Leapin' Lizards

Contest Entry

2008-10-09T18:33:00.000-04:00

A Conferencing We Go...

2008-01-21T17:56:00.001-05:00

Here is a picture of my spoils from ALA Midwinter. My shoulders took a while to forgive me, but the book lover in me rejoices. It was a very valuable experience, and not just in the number of books we got out of it.

Sadly, the near future holds no more conferences in store, just lots of classes and guest speakers and another addition to the job experience list.

And now, on to some serious reading...

My New Line of Bookmarks

2007-10-27T11:23:00.001-04:00

This is what happens when I get to do the type of projects that I like. I go a little wild. Here are some of the "extras" for my Halloween book display at the middle school this week. The awesome paper is from the Dollar Store and the ideas and artwork are all my own. My favorite is the one on the right. What's yours?

Meet Dewey

2007-10-14T11:27:00.001-04:00

The Dewey Decimator joins the legions of superheroes. On display now at the Central branch of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Libraries. He was born deep in the stacks at the library. By day, librarian; in times of need, the Decimator. Strikes fear in the heart of the disorganized. Has photographic memory and knows what every reader needs. Weakness? Cannot speak above a whisper.

Teen programs rule. :)

An Artist's Life

2007-05-11T15:15:00.000-04:00

This is my super cool present for my roommate. I hope she likes it!

Childhood Morality Assessment Tool

2007-05-07T20:55:00.000-04:00

Pretty cool, huh?
This is the shirt I will be wearing for our presentation tomorrow.

Cherry Blossoms

2007-05-05T22:28:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I know I sent a link to these pictures to everyone I know ;) but they are just so pretty. I had a lovely time last weekend.

Um, yeah, so I might as well make this my photo blog. Next up, an artistic project...

21

2007-04-28T11:43:00.000-04:00

The gang of tye-dyed girls who helped to celebrate my birthday yesterday. More pictures forthcoming...

Lefty Lizard

2007-03-11T12:18:00.000-04:00

My latest project/source of classroom amusement has been to practice writing with my left hand. My goal is to become completely ambidextrious. Here is what my early attempts looked like:

After a couple weeks of practice, this is what I am currently at, depending on the height of the desk, writing utensil, time of day(?):

Word Obsessed

2007-03-02T08:33:00.000-05:00

I've been a little word obsessed lately, so one might wonder why I haven't been posting. I suppose that might be because most of my words don't come in sentences, only strings of letters, or perhaps maybe because all my best ideas come while I am someplace else, like the bathroom. Meaning I have issues with short-term memory. :) Anyway, here are some of my everyday activities that reveal how pathetic (er, dedicated to educational games?) I am:
-Yahoo Daily crossword puzzle (thanks, Mom!)
-Scrabble on scrabulous.com
-the occasional WordWhomp or WordScape on pogo.com and iwin.com
and, most recently
-online Boggle at weboggle.shackworks.com

There are numerous other "distractions" I have (spider solitaire, jigsaw puzzles, alchemy, tetris), but since they don't use words, I won't mention them. ;)

Anywho, you should be expected another post, yes, about words, any time I feel un-lazy enough to take a picture and upload it....

A Quality College Education, or, Why is he head of the department?

2007-01-31T22:23:00.000-05:00

In case you wondered, I survived January term. I even got an A in the class. And nobody killed each other, which is always a bonus. Now, onto a whole new set of fun and exciting classes. Or boring and repetitive easy A's. We hope. Just to give you an idea of the professors I have to deal with, here are a few direct quotes from my Cults class:

"Look, I'm a sociologist. I don't know a lot of things."

"This one is not true at all. In fact, it's false."

"How many poor people are there? Hundreds."

Yes, I know, I'm back to my old habits of writing down the stupid or silly things professors say, instead of what might actually be on the test. I mean, of course I am writing that down, too. It's just way more exciting to remember the funny things. Who's the next teacher to be quoted? You'll just have to wait and see...

What is Educational Theatre?

2007-01-04T08:24:00.000-05:00

Three weeks in which to write, design and produce costumes, memorize, and rehearse a twenty minute original play in which you have no props or set but the 5 people in your ensemble.

Plus, somewhere around 45 hours of playing theatre games, being critiqued as unfit scrambled eggs, and sitting on the floor.

Plus, development and presentation of an original, solo project for the final exam.

How am I feeling about this?
Pretty excited about the ensemble presentation, for which we have most of a basic script written (after 4 hours of work last night). Not as excited about the theatre games. My hips are not at all excited about so much time on the hard floor. I have no idea what I am going to do for my solo presentation. Sarah hates the one professor, who is mostly deaf and lip-reads, so she needs to stop cursing at him when we are in the same room, or we will all be in trouble. Oh yeah, the members of my ensemble are Sarah, my roommate, and another girl who didn't show up for our first meeting last night.

Is it all going to work out?
I'll let you know when I find out.

Oh, and if you care at all for my sanity, please do not show up for the final presentation. Thanks!

Getting into the Holiday Spirit

2006-12-04T08:16:00.000-05:00

I decided today would be a good time to decorate. I was inspired to make snowflakes and amazingly enough, they turned out pretty awesome. I found my lights, cleaned my desk, and made everything pretty. So here they are:

Albright sticks

2006-12-02T01:43:00.000-05:00

I apologize for once again being neglectful of my blogging duties, but papers, vacations, work, more papers, and life in general have been rather distracting, not too mention too boring to be worth mentioning. I did, however, learn an interesting piece of information about one of my professors this week -- Dr. Synder has an addiction to Word Whomp. We are so alike in some ways, it's scary. I'm going to ask her for a letter of recommendation, but I have to make sure I am going to pass the semester first. Actually, I was waiting until just after I received a good grade from her to ask, so maybe next week. The only other thing I can think to write about is the newest Albright tradition, the annual lighting of the tree. They planted a pine tree near the pond on Wednesday (perhaps one of the ones chopped down from around Science Hall?). The lighting ceremony was this afternoon, in the midst of a windstorm. I was, sadly, unable to attend because I was at work, but apparently they were giving out "Albright sticks". Question of the week: What is an Albright stick?

L&O&X

2006-11-10T20:16:00.000-05:00

Last night, I added to my college experiences by going to the emergency room for the first time. No, it wasn't for me and it wasn't quite an emergency, but it was an experience all the same. My roommate's friend apparently hadn't been able to move his wrist or hand for a few days without extreme pain, but kept putting off going to see a doctor. My roommate, being the concerned person she is, made him agree to go last night. It was a fairly quiet night at the hospital, but there was still a wait for a table. Er...they gave us one of those things that blink when your table is ready and we sat in waiting room D. There was the cutest little girl wandering around, stopping at everybody and trying to follow people through doors. After a while, we got to go see a nurse, who then sent us to another waiting room, the inner sanctum one. There, the tv was showing Law and Order and there were interesting paintings on the wall. We waited some more. John went off to get x-rays, and then he didn't come back, so after the show was over, A and I went to find him. The nice nurse showed us where he was so we didn't have to look into all the rooms. We tried to amuse him while waiting for someone to come with his shot, but I don't know how successful we were. Finally, RN Billy showed up and told John it was...tendonitis. That's what I would have guessed three hours earlier, but I've never know it to be that bad, without warning. Anyway, they gave him some painkillers and a shot in the arm and a wrist mobilizer. And that was that. I also found out where the museum is. It looks really cool. A said she'd take me there some day. And that was my adventure of the week. Stay tuned for more...

Charity Ball

2006-10-22T11:28:00.000-04:00

Here are the lovely ladies(?) in their costumes, ready to head out to the Charity Ball. A disappointingly small number of guests, costumed or otherwise, showed up and the DJ was rather loud, but it seemed like people were having a good time. I had fun making the costumes and they look pretty good, if I do say so myself. Ok, now back to reality...

Costume Time!

2006-10-16T20:19:00.000-04:00

I forgot, or at least haven't had time to appreciate, how much fun it is to make Halloween costumes. These are some pieces of mine, to replace the ones I left at home. These are better anyway. I also made Sarah a gypsy fortune teller costume, and pictures will be forthcoming. This was, of course, done instead of studying or homeworking. It was much more satisfying. It does look better in person, though. Must be the lighting...
Anyway, that's about all the excitement in my life at the moment. I can't wait until Thanksgiving. Ok, so I really can't wait until May, but let's take it one month at a time.

And now, back to not-studying...

Telephones are Evil

2006-09-25T19:05:00.000-04:00

This has always been a common theme for me, but lately, the evil phones have been stalking me. There's a reason (or several) why I do not have a cell phone, most importantly being that my heart rate increases dramatically every time I hear a phone ringing, particularly if I'm the one responsible for picking it up. Fortunately, hardly anyone calls the room phone, plus it has caller ID, so that one is fairly harmless. (Note the fairly. If it were to ring while I was on the top bunk and I thought it might be someone important and therefore rushed down to answer it and in the process slipped or jumped or otherwise injured myself, I would have to change my opinion. But the point is that this post is mainly focused on phones other than the one in my room.)

