Untitled (Because isn't that how life goes sometimes?)

So here we are! I've almost made it through an entire week of class, and have not died yet! I know, that to the normal creature I live the so-called "life of Riley," but... what am I saying! I have the greatest life!

Summer classes are the best. One of my teachers today wore a P-Groove shirt, and the other made fun of horror movies, claiming that they made it seem that all teenagers, who go out to the woods and park there cars, are going to be struck to Hell by Hades and killed by a crazy-scary-chainsaw-bearing-nut. One of the funniest phrases of the day was, "Everyone who has had sex, has died, or will die. It's a fact." So besides the quirky comments, and odd wardrobe, the Milledge bus is NEVER crowded, and always on time. I've been riding my bike to class some, but have retired little-red while I await a helmet (considering my clumsiness, I really should never even look at a bike without one).

Another spectacular Athens thing about summer school, is all of the freebies! Last night Michael and I went to Tate to see Alice and Wonderland, fo free! Not even a dollar... we just flashed our student ids and were in! Another great, almost freebie... Two Dollar Tuesday's at Moe's! So who knew, but apparently it's an Athens treat that the second Tuesday of every month, Moe's sells there burritos for just $2! What a steal!

Anyway, I'll try to update more often! I've been swamped with reading, reading, and more reading, but I will make time to blog!

Ah, There's The Rub...

Class starts tomorrow, and I cannot wait! I know that sounds lame... but let's face it, sometimes I don't feel like a student without that mild panic that comes with school. I'm a little worried about taking three summer classes, everyone I talk to seems to think it is a real bad idea... oh well!

"To be, or not to be [an English major], that is the question" -Hamlet, Shakespeare
Yes, you may not remember that line in the play, but it was there... Don't believe me? Alright, I made it up. But that is how I feel! I know that English may seem random, but the more and more I think about it, the more I feel pulled in that direction! My one concern is that I haven't had an English class in over a year, and that I'm going to be the worlds behind and my essays are going to suck... Is it worth the risk? I'll let you know...

Athens Humor

This was written on a sign outside of a bar in Athens, Ga:
The Beers Prayer
Our beer, which art in barrels,
hallowed be thy drink.
Thy will be drunk,
I will be drunk,
at home as it is in the pub.
Give us the day our foamy mead,
and forgive us our spillages
as we forgive those who spill against us.
And lead us not into incarceration,
but deliver us from hangovers
for thine is the stout, the bitter, and the lager.
Forever and ever -Bar Men.

In touch with my inner-craftiness!

So this is definitely not a new hobby, but I have been really reaching into my inner craftiness lately! My latest idea was to cover a slightly bland spot of the war with some magazines. I think that it came out really well, but I may have gone a little overboard.

David stayed with me for the first of the week, so last night I was back to being alone! Not for long though, because Jacob came over and we rented a few movies. We started with A Clockwork Orange, which I at one point tried to read... the movie was just as difficult to make it through. perhaps Anthony Burgess and Stanley Kubrick are simply over my head. So we switched to Pirate Radio-- much better choice for a summer flick.

Michael comes home tomorrow! Hopefully I'll see him..? Fingers crossed!

Athens, I Love You.

Sorry for the lack of posting (I was reading, which you could have guessed if you read the last post!). So although my jealousy is building as all of my friends travel the world, and I am stuck in Athens, I really have grown to love it. Walkers at night, Visitor Center in the morning, pool in the Afternoon, and 2 Story at night, what else could I want?

Attempt VI: Be a Townie
So this is one of the easiest things to accomplish that I have ever tried. I find that as long as I keep my sorority shirts to a minimum, and my visits to Five Points to a max, I have got it covered. The Athens Farmer's Market is another good stop. Tuesday's from 4-7, and all locally grown food and products. Hit it up if you are in the A-Town.

Oh to grow up...

