Big doin's...

...Yes, "doin's" is a word! First off, there's a Taco Bell in Charlestown now! Yeah! It's kind of pathetic how exciting that is...
Secondly, my sister and I are planning a bit of a Independence Day celebration thingy. We were going to actually have it on the 4th (yeah, we're crazy like that) but it turns out that our mom's boyfriend wants to have a little cookout of his own (in his defense, he does traditionally have one), so instead of opening the door for blatant combatism (is that a word?) Christine and I are going to be the bigger men (teehee) and have our thingy on the 2nd. I have to admit, it is gratifying that I'm getting a laugh every single time I've invited somebody to our "Fourth of July party on the second..."! I'm not saying that we're in any kind of competition with Gary or anything...but our party's gonna be way better! We're going to have cupcakes! Quite possibly in a flag formation.
Speaking of getting laughs, Christine and I have also come up with the improv skit idea for our grandmother's birthday (July 8th). Tell ya what, I've never felt this much pressure over it (not that I'm losing sleep). After doing so bad on the last one I feel that we had better make this one mighty good! I must redeem myself! ;)

And now on to Critiquer's Corner. Let me know what you think about this little piece. All you need to know is that Sam is a spy who has been captured along with his partner Jared in Saudi Arabia. Those with finer sensibilities may not want to read this. Blood does come into the picture.

~ Sam paled visibly as his tormentor; Mohamed el Akbar, or Warren as Sam liked to think of him, strode in. Sam could feel his pulse quicken, throbbing in his neck.
Sweat ran down his back, mixing with blood, and seeping into the many lacerations, causing them to sting and burn worse then ever. He felt lightheaded and nauseous. As a gentle reminder that he was still alive, every little while his legs would go into vicious cramps.
Akbar circled around behind the chair and began to fasten Sam’s elbows together with a thin length of nylon rope.
“Now Mr. Evens, perhaps this evening you will decide to help us out? What do you think?”
Sam gritted his teeth and tried to clear the dense fog that was choking his logical cognition. “I have nothing to tell you. You have the wrong person. I know nothing!”
Akbar calmly and carefully finished tying off Sam’s elbows and then attached the rope to a pulley hanging from the ceiling.
“Come now, I think we both know better.” He pulled the rope taut and Sam gasped as the pressure on his shoulders moved and pulled at his broken ribs.
“Why were you in Coustani? What did you find there?”
At the blatant lack of an answer Akbar pulled the rope tighter putting most of Sam’s weight on his upper arms and contorted shoulder sockets. Sam thought for an instant that they just might rip off all together, and what was more, that that could only be an improvement. He writhed, as if that would help, trying to convince himself that this was just another thing to fuel his anger. Let your rage take over and it doesn’t hurt so bad. At least, that’s what Jared always said.
“Why was your friend always in the consulate?” Akbar demanded.
“I don’t know!” Sam screamed.
“Liar!” His captor roared back.
Sam’s head slumped on his chest. Akbar let the rope loosen again and strolled around the chair, slowly, deliberately. Then a very unexpected thing happened. Sam began to laugh, quietly, weakly, but definitely derisively. He raised his head to meet Akbar’s eye with a hard glare.“So I’m a liar am I? You’re torturing me for information that you’re not even sure I have and you’re accusing me of being the evil person?” He laughed again, and glanced around the room, returning his gaze to Akbar. “Am I the only one that finds that ironic?”, he gasped, wincing every time he took a breath. ~

So whatcha think? If you liked it, then I take credit for writing it. If you didn't like it, then I stole it from a Star Trek fan fiction site (only the names were changed to protect the innocent).

Flaming mass of wreckage...

...That's what the long form improv skit that my sister and I did on Father's Day turned into. Ok, first a bit of background. A couple years ago my aunt turned 40 and was extremely bummed out about it. Being the caring, feeling people that we are, my older sister Christine and I composed a rather humorous, but flattering poem about our aunt and called her up to read it to her, deciding at the last minute that we should read this as two British people, living in London (in a cardboard box as it turned out) and writing these birthday greeetings for a living. The poem was a huge hit, and instead of just dropping character when it was done we continued on and improvised a dialogue that was about 30 minutes long. It was a huge hit, and quite funny if I do say so myself. Made our aunt's day! Flush with our sucess, a year later we pulled it off again, this time with a song about how rotten people are, and two totally different characters. Somehow this "tradition" grew and we were expected to do these little skits for everyone's birthdays and then eventually, all holidays in general. Fine by us, we love making stuff up! Most of the time we would have no idea what we would be doing until a few hours or even minutes before we went "on stage" so to speak. Usually we only went armed with a central idea to base the scene on and the accents with which to build the characters around. Maybe (probably) our extended family and/or friends are just easily amused, but most of the time, we killed. Well, this Father's Day, yes this Father's Day, June 18th, my sister and I absolutely bombed. If we had stopped after about 2 minutes into the skit, we might have escaped, but we didn't. After 5 or 6 minutes we finally wrapped it up, rather abruptly. Some of the more polite folks there claimed that "No, no, it was great, you guys were funny!" but we're not that stupid! We know when we fail miserabley! I believe we have pin-pointed the issue. Firstly, having nothing prepared, and very little time we decided to use a skit that we had done before for my aunt's birthday. She was the only one that saw it, so we figured it would be fresh for everybody else. What did not occur to us is that by using characters that we already knew, we had to try to find lines that fit those characters, instead of just flowing with the "feeling of the moment" and letting the characters build themselves. We were recycling, and we knew it! At the start of it we got in a few good lines, but then it just started petering out. In our defense, we saw what was happening and didn't let it go on for another five or ten minutes, but still, it was a big disapointment. Never will I try to reuse a character again! An accent, yes. A character, no.
The moral of the story children, is recycling is bad for the environment!

