Thursday, November 29, 2007

drifting away in the fog

There was a crazy fog out this morning - it was literally like a blanket at some points. Not one to cast fictional situations on real life - and even less of a scary movie fan, I thought it was interesting that this came about a week after the new Stephen King thriller The Mist debuted.

The fog lowered the temperature considerably and it felt amazing walking around before work this morning. After the meeting, the sun had been up for a while and the fog had vanished, leaving the tolerable heat and milder humidity that defines a Florida fall.

Now, let's say that the fog represents ignorance, and the enjoyment of the fog is the bliss that is said to come with ignorance. If that is true, than the tolerable heat and milder humidity would represent the truth; while its not as comfortable as the fog was, it is something that one can learn to deal and live with. Right?

If only it were so easy...

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

all is calm, all is bright

I am having an excellent week, which is weird, seeing as next week is exam week. I feel as though I should be freaking out, but I'm not, so, in essence, I am freaking out that I'm not freaking out >.>

Anywho. This week has been going well. Monday was the Provost Symposium [our last Honors Symposium session] and it was good; they played slideshows of memories from throughout the semester and had some guest speakers, it was good. I also recieved an Honorable Mention for the Provost Essay Scholarship, so that was cool.

Yesterday was a good day: classes were good, chilling out for the first time in a while was good; the Honors Congress elections were great - I was elected the 2008 Director of Academic Affairs :D I am really excited. Also the LINK Auction was last night, and though neither myself or my friends won anything, it was enjoyable.

So yeah. The holiday fever is starting to catch. Christmas carols are being played on the radio and in stores, gifts are being purchased, plans are being made - and it's not even December yet; its awesome.

The rest of this week is going to be busy, busy, busy: Today is speech class/Winter Wonderland in our Tower 3 courtyard/the Superbad Showing/the UCF Orchestra performance I want to see [i'm not doing all of them, obviously]. Tomorrow is the Candy Cane Coffee House at the Tower 3 Barnes and Noble, which I will be leaving early to go to my first IM soccer game [w00t! excited!]. Friday is my calculus test/making amazing Rigatoni D with Michelle/the BHC Formal that night. Saturday is the Championship football game [!!!] and Sunday is the beginning of the end of forever [i don't know, i don't think i have any real plans for Sunday yet, but i'm sure they'll come up...]

Oh yeah. I discovered that I can update my blog by email, which is awesome and means more randomness from me! [Its the simple pleasures in life that make life grand ^.^]

So yeah. I'm having a good week to date  =)

Monday, November 26, 2007

Standing outside with my mouth open wide


Its always funny to me what songs you find stuck in your head at the most random times. This Thanksgiving weekend, I had that old childhood song about lemon drop and gumdrop rain on repeat in my head [i can't remember the name of it].

If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops,
Oh what a rain that would be.
Standing outside with my mouth open wide,
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah.
If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops,
Oh what a rain that would be.


Yeah, i know. I'm pretty sure I learned that song from Barney too, a show I abhorred as a child, so its even more interesting I had it stuck in my head.

But when I did listen to this song when I was younger, I always got upset, because if raindrops were chewy orbs of candy goodness and we all went outside waiting with our mouths open, we would most likely choke and die. [sweet and twisted, even as a child :P]

Well, I guess that's one way how too much of a good thing can be bad.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Tempus fugit

Ok, let's see. Since last entry, I:

> spent Veteran's Day weekend in Tallahassee with Michelle and Kristy [definitely already planning to go back during Winter break :D]

> built/launched/banished all memory of - bar this one - a marshmallow launcher [good riddance >.>]

> created a picture wall in our apartment with pictures taken over the course of the semester [turned out wayyyyy better than I thought it would, and it's only going to get better :D]

> went and saw Beowulf in IMAX 3D with a bunch of guys - at 1 am Sunday morning [I think the car ride there was the best part; i mean who doesn't like getting lost in the middle of residential Orlando, being in the middle of a police manhunt, and witnessing random people urinating from a front row seat? :P]

> went to Melting Pot [for the 1st time] for the BHC Distinguished Member dinner [and proceeded to sit in traffic for almost 2 hours on the way home, having some very interesting car ride conversation about urinals, gender switches, and "black" music]

> cooked lots of amazing food [and ate way too much, but it was worth it ^.^]

All in all, it was an interesting week and a half. I've been looking back over my more recent entries and, for the most part, their all pretty depressing. So I've decided that while I may continue to have entries like that, I'm going to make an effort to balance them out with happier - or at least more lighthearted - ones.

