Fall term: Conclusion

It's late as I'm writing this. I explain, though: was challenged to pulling an all-nighter by my roommate and now we're duking out who can stay up the longest. It works anyway because we're done with Finals and we're catching a bus back to Portland earlier this morning. OH WHAT FUNS!

Ah. But Fall term, I consider it to be a little bit more relaxed (if you could call it that) than I'd expect it to be. For now I'll thoroughly enjoy my winter break with family, friends, and my best bud from Texas coming up. Yes!

So to conclude, this will be my last blog for the Winter Break. I'll be sure to write a summary on my adventures throughout Winter Break upon my return in January since for most of you readers, I will end up seeing during my break anyway, soooo...?

Until January then, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and have a fantastic day :)

Off week

For some reason, I find this post to be funny as it almost contradicts my last post.

This week just seemed....off. Very few wonderful things happened (for example, Becca D. got called back for auditioning for a paid internship; I'm happy for her on that one). But everything just crashed after that. For me, anyway.
Mostly has to do with more stress and freaking out financially. Trivial things, that's what makes it even more depressing about it.

But...life goes on.

On a brighter side, I finished my christmas shopping for the year! Not everyone's going to get a gift from me, but most definately a card. I just need addresses from y'all (or I could send you the cards personally, but what fun is that?)

Finals are next week, which I find even more funny because I *technically* only have one final to study for. The other two finals I have to do is based on an evaluation and something about an article about Al Bondy (That guy from "Married...With Children", yeah, that).
I'm coming home OFFICIALLY on December 16th, so look out everyone! Take care until then!

Thanking Thanksgiving

By the time you read this, I'll be in The Dalles catching up with old buddies and preparing for a second Thanksgiving with the Wagenblasts.

OH. It feels good to be home.

There's a few things to be thankful, then: the fact that I get to see the people I love and enjoy the family I get to see in the short amount of time that I am down here.
I really do miss home. I think I've noted that out in the past few logs that I've created.

So this blog will stay short as I'm going to enjoy what little time I have left here at home. Expect more details next Friday!

Happy Thanksgiving out there, by the way~

If you could slow down time

Wow. I almost forgot to post today. That could've been disastrous somehow.

I don't know, it's been a really long yet short week all together (perhaps getting psyched for Thanksgiving contributes to that somehow). Also, this happens to be the most I've spent money-wise this week (to print my greeting cards, it cost around $50 + $7 for the right envelopes that took me five days to find in this tourist town, but apparently I saved about $20+ if I had bought cards from a local store. All right for being resourceful!)
But, this doesn't change the fact that I will not allow myself to buy anything for the next month. I need to work my butt off until winter break, both academically and ethically in my job.

Anyway, back to what I wanted to say.

It's almost been one of those weeks where I could just slow down time for a short while just so I could get what I need to get done, or even to participate in certain activities. However, I do say I was quite active this week; in fact I just got back from a ceramic get-together and had some fun with clay! ...Not that I molded anything well, but I still enjoyed myself.
Same with reading books. I just want to stop time so I could read everything I want to: Brinsinger, The Accidental Mind, the plays I bought a while back, books on the Golden Mean (a book about math?! DARN IT, the inspiration strives on!) Aaaaaaaaand just a lot of things that strikes my curiosity.

I promise, I won't let my curiosity lead to my demise.

Ah.

Registered for classes on the 17th and I'm very satisfied with my schedule. Also trying out for the children's musical at the Theatre Department, but I've all ready guaranteed that I will not have been casted in it. Oh well, it's for the experience, anyway.

Still can't wait to see you all during Thanksgiving, even though my week will be travel consistent! And I still can't wait to see all you school students/teachers when I come up for Winter Break, though I highly doubt any of you are actually reading this. Or miss me for that reason.
Torey, you don't count because I think you're the ONLY High school student that actually keeps up with this Blog and misses me.

That doesn't make me miss y'all any less, though~

TLC presents...Stress, and how NOT to hit someone over the head with a baseball bat

Did I not specifically state, in past journals, that I would be going crazy after I had been so bored the first three weeks?
Amazing how that works, isn't it?

