January's Finished

      October 21 is one month closer....(also, that's Courtney's birthday.)

     Anyway, it might be a different school, but the stress is pretty much the same wherever you are as a student. Doesn't really matter if it's NSU, TCC or RSU. So much to get done, and it doesn't really stop...Also, I get really frustrated with online courses. More specifically, the discussion board segment of online classes. It's like, "C'MON PEOPLE, IS IT THAT HARD TO FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS PROPERLY IN A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME?" If I comment on your post to try to offer ideas for making your poem better, can't you do the same?

     Harry texted me a picture of the front page of the Daily Press, not exactly sure what he and Louise were doing that was newsworthy, but hey, they were on the front page! Above the fold right under the masthead! (BEST spot on the front page, which is the top dog in the hierarchy.) He was really excited, which is awesome. And understandable. That made a welcome pause from homework, which at that moment was stumbling through the swamp that is James Joyce's writing. (RADICAL stream-of-consciousness style, for the most part forgoing the comma entirely and randomly inserting free-verse poetry in unusual places.) Definitely going to have to go over this Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man again to hopefully figure out what on earth is happening in time for an essay next week on the three novels studied so far. Kate Chopin's The Awakening was just as intolerable the second time as it was the first.
      It's really kind of hard to draw a distinction between Joyce and my Media Law textbook sometimes. There's a test for that coming up sometime next week or two.

      Carrie Underwood is playing on my Spotify, the current song as of this paragraph is "Temporary Home". Played guitar some a couple times this week, so that's nice, I guess.  I'm singing along in my mind, playing air guitar since it's almost midnight. Still can't sleep very well, too much worrying and tension, I guess. I'm the kind of person who reads Strunk and White's "Elements of Style" when wide-awake up late. Also, I seem to require about twice as much clothing as most people in order to keep warm. There was a fire alarm the other night, which wasn't as bad as it could have been, at least it was fixed quickly, but those are NOT GOOD THINGS. And I got about four hours sleep last night for whatever reason, 2-6:30 a.m.
   
      Texted Ash, she's about as stressed about school as I am right now. Also texted Jon, he's doing well. This year's SGYC will be from July 20-24, and Brother Larry and Tim are both highly likely to be there. Everyone else, it's way too early to know for sure. If I remember right, Ryan Butler will be the camp pastor again this year? That'd be good.

      The DeSpains picked me up before church last Sunday, which was nice. The floor-replacement hit an expected snag, so it'll be concrete for probably a few more weeks at least.

     Tuesday's episode of Agent Carter was the best yet, with tons of quotes. "Stark's either an ignoramus or a genius....we have no idea what this stuff is." - SSR scientist. "Probably both." - Peggy.
     "Does anybody know what Krymenski's middle name was?" - Thompson.  " Wasn't it Walter?" - Sousa. "Right. Walter. Agent Ray Walter Krymenski. And do any of you know what the most important part of Agent Ray Walter Krymenski's name was?" Someone Else: "....Walter?" "No. 'Agent.'"
      "Are you acquainted with Id and the Ego, Miss Carter?" - Peggy's terrifying landlady Miriam Griffith. "Are they....children's characters?"

     Poked my nose into the RSU BCM building on Monday night; it was different, but it might be all right. Forced myself to be outgoing and meet several people; which was incredibly draining (and scary. I'm seriously an introvert. I hate having to meet new people.) They seemed about the right level of polite friendliness, using TJ's scale. Also went over there Wednesday afternoon because there's like a free-meal type thing, sorta like NSU's Velocity. And I needed to interview a classmate for a news story I was filming for a different class. So it was a killing-two-birds-with-one-stone type of thing. But it's really hard getting to know people. Deb's cancer appears to be stopped, so that's very good.

     It'll be an extremely homework-filled weekend, with (maybe?) time enough to spare to watch the Super Bowl, which is Patriots-Seahawks. I really don't care one way or the other, but because of Chris Pratt and Chris Evans's bet, Mom's pulling for New England. There won't be a blizzard this year; which is nice, I guess. That postponed our Muskogee SWAT show by about a month.
     I have Nutella, protein bars and pepperjack cheese in the fridge, so that's better food than peanut butter and stale Cinnamon Toast Crunch, as far as Super Bowl snacks go. I'm predicting Budweiser wins Wesley's Best Commercial Award for the sixth(?) year in a row, and the Animal Planet Puppy Bowl to be more entertaining and adorable than the real game.

     Missing Sunny. And Copper. And everybody else dog-and-cat-wise who're gone. And I need some Rags-cuddles.