So we've past our one month mark. Now people are starting to diet and excercise, after all that pasta, pizza, wine, and gelato. Like me, I've taken to running every now and then (as in twice so far). You really feel like you live somewhere when you run there, leaving all the tourists in your dust. Some of my other roommates have put themselves on diets. Others have just decided not to buy anymore Nutella. I don't know if I'm that strong. Just now, looking up Nutella on Wikipedia, it's all I can do to not go to the kitchen right now and finish my almost empty chair. And the jars of Nutella I buy here can double as a glass after you've eaten all of the chocolately insides. Hey recycling! So really, my eating Nutella is beneficial to the environment.

But I'll restrain myself for the moment.

You want to know what's weird? I've been in class for a month, midterms are in two weeks, and the only grade I have right now to speak of is an Italian quiz I took last week. That's been my first and only grade so far. That feels weird.


I went to Assisi (as in St. Francis of) and Orvieto (another cute town in Umbria, located on a cliff) this weekend. Precious places. One of my favorite parts was the Basilica di San Francesco--this beautiful church built in honor of St. Francis. It is also where his tomb is located. There were so many people there, but they were all so silent and reverent. It makes one better understand why people decided to build these big, beautiful cathedrals. They inspire so much awe. You can't not think about God in them.

P.S. I love sending postcards, but what I like almost even better is recieving mail. It's like a breathe of fresh air--a letter from home. Just so you know . . .

I got a new nose ring today, and a new sweater. So it's been a pretty productive day so far. The sweater I'm wearing now; it's forest green with tan patches on the elbows a la Mr. Rogers. I'm in love with it. Its especialy feels good today because it's all rainy and dreary. Apparetly it rains a lot here from October to March. Great.

I went to a soccer game last night, that's the big news. Florence versus Rome. Even though it was cold and rainy, it was a lot of fun. Italians really love their soccer. And apparently last week someone died in a riot at a game. We were hoping to see a riot, but no such luck. It's was a good game. Rome was leading 2 to 1 throughout most of it, but then we scored a goal in the last 10 minutes and tied the game. And apparently it's ok to end a soccer game in a tie, because that's what happened. And once the game ended everyone ran for the gates. A whole wave of people. I don't know what everyone's rush was, I guess they didn't want to get stuck in traffic or wanted to be able to catch a cab before everyone else took them. We were in the later category, but then just ended up finding our way home by foot. We were really proud of ourselves.

Oh yeah, and I got an umbrella today. I figured it would come in handy.

Ooo, I just heard thunder. I'm really glad I bought the umbrella, because I have to go to class in a couple minutes.

And yeah, and my bug bite. I went to the doctor a couple days ago and he said it's just an infected bug bite. He popped it and gave me cream to put on it. It's getting better. I'd post a picture, but for some reason blogger isn't letting me right now. Just use your imagination.

There's nothing like free wi-fi and a glass of wine. Melissa and I are sitting at our kitchen table and I just said that to her and then, "That's going to be the opening line of my next blog post." Check. (I know it makes it less cool that I just told you the story behind the first sentence, but that's ok, because I'm really not that cool.) We don't usually have wifi in our apartment, but tonight, while all nine of us were waiting in line to use the stove to make all of our separate dinners, Piero from some internet company came by gave us free trial internet for 24 hours. So here I am, sitting at my kitchen table drinking wine and writing in my blog. All my other roommates are glued to their computers as well.

So I went to Sicily this weekend. Che bella! It was beautiful. We saw lots of cute towns, Greek ruins, and chilled on some picturesque beaches. I especially enjoyed the chilling on the beaches part. And every once and awhile, I'd be laying there on the sand, soaking up the sun, and I'd pinch myself while thinking, "Laura, you are on a beach in Sicily." And in case you didn't already know, the Mafia started in Sicily. The professore who lead us around, Francesco, (for this was a school sponsored affair) told us the history of the mafia, but refused to speak of it in public. He felt safer waiting to talk about it on the bus, which I thought to be interesting. Also, on this trip, I got a wonderfully large bug bite. I got it while sleeping on the train Thursday night, and it's still there, big and red as ever. I'm afraid it might be a spider bite. Hopefully I won't have to amputate my leg, that would be a hassle. And I hear the Italian hospitals are crazy.

I guess I'll give you some pictures.


That's me and Hannah eating Cannoli, which are native to Sicily. They are really sweet. Hannah couldn't finish her's, but I definitely finished mine.


And this is Vanessa and I chilling on the aforementioned Sicilian beach.


And then this is Vanessa, Hannah, Isabel, and I in an aforementioned Greek ruin. It's the Greek amphitheatre in Siracuse. Very cool.

And now it's back to class and catching up with school work. For lit class this week (tomorrow) I have to read a 415 page book called Austerlitz. I have 20 pages left. I'm pretty impressed with myself.

I'm sitting outside of my school right now with a few of my roommates. It's midnight here in Firenze and we're sitting on the side of the street on our laptops. We get some funny looks. Don't worry, we won't get mugged, there's lots of people around. There's a bar a few feet away, which makes us look even more funny. You just have to be here.

This time tomorrow I will be on a train to Sicily. Yeehaa! Mediterranean, here I come. Mafia, here I come. Sun, here I come. Seafood, here I come. Greek temples, here I come. The Beach, here I come. Watchout.

Have I mentioned it's midnight?

And here's a few live action shots from Siena last weekend, courtesy of my roommate, Melissa. It's when we first got to Siena and FINALLY found our hostel. I'm saying something like, "Um . . we're here to stay in the hostel . .?" Everyone thought that was really funny. What else was I supposed to say?



This next one is right after we got buzzed in. There was nothing but stairs. It's us thinking, "Does this hostel exist?"



Don't worry,it does and we found it.

I just got out of my Intro to Classic Photography class. We use black and white film and develop it and all that jazz. Today was the first day to learn to do prints. It was so much fun! The class was from 9-2:30, but I could have kept on going. I love this photography thing. You have this plain piece of paper, put it in some chemicals, and then out of nowhere a picture starts appearing on it! Its magical. And one of the prints I showed Neri, our professor, he said was "bellisima" (very pretty). The girl before was just "va bene" (good). Heh.

I went to Siena this weekend. Id show you some pictures, but Im not on my own computer (did you notice the absence of apostrophes?). It was a cute little Tuscan town built on a hill. We got a lot of exercise with all the walking up and down hills.

Also, my parents are in Florence now. I had dinner with them last night. It was good to see them and catch up and be with people who have known me all my life. You start to miss being with people who really know you, after awhile.

This morning I had a little field trip with my Renaissance Art in Florence class to the Medici Palace and Church of San Lorenzo. It was inredible, especially the church. So beautiful. I'm getting to see all this beauty that before I'd only read about in books and seen on slides during class. And in my reading for my Michelangelo class, I found out that he lived just a few blocks from where I live now. He's buried in the Santa Croce, a church near our apartment. Dontello is buried in the San Lorenzo, along with some Medici peeps. Egads people! This is real!

I'm going to Siena tomorrow. It's this beautiful little Tuscan town about an hour away. I've heard that it's beautiful. It's famous for a bareback horse race held in its big piazza, Il Campo, every summer. Fun fact: the next James Bond movie's opening scene was filmed during said race this past summer, with Mr. Bond watching the race. So I'll go see the movie when it comes out and get to say I've been there. That's pretty cool, I think.

Hm, I feel I should give you another picture.
Here's a guy kayaking down the Arno (the river that runs through Florence.)

I wish I was him. That would be so fun.

So for my European Lit class we just read this little book entitled The Tale of the Unkown Island. I loved it. Im going to read it to my children one day. Its a beautiful story. You should pick up a copy. Its really little.

By the way, the computer keyboards here are a little different. I still cant find the apostrophes. So you can know when Im not on my laptop by my lack of apostrophes.

I'm alive and back from Venice. It was beautiful! As long as you don't look too close at the dirty water, it's quite picturesque. Very romantic. The weather was gorgeous too. It's molto touristy though, which is to be expected.

