Brittany's Journal [entries|friends|calendar] Brittany [ website | My Website ] [ userinfo | livejournal userinfo ] [ calendar | livejournal calendar ]

We're about at the half-way point [08 Oct 2005|11:31pm] [ mood | busy ] I'm LOVING marching band. I love football, and I love band, so it's the perfect match! And it's actually making me like Tech. In fact, I like it so much, I want to push back my graduation date from August to December so that I can march another season. Crazy, huh? I have a little brother in Kappa Kappa Psi now! His name is Vince, and he's really cool. :-) He's so cool, he's gonna help me with this big Matlab project I have due next week. And he plays tenor sax. Speaking of saxophone, I want to march sax next year. Yeah, you read that right. :-) I want to learn a new instrument and I always have fun around the saxes, so I'm choosing the saxophone. College is the time to try new things! :-D So, I'm going to China Saturday. I'm REALLY excited! I've been to China before, but this trip is going to be really different from the first one. There are about 16 of us from the Symphonic band going, and we're going to play at the Shanghai International Arts Festival and a few other places. We're going to be there a week. I'm dreading the flight, but with 16 Tech students and over 12 hours on a plane, I know we'll find things to keep ourselves entertained. ;-) I haven't been taking my Malaria pills. I hope I don't need them. :-\ I have an interview with Westinghouse on Monday. Yay for hopefully getting job offers! 1 comment|post comment

Excited [06 Aug 2005|01:12pm] [ mood | excited ] Time for a quick update, I suppose. I'm really looking forward to marching band. Band camp starts in about 1 week! At Georgia Tech, if you have never marched before, you are called a RAT. RAT stands for "Recruit at Tech" and hails back to Tech's military days. You have to wear a RAT cap and you get to pick someone to be your Vet and kinda show you how things are done. Of course most RATs are Freshmen, but I will probably be the lone senior RAT. :-) I can't wait to experience all of Tech's traditions. Everyone I've talked to has said that joining marching band was one of the best things they ever did at Tech. Everyone's said that yeah, it get hot, but your hanging out with a huge group of friends and playing your instrument, so you don't care how hot it is. Mom and Grandma have been really persistant about trying to discourage me from doing this. I wish they could show just a little bit of enthusiasm for me. I've been thinking about doing this for 3 years now. Don't think I haven't weighed the pros and cons. The pros: I get to play my instrument for an extra 10 or so hours a week, I get instant 150 or so extra friends, I get to experience all of Tech's great traditions, I get to go to all the football games, I might get to be on TV, I get paid for going on away games, I will probably get to do something cool in December for the bowl game, I might get a tan, I will get tons of good exercise to help me lose weight (this is a very important pro), I get to experience something that I've never done before and will never have the chance to do again. The cons: it will be hot, and then cold, and maybe rainy sometimes, and it will take a lot of time. So, yeah, I've decided to do it, and I'm really excited! :-) I've also been thinking about what else I'm going to be doing this semester. I'm going to try to do three music ensembles. Symphonic band, marching band, and orchestra. Symphonic band is actually the most important of those to me. Marching band will take the most time and probably be the must fun. And orchestra is something that I've wanted to do for many, many years, and my opportunities to do it are getting fewer and fewer. I think I'm really going to love orchestra, and I will regret it if I don't try to do it this semester. I'm also going to be as involved as I can with the American Nuclear Society. I am the immediate past president, and I'm going to help out Jason, our new president as much as I can. I also want to do the Women in Engineering M&M Mentoring again. This was a very meaningful and fufilling experience last year, and I want to do it again. Of course I'm also going to be involved with Tau Beta Sigma, my band sorority. We have meetings every other week and various activities going on between them. I'm definitely going to do step team. I LOVE step! I love the rhythms and beats and the music. It's the greatest thing ever, and I'm going to do it! I'm also considering getting a little brother. I only have two semesters as an active sister, and I know I want a little sister. But the way it usually works is you have to have a little brother first. But it's another meeting I'm going to have to go to every week, and it costs some money and time. So, I'm thinking about it. Another thing I'm going to do is Weight Watchers. Tech has a group that meets once a week I think, and I really need to do this for my well-being. I need a weekly group meeting to keep me accountable and support and encourage me. I was looking at some pictures of me about three years ago, and I was hot! I had a nice curvy figure, and my hair looked better too. I want to get back to looking like that. And I think marching band and step are going to be integral parts of this weight loss boot camp that I think this semester is going to be. And I need a new hair style. Anyways, in addition to all these things I'll be doing this semester, I'll also be taking the two hardest classes of my life - nuclear reactor physics and reactor engineering. So, let me put all of that in list form so that I can see how crazy I really am: 1. Marching band 2. Symphonic band 3. Orchestra 4. ANS 5. M&M Mentoring 6. TBS 7. TBS -little brother 8. TBS -step team 9. Weight Watchers 10. Rx Physics 11. Rx Engineering 12. Other classes 13. Philip 14. Family 15. Dogs 16. Friends 17. Parties 18. Working for my dad Whoa, I need to make sure my PDA has batteries. I'm going to have a lot to keep up with. And out of all of those, I have to say that the Rx Physics and Rx Engineering are going to be the most important and the most difficult to stay on top of. That's why I'm here. I'm really going to have to take advantage of the time I have in between my classes. Oh yeah, and a note on #17 up there. That may have caught some of you by surprise. See, the marching band is known for its parties. However, I do not drink, so I'm a little skeptical about how much fun I'm going to have at these parties. People have told me that if I'm going to use marching band as a way to get to know people (which I should), then I have to go to the parties. So, I'm going to try a few and see how fun it is. Maybe at least I can improve upon my social skills and become more outgoing. And laugh at all the stupid people. It will be good times. Hopefully. If not, I won't do it anymore. O.k., I need to get busy. I have lots of stuff I need to do today. Here's some other things I might update about later: new career goals, my summer, my new roommate, graduation, my OCDness. 2 comments|post comment

