Interesting accomplishment of the day: Having someone seriously think that my friends and I were drunk when we hadn't had a single sip of anything but water. And we only stayed at the party for about 5 minutes... We just wandered around for awhile and ended up in a friend's room, where much hilarity ensued. It was amazingly fun, though my abs hurt from laughing so much.

My toenails are no longer black. *tear*

I just got back from Target. It was cool, mainly for one simple reason: The escalator. First off, I've never seen a 2-story tall Target... But this one did have 2 stories, which meant it had an escalator. This raises a problem: How does one get the shopping cart down or up? Solution: Construct a cart escalator. It's actually more of a conveyor belt thing that reminded me of the way a roller coaster is set up, but it was still immensely neat. We were all very impressed.

Registration was today. It was a pretty painful process. One, it was incredibly hot, and we were waiting in line for awhile. Two, once we got into Sharples and started signing up for stuff, it was basically organized chaos. Thank goodness that from now on we register online... They just like to torture the freshman this once for tradition's sake, it seems.

Anyway, here are the classes I'm taking:

English 006F: Narrative and Confession (Tues and Thurs, 2:40-3:55)
Latin 001: Intensive 1st Year Latin (Mon and Fri, 9:30-10:20; Tues and Thurs, 9:00-9:45)
Psych 001: Intro to Psych (Tues and Thurs, 9:55-11:10)
Philosophy 001 02: Classic and Contempary Topics (Mon, Wed, Fri, 10:30-11:20)
Aikido (Mon and Wed, 7:30-8:40 pm)

I didn't get my first choice philosophy class, but everything else worked out pretty well.

After registration I went to the bookstore and got my books... Not having a science or math class rocks, because my books are so much cheaper. So I got those, then decided to head back to the dorm to drop them off. As I left the bookstore, it was thundering. I was hoping that the ran would hold off for at least 15 minutes so I could get back to my room. It didn't. I got drenched. Luckily, my bookbag passed the water-resistance test... Everything in there stayed dry. And my plastic shopping bag filled with books also held up, thankfully. Still, it wasn't a fun walk.

It seems to have stopped raining now. Yay! One walk in a downpour each day is plenty for me.

Okay, things I did not do today: Take various placement exams, attend the pre-law, pre-med, pre-whatever else meetings, go watch The Goonies, and party at a frat. Things I did do: Checked out my mailbox, went to a meeting about classes and requirements and such, played a quiz game, got a free plant, got a free mug and some ice cream, went to a Quaker-style collection meeting, got into a semi-political discussion that morphed into pure randomness involving lending libraries and computer programs, went to a kick-ass open mic night, and had about 10 people in my room just sitting around and talking for at least 2 hours. All in all, today was a very good day...

I'm loving it here. The people here are amazing. I've also discovered that I'm pretty sucky at actually starting conversations and making introductions and such... But if I'm with someone else who initiates things, after a few minutes I'm fine. So I suppose it all works out in the end.

A note on the amazing people... Open mic night. My god. It was fantastic. Very humbling, too... I happened to have a notebook in my bag, so I whipped that out and jotted down some thoughts while in utter awe of my classmates' talents... "Sitting at open mic night made me feel way out of my league. I cannot write or sing... I will never be able to play guitar or perform. I can appreciate what others do... But what can I do? I am small in comparision; I am simple-minded, with tired phrases and empty verses unable to compete with their visions, the way they string their words together so smoothly and effortlessly. So I shall sit at the table, admire and applaud... I fade into the background, fade to black as they are front and center, shining in the spotlight."

So that's that... It's past 3 am now. I kind of want to sleep... But I think I still have some emails that I should send... Hmm. I think they shall be delayed until tomorrow (technically later today, but oh well)... Yeah, I'll hopefully do that tomorrow.

2nd day as a Swattie. I purchased a longer Ethernet cable, so I'm actually typing this while sitting at my desk. Woohoo! Other than that, I've been doing various orientation stuff, mostly. I have also aquired a free plant and a free mug, and sat in the largest Adirondack chair I have ever seen (Seriously, it's huge... you can fit 3 people side by side... And the seat is 4 feet or so off the ground... It's just a giant chair...).

Last night was pretty fun, too. My roommate and I were just sitting around talking when we heard an unearthly noise. We went out into the hall to investigate, and we found it was coming from the room across from us, where one of the guys was cutting some styrofoam packing. We got to talking, his roommate came back, and we all ended up going to the dining area of the dorm to try out the ping-pong and air hockey tables that are there, and to check out the collection of random books that have apparently just been left there. We seemed to be the only people still up on our floor, even though it was only 12:30 or so... I guess everyone else decided to get some rest before their placement tests or something.

