eh... oh well

Well I would have been on WakeRadio today, if we could have figured out how to turn off the pre-recorded show. ooops... I guess that intern thing didn't prepare me too well. We gave up and left... it was sad really. Well, better luck next week. Just so you know, in the future I should be on on Thursdays from 3-5 PM. (http://radio.wfu.edu/)

Yeah, so I love the house that I'm living in by the way. It's a great environment to live in... ha...ha. I am not the only vegetarian here, so that is sweet.

Tonight I am going to President Hatch's house, so that'll be interesting I guess. I almost hope he doesn't have a veggie alternative just so I can make a point about how there aren't the veggie options on campus really either.

So even though many may call them "sell outs" or whatever, I saw Coldplay last Friday night. Before you look down upon me or judge me, just know that I was actually volunteering there in the name of Fair Trade. I got 98 people to sign a petition and talked to really cool people besides, so that was exciting. I loved it because it gave me a chance to talk to random people that I just normally wouldn't have. (Also let it be known, that Coldplay has some pretty sweet stuff out... the lyrics to many of their songs are great... and I really enjoy Chris Martin. I didn't enjoy the fact that the show was pretty well... showy with the lights and everything. But Gwenyth Paltrow is pretty lucky... an amazing poet for a husband. I hope Chris serenades her regularly.)

Jump, Little Children tomorrow night at Ziggy's. =)

a dream

I meant to post this yesterday, but oh well. My last night at home I had this (short) dream:

I walked into Johnson toward my room, and all of my friends from high school were sitting on the ground outside of my door. I continued to walk toward them and toward A103 (my old room), but then I said, "Wait... but I don't live here anymore." and the dream ended--sort of like a fade out, and I woke up.

last night in my bed until Thanksgiving

Well my room is pretty much empty again. The cars are packed, the gas tanks full, breakfast waiting (already made) in the fridge, i-tunes mix entitled "sophomore year begins" made, and everyone safely in bed. In just a few short hours I will embark upon my life as a sophomore in college. wow. No longer will I be that scared freshman for whom everything is new. I will not get lost on campus (well maybe still in Tribble), I will be one of those annoying people who runs over to hug her friends, I know more of what to expect, and I don't have to take a stinkin' math course. (For the first time in years I will not even need my fancy TI 83 which I have bestowed upon my brother. cheers.)

I'm going to be living in a house! wow! Tomorrow night will set the tone for the rest of the year that I will spend with the other nine people (except for Joan, my roommate, who is arriving a bit later). I'm nervous, excited, and anxious at the same time. I really hope I will be able to sleep tonight. Last night I already did not sleep too well due to my (poor) choice to watch a special on serial killers right before bed. (I couldn't help myself, the whole idea is just so fascinating. I knew before I set out to watch it that I would have trouble sleeping, but that didn't stop myself from turning on the TV. On that note, I will not have a TV in my room this year. Joan said she doesn't need one, so I decided I would also try to live without one. I think this will be good. And, hey, I could watch Gilmore Girls with Courtney or someone on the way back from Presby, and it will even be like a special bonding time. I have to admit that it will be sort of sad living away from Carol. By the end of the year we really just clicked, and I have only known Wake with Carol as my roommate up until this point. I am of couse excited about roomming with Joan, however, and hope that I will still see Carol and her crazy coats around.

Alright, here goes nothing. I will try to jump right into my sophomore year and not look back at what "could have been."

when does the day end and tomorrow become today?

Sometimes I want to go to bed, and I know I should, but I have this feeling that I’m forgetting to do something or that I just haven’t really felt like I’m ready for the day to conclude. It’s almost like I need to do something meaningful before I go to sleep. This is a feeling I get before I turn off the lights usually—it’s not like I have trouble actually sleeping… just turning off the lights when I haven’t really done anything productive for hours. This feeling is rare at school because I usually go to sleep following completing my homework or after a visit to Waffle House or after a good discussion with someone. All of these things have a definite end, but sitting here in my room doing random things on the computer or reading or packing… well those things could keep going for a while longer. They have no definitive ending. I guess that’s my problem. I feel like the day is simply not over—like I’m closing a book in the middle of a sentence or something. Or perhaps this is just a God thing telling me that I should pray or read the Bible before bed. I don’t really know.

what the heck?

