Kronk and Banana Bars

The failed independent adventure of the health waiver form *did* eventually end successfully. It turns out that when the actual lady I need is there, she has this little booth thing set up with HEALTH PLAN OPT-OUT written on it in huge letters. Go figure. :-P

Surprisingly funny movie: The Emperor's New Groove. I know, I'm six years behind. But honestly, that movie just didn't look good to me. However, Tim wanted to see it, and we've been going through a Disney Extravaganza phase, so I was like, "Hey, why not." Cue about a half an hour into the movie, and I was dying of laughter. The one song in the movie is, by the way, horrible. But the guy that really stole the show was Kronk, the evil villain's stupid thug, who's actually a really sweet guy, and loves to cook, especially spinach puffs. He also points out in a humorous way all the things about movies where you think, "Hey, how did *that* happen?" but you just have to accept it and move on. It's funny. Anyways, two surprised thumbs are going way up for The Emperor's New Groove.

Also humorous was my attempt at making banana bread yesterday. Jennie, that recipe I gave you is *wrong*! I know, I think you prefer your mom's banana bread anyway, but I must have copied this wrong. The Callahan recipe for banana bread, which I've used before and it was excellent, calls for way too much flour. Waaaay too much flour. Basically, what I have now are reasonably yummy banana bars. That's how I've been introducing them to people. Would you like a Banana Bar?

It was a cold, grey, rainy day today, so I made leek and potato soup. Yaay! I didn't screw *that* up. And my roomie, Kale, conveniently had a hand puree-er. So, now I have a wonderful pot of low-calorie soup that I hope might last until Monday, and banana bars that I actually can't stop eating for some reason.

A New Adventure--Failed, A New Adventure--Conceived

My latest independent adventure failed. Now that I've spoiled the end of this narrative, there's no need to read on. My mission was to find Linda MacDonald, the mysterious Health Services lady, and sign a waiver so that I would not be accepting health coverage plan thing for StFX, which costs an extra $800, which does not fly in dad's pocket-book. So, between French and Developmental Psychology, I stopped by the Student's Union Building (SUB), to try and find this mysterious Linda MacDonald. Someone had told me to try in the Health Clinic, so I went there--they were out to lunch. So I went to the bathroom, wandered around between some floors reading the names on the office plaques, and eventually did the only smart thing any girl like myself *could* do: I got on the computer. Finding someone on the internet is just a million times easier than finding them in person. Within two minutes, I knew that she in fact had her own little office on the fourth floor of the SUB. Magnificent! ....I'd never *been* up to the fourth floor of the SUB. The fourth floor is that type of place where the only people who go there are people who either belong there (with offices) or who have some very specific business that requires walking promptly to some office, and promptly back downstairs once that's finished.

So, despite my lack of an office number, I steeled myself for this adventure, and walked the long walk up to the fourth floor. At the top of the steps, I had no idea where to go. There was a vague sign with arrows, none of which told me what direction I needed. It was a big, open lounge with offices opening onto it, and people who were clearly doing actual jobs and belonged there scattered about. I was terrified. People could *see* that I didn't know what I was doing or where I was going. I managed to make my feet take a couple of staggering steps towards an office--the Chaplaincy. Not what I needed. Sister Mary Berthram. Also not what I needed. I almost panicked and ran down the stairs. But there it was!! Linda MacDonald-Health Services. I walked in the door. This was the most oddly arranged office ever. There was a quasi-sitting room inside, with two more offices opening off of it. Was there supposed to be a secretary in here? I looked at the office hours--I was within them. I suddenly recognized the guy sitting in one of hte two offices--Adam Hinton!!! YIKES. Student Union President, comes from some state nearby Ohio, in the International Society, and so nice and friendly that if I stood there one more moment, he was going to come out and say hi to me. I ran, as quickly as I could, back downstairs into the neutral third floor territory. Whew.

And I wonder why I have so few friends. :-P

However, I have conceived of a grand and wonderful independent adventure scheme. Tell me how possible this is, 'cause maybe I'm on crack. I probably am. But! I'd like to design my own short term developmental research study, get in contact with an early education place (preschool to late elementary), and carry out some particular observational study. Observational, because I'm just an undergrad nothing student. But, also, psychology internships seem to almsot all be pre-doctoral, but I want to start doing research *now,* myself. Another option I was considering would be if I could assist a psychologist somewhere with his/her research, doing the boring data collecting or questionnaire administering. I don't suppose anyone happens to have a buddy psychologist out there looking for a psych undergrad to be their stooge for a little while? 'Cause I'd be there in a flash. :-P Anyways, so yeah, designing my own research study. I know it wouldn't mean anything, but it'd be sort of a practical application of this year's work. Maybe I could spend a few weeks living with the Niblocks or Sam or something while doing this? Interesting thought....

Drugs and Alcohol

Right now, my house stinks so strongly of weed that I might as well be smoking it myself. And it's gone into my room, too. University seems like this big drinking and smoking extravaganza. Maybe it's 'cause this is such a party school or something. Plenty of people say that hte perceived rate of drinking is much higher than the *actual* rate of drinking, so students shouldn't feel as though they're pressured, but I absolutely don't believe that. So far, I haven't heard a single person say that they don't drink. Everyone goes to the bars, not only on the weekends, but also on Toonie Tuesdays, Wing Wednesday, and some clever Thursday name bar deal. Honestly, paying for a cover charge, and then four to five dollars at least for every drink doesn't strike me as very fun. Especially when the music's so loud that you can't talk to anyone, and *especially* when it's just a setting where you're supposed to dance. Dancing--no. Thus, no bars for me. And when I go to a friend's place, I often get welcomed with a handshake for my one hand, and a shot placed into my other.

