I'm a little tired. It was a good concert though.

I woke up and went to racquetball. We met, the course was explained. Then John and I played a few games. It was like the old days. Also known as 2 weeks ago. We're pretty rusty though.

I went back, got changed, then went to my physics lab. I got to the building to learn that there are no labs until Monday. Oh well. It was a nice day.

A free day. In its entirety.

I sat around, biked around, downgraded my meal plan. I figure there's no point in paying all that extra for food that won't be eaten. It made sense to me. I have leftovers anyway.

During lunch, I read that Jolie Holland was in town and would have a concert tonight and tomorrow. I've heard and enjoyed her music before, so I was thinking about going. I decided that Patrick would probably be the best person to invite, as it's his kind of music.

When I got back to my room, I went to the Delta of Venus website to learn more, only to see the title: Sonny Smith (SF) + Jolie Holland plus Patrick Ferris. I literally did a double take. I then immediately jumped up and went to Patrick's room. I explained the situation, how I was going to invite him to a concert that he was apparently already attending. He then got a little defensive, explaining how he didn't want anyone he knows coming, as it's his first concert and wants to get the feel for things before inviting others. But as I was planning on going already, he gave me permission to attend. Sweet.

So I probably did some other stuff, but that's not important. Here's a ditty I wrote about the concert:

I saw Jolie Holland in concert tonight. It was very impressive.

A small cafe converted from a house. It was outdoors, nearly on the street. Cars and buses rushing by, bikers everywhere.

Opening for her was Patrick Ferris, a good friend of mine. After his impressive old blues set, Sonny Smith came on. I was deeply impressed by Sonny. His mild guitar set a wonderful stage for the stories he told. They way he performed was so casual, you weren't sure if he was still testing the mic or tuning. He would simply start talking, telling a story. But as he progressed, the tone of his voice told a melody as well. It was amazing.

Near the end of his set, he asked Jolie to come play with him, so she hummed some background violin to his last pieces. Magnificent.

Then came Jolie. Her soft voice and mild guitar put the audience in a beautiful daze. What got me the most was not the caress of her voice, but rather her amazing melodic whistle. If you have never heard this lady whistle, it is definitely something to check out. Throughout her performance, there was another man gently backing her on the mandolin. Simply gorgeous.

I'm hopefully going back tomorrow night to purchase some CDs. They were all very nice and glad to have people like their music.

One extra funny connection is that I heard about Jolie through Ben Popik of Olde English, the sketch comedy group I wanted to see in San Fransisco, so I forced Patrick to take me there. Now he's opening for the artist. Weird.

My head is full of smoke from the hippie cafe. I'm going to get ready for bed, then maybe catch Patrick's radio show as I'm falling asleep.

My whole day has kind of been a blur. But before I get into that, let me summarize the past week:



Good. Now that that's taken care of, let me tell you about my day and why it has been so blurry. I woke up, got some packages out in the mail, packed, breakfasted. Then the Brinkers came over to leave for Davis at 11.

By noon, we, Nick, and David were on the road. Nick had a broken leg, so he was forced to sit up in the front the whole time, pained with the ability to move and stretch his legs as well as have a headrest. David was having wisdom teeth problems, so he was on Vicadin and unconscious. And there was traffic. And I didn't eat the whole trip.

Finally in Davis, we dropped everyone off, I helped Nick take his stuff in. Fearing there wasn't a whole lot of time, plus the lack of a ride caused me to call up the Greenways and drive over there.

There, I ate some food with Daryl and woke up.

Meeting was small and short. There were 13 people there, 5 of which were little kids. My favorite quote from Amanda was, "Can we have meeting? There aren't enough people!"

So it was short and sweet. Afterwards, Daryl and I went to Rebecca's, I alerted her to the fact that the car was gone, but now once again here, then we went to my place. It was nice to be back.

Getting situated has been a chore. But it's fun and worth it. I love this place. I'm glad to be back.

Well, it's been a day.

I went to Jeannine's to see Laura. Got a scone.

