Snow days in college? Really?!

amyh — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 05:56:00 GMT

Could it be? Am I really blogging so soon after my last post! Les gasps!

Well, let's just say it's been the chillest week ever in the history of my college career so far. "Why is that?" You may ask. You see, last weekend we got a helluva lot of snow. Like, eighteen inches, right? And the roads and sidewalks sucked but we had classes anyway because, well, I guess it wasn't that bad. Until Tuesday. And then suddenly, it started snowing at 12:30pm and didn't stop until the next morning. I think we amassed another eight or twelve inches? Something in that figure. So Wednesday and Thursday, we totally had off as snow days. Snow days! In college! TOTAL CRAZINESS! I loved it, though, and surprisingly enough, I even did homework on those days. Thanks to those snow days, I managed to finish reading The Jungle today, and am now ahead with reading in a lot of my classes. I have an exam on Tuesday, however, and a paper due in three weeks that I need to really crack down on, but other than that, I feel pretty good about this semester now. Not that I didn't before. But, you know, I feel better about it.

So after classes on the Friday-that-felt-like-a-Monday-but-was-totally-a-Friday, Lyndsey left to go to Pittsburgh for Valentine's Day weekend, and Brittany and I basically have chilled since then. We played half of the songs on Beatles Rock Band on Friday night, and tonight (Saturday night, tonight, whatever) we played the rest of the songs and some of Band Hero, too. (I love the drums. They are WONDERFUL.) Oh, and I also watched UK beat Tennessee tonight. Intense game, loved every second of it, and so wish I could have been there for ESPN GameDay. But it's cool, it's cool, I'll get to see them whoop Florida on Senior Day when I go home for spring break. (My original plans for NYC with a friend were spoiled, but I'm kind of digging going home for a week.)

Tomorrow (today) will be more homework, though. Gotta really get into researching punjab cuisine for my History of Food paper, and I have a few write-ups for classes to do. However, it is so nice to just chill a little bit. Can you believe I've been reading for fun this semester, too? I finished Stephen King's The Green Mile (which I really enjoyed), and am now borrowing Brittany's copy of The Lovely Bones. Finding the time to read isn't always easy, but when I have it I try to take in as much as possible. And I'll probably have plenty of time to read during the five hours I'll be waiting in the State College airport, and then the four hours it'll take to get home from there.... Oh reading! How I have missed you!

But first: homework.

Also, guess what guess what? I put in my application for various internships through the SCA. Yessss! I'm hoping something comes out of this. I applied for, like, eight spots, mostly in the western half of the country (so far from home! so far from all I know! kind of nerve-wracking, to be honest). I also turned in a scholarship application and essay for study abroad, hoping to get the money to pay for travel fees. It's been crazy in terms of planning for the future, I guess.

Well, I guess I'm out, RED. Gotta rewrite my to-do list on my white board to reflect what I did and did not do this weekend, and then sleep beckons so that I can work work work tomorrow (...today). Let me just say, though: this semester? I love it. I get to write some fantastic papers (at least, I hope they'll be fantastic!), I actually like a lot of the readings that I'm doing, I love my professors, and so many things for the next year or so seem to slowly be falling in place. It's exciting. I could get used to this. I know I probably shouldn't—things screw up all the time—but still: it's pretty freaking awesome.

Happy (late) New Year, RED! We meet again.

amyh — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:02:00 GMT

So, guys, you remember how all that time ago I talked about how I was a John Edwards supporter before he dropped out of the presidential race? Well, I've been pretty quiet about that ever since the first rumors of him cheating on his wife came out. By that time, I was a staunch Obama supporter anyway, and it just made me want to really distance myself from having supported Edwards. As more and more on the story developed, I stayed pretty quiet on it, just pretending that little "phase" was just a small blip, a teeny little mistake.

Well, we all know that it's a good thing he dropped out of the race. We all know about how he cheated on his cancer-stricken wife, which is in and of itself completely despicable. And then he denied that he was the father of this lovechild of his, which is pretty freaking rotten, too. (He only recently admitted to fathering his daughter.) Well, if that wasn't enough to make you absolutely despise him (and make me thankful that I voted for Obama through-and-through), turns out he has a sex tape. My first reaction? "What the hell!" And my second reaction? "GET THE HELL OUT OF MY LIFE FOREVER."

Because seriously. You run as the clean-cut, all-American good guy, the family man, the down-to-earth guy, and hey, you seem pretty intelligent, too! And, you know, whatever else that made you so great as a candidate. To be honest, I don't remember anymore, and I don't care enough to go look into it because, well, you totally disgust me now, John Edwards. But yeah, you run on all of these merits, and I totally fall for it, and then you cheat on your wife, and then you're enough of an idiot to leave a sex tape just randomly lying around for someone to find? So yeah, John Edwards, please go away, I'd rather not hear about you ever again because it makes me cringe a little to a LOT whenever I do. Since the news generally tends to be of the bad variety.

Just sayin'.

Anyway! What's up, everyone? I'm just now finishing up the first day of my second week of classes—all of which I have really enjoyed so far. My schedule is a bit lighter this semester than last, thank goodness. Don't let me take eighteen credits ever again, okay? My classes are as follows:

The U.S. Since 1877 (I have this and my other history class with the same professor, in the same classroom, but on different days of the week—it amuses me)

Sociolinguistics (SO fascinating)

Sophomore Colloquium (someday, I will be able to answer the question, "What can you do with a history degree?")

Cultures of the World (so much fantastic reading in this one)

History of Food (I get to eat! FOR A GRADE!)

And then, of course, violin lessons and orchestra. (We're playing The Planets with the Altoona Symphony Orchestra in April! I'm sure I've mentioned that, but it bears repeating.)

I had a fantastic winter break, too. I got to attend four UK basketball games—you know, UK, they're ranked number one right now and all—including their 2,000th win! I waited in line for near four hours, I think, for those tickets, and it was completely worth it.

Yeah, check that confetti. Totally sweet.

You know what amazing news I also got over winter break? My study abroad application was accepted! Once my recommendations are all turned in by my professors, it should be pretty official. And where am I going? The Gambia. Yeah, that's right, THE GAMBIA. Holy crap am I excited!

The only thing I find myself freaking out over now is internships, or a summer job, or something lined up for the coming summer. You know, it is quite difficult to find something when you (1) don't have a car of your own, and (2) don't have a way of living in a big city. Some internships sound totally awesome, like a lot of the ones listed at The SCA, but being nowhere near my home, I would need my own vehicle. And other internships in, say, D.C. or New York City and other big cities, as neat as they sound, and as much as I wouldn't need a car, I would still need a place to live. And living in the big city? Um, hella expensive, to say the least. I've got a few places I plan on applying to anyway, but chances are slim they'd be offering me any housing. But whatever, it's worth a try? Right?

But I don't have time to worry about that right at the moment. I need to finish up readings for class tomorrow. So until next time (and don't ask me when that is, because I sure don't know), RED. :)

amylicious! : uk basketball

Snow days in college? Really?!

Happy (late) New Year, RED! We meet again.