My goal for this week: get back to my glass half-full state of being =)

Thursday, November 08, 2007

SL Survey Enlightenment

While completing the required Post Service Learning Survey for Honors Symposium, there was a section where you were given a statement and you had to choose agree strongly, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, or disagree strongly. One of them was:

I give up easily.

and my answer was:

disagree strongly

Then it hit me: That is the source of a lot of my happiness and a lot my misery...

What a horrible double-edged sword.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

It's happening again.

Do you remember those old TRUTH commercials where some teenager would state something and declare it their anti-drug? [Bored? Google "my anti-drug" and look at the images - people have some interesting anti-drugs, to say the least :P] Well, if you were to ask me mine, I guess I would answer:

Getting involved: my anti-drug.

Well, it's true. I've never been enticed by any kind of drug or whatever, but I do like getting involved. Almost too much. In high school, I joined lots of organizations, had lots of outside-of-school interests and activities and I did my part in and for every one of them. But it got to be too much around junior year [with harder classes, SATs, competitions] and senior year [college apps, even more competitions, plus the ever-blamed senioritis]. I don't regret doing all the things I did and I would do the exact same thing again if I were to go back. But I promised myself I would not do the nosedive into everything again - or at least not right off the bat.

Yet here I am, tempted to run for officer positions as a freshman, constantly having to sit on my hands to keep from committing myself to too many things. I currently have the perfect mix of activities [class, work, Honors Congress Publications Committee, IM Soccer, ASME, and SWE - a neat few] and I'm enjoying myself in all of them without stressing about overlapping meetings and worrying about letting someone down. But there is always some other activity that sounds interesting or would be fun...

Sometimes an anti-drug can become a drug itself.

Monday, November 05, 2007

Ode to V and Guy

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
The gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

--V for Vendetta

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Well its not Homegoing

In high school, Homecoming is a week of excuses to dress strangely, an over-hyped dance and a football game that must be won if the aforementioned week and dance are to be fully enjoyed. Well, here in college, Homecoming this year did have an excuse to dress strangely - after all, Wednesday was Halloween, - the game still needs to be won, and instead of a dance, we have daily events that are experiences in and of themselves.

Picking up from where I left off last entry, Thursday night was the Homecoming concert featuring Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes, Plain White T's, and Cute is What We Aim For. Besides being the homecoming concert featuring bands I really like, it was my first real concert - i know, i know, I'm behind on everything interesting, apparently - so I was doubly excited. From learning how to avoid being drawn into a circle pit to finding out exactly how close you can get to literal strangers over the span of a 3-minute song, it was a great experience and awesome memory. [Pics/video are on my Facebook]

Friday was a UCF tradition known as Spirit Splash, where the ever-sacred Reflection Pond found on campus is for one 2-hour span during Homecoming week open to be entered - and entered it is, by hundreds of students all at once. Its basically a huge pep rally, complete with the cheerleaders, the band, the Homecoming Court, and a roaming mascot. It was great fun.

Saturday was the our first on-campus Homecoming Parade and our first Homecoming football game held in our new stadium. The parade was fun, and the game was awesome [final score 47 - 13, us], both traditions bound to be ingrained at UCF forever. All in all, it was a very busy, tiring, hectic week - but oh so worth it.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

trick or treating for fourthmeal

I remember experiencing Halloween as a child: my mother thought it was an evil event, giving people an excuse to do stupid things and get away with it - which it is, i won't deny - so I was usually the kid who didn't get to dress up or go out and get candy on Halloween night. [I first went trick-or-treating in 7th grade, and even then, it was because I happened to be at my friend's house for a "study session" the night of Halloween].

But alas, I think I turned out normal, for the most part, and am now here contemplating how Halloween in college is an experience in and of itself. From getting weird looks from people for dressing up in costume on Halloween Day [I was a sailor-turned-navy nurse] to sharing awkward-but-knowing smiles with other people in costume, to getting attacked by a few zombies [no joke, those guys were quite impressive in retrospect], to attending Homecoming Skit Knight [awesome, awesome, awesome], to ending the night traveling to Taco Bell with some friends to pick up a late night snack.

I think I would have felt cheated if I had gotten a taco in my trick or treat basket when I was in middle school, but in college, I think tacos on Halloween night with great company is as good as it gets.