If your Cheetos aren't crunchy, it's because you're eating a banana.

I know, I know. It's late. But I still have an hour to get this post up! It is still Sunday!!

I totally have a legitimate excuse for this post getting up later than normal, too. We got home from Chicago around 7 tonight, and then the rest of the evening was a quick frenzy of getting the carpet cleaned up from the massive rainstorm we had earlier today and watching the Braves on Sunday Night Baseball. So I really had no time to write a post up today.


Anywho, let's get down to business. .....to defeat the Huns. I definitely did not just write that in order to make that reference. Nope. Why would I? It seems to be one that I can't stop myself from making whenever I say "let's get down to business".

 I'm getting even happier than I thought I would be that next week is my last week at work -- probably forever. I haven't decided yet if I'll return for Christmas break or any upcoming summer breaks, but I'm fairly certain I'm going to not return. I'm just so tired of the job and it's wearing me out. Every day I'm scheduled to work, I have to mentally coax myself to going in. Once I get there, it's fine - with the exception of awful customers but every job has at least a handful of those - but those hours leading up to it. God, it's awful. (Side note: did I spell 'wear out' properly? I'm not sure if I did... I'm an awful English major sometimes.) Thankfully, I only work Tuesday - Thursday this week, and then Sunday afternoon, and then I am done at the market for at least 3 months - until the end of November, right after Thanksgiving. We'll see what I decide though.

This weekend was also a lot of fun. We spent the weekend in Chicago taking my younger sister Avery to a college fair. Well, that was the purpose of the trip. But since the college fair was just earlier this afternoon, we made a weekend of it since we could.

On Saturday, we went to the MythBusters exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. Even if the exhibit wasn't there, I would have still gone to the MoSaI. I love museums of all kinds, and this one is especially fantastic. All the exhibits I've seen are interactive in some way or another, and the MythBusters exhibit was no less than that. Literally every part of the exhibit was interactive. You could turn the blue print pages from the beginning of each myth. Each one even had a funny comment. For example, the one for Primary Perception (torturing plants - the plant polygraph!, etc.) is "Cool; we get to torture yogurt!" I suppose that's not even really that funny, but when Avery and I saw that, we could not stop laughing.

Probably my favorite part of the MythBusters exhibit - aside from the interactive show, which I will get to - was the run/walk test through "rain" to find out which way gets you wetter. The rain was just water from a sprinkler system with some dye in it that shows up under black lights, I believe. The MythBusters got that one correct - you will be less wet if you run through the rain instead of walking through it. That leads to slipping and sliding all over the place though, and sometimes a walk in the rain is really nice. It's all circumstantial, I suppose.

Another favorite was the driving blind test. There was a steering wheel and a set of pedals adjacent to a computer screen. The one 'driving' couldn't see where they were driving - they just had to follow directions from their partner about where/how they should be driving. My dad followed Avery's instructions, and it was hilarious. He spectacularly crashed, after crashing into a car in the next lane over, running over an orange construction drum, driving off the road/out of the parking lot over the median divider before Avery told him to turn around and drive really fast, in order for him to get back on the road. Unfortunately for him, there was a giant building in front of the car once he made it back into the parking lot, so...he crashed, the poor guy. Perhaps we should just keep him to driving with proper and complete vision from now on, to ensure that he doesn't kill himself and all of his passengers while totaling the car in the process.

Another very enjoyable part of the exhibit was the live show, in which two MythBusters (employees of the museum, really) used the audience members to help solve the myth of it is possible to dodge a paintball. The conclusion was 'plausible', if anyone was wondering. We arrived at this conclusion because you can't avoid a paintball 100% of the time - ie. if there was any delay shorter than 1 second - but if there was a delay of 1 second or greater, than you could avoid a paintball. They asked a ton of questions and everyone who answered a question got an "I am a CONFIRMED MythBuster" sticker. I answered the question of why people could respond to sound faster than light in the particular room with "because it's very echo-y, so that will help it get to your ears quicker" and I got a sticker! I'm probably way happier about this than I should be, but I don't care. Hahaha.

Later that night, we went to a White Sox game because we can't resist going to a baseball game whenever we're in a major city. The White Sox were playing the Mariners and it was a very exciting ball game. We had fantastic seats (as seen to the right) and now I will forever be spoiled for baseball seats. It was so amazing being able to read the back of the players' uniforms and see their facial expressions. I've always had seats in the second or third deck before, which aren't nearly as nice.

The White Sox's manager and catcher both got thrown out in the third inning arguing balls and strikes. It was totally worth it as the home plate umpire had a very generous strike zone, which was very unpopular with the White Sox, as you can imagine. The ejections also completely revved the White Sox up to come back (later in that inning I believe), to tie the game up and eventually come through to win it.

The post game fireworks were also AMAZING. This was only my second night game and the first with post-game fireworks, so I had entirely no idea what to expect. The theme for the show's soundtrack was "soundtracks", including the Back to the Future theme, Star Wars, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Jaws theme, and the Pirates of the Caribbean theme, just to name a few. I had certainly never seen a fireworks show like it, and I now want to go to more post-game fireworks shows.