I find the ever-present, mostly unspoken pressure to drink really annoying. I feel very uncool each time I tell another person that, no, I won't be going to the bar tonight. I have class tomorrow. Oh? I shouldn't let class get in the way of that? A little hangover the next day shouldn't stop me? Well, I like to be well-rested. :-P Aaaanyways.

I saw The Covenant. It was mildly entertaining, mindless fluff. I did, however, really like that main character girl's hair in the beginning of this scene -->

That winter edge has entered the air. Brrr!!!

Weekend!!

Tonight is a deluxe night out. Subway, and then going to see The Covenant. I never go out to eat, so Subway actually *is* special, sadly. I will even *drive* there<--more deluxe, 'cause that is valuable gas, my friend.

Yes, I know that The Covenant will be terrible. Awful. Just disgusting. However, remember that I live in a one screen cinema kind of town. The cinema's like St. Andrews', only smaller. Like Calais, only smaller, but with better sound and the one screen is bigger. It is also like Calais in that generally the movies that are shown there cater to a limited audience and are pretty terrible. Undoubtedly, after The Covenant is finished, Jackass: II will start showing. So, yes, I want to go see a movie, and so I will go see The Covenant.

Movie surprise of the summer? Bon Cop Bad Cop. I suggest that everyone see it, *especially* Jennie. Perhaps I was just in a good mood while watching it, or I find the "Quebecoise" vs. straight-laced Ontario a pretty funny subject.

Halo time.

Shot Down Again!

Today was day two of the blood donor clinic. After my drawing class ended at five, I scuttled over to the student union building, and got in line! Yay! I love donating blood! I got an appointment for 40 minutes later, and since I hadn't eaten anything all day, and didn't want to have blood drawn on an empty stomach, Tim and I ran down to the cafeteria. Chili and pizza! And a large Diet Pepsi! Boring details. Anyways. We ran back upstairs, with Tim balancing the tray with our beloved food on it (he was great about the idea of waiting forever for me to finish this), and I hopped in to one of the open desk spots, to go through my initial check-out clearance. The nurse got all my information, and as I saw we were getting to the iron bit, I warned her that I thought my chances of having a high enough iron level were low. So, instead of trying my blood in the floater thingy, she skipped straight to the iron level machine. What's that? 12.4 instead of 12.5? That's right, my iron levels are too low. At least I hadn't filled out all that paperwork yet. So, I turned away, my blood once more scorned by the world. :-P At least I tried.

But, I already have an appointment for next November! Score! They can't stop me from trying to donate!

I'd consider donating bone marrow and stuff, but that sounds...really painful. Does anyone know what that entails? There's just *no* way that that can be pleasant. Wow, just researched it. That is heavy duty. I'd totally do that. It involves waiting until a match for your marrow is finally found, with lots of testing, and then one day you go under anasthaetic, and they get the marrow out of your hips, with syringes so big they leave scars. Whew. Who wants to donate bone marrow with me?? :)

The Lost Bag

This, Madame, is a faithful narrative of all my dealings with US Airways.

A little bit of background: I *never* check bags. If the trip isn't longer than a week, I fit everything into a backpack or little mini- (super mini) duffel, and carry it on with me. Unfortunately, that liquid bomb thing happened, and we're no longer allowed to take liquids on. So, I was forced to check my bag, 'cause I have things like my facewash and facelotion that I had to bring. I put everything into it, 'cause I didn't want to lose something while travelling just because I'm absentminded and happened to be holding it in my hand in the airport. Remember that time with the blowguns in Brazil, Ben K? Classic absentminded Mandy. So I put my wallet in there (except for my driver's license, that went into the back pocket), my recently acquired Stitch'n Bitches book with my newly purchased needles and yarn (Ann Niblock taught me to do the seed/moss stitch while Julie was in labor). My Golas (most highly worshipped shoes) were in there, as well as my American Apparel skirt (present from Anne), my cell phone charger (yes, I did actually keep my cell phone on my person in case I missed a flight), my digital camera, and who can remember what else. Luckily, I'm a light packer, so it couldn't have been *that* much else.

So, the story:

I reported my bag as lost at the airport. They called me asking for clarification of contents, since the tag had fallen off. (Since my wallet is in there with my name in plenty of places, this seems kind of silly to me.) I called them back with what I could remember was in the bag. When I called again to check on the status, they said they no longer had the file. Since the claim was now more than ten days old, I needed to call US Airways Central Baggage Claim. I called Central Baggage Claim with my cell phone, sat on hold for five minutes, and gave up (didn't want my battery to die, since my cell phone charger is in that bag). I tried again one or two days later, and got through. The lady I spoke to said that I had to submit a "Central Baggage Resolution" online under the Contact Us section. So I submit a Central Baggage Resolution thing. I called back four days later to see if anything had happened. The lady informs me that it would be at *least* a week before I got a response to that Central Baggage Resolution form, and then after that it would be 6-8 weeks before I got a definitive answer about my bag. A week and a half later (yesterday), I got an email Which said, "Ms. Kessler,Thank you for contacting the Central Baggage Resolution Office at thenew US Airways, the combination of US Airways and America West. I regret our records do not reflect receipt of your correspondence. Please resubmit your claim paperwork to our office at the address or fax below." So there's this claim paperwork that that woman hadn't told me about, which I found, but I don't even have a printer, so I can't print it off!! And what do they want us to include with this claim paperwork??