Let's take another crack...

...at actually writing a post with a body instead of just a topic, however classy the latter may be.
Alrighty then, the game that I was proposing before was one I like to call: "What the bleep is that picture of?!?"
Here's the picture:
Take your best guess, write it on a $50 bill, read the rest of the post, find the answer at the end, and mail the $50 to me.

And now news!
I went spelunking the other day! Yeah! Under our house. There's a leak in the water main. Yup, you heard right. A leak in the water main. And let me tell you something. It is not cozy and fluffy under our house! It is wet(!), and muddy(!), and spidery, and cramped, and cold, and dark, and every other nasty adjective that you can think of. Picture in your mind some poor soul (not claustrophobic thankfully) crawling into this tiny, nasty, horrible space, taking a good look at the pipe, the leak, judging the size of both, estimating where exactly under the house it is, and then laboriously snaking her way back out. And now picture (*! THOSE PERSONS WITH WEAK STOMACHS OR PALLID DISPOSITIONS SHOULD STOP READING NOW !*) that self same person shaking the leaves, sand, mud, dead bugs, and Lord only knows what else out of her underwear. Now I know what you're thinking! And you're wrong. The picture at the top is not of me burning down the house. Guess again. The yard is far to wet by now for the house to burn anyway.
In other news, mom still isn't sure about the wedding thing, but she is thinking of things like: "What am I going to do with the house full of stuff? I won't want to take most of it if I do go through with this."
I just told her not to burn her bridges before she'd counted them.
Speaking of burning things, it's now time for the recipe of the day! Assemble french bread, turkey breast, pepper jack cheese, a bit of mustard, and Doritos into a sandwich (yes, put the chips on the sandwich!). Try it, it's good. I can tell by the look on your face that you don't believe me, but that's what I'm eating right now! As we speak. Seriously.
And now to the Health Forum! Tomorrow I go to get my second PPD test for work. For some reason they want to make sure that I don't have TB. The first one I had no reaction to at all. Nothing, not a bump or a bruise or anything, so that's good.
In the Popular Entertainment Forum I must mention that I got the new Narnia movie and watched that for the first time. I wish I had taken the time to see it on the big screen, but ah well, such is life. It was really good. Awesome effects, uber cool, dramatic battle scene without the viewer actually ever seeing a drop of blood. Very tastefully done in my opinion. I don't like gore. It was dramatic enough that I will watch it a couple more times, but well enough done that a small child could watch it. Good music score too. I give it a lot of thumbs up.

Ok, it is now time to see if you figured out what is in that picture. If you guessed that it is my 9 year old brother burning his school in effigy, then you're right! Yup, he built a model of his school out of cardboard boxes and set it alight (under supervision of course). His great loathing of organized education and abiding love of fire were momentarily combined in that one simple arsenistic action. Goodness knows what kind of psychosis this has awakened in the boy! His advice to get the most out of the viewing: "Imagine that that's really the school and you're just watching it from far away!"

The moral of the story children, is if you are going to be groveling underneath a house, don't wear expensive underwear.

Time for a game...

Getting good reception...

..Speaking of reception, I'm a receptionist now. I spent my first shift today actually at the desk learning the job from a lady named Wilma and I'll be doing the same thing tomorrow and Sunday. Next weekend I should be flying solo. It's actually fairly interesting. More then just answering the phones at any rate. You have to keep a lot of stuff in order.
In other news, I got a call about my baby, by which I mean my horse. Apparently he got a cut just above his right, front hoof that was bleeding pretty bad. The Thompson's got the vet out and he bandaged it and gave him a tetanus shot. I miss him. A lot.
Moving on, I am now on academic probation! Yeah, fun huh? Stupid chemistry! Just when I'm getting used to Purdue they start threatening to kick me out! Ahh...I remember the good ol' days...back in physics III...back when I actually had a GPA. Grrrrrrrrrr. So this means that I will be dropping at least one of the aero courses that I got in for this fall and switching it for something soft and fluffy that I can be sure I'll actually pass! Tell me something. Why the heck did I choose engineering? There are so many fields that I find interesting and that I actually excel at, but noooo, I have to go and bust my butt to get an engineering degree! Geez...I think there's something wrong with me.
Going to a different subject, my grandmother heard somewhere (and also seems to be completely convinced of her facts) that Gary actually proposed to mom and mom answered with a resounding "Yes!". Which didn't actually happen. I know cause my mom told me, and my mom is never wrong! And because I think she'd know if there was a feller in front of her down on one knee. At least I sure hope she would!
I've been doing a bit of oil painting lately. It's very relaxing. And I actually did one that didn't turn out to bad last week. It's of some mountains with a mist covered lake in the foreground. I took a picture of it, which I might post later. It's not a very good picture. That coupled with not a very good painting makes me look bad. :-) You don't want that, do you?
Anyway, today I'd like to share with you a passage that I've really, really liked for a long time. Read it out loud, a couple of times even, to get the full effect.

