Well, I expect that type of language at Denny's, but not here!

30 September 2007

4:06 AM

~sigh~ Flanders... Gotta love the Simpsons


As of now, I wrote more entries in the first month I had this blog than I've written in all of 2007. Funny how that works out.

~Caution: Graphic and potentially disturbing content. Skip forward if you're squeamish.~

I was getting a little tired of my bruised purple toe, so I took a pair of nail clippers and cut a small piece of skin off. This caused it to drain of all the blood/puss within. I have to say that that's probably one of the most disgusting things my body's ever done. The next day, I kinda did the same thing, but I cut off all of the skin in front of my toenail and ended up with a space between my toe and the nail. I've been putting peroxide in it periodically to prevent infection. It's all dry and safe and uninfected now, but there's still a big enough space for me to fit the tip of a butter knife into. I don't expect it to really go away until the nail grows completely out. I'm kinda surprised the entire nail hasn't fallen off by now. It's interesting how the body works.

~End graphic content~

Last weekend, I decided to stay in and read what I could for my Law, Politics, and Public Policy class. That plan probably would've gone well... if we hadn't had a kickback on Saturday night. Charles had some people over to watch the football game, which we dominated, and afterward, more people showed up and we drank. Because all but one of the guests were Charles' friends and my guest, Phyllis, is from Beijing, I was the only one who didn't speak Chinese. Haha. It was kinda interesting. Instead of being too drunk to understand people, I was simply too white. What was even more intriguing to me was that not a single person present had ever played Kings before. I ended up typing up the rules and printing them out to put on the table for when people forgot what a specific card value meant. In the middle of a game of 'Never Have I Ever,' someone said they had never been to a club. Not thinking about the fact that I've been to a strip club, I left my finger up. That's when everybody wondered aloud how I knew so many drinking games if I had never been to a club. Apparently, people play drinking games in clubs in Asia, lol.

So we barely made it through a single game of Kings, and it took forever to do. After that, we decided to play a free-for-all Beer Pong game. The way it went, we set up a pyramid of cups up to seven in a row and all shot at the same pyramid. If someone made a shot, the person who shot before them would have to drink. We would rerack after the number of cups in the largest row had been made. Somehow, even though I played a super-clutch game at that swim team party a couple weeks before, I managed to not make a single shot all night. I was pretty upset about that.

After all the beer was gone, everybody left. Some people went home; some people went to find parties. I stayed home, cleaned up the apartment, and went to sleep. Thinking about it, I'm not really sure why I didn't leave with everybody else. Maybe it had something to do with all the work I still thought I was going to do that night and the next day. It must've been that. I stayed behind so I could read the first 20-30 pages of To Kill A Mockingbird before I went to sleep. God, how much of a loser am I?

I tried to read as much as I could the next day, but only got within 100 pages of the end of the novel. I finally finished it on Monday night, didn't do much on Tuesday, and read a lot from the course reader Wednesday night. On Thursday morning, at about 5:30, I started writing the essay that was supposed to be due at 9:30 the same day. I skipped my 8:00 Writing 140 class to finish it. That's what was in the last post - that disgusting, horrid jumble of words I claimed to be an essay.

After struggling through that assignment all through Wednesday night and Thursday morning, I decided to go unwind in the quad by tumbling. The muscle in my leg had healed, and my toe wasn't giving me too much trouble, so I just chilled out there for a good two hours. I got pretty close to landing an aerial and I believe I executed a flash kick at one point. I was pretty sore the next day, but it was worth it. On Friday, I went to my single hour-long class from 11:00 to noon and then went to the quad again, but this time to check out this thing that this guy from my apartment complex had told me about earlier in the week while we were playing 8-ball in the CSC. It was called 'The Business of Gaming,' and there were booths setup from companies such as EA Sports, Activision, and Panasonic. Helio had a booth, too, and I finally got to check out the Ocean phone that they offer, which is pretty fuckin' sweet.

When I first got there, I was fortunate enough to get in line early enough to receive a free burrito from Chipotle, since they were kind-of catering the event. I also saw the world's largest plasma television, which has a 103" widescreen diagonal, and is made by Panasonic. A Guitar Hero tournament was played on it, and I'd have joined the competition, but I totally suck at Guitar Hero compared to some of the guys that played. They ran out of time anyway, and eventually cut the tournament short. The winner got a new guitar controller for the game and other players got consolation prizes. I stayed around until the end, and because they had some extra prizes left, I got a dual-controller USB charger for PS3 controllers. It doesn't to me much good right now because I don't have a PS3, but the two USB cables that came with it can be used for anything that fits them and I'll probably be able to make use of it when I get a new PSP in a few months because the new model, along with its capability to output video to a television, will be able to be charged through the USB port.

The rest of my Friday was fairly uneventful, and the only other thing that happened was that this girl Jourdan from the other apartment building came over and we hung out in my apartment for a few hours, just talking and stuff. she fell asleep on the couch, and I eventually crashed out in my bed, and when Charles came back with his friends in the middle of the night, I think she left. I remember Charles' friend Katie sleeping in Charles' bed, Charles being out in the living room until after Katie left in the morning, and when I woke up I found another one of Charles' friends lying across the four dining chairs that he had lined up to make a makeshift bed.

