Busy Busy Busy sound bite Christmas sound bites

This is how I feel right now.

Tech week for Anatomy for Grey starts tomorrow. Plus trying to get a sub for Catechesis, plus finding time for Mass this weekend, work, getting to the gym, getting my school work done, reading a book for History (though it looks pretty neat), watching at least three movies for my classes, CK's "Find me a Wife" adventure party....ahhh!!!!

O hai! I found the busy...it wuz behind the sofa.

Please be patient with me if I seem stressed/tired/grumpy/not around. I don't mean to be, I am just busy, busy, busy!!!!

Oh well, I suppose. 'Tis the life of a college student. It is nice to know that I am not alone in the busy, and in all honesty, the things I'm involved with are not of the most mind-numbing/ dreadful of activities. I really do enjoy running sound boards and watching movies...all I need to do is to prioritize my time right and get things done! Like right now...off to watch The Godfather, Part One!

See you hopefully soon!!

POSITIVITY

So, I had a really crappy weekend, but I do not want to make this post about all the crappiness that was entailed, because I really want to have a super happy post. I will give you some brief highlihgts of my weekend- the spots of sunshine- and ignore the rest of it.

1) Daily Tar Heel!!!
Alright, because I know each of you reads your DTH religiously, I'm sure you all noticed my picture...okay just kidding, especially because by "my" picture, I am referring to a picture that I took and it was buried deep in the paper (though all of you Sodoku/ Crossword lovers should have seen it). In any case, I was really excited because it was my first assignment and the picture I took got into the DTH. Perepare thyselves for some shamless self-promotion in three...two...one:

LINK!!!
http://dailytarheel.com/content/students-describe-work-rural-areas

Okay, shameless self-promotion over with.

2) LAUNDRY!!!
Okay, so for those of you in the know, I really fell behind on my laundry this week...I was seriously pushing the limits of clean clothes and kept scheduling Laundry Time but then kept re-scheduling it due to random things, but it FINALLY got done after the football game!!!! There really is no better feeling than getting your laundry done (and probably no lamer blog subject...sorry).

3) "I once wrote down a list of all the cuss words I know!"
So, yesterday was my first day in the classroom as a Catecist (Catholic Sunday School teacher). There are three of us for this fourth grade class of 12, and they are all precious in their own special little ways...okay not ALL, but a few are worth keeping. Anyways, during snack time, I was sitting with one little girl and she was explaining her, um, vocabulary: "I saw a movie that had a really really bad cuss word in it! It was alarming! I can't repeat it but it was bad!" She was so precious and props to her parents for teaching a 9 year old the proper use of the word "alarming" and for getting it into her vernacular. She then gave us the little gem: "I once wrote down a list of all the cuss words I know in school...but then I lost it. I hope no one finds it because I think they know my handwriting!" She's adorable, and for her sake, I hope they don't find it.

Anyways, those are the bits of sunshine of the weekend. Have a great week everyone!!!

So....um, this is awkward.

If you keep a blog, you might be familiar with this feeling- there is something on your mind that you would love to just blog out and get it off your chest, but you feel like you can't/ shouldn't. That is where I am right now. This week has been one of the strangest weeks I've had in a long while. It was at some moments amazing, but at other moments, terrible. Life tends to even itself out, I've found.

Everything seemed to come to a head yesterday. I had a hectic morning involving moving my car around campus to a place where it wouldn't be towed, followed by the long Friday opening shift. Afterward, I had lunch with a friend whom I haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with, and he said something that while I probably needed to hear it, I really was in no mood to listen to him say what he was saying. It really put me in a bad state of mind for the rest of the day.

Anyways, I then headed down to campus health and a doctor looked at my knee, which was getting progressively worse throughout the week. The only think I can think of causing this was back when I fell in the gorge in Crete, but I never went to get it looked at, which is probably why it got to this point.

After that, all I freaking wanted to do was my laundry. I was nearly out of clean clothes and was desperate to get it done, but after the doc had her way with my knee, I was struggling to get back to the dorm, let alone try to haul laundry up and down steps. I had a reason for calling CR, but I forget why now, and that turned into me joining CR, RT, CK, AC, and VR for a sushi dinner followed by locopops.

By the time I got back to the dorm, I didn't have enough time to do laundry. This upset me more than it should have, but oh well. I was already in a mood. I then had to go to a CD release party for Spider Bags at Nightlight on Rosemary Street.

Now, this is where I started to lose it, and unfortunatly where my story must leave you hanging, because it really isn't blog-appropriate.

The band was actually pretty good and I had a good time at the show, but the incident that happened on my way over there sort of kept me in a fog and I was really distracted. I got some good shots and I hope the photo editors at DTH will like them.

Walking home at 12:30 from Nightlight by yourself is not the best of ideas, but I got home alright, and by the time I got home, I had made what I thought to be a great decision...though after talking to CR/RT/AC today, it might not be possible... :-( I really want it to be possible, though!!!!