4 comments on the last blog... and right after I changed the settings to let "annonymous people" leave comments. Interesting that they seemed very random (well the annonymous ones anyway)... almost like they were trying to use me to advertise. sad. I will conduct an experiment to see if it happens again, and then I may have to change the settings. I don't think they even read my blog because the last entry wasn't at all insightful, and they put stuff like, "hey, great blog!" Also, what's with that second comment about spelling and the i-pod? That was pretty funny.

Back at home

Yeah. So I got home Monday night. Since then I've basically just been sitting around and reading and avoiding cleaning my room. You see, I still haven't unpacked from school from when I got back in May. If you could see the floor of my room, you would think that some sort of disaster must have occurred within, but you would be wrong. I've just been ridiculously lazy pretty much. I mean I want to pack, I just don't want to unpack. Another one of my problems is that I just don't want to throw away stuff. Even if it seems it's totally pointless to keep stuff, I just have a hard time letting go I guess. (That kind of goes along with my love for photo collages, Andrew. so many memories can be found just by looking at a movie ticket stub or something like that.)

I went to the dentist today. Always an experience at the dentist. I both love and hate it. I absolutely love the clean feeling afterwards, but I hate actually being in that chair. You really have no control at all. Today the lady who was working on me had the hic-ups. You can only imagine the pain this caused me.

I am excited about getting back to Wake. I have actually recently had some dreams that included Wake people (had a dream about Ben last night, and I honestly don't really remember anything about it). I'm excited about getting to know the people in the house for sure. I'm also excited about going to see shows with people. Can't wait to get back in touch with Sarah (Dunham), and I'll definately miss Alex.

I've been waking up stinking early lately, and I can only guess that it is because I have been going to bed by 10:30 every night. Man, I have no life. Well, I'd better wrap this up. It's getting close to bed time.

death

This morning I saw a dead, beached dolphin on the beach. I was so shocked, I couldn't even cry it was so sad. (The worst part was that I saw another dolphin swimming just off the beach as if it were looking for it's friend.) I also saw a really pretty dead butterfly on the ground in addition to a dead skink. What the heck is that all supposed to mean?

kids

(I wish I could post some stinkin' pictures to make this more interesting, but I am not on my personal computer now. I will work on that later at some point.)

I come to these random revelations or decisions quite often now for some reason. Today I decided that I wanted to name my son "Jack." No, I mean I'm obviously not planning on having kids in the near future, so I don't know why this came to me, but there it is. My dad's name is Jack, and it used to be that I didn't really like that whole naming your kid after some family member thing, but I do kind of like it now. I'm still not down with the giving him the dad's name, but grandfather? why not? My dad's pretty amazing, and I think that it's really funny to give kids sort of old people names. (I also like Frank and Max).

Wow, that was kind of a strange topic to share with people. Oh well.

Kids can be so funny. We have the little ones here this week--2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders. After breakfast this morning, one kid just goes bolting out of the dining hall and yells, "YESSSSS! FREEDOM!!!" Another kid asked if I would pass her the "sustinance" at dinner, and claimed that she always calls rolls that.

My one-piece tan line is out of control. seriously, you will laugh.

The other day I sat out in the rain on the dock and thought about life for a long time. It's funny... I brought out my i-pod, a journal, and a book, but I ended up just sitting there and thinking and praying. I'm really trying to figure out what God's will is for my life. This is not easy to do. Preachers always say that we are supposed to do God's will, but they don't mention how we're supposed to know what the heck that is. They say they were called to do this or that, but how do they really know? I don't know. I've been struggling with this for a while. I have the tendency to look for "signs" everywhere because I think they might be from God. I just don't know.

This is it... this is my last week out at camp. I go home probably next Tuesday. No more docks to sit on, no more beaches to run on, no more crazy mating squirrels, no more cheesecake, no more singing songs with kids right before bed, no more trips to Newton Farms, etc. I'm going to be soooo bored during that time before school starts back up. I'm ready to go back soon.

Yeah, I'm sorry... I really didn't have anything to write about. I just did it for Betsy's entertainment.

I'm a weirdo

I really actually like to sit at red lights and watch people cross in front of me as they turn left. For some reason, people never really think (or like to think) that a clear glass window will not protect them from the view of curious on-lookers. People have the most interesting and real expressions on their faces when they drive sometimes because they're not putting on a fake face for anyone. I like it.