I pretty much did nothing today (Saturday). I watched the USC at Washington game on TV, and because Ron goes to UW, we made a small wager. Because my team won, he has to go to the book store at his school and buy me some kind of souvenir. I was pretty lucky in this bet, considering USC played a pretty bad game this week. We were favored to win by three touchdowns, but we only won by three points.

After the game, I got ready to go out, because I wanted to look for a good party place for when Chris, Niki, and Dallas come down to visit next weekend, but I didn't end up partying because I couldn't find anybody to go with. I got hungry at one point, so I called up Phyllis and we went to Denny's for a late-night meal. In the middle of our conversation, I mentioned that the guys are coming down next weekend. This is where she mentioned that her boyfriend is visiting next weekend. This was the very first time that I was made aware that she even has a boyfriend.

...

I can't wait 'til the day I snap.
...and fuckin' choke a bitch.

Whatever. My friends out here are pretty limited thus far. I need to meet more people. Lots more...

I just about had enough money to buy my Powerizers this week. I was gonna skip a week in paying Niki and pretty much spend absolutely nothing in order to get them. However, after looking online, I decided it would be better to save up and get the newer model of them, so instead of buying what I had in mind, I paid Niki anyway, bought some cologne for Victor for his birthday, and decided to save for another two weeks to get them. No matter what, I will fucking order those Powerizers by the 12th of October.

I dunno what else to write.... Actually, I do, but I better save it for later. It's getting pretty late.

à demain.
Vaniah Juniper Schwenoha

Fucked

27 September 2007

8:37 AM

Well, here's my first written assignment to be turned in for my Law, Politics, and Public Policy course. To be completely honest, this is the absolute worst essay I've ever written. I read as much as I could to try to gain some background before I started, but I really just couldn't generate any ideas. I'll be lucky to get a D- on this paper.

[I'll replace this line later with the prompt]

Vaniah Schwenoha
Professor Jeb Barnes
Law, Politics, and Public Policy
September 27, 2007
Critical Book Review Assignment

The Limit of the Law

Throughout our lecture and discussion sessions, we established that the law and courts are constrained by many factors, and that the promise of the law and courts is consequentially limited by these constraints. By taking these constraints into consideration, we can effectively analyze Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird and the reasons why producing social change is so difficult.

In the novel, the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama is home to a strong prejudiced community where only a few good people treat blacks as equals and the rest of the population treat them like dirt. This racism plays a very significant role in the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man who is falsely accused by Bob Ewell of raping his oldest daughter. Though Mr. Robinson’s intentions were anything but corrupt, and though Atticus Finch’s presentation of evidence thoroughly disproved the possibility of Mr. Robinson’s guilt, the strong bias among Maycomb County inhabitants yielded his conviction simply because he was a black man, and in the Deep South, a white man’s word was always believed over a black man’s word.

The trial itself was greatly influenced by public opinion. Because the community was such a racist one and because a black man is never trusted as much as a white man, no matter how low-class that white man is, the court stood no chance of employing an ‘all men created equal’ point of view, especially with an all-white jury. This illustrates the limit of the law by cultural constraint because judicial power is hindered by strong local convictions.

Further limit is put on the law by doctrinal constraint. Because trial by jury is a constitutional provision, there was not much Tom Robinson could do to receive a fair judgment of the evidence because his jury of supposed peers was composed of white men. Atticus Finch was confident that he would be able to get an appeal after the initial trial, but when Mr. Robinson decided that he was “tired of white men’s chances and preferred to take his own,” (236) he gave up the possibility of having a more reasonable trial and sealed his own fate instead.

The trial did not trigger an immediate change in the community’s treatment of black people, but it did influence the views of a few citizens. Before the trial, Scout Finch’s aunt Alexandra displayed a strong distaste for blacks when she objected to allowing Scout to visit Calpurnia’s house (136). After the trial, however, Alexandra’s concern for Tom Robinson showed her less scathing view of blacks (235). This change in Alexandra’s views was minor, however. Even with her slight increase in sympathy for Mr. Robinson, she still obviously held social standards among classes, as shown when she lashes out against Scout when she talks about wanting to become better friends with her classmate Walter Cunningham (223)

The events surrounding the trial were too influential in some way to members of the community. The night before the trial, when a mob of men went down to the jailhouse to attack Tom Robinson, they were willing to go through Atticus Finch to do so. Scout’s confrontation with the mob, and particularly with Walter Cunningham, however, was enough to make the men think things over. After the trial, Atticus revealed to Scout and Jem that part of the reason the jury was in deliberation for so long was because a relative of Mr. Cunningham’s was on the jury, and Walter’s new respect for the Finch family led that jury member to sincerely consider the facts of the case, as opposed to immediately ruling in favor of the white man. In fact, Atticus Finch’s argument was so strong in this case that many of the jury members could not reach a verdict immediately. I suppose it may have been Atticus’ extensive experience in court, or his status as a repeat player, that resulted in his being named by Judge Taylor to defend Tom Robinson because Atticus was the only man who could keep a jury out so long in such a case (215-216), even if the final verdict was inevitably reached.