Went downtown to get my pants tailored. It made me very bitter and tired of everything. Sort of ruined my day. Bah.

I can't say anything after thinking about that.

I kept on thinking today was Saturday. It was bothersome.

I woke up way too early. What... 8:30? Breakfast as Esau's, then home. And lounging, playing with the puppies.

I went to the lake to help get some guppies for my dad, but not too much luck. We bought an iron though.

Dinner was delicious. And I went to Borders after. It was a nice relaxing, confusing day.

This whole trip, although only slightly over a day, has been disgustingly introspective.

It's all just visiting old places again. I was greeted with a warm welcome at my old high school, but it was still weird. The times, they are a changin'. I don't know if this is good or bad.

The food here is good. Better. Excellent. Whatever.

I need to adjust my sleep schedule. And play with the puppies.

I'm in Santa Barbara right now. I've been in a car for way too long today. Then I went straight to meeting. I might not post for a while.

I am done. I feel so good.

I woke up with the intention of getting some studying in. Not only did I hit the snooze button, but I also set the alarm 40 minutes later too. I felt so naughty.

When I did manage to get up, not a whole lot of studying got done. Not a whole lot of anything did. It was very blah. The whole day has been. It's like a morgue on our floor. Everybody went home. And everybody that's left is drained from finals. It's pretty bad.

I ate, blah blah blah. Finally it was 4.

I didn't care. I just wanted to be done with everything. And soon I was. It wasn't terrible. There were things I definitely should have known, but oh well. Whatever.

I went back to my room, ate some dinner, played some trumpet. It's been extremely boring here. There are maybe a quarter of the people left, and most of them are in their rooms studying.

I visited the second floor, feeling very atrophic. Because of that, I went to the ARC to go climbing.

It was nice. I'm bringing my stuff to climb in Santa Barbara. It will be good.

Now I'm back, tired, and still feeling pretty blah. Whatever. I ought to pack.

I'm sick of the guilt I get from not studying when I know I should. Like right now.

I woke from uneasy dreams to the decision that I must get on with my life. I had my tea, did some stuff. I ate lunch, then went to Sproul to pick up my paper. Alas, there was a note on the door telling us that the papers would be available on Tuesday at 3. Great.

I went to the library to pick up the two books I needed, as well as to get some notebooks for next term. I found everything I needed, but for more details about why I was aggravated at the bookstore when I left, check this out.

I came back, played my trumpet, watched an awards show online. It was a very dull day, in my opinion.

Dinner was not that bad. It was actually really good. I got another textbook in the mail. It made me happy because it's a package.

I played the piano some more. I really need to get down there more often. I can't wait until next year when we have a full grand Steinway in our apartment (I can dream, can't I?).

I came back and did some more stuff. Come to think of it, I can't remember any details of my day at all. I ought to be sleeping right now, I guess. Okay, bye!

I went to bed too late last night. I need to sleep.

When I woke up, I hit the snooze button twice. Well, the second time was after I waited long enough for it to go off again. I then got ready for meeting.

I met the Greenways at 10. We went to the Johnsons.

We had a few guests. There was a family from Minnesota, I believe. I don't remember their name, but it started with a B. And her name was Denise. Apparently she's big amongst the friends for playing the piano. I've never heard her though. I expect she plays new age, like every other pianist popular amongst the friends.

Lunch with Mr. Walker. Grad. Free burger coupon was entitled to me. So I had a burger. It was delicious. There were plenty of games going on, so Riddy was happy too.

We then checked out our place next year. It looks like a pile of dirt. It's really close to school though. It's two blocks from the bike tunnel. I'll be biking to school often.

To Riddy's house. We played a game of ping pong and he played some gunbound.

Gospel Meeting. Kent's last meeting here, Dale, then Harold. Harold was really great. Very slow, even moreso than usual. Counting his words, mentioning his mother.

Went home with the Greenways. They were meeting up with their daughter in law, so they invited Darren, Maria, and myself to dinner. We toured around where Darren and Maria might move, then went ot a place called "Jack's Urban Eats." Very good, very much like Pluto's.

