Woohooooo!

I'm very excited about this new uploading videos thing. That last one was Jason playing in the play area at the mall last week. So now that I know I can do this, I'm going to be posting a couple videos (and some pictures!) later tonight, after some festivities. And these videos/pictures? They'll most certainly include fun Notre Dame/football weekend things. Perhaps even me singing. Horribly, but still singing. So...be there or be square.


Hooray beer! Oh, I mean, hooray ND!!!!! (We all know that I am not so much a fan of the beer. Perhaps tonight I'll suppress that natural urge of mine to throw up any time beer is in my mouth, and I'll finally get officially smashed. Wouldn't that be fun?

No, you're right. It wouldn't.)

Test

Technology hates me

So, I got back from class today, all looking forward to watching some Rudy before going to get some pizza at four. And then re-commencing with the watching of the Rudy, until it was time to go to the pep rally. Once again, my plans were thwarted. I can't get the stupid DVD player to have sound! I get the video part just fine, but no matter what combination I use to plug in the audio things, sound isn't happening. It's quite frustrating, and makes me sad because I want to watch me some Rudy! I have to, it's the first football Friday! Argh. I may just have to resort to watching it on my laptop at some later point tonight. booooooo. I really don't get it though. The DVD player is exactly the same kind that I was using at home, which I was using connected to the TV I have here. (I got two of these cheapo DVD players, separately -- one was free for signing up for some credit card, and then using it once or something, and another...maybe was a birthday present? I forget.) But the point is, theoretically it should work just as well as that other one, right? But what the heck, DVD player? What are you doing to me? I bet it came from Michigan, or maybe it's a USC fan, and it just doesn't want me to watch a cheesy movie about the best school and college football program ever. That must be it.

(I'm sure that a day or two from now, I'll be messing around with it, and find some switch or setting or something that is currently causing it not to have sound. Although at the moment it's beyond me what that could be, anything's possible.)

A bit too much going on upstairs

My brain is rather full at the moment. It's one of those times where I have all this stuff I want to say (and do -- like put the finishing touches on my room), but it's like having three people try to go through one doorway. There's just not room for all at once, so none get through effectively. Or at all. Whatever. Luckily for me (I think...or maybe just you), it's not all stuff I want to share with the whole of the Internet. So.

Ok. I went to the store today. Twas very exciting. Or not. But anyway. I got a few things, and (mostly) stuck to my list. Unfortunately didn't get everything on the list though -- a few I couldn't find, and a few I decided I could just buy at the Huddle and spend already-spent money instead of money I don't have. But I got a few things, like one of those pillow dealies with the arms and stuff, to put against a wall or whatnot and lean against. Makes things a little more comfortable when I get sick of sitting on my ball at my desk and opt instead for either the desk chair (sitting in the little window area) or on my bed or something. Anyway. That was a bit of a splurge item, although I had been wanting to get something against which I could sit, and chairs are a bit more expensive than I want to go. So. There's that. And I got one more of those plastic storage drawer things to put on top of my fridge to keep food and that type of stuff. See, I'm going for organized this year. I got a cheap trashcan so I can have one next to my desk and one next to my sink and bed, as the desk is on the opposite side of the room from my sink. And I got some sticky things to help me hang stuff up on the walls. And some other stuff too, but yeah. That's the exciting stuff for now.

The annual Dillon Hall Pep Rally occurred tonight. My last one (tear), so I went to it with Bethany and Caitlin. Weis spoke at the beginning, as I think he's done since he first came here. (Caitlin pointed out at one point during the thing, after they did a joke song about Ty -- "Since Ty's Been Gone," sung to the Since You've Been Gone music -- that we, the seniors, are the only people here now who endured Ty for even a bit. We were lucky enough that we only had to deal with him for a year, but yeah. So most people here now don't really get it. I mean, I'm sure some of them followed ND football prior to coming, but yeah. Anyway.) Oh, they also did a skit during which John Carlson, the 5th year tight end who's awesome, made a bit of a cameo. (Sorry, Mom, I didn't take a picture -- I felt like a loser girlie jersey chaser even thinking about it.) Anyway. It wasn't really spectacular, the pep rally thing, and went on a bit too long (or at least that's what my butt told me. Sitting on the ground for an hour and a half doesn't make for a happy derrière). But it's part of all of this, therefore -- excellent. The drum line was doing the cheers afterward, after Chris Zorich (former defensive tackle here) gave a little speech. I missed those cheers so much. I'm quite excited for drummer's circle tomorrow night.

After the pep rally, I walked with Caitlin, Bethany, and Julie -- who had met up with us after the rally -- partially back to TC, which meant I went quite out of my way. I parted from them just past the stadium, by the JACC, where they kept going and I turned and walked up what used to be Juniper Road, but which now, after this summer, is a nice little walkway with lots of grass and trees. It's quite lovely, and much nicer than having that stupid road there. I didn't mind walking way out of my way, because man do I love this campus, and being on it, and walking around. Love love love it. If anyone ever were to ask me if I know just how lucky I am to be going here, I'd honestly have to say yes, yes I do. Because I am extremely lucky. I love being here more than I can ever express, and I'm having such a hard time with the knowledge that this is my last year. I'm trying not to be all "Oh I don't want May to come" all year, but it's hard not to. I can't see beyond this school. It'll be so different once I leave. My relationship with the school will be different. It'll all feel different if ever I should come back here, I'm sure. So all I can do right now is to soak up every last minute, every last memory, every last bit of that Notre Dame feeling while I still can. And I'm trying to do that. Including loving to hear the bagpipe band practicing and playing outside my window. (Actually, they're not exactly outside my window, but I can still hear them.)

And I will do it this weekend too. Did you know there's a football game this weekend? The Goodyear Blimp has been flying around over campus all day today, and yesterday too. I don't really understand why, but it's a reminder of what's coming. I remember my first football Friday of freshman year. I think it was three weekends in, since there was nothing the first weekend after classes started, then our first game was an away game (which we lost, in embarrassing fashion, to BYU), and then the next weekend was the first game. Against...Michigan. Anyway, that first Friday, it was so electric. I remember I got Subway for dinner with my roommates, and I got a wrap which was delicious. We ate on the quad, and there were tons of people around, and it was all so new to me. But so exciting too. It's just a palpable something special, ND football weekends. Obviously I don't know what it's like on other campuses, but it's so wonderful here. (And that first game, it was great, we beat them and apparently were quite surprised -- I still didn't know anything about football at that point, so I have no idea -- and we rushed the field. And celebrated in Stonehenge afterward. Good times.) I don't know what this weekend is going to hold (I sure hope hope hope it's a win and much celebration and merry-making), but I'm not going to take it for granted, that's for sure.

Colorado Springs was in today's Observer (our campus paper). We have an Offbeat section on the second page, with two weird news stories. Today's were one about a guy who broke into the Houdini Museum and then couldn't figure out how to get out, or something like that, and then about an elementary school in lovely Colorado Springs that has banned the game of tag. Because some kids were being chased "against their will" or something stupid like that. I've never heard of the school (I think we have a lot of elementary schools), but it was funny.

So my brilliant plan has been thwarted. I had been planning on taking that extra one credit class I heard about this week, and then only need 14 (and possibly 13) credits next semester. Well, now they've decided to postpone the class until after fall break (it was going to be six weeks, once a week, for one credit), and so for some reason it's not going to be for credit. So there goes my brilliant plan, and now it's back to considering the overload and pass/fail thing. There's a couple classes I could fit into my schedule, but...ugh I don't want to. This one credit course would have been perfect. It was only six weeks long, once a week, and I didn't have to do too much. So, you know, boo to that. I'm sort of maybe kinda thinking about trying out for the liturgical choir. I probably won't, in the end, because I'm me, but yeah. It'd be weird to start something like that my last year here. It would be one credit though, so that's something. But it's also a time commitment of two hours Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays for practices and Mass, plus whatever other things they sing for throughout the semester. So I don't know. I wish I could just have my schedule as is, and only have to take four classes next semester (and four just because that's what's required to be a full time student). Stupid semester off. Boy am I glad I figured out that mistake quickly enough (but still not quite quickly enough).

On a blog I read, today there were two posts (it's a news type blog, which discusses a lot of Catholic- and politic-related things). Both mentioned Notre Dame. One of the posts was about the decision to have the Tridentine Mass said here, on Sunday mornings in Alumni Hall's chapel, every week. The other was about college football, and you can't talk college football without mentioning Notre Dame. So that made me pretty happy. Especially as it was after I had gotten back from the pep rally and campus walk, and was pretty high on ND anyway.

So, I don't quite know what it is, but I feel sort of...restless, on the cusp of something, just very...I don't know. Maybe it's just all the stuff going on this weekend, or the fact that things feel quite out of my control and not locked down at the moment, or something like that. I can't put my finger on it, but it's somewhat quite annoying. I wish it would go away. Maybe I should just go to bed, and it'll go away. Go to bed, wake up, go eat, go to class at 12:50 then another right after that, come back here and watch Rudy (I have to. It's like a law, it's required to watch Rudy on Friday afternoon of the first home football weekend), go get free pizza in the basement, go over to the JACC for the Pep Rally, and then...I don't know what. Oh, well Bethany's birthday party, of course. (She's finally going to be 21 on Saturday!) Until midnight. At which point I'll have to excuse myself (unless we all go over, which is a possibility) to go to Drummer's Circle, where I'll scream myself silly, jump around, and just have a general grand old time. And then possibly go to a bar or something with the bunch, depending on what we do. And then go to sleep at some point, followed by a waking up (and hopefully I'll be awoken -- awakened? -- by the band marching between Cavanaugh and Lafortune at like 9am or whatever. Might be annoying to wake up that early, but that's a lovely way to wake up) eventually, and then all the lovely Saturday festivities. Mmmmm football.

I'm just being too introspective tonight, is I think my problem. So I best go do homework (haha, I actually have to go to class tomorrow. How much does that suck?), so I don't suck tomorrow. We have to take a quiz in Latin. It's one that doesn't count toward our grade at all, and is just a review of last semester's stuff, and we all have to get 80%, even if it takes us twenty tries to get. I'm hoping to get at least 80% the first time around. So yeah. Best go do that. Sorry about the length tonight.

Alas, I do not have 40 expendable dollars at the moment

Reason #847 why I need to splurge and get myself the Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Green Gables the Sequel DVDs (to replace my taped from PBS nearing 20 year old VHS tapes): the scene where Gilbert proposes to Anne (after Diana's engagement party) is cut off. And that's not the only thing that's cut off through the whole series thing. It's not like it's a particularly happy or sappy scene either (since she turns him down -- sorry if I just ruined it, but I'm pretty sure that somewhere around 13 people actually know that those movies exist. And most people don't care even if they do know about the movies or the books), but it's annoying.

You can be certain that when I hit the lottery, I'll be buying those two DVDs. Even if they are more than my typically accepted DVD price range. ($10ish max, in case you didn't know.) But for now, these well-worn VHSes will serve me just fine. Plus, it's sort of fun seeing the way old fundraising people in all their lovely late 80s-early 90s garb, and seeing the way old PBS promo thing. Sort of like a trip down memory lane, or something.

Rescinded

Remember that post I made yesterday? (I've been posting a lot since I've been back, huh? Oh well.) The one about the humidity? Yeah, I have a bit of a caveat to add. Humidity still sucks. That's all there is to it. I just got out of three classes in a row, all in Debartolo (or, as I like to call it -- as of this minute, anyway -- the ice box), and when I walked out into the sunshine and non-air conditioned air, I had two thoughts. One was "Ahhhhh, heat!" I was cold, people. The other, however, was "Hm wow, I can't really breathe." Because right now? It's 70% humidity. That's a bit excessive, and I will never enjoy humidity, per se. BUT. That first reaction I had? That's why I'm rescinding my initial complete hate of humidity and this heat and whatnot. It is a bit useful, on occasion. Like those occasions when I've been sitting inside a fa-reeeezing building for the past 3.5 hours, stupidly wearing a tank top and not having brought a jacket (because I was ridiculously hot and sweaty right before I had to leave for that 3.5 hour stint, since I had just taken a shower and whatnot, and the thought of having to put something on over the tank top that I barely wanted to wear because I was so hot was just ridiculous. Even though I knew I'd be regretting it long before it was time to come back to my room), and all I can think about is getting outside into that hot, sticky, humid sunshine.

Know what this all comes back to? I hate air conditioning. Ergo, since that's what it always comes down to, everything, air conditioning is the devil.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. (But perhaps that's just because it's so humid. I'm sticking to everything these days.)


(Speaking of the heat, though, last night it made me do something I haven't done in a very, very, very long time. I slept over my covers. All of them. My dinky little bedside fan doesn't do a lot for the heat I have in here at night, I guess. So, faced with the decision between doing my usual be all covered up thing, and sleeping over the blankets, I picked the latter. And I'm pretty sure I regret it not at all. It was just...weird to do. Hm.)

Clearly, I've been thinking too much

Has anyone else noticed the seeming prevalence of people choosing to use "yay" instead of the real spelling, "yea," when they say things like "yea or nay" in discussion? The thought just came to me: If people are doing this, and not really realizing that they're spelling it wrong (obviously when they don't mean something like "Yay! I passed the test!"), does that mean that in psalm 23, if these people were to write it out, they'd say "Yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death?" I mean, the yea used there has a different meaning than the yea used in like voting and whatnot, but if people don't know that yea is supposed to be spelled yea and not yay, logically it seems like they'd be putting yay in psalm 23. Kinda strikes me as funny. Although I guess if you think about it, putting yay there sort of works within the context of that line within the poem...

Anyway. This is what happens when you have a work shift, 8 hours off (during which it's time to sleep), and then another work shift. Does crazy things to you. Haha. Not really, but whatever. (And I looked at the list today to see if there are any open spots so I could either pick up a fourth shift again, or possibly drop either the Tuesday night or Wednesday morning shift, but alas, the only open shifts are a couple on Thursday during one of my classes, and some on Friday and Saturday nights. I may be a boring recluse, but I did the whole work Friday and Saturday nights thing freshman year. Not about to do that again.)

Oh the humidity!