Still, some other Maycomb residents were untouched by the court’s attempt to provide equal justice. It seems that those less acquainted Atticus Finch held no sympathy for Tom Robinson’s decided fate or the unfair treatment of blacks in general, as portrayed at the end of the trial when the Finch family made its way through the cheerful crowd (212). Later, too, Scout discussed the hypocrisy of her teacher Ms. Gates, who she knew to be against Hitler, but who she also heard walk out of the courtroom saying, “it’s time somebody taught ‘em a lesson, they were getting’ way above themselves, an’ the next thing they think they can do is marry us” (247).

In the particular case against Tom Robinson, there was not much that could have been done to change the community’s moral tact. Perhaps if the plot had taken a different direction after the trial, Atticus may have been able to appeal and overrule the verdict reached in Judge Taylor’s court. Maybe then would a prominent social change have taken place in Maycomb County. The case would have suffered from less doctrinal and cultural constraint because the ‘referees’ in the logic of the triad (Barnes 9/4/07) would be more detached from the community of the alleged crime.

Reflecting upon it, however, an appeal could carry the possibility of clearing Tom Robinson’s name, but would it really have initiated a community-wide change in social class structure? Without the influence of other institutions, I think not. Similar to the case of Brown v. Board, institutional and cultural constraints would cause a need for congressional and executive intervention (Barnes 9/13/07) to produce a significant change in social norms.

Based on the examples above, we can conclude that the law itself cannot bear social reconstruction simply because it is too restricted. Rather, we must conclude that the law in conjunction with other political institutions stands a better chance of producing the desired result.

Upsetting People

23 September 2007

8:00 PM

So... That last entry touched upon the nerves of a good few people, and it showed when their latest entries included a disclaimer at the beginning telling me to fuck off. That's what I should've expected, really. If I'm going to single them out, I better expect them to single me out. I definitely deserve it. Hopefully nobody holds it against me when we run into each other in Vegas around the holidays. That would make me sad. It would be wrong to regret writing that last entry, however. I promised myself many entries ago that I'd be as honest as I could in here. I'm not gonna blame the criticism on my drunken state, but I will say that it made the criticism a lot more scathing.

Before I left Las Vegas, my friends and I kinda tried to see how many friendships I could ruin prior to my departure. It seems that rant about writing may have done more damage than what I did in Vegas =/

It's really not as disturbing to me as I made it sound, guys... It's just a pet peeve of mine, just like the ones you guys have/had. Sarah used to get mad at me when I would crack my knuckles. Marlena would get mad at me when I'd pick at my scabs. Nothing was ever worth ending friendships over, though. I hope everybody can see that.

Still love you guys, no matter what
Vaniah Juniper Schwenoha

Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth!?!

23 September 2007

1:24 AM

I've wanted to write about this for about a week now, so it should be good that I do it now.

I started writing in my blog again after I left Las Vegas because I kept reading my friends' blogs. That's honestly why I feel the need to write in here. If I'm going to be reading into the lives of my friends, they might as well be reading into my life.

The one thing that gets me though... Almost every blog I read from another person... has some kind of spelling or grammatical error in it.

I realize that people get kinda lazy when they type online, and it makes me seem like an asshole when I correct people, but... I really don't give two shits about being an asshole right now. You guys... You're college students. If you're prestigious enough to get accepted to a university, don't you think you should be capable of proofreading your own writing? You're posting your shit online. Shouldn't it be easy enough to navigate your web browser over to dictionary.com to make sure your word is the correct word? I do that all the time. I know that I'm not superior when it comes to spelling, but at least I verify that I'm using the right words. If you think this is too general of a message, I'll give specific examples. Jessica Williams, they weren't at 'Savors,' they were at Savers. And to Sarah Williams, the monkey is clapping his cymbals together, not his 'symbols.' The only other person that I'm sure checks this when he can is Niki, and I tell him directly when he's got something wrong.

This isn't intended to discourage you guys from writing. I love reading about your days... your nights... your feelings. I just think you should get in the habit of expressing yourselves clearly. When I started emailing people back in the 6th grade, I typed like an idiot. I shortened words from 'to' to '2' and all that jazz, but when my sister finally saw what I was doing, she pointed out that typing in such a way is absolutely pointless. If you're going to communicate with someone, try to make yourself as understandable as possible. It eliminates confusion, and prevents your readers from getting lost in translation, even though you're speaking the same language. Further, you don't have to switch between writing styles when you write essays for class if you practice proper writing techniques outside of class.

What I've also noticed in multiple peoples' writing is the misinterpretation of the words 'then' and 'than.' Please keep an eye on that(, Sarah).

