Orchestra was fun, fun, fun yesterday, and the concert should be fun, fun, fun as well. Everyone should go, unless they have a very good reason. Getting one's wisdom teeth out may qualify as a good reason; I haven't decided yet. :) My evening was hectic last night; after orchestra, I planned on watching the Sopranos I had taped last week before the new episode started, but I found out I had a Pinehurst meeting instead, and had to miss watching the old episode, and had to tape the new one to watch it later. Sigh. Then people came in and out of my room all night, messing with my computer, etc. I suppose it was fun regardless. Today I am filled with a strange sort of smug complacency. Everything is just too, too funny. And apparently I'm very popular; every possible person from my past has been IMing me. :P Oh well. The point is, "everything...will be fine (hand wave)."
My beatmania emulator doesn't actually get me better at beatmania. The distance between the keys and those on a keyboard are so different it's more of an adjustment going back. Still, it's fun in its own right. And ohh, I passed rhythm and police (barely) now that 4th mix plus is back! Woo woo woo.
I've decided that Avril Lavigne has creepy eyes. But she also has a line in one of her songs that mentions it taking five hours to straighten her hair. This makes me giggle in empathy.
I don't have the cold virus of death anymore, but I'm all stuffy today, and that makes me sad. Grumble.
Now Playing: Carl Orff - Carmina Burana

Yawn, stretch. I'm about to head off to bed after having a surprisingly fun night. How I love spontaneity. Essentially, I got to relax most of the day, then go hear good music, and all in all it was quite uneventful, except that I rode a ride called Super Trooper (yes, haha..) and got slightly motion-sick after the fact. I suppose I'm not as resilient as I was when I was twelve. The only bad aspect was that we were planning on going to Rocky's after, which we thought closed at two, but sadly closes at one, and even our efforts to make a hasty exit once we realized the time did not avail. Sigh. So Alex, the lone highschooler whose birthday was tonight (hence the fun and games) did not get the Rocky's experience. Ah well.
Oh, the football game went fine last night as well. We actually won, miracle of miracles, and I wasn't the only former student who chose that night to drop in. And apparently I might play in an alumni band later on. I feel special cause I still actually play my instrument most every day, unlike a lot of other former band geeks. :)
That reminds me, I must get some rest, cause I have orchestra tomorrow and I know that will be stressful cause we have a concert next week. I suppose I'll write more about the past few days later on. Oh and a get well soon goes out to Greg, who has apparently been feeling icky the past few days or something.
Is the word "oy" less annoying when it's used in the british context, as in "Oi!"? To me, it sounds different. Then again, that could be the dramamine (no, not really, sigh).

Screw meaningfulness. It only tends to get me into trouble. Besides, such topics should remain reserved for one-to-one talking, no? Haha, wonderfully interesting; the power just went out all around me, and the entire time my clock stayed on . That explains how it hasn't been going out at the power-outs lately. Well, actually, it doesn't; but I've actually witnessed it this time. Back to where I was: if I actually have to talk to people to have meaningful conversations, maybe I'll actually get called. Or IMed, but it looks like calling is my only option since the school's server sucks. My sister once took out a windshield by kicking it really hard while she was in a fight. I have never felt that desire, but now I do really want to kick my comp screen. Grrr....
I got back from class early cause I flew through my 4th species counterpoint homework. And! I have the third highest grade in the class! The top three of us all have 99's; it's just a matter of decimal points. Woo woo for me.
I wonder why the power's been going out, anyway.
I actually went to bed at eleven last night. That's the earliest I have in about three months. Surprisingly, there were no fire alarms last night, so I got a full night of rest for once. Last night in general was rather restful; I watched the MTV awards that I missed about three weeks ago with Michelle and Bill and we made fun of various people. I was struck by the similarity in the outfits of Pink and Britney Spears. Well, it was funny to me.
Wednesday I went to the Boysetfire-Snapcase concert. I say this with a certain degree of irony, of course. At any rate, Autopilot Off was rather good. I'd never been to The Social, and I liked how close up everyone is. I'll have to actually pay attention to what's playing there from now on.
Tonight I go down memory lane, or something. I actually think I've been graduated long enough that not that many people will even remember me. Still, I promised my Freshman, who's now a junior, so it should be fun. And I am not wearing purple.
It's Friday! That just fully hit me. Woo woo woo!