[22 Mar 2005|02:23am] O.k., all 3 of you that read my annual post, I need your opinions! I'm really excited about entering an art show at Tech. These are the pictures I'm thinking about entering. There's no limit to how many I can enter, but I just can't decide which ones are the best. Please go there and tell me which ones you think I should enter. Thanks! P.S. Also going on in my life: ~Still dating Philip after 2 1/2 years ~President of the American Nuclear Society ~Getting a minority acheivement award ~Pledging another sorority (Tau Beta Sigma) ~First chair in Symphonic Band (a BIG accomplishment for me) ~Now have two puppies, you can also see some pictures of them on my ImageEvent page ~I will graduate in 1 more year ~I am not dead :-) 2 comments|post comment

Who's the productive kid?? [03 May 2004|05:15pm] [ mood | groggy ] [ music | Persuasion - Augusta Concert Band ] It's me! It's me!! I've been going nonstop all day. First I went by the leasing office and told them about all my problems. Then I went by the bank and talked to the guy for 30-45 minutes about IRAs and a credit card. So what I'm going to end up doing is opening up a savings account and putting all the money into it that I eventually want to put in the IRA. Then, at the end of the summer I will open up the Roth IRA and deposit that lump sum. Then I probably won't make another contribution until next year. But I think I'm going to get a Class A Roth IRA invested in mutual funds. :-) And it can (and probably will) be used as a down payment on a house whenever I get to that point. So, that was exciting. I also applied for their student credit card online. Then I went to the Furniture Rental store to order my furniture. It will be delivered tomorrow morning. Then I came back here and had to go back to the leasing office to sign a key release for the furniture people tomorrow. And, this is the best part!! They had an extra phone book they gave me!! Yay!!!! :-D Then I drove all over Augusta finding music stores to see about guitar lessons. I only found one place worth my time, so I got on their waiting list. Also, I FINALLY found Augusta State's music department, and they have practice rooms that I can use whenever I want, so that's good. Now I'm back here doing laundry. I have band tonight that I'm REALLY excited about. It's the Augusta Concert Band. www.augustaconcertband Yay for me! O.k., I'm going to unpack more stuff now. 2 comments|post comment

*sigh* [03 May 2004|08:54am] [ mood | excited ] [ music | It's too early for music ] So, today was supposed to be my first day of work. I got up around 5:40. Left around 6:15. I got there right at 7:00, so I should probably leave before 6:15 from now on. Geez, that place is exactly in the middle of nowhere. If it was any farther from nowhere, it would actually be somewhere. So, I had to stop at the security gate again, and they had to write down all the information on my driver's liscence, then they had to call up to Human Resources to make sure I was really supposed to be there. Then I had to go up to Human Resources to check in. Then she just told me that she didn't have clearances for me yet, so I had to go back home. Geez, all that for nothing. :-( Now I have a couple of things I have to do. I have to go by the leasing office to get some general information like phone numbers and when trash pickup is. I have to get them to fix my porch light cause it's dark and scary at my from door. My air conditioning doesn't work on auto. And my pantry door doesn't stay on it's track and there's no doorknob. So, yeah, that all needs to be fixed. You're probably thinking my apartment is some hole-in-the-wall, but I promise it's not. It's really nice. The appliances are kinda old, but they're fine, and they're really nice compared to the ones in my ATL apartment. AND OMG, THERE'S SO MUCH FREAKING COUNTER SPACE AND CABINET SPACE!!!!! :-D And I have my own bathroom connected to my bedroom (something I've ALWAYS wanted but never had)! And I have a walk-in-closet that's about 3x the size of my closet in ATL. And the best part - there's no stairs!! Lol, for those of you who don't know, my apartment is ATL is 3 stories. You go in on the bottom level and go straight up the stairs. On the second floor is the living room, dining room, kitchen, and half bath. Then you go up another flight of stairs, and our bedrooms and a full bath is on the third floor. So I could get used to this no stairs thing. Then I have to go to the bank to get some cash and quarters. And I need to get some information about a student credit card and a Roth IRA. I'm planning on putting about $1000 into retirement this summer. :-D GO ME! Did I ever mention that I love this job? Then I have to go by the furniture rental store and order my furniture. So, maybe I'll have a couch by tonight. Then I have to figure out how to get a phone book without buying phone service. Things to do when I get money: ~Go grocery shopping ~Go to the Human Society to get a cat ~Go join the YMCA Woo!! I'm so excited!! :-D 1 comment|post comment

And I emerge unscathed! [28 Apr 2004|06:15pm] [ mood | ecstatic ] Well, relatively unscathed. I finished my last final this morning. It was bad. I failed, but then again, I think everyone else did too, so maybe I'll end up with a B. I'll be happy with a B. That was in Fundamentals of Nuclear Engineering, btw. So, anyways, the main reason I'm updating is because I just took a 6 hour nap, and I had the weirdest dream. Dream: We were taking a lab final, but it wasn't a Radiation Detection lab final. (Radiaiton Detection was the only lab I had this year). I don't know what kind of lab it was, but it was taking place at Smokerise Baptist Church in Stone Mountain. (Smokerise is where I just had my junior recital a week or two ago). So, my lab TA, Marat (he really was my TA for lab), told us that we could practice our AIM file transfer for a few minutes because that was part of the final. I went to go to the bathroom or something, and I saw Nate Watson coming up the stairs. (Nate Watson is the president of the student body, and he was in my Music Theory class, and we talked some. He's cool.) But Nate looked pretty worried. And Dr. Strauss (my band director/Music Theory professor) was coming up the stairs too, and Nate said he needed to talk to her. And since I was there, he said he would tell me too, but only part of it. So, he told us that he was wanted by the law. Then he told me that he couldn't tell me anymore, so I went back to the lab final. So, we started and did our AIM file transfer and got our little piece of paper with the directions. And I was happy because it was the same as one of the labs we had done earlier, and I knew how to do it. We had to mix these too really volitile chemicals and drink them to see what happened. And then I woke up. Analysis of the dream: Really, I think this dream makes a lot of sense. I think the overall picture was telling me that school was going to kill me. There's lots of little things that make sense too. The paper we received from the file transfer looked exactly like the real paper we received with the directions during our detection lab final. But I think it was done by AIM file transfer because AIM file transfer NEVER works for me. So, first they were gonna fail me, then they were gonna kill me. And I saw Nate yesterday at the library and he told me he has been really sick in the hospital last week, so maybe that's the same as being wanted by the law. And in my real detection lab final, I was kinda scared because I had to do this experiment with this scary-looking neutron source. So, I think it all makes sense, it was just weird. And I rarely remember my dreams, so when I do, I should write them down. Of course tons of other stuff has happened lately. My parents moved to Michigan this morning. :'-( I also got a GREAT job this summer with Southern Nuclear's Plant Vogtle in Augusta. So, I will be moving out there this Saturday. I'm SO FREAKING EXCITED!!!! And I will probably update again when I get out there. Bye! 3 comments|post comment