A film festival was going on at Lido, one of the islands, and on Friday we saw an Estonian movie. I kept thinking, "How cool am I? I am in Venice, at an international film festival, watching an Estonian movie." It was good too, if super despressing. The movie was "a study in human isolation," according the synopsis. Not really a feel good movie, but like I said, good, and engrossing.

We also walked around, saw the sights, ate sea food (and I LIKED it). Good times abounded, and I took molto pictures. They're all up on facebook now. Sorry if you don't have facebook, you'll just have to wait.

And I'm tired of staring at this computer screen now. Later.

So I'm almost through with my first week of Florentine classes. All I have left is Michelangelo, Caravaggio, & Bernini this afternoon. I think I'm going to like most of my classes. My teachers all seem pretty cool, and after last night's Italian class, I even think that will be bearable. Jenny and I will persevere together.

This weekend I'm going to Venice; I don't remember if I've mentioned that. There's like, six or seven of us going. It's fun to have that many people, but then nothing gets done. No one wants to book the hostel or look up train tickets, and everyone expects someone else to do it. We'll see out this goes.

I don't feel like saying anything else so here's another picture:


It's me and two of my roommates having cappuccino our first morning here.

I just got out of my first Italian class. I always got As in Italian in the past, but this class is a new breed. For one, barely any English is spoken, and to make it worse--there are only two students. I can't sit quietly in the back and not be called in, I HAVE to participate in EVERYTHING. And I forget so much. Thankfully the other student in the class is my roommate and friend from Baylor, Jenny, and not some fluent speaker or anything. Jenny and I are pretty much on the same level, so that's good. I still don't feel very prepared for the class though. At least the teacher seems nice. Just sometimes, when she's staring at me, waiting for a reply, I just freeze and can't think of anything in Italian to say. And when I do, it's wrong. But it's ok, it's just the first class. I have to keep telling myself that.

I also had photography today. That class, I think, should be fun. It's five and a half hours long, but there's a break in the middle and a lot of it will be us out and about taking pictures, so it should be painless. And two of my roommates are in my class with me.

Surprisingly, I know people in every one of my classes. Either a roommate or a fellow Bear. There are a lot of us Bears here. Baylor is more represented than any other school. Out of the ten people in my photography class, four of them were from Baylor.

And then here are some pictures for you anxious readers out there.


These are all of my roommates but me at a party thrown by the school last night.


And then here is all of us plus me and minus Vanessa and Anna eating dinner at our apartment a couple evenings ago. It was our first time to use the kitchen.


Here is the Arno River, which runs through the middle of Florence.

I'll leave you with that.

I am so overcome with excitment. I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Florence, Italy . . . and I LIVE here. I don't know what the time says, but in Italy its 11:30 am, and we're seven hours ahead of Texas, so you do the math. I got here yesterday afternoon. Last night I went out with my roommates and had pizza and wine and then crashed. We were all sooo tired. I woke up really early this morning though, at like six. We have nothing planned with the school today, so shopping is in order, there are molto saldi oggi (many sales today. I'm trying to impress you with my blossoming Italian.) Tomorrow orientation starts and then class starts Monday.

It still hasn't hit me I'm actually living here for the next 3 1/2 months. It's so surreal. We went to the Duomo this morning and it's absolutely gorgeous. Che bella! And I get to see it everyday.

I hate saying goodbye to people. It makes my stomach hurt. When I thought about going to Florence I thought of how wonderful it would be and all the experiences I would have and all the art I would learn about. I didn't think about all of the goodbyes. It's been harder saying goodbye for this than it was saying goodbye for college two years ago. I think that's because I've allowed myself to become closer to people than my high school self did. Not that I'm still not stoked about going to Italy, it just stings a little, and I didn't prepare myself for that.

But it's just three and a half months.

This time tomorrow I will be on a plane.

I'm back in Waco, just for the night.

This place has really become a home to me. This apartment with these girls. I'm already looking forward to coming back next semester. Sure it's still as messy as I left it last week--the fondue pot is still sitting on the table from last Friday night . . . with water and bits of chocolate in it, and empty boxes are everywhere, but these girls are wonderful, so it's ok. And I don't have to live here.

This time next week I will be in Firenze. AHHHHHHHH. Mama mia! Mozzarella! Meatball!

Really, I'll be more excited once I've finished packing.

So one of the guys who went with us to Kenya is making us an awesome video. Here are two teaser videos. The first is just like a preview, the second is from the safari.

It's weird to be back, but not really be back. Not bad weird, just weird. But more than that it's fun. It's fun to see everyone again and catch up. I'm in Wacko Waco for the next couple days, getting time in with my friends before I leave for four months (a week from Monday).

The apartamento is a mess, though. A MESS. I'm kinda glad I won't be here to have to help clean it up. Heh.

Ya see, when six people live together, a lot of times stuff just won't get done because everyone expects someone else to do it. That's why we have a chart denoting whose turn it is to take out the trash and recycling. And that's why the mistletoe is still up.

The last time we spoke I was 20 and a little over two weeks away from my departure for Italy. Today I am 21 and 1 1/2 weeks away from Florence. Times are a-changing.

I went to the dentist yesterday and the lady who cleaned my teeth had just come back from Italy. Both of her parents are from Sicily and when she found out I was spending the fall in Florence she got all excited and went on and on and on about Italy. What to do, what the weather will be like, what to wear, and placed much emphasis on wearing comfortable shoes. The TV in our room was tuned to KERA and was showing ariel views of Sicily. With a $100 donation, I could obtain a copy of a DVD of this 20 minute program about Sicily. The donation guy on the show said we should buy it and show it to young people to educate them about the world. Me and the dentist lady chuckled at this. I can watch the Travel channel for free. Free to me anyway, I don't pay for the Satellite TV

And she said my teeth were suprisingly clean considering I hadn't been to the dentist in two years. And the fact that I never floss. I didn't tell her that part. I never really have, but my dentist always says my teeth are really clean, so I don't really have the motivation to start now.

Also, last time we spoke I had not yet recieved my visa and was getting kind of concerned about it. It is now in my possession, thankfully. I'm actually going to Florence.

I think I've eaten enough chicken salad this past month to last me for a little while. Simplicitea's Tea Room has some wonderful chicken salad, and everyday after the lunch rush I usually sit down to a scoop of it with a bunch of Club crackers, and sometimes some fruit or a slice of quiche. Today was my last day working at the aforementioned Tea Room, and after that last meal of chicken salad, the thought of it now kind of makes me nauseous.

So yes, I am now no longer working as a waitress, and am really looking forward to sleeping in a lot these next two weeks.

So, people are usually a little shocked to hear that last year I shared an apartment with five other girls. But get this, in Italy, I'm going to be living in an apartment with 8 girls. There wll be nine of us in all (in case you needed help with the math). My own room will have three girls, including myself. I know the two girls though, they are from Baylor. I don't know them really well, but they seem to be agreeable.


I'm so flippin' excited. Two weeks people. I'm leaving in two weeks.

Sorry I haven't written in awhile, I just really haven't felt like it.

It's been a little over a week. I feel I should say something.

Being home is good, I'm glad I'm here. I like waitressing at the tea room (you should come visit me) and hanging out with oldie but goodie friends. This is the life, really.

My nose is doing well, thanks for asking. I got it pierced, in case you missed that. I have a new piece of metal lodged into my face, and I like it.

Last night I went to a wedding of a friend. She's a few years older than me, but it's still weird to know that my friends are getting married. I mean, they're my friends, not just distant relatives that are ten years older than me. Before you know it, my friends will be having kids, paying for college, retire. It's pretty much all down hill from here.

Just kidding.

Or am I?

No, I am. Marriage and stuff freaks me out, but I guess it will be ok. I mean, a long time from now. Long.

But in my more near future--I go to Italy in less than two months. Eeee! I got a big packet in the mail today from Study Abroad Italy, telling me all this stuff I have to do before I go and how to stay safe and what to bring and where to buy my textbooks and what the weather will be like and blah blah blah. I'm tired of thinking about it and getting information about it. I just want to go.

