Come Together

28 October 2007

3:51 PM

Well, I was right about last weekend. I just watched the football game on Saturday afternoon, went to Smart & Final and Ralph's to get some groceries, and sat around the apartment the rest of the weekend, partly just slacking off and chilling, partly trying to read some of the material I should've known about for my midterm. On Monday, I took my Powerizers out again, just for the hell of it. I took them about half a mile away or more to the closest McDonald's, where I had lunch. It was the first time I had taken them outside the apartment complex and not fallen. I was pretty stoked about that. Though, I will still be wearing protective gear when I get it, just because I don't like being scabbed and bruised everywhere. Later in the night, a friend, Kathy, and I made plans for dinner. When she came over, we didn't know what we wanted. We were gonna order something from http://www.dormroomdeliveries.com/, but we couldn't decide on what to get, so we ordered a pizza instead. We ate it while watching The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. She said she wanted to watch it because her boyfriend was reading it, and always talked about it. I lent her my copy of the book to read, too. I should probably re-read that novel, because I can't remember all of it. I think I a lot of the book was in the movie, but I don't remember if the endings were the same. Even though I probably would've been better off reading and studying instead of watching a movie and chit-chatting, I enjoyed the company.

On Tuesday night, there was another presentation in Bovard Auditorium that I had to go to for my WRIT 140 class. Well, since I didn't have to carry anything with me to it, I decided to take my Powerizers, haha. Because so many people ask about them when I go in public with them, I made some sort-of unofficial business cards to hand out so people could remember them more easily when they wanted to look them up online. Here's what they look like:
I cut out about 25 of them initially, and I'm down now to about 3, haha. However, with as many as I've handed out to curious people, I haven't seen any of them add me on Facebook or MySpace yet. That kinda sucks, because I'm still looking for more friends, but whatever. When I got to the auditorium, I was allowed in with my Powerizers, but when I got up near my seat on the top balcony, I was asked to leave them with the ushers so they wouldn't take up a lot of space around me in the seating area. Well, the presentation was alright. It was about rap and hip-hop music, like the last one, but even though this one had more variety in it, like a DJ, some interpretive dancing, and a fellow Trojan singer, it didn't interest me as much as the debate from last time. I think it was partly because the acoustics on the top balcony aren't that great, so I couldn't clearly hear everything the speaker was saying. Last time, I was way up in the second row, and could hear everything.

After the speaker series, I went down to Parkside to get dinner before going back home to study. Handed out some more cards to people I passed, talked to one guy who had seen them before and claimed he's wanted a pair for awhile, and gave him a little demonstration as I jogged away. Dinner wasn't bad, but I didn't get to finish, because there was a fire drill. Ugh. They gave me a ticket so they would know that I was there initially, and not to charge me for another meal, but I had eaten enough by then, so I figured I'd just go home and have some Easy Mac or something if I got hungry again. Plus, with so many people outside because of the fire drill, it was a perfect time to strap up my Powerizers and strike interest. I didn't stick around long after I got them on, but I could tell everybody was staring at me... Mainly because I was standing at least a foot above everybody else, and could see their faces, haha.

Wednesday was fun because it was the first day I took my Powerizers to class. Well, only one class... I went to Calc and Intro to CECS in my rollerblades, but then came back for the hour and a half between Intro to CECS and my Engineering Freshman Academy class so I could take them. I took what I thought I might need in a small briefcase, but from now on, if I need to take anything, I'm going to try to wear it on my back, because the briefcase kept getting clipped on the 'risers whenever my leg came up. Hopefully I'll gain more stamina as I use them more and more, because so far, I haven't been able to run for long periods of time without having to stop and walk for a minute to catch my breath. I also work up a good sweat whenever I run a lot, so I need to figure out how to go out on these and not show up somewhere dripping wet and smelling like shit. I kept my 'risers on and sat on a table near the door until most people in the class showed up, just to spark some interest, haha. The professor thought they were awesome when he saw them, and said he wanted a pair. I can't wait until a few weeks from now, when I can take the class outside and demonstrate a flip or two.