Now I'm back, as is Tony. We're both pretty cool.

Today has been a lazy day.

I was rudely awoken this morning to the sound of bickering females right outside my door. Then they knocked on it. Great. So I got up. It turns out they wanted to borrow a movie. Sure, fine, whatever. They still have yet to return it. Normally I don't care, but I'm still bitter about the sleep thing. You just don't wake someone up. They were talking and cackling very loudly.

Well, I got up, had my tea. Once I was ready for the day, I went to lunch with Doug. How nice. It was.

I basically sat around and did nothing the whole day. I read some more from my collection of Harry Harrison's short stories. That was nice. I like it when I can get some reading in.

Time passed quickly and slowly at the same time. I ate dinner.

I was playing the piano when the phone rang. It was Darren, asking if I wanted to go to the Andre Watts concert that we talked about a while ago. Since I did, I said yes, then went and bought my ticket online, trying to sit near them.

Well, they picked me up around 7:30, we got to the Mondavi Center. It's amazing. I really must go there more often. It turns out our tickets were in completely different sections, they being in the Orchestra Tier and me being in the Grand Tier. So we went our ways and arranged a meeting at intermission.

My seat was amazing. It was as close as you could be to the heart of the concert hall. I was on the first mezzanine, right in the center. I wasn't extremely far back from the stage, but I was front row. It turns out I was directly on top of the Greenways.

As far as the concert went, it was amazing. The first few songs were a little slow, but things picked up pace. I really enjoyed the Schubert pieces, but my favorite were the Ligeti pieces. It was amazing. He played 5 parts from this piece, each variations on a very simple idea. The first involved only octaves of one note, but was still very cool. I like him.

After that, I went home. Now I am here. And bored once again. But this time I'm bored with $23.50 less to my name.

It's 2:20 am. I must be crazy.

I woke up and took a final at 8 am. Then I went back to sleep.

I awoke again to the sound of my phone, Brandon on the other end. He was just letting me know that he was coming over for me to sign our lease. I was still waking up.

As I was down there, I decided to eat lunch. So I went to the DC. There, I saw a girl I met at the Domes with a bunch of other people, doing a study on Food Services on campus. So I helped them out a bit by giving them a student's view of the food. I talked with them for over an hour. I might join the class they're doing it for. Great... more units.

I pretty much did nothing. I sat in my chair, hammock, on the computer. I updated Rather Dashing. Then I went to dinner.

After dinner, I went to pick up a package I received, a textbook. I saw on the slip that it was from "Davis Textbooks." When I got the package, I read that it was located at 236 A Street, about a mile away from my place. Sure enough, it was a textbook I ordered. I paid $1.97 in shipping for something that would have taken minutes to walk. How crazy ridiculous.

I pretty much sat around. We watched a movie. Blah blah.

What? Jeff studying? Can such a thing happen? Well, maybe. If I don't spend too long writing this.

I woke up nicely around 11. Something made me get up, get on with my life. Around 11:30, I went to Hickey Gym to evaluate Coach Jones. As a result, I got a free Gradburger, a $7 value. Thank you Aggie Pack coupons.

Lunched it up, then went over to Thompson again. Again, it was just Negin and me. But it worked out nicely. I really wish I could have answered more questions. It seems that's how I learn best. But I'll just have to study on my own now.

When I was done of (with) that, I went back to my place and found my entire floor acting like zombies as the time to take the Chem final drew nearer. We started leaving on our bikes. It felt like there was slow evacuation, as it seemed the entire student population was flooding out to their respective places. It was a tremendous amount of people.

My lab section wasn't taking it too seriously. We were all laughing and yelling, while Slava's other secion was sitting quietly studying.

The exam was as expected. Whatever. I can't focus for 2 hours, let alone on Chemistry, so it was getting pretty brutal. I think at one point I threw my test up in the air. It was crazy. I know I got at least 6 points though. I was so happy. I made up equations, but they turned out to be right.

After that, there was a sigh of relief on everyone's part. My floor went out to the DC to celebrate. It was fun. It was the most people from our floor eating together ever. Good times.