That leads me to another thing: Yay for not having to take placement tests! I have apparently met my foreign language requirement (nevermind the fact that I can't really speak Spanish after taking it for 4 years and a summer), and my AP math tests can serve as placement tests should I ever desire to take another math class. So I got to sleep a little later than everyone else, and then I enjoyed a refreshing cold shower. Yes, cold... The hot water is not cooperating in my dorm, and it seriously sucks. Hopefully the problem will be solved soon. I'd at least like lukewarm water...

And that's about all for now.

So I'm finally at Swat. Yay, mostly. There have been some minor problems -- my Ethernet cable is too short to stretch all the way to my desk (7 feet sounds much longer than it actually is), so I have to balance my computer on a chair and sit on the floor, which is none too comfortable. And I stubbed my toe about 5 times on said chair while I was moving in.

Nonetheless, I am enjoying it. My roommate is great, my RA is very nice, and all of the people I've met so far (including administrators) are pretty cool. The 13 minute walk from my dorm to campus is not quite as bad as I feared... And the overall coolness of the dorm (large rooms, nice people, an air hockey table, etc) make up for it.

Of course, all of this is based on about 13 hours spent on campus. My perceptions may change as the week progresses and when classes start next week. Until then, though, I'm very happy to be here.

I finally cried. Throughout all the other goodbyes, I was fine... But this one, the most dreaded of the goodbyes, was too much for me. I'm sure that the stress of all the packing (and the frustrating realization that I really have way too much stuff) played a part in it. But I doubt it was that big of a part. The truth is, this is going to be hard. Really hard. But I knew that. I knew that seven months ago.

Hmm. I just remembered there's a Portishead song called "Seven Months"... It doesn't really relate to this situation all that much, but it's still a damn good song.

*sigh* Back to what I was saying (typing?)... I guess it isn't true that I knew it was going to be this hard. First, there was the question of whether we'd even make it this far. Because when most of your relationships last a month and the longest has been five months, seven months seems very far off. But now the seven month mark has past... And I have become quite attached. I don't think I have ever dreaded saying goodbye as much as I did tonight. I think it was worse than moving, or leaving WFC, or anything else I've experienced. It's not a "see you tomorrow" kind of goodbye, but it's also not a permanent farewell... It's in-between, which makes it so much more difficult to cope with. You know you'll be seeing the person again, so you can look forward to that... But it's far enough off that it's very bittersweet. And all the things that take the place of actual personal contact -- letters, email, phone calls, etc -- are wonderful, but there's just something missing. You can't give a heart-felt hug over the phone. And though I am a huge believer in the power of words and writing and communication and all, there is also a great deal to be said about the power of physical contact as well. I suppose it can be viewed as another form of communication, but it's not one that retains all of it's worth when translated into the written or spoken word. So it's absence will be indeed be felt.

I'm beginning to babble. I need to go sleep. I have a fun car trip to look forward to tomorrow, with the lovely company of parents who don't seem to be on the best of terms right now. Fantastic. I shall be spending most of my time sleeping, reading, or listening to music. I think it's the safest way to go, given the circumstances.

I'm beginning to think that I have too many shoes... At the same time, I don't want to part with any of them. So off to school they shall go.

My mom is insanely cool. Ever since Chip had part of his ear removed, I've been saying how we should get him an eyepatch and an earring, so he can be a pirate bunny. She wasn't into the idea... But today she mended Paco the Packrat's tail (he was involved in an accident with the vaccuum cleaner a few months back), and when she gave him back to me, he had a bandage on his tail and an eyepatch! Sorry if I'm regressing back into grade school, but it was really nifty. And I'm easily amused. Whee.

Tomorrow is the major packing day. Oh joy.

The photo albums are done. Yay. None of them are actually coming with me to school... But I figured I had better get the task over with. And now it's done.

I had lunch with my father today. It was *so* much fun. Who wouldn't want to spend 45 minutes awkwardly fiddling with their napkin while answering an insane number of questions? And then be given a letter with advice in it... Advice that the man does not at all follow himself... Gah. The letter of advice from my brother was fine... I actually really appreciated it, since he had just graduated college and knew there were things he should've done differently. The one from my father, though, is just basically recycled from the ones he gave my brothers, I bet. Though I got the personal touch of him wanting me to keep God in my heart and keep an open mind about Christianity. *mutters* Good grief. Because I'm just a poor misguided youth who hasn't thought through anything at all before reaching a decision.

Okay, I think I'll stop now. I could go on for a very long time... But I really don't think I should.