Wednesday night was where the school week started going downhill fast. I tried to read up for my midterm, but couldn't keep my mind on what I was reading because I was so tired, so I took a nap for an hour or two, woke up at about 11:00 or 11:30 at night, and then read and studied until about 4:00, when I finally went to sleep. I then woke back up at about 7:30 to study some more. Luckily, my WRIT 140 class was cancelled because we were doing conferences this week with the instructor, so I had an extra hour to study before POSC, and the dreaded midterm. Overall, I don't think it was as bad as I was making it out to be. I failed to mention a few key terms in my identifications, but I think I also hit on a good majority of the material that I was expected to know about. I debated going to Calc afterward, but went anyway, just to hand in my homework. Honestly, I don't have to pay much attention in the lab sessions for Calc if I finish my homework beforehand, because the TA pretty much just does our homework for us on the board. I didn't do anything for the rest of the day, because I wanted to wind down a bit before going straight back into work. I even went to the engineering school's talent show at 6:00, which wasn't bad. Most acts were singing, instrument-playing, or dancing, but a few acts were decent. One of the frats had a bunch of engineers come and crank dat Soulja Boy as an act, which was kinda funny, but I don't think anybody really knew what they were doing well enough to make it look good. After the first two runs of the chorus, the entire thing fell apart because the music changed beat and the dancers didn't. It was really poorly organized. Whatev. At least I got some free nachos and cotton candy.

At night, I napped again, then stayed up late researching and prewriting for my net neutrality essay, taking naps somewhere in the middle. I just about finished everything I intended to have ready for the conference by about 11:00, but was too fed up with my work to go to class, so I skipped Calc for the second Friday in a row and took another short nap. Then I got ready for my conference, which was at 12:50. I'd say the conference went well. The instructor changed the schedule around so each student would have a 20-minute conference instead of a 15-minute one. Last conference, I don't even think I made it to the end of 15 minutes before I was out of stuff to talk about, but this time, I was surprised that I had taken up the entire 20 minutes, even though I told him at the beginning of the conference that because of all the studying I had to do for POSC, I had only started researching and writing the day before/morning of. I think everything went better because I'm way more interested in net neutrality than political cartoons. I'm sure it's an engineering thing, since this new topic atually has something to do with computers.

After the conference, I dropped my backpack off in the apartment and headed down to the E-quad (engineering quad) for Viterbi Spotlight, which was this thing for freshman engineers that promoted each engineering field with the intent to gain interest from people who weren't sure what they wanted to do. I only checked out the computer science, electrical engineering, and industrial engineering booths. Electrical engineering seems pretty cool. One of my professors who was there said that if I really wanted to work with hardware fabrication, I could go either way, into CECS or EE. After I finished checking out the booths, I grabbed some free food that they had. The event was catered by Earle's Grill, and I had a cheeseburger and some chili-cheese fries. They were pretty good. I talked to one of the Freshman Academy coaches, Harry, who graduated from Clark High School in '06. He said he's not going back to Vegas for Thanksgiving, but his roommate might be going, so I might be able to hitch a ride home with him, which would save me a lot of money. We'll see how that turns out.

After the barbecue, I came back to the apartment to drop off my rollerblades and strap on my Powerizers again. I went down to the quad on them and then took them off to tumble in the field. The grass was wet, which wasn't nice for tumbling, but I managed. Eventually, some familiar faces came by with frisbees, and I threw around with them for at least an hour. I'm getting a bit better at throwing with different techniques, which is cool. After everybody left, I went to Jamba Juice and then back home to shower and rest. I kinda wanted to see Saw IV, but really was okay with going out to see any movie at all. Jourdan was down to go, but of the three movies playing at the closest movie theater, she wanted to see The Comebacks. We waited until the next showtime to go, but when we finally left, I double-checked Fandango and found out I was wrong about the time, and that we were half an hour late for The Comebacks, which started at 9:30, and actually on time to see 30 Days of Night at 10:00. Well, she was fine with seeing that movie, but our plans went to shit once again when we got there to find out that they only took cash. This was a problem because I didn't have enough money in my bank account to make an ATM withdrawal and she didn't have enough cash to spot me, so she returned her ticket and we just headed back to my place and watched Chasing Amy. Afterward, we were gonna drink, but with it being just us two, it didn't really seem like a fun idea, so we just talked and hung out until we got tired. She crashed out on the couch, and left in the morning sometime.