So I got my hair cut today. I haven't paid someone to cut my hair since November of 2005. I've cut it myself a couple times, rarely ever brush it, and one time, it caught on fire. The woman at Regis said I was crazy.
Well, now my hair is healthy, soft, and a couple inches shorter. Even though it is only a couple inches, I still hurts my heart a little. I guess I've grown attached to my long hair. She styled it also; it's all curly, like goldie locks curly.

And that's that.

So,
At the begining of this summer, aside from my two week adventure in Kenya, I decided to pass the season in Waco, taking classes and working at Camille's. At the endish of June, niether the idea of living in my apartment sans my roommates for the month of July nor continuing to work at Camille's seemed appealing to me any longer (that sentence was kind of awkward, but we're going with it). So I dropped my session 2 classes at Baylor, applied to TCC, and gave Camille's my two weeks notice. Last night, I registered for a class at TCC and this morning I paid for it. A couple hours later, I dropped the class at TCC and took a job at the tea room where my mom plays piano. I'll be serving food, making tea--earning some extra cash before my adventures in Europe.

I used to think I was the type of person who liked well thought-out plans, who found spontaneous-ness uncomfortable. I don't know about that anymore. I've been trusting my instincts more of late, and I'm feeling pretty good about it.

Oh yeah, and then there's the nose piercing.

I got a flippin' B in my Brit Lit class. That's bogus. B is for Bogus. Blasphemy. Bleh. In my head, I'm thinking, "Laura, it's just a letter. Life is much bigger than that." But my heart is thinking, "Bogus. Blasphemy. Bleh."

And it's July. That part is ok.

I just had a pleasant walk home from class/lunch. Sometime in between getting out of class and eating lunch it started to pour down rain. I had ridden my bike to class, but brought my umbrella along in case this happened. So I left my bike locked up in front Carrol Science and started to walk back to my apartment. Actually, it wasn't pouring, just regular raining, until I got to about Moody Library. Then it really started coming down. I pulled my umbrella down as close to my head as I could manage; I'm wearing a light blue tshirt and realized how transperant it would be when wet. I gave up on trying to keep my pants dry, and they were sloshing around my ankles. By the time I got to the SLC, I had almost fallen a couple times because my sandals were slippery, and so I just decided to take them off. At first I thought, "People are going to think I'm weird--walking around without shoes. They're going to think I'm hippie, or worse, that I'm trying to be a hippie." But then I thought, "So?" and did it anyway (more on that later). So I walked the rest of the way shoeless, not even trying to avoid the big puddles anymore. Fifteen minutes after I started, I got back to my apartment. My pants were drenched to about my thigh, and so I changed into dry capris and here I am.

It's was a nice walk.

Yesterday I read an article in The Oprah Magazine called "The Cure for Self-Conscious: It's one word--one little word--but it has revelatory power." Obviously this intrigued me. Aren't you intriqued? Wanna know the word? Don't you want to be freed from self-consciousnees? Empowered to follow your instincts and not care what people think? It's something "so lucid, so mind expanding, so simultaneously Socratic and Zenlike, that I was mesmorized on the spot."
So?
That's it.
So?

"If I say what I really think, people might disagree with me."
So?

"If I go out to eat lunch by myself I might look like a loser."
So?

"If I can't run on the treadmill as long as the person next to me, they are going to think I'm out of shape and think they are better than me."
So?

"If I go talk to that cute boy I don't know, he might think I'm weird."
So?

"If my house is slightly messy when I have people over, they're going to realize that I'm not perfect, that I am slightly human and slightly busy."
So?

"If I walk home in the rain holding my shoes in my hand rather than wearing them on my feet, people might think I'm a hippie, or worse, that I'm trying to be a hippie."
So?

There. Now you're freed.

----

While I'm being all empower-y, let me share with you this quote I ran across.
"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."
You should paint that on a piece of wood all prettily. I bet it'd sell.

No One Belongs Here More Than You

I haven't read this book, but I like its website.

Sometime during this weekend, while I was away, my sheets disappeared. My bed is made, but my comforter and pillows are the only things on it. I just noticed this. Granted, they weren't even my sheets to begin with, they are Claire's, but it's weird that they're just . . . gone. They up and left without leaving so much as a note. And they were so soft. I thought we had something special going on. I spent so many nights with them. I feel so used.

In other news, on a spontaneous whim I've dropped my session two summer classes and am now going home for the month of July. That's just what I want to do. It's not that much of a whim, really. I've been thinking about it for a couple weeks, but I voiced these thoughts only a few days ago and so it looks spontaneous to the uninformed observer. Doesn't it seem more fun when it's spontaneous? So that's the story I'm sticking with.

So, I got a 55 on the Brit Lit paper I turned in last Thursday. And you want to know the only reason why? Because I wrote 710 instead of 750 words. Forty flippin' words! I got a 55 even though "the essay is strong in every other category." That's ridiculous. So I emailed my professor and tactfully told him that he's ridiculous. I'll let you know how it goes. Erg. The funny thing, is that I'm not really that concerned about it. I wouldn't care that much if it stayed a 55. I feel like I should care more. Hm.

A shower, a clean set of clothes, and freshly shaven legs feel oh so good. Plus, I bought new deodrant that has a "Cool Cucumber" fragrance that I can smell on myself as I'm sitting here. Yum.

My bike is all better. I now know how to change the tube in a bike tire. I am capable.

It's been a good day. Also because I have the John Mayer/Ben Folds concert to look forward to this Friday. Woot! I'm mucho excitedo about that. I'm listening to John right now, he's having a stupid mouth.

That is all.

My car is fixed! Yay! Timmy is back and all better, with new windshield wiper blades and everything. I don't have to bum off people for rides now. I can buy groceries! Life is good.

I felt like I had more to say, but I guess I don't.

Disclaimer: The following post is slightly cheesy. In it I talk about the m-word (marriage) which I try not to do too much because I'm at Baylor and there are so many girls here who are after it and I so don't want to be one of those. Just know that I have no notions of getting married anytime soon and am perfectly happy how I am. That said, you may read on.


So last night some friends and I were discussing relatioships--marriage, dating ,and the like--and pondering together what it all meant and what we think marriage is suppose to be like. It's something I kept thinking about as I was trying to sleep, when I came up with this analogy that I think helps me, at least. Maybe a marriage works the same way as complementary colors. Apart, the two colors don't cease to exist, they are still lovely and alive and . . . colorful. But when you put said color with its complementary, both are brightened and, well, complemented. Just by being together, they are brighter and do their job as colors better than they do it apart. Like I said, that doesn't mean they aren't colors when they are apart, it's just that together, they do so much better. That would then lead one to believe that, like a color has only one complementary (for red it's green; for blue it's orange; purple, yellow), there is only one person out there that is your complementary, which I don't know if I buy. Of course there are limits to every analogy.

It was just something I was thinking about.

In other news, Rach and I layed out by the pool for the first time this summer yesterday, and now I'm rather burned. It was still fun though; it felt like summer. Last night we went to Target and procured new swimsuits and now I'm anxious to hit the pool again, though I know I should probably give my skin a rest.

Sometimes I feel like a snob, because I like to use words like "procured" instead of "purchased" or throw in a "whilst" here and there instead of "while." It spices things up, no?

Check out this picture. Its caption reads, "Contestants gathered at the starting line, getting ready for the first-annual San Francisco Great Gorilla Run that began in Golden Gate Park just near the bandshell Sunday. Over 400 people, dressed as gorillas, ran a race to raise funds for mountain and low land gorillas threatened in the Congo, Uganda and Rwanda. Chronicle photo by Brant Ward"" (here's a link if you want to see more photos.) I thought that was interesting.

My car was towed earlier this morning. It's all out of my hands now, which is kind of a relief. And remember when I was saying how thankful I was to have a good bike to fall back on? Well, I certainly jinxed myself with that--now the back tire of my bike if deflated and won't take air. I guess it needs a new tube, but I need a car to go get one and remedy the problem. Now I'm stuck with my two feet and the benevolence of my friends. Oh well. So goes life. It's all pretty funny actually. Last week pretty much everything I own that plays a significant part in my day-to-day life had problems, I already mentioned my car and bike, but my laptop and phone also were being finicky. I keep telling myself that they are all luxury items anyway and I need to stop complaining. Things could be so much worse. I could be dying. And I'm not, as far as I know. Heck I get to go to flippin' Italy in a couple months, life can't be all that bad.