I often spend about an hour in Blockbuster trying to decide what movie to get.

I still keep a personal journal, and my last entry detailed all the things I'm looking for in a guy.

I have four doors that lead out of my room at home, and each is painted a different color.

I'm currently reading a book about the Appalachian Trail.

The clock in my car is about ten minutes behind the world, but I don't want to change it.

I have more pictures of the band Jump, Little Children on my computer than I have of my friends and family put together. (Plus I have had more than a few dreams involving the band.)

I enjoy making people feel awkward.

I don't wear makeup. at all.

I am currently wearing my pajama boxers from Limited Too. (Yes, that's where everyone shopped in 6th grade.)

I bought a George Foreman grill just to make grilled cheeses on.

Oh yeah...

Hey guys. Yeah, it's been a while. oops. Not a whole lot has really changed.

I've been running a lot in the mornings now. There's something special about the beach in the morning. The water is so calm, and there are no footprints yet in the sand. Sometimes you can't even tell where the water stops and the sky starts on a cloudy day.

The power has been going out a lot lately, but to be honest it's sort of nice. Instead of taking the easy way out and watching movies or playing nintendo we've actually had to be creative and (gasp) talk. Talking in the dark is pretty fun actually. Last night there was a great big storm (that actually had nothing to do with the power outage), so we went outside and sat on the porch and just watched the storm. It was so ridiculous and so much better than some crappy fireworks anyway. The sky literally lit up about ever half a second. It was a constant flickering of light that would light up the beach and the palm trees. It was amazing. The best is when it's so bright that you can see the rain falling.
The lightening sort of lights up every individual raindrop. I wish you could have been there. This went on for hours, and we'd just oooh and aaah and even giggle sometimes because it was just that cool. It was so incredibly loud sometimes that it'd change the rythem of your heart and shake the building. It was pretty amazing.

I went to visit Guilford about two weeks ago. Even went up to Wake which definately had me doing some hard core thinking. I'm almost positive I'll be back at Wake this semester at least. It's kind of frustrating though--getting sentimental about Wake even though I really don't have reason to be. I mean I'm excited about the classes and the house of course. I even have come closer to deciding what to do with my life... maybe I'll be an English teacher.

I've been doing a lot of pondering lately really, and this week I'm off, so I'll be sitting out on the crab dock as often as I can. The crab dock is amazing. It overlooks the marsh (think Dawson's creek), so it's a nice change from the beach. As you walk out to the dock, literally hundreds of little black fiddler crabs dart out of the way. There are so many that the noise they make as they run through the grass and stuff sounds like the noise a large animal would make in the woods. If I could I think I would go out to the dock every night to just sit or read or write. It's a great place to watch the sunset over that marsh grass as it waves in the breeze. Later of course, the stars come out, and since there aren't any lights out there at all, you can see thousands instead of the 4 or so up at school.

So... how are you guys doing?

I've joined the rest of the world

by aquiring an i-pod. I think I have a problem with material possessions. I don't know. I mean it's not like I spend a lot of the money I make. (in fact I tend to squirrel it away, and I even faithfully look through the coupon things every Sunday), but there are some things that seem to be way to important to me, and it sort of worries me. I read this book once where the main character only had like 75 possessions or something, and he constantly had to give things up to make room for new things. Man, that would be so cool to actually do that. I'm not strong enough for that though, and I do realize it is a bit extreme of course. I guess an i-pod is sort of cheating because it allowed me to condense hundreds of CD's into one little compact gadget. It's weird though. A lot of the things I value the most (my old shoes, my '92 toyota corolla, my stupid looking green and white poka dotted heart-shaped pillow, the earrings liz gave me for my 11th birthday (?) that I never take out, etc.) are actually really old and look worthless. I guess this has to do with the fact that I'm so darn sentimental. I'd cry if I lost those shoes, and I check multiple times a day to make sure my earrings haven't mysteriously fallen out. I guess it could be worse... I'm trying not to be too attached to electronic stuff and to simplify my life, but it's not easy. There are so many things that I'd like to have... man, wouldn't it be cool to own the only '92 corolla that had a sun roof? I guess part of it is that I'm a dreamer as well which may make my life more interesting, but it definately also makes it so much harder to bear. Sometimes I just get so frustrated. Sure, I'll be at Wake for another year, but after that... well, who knows?