Most of my energy from before is gone... I'd like to take a nap, but all I can think about is all the stuff I still need to do. Finish cleaning room, finish sorting through MP3s, do various odds and ends, do laundry, pack clothes, pack everything else... Eek.

The adrenaline is definately starting to build for me. At least, that's what my mother is claiming, since I was up until almost 2 am going through photos, labeling them, and putting them into albums. And then I woke up around 7:30 and started up again... And I've been chasing my pets around with a camera, trying to get pictures of them. I don't know if it's adrenaline... I think I may just be crazy.

Trillian is my new best friend. And I still have way too much packing to do. That's all for now.

The not-quite teary, but still sad, farewells have begun. There are a handful of people that I will miss very much. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to Swarthmore, and my excited nervousness is definately building. Eek and yay and all those other odd noises.

But the group hug after dinner did indeed tug at my heart. *sigh* I'm going to miss you guys.

Being paranoid about something that never happens is frustrating enough. Getting over the paranoia, and then having the thing happen... That just sucks beyond belief.

I seem to be rather popular this week... Lots of people (my dad, some friends, my mom, a friend of my mom...) want to do stuff with me before I leave for college. I feel oh-so-special.

After my mom and I picked through his discarded CDs, my brother took the remaining ones to sell. I tried to toss in a few of mine, but he refused to be seen with them. I can't say I blame him. *shudder* I blame middle school for my horrible judgement. At least I never owned a boy band CD... That's got to count for something, right?

I'm awake, and I'm not really sure why. I've beem up for almost an hour already... God. It's a sure sign that summer is winding down when I start to lose the ability to sleep for 12 hours at a time. Though I did go to bed fairly early (before 1 am!), and I did get about 8 hours of sleep. So it's not that weird for me to be up, I guess. Still...

I went ahead and painted my toenails black, so now my feet look very sexy. La!

My brother just sorted through his CDs and decided to get rid of some of them. This means that I just acquired a free copy of the soundtrack to Rent, among other things. Booyah.

It's official. My dorm at Swat, Mary Lyons, has a reputation of being the sci-fi/fantasy/weird dorm. Score.

My printer is now hooked up with my laptop. Yay. The printer is also a copier/scanner, which is cool because it still didn't cost any more than a decent printer usually does. Another bonus: It looks like a toaster oven. Seriously. I love it. Now all I have to do is get the computer to recognize my PDA. Great fun.

I'm going to attempt to burn the MP3s onto a CD again. This time I'm going for a more fool-proof method, so hopefully all will be well.

I'm feeling much less angsty now, though I'm still liminal. And I have a strong urge to paint my toenails black before I leave for Swat.

So I tried to access eleventy-one.net just now, and it won't let me. My laptop will let me, but this computer will not. Hmm. So Jonathan, apparently my family's computer just hates you. Sorry. But on the plus side, your site has not been outlawed in Illinois.

Time is ticking down. I still have so much to do. Gah... I wish this was all over and done with. I hate this in-between, not quite done here, haven't started there feeling. It's such a... (damn it, I don't want to use this word, but those 3 weeks at WFC are forcing me)... liminal state. Jesus.

There is, however, one thing that I'm sure of. I will keep in touch with people. Because I miss the friends that drifted away when they went off to school last year. And I'm feeling it all over again right now. That's why I'm paranoid about my empty inbox lately. Because, yeah, I haven't lost all contact with her. And she's the same distance away, and in a week she'll be practically next-door, at least in comparision to now. So why do I feel like she's up and vanished and left me and god knows who else behind? And the instant I let that thought into my head, I get pissed off at myself. I feel like some sort of mother hen who can't let go. I'm used to her telling me things -- not everything, but at least enough that I somehow felt... I don't know, important to her. But that's just stupid, I suppose. Because she said herself that she doesn't want her relationships to be vital to her, that she won't need anyone anymore. And thinking that perhaps I was an exception to that rule in any way, shape, or form was presumptuous and arrogant and naive and above all, just plain dumb.

Yeah. That little rant made me feel a bit better. Forgive the angst, folks, but I'm feeling a wee bit miffed at the moment, and perhaps just a smidge bitter. No big deal. Life goes on, and all that.

Whee.

This post is the very first one from my new laptop. I feel so very proud.

I took down the link to Claudia's old blog, since she's started up a new one. Other than that, nothing exciting to say. I'm going to continue to play on my laptop now.

Back from the trip. Got to see all 3 of my grandparents, as well as one of my aunts. Yay. No major scenes took place. Double yay. I kicked some serious butt in Rummikub. Woohoo. (Thought I was going to say yay, didn't you? Ha!)