I would like to curse everyone who ever complains about the long, cold South Bend winters. I so wish it were winter weather right now. Because man, it is hot here. And have I mentioned the humidity? I'm used to like 15%. Not 60%. I can deal with the heat. Heat is like, eh whatever. For the most part. Sometimes it does just suck, but it's nothing compared to the humidity. I dislike feeling sticky all the livelong day, from the moment I step out of the shower to the moment I get back in (usually somewhere around 24 hours later). It's just not fun. And have you ever tried putting makeup on your face that will just not. get. dry? Blow drying hair does not help with the face sweating thing in the morning, post-shower. But I know that this will pass soon enough, and then I'll have months of weather to which I am more suited and with which I am more friendly. And then come March or so, I'll be wishing it were warmer and spring again. Just the way things go. For now, I'll take whatever I get, because Lord knows the last thing I want is for this year to go any faster than I know it will. And I love being here, humidity and all.

(And don't tell anyone, but I'm secretly somewhat jealous of the freshmen. They're all just starting out here. They have all these new opportunities to take advantage of. They're not looking at everything with a "This is the last year I'll do this" view. Today I was thinking, "I just went to my last first class of the year." Which is stupid, because that's not any kind of a milestone. But it's true. Sigh. Life after ND better be worth having to leave here.)

It helps to check settings sometimes

Good news, people. I decided to mess with my TV again today to see if I could figure out why I was only getting broadcast plus a few other random channels. Like Animal Planet. After doing the thing where it'll go through and save all the channels that work automatically, and I still wasn't getting regular cable, I went through the menu again. And then I saw that my TV was set for air channels. I decided to see if I could change it to cable. Well, lo and behold, I can! I knew how to do it on my other TV at home, but this TV I have, I've never watched anything but movies with it because I never got rabbit ears for it so I could get regular channels. So yay for me. Now I just have to get that longer cable cord and I'll be all set. And pictures are forthcoming, but I want to put up my posters first. So yeah. Anyway.

Interesting...

Ok, so I was thinking about taking a sixth course (technically seventh, since I'm taking five regular classes and a six week one credit class) as an overload and as a pass/fail class. By doing that I would free up my schedule so that next semester I'd only have to take four classes, which would be lovely as it will be my last semester as an undergraduate at Our Lady's university. (Off topic, but interestingly enough, this coming Saturday is labeled as "Saturday of Our Lady" on the calendar I have, from the Marianist Mission. Whatever that is. But anyway, I find that interesting, as it is also the day of our first football game. So clearly, we're gonna win that game, because it's Our Lady's Saturday, and we're the university of Our Lady. Following me? Yeah.) However, the idea of that many classes -- even if one is just pass fail and thus I don't have to work as hard (I know I still would give as much effort as I generally do, which may or may not be my best but it's what I do anyway) -- kind of makes me a bit less than thrilled. But wait! I got an email today, two actually, one for seniors and one for theo majors, telling of a one credit six week course on discernment and such. How to integrate faith and stuff into life after Notre Dame. If I were to take that class, that would give me 18 credits for the semester, and would leave me with needing 14 next semester. 14 credits is basically two classes plus two credits. If I get into the seminar for fall break, that's 19 credits for the semester, bringing us to 13 for next semester, which would mean I would just need to find another one credit thing to do next semester. Which is easy enough, since I was planning on taking either violin or guitar lessons again next semester and that's one credit right there. So. I'm thinking I might go easy on myself and just see if I can sign up for this one credit dealy, and yeah. Anyway.

And, sadly, I just drank the last of the Colorado water I had in my water bottle. Sigh. Twas good. I love having my own fridge. Tonight I bought myself a carton of pretty much the best juice ever -- Dole's Orange Strawberry Banana. It is most excellent. Orawberana, as I like to call it. Ok I just made that up. And it took me about five minutes. And then five more to figure out exactly how to pronounce it.

Oh! Guess what! I had to buy three course packets for three of my classes. Well, one for each, obviously. But yeah. The bookstore's selling all of the course packets this year, whereas they were previously sold by the Copy Shop in Lafortune, which is no longer in existence, and also at the Decio Copy shop. I don't know why they aren't being sold there anymore either. Anyway. So I went to buy them today. Know how much they cost, total? This is three, remember. Rounded up a few dollars, including tax, they cost me $190. I spent like $120-140 on 9 books I bought online for my classes, total, including shipping (which practically doubles the price sometimes). And then I had to drop $190 for three course packets! Which I can't even sell back! It's ridiculous. They're not even that large. The biggest, which cost like $90, is 300 pages. I suppose they're slightly better quality than they were from the Copy Shop in Lafun, but geeeeeez people. And here I was, thinking $50 each would be bad. I was really pissed about it. Actually, I'm still a little miffed.

Anyway. I have classes tomorrow, and work, and I have to read some stuff for my first class. And oh my gosh. I just looked at my class schedule online, which is a good thing because apparently my Latin class, which I thought was MWF and Thursday, is actually MWF and Tuesday. And Tuesday is tomorrow. Unfortunately, however, I somehow have had in my head this whole time that it's Thursdays, so I signed up to work Tuesdays right when that class meets. Wonderful. I had already been planning on dropping the Tuesday night shift I have and just doing three shifts, but now I have to drop my Tuesday morning shift. Ugh. How the heck did I manage to do that? Crap. Well, lucky I noticed tonight and not tomorrow night or something. Stupid Tuesdays and Thursdays, all starting with the same letter and whatnot. Psh. Man. I'm mad at myself now.

Ok so yeah. I have to get going. Bleh. I was looking forward to that free Starbucks tomorrow after my morning shift, too.

Seriously, how could you not like him?

I was watching TV last night (my TV is currently sitting on my sink, when I'm not using the sink, which is most of the time at the moment -- the cable cord that comes with the room is about two feet long, which is at least six feet shorter than I need it to be), and I forget what channel it was (which is a problem), but there was a commercial for a marathon that is going on Labor Day weekend, which I suppose is this weekend, and you know what the marathon is? John Wayne movies! Isn't that just about the most exciting thing ever?

Now, I just need to figure out why it is that I'm only getting reception for up to channel 27...I'm supposed to have cable, and I have some cable channels, but most certainly not all of them. Like, no Hallmark. No Discovery Channel. No History Channel. No ESPN. What is up with that? I'm not quite sure who to talk to though...hm. Guess I should work on getting my TV set up where I want it to be, and then find someone to help me out. It'll be nice to have my TV set up though because then I can set up my DVD player too. And watch DVDs. Like The Quiet Man. Starring John Wayne.

And now we're full circle.

(Seriously though, I'm enjoying this room situation. Quite lovely. I'm almost all set up, just need to get something to aid in the putting up posters thing, and need to get a few other things, but yeah. I could just use tape, but I don't think we're strictly supposed to as it can mess up the paint...but clearly a previous person in this room used tape, so...yeah. I'm excited though. I've never really put up my own posters in my dorm room before. And I brought three pretty ones. Yay!)

Can't come soon enough

5 more days.

Near the 50 yard line (but a bit higher up than I'd prefer, I think).

Be very, very jealous.

It will be awesome. Even if we don't have Brady anymore (sigh, I miss him).

ND football: the stuff of life.

Dome, sweet Dome

(Believe me, Marge Simpson didn't come up with that.)

I'm back. I'm exhausted right now, and still have tons to put away before I'll be done, but tonight I just want to do enough so that I can make and sleep on my bed. Because man this weekend is catching up to me.

So, more later. But for now, I leave you with this. My dad is great, amazing, awesome, and wonderful. I'm so lucky. And man, hard as it was to leave (and always is), it is so good to be back here. And this room? Loving it. I have a wonderful view of both the Dome and the Basilica from my window. And with the big window fan I have, this room is downright pleasant, temperature-wise. I was a little worried that being on the fourth floor and all would cause it to be a bit warm, as I had heard previously. But it's great. And? I can run up all the flights of stairs and only be slightly winded. It's amazing how much oxygen is here. Nice effects while they last (because eventually I'll certainly get used to it. And then I'll get winded when I go home and try to go up our one flight. Fun stuff).

Ok, well, perhaps more tomorrow.

Sweet sorrow indeed

Gah I always hate leaving. I mean, I'm not sad to be going, but I just hate leaving. I wish I could skip the last night, the goodbyes, the morning of. Just go straight to Sunday evening or so, at which point I'll hopefully be mostly settled in, and maybe hopefully will be in the company of friends.

I've actually managed to surprise myself, and am mostly packed already. I just have to get my suitcases and some bags of random stuff into the car, and that's about it. And it definitely looks like I'll have enough room for it all, so that's good. Might even throw an extra pillow in there, just for kicks. The beauty of this whole thing? I won't have to worry about what I'm taking, because I won't be transporting it home any way other than by car again. Although, that's another issue because this stuff plus the stuff I have in storage up there will most definitely not all fit in the Jeep. But I don't have to worry about that for 9 more months.

Another irritating thing about this whole venture? I've been feeling under the weather this week. Right now it's a sore throat, some extra mucous in my head (lovely, no?), and perhaps just an overall head stuffiness. I'm hoping I don't feel worse tomorrow, because that would most certainly not be fun (although, all we're doing is driving, so whatever). But crying definitely doesn't help the whole thing, because crying means tears which cause things to become runny in my nose, which also go down the back of my throat, and just adds to the whole mess. It's really not that terrible, but I'd be a lot happier if I didn't feel under the weather. At least I don't have to deal with my ears popping on the plane. Or...that whole ear thing. Because they're feeling stuffy enough right now.

Anyway.

I suppose I best go get a bit more packing done, then get going on that last night's sleep in my own bed...

Just a couple more days until the triumphant return

Ok, so I barely have any time left here. As usual this evokes a valley of mixed emotions. Ok that's a lie. Usually, it's 98% "Don'tmakemeleaveIdon'twanttoleavepleasecan'tIjuststayhereandbe8forever?????" And 2% "Yay school." Now? It's a bit more even. I'll have minutes where I think, "Aw I don't want to leave the comfort of Kebbie and Colt and Mom hugs and Dad jokes." But then? I'll have hours of "Oh school I love school school is wonderful Go ND! I want to be at school why am I not at school yet why do I have to wait until Sunday to move in why am I not living off campus with my friends so that I could be up there now with them when will Sunday get here?????" And I'm glad that those moments are outnumbering the more sad moments about leaving. Tonight, I was feeling a bit nostalgic about leaving, realizing that it might be three months before I see my family and my pets and such (might be only two if I come home for fall break, but I'm hoping to get accepted to that fall break seminar in DC), and a lot longer than that for my little brother because his company (unit? whatever it's called) is being deployed to Iraq for at least 15 months somewhere between Sept 5-8. So yeah. And I'm really feeling sad about my pets. I can't talk to my pets on the phone. I can't converse over emails. They don't know why I'm gone. I've been spoiling Kebbie like crazy this summer. Who's gonna do that when I'm gone? And then there's the ever-pervasive fear that I've known since I first left for college three years ago, that this might be the last time I ever see her. Every time I leave it seems like more and more of a possibility. She's getting old, and I can't deny it.

But anyway, so while I was starting to get all sorrowful about it all, my friend at school IMed me (I had Imed her earlier, telling her the name of my fantasy football team. It's the South Bend Shovel Slayers. If you get the reference, you can be counted among the awesome elites. If not, I can't fault you, because I only just realized it the last time I watched it. Ah I guess I just gave you all a hint. Oh well). So she IMed me back, laughing, because she happens to be pretty much the biggest fan of that movie that I know. And then we were talking for a few minutes, she had just gotten back from a bar, and it just renewed that whole man I wish I were up there thing. Because all four of them, my four closest friends up there, are there now since they're all off campus. This week has tested my decision to stay on campus for senior year, because had I gone off, I could be there now. But after hearing a few stories of fun happenings at apartments off campus (including at least one incident at the apartments where my friends are living), involving robberies at gunpoint and such, and also after remembering the loveliness of Flexpoints (Starbucks!) and yes even the dining hall food and such, and just being on campus in general (and a whole two minute walk away from the Basilica, can't beat that), I am still glad I'm on campus. Even if it's more expensive (and I'm pretty sure it is), to me it's worth it. Anyhoo though. Talking with her, even for just a few minutes, really made me start to itch again, wanting to get there already. I mean, yeah, I'm a bit sad to leave as always, but once I'm up there and done with the packing/driving/unpacking and such, it'll be lovely.

Except, I will miss easy access to our National Geographics. We've been getting them for longer than I remember, and while I don't think I've ever read an entire issue cover to cover, I think they're awesome. Always good for at least a few good and interesting articles. I suppose the library probably has them, but...when do I ever go to the library? Haha. Libraries are for losers. Ok that's not true. But yeah. Anyway.

I don't really know how my room setup will work, but I think I'll have room for a chair somewhere, and it'd be nice to have something to sit on that's not my bed or the nice hard wooden chair they give you with the desks in all the rooms. Although, now that I think about it, if I use my ball thing as my desk "chair," like I did sophomore year, then I'll have to put my wooden chair somewhere, so I guess that'll go wherever I'd put a chair. And I have a little chair cushion for it, so that's good. Plus I have this little massage-y thing that goes on chairs and is wonderful, so that's good too. Yeah. Anyway.

One more day. Crazy. Seriously, crazy. (Know what that means, though? 8 more days until FOOTBALL!!! Dude. Have I mentioned how excited this makes me? Probably not. I've been trying to hide it. Haha. Man I love football. Sometimes I think about what it'd be like had I gone to a much less-well known, but probably much more...Catholic overall college. I hear about them occasionally, and I'm sure I would have fit in somewhere like that. And then the minute I start going down the "Man, if only I had known about this place..." path, I remember: Football. Had I gone to one of those places, I have very little doubt that I would have evolved at all from my pre-ND barely tolerating football and only then on occasion. And is that any kind of living at all? No. Not it's not.)