Woke up on Saturday and watched the game, which I usually do whenever it's televised and I don't have other plans. We lost again, which sucked. I was sore from the previous day's activities, so I didn't plan on going out to do anything, but I eventually ended up going out. Alex, Dallas, and Alexa drove out to go to Knott's for the annual Halloween Haunt. Since Knott's is only 25 miles away from me, they came and picked me up to go with them. I was still broke, so Dallas paid for all of my stuff. I'll pay him back within the next two weeks. We had a bit of trouble getting in, because Alex, Dallas, and Alexa had tickets, but the event was sold out by the time we got there and I was too sore and too much of a chickenshit to try to sneak in and make a run through the crowd to avoid getting caught by security. Dallas and I walked around the entire park looking for an entrance, to no avail. As we were scouting, though, some guy walked by, saw what we were doing, and offered us his extra ticket for $40. He was with some kids, and looked honest, so we followed him to the entrance, where Dallas got some cash from Alex to help pay for it, and we all went in.

Knott's was packed! Like, too crowded to be able to sit against a wall without having to bring your feet in close to avoid getting stepped on. We only really went on one ride, and the rest of the time, we walked through the haunted mazes, which weren't bad. We also got some funnel cake right before the park closed at 2:00, which was delicious. Afterward, we took Alexa to Alberto's because we thought we were going to sit down and eat with her sisters and cousins, but it turned out everybody just went through the drive-thru, so that was pretty pointless. Finally, we left Alexa with her family, and Dallas and Alex took me back to my apartment before they started their drive home.

I'm glad they decided to pick me up and take me with them. It's always really fun to hang out with friends from Vegas whenever they come out to visit. It would've been more fun with more people, but oh well. This visit was still fun, and very much needed after such a long week of schoolwork.

I talked to Dallas about the whole situation with Niki while we were waiting in line for a haunted maze. He said he plans on helping Niki pay back his mom and Sarah, but he doesn't have the money right now. I'm glad I asked him about it, because Niki's been too much of a titch lately to ask about it. He said he doesn't like asking people to pay him. Luckily, I don't give a fuck, haha. I'll probably talk to Chris soon about giving Dallas the $25 I transferred to his bank account to pay for the parking ticket they got last time they were here. If Chris is going to hound Niki for the money for Maricella's birthday party, he better expect me to hound him for the money he owes to people. I don't even know if he kept his word and gave my router back to my dad yet... I'm getting kinda critical of others now =/ Maybe a little bit of Niki rubbing off? Haha. I'm over it. Lately, Niki's been my only feed into the lives of everybody back in Vegas, so I've only got his view to go off of.

Well, this entry's getting long enough. I think it should be enough to keep you busy. Special birthday shoutout to Sarah =D Hope your weekend with Niki, Rachel, and Salome was a blast =)

Hands held high,
Vaniah Schwenoha

P.S. ~ I spent the past week listening pretty much only to the Minutes to Midnight and Across the Universe albums, so that's where the title and outro come from.

A Trojan with a giant Achilles tendon

20 October 2007

1:59 PM

That's how the guy in this video referred to them - as a huge Achilles tendon.

Well, I got my Powerizers exactly a week after I ordered them, on Tuesday. They are really hard to use, haha. Something about the way they're positioned causes them to knock into each other every once in awhile. Also, you have to make sure to lift your foot high when you take steps, because if your foot's too low, it's kinda like dragging your foot, but the foot of the Powerizer will catch the ground and result in a stumble. Those are the main reasons I've fallen on them so far. I took them on campus for the first time on Thursday afternoon. A few people asked about them, which was cool. On the way back, going though the parking lot, I figured I had space, so I'd try to get a small run in. Well, that ended up being a bad idea, because like I said, something got caught up in the middle of it and I toppled over pretty hard. I found out that when I fall, I turn onto my left side, haha. Right now, I have bruises on the palms of both of my hands, my left elbow, and the under-side of my right knee and I have both scabs and bruises on my left knee and my left shoulder. I'm gonna wait for those to heal, and for my protective gear to show up, before I try anything else on them. My parents gave me $200 to buy gear, and I spent about $150 on some stuff at http://www.getjumpingstilts.com/, but I need to find a couple more things too, like wrist guards and maybe even shoulder pads.

