It's official. I am now enrolled in a new university for something different than what I've been doing the past four years. "Interdisciplinary" Classical Studies. It feels a lot like starting over, since I couldn't get my degree in computer science, but I'll roll with the punches, I guess. I think it will be better for me in the long run, because I know for a fact that I don't have what it takes to make it through Calculus II. I already have all my programming credits, so I can put on my resume that I know how to program. It's better than nothing.
I have to learn latin for this, so I'm trying to get a head-start and self-study over the summer. I have had really tough luck finding free latin textbooks, but I found a shop on Etsy that sells a USB flashdrive with 150 latin textbooks for $17. I bought it today. They're all super old, but I figure that the Latin language hasn't really changed much between 1928 and today. (1928 being the threshold for the public domain). I'll pay $17 instead of spending 6 hours hunting down all these books myself.
My birthday is around the corner. I can't really think of anything I want and I'm not very materialistic, but my parents asked me to think something up. I know that, if I ask them not to get me anything, they will just give me something stupid like a brain-rot self help book or a mug. I do not need more mugs. So, I asked for a Latin Vulgate Bible, since I'm learning latin I figure it could be a fun read. They're pretty repulsed by Catholicism, so I question if they'll even consider my request, but that's really the only thing I could think of. I also need some highlighters and I'm out of pencils.
My illness isn't any better. Still takes me hours to fall asleep, still awaken feeling exhausted. I'm choosing to remain hopeful. Maybe we'll find the miracle medication. I think learning latin will be a lot easier when I'm sleepy than learning trigonometry. Time will tell.
Something I do find disappointing is that the program doesn't offer Classical Greek. I have read that Koine Greek is a subset of Classical Greek in that it is a simplification of it. The New Testament was written in Koine, as was Epictetus' Dialogues. It would be interesting to read them. That being said, I will be happy to be able to read Lucretius, Ovid, Caesar, Cicero, etcetera.
In other news, I made a small fun purchase recently -- a "mystery bag" of dice. It's going to have a full set of dice (d4, d6, d10, d12, d20), and it will be a mystery style. They might be glittery, or swirly. They could be blue, pink, red, rainbow. Anything is possible. This is much needed for my Christian cleromancy, as I have lost so many dice recently that I'm beginning to run out.
Recently, I ordered a gift for a friend. It was his 27th birthday last week, and he really likes Pokemon cards, so I bought a sealed Japanese booster pack and a full-art holographic Pikachu. I look forward to giving them to him, I know he'll really like it.
The Duolingo leaderboard is a lot of fun. Currently I'm in the Obsidian league -- so close to Diamond!!! I just gotta finish top three in Diamond just once and then my life will be complete. (I wonder if I try super hard if I will be able to finish #1... maybe it's foolish of me to even entertain the thought, only time will tell.)