Another hilarious moment of the ball game was when they started playing Call Me Maybe and Avery and I both started lip syncing along and dancing. The song is so terrible but somehow very catchy.

(Ahhh, it's 12:05AM. I didn't make it by midnight. It's close though! The majority of this post was written on Sunday, so I think it still counts.)

Then we took Avery to a college fair today - the Colleges That Changed Lives college fair in Schaumburg. It was surprisingly fun, though it was weirding me out a little bit that the kids there were born in '95 and '96 and they're getting ready to go to college in the next couple of years. People that age have always seemed ridiculously young to me, and now they're going to be leaving high school soon. Regardless, it was very fun getting to say hi to the folks at the Knox booth, though I didn't know any of them. It did make me really excited to be heading back to school though. I know a lot of people don't like the college they chose or it's really stressful or something, but I really love my first choice college and I am so happy that I got accepted and I'm going to it.

I've decided that I'm going to have random stuff for my blog post titles. This one is from a billboard I saw while I was in Chicago.

The Braves won tonight, and as always, I am ecstatic. I really love watching baseball, especially watching my boys play. I get so happy to see them do well. They really do deserve to be back in the playoffs this year because it's Chipper's last year and they have such a good team this year. I really hope they win the Series... we'll just have to see what happens. I now own an mlb.tv subscription for the remainder of the season because it was on sale for $10 today. So I get a solid month of Braves games. Yaaaaay.

Okay.

Countdown to Knox: 13 days! Well, technically 12, since it's Monday now. O.M.G. So excited.

College and exercise and cars.

Hi blogosphere.

I'm still not sure how I'll begin these posts. I'm sure I'll eventually get an introduction thinger figured out, but for now "Hi blogosphere" should work.

I spent at least five minutes settling on music to blog to. iTunes started off with a Jimmy Eat World/Something Corporate mashup, but that just didn't work. Eventually, I settled on Adam Dubberly, and now I'm happily listening to the sweet voice of Alex Carpenter. Ahh, the joys of iTunes Shuffle...

I have no attention span. 10 minutes and 3 songs later, I've stalked old conversations I've had on twitter with people and come to the conclusion that Avery should start using twitter again. Seriously. Her twitter is hilarious. Unfortunately, she is adamant against using it. Silly Swedish and German in her making her be super stubborn. Tsk tsk.

I can't believe I go back to school in three weeks. I'm pretty sure 100% of me is excited to go back. I am ridiculously excited to be back at Knox. I just really love that campus and the English department especially. I'm so sad that I won't be taking an English class until Spring term. I miss my English classes!

I also really can't wait to see my friends and especially to be more adventurous. Last year, I didn't do anything. I never went to a party, I never got ridiculously drunk, I never did anything. I didn't even hang out with anybody really. I was the loser who sat in their dorm room all year on the internet. I didn't even spend that much time on my homework.

This year, I'm going to be the opposite of how I was last year. I'm not saying I'm going to get completely trashed every night - I would never forgive myself, and I would lose my standing as one of Amy's bridesmaids - but I'm going to try stuff. Do new things. Stay up all night just to see a sunrise with a friend. Go on adventures. Maybe even roadtrip to Chicago? Stuff like that.

I also want to spend more time on my schoolwork. Last year, my grades definitely suffered, and I'm a better student than that. I know I can do well in Latin if I put my mind to it. I just have to apply myself and I will be fine. I think having a job and being determined to get in better shape will help with that, because I won't be able to spend all my free time in my dorm room. I'll be in class and in the gym and at work. And then once I finish with work and my homework, then I'll go on the internet. I should be able to be more disciplined this year. I know I can do this. It won't be too hard, I think.

In addition to focusing more on schoolwork and less on procrastination, I actually really want to spend more time at the gym. I'm terribly out of shape and unhealthy, and considering I gain weight really easily at Knox - I gained 10 pounds fall term last year, I believe - I need to be active regularly to keep it off. Especially considering Knox has the really nice gym, I'll have an easier time of getting exercise, in comparison to where at home I pretty much can only go for runs. I'll be able to use the treadmill and the stair climber - god, I love the stair climbers - and just in general work on toning my body. Ideally, I'd like to lose around 15-20 pounds by Thanksgiving. I'm up around 168 right now, and I would love to be down at 150 by the time I come back home for Christmas break. I know I only have three months, but that's about 6 pounds/month, which should be doable, right? It doesn't seem too difficult. We'll see what happens.

In non school related goals, I am so ready to be done with work in a couple weeks. I am just so tired of working at the Market. I used to like it because it was new and I got to work with all my favorite coworkers. But they've all left now, and my interest in working there quickly decreased once they were gone. I'm really tired of all the bullshit moves management pulls, and how they don't consult the employees about anything before they make a change. The customers are also really annoying and it's just the same thing every night, with the same customers, the same conversations, the same work, the same closing...just, the same EVERYTHING. And I'm tired of it. I can't wait to be done September 2nd. I haven't decided yet if I'll return to the market once I get home for Christmas break in November, or if I'll move on to a better and more exciting summer job. We'll just have to see. I'm definitely going to keep my transcribing job I have, though. It's 8.50/hr which makes me happy, and I don't have to be in Fairfield to do it! I'm keeping it on as long as I can. Between that job, saving up my paychecks from the Market and from my work study job, I should hopefully have enough to visit Amy during Christmas break. I know I should probably save the money to help pay for my tuition next term, but I'm selfish and want it to be used for something else.