Hmmmmmm [28 Oct 2003|01:21am] [ mood | contemplative ] Lol, I know I never update with daily (or even monthly or yearly) events, but only when I have issues and have to get out my thoughts. So the most recent issue is with my dad (my biological father). Just for reference, in the rest of this post I shall refer to Daron (my step-dad) as either Daron or Fuzzy. I shall refer to my biological father as Dad or Daddy. Most of you know that my dad left me and my mom when I was 7. My dad got remarried and I have a fabulous step-mom (and now a half-brother and half-sister, whom I adore). Then my mom got remarried and I have the absolute best step-dad in the whole world EVER. Many times I feel like he has been MUCH more of a father to me than my real dad. He's never left me, he's never made me feel like the scum of the earth, he's always given and given and given, both needs and wants, asking nothing in return (except like not screwing up my life and ending up on the streets). Also (and my Dad knows this), when I get married, it will be Fuzzy giving me away, not my Dad. Just so you have a general idea of how I feel about both of them. And I don't mean to make my Dad out to be the worst human ever, because he's not. He's still done good things, he's still been there part of the time I guess, he's still given me things sorta. I like him as a person, but I just don't feel he's done much worthy of being called my father. The background... Several years ago I went on a trip to Australia. Fuzzy had told me that he would pay for all of it if he had to, but we decided to ask my dad to see if he would pay for any of it. Well, he agreed to pay for half of it, if I would pay him back $500. So, technically, he gave me a loan of $500, and he also set it at 9% interest compounded monthly I believe. Also, you should know that before this happened, Fuzzy had given me $1000 cash for my birthday to invest in stocks or bonds. However, at the time I didn't know enough to make any decisions about it, so I put it in a CD to just sit there and earn some interst while I researched things. So, anyways, that summer I went on the trip and had SUCH a good time and learned so much. Some other things that aren't very important happened and Dad and I ended up kinda having a fight about the loan and how I shouldn't be doing other things until all my debts are paid off. I had been planning on actually getting a job and earning the money to pay him back, but after the fight I just decided to take the money out of the CD and pay him back and be done with it so that he couldn't hold it over my head any longer. To this day I don't think he believes that that's how it really happened. I'm pretty sure he thinks mom just gave me the money to pay him back. Oh well... The present... This weekend, Dad called me and I told him that I was planning on not taking classes next semester and interning at the Nuclear Regulatory Commision here in Atlanta instead. I told him my reasons, mainly 1.) this is my 7th semester straight and I'm really sick of it and 2.) Fuzzy has a LOT of financial stress right now with all the houses (7 houses total) he's having to pay for and utilities and cars and clothes and food and everything else, so it would help a little if I could help support myself more for right now. Well, Daddy told me that he'd be willing to help me out financially if I would include him more in any future decision-making. I'm still not quite sure what this entails exactly, but I'm not too sure it's something I want to be a part of. The dilemma... It seems to me as if everything my dad does has to be a business deal. He told me that he feels like he has an obligation as a parent to prepare his children for the world and that in the world you won't just be given things and that people will expect you to pay back your debts with interest. And I guess I understand that, but geeze, isn't that why I have the world? Aren't your parents supposed to be the people that are your haven from the world? The ones that will give you everything you want and need and expect nothing in return? The ones that won't judge you on how you look or what you've done? The ones to just love you unconditionally? The ones that don't expect you to pay back any of the thousands upon thousands of dollars they've invested in you? The ones that (if they can afford it) are willing to give you an international trip as a reward for being a good kid or making perfect grades or working to be the best in the state at something or maybe even just because they love you and want to give you something that you'll enjoy? I have a lot more to say about this, but I'm too tired now. But it all boils down to the fact that pretty soon I'm going to have to decide in what capacity I want Dad to be acting in life. If he expects me to treat him as an authority in my life because he provides for me financially, then he has to contend with mom and Fuzzy as the same authority. And it goes without saying that if Fuzzy advises me to do one thing and my dad advises me to do something else, I'm going with Fuzzy. And if I did that, would Dad then stop his financial assistance? Should I just coldly treat Dad as a business deal as I feel like he treats me many times? Having the extra money would be nice. But I might rather keep it the way it is now with me visiting and talking to him whenever I please, which isn't that often, and on my own terms, not owing him anything. I don't know, and I'm too tired to thinking any more about it now. Comments or questions are welcome. 11 comments|post comment