I finally learned how to transfer calls at work, which means I can pass off responsibility to others, but my favorite method is to merely hand the phone to whoever happens to be standing nearest, even if that is all the way across the main floor. I have also been known to use the phrase, "I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the static. Please dial the number you wish to reach yourself." It was true. Why do people always want me to transfer them to the operator anyway?

So yeah, phones in other places have been haunting me. Like a few weeks ago, when I was at the mall, in Boscov's I believe, and we had just stepped off the escalator and all we could hear were multiple phones ringing. And ringing. And ringing. And no one was answering them. Sarah was going to pick it up, just to stop the awful ringing, but since there were multiple phones, it wouldn't have even solved the problem.

And don't even get me started on cell phones. One of the reasons people are so much more isolated today is because everyone is used to being able to use their phone as an excuse. For anything, it seems. "Yeah, I have to sit near the door because if my phone rings, I'll need to leave class." Or, oh yeah, I'm sitting at the lunch table with you, but I'm going to ignore you and make you feel awkward because I need to have this conversation with my male friend. A long conversation. Cell phones make people rude. They are, in fact, an invention of the devil.

Tribute to Impermius

2006-09-16T08:02:00.000-04:00

Why does it have to be raining? I can see blue sky. A little piece, anyway. Didn't it rain enough the past three days? I mean, not that I have anything against the grass looking greener, nor do I want to deny anything that needs water rain, but the sad truth of the matter is that somebody stole my umbrella. I left it in the lobby of the library. I have left it there countless numbers of times in the past, with no problems. But no, yesterday, when it was merely misting (although occasionally on the heavy side), my umbrella walked off with a complete stranger. Well, I'm not going to spend any time mourning the loss of my not-so-trusty friend. I wish all his inconsistencies and bent pieces on his new owner, who probably dumped him somewhere after they were done with him. It's a sad life for an umbrella, really.

So, rain, as a personal tribute to my former umbrella, do you think you could just stop? Thanks!

Maze-A-Pix

2006-09-09T21:59:00.000-04:00

Gosh, its been a week already? Guess that's what happens when you're busy. It was a week of meetings, readings, writings, and dreaming about jumping off a cliff. (It just occured to me that I am on the top bunk...) I have a whole list of things to accomplish this weekend, but it seems I didn't make it very far. I finally posted my pics from Longwood Gardens, but forgot the ones of my room. I worked on my animal research presentation on and off (mostly off), but was distracted by Buffy and a stink bug. I highlighted. (It glows.) I tried the new garlic and cheese veggie burgers I bought. Pretty good. Tomorrow, I resolve to leave the building, if only to take a short walk. Plus, I have to do laundry, so that gets me closer to the door.

Ooh, but my favorite part of today was doing these cool puzzles in my puzzle magazine. They were mazes that turned into a picture when you colored in the right path. Very neat... :)

The Long Awaited Semester Description

2006-09-02T11:29:00.000-04:00

Or whatever you would like to describe it as. ;)

So, 9 am, senior seminar, a class that is supposed to be limited to 15, but has about 19, meaning I don't have to talk as much, right? It's basically a big debate, or a debate a week, with people taking turns leading the discussion. I get to lead, oh, next week, so I have some preparing to do, any time now. And I'm working on picking a topic for the big paper.

10 am, at the campus center, The Family, another large class in a poorly designed classroom with no windows. My prof is from Nigeria, but I think I almost have the accent down enough to drift a little without getting in trouble. It's been a slow start, since most of the lectures are in the texts, one of which I am reading in the library because I don't feel like buying my own copy. For this class, we have to attend Baby College one weekend. More on that after I actually go...

11 am, back across campus. Cognition. This is going to be a really cool class, and not just because we get to hear all sorts of things about my prof, like that she has wild "pet" rabbits she calls Mouse and Jack. Cognition covers all the fun and exciting bits about the brain. Attention, perception, memory. And our final project is to make some big metaphor about what the class is all about. Hopefully by then we will know...This class is also in a weird room, third floor with a slanted ceiling. But all the rooms got new flat screen monitors and other equipment, so we can watch movies more often. :)

12 pm, the other side of campus. Juvenile Delinquency. Another packed classroom and I always get there last, coming from farthest away, no doubt. This one is going to be good, too, I think, even though we have papers due almost every day. Critical reviews, actually, so we can write pretty much anything that relates to the reading. Yesterday we talked about hunting rabbits...and guinea pigs...

My Tuesday/Thursday class is Social Stratification, with the same prof as Juv. Del., so I always forget which class I am in, despite them being in different rooms. This class only has 10 people, which is weird, but nice. This should be fun, too, and we get to take a field trip to the mall in a month.

And all the rest of my time is spent at the library, entering data in the computer, answering random phone questions, or shifting/shelving books, since no shelvers were hired this year. good thing I have lots of practice shelving...

It seems I get the room to myself on weekends, so I can do whatever wild and crazy things I feel like, such as reading textbooks out loud, using A's bed cuz it is easier to get to than mine, and bungee jumping off the top bunk. Ok, just kidding. About one of those, anyway. :)

Back to School

2006-08-29T16:44:00.000-04:00

Let's see, today I:

-got a free textbook (older edition) from my prof :)
- helped some freshman find a building
-got soaked on the way to work, even with an umbrella
- had people at work fight over who got to give me jobs

and have yet to go to a two-hour training at work. I hope it stops raining again, but chances are I will get wet again. I already have work due this week, such as readings and papers, but I don't have all my books yet. I think I ordered the wrong one and the others, which would cost over $500 in the bookstore, aren't much cheaper on-line, not that I have time to wait for them anyway. I have yet to meet with my advisor to figure out the independent study thing, which probably needs to be turned in by the end of the week. But all in all, I think it is going to be a good semester. I like my classes so far, with the exception of the first one, in which I have to give two presentations, both fairly long and one in about two weeks, most likely.

Well, more later, assuming I have any time between all the reading and work I am expected to do...

2006-08-25T08:16:00.000-04:00

I know I've been a bit lax posting this summer (ok, ok, more than a bit), but since I make new year's resolutions at the beginning of the school year, I resolve to post more regularly. Which shouldn't be a problem, as tons of exciting and interesting things happen at school. ;) Or in psych class, anyway. So here goes: one last year at Albright...keep your fingers crossed for good classes!

Just In Case You've Wondered What I've Been Up To

2006-06-07T23:01:00.000-04:00

Well, let's say I haven't been too busy. I've done plenty of lounging around, some cooking, baking, grocery shopping. Catching up on reading and tv show watching. I've lately become addicted to Sudoku puzzles and have done lots over the past few days. I see rows of numbers in my sleep...

One last week of "freedom" before I start work. No plans, as usual. Just drifting along. And that's about it for my oh-so-exciting life. Until next month...or the occurance of grand adventures. ;)

2006-05-14T21:55:00.000-04:00

To echo the common sentiment of the day, Happy Mother's Day!

Hopefully in less than 48 hours I will be able to give my mother a hug. I think that will make us both very happy. :)

And now, back to the regularly scheduled program of studying for multiple psychology exams...while searching for something edible...

Summer Goals

2006-05-05T20:33:00.000-04:00

1. Clean my room (get rid of all that stuff I no longer use/don't need)
2. Read lots of books (for fun and for school)
3. Learn something useful
4. Exercise (DDR?)
5. Visit Europe ;)
6. Do something with my hair (dye it blue? chop it off?)
7. Create a new language
8. Make something beautiful (photo collage? silk scarves?)
9. Compile a list of dorm-friendly, vegetarian, low-dairy foods
10. Figure out what I want to do with my life

Life is Crazy

2006-04-25T22:20:00.000-04:00

The title pretty much says it all. April is a month of unpredictable weather, the return of flowers and bees, and drama. Lots of drama. Like the play I am ushering at on Friday...Tartuffe. Should be interesting...

Anyway, this is just a quick update to let my lovely readers know that they can also be watchers. That's right, I have started my very own photoblog at the following site:

http://www.imgblogs.com/pov/

Enjoy!

Philly and...New Jersey?