So the trip was fine... Still, it was obvious that my grandmother still isn't doing all that well. I should note that it's not a nursing home that she's on the waiting list for: it's an assisted care living center. So it's more independent than the nursing home... But it is affiliated with it. Anyway, the subject was not brought up this visit, but I think once I'm up at school it will be. So... Yeah, I'm glad I won't be here for that.

Went shopping as well. I went into a Journeys shoe store and managed to keep the tradition going (said tradition being that I always seem to get hit on by their employees). This time, though, the guy was like 7 feet tall (seriously, he towered over me), and he wasn't quite hitting on me. I think he was just a damn effective salesman. I asked about a pair of sandals, and he brought them out, along with 3 other pairs of shoes. 2 of the 3 were tennis shoes, and 1 of those 2 was a pair of Converse suede One-stars. I had a pair of them in 5th and 6th grade that I wore until there was literally a hole in the toes. They're damn comfortable shoes. So I was swayed into buying those along with the sandals. And he almost had my mom sold on some socks. It was all rather impressive.

There was also a Sephora at the mall. Despite only being in that store once, I have developed an addiction to it. I don't know... It's just so much less intimidating than normal makeup counters. Last time I bought some lipstick; this time I bought eyeshadow. I've developed a great liking for eyeliner recently, but I don't really have any eyeshadow that looks that great with the grey and black liners I really like. Now I do. I got a Hard Candy eye shadow quartet in Moody, which is a set of "slate metallics". I must resist the urge to do my eyes up all smokey and look goth and depressed and poetic. But it's oh-so-tempting...

I could practically cry right now. After I finished burning my regular CDs last night, I set to work copying the MP3s I wanted off of this computer so I could have them for my laptop. Well, this computer used to be my brother's... He's an even bigger music junkie than I am, so there are a whole heck of a lot of MP3s on here. And a lot of them I'm not familiar with, so the process was taking a while, since I listened to at least snippets of many of the songs. So. In the midst of this, I decided to go do something else. I couldn't figure out how to save the playlist so I could come back to it later, so I figured I'd just leave the computer on and get back to it the next day. Well, apparently the CD creator program felt rejected by this or something. In the middle of the night, it shut down, taking all my work with it. *sob*

So now I have to start over... But not today, and probably not tomorrow. Why? Because I have to go visit all my grandparents before I leave for school! Yeehaw! On the plus side, after I see my mom's parents, we're going shopping (woohoo, I get to go to Rag-o-Rama and good CD stores!) before we go down to my other grandma's. And I think we're hitting a mall on the way back. Yay.

Off course, in the midst of all this shopping goodness is the visit to my other grandma. Believe me, that is going to be *so* much fun. Because the woman is, unfortunately, falling apart. So it was decided that she should be put on a waiting list for a nursing home. I don't even know if she knows that... Waiting lists are usually fairly lengthy, so I think my parents figured they had some time to break it to her. Only now a spot has opened up. So the whole "breaking it to her" process will probably need to be sped up. Which means it might come up during this visit. Which means I'm bringing a couple of books so I can run away to another room when the arguing commences. Fun stuff.

And I leave in about a week. And I really, really need to pack. But I also really, really want to spend as much time as humanly possible with my friends and boyfriend. Gah. Maybe I should just consume a lot of caffeine... Then I can hang out during the afternoon and evening, and pack during the night and morning, with little to no sleep at all. Hmm... Except caffeine doesn't really keep me awake all that much. Damn it.

Even though I'll miss people, I am very excited about school. I've been waiting for this ever since I got my acceptance letter back in December. Maybe even before that. So all in all, the whole thing is bittersweet. But isn't that true about everything in life?

Yeah. I'm back again. Almost done with the CDs. DMB decided to be cute with their Under the Table and Dreaming album, apparently. #34 is actually track 34 on the CD. Tracks 12-33 are blank, but it appears they still take up space on the CD, thus creating some promblem in trying to burn it. However, those problems have been bypassed by using the CD creator as opposed to the CD copier. Ooh.

I'm grumpy... It seems every site I want to visit right now is unable to be displayed right now. Gah. That's why I'm updating again, really. Because I need to do something for the next few minutes, but all my other options have fallen through. It's pretty sad.

To occupy me while I burn CDs, I am resorting to this...

LAYER ONE:
-- Name: Jen
-- Birth date: December 7
-- Birthplace: St. Louis, MO
-- Current Location: Quincy, IL
-- Eye Color: Hazel (?)
-- Hair Color: Light brown, with perhaps a reddish tint left from my various encounters with hair dye.
-- Height: 5'11"... Dammit, I will never reach 6' even.
-- Righty or Lefty: Right
-- Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

LAYER TWO:
-- Your heritage: German, Czech
-- The shoes you wore today: Birkenstocks
-- Your Weakness: Self-doubt
-- Your fears: Heights, snakes
-- Your perfect pizza: Cheese
-- Goal you'd like to achieve: Become a musician or a published author.

