Two days of classes, tryouts for Chamber Singers, and a look at the Writing Center schedule, and all I have to say about my semester so far is this: I am going to have to time-manage like whoa.
But I'm doing all right. Not like sophomore year. Sophomore year I was doing everything and freaking out about my future. Right now I'm actually fairly...you might almost say apathetic, career-wise. I have a better idea of who I am and want to be, and am not yet concerned about anything farther along than, say, this semester. The only question is whether sleep-deprivation will eventually claim my sanity, as it is rather wont to do, and whether I'll then become the basket case that all my friends know and love. Ideally not. We'll see.
I'm going to go to bed, as I've spent my allotted, oh, five minutes on this.
-Laurel
8.30.2006
8.23.2006
"Alfred: It's About Time!"
Well, for all you linguistics fans...or anyone who wants to read an amusing/bizarre article (from England, no less!):
Here you go.
Hung out at Peter and Janet's house with them, Joe, and Andrea for part of yesterday, at the House for the rest. Lost at Settlers of Catan again, but got much closer this time. Andrea and I were actually one team, 'cause we're both novices--two heads were, well, about as good as one, but we got a lot of hints from Peter and Janet as well. Strategy is apparently not my thing. Maybe it depends on the game.
Went to the Terra Cotta with John, Chris, Ted, and L.Jo last night, which was hysterical. Exciting events at the House now have an accompanying fanfare (quote, "dun-da-da-daaaaah!").
Helping with move-in went well today, despite my getting an embarrassingly-small number of hours of sleep. I'm hoping to get a nap before PlayFair tonight. w00000t.
They moved Maura Cullen to the middle of the afternoon(!) tomorrow...I approve, 'cause now the audience'll probably be bigger.
Spent the least ever on books, I think, this semester. All riiiight.
No luck so far with setting up the tropical-fish tank. How many honors students does it take, haha. It would have helped to keep the directions when we moved. I may just go buy a cheap filter at Wal-Mart (well, "cheap" defined as about $10 or less), just for the sake of not having to guess which parts from the pile of two completely different filter types are the ones I want.
See, tomorrow was supposed to be my free day, and now things're happening (FYE icebreaker, Maura Cullen, something-I-can't-remember, haircut), and it's so not. But that's okay. It's amazing to be here.
-Laurel
Here you go.
Hung out at Peter and Janet's house with them, Joe, and Andrea for part of yesterday, at the House for the rest. Lost at Settlers of Catan again, but got much closer this time. Andrea and I were actually one team, 'cause we're both novices--two heads were, well, about as good as one, but we got a lot of hints from Peter and Janet as well. Strategy is apparently not my thing. Maybe it depends on the game.
Went to the Terra Cotta with John, Chris, Ted, and L.Jo last night, which was hysterical. Exciting events at the House now have an accompanying fanfare (quote, "dun-da-da-daaaaah!").
Helping with move-in went well today, despite my getting an embarrassingly-small number of hours of sleep. I'm hoping to get a nap before PlayFair tonight. w00000t.
They moved Maura Cullen to the middle of the afternoon(!) tomorrow...I approve, 'cause now the audience'll probably be bigger.
Spent the least ever on books, I think, this semester. All riiiight.
No luck so far with setting up the tropical-fish tank. How many honors students does it take, haha. It would have helped to keep the directions when we moved. I may just go buy a cheap filter at Wal-Mart (well, "cheap" defined as about $10 or less), just for the sake of not having to guess which parts from the pile of two completely different filter types are the ones I want.
See, tomorrow was supposed to be my free day, and now things're happening (FYE icebreaker, Maura Cullen, something-I-can't-remember, haircut), and it's so not. But that's okay. It's amazing to be here.
-Laurel
8.21.2006
The Setting SunOr: The Obligatory Cornball Back-to-School Post
...Let us find where we belong,
Beyond the setting sun, beyond the setting sun
Yeah, yeah
(Soon...) It won't be long, I'll belong
Somewhere past the setting sun
Fin'lly free, fin'lly strong
Somewhere back where I belong
Yeah, yeah...
-Switchfoot
Besides the song's more celestial meaning, the part I've isolated above might also work in an immediately-applicable way because I have to go west, now, to get to school, rather than just south. Sort of like...going through and beyond the sun and finding Alfred on the other side? Well, maybe. But whatever.
Anyway, the lyrics are right. This year is probably going to be completely insane. But, if I let it, it'll be completely amazing as well.
-Laurel
Beyond the setting sun, beyond the setting sun
Yeah, yeah
(Soon...) It won't be long, I'll belong
Somewhere past the setting sun
Fin'lly free, fin'lly strong
Somewhere back where I belong
Yeah, yeah...
-Switchfoot
Besides the song's more celestial meaning, the part I've isolated above might also work in an immediately-applicable way because I have to go west, now, to get to school, rather than just south. Sort of like...going through and beyond the sun and finding Alfred on the other side? Well, maybe. But whatever.
Anyway, the lyrics are right. This year is probably going to be completely insane. But, if I let it, it'll be completely amazing as well.
-Laurel
8.20.2006
Erie County, Twin-Style
Two preliminary things.
First, it turns out that I am going to Alfred even earlier than I expected, so as to help with the IV move-in team, apparently short of people. Yay for happy and early returns! I'm getting everything packed by Tuesday morning, loading as much into my car as possible, driving to Alfred as soon as I can (hopefully buying books then, if the bookstore's open to me yet), and staying with Peter, Janet, Joe, and Andrea for the night. I'll work the move-in crew Wednesday morning, move myself in that afternoon, and help with PlayFair that night. My parents will come on Thursday, bringing everything I've left behind, and I'll have all day to be with them, though ideally I'll be on my own on Thursday night and will get to catch Maura Cullen. Writing Center training on Friday/Saturday; block party Saturday night; chapel, cake-baking, FYE training, and DBC on Sunday; classes start Monday. And sometime during those six days I plan to get my hair cut to just below my chin again, but I don't yet know when. Whew.
Secondly, I've reread my Basileia entry and have decided that I still like it, almost three months later. A quarter of a year since then, good gracious.
Now about the twins:
Monday morning, I got an e-mail from Tom, saying that if I didn't mind the short notice, and could be at their house by 10 AM (tickets were 1/3 price if we could buy them by 11), I should come to the Erie County Fair with him and his brothers on Tuesday. Eager to a) see the twins, and b) get out on my own for a while, I assented eagerly.
Thus it was that I set out a few minutes before 6:45 the next morning, allowing about three hours for the trip. I calculated this figure based on the distance from Syracuse to Rochester, then from Rochester to the twins' according to the directions my mother has me use. (They take slightly longer, but are less four-lane-highway-intensive, which makes my parents happy.) This figure turned out to be incorrect, because Mom's directions start from the westernmost Thruway entrance at Rochester, and I was coming from the east and had to pass two other Rochester exits before that. Also, I failed to take into account that I'm not used to driving for three-plus hours, and was not going to be able to do it without Thruway stoppage. Happily, though, I'd given myself enough of a time cushion that it was a few minutes before 10:10 when I arrived, so it could have been much worse.
Even had I not figured in a time cushion, I might not have been the latest one. Tim and Tom's high school friend, whose name is also Tom (for minimal confusion, I'll call him Other-Tom), was also coming, but was much later than I, despite his vast advantage in commute time. He did make it, though, so we got there by 11 after all.
It'll be kind of boring (even more so?) if I describe everything in detail, so I'll go over what I find interesting, and then you'll know whether you in turn find it interesting, haha.
We watched bits and pieces of six shows while we were there, and the coolest by far was the Chinese-acrobat show. I'm not really sure how to describe this, except to say that you've probably seen clips of one before on PBS--groups of people hanging off each other, spinning plates or tables, etc.--and you should see one if you ever get the chance. It is really something.