So I sat down to start a new old book today- Brave New World... So I started reading one of my favorite books, which has been water logged, scribbled in, and thumbed over at least 8 times per page, but I could not quite focus on the words. Why? Because of my own notes, circa 2005. These include the insightful phrase, "Ha, so worked up about sex" and some conversations between myself, which are a little intriguing. For example, in my 15 year old handwriting, I scribe, "statement against drugs?" then reply in my 18 year old handwriting, "No, but more widely against an unregulated pleasure." Some of these things are humurous, some are embarassing (where I misspell feminism), and others are really insightful. However, I cannot focus on Alduous Huxley's wonderful message, as much as I can my own thoughts. This being said, I ventured to the bookstore to procure a new copy.

So now I'm left to reflect... should I be embarrassed or proud of my notes in the text? Embarrassed was my initial reaction (come on people, I misspelled feminism? really? I didn't know it lacked a "z"?), but after awhile, I became proud of my progression. I really have grown-up, and I really have learned something. Yes, I may re-read this in five more years, and yet again find myself cringing at my previous ignorance, but let's face it... the more we know, the less we know. As Oscar Wilde said, "I am not young enough to know everything"

How Much Wood Could a Woodchuck Chuck...?

So yesterday I decided to embrace my regular past-time of visiting the Athens Zoo! I know that this blog is supposed to be about doing new things, but I can't help but love all of my favorite little animal friends (big if you count the bear)! My favorite, Gus the Woodchuck/Groundhog was in rare form... I tried to explain this to Jacob who laughed at my intrigue with the little friend more that at Gus's antics! From scurrying about, to plopping on stumps, to nibbling on peanuts, he was too cool for school today!

Attempt V: Make new friends, but keep the old.
The more I get used to it, the more I love Athens in the summer. I know that it took a while to get acclimated to the severe lack of people (seeing as how all of my best friends are gone), but it's really gotten me to reconnect with some old friends that I haven't seen in a long time. Keeping friends should be something that everyone works to do, and I know that I get busy sometimes, but it is nice to know that the same people I was friends with in middle school will still be there today! Amanda and I sat by the pool for hours the other day, and you would never know that we weren't just as good of friends as we had always been! I cannot wait to live with her next year, but will be sad to leave my apartment... hooray to new beginnings, and old ones too!

Lasagna or Lasagne?

Attempt IV: Cooking

Today I made lasagna with  Jacob.  We went to Publix (although Jacob was vehemently in favor of going to Kroger and wouldn't stop whining the entire time...) for all the ingredients and hurried home rife with anticipation of our meal to come.  After 20 minutes of preparation and 35 minutes of cooking we joyfully sat down with our plates laden with lasagna, salad, and garlic bread.  After being scolded by Jacob for putting too much sugar in my sweat tea we cleaned up and he challenged me to a game of Mancala!

I'll let you know how the game goes, but I'm pretty sure that I'll win... Love board games.

Oh, and an update on my exercise plan... still sore from p90x, two days ago. I did run four miles yesterday though, so maybe I'll keep it up!

I know this is out of order, but!

So something my lovely friend Laura pointed out is that I mentioned how clean the apartment was... after about a week of that, I started to really slack off. I think that the reason I was so clean, was to keep my mess out of other people's way! Now I'm a disaster! This leads to...

Attempt III: Cleanliness
Need I say more?

Finding Myself... kind of?

So after much ado, and thinking long and hard about life, I think that I have landed on a solid idea. I know that lots of people have different ideas about what solid is, but I think that for me, my solid is happiness. As long as I am happy, I think that I can make it in this world.
So I read through the entire UGA bulletin (well, at least I skimmed it all). I looked at all the classes, all the majors, all the future careers, and I think that what I landed on is Latin, Comparative Literature, and an Art History Minor. So what exactly is Comparative Lit? That’s a good question. As far as I can gather, it is a lot like English… with less analytical essays? I could be really wrong on this one, but I think that that’s it.
—-
Attempt II: Exercising
So I’m looking for a hobby, and for now we landed on exercise. My abs hurt more than anything, but maybe it’ll get better? I don’t think that this is a promising hobby.