I went rock climbing. I made a new route, entirely features. I'm excited to mark it. After break. It will be awesome.

Now back to studying. I think I'll shower first. Oh well. Things I need to know.

I had a wonderful sleep last night. I had a terrible sleep this morning though. I was tossing and turning around. Too hot, too cold. Then I realized I was sore all over.

When I got out of bed, I realized my hips were sore. It hurt to walk. It hurt to do everything. So I did nothing for several hours.

I did my laundry, cleaned my room, blah blah blah. People always say that they can tell it's finals week when they look at their room and realize how messy it's gotten. For me, it's just the opposite. I have so much time on my hands, I fill it with cleaning.

I went to Negin's to study, but that wasn't too successful. It turns out she's fasting, so couldn't concentrate on anything, as she hadn't eaten in about 12 hours. Not that great.

Brandon picked me up around 7:10. We discussed our living arrangements for next year. It actually looks great. We will be living in the DaVinci Court Apartments on Research Park Boulevard. Joe and AJ basically handpicked our apartment, getting a third story for the same price as the others. Apparantly third stories are the only ones with balconies. There is a pool and spa. Four bedrooms, Riddy and I will share the Master. It has a view of Putah Creek. Brand new too. They're currently being built. Also, the people building it are the same people renting it out, so if they're not done we go into a hotel, and that's definitely not in their interest. So it will be pretty cool. The downside is that there isn't a washer/dryer, so we'd have to go somewhere outside to do that. It will be great though. Brandon is excited because it's a flat, as opposed to his three story situation right now. Anyway.

Meeting was... quiet. It just felt that way to me. I was really tired. I nearly fell asleep at the piano afterwards.

When I got back to my place, I decided to work on my Chem lab, due at midnight. It was terrible. I finished half an hour early. I basically got enough wrong answers so it would tell me the right ones. I was really hurting for the answers. It was miserable. But now I'm done with Chem labs. I feel relieved.

I've been blahing around since then. I need to go to bed. Study session tomorrow, 12:30-3. Then Chem final at 4. I gave myself an hour to learn something that will make me fail less.

I'm a bit sore right now.

After not enough sleep, I got up and went to racquetball. Last day, John and I played and worked on technique. It was a slow day. Coach Jones brought the wrong evaluation forms, so we didn't fill them out. Have to go to her office.

Improv was in one of the big rooms. It was pretty nice, as the acoustics were pretty. We only worked on our transcriptions. It turns out my 1 am playing was good. A guy came in and evaluated Mike. Scary.

After that, I did some Chem work. That was sad. I basically did my entire lab online talking to the other partners.

I showered up and dressed in black. I went to the music building. This concert was a lot less formal than the last one, as we were in a music room, not on a stage. Scott, our instructor, wasn't even there. But we sounded awesome. We played one song and nailed it. It was beautiful.

After that, I rushed back and ate dinner. Mediterranean themed. It wasn't all that bad.

Chem lab. I don't think I did anything. There were four of us working in a group, so there wasn't a whole lot I could do. I tried to convince Slava (real name: Borislava) to let me take a roll of Parafilm. I tried hard, she wouldn't let me. Sad day. But I did make out with a 1 Litre bottle and washbottle, both made by Nalgene. No, not that kind of make out.

Racquetball with Brandon, AJ, and Joe. Joe and I partnered up, won both games, I believe. I was all over the floor. I think I dove more times than I ever had. I scraped up my hand pretty bad, as well as banged my hips. I now walk funny because they're sore.

After that, I went rock climbing. I saw Aaron again... it's been a while. But mainly I played add-on with some new people. It was pretty fun.

Eternal quiet hours have begun. But tomorrow is dead day, so I can sleep in.

For the record, it's 1:30 am. And I'm thinking about going to bed now.

I had a hard time getting up. Like usual.

Chem was review. Math was review. It seems like it's time for finals or something. This is peculiar.