People are stupid [10 Oct 2003|04:11am] [ mood | annoyed ] So, in conjuction with Kate's post earlier about stupid people, I would also like to add my two cents why people are stupid. Well, I'm very sick right now. My throat is KILLING me! I thought I had strep, but the test came back negative, so I suppose not. But before all that, I went to the Health Center to get tested. So, the doctor comes in, she looks at my ears, my throat, and for some reason listens to me breathe. I had randomly started wheezing about two minutes before the doctor came in, but it didn't really bother me because I could still breathe, it was just noisy. I've had my asthma for 12 years now, I think I know pretty darn good by now when it is bad and when it is not. However, the doctors always want to think differently. I hate (medical) doctors. So, anyways, she heard me wheeze, and she freaked out and was like OMG YOU HAVE ASTHMA AND YOU HAVE TO DO ALL THESE TESTS AND THIS BREATHING TREATMENT AND TAKE ALL THESE PRESCRIPTIONS AND STEROIDS!!!111!!11! So, I told her no, I'm not doing the breathing treatment because 1.) it makes me VERY weak and shaky and I still have to drive home after I'm done here, 2.) I can do the exact same thing at home in the comfort of my bed (or couch) watching daytime television or sleeping, 3.) I don't want to sit here for long enough to do it, especially when considering 2.). So, she was like, well, do it anyways, and while the nurse it setting it up go down to the lab and get tested for strep. So, I was like fine, and I went and got the step test. However, while sitting there having this guy jam the mother of all q-tips down the back of my throat, I was thinking about the joys of going back to that horrible little room and sitting there for who knows how long doing this oh-so-critical breathing treatment. (For those of you who don't know, when I say "breathing treatment" I mean using this machine called a nebulizer that vaporizes an albuterol sulfate solution so that I can continuously inhale it.) So when I went back to the nurse to do it, I was like no, I don't feel like doing this for all the reasons listed above, but I will make a deal with you. Do the oxygen blood count test thingy on my finger and see how much oxygen I am getting; if it is less than 95%, then I will do your little breathing treatment here just to humor you. So, she was like uh, o.k., and she did the test thing. Of course it was 98%, and she was like wow, that's weird, you sound so horrible! *rolls eyes* Stupid people. So then I went and told the doctor that I wasn't going to do her stupid breathing treatment because of all the reasons listed above AND my oxygen count was 98% (which is probably better than a lot of people that don't have asthma), give me my prescriptions for my THROAT, which is what I came in here for IN THE FREAKING FIRST PLACE, so that I can go home, go to sleep, and get better. And she was like, uh, fine. *rolls eyes again* Stupid people. I am very proud of myself for standing up to them for what I wanted and what I thought was best for me. Geeze, is 12 years experience with this not enough?? These people probably took a little class about asthma for a couple of days in med school. GRRRRRRRR. They make me not happy. Also, I would like to mention the very first time I was ever admitted into a hospital, when I was in the 4th grade, I happened to go to some general clinic to get tested for strep, they freaked about my asthma, and sent me to the hospital. That was not a good experience. O.k., I'm done with my rant for now. Sorry there are no paragraph breaks. You'll get over it. I was just thinking about this and getting pissed, so I had to get it all out before I could go to sleep. 2 comments|post comment

SURPRISE!!! [01 Sep 2003|12:02pm] [ mood | content ] Looky who's updating their LiveJournal!!!! It's me! It's me! O.k., anyways, let's see if I can get y'all at least somewhat caught up. Let's see, where do I start? 1. Philip and I have been dating for over a year now! Yay! I've seen a lot of (positive) changes in both of us. He's going to make all A's this semester, and if he doesn't, I'm going to have to kick his butt! He also saved the life of a little tiny baby bird last night. He went out in our garage to pet the cats, and he found it laying there injured (thanks to aforementioned cats). He gave it some water and bread crumbs, and it was looking a lot better by the time he left to take it to his dad (who used to be a vet). It was cute. 2. I'm in my new apartment now! Yay! Fortunately, I have the best parents/boyfriend/roommate in the world, so getting all this crap up 2 flights of stairs in the August heat didn't take too terribly long. Unfortunately, we have the worst gas/phone/DSL companies in the world, so it was a HUGE pain in the put getting all our utilities set up. I am SO glad I don't live on campus anymore. It's so nice to have a differentiation between school and home. Now it's very easy for my overworked brain to figure out if I'm at school or home. And even during the summer, school, work, and home were all the same thing. Before, I was at school 24/7, and even though I wasn't always doing school work there, it was like I never had a break from Tech. It's hard to explain, and even though I do homework a lot here (at my new apartment), it's different. I like it the way it is now MUCH better. AND I get to come home to the best friend/roommate EVER. We talk and cook and go shopping together. Being with her is SUCH a stress reliever. I'm very happy here now. :-) 3. Obviously summer is now over. This is where I worked all summer: http://www.conference.gatech.edu. It wasn't too exciting, but I did meet some cool people, and at least I had free room and board. I had high hopes of being able to save up some money for later (hahahaha), but I was just lucky to be able to buy my own groceries. My parents only gave me a couple hundred dollars the whole summer though. This was definitely the closest I've ever come to being financially independent. I liked it, and I wish I could do it now, but if I'm expected to make decent grades this semester, there's NO way I could have a job. :-( 4. My grades for last semester: Into to Mechanics - A Circuits and Electronics - A Summer Band - A Differential Equations - B GRRRRRRRRRR, that differential equations grade makes me mad! I had an A going into the final. GRRRR! Anyways, moving right along... 5. Here's my schedule for this semester: http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gtg544f/. Scroll down to the bottom, and you'll see my schedule. 6. Fuzzy's going to be transfered to Detroit in a couple of weeks. They went up there to look for a house last week and I got to poodle sit! It was lots of fun. :-) They're sooooo cute! 7. Uh, band this semester is going to be different. My schedule was all fixed, and then Dr. Strauss (my symphonic band director) e-mailed me and told me I'm supposed to start lessons this semester for my music minor. Well, when they accepted me into the program, they told me I wouldn't start lessons until Spring 2004. That was fine and dandy. I was planning on doing that then, and I had left no room whatsoever in my schedule to do lessons this semester. When I told her this, she told me that the music minor program was actually in jeopardy and she at least wanted to get me started with the lessons so that if they do cancel the program, maybe they would at least finish those that started. So, I went home and thought about it, and the compromise I came up with was to switch from symphonic band to concert band and take the lessons. There were several reasons for this switch. First of all, concert band takes up only 3 hours a week instead of the 4 that symphonic band takes up. *poof* This automatically cleared up my schedule the one hour I needed so that I could take the one hour per week lessons. Not only that, but concert band is over at 3:00 every Tuesday and Thursday, but I have to wait around for symphonic band and it's not over until 6:00 every Tuesday and Thursday. So I get home 3 hours earlier every Tuesday and Thursday. *poof* More time for homework and practicing. :-) Also, concert band is MUCH less intense than symphonic band. Dr. Strauss is very focused and intense. But that's why her band is so good! And I really like the way Dr. Strauss teaches and beats things into your head because it makes me a better player, but really, this semester, I don't need all of that. We might not even do a concert in concert band, so that automatically frees up a night or two the week before finals when I should actually be studying for finals. And last of all (although this did weigh heavy in my mind), I should be first chair. We have our first real rehersal tomorrow, so I should find out for sure then. I've never been first chair. EVER. :'-( And this might surprise you, but when you're third/fourth/fifth chair (like I've always been), no one ever calls you out and says "Why Brittany, that's the prettiest tone I've ever heard!" or "Wow, you did those rhythms perfectly!" or "Wow, that's the best flute solo I've ever heard!". No one has ever said any of those things to me. Ever. But yet first chair people hear them ALL THE FREAKING TIME! I would like to believe those things, but why should I when no one(who knows what they're talking about) has ever told me? After playing for 11 years and even being the best in the state one year for my age group (but not first chair), I think I deserve that for once. So, I guess that's all for now. I should go take a shower and be the productive kid. I don't think I'll ever match Kate's 5 posts/day, but hopefully I'll update at least a few times a week. :-) 3 comments|post comment