I've finally gotten my permit, also, at 19 years old. It only took me 5.5 years to get it. I mean, I could have gotten it when I turned 14, but I just didn't feel ready. I kind of started feeling ready around this time last year, but I kept putting it off. I finally got tired of not knowing how to drive, and spent an afternoon studying the driving manual and then took the test Wednesday afternoon. I was very pleased that I passed, though my picture is pretty terrible. In Iowa DMVs, we're not allowed smile with our lips parted, wear glasses, or have our hair covering our eyebrows - that I know of - so in my picture, I'm totally grimacing. And my eyes look as small as a troll's eyes because I was supposed to look at the Garfield cartoon underneath the camera. Next time, I'm just going to look at the camera. I at last want to be looking at the camera for my license picture. My terrible picture just made me even more determined to get my license as quickly as possible. I also went out driving on Wednesday, in the old WalMart's abandoned parking lot. In the WalMart parking lot, I went in figure 8s around the lightposts, and drove in a semi-straight path. I also drove all the way up to 8 mph!! I accidentally put too much pressure on the gas at one point and I went up to 12 mph. It was kind of terrifying. I found it crazy how with me behind the wheel, 12mph feels ridiculously fast and scary, but with my parents or one of my sisters driving, that seems really slow.

I think this is all. The Braves lost today to the Dodgers - a 3 hit shutout - and I'm disappointed with the Braves. We play the Nationals next and I'm worried. I have a gut feeling we're starting another downhill slide, and I don't want this to be true.

I miss California. And a certain musician friend. And that certain musician friend's hugs. Sigh.

Countdown to Knox: 20 days! Less than 3 weeks! Yesss

It's Been A Long Time Coming...

Five months later and an entire semester later, I'm posting another blog.

Wow. I hope this doesn't become a trend for this thing. I'd like to post more regularly. If not every week, twice a month. We'll see what happens. Chronicling the last four weeks until I return to Knox and then chronicling my life at Knox. It will be fun, I think. I just have to find time to write up a blog post! Well, I'm finding the time now. Huzzah.

If I were about $500 richer, I would probably be just getting home from LeakyCon 2012. The conference was this past week (Thursday until today, I believe) held in Chicago at the Hilton - the same hotel that Terminus was held in 2008.

However, I do not have an extra $500 lying around, so I didn't end up going to the conference, and to be quite honest, I'm glad that I didn't go. For one thing, my sister Dariana and her friend Kim were in town this week visiting a friend, so had I gone to LC, I would have not seen Dariana or Kim, which would have made me very sad. Regardless of the fact that I just saw them three weeks ago when I was in New Hampshire visiting my friend Amy and also Dariana, I like to take every opportunity that I have to see them, considering they now live halfway across the country and I only get to see them two or three times each year. (New Hampshire, for the record, was wonderful, as usual. So pretty and I can't wait to move out there once I finish college. I just feel like that's where my body is most in sync. It's great that I've found that place for me.)

For another thing, I've been constantly reminded all summer how much I've moved on from the Potter fandom. I haven't regularly listened to wizard rock in nearly two years, I don't care about "major" events in the Potter fandom, such as the anniversary of the final book and final movies getting released. I don't care about the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts or anything. And I just can't make myself put out any effort to go to fandom-related events. I don't even want to make the effort to go see my favorite wizard rock musician (Alex Carpenter, in case anyone was wondering) when he's in Chicago or St. Louis, both of which are a five hour drive away, when previously I would be jumping up and down asking Mom or Dad if I could go and would they pretty please take me. Though, if Alex were to come play at my college for example - cough Knox College cough - I certainly would not be complaining. Just throwing that out there. And if none of my fandom friends are going to LeakyCon - all the ones who I hung out with at LeakyCon LAST year didn't go, which was a big part of the appeal of going to LC2012 this year - then I certainly have no desire to go to the conference, regardless its close proximity to me.

I've just found that I've moved on from the fandom. I'm far more concerned about growing as a person and doing well academically, etc., than I am about blowing a ton of money for a four-day event. I am very happy for what the fandom did for me when I still wanted it, considering it brought me one of my two best friends in the entire world, but I'm happy to move on. Our friendship isn't built around Potter anymore - it's built around what we've been through together, and whether or not that involves fandom, that's perfectly fine.

Essentially, I've come to realize that though I may miss it at times, my life doesn't rely on the Potter fandom to survive.

So I won't be at either LeakyCon next summer - seriously, that's another rant all together. Why on earth do they need TWO LeakyCons in the same summer??? - and I'm perfectly happy with that decision. I'm hoping to get an internship next summer, and of course I have to save up for my best friend's wedding that is next June.

So, until next Sunday, folks! Have a good week.

Countdown to Knox: (hopefully) 25 days. If not 25, then 27.