There's a distinct tone in my writing here. If you haven't been able to tell by now, I'll let you know that I've had a little bit of alcohol tonight. Regardless, this is really what I think. I'll write more about myself soon, I suppose.

Sorry if this upset you.
Sorry if I singled you out.
Sorry.
Vaniah Juniper Schwenoha

Systematic

21 September 2007

12:04 AM

I haven't really done anything out of the ordinary lately. It's really making my life a little dull.

A couple weeks ago, I went to the quad and did some tumbling. The people passing by seemed pretty impressed with the simple things I could do... I was, too. I hadn't tumbled in awhile, but somehow, I was able to pull standing back tuck just fine, and for the first time ever, I managed seven consecutive back handsprings from standing position. I also played frisbee with these people when they showed up, and eventually, there were enough people to play a game of frisbee football. After all was said and done, I had probably done about 2½ straight hours of physical activity. Needless to say, I was sore the next day... and the next day... and the next week.

Maybe if I had stretched more, drank more water, taken a hot shower afterward... I'd have recovered faster. I think it was the day after that I was walking down the stairs and my right leg nearly gave out on me completely. I walked it off like it was nothing, but I think that in that stairwell, the strain on my sore leg was too much, and that I pulled something. It's still a little bit sore today, and it was very hard for me to tumble last week. I started taking arnica montana again to try to help it heal faster. I also started taking it again because, on my way to class on Tuesday, I tried to go up some steps in my rollerblades before I had slowed down much, and I stumbled pretty hard on one. I tripped, caught myself in pushup position, picked myself up, and went to class. I didn't get to look at my foot until after I got home later that day, but throughout my classes, I could tell something was wrong. The big toe on my left foot is a very nice shade of purple now. It doesn't make it any easier to rollerblade, either. Most of the time, I crinkle up my toes to take off any pressure directly on top of my toenail.

It's not so much the trouble walking and rollerblading that I have a problem with. I'm just a little disappointed because I can't tumble. I don't know the facilities around here, so I don't know where to find a trampoline I can jump on; it'll cost me $15 a session if I want to dive at the pool near my apartment; There aren't any padded floors around at my disposal that I'm aware of. Tumbling in the quad is really my last resort for satisfying my desire to do flips. At least, it's my last resort until next week, when I'll likely have enough money to buy a pair of Powerizers. I'm definitely looking forward to that. If you don't know what they are, look 'em up on YouTube.

I'm procrastinating right now. I'm probably at least 100 pages behind in reading that needs to be done for my political science class, not to mention that I need to read To Kill A Mockingbird again and write a 4-5 page essay on it. It's okay, I guess. I'll get around to it sometime this weekend.

Brittney Rufkahr texted me earlier. It was rather rude of her. Here's how it went:
§
~Me and all ur friends are in a movie lol miss ya
•Fuck you lol
~Hahaha sorry USC man
•Yeah, well, just remember that I'm the one that informs everybody about these tickets
~Huh? lol
•You saw Eastern Promises, right?
~Yeah, but I got the tickets from my mom
•Everybody else usually gets them from the promotions I tell them about
~Lol well you aren't here V! =P
•Thanks for elaborating on that, cunt, lol

That doesn't mean I don't still tell them about things
~Ok vagina
§

Funny how she QQ's about how she had to stay in Las Vegas for college, yet taunts me by rubbing it in my face that I'm away from my best friends.

My brother Victor's birthday is on Monday, and I don't know what to get him. I asked what he wanted, but the only thing he suggested was that I come and visit. I don't know if I can afford to do that right now. If it happens, it won't be this weekend.

My roommate's going out with this asian girl from the other apartment building. Her name's Chihiro. They're pretty cute together. She has a boyfriend back home, in... Japan?
=X
I need to ask my roommate how he enticed her. I may attempt a little of the same approach with that girl Morgane. I'm not countin' on anything just yet, though. I still need to meet and hang out with more people, period.

Well, I'm running out of things to talk about.
Auf wiedersehen, Mieke.

Vaniah Schwenoha

Moment of truth

18 September 2007

9:16 AM

Well, I just turned in my first collegiate essay for a grade. I hope it does well. I figured I'd post it in here just so everybody could take a look. I'll let you know what kind of grade it receives when I get it back. For now, enjoy.

Liberty and Justice for Me

The law, as defined by Aristotle, is “reason unaffected by desire” (Aristotle 3). This definition describes the standard under which legal systems should be based, but is hardly a truthful depiction of the legal system in America. Opposition to Aristotle’s claim is present in media characterization of the legal system, and is often the focal point of many story lines of movies and television shows. Movies such as Fracture and The Shawshank Redemption are prime examples of movies with characters who let their desires interfere with their roles as preservers of the law. Characters like these, who rank personal satisfaction above unbiased justice, diminish our confidence that the American legal system is capable of treating all judicial cases equally and seeking the truth in order to identify the guilty without punishing the innocent.

