To Do:

1. Write and revise Ten Minute Play. Due Thursday, 11/30
2. Write Folklore Collection Project Report, ~10 pages. DueTuesday, 12/5
3. Write Advanced Shakespeare Research Paper, 8-10 pages. Due Thursday, 12/7, 12:30 AM
- chose and read a play by a Shakespeare contemporary
- create thesis
- reread Shakespeare play
- write paper
4. Study for Folklore 2nd Half Semester Exam. Thursday, 12/7, 3:35 PM
Okay, this requires some explanation. We got into class today, and my professor went over what would be on the final, then we watched a thing about zydeco music, then he handed out slips of paper with our grades to date and projected grades based on our past performance. Then he said that if we were satisfied with the projected final grade, we didn't have to take the exam on Thursday. Since my projected grade was a 92% assuming that the grade I will receive on my Collection Project Report is a B- (which I think is a bit low), I decided not to take the final! Yay! One less thing to worry about in the next 48 hours! If that didn't make any sense...I'm sorry, I haven't really slept much in the last day.

5. Complete Photoshop Projects 8, 9 & 10; ~15 hours of work. Due Wednesday, 12/13.
6. Study for Advance Shakespeare Final Exam. Thursday, 12/14, 3:00-5:00 PM

More for my benefit than anyone else's. But you could pray. Pray hard.

Disappointed Again

Well, it's been a strange day for me. The Brotherito and I sat in line for roughly 4.5 hours for the Wii, only to find out that Gamestop only had ten Wiis. We were number seventeen. I vaguely remember drifting off to sleep as the light began filtering through my blinds.

Needless to say, I was quite disappointed. We bought an extra controller (because they are selling out as fast as the actual consoles) and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on Wednesday and they have been sitting on the counter taunting us since then. So, we will have to resort to calling local stores daily to find out if they have Wiis in. As long as we get one before Christmas break...

Camping for the Wii

Well, it's about 1 AM, and the Brotherito and I are getting ready to leave for Gamestop where we will sit for 6 hours in hopes of purchasing a Nintendo Wii at 7 AM. Gosh, we're dorks.

Thoughts on Dorm Life

I was looking at some pictures on Facebook a few minutes ago (a little stalkerish? I think so!) and saw pictures of freshman from my Community Group hanging out together on Landis Green. I couldn't help but wonder if my college career would have been different. I was in a Bible Study my freshman year, but I never really bonded with any of them. Some would later become good friends, but the majority are people who I nod to when I see them. I know their names, and that is all. I second guess myself. Should I have done something different? Would it have changed everything if I had lived in the same building as some of those people? Would I live in Bradford Oaks with the rest of the people in Crusade, or would I still be living at where I live?

It's hard to say, and I think it is in my nature to lament the choices of my past. I've always been one to exist on the edge of the crowd, watching from a distance as the people in the middle go about their lives. I am the outsider. That one person who everyone is aware of when present, but does not notice when they are gone.

I'm going to stop second guessing myself. It's not healthy, and it really doesn't change anything. But I would still like to know what would be different.

Home Alone

My roommate is out of town for the weekend, and I have been taking advantage of this reality by spending as much time awake with all the lights on late at night, playing music as loud as my tired old computer can muster, and spinning in my desk chair until I'm so dizzy that I fall off. I am of course not home alone, since that only happens over Christmas and Thanksgiving in a house of seventeen people. But I get a room to myself which is generally a luxury only afforded to the head resident and the most heinous of roommates (they drive away the other occupants). I have to say, I can't wait until this is a permanent fixture in my life, having my own room. That's not to say that my roommate is bad, she just sleeps at 10:30, and I sleep no less than 4 hours later.

This was Homecoming Weekend here at FSU, and I meant to go to the game since it would be my last ever as a student. I didn't wake up until 15 minutes after kickoff, so I ended up staying home and watching a movie on TV instead. Not really a huge deal, to be honest. As much fun as watching our atrocious football team play is, I think I'd rather just be at home. In other news, Jeff Bowden resigned. The future of FSU Football is saved! I heard about it in class on Thursday evening and everyone [that cares about football] was talking excitedly, speculating about how much of a change that would make. Whoever we get, he can't be worse than the lesser Bowden.