This picture is disturbing. It's a turtle deformed by a plastic band that the he got tangled in when he was young, taken by Gregg Segal. I found it on an old post on No Impact Man's blog (look to your right for a link). Doesn't it hurt your heart a little?

What do you do with that? Stop using plastic all together? That doesn't seem feasible. Nothing does. I feel like nothing I do will actually matter, in the grand scheme of things. But I guess if everyone thought that about everything, nothing would ever change. I can't solve the problem. I guess it's just a matter of chosing if I want to be apart of the problem or the solution.

I hate them. They're overrated and require too much attention, time, and money. Sure, the arguement could be made that they save one time by making transportation from one place to another quicker, but I think the evironment, your body, you wallet, and your peace of mind is better off without them.

Yesterday my car wouldn't start, and I was stuck at FedEx for thirty minutes trying to find someone to come pick me up. No one was answering their phone. Apparently class or work or whatever else they were doing was more important than helping me out with my car. I know, ridiculous. Finally I got hold of a kind soul to come pick me up. My car was left there and later that day, another kind soul went with me to jump it. It started, but didn't last me very long. Apparently something is wrong with my alternator, whatever that means. I don't know about cars. So I go to my car again today with the intention of going somewhere to get some mantenence help, but of course, it doesn't start. So of course I start crying. I sit there in my car for a little bit, feeling sorry for myself, and then walk back up to my apartment, giving myself a pep talk along to way. At least I even have a car to stress about, I tell myself. Most people in the world don't. And it's just a car. I have a good life if this my biggest problem right now. And at least I have a good bike to fall back on, and nice roommates. I then decided to forget about my car for a little while and rode my bike to Common Grounds to unwind with a Frozen Milky Way. That's where I am now. It's really hot outside, so I was very sweaty by the time I got here, but it's nice to be here now.

I know--eventually I'm going to have to do something about my car. I just don't feel like thinking about it right now. Ok? Leave me alone.

So I took over three hundred pictures while I was away, but have uploaded 146 to an album on snapfish that you can view by clicking here. On this same snapfish account are other albums from people who went to Africa with me; we are putting all our pictures up so we can share them. Eventually I'll put my pictures up on facebook too, but for now they are at snapfish. Enjoy.

______

edit: Phew, I just put up all my pictures on facebook. That was quite a feat.

I do enjoy summer. Life is just much more chill, like a Jack Johnson song. I'm just taking one class, which is still something, but it's not that big of a deal; I work just three days a week; there are less people at church and more chances to get to know people with such a smaller group; the SLC is never crowded. It's nice.

I went grocery shopping with Rachael today. I usually just buy the same items--cereal, sandwhich stuff, Lean Cuisine pizzas, milk, etc. I try not to be too adventurous, because then I usually don't end up eating what I bought and it goes bad. There also isn't a lot of refrigerator space to waste when one is living with five other girls. But today, I ventured out a little. I bought Strawberry-Orange-Banana juice, brie cheese, alfalfa sprouts, and strawberry Nutrigrain bars, along with my normal purchases. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm going to have juice tomorrow with my breakfast; the Nutrigrain bars remind me of my childhood.; and while in Kenya, I decided I love brie cheese.

Another thing I liked in Kenya was the mango juice Gracia Guesthouse would serve us in the mornings. It was soo good--thicker and creamier than other juices. There was also passion juice, but mango was my favorite.

Dang it, now I'm hungry.

Speaking of Kenya, here's another picture. Some elephants hanging out in the Great Rift Valley.

Oh me, oh my. I'm back in Waco now, thrust back into ordinary life. I flew back into Dallas at about 10:30 last night, spent the night at home, and got back to Waco this morn just in time to change and go to class (I just used the word "back" four times in two sentences). Today I have to read half of Beowulf and work five to close. I'm trying to catch my breath.

It's good to be back, but it's also just weird. For one, it's weird being here without a lot of people that are usually here with me, like half of my roommates. Rachael and Tinsley are here, and its fabulous to be with them again, but it's definitely a lot quieter than usual. Oh, another weird thing, my cousin, John, is in my Brit Lit class with me. I never would have guessed that I would be taking a class with him. It's an interesting turn of events.

And I just feel a little different.

I took 340 pictures in the last two weeks. Here's one, to entice you. It's Sandy, the Great Rift Valley, and myself, taken on the first Sunday we were in Kenya.



Back to Beowulf.

Hi from Kenya! There's so much that I could say, I almost want to say nothing at all. I basically just wanted to let you know that I'm alive and having the experience of a lifetime. If you want to know more details you can visit ubckenya.blogspot.com. I think that's right. If not, just leave a comment and then next time I'll tell you the right address.

Ok, people are waiting on me (I'm at an internet cafe near where we're staying.) I'm out.

Check out this headline to a news article on the msnbc website: Drunk students learn lesson from peeved giraffe. And then underneath, "1.3-ton animal attacks three Lithuanians after they climb into his cage." Awesome. Well, I guess it's not awesome that they were attacked, but it is an awesome headline. Don't worry, no one died.

And it's summer! Woohoo! Oh yeah, I already had my celebratory blog post. I won't bore you with another one.

So there is eight girls' stuff in our apartment at the moment. We have the six of us who live here, and then yesterday Sarah moved all her stuff in (she's moving here and Julia's moving out). And then there is also Elise's stuff, who is living here in the Fall whilst I'm in Italia. Phew. Yesterday was crazy, let me tell ya. All our couches are pushed against the wall and there's lots of boxes and random pieces of furniture in the living room. And a little tree. It's pretty great.

It's not a Christmas tree, just a little tree in a pot.

This time next week I'll be in flippin' AFRICA.

My sophmore year is over.

It's been a really good year. Let's take a moment to be nostalgic and sad.

Hm.

__________________


Ok. Now to be excited. My sophmore year is over! Yeehaa! Man, so much is coming up--Africa, John Mayer/Ben Folds concert, summer school (woohoo!), ITALY, being a Junior. For now, these next few days, I'll just enjoy not studying. I don't know what else I will be doing with myself, but I won't be studying. I'll work some, I'll pack some, I'll read some, but I won't be studying. Holla.

The other day we figured out how to play iTunes wirelessly through the speakers in the living room. It's pretty dang awesome and made studying a lot less painful (except for those roommates who need silence to study. I felt bad for them . . .but not bad enought to turn it off). Rascal Flatts is blaring right now. "I miss Mayberry, sitting on porch drinking ice cold cherry coke . . ." Rascal Flatts reminds me of summer, East Texas specifically, because I bought the CD while I was working at Sky Ranch last summer.

Yum. Summer.

I'm tired of studying. Just flippin' give me a test already. My first one is in 55 minutes, at 2--Religion.

That's all I have to say really. So this post isn't a total waste, I give you a picture of me and two of my roommates plus Shay and Sandy being locked out of our appartamento a couple weekends ago.



This is what happened a few hours prior as we were leaving the apartment:

Somone (I think Molly): Does someone have a key?
Laura: Yeah, I do. (IShe has her purse and so blindly believe her keys are in there. The thought crosses her mind that she should check said purse for said keys, but for some reason, she just doesn't)
And I think you can figure out what happens next. We come back, the door is locked, and no one has a key. So we chill out in the hall for awhile, until Rachael comes back and lets us in. It was kind of fun actually. Really, they should be thanking me for forgetting my keys and the ensuing adventure. It was good bonding. (If you click the picture, it gets bigger and you can better see our wonderful facial expressions)

Classes are now over and dead days are in full swing. My first final is on Friday. I also have exams on Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday, along with a paper due Monday. The following Sunday I leave for Africa (two weeks from this past Sunday). I don't want to even think about packing.

That's my life these next two weeks.

And last night I was trained on wraps at Camille's. I wasn't really looking forward to it, but it was pretty painless.

I feel like I'm on the cusp of so many things and I don't even know where to start. I guess I'll just dive right in.