The cheesiest by far was the magic show, "Wizard of Aaaahhs," which I'm pretty sure the twins wanted to go to mostly because of the horrible pun in the title. The joust was cheesy, too. I'd thought the Ren-Fest joust had kind of degenerated into a brawl last year, but Sterling's got nothing on Erie County for WWE-style action, as it turns out. But it was jousting, which meant the twins were all into it.
I saw the 4-H building. It was very cool, and I have more respect than ever for the program. Matthew won "Best Entry" for one of his woodworking pieces, but the award didn't indicate which; he didn't even know himself.
We brought our own lunches and after-dinner dessert, to cut down on food costs. We had this really nice moment out by Other-Tom's car as the sun was just starting to set, eating brownies and drinking Pepsi, lying in the grass and listening to Tim and Other-Tom talk about a book about conservation of materials, Cradle to Cradle, that Tim had been reading.
I got details, rather sporadically, out of Tim about his time with SEA. He didn't usually volunteer them, but would answer questions willingly enough if asked. I felt again like I'm the boring one who's stuck at home while everyone else goes out and does adventurous things in other places, but let's face it, though I love sea stories, I wouldn't have enjoyed doing what Tim did. I am only passingly interested in science, mildly claustrophobic, and still mildly emetophobic. (On the other hand, last night I spent much of my dream-time on a ship, and various bad things happened, and I was still okay. It helped that lots of people I knew were there.)
I think maybe he was saving some of those details for his slide-show; I saw the pictures on his computer, with much narration alongside. It sounds like a great program. I am glad he ended up on it.
The five of us played a lot of Nanofictionary that night, at Matthew's request, and again the next morning. Other-Tom wasn't there the next morning, though; I had stayed over, but he had gone home.
In the morning the remaining four of us went out and picked blueberries (taking my car, as their parents were gone again). If you'd like an amazing and sunlit view of some big and lovely hills, and can't get to Alfred, go to this blueberry patch (it's in Colden) around ten in the morning. Wow. It was spectacular. I stood and stared when I got done picking. The blueberries, too, were huge and ripe and clustered like grapes on the bushes, very plentiful (I got almost three pounds off of just two bushes) and pretty tasty. I saw, too, a monarch butterfly that almost shouldn't have been able to fly at all, given the significant gouge out of one of its wings, but it floated expertly from one bush to another.
We watched PageMaster (why not?) and played cards and had lunch. It was only going to be a matter of time before the twins forcibly taught me Settlers of Catan, and I did indeed learn it after lunch. Predictably, I was horrible at it. But now I understand it, which undoubtedly will mean no end of trouble when I get back to Alfred, haha. Still, I am glad to know it after all.
It was just...so good to see them. Summer brings out much of the worst in me when I'm stuck at home, but the long drive and the sights at the end straightened me out, so I managed not to drive anyone crazy. They, for their part, seemed to be at their best now that they'd been productive for part of the summer and rested for its remainder. At its best, being with them makes simplicity look gorgeous and love look easy. You feel sometimes like you could be happy indefinitely, just there with them, playing games and eating brownies and giving hugs, you know? I know that's not always the case with them--perhaps more often than not it isn't. I don't know.
I often doubt that Tim and me sharing a faith would fix everything, that I would just pick up where we left off if we did. That's not the only way we changed in two years. But I'm no longer sure I wouldn't. I was wrong to wish I'd never gone out with him at all. ...Anyway, right now I've no cause to decide.
I left half an hour later than planned, 'cause Tim's pictures/narrative had had to happen in two parts, and had run over schedule. I went through a lot of music on the three-plus-hour drive home, as I had on the way. Got home, presented Mom with the fruit I'd bought, and had some spaghetti and meatballs.
Tim will be getting to Alfred right around the time I post this entry; I follow in two days, and Tom will arrive four days after me. They'll be busy with grad work, I'll be busy with undergrad work. I'll see Tom probably more than I see Tim, considering. But I'll probably offer free food at some point, and they'll both come over, and so will Joe and probably Evan, and we can hang out at the house, playing games or sitting outside. It'll be incomplete, without everyone we wish was there and every way we wish we were. But it'll be enough.
-Laurel
First, it turns out that I am going to Alfred even earlier than I expected, so as to help with the IV move-in team, apparently short of people. Yay for happy and early returns! I'm getting everything packed by Tuesday morning, loading as much into my car as possible, driving to Alfred as soon as I can (hopefully buying books then, if the bookstore's open to me yet), and staying with Peter, Janet, Joe, and Andrea for the night. I'll work the move-in crew Wednesday morning, move myself in that afternoon, and help with PlayFair that night. My parents will come on Thursday, bringing everything I've left behind, and I'll have all day to be with them, though ideally I'll be on my own on Thursday night and will get to catch Maura Cullen. Writing Center training on Friday/Saturday; block party Saturday night; chapel, cake-baking, FYE training, and DBC on Sunday; classes start Monday. And sometime during those six days I plan to get my hair cut to just below my chin again, but I don't yet know when. Whew.
Secondly, I've reread my Basileia entry and have decided that I still like it, almost three months later. A quarter of a year since then, good gracious.
Now about the twins:
Monday morning, I got an e-mail from Tom, saying that if I didn't mind the short notice, and could be at their house by 10 AM (tickets were 1/3 price if we could buy them by 11), I should come to the Erie County Fair with him and his brothers on Tuesday. Eager to a) see the twins, and b) get out on my own for a while, I assented eagerly.
Thus it was that I set out a few minutes before 6:45 the next morning, allowing about three hours for the trip. I calculated this figure based on the distance from Syracuse to Rochester, then from Rochester to the twins' according to the directions my mother has me use. (They take slightly longer, but are less four-lane-highway-intensive, which makes my parents happy.) This figure turned out to be incorrect, because Mom's directions start from the westernmost Thruway entrance at Rochester, and I was coming from the east and had to pass two other Rochester exits before that. Also, I failed to take into account that I'm not used to driving for three-plus hours, and was not going to be able to do it without Thruway stoppage. Happily, though, I'd given myself enough of a time cushion that it was a few minutes before 10:10 when I arrived, so it could have been much worse.
Even had I not figured in a time cushion, I might not have been the latest one. Tim and Tom's high school friend, whose name is also Tom (for minimal confusion, I'll call him Other-Tom), was also coming, but was much later than I, despite his vast advantage in commute time. He did make it, though, so we got there by 11 after all.
It'll be kind of boring (even more so?) if I describe everything in detail, so I'll go over what I find interesting, and then you'll know whether you in turn find it interesting, haha.
We watched bits and pieces of six shows while we were there, and the coolest by far was the Chinese-acrobat show. I'm not really sure how to describe this, except to say that you've probably seen clips of one before on PBS--groups of people hanging off each other, spinning plates or tables, etc.--and you should see one if you ever get the chance. It is really something.
The cheesiest by far was the magic show, "Wizard of Aaaahhs," which I'm pretty sure the twins wanted to go to mostly because of the horrible pun in the title. The joust was cheesy, too. I'd thought the Ren-Fest joust had kind of degenerated into a brawl last year, but Sterling's got nothing on Erie County for WWE-style action, as it turns out. But it was jousting, which meant the twins were all into it.
I saw the 4-H building. It was very cool, and I have more respect than ever for the program. Matthew won "Best Entry" for one of his woodworking pieces, but the award didn't indicate which; he didn't even know himself.
We brought our own lunches and after-dinner dessert, to cut down on food costs. We had this really nice moment out by Other-Tom's car as the sun was just starting to set, eating brownies and drinking Pepsi, lying in the grass and listening to Tim and Other-Tom talk about a book about conservation of materials, Cradle to Cradle, that Tim had been reading.