Anyways, that was basically my Friday/ a glimpse into why I was in a bad mood last night/ today.

No More Bio and Patrick Swayze

Good morning everyone. It's Tuesday and I had a pretty amazing day yesterday. Mondays are suppose to be the most dreadful of days, but this was not the case! So, the day itself was not actually that fantastic, but I at least got some great news!

I passed the BIOL 101 Placement exam!!! This is cause for great excitement and joy. That Bio test I had today? Didn't have to take it! That all nighter I pulled last week studying was officially worth it. I would have been rather distraught if I had done that to myself to no avail. I now get to drop BIO and carry on with my life as thought the whole little incident had never happened. :-)

In other, sadder news, Patrick Swayze died yesterday of pancreatic cancer. All the girls on the hall watched Dirty Dancing last night to console ourselves while eating pokey sticks and Gumby's pizza. I haven't had Gumby's in such a long time.

I really don't have much else to say about that or anything else, so I guess this concludes the blog post. I promise that I will try to become more interesting before I post again.

September 11th, 2009

Today is awkward. Today is that day that, for the past eight years, has just awkwardly insisted to remain on our calendars despite the fact that we really don't want it there and would certainly like to not be reminded of it. Today is the day that we pause to look back at the greatest tragedy certainly in our lifetime and possibly even American history. It is important that we remember what happened that day for sure. I hate to imagine that some day in the future, a September 11th would roll around and I went through the whole day and simply forgot about it.

This year, though. I feel that there is something different about people's attitudes towards September 11th. The razor-blade edge of the memory seems to be softening for a lot of people, and it appears that a lot of people are ready to put the memory of what happened on 9/11 on a nice, respectable mantle of their mind, possibly next to Aunt Trudy's urn, and carry on with their lives. No one is advocating forgetting what happened- that itself would be a tragedy, but the present American climate just feels ready to move on.

We will always keep the memory on that mantle and will polish it from time to time, but the days of reliving each detail of what happened that day each time Sept. 11th rolls around, talking it out with lots of people- where were you when it happened- are over. The organization that puts flags up on the quad each anniversary seems to feel this way too...the flags which are usually in the more prominent Wilson side of the quad are today in the quieter South Building side.

But no matter where we put the memory in our mind, we must always take it down every once in a while. God Bless America.

Things I've Learned (A 10-min study break starting at 2:25 am)

Greetings-I've decided to do a "Things I've Learned" because I really feel that this year has already proven to be a rather educational experience.

1) Though it took two years to learn, I finally realized for good that no matter what, I absolutely cannot study in a dorm room. I am now at the UL and have been studying for a good 4 hours (with occasional 10-15 min breaks) and I feel so productive! Granted, this is partially due to the coffee that I started drinking around 11:15 (it's still here- haven't finished it yet...hooray 16oz coffee!) and the supreme motivation of OMG if I pass this placement exam, then I don't have to take a lab science in college and that would be so fantastically wonderful! The exam is Thursday @ 4:30...prayers/ well wishes appreciated!

2) I think that the ability to photosynthesize would possibly be the most amazing super power of all time for a student...gosh, I'm tired...let me go sit in the sun for about 20 min and I'll be good for a while! Of course, it might require me to be green (like, literally green, not eco-friendly), which wouldn't be so hot, but hey, a light tint of mint might be alright.

3) Sufjan Stevens' Seven Swans album is the most wonderful study music around. I listened to it maybe 3 times before my iPod died and I relocated to a computer to use Pandora. It is so calm and relaxing and has some fun religious tones.

4) On the other hand...RT was correct- The Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack is possibly the worst study music. I can't help but to step out the Time Warp whenever that song comes on, or sing along with Tim Curry (love).

5) Drinking coffee slowly prolongs the effects and thus reduces the amount of coffee needed throughout the night. I still have maybe 6 good gulps left in mine, and while yes it is cold, it doesn't taste that bad.

6) If one is going to study in the UL at night, it would be wise to bring a sweater. It's so cold in here!!!! I'm sort of cool natured anyways, but dang, it can't be more than 70 degrees in here!!! A warm shawl might also help if a sweater is not readily available, though I wonder how many people have warm shawls and no sweaters...I'm sure someone does.

In Other News:

I got my first assignment at UNC-TV next week! Unfortunately, this conflicts with the first RCIA meeting, which is terribly sad, but this is just a one-time inconvenience so I think everything will be alright. Anyways, my task will be to run a camera for next week's pledge drive! Everyone who can/ wants to should watch it and be satisfied that at some point, they are watching me in action! Okay, so pledge drives are not exactly the "Grey's Anatomy" of television programming, but maybe if you tune in for just five minutes? Please? Actually, it doesn't really matter to me. Just tell me that you did. ;-)

In Related News:

I got my paycheck from the AT&T commercial today! It was very exciting...my first professional/ "work that is actually in my field" (aka not StuStores) paycheck. I should have taken a picture of it before I cashed it, but oh well. I'll keep the stub as a reminder...and maybe one dollar of it as my first "media industry" dollar earned. Sorry, I'm sort of happy about this and I know I'm rambling but hey, it's now 2:41am so I think that it is somewhat acceptable.