The other guy I know at USC with a pair of Powerizers sent me a video last night of him at the track field learning front flips on his. His look a lot easier for him to bounce on than mine are. Hopefully mine get broken in soon, because I can hardly bounce on mine right now.

I'm really gonna have to watch myself on these things. I just turned on the TV and caught the end of a program before the football game. The program was about a BMX biker who bailed during a competition and ended up a quadriplegic. It made me think about how something like that can happen at any time. If I'm not careful in what I do, tumbling or using my Powerizers, I could end up the same way.

Yesterday was probably the first day in a little over a week that I've hung out with anybody outside of class. I went to Parkside restaurant with Jourdan, and I also hung out with her later on in her apartment. We were both doing homework, so it wasn't really exciting or anything, but it was nice just not to be alone. I don't expect to do anything big this weekend because I have a midterm in POSC 130 on Thursday to study for and I need to get some research and prewriting done by Friday for my third assignment in WRIT 140. My second assignment for my Writing class got a C/C+, whatever that means. I forgot to post it in here. Maybe I will soon. Oh well. I figure it's just too hard to get good grades in my GE's, so I'll let my other classes make up for it. This next essay should be more interesting for me because it's about restrictions on the Internet. I'm going to cover net neutrality, I think. I should get a lot of work done as soon as I can on that because my brother might come visit sometime within the next two weeks because his term is almost over.

I talk online with Niki like, every night. I enjoy it, because I don't keep much contact with anyone else from back home. I wish I talked to more people. That's partly my fault too, though, because I don't make many efforts to get in contact with them. Niki really wants Chris and Dallas to help pay his debts to his mom and Sarah. I asked Chris about it the other day and he said he might just do it gradually by paying for little things like meals and movies. That may be a way of paying Niki, but it doesn't do much to pay the people Niki owes, who really should get the money. Even with the way Chris talked about dealing with it, it didn't seem like he meant it, because he expected Niki to pay him back money that he spent on Maricella's birthday party last week.

I'm out of things to talk about. Sorry most of this is just facts, and not really thoughts. Hopefully I can write more about how I feel about things when I get some more time to think.

Have fun
Vaniah Schwenoha

Urgh

13 October 2007

11:58 PM

I can't wait until I have my car. I'll be up in Vegas once every other weekend, and I won't be fuckin' down all the time because I'm missing out on good times with my friends...

Vaniah Schwenoha

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

12 October 2007

11:02 PM

Academic update: C on my first WRIT 140 essay, C+ on my POSC 130 essay.
I'm totally over it. I'm just gonna let my GE classes fuck my GPA. But they can't be so screwed that I don't get the MGM Mirage Family Scholarship next year. My mom needs all the help she can get to pay for my tuition =/

I only managed to squeeze out a little over four pages for my essay about political cartoons that was supposed to be 5-7 pages long. Most other people I talked to had trouble writing a lot, too. That's good for me because I won't be the only person who failed to meet the length requirement. I'm just glad I got anything written down after putting the thing off for so long. I started writing the essay at like, 5:00 PM the day before it was due. I might've worked on it over the weekend if my friends weren't in town. Speaking of... Let's move on to the fun stuff =)

I stayed up pretty late on Thursday night waiting for the guys to show up, but not late enough, since Dallas' car was running too hot on the way here, so they had to drive slower, and since they got a little lost just before they got here. They woke me up at about 4:20, when they were outside. They parked in one of the lots that required a parking permit, and as a result, found a ticket for $50 placed on the windshield the next day =x. Whatev. We decided to split it four ways to make it even. We chilled in my apartment for a couple hours before going to sleep, getting set up with the bed situation and whatnot.

When I woke up Friday morning and got ready to go to Calculus, it definitely didn't look like anybody was willing to go with me, as they had all planned to. The only one consciously awake when I left was Dallas, who would've gone if I didn't have to be in class in ten minutes, or if he had had his own transportation (I was in my rollerblades, as always).

