1st Homework of the Year

It's not really official homework since I don't have any classes yet, but it's for orientation. And I'm feeling sadistic enough to bless you all with it. At least the part I have done.

This essay was assigned for us to read and sumamrize into two paragraphs. It was actually decently interesting. (There are a couple of typos, which bothers me, since it's on a University web site. Mt. Holyoke doesn't seem like the kind of school to ALLOW typos.)

Here is my summary.

Modern English language is empty of meaning. Writers use too many words and stock phrases that don't evoke any clear image or meaning at all. To sound intelligent sentences get strung out and unneeded words get added in. People no longer put thought into the meaning of the words they choose, so meanings can become twisted and misenterpreted. This lack of depth in language makes it harder for people to think clearly and for themselves.

This is useful in politics. Politicians rely on this ability to say much and mean nothing. So it follows that if one cleans up and refocuses the language that it will have an effect on the whole system. To clean up the language most foreign and latin or greek-based words, tired or misused metaphors, and other stock phrases need to be removed. This will make it easier to choose shorter and more specific ways to say what is intended, with words that actually have a clear tone and meaning. If all of this is done speakers will better understand what they and the people around them are saying and will be more capable of thinking for themselves. This will improve American politics as an effect.

Not well-written, but it's just supposed to be a rough draft. Next I have to read an essay on DNA and decide on two places that should be expanded. Then I get to compare the styles.

And, of course, look up various translations of archaic French poetry. I'll spare you all this grief.

And...I'll spare me too. *goes to bed* BAH!!

::BLEARY-EYED EDIT::
Right, little did I know they meant the ORIGINAL paper on the first correct model of DNA. Ugh. I hate reading technical jargon.

That damn thing was written to and for the informed. How the hell should I know what needs to be "expanded?"

Fuck you, college. And your little dog, too.

mmmm, steak

So, the George Foreman grill is a big hit. I've been told I need to start charging people to use it.

*sniffs* Gods, the dorm smells FANTASTIC.

This is very amusing.

More Chronicles of Wrennie

7:10 am- I wake up to the sound of Rob Zombie's 'Dragula' seeping in through my window from a dorm across the green. Someone goes running down the hall.

7:35 am- My roommate and I figure out neither of our alarm clocks were set properly.

7:55 am- I am out of the shower and done getting the black dye from my sheets and towels off of me. Thanks, family, for washing them before shipping them. There is ONE dryer on my floor. XP

8:15 am- Where the FUCK is the milk for my cereal?

8:20- No, really.

8:23- oh.

9- TESTING!! AGH!!

10:30-Flee back to dorm room and ask RA what the hell is wrong with our door. Steal my roommate's Expo marker and write "EVIL DOOR!! XP!!" on the whiteboard. Get online, check e-mail, then steal Expo marker again and write "Wren is bored! Come save her!" on white board.

::SECOND EDIT::
11:30- Growl about the fact that no one did and head off to first advising class.
11:40- "Oh, I needed a pencil?"

12:30- Round up a bunch of near-strangers from 3rd floor and head for lunch. Talk about knives, guns, Uma Thurman, small Alaskan towns, and people who hate Alias.

2pm- Head off to second advising class.
2:10pm- "Uh, can I borrow a writing utensil, Kei?"
2:30pm- The purple crayon you've been writing with is now DEAD.

3 pm- Show the guy in room 318 the layout of your room. A flash from the forum is up. Watch that, the end of the world, and ddautta. Go check out his room, get shown pics of Japanese schoolgirls. Comment on his kilt and spiked, studded boots. Tell him if you did that to the toes of your boots, people's knees and crotches would never be the same.

4pm- loan the guy to your left your microwave, laugh when he asks to buy the george foreman grill that was inside it. Find out he has the same laptop as you do. Rejoice and attempt to remember what his name is.

::THIRD EDIT::
5pm- head to farewell dinner with the family. Fam chooses an Italian place. On way down realize you forgot room key and have to go all the way back up.

