Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!!

So, i'm in jackson. I've actually been here since friday, but being without a house or a large amount of spare time, blogging hasn't been my main priority, but i figure i could update while i'm waiting for spencer to drag himself out of bed.

This jackson trip has been quite a bit more fun. The drive up was nice, although i got a gnarly sun burn on my left arm, including a nice t-shirt line and a stripe where my wristband was. Friday i came in and, after running some errands, swung by Sal and Mookie's and got to see a whole bunch of people who I'd worked with, and a lot of new people that i haven't. After that i went over to spencer's and hung out for a few hours, and then went over to Emmett's for a party where i saw lots of other people i hadn't seen for a long time, so that was fun.

Saturday i got up pretty late, on account of the party, and then...did...something. It was awesome. Oh right, we went bowling eventually, and that was way fun. I ended up bowling six games, one of which i did pretty good, but that was the one i was really trying, so that's all that counts. That night i slept at caitlin's, and had planned to watch Doctor Who that night, but i realized at 2 a.m. if i wanted to wake up for church i should probably get some sleep.

Sunday i went to church in jackson, and that was cool, lots more people i hadn't seen in a while. After that i went back to spencer's and ate lunch/breakfast, and then we watched Doctor Who, which was cool, although not one of my favorites. It was a little more dramatic and less witty than some of them, but i'm ok with plot development. That night we played risk which, despite some unpleasantnesses, was pretty fun.

Monday we went to the lake, and that was cool. We swam/floated across to the lake house again, and hung out there for a while. At some point this old lady wanted to kick us out. After that, and some confusion, we got papa john's and watched TV at caitlin's until it was bed time.

So now it's today. I'm thinking i need to talk to Melissa and Hunter before i go back to the coast, so i think i might go to Broad St, because that stuff's delicious.

Challah back.

Utah is a small world

Today i ran into Brian Cory, who was a missionary in jackson. It was a pretty hugecoincidence, although it still is dwarfed by running into our next door neighbor in utah, that was unexpected in the extreme.

Anyway, I'm back in utah, and it feels good. I like my little world that is my room, it'll be fun to have a slightly larger world someday, but it's good.

Like so.


Anyway, so the flight back was rough. I had to wake up at 4am, and then my mom drove me to new orleans. We got to the air port probably around 5:30. For it being unreasonably early, the airport was packed. The lined to security doubled back and fourth about 5 times, and about 5 minutes after i got there there was a line that stretched all the to inside the door, which was probably like 50 yards. My plane was an hour late because the crew had to sleep, which was probably good since i didn't get through security until a few minutes before my plane was supposed to leave. After about an hour the pilot and crew got there and we took off just as the sun was coming up. The flight itself was fine, we made good time and got into utah more or less as scheduled. I took the public transportation, which was actually pretty great. The bus takes you to within about 3 blocks of the trax, which is actually a lot worse than it sounds. Blocks in salt lake are an eighth of a mile, and so half a mile of dragging my 100 pounds of baggage through the mostly plowed sidewalks turned out to be fairly tiring. Once i got to the trax though it was great, the train goes about as close to the dorms as you could ask. this is where it got hard though, even though it's only a five or so minute walk, it's all up hill, and the university of utah is not as diligent in plowing the sidewalks, so the wheels weren't doing so much. This on top of 1 hour of sleep, no food in 8 hours, and a half mile of dragging my luggage about. So yeah, by the time i got up to my room i pretty much felt like dieing, but oh no. I had a class just 20 minutes away. I had to get some food first though so i was late for my first class, or rather my second class since i completely missed my first class cus i was on a plane. And then i had my third class, and then i went back to my room and unpacked and tried to catch my breath.

The rest of my day was pretty good. I met my new roommate, who is very much korean. He barely speaks english which can get a little awkward at time, but he's a really nice guy, and he has only been in the states for 2 weeks, so if his english improves linearly, he'll be proficient in no time. And if it's exponential, he'll be writing classic literature by february.

Monday night we had fhe, which was fun, and then i watched Doctor who, which freaked me out hard. Small children wearing gas masks and saying mommy...terrifying stuff.

today was nice because i feel like i'm back into the routine again. I set up my printer and the wii, put away all my clothes (yesterday they slept on the hammock) and that's pretty much where i am now, watching the new and unimproved Daily Show and Colbert Report. So chya, good stuff. I need to spend around 30 dollars at the little store at the heritage center to get rid of all my meal plan money before it disappears with my new meal plan, so yeah. Hopefully something will happen tonight other than watching tv, but i haven't watched tv in 3 weeks, so i'd live.