LAYER THREE:
-- Your most overused phrase on AIM: Technically, I don't have AIM... But I say "hmm..." a whole lot on ICQ
-- Your thoughts first waking up: Meh... (Translated, that means: What time is it? Can I go back to sleep?)
-- Your best physical feature: I like my feet. Everything else is just average.
-- Your bedtime: Whenever
-- Your most missed memory: ... Don't know...

LAYER FOUR:
-- Pepsi or Coke: Pepsi
-- McDonald's or Burger King: Neither, really. But if forced to choose, McDonald's.
-- Single or group dates: Single
-- Adidas or Nike: Adidas
-- Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Ice tea = yuck
-- Chocolate or vanilla: Vanilla
-- Cappuccino or coffee: Cappuccino

LAYER FIVE:
-- Smoke: Nope
-- Cuss: Yeah
-- Sing: Yes indeedy
-- Take a shower everyday: Yep
-- Have a crush(es): Does Chris Carrabba count?
-- Do you think you've been in love: Yes
-- Want to go to college: Seeing as I leave in 9 days, it's no longer a matter of wanting to...
-- Like(d) high school: Somedays
-- Want to get married: Probably
-- Believe in yourself: In matters of academics, etc: Yes. In daily matters: Sometimes.
-- Get motion sickness: Only when I read on windy roads.
-- Think you're attractive: Occasionally
-- Think you're a health freak: Nope. Mmm... Ben and Jerry's...
-- Get along with your parent(s): Mom: Usually. Dad: Rarely.
-- Like thunderstorms: Yes
-- Play an instrument: Not really... I can do a few songs badly on the piano, and I can play "Ode to Joy" on the guitar... But neither counts for much.

LAYER SIX:
In the past month...
-- Drank alcohol: Nope
-- Smoked: No
-- Done a drug: Unless you count my prescription meds... No.
-- Had Sex: No
-- Made Out: Yeah
-- Gone on a date: Depends on your definition of a date... But I'll say yes anyway.
-- Gone to the mall: Yes
-- Eaten an entire box of Oreos: One of these days, I'm going to do that...
-- Eaten sushi: No
-- Been on stage: Nope
-- Been dumped: No sir
-- Gone skating: Nah
-- Made homemade cookies: Hahahaha.... Me? No.
-- Gone skinny dipping: No
-- Dyed your hair: Nope
-- Stolen anything: No

LAYER SEVEN:
Ever...
-- Played a game that required removal of clothing: Truth or Dare doesn't "require" it, but it happens...
-- If so, was it mixed company: Yeah
-- Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: No
-- Been caught "doing something": Not yet
-- Been called a tease: I don't think so...
-- Gotten beaten up: Not really
-- Shoplifted: Nope
-- Changed who you were to fit in: Somewhat...

LAYER EIGHT:
-- Age you hope to be married: Um... Perhaps 28?
-- Numbers and Names of Children: I'm still not sure if I even want kids.
-- Describe your Dream Wedding: Simple and short, without any sort of religion involved.
-- How do you want to die: Painlessly, in my sleep. I'm a wimp.
-- Where you want to go to college: Swarthmore
-- What do you want to be when you grow up: Writer, but I'll shoot for doing that on the side while editing. And there's that daydream about being a musician, too.
-- What country would you most like to visit: England. Preferably to go live in a castle. Or 1/7th of a castle.

LAYER NINE:
In a guy/girl...
-- Best eye color? Don't care
-- Best hair color? Dark
-- Height: Taller than me would be nice, but I'll cope.
-- Best weight: Slender yet muscular (see long-distance runners for an example of this).
-- Best articles of clothing: Jeans and t-shirt works for me.
-- Best first date location: Doesn't really matter... Movies are always nice.
-- Best first kiss location: Somewhere relatively private.

LAYER TEN:
-- Number of drugs taken illegally: None
-- Number of people I could trust with my life: 5 or so.
-- Number of CDs that I own: About 200. And yes, they are all in alphabetical order. Booyah.
-- Number of piercings: 2 in the lobe of each ear, 1 in my left cartilage.
-- Number of tattoos: 1 on the small of my back.
-- Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper?: Not sure about exact number. More than once.
- Number of scars on my body: 2 on my arm, 1 on each pointer finger.
-- Number of things in my past that I regret: I'm not sure.

And that's that. Yay for killing time!

I'm finally burning the CDs I've been meaning to burn for quite some time. Yay for me getting my butt in gear. Well, sort of in gear. I still have a lot of other things to do. But it's a start, at least.

