March Madness (which in my life, has nothing to do with basketball, or whatever)

This has been my face for the last month. 

So it's been a long time since I've posted. What have I been up to? 

To be honest, I don't even know. Work. Work. Work. Class. Class.  Phi Sigma Pi. Class. More work. Phi Sigma Pi. Being sick. Work. 

It's been just a little bit insane. 

But you know, I've actually done some cool stuff in amongst the stress. Let's see. 

I went to Denton 35 Festival, which was pretty cool (if crazy). Unfortunately, the first night I didn't go for very long, but then the next night it rained--a deluge like no other--and the thing was pretty much cancelled. Then the next night, I saw a couple cool bands, but I had a fever so I left early and missed the truly awesome stuff. This is my life. 

Then it was Spring Break! This meant my dad's and brother's birthdays, and this awesome otter cake my mom made. It was as delicious as it was adorable. 

Unfortunately I had to work all through Spring Break, and it never really felt like a break as I was sick and busy the whole time, but at least there was....

 MUSE CONCERT!!

It was unimaginably epic and spectacular. AAAAAAAGH! Still can't believe how cool it was. 

This is the Cellular Device Nebula located in the American Airlines Constellation, as seen from Section 318, Row H on planet Earth. 

This past week since being back at school has lasted years. 

There are a curious number of misplaced chairs around campus...Hm.

A couple days ago a balloon man came to Honors for an event! He made this beautiful octopus as well as many other spectacular balloon shapes. And I had many balloon sword fights. I won them all. >:D 

(not really)

Yesterday Jackson and I went to the Dallas Museum of Art, which has free general admission right now. We saw all kinds of old art, including a mummy and some very neat artifacts from ~2500 B.C. I wish I remembered more about each of these specific pieces, but I don't. So here, look at some pretty old stuff. 

This is a phoenix (Japanese?).

This is a weird little dude (Mesoamerican?). 

This is definitely Roman. 

This is ancient Indian. The detail here is amazing!

Then today I went with a bunch of Phi Sigma Pi people to paint pottery at Time to Kiln. I made this:

The colors look really ugly in the picture, but this is the color scheme inspiration (which I stole from the Internet, of course: design-seeds.com -- an awesome site) 

So hopefully it will turn out looking something like that. 

My "Big" (read: mentor-type-person) in Phi Sig, Erin, made a lovely mug!

She's awesome. 

 Then I got sushi and went to a bunch of meetings and bought some chocolate and studied management nonsense and now I'm writing this blog. Whoopee! You're all caught up in my life now.

Have some things!

A Jackson wearing a fringe-ful coat, next to a flower tree!

A turtle cartoon, made in times of boredom at work!

A Sheldon the Tiny Dinosaur cartoon!

And a cartoon by my brother about winning Olympic archery! I hope you don't mind me sharing this, Austin, because I think it's fantastic. 

Have a wonderful day and a glorious, chocolatey Easter! 

The Pumpkin Controversy: When Things Get Serious.

So, I have this pumpkin.

And today when I got back from class, he had a note taped on him.

The note read:

"Good job! You appreciate the pumpkin for who he is, without trying to change him, or to impress your idea of "right" on his fleshy skin. He is beautiful--some would argue more beautiful--just as he is. I hope you continue with this lesson and apply it to other areas of your life. Sincerely, NAAP (National Association for the Advancement of Pumpkins)"

So I replied with a note of my own.

I said:

And then, I carved it.

JERRY POTTER!

This is the Honors Life, y'all. 

I love my dorm...

Because we do crazy things like wear eyepatches...

...and host events where both cowboys and space lords are welcome...

...and take Mr. Clever Girl the Velociraptor of West Wing 300 as our dates to General Assemblies. 

(He's going business-casual.) 

Wonderful Things and Horrible Things.

Wonderful thing:

Seeing the MythBusters. 

Horrible thing:

Being sick for it. 

Wonderful thing:

Getting two letters in one day!

Horrible thing:

Godric is dead. :(

Wonderful thing:

Taping expressive cookies onto my friends' doors. 

Horrible thing:

Getting killed two days into playing Assassin. 

Gummy Bear Quesadillas and other (occasionally revolting) adventures.

Just some pictures from the last few days. You know. College is happening and stuff.

Gatsby the suave Lego man.

Prickly pear fruit.

A gummy bear mosaic!

New friends from China!

Beautiful Jen(n)as!

This is what quesadilla night turned into. And it's exactly what it looks like. 

Disgusting. 

Serendipity Bread (Strawberry Chocolate Chip Bread)

Did you know that you can take any old chocolate chip cookie recipe, like say, this one--

Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups chocolate chips

--and add approximately two cups of pureed fresh strawberries to make a batter, which, when baked for twenty-five-ish minutes, becomes a freaking delicious quick bread? 

I didn't either until last night! Mmmm, was it amazing!

Just combine wet ingredients, add eggs, combine dry ingredients and add in, stir in pureed strawberries and fold in chocolate chips. Does good in bread pans or in a 9"x13" scenario. 

You're welcome. 

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*)