The hangover....

was so totally worth it.

Here's what's been eating my time up for the last few weeks:

Papers! Don't plaigerize me.

Doane Wildlife

Sooo... there are some interesting critters living on campus!

First there are the squirrels. They are EVERYWHERE!  Megan and I named them all Chester. They're pretty cute actually. The other day I saw a pair of them chasing each other around.  They're all getting ready for winter.

Then the swans. They are ninja swans. Do not mess with the ninja swans. They know if you are talking about them. They will attack. You might get scars. But they are battle trophies to be worn proudly.

Turtles! They like to sun themselves on the rocks in the pond. So cute and fun to see.

Snakes... seen a few of these guys around too, but nothing too interesting. Just your garden variety garden snakes. =D

I saved a small defenseless rodent yesterday. He was just sitting on the corner of the lawn very near the sidewalk, and I didn't want him to get stepped on or mowed over, so I moved him (with the use of a box) to the little wooded area just outside Hansen. I felt pretty good about that.

And finally: the bears. Watch out for the bears. If you are attacked by a bear, you will die, there is no other possible outcome. The bears could be hiding anywhere, especially in the trees. The drop bears are dangerous. They will drop onto unsuspecting, unaccompanied students.  Watch out for bear spies.  Always travel in groups. Trust no one.

Mornings

Quickly before I start my homework: I love mornings at Doane!  I'm an early riser, so even though I don't have class until 2:30 today, I woke up at 7:20, showered, and got ready.  On my solitary walk to Perry to put some letters in the mail and grab breakfast to bring back to Hansen, I realized how perfect Doane is for me.  In the mornings, it's so peaceful... camping mornings I like to call them. It's the time of year when the mornings are cool and sunny and perfect. I love hearing the birds in the trees all over campus. I saw some squirrels chasing each other through the grass. When I went out on my adventure, it was the time when people either had class or were asleep because they don't have class, so I was pretty much alone. Little morning excursions for mail and food suit me well.

And that is all. Time to finish my bagel and start studying. Good thing the windows open!

PS- Right when I typed that some sirens started up. Hehe. Hope everything is alright! It is a small town, after all. I find it hard to think it's anything like it would be in Omaha.

Grrrrrr.....

First night back in the dorm and something goes wrong! I got so excited after the free Stars Go Dim concert, I was bouncing around on the way home, and my phone fell out of my pocket. Now it won't turn on. My luck!

The concert was pretty good though. It was, unfortunately, one of those "the crowd had zero energy" moments, and I felt really bad for the band. There were hardly any people in the auditorium. The band was really good, too! They did a cover of a Citizen Cope song and I was danged excited about that. Currently downloading their album off their website for free.

Sooo... it was nice to be home but I'm glad to be back in the dorms. Tonight after the concert and my phone fiasco, I watched the Boise State vs. Virginia Tech football game with the guys. That was pretty fun. Boise State won, and are probably going on to the national championships because of it. Apparently.

Navy lost today. Sadface.

Tomorrow = trying to figure out what to do about my phone situation, homework, lunch with Matt (B.), french class, possible Walmart run, more homework, hanging out as always.

That's all for now!

Look at this handsome gentleman

Look what I found in Annapolis!

Truly Tiger Tales

In a fit of insomnia, I have decided that it is time to finally update this with something somewhat interesting to other human beings. Emphasis on the 'somewhat'.

So... I STARTED COLLEGE! Finally. Hooray for Doane!

Orientation weekend was crazy but sort of fun. There was a lot going on and I was exhausted every night, but I met some fun people and did some interesting things. Among the highlights:

• The candle lighting ceremony on Thursday night. Casel Theater was all dark and silent and each member of the entire freshman class had a candle. The bell rang ten times like it always does on special occasions and it was just a cool moment.
• Playfair. Ice breaker games. We sat on each other and backwards danced and chanted our names and got/gave standing ovations. I also shook probably 100 people's hand in about 5 minutes. Insane.
• Standing ovations. I got two that weekend. :) It's where you shout "I WANT A STANDING OVATION!" and the people on either side of you lift you up while everyone else stands up and cheers. The first was at Playfair, the second was in the auditorium before the Dynamic Duo.
• The Dynamic Duo. Hilarious liberal slam poets reading poetry about nerdy things, serious things, funny things, important things, inspiring things, everything. I loved them. Favorites were the Haikus about old women crossing the street in DC, the orange unicorn, and the ones about liberal politics. ;)
• T. Marni Vos. Stand up comidienne giving life lessons and reminding us all about the importance of laughter.
• Dueling Pianos. Two guys playing the piano and singing songs and being funny. There was singing and clapping and dancing. I got called up on stage to dramatically interpret "Don't Stop Believin'." Pretty intense. Fun stuff.

After Orientation Weekend, classes started. I'm pretty excited about them. My professors are all pretty darn awesome, and nothing seems like it will cause me too much stress. The class I am most worried about is writing... we have to read our work out loud to the rest of the class. Yikes! But I'm really excited about my Pop Culture class. It's going to be very interesting.

As far as making friends goes, everything is just peachy! All the girls in my suite are pretty nice, and I met some other people in my classes who are also nice. The boys next door are really funny and fun to hang out with. It's just fun having my friends so close and seeing them like, all the time.

All in all, things have been going very well. I truly made an excellent choice. Doane is where I belong!

More later.

Days 06 and 07.

Day 06: Whatever tickles my fancy.


http://www.xkcd.com/674/
http://www.xkcd.com/647/
Unfortunately I couldn't find the one about cats.





Day 07: A picture that makes me happy.

Umm...

Behold my red-haired awkwardness.

Matthew called yesterday. I was pleased. =)

Day 05. I should have auditioned for Guys and Dolls.