Legal procedures are systematic, and are designed as such to avoid inconsistencies in legal cases. Aristotle’s perception of working law implies this. For a society to secure equal rights for its citizens, procedures must be implemented that ensure fair treatment and protection from extreme measures. The legal system provides orderly dispute resolution as an alternative to self-help, which often plays off of emotions and individual perceptions of justification, as opposed to the law’s neutral views of justice. American people need to know that the law has regulations in order to confide in it to settle their conflicts with others.

Ideally, the attributes described above help describe a perfect legal system. However, as many know, we do not live in a society with a perfect legal system. Popular media suggests that, in an economically motivated society, even our supposed protectors of the law are willing to trade money for justice.

In Fracture, DDA William Beachum exchanges more challenging cases with coworkers for his own benefit. He claims that his exchanges are justified because, for every case he passes to someone else, he picks up two or three cases in return, thus lightening the load for his fellow associates (Fracture). In all actuality, even though Beachum picks up more cases and makes more work for himself, the alternative cases are easier to win. The real reasoning behind Beachum taking his associates’ cases is that, if he can trade off one tough losing case for a couple easy winning cases, he can still make himself look good. With a higher conviction rate, Beachum lands himself in a position at a new law firm that pays more and gives him a better image.

William Beachum’s methods may help him financially, and they may also bring forth justice upon the criminals he convicts, but his passing of tough cases to those who might not be as prepared or experienced as him also carries the possibility of obstructing justice. The law promotes equal rights for all, but cannot provide absolute equality when more capable lawyers pass on cases simply because they desire not to damage their political careers.

Similarly, money tempts members of the legal system to abolish moral values and judicial ethics. Warden Norton in The Shawshank Redemption does so when he denies further investigation into the murder of Andy Dufresne’s wife solely because Andy runs the warden’s books and launders the money made through deals between Norton and labor companies (Shawshank). As a result of Norton’s desire for money and a competent accountant to handle it, the law’s objective of uncovering the truth is brushed aside. This, along with the example of William Beachum’s personal interests in Fracture, adds to the popular characterization that members of the legal system are concerned less with equality and justice and more with earning a quick buck.

Further than the aspect of selfishness in regards to being money-driven characters, popular media also depicts protectors of the law as people who seek their own personal satisfaction when dealing with court cases. These individuals disregard the systematic procedures inherent in equal justice and also act against advisement of their superiors because their egos interfere with their conduct as professionals in their respective fields of work.

After William Beachum secures his seat at a new law firm, he gets lazy about his duties under his current employer. In court, the defendant, Ted Crawford, manages to surprise Beachum with shocking information that destroys what he thought was a textbook murder case. As a result of his humiliation in court and Crawford’s aggressive taunt tactics, Beachum refuses to be taken off the case by his boss. He just can’t let himself be played by Crawford, so he risks both his current job and his new job for a chance to prove himself to others as the man who can convict Crawford.

With this, popular media introduces a haughty characteristic of lawyers, thus portraying them as men and women with a desire to validate their capabilities among themselves and others. This can bring down our view of the legal system because lawyers who seek solely to test their skills could be in over their heads, and thus less capable of working effectively to uncover the truth.

Fracture contains yet another exposition of selfishness, present in the character of Lieutenant Robert Nunally. As the secret lover of Ted Crawford’s wife, Jennifer, it is understandable that he be particularly aggressive when restraining Mr. Crawford after discovering the woman’s lifeless body. Though, when the police prepare to take Crawford’s confession, Nunally insists on being present, regardless of the possibility that the confession could be considered a coerced one, and rejected by the court as evidence. Here, emotion plays even more of a role than in the previous examples and arguments. Lieutenant Nunally loved Jennifer – so much so that he couldn’t put his mind to rest without being witness to her killer’s written confession. Due to his desire to satisfy his emotional needs, Lieutenant Nunally neglects routine procedures and defaces possible evidence. Ted Crawford is later able to claim that he was under duress when giving his confession because the man who had just beaten him was in the interrogation room.

The lieutenant meant no harm to the judicial process by being in the room while Mr. Crawford gave his confession, but as stated earlier, the law has strict regulations that attempt to prevent false conviction. Because duress is addressed in these regulations, this popular characterization of the legal system affirms that cases are treated equally, but surely negates confidence that the legal system seeks the absolute truth. All evidence initially perceived to be “pretty damning evidence” (Fracture) turned out to be useless in this case, all because of one man’s desire to appease his grieving soul.

When Aristotle made his claim about the law, it was profoundly idealistic. Realistically, however, law is reason bombarded with desire. Genuine courts in America may not be as dramatically affected as the courts depicted in popular media, but through analysis of movies like Fracture and The Shawshank Redemption, our confidence in a consistent and pure legal system in America is surely diminished by characters who base their actions on personal wants and desires.