=========

It's Earth Week here at Baylor. Today people are asked to wear green, or, if they purchased one, the Earth Week shirt. It's green and it has "B(ECO)ME" written on the front a la the Gap "RED" shirts (i.e. DESI(RED)). They were out of smalls, so I had to get a medium, which is rather large on me. I feel like a pillow. Ah well. I only wear it for one class and then go to work anywho.

Sometimes I worry that my peers in my Tues./Thurs. class think I only own khakis, because I always wear them on those days; I usually have to go straight to work afterwards.

So, this time in two weeks class and finals will be over. EEeeeeeee.

So I have this theory--you may have heard me mention it before--that everyone is a snob about something. It's different for everybody--music, food, fitness, clothes, bikes, outdoor equipment, jeans, books--whatever. I believe this to be true, but have had trouble pinpointing the snobbery in me. I sometimes take pride in the fact I listen to some obscure artists, but I also love to jam to artists like Usher and Rascal Flatts, and I don't lose respect for a band when their music is played on a commercial or TRL. So I don't think I'm a music snob. I just haven't been able to diagnose myself, but today I think I've figured it out. I think I'm a sandals snob. I love my Chaco's, Teva's, and Gurkee's. Even when my Chaco's gave me blisteres I enjoyed wearing them merely because I knew they were Chaco's, and they cost sixty bucks (they don't anymore, by the way. give me blisters I mean). I recently found my missing Teva in the back of my closet and so they've barely left my feet since. They're so comfortable and rather cute, but also, they're Teva's. I take pride in having sandals made by respectable outdoor sandal companies. Hi, my name is Laura, and I'm a sandals snob. And I don't plan on changing. I love my sandals. (My Gurkees smell though--they absorb my feet sweat. That's kind of annoying.) I'll probably eventually be an art snob too. I think it's inevitable, being an Art History major and all.

Phew. I just finished an annotated bibliography for my English class. I'm writing a research paper on art restoration. I've found it to be pretty interesting, and now I have a new idea for a future career for me: art restorer. One of the sources for my bibliography is an article about this group of American students who were in Florence restoring art that had been damaged by floodwaters. I was very jealous of them.

I'm glad I'm not Pre-Med. Those people are always studying and when they're not studying they're thinking about studying or freaking out about their grades.

I'm at Common Grounds right now and they're playing a song in which a girl keeps singing, "I was made for you." Well, there are other words, but those are what keep repeating. I don't know if I buy that--that people are "made" for each other, romantically speaking. I don't think there is a guy out there who was made for me and that, with him, I will be complete. I think relationships and marriages and love are well and good, but not the culmination of our exsistence. I don't believe I'm made for any person. Well, I think I'm made for every person, we are all made for each other, and to love each other, but that's another story. I'm talking about romance. It's nice, but I refuse to believe that it's what I'm made for. I hope that it's not, I hope there's more to life than that.

That was just a thought I had. Now to get back to my annotated bibliography

Today turned out to be a really pretty day, weather wise. That's always a nice surprise--when a day starts out raining(ish) and turns into pretty.

I got a chicken caeser wrap from work today that was unwanted because someone changed their order to a low carb chicken caeser wrap and so the girl who was making it said
"Laura, do you like chicken caeser?" And I said,
"What?" because this girl (who is a manager) doesn't usually talk to me if she doesn't have to and the question was unexpected.
"Do you like chicken caeser?"
I said, "Uh, yeah." Still not understanding.
"Then this is yours." She said.
So she put it in a to go box and placed it in the back room. I grabbed it on my way out, hours later, and ate it back at my apartamento whilst watching an episode of Friends. With the wrap, she added the customery field green salad with raspberry vingarette dressing and, to my surprise, a peanut butter cookie. And a napkin. I was touched. A peanut butter cookie and a napkin. Hm.

I just finished a little paper for English. That is satisfying. As was my chicken caeser wrap with a side field green salad with raspberry vingarette dressing and a peanut butter cookie and a napkin.

I should start being more randomly and quietly nice to people. It makes days.

So I am getting super excited about Florence next semester. I have a friend that's over there right now (also named Laura) and I just read through a bunch of her notes on Facebook (it's like a blog, if you're not familiar) and now I can't wait. One thing I was kind of surprised of is that she said in a post from March that she hadn't spent one weekend in Florence, but had traveled around Europe every weekend--Spain, London, Prague, around Italy, Brussels etc. That's amazing.

I've finalized my class schedule for next semester. Wanna hear? Ok. On Mondays I have Literature in European Cultures from 3-5:30 (that's cool, I didn't realize my first class of the week is so late in the day. That could be nice if I'm traveling all weekend.) My next class is on Tuesday, 9-11:30--Renaissance Art in Florence (which includes frequent field trips around Florence.) Then on Wednesday from 6-8:30 I have Italian (but that's up for change depending on the results of my placement test). Thursday I have two classes: Introduction to Classic Photography 9-2:30 and Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Bernini 3-5:30. That will be a long day. And then there's no class on Fridays. Pretty sweet. The classes I'm most excited about are my art history ones. And I think next semester will tell me a lot about how serious I am about Art History, as far as the rest of my life goes. I'll be surrounded by it, and either I will get really tired of it, or enraptured. And either I'll fall in love with Italy and want to do something there later in life (like graduate school or something) or I'll decide it's a cool place to visit, but not to live.

It's going to be such an adventure! I can't even imagine.

And then before that is Kenya. Eeee! I'm so lucky that I have all these opportunities to travel and learn.

April 1st always makes me feel really lame, because I am never able to think of a cool April Fool's joke. Throughout the greater part of the year, I think of myself as a moderately funny gal. But then April 1st comes and I feel all this pressure to do something funny/amusing, and I can't think of anything. I think I'm just more subtley funny. We'll say that.


It's been a buon weekend, by the way (every Friday my Italian professor says "Buon weekend!" which means "Good weekend," because, even though there is a word for weekend in italiano, they usually just say "weekend"--according to her. Oh, and another fun fact [hey Claire]: in italiano, you don't capitalize languages. Like francese and inglese and italiano. See, wasn't that fun?). Friday night we had a Disco at UBC to raise money for our trip to Kenya. It was a lot of fun (see adjacent photo of Sandy and I. I know it looks like I'm reaching for something, but really, I'm stiking a disco pose. And I know, my feet look awkwardly placed. It felt right at the time). Oh yeah, and before that was the crazy stormy weather. That was pretty exciting. The street in front of our apartment building flooded. The water was almost up to my knees in some places. A bunch of people were outside in swim suits, frolicking about. It was amusing--a break from ordinary life. Other than that my weekend has consisted of working and chilling.

Oh! And this morning we had church outside. If you're familiar with Waco, it was near the suspension bridge at an area called Indian Springs, I think. That was really awesome, if a little warm. People were baptised and we partook in communion. And it was beautiful.

And next weekend consists of 4 days and I get to go home. I'm excited about it; I haven't spend much time at home since January. It will be refreshing.

So that's my life right now, pretty much.

I bought a novel the first Saturday of spring break to read in my spare moments and am now completely and unequivocally in love with it. It has enraptured me. It's call Winter's Tale by Mark Heplin. It's pretty long, 748 pages. At first, I bought and was intrigued by it despite it's length, but now the fact that it's so long makes me enjoy it even more because it means I get to keep reading it for a long time.

All this to say that I just read a cool/interesting part on p. 401 that I want to share:
If nothing is random, and everything is predetermined, how can there be free will? The answer to that is simple. Nothing is predetermined; it is determined, or was determined, or will be determined. No matter, it all happened at once, in less than an instant, and time was invented because we cannot comprehend in one glance the enormous and detailed canvas that we have been givien--so we track it, in linear fashion, piece by piece . . .The universe is still and complete. Everything that ever was, is; everything that ever will be, is--and so on, in all possible combinations. Though in percieving it we imagine that it is in motion, and unfinished, it is quite finished and quite astonishingly beautiful. In the end, or, rather, as things really are, any event, no matter how small, is intimately and sensibly tied to all others. All rivers run full to the sea; those who are apart are brought together; the lost ones are redeemed; the dead come back to life; the perfectly blue days that have begun and ended in golden dimness continue, immobile and accessible; and, when all is perceived in such a way as to obviate time, justice becomes apparent not as something that will be, but as something that is.