2006-04-15T23:08:00.000-04:00

A beautiful summer-like day in the historic city of Philadelphia. First stop, the art museum. Really big staircase. Really big building, too. Nice pictures, sculptures, chandeliers, knights in shining armor, etc. Next we wandered outside for a while. I tried to take a picture of a big bumblebee that was taunting me. Then we drove down to the historic district, parked under the visitor center, and started walking.
We walked a lot. Mostly in circles, or rather, squares. We saw the port with an Irish monument, many famous buildings, pidgeons, cute children, and much more. I love the cute little gardens on practically every corner. I took lots of pictures, especially of flowers and birds and almost of a squirrel. (They're not as friendly as on campus, or at least not as friendly as the birds were.) We spent several hours trying to find a restaurant, with little success. We did find a library. It was little and cute and had a big section in Chinese. We eventually decided just to get the car and go find food somewhere else. So we retrieved the car from the garage and ended up on the Ben Franklin Bridge. To New Jersey. I took some nice pics of the bridge. Going both ways...
Eventually we made it back on track, got off at King of Prussia, and decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. While waiting for a table, we explored Borders. I read the first two chapters of The Virgin Blue. The food was very good. I had the pecan encrusted catfish, which came with mashed potatoes and corn succatash. And strawberry lemonade. It was delicious. The food was probably the best part about today. Ok, definitely. From the fresh marble bagel this morning, to the strawberry shortcake ice cream at snack time, to dinner, it was really, really good. So while my feet might not be very happy, my stomach's not doing too bad. And since I didn't use my meal tickets today, I can stock up on pizza for the rest of the week. :)

So yeah, Philly goes on the list of places I could possible live someday.

This Weekend's Field Trip

2006-04-09T21:24:00.000-04:00

So, Baltimore. Specifically the Harbor, Pratt St., and Camden Yards, as well as a few side streets and the watch tower which probably has a more official name than that. It was a nice sunny day, which accounts for the slightly reddened face (sorry, Mom, no sunscreen), but still pretty chilly, which accounts for the shivering most of the game. We shifted our seats a few times because we wanted to sit in the sun until the game started, then people kicked us out and I was getting nauseous in my ticketed seat from the guy next to me who was drooling. I suspect he was using tobacco or some such thing and that combined with the smell of beer and motion sickness from the drive almost pushed me over the edge. So we moved down a row and only got kicked out of our seats one more time, for a total of three.

The game, despite being the purpose of the trip, was not as exciting as one would wish. It was interesting to note that there were about an equal number of Orioles and Red Sox fans, and a very tiny minority of Yankees fans. The Orioles took an early lead, but lost it all a little later and never caught back up. I don't believe there were any home runs, although I might have missed one in there somewhere. Fortunately, it wasn't too long of a game, although even so, we left early to beat the crowds, supposedly so we could find something to eat, even though that never happened.

On the way back to the harbor, we came across a magician entertaining the crowds. He wasn't very good, or at least the first few minutes weren't. I was hoping he would juggle or spit fire or something so I could take some pics, but instead he made bad and mostly inappropriate jokes. We soon moved on to explore the shops with sparkly things and the Cheesecake Factory.

The only other item of note was the bathrooms. Being female and all, one has to make mention of the poor quality encountered and to applaud the little things that were okay. By far, the best restroom was that at the ball park, the only bad part being the cold water, which didn't much help the shivering. The next ones I tried were in the shopping center place and the door didn't have a lock or even stay closed, so I passed until the next building. Not a good idea, although the door did lock. Most of the stalls didn't have any toilet paper and there was no paper towel either. I survived, though, so all's well that ends well.

Oh yeah, and we talked the pretzel guy into giving us a discount. Wasn't even a very good pretzel, but better than nothing. So that's it. Baltimore. Lots of cool apartments, tons of restuarants and bars, little boats shaped like the Loch Ness monster, student discount tickets to the park, historical buildings, elevated walkways, and a really cool B&N we stopped in to find a map, since they just dump us in the middle of the city without any directions. Who knows, maybe I'll go back some day...

The First Annual Edible Book Festival at ACL

2006-04-05T21:20:00.000-04:00

My new mission is to spread the joy that is Terry Pratchett's books. Therefore, I made a cookie cake in the shape of a disc and drew a map of the continents as described in the Discworld series. This was my contribution to the book fest. There were actually a number of creative entries, 11 or so in total. Some notable ones were the Velveeta Rabbit, Crepe Expectations, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory made out of fudge, and a really cool looking James and the Giant Peach cake. I don't remember who won, because that is how my brain works, but everyone who entered gets their name on a bookplate in the book that they used. The other coolest part was that they had bagel chips. I haven't had those in years. They were very yummy...

I Want to Be a Producer

2006-04-01T22:58:00.000-05:00

I really want to live in NYC someday. So much to do, so many people to watch...

Anyway, I think we made it there in record time this morning, about two hours. Enough time to watch the Princess Bride. :) We always get dropped off at Bryant Park and from there the search for the bathroom begins. I think we spent the most time looking for a bathroom the whole day. Soon we'll be experts on where to find them...We had lunch at Cafe Bonjour, where I tried key lime soda and an egg salad sandwich. Both were good, except for the eggshells...Next, after some more wandering around, on to the theatre! Despite my fear of tripping or leaning too far forward and falling off the balcony, I managed to stay safely in my seat. We were about six floors up, but at least not in the back row like last time. The show was very good. Funny and musical and all that. And we even missed the rain. Afterwards, we wandered around trying to find an affordable restaurant. We ended up at Sbarro, which had really good pizza and a quiet downstairs. Then we wandered some more, partially in search of another bathroom. We went into three bookstores, several shoe stores, GAP, Dunkin' Donuts, a Japanese sweet shop, and a hotel. Oh yeah, and even the subway, in search of a bathroom. Later, I was again reminded of how crazy you have to be to drive in NYC. One car hit another right in front of our bus and the driver wasn't even going to stop, but luckily decided to go around. We almost ran over a couple people, too. I took a few pics, but am too tired to upload them tonight. And my poor feet will need about a week to recover.

I finally bought a t-shirt that says I <3 NY. $3. Cool.

Isn't it cute?

2006-04-01T00:55:00.000-05:00

Things to Do in the Next Month

2006-03-27T19:45:00.000-05:00

Write a religion paper.
Finish my child psychopathology case study.
Write a sociology paper.
Go to NYC to see the Producers. :)
Get 46 more people to participate in my study.
Write a paper on said study.
Make a poster and present on said study.
Knit a scarf.
Struggle with numerous statistics problems.
Take psych tests.
Meet with both my advisors to discuss my conflicted schedule for next semester.
Register for classes that happen to all be at the same time next semester.
Visit a Russian church and interview people.

I'm sure there's something else I'm forgetting...but that might keep me busy for a while...

5 Good Things About Today

2006-03-13T21:19:00.000-05:00

1. I got a ticket to Broadway.
2. My psych project is all ready to go.
3. I got a 30 cent raise.
4. Beautiful weather
5. Lightening

Random Question of the Week

2006-03-12T18:55:00.000-05:00

Should I bring my DDR pads home over break? ;)

Bang Bang

2006-03-04T15:47:00.000-05:00

Despite a departure that was described as "chaotic" and an almost terrifying ride to Allentown, everyone survived the trip to the firing range, many with a new appreciation/fear of those lethal weapons that are unfortunately so common. "Chaotic" refers to the fact that nobody showed up to drive us there until almost half an hour after we were supposed to leave. "Almost terrifying" is how I descibe a driver who coughed like he had emphysema most of the way, drifted over into the other lane while drinking his coffee, drove at least 20 miles above the speed limit through some of the most curvy and hilly roads in PA, and hardly ever slowed down for corners. We were all relieved to find that the range was indoors, especially since the building was on top of a hill and it started to snow as we got there. We were outfitted with ear and eye protection, selected our targets, and stood back to watch the show. Three or four people had been before, but the rest of us were beginners. First there were the 28 and 38 mm revolvers. I only got to try the 38 and have no idea what I hit, as there were already numerous holes in the target. It was a bit scary. Ok, more than a bit. My hands were shaking for more than a few minutes and I wasn't sure I wanted to try any other kinds. In fact, after I watched casings bounce off people's heads while shooting the 9mm, I was convinced that I didn't want to do anymore. I changed my mind, though, and braved the flying casings. Here is a picture of my target:

Next we moved up to the 45 mm semi-automatic. This definitely had a bigger kick than the other one. They said it looked like I almost fell over, but I was just rocking back in my shoes. I didn't do so well with this one, but the target was farther away and I didn't really aim.

On our way back, we stopped at Macdonald's. It was a mistake to get the milkshake, but it sure tasted good. I think we all fell asleep on the way back, as we got stuck in traffic. All in all, it was a good trip. Makes me a little scared hearing people say how much they like to blow holes in things. One more experience to add to the list. Oh, and hopefully no one gets lead poisoning, as he neglected to mention that washing hands in warm water means absorbing the lead. Oops. They did have nice orange pumice soap, though...

Killing Authors

2006-02-28T16:48:00.000-05:00

My job this morning at the lib was to go fix all the records on this nice long list of people who have died in the past 24 years and no one has gotten around to updating in our system. They call it "killing authors". Does this make me an angel of death?