This week has been more over the idea of stressing under a number of things:

1) Financial needs
2) Keeping up with papers (Which is only one class, so THAT'S a problem)
3) Networking (it's harder than it sounds, trust me)
4) Keeping up with projects and personal time
5) Financial needs
6) building a reputation
7) maintaining my current job and even finding a second one
8) social pressure
9) Financial needs I'M A PENNY PINCHER
10) etc., etc., etc.,

Mostly, though, I have indulged into how I will maintain my college education going into the next year. YES, I have been applying for scholarships. YES, I am currently holding a job on campus (and even looking for a second job for when Winter Term starts up). YES, I am "trying" to spend less money every other day and YES, I even have art commissions going through a few people willing to take pity on me, apparently (one of my commissioners I have complete faith in; the other two commissions I have received I have never even heard from yet...)

Ugh. Recession's are hard.

So I've decided my plan of attack would go like this:

--Apply for becoming an RA for next year and have my room and board paid for me, if that doesn't work out...
---search out for cheap rooms and apartments around Ashland (if that's possible), and if it's not...
----find a motor home or a tent. Live in that through the summer and even through the next year (Since my current job allows me to work through the summer...)

Sounds reasonable, right? Of course it does.
MOVING ON.

I've managed to make some homemade Christmas cards that I'm thinking about donating to hospitals, family and friends. They're really clean and smooth looking as well! Ah, the power of a MacBook Pro truly is an amazing thing.
Hot Chocolate Journey still in progress, though I did come across one type that definately stuck out from the rest...
Registration is coming up, I get to sign up earlier than most of the freshman because of my Honors status. YES! (however, Intro to Drawing is only available to Art Majors. Much sadness). I'm looking at 19-21 credits. ALL RIGHT!
Ring Around the Moon is awesome (the play in which I helped build the set for). Wish you could all see it. But you get to see Harvey, so we're equal on that part.
and I'M GETING PSYCHED FOR THANKSGIVING. I hope I manage to get to see everyone while I'm up back in The Dalles!

Wow, long Blog today. But y'all go enjoy yourselves today!

Homesick

I was doing really well, I swear. I could go a whole day without having to become crippled in a short depression about home (and don't get me wrong, I miss The Dalles and everyone in it, but I didn't brood about it the entire day).

Until it rained. Then everything changed.

So for the first part of this week, Ashland has been getting some pretty rainy clouds and cold weather. It rained fairly hard Wednesday and it was misty, cold, cloudy...and wet.
It was then I started thinking about my old house on Summit Ridge Drive with the big fireplace in the living room, then that memory shifted over to Christmas at my Dad's house, and THAT shifted over to the beach cabin our family owns in Manzanita.
Suddenly, the world became both a cozy and depressing place to be in. I just wanted to sit in front of some kind of fireplace with a mug of hot cocoa and a good book to read all day.

It was depressing that I couldn't do that.

And speaking of hot cocoa, the journey is still in progress! It's just been hard, as a college student, to actually purchase a lot of the drinks available in Ashland. Purchased some kind of grain/barley grinds, though, that's been interesting to drink. Tastes like watered down coffee.

*sigh*

Still progressing through college. Attempting to stay ahead on all my papers and work so I don't have to stay up until 1 in the morning to finish them every night. Also getting ready to register for Winter Term classes soon. SO MANY CHOICES! It's ridiculous.

ALSO, as Barack Obama was announced the 44th president on Tuesday, I was in the middle of watching SOU's, "Enemy of the People". What were YOU ALL doing?!

sometimes, it's worth being tired.

So.

It's now...3:13 in the morning of Halloween. Still Friday, so this counts as an update! And I thought since I'm up, I might as well post something.

I just got back from working for a local theatre company in Medford with loading equipment for a traveling road show (25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee WHICH, by the way, was AMAZING to see on stage at last!). Woke up to get there at 7:30 am, worked until 1:00 pm. Rushed back to the SOU theatre scene shop to work carpentry crew hours until 6:00 pm. Had a short break before actually going to go see the performance at 8:00 then went backstage to work again until about 2 am. And I have class later on this morning and a job to work at (and possibly another job interview for another job on campus). And what comes after that? Halloween is expected to be a late night and Saturday I have another date at the scene shop for 6-7 hours.

