Random History: Organic Chemistry

The first time I was in college I didn’t put a lot of effort in to my classes. I mean, I did all the assignments, participated in class discussions, and generally performed well enough. I never tested very well, though, often getting poorer scores than the people I helped, but I was ok with that. Ok enough to not read the text books or learn how to study for tests. Until my senior year when I started Organic Chemistry. I got through the first term with my normal habits and received a B, but, by the second week of the second term, I knew I was in trouble! I dropped out and started over, even auditing the first term again. And this time, I used every resource available and learned how to STUDY!  Crazy!  I worked so hard at it, I couldn’t part with any of my materials … Until now.  Here are too many photos for anyone else to be interested in, but it was pretty significant for me.

The text book. Which I read, highlighted and wrote in:

The study guide for the text book. Which I read and did the activities in.   WOW.

My notebook, which held all my notes and completed activities.

My lab notebook.

The lab book.

  

This was an optional text to support with the lab. It was fun and easy to read and SO HELPFUL!

Window Frame Photo Display

We have a surround-sound system with large, black, speakers hanging in the middle of a big, white wall.  I think it looks cheap and tacky.  But I do love me some surround-sound!  I decided the best way to work with it would be to camouflage the speakers by creating a gallery of photos around them.  Here is one item I made to help with the disguise.  This window came off my aunt’s house and was free to me – woot!

With some scraping and primer …

and a finish coat of black

I have a cheap and attractive frame to contribute to my gallery!

Vintage Leathercraft Kit: “Let’s Do Modern Leathercraft In the Style of the Old West”

Several years ago, a friend of mine found this at a garage sale. Since I was playing with leather at the time, she got it thinking of me.  Some of the parts for the wallet I made for my husband came from this kit. I am working on finishing projects and reducing my supplies, so eventually, this kit will be used up and then I’ll probably recycle the box somehow, but I wanted to document it for posterity.  It’s a pretty comprehensive kit! And the cover illustrations crack me up.