ITEMS NEEDED TO PROCESS CLAIM

Copy of flight ticket or ticketless receipt

Copy of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Notification of Baggage Inspection, if
applicable

Baggage Claim Check(s)

Receipt for items with value of $100 or higher

Receipt if Excess Value was declared and purchased

Signatures of all affected customers

Notary seal if claim exceeds $500 (required for U.S. residents)

So does this mean that I need the receipt for the camera and for the yarn (which was in a little yarn store that barely had the technology to *make* a receipt!)?? And they want me to give them my Baggage Claim Checks? If I give them my baggage claim checks and flight tickets, what proof do I have left that I ever even *went* on that flight, and that they ever had my bags. I feel like they can just screw me over then, and now I feel like a yelling conspiracy theorist! So they're never getting they're sticky little fingers on *my* baggage claim checks. I would just copy them...but I don't have a copier.

Oh, and what do they call my lost bag on the receipt they gave me that says I told them about it? Property Irregularity Receipt. I find that verrrry funny. Irregularity.

Anyways, I was so upset last night when I got that email from US Airways, that I was planning on just giving up. I could buy myself a cheap digital camera sometime, my Golas were dying anyways, the skirt I can get again, and I can find some new yarn. Dad, however, is determined not to let this rest. So, now I'm on to write an email to him about *when* I made these calls, and what my flights were, and what my baggage claim numbers are, and it will continue to keep me from feeling well. I don't know why. But it will.

Christmas Gift Idea

My first Christmas gift idea (other than an OSU jersey) is the book Blankets, by Craig Thompson. It's a 600-page graphic novel about becoming an adult, falling in love for the first time, and (I think) coming to terms with your own individual spirituality (the two brothers the story focus on are growing up under an extremely fundamentalist Christian roof). So, I thought that sounded kind of cool.

Oh my goodness. I just finally got an email back from US Airways. I'm so frustrated. I'm never getting my bag back. The camera dad gave me for graduation was in there, as well as the yarn I bought to make Ella her blanket. That's really nice yarn! Oh gr.

The Planning Bug

That Planning Bug bit me today while I was doing some psych reading. Do other people have this planning bug problem? One moment, I was sitting there reading, then the next moment, I had an image of needing to apply to graduate school, and having no idea what standards I was going to need to meet, and where I was going to apply. And then finding out that I'd been slacking off, because I needed all A's, and all I had were high B's! AHHH!!! What a nightmare. So, two seconds later, I was out of bed and on my computer, researching universities to attend for graduate studies. U of Toronto is looking good. They say they only admit students who are definitely going on to pursue their PhD in psychology, and that their MA program is only one year. Is this possible???

So, for MA, I'm sort of looking at the big ones: U of T, McGill, UBC, and with a little bit of time, maybe I'll look at some American and European ones. American ones scare me (too many options, as previously stated) and I just don't know what's really out there European-wise, other than the obvious ones from family experience.

Ugh...eating too many pretzels. My stomach's becoming one giant doughy ball of partially digested pretzel. Lovely.

Do you guys know about the Puma Mongolian Shoe Barbecue? I went there in an attempt to make a shoe similar to my poor, irreplaceable Golas. My magnificent Golas. They wore like slippers and were completely kickass. They're currently in my forever lost bag. Evil evil EVIL Us Airways. But that is a story for another day. Anyways. I designed some fun shoes on the Puma thing, but they don't let you choose the actual shoe *type.* I'm telling you, brown suede and ridiculous gold silk: Priceless.

I'm currently looking for Halloween costumes. Jedi knight? Padme? Boba Fett?

Anne Marie and Jaime's posts on children as evangelizers were very very interesting. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I connected with many of the things Anne said. Three cheers to both Jaime and Anne Marie!! Well said. I think I probably have deeper "heathen" issues than is normal in this family (understatement?) but I definitely did and do *try* to come to a more Christian understanding. It pretty much fails, though, and I'm starting to just call myself an agnostic. Which is at least better than an atheist! 'Cause, honestly, how can an atheist honestly think s/he knows for sure that God doesn't exist? Ridiculous! Random om? Yes.

Moving on...

Padme, anyone? I'm considering it.

Accepted

Katie, Tim, and I went to see Accepted last night. We weren't really expecting anything particularly wonderful, but just felt like we needed to do *something* on a Saturday night. First off, the movie takes place in Ohio: big bonus points there. I enjoyed seeing all the Ohio license plates. Of course, it was filmed in LA. :-P Nobody saw *that* coming, I'm sure. Aaanyways. Just in case you don't know what it's about: This kid (Justin Long) got rejected from every college he applied to, so, in a panic, he fabricates a university just to make his parents think that he's going somewhere. There's a little glitch in the plan, though, which is that other college rejects find out about it, and come in droves. So, yadda yadda yadda, they make this LIBERAL liberal arts college, and fight the good fight against their snooty traditional college neighbors. Anyways, it was actually pretty funny in that un-original kind of way, and I had, surprisingly, a blast watching it.