Perhaps I should at least make an attempt to inject some meaning into my posts. After all, no one will want to read what I've written when I don't talk about what's reeealllly on my mind, my feelings, etc, correct? Right then, updates come full stop here, meaningfulness begins now.
Soooo....
*crickets chirp*
Perhaps I resist ranting lately because things have not been bad, on the whole. Seems unfair to complain about minor things when, in general, life is good. But fine: seems my RA, who is also my peer, who is also within the same social group of the Cove, doesn't like me or michelle, and is making no secret of this - at least not to the people we talk to. I suppose this verification is good - we now know we aren't paranoid. At the same time, we also know we didn't do anything to offend, except perhaps spend too much time with the boys she's best friends with. So at best, what we have here is a jealousy thing.
High school, anyone?
I'm not used to not being liked. Ignored, maybe, or simply unknown, but rarely is it that people actively dislike me. Rare is it that I actively dislike anyone else. At least not since high school. Perhaps this sudden occurrance parallels the fact that I also have more friends now.
Though that whole thing is a whole other issue. I'm afraid I've - that we've - begun something that cannot lead to good things. Not necessarily - just had another encounter, and things seem to be edging back to normal. At least, I am perfectly capable of seeming happy and smiley and chatting, while at the same time burning to get away from this storm of uncomfort. I wish it were as simple as some boy hitting on me. Now there's too many variables.
Variables are a funny thing. According to the Gilmore Girls, well, one of them, if a boy asks you somewhere and is paying, etc, it's a date. Reasonable in theory. But let's take a paying-for-movie scenario. Sounds straightforward, unless: the boy has to see the movie for a class, the boy is going with other boys and other girls, the boy is the boy in question, and the most important variable of all: whether the people involved want it to be a date. In this case, the answer was no, and all was well. But the important thing to notice is how it could appear. This particular example was not what was bothering me; but variables cloud situations and guys in general suck.
All right, that's not true. There are many guys for whom I feel quite a bit of affection toward. But guys seem to be causing so many problems lately, not only in my life, but nearly everyone around me. I want a hug, and not a friendly hug, but one those bone-scrunching bear hugs.
Ahhhhhhhhhh!
Total mood alteration: upon opening the fridge, I found a very large birthday cake. Muahaha, just part of the festivities to come later. Which makes me think of later, which makes me smile, and perhaps a jill-smushing hug may even be a possibility sometime soon.
Had a piano lesson today; I don't think I'll ever be able to play Chopin. My hands just don't seem to want to stretch that far. My theory is not helped by the fact that my piano teacher's hands are smaller than mine; still, she's this virtuoso, tiny-in-general Asian chick who's been playing since she was like three. Her concert is going to rock, though.
Concerts...the new orchestra has a concert soon. I feel a bit queasy, now. Must think happy thoughts; must buy self a cookie later.
I think the reason why Guster grows on you is because it's very sing-alongable and melodic. Much as I like rock and orchestral pieces and the Phantom, I can't exactly sing along to any of those. Now, Starsailor, this band, Fiona Apple, these are all very fun to sing along to. Radiohead, sometimes. Hehe, even DDR songs.
Only two more things to do before I'm done for the day. Off I go.

Much excitement for tonight! I don't feel like going to class today. I shall, of course, but it's a necessary evil to get to later.
Despite my best intentions, I still am not getting as much sleep as I'd like. I suppose I just always wind up talking, or something.
Hahaha, I think UCF is having issues with their server as well. Every UCF person who's currently on my buddy list signed off at once. I'm not the only one! *Evil cackle* Speaking of AIM, I now have one of those rose AIM expressions thing. It has had mixed results, since apparently everyone else can see it as well. Am I the only one trying this thing? I never see anyone else with it. Maybe I'm the only stupid one. Sigh.
I've been thinking about how some people have changed in the past year or so. Example: I remember those long conversations with Jackie about arrogance, and what it is, and what it entails, etc. Thank God we've all grown out of that phase, apparently. Well, aside from the typical first-year issues about taking general classes and having annoying people in classes. Or, also, Michelle has changed quite a bit in the past year. So much so that it's hard to place her as the same person in my memories. And yet other people have remained pretty much the same. Does this mean they aren't growing as people, or that they had already earlier? Or that it's simply imperceptible to me? Questions, questions.
Eep, time for class.

Wooooooo!
I originally came to the orchestra audition with scales, 2 given prepared pieces that were scary, and a solo that I played for juries last winter. I felt very, very, verrrry scared to the point of sick. So I sit down at the audition, with Katie and Cara being the peanut gallery in the back of the room, and I played one scale, and was halfway through my solo when the director said, "That's it, you're in." And I was done! Woooo!
Music of the moment: Guster, Like a Prayer
Tonight was a Pinehurst meeting. I paid my dues, got two Pinehurst T-shirts (I feel so old-school) and talks have begun of the Halloween Howl and the party and such. I'm getting all excited. :) As the paper to sign in went around, there was a column similar to those of names and extension numbers, that said, "do you have a costume yet?" I wrote, "of course!" I did decide not to be a Hooters girl, by the way. I may consider that for the Dress To Get Laid party, where it's all a joke anyway, but I dunno.
This weekend, which started out so badly, turned out to be pretty cool. Not incredibly action-packed, but fun in a laid-back way. Maybe that's why I'm in a Guster mood. That and the CD was just given to me.
Sleep!