Weird People Who Use the Library...But Should Come In During Someone Else's Shift

2006-02-24T21:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, a woman came in to ask if she could take books out of the library. She was very polite as she explained that she does not take classes here, does not take classes at any of the other area colleges, and is not a teacher. She is, however, auditing a class. She is not, however, officially registered through the registrar, so her name doesn't appear in the system. It was about this time that she started making somewhat funny faces, when we asked how to spell her name so we could look for her in the system. We can't just have anybody walk in and get a library card, now can we? It's only been about three minutes, but she is getting rather annoyed, or so I suspect from the increase in frequency of her strange faces. Our director comes over to explain that her name somehow needs to be in the system before we can allow her to take books out. The woman asks one last time if she is allowed to use the library, then pushes past the director and out the door, muttering about how inconsiderate the library is, not allowing people to check out books. Yay for supervisors, cuz it's better when they get to tell people to go away.

Today, a young man (he had to be a freshman, i hope) came to the desk to get a movie he had to watch for class. These movies must be kept inside the library, so I gave him a set of headphones and directed him to the DVD player over in the corner. He stands there blankly and says, "So I can listen to the movie, but not watch it?" I explain once again that he can use the tv, just like any other tv, but he still doesn't get it and wants to sign up for the room upstairs for the next day. He is debating what time to sign up for when my supervisor comes over. She asks what is going on, he tells her he needs to watch this movie, but he'll have to come back tomorrow. She asks why he doesn't use the DVD player on the first floor right now. He says it is because he wants to watch it, not just listen to it. She assures him he can see it on the screen and listen to it on the headphones, all at the same time. He thinks about this for a moment, accepts the headphones, and then asks, "How do I use it?" I actually had to walk him over, show him how to turn it on, and insert the disk for him. Scary, huh?

Then there is the lady who called to reserve the study room for Friday nights. The first time she called, the circ clerk said no problem and signed her up. Later we realized she had signed up for a time after the library was closed, but had no number to call her back at. The other morning I was on the desk when this lady called back. I told her it had been a mistake to sign her up then and told her the hours we really are open. She said okay and hung up. A few hours later, she called back and this time my supervisor answered the phone. She apparently retold the story, reasked what hours we were open, and signed up for another time. Do people really have to hear things multiple times?

Enough stories for now. I'm sure we'll have more as soon as the leisure collection of DVDs goes out, in a week or so. That ought to be interesting...

In the End

2006-02-23T22:34:00.000-05:00

The vending machine refused to release my pretzels, but the dryer mostly dried my clothes, so it all evens out in the end.

Too sleepy to think about any more psychopathology terms...12.5 hours until test time...

A real post later...if you cross your fingers...maybe...;)

You decide: Did they do a good job?

2006-02-19T10:56:00.000-05:00

Me, Rachel, Sun, Anastasia, Manuela
Winter Ball 2006
Wyndham Hotel, Reading, PA

The First Step to Being a Lady

2006-02-18T13:29:00.000-05:00

Well, my nails are also painted a nice red color, but I'm not sure that counts because I've painted my nails before. Stay tuned for more pieces of the transformation...

Does anyone else know what the primary structures in the telencephalon are?

2006-02-16T23:36:00.000-05:00

I guess I owe a post. But all I can think about is my psychbio test tomorrow, bright and early. Which I am almost certainly not ready for. But then again, maybe I underestimate my ability to retain information while watching the Olympics and running out to the store to buy water. I'll let you know after the test. Or more accurately, after we get our grades back. And then there is the stats test in the afternoon, which means I can't go to work until later. Too bad, huh? I wish I could have a nice relaxing weekend, but there is that 5 page paper due Tuesday and two major projects I should be working on...

Good Times with DDR

2006-02-12T10:24:00.000-05:00

Our new evening ritual, when we both have time, is exercising with DDR. So far no one has been brave? enough to join us, but Sarah and I are having a merry time. Last night, we played with the settings and discovered that it is fun to be tipsy and drunk. That might actually have been when I got my first A. Of course, that is because we picked a slow song without any two-note steps, because the pads don't register left/right or up/down combinations, for unknown reasons. Then we tried some of the songs with 300 or more BPM. It was pretty fast, but with low enough stream that I could hit quite a few. All in all, it was a good time. Now if only we had the setting that counted how many calories we burned...

2006-02-09T18:48:00.000-05:00

There is a fork shortage in the caf. Just thought you would like to know. :)

My Tortilla Chips Are Shaped Like Footballs and Other Random Food Facts

2006-02-08T21:35:00.000-05:00

Actually, the title is the coolest part of this post. I can tell you that I had a random collection of tofu parmesan, potato salad, carrot cassarole, and a roll for dinner, and that I had mashed potatoes, corn, and cream of broccoli soup for lunch. I had a yummy corn muffin for breakfast. Just now, I had some tortilla chips and salsa. And a cup of international coffee mixed just right. Now what I want is some animal crackers...

Basketball

2006-02-05T10:36:00.000-05:00

It seems that it is more amusing to watch the fans at Albright sporting events than the athletes themselves. It is both funny and terrifying to watch some of the "rituals" that occur in the student section of the "end zone". Tonight, all the fans in this area were wearing white. They stood the whole time, chanting encouragement, provoking the opponents, and waving their fingers for good luck while our team was shooting foul shots. Despite all their hard work, we were losing at the end of the first quarter. This was about as much as I could take of a crowded, hot gym, packed in too closely with people I had never seen before in my life, being scared of the people who had painted their faces red or white and being repulsed by the guys who painted jerseys on themselves. There was no fun music played during time-outs, no gimmicks or amusements during the 15 minute break between quarters, unless they only play 15 minute halves. Anyways, if I remember to ask tomorrow, I can probably find out who won, but I guess it doesn't really matter. I think I fail at having school spirit and enthusiasm. I do, however, think it is amusing that I have classes with some of the players. That is something you can't say about watching games on tv. Well, I can't say that. Maybe if I had gone to a bigger, higher-lettered athletic school...

A Cloud Hath Descended...and more

2006-02-01T21:01:00.000-05:00

"Do you have any advice for budding writers?"
"Obviously you need a writing utensil and then an idea. Actually, I don't know which comes first." --Bones (rules!)

Ok, not the point of the post, but it occured while I was posting. So there. Ok, here is the picture that wouldn't show up. Maybe...

Highlights of Week 1

2006-01-29T11:31:00.000-05:00

- muffins!
- not getting sick from/of caf food
- fire drill in the middle of the night
- ordering dance pads (they better come soon...)
- working 19.5 hours
- having real classes with real professor and hardly any freshmen
- semi-hot showers with no water pressure
- playing Outburst
- rearranging M's room
- getting stuck on the top bunk in M's room

And much, much more to come...

Smiley Face

2006-01-19T14:09:00.000-05:00

It worked!!

Cupcakes

2006-01-18T19:50:00.000-05:00

All I want was a simple list of suggestions on how to make basic cupcakes a little more exciting. I would have liked the Cupcake Doctor at the library, but somebody had to check it out yesterday. And WPL doesn't own any other books on cupcakes. So I do a simple Google search and come up with blogs about cupcakes, recipes for Spam cupcakes, and directions on how to make the Prancing Pony, Magic Bunny-in-A-Hat, and Little Red Barn cakes. I think I'm going to stick with simple cupcakes, especially since I've never made cupcakes before. I do have an idea for the frosting though...

Resolutions

2006-01-04T15:02:00.000-05:00

1. To eat as little caf food as possible
2. To find something that really makes me happy
3. To learn Braille (I dunno; it sounds like fun)
4. To exercise more (like maybe visit the people on the third floor more often)
5. To write more letters and postcards (and maybe even emails)
6. Not to depend on people who are untrustworthy or known for being undependable
7. Not to have expectations (therefore, less disappointment)
8. Perhaps even to learn to drive, but I think I'll save this one for last...

Kids Say the Cutest Things

2005-12-17T11:05:00.000-05:00

Last night at the hockey game, there were these two little boys sitting in the row behind us. They were about 4, just the right size to kick the back of my chair....
Anyway, they, as most small children, had the cutest things to say, most of which only made sense in a limited way. There was the "Did you know that Santa has a son?" "Really? Who?" "Elves."
And, "I know how to spell the letter 't'." "How?" "T-Y-I"
Then, as the team we were playing was the Grand Rapids Griffins, "What is a griffin?" "You know that bird from Harry Potter? The one that bursts into flame and comes back again. That's a griffin."(This is the father.) "Is that where they got the name Gryffindor?" "Yes."

I was afraid of getting cotton candy in my hair, but it seems I was in more danger of getting hit by flying beer, as the vendor tripped coming up the stairs. Oops...

It was a nice night. And the home team even won. :)

December at the Bright

2005-12-12T17:23:00.000-05:00

Ok, so we went to the student film fest last week and it was, as is sadly becoming traditional, disappointing. Many of the films were based on a story by Joyce Carol Oates, or someone like that. Anyway, they were all b&w and silent. So boring, in fact, that one of the professors who was sitting right in front of us snored throughout every single one of them. Loudly. The most interesting, which is not saying much, was the first, which was also wildly inappropriate. It did, however, refer to Albright as 'The Bright'. So therefore,

December at the Bright means:
- icy sidewalks and unplowed streets
- random sounds of music coming from unknown sources
- extra use of leftovers in the caf in an attempt to use the rest of the food
- almost regular internet failures
- brief power outage (s?)
- study breaks with free food
-really cold classrooms
-sledding on everything from caf trays, to cardboard, to plastic boxes, to shopping carts

and much, much more...but you have to be here to see it.

