I put the spring in Springfield!

04:08 am - Econ Scream

Picture the scene:
Hundreds of freshmen, on the walk overlooking Lower Quad. Dressed in pajamas, brains filled with nonsense about marginal utility and substitution effect, we anxiously count downt the seconds until midnight. "FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO..." At one, we all start screaming. The yelling is prolonged over a whole minute, but it turns soon to laughter...
From four doors in Ware and Riepe, out pour a dozen freshman- naked. Proudly pale-assed, they rush to the center of Lower Quad and into formation. From- where?- they pull out flares that they light with a flourish. They shift into three different formations, goose-stepping and high-waving. At the ringleader's signal, they scream themselves: "FUCK ECON!" Then, as if summoned, they break off into groups and rush back into their halls, hoping the anonymity of darkness will be enough to obliterate the telltale signs of tatoos on shoulders and birthmarks on inner thighs.
It was a good stress reliever.
BUT I FORGOT EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT ECON, SHIT!
Ahh, midterms.

01:07 am - First day of college!

I think I like it here! Everyone in my hall is really nice. Weirdly enough, in my section, I'm the only person who's not a Jewish boy. Originally, the RA was going to make the girls' bathroom for the guys, because she was the only girl, but no more. Bwahahaha! Needless to say, I'm very popular because of this. We went to a party tonight- frats are beer-drenched and packed with people, but still fun. I REALLY like my hall-mates!
C'est tout!

06:06 am - Exciting morning...

So I woke up from a complicated dream about Simon Bolivar and OPEC (no more Gabriel Garcia Marquez before bed) to hear my mom talking to somebody, and then lots of loud stomping around. I stumbled out of bed, because I thought it was our dog, going psycho (again), and I heard talk of baseball bats. Half-asleep, I naturally thought my brother was trying to beat my dog (I know, wtf?), so I got up to stop it, but I was wrong...
SOMEONE BROKE INTO OUR HOUSE!!!!
And they did a remarkably bad job of it, too. They came in through the dining room window my brother left open for the cat, and went upstairs, to my parents' room, bypassing a surfeit of booty, including my mom's laptop, and young, nubile teenage girl (haha, other kind of booty). The cops say that they've been chasing the same guy the last few hours; he bailed out of a car in Tukwila, and was probably looking to steal ours. To that, I say: I wish I had left my keys in the entryway, instead of my bag in my room, then. Damn, foiled again in another attempt to get rid of the Volvo! Anyway, our neighbors saw him, a black guy in in orange sweatshirt anad grey shorts. Hmmph, we didn't even get classy burglars with British accents and careful plans and black catsuits and such. I must say, it kinda made my morning to hear the policeman say, "Was the place ransacked?" and we admit shamefacedly that it's always like that.

10:53 pm - Pirates!

Ah, Johnny Depp. Is there anything you can't do? I mean, Phillip Seymour Hoffman is all very well and good, but I really could give a damn about Truman Capote. Captain Jack Sparrow, though...even better the second time around. Especially at the end. Of course, Orlando Blooom is always, but he can't hold a candle to rum-soaked, dreadlocked flouncing. And PS. Keira Knightley is hot. If I were a guy or gay...but I'm not, so no more getting lost in thoughts of sloe eyes and ungodly cheekbones. I will confine my thoughts to one thing: I wish my hair were that color.
And the World Cup: ITALY!!!!! Mmm, Gattuso. I spent approximately an hour this afternoon trying to download his Dolce ad, with him (and Pirlo and Totti and so on) in their underwear. Well, Dolce's underwear, I guess, but they wear it well. I was practically in tears at my failure, because Toni and Totti are beautiful, but give me the bearded Tuscan any day.

02:18 pm

Picture the scene
For some reason, they thought it would be a good idea for one person to have all the tickets. We get separated. Our train leaves in three minutes. We are running hell-for-leather through Gare du Lyon when we see Lindsey! Run, she yells. We take off, rolly suitcases banging. Our train is in the distance. As we race up the stairs, we see the doors close with an air of finality. We finally get there, but the doors do not open! We bang on them and tug the handle, but nothing.
What do you think happens?

