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It's been a busy week. Final exams were yesterday and today, and now the semester is over. It's winter break, and my senior year is halfway through.

Yesterday I had my exams for Economics and Calculus. The Economics one was really easy because the teacher had given us a list of all the questions on the exam as a study guide. I think I did very well.

I worried more about the Calculus exam. The teacher said it would be structured like an AP exam, and it basically was, except it was only multiple choice. The first part (no calculators allowed) was very easy, but the second part (calculators required) was harder. I think my grade on the exam came down to how I did on a handful of those questions. The good thing is that I have an A in the class, and so that will be my grade for the semester. Since Calculus is a year-long class, the trials and tribulations aren't over yet. But hey: no homework over the break!

Today I had exams in English and Anatomy and Physiology. The English exam was pretty easy, except for a few things. For one thing, some of the questions were about things that we didn't read. Luckily, we were able to use the book because the questions on the exam involved higher-level thinking -- there would be no easy answers in the book. The other thing was that I had to write two essays. I got them done with a few minutes to spare. Almost everyone finished before me. I don't know how they managed to write the essays so fast. Maybe they didn't.

The Anatomy and Physiology exam was the other exam (besides Calculus) that I had been preparing a lot for. The other day, Dr. Singkornrat, the teacher, took the class down to the library because we weren't really doing anything, and she said that she would go over the contents of the exam with anyone who wanted to listen. Only two people bothered, myself being one of them. As a result, I found out exactly what I needed to know for the exam. It turned out to be pretty handy.

Since I have money this Christmas season, I thought it would be nice to buy gifts for my friends. I think I usually buy gifts for a few of my friends, but I decided to broaden the gift-buying experience this year. So today I gave out about nine gifts to my friends (it was supposed to be ten, but Gilbert was MIA). It might have been a mistake to bring two huge bags filled with presents to school, but I didn't want to do it over several days because people might feel left out or something. Since my teachers have hardly been naughty this semester, I decided to give each of them a treat also: a candy cane with a personalized ribbon tied around it. (Eat your heart out, Martha Stewart.) For Mr. Gates, my Calculus teacher, I included a couple of pencils because he always needs those. All of my teachers were grateful to receive their candy canes, even though I think some of them are diabetic or obsessed with watching their weight. Oh well.

In college news: Last week or something, I got accepted to FSU, my second choice. I must say that their acceptance letter and the stuff that came with it were much fancier than the stuff that UF sent -- it even included a fancy certificate of acceptance, and the letter is genuinely signed by the director of admissions (who also actually wrote "Congratulations Jordon!" on the letter). FSU has also been sending me e-mails, whereas UF sent none other than to confirm that they had received my application. But anyway, I've decided that UF is better for me, and that's why I applied under the terms of the Early Decision contract. I'll have to withdraw my application from FSU soon. But it's good to know that I could have been able to go to FSU if I had been rejected by UF.

I'm reminded of a joke that I heard from Kelsey and/or Kristen:

The New Yorker reports on the economic effects of Christmas gifts.

On YouTube: Nixon resignation outtakes!

One year ago: "But I like practically every movie I see, so that's not saying much."
Two years ago: "5 cool points to the PSAT."