It's funny how...

our reactions to various situations often depends on the people involved. Ok, I know that sounds confusing, so let me try to clarify. The people you know well and have a better relationship with can get away with more stuff than the people you maybe aren't as comfortable with. It's true. I mean think about it: your good friends can criticize you some, but if that annoying girl says anything, you get pissed off even if she says the same thing that the other person says. This doesn't just apply to negative things, though. It can also apply to how close you let someone get to you and even physical contact.

Take this real-life example (that happened to be yesterday in fact):
A group of us were at the grocery store (which had this freshly made honey roasted penut butter that was awesome), and I was looking at some stuff on the shelf when someone came up to me, grabbed my arm, and made these weird noises into my ear. Having not seen the culprit, I thought it was this one kid who gets on my nerves, so I turned and gave my best what the heck are you doing? stop it look only to find out that it was someone else, and the funny thing is I didn't mind him doing it, so my reaction entirely depended on who I thought was involved.
Think about it though. You let some people put their arm around you, but you definately wouldn't feel comfortable if everyone did that. I don't know. It's weird.

Taking it easy after a long week.

working on the coveted one piece tan line

Yeah, I've been out at camp for a few days now. Let me say that it's been going pretty well. I'm excited that Cory is my roommate, and people seem to be clicking as well as they can be for the beginning. I don't know. At what point do I just stop coming out here? Will this be my last summer or what? I mean that's one of the main reasons I came back this year--I couldn't stand not coming back. I just love this place so much. I mean it's amazing--the sunsets, the stars, the storms, etc. So I don't know. I think I'll be a lot more excited when the kids come, but right now I'm sort of bored since I've already been through a lot of this training stuff, and it's exactly the same for the most part. eh, we'll see.

On a completely different note, I raised my GPA a bit, so that's nice. Not that it really matters at all. It would make so much more sense not to go to Wake, but I feel stuck. I mean I'd be ridiculously happy being the pastry chef out here at camp or work on BI (Barrier Island--the educational program out here during the school year) or traveling or something.

Took Stefan to see Star Wars last night at midnight. A while back I told him I'd take him if he dressed up (thinking he'd reject the idea right away, but he didn't). It was sort of sad because no one else even stinking dressed up at the theatre we went to. How lame is that? It's ok though. Stefan tried to back himself out with the: everyone else just doesn't know what's cool. dressing up is cool. It was interesting to hear him try to build himself back up after some pointing and giggling. (He was a pretty darn cute Jedi.)

Craziness at camp ensued yesterday when Craig got stung by a stingray. How crazy is that?
Now I'm just rambling...as usual

Moving into my bubble

Hey. Today I am moving back out to camp. I must not be ready because I keep finding things on the floor that I'd forgotten to pack. It also sort of sucks (and by "sort of" I mean "a lot") that we had to take my car into the shop this morning for something that I don't understand. Now, I must take my mother's car with me to camp, which makes me sad.

So yeah, I suppose I should put down some expectations about the summer...
ummm yeah, I'm sort of worried about who my roommate will be. Kimberly has this knack of putting me with someone I don't know. Not to say that it hasn't worked out in the past, but I'm still a bit nervous about that. I'm also sort of nervous that I'm one of the oldest people on staff this year (well, experience wise, anyway). For once I'll actually be more in the leadership role, which is weird because I've been practically the youngest staff member the last two years. I don't really know what to expect today. The last two opening days have become blurs in my memory. I guess we'll find out soon enough. I'm definately excited to be going back out there. Last night as a thunderstorm passed by our house, I remembered the time that I sat out on the beach in the middle of a thunderstorm and just let it soak through my clothes. It was one of the most amazing things. (and yes, I realize it's dangerous, but hey, getting struck by lightening would be a pretty cool way to go.) I hope that I can share that experience with someone one day. You really should try it. Sitting out there on the sand, watching the water pound the surface of the water, watching the lightening strike, hearing and feeling the thunder shake the earth... well it's just amazing and invigerating. It's just one of those times where you say to yourself: wow, God. I get it. sigh.

So yeah, you may not hear from me in a while... not so sure about the prospect of cell phone reception out there, but by all means leave me a message if you want to chat, and I'll get back to you... eventually. and you should consider coming to visit me.