Surprise, surprise

2005-12-07T07:48:00.000-05:00

They put a Dannon cooler in the cafeteria, right next to the frozen yogurt and soft serve ice cream. So of course I assume that they are going to put yogurt in the caf. Yummy. And then yesterday, not yogurt, but soy milk appears in it. Cool. Does this mean I can take a container, since there are multiples in there? Anyway, I got one out to pour myself a glass and I could feel there was something in it, but when I tried to pour, nothing came out. It was frozen, like a soy milk slushie. All of them were. Oops. So a nice caf worker turned down the freezer, brought me a new container, and even opened it for me. How nice! So the soy milk situation is looking up. :)

The Elevator

2005-12-04T15:56:00.000-05:00

Actually, the elevator was the not the interesting part, although it might have been if we had gotten stuck, which would have given me a more legitimate excuse for missing class. But anyway, the point of the elevator was that when we went downstairs to the room where the boxes were going to be put, the room smelled strongly of something incense-like. Nobody else mentioned it, though.
I did get to hear Adam's philosophical ramblings as we went up and down in the elevator, but there's not much excitement about that. Actually, the whole thing wasn't very exciting at all. But you asked...

Yesterday in detail (minus the elevator)

2005-12-03T11:00:00.000-05:00

I had something I was going to post about, but everytime I am sitting here, I can't remember. So I will ramble until it comes to me...
Our heating/AC unit is leaking water. The top has a puddle on it. This is the first time it has happened. Our light flickers, but only for a few minutes after you turn it on. We are both waiting for it to go out. We are sure it will happen on a weekend when no one will come to fix it for days.

Yesterday was a strange day. Actually, the whole week has been stranger than usual, but not in any way that I know how to describe. But yesterday I didn't go to any classes, and that made it weird, but nice. In spanish, there was an optional test, so I skipped it to do my psych homework, which took longer than the hour I left to do it, so I showed up to work half an hour late. This meant I wasn't watching time closely enough because I was so absorbed by packing books into boxes, so it was after 10 by the time I decided to check, and since I didn't want to walk into class late, I finished out an hour at work and then went to sit in the hallway outside my classroom and listen to the last ten minutes of class. I got to hand in my homework, which was the important part. Then when I got to Anthro, a few people were standing outside the door, but no teacher and he didn't leave any work, so we just left. I wandered the bookstore for a while, took a nap in the CC, and finally went to lunch. They stole our regular tables for a discussion of some sort, so that was a little weird. Then I went to work for 5 hours and when I came back to the caf for dinner, there was a tree next to our table. I ate a plate of vegetables and am still hungry. Then we went with Sarah to the store to get Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which we watched in the lounge. Then I went to bed.

I need to do my laundry today. Work on my psych homework. Practice for Spanish orals. Go shoe shopping? Guess that covers it. Still don't know what I was going to post about...

I swear I am not completely insane...

2005-11-28T19:41:00.000-05:00

So when I went into work this morning, the back workroom was rearranged. My wall had moved. It was strange. The tricky Ray says this is because he doesn't want people talking about him when he is right there, but they may not know this because he is behind a wall. However, when you are standing next to him, he can't hear you. Or he pretends not to... This guy must have very selective hearing.

But the weirdest part was that when I came back five hours later, everything was back the way it usually is. And nobody mentioned anything. So I thought I was hallucinating. I wonder what happened...

The only other thing of note today was that it was colder in the Spanish classroom, er, whole building, than outside. *shiver* Ok, back to doing some more nothing...

Little bits of heaven

2005-11-20T09:54:00.000-05:00

1. Almond amaretto cappuccino
2. Ruby Tuesday's cheese quesadilla, broccoli cheese soup, and key lime lemonade
3. New socks
4. Wawa vanilla milkshake

Which ends with: a perfect night out with the roommate: priceless.

And let's not forget: coming home in two days!

Take me out to the...movies

2005-11-15T21:17:00.000-05:00

On yet another Saturday afternoon I find myself sitting in front of a screen, watching people with "real" lives having a lot more fun than I am. This time, however, I am sitting in front of a 50-foot screen with a bunch of strangers. Well, mostly strangers, except the person I am sitting next to, who sometimes I think I know...Anyway, movies in theatres are fun sometimes, but it is awfully hard to sit still for that long. Even when I can put my feet up, take off my shoes, and wiggle around every so often. I'll still waiting for the theatre that decides to use hammocks...Now that would be nice. Still, going to the movies every once in a while is nice. That is why I am planning to go again on Friday to see...you guessed it...Harry Potter. I forget which one we are on now, but that doesn't really matter. I get to see it for free! Although I suppose I shouldn't get too excited about this, because there could always be a problem and I won't get to see it at all...but let's look on the bright side.

And I get to come home in a week!!!

The Week in Brief (in no particular order)

2005-11-11T16:27:00.000-05:00

Presenting Glamour. Smiling lab. Two really short advisor meetings. Sleeping in history. Watching Bones and House. Writing anthro essay. Eating carrots and peanut butter. Standing in the rain. Eating pumpkin pie. Taking anthro test. Working. Writing psych paper until 2 am. Hallucinating. Lunching. Drinking guava juice in history. Getting kicked out of Spanish. Taking Spanish quizzes. Working. Sleeping. No soy milk in the cafeteria. :( Chatting with my family. :) Finishing Anansi Boys. :) Working. Finding lost books. Watching tv. Putting my slippers on the wrong feet. Reading Dr. Seuss. Eating mac cheese. Being ready for a nap. Eating Halloween candy sent by my family. :) Sitting at work and trying to make the next 2.5 hours go by very quickly.

TV Commercials

2005-11-05T17:25:00.000-05:00

I guess I'll never understand why television-programmer-people put the commercials at the times that they appear, on the channels they appear.
For example, any night after about 10, any channel, they start playing food commercials. And they always manage to make the food look good, whether it is pizza or chicken fingers. But the funny part is that the restaurants that serve these foods pretty much all close before then. Which makes it hard to go buy from them, even if transportation were available.
And then there are the strange things advertised on Saturday morning during cartoons. Things like big furniture sales and how to perform a self-breast examination. Do kids really care about these things? Should they?
The quality of commercials suffers these days, too. Not that commercials were ever of any great quality, that I knew about, but some of them just don't make any sense. Like not even referring to the product or service being advertised.
But since I am not one of those people who watches tv for the commercials, I guess it doesn't matter. We tend to mute the tv during the commercials. And take bathrooms breaks.

Lost Books

2005-11-01T21:58:00.000-05:00

Do you ever feel like you are a lost book in a library, on some shelf where no one can find you, a book of poetry amidst the auto manuals? Sitting on a shelf in a place where you don't belong, waiting for someone to find you and bring you home. It's lonely. Sometimes you wonder if anyone even knows you are gone, if you will ever make it back.

I rescued 20 lost books today. Of course, most of them were right where they belonged. They just weren't there when people came looking, or people weren't looking hard enough, or people couldn't see what was right in front of their face.

I love libraries. They work really well as metaphors. ;)

Time Flies

2005-10-30T19:20:00.000-05:00

Sometimes on a college campus, one can get so disconnected from the outside world that they forget what time of year it is. For example, on Friday (or was it Saturday?) at the grocery store, I was surprised to see people wearing weird outfits and face paint. And then I remembered it is almost Halloween. Still, that does not excuse the "blood" dripping from knives sticking out of people's chests. Little kids dressed up are cute, though. There weren't so many of those around here this weekend. Just strange college students wearing things that one doesn't expect to see...especially if one has forgotten about Halloween. The caf workers got all excited about the holiday this year. The lights were dimmed, there were worms in the salad bar, and people were fighting over handfuls of candy. That in itself was a bit scary. Personally I would be happy if they gave us the day off, or just stopped getting eggshells in the eggs.

And on a totally unrelated note, last week at Wawa, I saw a real life coroner, wearing a jacket that said "Coroner". Guess they like donuts, too.

Hiccups and Shoe Shopping

2005-10-18T20:32:00.000-04:00

It has been so long since I last experienced hiccups. I never remember why they are so terrible until I am uncontrollably making loud noises at fairly regular intervals. They echo while you are in the bathroom.

Today I went shoe shopping. I found some shoes in the style that I now decided is my favorite, but I did not like the color. Therefore, I did not buy them. Now I am wishing I had. Alas. Perhaps another day I can add another pair to my pitiful collection. Hopefully soon.

I do not believe these events are related. I hope not, in any case. Seeing as there was a significant time lapse between the onset of hiccups after trying on shoes, I am not going to believe that they are connected.

