Classes have begun, and as such, I have less time to put up stupid posts that nobody reads. Anyway, I am taking a topology course, which so far has been nothing new, but this professor doesn't seem to get that this is a grad course and he shouldn't be giving us two assignments/week, especially when it mostly amounts to busy work, since it's stuff we've seen before, but I think maybe he just underestimated how many people have heard of closure operators, or really topology in general (it uses an undergrad book). I am also taking a prob/stat class, which is also pretty boring and elementary thus far, and it is notable basically only because I don't want to buy the book because it has nothing new for me (or really most people), but I need the problems out of it, so I need to MacGyver a solution somehow. I am also taking an ODE class. For those of you who don't know what ODE stands for, it means Awkward Russian guy talking for three straight hours and there not being a projector, which he did not anticipate, leading him to have to hold up papers with figures on them. So-so.

I know I am complaining about things, but this is probably the last time I will do it, and that's what blogs are for, anyway. The worst part is that there is one guy who is in all my classes and constantly complains to me about how the classes are too easy and that "graduate students shouldn't be allowed to take these classes because they are too easy." Maybe a direct quote. I realize I am complaining about the same thing, sort of, but I don't really mind them being too easy. I am more annoyed by having to do homework, but it's not like it takes a huge amount of time. I'm more more annoyed by students (and professors!) who think classes are beneath them. Students, if it is too easy for you, don't take it! You'll be here for years, and there will be more challenging stuff later. I'm taking classes just to get the credits, at least mostly. Professors, don't fall all over yourself trying to prove that you know more about the subject than we do. If we didn't accept that as a first principle, we wouldn't sign up for your class! Also, don't dismiss legitimate questions about what your arbitrary notation means (not my question, even), especially when you don't define it, and when you choose to use non-standard symbols!

Anyway, that is the report from the front lines. All quiet on the western front.