I realize I will be very tired, but you know what? I believe I had done something that will be of great experience for me in the future to come. I met a lot of interesting people and I got an idea of what a one-day traveling show is like as far as preparing for it and such. And for the first time in weeks, my mind was washed clean of all the past stress I've been having. I was truly embracing the rush of the technical theatre and I loved every minute of it.

...isn't that the important issue at stake here?!

Anyway, I'm getting psyched to get caught up on my papers. It'd be nice to get back on track on my education (don't get me wrong, I'm not failing! I'm just...overloaded for the time being). Seriously. It's time to take learning to a new level. I challenge my studies to a full-showdown.
Ready, set...GO! *goes to sleep instead*

Intensity Insues

This week, Theatre Foundations had just gotten intense.

So performers are scrambling around and about because auditions for the Acting I class are coming up. That's how it works: theatre people who WANT to act for a living are recommended to take this class, but because there are so many who want in the class, the acting staff has to hold auditions to allow only 32 people to split up into two classes. I think 90+ people are trying out.

Anyway.

Performers are scrambling for monologues and on Tuesday (well, this last tuesday), our instructor gave a lot of students the chance to get up on stage to recite their monologues.

This is the point of insanity that had become of that class.

As each person recited their monologues, the teacher would work with these performers to make their pieces even more better. She'd end up yelling and pacing around the performer and even whispering into their ears, secret little things that drove the performer into a frenzy and more dramatic with their piece. People even started to get emotional and cry over their monologues. But by the end of the performer's session, there is a FINE, Fine, fine difference between when they first recited their monologue and then after working with the teacher.

By the way, these were all dramatic monologues. Nobody did comedy, a lot of people think it's too hard to do.

...WHAT. I can't help but give these people a crazy, skeptical look. It's the opposite for me. Seriously. Who here has ever seen me act dramatically? ...well?

That's what I thought.

MOVING ON.

School, for the most part, is still going well. I'm now officially tired from a lack of sleep. I TOLD YOU, that this would happen, did I not?

Learning voting principles in Math Honors.

Finding the original American ritual in University Seminars.

Theatre Foundations...

...

Getting bruises in Judo.

Painting science rooms for money.

Riding my bike (thanks Mom and Bill!)

Attempting lots of reading.

So little time.

90 days, 90 nights...

OH WAIT, that's suppose to be "19", never mind.

No, seriously. It's funny how you'll be out of one's hometown for just half a month and all ready it doesn't feel like one's birthday is coming up.

Like that time I didn't feel the christmas spirit. Now THAT was bad.

Anyway.

Again, being the third week in for college, I'm still feeling a little too ahead of my classes, thus inducing the need to do more things. I know some of you may be yelling at me to stop where I am, but I can't help it; can't just sit on my butt all the time.

For example, I've joined/currently joining a disney, musical theatre, and an improv club. I'm still working at my painting job. I take hundreds of walks early in the morning before class. I have put a stall on my journey, but it'll pick up soon.

...Oh, wait, I never told you my journey, did I?

OKAY.

SO basically I've decided to journey forth and find the best hot chocolate possible. I've made notes from a few places here in Ashland and continue to do so at whatever restaurant I end up being in. I've decided to count all the hot chocolate I've had in The Dalles as well.

It's a spiritual pathway of redemption! ...of chocolate, for god's sake!

Other than that I've been holding up. The only thing that's been bugging me is my faltering status on whether I really want to just become a scenic design theatre major or not.

...maybe I'll major in Math. Yeeeeeaaaah...

Moving dates for winter.

Seriously. It's going to happen. 

Because when you wake up on an October morning and find out that it's about 39 - 42 degrees out...IT'S NOT FALL ANYMORE. I've made my claim and nobody's going to make me change my mind.

Anyway.

FINALLY, things are starting to pick up! I now am officially working the carpentry crew for the theatre department's main stage production and I have a new job as a painter around the campus! Huzzahs all around!