~The Writers Guild of Room 53107

Post Script: I changed my blog to make it a little more cheery. That dark thing was far too emo.

No Crocodiles, or Rhinoceroseses

So i'm home. Now that i'm actually in the house in biloxi, it does feel pretty homey. There's a christmas tree, and my old computer chair (which is still mad comfortable) and family, and catan, and all kinds of cool things. My mom made me tortellini for dinner, which was delicious, probably the best meal i've had in months.

The flight was pretty great, i got there 2 hours early which meant i had to sit for around 2 hours with nothing much to do. I wrote a bit in my journal and watched CNN. I'm not a big fan of CNN. The fact that they give the news all day long means that unless there's a steady flow of interesting news, the majority of the day is news about which i don't care.

Like coffee preferences among the presidential candidates. Why in the world would i care how they like their coffee? btw, clinton sometimes drinks black and sometimes goes with the cream. Obviously she is indecisive and a poor leader.

Eventually the flight got moving and i had a whole 2 seats to myself. My window was pretty shoddy, but i'm glad there was enough room that i didn't have to sit next to random Jack Daniels drinker who was originally going to be in 7C. I mean he was a nice enough guy, but i enjoyed having a bit of space. I almost fell asleep, but that didn't quite happen, so instead i played solitaire on my iPod and managed to lose several times. When it finally looked like i was going to win we were landing so they told me to turn it off. I actually just remembered so i pulled it out and it was still on it but i pressed menu which restarted it. That was a little disappointing.

Oh, so most amazing coincidence. As i was walking on to the plane, what should my iPod randomly shuffle to but John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane." The odds of that were like 1 in 3000. If my iPod's battery didn't just die i could tell you exactly what the odds are, but regardless, it was pretty cool.

I want to compile a full list of the things i want, but i still don't really know. I have gradually thought of more things that i need/want.

The originals still hold, i definitely want a Digital Camera, and i hope that happens, but i'd survive not having it for christmas. That's actually true of most of the gifts i want, they aren't really things i want now, just things i want between now and next year. Anyway, a few new things:

Cool posters, my walls are rather bare. Something by Escher would be awesome, also bands that i like, bands that i don't like, good movies, bad movies, sports, really just any poster that you think i might like would be great. I need to make my walls more interesting.

Music is always awesome, I love being introduced to new music. Burned cd's are probably the best cheap present in the world because they're almost free but are made with love...and piracy. And who doesn't love pirates?

As far as video games, i dunno. I need to play mario galaxy, but i think that might be a game i could rent, beat, and move on with my life.

Clothes and stuff are great. I like having new clothes, but there are only a few people i know that i trust to buy real clothes for me, but clever t-shirts and hoodies are much appreciated. Hoodies especially, it's wicked cold in utah (not so much here. My first thought as i got off the plane, even before, "New Orleans smells bad" was, "man it's warm here". Biloxi actually feels pretty nice, pretty cool and not too humid).

Candy is cool, but candy doesn't last very long, and half the fun of presents for me is the fact that i always remember where they came from. So everlasting gobstoppers are great, not those cheap ones that you find in the grocery store. I'm talking about the stuff straight from Wonka's shop. That stuff is quality.

Books are good, but barring a few amazing books, i can just borrow a book and give it back and i'll get pretty much the same effect.

And any other cool stuff is probably safe. Some of my favorite gifts have been absolutely random stuff, just because of the memories they have. A good rule of thumb is if you want someting for yourself, i'll love it, unless you want something that i obviously wouldn't want (like girls clothing) or you want to punch me in the face; i will not love that.

Well, it's getting late even by college in mountain time standards, and i have a full day of being on vacation to prepare for, so adieu, adieu, parting is such sweet sorrow.

~Sister Susie sittin' on a thistle.

P.S., just because this is awesome, years ago i really wanted a rhinoceros for christmas, and so my mom wrote me a poem, reminiscent of Shel Silverstein's stuff, about wanting a rhino for christmas.