I have managed to get rid of the hiccups now. I took Mrs. Mortimer's' advice. "Hold your breath for five minutes or so..." (jk)

Tired

2005-10-17T12:02:00.000-04:00

So very tired. And yet sleeping doesn't help. Maybe it is being tired of not knowing what to do. Tired of indecision. Tired of uncertainty. Tired of remembering things. Tired of forgetting. Tired of not knowing the answers to all of the questions.

I need a purpose. And some tranquilizers.

Words

2005-10-08T23:44:00.000-04:00

"My words don't connect and make sentences or thoughts. Maybe it's the weather. The rain. The rain always leads to trouble." -Zoe Trope

Today is full of words. Both those said and those unsaid. Those written into school papers, heard on tv, rolling around the inside of my head, and that escape from any mouth. Words have so much power, but so little meaning. Trying to understand what someone else says is like trying to translate thoughts into a foreign language, with a foreign alphabet and all. There are too many words to choose from and yet not enough to say what is really meant. Words are ambiguous at best. Lives may end, but words live on forever. What is left unsaid may be just as important as what is shouted from the rooftops. Words: can't live with them and can't live without them. Is it possible to join a community of deaf-mutes?

Experiencing technical difficulty

2005-10-02T16:55:00.000-04:00

On Friday, the power went out in our dorm for what I believe was a very brief period of time. This caused the washers and dryers, except for one of each, to be turned off. Nobody has thought to turn them back on, because apparently everyone who is capable of doing that has gone home for the weekend.

Yesterday, a warehouse/factory a few blocks away caught on fire and created large amounts of smoke. We also believe it caused disruptions in the power and phone lines. The power in one of the other dorms went out briefly last night and apparently the phones all over campus did, too. Our internet connection has not come back yet and they say it may take until the end of tomorrow. (How, you may ask, am I posting this if we have no internet? For some strange and unexplainable reason, the internet works in this study room. Slightly inconvenient, but better than having to use the lab all the way across campus.)

My brain, I believe, is also experiencing technical difficulty. I woke up at 4 this morning and had to resort to watching AMC for a few hours. I had intended to watch the sunrise, but forgot that it would happen on the other side of the building. I think I scared the guy who came to empty the garbage at 6, but he didn't say anything. It was cold in the lounge. But that is perhaps besides the point...

Disappointment

2005-09-25T21:20:00.000-04:00

I have been neglectful again. Of posting anyway. I have written out lots of Spanish assignments, read both history and anthro books, and taken a number of naps. And watched probably too much television, but what else is there to do?

I have a forensic chem lab that I should be writing a report for, but I hardly see the point. Our all-knowing, couldn't-possibly-be-wrong professor gave us badly made photocopies of a print of a shoe and two tire treads that we are supposed to compare and answer questions about. The three hour lab lasted thirty minutes, and that's only cuz we stretched it out by pretending to use the magnifying glass. This guy really needs to learn how to make more interesting labs that might actually teach something. As you might have already heard, I was not impressed with his test, either. And those end-of-chapter questions we spent four and a half hours answering, he spent ten minutes correcting all of them. That's the last time we put effort into his homework. I thought this class would be better, but I guess I was just as well off watching some of the approximately fifteen crime/police shows that are currently on television. Not all of them portray things incorrectly. They just don't show everything that happens, which is fine with me. I also learned more stuff by reading books, such as Kathy Reichs (which the tv show Bones is based on) and Jeffrey Deavers. So this class is only useful in that it satisfies the lab science requirement. Which is important, so I shall stick with it. Also, I cannot give him the satisfaction of dropping the class. Not that I am known for dropping classes...

My horoscope says I have not been feeling lucky lately...

2005-09-15T17:38:00.000-04:00

I apologize that I have been lacking in posting. Last night, I went to bed at 9 pm, after having taken an hour nap after chem lab. Tuesday I had to watch new episodes of Bones and House, both very good, while working on Psych homework. Monday, we had a long discussion about why not all members of our new organization are not happy. (We have yet to come to a good conclusion. Confrontation is eminent, and yet being avoided like the plague.) Sunday was a nothing day, and therefore there was nothing to blog about.

Currently, I am trying to keep my roommate from singing (badly) and waiting for it to be dinnertime. After dinner, I am planning to attend an illusionist's program and watch someone be levitated. If it is as excited as advertised, I may even have to post again. Until then, have a nice life. Somebody ought to.

Sexual Encounters of the Floral Kind

2005-09-09T20:29:00.000-04:00

He promised that we wouldn't look at flowers the same way after seeing this movie. He was right.
While at some level of unconsciousness I realized there exists a tremendous variety of flora, I could not have imagined the specimens we were introduced to on Wednesday. Water lilies that kill bees. Orchids that imitate female wasps. Some disgusting type of flower on some remote island that resembles rotting flesh.

And then there was the announcer, who must have had to practice saying his lines with a straight voice. He was given a wide variety of cliched and suggestive lines that served only to detract from the seriousness of the topic.

I think my favorite part was the time-speeded sequences of flowers blooming. That was cool. And the cute little mice and possums.

Thursday is a Wonderful Day

2005-09-01T14:35:00.000-04:00

Today is Thursday. It is wonderful. It is wonderful because I do not have Spanish on Thursdays. I do, however, have to be at work at 7:45. Today I was late. But not by much. The biggest problem with Thursday (as well as Tuesday) is that I have a history class after lunch and that always seems like naptime to me. I valiently tried to stay awake, but my eyes kept closing without my permission. I think this was a common occurance, as Professor Kiddy gave us a seventh-inning stretch. And then we talked about cannibals. But that is not related to Thursdays...
Today is Thursday. I must go work for two hours now. Then I will go to dinner. Then I will check my mailbox in hopes that it will not once again be empty. And a few hours after that, it will not be Thursday anymore. But there is always next week...

Library-ness

2005-08-30T22:27:00.000-04:00

I spent about half my day at the library today. This morning I covered books that had been sitting on a cart since I left three months ago. Also some new fiction books that I want to read. I put the stickers in the wrong place. Oops...
This afternoon, I put 75 orders into the computer. I suspect I should work slower in the future. my supervisor already said I can use the keyboard better than him. (which isn't hard to do) I probably shouldn't do more than 2 hours at a time in the future, but I was having so much fun...
After a ten minute dinner (salad and ice cream), there was a two-hour training session. We got to tour the building again, see all the changes, and visit the media classrooms in the basement. And play with the telephones, which wasn't nearly as much fun as squishing 5 people into the three-foot square elevator. Then there was another hour of work in which we got to play with the cash register and figure out what to do with ILLs, as well as get a new timesheet disk that actually works.
And that was the majority of my thrilling day. I also tried to take a nap on the couch in the middle of the library, but was distracted when I got to meet one of my personal heroes, the girl who was the cow in the play Albright did last spring.

Yep, I know. I'm weird. :)

Delirious Ramblings of a Sleep-Deprived Mind

2005-07-27T20:41:00.000-04:00

Babies! There are so many cute babies everywhere. Little ones that scoot around on their bottoms, slightly older ones that giggle and hide, youngest ones who smile and wave their fists. I want to hold one, to listen to one laugh for hours, to play games with one, and to watch one sleep. I am almost ready to walk up to some mother under the rainbow and ask to hold her child, just for a few minutes. To babysit. To do anything. Babies. Aww...

What I haven't Been Saying Because I Am Determined Not To Complain About It Anymore

2005-07-18T13:54:00.000-04:00

It is hot. Far too hot to feel like doing anything, which includes posting on my blog. We had two thunderstorms this weekend which did nothing to make it any cooler and there is no relief in sight. This is by far my least favorite time of year. Ok, enough.

In other news, I finished HP6 yesterday and I must say I am disappointed, not only by the short length of the book, but also by the apparent lack of interesting material. It seemed to focus very little on anything at school, or on anything in general, except uninteresting side plots. The newly introduced characters weren't very like-able, and our old favorites did very little in the way of anything new, or at least unexpected. I found myself trying to remember what age these kids are supposed to be, but they do not seem to have aged since the first book. The ending was just as confusing as the others, but leaves the reader with even more suspense. Maybe after some more people finish and I can talk about it, it will seem a little better. Until then, I am giving it a B-.

On Riding Backwards in Cars

2005-07-10T22:00:00.000-04:00

It is only when we visit the people of Fort Wayne, IN that I have the opportunity to ride in a car facing backwards. It is both a thrilling and terrifying experience. Firstly, there is little in the way of leg room, especially with coolers, water bottles, and life jackets surrounding you on every side. This, however, is somewhat made up for by the increase in windows, having both a side and a clear view in front of you. This, in turn, can also be somewhat scary, as you come much closer to the people driving other cars, notably the ones who drive too close behind you.
This location provides one with the perfect opportunity to observe drivers doing illegal things, or things that should be illegal even if the laws have not yet declared them to be. Things like talking on a cell phone and drinking. Yes, drinking and driving is a crime we are all warned against, yet does anyone really listen? Ok, so I'll admit I believe one driver to merely be ingesting coffee, but I am also convinced that all the people contained in one car that persisted in following us for a long time were in fact drinking beer.
My fellow rider and I were quite nervous about allowing some of the people we observed to continue driving...at least so closely to us. And then there were the cars that had headlights on, even though it was the middle of the afternoon on a sunny day. We wanted to play Charades to get them to turn the lights off, but at the same time did not want to distract the drivers from keeping their hands on the wheel.
With the number of people giving so little attention to their driving, is it any wonder that I don't want to drive?