I should really be heading to bed.
The tryout for orchestra is tomorrow (well, today), and I'm nervous. Today has been a relaxing day - I'm just now getting freaked out. But let's see how things have been going lately:
Friday started out badly, mostly due to the fire alarm and rain and issues getting any plans made for the evening. We had plans for Scrabble (don't ask), but then people disappeared or were late and Michelle had to go home without playing, which was very sad. Plans were tentatively made for 11 pm, but I wasn't about to hold my breath. However, things wound up going quite well. Turns out Brandon had been spreading the word, and at dinner a random guy came up to Brad and Jackie and said something along the lines of "see you at scrabble tonight," and Scrabble did indeed occur, with three games going on simultaneously. It was "Scrabbleocity." And Greg and Casey got to come too. :) And! We watched Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Greg finally got to see the mooninites, as well as homestarrunner.com.
Today began quietly, but in a way it was all the more relaxing; I tumbled out of bed after noon, and headed for lunch with Bill. Today wound up being a movie day, as well as a mostly Cove day:
Movie: The Full Monty
non-Cove member: Becky, and this random strange guy
Movie: Shakespeare In Love
non-Cove member: Alan, and the same random strange guy.
Also during the evening I played a combination Frisbee/soccer-with-a-volleyball game, and went to Borders, and oh, this afternoon went to Park Ave CDs as well, and the big stuffed bear is gone! Very sad.
The day would also have been nice if I had seen Drew, but sadly he doesn't like me all that much. Well, he did leave a very apologetic voice mail with excuses - oops, reasons - so I guess he'll have to live.
Strange Interlude: I just got a knock at the door. Yes, I think Bill knew I was still awake, so it's ok - plus, I usually am. Anyway, it was him and this guy (not the same random strange one) wanting to know if I'd seen Stephanie. Or Anthony. Or both. I hadn't, and asked why. They became very strange, saying "you don't want to know." Since Steph is the RA, I'm wondering if they did something bad. Hmm. It's a mystery...
That reminds me, must remember to lock door before bed. I guess this one guy went into some other guy's room a few nights ago, when the guy was asleep, just walked in and started messing with them. In the boys' hall, not too far away. Never hurts to be safe.
I just caught myself making a typo, which means I must be tired. Off I go.

Well.
Of course, it's Friday, and of course, a Friday morning would not be complete without the requisite fire alarm in the wee hours of the morning - this time, at 4 am. Sigh. It was pretty funny though - the last night, you could tell the freshmen thought it was sort of funny, a novelty of sorts, and today, well, the novelty had worn off. Everyone looked much angrier. However, at least there was only one last night, so I can't complain too much. Still, since we got to bed at almost three, I was less than thrilled. I think after horn quartet I'm going to take a nap and rest up for this evening, even though I have no idea what this evening will hold. Any thoughts? If tonight is like last night even, I'll be happy.
I adore the boys in the hall! Mostly cause they provide me with music. I already have one Live CD now, and maybe I'll get more, and I've been promised that basically the entire Jamiroquai CD collection will be burned for me. I've also determined that no matter how nice a guy is, he will still make fun of Center Stage. Sigh. This does, however, make me less ticked at Greg for making fun of my guilty pleasure movies. Apparently it really is a guy thing. Lee behaved the same way...Well, I don't care! They will still all be subjected to Girls Just Want to Have Fun at some point. I brought it with me this year. >:D
It's nice having TV again, but turning it on last night made me realize why it took me so long to get it hooked up. Among other reasons, there was really nothing on. I haven't really missed it all that much. I do need to listen to the radio again, though. Apparently No Doubt and Garbage are coming soon, and I didn't even know. I wish I had more money - that concert could be fun.
For some reason, I have random Strongbad's Email quotes going through my head. In his voice, no less.
"Come back Ali! Come back Ali's seeester!"

