I’m now 16/24ths done with my ActionScript seminar. That’s right, two days down…and I’ve learned a lot so far. I’m not very thrilled with the seminar format. Basically we are just going through examples from a book…spending a lot of time simply typing code from the book into Flash and figuring out what it’s doing. I think what I’ll have to do is think of a fun project to work on and code up a work of art. That seems to be the best way to learn a programming language…or at least that’s what E says. I’d agree. I became proficient in PHP and MySQL in a week or so just by making a project for myself…hopefully I’ll get some free time to mess around with ActionScript in the same way.

So far I prefer PHP to ActionScript. I know they’re used for different things, but I just feel like PHP gives more control in a straightforward manner, whereas Flash is pretty but is harder to use. Perhaps I’ll get used to it as I continue working…

I think I’m starting to get in shape. I just ran more than 3 miles…and it felt good. It’s weird, I’m getting in shape, yet I’m sleeping with less regularity than normal. I would expect it to be opposite. I’ve been waking up at weird times…2 AM & 6 AM in the last two evenings. I think it’s because I didn’t run those days, so my body did feel like I deserved (needed?) sleep. Either way, it feels good to not be completely tired after 2 miles. I can feel my body stregthening, and that’s exciting.

I think the part of my marathon training that I really need to pay attention to is training myself to have some patience. I constantly up my running speed so I can get to the finish line sooner…but that won’t work when I run a really long distance. I need to train my legs to slow down a little bit and save energy for the long haul. Sometimes taking it slow is the hardest part…

In other news, I presented a paper on State-dependent memory in aerobic exercise this evening. I think it went well. I’m sure I said some things the professor didn’t agree with, but I think playing devil’s advocate is good to a point. It wasn’t my best presentation ever, but I’m happy with my performance. It leaves room for improvement on the final presentation.

I feel like I’ve been so busy lately. I think things will start to clear up after my presentation next Tuesday. Sometimes I’m just really antsy, and I need to tell myself to calm down. So, calm down! 🙂 I’ll be back with more in a few days…