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[Pnx]

Mm... not sure what system Pnx is working under, but here that would be a (just barely) failing grade, most of the time. Equivalent to a very high D, where it takes at minimum a C to pass in most cases.

And yeah, it's not the easiest of things, for most folks, to get to the point where poor performance in a particular incidence (or even series of them, or overall) isn't a demoralizing thing. Despite th'fact that demoralization just makes it worse

... chin up and all that, Pnx, best y'can. Do what'cha can to pass, and worry about performing well once the minimum's hit. Seemed to help me, anyway. Not that it helps much if you can't internalize it, but... best wishes, et al.

It's just barely failing, and my overall grade is currently barely passing, which is bad. I would really much rather keep my grade in the 90% range, but I don't think that's going to happen here.

I'm honestly worried with my life where it is that a B may endanger my future.

[lemon10]

Basic derivatives (eg. derivative of sin^-1(x)) are confusing me right now. It's been quite a while since I did them, so I am going to have to memorize them all again.

EDIT: Also made sad that in the US we still use pennies and don't really have 1 dollar coins in common circulation. And that when things are sold they don't legally have to include the sales tax in the price.

[Dutchling]

And that when things are sold they don't legally have to include the sales tax in the price.

I've read that's (partly) because taxes differ between states, while shops and ads tend to cover multiple states. So omitting sales taxes makes stuff a lot clearer.

Personally I blame Obama though.

[Frumple]

Sales tax can vary down to the city level here in the states, actually, and sometimes occur on top of a state sales tax. Modern inventory and whatnot being what it is, it's mostly laziness/tradition ("No one else does it, so neither will we") than anything regarding time or effort savings, though. Little bit of accounting simplification, but eh, that's what computers are for.

[itisnotlogical]

I literally cannot get into A Farewell to Arms for my IB English class. I have made myself read every single book in every English class up to this point, but I'm throwing in the towel here. Reading this book is like trying to eat paper. In the end, it'll probably be safer for my sanity if I just read the Spark Notes and skim sections. But it's a pretty big blow to my pride, considering that I've always tried to do everything "the right way" when it comes to assignments.

Also, last night is the first time in many weeks that I've gotten to bed at a decent hour. Guess what, I proceed to toss and turn and wake up sweating every few hours until I just give up.

[Xantalos]

I literally cannot get into A Farewell to Arms for my IB English class. I have made myself read every single book in every English class up to this point, but I'm throwing in the towel here. Reading this book is like trying to eat paper. In the end, it'll probably be safer for my sanity if I just read the Spark Notes and skim sections. But it's a pretty big blow to my pride, considering that I've always tried to do everything "the right way" when it comes to assignments.

Also, last night is the first time in many weeks that I've gotten to bed at a decent hour. Guess what, I proceed to toss and turn and wake up sweating every few hours until I just give up.

There's no shame in that; I couldn't read 30 words of Gatsby without getting dizzy or 30 words of Handmaid's Tale without falling asleep and I still bullshitted my way to excellence.
Then again IB English in general is learning how to bullshit sprinkled with essays.

[MrWillsauce]

Gatsby, really? That book's prose is really easy and enjoyable to read. I mean, I don't see why it would be harder to understand than any other modern English novel.

[Parsely]

Gatsby, really? That book's prose is really easy and enjoyable to read. I mean, I don't see why it would be harder to understand than any other modern English novel.

Its an easy read but I still hate that book to death.

And I gave up on not cheating a long time ago. I'm fine with it as long as I'm only doing it to shorten my work rather than skip something I don't understand.

EDIT: And once I stopped I realized how much of a prick I was being when I was occupying that moral high ground. It makes you look down on people. I didn't like that.

[itisnotlogical]

Gatsby, really? That book's prose is really easy and enjoyable to read. I mean, I don't see why it would be harder to understand than any other modern English novel.

Its an easy read but I still hate that book to death.

And I gave up on not cheating a long time ago. I'm fine with it as long as I'm only doing it to shorten my work rather than skip something I don't understand.

EDIT: And once I stopped I realized how much of a prick I was being when I was occupying that moral high ground. It makes you look down on people. I didn't like that.

I get the feeling that most of the other kids actually like me doing the assigned reading, because I'm pretty good at summarizing important sections for them. I'm surprised I haven't done this much earlier, Pride and Prejudice pretty well floored me last year.

[lemon10]

And that when things are sold they don't legally have to include the sales tax in the price.

I've read that's (partly) because taxes differ between states, while shops and ads tend to cover multiple states. So omitting sales taxes makes stuff a lot clearer.

Personally I blame Obama though.

Ads? Sure, it makes sense that they can't get those right when they are advertising over multiple cities/states.
But its completely different in stores. They are going to have to compute how much tax everything has anyway (when you actually buy it), so it seems to me that its more of a desire to not let people know how much they are actually paying on things (after all, if something says it costs 1.95 instead of 2.14 you are more likely to buy it since it seems cheaper). Any attempt to say that they just don't want to have to work out how much things actually cost (when they are going to do that anyways) seems like BS to me.

[Xantalos]

Gatsby, really? That book's prose is really easy and enjoyable to read. I mean, I don't see why it would be harder to understand than any other modern English novel.

The prose was okay and stuff but I drowned in the metric ton of shit I couldn't give about everybody in it.

[MaximumZero]

Gatsby, really? That book's prose is really easy and enjoyable to read. I mean, I don't see why it would be harder to understand than any other modern English novel.

The prose was okay and stuff but I drowned in the metric ton of shit I couldn't give about everybody in it.

That pretty much sums up my experience with it, too.

[EnigmaticHat]

I literally cannot get into A Farewell to Arms for my IB English class. I have made myself read every single book in every English class up to this point, but I'm throwing in the towel here. Reading this book is like trying to eat paper. In the end, it'll probably be safer for my sanity if I just read the Spark Notes and skim sections. But it's a pretty big blow to my pride, considering that I've always tried to do everything "the right way" when it comes to assignments.

Also, last night is the first time in many weeks that I've gotten to bed at a decent hour. Guess what, I proceed to toss and turn and wake up sweating every few hours until I just give up.

There's no shame in that; I couldn't read 30 words of Gatsby without getting dizzy or 30 words of Handmaid's Tale without falling asleep and I still bullshitted my way to excellence.
Then again IB English in general is learning how to bullshit sprinkled with essays.

I for one read every school book until I had to read Canterbury Tales in high school.  That was when I learned to bullshit, and I've never stopped.

I swear the worst thing that has ever happened to me academically was going to school.

[smirk]

Resisting the urge to write paragraphs on everything I enjoy about The Great Gatsby =P

I will say, though, that English classes have got to be one of the absolute worst ways to try to get people to read. I did the same skim-and-bullshit strategy all through high school, but in college started going through 'classics' on my own and found out quite a few of them are actually awesome. It's the reading-to-a-deadline and the command from on high to "extract meaning from this text NOW" that kills it for more than a few people, I think. Did for me anyway.

[lemon10]

We are on the edge of a epoch where human progress will not be limited by the human mind, nor human production limited by the human body. Where mortality is something that will exist in the third world for a short time, and soon after only in the history books. Where death itself will be conquered, and the stars explored in hundred year voyages. Where the secrets fall away, and the boundaries of human knowledge approach the very limits of what can be known from within the universe.

I am sad because my parents probably won't live to see it. Like many things in life it isn't impossible (especially depending on the year we get functional immortality), just unlikely. And like most things in life, it means that it probably won't happen.