Wednesday, August 29, 2012

"So how'd your first day go, Ariel?"


Well, Internet, it went pretty darn well! College really does keep getting better and better! (Of course, I say that now, before I have any huge assignments. We'll see how I feel in a month.)

First, I woke up stupidly early so I could make sure I'd be in class on time because it's a freaking long walk to the Language Building from Honors Hall. But instead of walking, I took the bus! It was incredibly efficient (and air conditioned!) and pulls up right around the corner from my dorm. Definitely my new mode of transportation for the wee nine AM hours of the morning. 

My first class (when I found it) was Intermediate French. Though my teacher is a really nice tall, thin blonde woman from Denmark ("Un petit pays, mais tres important!"), the class is almost certainly too elementary for me. I foresee it being fairly boring at best, though not hard, which is why I'm not getting out of it for the first semester. I would place it somewhere between Pre-AP French 2 and Regular French 3 in high school. But review is good, I suppose. 

Then I had an hour break, during which I discovered (and utilized!) the Language computer lab to print out my syllabi before heading to Intro to Literary Analysis and Interpretation. Also taught by a nice, tall, thin blonde woman, this class is freaking amazing. Though (thankfully) it's not beyond me, I think I'll learn a lot from the animated Dr. Coffelt, and I'm looking forward to this class more than any other. Still, I was surprised by the people--supposedly all English majors--who did not fit the type, or any variation of the type, or any variation of the variation of the type, or pretty much didn't seem like English people. But I guess people can surprise. 

Next was my mad dash to the (exhaustingly confusing) Music building for "Music in the Human Imagination" (except really it's Music Appreciation, though they want to trick you into thinking otherwise). Though the professor and class seem unremarkable, it will be easy and maybe I'll learn a little more about how music works and why we like what we like, which really will make my life easier when Jackson asks me to give an opinion of a song and all I can come up with is, "Yeah. That sounds good. Yeah. Good." 

Then I had a lovely two-and-a-half hour break which I used running errands around campus and organizing myself. I went to lunch at Maple, the vegan hall (brilliant!), and happened to meet a girl who would later be in my Archaeology class later in the day. When I finally made it to Archaeology, we met the gloriously laid back Professor Byers, or Johnny, as he likes to be called ("My mother named me Johnny, not Professor, and not Byers. I'm emotionally attached to Johnny, and therefore more likely to respond."). He let us (all two hundred of us, in my only lecture hall class) go an hour early, and hinted that he'd do that regularly if we got through everything. Thank goodness for this, because I do not want to be in class until five pm. Like, never. 

And finally, after running all around campus to find the only working ATM, the lovely Lah-oo-Rah came to visit and ate dinner (again at Maple!) with me, Jena, and Britney (Jena's roommate). It was a lovely time. Then us Honors Hall kids watched (or were gently forced to watch) a documentary about how evil the bottled water industry is (I TOLD YOU!). 

Sorry for how crappily this is written; it's late, and I'm tired, but this stuff is important or something. Blah blah blah another day of this tomorrow....



Monday, August 27, 2012

New Home: Welcome to HoHa!


Well, Jeremy, Godric, and I are all moved into our new home! Thanks very very much to everyone who helped me move in, especially Jackson and my mom (espcially especially my mom--thanks for helping me get ready and for buying me so much stuff--I couldn't have done it without you! <3). The last two days have mostly been tying up all the random loose ends that come with moving and starting an independent life at college. But now my room is pretty much a home, though a relatively empty one, as my roommate doesn't exist. 

Anyway, let me give you the tour of my private abode!


I have a comfy (if rather tall) bed and a nice view...


A nice and organized desk...


With some books and desk friends on top...


A bulletin board in the works...


A gloriously large closet (and a (rather unfortunate) poster courtesy of Jackson)...


A nice bathroom area with my jewelry tree on display (along with some of the Jackson's artwork!)...


And a box full of my friends Wise Sloth Man, Baby Ugly, Haboob, Alfonso Johanne Smith, Sidnopolis, and Olio...


An efficient little kitchen area...


A dining area, with my mom's watercolor on the wall...


And a cute little reading area!

There's also a small bathroom/shower area, but who wants to see a picture of a toilet? 

But that's my new home! I feel so fancy with all this space to myself! And no signs of getting a roommate yet--seriously, I think it's too late until the next semester at this point. But other than setting up my room and dealing with all the things that fall down during the night, I've been scoping out the campus and meeting people. Just an hour ago I made two new English-major Honors-Hall friends who are remarkably similar to myself, and five minutes ago I got a knock on my door from a girl I've been emailing all summer. 

And then there was the wonderful adventure of playing Apples to Apples with some HoHa vets and watching Good Burger followed by The Room (seriously, it's the second time in a week--what's wrong with me?). But I feel pretty integrated into Honors Hall life and culture. Things are going well. Classes are going to start, and that'll be a whole new adventure, but I think (I hope) I'm ready. :)


Well, at least I have (almost) all my textbooks! ;) 


PS - Good luck to all my high school lovelies as you start school. I LOVE YOU! (Also, HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA! *points and laughs*)

Friday, August 24, 2012

"You're Tearing Me Apart, Lisa!"


If you've never seen The Room, you're missing out. It's an award-winning cult classic from 2003, one of the most entertaining movies ever made--

"Oh hai!"

Wellll.... Maybe only if you have a bunch of your friends with you (and a bucket full of spoons)


Otherwise it might just be really awkward and uncomfortable.

"I just like to watch you guys!"