I think that is beautiful. The whole book is beautiful. The story is so intricate. And, as this above passage suggests, everything and everyone effects it all. You should give it a read.

I got a new watch yesterday, at Target. It's a pretty unexciting watch, but nevertheless, it's my new favorite thing. It has a big, easy to read face that can light up at the push of a button and it shows the day and date. Today is SUN 25. It took me forever to figure out how to set it, but that made the setting of it all the more fulfilling. Oh, and its water resistant up to 30 meters. No deep sea diving for me, I guess.

It's been a pretty good weekend overall. Kinda busy, but good. Yesterday I had a meeting about the trip I'm going to take in May to Kenya and it's gotten me pretty excited. They talked to us about the culture of Kenya and what to expect and how to pack and stuff. It still doesn't feel like I'm actually going, more like it's just some game I'm playing, pretending what it would be like to go. But no, I'm actually going. And also yesterday I put shingles on the roof of a shed with Habitat. It was pretty fun; I got to be on the roof.

I'm having a really hard time finding the motivation to study today.

This morning I've been up early studying for an Art History test(if you're just tuning in, yesterday was Religion). That's what I've been doing for the past hour and a half or so and right now I'm just overcome by how much I love this stuff. I love studying this, it's so interesting to me.

Well, that's all I have time to say. I have academic advising at nine. I just wanted to express that to someone and all my roommates are either asleep or showering.

P.S.
I got a 103 on the religion test! (of course, there a six point curve, but that still means I got a 97.)

I'm usually still sleeping right now, but since I have a Religion test at 9:30, I'm up . . .writing in my blog. Whatev. I think I'll be ok. There are just so many gosh durn popes! All with the same name. There's like five Leos, at least two Urbans, a couple of Gregorys . . .it's just a lot (I like ellipsis.)

And yes, I will eventually put my Breck pictures on facebook, I just haven't felt like it recently. For now I'll put some up here. Not all at once, but I'll put one or two up here and there. In no particular order.

Here's one . It's of Sandy and I at the bottom of a run, waiting for some people to catch up with us so we can catch a lift back up the mountain . . .



Ok, I'm going to go shower now.

So I'm really mad because I just wrote this whole big post with pictures from my ski trip and everything, but there was an error when I tried to publish it. So I lost it.

SO MAD.

I don't feel like doing it again. This is all you get: My spring break skiing in Breckenridge with UBC peeps was a lot of fun. TCBY is yummy. And if you wanna see pictures from this past week, just ask me.

ERG.

I'm at Buon Giorno Coffee right now in Grapevine, TX. It's funny because I just turned in an arguement paper this morning about why Starbucks shouldn't charge for their wireless internet, and here I am, utilizing Buon Giorno's free WiFi. If only Starbucks' was free, maybe I'd be there, giving them my business. But no, they charge flippin' six bucks an hour. Hmph. Buon Giorno is way cooler anyway.

But back to me being in Grapevine--it's my old stompin' grounds. I'm just here for the night to gather my cold weather gear for use this upcoming week when I will be skiing. I'm going back to Waco tomorrow and then leave on Sunday for Colorado. I'm just bouncing all over the place. It's kind of fun.

The weird thing is that my parents are in Hawaii and my brother has his own place, so I'm all by my lonesome. And I'm not even staying at my house, because it's being renovated, but at my parents' apartment. (Hey! Buon Giorno is playing the Crowder Band! That makes my heart happy.) But it's kind of nice being all by my lonesome. I can do whatever I want. Like bum off Buon Giorno's free WiFi while drinking a Mocho Bianca (which is better hot than cold, by the way, I got it cold today for the first time and am a little disapointed.). Tomorrow, in Waco, I'll be all by my lonesome too. All my roommates left today for their various Spring Break adventures, so tomorrow night I'm hanging out with me. I'm actually looking forward to it. It will probably be a little creepy though--being in that big loft by myself. We'll see how it goes.

It's fun to hanging out with myself every once in awhile. I wouldn't want to make a habit of it though, I think I'd get pretty lonely. It's like Jamie Cullum's song, All At Sea . . ."I’m all at sea, Where no-one can bother me, I sleep by myself, I drink on my own, I don’t speak to nobody, I gave away my phone . . . Like a warm drink it seeps into my soul, Please just leave me right here on my own, Later on you could spend some time with me, If you want to, all at sea. . . You don’t need it every day, But sometimes don’t you just crave, To disappear within your mind, You never know what you might find, So come and spend some time with me, And we will spend it all at sea . . ." It's a good song; you should give it a listen. I think you can if you go to his website.

We're learning about the Protestant Reformation right now in my religion class, and I never knew what an interesting person Martin Luther was. According to my book he was "a bright, earthy, energetic, sincerely religious, and bigoted person of enormous complexity." He was passionately anit-semetic and apparently "delight[ed] in making fun of his opponents," calling them things like "stupid ass," and even once referred to the pope as a "maggot bag." That's hilarious. I chuckled when I read that in my book, and I don't usually like to chuckle while I'm reading--I feel it makes me appear crazy. And in response to the threat of excommunication from the Catholic Church, Luther wrote a tract entitled Against the Execrable Bull of the Antichrist. So basically he was calling the pope the anti-christ. Pretty awesome. Except the whole anti-semetic thing. "Luther once wrote that synagogues should be burned, and that Christians were guilty for not killing Jews in response to their having killed Christ." That's pretty harsh, and yes, "bigoted." That goes to show that no matter how brilliant or wise we are, we're still human, we still get stuff wrong. But that doesn't mean we can't used in incredible, revolutionary ways. Like ol' Martin.

And I don't have English today, that's why I'm here in the SUB writing in my blog rather than . . .being in English.

edit:
I was just reading through some of my previous posts and noticed that last Tuesday I also mentioned a pope being referred to as the anti-Christ. I thought that was of note--so I'm noting it. Right now. Note done.

Oh, I would also like to note that niether times was I calling the pope the anti-Christ, both times I was quoting an outside source--my Religion textbook. I just thought it was funny, not to disrespect the pope, just because . . .well, I don't think I need to explain the funniness. And I don't really feel like explaining it, because then it becomes less funny. Ok. Second note done.

I started at Camille's yesterday. I'm a cashier. It's a pretty chill job; I haven't worked lunch yet but I hear that's when its the busiest. I have closed though, twice, and that's not exactly fun. But it's not bad and I'm looking forward to having a little extra change in my pocket.

What should I do with it? (this isn't a rhetorical question)

I really don't have anything else to say. I just felt like you, my adoring public, would like to know how my first days at work have been.

If you know me, and live in Waco, you should definitely come visit me at Camille's sometime. It will make my day. Today, a bunch of my friends showed up for dinner and it was very refreshing.

So I did something this week that I've never done before--I got a job. Well, unless you count Sky Ranch, which is different than your conventional part-time job, which is what I'm refering to. I am now an employee at Camille's Sidewalk Cafe. It was kind of a spontaneous decision. I suddenly have a lot a free time because Sing's over, and I want a job this summer, so I figured--why not start now? So I drove around Waco, looking for "Now Hiring" signs, and that brought me to Camille's. They have wraps and sandwiches and stuff, kinda girly, good eatin'. I applied Tuesday and they told to come in on Wednesday for an interview. So I get there on Wednesday for my interview and the guy says, "Actually, it's not really an interview. Is medium ok?" And he gives me a Camille's tshirt and visor. I start Saturday.

Hopefully I made a good decision with getting a job. When stuff happens this fast I get uneasy. I didn't have time to process what was going on or even decide if Camille's is really where I want to work, it just kind of happened. It'll be an adventure.

And I see Rent tonight. It's coming to Waco for just one night. I'm excited.

edit:
Oh, and it turns out that my Religion teachaer's mother-in-law was having health problems, so he went home to be with his wife. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, see previous post)

And also--Happy March!