I should mention here that a couple weeks ago, I replaced my rollerblade wheels and bearings. For the first couple weeks, the back wheel on my right skate rolled funny, like it was lop-sided. I just figured it had slid too much once while breaking, and that part of the wheel was worn down too much. After long enough, however, it became apparent that the case was not the condition of the rubber, but of the wheel itself. The plastic casing was actually what was broken, causing part of the wheel to bend in every time I put weight on it. Eventually, the break in the plastic got worse, and it got to the point where I couldn't take it. So, I borrowed Charles' bike and headed out to Sport Chalet. Keep in mind that Charles' bike was designed for children under 4' tall, that his front tire was flat when I first got on it, and that the area around USC isn't the safest place to be traveling alone. I rode the bike to the nearest car wash to fill the tires up on air, and then proceeded to ride the rest of the 7.2 mile journey to Sport Chalet. Crazy, I know. It wasn't a good idea, considering I don't know the streets in LA at all and by the time I left Sport Chalet, it was already dark. I think it was good for me, though. It got me out of this little bubble of a neighborhood I've been in since I moved here, and it helped me gain some knowledge of the businesses around here, not to mention I have new wheels that are about two centimeters wider than my old ones, which makes going over cracks in the sidewalk a lot smoother.

Well, now that I've gone completely off topic...

I went to class, bought some milk on the way back so the guys could have breakfast, and then hung out in the apartment for awhile. After everybody had showered and gotten ready, we left for the movie theater to catch Across the Universe. Well, we got kinda lost on the way, and since it is LA, we hit decent traffic, so we didn't make it to the movie theater on time. Once we got to The Grove, where the movie theater was, we decided to go instead to see Resident Evil: Extinction first, and then movie hop to Across the Universe. I really enjoyed both movies. The plots of the Resident Evil movies are decent, and those movies are filled with action and sexy actresses, so I don't have anything to complain about. Across the Universe was really, really good. I know I always say I'm an Elvis guy as opposed to a Beatles guy, but this musical-movie was spectacular. It made me wish I listened to more Beatles music, because if I had, I'd have understood more of the little quirks that related to the Beatles. Maybe I will start listening to them more.

After the movies, we came back to my apartment, hung out for a bit, and then went to Parkside Restaurant for dinner. On the way there, I made a deal with the guys that I would pay the share of the parking ticket to the person who stole me the most silverware, because the silverware I currently had had already rusted. It was a fair trade, getting silverware for $12.50 plus the $36 of my meal plan's dining dollars I had to pay to get the guys into the restaurant because they wouldn't let me use my meals on anybody but myself. In the end, Dallas, with 21 pieces of silverware, lost to Chris, with 24 pieces. Though, it was an even closer call than that, because Chris took two soup spoons, which I totally don't think I'm ever going to need to use, haha!

While we were eating, we talked about a lot of stuff. Nothing really specific - nothing that stuck out in my mind - just talked. We joked around a lot, and couldn't stop laughing because of it and because of the noises that Dallas and Chris' pockets were making with so much silverware in them. I think it was at the table that night in the cafeteria that I realized how much I was enjoying myself. I hadn't been that happy or had that much fun since before I left Las Vegas. It made me realize that these guys will always be my best friends. No distance or time interval between our visits will limit the amount of joy we bring each other by just hanging out and being ourselves. It gave me a real feeling of security.

After dinner, we laughed our way back to the apartment, Chris and Dallas' pockets jingling all the way. The initial plan was to find some parties on Friday night, but we were a little worn out from the day by the time night rolled around. Dallas fell asleep early, followed by Chris, and I crashed out waiting for Niki to finish his online poker tournament. The next day, all of us but Niki were up by noon, and went to Chipotle for lunch. We brought Niki back a burrito, but he didn't eat much of it, so he left it in the fridge for me to finish off. It was a good thing that I didn't invite a whole lot of people to my place to party that night, because we decided instead to go visit Dallas' cousin Chris O in Mission Viejo. We drove the 60 miles out to his house, met up with him and his friend Ashley, and then drove out to T-Street, the beach relatively nearby. It was kinda fun trying to catch waves on boogie boards, but I think I enjoyed tumbling on the beach the most. The last time I had gone to the beach, I could do a standing back tuck, but I couldn't do many back handsprings in a row. I think I did at least seven or eight in a row on the sand.