~ At the hole where he went in Red-Eye called to Wrinkle-Skin.
Hear what little Red-Eye saith:
"Nag, come up and dance with death!"
Eye to eye and head to head,
(Keep the measure, Nag.)
This shall end when one is dead;
(At thy pleasure, Nag.)
Turn for turn and twist for twist--
(Run and hide thee, Nag.)
Hah! The hooded Death has missed!
(Woe betide thee, Nag!) ~

A piece of: "Rikki Tikki Tavi" from "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling

Alrighty then...

...Because I haven't posted in a bit (I tried, I really tried! Stupid dial-up!) You un's out there won't know that I have a new job. Receptionist at a retirement home every other weekend. Anyways, today is my first day of training, so I thought I'd drop a line or two here while waiting for my hair to dry. (Yes! I know you're shocked, but I did in fact bathe!) I will write again tonight perhaps with other news and goings-on, because a lot is goings-on. haha
Until then!
~ One day you're going to look back on this...and ram into a parked car. ~

Continuing on and so forth...

...You know, I won't have to do a good deed for like a week now! Or maybe even a month...because I saved a baby bird from drowning! "Oh my goodness!" you say, "What in heaven's name could have brought that about?" Well, I'll tell ya. Yesterday I took the two lil bro's down to Fourteen Mile Creek to do a bit of swimming and fishing and stuff. (Me and Shiloh found a real cool water gun down there...don't know if it works though cause right now it's full of sand.) And we caught a couple little frogs and stuff (I love frogs, they're so dang cute) and as we were leaving Shiloh calls to my attention the fact that a small bird has fallen from it's nest underneath the girders of the bridge. Naturally I dived right back in to save the poor, small, struggling creature. It was a Titmouse, fairly mature, but all it's feathers weren't fully formed yet. We ended up putting it in the tall weeds by a sapling and wishing it the best of luck. I think I heard it's parent(s) hollering just as we left so it most likely called back and they'll keep feeding it until it can fly. It actually might have been old enough to get food for itself...if something doesn't get it for food before it has the chance.
In other news, I am now the proud owner of two small crabs. A male and a female. Guess I'll be accepting suggestions for names because I'm drawing a huge blank. Kinda weird to name tiny crabs anyway! Maybe...Borris and Brunheida...It has a nice ring to it.

Until next time sweet children:
~ Of course I'm out of my mind! It's dark and scary in there! ~

In limbo again...

First a bit of history:
About 4 years ago my mom divorced my dad. A good decision all around. As people go, my dad is pretty much a jerk. About 3 years ago my mom started dating a feller named Gary. Some of you reading this may have actually met him. He came with my mom when she visited me at Purdue on Easter weekend. He was at the Fools weekly practice. Anyway, the other day when I was down at the river with Stephen he mentioned to me that mom had asked him what he thought about he, Shiloh (other lil bro), and herself moving in with Gary for a while. We discussed that for a little bit, mainly just covering how he felt about it. Tonight mom called a Mass Meeting, you know one of those Family Discussions. Apparently she and Gary have been seriously considering taking the plunge. You know, pulling out all the stops, letting the cat out of the bag, taking a short walk in front of an ordained member of the clergy. Seeing as how mom has a family they thought it would be good to give living together a bit of a trial, so it seems as if mom and the boys are going to be moving in with Gary for at least a month this summer. “How do you feel about that Renee?” you ask, sensitively. “I don’t know.” I answer, honestly. How do I feel about Gary? Well I’ll tell ya, I’m not his biggest fan, but that’s nothing new. I really doubt that most people just adore the people their parents hook up with. At least not for a while.
I have, according to mom, been given an invitation (standing I presume) to also come and reside at the Joint Family Manor.
I suppose that if this had come up say…oh…a couple months ago, I would be much more upset about it. After all, this is my home…But now, it’s different. Obviously I like being back to see my family and old friends again, but now that Gary (different Gary) and April have Tiger (my horse, they’re keeping him for me until I get out of school)…I don’t know, as I’ve said before, I miss Purdue…I think I feel more at home there now. And quite frankly I do wish mom could get out of this house. Whether that means buying a new one or moving in with Gary. She just hates this house (lot of un-pleasant things happened here) and it’s old and in bad enough condition that it honestly wouldn’t be worth the cost of making all the repairs that it needs. Obviously one feels strange about their childhood home being sold, but it would be best for all concerned. The other thing is that when I am home on holidays I could always stay at Kim and Drake’s (former neighbors/adopted family/my sister lives with them)…as long as Gary and mom can understand that I’m not trying to hurt anybodies feelings!
Heck! Ya know what? I have never met anybody that is better at unintentionally hurting folks feelings then me. For some reason I just have a knack! It seems to be more the things I don’t do then anything I say. People just don’t understand (even though I tell them a lot!) that I am just bone lazy! I don’t call people because that takes time and energy that I could be spending on…something else. It’s not that I don’t value them…it’s just…Well it’s just me that’s all! And people wonder about my cynical attitude towards relationships!