I got details, rather sporadically, out of Tim about his time with SEA. He didn't usually volunteer them, but would answer questions willingly enough if asked. I felt again like I'm the boring one who's stuck at home while everyone else goes out and does adventurous things in other places, but let's face it, though I love sea stories, I wouldn't have enjoyed doing what Tim did. I am only passingly interested in science, mildly claustrophobic, and still mildly emetophobic. (On the other hand, last night I spent much of my dream-time on a ship, and various bad things happened, and I was still okay. It helped that lots of people I knew were there.)
I think maybe he was saving some of those details for his slide-show; I saw the pictures on his computer, with much narration alongside. It sounds like a great program. I am glad he ended up on it.
The five of us played a lot of Nanofictionary that night, at Matthew's request, and again the next morning. Other-Tom wasn't there the next morning, though; I had stayed over, but he had gone home.
In the morning the remaining four of us went out and picked blueberries (taking my car, as their parents were gone again). If you'd like an amazing and sunlit view of some big and lovely hills, and can't get to Alfred, go to this blueberry patch (it's in Colden) around ten in the morning. Wow. It was spectacular. I stood and stared when I got done picking. The blueberries, too, were huge and ripe and clustered like grapes on the bushes, very plentiful (I got almost three pounds off of just two bushes) and pretty tasty. I saw, too, a monarch butterfly that almost shouldn't have been able to fly at all, given the significant gouge out of one of its wings, but it floated expertly from one bush to another.
We watched PageMaster (why not?) and played cards and had lunch. It was only going to be a matter of time before the twins forcibly taught me Settlers of Catan, and I did indeed learn it after lunch. Predictably, I was horrible at it. But now I understand it, which undoubtedly will mean no end of trouble when I get back to Alfred, haha. Still, I am glad to know it after all.
It was just...so good to see them. Summer brings out much of the worst in me when I'm stuck at home, but the long drive and the sights at the end straightened me out, so I managed not to drive anyone crazy. They, for their part, seemed to be at their best now that they'd been productive for part of the summer and rested for its remainder. At its best, being with them makes simplicity look gorgeous and love look easy. You feel sometimes like you could be happy indefinitely, just there with them, playing games and eating brownies and giving hugs, you know? I know that's not always the case with them--perhaps more often than not it isn't. I don't know.
I often doubt that Tim and me sharing a faith would fix everything, that I would just pick up where we left off if we did. That's not the only way we changed in two years. But I'm no longer sure I wouldn't. I was wrong to wish I'd never gone out with him at all. ...Anyway, right now I've no cause to decide.
I left half an hour later than planned, 'cause Tim's pictures/narrative had had to happen in two parts, and had run over schedule. I went through a lot of music on the three-plus-hour drive home, as I had on the way. Got home, presented Mom with the fruit I'd bought, and had some spaghetti and meatballs.
Tim will be getting to Alfred right around the time I post this entry; I follow in two days, and Tom will arrive four days after me. They'll be busy with grad work, I'll be busy with undergrad work. I'll see Tom probably more than I see Tim, considering. But I'll probably offer free food at some point, and they'll both come over, and so will Joe and probably Evan, and we can hang out at the house, playing games or sitting outside. It'll be incomplete, without everyone we wish was there and every way we wish we were. But it'll be enough.
-Laurel
8.16.2006
Update Forthcoming
I have been to the twins' house and will write about it soon. It's just that I need some sleep.
To answer the question I keep getting so far: no, it was not awkward seeing Tim. Judging from his behavior, it did not appear awkward for him, either. We are not really thrilled about being broken up, but pretty much nothing about either of us has changed since we did, so we're not going to be getting back together in the meantime. I don't mean to sound short with this answer; I don't resent the question.
On a completely different note: to the Eliot Spitzer campaign people, for getting some lady to sing a slightly-slowed, slightly-overdramatic version of "This Little Light of Mine" on their spot about mandatory pre-kindergarten, or whatever, that gets stuck in my head like epoxy glue, stop. I promise to care about the issues instead of the song if it turns out that I actually end up voting for state governor, but really.
Okay, going to bed now, because I really need it.
-Laurel
To answer the question I keep getting so far: no, it was not awkward seeing Tim. Judging from his behavior, it did not appear awkward for him, either. We are not really thrilled about being broken up, but pretty much nothing about either of us has changed since we did, so we're not going to be getting back together in the meantime. I don't mean to sound short with this answer; I don't resent the question.
On a completely different note: to the Eliot Spitzer campaign people, for getting some lady to sing a slightly-slowed, slightly-overdramatic version of "This Little Light of Mine" on their spot about mandatory pre-kindergarten, or whatever, that gets stuck in my head like epoxy glue, stop. I promise to care about the issues instead of the song if it turns out that I actually end up voting for state governor, but really.
Okay, going to bed now, because I really need it.
-Laurel
8.11.2006
Friends, Romans, Countrymen...
...get the heck over to LibraryThing and make an account right now, if books are at all an interest. No personal information required. I've plugged it in passing before, but now it's a direct request. 'Cause the geek potential is just too much to miss out on.
School friends, too, should join the Alfredians group (created by our very own Colombe), 'cause it's just fun.
Homestars, maybe we should start our own group? :-D I know. Here we go, another Facebook. But this's geekier, and therefore in a way cooler.
Also, jumping on Colombe's bandwagon again: http://www.letssaythanks.com. And let me just point out that it's Rochester's very own brainchild, Xerox, that's cool enough to do this.
-Laurel
School friends, too, should join the Alfredians group (created by our very own Colombe), 'cause it's just fun.
Homestars, maybe we should start our own group? :-D I know. Here we go, another Facebook. But this's geekier, and therefore in a way cooler.
Also, jumping on Colombe's bandwagon again: http://www.letssaythanks.com. And let me just point out that it's Rochester's very own brainchild, Xerox, that's cool enough to do this.
-Laurel
8.10.2006
::cheers::
Some days are days to thank God happily and then keep praying. This is just such a day.
But, on a less cryptic note: it takes me to practically grow up in Rochester, move away, and only now have my first garbage plate. It's to happen tonight, 'cause today's my brother's birthday, and that's what he wanted for dinner. So we've come up with a homemade version, and now that I actually like macaroni salad well enough, I'm going to have one, too.
Whether I go folk dancing or not tonight is up in the air, considering said birthday and the lack of celebration plans so far. Which's cool. Only now next week will be my last, 'cause as of today it's official: I am going back to campus to lend some non-OG help to PlayFair. Yay!
Okay, time to go!
-Laurel
But, on a less cryptic note: it takes me to practically grow up in Rochester, move away, and only now have my first garbage plate. It's to happen tonight, 'cause today's my brother's birthday, and that's what he wanted for dinner. So we've come up with a homemade version, and now that I actually like macaroni salad well enough, I'm going to have one, too.
Whether I go folk dancing or not tonight is up in the air, considering said birthday and the lack of celebration plans so far. Which's cool. Only now next week will be my last, 'cause as of today it's official: I am going back to campus to lend some non-OG help to PlayFair. Yay!
Okay, time to go!
-Laurel
8.08.2006
Further blither (part 2)
So the newspaper people said today--apparently this's been semi-common knowledge since late '05 and I'd just missed it--that scientific study's been linking aggravated acne with heavy milk consumption, particularly skim ('cause of either the hormone levels in the milk or the iodine, depending on who you ask). To which I, the heavy drinker of milk (and even skim milk, these days), say: oh, great. If this's true, then maybe my dad isn't just paranoid, and maybe my zits are worse than his genetic curse accounts for.
But, dude, I don't want thin bones, so there's not much I can do.
Anyway, back to Alfred.
