The Holiday Season

I'm finally back, after an incredibly long hiatus. In these past few weeks, I have been insanely busy. I finished out the semester with a strong 3.4 GPA, which is my best ever, I might add =). I also finished the Christmas season with my sanity intact.

The worst part about the season is the shopping, by far. There is nothing worse than trying to shove your way through mobs of soccer moms trying to get their children the best of everything, only to wait in endless lines. And after repeating this over and over and over, it's time to attempt to leave. Instead of leaving, there are only long lines of traffic that go on for infinity.

But when all of that stupidity is over, it's time for the fun parts. I had more than my share of family, friends and booze this week. It gets frustrating to run from here to there to everywhere else, but I'm glad I have so many people in my life to spend the holidays with.

My holiday visiting fun began last Saturday, when I celebrated the holiday with all of my relatives from my dad's side of the family. I saw my cousin's new baby for the first time and remembered that I'm really not too fond of children, especially babies. However, I did get to see one of the few children I actually like -- my only other cousin under the age of ten . He's hillarious. The kid never stops, and he gives more hugs than anyone.

After that celebration, I went over to an aunt and uncle's house for some home-made egg nog and wine. As usual, it was a fun time. These relatives are always good for an interesting conversation.

Christmas Eve started with hectic packing after my best friend called and told me she was on her way up from Milwaukee, and that we should get together for lunch/coffee. I had a half-hour to gather all of my presents, clothes and supplies for the next few days.

I haven't seen this friend since my birthday, so it was quite the pleasant call. We met up at a local 24-hour breakfast place in Oshkosh and exchanged gifts. Part of my present was a hillarious reminder of my birthday-- a crisp, new, un-torn Milwaukee phonebook. How it remained untouched from my birthday is far beyond me. But we both had a great laugh.

Then it was off to burn a few hours before I would eventually end up the night at my parents'. I stopped by to visit assorted relatives in Oshkosh that I had yet to visit. I lost track of time visiting my Aunt Kathy and cousin Robin, and stayed there for much longer than I had intended. My parents called quite a few times telling me they wanted me over there ASAP, as my sisters were getting anxious to open presents and they wouldn't be allowed until I showed up.

As is tradition on Christmas Eve, my sisters and I exchanged our gifts with each other and opened one from our parents. I opened the one and only thing I wanted this year - season 9 of Seinfeld. I spent the rest of the night watching dvd's, drinking beer and wine, and engaging in general merriment with my immediate family. A few hours later, I fell asleep on Katelyn's bed while watching Full House and drinking too much wine.

Katelyn woke me up at 7:45 a.m. to open the rest of our gifts. My one large gift from my parents was to end Andrew's and my month-long dishes strike. They bought me a counter-top dishwasher. We won't have to eat off of paper plates any longer!

Then it was off to the in-laws for more eating, drinking and being merry. Luckily, my in-laws are all pretty cool, so it was a pleasant experience. I don't think I have ever had as much to drink without being drunk as I did those two days. I spent the night in Ripon with the in-laws and returned to work and business as usual this evening.

My holidays were far from unusual, but it was a good time. As much as I love all of themerriment, it is nice to be in my own apartment, by myself, with absolutely nothing to do.

The next week or so

I haven't had much time to update, so my apologies to the (maybe) three people that read this. It is the final two weeks of the semester, so I have been rediculously busy. My grades are awesome this semester, and I'd like to keep it that way. I'll write more once my last final has been finished and my last project turned in.

The Winter Storm Warning

Today marked the first big snow storm of the season. The entire state, and most of the surrounding states were under a winter storm warning all day. I was lucky enough to be required to drive through most of it. My job is such that requires me to drive for most of my shift. I must drive in rain or shine, snow or not snow. We only stop on majour holidays. It is kind of like being a post(wo)man, except we must drive on Sundays.


I also have the pleasure of driving the car pictured here, except mine is purple and therefore better. One can only imagine the adventure I had.

I could not stop for a second without nearly getting stuck. At every stop sign, red light and delivery, I had to shove my car back and forth before I would move again. It was a headache, literally and figuratively.

After my intital frustration, it became kind of fun to drive on the deserted roads. Rarely would there be another car in sight, so it didn't matter where I was on the road. I felt free to stop directly in the road, mostly because I did not want to get stuck in a stranger's driveway.

Still, the highlight of my night was when the snow began to taper off and the work of the plows started to truly show. This was also when people stopped wanting our products delivered to their homes, which meant that I could go home. It was wonderful.