After math, I went to the bookstore to pick up a new Micron pen and get the ISBN's for my textbooks for Spring quarter. I then went to Hurst's office hours to ask him some questions regarding the course now, next term, and the likes. On the way up, I learned that Sproul has a very odd elevator. There's some art thing going on, but the effect you're supposed to get is that the elevator is being repaired and they're unsure of what they're doing. Thanks, art department.

New Testament was sad. It was the last day of lecture, so everyone gave Hurst a round of applause. I can't recall the last time that's happened. He's a good professor. Fun fact: He wrote a book on Hebrews. Learned that today. I also learned that he's fluent in ancient Hebrew and Greek.

After that, I was planning on getting a study group together, but Negin was busy. So I pretended to do important stuff. I didn't really do anything.

At 10, Brandon, his roommates, and myself went and played racquetball. We played until 11:30. I was sweaty and such. It was fun.

Side note: Joe and AJ found a place for us to live next year. It's close to campus and still being built. We're going to have to check it out soon. That will be cool. They want a security deposit by Friday.

Now that I'm back here, I decided it would be wise to learn to play the two songs I have to perform tomorrow in Improv. So I've been sitting here at 1 in the morning, playing my trumpet. I'm sorry to all my neighbors. But I'm really tired and now going to bed.

I'm really tired. But before I rest, I shall tell you about my day.

I couldn't believe that I was awake at 9. It seemed unearthly. For the rest of the day, I couldn't believe I was still awake.

Brandon picked me up and we went to meeting. He was obviously very tired too. I think everyone in the world is. Meeting was very long.

After that, we went to the Greenways for lunch. It was delicious, especially for my newfound standards. I played the piano a lot.

We went to gospel meeting. I realized that our workers are supposed to be Dick and Harold, yet neither of them have been there for months. My pen was left partially uncapped and dried up. It made me sad. Must go get a new pen.

Brandon talked to his roommates and they seem to be happy about Riddy and I living with them next year. Now to find a place. We're hoping for a house, since we have 5 people. And if it's permitted, we might have a puppy to take care of too. Riddy's dog fertilized another, so they get the pick of the litter. And his parents think he might want it.

After meeting, we went to the Barry's for a double birthday party. Brandon and I were tuckered out though. We were falling asleep on the couch almost. We left at leaving time and came close to falling asleep on the ride home.

Now I'm here wanting to go to bed.

Well, it is early. But I guess this way I'll remember to write a synopsis of my day. I'm really tired anyway. I should get to bed early.

I woke up today around 10 to the beautiful sound of my alarm. I groaned and wondered why I set my alarm. It turns out it was Jonathan, wondering if Brandon or I had Jennifer's purse. Also if he should get tickets for the concert tomorrow night. In my drunken stupor, I told him that Brandon has the purse and just to go without me since there might be something else going on.

I crawled back in bed.

About half an hour later, Daryl called, inviting me to lunch tomorrow after meeting. Grumpy, I just decided to stay up and not bother going back to bed.

With Tony still asleep, I popped in a movie just to do something. I checked my mail, made my bed, blah blah blah.

I got ready for my day. I've decided that I need to put gel in my hair as long as it's this length to avoid looking like i'm in the military. It's not that big of a deal, but whatever.

Around the time I decided I was hungry, the DC closed. So I scrounged around for food. Not much here, but that's probably a good thing.

I decided I needed to get out and do something, so I hopped on my bike and started riding. I went across La Rue into the housing part of campus and discovered the Domes. Here I spent a good two hours.

The Domes are an experimental alternative living situation. They're huge igloo like domes, each housing two students. They basically live off of as little outside stuff as possible while still remaining human. They are very much hippies in that respect, but it's rather admirable. They have gardens everywhere, chickens, rabbits, and such. Nearly every night they eat together as a community family. They have a free bike shop where they teach you how to repair a bike. It's amazing. It took me a while to get used to the shock that people live there.

I would love to live there as a test to see if I could do it. If the whole Brandon-Riddy thing falls through, I'm definitely looking into that. I'm also definitely going to go back, get some help with my bike, help around the garden, have some dinner. I feel like a hippie.