After watching this movie, and seeing them showing the high school kids talking about their SAT scores, and freaking out about getting in, and writing essays, I realized that compared to many kids, I didn't have that freaking out about college experience. This is especially shocking considering my Bexley upbringing. I didn't have parents breathing down my neck, taking me on college visits, telling me to study for the SATs, telling me to *take* the SAT, or asking how my essays were going, had I applied, and was I goign to take the SAT IIs? Instead, I just wandered in to take the SAT one Saturday morning my junior year. Some kids' parents actually fill out their applications for them (weird), whereas I at least got Ben's helpful hand as I procrastinatorally (w/e) was rushed to the post office to send off my apps in time.

I hate you, College Board, and your evil prep books.

Canadians have it totally different though. Faith will be able to tell me if I'm totally wron ghere or not. Maybe it's different in "populated Canada," instead of this sparse area of Nova Scotia where I am. But! No one here has taken the SATs. There are very very very few universities around. So few that I already know of every single one in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. So when they're thinking about what uni. they want to go to, they don't buy three 4,000 page books on what colleges there are out there, with every statistic and rating you could want. My friends (from many parts of Canada) just sat down, easily contemplated most of the choices without difficulty, probably did a visit or two, and here they are! No three essays on their applications, no SATs and SAT IIs required. Just. like. that. So, yeah, I just find this entirely different experience both weird and refreshing. Seems like most of these students haven't spent 6+ years of their lives stressing about whether they'll get into a prestigious university or not. Btw, I can't even *find* adequate nit-picky statistics on StFX.

I have a bad habit of putting fruit stickers everywhere.

Hair Dyeing Adventure!!

Okay, so....I did it. And it's definitely not a horrible thing, but I'm not certain if it's a fabulous thing either.

You guys know what it looked like before coloring. Here I am coloring-->
And here is my bathroom, btw. Ooooh, aaaaah, it's so unique and unlike any bathroom you've ever seen before. Yeah....


But! Here is what I know you're *really* interested in ('cause why shouldn't my hair coloring be the be-all end-all of your world?). The final color:

It's actually a bit darker than this, but matches my glasses really well. Also, this color looks better with this haircut than my natural one does. All in all, I'd call this not a disaster, but a fun experience. Now, let the judgement rain down upon me. :-P

Now, time to go see Accepted. Probably bad, but at least a bit amusing, and something to do on a slow Saturday night.

Still sick

Okay, we're way beyond sniffles. This sucks. I've had a temperature of 99.5 for the last two days. This may seem like nothing, but my average temperature when healthy is actually around 97.6, so 99.5, for me, is quite up there. I won't go into the details, 'cause we've all been there, and know what it's like. But I'm feeling slightly better today.

During moments of lucidity, provided by my good friend, Tylenol Extra Strength, I played some Halo 2 Live with Tim. Big Team Battle!!! I can stand to play this, 'cause *lots* of people don't get any kills, so I don't feel very embarassed at how bad I am. I actually got five kills one time, while other times, I didn't get any. That was fun. I'll probably play again today.

Yesterday, I stained the wood I'm using to build my hutch. It doesn't match my desk at all. I'm going to polyurethane it today, and hopefully that'll help the matchness.

Tragedy of the day: I don't get ESPN Plus, so I can't watch the OSU game. :'( I have my OSU shirt on and everything, and brats in the fridge, all ready for gametime. However, I can still watch it (sort of, not really) on the CSTV gametracker thing.

Adventure for the day: Buying more shampoo, my first ever hair dryer, styling mousse, and maaaaybe a hair dye. I know, I got tons of votes not to do that, but I should explain that I don't mean a brunette nearing black. Looks fabulous on Jaime, 'cause she's au naturale in her darkness of hair. For me, I mean more of a Chestnut-y medium-dark brown. Besides, if I want to go crazy (how sad, that dyeing my hair is, for me, going crazy), I should do it now while I'm in college, before I have some career where it matters if, when people look at me, they shudder and turn away in revulsion at my bad choice hair dye job. Then again, that's what I was telling myself when i was considering shaving my head....

Okay, would a color like this be so bad?--->

Sniffles. Yes, sniffles.

I'm sick. Not very sick. This is basically the best kind of sick out there. I have a sore throat, a groggy, heavy head, stuffy nose, and an unusual amount of tiredness. Thus, Tim's being great and babying me. I'm lying in bed, posting, while he makes me soup. So, other than being pathetic at paying proper attention in class, this is great!

CtrlAltDel, Ivan, The Smiler

Almost all of my professors use Powerpoint for their lectures, so every single lecture hall has a projector with the computerish podium, and before the prof starts up, the standard log-in waiting page sits there. "Please press Ctrl Alt Del to view the log-in page." Or something like that. Today, there was a new feature though. A diagram *above* the CtrlAltDel window showing the user *how* to press CtrlAltDel. There was a picture of a keyboard on screen, with the keys flashing, coming out of the keyboard, and then on by one being pressed down by invisible fingers, which released them all at once. This amused me for a long time. Am I a snob?