5:30pm- the following conversation ensues:
Me: "Fam, do you know anything about my 'student account'? Like what sorts of things get credited to it?"
Fam: "No, I have no idea."
Me: "That's nice, cuz I think you get to pay for it when it happens."
Fam: "What is it?"
Me: "I don't know, I was asking you."
Fam: "Well, I don't know. What gets credited?"
Me: "Fam. I don't know! I was asking you for information."
Fam: "Well, I've never even heard of it."
Me: "You're only doing slightly worse than me, then."
Fam: "So what do you know about it? What gets credited, when?"
Me: "I don't know."
Fam: "'Student Account'... ...What do you mean by that? Your bank account?"
Me: "No."
Fam: "So what is your student account?

...lather, rinse, repeat for two minutes...

Me: *starts getting exasperated* "I asked you to see if you know. I know nothing! I have no information!"
Fam: "So why did you bring it up? I don't know anything either."
Me: "We've established that."
Unc: "Wren, there is no reason to be getting angry. You were the one who brought it up and now you're getting mad when we ask you questions. That's ridiculous."
Me: *tears at pizza and stares out window*

6pm- Proof that I frequently get listened to:
unc: "So what are you doing tonight?"
me: "Floor meeting, dance."
...three minutes later...
unc: "So what are you doing tonight?"
me: *stare*
fam: "Unc, you already asked her that. Listen!"

...ironically, the next thing that happens:

fam: "So is there an all-guys dorm?"
me: "No, just an all-girls."
fam: "That seems a bit odd. You'd think that some people would prefer non-coed."
me: "Well, there's not enough room. And also, most dorms are co-ed by floor, not by room like mine."
fam: "Hmmm, but a lot of the dorms are co-ed by floor, aren't they. So I guess it's okay."
me: *bland stare*

7pm- Sit in the corner during a floor meeting and chuck starburst and reese's at the kid in room 230-something because he is aiming at a kid from my Japanese class and missing. A lot.

8:30- Put on jean skirt with slit to show off red knee-high boots. Wash face, cuz air is nasty and sticky cuz windows are all shut cuz *gasp* it's raining!

9:15- Go to dance thing. Get accosted by guy I talked to at family BBQ yesterday and asked to a concert thingy. Meet his, er, typically male roommates. Make fun of the music and talk about moshing and reggae. Attempt to find the free Papa John's Pizza.

9:40- RUN!!

10PM- update blog.

Chronicles of Wrennie- Escape from Hood Canal

Well, last night the family and I got into a huge argument about what time to show up at orientation. I knew it started at 8, and I wanted to show up early to beat the lines, move in while it was cool, etc. After a horribly insulting exchange in which they basically told me I obviously had no clue what I was talking about and had no idea how to read a schedule, Unc said this little gem: "Wren, give me all your info and paperwork. I'm sending you to this damn college, and I have more right to it than you do." ...

...cuz he really needs to know when the date rape seminar is.

Anyway. So they wanted to leave at 7:30 to get there at 9. I wanted to leave at 6:30 to get there at 8. Of course we decided to compromise and leave at 7:30. Right. I am quoting. They said "compromise."

So, of course we left at 8. And stopped to get coffee on the way. And then Necromongers attacked our rental Mercedes and told me they could ease my pain.

Family was also 15 minutes late for my convocation ceremony.

But meh. On to the good stuff. My roommate is cool, our room is nice, and my fountain is all set up. Also, it's only gonna cost $15 to fix my PS2. And the internet finally started working.

Taking a Week off...

Off at orientation for the next ten days. I may not be around much until Sunday. Who knows. I'll get on when I can!

UGH!

My biggest pet peeve? People who get mad at me and tell other people, but not me. So I have no clue what I'm doing wrong, so can't fix it.

I find out this morning that I seem to have pissed people off. I don't know how or why. Something about messy suitcases. Evidently I have made several family members angry, but they didn't breathe a word to me. Oh no. They told Fam. Who proceeded to ream me about it, but I don't know what all I did.

