Well, the journal has been neglected again lately, but there is not really much to report. I received a couple of interesting emails this week. One was from a fellow super senior in Buffalo, NY who also has a web page for his Super Senior comic strip. I found that amusing to think that someone else is going through similar things.
I know there are a lot of us here at UofI who are frantically preparing for the CPA exam. Although the exam is still over three months away, I have already paid my money ($300) and reserved a hotel room in Peoria, IL. I try not to get too stressed out over the studying. There is plenty of time, I tell myself. But we did have a sort of practice exam yesterday morning. It tested everything that we have covered to this point. Everyone is shooting for a 75% or so, because that is what it takes to pass the real exam. Sounds easy right? Well, I thought I did all right on the practice test. They gave us the answers as we walked out the door. I figure that I got just under 75% depending on how they grade my essays. This is not good. If I can only get 75% of that material now, just think how poorly I will do on that section some May...
But I continue to study. I am rediscovering lots of my old study hang-outs. I realize that I used to study a lot my first couple years of school here. I have been frequenting the union, library, coffee shops, anywhere to find some good quality study time. There is also this helpful software that allows us to take tests on the computer. I always plan to use that at work, but instead I end up playing with internet stuff. Like today, I have been here for three hours and haven't accomplished too much.
The parents are coming over this evening to take me out for shopping (groceries) and dinner. I have been keeping in touch with them much better since coming back from Japan. It is interesting to watch the family evolve after the kids move out. Our house is still pretty much the same. They haven't remodeled our rooms or anything. Our Christmas tradition and other things stay the same too. However, my parents have moved into altogether new hobbies over the last few years. It is nice to see them enjoying life-after-kids, although I think they were a little confused about it at first. As I was talking to Dad last night, he mentioned that he wants to take up reading for pleasure. He might read "Into Thin Air" which I recently read. He is definitely a more pleasant person when he has something to occupy his time.
I haven't had much time for free reading in years, but I am reading some interesting stuff for my literature class now. I just finished reading a short play called "Spring Awakening." It is about the sexual innocence (ignorance) of adolescents in turn-of-the-century Germany which leads to one suicide and another death. Not the most realistic book, yet it still transports one to another time and place:true story-telling.
I also saw "Farewell My Concubine" the other night at the Union. It was not what I was expecting, but definitely a story to think about. Considering my lack of knowledge of Chinese history, I had to think a lot for this one. The next movie on my list is Kundun (Save Tibet!).
I was having some real internal struggling with why I should take the CPA exam, but I guess I have resigned to the necessity. Seniors who don't have jobs or life-plans might envy my position (okay, nobody envy's the position of someone taking the CPA), but I almost wish that I didn't have something concrete to do next year. Anyway, I guess this is a problem I will struggle with for a while. But I can't deny that I must study for this exam. Back to work.