I'm Still Alive!!!! [25 May 2003|10:55am] [ mood | calm ] [ music | Hogan's Heroes Theme Song!! ] Wow, so much has happened since I last updated. 1. I finished my second semester here at Tech. Grades are as follows: Intro to Nuclear and Radiological Engineering - A Band - A Intro to Modern Physics - B Intro to Material Science and Engineering - B Health - B Calculus III - C Semester GPA 2.93, Cummulative Tech GPA - 3.0 :-) I'm very glad it's over, Health and Physics both should've been A's. But oh well. Nothing I can do about it now. I just have to learn lessons the hard way. 2. I'm 19 years old now. :-D 3. I got to go to the emergency room thanks to my asthma. I was only there for about an hour and a half though. I was very amazed. It went much better than the follow up doctor's visit later. Doctors are so stupid. They always listen to me breathe, and then they freak out and are like OMG, WE HAVE TO PUT YOU ON 25280725 PRESCRIPTIONS!!!! Either that, or they listen and then look at me and say "You definitely have asthma." I'm just like, no, really, Sherlock?? Stupid people. And then after listening to me, they do the little oxygen count on your finger, and it's usually 98 or 99%, and it confuses them. Anyways, I'm better now. All thanks to the emergency room and not my regular doctor. :-\ 4. I'm in my new apartment now with my new roommate. Her name is Jenny. She's pretty cool, but she's not here that much. We're in the three person handicap room though, so it's kinda weird. It took me like two weeks to finally get all unpacked and get everything the way I want it. :-) 5. I'm now in my third week of summer classes. :-\ My schedule is now updated, and it's on my CS page. My classes are going alright. I'll update more about them later. I don't have class tomorrow!!!!! 6. I GOT ACCEPTED INTO THE MUSIC MINOR PROGRAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I start my private lessons Spring 2004. I'm so excited!!!! Go me! 7. My parents are up in Commerce at the race this weekend. Yesterday, Fuzzy had his best run EVER!!!! 8.36 seconds, and 156.9 mph. I'm so proud of him!!!!! I hope he does really good today too. 8. My parents are the best EVER!! They came up and helped me move a couple weeks ago, and I really appreciate it. It made it 202672842369x easier. 9. I started my new job with Conference Services. We haven't gotten to work much yet though. Conference season starts June 2, so that's when I'll start really working. But anyways, today I have to work from 12-3, and I need to go take a shower now, so bye! Hopefully it won't be this long before I update again. 5 comments|post comment

Pep talk [22 Apr 2003|07:16pm] [ mood | anxious ] [ music | Wit's All Been Done Before - Relient K ] O.k., this is all for me. This is my pep talk for the finals studying frenzy. Listen up! You've got 8 days to shape up! You've got to get away from this stupid computer and get to that stupid study lounge! You've got to start early in the day! You can do it!! Follow your schedule! Praise God for Dead Week! Focus! Don't turn on the TV at any cost! Alright, now GO DO IT!!!!!!!!! ON THE COUNT OF THREE... 1!!!! 2!!!! 3!!!!! STUDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *screams and cheers* 2 comments|post comment

[18 Apr 2003|02:02am] [ mood | blank ] Well, my parents finally responded. And so will I. One of the things my mom said was this, "you totally fail to understand how much we have and do sacrifice and give for you." That is completely not true. I've told you countless times how much I realize and appreciate everything you've given for me. And I still feel that way, and I always will! I think you missed the point of my post. All I was saying is that it was something that happened that hurt me. And I was right on when I predicted what you would say. Of course it was something stupid in light of "real" problems. (Or maybe in light of recent "real" problems like you mentioned, it makes it a lot less stupid. Maybe recently it's become more apparent how short and delicate life can be. Wouldn't it make sense that that would be the time when I would want to be near you when it was indeed possible, even if it was slightly out of the way?) Either way, I wanted to be with y'all because I love and miss you. You didn't come back to get me, and it hurt me. That was it. It's over now. It had no bearing on my appreciation of the millions of things both of you have done for me. I very rarely express when things hurt me, and occasionally I just want you know what I'm feeling. I do think I have learned something through this though. Love = sacrifice. Sacrifices like letting your 16 year old go off to college, coming home on weekends when you'd rather be with your friends, giving your new car to your daughter, going to the second most depressed collge in the nation so that you can get the shaft and fail your classes and have no friends when you'd rather be at a slacker school studying music and having fun for a change, going into debt so that your daughter would be smart enough to get into that second most depressed college, being late for class to take your dad to the airport, going out of the way to go get your daughter who is in tears because she wants to come home and be with you, or saying you're sorry even when you don't feel like you need to or should. So, yes, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that what I said hurt you. On a side note, please take the car back. If I remember correctly, I never asked for that car. You are the ones that decided it would be best because it's reliable and gets good mileage. Yes, I adore that car, but really, the van gets me from point A to point B, and that's all I need. I could even learn to drive the red car. It's not a big deal, and Mom deserves to have her car. So please, take it. Your crappy, rotten daughter, Brittany 1 comment|post comment