So my Religion professor was lecturing today about the Great Schism, and midsentence, a guys walks into class and interupts him, says he needs to talk to him. At the time I thought this was kind of rude. Literally, he was in the middle of a sentence. So they talk out in the hall for a moment. My professor then walks back into the classroom and starts to quickly gather his things together, saying he has to go and that this guy "Scott" will pick up where he left off. No explanation, he just leaves. And so "Scott," who never tells us his name, finishes up Mr. Lane's talk on the Great Schism and dismisses us an hour early.

So we still don't know what's going on. I hope everything is ok. Mr Lane has a two-year-old adopted son and a beautiful wife (I know this because he showed us pictures on the first day of class.) and I hope they're ok. He also wasn't here last Thursday. This guy filled in for him, Will Williams (I know, who gives their kid the same first and last name? His middle name better be good. Sorry if you're Will Williams and you're reading this.) who kept us a couple minutes late, but had on an awesome blue bow tie with white polka dots.

It was a curious turn of events. And now it's 10:24 and class is over for me for the day. Since I dropped my 3D Design class, I have only one class on Tuesday/Thursdays. I'm in the SUB (student union building) now, waiting to eat lunch with Molly.

Anytime someone says the word "Religion" (outside of my religion class) the line of a song plays in my head. It's from We're All In This Together by Ben Lee and goes "And then Relgion, it's a big decision." Really, every time. I always wanna sing it out loud, but I know no one would know what I'm talking about. I'm not saying that to be a music snob "Oh, I'm so cool because no one knows that song and I do," but it's just a fact. Do you know that song? I didn't think so.

Speaking of religion, I was reading my religion book yesterday for my aforementioned religion class and came across a few interesting sentences that jumped out at from from the otherwise boring text, like, "The frightened cardinals soon withdrew from Rome, declared Urban's election invalid, and denounced him as a demon and antichrist." And, "The townspeople outside the cathedral gleefully burned them in effigy." I thought those were some pretty exciting sentences. I underlined them, so the next student who has my textbook will take note of them. They probably will think I underlined them for their scholastic value, but really, it was entertainment value.

I like the use of the word "gleefully."

Sing Alliance made PigSkin! Yay! For those of you who don't know what that means, let me break it down for you: Sing consists of19 7-minute kind of mini-musicals. It's a pretty big deal at Baylor. I was in one of them with the organization Sing Alliance (it's the only non-Greek organization in it). It's two weekends long, six performances in all with different judges every night. The judges score the performances based on things like entertainment value, vocals, choreography, etc. The top eight go on to PigSkin next fall. And we're in the top eight. Yeehaa! And we got People's Choice for Best Backdrop and Best Theme Development. So that's pretty freakin awesome.

It's been a really good weekend. And now Sing is over and I'll have so much free time I won't know what to do with myself.

Someone put our performance up on YouTube. I'm debating whether to put it here or not so you can know what I'm talking about . . . but watching it on YouTube is nothing compared to real life . . . and I don't know If you'll know exactly what's going on. . .eh, what the heck, here it is. I'm a lost kid by the way. And the theme is Peter Pan.

I'm reading through the newest issue of Relevant and wanna share some of this stuff. So here are some random, thoughtful, insighful, interesting blurbs...

from "Jesus Wrecked My Life" by Shane Claiborne:
"I know there are people out there who say, 'My life was such a mess. I was drinking, partying, sleeping around . . .then I met Jesus, and my whole life came together.' God bless those people. But me I had it together. I used to be cool. And then I met Jesus, and He wrecked my life. The more I read the Gospel, the more it messed me up, turning everything I believed in, valued and hoped for upside down."

from "7 Big Questions," which was an interview with "seven core leaders of faith."
This first one is Lauren Winner's response to the question "What is a negative tendency of this generation as it relates to the faith?":
"Our failure to tithe. I hear it all the time: 'I just can't afford to give right now.' I hear that from my middle-class American peers. I wonder, if we 'can't afford' to give now, why not? And if we 'can't afford' to give now, when will we be able to afford to give? I know of nothing that will transform someone's spiritual life more abruptly than beginning to tithe. If we want to learn about dependence on God, tithe. If we want to have our treasure in heaven, tithe. If we want to have any hope of having solidarity with the poor, tithe." (This struck me hard because of the financial state of my church in Waco, UBC. Every Sunday they put in the bulliten how much money is needed to keep the place running and how much money was recieved in the offering the last Sunday. The numbers are embarassing. Like this past week "tithe: $4873.50, needed weekly: $6600." And that's actually more tithe than I've seen in the last couple weeks. Rarely every does it hit the amount that's needed weekly.)

This is Mark Driscoll's response to the question "What do you see as the greatest challenge for young Christians in the next 10 years?":
"There is a strong drift toward the hard theological left. Some emergent types [want] to recast Jesus as a limp-wrist hippie in a dress with a lot of product in His hair, who drank decaf and made pithy Zen statements about life while shopping for the perfect pair of shoes. In Revelation, Jesus is a pride fighter with a tatto down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is a guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can bet up. I fear some are becoming more cultural than Christian, and without a big Jesus who has authority and hates sin as revealed in the Bible, we will have less and less Christians, and more and more confused, spiritually self-righteous blogger critics of Christianity." (I agree in the danger of being a "cultural Christian," because I feel the tendency to do it myself. But at the same time, I know a lot of people who find it easier to worship a "hippie" Jesus making "pithy Zen statments about life" than one with a "commitment to make people bleed")

Relevant is amazing. And they also had a feature article on Ben Folds this issue. That was pretty sweet.

'Tis Valentine's Day. There has never been so many flowers and sweets and baked goods in our apartment at one time. I feel like this is the semester when we will all gain like, ten pounds. (which reminds me of a line in an Alanis Morrisette song "..that I would be good, even if I gained ten pounds..." it's a good song) But then there's Sing, to offset that. It opens tomorrow by the way. Eeee! We had our dress rehearsal tonight and preformed in front of actual people. It was fun, but pretty nerve-wracking. We're always being told to be sharper and happier and "Sing faces!" and how much we have to prove ourselves to everyone and make Pigskin (sorry for you non Baylor people who don't know what I'm talking about. There's like 20-something acts in Sing in the spring and then the best of them, about seven, go on to PigSkin in the fall. It's pretty intense. A big deal) Really, I'm less concerned with making Pigskin and more with just having fun and entertaining the audience. I wish everyone would just stop freaking out and ENJOY IT.

This week is going by s o s l o w by the way. I think it's all the Sing practices. Oh, and I have exciting news (for myself anyway)...I can sleep in tomorrow! My only class is cancelled and I am NOT setting my alarm. Ooooh yeeaah. I haven't been able to do that in so long.

Life is good though. I like life.

Claire got a fondue pot thing (I don't know what they're called) for her birthday which was last weekend (on MY half birthday, the 11th). And we heated up some chocolate and dipped various foods in it and it was GLORIOUS.

Oh man oh man. I'm so full of Rosa's tacos and rice and beans and tortillas with honey and diet coke. So...full. I think I just ate much too quickly. I find when I eat with only boys I eat faster, because they just stuff their faces, and I follow suit. Oh man oh man.

It was worth it though. So good.

So the weather has been absolutely marvelous outside these last few days. Today, I actually ate lunch outside and I actually got hot and the sun was actually in my eyes. It sounds annoying, but really it was great. And I've been riding my bike to class. That's nice. Except when you almost die. But don't worry, I'm ok and it was totally my fault.

Man, I wish I had something incredibly cool and insightfult to say, but I don't, and I usually don't. But then if I did I'd just feel like I was being pretentious. Like "oo, read my blog. I'm so insightful. Look at me."

Whatevs.

This year has been fun, you know? As in sophomore year. It's been fun getting to know these girls I'm living with. It's fun to really get to know a person--all their quirks and idiosyncrasies. What kind of food they like, their sleeping habits, how they act when they like a boy, how they deal with messes, their laugh--little things. The idea of living alone appeals to me, and later I think I'd enjoy it, but right now I can't imagine not being with people. So much happens when everyone is just sitting around studying or getting ready for bed or doing laundry. It's fun.

We're cute.