It makes me sad to know that this is the first of many snow storms in the next 6 months. This IS Wisconsin, so that is not an exaggeration. I'm sure there have been many years where there has been snow on the ground on 1 May. I should be used to it by now. I have lived in Wisconsin all of my life, but still I cry a little on the first snow storm of every year.

There is no denying that it is officially winter. There is snow on the ground and it is December. I can't lie to myself anymore. The next few months will be rough. I hope this ends sooner than later.

Here's what the local newspaper had to report on this event:http://http://postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071201/APC0101/712010455

The Phonebooks

Over the weekend, I celebrated my 21st birthday. I spent the evening in the city with my best friend and a few of her friends. It was a great time. Instead of going from bar to bar, we spent our night at an Irish pub. There was even a band playing live music. As fun as that was, the real shenanigans didn't begin until after bar close.


As anyone who has been with Alicia and I after we have been drinking, we pretty much turn into Beavis and Butthead. It is always "dumbest idea wins", and it is always the best time. We were walking back to her apartment, and in the enterance, there was a pile of phonebooks. We decided that we needed to take them all. It took us at least three trips to haul them all up to the third floor. It didn't help that we had difficulties walking.


In the apartment, we listened to all of the songs we loved years ago, and talked about people we were friends with in those times. I, of course, needed to call and text these people and tell them that I missed them. We designated the song "How Soon is Now" by the Smiths, as the theme song for the evening. It had nothing to do with anything we did, but it is one of my favourite songs.


At some point in the evening, we decided that we needed confetti. So, we ripped pages from the phonebooks and threw them in the air. This is how things looked the next morning:

Why we decided this was a great idea, I do not know. But it was a great time. In most of the pictures taken that evening, we were on the floor. standing was far too great of a task for us. I realise that this is one of those instances where you had to be there to really appreciate the rediculinity of the night, but it was a wonderful time.

Surprisingly, the mess wasn't too terrible to clean up. It was clean before we all went out to brunch at Beans and Barley. Everyone else had breakfast, but I had a gigantic burrito. What I really craved was the food that would clog my arteries and give me a heart attack. We went to the wrong restaurant for that. The burrito was among the most unhealthy things on the menu. It was delicious.

Nothing Alicia and I do ever makes much sense, especially after drinks, but it is always the best time ever. I don't think I could have had a more fun birthday.

No more Black Fridays

I hate Black Friday. This year, I waited outside of Best Buy in the freezing cold for over ten hours with Andrew, Thompson and Thompson's little cousin. It may have been the dumbest thing that I have ever done.

There were laptops normally priced at $1100 for $400. Our computer is in the process of taking a gigantic shit, so Andrew and I were there for a new computer. Thompson's cousin wanted an X-Box, and Thompson didn't know what he wanted. None of us had any idea just how bad it would be to camp outside of a store overnight in the cold Wisconsin winter.

We got there at 6:30 p.m. There were already a bunch of people in front of us. We had to wait until 3 a.m. for the employees to hand out reservation tickets for certain limited sales, like our computers. That wait was one of the longest of my life. I used to think insanely long car rides, like the one to Kansas City, were bad, but at least a car is warm and I could sleep if I wanted to.

I tried to be prepared for the cold. I put on six shirts, a sweatshirt, two winter jackets, four pairs of pants, three pairs of socks, two pairs of gloves, a scarf and a hat. That wasn't good enough. I was still frozen after spending the night outside. We had thick, heavy blankets, but they were basically useless.

After seemingly endless waiting, 3 a.m. finally came. The laptop reservation tickets didn't even get anywhere near us. A bunch of fat, smelly, useless assholes at the front took them all, in addition to one of every other computer that was on reserve. Had they allowed more than one per person, I'll bet they would have taken them all. I can't imagine how much that much have cost, which raised the question of how they got the money to pay for it. These people didn't look rich by any means.

They ended up in front of us in the endless line in the store. I could hear them talking about how they got there at 10:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving day. Who does that? I thought getting there at 6:30 was really bad. There was another laptop on reservation that was almost as cool as the one that we originally wanted. We ended up getting those, so I have a new computer. Yay! That's my birthday and Christmas present to myself for this year.

The doors opened at 5. That was another terrible wait. As soon as the doors opened, it was actually as large of a mob scene that I had envisioned. There were no fights or stampedes. The line inside was also endless, but at least it was warm. We finally left the store at about 6 a.m. I was never so glad to be home and sleep in my soft bed under warm blankets.

Although I got something pretty cool, I don't think that I will ever do the Black Friday shopping thing again.