Stuff [08 Apr 2003|07:15pm] [ mood | melancholy ] [ music | Jefferson, Aero Plane - Relient K ] Two weeks ago was an amazing week. It was the first time I ever felt like I actually had fun here at Tech during the week. On Sunday, I went and saw my old friend Clarke Harris perform a solo concert. I haven't seen Clarke in about 4 years. Then, on Tuesday, I saw Yejide!!!!! I hadn't seen her since Christmas. Considering she's my best friend in the whole world, that is way too long!! Then, on Wednesday, I saw Jennifer Williams from the Academy. I hadn't seen her in over a year. Then, I saw Clarke again on Wednesday too. Then, I ate lunch with Pattie from VCM on Thursday. Then (this is the coolest part), on my way to VCM Thursday night, some person like waved me down and called out my name from their car. And I was just like, who on earth is that? It was Kirsten Cartoski's mother!!! Apparently, Kirsten swims at Tech several times every week. I hadn't seen Kirsten for about five years!!!!! She was in swim practice then, so I waited until she got out. It was sooooooo cool seeing her!!!!! She's so cool. She's a senior this year in high school. Of course, she's valedictorian (or however you spell that, obviously I wasn't one). And she's going to Yale on a swimming scholarship next year. Isn't that great?!?!!? So yeah, that was my week. It was like, "Brittany, this is your life..." Hehe. :-D Last week, on the other hand was one of the worst weeks I've had here at Tech. Just work-wise. I had four tests and two homeworks. Nuclear homework on Monday. Nuclear test, giant Modern Physics homework project, and Calculus III test on Wednesday. Modern Physics test and Material Science test on Friday. It almost killed me. I think I did pretty well considering how stressed I was. Of course, I don't know what I got on anything yet though. :-\ That's all for now. Oh yeah, band concert next Tuesday, April 15th. You all should come!! 3 comments|post comment

Life is non-stop!!! [18 Mar 2003|02:17am] [ mood | hopeful ] [ music | I am the One - Out of Eden ] Wow, where do I even start? I guess I'll break it all up into subjects again to make it easier to read. Who's gonna be the skinny kid??? ME!!!!!!!!!! Yup, I started the Body for Life competition. I started March 9. I have 12 weeks. I'm now in week 2. I did really good my first week. I even got a couple of comments from people that said I look like I've lost weight! I am so gonna be the skinny kid! And I'm gonna win! I've been working out every day. I'm eating like I'm supposed too as well! :-) FSU people and Victory Campus Ministries Well, last Wednesday, I randomly decided to call Stephanie to see if she wanted to eat lunch together. She did, but she needed to go to a meeting outside and the Campanile. So, it was a nice day and I decided to eat out there too. Well, when I was done eating, some chick came up and like started talking to me and asked me if she could ask me some questions. And I was thinking, great, some religious freaks to tell me I'm going to hell or something. Well, we kept on talking, and it turns out she was really cool. Like, I could tell she actually was interested in getting to know me and listening to what I had to say. I was very surprised. Well, her name is Erika and she's from FSU. It turns out that there was a whole group of them from FSU on spring break doing some work for Victory Christian Ministries. They were also advertising for a lecture that night on the Shroud of Turin. Philip is pretty interested in that, so I thought I'd go and take some notes for him. The lecture was REALLY cool! I got all kinds of cool statistical information that I might post here sometime that pretty much proves that the Shroud of Turin is genuine. Well, on Thursday night, they were having this thing called the Red Pill Forum. It was pretty much just a state your opinion and listen to others type of thing. It was too short. But after that, they had a typical VCM meeting. Pattie, who is going to be the campus minister here at Tech, gave her testimony, and then a guy spoke. It was really good. These FSU people are the coolest people EVER. I only really knew them for 2 days, but I felt like I had known them my whole life. They were so friendly, and they really cared. I'm really hoping I can help Pattie and the others get VCM going on Tech's campus. The coolest thing about VCM is that it really focuses on a lot of stuff with an apologetics approach. I think that is sooooo important, especially at a place like Tech. I can't wait to get more involved and get to know Pattie more. I'll probably be meeting with her sometime this week. :-) The Navy Well, last week I got this e-mail from a Lt. in the U.S. Navy. It said that they are now interviewing Georgia Tech juniors in the Nuclear Engineering program for their special officer program. I wasn't too interested until I read about the insane amount of money they will give you to sign up and that they will pay for the rest of your schooling. At the end, this is what it said, "Just reply to this e-mail and I will be glad to send you more information and speak with you over the phone or in person. Our office is less than one mile from Georgia Tech. I hope to hear from you soon." So, that's what I did. I just replied to the e-mail and said that I'd like more information about it. Well, this is how he responded, "Since you did not give me the information I requested, I'm not sure if you are fully qualified or competitive for this highly selective program." EXCUSE ME!!!!?!?!?!?!?! I'm not what? The funny thing is, the e-mail he sent didn't request any information. It made me really mad. I have since determined that the Navy is not for me. If they are going to be that rude and condescending when I didn't even do anything, I can't even imagine how they would be if I actually had done something stupid. I've been pondering about what I'm going to write back to him. I'm going to tell him off, but in a nice way. What do I have to lose? He can't do anything to me. Plant Bellefonte In other nuclear news, this past Saturday I went and saw TVA's Plant Bellefonte. This is a nuclear power plant that TVA started building in northern Alabama in the early 1980's but never finished it. It's almost finished though. We got to go in places where you would NEVER normally be able to go in a fully operational plant. It was the coolest thing I've EVER done!! It makes me really excited to think I might be working at a nuclear plant one day. :-D Here's my pictures. I don't have all the titles and stuff up yet, but I will eventually. I even got to go INSIDE the cooling towers!!!!!!!! How cool is that?!?!?!?! A Summer Job? Right now I'm in the process of getting a summer job with Conference Services through the Department of Housing here at Tech. So far, I've just had a phone interview. I think it went pretty well. I should find out tomorrow if I get invited back to the second interview. I want this job sooooooo bad. I would get free housing for the summer too. :-) Classes Classes are just classes. I have a Health test and Physics homework on Wednesday. :-\ As far as summer classes go, I'm taking Intro to Mechanics at 8:00 a.m. :'-( It was the only section, so I have no choice. Yay for the shaft. I'm also gonna take Differential Equations at 12:00 p.m. I think. I also have to plan out the rest of my Tech career again so that I can register for the right classes for Fall too. So exciting. :-) Philip Today was Philip and I's 7th month anniversary. :-) We went to the Cheescake Factory. It was sooooooooo yummy! Then we had a scary encounter with a homeless guy. But it was o.k. He's on Spring Break this week. Lucky guy. He's also doing the Body for Life thing. I'm sooooooooooooooo proud of him!!!!!!!!!!! :-D Church Well, Teamon, my church, split up. That Sunday was a very, very sad day in my life. Part of me felt like someone had died, and the other part of me wanted to kill someone for doing what they did to Pastor John. For those of you that don't know, the dispute was over the doctrine of election. It started with the current deacons asking John to resign because they didn't agree with him on this doctrine. Well, it ended up going to a church-wide vote. We had a debate with an official moderator and everything. I have never in my life heard such STUPID, IGNORANT, and HATEFUL things said by "Christians" about such a wonderful man of God. One of the deacons gave his statement and decided to tell the church that Pastor John was trying to reform our church and the Reformation Celebration was proof of it. (Brief history: Last October, my church had a "Reformation Celebration" to celebrate Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformation, and the end of the Dark Ages instead of having a Halloween party or pointless Fall Festival thing.) Well, you all know me, I have no tolerance for stupidity, and I wasn't gonna stand for that. So, I got up and spoke in front of the church. I pointed out that the "Reformation Celebration" that we had was all about the PROTESTANT reformation and had absolutely nothing to do with John Calvin or Calvinism. And if it wasn't for that PROTESTANT reformation, then we would all be Catholic right now and buying indulgences to get out of purgatory early. I also stated that they were treating the word "reform" as if it was equivalent to Lucifer himself. I also reminded them that the main problem most of them have with Calvinist is that they are not evangelical. I reminded them that Pastor John was a FULL-TIME MISSIONARY before he came to our church. I think I said some other things too, but I can't remember. At the end of my little speech, my voice was really shaky and I'm not sure how strong I sounded. I was very upset, angry, nervous, and sad all at the same time. I was the 6th person to speak in favor of John, and then my mom spoke, and then they voted. The vote was 50-64 against John. Right after that, he resigned. Another thing that really makes me mad is that people that hadn't been to that church in years showed up that day and voted! How dare they!?!?! What right do they have?? Have they been giving their time, their money, their support to that church? NO! O.k., I have to quit talking about this or else I'll make myself really angry again. Last Sunday, John held a meeting at his house, and it was just a time to get together and mourn for Teamon and talk about how we felt and what our future plans are. Almost everyone said that my little speech I gave was the highlight of the whole morning. :-) It made me very happy. Now I've just been going to Philip's church cause they need me in the orchestra. I'm going to officially withdraw my membership at Teamon. I don't want my name associated with that church any longer. Anyways, I think that pretty much catches you all up on everything. I need sleep now. Night! 3 comments|post comment