After that, I went and ate dinner at the DC, then practiced my trumpet. I have to transcribe two solos and I was very embarrassed at how it was coming along. I shouldn't have put it off so.

Well, now I'm here. And I'm tired. I ought to get to bed.

Did I not write about my day yesterday? That was the first time I completely forgot. How odd. I was lying in bed, wondering if I did and my conclusion was no. So I forced myself to get out of bed and write. It's way too early for this.

Yesterday was an interesting day, that's for sure. I went to two extra lectures. After Chem, I went to Augustine's lecture because he was doing magic tricks. Actually, it was just a demo day. Which was pretty cool. He made glowing liquids, solutions that oscillate colors, a gun triggered by a taser, instant fire, a glowing pickle, enormous balls of fire, extremely flammable cotton, and sparking bubbles. It was pretty cool.

After that, I got a haircut. The top is still a little longer than I would like it, but for some reason he thought I asked to keep it long in front (for the record, I never did, and he thinks I say that every time). So he trimmed it down quite a bit. It's fine, but a little funny looking. I feel like I'm in the army every time I don't put gel in my hair. Whatever.

Eat. Math.

Sit around. New Testament.

Afterwards, I saw Zoe, Patrick's lady friend, and we started talking about stuff. It was a nice conversation that didn't need to end, so she told me to come to her next class. So surprisingly, I did.

It turns out to be an engineering class, and a very boring one at that. So I got my laptop and pretended to take notes. I took fake notes, commenting on whatever I felt like. Then Zoe told me to draw a picture and handed me a piece of paper and a pen. I opened up a paint program and drew her a picture on my computer. It was actually a pretty cool picture. It's of her professor with a voice bubble that says, "Noisy data, backwards difference." Then I traced it on the paper.

Trying to distract her, and very successfully, I started playing videos on my computer. Then I started playing games. It was a fun lecture because I didn't have to pay attention at all.

Afterwards, I took Zoe back to Tercero. More accurately, she took me back to Tercero. Or even more accurately, we both went to Tercero. Once we got to her door, I biked home.

Then I did some stuff and Brandon picked me up to go to Chris and Shawna's for the ping pong tournament.

It was pretty fun. Very crowded though, since there were two ping pong tables and a few dozen people. And not too much room for the piano. Too bad.

There was a lot of awkwardness at that get together. There really wasn't any place to relax.

One of the highlights of the night was seeing Dawna Frandsen again. She barely remembered me, but it was still fun. Lots of non-existant memories. I love fun people.

Anyway, Brandon and I nearly fell asleep on the way home. So I went to sleep several hours later.

I hate the feeling after you do a lot of crimpy holds on the wall and your fingers feel like they've swollen to twice their size.

My day has been pretty great. Not a whole lot going on, so that's probably why.

Chem discussion was small and quiet. Not much to say there.

Racquetball was pretty fun. John wasn't there, so Eric, Jaime and I played cutthroat. It started off that we weren't extremely warmed up, so we were making some stupid mistakes. But we kept on doing that throughout the game. It took the entire hour to finish. And the score was 15-13-12, Jaime-Me-Eric. It was an embarrassing game.

After that, I was pretty much done of existing, so I played the piano, rested, went on my computer. I actually did some reading too. That's how relaxing it was. It was really windy though too. Yes it was.

My day was pretty much that. I went to the library to drop off my books, ate lunch, ate dinner, sat around.

I went to the ARC for rock walling and stayed there for a few hours. I met some new people and some not so new people too. And now my fingers feel fat.

I am writing this from a new chair. It is one of those wicker basket cushion chairs. It is cool.

I woke up slowly. It took a while. I remember falling asleep standing on my desk, looking for my pillow. I'm not sure what was going on.

Chem was funnier than normal because I was sitting next to Claire, who, despite caring more about Chemistry than myself, cares much less about respect for the lecturer. So she would simply do anything to try and stay awake. It kept me amused by poking her.

After that, I relaxed and fooled around on the piano and such, ate lunch, played with the elevator. The elevator is now back in order, and despite being much nicer, is much slower. Odd. Go figure.