This happens every year. I think I'm not going to come up here anymore. I don't know any of them very well, and all I seem to be doing is stepping on people's freakish quirks.

::EDIT BEFORE BED::
This made my night:

Thank you, SV!! Bit is ADORABLE!

SHOPPING!

Went into town to shop today. I now have four bras instead of one. So now I won't look like a total whore in my white shirts. I also have new panties and a pair of boxers that say "Chicks dig me". *chuckles*

MMM. I have a TV an microwave and shirts now, too. And a robe. So...yeah. I'll be clothed.

::EDIT::

Far less bored because they let me take the boat out. I think tonight I am going to be girly and play dress-up to sort through all my clothes.

::EDIT::
Lock me out of the house? Fuckers.

Boredom

I was woken up hellishly early today and told to get ready to go shopping. It sucked because I was in the middle of a dream, and I was jerked awake and thought Fam was the robot I had been fighting, so I had a quiet panic attack. Once I got over that I showered and got dressed...

...and found out Fam had gone back to bed.

So I've been sitting on my ass doing nothing today. Well, I called SLAM, worked on my katakana (I still have all my ひらがな memorized!)But the katakana gave me a headache, so I came in and finished Bebop. *sob*

And then I got online. And Fam just told me we're not going shopping today at all. We're gonna do it all tomorrow. O.o At least Unc is coming. That means I may actually get more stuff.

Anyway, so now I have all day to do nothing. I may watch Lain or Key the Metal Idol or something.

mmmm, the tide is coming in. I wonder if they'd let me take the boat out today.

No. *sulks*

Payback is a BITCH

Radio: Ah. A succubus
Wren: am not
Radio: Prove it
Wren: *doesn't come seduce you*
Radio: ...Fuck. I should've seen that coming.

The Chronicles of Wrennie

Well, here I am in the airport, blogging from Word like a loser. At least I accept my fate. ^_^ Some of you may be wondering why I’m here on the 15th, when I was telling everyone I was leaving on the 16th. That is a looovely story that can wait.

I have a rather large, shiny rock on my left hand. Yes, everyone, I was proposed to yesterday. Rose got down on one knee in her front yard, looked deep into my eyes, and lovingly said “Darling, which one is your left hand?”
….yes. She is quite suave, like any Don Juan should be. *coughs* (I’ll burn for that lie.)

After we had that sorted out she slid the ring onto my finger and said “If everything in life goes terribly wrong-- like it did when the box to this ring flew out my window when I was going 55 on Watson—remember that we’ll always have Vermont.” Then she lept to her feet and yelled “Yes! I finished it!”

It’s quite lovely, don’t you agree?


I got her a box of advice:
[see above]

[and again]
The hedgehog/bearded dragon offered this: “Don’t be prickly!”

[you get the point]The owl is a bit of an inside joke. Reminds us both of those innocent days at the zoo when we both were young. And hopeful. And not embittered and terrified of large winged birds and the impact they can have on your career/future/psyche.

((By the way, Batman. I’m listening to Frou Frou as I type this. Let me tell you, this is my favorite CD ever now. You have excellent taste. And I’ve been looking for a copy of “Must Be Dreaming” for MONTHS now. <3.))

So after that Tiny One, my fianc?, and I all went to the Spanish fest thing and had some food and watched really bad Bolivian dancers. Then Tiny One and I went to the Outback with SLAM and God. While we were there, I got a phone call from Fam.

“Are you ready to leave tomorrow?”
*long pause* “Fam, tomorrow is Sunday.”
“Right. You leave tomorrow.”

Well fuck.

So I spent most of the night frantically packing and cleaning. I had to drop my car at the repair place and get my prescription refilled. I’m not sure if I packed it…but I’ll find out later. I also ran by the house to grab part of a power cord I accidentally forgot. Let me tell you…a half-remodeled house with no power at night is a real treat. Luckily I have a good memory for my things and I knew exactly where what I wanted was. If only that memory extended to other, slightly more useful areas…*bubbles like goldfish* Anyway, I was in bed at 2 and woke up before five to finish cleaning the house and drag my ass off to the airport, where I am now.

