The Aftermath

Hey guys, sorry I haven't written much, but I haven't really been in a writing mood. I've been playing a lot of games with my nerdy circle of friends so I haven't been home a lot to write on this. In fact I'll be going to Tom's house in an hour and a half. Nothing exciting has really happened since getting back from OU, but I still have to give you a guys a school-year-in-review post. Expect that soon.

First Year Finale

Sorry I haven't written on here in awhile, but this quarter has been pretty hectic. I've been shooting a lot more for the Post, doing a lot more busy working, shooting a lot more for class, and catching up on The Office, 30 Rock, and Arrested Development. I'll change the photo this weekend since I'll finally be done with class and assignments. This weekend's going to be crazy though. Thursday is my last Post All-staff, then Friday is Post Toasties and my boss plans on getting me drunk (she promised me wine), and then Saturday is LobsterFest where I can win tickets to the Avett Brothers concert in Columbus, which would give me a great excuse to come visit my Post friends working at the Columbus Dispatch. And as an ending note, according to the Colbert episode on right now, we now have a Death Star. Congratulations America! We did it! We will now rule the world and make it a better place...for evil!

My First Dictionary

I can no longer keep this blog from the public. My First Dictionary is a hilarious picture blog. Ross Horsley takes pictures and a word from actual children's dictionaries, then he makes his own definitions. They are often morbidly funny. In fact, they are always so. Here is today's.

Britain Belts Beautifully

First Susan Boyle, now this little girl named Hollie Steel. Britain is hiding all these people with beautiful musical theatre voices. They need to move here and be in musicals. Susan Boyle made me want to see Les Miserables, but only if she was in it.

Social Experimentation

Today I'm going to do a little social experiment. While I walk to the library, I am going to sing Avett Brothers songs. I also have thought about starting a blog called Social Experimentality. This blog will be devoted to social experimentation. I will do ones that go against social norms, and I will also experiment with conforming to social norms. Comment "Thumbs Up" if you think this is a good idea.

Wonderful Weather

It's beautiful down here in Athens! Yesterday was such a nice day. After Japanese class, I went to the Starving Artist's Lunch hosted by We Love Vegan Cooking. It was on College Green, and boy was it delicious. It was this delicious rice mix and salad. They also made vegan brownies, and since it was so warm out, the chocolate was all nice and melty. Since I started going to the Vegan Cooking Workshop, I've been eating a lot more salad. Vegans just know how to make a flavorful salad I guess. So I ate and talked with my friends in the shade of the trees. Then I noticed two puppies lying in the grass not far from where I was. I love animals, so I went over to pet them. Apparently they were rescued, and they were free to anyone who could give them a good home. They were brothers, River and Cole. They were a Pit bull-Lab mix. River was brown with a Lab nose, while Cole was black with a Pit bull nose. They both had a patch of white on their head and stomach. They were so mellow. It was sad to see these two puppies so dispirited. When they were first rescued by this girl's mom, they shied away from human touch. Eventually they got used to it, but they still were very dispirited. So when I met them, they were lying in the grass just letting people pet them. I sat for an hour and petted them. It was very nice. Eventually River started to perk up and run around, which was wonderful to see. He wagged his tail and wandered around to other people. Cole didn't perk up until their foster father came. I was glad to see that they weren't completely broken. I hope they find a wonderful home together because it would be terrible if they were broken up since they are so close.

At Least I Got Something...

I didn't feel like getting up this morning, but I did. It's a good thing too. I walked around and was lucky enough to find a softball class to shoot for my sports action assignment due today. It wasn't the best I've ever done, but I'm going to have to try and shoot sports as much as possible so I can get a better grade on the reshoot, which isn't due until the end of the quarter. But now I can relax because the event I'm shooting for the next assignment can't possibly be cancelled, and I think dictionaries should have every spelling of a word because Firefox keeps telling me that the British spellings are wrong. I'm not wrong! If you want me to spell cancelled, canceled, then spell it that way in British literature when you sell it in the US! Oh, and I forgot to wish you all a Happy Ides of March, as well as a Happy Earth day, Pi day, and some others.

You've Got to Dance Dance!

I'd like to thank my friend Jane. She posted this on her blog not to long ago. This is something I would love to do, something I plan on doing at least once in my life. This video cheered me up. Today I have my sports action assignment due for VICO 390, and the only two times I could shoot baseball, it rained, causing the games to be cancelled. So right now I have nothing, and I need a minimum of 100 frames and a print by 3pm. It's probably not going to happen, but if I get down because of it, I'll just watch this video and cheer up.

April Fools!