Totally unrelated (surprise surprise). Sometimes I feel sort of like a bum because I post so much. There are lots of people, lots of blogs I read or check occasionally, that only post a few times a week, at most. And for some reason these people make me feel like a loser because I post every day. Sometimes more. Occasionally less. But then I realize something. This blog is sort of cathartic to me. I love to write. Even about the boring nothings that go on in my life. If I didn't write in a blog, I'd write somewhere else. (Actually, I do also write somewhere else. In a more conventional thing. With a pen. That's where the juicy stuff is. I do leave some things private, believe it or not. Ok, really, there is nothing juicy that ever goes on in my life. But whatever.) And besides, there are plenty of blogs that do update daily or more. I guess I just think that they have more important things to say, and therefore it's ok for them to post that much. I have nothing important to say. But you know what? After I have this process of thought, I arrive at the conclusion that I don't care. I keep this blog for me, and me alone, really. Some people don't need an outlet like this. I do. I have so many thoughts rolling around in my head that I want to write down, all the time. In high school I used to write during classes, just random stuff, just because. I don't so much do that anymore because I'm worried it'll be obvious, and I guess I don't feel the need to quite as often since I'm not going from class to class to class for eight straight hours each day. (Man, remember the days when classes happened every day? The same seven classes, every day? Geez. Although there's something to be said for that format.) So anyway. Actually, I did it in middle school too, come to think of it. I just can't help it. Sometimes some random thing will happen to me, and I'll think about how I'd write it all down, how I'd word it, over and over until I stop and realize that it is a completely boring thing to preserve for all eternity. Or at least until the Internet disappears. Whatever. But sometimes I'll sit there, usually when I'm walking from one place to another, or working out, for like ten minutes, re-writing the whole thing in my head. Most of that stuff doesn't make it past my brain.

Anyway.

I need to go to sleep. It'll be my last chance to get a good night's sleep in my own big bed (not that I've ever felt confined by the small twin beds I've had in college. I pretty much only take up half of those ones, somehow). I'm sure tomorrow night won't be a very good sleep, because I have to have everything packed, and while all my stuff is pretty much confined to a few specific areas, I have to get clothes into suitcases, things into the car, and...well that's about it. But yeah. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to get at least a few hours, though, before I have to get up and get ready to leave on Saturday morning, bright and early. I think we're going to try to leave by like 6am or so, and then drive as long as possible, stop somewhere for the night, and hopefully only have a few more hours to go Sunday morning, so that we can get to campus in time to go to the 11:45 Basilica Mass. Oh, twill be lovely to be back in the Basilica. Even if the 11:45 is the Folk Choir, it's better than what I've had all summer.

So yes. Bedtime. (This post isn't timestamped correctly. It's a bit later than that. Well, it might have been right when I started, but I rarely just write a post all the way through. Therefore, it's definitely not midnight currently.)

I can't ever stay on topic.

You know what is pretty much one of the most annoying songs to get stuck in one's head? But also one of the most hilarious for the simple fact that it exists? The Viva Viagra song. Have you all had the luck of seeing this commercial? The first time I saw it, it seemed rather innocuous at first, just a weird commercial of some guys sitting in what looks like a jam session, each singing a few lines of a revised version of Viva Las Vegas. I wasn't really listening to the words, but yeah. But then? Then they got to the chorus. The chorus where they sing Viva Viagra. And that first time I heard it (and, really, pretty much each subsequent time, but to a bit of a lesser extent) I couldn't help but laugh and laugh. Here were these guys, clearly made to look tough and normal (a few complete with doo-rags on their heads. Ok maybe just one like that), happily singing this ridiculous song about Viagra. And while, I know, they're laughing all the way to the bank for being in the commercial, but man. It's so ridiculous. In a completely hilarious way.

Sort of on the same topic, but not really, but kind of, I read this article the other day allegedly containing five myths told about birth control. Myths such as, suppressing a naturally occurring cycle is bad for you, the pill can increase cancer risks, and it can also cause you to gain weight. Obviously, nothing's true for everyone. But why would you mess with something like this when there are some obvious bad effects that can and often do occur to many women? I just don't get it. The whole tone of the article was "Oh, those crazies who try to steer people away from birth control. They're just a bunch of liars. Birth control is fun! And you don't have to worry about getting pregnant, so it's worry-free sex! Yay!" Bleh. I suppose that's the culture in which we live. Heck, I read something today in which a college student blamed Bush for her unwanted pregnancy. Something about how birth control costs more now on college campuses, so she couldn't afford it or something, and I suppose this caused her to become spontaneously pregnant. Or else she just realized that, hey, we can't be held liable for our actions, right? We're in college, we deserve to be having sex all the time! Whatever.

Sorry. Meant just to go with the funny thing for this post, but then that article's been sitting there in one of my many tabs for a few days now, and it was kind of in the same vein, so.......yeah. Whatever.

There is no point to this post. Except for the pictures.

Today, I went to Walmart (I know, I know, horrible place, whatever. I'm broke and cheap. Deal with it, or give me money to go elsewhere) and spent a ridiculous amount of money on mostly toiletries. Stuff I need for when I'm back at school. And yeah, as people have said, I could just buy it up there. But the thing is, most of it is stuff I'm gonna need fairly right away, and it's really only like three bags' worth of stuff anyway. So yeah. I did get a few impulse purchases (went to the shoe section to see if I could find a pair of casual but nice short-heeled black shoes that I can just slip on, because the pair I had previously decided to become unwearable earlier this summer -- the bottom of one of the heels came off when I stepped in the crack between two sidewalk pieces. They were cheap Walmart shoes that I had bought several years ago, so I definitely got good use out of them, but now I'm up a creek without a paddle when I want to wear a black skirt and not go for the fancy strappy shoes. Anyway. Didn't find what I was looking for in the shoe section, but I did find a cute pair of white nice sandals on clearance for $7, and I impulse-bought them. And...I got a think of four pens, the brand I love, but four NEW COLORS!!! Colors I didn't know existed. I was powerless not to get them). For the most part though, despite the high price tag, I'm ok with what I got.

Man, though, people. It is expensive being a girl. I mean, makeup costs a lot (yeah, yeah, I suppose I don't technically need makeup, whatever), we have to have more accessories, more different types of shoes, and dude. Do you know how expensive bras are? I swear, they've gone up like $10 since the last time I bought a bra. I was at Kohl's yesterday, and a lot were on sale -- on sale -- for like $20. A few were on sale for around $16, but still. For one bra. I know that the last time I bought bras, they were not that expensive. Maybe $10 or $12. I just cannot see spending that much on a bra. I mean, I guess eventually I'll have no choice. Can't very well go without a bra. Twould be rather uncomfortable. But man. That sucks. I don't even like spending $20 on a shirt. Or a skirt. And pants...that's around how much I like to spend on pants. Ugh. Anyway.

I also got some new glasses today. I have a pair, for when I'm not wearing contacts, but they're a few years old and therefore slightly outdated with regard to the prescription. My prescription hasn't changed in a couple checkups now, but I guess they've changed some since the last time I opted for glasses instead of contacts. (Our plan pays for either a year's supply of contacts, or a pair of glasses. But here's the weird thing. The contacts thing will pay for up to $250, whereas if you get glasses, it only covers $150. I don't really get that. Whatever though.) Or maybe I'm just pretending that they're a weaker prescription. Sure seemed to notice a difference the last few times I wore those glasses, though. So anyway. These new ones are the kind that don't have the frame part on the underside of the glasses. Not sure if they really look great on me (I never can tell those sorts of things), but whatever. You know what came with it? This little keychain thing that unscrews on two parts to reveal little screwdrivers! One side is the...flathead? I forget what they're called, but one side is just the one line, the other is the cross. Anyway. I don't know, I think it's cool.

Oh, so after Walmart, we (I was with my friend Cathy) went to Borders and browsed a bit. I was attracted, as always, by the calendar section. I love calendars, and I'm not quite sure why. But man I love them. Anyway, know what my favorite one was? (Well, there were a bunch of Colorado ones and other pretty nature ones and such, which I always love.) It was a calendar of John Wayne. Have I ever mentioned my blossoming love for John Wayne? Well, it's there. And I do have at least a sneaking suspicion that part of the reason I quite enjoy him is because of his striking resemblance with Conan O'Brien. With whom I'm also having a love affair.

Ok, so maybe they're not exactly doppelgangers or anything like that, but I think they look similar. (And yes, I did giggle a little bit at the fact that I'm putting up a picture of a shirtless guy on my blog. Remember, I am a prude. Haha. But don't worry. I really harbor no strong feelings toward John Wayne resembling anything other than thinking he's awesome. Nothing to blush about, don't worry. Just like Conan, also awesome. Speaking of whom, when trying to find some comparable pictures of the two, I did come across a shirtless Conan picture. It also makes me laugh. He's quite pale. So in the interest of not blinding my readers, I'm just going to link to it. Don't worry, it's a perfectly fine picture.)

Ok. Sorry about that.

Oh! Remember that book I mentioned yesterday, the one with the typo on the front cover? This is the book. Hehe. That just really amuses me for some reason.

I have great parents. True story. Pretty much the best. Even when they beat me (each of them, one per round) in Rummy. By a lot. And then laugh in my face. (Ok, that part isn't so much true.)

I decided during our hike on Saturday that A) I want to learn the types of flora and fauna in Colorado. Especially the flora part. There were some really pretty and cool flowers and plants I saw that I hadn't really ever noticed before. It'd be nice to know what they all are. And B) Next time I get a camera (a long time from now, probably), I want to get one that has a very quick turnaround between taking a picture and being ready to take another. You know, a more professional type one, one for which I don't have to wait 5 seconds between when I hit the button to take the picture, and when it's done processing so that I can take another. Anyway. Pipe dream, I know. The second, at least. The first is actually possible, somewhat anyway.

After a discussion we had at dinner, I now like my middle name a bit more than I did before.

Football is only 9 days away now. Did you know I'm excited? Oh man. Seriously can't wait.

Ok I think I'm done now.

Five more days, people. Five more days.

I don't know where my Abbey Road CD is. This makes me sad. It's possible it's in this one thing of CDs out in my car, but I'm not sure. I sure hope it is. Although, it's on my computer so I can always just make another copy. Know what I've discovered though? CDs that I make from my computer seem to turn out...not so good. They seem to tend to get these...skips in them. Sort of hiccups. It doesn't really skip much of the song at all, but it's not at all smooth. And it's very annoying. Especially since, for a majority of my CDs, they're ones made from what I have on my computer (because, have I mentioned? USPS lost a box of allllll the CDs I owned back in freshman year, so now if I want to listen to those elsewhere from my computer, I have to make another CD of it). I'm not sure exactly what's causing it, but it's irritating. Lucky for me, other than in driving situations I really don't listen to CDs. So when I'm at school it's not a huge thing. But it still bothers me.

Oh man, now that I've taken the GRE (sooo glad I decided to take the plunge and just do it this week. It was quite a quick decision for me, since I only really looked into it, schedule-wise and such, last week), I really want to do the JPII Institute thing. It's like it's a bit more real now, I guess. I still have to figure out what professors to ask for recommendations (I haven't been so much a teacher's pet in college. Most of my past professors would probably be hard-pressed to remember my name, should I run into them somewhere. Although my TA from history first semester sophomore year remembered my name when he came into the Huddle a few times last semester while I was working. But TA is different than professor, obviously). And then I actually have to, you know, apply and such. (I just split an infinitive. And it felt soooo good. Or not. Whatever.) Hopefully I'll get that done by the end of September at the latest. And maybe by then I'll be a favorite student of two of my upcoming professors. You never know. I'm trying to be hopelessly optimistic about this year. Might all come crashing down on me soon enough, but whatever. You know what? In less than two weeks I will be attending the home opener for 2007 Notre Dame football. And, barring some huge unforeseen tragedy (God forbid), that is a definite surety. And there's pretty much nothing better than Notre Dame football. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh man.

(Aw man, I just remembered, I was going to do my laundry today -- in reality, yesterday, but I suck -- and I forgot! Argh. It's far too late to do it now. Crap. Ah well, that just means it'll be that much longer before I have to pay to do my laundry up at school. Man, I don't miss that. This year it'll be fantastic -- going from the fourth floor to the basement to do my laundry. Well, more forced exercise for me I suppose.)

I could be like Luna Lovegood!

So, funny story. I just got a box from Amazon today with the three books I ordered directly from them. I was looking through them briefly, and while flipping through the smallest (On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius), I noticed something odd. At first I thought that the cover was on wrong. Upon further inspection, however, I discovered that around half of the book is placed in there -- get this -- upside down. That's right. It goes from page 28 directly to an upside down page 60, and continues backwards and upside down to page 29, and then goes rightside up again starting on page 61. I don't understand this. How is this possible? I mean, it's almost sort of like a book Mom bought for her class back in January or so, which I noticed last week has a typo. On the cover. In the subtitle, right below the main title. Not terribly small either. (I'd look for the book on Amazon to show you, but I can't remember the title aside from that one word.) I suppose it's easy enough to miss -- it's the word Devine, which would only be correct if one was talking about the finer points of a past ND football coach. Or someone else with that last name. In the book title, though? It's definitely supposed to be Divine. The spine says Divine, the title page inside the book says Divine, but somehow, through all the editings books go through, someone missed the fact that the first word of the subtitle was spelled incorrectly. Man that was funny to notice though.

Anyway.

Not sure what to do about this situation. I guess I'll write Amazon and see what they say, or I could possibly just deal with it (and see if people give me funny looks when they notice I'm reading a book apparently upside down. That's almost reason enough to keep it). Hm. What an odd predicament in which to find oneself.

Glad that's over with

I just surprised myself. I just got back from the GRE, and they tell you the scores of the verbal and math sections right away when you're done. The math sections? (I did two, so I'm guessing one of them was one of the unscored things they mentioned I might have to do.) They sucked. I didn't have enough time really to do them very well at all, and both times I ended up having basically to guess the last five or so just to get answers in for all of the questions in time. I ended up doing a whole heck of a lot better on the math section though, somehow. I really don't get it. Because even the ones I took a lot of time on? I definitely felt like I didn't know anything. I remembered how much I hate taking standardized math tests. They suck, people. So I still can't quite believe that I did that much better on the math. Maybe I saw it wrong. Hm. Anyway.

Tests suck. But I still like math.