Jess and I were thinking of what we might do on this lovely Saturday, and she suggested bowling. I was for that, so we called Lily and Devin, Chris, and Laura and Josh to see how that would work. We also, figuring that Wellsville would be cheaper than Hornell, looked up instructions for that alley.
Laura and Josh couldn't come, but the others could, so we got into Jess's car and went to Wellsville. ...Well, before that, as Jess and I were getting into the car to pick everyone up, I fell down. There's a small place where the road comes down at a slant just before the parking spaces by the suites, and, unthinkingly trying to take a short cut over it, I actually skidded down it (all five inches of it!) and fell. (The tread on much of my sandals, which were old, had worn down to nothing, so I'd also had no traction.) This removed a respectable amount of skin, for such a stupid injury. I actually had to call Chris and ask him to grab me a bandage for my bleeding foot, as it was faster to go and pick him up than to go back to the suite. Trust an AURS member and a pre-med: not only did he bring one of the perfect shape and flexibility, but he was also packing alcohol wipes.
But as I was saying, we went to Wellsville quite contentedly and found the bowling alley...in a deserted parking lot. Well, that couldn't be good. And it wasn't: the place was closed for the summer. What, do Wellsville high school students and senior citizens not bowl? It's the only one in town.
Whatever the reason, we were now in Wellsville without a purpose. This seemed fun, so we went to the main part of town to poke around, and decided to go see a movie--Monster House, to be exact, as it was going to play in something like forty minutes, and looked like a nice little PG-rated animated kid-type movie. So, to pass the time, we taught Jess how to parallel park(!), since you don't need to know that in Arizona (she picked it up quickly), and went to Texas Hots. We didn't get any Texas hots, which later got me in trouble with Kristin (heh), but the housemates and I're going back this year sometime. ("I'm sorry," I'd told the waitress, "but we're in a bit of a hurry...what cooks quickly?" "Everything," she'd replied, a combination between crisp and amused.)
Then we went to the movie. The theater we went to is quite small and old-fashioned, in a nice way. Monster House was way more bizarre than the previews had led us to believe (and such a lonely little main character, for much of the movie! So sad...), but not bad.
We went back to Alfred after that. Devin went off with Dunshee, and Lily went to take a nap in the room Jessica and I were sharing, and Jess and I ate some carrot sticks (late addition to lunch, which had been very light on both sides) and did more talking. In the middle of that, we realized that (regular-)Chris's birthday had been earlier in the week and no one had celebrated it formally, so we figured we'd make him some birthday brownies (there'd been cake last night, and pie here and there, so we figured we ought to switch it up!). Leaving a note for Lily, we walked down to Main Street, preferring the ripoff of the Uni-Mart to wasting the weather on a car ride to the dollar store. Anyway, Jess wanted to see if another shop on Main Street was open.
On our way down to the stoplight, with Harder Hall at our left, Jessica stopped to tie her shoe, and we heard a greeting nearby. Through the window was an art friend of hers from--China, I think?--whose new studio had been relocated to that very room; he'd happened to hear us talking and glance out the window, where we'd coincidentally stopped. He invited us in (we climbed through said window!) and we all talked for a while; he was very nice.
Got our UniMart stuff after that--a bag of marshmallows to go with the brownie mix, 'cause we wanted to melt them into sticky icing to write things with. We learned from our odd-but-friendly checkout guy that large marshmallows can be sales-taxed, but that mini-marshmallows like ours could not; Jessica guessed that it was because small ones are primarily for baking. She and I walked up and down Main Street a bit after that, not wanting to go back just yet, and paused to sit in the memorial garden just to the side of State campus, also on Main (it's rather hidden...I actually didn't remember the bench was there, if I ever knew it was, and didn't realize that the flowers were part of a memorial garden).
We went back to the suite; it was dinnertime. Rather than go find ready-made food, Jessica proposed making spaghetti, and it sounded good to me. Mostly she made it, since it wasn't exactly a job for two, and I helped with other little things.
Partway through the preparations, the door swung open, and in strode Chris. This gave us a turn, as the brownie mix and marshmallows were right there on the table, but of course he didn't know what they were for. Anyway, Barbara followed him in. They asked whether they could use the suite to test the range of their Squad radios (we were the farthest point up and out that they could think of, there in Upper Pine!), and Jess agreed. So Barbara left, and Chris and I talked, and eventually, while he was busy with the radio, I took the mix, marshmallows, and note we'd left for Lily, and I put them in all the places they belonged. Chris didn't notice.
The events of much of the rest of the night melt together in my head. Chris left, we had dinner, we made the brownies and had a misadventure with the marshmallow frosting (it was only soft enough to write with for a while, and our lines were too thick--soon it turned to the consistency of chewed gum, and stuck to everything in a similar way!). We called Lily Jo, Devin, and the moms and asked them to be there when we gave Chris his brownies. They came, but then Chris couldn't; he was tutoring when we called. So we all went down to Bartlett, hoping to surprise him and his students, but he'd left to cook dinner for Shaun and Barbara, so we followed to Shaun's apartment, making a great noise and probably weirding out the aforementioned S&B.
Chris had to leave his own party on an ambulance call; the event dispersed after that, and Jessica and I went back to the suite and pretty soon after to bed, rather earlier than the night before.
The next day was one of mishaps--I managed to get water on the bathroom floor while showering; when I pulled my towel off the bar to dry myself and then wipe it up, the towel bar came with it, right off the wall (apparently it was loose, or else Jessica was just trying to make me feel better). I had to iron my shirt twice, to cover the large section I originally missed. Things like that.
But St. Jude's, to which I went with Jessica, was no mishap; it was very nice. Fr. Gene was just recently back from a ten-day tour of Italy, if I'm not mistaken, and had a very nice message to deliver (I'm continually surprised by how much shorter Catholic sermons are than Protestant ones), though I don't mean to sound like it was about said trip. It was also a pretty musicless Mass, as the two main music people were gone for the week, and Fr. Gene apparently decided to combat this (now that the whole service would have to be spoken) by being as exuberant as possible about everything. This turned out to be an excellent strategy, 'cause he's really infectiously good at it. Saw some familiar faces besides Jess's, but no Chris; the call must have kept him out quite late.
And that's where this story closes, 'cause it is far later than my entry timestamp shows, and high time I went to bed. Thus endeth the narrative; thanks for reading!
-Laurel
But, dude, I don't want thin bones, so there's not much I can do.
Anyway, back to Alfred.
Jess and I were thinking of what we might do on this lovely Saturday, and she suggested bowling. I was for that, so we called Lily and Devin, Chris, and Laura and Josh to see how that would work. We also, figuring that Wellsville would be cheaper than Hornell, looked up instructions for that alley.
Laura and Josh couldn't come, but the others could, so we got into Jess's car and went to Wellsville. ...Well, before that, as Jess and I were getting into the car to pick everyone up, I fell down. There's a small place where the road comes down at a slant just before the parking spaces by the suites, and, unthinkingly trying to take a short cut over it, I actually skidded down it (all five inches of it!) and fell. (The tread on much of my sandals, which were old, had worn down to nothing, so I'd also had no traction.) This removed a respectable amount of skin, for such a stupid injury. I actually had to call Chris and ask him to grab me a bandage for my bleeding foot, as it was faster to go and pick him up than to go back to the suite. Trust an AURS member and a pre-med: not only did he bring one of the perfect shape and flexibility, but he was also packing alcohol wipes.
But as I was saying, we went to Wellsville quite contentedly and found the bowling alley...in a deserted parking lot. Well, that couldn't be good. And it wasn't: the place was closed for the summer. What, do Wellsville high school students and senior citizens not bowl? It's the only one in town.