11:57 pm - Hello, one and all

To whom it may concern: (EVeryone, hopefully)
I am leaving! For the first time in my life, I am setting foot off of this continent. I am going to Europe! Paris, Cinque Terre, Florence, Venice, Zagreb, Split, and Rome! (The ones you haven't heard of are in Croatia.) This trip has been long dreamed about by myself and two of my closest friends, and it's finally here! Of course, when we were planning this sophomore year in that Italian restaurant on Capital Hill (the map of Europe on the table inspried us), the original plan was to spend three months, unchaperoned, and visit all of our respective families in Norwey (Kelsey), Czechoslovakia (Linds), and Croatia (me). Needless to say, this did not exactly occur as we had planned. (If it had, our mothers would not be accompanying us.)I'm verra excited, even though I haven't finished packing (still), and I have an alarming amount of crap to fit into an increasingly-diminishing space. This will end in tears.
Anyway, the point of this is to say that I will probably be incommunicado for some time, as my mother has broken the crushing news that I can't use my cell phone in Europe. Bwahaha, I think I'll bring it anyway to use on the layover in Toronto. Still US! Wait...
I will write, and, God willing, my Croatian cousins have heard of myspace, but here's good bye for a while...
PS: Hans! Read! Jeff! You, too! I am an excellent and avid connaisseur of books, so you can and must trust my recommendation!
PostPS: I'll miss you. Even though it's been a while anyway.

10:20 pm - Read me!

Never Let Me go by Kazuo Ishiguro. SO good at describing unspoken dynamics between friends. To demonstrate: "What I remember is that there was this discreet agreement among us not to quiz each other too much about our claims. If, say, Hannah rolled her eyes when you were discussing another girl and murmured: 'Virgin'-meaning 'Of course we're not, but she is, so what can you expect?'- then it definitely wasn't on to ask her: 'Who did you do it with? When? Where?' No, you just nodded knowingly. It was like there was some parallel universe we all vanished off to where we had all this sex." (97)This is a little misrepresentative of the book as a whole, but made me laugh, because, honestly, can anyone remember being fourteen years old and not doing this? Yeah, didn't think so. The rest of the book made me cry though, so be prepared.
And since you have author and title, read it NOW! (Hans, because Hil's gone, and Gloria never reads what I want her to read.) I went to all the trouble of typing up a passage, so you'd better be INTRIGUED. If you don't read it, I will not love you anymore.*
*Just kidding, I will still love you as a friend, just not an intellectual equal.**
**Joke

02:28 am

Whoa. I'm 18 and a high school graduate.
Weird.
Graduation was beyond fun. Well, not the actual graduation, that was pretty boring, but afterwards. The alumni committee should have planned all Prep events. How much better would Urban Plunge have been if it involved go-karts? Not to mention sumo wrestling, moon bounce races, a hypnotist, a cruise, and dancing literally until the sun came up. Though I caught Austin looking at me funny, as I was gettin' low, as suggested by Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz (Er, that's with a z, right? God, I know nothing of rap.)Heh. I hugged Austin, in a moment of sentimentality. It was kinda like when Nixon visited China. And I hugged John. long. It was kinda like when Michael died of happiness. Good times.
And now, some photos for your viewing pleasure: (after prom, mock trial party, baccalaureate)

04:39 pm - Prom pictures!

All I could upload, as photobucket was being quite the stupid bitch. Gra, I'd like you to pay special attention to one of these...

08:07 pm

*Innocuous conversation, and then...
Mom: Michael, who do you know in Michigan?
Me: Um. No one.
Dad: Then why are there all these phone calls to Michigan?
Me: Um. No reason.
Mom: Really, who do you know in Michigan?
Me: Shut up and go away!
I love how, even in the middle of Gestapo-style interrogation, my mmom still manages to work in the implication that I have no friends.
I cracked.