And that brings us to the moral children. Life is much simpler when you're not involved with anybody! Granted, you can argue that love makes it all worth while, but I'm so jaded that I probably won't believe you anyway. :D

~ Some people are like Slinkies: not really good for anything...but you can't help laughing when you push them down the stairs. ~

Life in the swamp...

...There's yet another title for my autobiography! Anyway. Speaking of the swamp (aka Home), I've been doing a bit of general maintenance. Got the lil' bro's help to get the WeedEater in working order (this is Stephen we're talking about for those of you keeping score at home)(the bro, not the WeedEater)(furthermore that's the bro that's 3 years younger then me, not the bro that's 11 years younger then me). Cleared out the front ditch and did some edging in the front yard yesterday and today I did the back pen, my little coral and trimmed a couple saplings that are growing out of the patio. What I need to do is re-anchor the mailbox (it's sitting rather precariously) and fix the front gate. Also put a rail on the front porch. I think there might be a leak under the house too...I hope not, I'm no plumber! And there's no way I'm crawling under the house. Don't see myself as much of a girly-girl, but even I have to draw the line somewhere.
In other news, I kidney punched a guy today (settle down, I did it relatively softly, more of a token punch then anything, just a threat really). There was a good reason! I went out to the freezer at work and he waved to me from the back door then let it shut. (It locks automatically) When it comes right down to it, it would be a simple matter to walk around to the front door, but I waited there, not giving him the satisfaction of knocking on the door or hollering. ;) In a minute he opened the door a crack (quite tentatively) and when he felt me jerk it open he went running to the front of the store. After delivering the box of cake making supplies to where it was supposed to go I cornered him in the drive-thru where he tried to ward me off with a plastic ice-scoop. Needless to say, that didn't do a lot of good, and I hit him...I don't think he expected that too much, cause he sure jumped, but claimed later that it didn't really hurt. I said he was stupid for having opened the door for me, but he begged to differ, citing the argument that I would have been really ticked if he'd made me walk all the way around the store. At that argument I had to digress. He was indeed very smart to let me back in when he did.
So anyway, enough of that. The other day me and the lil bro (Stephen again) drove up to the little convenience store that's near our house and decided on the way back just to take a spontaneous little trip down to the bank of the Ohio, just because it sounded like fun (you can get to the Ohio River in about 10-15 minutes from where we live). We explored a stretch of the bank and threw rocks (and for, I think, the first time in my life I made rocks skip! Yeah!) and messed with bits of drift wood and went out on a little dock and played "60 Second Alphabet". Tell ya what, Stephen isn't that big into improv, but the kid got in some really good lines! He made me laugh out loud quite few times.

And that wraps up our amazingly exciting update segment for today! Until next time children, let your minds dwell on this adage:
~ If someone asks you how you feel don't answer, they're just trying to get you to reveal your weaknesses! ~

Blue skies ahead...

And indeed, it hasn't rained for three whole days!!!
To dive immediately into the interesting tangents of my life, a couple days ago my farrier (blacksmith/horse shoer/vet for a horse's feet for you non-horse people out there) happened by and invited me to accompany him up to Austin to trim a couple horses. Of course I jumped at the chance, horses were involved. And my farrier. He's a great guy (his name is Scott for those of you playing along at home), ya just gotta love him. The farm we went to had a black, off-the-track Thoroughbred named Decker and a little palomino Appaloosa yearling named Glacier. Cute little feller. Decker was pretty sweet with me, although Scott divulged that he isn't always an angel to trim.
We stopped and looked at a house that some feller just finished building. It was on a two acre plot. He was selling it for 450 grand. A bit out of my price range. But to be perfectly honest, if I did have that much money I would not buy that house. I mean, the construction was good, and the location was decent, but in my opinion it wasn't worth that much...at least not to me at any rate. Now the garage was another story. It was 24' x 38' if I remember correctly, and had a loft that was at least half that size. To make a long story short, and Scott agreed with me here, if it was mine, I'd leave out the concrete floor downstairs and toss in a kitchenette upstairs. There was plenty of room in the bottom for at least three or four stalls and a nice sized tack room and the loft was plenty big enough for me to live in happily.
Oh and check out what I've asked for for Christmas! Fantastic isn't it? I thought you'd think so! Be sure and click on the little inset pic to get the full effect.
I got my sister and one of my younger bothers onto the "Two Person Story" bandwagon. I also practiced a couple rounds of "60 Second Alphabet" with Christine. I think I did surprisingly well considering how bad I am at the English alphabet. ;) I had to take relatively few pauses to sing it in my head, but did juxtapose a few letters a few times. Maybe I should have paused more!