Whatever the reason, we were now in Wellsville without a purpose. This seemed fun, so we went to the main part of town to poke around, and decided to go see a movie--Monster House, to be exact, as it was going to play in something like forty minutes, and looked like a nice little PG-rated animated kid-type movie. So, to pass the time, we taught Jess how to parallel park(!), since you don't need to know that in Arizona (she picked it up quickly), and went to Texas Hots. We didn't get any Texas hots, which later got me in trouble with Kristin (heh), but the housemates and I're going back this year sometime. ("I'm sorry," I'd told the waitress, "but we're in a bit of a hurry...what cooks quickly?" "Everything," she'd replied, a combination between crisp and amused.)
Then we went to the movie. The theater we went to is quite small and old-fashioned, in a nice way. Monster House was way more bizarre than the previews had led us to believe (and such a lonely little main character, for much of the movie! So sad...), but not bad.
We went back to Alfred after that. Devin went off with Dunshee, and Lily went to take a nap in the room Jessica and I were sharing, and Jess and I ate some carrot sticks (late addition to lunch, which had been very light on both sides) and did more talking. In the middle of that, we realized that (regular-)Chris's birthday had been earlier in the week and no one had celebrated it formally, so we figured we'd make him some birthday brownies (there'd been cake last night, and pie here and there, so we figured we ought to switch it up!). Leaving a note for Lily, we walked down to Main Street, preferring the ripoff of the Uni-Mart to wasting the weather on a car ride to the dollar store. Anyway, Jess wanted to see if another shop on Main Street was open.
On our way down to the stoplight, with Harder Hall at our left, Jessica stopped to tie her shoe, and we heard a greeting nearby. Through the window was an art friend of hers from--China, I think?--whose new studio had been relocated to that very room; he'd happened to hear us talking and glance out the window, where we'd coincidentally stopped. He invited us in (we climbed through said window!) and we all talked for a while; he was very nice.
Got our UniMart stuff after that--a bag of marshmallows to go with the brownie mix, 'cause we wanted to melt them into sticky icing to write things with. We learned from our odd-but-friendly checkout guy that large marshmallows can be sales-taxed, but that mini-marshmallows like ours could not; Jessica guessed that it was because small ones are primarily for baking. She and I walked up and down Main Street a bit after that, not wanting to go back just yet, and paused to sit in the memorial garden just to the side of State campus, also on Main (it's rather hidden...I actually didn't remember the bench was there, if I ever knew it was, and didn't realize that the flowers were part of a memorial garden).
We went back to the suite; it was dinnertime. Rather than go find ready-made food, Jessica proposed making spaghetti, and it sounded good to me. Mostly she made it, since it wasn't exactly a job for two, and I helped with other little things.
Partway through the preparations, the door swung open, and in strode Chris. This gave us a turn, as the brownie mix and marshmallows were right there on the table, but of course he didn't know what they were for. Anyway, Barbara followed him in. They asked whether they could use the suite to test the range of their Squad radios (we were the farthest point up and out that they could think of, there in Upper Pine!), and Jess agreed. So Barbara left, and Chris and I talked, and eventually, while he was busy with the radio, I took the mix, marshmallows, and note we'd left for Lily, and I put them in all the places they belonged. Chris didn't notice.
The events of much of the rest of the night melt together in my head. Chris left, we had dinner, we made the brownies and had a misadventure with the marshmallow frosting (it was only soft enough to write with for a while, and our lines were too thick--soon it turned to the consistency of chewed gum, and stuck to everything in a similar way!). We called Lily Jo, Devin, and the moms and asked them to be there when we gave Chris his brownies. They came, but then Chris couldn't; he was tutoring when we called. So we all went down to Bartlett, hoping to surprise him and his students, but he'd left to cook dinner for Shaun and Barbara, so we followed to Shaun's apartment, making a great noise and probably weirding out the aforementioned S&B.
Chris had to leave his own party on an ambulance call; the event dispersed after that, and Jessica and I went back to the suite and pretty soon after to bed, rather earlier than the night before.
The next day was one of mishaps--I managed to get water on the bathroom floor while showering; when I pulled my towel off the bar to dry myself and then wipe it up, the towel bar came with it, right off the wall (apparently it was loose, or else Jessica was just trying to make me feel better). I had to iron my shirt twice, to cover the large section I originally missed. Things like that.
But St. Jude's, to which I went with Jessica, was no mishap; it was very nice. Fr. Gene was just recently back from a ten-day tour of Italy, if I'm not mistaken, and had a very nice message to deliver (I'm continually surprised by how much shorter Catholic sermons are than Protestant ones), though I don't mean to sound like it was about said trip. It was also a pretty musicless Mass, as the two main music people were gone for the week, and Fr. Gene apparently decided to combat this (now that the whole service would have to be spoken) by being as exuberant as possible about everything. This turned out to be an excellent strategy, 'cause he's really infectiously good at it. Saw some familiar faces besides Jess's, but no Chris; the call must have kept him out quite late.
And that's where this story closes, 'cause it is far later than my entry timestamp shows, and high time I went to bed. Thus endeth the narrative; thanks for reading!
-Laurel
8.07.2006
Further blither (part 1)
So if I stay in Latin, an upside is, my honors little sister will be in it. ...Apparently she's this raging U2 fan, especially for Bono. Wow.
The other option, since recently I realized I have one, is to drop out of Latin (which, as you remember, was my backup should psych fall through, and at this point, yes, I've given up on it) on the grounds that it's a crowded freshman language class and I've heard it's actually not as interesting as it sounds, and to join Laurie's honors seminar (on local food, no less!) and have one last semester--assuming Luanne wants me; I would come to tryouts to prove myself if necessary--of Chamber Singers.
The downside of that option is that Thursday (which would then be choir followed by Laurie's seminar) was going to be my only free night, probably where I was going to join a Bible study, and now I'm going to have to figure out how/when I would do that. I should e-mail Tom, Joe, and Erica.
Okay. So about Alfred.
We--Lily Jo, Devin, Aunt Cath, Mom, and I--left sometime after one and stopped at a Wendy's for a late, lightish lunch. When we got into Alfred, around four-thirty, the first thing we did was stop at Tinkertown Hardware to pick up a pie--it was, after all, Friday. ...For the curious, the local hardware store sells homemade (well, not by them, but by a localish family) pies every Friday. "Friday is Pie Day," says the sign out front, to prove it (the Volks, who run the store, have a thing for rhyme). This is one of those things about Alfred that might have a funny story behind it, but I don't happen to know what it would be, so it simply stands as a testimony to the whimsicality that is Allegany County (I am already on the lookout for any job that will let me stay there next summer). Of the few pies that were left at that afternoon hour, we chose the Toll House kind, which, as you might expect, pretty much resembles a giant chocolate-chip-walnut cookie. We parked in the Alfred faculty lot and went to Terra Cotta so that Lily could get some coffee, and sat outside enjoying the nice late afternoon sun. It was odd to see professors randomly walk by--Dr. Clare, out for a jog, etc.--but it was cool.
We were just about to leave and walk around AU campus when suddenly, seemingly from out of nowhere, Chris, Zack, and Barbara appeared. Shaun had spotted us and called Chris. They're all there for a bio-department internship that has practically nothing to do with their pre-med majors (would that I could have stayed in Alfred for the summer, working any random internship, but that was obviously not possible). We talked for a while, then they left to go do something (get dinner, I think), and we went on the walk.
We'd just gotten to Powell when we saw Jessica, with whom we were supposed to try to meet up in 15 minutes or so anyway. (This was excellent, as it turned out that the phone number I'd brought with which to reach her was incorrect, and I'd been about to try it.) So we all walked almost down to Miller, just talking, then turned round and walked to Honors House. Peering in the windows, we found: a very messy kitchen featuring a largeish cluster of empty Bully Hill wine bottles (...that speaks for itself, considering)--but also, cheeringly, a mop and a yellow janitorial bucket-on-wheels, so hopefully the place will be professionally (so to speak) cleaned by the time we all get back.