If you write me a letter, I will write you back. That's a promise.
Camp St. Chritopher
2810 Seabrook Island Road
John's Island, SC 29455

2,465 emails later:

I'm sitting here in Johnson A103 for the last time probably ever. It's so weird. My roommate is gone, and so are the majority of my belongings which my parents came to get today. I'm annoyed with myself for putting my journal in a box that went into my parents' car today. I was prepared to right a long winded report on my feelings for the year... well I wasn't sure what I was going to say exactly, but I was prepared to attempt to sort it all out. It sucks becaues I only have about four pages left in my journal from freshman year, which would have been pretty good for tonight. As a result not having it though, this blog entry may be a bit more personal than usual, so prepare yourself.

It's interesting because I actually selected another journal at Border's tonight--not my ideal idea of one, but somewhere in the right direction. It's got a drawing of a woman on the cover with a tear going down her cheek--sad, yet beautiful at the same time... sort of like life I think. I just tried to find a link with a picture of it, but I was unsucessful. Maybe one day you'll see it and just know. Anyway, so I bought that journal tonight, but I can't start it yet. I think I'll hold onto it until sophomore year.

So I sat in Border's for a while and stumbled across the realization that tonight would actually be good for me. At first I was dreading the time alone tonight in my nearly-abandoned room, but then I came to relish the idea. One last night at Wake for my freshman year--and a night to be alone! I finally have some time to reflect on my experiences this year. I don't think it'd be nearly as effective to do this at home because home is just an entirely different atmosphere. It's so still here tonight. Eerie almost, but peaceful. I sat outside for a while and only saw two people. The campus really is so beautiful, but it's also sort of fake. It really is only beautiful to lure you into coming to the school. Young, naive idealists take a look around the campus and sigh in content. It seems like the weather is always gorgeous when lots of people are visiting. It's so darn tricky. Classic example, right? Things aren't always what they seem, you can't judge a book by it's cover, beauty is only skin-deep, etc., but who listens to cliches anyway? They're just too... well, cliche.

So I wonder what it would have been like to go to a different school. My life would be so different now... or at least that's what I think. That's the problem--there's no way of knowing really. That's what sucks. I wanted to go to multiple schools to try them out, you know? Go to the first two weeks at Wake, go back in time and go to the first two weeks somewhere else and pick. But then life isn't that easy unless you are one of those lucky people who doesn't over-analyze everything and always come up short and dissapointed. I don't really want to be one of those people though. I find myself struggling aggainst that. I couldn't tell you why exactly. I just want to live a real life and be content at the end of the day, you know? but then... how do you do that? If I knew that I wouldn't be writing all this I don't think.

I don't know. I had such high expectations going into this. Yeah, I sort of have high expectations for everything, which makes it all so harder, but so much more worthit when things actually seem to fall into place. I thought (no, hoped) that I'd find people here I really connected with--people I could actually have real conversations with. Small talk only to fill in the background and to suppliment personal information. Or even small talk that just wasn't forced. I hate that--forced small talk. Why the heck do we find it necessary? Why do you ask me "what's up?" when you've already passed me on the sidewalk? what the heck is that, anyway? How are you supposed to respond to that? "uhh I'm fine... I guess." I don't know. Most of the time I just shrug my shoulders when people ask me that now. I like Sarah Tullis's response of "good enough." It sort of makes people uncomfortable. I actually like to make people uncomfortable sometimes though. I don't know... it's sort of a sick game I guess. When I used to find pauses in conversations uncomfortable, now I relish in the awkwardness and anticipation of the person's next move. Darn it, it's fun being awkward sometimes... if only because it makes people actually stop and pay attention to their actions. It tends to put an end to the automatic responses or at least challenge them, and I like that. Conversation doesn't have to be dull. It shouldn't be, in fact. I've even found that it sometimes is even possible to really talk to people at wake. hard to believe of course. The few people that I have connected with give me hope, and I need all of the hope I can get. It's like they keep me from starving to death, but leave me hungry for more. I feel like I really am getting by in this state of near starvation. but I have really enjoyed the presence of a few people here, and I think (and hope) you guys know if I'm referring to you. I feel like only a few people have gotten to know me or at least gotten to know more than just the me on the surface. I wish there were some way of finding people at this school that I'd click with that would stick out the four years here. Yeah, I can understand the desire to transfer. trust me. but man, I don't know if I could handle having high expectations and being let down again. to be cliche, Wake really was a good example of a beautiful letdown, right?