My new laptop is working wonderfully and now I will be able to upload the last of my pictures from Greece!! Though it might be this weekend before I get around to it because I sort of have things to do tomorrow/ Friday. But fear not! They will be up!!! ZOMG the new laptop also has a built in camera so expect an increase in video blogs since the whole uploading them from the camera step (quite honestly the most tedious part of the process) has been cut out.

So, despite the fact that I am celebrating my first all-nighter with my bio book and long and unimportant blog post, this has been a pretty fantastic week.

Okay, so its off to learn more about the exciting process of how cells release chemical energy! G'Night/ Good Morning!

The Longest Weekend Ever!

Alright, so this weekend started off with a bang, er, sore throat, cough, runny nose, and nausea...aka some sort of flu strain. I went to the doctor and she advised that because this "most likely was a mild strain of the H1N1," I should either quarantine myself in my room or, better yet, get off campus if possible. So, that's what I did. I jumped into my car and headed back to the mountains for some R&R and good quality study time with my precious Bio 101 book.

But...the moment I was feeling better (around Friday afternoon), I started to get that good old Chapel Hill itch and needed to come home quickly. I made plans to leave Saturday, hoping to avoid the traffic nightmare that was Chapel Hill on a home foot ball gameday. My attempts were to no avail and while I arrived on campus promptly at 3:00, I did not exit my car until 4:00, having parked at CR's apt. The rest of the day was spent watching weird sci-fi movies w/ RB @ Newman, including Delecatessen and Mad Max (though I wouldn't really consider the later to be a "sci-fi" movie, but still pretty interesting).

When the game was over, I went grocery shopping w/ CR and then headed back to the apt for another movie, Disney's The Sword and the Stone. This is still one of my personal favorites, despite what some people might think...but c'mon, who can deny the adorableness of the squirrel love??


Anyways, movie night turned into sleepover and in the morning, we all made breakfast. Poached eggs and pancakes. It was quite delicious. Even so, the time came to return home for some more study time, so I headed back to the dorm and studied, etc until it was time for Mass. After Mass, we all gathered for dinner at the apt and I made chicken and it was served with the most facinating combination of whole-wheat goldfish, fruit cups, and pepermint patties. As the night continued, we found oursleves in a Sweeney Todd sing-a-long with the original stage show soundtrack (God, I love Angela Lansbury!).

So, now today...I made breakfast and studied some biology. I need to do laundry, take out the trash, and still do a lot of work. Oh yeah...I'm out of minutes until Sept. 11, so if you all could possibly not call, or if you do, leave a message and understand that I'm not answering, or text me because despite what I said eariler, I do have texts left for the month. Anyways, that's how you should attempt to reach me.

Happy Labor Day!

Wednesdays are the Worst...

Alright, so Wednesdays are pretty awful. SEVEN consecutive hours of class starting at 10am and ending at 5pm...this is going to be undoubtedly my least favorite day of the week. Especially because I have a grand total of THREE classes...two comms and one history. I'm slowly coming to the realization (actually, not slowly, rather quickly) that I like Comm SO much more than I like 3-hour history seminars. While the seminar is somewhat interesting, after four pretty amazing hours editing and creating motion graphics, it doesn't do much for me. Also, I'm pretty tired by the time I get to the class (2pm until 5).

On a somewhat different yet still sort of related note: a breakfast bar is not enough of a lunch to keep one chugging along through the second half of the day.

Moving On:
Labor Day weekend is coming up. Now, for most students, this is a time for beaching it up etc, but I am staying on campus and enjoying myself in the calm and quiet surroundings of Student Stores on Game Day. Oh Game Day! A day for everyone who proudly bleeds Carolina Blue to rise together and sing songs of spirit and unity while the Citadel hands us our ass on one of the "hand painted" ceramic plates that we sell at Student Stores. As Tiny Tim would say, God bless us, everyone.

But really, there is a sort of spirit on football game days that is somewhat infectious. Perhaps it is the marching band that sets up right outside the store and begins warming up the entire brass section at 8am, or maybe it is the ridiculous amount of money people spend when they visit the store...I had one lady who no joke spent over $700 in one fell swoop, but whatever it is, there is definitely a semi-consuming excitement that sweeps over the campus. I do like football days. And while I have not been to a single game since the UNC-Duke Game in '07, I like to think that by helping people locate not-quite-hypoallergetic face tattoos, I am right there in the stands screaming until I can't talk with all the other football/ UNC enthusiests.

So, Good luck this weekend, boys! Go Heels!!!

PS-If you would like to visit me this Saturday, I will be at Student Stores from 12:45 until 4:45.