Lily and I moved our stuff (and Devin's, temporarily; he was staying with Chris Dunshee) into Jess's suite, and everyone but she and I went over to ASC for a while, to check out the moms' room. Jess and I hung out, talking and stuff, and eventually decided to go to the sub shop in case everyone else had already gone there, since there'd been semisolid plans to have dinner there.
Well, the others weren't there when we got there, but Callie, Jess's lone suitemate, was, along with three friends of hers (one of them was Josh, a classmate of mine under Tolhurst last fall; we greeted each other). They invited us to eat outside with them. So, splitting a large sub and getting a pair of loganberry juices, we did. Callie invited us to have cake with them later, as everyone was celebrating her birthday that night; she had friends driving to Alfred from Philadelphia, her hometown. They hadn't arrived just yet, but were on their way.
As we finished eating, Lily called to say that the rest of the contingent was coming to eat; it was okay that we'd already done so. The moms got subs to go, I think, or else figured they'd wait for food at one of the ASC reunion functions; either way, they wandered back to State. Lily and Devin got their own subs and joined us.
Bev and Harold(!) came to the sub shop as we were there, apparently picking up a lateish dinner, and they talked to us for a while; it was great to see them. They were as happy and laughing as ever, and had lots to say about the three weddings of the season (Laura/Josh, Gabe/Hazel, Cory/the-nice-girl-whose-name-I-unfortunately-never-remember).
Callie et al. had left by this time, but the remaining four of us went back to the suite, where we were joined by Chris Dunshee, and we played Outburst for a while. We'd called (the regular, non-Dunshee) Chris to come play it with us and maybe bring Zack and Barbara, and he'd agreed, but no one ever showed up; eventually we figured they'd gone out on a call for Alfred Ambulance, for which they all work.
Lily, Devin, and Dunshee then left to go out (they ended up crashing in Dunshee's suite that night; Lily and Devin had moved their stuff there by then), and Jess and I hung out and were talking some more when, pretty much without warning, the door opened and there Chris stood. He'd gotten held up by tutoring work, but, far from seeming disappointed that he'd missed the game, proceeded to plop down on one of the suite chairs and talk to us practically nonstop for the next--it seriously had to have been at least three and a half hours. Longer. It was really something. It turns out that Chris, now that he doesn't have any MCATs to study for or homework to do, really loves just hanging out. We did make sure to give him some pie.
Eventually we also went down and had cake with Callie and her friends, most of whom by this time were in, shall we say, a rather altered state of mind; the party broke up when most of them decided to go swimming in the AU pool (I believe they did, in fact, have a lifeguard with them; whether said lifeguard was fully sober I do not know). It was getting on towards three in the morning by this time, so Chris went back to Bartlett, where he's staying, and Jessica and I went to bed.
A brief shower next morning, a hurried prep, and I--in a wet ponytail--walked down to the Terra Cotta around 9:30 to meet the rest of my "travel group" for breakfast. (Yeah, I was kinda tired.) Since I don't like coffee, I attempted to order an iced chai with my bagel, but the girl behind the counter looked a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, no ice yet...my mom's running out to get some. It should be here soon." So I ate half my bagel, taking my time, then went back to try again; this time I was successful. Saw Cory from IV and said hello.
But I'll have to tell you tomorrow or so what happened after that, for it is midnight, I'm a bit stomachachy after my Italian-food restaurant dinner (friends of the family came over), and I'm ready for bed. I look forward to resuming the story; for now, good night.
-Laurel
The other option, since recently I realized I have one, is to drop out of Latin (which, as you remember, was my backup should psych fall through, and at this point, yes, I've given up on it) on the grounds that it's a crowded freshman language class and I've heard it's actually not as interesting as it sounds, and to join Laurie's honors seminar (on local food, no less!) and have one last semester--assuming Luanne wants me; I would come to tryouts to prove myself if necessary--of Chamber Singers.
The downside of that option is that Thursday (which would then be choir followed by Laurie's seminar) was going to be my only free night, probably where I was going to join a Bible study, and now I'm going to have to figure out how/when I would do that. I should e-mail Tom, Joe, and Erica.
Okay. So about Alfred.
We--Lily Jo, Devin, Aunt Cath, Mom, and I--left sometime after one and stopped at a Wendy's for a late, lightish lunch. When we got into Alfred, around four-thirty, the first thing we did was stop at Tinkertown Hardware to pick up a pie--it was, after all, Friday. ...For the curious, the local hardware store sells homemade (well, not by them, but by a localish family) pies every Friday. "Friday is Pie Day," says the sign out front, to prove it (the Volks, who run the store, have a thing for rhyme). This is one of those things about Alfred that might have a funny story behind it, but I don't happen to know what it would be, so it simply stands as a testimony to the whimsicality that is Allegany County (I am already on the lookout for any job that will let me stay there next summer). Of the few pies that were left at that afternoon hour, we chose the Toll House kind, which, as you might expect, pretty much resembles a giant chocolate-chip-walnut cookie. We parked in the Alfred faculty lot and went to Terra Cotta so that Lily could get some coffee, and sat outside enjoying the nice late afternoon sun. It was odd to see professors randomly walk by--Dr. Clare, out for a jog, etc.--but it was cool.
We were just about to leave and walk around AU campus when suddenly, seemingly from out of nowhere, Chris, Zack, and Barbara appeared. Shaun had spotted us and called Chris. They're all there for a bio-department internship that has practically nothing to do with their pre-med majors (would that I could have stayed in Alfred for the summer, working any random internship, but that was obviously not possible). We talked for a while, then they left to go do something (get dinner, I think), and we went on the walk.
We'd just gotten to Powell when we saw Jessica, with whom we were supposed to try to meet up in 15 minutes or so anyway. (This was excellent, as it turned out that the phone number I'd brought with which to reach her was incorrect, and I'd been about to try it.) So we all walked almost down to Miller, just talking, then turned round and walked to Honors House. Peering in the windows, we found: a very messy kitchen featuring a largeish cluster of empty Bully Hill wine bottles (...that speaks for itself, considering)--but also, cheeringly, a mop and a yellow janitorial bucket-on-wheels, so hopefully the place will be professionally (so to speak) cleaned by the time we all get back.
Lily and I moved our stuff (and Devin's, temporarily; he was staying with Chris Dunshee) into Jess's suite, and everyone but she and I went over to ASC for a while, to check out the moms' room. Jess and I hung out, talking and stuff, and eventually decided to go to the sub shop in case everyone else had already gone there, since there'd been semisolid plans to have dinner there.
Well, the others weren't there when we got there, but Callie, Jess's lone suitemate, was, along with three friends of hers (one of them was Josh, a classmate of mine under Tolhurst last fall; we greeted each other). They invited us to eat outside with them. So, splitting a large sub and getting a pair of loganberry juices, we did. Callie invited us to have cake with them later, as everyone was celebrating her birthday that night; she had friends driving to Alfred from Philadelphia, her hometown. They hadn't arrived just yet, but were on their way.
As we finished eating, Lily called to say that the rest of the contingent was coming to eat; it was okay that we'd already done so. The moms got subs to go, I think, or else figured they'd wait for food at one of the ASC reunion functions; either way, they wandered back to State. Lily and Devin got their own subs and joined us.
Bev and Harold(!) came to the sub shop as we were there, apparently picking up a lateish dinner, and they talked to us for a while; it was great to see them. They were as happy and laughing as ever, and had lots to say about the three weddings of the season (Laura/Josh, Gabe/Hazel, Cory/the-nice-girl-whose-name-I-unfortunately-never-remember).