So, I spent the better part of today (sort of, but in reality, probably not really. But who's counting?) looking over some material regarding the GRE. I've decided that it's nothing but a slightly more pretentious (and therefore slightly more intimidating) version of the SAT. And this makes me feel better. I mean, I'm not at all nearly as prepared as I probably ought to be, but really, what's the point of spending hours upon hours going over analogies and antonyms and writing persuasive arguments to a prompt? I suppose I could have done one for each of those listed in the "pool of argument topics" and "pool of issue topics" that they list on their website. But you know what? They list about a hundred. If not more. I don't know, it's a lot. I'm good at BSing arguments for stuff (heck, it's what I've done my entire schooling career), so I guess I'm not terribly concerned about those two sections.

The math section...I'm not sure about. I mean, it seems like pretty basic stuff, and I don't even have to bring a calculator (which is good, because I don't even know if I remember how to use my calculator), but it's been two years since I've done anything resembling real math (not including basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc). And the math I did my first year of college? Two classes, easiest As I got in college so far. Finite math and statistics. Come on. Math was arguably my best subject in high school (and even middle school, now that I think about it. And 5th grade. One time in 5th grade I was the only person, or perhaps only one of two, who didn't have to retake a test or something like that because I had gotten a 100% on it. I was quite proud of that. Especially considering that of the three or so weeks I was enrolled in public school at the end of fourth grade, my first foray into non-homeschool life, one of the things I remember the most was participating in some game the class played, during which we were divided into two teams, and one person from each would go up and answer some question on the board, and the first one to get it won. My question was a long division question, and might as well have been Egyptian hieroglyphics, because apparently I hadn't covered long division yet at that point when I was being homeschooled. So to go from that to being one of the best math students for pretty much the rest of my grade and high school career was pretty cool for me. College math, though? Most certainly does not hold the same appeal. Too much theory, not enough application I guess. I don't really know, but that's what I'm telling myself). Where was I? Oh I guess I was talking about the math section. So yeah. I didn't do as well in the math section of the SAT compared to the verbal, for whatever reason (although I can't for the life of me remember the difference between the two...nor can I remember how I did comparatively on the ACT. Although I think the math was my worst section of the four then, too. My best? The science, I think, surprisingly. But again, I could be misremembering). I guess I'm expecting that to hold true this time around, too. Lucky for me, there are three verbal-ish sections compared to the one math section. (There's two essay things: the issue writing section and the argument writing section; and then there's the verbal thing with the this is to this as that is to that, and the antonyms, and the "read a passage and answer questions based on it" stuff.)

Hm. I used to be such a better student in high school. And middle school. Suck a such up, a teacher's pet, and straight As all around. What happened to me? Was IB that much easier than Notre Dame? I mean, it was a lot of work, but I don't really know that it was that hard. But then, I don't necessarily thing ND is that hard either. Just a lot of essays. I guess I'm starting to miss having an easy A class like math. Man, I rocked my math classes. Especially senior year. And then I was awesome and got the 7 (out of 7) on the math IB test. Although, granted, I didn't take the higher level math class, just the standard level. So I suppose I wasn't as cool as I could have been. Higher level seemed to be more the theoretical stuff that I don't like, though. Maybe. Eh I don't know. All I know is I love my math classes junior and senior year, and my teachers of those classes loved me. I miss having teachers that love me. Aw. Stupid college. Haha.

And now, completely unrelated but I just found this and it's awesome, here's something for your viewing/listening pleasure. You all should be jealous that I get to witness this seven or fourteen times (if I were to see it both Friday and Saturday, as they do it both days) this year. Yep. (It's the band doing the step off from the main building on a football Friday, I guess before they go practice prior to the pep rally. They do it, in uniform, to go to the stadium on football Saturdays. And actually they might do it in the morning before that too, but that's like 9am and I'm never up that early on a football Saturday. Or any Saturday. haha.)

Those Red Vines are incentive enough

Have I mentioned? I'm leaving on Saturday. After waiting all summer long, the departure date is just days away. I'm sort of waiting for it all to hit the fan, so to speak, and for me to go into my typical "Wah I have to leave and go away and be gone boo hiss" thing. But you know what? I don't think that's going to be happening this time. Because, while I will miss my parents (and ok, my siblings too, I guess especially because one will be leaving in less than a month and will be gone for at least 15 months, and oh those cute cute cute nephews of mine, how can I take cute pictures of them if I'm in Indiana and they're here?), and of course my pets, my sweet sweet babies, of whom I also quite enjoy taking pictures, and the mountains, and the pretty sunsets (mountains make for the best sunsets. It's fact), and the non-humidity, and the wonderful taste-free water, and all that stuff...the truth is I'm so excited to go back. I'm not excited for the packing and the driving and the unpacking and the setting up (and to make things better, seems that it's been raining quite a lot up there lately, and might could rain on Sunday, maybe), but man I'm excited to be back there. Not so much excited about the fact that my first class of the semester will be taking place at 8am, because I signed up for a Tues-Thurs 8am class and we start on Tuesday. But, if being back at ND means I have to take classes, then so be it.


It's funny. One year ago, two years ago, two and a half years ago, all I wanted was to be graduated and for it all to be over. And now? I'm just hoping this year goes by slowwwwly. I know it won't, I know it'll be Christmas and then graduation before I know it, but hey I can hope right? Much as I'll miss stuff here, I'm glad that I'm excited to be going back. Makes things a lot better.

Oh, and another incentive to want to be back there? On Saturday Mom went to Sam's Club, and while there she bought be a huge tub of Red Vines. 330 Red Vines in this thing. Can I tell you that I'm excited about this? I mean, 330. I soooo want to open that thing right now. But, each time I come thisclose to opening it, I stop and make myself wait until I get to school. Mom told me, when I saw it, that it was big enough for me to have one pretty much every day for the whole year. In reality, I'll probably have that thing finished off by the end of September, if not my birthday. I love me some Red Vines, people. Man, I have great parents though. One surprised me with a 24 pack of XXX VitaminWater, the other with a 330 tub of Red Vines. Awesome.

Tomorrow

I think tomorrow I'm going to go running at Palmer Park. It's going to be ridiculous hot, I think, but when I went hiking on Saturday, I kept getting the urge to run. And seeing as how I haven't really ran much lately (going fast on an elliptical isn't quite the same thing), perhaps I'll indulge that desire tomorrow. I could just run around my neighborhood, but it's all paved, and I realized this summer I don't like running on pavement. Palmer Park has all dirt trails and whatnot. So we'll see. And I would like to see how far I can run without having to stop. I know I'm in at least semi-good condition, better than when I tried to get back into running a week after coming home in May. So that's good. (And I'm also at the point where I'm noticing a difference from this working out stuff, which makes me want to keep working out. And that's a good thing. Maybe I'll finally manage to lose some weight, or inches, or something, if I can manage to start eating better.)

(Plus, the one pair of workout shorts I own, along with the one sports bra I have -- yeah, perhaps I should look into getting some more of both of those items -- need to be washed. And I didn't do laundry today, and don't want to start now, and if I'm out in the open I won't feel as stanky as if I'm in an indoor room with 10s of other people. You know.)

I also should probably make sure I'm not going to have any huge surprises thrown at me come Tuesday when I walk into the GRE place. Because...um...yeah. Starting to think this might turn out to be a big ol' waste of $140 I don't have. Oh well. I'm just taking it because I have to in order to apply for the JPII Institute. And I doubt it'll be a huge factor in my getting accepted or rejected. I mean, obviously I'm not an idiot, having gotten into ND (although I'm pretty sure that was a fluke) and having maintained somewhere around a 3.6 or so throughout the last three years. Not that that's a terribly good GPA for Arts and Letters, but whatever. I did just make myself feel slightly better about the lack of preparation for the GRE though. I put too much emphasis on everything, a lot of the time. Not that I shouldn't place some importance on this, but...yeah. It's just a test after all, I guess. I can always retake it if I feel I need to. Or like if I don't get into JPII and then want to get a better score and perhaps apply elsewhere or something...not sure where I'd apply but you never know.

Ok enough rambling.

Uh, no thanks

Am I the only one who doesn't find "lolcatz" amusing? I've been seeing them around more and more lately, often with alterations and replacing the cats with something else (I've even seen a saints one, or something like that). I suppose part of the reason I just don't find it amusing is that it's just horrible to read. And it's just encouraging all this horrible spelling and grammar and whatnot that's spreading like an epidemic. I know, I'm taking it too seriously. But still. Ugh.

Sigh.

Sometimes, being at church is hard. For reasons having nothing to do with how the liturgy is celebrated (or...occasionally, mangled. Perhaps not that dramatic. But yeah). But it's just something I have to deal with for now, I guess.

Any recommendations?

So, since I started college, I've done a few photo hosting websites. First there was Webshots, where I think I had three different accounts eventually because of the limit they put on the number of photos you can put up. I shared a lot of photos freshman year. I took a lot, actually. A fair number for each football game, and various other photo ops as well. (Of course, I also went through two cameras that year -- both met untimely ends, one was replaced, the second got lost in the mail thanks to the stupidity of the USPS, remember, when they lost that box with alllll my CDs and that and maybe a few other things? Fun times.) And then last summer I put a bunch of pictures I took, mostly last summer and possibly spring semester of sophomore year, on this other photo sharing website. But I don't remember what it's called at the moment. I have it bookmarked, somewhere, but yeah. I had kind of gotten sick of Webshots because, at the time I was using it, it wasn't very convenient or user friendly, and it kept messing up the order of the photos I put on there which just frustrated me. (I think they've improved it since I gave up on it, though.) So I gave up on that and moved to the other one, and I'm not sure how I came across the other one. But then I didn't really touch that one much either after last summer, because it was ok but I wasn't thrilled about it.

I've been meaning to add some more photos to it for awhile now, and then the other day someone asked on NDNation in the "backroom" section, as it's called, for a good photo sharing website. Someone recommended Kodakgallery.com, and a few others seconded, so I decided to check it out. I just put my first album on there, and I'm really happy with it. So far. Not that I can really tell for sure yet, but yeah. Seems to be good, and easy to use. And for signing up (for free), I can get 20 free 4x6 prints. So that's cool. I haven't quite found yet if there's a limit to the number of pictures you can put on there, but the best I've seen is that you can store your pictures on there indefinitely as long as you make a purchase every 12 months. Like, I guess, ordering some prints or whatnot. So we'll see how it turns out.

Hm, I'm trying to figure out how to put a link on here, but as far as I can tell I have to send the link in an email to people with whom I want to share the photos...maybe this is not so cool. I don't know. We'll see. I mean, half the reason I want an account somewhere is to have somewhat of another backup for my pictures. Most of them are currently on CDs too, but yeah. Anyway.

Sorry this is so boring. And ultimately pointless, it seems. Does anyone have any recommendations for a website to use? (Pointless to ask, because no one comments here anyway. Which I'm ok with, since I don't ever comment on the multitude of blogs I read. Whatever.) Lots of people seem to like Flickr, so maybe I should check out that one. Oh hm looks like their free account only allows for 200 pictures. Maybe someday I won't be so cheap. But for now, I'm afraid I most certainly am. Oh well.

Ew ew ew

Guess what? That's right. Another spider story coming up.

So I was sitting here on the couch, I had just gotten home from taking Cathy to pick up her car from where it was getting fixed. Kebbie got up and went over to sniff something on the carpet near the TV, and the "something" moved. And it was big. I got up, unhappy at the situation because I was the only one home (meaning no Dad to kill it for me), and got a flashlight because it had gone between some stuff on the floor over there. And I needed a good view if I was going to kill the sucker. So I got Dad's flashlight, went to where I had seen it disappear, and it was still sitting there, tucked between a paper bag full of bills, and a set of stacking buckets (that's where we keep a lot of Jason's toys, over in that area). Huge. Seriously. Now, killing little spiders is one thing. It's much easier to grab a tissue and just work up the courage and then just lunge and get it. But when it's a huge spider? That requires, at least, a paper towel or something. But really, if it's a spider that big, I want to use some sort of tool to kill it. So I looked around trying to find something that could get in that little nook and crush it. And then I saw an umbrella on the ground, and figured it was better than nothing. So I took the paper towel I had, kinda put it on the end there, and stuck it into where the spider was.

Of course it didn't work, though, because the spider had a little bit of room to get between the bag and the buckets and go behind them. So then he was sort of in open ground there, but I still didn't want to stick my hand down with only a paper towel to protect me. But I couldn't just stab the umbrella down with a paper towel on it, either, because it'd just fall off. So I went high tech. I got a piece of tape and taped the paper towel to the umbrella, and then I took a deep breath and went for it. And I got it. Had to mash it down a few times before I knew it was dead for sure, but I got it. Then I just had to pick up the dead gross mashed up body with a napkin, and throw it and the paper towel away. (But I was so grossed out I threw it all in the toilet.) And then I sat back down on the couch, somewhat satisfied but also somewhat freaked out, as usual, that more spiders were going to come out of the woodworks and attack me for killing one of their own. I hate spiders.

But don't worry, everyone. In case you don't believe me, and think I'm exaggerating the size, I got visual evidence. That's right. It was big enough that I wanted to document it. Plus, you know, I needed a bit more time to work up the courage to try to kill it again. Sometimes it takes awhile.Might not seem as big to you all as it did to me. To be fair, it's not exactly spread out there. And that's a softball, not a baseball, just to give you some perspective there. Believe me, it was big. And it was gross. And I'm glad it's dead. So there.

St Helena

Today is the feast day of one of my more favorite saints, for no really good reason. St. Helena was the mother of Constantine, and she is credited with helping to find, or just finding, the True Cross on which Jesus died. Here's one small biography, and here's another one. (I still really want to read Helena by Evelyn Waugh. I wonder if the ND library has it...)

I feel like being random

I really really want some Chinese food. Man I love me some chicken lo mein. And wanton soup. Mmm wanton soup. But especially lo mein. Dude. It's awesome.

I also want a new phone. One that doesn't make me erase my entire text message after I send it. I don't send a lot of texts, but it's always annoying when I do to have to clear the whole thing, or even to go to the "clear text" option. A few phones back, I didn't have to do that. The message would send and that would be that. Of course, I also want a phone that is compatible with good ringtones. Like, the ones that aren't just boring cell phone sounding. My entire reason for this is because I want to be able to have a cool ringtone come Christmastime. Last year, I had decided on one I really wanted, should I ever get a phone on which it would work. I forget what that was, but still. Oh well.