Speaking of CtrlAltDel, I suppose I might as well mention that I'm addicted to some webcomics online. I check every day, and laugh with childish glee. One of the webcomics I read is ctrlaltdel-online.com. It's about these two gamer nerds and their pathetic issues with coping/just living life in a society where some people don't care about games, paying the rent matters, and you're not supposed to be able to build robots out of X-Boxes to play with you whenever you want. And said "X-Bot" is not supposed to become a dear friend named Zeke who of course is an awesome player, but doesn't really understand human emotion. So, yes, this is a funny comic. There's a reclusive roomie (Linux user) with pet penguin, the gamer girl, and plenty of ridiculous and wonderful scenarios. Oh, there are also random posts where the webcomic author essentially does a review of a new game, or mimics it. Like here: Steve's Day at the Mall Parts 1 through 4. As many of you may guess, yes, it is about Dead Rising, and probably won't be funny at *all,* unless maybe you've been reading Brad's posts on it. The author's news posts on the main page are also very funny, and keep me up to date on some of hte gaming stuff going on out there, despite my complete lack of gaming. Iguess you might say that it keeps me enough in the loop that I can have a decent conversation with a gamer.

I love my university. Last year, there was this janitor (is that un-PC? Too bad.) who cleaned my floor of MacIsaac every day. The first time I saw him, he introduced himself, asked my name, and every day after that, as I blearily wandered down the hall to teh bathroom, or out to classes, I got a friendly, "Hello, Mandy! How are you?" He learned *everyone's* name, and when I came back this year, I thought, "How sad that Ivan won't be around now." But when I went to my first day of classes, in Nicholson Hall (the generic academic building), there he was! "Hi, Ivan!" "Hello, Mandy! How are you today?" YAY! He's the sweetest little old man. Sometimes we had little conversations, where he'd say that some of the university employees complained about how things were, but that he was happy, and liked it here. In general, he was just a great guy. So, I'm happy, 'cause I have people like Ivan around to say hi to.

There's this girl in one of my psych classes who turns around and looks at me, and smiles. It's really odd. I mean, it wasn't odd the first two times, but she just does it so often, and every class too. I don't know her or anything either. Weird.

So pointless, so fun

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I'm back

Not a big fan of this labelling thing I see going on. So if you're wondering why no labels: It's cause I don't like them. I moved up to a different computer lab. An itty bitty hole in the wall, with an apple sticker on the desk that I think I put there last week.

I have this two hour gap between my development psych class and my first drawing class today. Which is why I'm burning all this time in the labs, though I *do* have my textbooks here...and could get some useful reading done.... Nah. In my developmental psych class, my prof is really old school. She used a slide projector, wrote on the board, and basically just stood in front of the class talking for the hour and a half. I swear, she hypnotized me. Last class, I felt like I got an impromptu therapy session, and came out feeling good about myself and my childhood. Today, I think she hypnotized me. I sat down, started writing what she said in her very quiet, even voice, and kept writing, until suddenly she said that that was all for today, and we'd pick up later. I have no idea where that whole hour and a half went. I felt like I'd barely been there ten minutes. Maybe it's because she was talking about feral children. I love feral children. So many interesting and sad stories, and almost all completely unexplained and not understood. Oh, and my professor's name is Bigelow. That has to count for some mad humor points. I should come to class some day with a cup of tea, and the Bigelow label hanging over the side. I sit close enough, maybe she could see it.

Anyways, this drawing class is three hours long. :-[ Two hours, fifty minutes. I really hope that since today is the first day, we won't go the whole length. Wish with me, people.

Annoyances

Some things annoy me. For instance, I want to fly with ease from site to site, without sitting around typing in the URLs. Well, isn't Mozilla great, you'll say. Those handy bookmark things. But there aren't enough!! I run out of room. However, it's okay, 'cause all I need to do is type in the first letter or two of what I want, arrow down, press enter, and I'm on my way. Not so, though, when I'm on a public computer! I hate that. I hit a letter, and wait for my history of webpages to conveniently hand me the rest...and I wait a second longer...before it hits me that I actually have to type all of this in. GAH. So at this moment, I am annoyed, 'cause I'm sitting in computer lab, painstakingly typing in each web address, just to check for a moment if anything's been updated.

Oooh, a chance to donate blood is coming. I love donating blood. It's the easiest way to feel good about doing something to help others, while just being lazy and *sitting* there. If only they paid me for it.... Of course, last year it was really busy every time I went by, and I didn't feel like waiting in line. And before I knew it, the blood drive had left, all without me having donated a drop. Like many women, I have issues with iron levels. Mine suck. More than once, my low iron levels have prevented me from donating. And by more than once, I mean twice. Somehow it makes you feel bad about yourself when you try to donate, and they turn you away. "Wait, you don't *want* my blood? My blood's not good enough?? NOOOO!!!"
Plus, little snacks at the end and fruit juice packs: Bonus.

Not gonna lie, I'm kind of scared of what the walk to scchool will be like this year in winter....Hmm, kids ar eflooding in here. Ithink this is abotu to turn into a classroom. Post and RUN!!!