I talked to an old, dear friend last night, and the effects of it are still with me. Well, this may have something to do with the fact that I was up til 2 and have a test my first class. :P But still, I'm glad I was there for this person, and I hope everything works out well.
It's a scary thing, though. I have a small taste of maybe what it is to be a parent or something like that, when you're in a situation that you know someone you care about is being hurt, and you just want to maim the person inflicting the harm. Not any sort of romantic or possessive feeling, just a fierce protectiveness. Makes you willing to do nearly anything to save the person the pain. And maybe I said some things last night that would normally be difficult for me to do; I don't feel I should get a gold star, though. I just want my friend's icky situation to go away. Now.
On a lighter note, I had an ok time last night. Too few hours in the evening, too much to do. Today will probably prove to be no different, as I have two different lessons and reading to finish and then tonight is anime, and somewhere in the middle I have small heart attacks from my AIM being terrible (although I did get the new version with AIM Expressions, and now it looks really pretty :) and also I have to squeeze in bothering the people down the hall. Sigh. Little things like eating get lost somewhere along the way.
Time to test.

Yawn.
I can't seem to get moving today. Don't get me wrong, I've been to class, took a world music test that I think I aced, etc. But I'm still not all here. Kinda fuzzy. And now I should be heading out the door to go to work study, but instead I'm taking advantage of the fact that the server is actually working for once. Plus I'm not under a strict time limit, but still. The past week I've had no time to do anything more than update what random stuff I've been doing. It hasn't even pretended to have substance. And today will probably be no different, but oh well.
I found a picture over the summer. It was taken at the beginning of second semester of the 8th grade by Nathan Keith, of all people, and I hadn't seen it in years. When I did, I laughed for ages, because...well, no wonder people thought we were a gang. It was ridiculous. Me in my Crow T-shirt and Jncos and flannel shirt around my waist, long hair and bangs and...it sort of made me realize how glad I am that I don't dress like that anymore, hehe. And everyone else was dressed exactly the same way. I left it back in Tennessee, which sort of sucks cause Jacob wanted to see it. Maybe after Thanksgiving.
I thought of it cause last night I was talking with Charles about my Halloween plans, and we were joking about dressing him up all gothy. I said I'd do the makeup, cause I had practice from when I dressed like that. I didn't think it was a weird comment until he gaped at me for a bit. I forget that people here didn't know me then. They only know me as I've presented myself this past year or so. They think it's even weird that I used to have long hair. And that's really cool, the more I think about it. I'm not judged by what I've done in the past, at all. The other day, I had the term "crazy" applied to me. Of all the things I've been called, I've never been the crazy or fun one, really. Granted, the person applying the term isn't exactly a party animal, but...I am so happy here. I have a social life. And too many club meetings to be rational. At the same time, though, I still want to be picked up and hugged once in awhile. I do get lonely from time to time, lonlier than I've ever been in years. But! That's why being here is good. As opposed to last year, where I lived in my cave for a semester, I now have my wonderful roommate and all the people in the pod and down the hall...I can't be alone even when I'm sick. :P
Dorm life is good.

This will be a very quick post, til Sarah comes to drag me away for lunch, or in my case, breakfast. For today is a Jewish holiday, and that means no theory this morning. There would be much rejoicing, but I'm still sick, so I slept in more out of necessity than fun. Bill gave me more tea - 'll have to make it later. And I discovered the combo of lemon and honey is horrid, at least in a cough drop.
Saturday was spent mostly in or on bed, and Sunday too, for that matter, though I felt better yesterday...and promptly relapsed today. We took over Pinehurst from the inside (muahahaha) so at least something productive happened. And! The new Sopranos was last night, which was quite good, and Greg came over to watch it and bring a cable for the TV...which was very appreiciated, as now we have TV. And here's Sarah.

I decided to blog while waiting for people to show up for game night. Everything is pretty mellow around here; Michelle's looking at Space Ghost songs, Jackie's laying down after the horrible night last night, Brad's doing more physics, I think. Katie should be getting here soon. I'm not sure when everyone else will.
Dragging myself through class was an interesting experience today. At least I wasn't on NyQuil this time, but the 4 hours of sleep didn't do wonders either. Sigh...
We have no big football games to root for. No body painting, no tailgate parties, no hundred-dollar tickets. No marching band. On second thought, that's not entirely terrible. Not that I didn't love band, but I barely have a life as it is with all the ensembles and such.
Now playing: Pitchshifter - Trancer
I'm on a quest to find Magnetic Rose. It's an anime by the same director as Akira, and I found out about it quite by accident. At any rate, it looks quite compelling, and it's only on DVD in Japan, as far as I know.
Katie and Cara are here!