This should be a good week [18 Feb 2003|01:30pm] [ mood | productive ] [ music | Tradmark - Relient K ] Well, I finally took that Calc III make-up test. There's a chance I might get it back in an hour, but I think that chance is very small. On the git.talk.flame newsgroup, they were talking about a really hard CS 2 test, and one guy had this to say: "Yeah I definately failed that test. Though it wasn't the hardest test i've had. Belinfante, Calc 3...yeah! master yoda says "Fail my class you will....uuuuuummmmmmm"" He said some other stuff, but it wasn't very nice (hence, why it's on .flame). Anyways, I already took the test, but I'm still scared. :'-( Oh well. I'll live. Maybe. I should be the only class I don't get an A in. I also turned it nuclear homework yesterday and made a 100 on a health test. All I have left for this week is some modern physics homework. Yay. Joe Millionaire had the best ending EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *freaks* I'm very pleased. I officially retract all my previous threats against the Fox network. O.k., I have to go to class now and finish unloading my car. post comment

They turned the water off in my dorm [11 Feb 2003|01:37pm] [ mood | accomplished ] [ music | Wake-up Call - Relient K ] Grrrrrr. And I don't even know why. I REALLY have to use the bathroom. I wonder if it's o.k.? It might have to be o.k. in a few minutes. :-\ FOX SHOULD DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY DIDN'T EVEN SHOW ANYTHING ON JOE MILLIONAIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That episode was completely pointless. Completely. Where is the Fox headquarters located? Cause someone's gonna end up going postal on them. You just don't get in the way of women and their Joe Millionaire. Stupid people. I'm boycotting Fox. Except of course for next Monday when the two-hour last episode comes on. :-) Grrrrrrrrrrr. My mommy came up last night and helped me move all the rest of my stuff. YAY!!! Thank you Mommy!!! So, now I'm completely moved and I can turn my key back in so that Housing will take me off their Ten Most Wanted list. My mommy is the best ever! She also brought me Captain D's. :-D O.k., a couple of weeks ago, where all my work almost killed me, I had to turn in two scholarship applications, and for one of the I had to write a really hard essay. And I'm going to post it here. You all need to write me comments and tell me how smart I sound. (Grandma, there is a little link in the bottom, right-hand corner of this box that says "post comment". You can click on that and write me a comment. Click on "Anonymous", then type something in the Subject box, and then type your message. You can even add a little icon.) O.k., here's my essay: Effective Usage of Probabilistic Risk Assessments In the past decade, the nuclear industry has been greatly impacted by the use of Probabilistic Risk Assessments (PRA). These PRAs, generated by anticipating causes for accidents, have transformed how nuclear plant operators and owners view risk. PRAs analyze possible accident progressions. They start with initiating events, such as a reactor trip, and all consequential actions. The majority of PRAs consider internal initiating events including flooding and loss of power and excluding events such as fire or earthquake. After the initiating events, the PRA process goes on to evaluate possible core damage frequencies (CDF). The last step in a PRA is to determine the probable amount of radioactive material released into the environment and how that would affect the surrounding land and population. The first PRA-type study was in 1975 and was the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Reactor Safety Study (WASH-1400). After that, the NRC performed a detailed study of five nuclear plants in the early 1980s and released the findings as NUREG-1150. The most important date, I think, in nuclear PRA history was 1988 when the NRC mandated completion of Individual Plant Examinations (IPEs) resulting in 74 PRAs submitted by 106 nuclear plants. This was the beginning of modern PRA usage and methods. Up until around 1992, and even today, PRAs focused mainly on CDF values and large early release frequencies (LERF). However, from 1993 through 1995, PRAs focused on the risks associated with floods and earthquakes. Recent PRAs focus more on scram rates, loss-of-coolant-accidents (LOCA) and whether or not the facility is operating at full power, or capacity. Due to the effective usage of PRAs by plant operators and owners, the average core damage frequency has decreased by over 60% in the past ten years. Also, the average industry capacity factor has increased from 73% to 89% along with a decreasing average scram rate of about 70% between 1992 and 2000. One plant learned that adding a small, onsite, diesel generator as an emergency back-up for the plant's electrical control systems reduced core damage frequency by 66%. There are many, many more examples of what individual plants have done by assessing risk using PRAs and engineering adequate solutions to greatly decrease risk. An article on PRAs in the January 2003 issue of Nuclear News states the results of PRAs being as follows: "1.) a new understanding of safety contributors and priorities; 2.) a demonstrated ability to improve safety while improving availability, reliability, and cost-effectiveness; and 3.) an opportunity to simplify plant regulation from deterministic to risk-informed and from prescriptive to performance-based." I believe an effective use of these results, especially the first two, is to use PRAs and statistics harvested from PRA studies in public relation programs. In my very short career as a nuclear engineering student, I have encountered many people skeptical of the safety and benefits of using nuclear technologies for power generation. If the nuclear power industry is to thrive in the U.S., it must have the support of the general population. Without the backing of the people, it is difficult, if not impossible, to pass legislation increasing government funding and research to continue the positive trend in nuclear reactor safety and efficiency. I believe PRAs and their resulting studies and statistics are a great tool to educate the voting public of the safety and benefits of nuclear energy. 1 comment|post comment