Oh man, look at this website. Click on the portfolio link at the top, and then click one of the thumbnails and roll your mouse over the picture that pops up. It's crazy, the whole fact that everyone compares themselves to these retouched photos that people look at as reality. It's impossible to look like these pictures, yet people kill themselves trying. Ridiculous.

On a lighter note, I love optical illusions. They so mess with my head. Like this one. Or, even cooler, this one. Man they're awesome.

I decided to take the GRE next week. I had been planning to take it in August, but then for a variety of reasons (not the least because I didn't want to commit to it, or something, or maybe because I didn't have to want to pay the $140), I just didn't sign up. On a whim, I decided I better see if I can still take it before I leave, because I really didn't want to have to be worrying about it once school starts (plus I was under the impression that they only take place on Saturdays. And Saturdays in fall? Not good to plan for taking 4 hour long tests, especially when you go to a school such as the one I do). Turns out they do it many days of the week, at different times, so I'm taking it on Tuesday. I will hopefully make myself study at least a bit before I take it, because I don't want it to be a waste of $140, but I don't have a goal score in mind at all. I have no idea what to aim for because the JPII Institute doesn't have like an "average" (I'm sure they do, but I don't know it, because they didn't tell me and they just said "It's just one of many pieces of information we use"), and that is the sole reason I'm taking this test. So...yeah. I'm taking it next week. Exciting, no? Well, we'll see anyway.

The other day, my dad went to the store to pick up a few essentials (milk, bread, and eggs), and when he came back he said he had gotten something for me. I was quite surprised, as I had no idea what he'd get me that he would seem so...excited? about. He went out to the garage, and came back in carrying a whole case (I think it's around 20, maybe more) of the XXX flavor of Vitamin Water. My favorite flavor (it's got pomegranate), which he knows, apparently. I guess they were on sale, as the occasionally are, and he found a whole case of that one flavor. It's for me to bring to school. So I'm kinda excited about that. Good stuff. My dad's awesome, and definitely surprises me sometimes.

Today I looked on the KKTV website (our local CBS affiliate) to see for sure if they're playing the Broncos-Dallas game tomorrow, or the Chargers-Rams game. The national CBS game is the Chargers-Rams, but as I've said, the Denver CBS station is playing the Broncos. So I just wanted to check the source here. And you know what? It says they're playing the Broncos-Cowboys game! Isn't that awesome? Well, I think it is. Even though it's such a waste of a perfectly good football game. I mean, these could be regular season games now, but they're still just preseason, and as such they're practically pointless. And that makes them far less exciting and less worth watching. I just want the regular season to start already. Sigh. Stupid preseason.

Maybe I'll go start cleaning my room now. Or looking through the mounds of clothes I have. Here's my problem. I have all these clothes I rarely, if ever, wear, and should really just give away, but it sort of feels like a waste of money when I give them away, unless I've gotten at least a fair amount of use out of them. But I should just do it, because I have enough clothes and should really downsize in that area (or at least make it so that most of the clothes I have, I actually wear on a fairly regular basis). I'm trying to let go of my packrattiness. And this year, I'm going to do my darnedest to keep my room at school clean and as clutter-free as possible. It'd be nice, for once, to have my living space be...livable. Not to have to fight with tons of piles of paper and whatnot for space on my desk. Not to feel reluctant to show people my living space. So that's one of my goals for this year. I'm sure it'll last a whole two weeks, but whatever.

Crisis Pregnancy Center

I had an interview today. Earlier this summer it occurred to me that I should really start doing something about the whole abortion issue, instead of just being against it and occasionally using it as blog fodder. So, through a long process, I found the Crisis Pregnancy Center here in the Springs, called them about volunteering, finally got in touch with the right person, got an application, filled out the application, and then got a call to set up the interview. Today I went for that interview. As i kind of thought it would be, it turned out to be more of a let's get to know you sort of interview rather than a let's see if we'll accept you to volunteer here kind of thing. With that in mind, it went really well. They have a great set up there, and it's just a wonderful organization. For now, since I'm only here another week and after that will only be here sporadically on breaks -- at least until summer, and then we'll see -- I'm just going to be restocking this "store" of baby things that they have there. Nothing complicated, but at least I'm doing something. I'm pretty excited about the whole thing. The woman to whom I was talking and whatnot seems really nice and all. It's exciting.

Anyway, just thought I'd share.

Technology sucks sometimes

This article makes me sad. Mostly because it highlights many of my technology-related pet peeves. And the whole texting instead of conversing with people? Man that annoys me. My little brother does it All. The. Time. Half the time we'll be having a conversation, or several of us will be talking, and sometimes he'll even ask a question and by the time someone answers, he's off texting someone on his phone, not even listening to the answer or the conversation. Man. I'm a low-tech girl, generally. I have a cell phone, but use it fairly infrequently. Text people only occasionally. Phones are most certainly not my common means of communication. I don't own an MP3 player, a Blackberry, any of that. It really bothers me when people talk on their cell phones in places like restaurants or waiting rooms or whatnot, particularly if they're quite loud. Actually, talking loudly on cell phones is annoying no matter where it is. Sometimes it's unavoidable, depending on the situation, but still. (If it's discreet, obviously I don't have a problem with that. Sometimes you can't avoid it.) Oh, or during movies. People who text or talk on cells during movies out to have their movie-attending privileges revoked. Seriously, I went to see a movie with Tom (and possibly Peter) recently, I forget which one, and some guy was actually talking on his phone during the movie. And I think he was texting and getting texted too, because his phone kept making noises and such. Finally someone near him yelled at him to be quiet, so that's cool. But yeah.

Manners and plain ol' common courtesy are going down the drain. Not to mention grammar, as I've complained about before, and which I also blame somewhat on technology.

I believe it should be a 15 yard penalty for excessive use of technology. Of course, that doesn't mean much if you're not playing football...and those playing football aren't using technology while doing so...hm...Oh well. At least I got a football reference in. Man. Football. Next Friday the Patriots preseason game is on CBS. I'm rather excited about that. (I still wish the Denver-Dallas game which is this Saturday was playing on CBS down here. It's on CBS in Denver, but everywhere else the CBS stations get the Chargers-Rams game. Who cares about Chargers-Rams? I want Denver-Dallas!!!)

Ok I'm done now.

It's nice when things work like they're supposed to

Laptop fixed. (For now, at least.) Apparently my model is so old (my computer's a whole 3 years old), they don't waste money on new parts for it, so the motherboards and other parts, I guess, get recycled. Meaning all these new motherboards I've been getting are just repaired motherboards that had previously been broken in someone else's laptop. So that's cool. Obviously they're doing a bang-up job of repairing them, considering this is the third one I've had replaced this year. Whatever. It'll be nice to get a new laptop next year. A much lighter model, methinks. But I'm still stuck with this one for this year.

Completely unrelated, but I came thisclose to getting into a fender-bender today on my way to the Y. I was just driving along on Academy, minding my own business, going the speed limit, not particularly close to the car in front of me, when all of a sudden he slammed on his brakes and ended up swerving and going into the left turn lane (it was a few car lengths back from the light at Academy and Flintridge, the light being green for Academy) to avoid hitting the car in front of him. I slammed on my brakes harder than I've ever had to before, so that my tires skidded a bit, but I managed to stop before hitting the car that had been two cars in front of me. I mean, it was Academy so we were all going 45, if not 50, which makes it somewhat harder to stop. So then there was this line of cars, probably two or three or four cars in front of the car I was behind, all stopped in the leftmost lane (aside from the left turn lane), and I had no idea what was going on. I couldn't really switch lanes because I was too close to the car in front of me, and was shaking somewhat significantly and felt very weak after that rush of adrenaline that was going when I slammed on the brakes. After a few seconds, maybe like 30 or something, this car that was at the head of the stopped cars I guess turned left onto Flintridge. The left turners there had a red arrow, so I have no idea what was going on. If that car stopped in the middle of traffic, in a lane that was meant to be moving, just because he realized he wanted to turn left at Flintridge, and thus almost caused a few people to hit the cars in front of them, I am so pissed at him. I can't imagine any other scenario. Why would you do that? Ugh. I mean, the whole thing was so unnerving because it's not like it was a red light that people didn't notice in time, or it's not like the light had just turned green and people were just taking a long time to get moving. It was a light that had been green, and people were going, expecting to be able to cross Flintridge easily and normally. But no, this guy had to be stopped in the middle of traffic. Ugh. Anyway. Good thing I have good brakes that work well.

Ok I'm done now. Just thought I'd share my adventure of the day.

(OH! And have I mentioned how much I love this new feature of the updated version of Firefox? If my computer gets reset, or if I have to reset it or whatnot, like if it freezes, and if I have a Firefox window open, the next time I start up Firefox it asks me if I want to restore the last session I had open when it "unexpectedly closed." This makes me ridiculously happy. Ok maybe not ridiculously, but it does make me happy.)

Amazing how much I have to say when I don't have anything to talk about

I really don't want to post tonight, because I have nothing to say. But I'm bored, and I can't remember a lot of the webaddresses of places I check that are on my laptop. (Because, oh yeah, the guy didn't come today. He called this morning when I was still asleep, left a message that said to call before 11 so I could get on the "roster" or whatever, and I did that. But I had to leave a message because he didn't answer. I told him I had an appointment and I'd be home after one, and I figured that was good enough, especially since he didn't call back saying it wouldn't work. It's the same guy who did the replacement (of the motherboard, again) back in July (June?), and that whole thing seemed to work last time. But then when I hadn't heard from him and the afternoon was starting to wane, I gave him another call and he said that since he hadn't confirmed, I wasn't on the roster and I'd have to wait until tomorrow because -- and this is what really bothered me -- I didn't talk to him before 10. First of all, I'm pretty sure when I did call it was before 10, and secondly, in his message he had said before 11. I'm just pissed at this whole thing. And pissed that I have to deal with this again. How many more times am I going to have to sit around waiting for someone to come fix this darned laptop? It's just ridiculous.

Anyway.

So, no one watches this, but tonight was the final performances for the four finalists in America's Got Talent. I'm about to say who's in the final four, so if you happen to watch and haven't seen it yet, ...don't read. The four finalists include Cas Haley, whom I absolutely love (he's a singer/guitarist, who sings more in the reggae type genre, but is awesome); Terry Fator, the ventriloquist/impersonator guy who I also find very very impressive and quite enjoyable; a girl called Butterscotch who sings and does beatbox, at the same time which is admittedly impressive to hear, and she's good but I don't like her as much as the first two; and Julianne Irwin who's a fourteen year old singer. She's good, but beyond the fact that she has a nice voice there's not a lot special about her. So obviously I really want either Cas Haley or Terry Fator to win, because I just love watching them. If Cas Haley ever comes out with a CD (and after this, I would be more surprised if he didn't, even if he doesn't win), I would totally buy it. I want him to win the most, I think, because even if Terry Fator wins, I don't know how I'd ever see him again. Perhaps that means he should win though, since I'll be surprised if Cas doesn't get a record deal or something even if he doesn't. Anyway. I just hope neither of the girls win. I'm such a sexist. Haha. Anyway. Yeah.

So know what I found out the other day? One of my favorite country singers (singer of one of the two country CDs I own) is playing at the Colorado State Fair. On August 29. Which is a day after classes start. Sigh. And Josh Groban is playing in Denver on the 28th. Actually, maybe he's the 29th too. Either way. Why does no one ever come play anywhere that I am? Perhaps to keep from tempting me to buy tickets with money I don't have. The reason I didn't end up going to the Celtic Woman concert at Red Rocks this summer. Man that would have been lovely. Did you know that, aside from a Weird Al concert my family went to years and years ago at the State Fair, the only concert I've ever attended was Norah Jones in August right before my senior year of high school? Yeah. I suppose I've technically been to a Cake concert (ugh), and one with...Jason Mraz, maybe? Those two were The Show sophomore and freshman year, respectively. There was also some rapper dude, I guess both of them had some rapper dudes, but I don't remember who they were. Akon. That was one. I think that was with Cake. Anyway. What was I talking about? Oh yeah concerts. And I've gone to orchestra/symphonic concerts and such, but those are different. I did see Ravi Shankar this year too, that's kinda close. But yeah. So...I don't know where I'm going with this.

Ugh I keep thinking of things I want to buy, things I can pretty much live without but really want (like new clogs to replace my year-old cheap clogs which sort of have little to no sole left, or a new straightener I've been wanting for awhile that's better and easier to use than the one I currently have), and it just is so annoying. Money is so stressful. I get stressed whenever I buy anything. Mostly if it's anything over like $10. I don't think things are worth buying, generally, unless they're under $20. Especially with clothes and shoes. Entertainment stuff, that needs to be less than $10 for me really to consider buying it. It sucks. I hate money. I wish I had some.

I'm thinking about changing over to wordpress. I don't know why. Blogger is just fine. I guess I just get bored with things. And I can import this whole blog over there. If I do it, I won't do it until I hit 1000 posts here. I'm currently at 768. 769 with this post. So if I do, it'd probably be sometime around New Years, I'm guessing.

I am so boring.

I wish I were back at school already. My four close friends who are living off campus this year are all gonna be up there by sometime next week, I believe. I'm jealous. (Although I'm in no way ready to leave because I have nothing packed. But I've typically always done it pretty much the night before anyway.) Man. I'm so starved for being in the company of my peers. This summer is definitely one to forget, that's for sure. I hope my senior year lives up to my expectations. I'll do my best to make sure that it does. And football. Ohhhhhhhhh how I miss football! And football weekends. And Sunday football. And, did I mention football? The standing, and the yelling, and the throwing, and the tackling, and the cheers, and the loveliness? It's not fair that football has such a short season. What's the point of having four preseason games? There's no point. Tom said people are thinking about turning two of those games into regular season games. I would highly and enthusiastically support that. Oh boy would I. Because, if you haven't gathered, I kind of like football a little bit. Football and school are totally like the prizes at the end of this ridiculous excuse of a summer. Keep your eye on the prize, Susie. Mmm. (Speaking of sports, sort of, the Red Sox pulled off a win tonight! They were down 1-0 most of the game, but got two runs in the bottom of the 9th! AND the Yankees lost 12-0! They only got two hits the whole game. Awesome.)

