Today's rambling: Another day at Ravenclaw...I mean, Clarion
Written on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2002 at 10:43 a.m.
while feeling a bit

If you've ever read "The Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordan, and wished you could have a hole in the wall to talk with the Novice next door, then you'll be jealous of me.

Last night, Kristen and I discovered that there's a hole in our wall (right above my bed) that leads to the room next to us. We only found this out after the lights were turned out, because we could see their light shining through said hole. See, there's this really wide pipe that runs through each of the rooms, and so naturally in order to let it go through, holes had to be cut in each of the walls. So sometime during the course of the night, while I was sleeping (after taking a Benadryl), I had this funny thought that we could attach a note to some string, then push it through the hole and just dangle it there.

Well, minus the string, Kristen wrote a small note and popped it through the hole. After class today, as I was sitting here about to do my CIS lab, I saw something sail through the air and land on my bed. I giggled, already knowing what it was. It was just a small note that said "The hole rocks my socks!" but it was too funny nonetheless. I can't wait for Kristen to get back so I can show it to her.

She's going back home this weekend, so I'll have this room allll to myself for at least one full day. I enjoy being by myself, but at the same time...What will I do? At least during the week I have classes to go to, but two whole days with nothing to do? I'll probably be online a lot, if Miranda or Chelsea don't want to do anything! I still need to find out about those bus trips to King of Prussia, Pittsburgh, etc.

Last night, Kristen asked me if I wanted to go to the UAB (University Activities Board) open house with her. I inwardly cringed at first, thinking that this would be something I'd have no interest in...y'know, like Student Council or something like that. However, I felt guilty for always turning her down, and I knew I needed to get out of this room more, so in the end I agreed to go. And I'm SO glad I did!

There are different committees within this board, such as the Concert Committee, the Public Relations Committee, the Special Events Committee, etc. PR does all the posters and advertisements and things, and Special Events is for things like Homecoming. I was immediately drawn to the PR one, but I also signed up for the Union Committee, which is in charge of novelty acts like hypnotists, magicians, just out-of-the-ordinary stuff like that. If I remember correctly, that committee is also in charge of entertaining those entertainers, hehe...It sounds like fun. Kristen and I both signed up for that one. At the time I signed up for the PR committee, I was only the second person. I kind of hope that that one stays small, because I feel more important if there's only a few people. The Concert Committee, for example, had TWO FULL PAGES of people!! That was a given though, I suppose, because everyone thinks they'll be able to meet the bands if they sign up for that committee. I'd only sign up if we could get The Moody Blues in, ha ha...But what 'normal' 18-year old wants to listen to them? *le sigh* Youth these days, listening to hip hop and Britney Spears...

Ha ha ha...If THAT wasn't a stereotype, then I don't know what is! Anyway...

I'm excited about the idea of finally getting to do something outside of classes. This will eat up a major portion of my free time, which I'd otherwise be spending here in my room dwelling on how bored I am. Of course, I'm nervous as well; I never did this kind of stuff in high school, because I was so uncomfortable around the other students. Besides that, all the clubs and things that I was normally interested in were so crowded that I felt really useless. Take their TV crew, for example. In 10th grade, when I was in Massachusetts, the crew was so small that I really got to do a lot. I was called on for all sorts of last-minute stuff because Mr. Jemison knew I was reliable, and he was always trying to get me to try my hand at directing and things like that. So when I came back to my old school in PA, I decided to join their TV crew. I found out during the first meeting that the crew was so large, there wasn't much of a chance that I'd get to do anything. I was immediately put out, and so I never came back to their other meetings. Why sit there if I'm not able to actually do anything?

It's not that I want all attention focused on me; on the contrary, I'd be really uncomfortable if that happened! I just want a chance to be able to do something, rather than just sit there like some quiet shadow. I'm not joining clubs just to say I belong to something, I'm joining because I want to actually DO things! So I hope these two committees turn out to be a lot of fun.

Kristen, I think, is one of those overachiever types. She's incredibly nice, and I don't actually have anything against her, but I just don't understand those people who stress about everything (like, "Oh, I don't know how people can go out at night, because I'm always studying or doing homework!") This morning at breakfast, I ended up sitting with this really studious girl (because Kristen and her friend sat there). This girl was really grating on my nerves! She said something about being in the library for like 5 hours yesterday, doing nothing but studying. "The people in my dorm go out every night," she said, "and I just want to go up to them and ask, 'how do you do it??'!"

I just wanted to roll my eyes in disgust. Yes, it's good to have academics as a major priority in college, because that's what you're here for. But if ALL you do is study, and you never leave time to do activities you enjoy, how healthy is that?? All you'll end up doing is wearing yourself down, and then you won't even be able to study all that well. There needs to be a balance. Remember that, you younger folks, whenever you get to college. My advice is to wait a year or two before you go anyway, unless you know exactly what you want. Speaking from personal experience, my few years spent out of school really helped to mature me, and it gave me an opportunity to see what I might enjoy doing as a career.

I'd still love to be an author, but as I've mentioned before, formal English classes and I don't get along well together. I think Communications is going to be fun. But I wouldn't have even THOUGHT about that major if I'd been forced into going to college right after high school. I'm so thankful that neither of my parents pushed me to go, because I doubt I would have made it past the first year.

So yeah, that girl at the breakfast table made me want to scream and tear my hair out. Not only is it stupid to stress like that, it also made her sound very condescending. What, like it's WRONG for people to go out at night? Does that somehow make them less smart than you? It's only the third day of classes, for crying out loud! The homework I've gotten thus far is very minimal stuff: reading chapters, doing some sample questions...even this lab I have for CIS isn't due 'til next Wednesday! So don't start complaining about the kids who are going out, because chances are (if they're conscientious of their schoolwork) they won't get much of a chance to do fun stuff after a week or so.

That was my little rant for the day.

My bee sting still hurts. At least my whole finger isn't throbbing like it did yesterday, but on the knuckle, where I was actually stung, it still hurts if I bend my finger at that spot. It's a stabbing sort of pain, as if when I bend my finger, something's being driven into my skin. I hate bees. Well, with the exception of honeybees and bumblebees because they don't have that evil look about them. And they pollinate flowers, so they're helpful. Yellow jackets just like to hover around garbage cans, and wasps do nothing more useful than build nests above your doors, which really isn't useful at all. And they don't have any fuzz, so their naked bug bodies are flaunted in all their evilness. *shudder*

One thing that's fun...If you ever see a bumblebee with a big white spot on his head between his eyes, they don't sting! :P I know, like it's all that easy to get close enough that you can see their foreheads, hehe...Mom has a fascination with catching these bees. She'll hold them in her hands and then go up next to your ear so you can hear them buzzing around. I've gotten up the courage to go after them once or twice, but despite the fact that I know they don't hurt (and I've held them enough times to know if they'd sting), they still scare me because I'm always afraid I imagined that spot and I'm really about to catch a stinging bee. *chuckles* Yeah, that was random...

I should really get started on that lab now. It's going to be a piece of cake, I just know it...It's about how to operate your PC. If I didn't know how to operate a PC by now, then I'd be in really sad shape.