Amazingly, I didn’t get frisked in security—for the first time in two years. I was impressed. Maybe it was my look of mild panic and my slightly teary eyes. I wasn’t really ready to go.

Issues at the bank still aren’t sorted out. So I’m still living my double life. Only not, you know, the cool one, living off other people’s money in fucking MADRID. *growls*

Oh well. I’ll have a debit card again soon. Which is good, because I need it for an evil plot.

Did I just sense someone shudder uncontrollably? *chuckles* good, good…

I’m used to having peace and solitude in the airport. But, sadly…it seems the MFV is on this flight. We fired her. Why won’t she go the hell away? I had no idea she was going to be here. If I had, I would have probably tried to smuggle my knife through security.

…Nah. Not worth the risk of losing it. I should name that knife.

Anyway, I just realized I forgot to install AOL back onto this computer, so I may not have internet at the canal after all. *dies* I will go INSANE if that happens.

WAIT! I’ll just have Fam stop by a Blockbuster on the way home. I can grab one of the free AOL disks there. *squee*

…I just *squeed* at getting AOHell. What the….ah well. I call it desperation. >.> Don’t shoot me.

Ugh. Time to board.

::EDIT AFTER PLANE FLIGHT AND LUNCH::
According to me it is 3:50. According to the mp3 player I set in the SEA/TAC airport it is 1:50. I am SO TIRED. I managed to pass out on the plane, but that was kind of a mistake. Now my neck hurts and my body knows what it missed out on last night.

I’m sitting here becoming more and more amazed that I managed to get everything together after all. I got my car to the repair place, got my prescription, packed all my college stuff…and managed to pack up my room, too. I even got a packet of stuff to take to my store manager together. SLAM is going to drop it by sometime this week.

Something I noticed at the airport: an unusually large amount of military types. I know there’s a base nearby, but it was still surprising to see so many. Most of them were bitching that they had three years left. I hear that’s a common topic.

I know I’m not OK today because I let myself eat fast food fish. That is usually a big no on my list. Fish is not something I equate with “fast”. I hear “fast food fish”, I think “FRIED PESTILENCE.” It just seems like the dirtiest food when it’s served up in that kind of environment.

Did any of that make sense? I swear I’m feeling my brain power dying bit by bit already, and the day here has barely begun.

Meh. I’m bored. Imma try to entice Fam into some sort of conversation. Or something. Probably not, actually. Kay. She just left the car. No talky, then.

*goes off to organize music*

::EDIT ONCE AT THE HOUSES::
My current "internet" sucks major ass. Bear with me.

It Hurts to Walk

Aren't you supposed to stop doing this to yourself once you hit, like...9? I'd like evryone to note the swelling of the IT band.

Eri, if you ever call me puddin' again I will be forced to beat you to death with your own left leg. Just so you know.

This is the earliest I have voluntarily been awake all summer. Batman had better be happy.

::edit after a fantastic lunch, two kill bill movies, and a smoothie::
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! *sniff* I'm gonna miss you, Batman.

Elysian Fields- Black Acres

It's amazing how quickly lying out in a field with a bunch of people and watching shooting stars zip around can improve your mood. The grass was mildewy and it got freaking cold so we all ended up huddling together for warmth, but it was a lot of fun. Though I have to say I may have caused a few bruises. Old '"no touchy!" *WHAM!*' habits die hard, ne?

Bye and good luck to Biker and Attabug. Have fun at boot camp, darling. And I hope the duffel bags don't eat you, sir.

Raaa.

Well, since I seem to have been stood up on my Kill Bill marathon and food plans, I'll be going to Biker's barbeque and watching a meteor shower tonight. And getting Krispy Kremes.