Philip [10 Feb 2003|06:08pm] [ mood | pleased ] [ music | Plain (Remix) - ZOEgirl ] Oh yeah, Philip brought me the most beautiful yellow roses a week or so ago when we went to go see Cats with his family. He also gave me the cutest stuffed bumble bee thing that says "Bee Mine" on it. He's so wonderful!!!!!! post comment

*sigh of relief* [10 Feb 2003|05:12pm] [ mood | relieved ] [ music | Coming Back to Life - Blindside ] Well, for those of you who don't know yet, I moved. I'm now in an apartment-dorm. Meaning I have my own room, I share a bathroom with one other person, and a kitchen and living room with four other people. It's actually a six-bedroom apartment, but there's still an empty room, so there's only five of us right now. I love having my own room. I actually have the biggest room in the apartment. I have three windows!!!!! Out one of my windows, I have a very pretty view of Midtown, and most of Downtown. My roommates are all a lot older than I am. But usually only juniors and seniors can get apartments, so they're almost always at least in their twenty's. They seem pretty cool though. Two of them are quiet, and two of them are loud. I'm kinda quiet, but I like to keep my door open. I've almost got all my stuff moved. I still have some in my old room though, and my mom is on her way now to help me get the rest of it. I don't have to pole vault up to my bed anymore either! :-) Grandma, you will be glad to know that it is normal height now. O.k., enough about my room. Well, one more thing. Kristen, we have a fooz ball table, a weight room, and AIR HOCKEY in the building! So :-P! Don't you have to go to the Student Center or something for that? I had two tests today. One in Modern Physics, and the other in Health. I'm not completely sure about the physics one. I think I did decent, but some of the stuff I had never seen. I probably made a low B, but I would bet that there is going to be a pretty good curve. I'm not too sure about the Health test either. Once again, some of the stuff I had never seen before. I would think I did average or a little better. I should know by Friday. I dropped my Engineering Economy class and my Circuits and Electronics class. Did I already post that? I made an 85 on my first NRE test. I'm o.k. with that. The average was a 72.5. I could've made a 100 if I had been there on time. Oh well. It's not the end of the world. I think an A is still very well within my reach. I'm going to see Blindside in concert Wednesday. They're just opening for Papa Roach, but I'm still very excited. :-D I also have a MSE quiz Wednesday. I'm not very excited about that. :-\ I also still haven't taken that calculus make-up test yet. I'm pretty scared of that too. :-( Fuzzy's sick. Fuzzy is never sick. GET BETTER FUZZY!!!!!!!!! *rubs bald spot* :-) O.k., I think I'm done. post comment

Almost there [31 Jan 2003|10:59am] The week is almost over. It's been one of the craziest ever. Today I had three tests. I was not ready for any of them, so I was just gonna skip the first and live with the consequences of the others. But then, when I woke up, I felt dizzy again. :-( I already e-mailed my teachers, and I can make up my calc test, and my MSE test just won't count anything towards my grade. So, it's all good. My mommy just dropped Fuzzy off at the airport and she's coming back to take me up to Tech so that I can get all this scholarship stuff finished. My mommy takes such good care of me. :-) Philip does too. Anyways, I had two scholarship applications due today, and I have been through hell and back dealing with people to get them to do what I need them to do in the amount of time that I have to have it in. I'll update more later about this week, but I think my mom is here, so I have to go now. post comment

Stupidness [27 Jan 2003|01:43am] [ mood | cranky ] [ music | City on a Hill - Salvador ] O.k., so I haven't been getting a whole lot better. So, I decided to do some research on this drug the doctor gave me called Biohist-LA. I found it here: http://www.usadrug.com/IMCAccess/ConsDrugs/CarbinoxamineandPseudoephedrinecd.shtml. Please note the common side effects: Nausea and dizziness. Now, why was I taking this drug?!?!!?!!!?!? NAUSEA AND DIZZINESS!!!! Not only that, but the stupid doctor told me it was an anti-histamine. However, it is not an anti-histamine, it is a pseudoephadrine. There is a difference. I'm so mad at that stupid woman. No wonder I still feel like crap. Stupid people should be shot. post comment

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