Various Things

A) What's really funny about the area of Nova Scotia that I'm in is that it's all about "being Scottish" around here. There's a Hall of Clans in the library that I like to go to for studying, and Antigonish hosts the largest Highland Games in Canada...or North America....I think. Tartans are all around in the windows of many shops, with the full regalia offered in some. What's *really* funny, though, is the way this affects everyone's names. Kessler's generally a pretty middle of the alphabet name. I'm used to being #14, 15, or 16 in class roll call out of 30. Here, though, I'm in at least the first third of the class alphabetically. I've never before felt so early in the alphabet sense. And why is that? Because of all the MACs. The other day, my professor was doing roll call ('cause it was the first day of class), and said, "You know you're in Nova Scotia when...," and proceeded to go down all the Macs. MacDonald, MacDonald, MacDougal, MacIsaac, MacKinnon, MacMillan, MacNeil, MacPherson, MacPherson, ...and on....and on.... I would hate to be a Mac, and have my last name lost in a sea of the other Macs here.

B) I got my hair cut. Yay!!! I found this girl last year who I like a lot, went to her again, and I still her. :) Hurrah. Due to extremely evil US Airways people, I still don't have my bag (I'll save that full story for its own post), and thus still don't have my digital camera. Never fear!! I still have my webcam with which to take pictures. So, here is a mediocre picture of my new haircut. Slightly edgier than usual? I think so. I bet this probably doesn't look that different, but my hair had actually gotten quite long very quickly. And it's been years since it's been this short. Give me feedback: Would going brunette be a terrible idea?? I actually want a response here. Give me your opinion.

C) I had my first French lab yesterday. I was terrified that we were all going to be sitting in a small pow-wow speaking only French to each other constantly and bein g judged. Luckily, thanks to our technilogical society, I walked straight into the best environment imaginable: A computer lab. With a headset and microphone, I get to have French spoken into my ear for an hour with me at hte controls, and speak into and record myself talking for the professors to review. Then, hopefully less than half of hte time, we'll actually be talking to each other. 8-[
Anyways, so far so good. There were only two people there other than me, yesterday. Amusingly, my French prof told us that there were no labs for at least ten days. Just in case, I stopped by. There was my lab professor, sitting at the front, waiting for people to arrive. So I got a very one-on-one tour through the programs, and supported part of a conversation, of which my half was comically broken, barely coherent French. It's worse, 'cause my lab prof's actually French. His French was so quiet, murmured, and fast that I could barely catch a word of it. My first art class is tomorrow. This should be fun. :)

Dad's Visit

Last night, Dad arrived just in time for the OSU-Texas game to start. Yes! Once I knew that I would actually have the game on TV, Tim and I went straight out to prepare for college football-tacular snacking. We've been on some hardcore calorie-counting these last two weeks, so this was nice. Dad got here at like 8:15, and the game started at 9, so he was cutting it a bit fine. Other than the moldy smell in my room (no surprise to Ben K., I'm sure), he liked the house.

I was decked out in my OSU t-shirt, and gave Dad my buckeye necklace to wear. I would have let Tim use my Ohio State pop can insulator thing, but he decided he was going to cheer for hte Longhorns just to be contrary, so I let Dad use my fantastic insulator instead. :-P See what you miss out on when cheering for the Longhorns? Pop can insulator things.

Tim cooked bratwurst on our God of the Year, the George Foreman Grill. So we ate our Johnsonville Brats, and sat down to some chips and salsa for the game. It was really nice sitting down with Dad, Tim, and the occasional roomie drifting in and out and watching the football game. I felt like I might as well be sitting on the old plaid couch at the farm, eating salsa con queso and chips off of their perches on the ottoman.

And what a game!!
The entire thing was like one big exercise in loving the Buckeyes. I have to admit, I was quite nervous heading into it. No.1 vs. No. 2, and on Texas' ground...why shouldn't I have been nervous? Besides, going in worried about the outcome makes watching the game that much more enjoyable.

I *really* need an OSU jersey. With Nugent's number.... 85

Hmm...can't get this font to rub off. Oh well. Time for some Beauty and the Beast action! I love Disney. Not as much as I love The Boxcar Children though. :-D

Books

Today, I finally got my textbooks, and I would like to give a big hug to the cashier guy I went to. To whom I went? Whatever. There's a new system this year, where instead of walking around the bookstore, picking out the books you need, you *have* to order them online. Then two days later (no more, no less, or they send them back to inventory), you have to go pick them up at the bookstore. This sounds easy, but trust me, it's not. Okay, well it's easy, but it's certainly not fast or simple. It said on the bookstore website that you had to have an ID with you, preferably a student ID. I left my student ID in my bedside table in Maine (till Dad brings it up tomorrow; he's visiting, yay!), so I brought my driver's license instead. There's a huge line outside the store, and I see that *everyone* is holding on a printout of the online receipt we were sent. I say to myself, that's not *necessarily* required, but about 30 seconds later, I chicken out and run to the nearest computer lab area. After logging in and pulling up the email, I realize that there are no printers in this building. So, I walk over to the next building, where I'm familiar with the computer labs, and have most of my classes. A little while later, I walk out with my receipt.