12:36 pm

Begin as you mean to go on, they say. Thus, my summer will consist of:
Waking up with a start at 7:15 a.m. in terror that I'm late for school,
Lounge around outside without clothes for a few...hours... (it's okay, there's a really big hedge around my house!),
Go running and curse the surfeit of Aqua on my Ipod, George
Hmm...
Works!

11:14 pm

She squints down at the drink in her hand, a range of emotions flying across her face- a frown of suspicion that something is not right, a hard-eyed stare of criticism, and, finally, the manic light of glee in her eyes when she finds the flaw. "It's not thick enough," she hisses, rattling the cup to demonstrate, "Look!" Obediently, we train our eyes on the viscous, pink liquid. It gurgles as it slides around in the cup, in a testament to its thickness. Nevertheless, we paste on false smile and speak through gritted teeth. "I'll be happy to re-make that for you, ma'am." The drink is taken from her, and slammed into the garbage with a ferocity that betrays our anger. We mix another drink, while she pontificates on the correct way to make a smoothie. "See how you're putting in water? Put in less water, and more ice. See, you put in too much water last time. I saw you! That's what makes it thin. If you just put in less water, you wouldn't have these people in here complaining..." She is the only one complaining. She actually believes that we don't know how to mix a smoothie. In a job that is mindless and boring, being able to correctly dump together sherbet and fruit in a blender is one skill we all possess. If it were the end of the world, and some super sekrit organization was loading a spaceship with the world's best and brightest in order to form a new society, my only reason for existence would be "I got some mad smoothie skills!" Despite all this, she continues to lecture us. In silence, we take it. I pour the drink and smile insincerely as I hand it to her. I breathe a sigh of relief as I turn away from the counter. Fucking customers. My back stiffens as her strident voice cuts through the noise of the blenders. It's still not thick enough. She holds out the cup, a petulant sneer on her face. I slowly turn back toward her. It seems as though everything, even the shrill whine of the blenders, has gone quiet. I move forward as if in a dream. I take hold of the cup that she holds out, a smirk on her face. I stop for a moment, and then bring back my arm. The lid goes first. The force of the smoothie behind it causes it to pop off. It falls to the counter, as the thick, pink liquid flies out. Her face, for one second, is surprised. Then, with an audible noise, the drink hits her in the face, splattering on to her clothes and the floor.
Writing about it is almost as good as actually doing it.
No, that's absolute shit. Actually doing it would be in the neighborhood of 78 million times better, akin to being stuck in an elevator with Sean Biggerstaff and announcing on CNN that Maddie Taylor has herpes.
I hate eciuJ abmaJ. (I write in code so they can't eus)

06:44 pm

Mmm. Erotic circle reading. I love Andrew's house, even though it took me ONE WHOLE HOUR TO GET HOME!
I realized today that working at Jamba has turned me into the kind of person who uses words like "fro yo" and "OJ." I should quit before I strt tlkng lk ths.
C'est tout!

03:06 pm - I HATE MS. SLEVIN SO MUCH!!

SHE GAVE ME A B+! Again! Marques, too! Next time, I will give in and regurgitate the same crap she tells us day in and day out. Also, I think Danny Jensen thinks I'm a completely heartless bitch. That is all.

04:55 pm

03:22 pm - Blah

Christmas break! I feel it slowly dissipating, though. I spent last week actually DOING stuff (went to mall with Max, over to Kelsey's house, etc.) and now I feel like I've run out of days to be lazy and do nothing at all. My parents are inconsiderately taking this week off to stay home, so there goes my fun.
For Noel, I got pajamas with French kitties on them (so weird, but perfect for me) and books and clothes and tickets to "The Nutcracker" (it's really good, guys)and a tennis racket. Um. I don't play tennis. Now I'm going to be saddled with the vague feeling of guilt for having a nice tennis racket and NOT USING IT! Um, Manny? Hilary? Who wants to teach me to play?
What to do for New Year's Eve? Does anyone know anything about Kendell's Space Needle thingamajig? That will break my long-held tradition of watching TV alone on New Year's, but I suppose one must make sacrifices for one's friends.