This coming Tuesday we have one of our "Grads Made Good" coming into my playwriting class to talk to us about writing for television. I can't remember his name right now, but apparently he was a staff writer for such illustrious shows as "Xena: Warrior Princess" and "Sheena". I wonder if every show he writes for rhymes. Half of me is really excited about this, getting to pick the brain of someone who has actually made it in the theatrical arts. The other half would much rather be able to leave for Thanksgiving break on Monday afternoon, instead of Tuesday evening. Oh well, I guess the upside is that I get to pick up the Brotherito on the way through Gainesville and talk about how excited we are about the new Nintendo Wii.

We're hoping to order the Wii on Amazon, because I have a Crusade thing tonight, and Keith is studying (and he doesn't want to go camp out because if he gets it, he won't study). So we're crossing our fingers and hoping for a quick internet speeds on UFs campus around midnight. Oh, the suspense. If we do get it, Tuesday evening will be spent playing either Wii Sports or The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Kind of a silly name for a game, but well, I think I'll get over it.

Anyway, if I don't post again before Thursday, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

It's That Time Of Year Again!

About the same time each semester I reach a point where I get really tired. It all ends up hitting me at once, and I get really irritable and feel the need to just get away from my house, away from campus.

So for the first time ever, here's a list.
I'm tired of:
1. Sharing a room
2. Living on campus
3. Living with 16 other women
4. Homework
5. Pompous professors
6. Not having a Tuesday evening to speak of
7. Not having a Wednesday evening to speak of
8. Grocery shopping for 17
9. Alarm clocks
10. My cell phone
11. Not getting real hugs
12. Not having a piano

This is an incomplete list. Will continue later. Maybe. Actually, probably not.

StoryCorp

I've always loved stories. When I was little I read all the time because I wanted to hear the stories. My love of stories has stayed with me, which is probably why I ended up an English and Theatre major. Anyway, I found this website linked on another blog that I read fairly frequently, and I absolutely love it.

The sight basically has a short clips of longer interviews of people who have stories. They're quick, compact, and 90% of the time, quite entertaining. So anyway, if you like stories, you should check it out. Happy listening!

Darkness

I've been going and playing tennis with a friend at a park not too far from campus. We always end up there at night, because, well, we're college students. The courts are lit, but the floodlights don't drown out the darkness. When we're within the confines of the fenced courts it feels safe; the world can't get to us, there's chain link fences and green mesh, a veritable shield from outside danger. It wasn't creepy going there when we played inside the fence, under the lights. More recently we've been going and hitting on the practice wall, because let's face it, I'm not very good at tennis. The practice wall is not within the fence, but next to it. It is only half illuminated by the lights, enough to play by, but not enough to feel safe. There's no fence either. Having no ball control and an absolutely horrid backhand, I find myself venturing beyond the practice wall and into the increasing darkness of the area behind it. It's a park, so it is relatively open, but there are trees and shadows. Lots and lots of shadows.

The first time I went back there I was creeped out. A lot. More than a lot. I walked slowly, turning my head from side to side, my tennis racket firmly gripped in my right hand. I don't know what I was looking for, something to jump out of the shadows maybe; an errant pet, a homeless person. I moved quickly, looking down only to pick up a ball. The second time I went back there I was still cautious, I loosed my grip on the racket, and I turned my head looking for fuzzy green balls and not something that might kill me. With each subsequent trip to the back side of the wall I became more and more comfortable. I quit looking so hard, I began toying with my racket as I walked. I didn't dread the trips back there so much.

More From Photoshop Class

I just got my portfolio back from Photoshop class, and I did just fine (no surprise, the prof is really laid back). Anyway, I thought I'd share my latest completed project. This took 3-4 (including the time I spent online finding images) hours start to finish.


This is a concept page for a ten-minute play called "Clara's Husbands," which is a humorous take on a woman who can't really decide what she wants in a man. Anyway, I had a good time doing this project. It was basically a lot of layering image upon image with varying opacity.

Anyway, now we're working on photo restoration. He had us print a photo of ourselves, tear it into six pieces, and scan it back into the computer. We get to fix it in Photoshop. I started a little, but it's turning out to be much more time consuming than I anticipated. There is a lot of very detailed work that I'm not really used to doing. Anyway, I'll put it up when I get done with it.