Oh know what was funny? Last night I started watching Return to Me (a lovely movie), and within the first ten or fifteen minutes of it, I had already started blubbering. I mean, the beginning is somewhat sad, and also touching, so it's not entirely ridiculous that I was crying, but I don't tend to cry much at movies. I'm dead inside, if you haven't heard. I was rather surprised to find myself crying. Perhaps I was just overly emotional yesterday. And today. What with all this being cut off from my laptop and all. It's a very tragical thing. Haha. Dramatic much? Anyway. Whatever.

I'm really looking forward to having a mini-fridge to myself this year. More than I possibly should be. I have big plans for things like juice, milk, and potentially even something frozen. Although I'm not sure about that, as my experience with mini-fridges have shown that the little freezer sections don't work so well. But we'll see. Speaking of that, sort of, there's been some talk lately about the ridiculousness of people who drink bottled water. Now, this would include me 9 months out of the year. You have to understand: I don't drink bottled water for the minerals. Or for the prestige of it. I drink it, only at school (for the most part), because the water in South Bend? Tastes like metal. Or worse. Just not pleasant. I've been spoiled by these almost 20 years in Colorado, which has pretty much the best-tasting water in the country. True fact. No filters needed here. At school, even the filtered water just doesn't fill the bill. I mean filtered through like a Brita filter. Still has a taste, and water shouldn't taste. So it doesn't bother me to find out that, what was it, Aquafina? Someone was recently ordered to put on their labels that it's just tap water. I'm really ok with that, because at least it doesn't taste like South Bend (or east coast, ick) tap water. And as for the whole recycling thing? I pretty much always recycle those things that can be recycled when I'm at school. There's plenty of bins for recycling, so it's easy to do it. So I really don't feel bad for paying money for bottled water when I'm at school. And that's all there is to it.

Can you tell I'm ridiculously bored? geez.

Ok, well this is too long and boring. And I'm sick of this computer. Sooo...this is goodbye. Expect a post tomorrow, probably, with baptism and baby pictures!!! Oh, what the heck. Here's a teaser.

How cute are those feet??? And the toes, oh the toes!

All I need to be happy are some good pens

So the whole computer thing got me down for awhile. I'm not sure why, but it took a lot out of me. Perhaps it was the hour + I spent on the phone trying to get this woman to understand that it was not going to work. Perhaps it was the energy I expended while attempting to unscrew all those tiny screws, some of which were ridiculously tight in there (a few of which wouldn't come out at all), all with a crappy glasses repair type screwdriver. You know, one of the ones where there's the generic bottom, and then the different size screwdriver heads that can be switched in and out of the base. Perhaps it was the frustration of once again having to deal with a broken computer, being forced to use the "communal" computer in the kitchen, which has none of my websites saved on it, feeling that much more cut off from everything outside this house. I swear, at this point, I'm about a freeze away from just lobbing that thing against a wall and telling Dell I need a whole new one. Anyway. Whatever it was, I wasn't in a good mood, and I just needed to do something. So I ended up taking Kebbie to Palmer Park after dinner. I've been meaning to take her for a walk the past few days, but it's so hot during the day that I doubt even she'd be up for more than the quickest path we can take. But tonight, it had started to cool down a bit, clouds were sort of coming in, and I just needed to do something. (Plus I hadn't gone to the Y this afternoon as intended because I chose instead to call Dell. Not knowing it would take that long. Stupid me.)

So off we went. Pretty much every time I go, if not every time, Mom comes with me. So it was a little odd going by myself, but it was still really nice. There was a nice breeze there, as it's somewhat higher than like where my house is, sort of, and it's just always lovely there. And I had a nice view of some lightning and rainstorms in different directions, sort of in a circle around the city. I wished I had brought my camera, since it was right around sunset too so that made the rainstorms that much prettier. But I hadn't, because my battery's almost dead, so I figured it'd be pointless. Anyway. Oh well. (I do need to start taking more pictures, because there are many more times that I say "I wish I had a camera to take a picture of this" than "I wish I hadn't taken that picture.") It was nice though, walking through the park. And it smelled delicious. A slight hint of rain, a nice summer breeze carrying with it the scent of clean trees, plants, etc, and that nice little earthy smell I love. Mmm I love the scent of summer. And that breeze did feel quite refreshing, too. Anyway. I love Palmer Park. So wonderful, a nice little slice of nature almost unadulterated by the city (aside from the view all around, which is replete with houses, stores, cars, and city life in general). It was nice to get out with Kebbie. I do love her so. It's gonna be so hard to leave her, as usual. Every time, it's like leaving a piece of my heart behind. And it's even harder because, much as I hate to admit it, she is getting old. She's 13.5. No spring chicken, despite how much she might look like a puppy. One of my most often uttered prayers to God is to let me be here when she finally does die. Years and years in the future, of course, but yeah. Anyway I'm getting off subject here.

I also played cards with Mom when I got home, which was fun. As usual. Of course, she beat me which sucks, but what are you gonna do. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I managed to get myself out of whatever funk I found myself earlier this evening. And that's a good thing, because funks aren't as funky as they sound.

In other news, speaking of wanting to take pictures, every single night I hear Colt meowing in this odd pathetic kind of meowy way, with a lot of almost purring in there. It's when she's carrying around one of the various stuffed animals she finds and takes around the house, most often this little wolf thing. It's the cutest thing, watching her meow with a stuffed animal in her mouth, and occasionally continuing the meowing even after laying down the animal and then lying down herself. I want to get a picture of it, or even better, a video. It's just impossible to know when she's going to do it though, and she often stops if she sees one of us is watching her. So yeah. Anyway. She's cute though. Even if she tries to seem tough and aloof. With all her fatness and all. (She's so fat!)

Ok, finally, here's what I had planned for a post today. Before, you know, the whole computer dying thing. On Saturday, I went to Sam's Club with Mom to pick up a few things. I happened to pass the aisle thingy with school supplies, and as I passed the section with the pens, I doubled back to see if they had my pens. The pens I'm in love with. The pens that rock my world. And, lo and behold, not only did they have them -- a multipack with COLORS, even -- they had an 18-pack!

(It's these, times two, plus one more each of the black and navy blue.)

Now, these pens have elicited from me a great deal of excitement in the last few days. Not only are there 18 (18!!!) of them, and not only are they not just a bunch of black ones, but they have three colors that I've never used before, because they're not typically in the regular color multipack I get. Normally those consist of black, dark blue, red, green, and purple. But, did you see? There's a pink, a turquoise-ish blue, and a maroon up there! And now I have two of each of those, plus two each of the staples, plus another black and blue (both good colors in their own right, and two I use very frequently). Perhaps ridiculous that I am so excited about pens, but what can I say. I like my pens. And these pens make it so much fun to write. I sometimes write a lot, take a lot of notes, etc. With these pens, I never (or very very rarely) get ink stains on the outside of my pinkie finger, the finger that drags along the paper as I write. When I use regular ballpoint pens, that whole side of my pinkie might sometimes turn black or blue or whatever color I'm using. Rather annoying, in my opinion. No such problem with these lovely quick-drying, smear-proof pens. (Man, I wish I were getting paid for this endorsement. Because, you know, I'm sure they'll start to get tons more sales on those pens based solely on this little blurb stuck in at the end of an already long post in a blog that, on average, about 8 people a day read. Maybe less. Yeah.)

So anyway. I think I'm going to go write something, just to use those pens. Even though I want to keep them fresh and untouched for the start of school (because, when I took one of the new colors out of the box after I got them on Saturday to inspect it, I got a little giddy seeing the completely filled ink tube thing (no idea what it's called), ink going from tip to tip. Just begs to be used for some important writing. Alas, I have no important things to write. So unimportant, mundane things will have to do.

Ok, done now, I swear.

What the Dell, pt. 2

So, I was sitting looking at something on my laptop this afternoon. Everything was working fine, and then it was all frozen. Annoying. So, after resigning myself to the fact that I had to restart, I turned off the power and let it sit for a few minutes. Turned it back on, only to be greeted with a black screen, plus a little blinking cursor up in the top lefthand corner. Lovely. Decided just to cut my losses and call Dell, because I had no idea what to do, since nothing was happening. Got to talk to a woman who seemed to think that either I didn't know how to turn on the power correctly (given the number of times she told me to "try it again," even though every time and everything I did just yielded the black screen and cursor right away), or that simply trying over and over would magically fix whatever the problem was. ("Turn it off, and then back on again, what do you see?" "The same thing." "Ok...try it again, what do you see now?" "Uh, the blank screen with the cursor." "Ok, try doing it while tapping the F8 key, now what do you see?" "The same thing." "Um...why don't you try that again, turn on the power button while tapping the F8 key, are you at the diagnostics screen now?" "Um no, it's still the same thing." Over and over. And over. With several variations. Over and over.) Obviously, neither assumption was true. So then she proceeded to have me remove things such as the memory cards, hard drive, wireless card, CD/DVD driver, and had me attempt to remove the modem. That one didn't work out so well when I couldn't get the stupid screws holding it in to budge even a little bit. She kept saying, "Well just keep trying," and inane things like that which most definitely didn't help. I eventually gave up, forcing her to as well. Anyway.

Needless to say, none of that stuff helped either (and now I can't even turn the computer on for more than a few seconds before it shuts off). She eventually decided that I need a new motherboard, after being on the phone for over an hour. I'm starting to think that this is their typical response to everything, as within the last 8 months, I've called three times and each time I've been told I'll be getting a new motherboard. So...yeah. I don't know. I'm just quite frustrated. And, since I had Dell on the phone as it was, I decided to ask her about the battery thing (how it went from lasting 2.5-3 hours to lasting now only 40-60 minutes). She told me I can't get a new battery, "but here's a phone number where you can buy a new one." Thanks for that.

I preferred it when I could turn on the computer and just get the blank, black screen with the blinking cursor. I don't like the fact that it won't stay on at all now, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's because I did something to it when trying to take out all those parts and whatnot. I'm not qualified to do that stuff, and I really didn't want to do it. Hopefully I didn't do any irreparable harm.

Ugh. I'm gonna be so glad to be done with this computer soon, as I think I'm planning on getting a new one after I graduate. Maybe. Hopefully? I don't know anyone else who has had so many problems with their laptops. I could be wrong, but it just seems like I've had a lot more problems than is typical. Sure is a good thing Dad got the 4 year warranty with it, because we sure have used it a lot. I think I'd rather have a computer that didn't necessitate the use of a good warranty, you know? It's all such a pain in the arse.

(This isn't necessarily a knock on the woman I talked to; I'm sure they have specific steps they have to go through with all the random problems they get. I'm just not a fan of having to call them. It's a lot nicer when I call and they just say "Ok we're gonna send someone out there to do X to your computer." I could have guessed within two minutes that the call today would end with me getting a new motherboard. What would be really nice is if Dell had like a support store or something in town to which I could take my computer and have them look at it. Alas, no such luck. As far as I know.)

Technology is such a pain.

Aren't memes fun?

Were you named after anyone?
I often enjoy making fun of my mom and her process (or lack thereof) for naming me. I didn't have a name for a couple days after I was born, I wasn't named after anyone (family or otherwise), and I don't even have a saint name. Ah well. At least I do have cool initials.

When was the last time you cried?
Ooooh......can't remember, really. More than a week ago at least, I'm pretty sure.

Favorite lunch meat?
Don't really have a favorite, per se.

Do you have kids?
No, but I treat the cat and dog as my babies. Much to their consternation at times, I'm sure.

If you were another person, would you be friends with yourself?
Well, of course, seeing as how I'm pretty much the perfect person. (hahaha yeah right)

Do you use sarcasm a lot?
What is this...sarcasm...of which you speak? I am quite unfamiliar to it, I think.

Do you have your tonsils?
Yes indeedy. And my wisdom teeth, too, boo-yah.

Would you bungee jump?
Never. Never, never, never ever. Shudder.

Favorite cereal?
Really depends on my mood. Sometimes granola, sometimes Crispex, sometimes just Cheerios, sometimes something more sugary. Oh, although, Walmart used to have this stuff, Strawberry Squares or something like that, which were like unfrosted mini-wheats with strawberry stuff inside. Man those were good. I haven't seen them in awhile though, quite sadly.

Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
Very very rarely.

What is your favorite ice cream?
I think, if I were forced, I'd have to say Cookies 'n' Cream. Mmmmm.

What do you first notice about people?
Hm...smile, often, I think. Height too. Haha.

Red or pink?
Either, as long as neither are too...red or pink.

What is your least favorite thing about yourself?
Either my indecisiveness or my wonderful ability to procrastinate. I can't decide. (:-P)

What is the last thing you ate?
Chocolate cake to celebrate Jimmy's baptism (and Dad's birthday, which was Thursday, and which I forgot to mention on my blog...bad Susie), complete with some yummmmy Arbor Mist. I need my alcohol to taste fruity and sweet in order to enjoy it.

What colors are you wearing?
White skirt, white tank top, and sea-greenish shirt over the tank top. Oh, and silver (earrings and necklace, and one ring) and gold (other rings). And black.

What are you listening to right now?
The news is on, and my brother is talking.

What is your favorite smell?
I might just have to say rain. Or like the smell of summer, with natural dirt and grass and all that good stuff. Especially when it's raining.

Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone?
Um......I answered the phone today and thus talked to Cathy for like ten seconds...

Favorite sport to watch?
I don't really like sports. Especially football. I hate football. (Less than three weeks now until the first ND game!!! Ohhhh man so excited!)

Hair color?
Brown. But a very nice color of brown. I'm a fan, and would never ever want to dye it.

Eye color?
Brown. But they're ok too.

Do you wear contacts?
Yes indeedy. Sometimes they bother me, but wearing glasses for very long irritates my nose for whatever reason. My nose just doesn't like things to touch it much, I guess.

Scary movie or happy ending?
I refuse to watch scary movies. And I love happy endings, stupid and unrealistic (and occasionally slightly depression-inducing) though they may be.