HAHAHAHA

The best part of the night while I was with SLAM? He was trying to relax, and I kept poking/tickling/injuring him, so he grabs me and flips me over onto his legs to tickle me back...and I start yelling.
"NO FAIR! *whiney* IT'S ONLY FUN WHEN I DO IT TO YOU!"
"What?!"
"THIS IS AGAINST THE RULES!!"
"So what are the rules?! You can do anything?"

I lean down and grab his feet to tickle them. "Whee!" He flops over and disappears from my line of sight, then I hear a really pissy voice mutter "Just don't kick me in the face, alright?"

VICTOLLY!!

*Frustration*

My roommate does not exist.

Busy, busy.

Well, before I head off to bed, here's my plan for tomorrow.

Go to the bank and get new accounts and cards an stuff.

Eat lunch with Batman. <3!!!!! <---HIGHLIGHT OF MY DAY

Finish packing for college

Mail packages

Take Fam back to bank have her set to be able to access my acct to give me money in college.

Anticipate the coming out of Kill Bill Vol 2

::EDIT AFTER LUNCH/MOVIE/ICE CREAM::

Well, the Japanese place was closed, so we went to Olympia to get Greek food. What a switch. We got a really nice waiter named Andrew, and I ordered some saganaki and told him to hold the "opa!". Well, not only does he not hold the "opa", but he rushes to the table and sets the cheese on fire before either Batman or I have noticed he's there. She's never had saganaki before so is staring at awe at the PILLAR OF FLAME coming off the plate. It was really amusing. ^^

Then we get to the main deal. She orders a pita and I get the pastic--pasticzitzo...pastizcicio....macaroni. (No, the waiter didn't think it was funny, either.) Well, I forgot to tell them to hold the beef, and she forgot to tell them to hold the tomatos. Luckily they put the pasta on a bed of ground beef so I was able to eat the noodles an cheese and leave the meat there. Well, only...it leaves you with a plate of ground beef. A pile of processed meat on a plate. mmmmmmm...I try to watch her and not the plate, but she keeps glaring at me, so I went to the bathroom and struck up a conversation with a guy in line. The line in the girl's bathroom wasn't moving, so I just used the guy's one after my buddy was done. One question. Why do adult males never flush toilets? I mean really. And half of you can;t even aim, anyway. I muttered about it to myself on the way back to the table.

The waiter comes back after Batman is done picking at her sandwich and stares at my plate (I was too.It was really...appetizing...) "Are...you done?"
I nod soberly and try really hard not to giggle.
He turns to Batman and her barely eaten pita. "Would you...like a box?" She shakes her head and giggles slightly.
So he grabs our plates and runs off. We burst out laughing and wonder if we've traumatized him yet. He quickly comes back for our napkins. Well, sadly, Batman had used it to stash her tomatos. He picks it up, stares at her, and then shakes it in her face.
"What is this? What did you do!" She laughs and doesn't answer, and he rushes back off.

Later, after we ordered baklava, he only brought us one napkin and then refused to pick it up. He looked at it and goes "I'm leaving that there."

I smiled at him and said "It's only full of baklava..."

Needless to say, we tipped him 35%.

Then I made her watch the Princess Bride. That's two of my three favorite movies. One more to go. She laughed really hard at the rolling down the ravine scene, the marriage scene, and the
the jumping out the window scene. I just laughed really hard. I have that damn movie memorized.

After that we went and got ice cream and I had to explain to her the finer points of eating from a cone. You have to have a STRATEGY. You have to eat it OFFENSIVELY. Sadly, she was eating it defensively, and it was kicking the ass of her and about seventeen napkins. She looked at me angrily at one point and muttered "Why aren't you having any problems?" I replied "I'm just better at licking than you are." ::evil chuckle::

She had to go get more napkins after that.

ARGH

So...evidently this weekend I withdrew $800 US dollars during a trip to Spain...

Yeah. New accounts for me tomorrow.

The good news is they didn't touch my savings, and I do get the money back after a lot of paperwork. And I get to call a happy number and be protected from identity theft.

