Why I Like My Dorm

We have the best vending machines. Example: Insert $1.25 for one Coke to jump-start my mind before starting a project. What do I get? THREE Cokes. Sweet.

'Tis the season to be stressed.

I've learned a lot over the past week. I've found out who people really are, what they really do, and what they really mean to me. I've found out a little bit more about myself too. It's even hit me that life really isn't as easy as I thought. I've come to so many overwhelming conclusions in the past week that I desperately want nothing more than to take a step backwards, to rewind my life and go back to a time when I was ignorant and didn't know any of these things.
Live and learn, right?
Alas, I'm not in the greatest of moods this week. Some of that is my own fault. I've got quite a load of work to get done this week, especially since I have two tests, one paper is due, and a project/presentation needs to be ready for Tuesday next week. When did college get so much harder? When did my classes jump from Level One: Training Mode to Level 99: The Final Ultra-Hard Boss that has literally one itsy-bitsy weakness that is nearly impossible to hit? Seriously, just recently did I really start to STRESS STRESS STRESS about school. But what's weird, is that even though I have all of this stuff to do and I really feel overwhelmed, I also DON'T feel overwhelmed at all... it's confusing. Let me explain. Even though school is about to throw the first strike at me, I don't really understand why I feel so helpless. The paper that's due this week? Done. The tests I have? Studied. And I do feel confident that I'm ready for them. So why do I still feel like this? Maybe it's because I don't feel well at all, and I've been sleeping a lot lately (naps really add up and take away the day fast). Maybe it's because I need to find an apartment this week, no questions asked. Maybe it's because I don't have a job and if I'm not doing homework then I feel like I'm wasting my day (even if there's not homework that needs to be done immediately).
There are a lot of things adding up to my stress. The school work, the apartment search, the finding out things about people that I didn't care to know or now wish that I didn't know. Oh, and one of my best friends is leaving for Iraq next week, and he won't be back until December. That doesn't help either.
I'm mostly just sick of school. Do you think anyone has come up with a cure for schoolsickness yet?

Another day, another dollar.

Ah, yes. It's Sunday, and Spring Break has come to an end. In the words of Shakespeare, parting is such sweet sorrow. But at least I (somehow) managed to get $60 from my parents. I still don't really know why, but I guess it's money...

So, now it's homework time. After double checking the assignments I thought I had due this week, I was pleasantly surprised:

1. Instead of three papers, I only have to write two, one of which is due Thursday and the other April 17th. YAY! I actually mistook the other assignment as a paper, but it's really just the presentation - no paper involved. SWEET!
2. My Italian exam is not this week, but next. And, because it's a speaking exam and the professor will test each of us separately, I get one day off next week. NICE!
3. I thought I had two Econ problem sets. And I did. But they were pretty easy and not due until Wednesday. AWESOME!
4. Child Psych test isn't until next Thursday. Which means I have plenty of time to catch up on that reading, esp. if I read one chapter a day for five days (let's see... Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs... yep, I can have it done by the end of this week!) RAD!

Ah. I'm so happy now. Time for Facebook!

Sch-ping.

Oh yeah. And I whooped my cousin at ping-pong. WHOOPED. Except when I played left-handed. Then I lost, but only by a little.

It's all relative.

Well, Spring Break is here, and so is my family. My aunt and cousin of Independence, KS came all the way to Texas to see us this weekend. We had many a fantastic time - shopping, Apples to Apples, ping-pong, shopping, Sonic x4, more shopping... It was quite lovely. Yay for vacation.

I almost saw Zodiac yesterday. Well, let me rephrase: I almost finished Zodiac yesterday. I watched about half of it before the screen at the theater went all screwy and out of focus. The projectionists tried fixing it, but sadly nothing could be done. The focus threw me off and hurt my eyes so much that I finally said "Screw it" and decided that I'd see it some other time. So that's still on my list of movies to watch this week. Also on the list: 300. Come on, you knew that one was coming.

All righty. I'm out for the night. Ciao.

Life Lessons for me.

What I've learned today/yesterday:
Possessive pronouns do not always take the definite articles.
Children ages 3 and under do not necessarily understand that what they think about what they thought is not always what they originally thought.
The previous statement is very confusing.
One packet of crushed red pepper contains just enough crushed red pepper for two slices of pizza.
My mad ping-pong skills are becoming even madder.
Some of my laundry is still in the dryer at my brother's apartment.
The novel, _Life of Pi_ by Yann Martel is proving to be quite a nice read.
Some people out there that love Guitar Hero (like me) are very, very tech savvy (not me) and have way too much time on their hands (kinda me). However, this all results in great entertainment for me. Eric Clapton, anyone?

I was spinning free...