Not that anyone seemed to care. I am not closing my blog. Either you all knew that, or you just didn't care. Sad face. Anyways, it has been a fun first week, though I hate Monday. I have 7 hours of class almost back to back. There are some short breaks between them, but that time is spent eating a quick lunch or walking back to my room to switch books. I also tried out for Lost Flamingo Company again. I hope I get a callback again, and I'm not sure if I really want to be in Reefer Madness: The Musical. But I'm now a picture editor for the Post and my first late night will be Monday (ugh, but not really because I only have 3 hours of class on Tuesday). I have no knowledge of editing, so this is going to be a learning experience!

Farewell

After 119 posts, I have decided to close my blog. I do not feel a point to maintaining it. I would like to say goodbye to all my readers, if there even are any still left. It's been a fun ride, but it's time to get off the train. So as I take my leave, I wish all good night and good luck.

Vernal Vacation

Winter quarter is officially over as I'm done with all my finals and will be leaving within a few hours. A Happy Vernal Equinox to everyone. It is that special time of year marking the beginning of the spring season. Mine will be spent for four hours in a car, but I will be home for only a week. I hope though, that I will have bought and received all my new camera equipment before I return to OU because I need it for my first day of VICO 390. It's been a fun finals week, much nicer than last quarter where I almost went insane from boredom. I watched the documentary We Are Wizards which takes a look at the subculture created by the Harry Potter series, such as Wizard Rock and fansites. On top of that, this week's episode of 30 Rock was absolutely hilarious. I also don't know what I'll do with myself for a week with no Post to sit in and eat lunch or attend meetings. Well I do have one thing, other than visiting friends. I recently started going back on SpaceBattles. It is an online forum where I participate in story debates. Story debates are essentially roleplaying without stats, damage, HP, pretty much no numbers. It's really fun and gets my creative juices pumping. I'm getting involved in one that is about character-created deities that were overthrown and are trying to regain their power/realm. Another I'm getting involved in is a little like Cowboy Bebop. We're space cowboys/smugglers or a legitimate spaceship service. I went the route of space cowboys. I'm really excited to get involved in it again because the SD I got involved in fell apart after a month. It was really narrative heavy which ruined everything.

103%

Yay! My first day of finals is over and I found out what I got on my philosophy exam. 206 out of 200, which translates to a 103%. WOOOOOOT!! It was a really fun class. I'm going to miss it. So I end philosophy with a 99.3% because I was too lazy to get out of bed to take 2 quizes. I also skipped the class days for review because I didn't have Econ class anymore, so why wake up at 8am for only one hour of class. I'm just glad I didn't have to memorize the fallacies for the test. Well, I'm going to play some video games and listen to the Avett Brothers in celebration!

Finals Week

It's finals week for winter quarter. That means another quarter is at a close. It's going by too fast. I mean, I'm already a sophomore in credit hours. After spring quarter, I'll only be 8 credit hrs away from being a junior. It's going by way too fast. What if don't get to take all the cool liberal arts classes I want to take? Maybe I'm just going crazy from sleep deprivation, or I pulling strings to write something interesting for you all to read. Who knows? My psyche is very strange. I only worry about these things when I take time to think about them. Oh well, I think I'll play some Wild ARMS 2 to distract me. I started a new game during the time most people study. I'll at least try and study for my Econ test that's on Wednesday, but it won't really be studying, just reading the stuff I haven't read yet.

Harry Potter Weekend #8,362

The title might be a little facetious, but it feels like ABC Family has a Harry Potter weekend every month. In fact, I'm pretty sure they do, not that I'm complaining. I love the movies, even though I purport hatred of all those past the second. The first two are my favourite, the Sorcerer's Stone more so, but I do enjoy the other three. I hate that they blatantly disregard things from the books, but I enjoy their visual imagining of the books. I know the first two don't follow the books perfectly, but that is expected of book-based movies. It's just that the 3rd, 4th and 5th movies change the entire storyline, remove characters, ignore Wizarding Law (mainly the beginning of the 3rd movie where Harry is trying to read under his covers using a flickering (??!?!?) lumos spell), create plotholes that aren't in the book, and forget about key plot points from the books. Nevertheless, I continue to watch them. It's kind of like watching a car crash, horrible to watch, but you can't look away. But I'm excited for the 6th movie. The 11-year-old Voldemort actor is perfectly chillingly evil-looking.