Rarrr.
Casey came over last night, and it looked to be a normal college evening or whatever - some of the guys drifted in and out of the pod, doing homework, Casey included; Brad ordered a midnight pizza; I tried real tea for pretty much the first time and it cleared up my cold, at least for a little while; we all watched Aqua Team Hunger Force episodes; I talked to Greg for a bit on the phone, and was thinking of bed, when the fire alarm went off. At 1:30.
We stayed outside for almost an hour, but it was ok. We went to the library and bugged Bill, who was working from midnight to 3, and Brad and Jackie and Odile headed to Pinehurst for a bit. We were all in bed by 2:30. Until the fire alarm went off at 3.
Even so, it wasn't a terrible event. We hung out in Brandon's car and listened to CDs. Got back in, fell asleep around 4, but Michelle and I had 10 o clock classes, so we could sleep in until 8:30.
Until the fire alarm went off at 8.
I am not a happy camper. Neither is the rest of my dorm. The morning one was really not funny cause some of the girls on other floors were in the shower when it happened, since the freshmen have 9 o clock RCC's.
Game night is tonight - the only question is, will anyone be awake to enjoy it?
Off to Counterpoint - you know, that class that you're supposed to be wide awake to absorb.
Hahahaha.

I've been trying to post for awhile now, like a few days, but blogger's been stupid. Now I'm all sleepy with NyQuil, so we'll see how this goes.
I'm on NyQuil cause virtually the pod is sick. Sigh. I guess that's the downfall of this situation. But there are so many perks, I don't care.
Such as the fact that when you do get sick, there are so many people right there to help ya out. When people started getting sick and I remained immune, I was given a film case full of Vitamin C to help, and there are promises of tea now. Sweet of them. And there's that whole, you never really feel alone thing, and Movie nights practically every night, and all that good stuff. Speaking of which, here is Brandon now with The Princess Bride...
Orchestra was phenomenal. Sooo much fun to be playing in a *real* orchestra that's big and the principal player sounds just like Joshua Bell.
Now playing: Queen, The Show Must Go On
NyQuil kicking in, more later.

Well, this was a verrry hectic weekend. Jackie gives a relatively good account of it all on her blog, so I'll spare everyone by repeating it. I'm quite proud of myself actually, because I managed to do some homeowrk every single day this weekend, while still going out and such. I don't believe that's ever happened before.
Part of it was the comfort of it. I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but there I was on Saturday, alone in my room, writing my philosophy paper, and feeling happy to be alone in my relative quiet atmosphere...but at the same time, if I listened hard enough I could hear Jackie's music in the next room, and if I had a scientific question I could hop over and ask Brad, etc. It was just nice.
It's upsetting that I can still get grumpy.
I have much to write about the orchestra experience yesterday, but for now I have to go to class, so more later, or tomorrow, or something.

Amelie was soooooooooooooooo good. Watch it, watch it, watch it. I rank it up there with Run Lola Run.

http://www.bigmog.com/index.php?main=amv_download.php

Hmm....It seems like this weekend has gone on forever. Let's recap before tomorrow, cause I'm sure tomorrow will have stuff to talk about as well.
Friday was semi-low-key. We rented Run Lola Run, and I saw it with Jackie and Brad, and Jackie pulled out the ol' DDR stuff and I began playing for pretty much the first time since last semester. Brad tried it for the first time and proved to be pretty adept, and some other people showed up in the pod, so that night we had a field trip to Rocky's. Sat. Jackie, Brad, and I met up with Nicole and we hung out at Waterford Lakes, and eventually wound up back home where we met up with Casey, Greg, Alan, and Mike. Nicole's friends Erica and Joe and Brad's friend Eric, and Bill from down the hall also made appearances, and we all watched SuperTroopers, which was kinda overrated but alright. Today was laundry day at Jackie's house, and as the clothes washed we also had an Audrey Hepburn-fest, watching both Charade and GiGi, and currently next door Jackie and Brad are watching My Fair Lady. Also tonight we decided Bill and Charles needed to go to Rocky's, seeing as how they are the type of people you could see in front of a comp screen, but not a DDR one. That field trip was also a success, though it closed much too soon, and when we got back we played DDR some more. Yeesh. I'm doing all this primarily to get some sort of exercise after sitting around all summer, but now my competitve determinedness is also setting in, and my brain is going "must...learn...new...songs." This is heightened since about 5 people are in the beginner stage and their enthusiasm is catching. Now it's late, and I'm babbling way too much about DDR cause I'm not all here with the small bit of sleep that I'm still getting. Next week will be different. There will be cracking down, and homework I'm sure, and paper writing and all that.
Tomorrow I go to Disney to hopefully get a poster. Woo woo woo. And if we're back early, I may get to see a phone in Brent Spiner's stomach.