Well, this has been an interesting last few weeks. I've had several interesting ups, downs, and "Errr... both? Neither?"

Probably most important, at least by most people's standards--I got tested for any learning disabilities I might have. Basically I got my head examined and they found nothing concluded that yep, something unusual's going on in there. I was hoping for a diagnosis, but nope, they just look long enough to determine if a student needs accommodations, and if so, what. The most I remember about the "okay, here's what we know" meeting is that... I have definite memory problems. T_T Yeah. Thanks, I kinda noticed that. Yet even though I ASKED, I don't get to use notes on tests! I do get extended test time, which would have been nice back when I had the occasional essay test... in my lone class now, Biology, it's almost entirely multiple choice. At least I also get to take tests in a "distraction-reduced" environment (I am my own distraction, but that's another story).

What really makes me wonder is that they said I don't read very well. Whaaaaat? I've been reading since I was three, and learned to read in Japanese without all that much trouble (that I remember...). Then again, I am just starting to realize that my reading comprehension is on the low side, so maybe that's what's being referred to. Whatever, I don't know... next month or so, I start using a screen-reader to help me study. Let's see if it helps. The problem with THAT is that apparently I have to take yet another class to learn how to use the thing... uh, yeah, I LIVE on my laptop. I think I can figure out a new program!

I also got lent an AlphaSmart to take notes on, since aforementioned laptop is awesome, but a bit heavy for me to actually carry around. For those who have NO idea what I'm talking about, it's pretty much a full-sized (or close to it) keyboard with a 1" x 6" screen attached. It displays all of four lines of text, but in about size 12 font, so it's fairly easy on the eyes... despite the green-and-black LCD display being slightly reminiscent of the original Game Boy. It has a spell check, which is nice, but you can't add words to its dictionary. Then again, it can only hold eight files of up to ten pages each--yeesh, how many KB of memory is that?! Obviously, it's pretty simple; to get familiar with it, I used it to type this entry! I was told they're like PDAs, but I don't know... for one, every PDA I've ever SEEN had more memory and functions than this by far. If anything, AlphaSmarts seem like a throwback to the original laptops, which looked and functioned pretty much exactly like this...

(Edited after transferring to my own computer: also, it transfers text at maybe twice the speed that I can type it. >_< Which is also reminiscent of the first-ever laptops.)

...I think I just wrote my longest nonfiction journal entry to date, online or off. If you're still reading, have a cookie! Anyway, the other thing I learned recently was that actually, I CAN indeed still draw! I can't do realistic-style to save my life, but anime-style is EASY. My comprehension of perspective is still lacking, but I can kinda get around it, and models help. I finally did use Sims 2 as a make-a-model program! All I have so far is line art, but I've done something like five pictures in less than 24 hours. For me, that's freaking AMAZING. I'll see if trying to color them gets me anywhere (I also suck at shading), and if not--anybody miss their old coloring books? ;-)