After the beach, all of the guys quickly showered at Chris O's house and then we went to the football game at Mission Viejo High School. The home team was playing a team with a higher rank than theirs, but everything about the game was impressive nonetheless. The stadium seats were concrete, as opposed to the really shitty ones at Durango High. Since the other team was nationally ranked, the game was nationally televised. The field was a rich green and it was painted with just as much vibrance. The marching band, which Chris O tells us is the best high school marching band in the nation, was amazing at the half-time show. The cheerleaders were pretty good, too. I didn't see any of them do any fulls or anything like that, but I'm sure they could have if they wanted to, because their back tucks were really high.

Shortly after the start of the second half, we all decided to leave because the game had already been lost to the visiting team. We went back to Chris O's, all but Chris and Ashley went out to pick up Taco Bell, and after we finished and Chris O's parents had gone to sleep, we started to drink the Bacardi and Skyy I brought. Chris went to sleep, because he didn't want to drink. I played a little ping-pong, which was fun, but nothing was really that interesting while it was just Niki, Dallas, Chris O, and me drinking. Later in the night, Chris O's friends Bryce and Kaya came over with a couple of girls, Michelle and Allie. I thought Allie was pretty cute, but by the time everybody showed up, I was too drunk to do anything about it. We drank a little more, then decided to go down the street to the park by Chris O's house. I got the bright idea in my head to do more back handsprings, which went well... until I collapsed in the middle of one and bit the inside of my upper lip/lightly scraped my upper lip/nearly broke my nose. Haha! I also participated in a foot race at the park, for some reason; don't ask me why. After heading back to Chris O's, I don't remember much at all. I woke up the next day and asked everybody to assure me that I hadn't puked at any point last night. Chris O told me I snored so loud that people left, haha. Niki also said that I got in some kind of dispute over which Soulja Boy dance is better. After I woke up, I was still a little drunk/hungover, and it showed when Chris O's mom talked to me about my SAT's and I couldn't quickly add up my score from the first time I took them. Other than the addition, I guess I managed to hold a decent conversation.

We drove back from Chris O's, everybody grabbed their stuff, and we headed out to Dallas' car to say our goodbyes. Once packed up, however, Dallas' car wouldn't start. We couldn't tell what was wrong with it, but eventually, after letting it sit long enough, it did start. We said goodbye one more time and they were on their way.

That entire weekend was the best I've had in a long time. I can't wait until I have a car. Whenever I get a weekend that isn't too restricted by homework, I'm going to drive up to Vegas to hang out with my friends.

Well, here it is, October 12th, and I've kept my word from a couple entries back. After all was said and done, I managed to maintain my financial goal. After transferring $25 to Chris for the parking ticket, paying for the things I did over the weekend, and transferring $10 to Niki to protect him from overdrafting, I had $233.26 left in my bank account. My mom added $200 to that on Tuesday, which made just enough to buy my Powerizers for $429.99. I ordered them as soon as I got a chance. They're in transit now. By the next time I post, I should have a little bit of practice time in on them. I'm pretty excited, heh. Until next week, though, I have to manage not to spend anything, because I only have $3.13 left in my bank account ($0.14 to Chris to save him from overdrafting).

My tumbling gets better every time I go out to the quad. Yesterday, I did a standing back handspring, back tuck, back handspring, back tuck, back handspring, and I think I did a few good X-outs, too. I also joined some people yesterday who were playing frisbee, and caught the frisbee once in mid-backflip. Though, I for sure need to get better at throwing frisbees, haha.

I went to this thing in my RA's apartment last night that was kinda about the Islamic celebration of Eid. The only informative thing about it was contained in a couple of printed pages that explained it, but it was a fun experience nonetheless. At first, people were waiting for others to show up, so a couple of guys and I started a small poker tournament - no money involved, just chips. I played a fairly tight game, and ended up in second place. I probably could've won if the other guy and I had played seriously at the end, but by then, there were enough people there to be, as Anthony Cools says, 'sociable,' so I just ended it. I met a lot of Pakistani people and others, most with names I couldn't say correctly at first, much less spell. One girl reminded me a bit of Nikita, with her sarcasm and such, but if I got to know her more, she'd probably turn out to be cooler, probably because Nikita's a titch. If I can find her on Facebook, I'll talk to her - if not in pursuit of a relationship, then just for another friend around here, which I still need more of.

I'm done writing for now. I hope you enjoyed. I certainly did.