Doesn't help, however, that the technical director for the crew I'm in is probably wondering what he did wrong to wind up working with me, since I possess no knowledge what-so-ever in the projects that we're working on.

Well, that's a lie.

I know, at least, how to handle a screwdriver, sweep floors and do what I'm told. I'm learning, god dammit! Isn't that what counts?!

If anyone says anything against that, may the Gods curse your head with weeds.

But, yes, other than that I am looking forward to a lot of things:

1) continuing to work with the theatre dept. (no duh there)

2) being able to eat real food for once! ...OH and see my Mother/Stepdad next weekend

3) finding more jobs! (more money, yaaay!)

4) registering for more classes in the next term.

But, for now, I'm focusing on keeping warm and remembering that it's OKAY to eat SOMETHING. I'm a tight-wad when it comes to food + money, give me a break.

WHICH REMINDS ME.

Apparently, there's a foods tax in restaurants and food-serving places here in Ashland. Why didn't I realize this when the drama group came down?

...dammit. Oh well.

Syllabus' are a pain

It's come to my attention that the first week of classes usually are the most painstaking things to deal with.

What with all the syllabus' passed out, what not to do in a classroom, memorizing names and all that crazy junk. In college, it's at least a little bit more paced.

As it has truly stated, SOU has very small class sizes. The average number, I'd say, that I was in a classroom with students is about 20 to 25 students (I'm not counting Theatre Foundations, all the pre-major freshman + transfer theatre students are in that class). It's a nice feeling, at least interaction with the classroom is a bit more lively than it was in high school.

In fact, our Honors Math class decided it was much more lively to talk about the Vice Presidential debates than logarithms (it's Math 105, don't expect me to be a genius).

Anyway.

The most important topic for now: the Theatre department. Apparently, there are 240 majors/pre-majors enrolled and the main stage can only hold a capacity of 260 people.

Competition... intensifies! Thank the gods almost half of them want to become performers.

Either way, I'm still very much excited for the productions to start rolling. Quote me on this two weeks from now when I'm only living on four hours of sleep.

And when I'm swamped with homework and jobs (WHICH, by the way, I'm still applying for, the Elmo's restaurant here in the student quad wants me to check in next monday while a painting crew wants to interview me today. Huzzah!)

Well, take care until next Friday, everyone!

Orientation - still going strong!

Okay, so yesterday I had officially unpacked all of my crap into my dorm room (which, by the way, is a lot bigger than I thought they would be. So instead of having cabin fever in three weeks, I've upgraded my condition to three months. Super!). Seriously though, I had one chest of clothes and six other boxes of books, art supplies and conversation starters.

HEY, conversation pieces work great! Some people appreciate the fact that I collect antique items for no apparent reason.

Anyway, in the middle of the third (out of five) days of orientation. Already went through the classroom experience, outside sources (ie health services, mailroom, etc.) and I've walked around the campus at least ten times. I can now fully guarantee that by Thanksgiving, I will have lost ten pounds from walking around so much as I live across the street from all my classes.

But during this time so far I've successfully managed to "play nice" with the other kids and now I have a strong urge to take a sociology class. The teacher was very inspiring.

OH and apply for jobs. That's always been fun, too.

Weeeell, I'm going to chill out for a bit, figure out financial stuff and wait for free dinner to come around. Wish they'd offer free dinners three times a week for this term. Be so much easier for me to handle.

Later!

Adventure awaits!

Hmm...well, this is rather interesting.

Well, for most of you that have taken notice of these words filling up blank space, I've decided to break down and collide my life-ly updates...through blogging.

Isn't it great? I broke down to the internet world, ha ha! Not that it's happened before, I'm just saying. And who's to say that the internet has not provided us, US human beings the chance to interact with other people out there with such a distance from other people? If all the more reason, the internet has become our Ace Bandage!

...or, at least, that's what I keep telling myself.

SO, long story short, I'm a hobo-ish college student in Ashland, Oregon, who will update every Friday (because, conveniently, I am practically free on Fridays to do such activities) for the sake of those who...well, surprisingly still want to hear from me.

There, I've marked my territory on Blogger. I hope you're all happy as clams.

See y'all on Friday!