Flight of the Red Balloon

All last year my friend Steven kept talking about this horrible French movie called Flight of the Red Balloon. He said it was horrible, especially when the little boy would go, "Balloon! Balloon!" but not really pronounce the "n." For the longest time, that was all I knew about the movie. A little boy says "Balloon!" in a funny French accent to a red balloon. Steven's commentary started when the remake was at the Cleveland International Film Festival. I was going to see it until he told me it was a remake. I decided, someday, I would see the original. Well today, that day came. In VICO 140, we watched Flight of the Red Balloon to examine the design principles of film we had learned about on Tuesday. As soon as the movie started rolling, I knew immediately it was that movie. I was like, "Oh my God! It's Flight of the Red Balloon, I need to call Steven!" Anyways, as the movie played, I sat on the edge of my seat, waiting desperately for the little boy to say his only line. When he finally said it, I laughed so hard. It reminded me of Steven and the hilarious impression he did of the little boy. It was a great class. Flight of the Red Balloon is one of those funny/awful movies that you watch to laugh at more than for story or enjoyment. At the end, when the mean little French children corner the little boy and his red balloon and then throw stones at it, I was like, "No! Balloon! Balloon!" in this sad French accent. The people sitting in my row were laughing. It was so funny. And then the little boy flies away like Curious George with a huge collection of balloons. It was like the movie we watched in AP Spanish last year where the corpse of El Cid just rides away on a horse. Mrs. Petrick was so offended because all six of us were laughing so hard. So for the next week or so, I will connect almost everything to Flight of the Red Balloon. It will most likely be my description of the movie. A red balloon leads a little French boy on a journey of magic and mystery.

Wonderful Weekend

I returned home this weekend to see the play at my high school. It was called Getting Sara Married, and my friend Julie directed. She did a fantastic job, especially with the lack of talent she was given in the two leads. I found that two supporting cast members had more talent and emotion than the two leads. The play aside, I had a nice relaxing weekend. I got my haircut, read Harry Potter, and spent time with my friends. It was a very relaxing weekend. Unfortunately, I missed the last day of dancing, but I did get to dance in Justin's car while we listened to techno.

Swirling Haze

This past week has been a little crazy. I have been reading the Harry Potter books, staying up until early in the morning doing homework, trying to budget time for Vico 222 assignments, and dancing everyday that I can. Unfortunately, my sleep schedule has gone a little haywire. I slept through my first two classes on Monday because I couldn't fall asleep until 5 am. And then yesterday, I also slept through Philosophy and Econ because I just couldn't move. Only two more weeks until finals and then this week is over. What sucks though is that next quarter I have to buy a whole new camera body and two expensive lenses for my Photojournalism class. What's even worse is that I'm unsure whether I should continue in VisCom. This quarter, I barely had time to do my Vico 222 shooting assignments because I was in class for 20 hours a week. Very rarely would I be able to apply the assignment's theme to something I would be shooting for the Post, so I would have to shoot on top of all that. I just don't like taking photos for a grade. I feel less creative and more trapped into pleasing the teacher so I get a good grade. When I'm shooting for the Post, and when it's a good assignment, I'm much more relaxed and take much better photos. I also watched way more TV this quarter because I got into shows and started watching Jeopardy again. I only wanted to come to college to enjoy the atmosphere and learn about things I like. Having to worry about grades and what classes I need to take is distracting me from life. I've started to become a little stressed every once in awhile, something I have very rarely felt in my 18.5 years of life. Right now, I just want to live my life sitting around with like-minded people discussing things. I want to read books, watch witty shows, see wonderful movies, learn to play instruments, write music, take photos, write books, write stories, write articles, write reviews, explore the world, and love someone.

Cait-a-day

While walking to my VICO 222 class today, I was passing Alden Library when one of the editors of the Post turned the corner. She said I had perfect timing as she wanted me to shoot something. There were people dancing around the corner in front of Alden. I jumped into photo mode, took some pictures, got some information, and was about to join in when the dance mix ended. I was a little disheartened, but I had found a great idea for my long term project for 222. I'm going to photograph these impromtu dance sessions and possibly join in. To catch me dancing hopefully tomorrow, go to cait-a-day.blogspot.com. Oh, and I am now starting the fifth Harry Potter book and will try and post all the reviews on The Book Shelf throughout the week.

Reading Schedule

So instead of reading the only suggestion I got (Left Hand of Darkness), I decided to read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I finished it for the sixth or seventh time, I don't remember. Now I am going to read the next one, and probably reread the rest of the series in order, and then read Left Hand of Darkness because it is very hard to get through (I tried over the summer). I also wanted to point out The Avett Brothers to my readers. They are a delightful folksy-acoustic-bluegrass band that I was introduced to through CATVision's TV guide channel. The channel streams the WOUB broadcast of NPR along with musical interludes of, often, obscure music. One time they played the Dr. Dog song The Breeze. This solidified my love of the channel and has left me leaving the channel on while I read or work on the computer. The link to their site is under Musical Tastes. I have also added Julia Nunes, who's CDs have entranced me and I thank my friend Justin for introducing me to her music. Enjoy!

New Look

If you're reading this on the main page, then you'll probably see the picture behind the title. I've decided to bring some life into my blog a little, so each month I will change the picture behind my title. I will also try to put up more photos from the stuff I shoot, but not too many because this isn't my photo blog, which I don't have one of. So look forward to the beginning of every month! And happy 110th post! Only 90 more until we celebrate my 2ooth post!