the Peredhil

My assignation to Orthanc: ear drops. Yes, my ear feels better. No, I'm not a fan of squeezing liquid into my ear and having to feel it slosh around in there.

Hehe, neither does my puppy, who has adorably long and curly ears, but he steps on them and they drag on the ground. To avoid ear infections we have to squirt this type of gel that makes an even unpleasant sound as it's squeezed out the tube into his ears every couple days. And from his reaction, I'd say he prefers the itch the dirt causes.

[Aganzir]

Originally Posted by Laurinquë

Why does it have to be so expensive for international students to study in the UK?

How about Finland? It's free here. Plus you'll get to see lots of nice people, and even the climate isn't that different from Alaska.

I assign staying up till morning with friends, for reasons that should be pretty obvious. It's so much fun... until you have to wake up.

[Hakon]

I am too lazy to quote things. TGEW, all my cousins have gone to college except for one who is a year older then me but talks like an old man. He says stuff like when you get to be my age... Anyway my point is I have been sort of looking for colleges since I was very little.

Agan, I think she wants to escape the very cold weather of Alaska or maybe it is just her Anglophilia (I think that is a word) acting up and making her want to go to the UK.

Boro, you have to post a picture of this puppy.

I have two things to assign. The first is 13 year old girls that are my sisters friends. They are loud and annoying quite a lot of the time but they are sort of my friends which is good since I have none and a few of them are very attractive.

The second thing is my new fictional world I created which has two major sexist nations. The first is one of all men with no women at all since they can grow humans and the second is a woman dominated nation. Men are kept in prison camp like places and...

[Loslote]

I assign babysitting. It's extremely draining, and there's only so much Candyland-type games you can take in one day, but it is satisfying.

[Thinlómien]

Originally Posted by Aganzir

How about Finland? It's free here.

Not for foreign students....

I assign staying up late and waking up late...

[Nogrod]

Originally Posted by Aganzir

I assign staying up till morning with friends, for reasons that should be pretty obvious. It's so much fun... until you have to wake up.

I assign the Barrow Downs... for the very same reasons...

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Laurinquë

Why does it have to be so expensive for international students to study in the UK? I may have to actually go to an American school as I lack the $90,000 it takes to do a full course abroad.

Unfortunately because of the changes in British higher education we have the situation where the government has insisted on vast numbers going into higher education without funding it properly and overseas (non EU) student are regarded as cash cows more than ever. At the same time we have yet to develop the system of support from Alumni which funds many bursaries in the US.


A British University education isn't what it was - my cousin had to pay tuition fees and received about 5 hours of contact time a week! His mother and I who got free tuition and maintenance grants as standard had over 20.... We aren't particularly sorry that his sister didn't go as things turned out.

Unless you are going to a top flight institution (and may be even - my cousin's is one regarded as inferior only to Oxbridge) I suggest you might get better value for money by either doing the exchange programme or saving the money and just having an extended trip over here maybe including a short course somewhere.

[Mithalwen]

Oh can I assign the fact it is raining again....we had a dry morning yesterday but seriously I am thinking of trying to swap my car for an arc....

[Boromir88]

Originally Posted by Hakon

Boro, you have to post a picture of this puppy.

I've been meaning to do that, thanks for reminding. Although, you'll have to look at them in The Shire, because he is not going to be assigned to Orthanc.

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

The COP15 is good in many ways, but from a danish perspective it is also quite annoying. It is not so much all the money we have to spend on it, but more the affect it has on the city. . . you neve know if they all of the sudden decide to close down some parts, so at times it is impossible to get arround.

From a students perspective it is rather annoying having to carry your studentcard visible at all times at university, also they are going to close down the royal libary for some days because they need the facilities for some weird jazz.

The worst thing is that the government has used the COP15 as an excuse to limit our democratic rights. Now it is OK for the police to use preventive arrests and you can get extreme punnishment for civil disobedience, the affect of this is that your average Dane is affraid to even go to a peaceful demonstration.

This country is turning into a freaking police-state, unfortunately most of the western countries are heading in the same direction as us.

[Lalaith]

The BBC series Making of Modern Britain, which has just ended. Absolutely brilliant, but I spent most of the time watching it either in floods of tears (WW1, the Hungry 30s, the Blitz) or shocked to the core -
State-sponsored murder (of Victor Grayson by Lloyd George)
British tanks used on the British people during the strikes of the 1910s and 1920s...etc etc.

I also send the series to Orthanc because it has revealed my own ignorance of 20th century history, something I had thought I was reasonably well-versed in.

[Loslote]

I assign trying to keep up with three separate RPGs that are getting away from me. One because my character wasn't in the thick part, one because it was extremely gory and I could barely read it without puking, much less post about it, and the third because the leader is online sporadically. Still, they're all great RPGs, and I love being in them.'

P.S., these aren't all from the 'Downs.

[Laurinquë]

I assign ridiculously good books that keep you up until 3:00 AM when you should be doing your maths homework.

[Lindale]

Lau, I think you're getting a wee bit too distracted.... if it were anytime of the year. Isn't it your Christmas break yet?

[Hakon]

Most schools in America don't get off until one day before Christmas. Lau, I know what that is like only for me sometimes it can be till 6 am which is bad because on a school day I have to wake up at 6:30 am. What book was it?

[Loslote]

Originally Posted by Hakon

Most schools in America don't get off until one day before Christmas. Lau, I know what that is like only for me sometimes it can be till 6 am which is bad because on a school day I have to wake up at 6:30 am. What book was it?

I have to get up at 6 am, even though I am homeschooled, but Alaskan schools (at least in my district) start and end much earlier than most schools. We started sometime in the middle of September, and we'll end in the middle of May sometime. Our last day of school before break was last Thursday.