Works Cited

“Aristotle.” Wikiquote. 8 September 2007, 16:55. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 15 September
2007. .
Fracture. Prod. Charles Weinstock. Dir. Gregory Hoblit. Perf. Billy Burke, Ryan Gosling, and
Anthony Hopkins. DVD. New Line Cinema, 2007.
Shawshank Redemption, The. Prod. Niki Marvin. Dir. Frank Darabont. Perf. Morgan Freeman,
Bob Gunton, and Tim Robbins. DVD. Warner Home Video, 1999.

College

16 September 2007

3:53 PM

*Disclaimer: Make sure you have time to read all of this. It's 5½ pages long

Let's pick things back up where we left off.

Niki lost the money. You can read about it in his blog if you want. That is, if you know where his blog is... Oh well. I still think we should've given money to my mom after that so she could win some for us, but I guess after losing so much money, the group was in no position to put up more. I called Chris a couple days after they came back and he told me that Niki just said he had it under control. I don't mean to be calling my best friends inconsiderate, but I really think Chris and Dallas should be helping Niki come up with the money to pay his mom back. I mean, his mom's the coolest, and she was generous and understanding enough to rent us multiple hotel rooms over the past few months. On top of that, Niki's even more pro. The least we could do is help out. I guess I'm the only one who sees it that way. I'm transferring him $100 a week until I pay him $500, and I might even put up more than that if what he tells me is true, and he's going to end up paying his mom $3500-$4000 in the end. Meanwhile, Chris just bought an XBOX 360 and a 32" HDTV. I guess that's cool and all, and it's something Niki gets to use too, but... I dunno. I just feel like my friends gave Niki the ass-end of the stick here. He doesn't deserve that, and I thought I knew my friends better than to do that to him.

I can live with not confronting them about it, I guess. I figure I'll write all my stuff in here, and if they read it, then they'll know, but if not, then... ignorance is bliss.

Okay, back to the whole "I'm not in Kansas anymore" aspect of my life...

Two days before I left, I started packing all of my stuff. I had a lot more to take than I thought. I spent that entire day and most of the next day packing. I told Laura I'd make time to see her my last night in town, so nearing the evening, I cleaned up as she was on her way over. However, I also told Joey to come over and pick up his computer before I left. He said he'd come over with Mike Neel on their way to The Spot, the hookah lounge near my house. Well, I get out of the shower to find Mike, Joey, Chris Yi, Brennan, Justine, Sarah Fulco, Soli, and Laura all in my room. Don't get me wrong... I love my friends... I just didn't expect them to stay so long while my girlfriend was over.

We chilled for awhile, but after I realized that nobody was planning on leaving soon, I just snuck out of my room and into my brother's and texted Laura, telling her to join me. We hung out as long as we could, but eventually, she had to leave and try to make it home by her mom's set curfew. That was the last time I saw her in person... I remember seeing her car stop at the end of the street for longer than it should've. In my mind, I just see her breaking down, like I did when I wrote my last post and thought about everything I was leaving behind in Vegas. I really wish I could say she never did that. I don't want her to feel like that.

After everyone left my house, I finished packing. I couldn't possibly fit anything more into our rental car than I did. And to think.. I was thinking about taking a desktop computer with me as well. That would never have fit. In the middle of the night, with my dad asleep and my mom at work, I left the house in the rental car. I went first to Mitch's house, to pick up my stereo's subwoofer, to drop off some of his stuff, and to say goodbye to Mitch and Sexton. We caught up on some stuff while I was there. They told me they've been offered full-ride scholarships to go to college in Hawaii for cheerleading. That's awesome. I like to think I contributed to their continued education by being the first of us to become a cheerleader and breaking the barrier. But that's just arrogance.

I left Mitch's house and went to Dallas' to hang out with him one last time. Nobody realized I was leaving so early in the morning.. Neither did I, until my parents told me they wanted to. I took him back to my house so I could finish packing, then I had to take him home. We said our goodbyes, and as I drove away, I could see him in the mirrors, just sitting outside his front door, losing it.

That was it. That was my last day in Las Vegas.

My parents and I loaded up everything and drove off. I fell asleep before we were out of town and I woke up in a new city - in a new life.

Checked in, took my stuff up to my apartment, met my roommate. He's pretty cool. His name is Charles, and he's from Singapore, but he went to high school in Monterey. He seems to come from a wealthy family. He drives an '07 Range Rover, which helps me because I have no car. He also has a Bathin' Ape polo. I thought that was pretty pro. He's an economics major. Not too bad.

The first week here was Welcome Week, full of all kinds of activities to keep the new students busy. I'd have to say that the best things were the dance in the quad, the concert with June, The Higher, and Mae, and the comedy show with Ant and Bobby Lee. It was good to hear a hometown band playing here. The Higher's last song was Insurance, and recorded it for my friends. There was a good looking girl at the concert - Morgane - and I stayed until the end because I wanted to talk to her. In a new place like this, where nobody knows anybody, I figured it couldn't hurt to approach anybody without feeling like a creep. After the concert ended, I walked up and told her I couldn't help but notice her. I asked if she wanted to go to lunch sometime. She told me she had a boyfriend, but we agreed to be friends if nothing else, so we introduced ourselves. As soon as I got back to my apartment, I looked her up on Facebook. Turns out we live in the same apartment complex.