So yeah, freshman year...
wasn't worth the fifty million dollars it cost to come here. Definately not. I feel like such a jerk for making my parents pay that much. I feel like I should at least pretend that I really enjoyed it here, but I probably won't. I'm trying to pretend less. So I'm not sure why I'm not transferring. I'm so darn stubborn--I dont' know if that's good or bad most of the time. I feel like I have to ride it out... like I'm obligated to stick around. I mean Wake needs people like us, right? I may fit the stereotype--darn this blonde hair and light skin tone, but darn it I don't feel like I really fit or that I even want to fit here. I think I might be more nervous if I did love it here. So where does that leave me? What can I conclude from this year? I've really come to appreciate the small things in life this year. I mean you really have to if you want to keep going. the squirrel pearched on top of the trashcan, dancing around at work with my co-workers to god-awful songs, the first sip of your favorite smoothie, running down the stairs, almost running into someone, lying down after a long night, late night discussions with the roommate, nailing parallel parking, reading in reynolda gardens, listening to the rain through the open window at night, walking back to the room on a quiet night, sneaking just a bit of lemonade into my water in the pit, walking bearfoot in the grass, becoming familiar with your professors' wardrobe, watching the sun hit only the tops of the trees at the end of the day, the list goes on.

OK, so I've spend more time alone this year than I had planned on, but maybe I needed that. I know I definately need it tonight for closure. It woudn't have done to leave earlier when everyone else was leaving. I really did need tonight to try to assimilate my thoughts and just ponder the year. I needed to be alone and to lock myself in my room. Man, I nearly spent an hour typing this out. So that's it... I'm leaving tomorrow to go on some retreat. then I'll be home for about five days before I'm back out at camp. We'll see how that goes...

I must have an exam in two hours because I'm blogging...

and I do. oh well. This is the last one, so I've about shut down. It's weird... all I want to do is sit somewhere nice and just stare off at nothing. I may go to Border's or somewhere tonight to people watch/pretend to read a book. It will be great fun. I also need to take a look at journals... I'm about out of space--isn't that appropriate? I'm constantly looking for a really cool journal. One with home made pages and a ridiculously nice cover would be amazing... no, I really don't expect to find this at Border's, but it's fun to browse. I really want to read a book in it's entirety at Border's or some bookstore one day... this is not a small feat, mind you. I read really, really slow. Yes, I know everyone says that, but I really do. Everyone else is just exagerating. haha. (because I never exagerate. anything.)

So yeah, I've returned to more normal dreams IE camp dreams. I dreamed that Charlie was working again this summer on maintanence, and I was so excited. This may have come from thinking about him yesterday when I packed away the plexi glass sculpture of a wave that he made for me one day. man, I am so sentimental about pretty much everything. I don't know. I just can't help it. I'm sorry.

My parents are coming tomorrow to take away some of my treasured belongings (crap). It's all so crazy. It's like I want to be sentimental, but then I think to myself: wait, this year wasn't really too awesome, you dummy. Don't get so darn sentimental. But I can't help it. It's weird looking down the empty and quiet hall. I'll never be a freshman again. And although I didn't necessarily always enjoy living with the people on my hall, it will be weird without them. you know? *sigh.*

YEah, so about that exam in two hours... must stay focused!

a creepy dream

So I had a creepy dream this morning sometime between 8:37 and 9:42 AM. I know this because I looked at the clock at these times.

ok, so at first I was just watching a horror movie, but as the dream went on, I played a more active role in the movie. I soon was in the movie, but a passive observer of sorts. Then as the events started to unfold, I was a main character. I don't remember all of it, but the end and climax I guess was this:

We were at this house on a lake. It was weird because all of the sudden the land just stopped, and there was a really steep hill that led down into the lake. Anyway, we were walking down to the lake, and one of the guys was blind. I forgot that he couldn't see the ledge until we were right upon it, and I tried to warn him, but it was too late. He stepped off, and plumetted down to the water, so we all jumped in to see if he was OK. He was... I mean he was surprised of course, but he could swim. Anyway, once we saw he was ok, we took to playing around in the water. (it was at night, so it was that eerie calm with some fog over the serene water.) I guess we didn't notice that the blind guy had gotten out of the water, and walked back up to the house. (side note: this guy was creepy. he would stare right at you with his eyes even though he couldn't really see, and his eyes just seemed to pierce you.) The guy climbed up to the second or thrid story balcony/porch thing, and with a loud voice and a creepy smile, "I'm sick of this. I've had enough." At this point, I think he's just going to jump off the balcony and commit suicide, but he doesn't. That wouldn't be nearly as creepy. He slowly turns around, demonic smile still plastered across his face, and walks inside the bedroom. At this point, it doens't make sense that I can see what's going on in there, but I do. I see it through this really creepy old mirror--you know the one that is free standing with those weird feet things (like in Harry Potter the mirror or Erised)--not one that's against the wall. The guy just stands in front of the mirror as if he's looking into it, and this demon spirit thing comes out, and just brutally rapes and attacks him, but he just sort of stands there and takes it. This happens really fast, and there's blood everywhere. It's quite frightening and disturbing. Then as fast as it all started, suddenly the room was clean and empty. I had to stay in the house that night. There were two other people with me. The other two said they wanted to go into town, but for some reason (that doesn't really make sense considering what I just witnessed) I wanted to stay there. At first I thought we were in another room, but of course I realized after they left that it was the same room with the creepy mirror. That's when someone knocked on my door, and scared the crap out of me, and I woke up.

So yeah, that's weird. Usually I have pleasant dreams, but then every once and a while, I have a really disturbing one. Well, anyway, I have an exam in 45 minutes.

I don't know if it's the coffee or what, but

I've just been really jumpy lately. Just now for instance... I was just going over some power point presentations for my comm class and he programed some sound effects to go with the clicking that scared me not once, not twice, but three times. I don't know why, but every time I just gasped, and my heart skipped a beat. My roommate can tell you more about this phenomenon. She routinely scares the crap out of me when she walks into the room. Then there's my phone. Every time it goes off (which isn't too often--maybe that's the problem) I typically cry out "Oh!" or "Whoa!" Yeah, so I don't know. Maybe I'm just a nervous person... maybe it's the coffee. All I know is that I just had the equivalent of 3 1/2 servings of pears according to the label on the can. Pears are so good. I had forgotten.

I was thinking that I might take my last shower here without flip flops on. Is that gross? Yes, but I feel like it would just be appropriate.

Hmmm... the things I think about.

So tonight...

I went with four other people (Sarah, Alex, Jenn, and Courtney) to go see the shins in asheville. First of all, we almost died on the way there. It was actually quite awesome. Alex had just made some comment about hating semis, and this truck litterally starts coming into our lane when we were a good ways up on his side. The thing that made this bad was that we were in the very left lane on a bridge--literally no where to go. It was amazing that nothing happened. All I could do was watch the truck through the right windows and think to myself: hmmm that thing sure is close. wow, that's cool. I wonder what's going to happen. So yeah, that shook us up a bit and had us laughing nervously for about five minutes.

Then when we got there...
I met many of the people around me, so that was pretty cool. The opening act was definately interesting to say the least. They were called the Brunettes, and they had a whopping seven members including two tenor saxophones, a guitar, a bass, a banjo, a cello, drums, a triangle, wooden blocks, a clarinet, a trumpet, some weird piano kazoo thingy... the list goes on. (yes, they all played about fifty instruments.) They were sort of like a middle school band. Lots of clapping involved in the song. The girl who sang many of the songs was actually good though. I liked her voice. They had this song about mary-kate and ashley that involved wearing masks of the twins back in the Full House era... interesting. They also sang a song called "Holding Hands and Feeding Ducks."

Then the shins... well, I can't say I was honestly too impressed. The sound was really bad. Just a lot of noise--not too defined in my opinion. it was still fun, though. The guy with the long hair (and wearing a tie die shirt with a flannel shirt tied around his waste) was dancing pretty crazy in front of us... mixed feelings about this.

Went to waffle house afterwards. Listened to much 90's music in the car--we all sang along. It was great fun. Stopped at a gas station, some random guy payed for our gas, and then proceeded to talk to us for like 20 minutes. he was also quite interesting and intoxicated.

so yeah. It was a pretty good night all in all, I'd say. I enjoy road trips with people. Sometimes I wish we could do it just to do it.

I highly recommend

Dancing like crazy either by yourself or with your roommate. Just move around without thinking. it's quite nice. Think 80's songs, think big band songs, think middle school dance songs... there, you're on your way.