And now, dear children, for the moral! Oh wait, I don't have a moral, so in it's place please enjoy this bit of fiction written by yours truly some time ago:
~ As he entered the empty elevator car he heard a shout and looked up to see a disheveled man sprinting towards it. "Wait! Hold the elevator!"
With a malicious glint in his eye he punched the "close doors" button and held it down. An ugly, but obviously happy smirk formed on his lips as he stared down the running man, enjoying the look of frantic desperation on his victim's face. He gave the poor fellow a little, three-fingered good-bye wave just as the doors, shutting with a satisfying click of finality, ended the drama. He leaned back against the wall as the car began to move upwards and chuckled to himself. It is good to be bad. ~
PS I have no idea who either of the men in this micro-scene are, so any resemblance they bare to either yourself or anyone that you know is purely coincidence. ;) They're none of my characters, that's for sure!

Will it ever...

...stop raining already!?! Now don't get me wrong, I like rain as much as the next guy, but these last couple of weeks I feel like I live in the tropics! Except without the nice sun, warm weather, beaches, cool flora and fauna....Well you get the idea. It's nothing like the tropics except for the rain everyday! On the bright side (no pun intended) the yard is green and with a warm summer the farmers ought to get a good crop.
So here's the deal, I miss Purdue. It's nice to be home for a bit, but I really do miss it. When not in class I feel somewhat aimless. I miss improv too, I miss my friends. Been watching some of the Fools Footage to try and make up the deficit, but it's not that wonderful of a substitution. I have managed to get the guys at work and some of my friends to take up the game "If You Know What I Mean". And I still plan to teach my sister "60 Second Alphabet" and "Two Person Story". Also, if you're a denizen of Facebook.com Charlie from "Here Comes Charlie" now has his own personal profile. That Charlie is quite a guy! Everybody loves him.
In other news I am now listening to a book on tape by Ian Rankin. Quite interesting. It's a crime novel. I think it's called "Set in Darkness". Worth checking out if you like crime novels.
Well children, the moral of this story is that when it's raining and you see that it's also a bit sunny, keep your eye out for a rainbow! Now is that deep or what?

Let's hear it for...

...mothers. Of course! Those of you who have glanced at a calendar recently will no doubt realize that tomorrow is indeed the second Sunday in May, and therefore Mother's Day. It's a time to celebrate not only your own mother but also the maternal instinct in all of us! "Yeah right!" you say, and I'd tend to agree with you. I don't really see myself as overflowing with the blessed maternal instinct myself, but I certainly am grateful for those around me who are. Mother's Day tends to be rather more on the expensive side for me. Not because of the quality of gifts I purchase, goodness no, but quantity! I of course have a mother, and then there's two grandmothers, and a surrogate/adopted mother. I'm sure it's only a matter of time until my sister decides to get hitched and have kids (and more power to her, she's great with kids), and then I'll get something for her. I may have to revert to getting only cards one of these days. So anyway, onto the delightful M.D. plans. Tomorrow I will rise bright and early and fix a delightful breakfast for my own mom. Hopefully my younger brothers will see fit to lend a hand. Later in the day we'll do the little gift thing and I got stuff to make a desert. At some point in the day I'll go see the surrogate/adopted mother, Kim, and enjoy a delightful visit/celebration with her. Sometime this week the whole clan will wind up visiting my grandmother (mother's mom) and that visit will be coupled with the belated giving of gifts to my grandfather for his birthday which I missed what with being in West Lafayette and all (Yes, I did call him, even offered to sing to him, which he wisely turned down.) So now you know people!
The moral of the story children, (just like Valentines Day in my opinion) is that you shouldn't wait for a holiday to let the people you love, be it family, friends, or otherwise, know that you do, in fact, love them. If you mean it, saying it on a daily basis will in no way cheapen the sentiment. And now I'm going to go and try to take a nap. Happy Mother's Day!

I just finished...

...a flower arrangement for my best friend who is graduating from nursing school. Turned out great...I'm so dang amazingly multi-talented I even scare myself! But seriously, it did come out pretty good, despite my best efforts. I think she'll like it, and until tomorrow, I'm enjoying it. I certainly am proud of her! I knew she could do it.
~~~~
Ok, I started this post at a decent hour in the evening and then saved it to draft because I couldn't think of anything else to say. Well I have something to say now! It's 4:31 in the morning and I can't go to sleep! I'm tired, just can't sleep. So I'll tell you about the last dance social of the semester that happened Wed night. I got there round abouts 9:30 or so, and learned marengae or however the heck you spell it from the VP of the dance club, that was a lot of fun! Easy too, basically I just had to keep a count of 8 and follow him. How lovely is that? And then Kaushik showed up and we did some cha cha, swing of course, bit of tango and waltz. I think we even dabbled with rhumba a bit. But that's the fun thing about those socials, you get to do a bunch of different stuff.
Here's something that's kinda cool. Those of you who know me will probably know that I am something of a novice author, or put differently (and I think more accurately) I make up stories (and people and lives) and occasionally write some of it down. The interesting thing about it is that I've noticed that during the semester I basically write next to nothing, because in general I have nothing to write down (maybe the occasional flash of inspiration or very brief scene but not much else). As soon as I go on break however, I come up with a bunch of stuff (whether it's actually good stuff is entirely up to the poor fool who gets ahold of it and tries to read it.). My theory is that while on break my mind is freed up to actually think about my characters, whereas when I'm in school, even during leisure time I have some aspect of school consuming my mental faculties (scarce as they may be). This hypothesis seems to hold up to experimentation. When overly caught up in other things I don't write either. But anyway, back to the kinda cool thing I was going to say. Even though my semester was not technically over until after my last final (Tues) I had already begun to slip into the "break" mode and started writing a couple things late last week, and I've been digging the trench deeper ever since. It's a lovely feeling to write something that I think might really be good again, and kinda funny to. For me going back to my stories is like visiting old friends that you haven't seen for quite some time. But then that's natural, I suppose I know my characters a heck of a lot better then I know most of my friends...After all, I made them up.
But, dear friends, family, compatriots, and total strangers that might happen to read this, it is now 4:58 and I have to get some sleep!
Until next time!
~~~~
"Oh come on! You’ve proven people wrong before. Heck, you live for proving people wrong! Just look at the joy it gives you!" ~Sam Evens (lovingly and abidingly created by Renee)