I randomly ran into a couple of people today, and it made me happy. The coolest one, however, was seeing my old pre-calc teacher as I was walking into Wal-Mart. That's the second time I've run into a teacher at Wal-Mart. It's obviously the place to be in this town. (The sad thing is, that really is pretty close to the truth...)

I started reading God Knows, by Joseph Heller, last night. I'm only on page 32, but I'm already loving it. It's the story of David (as in David and Goliath), but it's Heller, so it's hilariously irreverent and blasphemous. Some really good quotes so far...

"Whether God is dead or not hardly matters, for we would use Him no differently anyway." - David

"If you want to have sense, you can't have a religion." - God

My stomach is growling grumpily. I think I shall go attempt to pacify it with some food.

My computer came today! And I love it! Well, mostly... I'm currently disgruntled because it doesn't seem to want to recognize my PDA at all, which is seriously pissing me off. I read the directions; I followed the directions. And it's still not working. Rar. I haven't tried connecting to the Internet on the laptop yet... I think that shall be tomorrow's task. But I did get my basic software on it, solved a few "whoops, we clicked the wrong button when ordering" issues, and transferred some information. Yay.

Junk mail in my inbox is evil. It leads me to think that I have actual messages. Why is it that the junk mail protector only filters out about half of the stuff? Grr. Though even junk mail is more welcome than the dreaded "0 new messages"...

My rabbit was at the vet again this morning... And he returned with half an ear gone. Poor guy. The spider has officially taken his toll on Chip. Chip's hopping around now, not wanting anyone to get too close to him (which is understandable -- he's probably scared someone's going to try to cut more off...), and he's twitching the stump of the ear like mad. I'm sure he's thinking, "Something is very wrong. This ear is too light. This ear is not long enough. What's going on?"

Happier news: My computer is on a UPS truck this very minute, cruising around town, on it's way to come and live with me! Yay! I think I'm probably a bit too excited, but that's okay. As soon as my computer gets here, I get to go crazy with transferring files and organizing and making it my very own. I've never had my own, personal computer. True, I use the family computer more than anyone else, but it's still not mine. I feel a strange sense of proud ownership toward my laptop.

My email inbox is still empty. *tear*

Oh yeah. And I will definately not be able to achieve my goal of having no classes before 10 am. Latin screws that one over, big time. On the plus side, it looks like I'll be done with all my classes by 12:40. Except for aikido, which is at 7:30 at night. But I don't really think that one counts.

So, in short: I won't be able to sleep as late as I'd like, but afternoon naps will be a definite possibility.

I'm starting to seriously look at classes. I thought I knew what I wanted to take, but then I looked at the actual schedules, with the times and all. Then, of course, everything fell apart.

Looks like I will not be taking the physics class I was thinking about... It's not as important to me as psychology or my other classes that it would conflict with. I'll try to take it some other time, and I'll probably still use a credit/no credit options... (For some reason, I'm deathly afraid of physics... Not sure why...) Latin's a full-year thing, so I don't want to put that off. And my brother recommended that I take psychology and philosophy, since I'm considering minoring in them... That why I get a taste for them and see if I should continue to pursue them. Of course, I'm taking an English class. There's no way I could not take an English class. Now it's just a matter of figuring out which one. Gah.

So. Psychology and Latin are pretty much set, since there's only one of each. English and philosophy are up in the air until I learn more about the professors and such. And I'm planning on learning aikido. Look out.

Well, all my software and such for my new computer arrived today. As for the actual computer... Don't know when I'll get that. As far as I can figure out, it is currently in Kentucky. So hopefully it'll be here in a couple of days. Hopefully.

In other news... Nothing. My email inbox is devoid of any new messages (other than junk mail, that is). It makes me sad.

I actually made a dent in the mess that is my desk today. Yay! I can see the top of it now. Of course, that's mainly because most of the stuff that was piled on it is now spread all across the floor of my room... Still, I am making some progress. Instead of being a true mess, it is a slightly more organized gathering of papers and random things.

Seriously, I don't know how my desk ever got to this point. There is no way I'm going to let it happen in my dorm room. Nope, organization will reign supreme at my desk at Swat. It'll have to. Otherwise, where on earth will my computer go?

Through the wonders of the Internet, my roommate found my phone number and gave me a call. I, of course, wasn't home. But I called her after dinner and we talked for a little bit. She seems very nice and pretty cool... And she made my day by saying she listens to all sorts of music except for rap and country. *does happy dance* My one largest fear, the fear of a country-loving roomate, is now gone. Now I can worry about other things, like how the hell I'm going to manage to clean my room before I leave.