The first week of classes went well, I suppose. We didn't really do a lot of work. Apparently, when events go off on the calendar on my cell phone, they disable the alarm. As a result, nothing went off on Thursday, and I woke up at 9:00 when I had a class starting at 8:00- Writing 140. I also had to turn in a diagnostic essay for this class, which I had stayed up to finish the night before, so as soon as I woke up, I printed my shit out, threw on my rollerblades for the first time since I've been here, and rushed down to the classroom. I showed up just in time to walk with the class to see where my instructor would be holding his office hours. As we walked, I turned in my paper. It was lucky that my Law, Politics, and Public Policy professor had cancelled class this day, because otherwise, I wouldn't have had the extra hour to go back and shower before my next class.

My classes are alright. I have:
•Calculus I
•Introduction to Computer Engineering/Computer Science
•Engineering Freshman Academy
•Law, Politics, and Public Policy
•Writing and Critical Reasoning

The first three aren't bad, but the last two are my GE classes. I'm required to take courses in given fields in order to graduate. There are six categories, but political science and writing courses are linked, so I guess it's good that I'm taking care of them now. I get the feeling I'm going to do worst in these two classes, especially since there's so much reading to do for them. I was thinking about transferring out of Calc I into Calc II because I scored higher on my placement test than this other guy I know here, who's in Calc II, and because I'm kinda bored with what we're doing in Calc I, but I figure it'll be decent review of everything I learned last year and it'll get me more acclimated to college courses because it involves more proofs than we did in high school. Besides, it's only a semester.

Well, let's talk about the party scene here...

The first Saturday after classes started was the day of our first football game. It was a home game against a team we were guaranteed to beat. Apparently, we haven't lost a single home game in years. I walked over to campus to check things out, and it was exactly as these upperclassmen in my apartment complex told me. The entire campus is a party. People are setup everywhere with TVs to watch the game, lawn chairs, barbecues, and drinks. I could've gotten a few beers if I wanted, but I wasn't really feelin' it at the time. It's okay. I made up for it later in the night.

Charles, a couple of his friends, and I went back to my apartment to watch the game. Decent-sized TV and surround sound stereo ftw. Later on, Morgane and her friend came over to watch some of the game, too. We won, but we didn't beat the point spread, so it was an okay game. Mind you, the point spread was -48 for USC, and went up to about -50 or -51 at half-time. I'm glad Niki got me into betting on games for that little bit of time during junior year, because I felt pro explaining the concept of the point spread and the over/under, and I felt that I needed to be the one to explain it, since I'm the one from Las Vegas.

Eventually, we got bored of the game we had already won, so we decided to leave and go to frat row to find a party. We got lost a bit.. walked too far north and not far enough east. We finally got there, and walked to the Beta Omega Phi house. This house is the asian frat house. It's pretty much the farthest house east on the row, so it was farthest from my apartment. We got there, and the girls got in free, but they were charging $30 each for the guys. Charles and I only had about $11 each on us, so we had to walk all the way back to our apartment to get more money. After we picked that up, we decided to drive back. I thought it amusing to find out that my roommate, who went to high school in California, doesn't know how to parallel park well at all. He ended up getting out and letting me park his car. It's a good thing I learned how to drive in reverse so well back home.

We parked pretty far from the Beta house, but it was still better than walking the entire way from the apartment. When we got back to the frat, I told the guy at the door, "for $30, I should be getting valet service and a shoe-shine." That's when the guy told me they were now charging $60 each to get in. Yeah, I know... Even I was getting stretched at $30. There was no way I was going to pay $60. Luckily, nobody had changed shifts, so the guy at the door was the same guy who told us we needed $30. He knew we had to go all the way back to our place just to get $30, so he let us in for that much.

Fuck paying that much to get in there. They have people behind tables running the drinks, so I can't just take what I please without feeling like a greedy asshole because I have to ask for it before I get it. Granted, I can probably ask for whatever I want, since the cover charge is so high and they told me at the door I could have unlimited drinks, but still... And even though they've got a pretty decent dance floor and a DJ to go with it, the girls there like, don't dance with people unless they know you. I got bored after 15 minutes, so I went back out to the front yard, then decided to go toward the back of the house because I saw a game of beer pong going on.

Well, it was easy to get back there, but it turned out that behind the frat house, there are four apartments connected to it that just get rented out to whoever. These people playing were cool, though. They said they used to be part of the frat nextdoor, but they got kicked out at the semester. Since I wasn't having much fun inside the Beta house, I just chilled with these people and watched them play. They were already all wasted, and I wasn't even buzzed, so I didn't really start having fun until I got in on a game. The frat party was over before my games, so I told Charles to meet me and join a game. Turns out, this guy's never played beer pong before, either. I had to explain the general rules to him.