Possibly the most fantastic...

...show in the history of the Fools! Well maybe not the entire history, seeing as I've only seen one semester's worth of shows, but I still hold that last night's End-of-the-Semester-Ship-of-Fools-Grand-Finale was a positively awesome show, from the Foolish awards ceremony (during which Andy was magically conjured by a shout of "Andy! Andy! Andy!") to the no less then legendary feat of "Five Things" in 2 minutes 15 seconds with Benji un-failingly guessing and T-Rex and Freshman giving the flawless clues! The five Things included but were certainly not limited to: Resequencing DNA in a sandbox, shaving a cat using WD-40 instead of shaving cream and a Motorola Razr, and giving birth to audience suggestions. And at no time was anything other then mime and gibberish used!
Yet another feat that struck awe into the hearts of the audience and participants alike was the extraordinary "Sideline Sermon". The subject was "pungently reverberating Pepto-Bismol" and the game went like this: Paul got up and almost immediately got pungently, switch was called and Wes got reverberating within mere seconds, switch was called again and Paul ended things by saying Pepto-Bismol practically right out of the gate. I think everyone would agree that it was probably the fastest sermon on record.
Last night also held a first for me. My first "Chain Murder Mystery". Turns out everybody wanted in on the action! If I remember correctly we had a total of ten people waiting in the wings (or hallway) to get killed. But we spiced things up even more for the audience! Alex and I went in as twins joined at the hip (One day when you get a few spare moments, link arms with someone and try to convey the location "roller rink" using only mime and gibberish, it's fun), and T-Rex (the last person) was shot by Stu as soon as he walked in the door, but naturally went ahead and guessed what the location, occupation, and murder weapon were. The first two things amazingly made it almost all the way down the line intact, the weapon however didn't make it anywhere (it turned out to be a gerbil exercise ball). And I've got it all on tape! What I've described here is really just the tip of the iceberg. My summer project now seems to be to find a way to convert my VHS-C to some kind of digital media that could be mass produced. Everybody and his brother wants a copy of the by now mythical "Five Things" game.

There really isn't a moral to this story children, but I'll throw this in, don't tell Benji that he's lost The Game, because he will now punch you if you do.

Serendipity....

...is what I am rejoicing in right now beloved readers, and also the fact that I don't procrastinate about absolutely everything. Most things, indeed, but not everything. When I went to try to CODO into Freshman the advisor there told me what classes he thought I should take and I was going to take his word for it. He also told me that it might be a good idea for me to go talk to the advisor in Aero. But he said that he didn't think it would matter if I went to see him now, or next semester. I chose to hike right on over there, and I'm sure glad I did! When I went to my appointment with him yesterday he gave me the low-down about CODO'ing right into Aero. It turns out that he would be a bit more flexible then Freshman (a vision of iron rods and places-where-the-sun-don't-shine swims before my minds eye...) (not pleasant by the way!). For instance, he said that instead of me dropping the aeromechanics to take computer programming that he would accept my VisualBasic programming course from IUS. He gave me advice about what to take when, and when to get back with him for another review to see about when I could be signed into Aero. Apparently all I need to worry about now is learning MATLAB over the summer (it's used significantly in the Aero courses, and he said that he thought that's what's primarily taught in ENGR 126, which I can't get into) and keeping my GPA up. Of course in the fall I'll also have to worry about passing multivariant calc and perhaps linear algebra as well, but that's a bridge that I won't count before it's either in a haystack or has rolled off a log. Or something...
But on to the bit about serendipity! Dr. Williams told me about a seminar that was going to happen at 3 o' clock...this was at 2:45. He said that it was somebody from JPL so I went down to see what was up. Turns out it was Bob Mitchell! Director of the Cassini mission to Saturn!!! It was fantastic! He spoke for about an hour, and he had some of the pictures there that he commented on, and slides of some of the technical problems that they encountered. Did you know that when Cassini made it's trip up through Saturn's rings, they turned it around so that the high-gain antenna could act as a debris shield? I love multifunctional stuff! But anyway, I said hello to him afterwards, and told him what an honor it was to hear his seminar. Seriously, I have been following Cassini for ages, I never dreamed I'd get to shake the director's hand! I got his autograph too.