Kansas City and other nouns I dislike

So, the trip to Kansas City was quite uneventful. It was nice to not have to go to school and work and all that other fun stuff, but I wish the city would have been more exciting. The highlight of the trip was all of the food that I ate, but I could have done that here.

While Andrew and Amanda were at their concert, Thompson and I drove around for an hour or two looking for a mall, movie theatre, or something else to pass the time. Our search proved fruitless, so we went back to the hotel to watch crappy cable sitcoms and take naps. The pattern of looking for something, finding nothing and hanging out at the hotel pretty much described our time in KC.

Today was the day that A-town saw it's first snow. It wasn't much snow, but it was enough to make the roads slippery and me depressed. The only time snow is appropriate is for the few days surrounding Christmas. Other than that, I hate it.

It's official that winter is here. Yuck. The holidays are nice, but after January 2nd, it is time for the snow to melt and the temperatures to warm up. Sadly, this is Wisconsin, so there is no snow-free warm weather till about June. After I graduate, I'm moving somewhere warm. I don't care if I don't have a white Christmas. I can't deal with this winter business.

Portraits are not my strong point

This is another photo class picture I'm particularily proud of. We had to take a portrait of someone. The assignment was due the next day and I was getting quite desperate. I made Andrew play guitar while I took pictures. Sometimes desperation makes for great photos. I hate taking portraits. They always seem so posed and fake. I would much rather sneak up on someone and take a picture when they aren't paying attention. I ended up with a B for a grade, but I'm pretty sure that was because my photo-editing skills were lacking. This version is a re-edited one. I'm sure if I turned it in again, my grade would improve.

I love photography. I'm excited to see what photos my Kansas City trip will create.

No mas escuela!

I really should have been an English major. The subject comes so easily to me. I can get an A with minimal effort. Oh well. Instead, I chose the subjects that I thought I enjoyed: journalism and political science. I've grown to detest both of them now. Then again, everyone I've ever spoken to who has graduated from college says that there's something wrong if I don't hate my major by the time I'm a junior/senior.

I've also reached the conclusion that college is nothing but a 4+ year anxiety attack. I get panicked so easily when it comes to tests, papers, etc. I never used to be like that. As long as I got at least a B, I was fine. Now, I feel like I need to get that A, and if I don't, I might as well drop out of school, because I've basically failed. I have only a year and a half until I (hopefully!) graduate, and I'm really starting to panic. I feel as though my grades aren't good enough, and I'll never be able to bring them up, regardless of how hard I try.

There's also the question of what I'm going to do after I graduate. Honestly, I really don't know. I don't really want to work for a newspaper, there isn't much to do with political science, unless I go to grad school. The idea of the future scares the hell out of me. I like to joke that I will just continue to go to school for the rest of my life, just because I don't know what else to do.

I also think that I don't like writing as much as I thought that I did. I would much rather take pictures to tell the story of whatever I feel like saying or doing. When it comes to the things that happen in my life, it's easier to show someone than it is to tell.

Tomorrow I leave for Kansas City. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do there, but it will be nice to take a break from the insanity that is my life. I'm going with Andrew, his sister Amanda, and Thompson. The purpose of the trip is for a country music concert, but I'm not going to that. It should be interesting. I'll post photos when I get back.

Action, distraction

This semester, I'm taking a photo class. The class itself is a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I'm learning a lot. I feel my photography has improved immensely over the course of this class. I love knowing how to manipulate my camera to take really awesome and different pictures.

The assignment: Action and shutter speed.
What I had to do was use a slow shutter speed to show motion happening and a fast shutter speed to stop action. I thought the best place for this would be at a playground.

The slow shutter speed was really difficult. Thankfully my subject, my wonderful sister Katelyn, shares my love of photography so we could put our heads together and come up with something great. My original idea was to take a picture of her sliding down a slide. However, that didn't work out quite as great as it seemed in my head. After trying a few different things, she came up with the idea of doing something with her running. I made her run over that bridge about a thousand times. I think she was happy to be finished after that one.
This is what we came up with:


It also looked pretty neat in colour, but for the class, we're learning how to use edit in black and white, so this is what I turned in. The grade: A-

With the stop-motion photo, the concept was easy, but getting the right shot was hard. I made her jump off that swing 923843470329 times, and I think she was starting to get annoyed with me. I was also getting annoyed with the crowd of children that were gathered around asking, "What are you doing?" I really hate children.

I had to lie on the ground to get that shot. I really like this one, except for the lighting. It made my sister into a dark blob. But, that lighting is the sun, and there was nothing that I could do about it. Oh well. The grade: B+