Again, posted a couple of days after I wrote most of it. Sorry--it needed pictures! I'm really going to have to get in the habit of writing and posting on the same day...
Dear Readers, you’ll have to forgive me (unless you don’t want to). I complained a lot, promised an explanation, and then promptly disappeared. I don’t even have a decent excuse, since I really haven’t been all that busy, other than the copious amounts of time I’ve been spending in the car. Be as that may, I promised you an explanation for my whininess, and I’ll be damned if you don’t get it (whether you like it or not)! When last I wrote, I was on my way home from visiting family in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina--a lovely *coughsarcasmhandisraisedcough* ten-hour drive that turned into sixteen hours. You can imagine how thrilled I must have been when we blew out a tire on the way home. In truth, I wrote most of said post on the way down, but spent three days writing the last paragraph and editing, for whatever reason, and thus did not actually post said post until I was home. Don’t get me wrong--I usually love visiting my family, and that wasn’t so much the problem. It’s more that I hate the beach and most things associated with it; sand and sunburn in particular are the bane of my existence, and when you combine the two, it makes for a perfect misery picnic. This particular trip resulted in some perfectly fabulous nearly second-degree burns, which I spent the entire “ten”-hour drive home the next day learning to fully appreciate. I’m whining again, aren’t I? I’ve got to stop that...
Well, there’s the explanation for the last post’s tardiness and whininess, and I even kept it short as promised! Since then, I’ve been on three road trips--one to Charlottesville to see my cousin in “The Sound of Music,” which was AHMAHZING; one to Bordentown, New Jersey, to visit my ex-youth group leader, who just married a priest and moved to his parish there; the final to Madison, Alabama, to drop off my best friend’s little sister for space camp. This is another one of those delightfully deceptive distances to drive--Google Maps insists that it’s eleven hours each way, but even with awesome lack of traffic and relatively short stops far and few between, it took us fifteen hours to get down, and is looking to be about the same going back. Fortunately, no sunburn this time, so I’m really just enjoying road-tripping with my bestie. I’m writing now from the front passenger seat, somewhere near Harrisonburg (only two and a half-ish hours to go - yay!), and singing along to “The Phantom of the Opera” soundtrack; Elisabeth sings Christine, and I sing Raoul, Meg, and the Phantom--(1:09) “DAMN you!/You little prying PANDORA!/You little daemon,/Is this what you wanted to see?/CURSE you!/You little lying DELILAH!/You little viper,/Now you cannot ever be free./DAMN you!/CURSE YOU!” This is entirely too much fun. Also, we have Jelly Belly’s. Need I say more?
And now... I’ve talked about it. You’ve anticipated it. I’ve ignored it. Folks, you may think I’ve forgotten about it--THIS IS NOT THE CASE. I give you...the mission! Contrary to popular (my parents’) belief, I have not, in fact, abandoned my preparations for college, and have made some (negligible) progress in that direction over the past several weeks. First and foremost, we (finally) have plane tickets! It’s a good thing too, since those tickets are for Saturday, August 21; hardly two and a half weeks away. This is a rather shocking revelation for me, as my summer has felt rather endless until this point. Suddenly, it’s crunch time. It’s rather offsetting--while I’m beyond ready to be in Montana already (if only for the weather--ah, the joy of NoVa’s 110 degree index days of summer *sarcasm hand*), I’m not entirely sure that I’m ready to leave home, for what may be the last time. You know...ever. I mean, yeah, I’ll be back to visit, but unless I’m very much mistaken, I’m never going to live at home again, so it won’t really be... home. I’m in danger of getting sentimental here, so I’d better talk about something else, quickly!
Amongst all this ridiculous going places, I’ve accomplished a few preparations apart from the securing of plane tickets. We got my immunization forms in, which is a huge relief, since I have to have those in before I can register for classes. Meanwhile, I finished my required reading. As I understand it, this is not precisely common, but Montana State is not the only school that has a required summer book for all incoming freshman. They have something called “freshmen convocation” a couple of weeks into school, where the author of the book comes to speak. I’m not sure what to think of the idea of it--I suppose I’ll have to report back after I’ve attended--but the book I read was incredible. It’s called Double Take, and it’s a memoir by a guy who was born without legs, Kevin Michael Connolly. I highly recommend it; it was fairly well-written, quite interesting, and superbly thought-provoking. Does anyone else have some good summer reading to do?
I also received the reading list for what I believe to be a sort of a cumulative summary class for the honors degree I'm pursuing. The course is titled "Texts and Critics: Knowledge," and the reading list was emailed to me with the following words: "Please order the following books, which you may consider reading over the summer. In addition to the books below, several shorter readings will be posted on the library electronic reserves for you by mid-August." Translation: If you don't read these before classes start, you're probably screwed good and proper. Needless to say, I haven't so much as gotten on Amazon. And with that, I give you... *dramatic scary music from "Jaws"*... MY HONORS READING LIST:
The Iliad
The Poem of Force Simone Weil
The Prince
Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou
The Sunflower
The Reluctant Mr. Darwin David Quammen
Copenhagen
The Poem of Force Simone Weil
The Prince
Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou
The Sunflower
The Reluctant Mr. Darwin David Quammen
Copenhagen
I am -SO- thrilled *my sarcasm hand is raised, and I can't even be bothered to be subtle about it*.
I also got a trunk (this one) to pack most of my clothes in, for to ship them out. Unfortunately, we have to ship most everything since we're flying, and shipping costs are going to be a bitch. But it is what it is, I suppose. I've packed up a box of books as well--JUST ONE SMALL BOX--which is sort-of killing me; it was one of the most painful things I've ever had to do, to choose amongst my favorites like that. In theory, I'll be so busy it won't matter, but it doesn't feel like that from here. On a happier note, I have my bike, all fitted and lovely and awesome, and have been riding it bunches; it's fantastic!
Additionally, I've talked to people about both marching band and ski patrol, a.k.a. the two things I more or less live for. Band camp starts Monday the 23rd (hence the flying out on the 21st bit, so I can move into my dorm room on the 22nd), and Freshman orientation starts that Wednesday. Classes begin Monday of the next week--the 30th if my math is any good. I've been talking to my roommate on Facebook, and she's fantabulous, but won't be moving in until the 27th, so I'll be lonely in my dorm room for a bit. Fortunately, my dad's coming with me and staying the week, so I won't have to fend for myself completely. I wish I knew exactly what classes I was taking, but I won't until orientation, a fact that kind-of scares me. However, I did just get my credit transfer sheet for IB in the mail, and so I know what classes I won't be taking--30 credits worth! I got six for english, four for history, and a shocking 20 credits towards my degree from IB Music alone!!! Now, I finally have an answer: YES FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, IB IS WORTH IT!!!!! I end on that happy note, and give you, as promised, pictures! Consider it a reward for reading all that ^^^.
***Updated 3/2/11, in case anyone ever reads this: Forget it, there will never be pictures here. I'm sorry, I never could figure it out. Maybe it will happen for future posts, but at this point, this is just way too far in the past for me to bother, and I doubt anyone really cares anyway.***
P.S. I am headed off to a mission trip on Sunday (August 8), and will be gone for a week. I'll try to post during that time, but as always, I make no guarantees, and my track record's pretty bad, sooo... maybe.
I'm listening to: Foundations, by Kate Nash
I'm reading: The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
I'm listening to: Foundations, by Kate Nash
I'm reading: The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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