Be easy
Vaniah Schwenoha

Preparations

2 October 2007

10:09 PM

I was just down at Parkside restaurant - the cafeteria embedded in one of the residence halls here - and something very interesting happened. Being the bit of a loner that I am, and being that it was 8:30, and most people I know had already eaten, I sat down at an empty table by myself to have dinner. No later than 30 seconds after I sat down, a man at the table next to mine turned around and introduced himself - Garland. He asked my name, asked how to spell it and what origin it held, and proceeded to introduce me to a couple of his roommates/suitemates. Now, I don't necessarily see myself as a particularly outstanding person when it comes to physically attractive features, but this guy had an attitude that just seemed too friendly to me. Naturally, I started to worry that I was being hit on, especially after his friends left and he stayed to chat with me a little longer. I never found out whether or not he was gay. What I did find out was that, seemingly innocent in his initial background questions toward me, he was really setting up the conversation for something very influential in his mindset.

When I told him my name, he asked where it came from. When I told him it was from the Old Testament, he took note of it, and shortly after, he picked the topic back up by asking if I followed the Bible. He found it particularly funny when I replied with "Not really... I'm Agnostic." After he expressed his amusement, he tried to correct me by changing 'not really' to 'definitely not.' I told him it was a better response than telling him I was an atheist, and he asked why. I made the distinction between the two by claiming that an atheist denies existence of God whereas I, an Agnostic, just don't have any proof that He exists.

And here's the prestige!

Continuing conversation, he admitted to me that he was a big follower of Jesus. He said he didn't believe much in following the Bible because of all of its tradition and pickiness, but that Jesus was the best 'drug' he could possibly be on. Throughout the rest of our conversation, he tried guessing some things about my familial lifestyle, and when I asked him if he was trying to be psychic, he simply replied that he was channeling Jesus, and trying to listen to what He was telling him. Soon, our conversation was done, we shook hands, and he left. Just left. He said he'd pray for me tonight - for me to find the 'proof' I'm looking for, and to eventually find Jesus.

It may not strike you as particularly intriguing, but en medias res, it turned out to be a very peculiar and interesting experience.

Moving on...

It appears that the bulk of my time spent on homework isn't evenly distributed. The most time-consuming assignments come from my Writing and Critical Reasoning and my Law, Politics, and Public Policy classes, primarily because they are the ones that require me to write essays. I wonder if I'm the only one who finds it especially pointless that my efforts are concentrated on the only two classes in my schedule that don't directly relate to my intended major. I suppose my real argument here is this: I know how to write. I choose my words carefully and I try to support my arguments. However, these characteristics of my writing style are more prevalent in works that I choose to write. It doesn't seem right to be grading me on an essay based on a topic that I didn't choose to write about - that I don't care to write about. Whatever. Fuck it. If I can make it through these two classes this semester and express myself in the manner the instructors expect me to express myself, I'll try to avoid taking two general education classes in one semester ever again. In the mean time, I have to figure out how to 'make my ideas flow together' when I'm writing about the extent to which political cartoons offer an effective political critique. Ugh.

I got a haircut today. I really like it. It feels so nice to have short hair because (1) I don't have to spend as much time in the morning futzing with it and trying to get it to look decent, and (2) I think short hair makes me look cleaner - better. Long hair on me usually equates to big hair, and usually causes me to think my face looks wider and less appealing. Hopefully this new confidence staring back at me in the mirror will carry out into the classroom and within large groups.

In a little more than two days, Niki, Chris, and Dallas will be on their way down to LA to pay me a visit.
=D
I'm pretty excited about that. I talked with Niki a lot last night about planning, and it actually took me a little too far from my studies and homework. Whatever. If I told you I cared about school more than hanging out with my best friends after a month and a half away from them, it'd be a lie. Niki and I figured that we'd go out looking for parties on Friday night, but then have people over to my apartment on Saturday night for a kickback/mini-party. After I finish this post, I'm going to get on Facebook and start inviting people. We're gonna go see Across The Universe this weekend, too, since it's not playing in Nevada. Hopefully that happens Friday afternoon. We might to go the beach at some point. I'm not sure which one; we haven't really decided yet. Oh well We can't possibly plan every event to take place this weekend, 'cause that's just not our style.

Hmm... That seems like the bulk of things I had to write about.

"I will follow you into the dark"
Vaniah Juniper Schwenoha