Oh, Denny. 


Well, at least we have Sesosterone's unimaginable beauty to distract us...

"Once a woman cheated on me so I punched her in the face. She was in the hospital for weeks."

"Heh heh heh! What a story, Mark!"

Oh, and don't forget the lovely mother!

"I put my evil in you!"

Well at least there's an inspiring love story under all this nonsense...


"Anything for my princess!"

Oh wait......


So then, obviously--

"I will record everything!"

And finally...


"I'm fed up wif thees world!"

It's the stuff of legends, guys. Oh, and don't forget the spoons. 

Monday, August 20, 2012

Preparations and Adventures

As my summer comes to an end, I'm busy packing up my room...


...deciding what books to bring...


...and choosing only these, because it's just too hard and DFTBA...


...hanging out with this snazzy guy...


...and having rainy adventures with my peeps, during which Jena is sometimes mildly humiliated by bottle caps. 


Oh, and also bidding Skylar a hearty farewell as she goes to dominate Washington D.C. Good luck, my dear! You've been an important friend over the years. :) Have lots of fun and report back often. <3



Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Goodbye Goodbye.

I can't believe I'm missing saying goodbye to those friends who are leaving or have already left, all of whom are people I can't even imagine being without.

All the things we did this summer, and all the things we didn't get to do. With Sarah, it was the crazy midnight pool adventure (haha), the trip to San Antonio and all the craziness that entailed, catching up just like always after all of us had such a busy summer. You have been an amazing, adventurous friend, and I feel so lucky to be a part of our little group. :)

With Anna, it was the many times we randomly got together and talked for hours, getting lost in places we didn't even know existed in our own hometown, talking about everything and anything. I love you I love you I love you, my friend, and it's going to be a challenge to learn how to live without you. But it will be worth it, of course, because this is for the best and I know we'll never give up on this friendship that has already lasted most of our lives. :)

With Maggie, it's the beautiful picnic by the ridiculously pool-like fountain, the many invasions of your home and kitchen to have wonderful and crazy dinners, the nerdfighting and the reading and the naughtiness. I value your friendship, your kindness, and your general awesomeness very highly, my wonderful friend, so don't forget to come see me when you visit Jena. :) (or Jena, don't forget to take me with you to visit Maggie! You'll probably need my car anyway. :-P)

For all of you, I'm sorry I didn't get to say a proper goodbye. But good luck (as if you need it) and have fun doing what you love in college. I'm proud of all of you, and I know you'll do amazing things. Oh, and Skype me. :)

Love, Ariel

Saturday, August 11, 2012

The Perseids

After midnight tonight Jackson and I found ourselves in the middle of nowhere, parked on someone's farm driveway with my lights off, perched on the hood of my car and waiting for the Perseid meteors to show their pretty little tails.

File:Perseid meteor and Milky Way in 2009.jpg

We were not disappointed. I wish I could say I took this picture, but that would be impossible because I'm pretty sure I'd have to be in the middle of the desert with a $20,000 camera to get a similar shot, but thanks to Wikipedia you can get a pretty good idea of the quality of shooting starts we saw tonight.


There were big ones, small ones, bright ones, dim ones, long ones, short ones, and one that lit up so huge I could have sworn I saw the flames coming off it as it scraped our atmosphere. There must have been at least a dozen in the fifteen minutes we were sitting out there. 


It was beautiful, and so worth it. There's nothing like the childish glee that comes from glimpsing a meteor's tail--that streak of light so brief and bright that it sticks like a burn in behind your eyes even as you wonder if it was ever there at all. 

If you get the chance in the next day or so, take a look outside somewhere dark and maybe you'll catch a glimpse of the Perseids. And if not, they'll be back this time next year. Maybe by then I'll have rigged up an astronomy camera of some sort to document these things with my own photographs.

Photo Credits:
Wikipedia
Ali Jarekji/Reuters
RedOrbit.com

Things That Make Me Happy (as inspired by Anna :D)



Fantastic Mr. Fox.


The baby parrots at Fish-n-Chirps.


David Tennant.



Jeremy the Cactus.


This kitty.


Friday, August 10, 2012

Don't Be Alarmed!

Just revamped the ol' blog theme. Thought I'd sneak in a word about it because it always freaks me out when people do that without warning. I'm like, "Oh crap, this is the wrong blog!" And then I'm like, "Oh, you're an idiot, they just changed the background." And then I'm like, "Well, this is weird. It's like a whole new website. I'm never going to get used to this. Never ever ever, and I'm not ever going to be able to read this blog again because it's just so different and and and I hate it and AAAAAAAHH!"

So yeah. If your inner dialogue right now is anything like that, you're not alone. And if it's different, well, you're probably a healthier person than I am. So good for you.

Upcycled Papier Mache Box!




This is my beautiful new box. 


I made it into art. 


A few days ago it was just a fancy cardboard box that was too nice to throw away. 
I knew it had to have some purpose. 


So I started cutting out a bunch of petals from old magazines. 


I ended up with a lot of petals.


Then I painted the box orange, just for kicks, and started papier-mache-ing the petals on to look like a giant, colorful flower.


And I just kept on papier-mache-ing!


And papier-mache-ing, and papier-mache-ing...


I even covered the bottom with newspaper!


And the inside with pretty paper.


So now I have this beautiful box. 


I think I will use it to hold my letters and nice cards and stuff, because really, what is one supposed to do with letters? But I don't want to get rid of them because they make me happy. Thus, my beautiful box. WHOO!