So my hair caught on fire yesterday. I was eating dinner in my loft with some of my roomies and we lit a candle because the light bulb directly over the table had gone out. Claire had made herself some yummy-looking chocolate-chip pancakes and I was offered a bite. As I was leaning over the table to procure said bite, I began to smell burnt hair. I then looked down and saw the my hair was directly on top of a open flame and that was the source of the awful stench. So I screamed and jumped back. I didn't actually see my hair catch flame, just smelled the smell and afterwards saw the curled, charred ends of a small section of my hair. I spent some time last night going through my hair and cutting the ends that had burned.

My throat is all scratchy, I've been sneezing a lot, and I woke up this morning with a runny nose. I don't want to be sick dag-nab-it.

edit:
And just so you know, the yummy-looking chocolate-chip pancake was delicious.

I got a pleasant surprise today--my 10 o'clock English class is canceled. Well, that's what the class assumes anyway. There was a sign on the door informing the general public that Makowsky's 9am class was canceled, but since Makowsky doesn't have a 9am class...we assumed the sign was refering to us so we stuck around until aproximately 10:04--just to be sure--and then left.

So now I'm at the Student Union Building, wasting time. I didn't anticipate this hour of free time and so didn't come prepared with my Religion book which I should to be reading. Ah well. I'll probably spend some time skipping about the internet (I couldn't think of a better work, so yes, I will be skipping), maybe read the Lariat, The Waco Tribune Herald, write in my blog (check), go to the bathroom. Fun stuff.

I'm was studying for my Italian test today and came across a sentence in my book that reads "Laura non e una cuoca esperta pero se la cava." In English, "Laura isn't an experienced cook but she gets by." And I was like "Wow! That's true! My Italian book knows me so well." The meals I prepare for myself consist of Ramen Noodles, quesadillas, and Lean Cuisines. I like them. I get by.

I always feel like a real art student when I have paint on my hands. I have splotches of grey primer on my hands right now from priming my monolithic ovaloid for 3D Design (I know, its a mouthful). I like to pretend that I'm a hardcore studio art major, when really I'm just a simple art history major who feels more comfortable reading about art than producing it. But today I actually kind of enjoyed Design class nonetheless. I think I'll like 3D better than 2D

This is going to be a long week, I can already tell. It's only Tuesday.

That sculpture is our art teacher's inspiration for the monolithic ovaloid project, just to give you an idea. The only difference is, while his sculpture represents something-a person's head-our don't. They're just designs. Oh, and the sculpture is by Constantine Brancusi.

"WEATHER ALERT - Baylor Closed Wednesday Due to Weather

Jan. 17, 2007
•Posted at 7:54 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 17

Due to the icy road conditions, Baylor University officials have closed the university on Wednesday, Jan. 17. No classes will be held."

Snow Day!!

This is such a cozy day. I'm loving it (not McDonalds). I'm at Common Grounds right now with Molly, sipping on a hot chocolate. When we got here there was only one other patron. It amazing, some might say a phenomenon. We got pretty excited because we had out choice of seats. I'm in the best seat right now, one of the tall cushioned benched in the back. I like knowing what's going on, watching people, being aware of my surroundings, and this is the optimum seat for just that. I can see both the front and back doors and into every room. And I'm in a corner, so I can lean up against the wall and put up my feet. It's wonderful.

I love this weather, until I start to think about the homeless population in Waco. When we got here, there were two homeless guys that always hang around Common Ground sitting in the back room on a couch. Once more people started coming in, they got kicked out, because more seats were needed for paying customers. So now they're outside in the cold. And they were really nice. One of them told me he heard a girl saying they might cancel class tomorrow. I told him that was exciting news. He doesn't go to class, obviously, yet he still seemed excited for us. And the thing is, when I'm in Common Grounds, I'm not usually a paying customer either. A lot of times I just sit and read without buying a drink. I guess it just makes people uncomfortable when they share a couch with a homeless person. I would too, to be honest. It's just a sad reality, poverty. It's easy not to think about. That reminds me of a Derek Webb song, Rich Young Ruler, "Poverty is so hard to see when it's only on your TV or 20 miles across town. We're all living so good. Did we move out of Jesus' neighborhood? Where he's lonely and not feeling so good, going through our trash."

I just realized I put two lids on my hot chocolate. I've been drinking it for like 15 minutes.

edit:
I just read this one this guy's blog:

"For several years I've had this nagging thought, and it's one that many of my friends have shared. If the generations before us believed they were so right about something, even to the point of using biblical texts to justify their hate, then what evils do I, and those like me, hold to that I have no clue about.

If I may take a slightly Catholic (big "C") turn to end this post, I'll just say that as we take this day to honor Martin Luther King, I can only pray that he has compassion on whatever wretchedness is within me that I am blind to, and that, as one of the host of witnesses talked about in Hebrews, will see fit to intercede for me."

I did it guys. Yesterday, along with two of my roommates and some friends, I conquered the rock in the SLC. I made it to the top! It was fun, a little scarey, but fun. It's not that big of a deal, lots of people do it, but it's something I've been meaning to do for awhile but have been too scared to attempt. So I'm proud of myself.


p.s.
I love this weather! Everywhere is so cozy

I'm at Common Grounds right now for the first time since I've been back. It feels so good, like sitting back into an old couch that has your signiture butt groove in it. Like that. It feels so comfortable. And the music is so nice. And everyone is reading or writing or talking. I'm in a really grand frame of mind right now. I feel like this semester will be a good one.

I actually enjoyed my design class today, which I was kind of wary about. It's because I'm not particularly comfortable in studio art classes. I think that I'm capable, but I'm just not as comfortable with everything as say, a studio art major is. These people have been taking art classes like this since high school and are also in drawing and painting and photography and blah blah blah and know the professors and other art students and here I am, a little Art History student, not knowing what's going on. Oh well.

But anyway, back to what I was saying. I'm in a good frame of mind. It's cloudy right now, which I like. Good weather for sitting in Common Grounds and studying (which is what I came here to do, but still haven't done.) I played raquetball (is that one word or two?) for the first time yesterday. That was fun. I'm not so good at it though. And I've decided that I'm going to climb that rock in the SLC. I've never climbed anything, and I've wanted to, but have been afraid of making a fool of myself. Well, I got over that in the last 24 hours and have decided that I will conquer that rock. It is mine! I just have to find someone to climb it with me. I don't want to go there by myself. That's too scarey. Also, Sing Alliance practice is going splendidly. I'm having fun.

Now I guess I'll do some of that studying I mentioned.

So apparently, " In Middle English the word was ekename (from the verb to eke, "enlarge"; compare Swedish öknamn). Later, an ekename developed into a nickname when the "n" shifted through junctural metanalysis." (according to wikipedia) Whatever. I liked my version better.

I also like Baked Barbecue chips.

Well, nothing essentially bad happened yesterday, the first day of classes. No wallets were lost, no bike crashes had. I think this semester will be alright. Nothing exceptionally exciting. Some moderately exciting things, but nothing exceptional. It feels like I never left.

And Sing Alliance practices are in full swing. They're fun. I'm glad I'm enjoying it because it's 2 hours a day, four days a week.
And you will be pleased to hear that my keep-up-with-the-news resolution is in full swing. I've started both today and yesterday with a look at the news. Go me.

I wonder if the first nickname was "Nick" and that is why they are called nicknames. Or maybe Nick was the first guy to make up nicknames for people. "Hey, what did Nick name you?" and Nick knew everybody and was giving everyone little personalized names and so people would just cut out the middle man and ask. "Hey, what's your nickname?"

I'm watching Friends right now. It reminds me of Waco. I'm looking forward to getting back but not looking forward to the studying and busyness.

I bought a Regina Spektor CD the other day with a Sam Goody gift card I got from Santa. I'm really enjoying it. Here's a music video of one of her songs, "Fidelity," for your viewing and hearing pleasure..

In other news, I've decided on a New Years resolution: to be more informed about what's going on in the world, to keep up with the news. Perhaps I should subscribe to some sort of news publication, such as Time or USA today. Any suggestions? I also made the obligatory resolution of getting into shape. I'm really going to do it though and in fact already started a month ago to develop the habit of working out everyday (that was a really awkward sentence). But once I get back to Baylor and become busy again, it will be harder to keep up with it. Wish me luck!

Oh yeah, and happy new year!!