I'm glad I actually have cash on me for once.

Anyway, I owe all of catching this to Poe, because if it weren't for me planning to give him money, I'd not have caught this before they got more money. So, once I get the money back...I'm gonna donate to him gratefully. ^_^;;;

IRC MADNESS

Talking about the next convention...and things get out of hand...
* Caff|Glasses will be good and not bring her knife?
RUPE: nah, knives are okay
WREN: ...ME with knives?
RUPE: but the people around might be a bit edgy with me slinging an AK over my shoulder
JAS: ...
CAFF: you didn’t see me in the dealer room....
* Eriatarka wonders if Caff can do the Vamp-spinny-knifey action.
* Caff|Glasses can do anything better than you.
ERI: Oh, can you, now?
CAFF: of course
RUPE: tormenting me, for example
* Eriatarka bets he can have sex with women better than you can
CAFF: not at all, sweetie. I can sleep with women better than you. They wouldn't be faking it. ^_^
ERI: ...Ouch. My self-esteem.
JAS: =O Ouch, Caff...
RUPE: bwa-ZING
* Eriatarka grabs Caffy's tongue with a pair of tongs. Now let's see you boast about that!
* Caff|Glasses is good with her tongue?
* Eriatarka gives up and shakes his fist
* kyhm has joined #en
* ChanServ sets mode: +o kyhm
aaand the first thing he reads iiiiis....
* Caff|Glasses points out the only reason she's better at sex than Eri is because as a female she knows what feels best firsthand.
CAFF: ^_^
CAFF> Hi kyhm!!
And he rolls with it!! <3!!
KYHM-SAMA: ... the only reason, Caff? I'm disapointed. ^_^
ERI: Pfft. All you have to do is tell me
RUPE: *boom chicka wow wow*

CAFF: kay, Eri. When we have sex, I'll be sure to tell you all you're doing wrong.
KYHM-SAMA: I'm not going to make any judgements unless I've had sex with you both. ^_^
SPIKE: Wise man. :)
CAFF: at once, or seperately?
KYHM-SAMA: yes.
* Eriatarka notes that the first half of that sentence overcomes any problems the second half points out.
* Caff|Glasses is too tired to understand that and probably should have shut up long ago.
* Eriatarka is also tired and may or may not be incoherent.
ERI: And I'm pretty sure I lost this battle a good while ago. So I go now.
JAS: [21:32] Caff|Glasses: kay, Eri. When we have sex,
JAS: Eri, you already won.
CAFF .....I hate you, Jas.
ERI: And yes. Jazzy is right. That's what I meant, since the only way that sentence could've been bad after those words were if a facehugger was involved.
JAS: HAHAH! Facehugger!
* Eriatarka has quit IRC (Quit: I've had it with this game! I'm going for a scuttle. )
* Caff|Glasses won. she's a better man than Eri. hmph
KYHM-SAMA: hmm. sex... facehugger... I'm seeing a correlation here.
RUPE: same end result, isn't it? writhing spawn coming out of the host's body
SPIKE: XD Excellent point, Rupe.
* Jasp-o is a better man than you both, so :P
CAFF: are not.
CAFF: Rupe is the only THE MAN* here.
JAS: Care to prove it?
* Vass snickers and goes back to his book
* kyhm is a better man than, uh, both of you put together! ^_^
* Caff|Glasses marries Rupe an not Jas. Proved.
* RupertTheAirborneRat grins like an idiot
* Eronarn is a better girl than Rupe, so nyah! ...wait...
CAFF: shhh.
RUPE: 'fraid you've got me there, Ero
* spiketail collapses into a pile of laughter.
CAFF: I can still beat you any day, old fogey.
JASS: I'd like to see you try, Caff.
* Caff|Glasses grabs a shoe and a chilled squirt bottle. c'mere.

*THE MAN- Anyone I deem awesome. Always in caps. Never plural. Never the same person. EX: I am THE MAN. There are three THE MANs here.