A Rabbit For Every Yard

2005-06-27T21:18:00.000-04:00

There seems to be an abundance of rabbits this summer. There are little baby ones running all over my yard and getting their picture taken. There are big ones trimming the weeds every afternoon under the swings. And on the way to soccer, I saw four in adjacent lawns, enjoying the evening grass, I suppose. Or maybe there is just a cat drought...but in any case, I like the bunnies.

Ah! The Joys of Summer -or- Soccer

2005-06-20T20:56:00.000-04:00

You can tell that it is really summer when Monday and Wednesday nights are spent at the soccer field, sitting amidst a sea of different colored teams and trying to avoid getting hit in the head with a ball.
This year, Josh is on the yellow team. Generally, I forget this at least once a game and tend to just cheer for the team with the prettier color. Hey, who's keeping score anyway? The coach of the yellow team seems to know what he is talking about, although he does so in a distinct accent, which has yet remained unidentified. Perhaps Boston, or maybe NYC. In any case, it is most evident in the way he refers to the object the team is kicking about. Sometimes it is "bwal" and others it is "bhoul", and in between the game is punctuated with cries of "Beauty! Beauty!". And then there are the annoying fans, otherwise known as parents. To be fair, not all of them are annoying, but there are certain ones who always seem to have high-pitched voices and never, ever stop shouting. I think that has to be my least favorite part of watching, other than the fact that I cannot play. Perhaps next time I will bring headphones, and then I can listen to music while I watch, which should be much more pleasant. That, and a book, and I am all set. Yup, this might just be a good summer.

New Talent

2005-06-14T15:16:00.000-04:00

While attending a talent show at my brother's elementary school today, I observed that modern society has imposed itself even on the creative habits of children. That is to say, there is no such thing as simple ballet dance anymore. Even gymnastics has blended itself into a style of dance that one might describe in words which would be inappropriate for the same kids who participate in the dance. While it might be a good form of exercise, I fear it prepares them for the wrong types of future careers -- show girls in Las Vegas, Britney Spears-esque, and worse.

That said, the other musical pieces were very good. There was variety and a very good attempt at the Star Wars theme song...

When It Is Too Hot To Do Anything But Go From Air-Conditioned Store to Air-Conditioned Store

2005-06-11T16:15:00.000-04:00

As in, today, 86 degrees and 55% humidity, currently, although it was 96% humidity earlier. And although ice cream sandwiches are nice, there is really no place to go except a nice, cool store. Pretty much every store is air-conditioned, although they all have different levels of coolness. Stores are interesting, with lots of items, most which I don't need or want, to look at. Sometimes they even have things I want at prices I am willing to pay. (Or have someone buy for me...) But after considering all these things, I think my favorite AC'ed place to go is still the library. There are books there and I can sit down. And as of next week, they are even going to pay me to be there. Sometimes.

It Echoes

2005-06-10T20:41:00.000-04:00

Standing outside in the middle of thunderstorm is much better than being inside. For acoustic reasons, that is. Everything echoes much more outside, and you get to stand in the rain. It is suprisingly exciting. Especially when the storm is so close that you don't know in which direction the next bolt will appear. I hope we have another thunderstorm tomorrow.

When It Is Too Hot To Do Anything But Sit And Eat Ice Cream Sandwiches

2005-06-09T17:03:00.000-04:00

I hereby declare that it is too hot for any activities not involving ice cream sandwiches. Preferably they should be eaten, not thrown at each other.

If anyone knows any good thunderstorm or rain dances, let me know.

Of Little Importance

2005-06-08T11:53:00.000-04:00

As you can probably tell from the lack of posts, very little in the way of post-worthy events have been occurring. Progress is being made on the lighthouse jigsaw puzzle. I re-read the 5th Harry Potter book yesterday because I found I could not remember anything that had happened in it. I see some grocery shopping and making of giant animal silhouettes in the future...

For Your Reading Enjoyment

2005-05-31T17:26:00.000-04:00

While going through boxes in my room today, I came across some notebooks full of stuff I wrote, mostly last year. And since this piece amused me so much (and I have nothing else to say), I am going to share it with you.

This is your self-affirmation tape. Close your eyes and listen carefully. Breathe deeply. You are a wonderful person. You have amazing talents, not the least of which include crocheting lovely dog sweaters and reciting from memory all thirteen episodes of the cooking show "Moustaches and Motorcycles". Smile. You are a very special person. You thrive in situations which require you to breathe. You make the most of everything, from extending the live of your fried bologna sandwiches to two weeks, to building a thirty-foot high birdcage out of recycled milk cartons. Inhale the fresh air. You are a truly unique person, a gift to the world. You possess great courage, best exemplified by your ability to wear a hat with antlers to every occasion. Relax. You are a friendly person, who seeks to improve the world one step at a time, starting with scraping all the gum off the sidewalks downtown. Allow yourself to think of things that make you happy, such as plastic knitting needles and papier mache reindeer. Breathe in good spirits and become at peace with the world. You are a beautiful person. You are strong, you are smart, you are simply super. You will make a difference. You will wear your seatbelt. You will feed your dog Rufus three times today...

The Non-working Life

2005-05-27T14:04:00.000-04:00

After filling out five pages of personal info and taking a seventy-question multiple choice test, the friendly Target people tell me that they can't hire me because I won't be around for ninety days. I should have applied earlier in May, so says them. Just so they know, I will be home for exactly 91 days after today...Oh well, I didn't want to work for them anyway.
Back to work on the orca puzzle...
And if anybody wants to hire me to do something I can do while comfortably situated in my own house...

Me hablo

2005-05-24T15:08:00.000-04:00

Now I talk to myself in three different languages. And not very well in any of them. I have found that I am making up my own language with increasing regularity. Oh well. As long as I understand myself, I suppose it is okay. Although even that does not always seem to happen.

Um, yeah, not much to say while I am lounging about at home. Sleep, eat, go to library, read, sleep, watch movies, read, perhaps a little cooking, sleep, go shopping.

I should look for a job, but everytime I convince myself that I can, I also convince myself that all the jobs are already taken. If only there were places where I wouldn't have to deal with food or people....That is why I like libraries. Books are much easier to deal with. And they feed the brain, not the stomach. Speaking of which...dinner calls...

Here I Go

2005-05-16T09:19:00.000-04:00

Off to the first final of my high school career. Ok, not really, since there were finals last semester, but these somehow seem more final. I'm nervous, which always seems to manifest itself in a stomachache. I didn't sleep very well, so have a slight headache to go along with it.
I packed most of my stuff last night, so am basically ready to go, except for these annoying exams. It is nice outside, supposedly, but it doesn't really matter since I am stuck inside all day.
Guess I should go do some more last minute studying, even though I know you're not supposed to do that. Can't hurt though. Wish me luck...

More on Security, Etc.

2005-05-12T16:08:00.000-04:00

We established last night that despite what you may have been told on the tours, when you push the red help button on the security boxes, no one comes. It was pushed accidentally, although the intention was to reach security to give Sofia a ride back to her dorm, but all it did was make beeping noises and refuse to allow us to call anyone else.

Our other "adventures" of last night included using the Russian phrasebook to try to get Anastasia to guess what we were badly saying, mixing up at least five different languages (English, Spanish, French, Russian, and German), and basically passing time with things other than studying.

Tonight is an ice cream social, and oh yeah, I better not forget to go to work...

Security Update

2005-05-10T17:26:00.000-04:00

Apparently, one should not walk home from the Goose Head (bar?) after dark, because you never know when you might be held up by a gun-wielding thug by the rugby field. But security has some important advice to offer in case it does happen to you: comply with all their wishes. Gee, thanks. I never would have guessed to do what the armed man told me to do. Don't worry, when I want to go to bars, I know better than to go to someplace called the Goose Head.

An Addition to Things I Miss

2005-05-06T17:15:00.000-04:00

8. Toilet paper
9. Not having to be in the bathroom at the same time as anyone else

Disconnected

2005-05-06T10:46:00.000-04:00

My head hurts.
My wrists hurt.
I want to sleep.
My stomach just recovered from orals.
All my pictures for the art show were rejected.
There are things that need to be done.
I have to go to class now.
When I get home, I intend to cook lots of meals. I miss real food.
I have $16 left on Bonus to spend at Jake's. They just put new ice cream in.
Good night.