EDITl: Heh. Ended up kissing waaaaaaaaay random guy named Troy. He was cute, too...

03:41 pm - Hello, all

And lo, it hath updated. Guess, it's been a while, huh? I guess writing those deep and meaningful journal entries is a bit harder when the highlight of my day is not missing my bus. Currently, I'm sitting in the library, because SOMEONE decided we needed to have a Mock Trial meeting here at 7:30, so I can't go home. I'm grouchy, because I really wanted to talk the new BOY, whom I met this weekend at gay bingo. (and no, he's not, thanks for asking)He's so cool...and gorgeous, which never hurts. Je l'aime bien. (I think that's how you say it.) I spent 45 minutes talking to him yesterday, while talking to Kelsey, BFF extradonaire, about what I was saying to him. The whole time I was petrified that I would accidentally say something to him that I'd mean to say to her, like "he's so dreeeeeeeeamy." Luckily (for once), bad things did NOT happen! Well done, me!

05:59 pm - Um...

Le sigh. I suppose I should update. It seems quite the style. Life sucks, per usual when it's summer. I've had three days of volleyball camp, also known as the "let's-make-everyone-regret-moving-limbs camp." I swear this morning, I had to CRAWL upstair to get a band-aid for my blister(!). Camp made me ever-depressed about my chances at try-outs (though I did suck up plenty.) Stupid Boles. Couldn't she have gotten worse? Sheesh. All of the widdle freshmen were very adorable. Were we ever that little? Oh, oh, my friend Lauren sent me books for my birthday. Anyone read "Ender's Game"? It seems really dorky (Ooooooh, space! Aliens! Battle!) but it was actually really good. Read it, one and all!
By the way, my scedule is French with Davis, math with Ellinger, Ranher, Rahner, Chemistry with Johnston (Yay!), team racket, religion with Petrahans. Anyone else?

03:06 pm - I'm soooooooo sixteen

Happy (day after my) Birthday to me! Yesterday was fun! I got out of picking up the pukey carpets because it was my birthday. I also got (well, will get when they're in stores) an IPod. I personally think my mom was just sick of me taking her CD player, but cool! IPod! Harry Potter WAS SO GOOD!!!! I loff Cuaron- it was so much funnier and scarier and an actual movie! The purist in me obejcts to the culling of the book (no Quidditch, but there's no arguing that it helped. My Dwakie was ruuly, rully hot, as was Dan, the wOOBlet. I love Sirus Black and Lupin. The Wolfstar stuff was so slashy and obvious, and it seemed so right! Like when Lupin was turning into a werewolf, and Sirius was like "Remember this heart." It was so cute! They're my new ship.
In other news, due to the fact that my computer is broken, this will probably be the last post in a loooong time. Woe is me, but I feel so bad for all of you, deprived of my insane mutterings.

04:14 pm - Moooooooooooooooo

Hello to you, all of my adoring fans! I'm in the library, utterly BORED! In other news, I'm going to see Troy again (aka the only known film to feature pectoral muscles in a starring role)! Yay for me! I'm excited' I've been being bad BFF. I haven't seen Kels in AGES. and Lindsey, of course. I'll have to tell them they will die if they make plans for June 5th, Harry Potter Day! Jeff, too. Kelsey has promised me my birthday present will be Harry-Potter themed. Apparently, she couldn't get Tom Felton nekkid to fit in the box, so a Slytherin tee-shirt will do.
U.N. is driving me insane. I thought we had 40 notecards due yesterday. Whoops, NEXT Wednesday. Good thing, I'd only done 22. Now, thanks to the fact that we ran out of time during collegio, I'm going to have to wear a bhurka during U.N. Where the hell am I supposed to find a bhurka?