So there you are children, I think the moral is clear. Don't procrastinate all the time, and sometimes beautiful coincidences can happen.

Ok, splendidly fascinating update time...

...Hey, that could be the title of my autobiography! As most of you know by now, or at least anybody who has been reading this blog, the semester is winding down faster then ever. For me there's just about 6 days left! Being, I think, a forward thinking sort of person I am trying to get into the Aero school. That may seem insane, but I would like to have my degree before I'm, oh say..., about 59. I know, I'm a big dreamer. Today at 2 o' clock I have an appointment with an advisor in Aero, hopefully he will be able to give me some answers and help me work up some kind of a game plan. I am hoping against hope that he can somehow get me signed into ENGR 126 for the fall. Supposedly you can't get into that course unless you are in an engineering school, and yet I can't get into an engineering school until I've had ENGR 126. Little do poor unsuspecting students know that being admitted into Purdue opens a veritable Pandora's Box stuffed full of red tape. But now I'm just mixing metaphors. On the bright side, I am at least now reassured that Aero is definitely what I want to do. There's just no getting around it. When I was in Grissom Hall yesterday to make my appointment I saw in one hallway where they had the students rockets hanging from the ceiling along with their pictures, and there's cases of model aircraft by the stairwell and that's just very exciting to me. That's the way it's been with so many things in my life though. I'm completely convinced of something, and then there's a period where an element of doubt creeps in, and then an event or a memory will reassure me to the same level or a higher one then I was at at the beginning. It seems insane, but true. A week or so after I first got my horse he tested me like...well I can't think of a good example...but anyway, he tested me! Which is totally natural for a horse to do, but it was very hard on me. There were times when I asked myself why the heck I wanted a horse in the first place, but then I'd remember the feeling I'd get in the pit of my stomach whenever I saw a saddle, or felt the soft, fuzzy skin at the very tip of a horse's muzzle, or smelled that wonderful "horse" smell, and that thought alone would convince me that there was more to this then just a passing whim. I suppose I could say the same for Aero. I believe that it is something that I want to do with my life, and furthermore I think that it is something that I can do. Maybe I won't be able to do it with the same ease as say, a philosophy class, but I still think I can do it.
Ok, enough musing, it is getting near appointment time so I'm going to go brush my teeth again. I will probably post yet another update later to either muse, celebrate, or rant about how it went.
Until then, think on this adage:
In some cultures, what I do would be considered normal.

Surreal to say the least...

...Yesterday I got a phone call. "That's not surreal!" you say, but you didn't let me finish. The phone call was from a complete stranger. A wrong number, this feller was looking for a Julie, but he got ahold of me, instead of just hanging up like people usually do, he ends up talking to me for like half an hour! If you're the type who frequent chat rooms, then it was just like the introductions on those! "Oh really? So what are some of your hobbies? That's great..." Weird! It was wrapped up by him saying that for a total stranger I was pretty cool to talk to and maybe he'd call me again. Yeah, weird!

And now, surreal happening no. 2: I also talked to my older brother on the phone last night (this was after wrong number dude). Now it should be known that me and Josh get along very well, and there isn't a heck of a lot that's taboo, or off limits for discussion, in our family. I have been known to discuss the use of condoms with my male neighbor (Granted this neighbor was more like a family member, but even so...). That having been said, last night it was fairly late and the bro and I were joking back and forth like we usually do and somehow we got onto the subject of his love life. Now let me interrupt the story here just to say that there are some things that you do not want to know in great detail about your brother! Maybe he'd had a couple beers...But anyway, he somehow started to let slip what kind of undies he likes his girlfriends to wear...yeah! "Josh! Shut up! I don't wanna know!" Gee whiz...And that's not the first time something like that has happened to me either!

The moral to this story children is never, ever, ever answer the telephone! Some guy who's got the wrong number could be on the other end! Or your brother.

That's how it really happened...

...And that's one of the games that was played at last night's improv show. The phenomenon occurred at Hillenbrand Hall. It was touted as the Grand-Prix/Grand-Alternative alternative. Non-alcoholic refreshments were provided, and very much welcomed at that. I was able to film the entire show (lets hear it for my camcorder battery!), but it is a little shaky. About 5 minutes into the show I decided that the tripod just wasn't working out (to low, couldn't get the entire stage) and decided to hold the camera, which ended up working pretty well, except for when I laughed, hence the shakiness. But anyway:

FunFact:
~ "Hued" is a verb. eg The streets were hued with many colors.
This definition brought to you by Ryan in "Two Person Story"

And now, just for kicks:

Stolen from Ryan, who stole it from Sarah...