Favorite food?
I have such a loving relationship with pepperoni pizza. I know it's so bad for me, but it feels soooo good.

Last movie you saw in a theater?
Becoming Jane. If he weren't so short, I might have a crush on James McAvoy.

What color shirt are you wearing?
I already answered this. Seagreen and white.

Summer or winter?
It is nice driving along with windows rolled down, but it's even nicer to come inside from out of the cold, and bundle up in a nice sweatshirt and/or blanket, etc. Mmm. Winter is excellent.

Hugs or kisses?
I'm a big fan of the hug.

Favorite dessert?
I much enjoy cheesecake. And of course ice cream.

What are you reading?
Let's see. Reading Harry Potter 7 for a second time (going on almost a month now that I've been rereading it. Obviously doing it very slowly this time), recently picked up Lord of the Rings again, which I'm nearly a third of the way or so through (the first one), I just started reading Persuasion, and I'm also every once in awhile picking up a few nonfiction books (Life-Giving Love and Birth Control and the Marriage Covenant).

What is on your mousepad?
Yeah, don't so much have one. Not having a mouse kind of negates the need for a mousepad.

What did you watch on TV last night?
Um...oh we watched the movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance with John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart. Both of whom are wonderful. And man, John Wayne reminds me so much of Conan O'Brien. And Conan rocks too. So...that's cool.

Rolling Stones or Beatles?
Beatles.

Farthest you've ever been from home?
Um, I'm not sure which is farther, but either Disneyworld or somewhere in Maine or something like that I guess.

Where were you born?
Lowell, MA.

It feels shiny!

(Hopefully that title will be able to make at least a few of you laugh...)

I went a few places with my mom this afternoon, and in our travels we bought some jewelry cleaner -- one for most jewelry and one for silver. I tried them both tonight, and am quite impressed. First, the silver one definitely got rid of the tarnishes on my newly-recovered ring, which is sterling silver. It doesn't look perfect, but it didn't before I lost it. It is some years old, after all, and it was a cheap $15 or so ring to begin with. But I sure do like it. Anyway. Then I used the regular stuff on my other two wear-all-the-time rings (my chastity ring and my class ring). Now, neither were particularly tarnished or dirty or anything, but now they're all really shiny-like again, and it's wonderful. It's always nice to have some shiny gold rings, isn't it? And, with my chastity ring, on the inside it's got these four grooves or something, inside which dead skin and grime have lodged themselves over the however many years I've had it (um...I think I got it in 8th grade?). My occasional attempts to clean it, using things like toothpicks and Q-tips and other highly technical objects (all of which were fairly recently employed to clean out my keyboard, painstakingly, I might add), have been fairly unsuccessful. But this cleaner stuff? Especially with the brush that comes with it? Totally awesome, and much more successful than my pathetic tries. Those ridges, or more specifically the grossness that accumulated in them, have always bothered me. So, needless to say, I'm sold on this whole jewelry cleaner thing.

And we just had a fantastically big storm (a few lightning bolts seemed to hit somewhere near the house next door or so, they were that close), completely with a nice (but all-too-quick) downpour. And I love that.

My mother, my hero

(Let it also be known that I have a fantabulous father who does a great number of wonderful things for me and the rest of my family, which a few weeks ago included driving to the park to pick up my mother and I when my car decided to stop driving...all turned out ok on that front, but not right away. He also...oh man, I forget what it was now, but he did something else great that day too...I'm a horrible person and I don't remember what it was, but I did appreciate it, I know that much.)

You may or may not remember me complaining about losing a certain ring during an ND football game watch back in October. And then mentioning it maybe a few times since then. Well, today, I said to my mom, "I want to move the couch out." The couch where the ring had last been seen, and into which I knew the ring must have fallen despite my repeated and unsuccessful attempts to find it between cushions and underneath seats and whatnot. Well, my mom being the amazing mother that she is, offered to help (I guess she really wanted to vacuum underneath/behind it, which would be impossible without moving it. And I gotta say, boy did the carpet there need it. Geesh). It took a few minutes, but my mother got on her hands and knees and was looking in as many cracks and crannies as she could reach, and finally, as I was searching the drawer that is underneath the middle seat, I heard, "Is this is?" I looked up, and what did I see?

This:

That's right, ladies and gentlemen. The lost ring has been found, nearly a year later. It is a bit tarnished, but both parents assure me that with some silver cleaner it should be restored to its original luster. At least somewhat. (And when I took that picture, it took a few minutes for me to figure out how to take it so it was close enough that you could see the detail of the ring, but not have it be blurry. Turns out I have a setting I can put my camera on that's specifically for close-ups! I think I've used it before, but I don't normally think of it, so I was excited. And I retook some pictures of my ND ring because I didn't use that setting when I first got the ring and took pictures of it, so now I took some better ones for your viewing pleasure.)


So that last one is a little blurry (even close-up mode can't correct user shakiness), but that's the crest on the side there, and on it (you definitely can't see it here), on the book thing that's over the cross, it says "Vita Dulcedo Spes" (which you may have noticed is my blog title now, and I think I'll keep it for awhile this time), which is ND's motto and means "Life, sweetness and hope" and comes from the prayer Salve Regina ("Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope..."). Because, in case you didn't know, Notre Dame means Our Lady and it's all about Mary. Lovely Mary. Anyway. Just thought I'd share.

(And in other news, since that post yesterday, and including the edit, I've made $50! On two books! I'm pretty stoked. And I never use that word, so clearly this is, like, serious.)

(And also, I finally just uploaded my pictures from camping and whatnot, so there should be a post forthcoming here soon about last weekend. Or at least with some pretty pictures.)

Here's hoping

I listed my books from my summer classes on half.com (and one on amazon, because of a slight...let's just call it a mix-up) this week, and I'm really hoping these ones get sold. They're all the lowest in price for their respective condition classes, and I think a few are cheapest overall (or close to it) even though they're all in fairly good condition. The good thing about these books? They're all relatively small-ish, and they're all worth more than like $0.75. Ok, one of the five I listed is only listed at $2.50, which I was surprised about (how inexpensive all those listed are, but I also got it for around that price, so I guess I'm ok with it), but the next closest in price of those I listed is $15, and then three are more than $25. So I'm kind of excited, well, I will be if they sell. And people are starting to buy books for the semester now (hopefully I'm not on the late end, but I kinda doubt I am, at least I don't think everyone has bought their books already. I know I haven't yet, but I have started the investigative process as to where I can get my books for the cheapest prices. Looks like I'm going to be spending around $100 probably. And $30 of that is one book, the rest is spread across maybe another 10 or so books). Anyway. It'd be really nice if these get sold, and soon, because it'd be nice to have some money in my bank account again. I miss that. Money may be the root of all evil, and money may not buy happiness, but it sure can help alleviate stress sometimes.

(You know, everyone says that money can't buy happiness, but I'd sure like the chance to test out that theory. Hint hint. I wish I had some obscure random rich relative somewhere, maybe one who is a huge ND fan, and then when I started going there, this random rich relative was so happy he/she gave me thousands of dollars to reward me. Because, of course, this random rich relative has no kids of his/her own, and so must find others on whom to bestow all the piles of cash he/she has laying around the house. Yeah, I've thought about this imaginary scenario before. Alas, it has yet to come to fruition. As if my imagining it would make it somehow come true. Ah, if only.)


Edit: Aaaaand 2 hours later, we've got a sale on the most expensive one! Shweeeeet.

Like rain after a long, long drought (ok maybe it's more like a slight drizzle. But still).

Oh. My. Lanta. So, I turned on the TV to watch Jeopardy, and I didn't pay attention to what was on the channel that the TV had been on previously before I changed it to Jeopardy. It did register that it sounded like some sort of sporting something, but I didn't really notice that much. So after Jeopardy was over, I wanted to see what was on tonight (it's Thursday, which means nothing is on tonight. Although that's pretty much true of every night). I went to the website I always use to check what's on, and as I scrolled down, about ready to pop in a movie or something, I saw something that made me want to jump up and down in excitement. After my brain registered what it was, that is. It's FOOTBALLLLLLLL!!!!!!! Preseason, obviously, which is more than slightly less exciting than regular season, but it's football! Colts at Cowboys. I hate the Colts, but I don't mind the Cowboys, so I'm happy. Besides, I was going to watch it no matter who was playing. Because, did I mention? Football, people. Real, honest to goodness football. On TV. Oh! And Fasano (a former ND player, one who I quite enjoyed a couple seasons ago before he up and graduated, psh) has apparently been making some good catches tonight for the Cowboys! Mmm football.

I am so giddy.

Gonna go pay more attention to it now, because it's hard to type and watch TV at the same time. And I want to pay attention and drink in as much football as I can. I don't think I've said this before, but I've been missing football. True story. And surprising, I know. But you all just have to deal with it. Because...



Football season will be here before you know it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't I just pretend I'm perfect?

I had a few goals this summer. The included going to the dentist (I haven't been since...summer after junior year [of high school, obviously], if not sophomore year. I forget), getting my hair cut, and getting a couple moles checked. Here we are, August 8, 20 days away from the start of my senior year of college, and I have done zero of those things. And I had also added going to the eye doctor to that list at some point, because that eye floaty thing I first noticed back in December sometime? Yeah, it's still there. Probably only noticeable around 20% of the time or something, but I really should get it checked out. And just get a checkup while I'm at it, get some new glasses (I've recently decided my current glasses prescription is not quite what my contact prescription is, which isn't really a huge deal because it's not that drastic of a difference and I typically only wear my glasses every once in awhile and at night at that), whatever. So I'm finding myself thinking I really should get those things done here in the...now more or less only two weeks I have left here (two weeks? When did it get to be that close to the start of school?). I've called the eye doctor, arguably the least important of the doctor appointments I should make. (The hair thing doesn't really matter much to me. I got it cut in January, and it still looks ok, so if I just end up letting it grow out until I'm home at fall break or Christmas break, it won't be the worst thing. It's not like my hair is riddled with split ends or anything, so that's good.)

So here I am, phone sitting next to me, phone number for the dentist up in one of the tabs I have open, unable to make the call. I hate the dentist. And I haven't been in so long. I'm so worried I'm going to have a cavity. I've never had a cavity, and every time I go I stress that I'm going to come out of there with my first cavity discovery. I know they're not the worst things in the world, but I don't want to deal with that. Not only would I have to go through the filling and such, but then I'd have to figure out how it impacts how my (rather ill-fitting to begin with) Invisalign retainer fits onto my teeth. At least, my top retainer doesn't fit very well to begin with. My bottom one, as it always has been, is fine. Anyway. So would I have to go get another mold of my teeth made after the filling is in? Bleh. I don't know. But I really should go. Not only because I haven't been in so long, but because I should probably know if I'm going to have to worry about getting my wisdom teeth pulled at some point. And if I will need to do that (as I'm sure I will, because pretty much everyone does -- and pretty much everyone I know has), I should do it while I'm still covered under my dad's insurance. But...I don't wanna! Stupid dentist. I have a friend who loves going to the dentist (she was quite excited about the appointment she had the week after school got out this past year). I think she's crazy.

And as for the doctor? I hate going to the doctor ever, for anything, but my mom's a worrier and wants me to go. I guess it would be good to know for sure, but ugh.

Well, guess I better get to it.

But I'll leave you all with this: (only 24 days!)

Colorado: Prettiest State in the Nation*

On Sunday, I caved and bought myself a CD-ROM thing with 35 screen saver pictures from Rocky Mountain National Park, which I had been wanting to buy since at least last year when we were up there, if not from a previous visit. I hadn't bought myself any other memento or touristy thing this time around, but I really wanted to get this thing. So I did. It was only $10, so not like ridiculously expensive or whatever. I just installed it a little while ago, and to my surprise, not only are there the 35 RMNP pictures on there, there are also a bunch of groups of other pictures. Like "Colorado's Four Seasons," "Air Force Academy," "Colorado Then and Now," a bunch of "Ski Aspen" and "Ski Breckenridge" and "Ski this place and that" (which mostly seem to include the same pictures, but each with a few originals to their specific towns), one of Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods pictures, and things like that.

I am in 7th Heaven right now, folks. I was beyond excited at the prospect of having these 35 gorgeous Rocky Mountain National Park pictures to have as my screen savers, and to choose from for my background. I am ridiculously giddy now at all these pictures I never expected I'd have. I mean, a bunch of them I could take or leave (the Air Force Academy ones, for example, and most of the ski ones don't really move me), but I still have a plethora of breathtaking Colorado pictures at my disposal. I'm so excited about this. The only trouble is now trying to figure out which ones to use! (Because it's the reason I bought it, I'm currently going with one of the pictures from the RMNP set as my background, and having that whole group as my screen saver.)

*I will concede that there are pretty places in other states. And I would venture to guess, though I've never been there but hope to someday, that Alaska is quite a breathtaking place as a whole. But my heart will always belong to Colorado and those gorgeous mountains that I love so deeply.

I'd say this is pretty accurate

You Belong in Fall

Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times... You appreciate the changes in color, climate, and mood that fall brings Whether you're carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favorite time of year for you

What Season Are You?

(But if I change one answer on a question that had two answers I agreed with, I get this one, which I also find true:)

You Belong in Winter

Quiet, calm, and totally at peace... You're happy to be at home, wrapped in a blanket, completely snowed in Whether you're lighting a fire or having a snowball fight, you always feel best in the winter.

What Season Are You?

Planet Earth

As a combined Mother's/Father's Day gift for my parents, my older brother bought the DVD set of Discovery Channel's Planet Earth. I haven't watched all of it, or even most of it I think, but what I have watched is just amazing. I've always been fascinated by nature and animals, and especially those things to which I have no access whatsoever. Sometimes I wish I had been more interested in that stuff, enough to have pursued it as a career option. It's just amazing to realize that all these aspects of our world about which few of us ever think actually exist. I love it all. All these mysteries of nature that we continually try to figure out, but which we never will. It's impossible to understand all the intricacies of our world that God created. I watched one of the disks with Tom yesterday, or part of one, and it was about caves which are quite fascinating. In one cave (or a small number of them, I forget), there exist certain species that have been in these caves, untouched by sunlight for so many thousands of years, that they no longer have any pigment, and they also no longer have eyes. It's just mind-boggling to think of how complex nature is. So very fascinating. And apparently there's different narrators for different country versions of the series, and while I don't really mind Sigourney Weaver's narration for the US version, I guess Richard Attenborough's brother David does the narration for the British version and he's fantastic. I mean, he has a British accent, so I think that automatically he is a better narrator than Sigourney Weaver. British accents are pretty much awesome.