The rules here are a bit different than the ones I've played, at least at this particular place. In Vegas, girls can blow the ball out if it's spinning around the cup and guys can finger it out. Here, only the girls can blow, and fingering isn't allowed. Here, there's a rule that if you shoot and the ball rolls back on the table and you pick it back up, you get to shoot again, but you have to shoot behind the back. I almost made a shot behind the back. It actually hit the cups, which I guess doesn't happen often here. In Vegas, you start with ten cups, re-rack at six, and then re-rack after each cup is made. Here, you only get two re-racks per game, but you can do them whenever you want. I saw a team re-rack at seven, with a pyramid and one attached to a side. It was weird. In Vegas, if both teammates make the same cup, that's game over. Here, it's a bomb - the cup made plus the adjacent cups, up to four extra. Then there were some other little things like having to say "I'm warming up" after you make two cups in a row and then "I'm on fire" after you make three in a row.

So, at the end of the night, these guys let me drink their beer through three games. I owe those guys. Charles beat me because he played basketball in high school. Fuckin' hustler, haha. We finally left late into the night, and Charles didn't want to get caught driving drunk, and wanted to walk home, but I convinced him that we could just take the backstreets and we'd be fine. We were fine, but the funny thing was that in the parking garage, he parked, but then wanted to straighten it out, so he backed up... and just lightly scraped his driver-side mirror against a pillar. I lol'd. He said the next day that the mirror was fine. I wanna throw in here that the parking garage in my apartment complex scares me. The clearance is only six feet, so when I run through it, I feel like I'm going to slam my head into a pipe or something. When I was moving in, my dad's friend Les and I had to stand on the back of the Expedition when we drove through the garage so it wouldn't scrape the pipes hanging down.

Anyway, that was two Saturdays ago. Last Saturday, I went with this girl Jourdan to a party that the swim team was having. It was pretty cool. It wasn't too crowded at first, but near the end, it was extremely full. They must've gone through five or six kegs while I was there. I got one fuckin' game of beer pong in with Jourdan as my partner, but she wasn't that good, so we lost. I was actually doing really good that night. When our last cup got hit, we had two left on the other side, and I sank the first and hit the second one, so my shot was going pretty good. If I had brought us into overtime, I would've shit myself.

We lost two these other two freshmen, who happen to be members of the dive team. I talked to one guy about his list of dives, and it very much discourages me to have ever even thought about being good enough to make the team. My list has a front 1½ with a full twist, a front 1½ pike, a front 2½ tuck, a back 1½ pike, a reverse 1½ tuck, and an inward 1½ tuck. His list has a front 2½ pike, a front 3½ tuck, a back 2½ tuck, a reverse 2½ tuck, an inward 2½ tuck, and I think a better twisting dive than I have. I was looking around on Facebook and I found out that my dive coach over the summer actually knows this guy. She dove with him at Mission Viejo.

Well, the swim team party got broken up by DPS (USC's Department of Public Safety), so Jourdan and I walked down to frat row to find another party. On the way, we ran into this girl Andrea, who lives across the hall from Jourdan. We all went to see if those guys from the week before were playing beer pong, but nobody was there, so we just went to the Beta party again. I only had $21 on me, and was only able to get $10 from Andrea, which I still owe her, so they let me in for $31 instead of the $40 they were charging this time. My roommate said he was there earlier in the night, and they were charging $25. Gah. Well, this time was better, because I was already decently tipsy when I got there, we had a few drinks inside, and I danced with Jourdan for quite awhile. Things went pretty well. We walked one of the girls' friends back to her place because she would've been alone otherwise and it was farther than our place. We hung out there, stole some condoms from the bag outside the RA's door there, and walked back to our apartment complex. I said goodnight to them and went back to my place to call it a night.

Well, there's the summary of the last few weeks for you. Let's get a little more into the other stuff.

Laura has been having a really hard time being away from me. She left a voicemail the other day crying. I feel really bad for her. I mean, I miss her, yeah, but there's not a lot I can do about it all the way over here. She gets frustrated when we run out of things to say to each other, and she keeps asking me the same questions for the sake of keeping contact with me. A few times a week, she'll call or text me at 11:11 and tell me to make a wish. Every time she does, my wish is that she'll find another guy to be happy with, because being bummed out all the time really isn't good for her. Like I said before, I want her to have the best senior year, to make up for how much time I wasted during mine, all cooped up in my room doing homework and not going out with my friends.

Thinking about it, I kinda do the same thing here. I stay in the apartment most of the week trying to do homework, and I stay in much of the weekend, too, just because I want to get things done. I'm gonna try to change that up a bit. I need to go out to eat more on weekdays, so I can go with friends and hang out. I need to start going farther from campus to learn more about the area, but I need to go with friends so we have strength in numbers and don't get mugged or shot at or anything like that. I also need to know more about the surrounding area because I don't want my friends being bored here in the apartment if they're gonna come all the way down here to visit sometime in the next month, like they say they want to.

If I can think of more to say, I will. But for now, I've been writing for the past two to two and a half hours, so this should be enough to hold you over.

Best regards,
Vaniah Schwenoha