My non-life

2005-05-02T21:28:00.000-04:00

The Spanish test today was optional, so I decided not to take it. Three days in a row without spanish...I think I am going to forget all I know. And with orals on Friday...

I don't feel like going to classes anymore. I just fall asleep in them. I get more out of reading the textbook, which reminds me I am supposed to be taking more CD notes. I am a few chapters behind.

No more philosophy until next week, which means I am supposed to be working on the final paper. And we have to present a rough draft, so i really do have to have something by then.

I know this is a really boring post, but nothing else exciting has happened. Nothing I can make seem exciting. Maybe tomorrow.

The Little Things I Miss About Not Being At Home

2005-05-01T14:51:00.000-04:00

1. Grocery shopping
2. Cooking meals
3. Not having to wait for the washer or dryer to be available
4. There being mail in the mailbox everyday -- even if it is not for me
5. Couches
6. The possibility of having a room to myself
7. The availablity of food at any time

Yeah, this summer is going to be nice...:)

Still Nothing to Say

2005-04-30T10:34:00.000-04:00

I know it's been forever since I posted, but I still can't think of anything to say. I was going to write about the crazy things people in my spanish class have said, but somehow they don't seem so funny anymore.

The past four days have been spent staring at the computer screen and trying to write my philosophy journal, which is now up to 18 pages with no end in sight.

I could complain about my roommate's treatment of me, but not all of it is appropriate. And I don't feel like going into it again. But I am counting down the days...18.

There are a few events to go to this weekend. Maybe I will. Or maybe I will lock myself in my room and write.

Lo siento for the lack of communication. I am still here, on some level.

Can't wait to come home again...

Why Group Projects are Better When I'm Not in Them

2005-04-25T20:36:00.000-04:00

1. I am not responsible for any information, I don't have to present in front of anybody, and I still get to put my two cents in when I show up to meetings.

2. I get my first video appearance as a crime scene photographer and arresting officer.

3. I get to witness really funny events, such as Ken (the barbie doll) stripping, Sun squirting coffee out her nose, and the reminder, "Don't forget the rubber!" During today's meeting, we were all laughing so hard we were crying and I bet the people in the study room next to us thought we were crazy. Casey has a poster of registered pedophiles in Reading, with pictures of all of them, which she proudly carried around campus.

The other fun events included in the presentation tomorrow are a test to put the steps in a rape kit in order, mutilation of Peeps, cookies with words such as 'Rape' and 'Pedophile', and other demonstrations with Barbies. If only they can make it through without laughing...This is one of the reasons I love college classes (even if they are not my own).

Not Cats, but Ducks (Or, Do We Really Belong in College?)

2005-04-21T15:08:00.000-04:00

The tour groups that come through Science Hall while we are Child Development must think this school is pretty weird.
On Monday, our professor was standing near the door and eavesdropping to see what the guide was saying about the building, etc. Then she started yelling, "It's all a lie! See my intimate upper level class with 35 students" as the guide says how the classes get smaller as you attain higher years.
Then, on Wednesday, we were having a very interesting conversation about touching oneself versus another touching you, how one tickles and how one doesn't. Then somebody brought up the fact that you can tickle yourself by running your tongue over the roof of your mouth, and then somebody else said, "Yeah, but how often does somebody else do that to you?" And Dr.H says, "We're not going there." She tries to distract us from both that line of thought and the killer bees that were flying around over our heads by telling us about the Sock Man, who put striped knee socks on babies to torment them.
The week before we spent making funny faces at each other to discuss the development of emotions. We tried to talk without using our hands. And before that, we made up new words to use in the process of language aquisition. "Hoopledoople" and "blicket" were some of our favorites. Additionally, we got to make more faces as we tried out different sounds and why some are easier to make than others.

But even funnier than all the things that happened in CD was one incident in Sociology earlier this week. We were discussing urban legends and the one that says some Chinese restaurants were closed down for serving cats. CB asks if anyone thinks they actually were serving cats and this one kid gets really excited and waves his hand around until he is called on. Then he yells pretty loudly, "I don't know about cats, but I saw ducks hanging in the front of one restaurant!"
Ok, so maybe you had to be there...

Happy!

2005-04-19T11:02:00.000-04:00

Happy, happy, happy... Why? Good question. Because the sun is shining. Because I got to talk with friends yesterday. Because I can taste and smell and enjoy things again. Because I get to see my family this weekend. Because life is great!

Please tell me you are having a good day, too, or else I will have to give you things to be happy about.

Adventures in the Little Orange Bug

2005-04-16T10:58:00.000-04:00

Yet another first to add to my list -- Laser tagging.
Basically, I am pretty bad at it. I hit about 6 people and got hit who knows how many times. Ok, I know because I have a copy of the results, but I'd rather not mention how bad it was. It was better after the first five minutes, when I could breathe again. The mirrors and blinking lights were really distracting, but I guess that's the point. I stuck with Jess most of the time, till she got lost in the smoke.

The funny part was that we were there with Jess, her ex-, and her current "boyfriend". The we being M and I. We all squeezed into Jess's bug. It was interesting. Afterwards, we went to a coffee shop, but sadly they had run out of smoothie ingredients, so I had to settle for a kiwi Italian soda. Then we dropped the ex off back at school and went to the diner because Jess was hungry.

That's another story. We get to the diner at about quarter to one. The air outside smells disturbingly like the mushroom factory. It does that, quite often actually, over in that part of town, by the Walmart. We get seated and order and all that, and that is not the interesting part. Well, first, M, the smart one, thinks there is a mirror next to her and flips out when she thinks she has somehow transformed into an old, wrinkled, and white-haired lady. Actually, it wasn't a mirror.

But after that, after we get and eat our food, we are sitting there talking, or argueing over the last half of the pickle, and there is this large group of mostly older people at a couple of tables in the adjoining room. They are starting to get a little loud. Remember, this is at 1 am. Just as we decided it is about time to leave because the person who did not have any coffee is falling asleep, this other party starts to sing, rather badly and perhaps drunkenly, "My Girl". And random people from other tables start to clap along. We had to walk away rather quickly. The air outside smelled a little bit fresher.

Then I fell into the car backwards and got stuck on the floor in the backseat. Oops.

Jess persuaded us to come back to her room and watch a movie. It ended up being Mummy 2, but I missed most of it, as I fell asleep once I hit the bed. I watched a little bit cuz there was a cute kid and cool accents, but even that was not enough to keep me awake. I drifted back to my room several hours later.

Overall, I'd have to say that Jess is pretty good at keeping us entertained, when she doesn't have to work on the weekends, which doesn't happen very often. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing...

It was fun, though. Much better than sitting around here yet again. She is supposed to take me shopping this afternoon. I hope she got some sleep first...

Indignance and disbelief

2005-04-15T10:27:00.000-04:00

Since when has the starting wage for pages at WPL been $6.00? This is so unfair. I worked there for 2.5 years and never made that much. Now I have to start over at $5.15 and I wasn't even told if or when I could possibly get a raise. And I'm applying for a summer job where I'll probably make less than that. What is wrong with this picture?

My soc quiz and Spanish test were cancelled today, which means everything I did last night was for naught. Not that I did that much, but it's the thought that counts, right? It's a good thing today is Friday. I need a weekend...

2005-04-14T14:40:00.000-04:00

Must stay awake until my laundry is done...

The washer took a bite out of my finger, which is now puffy and red. I didn't think it tasted that good.

I got to use the elevator at work today for the first time. It is really quite scary. It is a tiny little box and it makes funny noises and lurches and I wasn't sure where I was going to end up. Where I did end up was a little locked room with a fridge and a couch. To get out, you need a key, and to get back in, you need another key. I got to play with old wrinkled art books for almost an hour, then had to venture back down the elevator.

Tonight I am planning on going to an a capella group known as the Sons of Pitches. Should be good...

More psych studies tomorrrow afternoon to at least partially make up for the horrible grade I will no doubt receive from Monday's test.

Enjoy the nice weather if you have some, and be envious of those that do if you don't...

Management

2005-04-13T15:48:00.000-04:00

Another headache. I was planning on taking a nap when I returned this afternoon, but there is a movie playing far too loudly and I doubt she is considerate enough to turn it down.

In celebration of National Library Week, the library had an open house today, which involved playing a loud and eclectic collection of music outside the front door, cake served by yours truly, and a raffle of bags containing back scratchers. I was proud to be a part of it, with my terribly important position. I gave away about 12 pieces of cake and received one compliment on my superior cake-serving skills. Guess she didn't see me drop a few pieces...

I managed not to sound like a complete idiot in Philosophy by refusing to say anything at all. I managed not to fall asleep in sociology, but I have no idea how. I managed to enjoy myself in Child Development, as we discussed the different communication styles of men and women, and had to sit on our hands while we talked to see how much we actually use them. I managed to eat something at lunch, but not to enjoy it.

Overall, I guess I'd have to say I'm managing.