Seasons of Change

Continuing from yesterdays post about my graduation, I noticed I didn't say that much about it. My bad, but there isn't much to say except that it was at the University's auditorium. The five first rows was filled with graduating students taking magister degrees, bachelor's degree, socionoms and others I can't remember (or actually care about frankly). The rest was friends and family. The student union leader hold most of the ceremony and there were two members of the faculty there, each of them giving a speech. A couple of beautiful songs in between the different groups getting their apples. Yes, glass apples, everyone got one. Everything went on as usual, except when one of the socionom groups went forward and one kid started crying and screaming with all power he could muster in his lungs. Probably 10 years old or so. Kinda disruptive. And I usually have this belief that children shouldn't be allowed into the public room. So you can probably guess how I felt. Of course, I think my neighbor couldn't decide what was worst, the kid or me, twisting and turning in agony of the constant screaming. The interesting thing is that the following song contained the lyrics "and I can't stand screaming children". It's hard to not laugh at that coincidence.

So after everyone got their apple it was out, get a slice of cake and a cup of coffee, talk with some of the others, then it was of. A bit sad that there was no other of my other friends, but that couldn't be helped. At least I recognized  4-5 others so I wasn't completely alone, but it was still not the same. Funny enough I'm still lingering at the university, trying to get a job. Lords know where thou. A very depressing thought to be the last, but then I've always been the one to quickly settle down. Of course there isn't very deep roots since they've already left so what is keeping me? Still, I have at least a couple of months before the sword materializes above me and I will be forced upon direction whether I like it or not. At least spring has finally come to relieve us from the cold.

Fruit of Melancholy

Been a bit busy the latest couple of days. With what you ask? I graduated this saturday and I now have a glass apple standing in my bookshelf. After 5 years of studies it feels like a let down somehow. Anyway, that just occupied one day of the whole week. The rest have been a trip into ancient memories of a childhood long gone. First an adventure scaling the world tree in order to save the elves from a meteor spreading its poison across the world. Yes, it was an old NES game, Faxanadu which we never finished since none of us understood what we were supposed to do, a bit hard when you didn't spoke English. Usually I just made up a story as I played. Of course, you could always force your way thru, but for some reason that never happened (it might have been that I easily got frightened by the really weird monsters roaming the game). So after 10 years since last time it was the right moment to strike back. And I did, but my own story elements would have been much better.

But the high point of this weekend (and beginning of the week as well) was the King's Quest-series, 1 - 6. If Faxanadu was hard to understand if you didn't knew english that well, King's Quest was almost impossible. Maybe not the first and second one (with exception for the damned cryptic Rumpelstiltskin puzzle), but the third and onward really needed you to understand the English languish. Of course, you always had the thick instruction manual to help you, not only help, but also make it possible to finish some of the game due too Sierras use of an interesting copy-protection. Easy enough right? No, it wasn't that easy, for some reason our instruction book was in French. Yeah, unfortunately I took German in school. But this meant I couldn't play either the third or forth game since you used the book to make spells in third and being allowed to start the fourth game.

It probably wouldn't have helped either if I could have read it, to frightening with all the instant death sequences. The fourth game wasn't even working for some reason either. So the only games I had a chance to finish (I thought at least) was the fifth and sixth game. The fifth game I did at least come half-way, the problem was the desert. I don't know way, but I didn't dare venture into it. That would have been the easiest one to get, just make a damn map and go for it, but NO, I didn't dare, instead I went into the damn witch forest several times and got killed of. The sixth game then? I played it almost flawlessly and got all things and talked to everyone, but then I got stuck at how to climb the damn Cliffs of Logics where you needed, you guessed it, the instruction book to finish. WTF!

What's the deal you might ask with a 24/7 internet at ones disposable? Not then, so when I finally got my hands on the games I could easily break thru these problems. But guess my frustration when I, for example finally got the fourth game to finally run on my computer and I'm met by the message "at page X, phrase Y write word Z". I obviously didn't ask my parents to bring the book since, it was in French, and that I didn't think I would use it. Thank God for the Internet!

Falling

Pride comes before the fall

I like that proverb for some reason, it so easily describes mankind's inherent fault in seeing themselves above others and starting to fly and then fall back to the ground as they didn't see the obvious problem with it. Apparently it's also biblical, who knew. Also it has something to do that I constantly fall prone toward this one. I often take pride in that I see myself as an intellectual and huge capacity to feed myself new knowledge. A pity that my results doesn't show that. Yes, we got back the first sociology exam and what do you know... a G. Don't get me wrong, it's nice not to have to redo it again (like the macroeconomics that is due to April), but after all that studying and actual understanding for what I read it's a bit hard not get the corresponding grade since I completely suck at writing exam (it seems according to my track-record)... and maybe my cocky attitude in that I "know everything". What do you mean I'm bragging to much about nothing?

The funny thing though is that most people seemed to have done decently well and it wouldn't surprise me that I actually lies at the bottom tier of the class, except that those I've spoken too probably think I have a much better number. Especially compared to someone who (got a VG by the way) that ask me how it went, and I frankly said it didn't go as planned but with a smile and she just said I had to high expectations. I wouldn't call getting VG to high, not after studying for 5 years and still fail on writing long enough answers on the exam (I got 24 points by the way, of 39 and 21 is the lowest G, 30-31 VG). She probably think I got a lot better, but not full score... actually, that feels like a good start for this course since we are discussing the deceiving human who put on a masquerade in order to hide or give the impression of a certain ability. And I seem to pull of the "all-knowing and wise" character so that might... *scroll up to the top*... yeah, I probably should shut my mouth before I jump from even higher ground.