So, I'm back in line. But what is this line I'm in? It's in fact not the book line at all. It's a line to get in to the bookstore. And there are about thirty students standing in it, with a poor woman standing at the front acting as gatekeeper. I make it to the front of this line, and find out that we in fact did not need those online receipts at all. Everyone just had them in case. Aaaaand, we do need our student IDs. In fact, we can't get a glimpse of our books till we show them our student IDs. What's so important about our student IDs? We already gave them our student ID number. They have a record of all past transactions I've done with them in the computer. However, the new nice gatekeeper girl told me that if she were helping me on the cashier, my driver's license and receipt would be fine. So I stay in line. Eventually, I make it inside.

And I get to stand in line number two! Line number two was actually very short, so I shouldn't complain. Two cashiers opened at the same time, and I'd been watching. One of them was a middle-aged women who didn't seem very bright. She kept telling people to go stand in the wrong lines, and seemed to be a "by the book" type. The other guy I knew was kind of spunky and nice, and had a lot of experience here. So, despite the older woman's closer proximity, I ignored her beckoning hand and bypassed her straight to Mr. More Competent Guy. I laid my case straight out with him: Driver's license, receipt, no student ID, please help me. "I'm sorry," he says. "I have to have that student ID. I just can't. I'm not allowed." AAAAAGH!!! So, I said that's fine, I understand. "And you're open on Saturday this weekend, right? Oh, wait, I won't have my ID by then, either. It doesn't matter. I'll just come in on Monday." He asks if I live on campus, and can run and get my ID. I explain that it's at home. Where's home? Maine.

He gives me a conspiratorial look, and says, "Okay, what's your student ID number? You're lucky I like you so much." YAAAAAYYY!!!! He laughed when I paid for all my books in cash, and didn't believe it when I said I had neither a debit card no a credit card. I'll join the rest of the real world soon enough.

And so began the age of Line Number Three. I got to wait in another line, to have some women behind a desk look at my ID and receipt again, retrieve my bag of books, slowly check everything off on the list, put a silly "SOLD" sticker around the bag, and send me on my way. Of course, this line was huge. Forty-five minutes it took me to get ot the front. And when I got there, what question did I get? "Can I see your student ID please? Oh, I'm sorry, it has to be your student ID." AAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!! "Oh, the guy at the cash register said this was okay." "Well, if the cash' says it's okay, it's okay." YAAAAAYYY!!!!

All I can say is, it's a good thing I came to school two and a half hours early, otherwise I would have missed my class. It was a very BMV moment, only with more lines.

So, I tested into a higher level of French, but I'm not going to move up. I seriously feel the need to do some heavy-duty review in French 110. There will be two more years for any higher level French I want to take, but right now, I'm rusty, and will be grateful for a more comfortable level. I need this book:

The Horror, the Horror!!

Actually, more like the sheer, fantastic comedy. I saw Snakes on a Plane last night. It was great. I laughed, I guffawed, and occasionally got pretty grossed out as evidenced below. Nevermind, not as evidenced below. Apparently none of the really nasty pictures from it are posted online. If I were to see a snake on a plane now, I might be a little bit nervous. Best line of the movie? No, it was not the," Enough is enough," bit. I guess delivery matters, 'cause this sounds completely un-funny typed. But the funniest for me was both, "Great, snakes on crack," and, "Sporks."



The part of the movie I actually liked, though, was Dr. Steven Price, the snake expert, and his geeky glee for the science of slithering things.

"This film's title originated at an after-work happy hour among Hollywood colleagues to see who could come up with the most awful pitch for a movie." Thank you, imdb.com. Do you guys realize that Samuel L. Jackson is 58 years old? I wish I could shave all my hair and age as gracefully as he is.

Gotta love Mace Windu.

The First Day of Classes

My Independent Adventure of today did not go so well. The English Chair wasn't in his office, and I didn't have very much time, so I took a copy of the previously sent email with application for override, wrote a note explaining, and slipped them both under the door. No people contact! Yay!

However, there were other Independent Adventures to be very proud of. I met two new people. One, Kat/Katherine/whatever, sat next to me in my Psych Research MEthods and Statistics class. She seems nice. She sat next to me 'cause I sort of smiled at her as she came in, and she didn't know anyone else in the class either. Research and statistics shouldn't be too bad, despite the mathness of it all. *shudder*...mathness.

Smiling, however, did not do the trick in Social Psychology. Everyone either knew loads of people already and sat in their posse (posse?) or seemed like really shy introverts. <---Talk about the pot calling hte kettle black. However, I simply *hate* sitting alone class after class, while other people socialize and laugh. So right before class began, when no one sat next to me, I had an Independent Adventure: I scooted down to the end of the row, and introduced myself out of the blue to this girl. Her name is Mallery. She is *really* not interested in me or anything to do with me, but at least I know someone now.

I already knew my Research Methods prof, but this social psych girl was new to me. Dr. Koch, pronounced Dr. "Coke." She seems cool, and I'm really excited about the class. Yay!

Scary thing of the day: French. The most effeminate, decked out in 1950s (including flower in buttonhole, neatly folded napkin in breast pocket, and hat), straight-backed professor walked in. I'd seen him around last year, and thought of him as "that guy who takes his posture too seriously." True, I am a hunchback. Anyways, he seems perfectly nice, but a little full of himself, maybe. We took a placement test, and I felt way out of my league. So many people have been in immersion programs--even Tim spent two years in immersion French. I was almost the last person done, and on some of the last questions, I barely even read them, I just scribbled an answer down. So, now I'm waiting for hte results to be posted. Exactly how much *do* I suck? I'm about to find out.