This lack of theater in my life is killing me right now.

Day 05: Favorite quote(s)

Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.

"Hello, my little seduction queen."

"If I were going to eat at Chili's, I wouldn't wear much clothes either. That place is spicy."

Day 04. I'm only doing this because it's a handy countdown to August. Roughly.

And it's entertaining.

Day 04: Favorite book(s)

Classics:
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
Macbeth - Shakespeare (yes, it's a play, duh)
A Midsummer Night's Dream - Shakespeare (also a play, duh)

Non-classics:
Scott Westerfield! Anything!
Jim Butcher's Dresden Files!
Harry Potter of course
Other stuff.

I'm a book girl. So I work at a library. Handy.

Dancing tonight yay! Now off to wander Target to hopefully find something to wear...

Day 03.

Day 03: Favorite television program(s)

Bones, Scrubs, House, Grey's Anatomy, Say Yes to the Dress, No Reservations, Ghost Hunters (orignal!), Pretty much anything on the History or Discovery Channels, Kardashians and Girls Next Door because they are so dumb it's funny

C'est tout.

The zoo was fun yesterday. The little girls were adorable. I got to see the tigers. =) Then I went to Sheridan's with Travis and ate WAAAAAAAAY too much frozen custard.

Maintenant, c'est vraiment tout.

PS- One week down, five to go for Matthew!

Day 02. Also: Zoo day today!!!!

Day 02: Favorite Movie(s)

Welll.......

I get to go to the zoo today! I get to see some tigers and giraffes and stuff! Yay for the zoo!

Post #3 today, but I figure I should at least make it interesting.

Reviews of recent (to me) things! As if I'm some entertainment critic or something.

A Book I liked:
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac
By Gabrielle Zevin

So I read this book because I liked the author's other book, Elsewhere, which was about a girl who died very young and her experiences in "heaven." That one made me sad. This one just made me think. Naomi loses her memory in a freak accident during her junior year of highschool. She forgets her best friend, her boyfriend, her passion for being co-editor of the yearbook, tennis, her parents' divorce.... everything since she was about ten years old.


I won't give any more away, but it was just really good, and really made me think about what it means to be who I am. If I didn't have the memories and experiences I've had so far, I would certainly be different. Obviously. This is feeling too much like an APLAC paper. So I'm done. I just really enjoyed reading this.


Also: I liked the music the characters discussed. There's a list of playlists in the back of the book that made me really happy.

An album I didn't like:

Backspacer

By Pearl Jam

Basically, it sounded exactly like their last album. If you're listening to a new album thinking to yourself, "I've heard this song before..." then it's probably not a good thing.

The one song I do like is "Just Breathe" because it sounds like Eddie Vedder's work for the Into the Wild soundtrack. Which I like a lot.

A movie I didn't like:
The Last Airbender
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

The acting was overly dramatic. They mispronounced the names! Too little happened in too much time. Sokka wasn't funny, Katara wasn't motherly, Aang wasn't impish and adorable. Iroh was thin and didn't obsess about tea! What? The series is much better.

But Dev Patel was in it. I like Dev Patel. :)

Day 01. Also, I can't sleep.

Two posts in two minutes. Talent!

Day 01: Favorite Song

Too difficult.
Right now, probably maybe Regina Spektor's version of Real Love by John Lennon.
Another classic = Meet Virginia - Train

Good enough?

I can't sleep. My bedroom's too hot in the summertime. I'm very temperature-sensitive.
Also I have too many things going on in my mind.

SHUT UP MIND!

Nobody really cares that much, but read my purpose for being here.

I like long post titles. Just call me Panic!AtTheDisco.
Nothing all that exciting/new is going to happen to me until August, so until then, TA-DA.

Don't care that I stole this from my friend Travis' tumblr thing. I got a Blogger blog because my daddddy has one.

Day 01 — Your favorite song
Day 02 — Your favorite movie
Day 03 — Your favorite television program
Day 04 — Your favorite book
Day 05 — Your favorite quote
Day 06 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 — A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 — A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 — A photo you took
Day 10 — A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 — A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 — A fictional book
Day 14 — A non-fictional book
Day 15 — A fanfic
Day 16 — A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 — An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 — A talent of yours
Day 20 — A hobby of yours
Day 21 — A recipe
Day 22 — A website
Day 23 — A YouTube video
Day 24 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 — Your day, in great detail
Day 26 — Your week, in great detail
Day 27 — This month, in great detail
Day 28 — This year, in great detail
Day 29 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 — Whatever tickles your fancy

Introductions. I can't shake your hand over the internet.

Hi blogosphere!

Name: Cali Jo

Age: 18

Height: Average

Weight: Not something you ask a lady.

Hair: Curly and blonde. Secretly I call it my Marilyn Monroe hair.

Eyes: Blue or green. They can't make up their mind.

Purpose for being here: Unclear. Communication with family mainly. Since I'm off to college in the fall. Maybe?

Random:
-I work at a library. I love it. I almost wish I wasn't going to college so I could stay working there. The people are realllly cool. And I love books.

-I am a dancer. Not a good one, necessarily. But I love it. And theater, and singing. And tech work for the theater. The stage in general.

-OMG, MUSIC IS MY LIFEEEEE ♥♥♥ Not really, but I love music.

-I love movies too.

-I'm going to Doane in the fall. Majoring in theater with an emphasis in secondary education. Maybe doubling in business. Minor in french? History? Journalism? All three? Go Tigers!

-My boyfriend is a goat. What I mean to say is, he's a squid. What I really mean to say is, he's currently a Midshipman at the US Naval Academy. Well technically he's a plebe because it's his first year. Either way, I miss him, but I'm very very proud of him. His name is Matthew. Here's a photograph:

-What else? I think that's good for now.