Anyway.

I do sometimes wonder if I should have done something more animal biology related in college. Or maybe geological. Or...paleontological. Or anything nature-related. I've always been rather interested in that stuff. I loved going to Mesa Verde a few summers ago (probably more summers ago than I realize...perhaps as many as five years ago, or more...wow), and seeing the cliff dwellings where the Native Americans and all lived, thousands of years ago. I love that stuff. Or going up to the mountains and imagining what it was all like before humans came and started ruining things. Or even just doing that in the city. Or seeing animals in their natural habitats and wishing I could experience and see all that stuff without just being a tourist and passing through quickly; wishing I could sit there and study it all and see what it's like to be animals and have access to all these places humans can't really go. Like caves. I've always wished I could go see the little caves and holes and places where animals live. Ah well, perhaps in another life. Interesting to think about though, isn't it, where I'd be if I had gone down a different path? Pursued different interests? (Or any interests, for that matter.) Hm. Anyway. Go watch Planet Earth. It's a pretty good time.

I'm back

Hello again, Internets. I am back from a lovely weekend in my favorite Rocky Mountain National Park. Twas a lovely time (aside from the barely getting any sleep Friday night thanks to a dog who was none too pleased about being stuck inside a tent all night, and who, after escaping out one of the zipped tent flaps once -- she's quite persistent -- was pesky enough to make me get up and take her outside twice more after the escape. Oh, and I was apparently "sleeping" on top of a rock and a nice root. A none-too-thick cot mattress doesn't really help much in that type of situation), and quite beautiful. Of course. One of these days I'm gonna go up there and take a tour through the park on horseback. And do some more hiking in the park too. Mmm.

Anyway, I will possibly (probably...definitely?) post a more interesting post about this weekend, not that I have a whole lot interesting to say about the weekend, but I did take a couple of pictures I personally find loverly to see. But first I wanted to discuss something I heard about last week and have been reading more about on blogs and such that had posts on the subject over the weekend. Have you heard of the Duggars? They're a family in...Arkansas? (I'm too lazy to go look for an article, but it won't be hard to find.) They just had their 17th child last week, and it's amazing how many people come out to say such vitriolic things about these people just because they have and love so many children. And -- gasp, horror! -- want more, should God give them more. These people aren't on welfare, they're not in debt, they're not being supported by the government or anything like that. They just have lots of kids, and are happy about it. I just can't fathom why so many people think they're awful horrible people for having so many kids. I mean, there are those who think that having more than one or two kids is a travesty for whatever reason. There are those who think these people are ignorant dumb hicks, that he "can't keep it in his pants" (as though those who only have one or two kids only have sex one or two times?). There are those who somehow think that these people are ungrateful to have kids, because they keep wanting more (which seems counterintuitive to me -- they have lots of kids because they love kids and think that they're gifts from God, and are willing to accept however many gifts God sends). It's just ridiculous. Not that I think everyone should have 17 kids (that is a lot of kids), but it's amazing the amount of anger and hatred there is in this country toward large families. It makes no sense to me. But lots of things don't.

Oh speaking of larger than "normal" families, I just read that actor Chris O'Donnell and his wife are expecting their fifth child. That's pretty cool, because it's pretty rare for anyone in Hollywood to have more than a couple of kids it seems. Just like it's rare for people in Hollywood to be married for more than a few years at the most (he and his wife have been married for 10 years now, apparently). Good stuff. Oh, and I just looked at his IMDB page (kinda wanted to see if he's Catholic, and based on his biography page, he might be -- attended Loyola Academy and graduated from Boston College. Doesn't mean necessarily that he is, but makes it slightly more likely I guess), and there's a thread about the fact that they're expecting their fifth, and of course a number of the comments on there are those about overpopulation, and how people should only adopt children and not have any of their own, and that "he must have married a pez dispenser," and how he should be setting a better example than he is by having five children (regarding the overpopulation thing), and that five kids is excessive. Way more negative comments than positive ones. Five is not that large a number. Eh whatever.

Sometimes it feels like I'm losing touch with all my friends. And there's a part of me that doesn't really care, that thinks it's just inevitable anyway. Hm.


Well, I'm off tomorrow to one of my favorite places in the world, Rocky Mountain National Park. Three days (well, one whole day plus two partial days) out in the mountains, with no TV, no cell phones, no Internet, and lots of fresh air, hiking, clear bright stars, and loveliness. (And hopefully this time we won't experience our camping neighbors sitting in the back of their truck and watching Wedding Crashers while we're trying to enjoy our campfire and nature, as happened last year. Quite irritating.)

Another random post

Oh my I can't wait until football season. Both college and professional. At the Y today, one of the TVs was set to ESPN, and they were doing something along the lines of going through different pro teams and their histories and such, and where they're headed this year. Something like that. I mostly just saw when they were talking about the Buffalo Bills. I won't pretend that I care at all either way about the Bills, but just watching these highlights and such from fairly recent years, man it made me really wish it were September 1 instead of August 1. Oh man! It's exactly a month before the first ND game! Dude that's awesome

Oh. Apparently I wasn't clear on my last post. We're going camping this weekend. So yeah. And look at this, I'm posting again. Even though I said I wouldn't. But we all knew that was a lie. Whatever. (I might just move those two misplaced posts back to their original slots, so it doesn't look like I was so pointless yesterday. Or maybe I won't. Who knows.)

Ok, now don't hate me. I happened to be flipping through the stations at some point this afternoon, and landed on the quite quality soap opera (there's an oxymoron if ever there was one) Passions. I watched for about five minutes for some inexplicable reason, and the part I watched involved two sisters fighting. Apparently one (named, get this, Pretty) has just come back from some long absence somewhere, after having been "disfigured" by her sister (with the equally non-cheesy name of Fancy) years earlier with some sort of pool cleaning chemical that had been thrown in her face during an argument. This girl (Pretty) was going on and on about how horrible her life is now, and how no one will ever love her, she'll never have happiness, people point and laugh, children scream, etc etc etc. You'd think her face was horribly burned and scarred, right? No, in fact, she just has a little bit of red scarring on the right side of her face by her ear. A small enough area that, if her hair is down and not tucked behind her ear, you can't even see it. That is going to keep any man from ever loving her? No, it's probably the fact that she's a frikin idiot and so completely shallow that no one can stand her. But I suppose that is soap opera world: If you're not perfect, you're not worth much, aside from potentially being the comic relief (or perhaps the vengeful villain). That show is the height of ridiculousness, it really is. Although, I'm sure no one needs to be told that, as it's a soap opera and they're generally expected to be ridiculous. But in the realm of soap operas, that one totally takes the cake. Geesh.

I read this article today about teens wanting designer accessories for back to school. On the one hand, this is ridiculous. Especially if parents would actually pay for this stuff for their kids. I mean, I cannot fathom spending over $100 on a pair of jeans. Heck, I hate spending more than $30 on a pair of jeans. And bags for $900-1200? No way. But then the article discusses how these kids don't have anything else on which to spend their part-time job earnings, so why not waste it on crazy-expensive jeans and sunglasses and bags? While I obviously have less of a problem with these kids wasting their own money than parents wasting it on their kids, at the same time all I want to say is "Save your money! Save it all! Don't waste it on crap like the latest popular handbag! When you're up to your eyeballs in school loans you'll regret every penny you spent on each one of those $150 pairs of jeans you bought just to keep up with the trends!" I know they wouldn't listen though. I mean, I've never been one to go spending on ridiculous things like that. I've never been even remotely trendy. (I didn't get my first CD until 7th grade, didn't buy into the DVD thing until well after it was popular, and I still don't have an MP3 player. And don't even think about asking me about clothes. Me and popular clothes? Yeah not so much. I will never be stylish, or well accessorized, and I like it that way.) But I do spend money on things. Mostly small purchases, but even those add up. And I suppose, in my situation, not buying a few of those CDs or DVDs I've accumulated over the past few years wouldn't really make much of a difference in my current money situation. But if I had bought things like those highlighted in the article, and looked back on it now, I think without a doubt I would have to kick myself and say "What on earth were you thinking? Why didn't you listen to your parents???" Ah well. Such is life, no? But geez. I think that, even if I were suddenly to become disgustingly rich, I wouldn't feel right spending that amount of money on items such as those highlighted. I will always, always be a penny-pincher frugal girl at heart.

Did you all hear about the bridge collapse in Minnesota? So far seven people have died as a result, with a bunch more injured. I've never been terribly fond of driving over bridges, really, although I wouldn't classify it as a fear. But it's such a little tiny thing that keeps a person from falling many many feet into a rushing river, and every day millions trust those bridges without thinking, most likely. As a person with a slight to moderate fear of heights, I much prefer being on stable ground. Ever been to the Royal Gorge? Something like the world's (or country's?) highest suspension bridge or something like that. Ok it's world's. Anyway, I've been there a few times, seeing as how it's relatively close to where I live. I wouldn't exactly call myself a fan. I mean, it's pretty and all, and I would be fine if I could just stay on one side. But ask me to cross it, and I get slightly...hesitant. I mean, being that high up creates some wind going on, and then it's just this relatively small and seemingly wussy creation of wood and metal and wires between me and a drop of over 1000 feet. Not my idea of a good time. So anyway. The idea that these bridges over which people drive every day can just...collapse with no warning is definitely disconcerting. Because when you're driving over a bridge and it collapses, you're completely helpless. There's nothing you can do, nowhere to go. I can't even imagine being in that situation. And once again I've turned it all toward me. I need to work on that. Anyway, I'm sure all those involved could use some prayers. Prayers are always good, even when they seem pointless or fruitless or unhelpful.

There's been so much sadness going around lately. So much. And because I don't really like thinking about it too much, I don't, and you get posts like I've been doing lately. Pointless posts. But it's easier to do that than to become swallowed up in all the sadness, which I think would be more than easy for me to do if I let myself. So...I guess, just don't think I'm being flippant or heartless or anything. I just don't want to go that deep here. Usually.

Hahahahaha.

And now I'm done for the night. I promise. I won't post for four days now, ok?

(Yeah, that's probably a lie. But then I'll go camping and I won't post for at least a couple of days and I'll try to hold it in between now and then so you all won't be overwhelmed by my prolific postings. To be fair, two from tonight were posts from previous days, so they don't count. Pretend they're not there. LEAVE ME ALONE!!!)

:-)

Eh it's summer. I shouldn't be required to have deep thoughts.

It makes me laugh when people write "prosecute" when they mean "persecute." Really makes me laugh. Ah, I'm mean deep down. Sorry. (I know I misuse words on occasion. So I suppose you all have permission to point and laugh at me whenever I do that.)

I really really really really really want a nice Starbucks drink. A hot one. I've been to Starbucks once all summer, and I got a frappuccino. But man. I could so go for a nice...I don't even know what, it's been so long. A nice flavored sort of coffee type thing. Mmm. That right there is reason enough to be itching to go back to school. Lovely Notre Dame where I have $280 a semester to spend on extra food -- separate from the two meals a day I eat (theoretically) in the dining hall -- including and especially Starbucks, easily accessible right across the parking lot from my lovely dorm. I can't really justify spending at the least $3.50 or so on Starbucks when it's real money. But when it's an expendable $280 I get included in my meal plan, oh you better believe I'm going to waste it on Starbucks. Mmm. Starbucks.

Oh man know what else I could really go for right now? Some of that Chex Muddy Buddies stuff. Know what I'm talking about? With the Chex and the powdered sugar and some sort of chocolate stuff in there too. Oh man. What is up with me? I must be bored, I'm thinking about food too much tonight. Luckily for me we have little in the house in the junk food vein. More or less. Because as we all know, I have zero self-control. Especially when it comes to food. Oh man. Me and food, food and I, we have something special. It is beautiful and wonderful, but oh so terrible at the same time. Haha. Nah I'm just exaggerating. I do like food though. Except when I don't. Yeah.

Ok moving on, I just realized just how amazed I am by people who can do impressions, or who can create tons of different voices from their own voice. Harry Shearer is on Conan right now, and as you may know, he does the voice for a number of Simpsons characters. And so he was doing a few of his character voices during the interview, and then he did his Tom Brokaw impression, and then I fell in love. Ok that's most definitely a lie. But I did realize how much I take for granted that people just can automatically do stuff like that. It's really really impressive. I can barely make my voice sound like me, let alone fifteen different characters plus impressions. I was watching America's Got Talent tonight (leave me alone, it's just about the only TV show I've watched this summer, late-night talk shows and sitcom reruns not included), and there's a guy in the top 10 who does a ventriloquist act. Only, not only does he ventriloquize, with a puppet that moves and stuff and not just a creepy doll, he also does impressions. As himself and as his puppet. Last week he sang a song...What a Wonderful World, and his puppet did a Kermit impression while singing it (a very good one too), and he himself sang part of the song as Louis Armstrong. Tonight he had a different puppet, different voices, etc. It's just impressive. This was his audition thing. If, you know, you're bored. Last year's America's Got Talent had a ventriloquist who did something like...oh I remember what it was. I don't know if it was ventriloquism, but he like kind of did a Japanese movie dubbed in English thing, where his mouth would be moving but his voice would be off and saying something different than his mouth. That was pretty impressive too. Oh! I found it! It's this guy. Anyway. Makes me laugh, so whatever. As long as I'm entertained, I'm happy.

Speaking of that show, this guy is pretty much my favorite, and has been since his audition. Which is here. (And I dare you to watch that clip and not just laugh at David Hasselhoff and his stupid reactions during the song. Geesh. I'm embarrassed for him. Oh and also the sappiness before and after the actual song part? Yeah I could definitely do without that stuff. Everyone's got a story. Whatever.) He's pretty cool, though. I hope he wins. ("Inigo?" "What?" "I hope we win." Oh man the gloriousness that is that movie. Words cannot express.)

Um...ok.