Callie et al. had left by this time, but the remaining four of us went back to the suite, where we were joined by Chris Dunshee, and we played Outburst for a while. We'd called (the regular, non-Dunshee) Chris to come play it with us and maybe bring Zack and Barbara, and he'd agreed, but no one ever showed up; eventually we figured they'd gone out on a call for Alfred Ambulance, for which they all work.
Lily, Devin, and Dunshee then left to go out (they ended up crashing in Dunshee's suite that night; Lily and Devin had moved their stuff there by then), and Jess and I hung out and were talking some more when, pretty much without warning, the door opened and there Chris stood. He'd gotten held up by tutoring work, but, far from seeming disappointed that he'd missed the game, proceeded to plop down on one of the suite chairs and talk to us practically nonstop for the next--it seriously had to have been at least three and a half hours. Longer. It was really something. It turns out that Chris, now that he doesn't have any MCATs to study for or homework to do, really loves just hanging out. We did make sure to give him some pie.
Eventually we also went down and had cake with Callie and her friends, most of whom by this time were in, shall we say, a rather altered state of mind; the party broke up when most of them decided to go swimming in the AU pool (I believe they did, in fact, have a lifeguard with them; whether said lifeguard was fully sober I do not know). It was getting on towards three in the morning by this time, so Chris went back to Bartlett, where he's staying, and Jessica and I went to bed.
A brief shower next morning, a hurried prep, and I--in a wet ponytail--walked down to the Terra Cotta around 9:30 to meet the rest of my "travel group" for breakfast. (Yeah, I was kinda tired.) Since I don't like coffee, I attempted to order an iced chai with my bagel, but the girl behind the counter looked a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, no ice yet...my mom's running out to get some. It should be here soon." So I ate half my bagel, taking my time, then went back to try again; this time I was successful. Saw Cory from IV and said hello.
But I'll have to tell you tomorrow or so what happened after that, for it is midnight, I'm a bit stomachachy after my Italian-food restaurant dinner (friends of the family came over), and I'm ready for bed. I look forward to resuming the story; for now, good night.
-Laurel
News and some overdue update-age
I was weighing a mango in Wegmans today when I suddenly noticed a head in very close proximity to mine. I figured someone had just bent over to examine something on the produce shelf near me, but then that head said something along the lines of, "Hey!" I looked over a bit and got a visual-field full of Joe, who was doing what could have been an imitation of a contented giraffe, with his head and neck stuck out and hovering somewhere over my right shoulder, and a close-lipped, amused smile on his face.
"Hey!" I cried back, and went in for the hug. It was, of course, the first I'd seen of him or Andrea, who was with him, since Basileia in mid-May; as I've probably mentioned, even though I now live in Joe's general area, they've been off doing their camp-counseling thangs. It was a happy reunionette. They're just back from camp, and were off to go camping; they were buying a few supplies first.
They're all right, though they, especially Joe, are as antsy as I am to get back to school. (I did very well for two months. And then the bottom dropped out, and now I want to go back so badly that I'm ready to gnaw through wood planks. Or something.)
I might's well keep going backwards in time...
About church: we're still looking for one. I thought we had a winner, but granted that I had not realized--after so many years of my going to contemporary services solo, on break from nursery work or at school--how important the traditional is to my parents. They are really going for things like pews, hymnals, and probably three-point sermons. Which the church I liked couldn't provide. Besides that, there were maybe six people besides us in the whole place when we went (we went at night, but it's not all that much more populated by day), and coming out of a church as big as ours was, the rest of my family is looking for a better chance of semi-anonymity. So I was sent back to the drawing board. Made another attempt yesterday and failed at that one, too (no pews, still only about fifteen people...but there were hymnals). There're still a couple of Methodist ones to try, and then we're out of luck and are going to have to, I don't know, switch denominations or something. Maybe the one in the city will have more people.
Saturday: Aneya came! That was fun. We read through the senior-year quotebook. We spent about 45 minutes at the zoo (would have spent longer, but it was only open that long; we went a bit late in the day) and saw, among other things, some really cute penguins, some really neat clownfish, and a really Aslan-like lion. We stopped by the local Macedonian Festival and saw the inside of a Macedonian Orthodox church (beautiful and curvy-shape-oriented, and not unlike a Catholic church in many ways), listened to a Macedonian folk band, looked at folk costumes, and bought cookies made to look like ripe peaches (three-dimensional and everything...on the inside of each was coffee cake and apple filling). We went and got subs for dinner at a place called Brooklyn Pickle and ate them outside, since it was a gorgeous day, and talked for a long time. We went back to my house, played a game of Shout About Movies with my mom, then caught about half of the Weird Al movie UHF, playing on UPN (it was actually very funny). Then Aneya left, 'cause it was long past dark and she had to get home. It was great to see her!
Note to everyone who hasn't come: you should. I will take you to neat places like the zoo, or the science museum, or even just the park (especially in wintertime; Joe says they have ice skating, with skate rental and everything!). Most everything seems to be $5 or less here (except the Macedonian Festival pig roast, apparently...hmph).
I will relate the stories about my visit to Alfred when I get back, as we're going to dinner with some family friends soon. Sorry for the hurried sound of this narrative.
Oh, emphatic book recommendation: The Essays of E.B. White.
-Laurel
"Hey!" I cried back, and went in for the hug. It was, of course, the first I'd seen of him or Andrea, who was with him, since Basileia in mid-May; as I've probably mentioned, even though I now live in Joe's general area, they've been off doing their camp-counseling thangs. It was a happy reunionette. They're just back from camp, and were off to go camping; they were buying a few supplies first.
They're all right, though they, especially Joe, are as antsy as I am to get back to school. (I did very well for two months. And then the bottom dropped out, and now I want to go back so badly that I'm ready to gnaw through wood planks. Or something.)
I might's well keep going backwards in time...
About church: we're still looking for one. I thought we had a winner, but granted that I had not realized--after so many years of my going to contemporary services solo, on break from nursery work or at school--how important the traditional is to my parents. They are really going for things like pews, hymnals, and probably three-point sermons. Which the church I liked couldn't provide. Besides that, there were maybe six people besides us in the whole place when we went (we went at night, but it's not all that much more populated by day), and coming out of a church as big as ours was, the rest of my family is looking for a better chance of semi-anonymity. So I was sent back to the drawing board. Made another attempt yesterday and failed at that one, too (no pews, still only about fifteen people...but there were hymnals). There're still a couple of Methodist ones to try, and then we're out of luck and are going to have to, I don't know, switch denominations or something. Maybe the one in the city will have more people.
Saturday: Aneya came! That was fun. We read through the senior-year quotebook. We spent about 45 minutes at the zoo (would have spent longer, but it was only open that long; we went a bit late in the day) and saw, among other things, some really cute penguins, some really neat clownfish, and a really Aslan-like lion. We stopped by the local Macedonian Festival and saw the inside of a Macedonian Orthodox church (beautiful and curvy-shape-oriented, and not unlike a Catholic church in many ways), listened to a Macedonian folk band, looked at folk costumes, and bought cookies made to look like ripe peaches (three-dimensional and everything...on the inside of each was coffee cake and apple filling). We went and got subs for dinner at a place called Brooklyn Pickle and ate them outside, since it was a gorgeous day, and talked for a long time. We went back to my house, played a game of Shout About Movies with my mom, then caught about half of the Weird Al movie UHF, playing on UPN (it was actually very funny). Then Aneya left, 'cause it was long past dark and she had to get home. It was great to see her!
Note to everyone who hasn't come: you should. I will take you to neat places like the zoo, or the science museum, or even just the park (especially in wintertime; Joe says they have ice skating, with skate rental and everything!). Most everything seems to be $5 or less here (except the Macedonian Festival pig roast, apparently...hmph).
I will relate the stories about my visit to Alfred when I get back, as we're going to dinner with some family friends soon. Sorry for the hurried sound of this narrative.