Also through the wonders of the Internet... (the friends list on JC's Livejournal) I came across another fellow freshman resident of Mary Lyons. Cool.

Today was my last day at work... It was a good last day. I got to work with fun people, and it wasn't crazy or super-busy or anything. (Okay, it was the 2 to 6 shift, which is never super-busy... But still... It was nice...) So I'm done with work. And I kept my nametag. Woohoo.

Claudia has a new blog now that she's off at college (or on her way there...): Mobius Strip Mall. Actually, she spells it Mobias... Kelly's right, it is Mobius...

And John, if you even say the word Mobius... *glare*

Gateway is being fickle. But their fickleness (is that a word?) is working in my favor, so I'm okay with it. Apparently my computer was shipped today, and I'll be getting it in 3-5 business days. Booyah.

Looks like my dorm used to be a house... Looks pretty neat; my roommate and I will be sharing a bathroom with the room next to us. And it appears that there's an actual tub. Thank god. Every so often, a person just needs to soak in a bathtub.

I got my packet from Swat today! Yay! I officially have a roommate -- she's from San Jose. One major down-side... My dorm is apparently a 15 minute walk from the middle of campus (on the campus map, it has to be in an inset because it's out so far), and I believe that many of my classes will end up being on the complete opposite side of campus. I may be doing some serious biking. Ah well, it'll keep me in shape, right?

I'm massively disappointed with the local movie theater. I was so excited when I saw that 2 movies I really, really wanted to see where in town. So I went and saw 28 Days Later, and it was cool. And I was all set to go see Bend it Like Beckham yesterday. One small problem: It's gone already! My friends and I determined that it was in town for about 3 days. Rar.

I'm also disgruntled with myself... My computer won't be getting here until right before I leave for school (or I may even have to have it shipped there... I don't know). Seems there's a big rush on Gateway laptops right now. Gah. I knew I should've ordered my sooner. I knew it. Stupid me.

Other than that, though, all is pretty much well. Yay.

This is just hilarious... Strindberg and Helium. Oh man. You're right, Claudia, Bun-bun is Helium... Whoa.

"I'm dead too!" -- Helium

Just got a chance to gush about my experience with the Writing for College program. *grin*

Had an interesting night at work, for various reasons:
1) It was freakishly busy for a Tuesday night.
2) Random fun people came by -- my psych teacher and a friend I haven't seen for awhile.
3) Around 10, a woman came to the window and wanted to know where the nearest police station was. She was from out of town, and apparently she had just found a bag in her son's pocket... She thought it was pot, but wanted to be sure. (Yes, she just decided to randomly tell this to complete strangers...)
4) Got into a heated discussion with one of my co-workers about the education system. He's a hard-core Christian, conservative, went to a small private parochial school that got shut down after he graduated... I got a public school education, am not religious by any means, and am pretty liberal. It was a whole lot of fun.

Today is the "estimated shipping date" of my computer. So hopefully it'll get here in the next few days. La!

Saw 28 Days Later... It was good. Not scary in the way that I had been led to expect, but disturbing in other ways. Hopefully going to see Bend it Like Beckham tomorrow. Yay.

Mostly dealt with the random feeling. It's still there in a residual way, but that's to be expected at this point -- it hasn't been long enough for an actual change to occur. Anyways, it is most definately not the nagging, bothersome feeling it was before. Yay again.

And now a few more random quizzes...


You're blueberries. Most people don't really notice
you, but you're a good person at heart. You're
very intelligent and they just don't appreciate
you.


Which fruit are you?
brought to you by Quizilla


You are Woodrow Wilson.

You are well-educated and thoughtful. Others
recognize your desire to help them, even though
your intellectual world sometimes seems distant
from the "real world." You are
passionate about your beliefs, and you have
dedicated yourself to an honest effort to make
the world a better place.


What 20th-century Western ruler are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Despite being very different quizzes... They say basically the same thing. It's always cool when quizzes agree.

Now to get started on my lengthy to-do list.

Quiz. Just because.


You are "Welcome to the Caribbean, love."
You're more than a little world-weary, but also
intelligent and you keep your head when things
get dodgy. You're everybody's favorite
drinking buddy, but your stubbornness does get
in the way sometimes.


Which one of Captain Jack Sparrow's bizarre sayings from Pirates of the Caribbean are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Okay. Apparently my computer order has been processed. At least, I think it has. However, that still means that the 2nd email got lost somewhere. Gateway, you are not instilling faith in me about your services, and I haven't even recieved my computer yet. Tsk tsk... Oh well. As long as I get my computer, I suppose all shall be well.