Marietta, Home, and J. Crizzle

So I went home! I know it's a "waste" of gas, driving back and forth from Athens to Marietta, but I couldn't help it! Aside from the lonely apartment, Caitlin starting a job tomorrow, and having the weekend off of work, there was really no other reason for the trip... so I've started thinking-- the whole "going home thing" has kind of switched...

It used to be that when I took the hour and a half journey down 316 and 85, I was on my way home. I was going to see my friends, and stay in my room, and my house, in my town. Now, I feel like I'm going to my parents house, and when my mind wanders to going back to Athens, now I say, "Oh, I think I'll head home." I know that comes with the territory, but it is still an odd thought!
---

Before making the journey, I couldn't help a stop at j.crew with Caitlin. I expected to blow all of my money, but it was surprisingly difficult to find things I wanted! Of course I didn't leave empty handed; I went on my way with a pair of shorts, a tee, and a headband...but the real trouble came when I walked by the shoe store next door and saw a pair of Birkenstocks I've been eyeing for months... needless to say, I now own my first pair of Birkenstocks! WOOT!

Networking, Shmetworking...

Attempt I: Networking
So I've used this summer to try out some new social networking that I've been a little behind on... i.e. this blog, foursquare, twitter, and I'm trying to check my email at least once a day! I can't help but wonder though, what is the world coming to? Why do I feel like I have to do these things, or else I'll fall behind on the times?

Now I'm the awkward newbie, who no one follows, and I feel like I'm doing it all wrong... well hopefully I'll get the swing of it all soonish! This just might not be the hobby for me...

Pool Goings and Summer Heat

Hooray for Summer, boo heat. Today I had an awesome start, but the heat just got to be unbearable! I know that it was only in the high 80s today, but those first few days of summer are rough! We went to Cali n Titos today  (Jonathan, Michael, Jacob, and I). I got fish tacos, and it was so good! But like I said, HOT! Then we went to the pool for an interesting experience.

I think that there is a certain breed of people-- I would label them "poolies." You would never see them actually in class, because they are always at the pool... but when you go to the pool, you will see them. They are way to tan for natural color, and they have those cliche tattoos that you could picture on almost anyone... like tribal symbols or some short phrase. They also smoke, and will probably be using the words, "dude" and "awesome" way too much to be healthy. But I wonder why these poolies are at my pool. They obviously don't live here (they give that away by the awkward hovering near the gate until someone leaves, and they can enter without the code). Why Town Club though? Why am I so unlucky? I guess I'll never know...

Well I'm off to cook some dinner... I think I'm going to slow cook grits one night next week. Who know though, I might not be able to stand the heat!

An Empty Start to Summer

So another school year over... wooh. The sigh of relief resounds in my empty apartment. That's right, empty. The roommates have gone and I am here alone to reflect upon the year that has flown by.

Sophomore year... where do I begin? In just 9 short months, I've taken 10 classes, gotten 10 A's, started working at the UGA Visitor's Center, started Gamma Chi Training, participated in Rush from the other side, and made so many great friends! I still can't help but thinking, where has it all gone? I just finished two years of college, and still have no idea what I want to do with my life. Right now I'm a Latin major, dreaming of Archaeology and the Ancient World. But is that what I really want?

Back to the empty apartment... living alone causes you to do and think things that you might not have normally-- for example, go to Publix, make banana pudding, stick it in the fridge, and then not even eat it. Or vacuum every single room in the house, even your roommates, just so that you know that it's clean. After dusting, scrubbing, cleaning, and polishing every single surface, I sat down. And I still didn't eat the banana pudding. Why did I even make it? I miss my roommates, but it is kind of nice to have things clean. And have pudding that I know no one will eat without permission... but that was never a real issue.

The silence is a little lonely, we'll see how I bode later on. Going to the VC tomorrow, and hanging out with Jacob now... maybe he'll eat the banana pudding?