Ahem. Well. This weekend was - uh - quite a trip.

San Antonio. Trinity University. The Riverwalk. COMPLETE CHAOS.

Ok, not really. But it was crazy. I went down to TU this weekend to visit a friend, and we ended up heading to the Riverwalk for a bit. Let me recount our adventure:
-Dinner at Chili's. I know what you're thinking - Chili's? Why? There are so many more interesting places to go on the Riverwalk. But I'll tell you why: we were hungry, and it was close. Voila. Not so interesting... whatever. But there was this kid sitting at the table across from us, smearing ice cream all over his face and crying like the dog chewed up dear Mr. Bugglesworth.
-Walking up and down the Riverwalk, being bombarded with offers to come and eat dinner at the "best restaurant on the river!" only a bazillion times. This one guy actually did convince us to go and actually look at the inside of the restaurant, though I don't know why we did that - we're so susceptible to the shameless flaunts of word-of-mouth advertising and whatnot. Oh well.
-Take a stroll down to the Alamo (of course). On our way there, we passed a group of teenagers, quite rowdy teens if I do say so myself. And for some reason, this one guy from the group stares directly at me and starts flailing his arms about, screaming "I KNOW WITCHCRAFT!!!" What. The. Hell. If anyone can explain this to me, I'm all ears.
-We get stopped by an accursed (!) stoplight just before crossing back to the parking garage. While waiting on the corner, a bum proceeds to offer my friend a quarter. Yes, that's right, people - the bum OFFERED US money. Weird.
-Also, I found out that the Riverwalk is a hotbed of Air Force (and other branches of the Service) men. Hmm...

So there was Friday night. Yep, all that just in Friday. Whoo! Saturday, I didn't do much. Even though we lost the basketball game, at least I'm allowed back home for Spring Break. My parents are hardcore Kansas University alumni/fans, and my mom told me that if Kansas lost against Texas that I shouldn't bother coming home over SB. (For clarification, I'm sure she said this all jokingly, but it still makes for a nice story.)

And now, it's time for my movie reviews. Here are the films I've seen recently, both on the silver screen and on DVD:

WILD HOGS: Allen, Lawrence, Macy, Travolta - an all-star comedic cast that can't go wrong! It's a great movie that guys and gals alike will enjoy - you've got the explosions and the machines making loud noises for the men, the sweet little twists of romance added in for the women. The best part about this movie is that it has achieved what so few movies can now-a-days: being hilarious without being excessively vulgar (in both language and content).

RENO 911!: MIAMI: Oh man. Where do I begin? Well, if you like stupid/lude humor, then this movie is definitely for you. I'm not going to lie; I laughed my face off watching this. There are scenes that make your sides hurt from laughing and imagining the pain. There are lines that make you squirm in disgust and discomfort. There are even some great cameos that will blow [up] your mind. A precaution though: "There's no 'immunity' to bullets." That is, the verbal/visual bullets in the movie that will leave you gasping for air.

CATCH AND RELEASE: If you caught word of this movie, you should definitely release that right now. Now, I enjoy a sweet, tear-jerking chick flick as much as the next person, but this one just didn't cut it. It lacked... substance. The script was there, the actors were there... but the emotion just didn't seem to come through. This was definitely no "Gone With The Wind".

THE NUMBER 23: February 3. 11:12 a.m. Pslams 23. One of the cursed numbers on TV's LOST. Okay, disregard that last part. The way this movie was put together was AMAZING. I loved the effect of the alternate storyline playing out like a detective comic. Sort of remniscent of Frank Miller's "Sin City", only not nearly as trippy. Plus, the basis of the story (the 23 enigma) is really intriguing. For anyone who likes mysteries or deeply thought-provoking situations, go see this movie. I give it a B+.

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT: Yes, this is seriously the first time I've seen this movie. And I liked it pretty well. The concept was nothing new (time travel... yeah), but the characters were soooo awesome. They were all so complex and screwed-up, they were all so... human. Everyone had their flaws, their weaknesses that made them real. These guys stood out from a crowd of generic template characters that you see in a ton of mediocre movies, and it was great.

MARIE ANTOINETTE: Hmm. Well, I can see why it got some Oscar nods. All in all, it was a great piece of work. But... I wouldn't watch it twice. It was a little slow (as Victorian era settings are prone to be, in my opinion). Still, it's worth a watch - as are all the Oscar nominees - at least for the girls. Guys might not like it so much. Very chick-ish.

All right. I'm spent for the night. Bedtime.

There's no need to fear...

Underdog is here!

I'm not even kidding you. One of my childhood favorites is back, this time on the silver screen.

So, with that being said...
It's hip, hip, hip - and away I go!