If you have 40 of these, then you are... Spoiled!
Do you have:
(x) your own cell phone
( ) a television in your bedroom
( ) an MP3 player
( ) a photo printer
( ) your own phone line
( ) TiVo or a generic digital video recorder
(x) high-speed internet access
( ) a surround sound system in bedroom
( ) DVD player in bedroom
( ) at least a hundred DVDs
(x) a childfree bathroom (do the other undergrads count as children?)
( ) your own in-house office
( ) a pool
( ) a guest house
( ) a game room
( ) a queen-size bed or larger
( ) a stocked bar
( ) a working dishwasher
( ) an icemaker
(x) a working washer and dryer
( ) more than 20 pairs of shoes
( ) at least ten things from a designer store (HAHAHAHA!!! I wouldn't know designer if it bit me in the butt!)
( ) expensive sunglasses
( ) framed original art (not lithographs or prints)
( ) Egyptian cotton sheets or towels
(x) a multi-speed bike
( ) a gym membership
( ) large exercise equipment at home
( ) your own set of golf clubs
( ) a pool table
( ) a tennis court
( ) local access to a lake, large pond, or the sea
( ) your own pair of skis
( ) enough camping gear for a weekend trip in an isolated area (Geez, how much do ya need? Gimme a couple cans of pork n' beans and a sleeping bag. Well, and a can opener, and some clean water, and some toilet paper...- ok, ok, point taken.)
( ) a boat
( ) a jet ski
( ) a neighborhood committee membership
( ) a beach house or a vacation house/cabin
( ) wealthy family members
( ) two or more family cars
( ) a walk-in closet or pantry
(x) a yard (The one at home counts right?)
( ) a hammock
( ) a personal trainer
(x) good credit
( ) expensive jewelry
( ) a designer bag that required being on a waiting list to get (A wait list?!?! For a PURSE? Wait lists are for new livers and kidneys and such!)
( ) at least $100 cash in your possession right now
( ) more than two credit cards bearing your name (not counting gas cards or debit cards)
( ) a stock portfolio
( ) a passport
(X) a horse (Heck yeah! My bestest boy, Tiger!)
( ) a trust fund (either for you or created by you)
( ) private medical insurance
( ) a college degree, and no outstanding student loans (HAHAHA!!!)
Do you:
( ) shop for non-needed items for yourself (like clothes, jewelry, electronics) at least once a week
( ) do your regular grocery shopping at high-end or specialty stores
( ) pay someone else to clean your house, do dishes, or launder your clothes (not counting dry-cleaning)
( ) go on weekend mini-vacations
( ) send dinners back with every flaw
( ) wear perfume or cologne (not body spray)
( ) regularly get your hair styled or nails done in a salon
( ) have a job but don't need the money
OR( ) stay at home with little financial sacrifice
( ) pay someone else to cook your meals
( ) pay someone else to watch your children or walk your dogs
( ) regularly pay someone else to drive your taxis
( ) expect a gift after you fight with your partner
Are you:
( ) an only child
( ) married/partnered to a wealthy person
( ) baffled/surprised when you don't get your way (HAHAHA!!!)
Have you:
( ) been on a cruise
( ) traveled out of the country
( ) met a celebrity (I saw Robin Williams on TV once...)
( ) been to the Caribbean
( ) been to Europe
( ) been to Hawaii
( ) been to New York
( ) eaten at the space needle in Seattle (My grandma lives in Tacoma...)
( ) been to the Mall of America
( ) been on the Eiffel tower in Paris
( ) been on the Statue of Liberty in New York
( ) moved more than three times because you wanted to
( ) dined with local political figures
( ) been to both the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast
Did you:
( ) go to another country for your honeymoon
( ) hire a professional photographer for your wedding or party
( ) take riding or swimming lessons as a child
( ) attend private school (well...sorta, I was homeschooled...)
( ) have a Sweet 16 birthday party thrown for you

Well there ya have it folks! And since this post is now ludicrously long, I'll wrap it up.
The moral children, of this story would have to be: short and sweet will get you far!

My gosh, there's only...

...two weeks left in the semester! Fifteen days to be exact. Hard to believe. But anyway, on to the updates!

1) My mom did indeed come up for the weekend. That was a whole hunk o' fun! I took her to improv with me and introduced her to all the guys, and then forced her into playing the traditional and obligatory game of "Family Moving People".
All the Fools and audience participants stepped up and gave a splendid show.

FunFacts:
~Pink brings out the color in Freshman's eyes.
~Benji's first kiss involved CPR.
~Purdue was founded on a bet that tons of students could be forced to live out in the middle of a cornfield.

2) Song I'm listening to right now: Mack The Knife sung by Michael Buble'.

3) My dance sneakers arrived, and I am very pleased! They are quite comfortable.

4) Spring is here! The cherry trees are blooming beautifully and there are flowers popping up all over the place and they've turned on the fountains here at Purdue! I love fountains.

5) Oh, and it looks like I won't be able to get any financial aid for the summer, which sucks...but ah well, such is life. I'll manage.

Tomorrow is the second to last dance lesson. Didn't think I'd end up liking it this much when I started. But again, such is life. ;)

The moral of the story children is: You can't win. You can't break even. You can't even quit The Game.

Lackey Wanted...

I’m holding try-outs for a minion; please submit your application at the front desk.

(or the comments section in this case.)