Why on earth am I updating so much? I don't know. I think I must be killing time until dinner, since I don't want to have to go be productive (though I did go get gas and my work schedule, woohoo). It also might be the stream-of-conciousness thing, in a way. *shakes fist* Darn you, book! Mmm. Ah well. I'm actually glad that I did read the book, if for no other reason than it was a gift from my brother. Yes, 8 months after Christmas, and I have finally finished reading the 3 books he gave me! (Granted, I read quite a few other books during that time period...) Of course, that only covers this past Christmas. I know I have a few other books (mostly poetry) that he gave me that have not been finished. But reading poetry is different from reading a novel, so I suppose it's okay.

Hmm. Anything else I can ramble on about? I suppose that's all for now.

Oops. Wait. Fellow Blogger users (that would be, um... Claudia. And Bun-Bun, if he still reads this): You know little easy-to-use buttons that insert the link, bold, and italic commands? Why are these not normal HTML codes? In the old version, bold was (b) and italics were (i)... You know, the normal tags. Now bold is (strong) and italics are (em). What are these random codes? Where did they come from? This has been nagging at me. Because I wonder about random odd things like this.

(Note: in the previous examples, the parantheses actually stand for the <> symbols. I would use the xmp code to actually show the HTML script, but it's being annoying and leaving odd spaces. So I give up and am going for the easy way out...)

Okay, now I'm done. Really.

I am pleasantly surprised. Okay, the random feeling is still there in a way... But it has been somewhat alleviated. Because, yeah, I totally didn't expect that phone call just now. It made me supremely happy.

Another thing that also makes me happy: both 28 Days Later and Bend it Like Beckham have finally come to the local movie theatres. Yay! Yay! I am very pleased. I have been wanting to see both of these movies since they originally came out, and I was sure that I'd have to settle for seeing them on video.

Today has definately taken a turn for the better.

There's something wrong with my computer order, it seems. The order confirmation email told me that I would recieve another email within 24 hours with additional info (estimated arrival time, etc)... No such email has come, and it's been what, a week? Gah, gah, dread and worry.

I really need to go get gas, run some errands, figure out my schedule for my very last (*tear*) week at work. And I need to clean my desk, which is still a god-awful mess, just as it has been for the past 6+ months. And I need to reply to various emails, and I should do so many other things that I really don't feel up to doing right now.

I did, however, finish reading The Rules of Attraction. It was pretty good, though perhaps not what I should read in the month before I go off to college. Let me remain naive and full of ideas (perhaps illusions) of academia.

I'm home. Yay.

Finally changed my mood again. Looked through a fair amount of the list, but nothing seemed right. I wish they had a mood that was simply a question mark. But I settled on wistful. It works to some degree. I don't know if it was being gone, not sleeping too well for the past few nights, the nearness of college, reading way too much, or what... But I'm in an odd mood. Partly blank, just spacing out. But also overly thoughtful -- my mind is verbalizing itself in an odd stream-of-conciousness way. I blame The Rules of Attraction. Books written in a stream-of-conciousness style always seem to affect me this way; my brain starts functioning in the style, and it's just weird. I articulate everything in my mind, in sentences or phrases, in a way that doesn't seem to fit my normal way of thinking. Like I said, weird.

And then there's this random feeling of... what? Not rejection, not neglect, nothing so strong as that. I'm not sure what it is. A sort of let-down feeling, in a way, where hopes and half-formed expectations are left unfulfilled, unmet, I suppose. But not even quite that, because that sounds sadder, more disappointed than the what the feeling is. Or does it? Maybe I really do feel that way, but I feel bad about acknowledging it because... I don't even know why. Vauge comparisions and daydreams flit through my mind, and I'm not sure what to make of it all. Jealousy? No. I'm (usually) content with the way this is going, the way we interact, etc. But something is still there, lurking underneath the surface. All I wanted was an email, a phone conversation, something like that. Just some type of response, something that would make me feel... I don't know. Missed, loved, something along those lines. An acknowledgement that, yes, my absence of the past almost-a-week did have some effect, even if it was tiny and minor and seemingly unimportant. Is that asking too much? Is it self-centered for me to want this? And why does it seem like this past week matters more than the rest of the past month, when I was also gone? Does it matter any more, or am I just more aware of it this time? If I am just more aware of it this time around... Why?

Gah. I think I'm thinking about this far too much, but it really is bothering me. Enough to really broach the subject and deal with it? That I'm not sure of. Namely because I don't have a clue of how I would do that. And also because I'm still not really sure what it is that I want, what exactly is bothering me, what I'm feeling about the whole thing. Which makes it all the more bothersome.

Rar. Enough for now. I should unpack.