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. =)