This school year's going to be great.

The Fridge

There's this company that rents Mini Fridges to university students for their dorms called Campus Coolers. They charge an arm and a leg, and deliver these worthless, dinged up fridges that hardly work, not to mention, they're sooo tiny that they can barely hold anything. Last year, Tim got one of these fridges. There was a half hour window of time at the end of the year when they came to the dorm and collected the fridges. Tim didn't know about this, and wound up wondering what to do with his fridge. We tried to get the fridge back to them, but hte long and hte short of it was....we couldn't. So, a summer later, and we bring this fridge back with us. Today is the day when they deliver all of their rip-off fridges to the poor, unsuspecting freshman once more.

Tim and I started out the day with one goal: To get rid of this fridge.

I only have the big, old, lumbering, 1990 full size van with leaky tires and an empty gas tank here with me, so since Jessie, Katie, and Kale were going into town, we mooched a ride off of them. The residence office, unfortunately, could not tell us when the fridge van would be where around campus. After lugging the fridge around from one res to another to look for the fridge van, Tim and I eventually sat down on the fridge to wait. And wait.

And wait.

Three hours and many trash picking attempts later (by students, of course), the fridge van finally arrived in front of MacIsaac. The guy unloading fridges gave Tim a weird look as he tried to return this 4-month late worthless fridge, but took it anyways. Problem solved, no more fridge!! Yay!! I should mention, of course, that Tim was the one doing all the lugging of the fridge around. I walked beside him, feeling useless, and holding up the power cord in a pathetic attempt to feel helpful.

Afterwards, I bought my school supplies at the dollar store. Tomorrow is the first day of classes. The English department chair guy hasn't responded to my course override application, so I'll have an Independent Adventure and drop by the English chair guy's office tomorrow. Unless, of course, I wuss out.

Wish me luck!!

The Capitulant

Yeah, so, I did it. Took long enough. Bad timing, though: Digital camera is currently somewhere in airline limbo, since it was in my bag that US Airways LOST, and I haven't seen in the last two weeks. Thus, no one gets any cool pictures, dommage.

So, here I am in Nova Scotia...again. It's awesome. While everyone else is still suffering from heat waves (in some places :-P), I already have cool breezes that I layer up against. And, there's bizarre weather. Walking into town today, it was sunny, windy, with this bizarre mist blowing everywhere. I was soaked in the sun, and couldn't even see what was doing it.

Everyone knows that my life is one struggle at a time for independence against my stranger and strange situation phobic self. Lately, Tim has been sending me on "Independent Mandy" missions that I have to accomplish by the end of the day. Going out by myself, dealing with people, whatever. I surprised both of us two days ago at Tim Hortons by asking, "Is it possible to get that meal with a muffin instead of a donut?" Shocking, I know.

Oh,no. The button on my pants finally just broke. Saw that one coming for a while. Don't worry, though. I have a needle and thread in the drawer!

So, I live in this house. Twelve Xavier Drive. Since I go to St. Francis Xavier University, this seems like an extremely boring name for a street, eh? Yeah. It's about a fifteen minute walk from the edge of the campus, which for me, seems like *far* too long. The grocery's about a half an hour away, but the Dollar Store's only like twelve minutes away, so I'm set. :-P

The house is ranch style, and from outside, it looks tiny. Thank goodness, though, when you walk inside it seems to magically expand like the tents in Harry Potter during the Quidditch World Cup. I have five roommates. Three of them I knew. Tim, Katie, and Jessie (Katie's friend. Doesn't like me very much.). Curtis arrived yesterday. He's the former president of my former dorm (MacIsaac), which makes him a hardcore partier, because that res wouldn't vote for anyone else. He wants everyone to call him Stricht (last name: Strichtland). I don't think there's anyway I'm doing that. Kale, the other unknown variable, arrived today. At first, I was extremely disappointed. Wannabe gangster with no clue. However, he's a wannabe gangster with no clue who cooks really awesome cookies, uses my favorite scent of shampoo (Herbal Essences Citrus Lift!), and seems like a total homebody.

I have a lime green seventies shag carpet.

....I love it. It's so horrible.

My room's a mess, 'cause I'm keeping my kitchen supplies on my bookshelves with my clothes, and I've never been one for organization, so my desk is messy with nothing.

Scheduling was terrible this year. I couldn't get into the English class I wanted, so I applied for an override to get into th efull class anyway. In case I didn't get that, I wanted to get into another class as a backup. Nothing fit. I even tried to get into physics. Physics!! Eventually, I found a psych class that fit. That means I'm taking three psych classes! Oy.

Social Psychology w/ lab
Developmental Psychology
Research and Statistics for Psych w/ lab
French 110 (woohoo!) w/ lab
Drawing 100 -YES! I've always wanted an art course.

Made chili tonight for tomorrow. If I may say so, it's not half bad. Had no idea what I was doing, except that it involved meat, chili seasoning, and lots of Mexican-y ingredients. Also made a mean lemon herb chicken thing with rice, and it's the first satisfying dinner I've had since I arrived. Cooking seems to be the way forward.

So, yeah. I like my house. I'm gonna start scouting for a place for next year. I'll be as close to the university as possible.

Let's see if this blogging thing actually continues....