Oh, emphatic book recommendation: The Essays of E.B. White.
-Laurel
8.06.2006
On Mensa
This might well end up being a big day for updates, as I have the visit to Alfred, Aneya's visit, and a bit about church to describe. But first, a little fun:
See how well you do, especially you home friends, many of whom will remember even more from MathCounts than I did. I got a 22, which's not too shabby, and, haha, credit part of it to already being mentally-stimulated, having just finished listening to Says You! over semi-local(!) broadcast. (It turns out that Central NY is the only section of the state at all interested in the show.) ...John's actually bugged me on and off since freshman year that we should try for Mensa together. There's something a little self-glorifying in the idea, but I'm thinking about it anyway, since they're more playful than your average honors-type society. ...Anyone who wants to test with us, if we decide to do it, is welcome. :-D
-Laurel
See how well you do, especially you home friends, many of whom will remember even more from MathCounts than I did. I got a 22, which's not too shabby, and, haha, credit part of it to already being mentally-stimulated, having just finished listening to Says You! over semi-local(!) broadcast. (It turns out that Central NY is the only section of the state at all interested in the show.) ...John's actually bugged me on and off since freshman year that we should try for Mensa together. There's something a little self-glorifying in the idea, but I'm thinking about it anyway, since they're more playful than your average honors-type society. ...Anyone who wants to test with us, if we decide to do it, is welcome. :-D
-Laurel
8.05.2006
On the three mutant, unfamiliar, swollen small sac-things in the back of my throat
I hereby proclaim: that bodies are stupid.
Thank you.
-Laurel
Thank you.
-Laurel
8.03.2006
::suddenly wired, caffeine-free::
Never again will I suggest that Bill from folk dancing does not have a sense of humor, however sticklery he can be. Tonight the people who knew it danced this really complicated dance--maybe that was Le Rondargentonnais?--to the tune (or, well, rhythm) of "They're Coming to Take Me Away (Ha-Ha, Hee-Hee, Ho-Ho)," apparently because the rhythms are identical. It was flat-out bizarre, and everyone laughed. Folk dancing was hard tonight, but enjoyable all the same.
It started raining while we were on 81-N, coming home, and I put my hand ever so slightly out the window and let the raindrops prick my fingertips as they struck at fifty-five miles per hour. The sharpness felt oddly familiar, but I can't think why. Oh, yes I can, sometimes snow or sleet in winter catches the wind and stings in tiny needle-jabs like that. Only usually it's your face instead of your fingers.
Speaking of water-based things, TIM IS HOME FROM SEA! Alive and everything! Tom is soon to return from SIG, and maybe, since I'm not doing anything anyway, I can go and see them, or they can come and see me, or something! Aneya is thinking of coming this very weekend (Bethie, if you read this, call her if you'd like to also come; it'd be fun! We'll go to Abbott's and the zoo or something!). And the 12th I'm supposed to meet up with Abby (never thought I'd be typing that!) and Lily Jo and maybe Nicole, and the 19th is more Lily-time (that's the Dump and Run, 'Jo)...and sometime between the 23rd and 25th, depending on a couple of things, I will be back at school!
So, crud, maybe I won't have to get a volunteer job to have a life after all. Goodness knows I should concentrate on my Newberys if I can, anyway. (Yeah, right. 'Cause the three books I have coming from interlibrary loan are all Newberys...or-r-r possibly not...)
I like the poems of John Donne and George Herbert. Especially when I read them as I consume leftover pasta after folk dancing, listening to the rain outside (and hoping the power doesn't go out again).
Okay, it is really bedtime.
-Laurel
It started raining while we were on 81-N, coming home, and I put my hand ever so slightly out the window and let the raindrops prick my fingertips as they struck at fifty-five miles per hour. The sharpness felt oddly familiar, but I can't think why. Oh, yes I can, sometimes snow or sleet in winter catches the wind and stings in tiny needle-jabs like that. Only usually it's your face instead of your fingers.
Speaking of water-based things, TIM IS HOME FROM SEA! Alive and everything! Tom is soon to return from SIG, and maybe, since I'm not doing anything anyway, I can go and see them, or they can come and see me, or something! Aneya is thinking of coming this very weekend (Bethie, if you read this, call her if you'd like to also come; it'd be fun! We'll go to Abbott's and the zoo or something!). And the 12th I'm supposed to meet up with Abby (never thought I'd be typing that!) and Lily Jo and maybe Nicole, and the 19th is more Lily-time (that's the Dump and Run, 'Jo)...and sometime between the 23rd and 25th, depending on a couple of things, I will be back at school!
So, crud, maybe I won't have to get a volunteer job to have a life after all. Goodness knows I should concentrate on my Newberys if I can, anyway. (Yeah, right. 'Cause the three books I have coming from interlibrary loan are all Newberys...or-r-r possibly not...)
I like the poems of John Donne and George Herbert. Especially when I read them as I consume leftover pasta after folk dancing, listening to the rain outside (and hoping the power doesn't go out again).
Okay, it is really bedtime.
-Laurel
Pre-Dinner Update
Okay, make that tomorrow when I'm canvassing the libraries. Yesterday we had 100ish-degree heat, culminating in the power going out and my family subsequently going to a Comfort Inn to get access to not only air conditioning, which we didn't have anyway (though supposedly as of today we do), but TV. Yes, my immediate family and I are a bunch of wusses; all I can say is, I was more bored at the motel than I would have been at home, though I was rather cooler.
Guess what. Can't get to the Newberys at Herrick all semester 'cause of the asbestos removal. So I'm gonna have to become familiar with the Allegany County Library System. w00000t.
Brightness, though: I got a terrific e-mail back from my new "little sister" for the honors program. She is going to be fun.
Also, tonight I get to go folk dancing. It is not nearly the exuberant wonderfulness that is folk dancing with Otto et al. (that is apparently my phrase of the day, "et al."), but it is nice. Particularly last week was, when there was only one teacher (Carman, the relaxed guy) and things were more casual, and I recognized more of the dances. Syracuse has more high-strung folk dancing stickler-itude than school does, to be sure (this is not a surprise), but it's not like I've ever been taken to task, and anyway I accepted from the get-go that I was going to be the ridiculous one that dances with an Alfredian accent. ...I really want to learn "Shiboleth Basadeh," and whatever that "silly little French one" was, to take back with me. Tonight, in any case, I'm finally bringing some paper so's to write down the titles I want to remember.
Okaydone. I've spent way more time on this than I intended.
-Laurel
Guess what. Can't get to the Newberys at Herrick all semester 'cause of the asbestos removal. So I'm gonna have to become familiar with the Allegany County Library System. w00000t.
Brightness, though: I got a terrific e-mail back from my new "little sister" for the honors program. She is going to be fun.
Also, tonight I get to go folk dancing. It is not nearly the exuberant wonderfulness that is folk dancing with Otto et al. (that is apparently my phrase of the day, "et al."), but it is nice. Particularly last week was, when there was only one teacher (Carman, the relaxed guy) and things were more casual, and I recognized more of the dances. Syracuse has more high-strung folk dancing stickler-itude than school does, to be sure (this is not a surprise), but it's not like I've ever been taken to task, and anyway I accepted from the get-go that I was going to be the ridiculous one that dances with an Alfredian accent. ...I really want to learn "Shiboleth Basadeh," and whatever that "silly little French one" was, to take back with me. Tonight, in any case, I'm finally bringing some paper so's to write down the titles I want to remember.
Okaydone. I've spent way more time on this than I intended.
-Laurel
8.01.2006
sometimes, in a frustrated moment, my mom would tell me to stop trying to escape from life into books...
Tomorrow I'm canvassing the libraries to see if any of them need a volunteer for the next three weeks. I cannot stay at home all day and all night anymore.
-Laurel
-Laurel