Math was scary. We were getting our tests back. Gulp. Grishin got there, but realized he left the tests in his office, so ran back and fetched them. After a dreaded lecture, I found out that I did not indeed fail as I expected, but received a D-. I love curves.

Trumpet ensemble was more blah than normal since I wasn't standing next to Nick. We worked on a theme from the Irish something somethings for our performance next week. If you happen to be in Davis at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, March 15, there will be a pretty cool concert in the music building. But only if you happen to be here. It's a chamber music concert, so I'll only be playing one song. And it's probably not even in a theatre, but in a classroom. But it's cool.

New Testament was good, but sad. I convinced Zoe to sit next to me and made her worried because she didn't remember the things she told me in Patrick's room when she was drunk. I felt empowered.

Due to time constraints, we skipped over II Corinthians and went straight to Romans. This makes me sad. We have two lectures left. I hope we can finish.

After that, I did a bunch of nonsense. I saw Chip and he gave me my name carved out of wood. It's a little business he has, but doesn't charge kids that live in the dorms, probably for legal and moral issues. Oh well. I'll see if I can strum up some business for him. Maybe I'll buy one for Ridders and Brandon.

After many attempts throughout the day, I finally managed to reach my mother to wish her a happy birthday. She is ancient years old.

Gloria came and gave me a present. It was exciting. Presents on March 9th are usually reserved for my mother, so I was pretty happy. She turns up at my door with a little box, cardboard lunchbox style. There was grocery bag wrapping it with straw confetti. It had my name on it. I felt special. Then I began to look at it.

The side of the box said "Petco." It also said "Live animals. Handle with care." About the time I read that, my head decided that there was something live inside. I peeked in and sure enough, there was a little white mouse with red eyes. What a gift.

Now, in the span of about three seconds, my little head processed the following:
-This is most definitely against housing policies.
-Where will I keep this mouse?
-I can't just throw it away, it's a gift.
-I can give it to the Johnsons. The like animals like that.

But as soon as I asked if it was really for me, she replied in the negative. It turns out that it was just food for one of her snakes. By the way, snakes are much more against Student Housing policies than mice. I thought that was even better. My present was death.

So I went to her room on the second floor to play with the snakes. I've decided that snakes are pretty cool. They're ridiculously strong. Man. Then I played around with the stuff in her room. It turns out I know her roommate from around. Whatever.

Meeting was bigger than normal, with the Gibsons from San Diego and Jeremy Gibson. Wow. I didn't put those two together until now.

The Flecks brought my chair. I sit in it now.

Brandon and I discussed living possibilities for next year. He's going to talk to Joe and AJ about it. I hope it turns out well.

As for now, I'm dying of tiredom. I go.

I needed a little extra sleep. So I hit the snooze button.

When I got to racquetball, Eric was just warming up, so I stretched and joined him. I need to practice some more.

We played Cutthroat when John got there for quite some time. The last game was amazingly fun. It was the most heckling game I've ever played. They were making fun of me because I'm young, I was making fun of them because they're old. I'm taking a class with married people. John's wife is pregnant even.

After that, I moseyed on back to my place. I played piano for a while, getting Tom Wait's Martha pretty down pat. Excited about that, I had to tell Patrick, who then insisted we go play/sing it. It didn't sound all that bad.

Then we ate lunch. It was nice eating with Patrick. He's an enjoyable friend.

After that, I decided to work on my Chem lab. Blah, that took a while. I didn't know how to do most of the stuff, and everybody who did was gone. Finally, after pretending to work, Doug came in and helped me very much.

I found him at the DC and we ate dinner, then I ran back up and finished my prelab for the next one.

At the Chem lab, it was very disgusting. It took all 3 hours, and most people didn't finish by the time we left. We had to do nine additions and one of our partners left. It wasn't bad though. It went by faster than most labs.

I got a call from Brandon whilst performing the lab, so afterwards I listened to the message. He, Joe, and AJ were playing racquetball. I go back, collect my stuff, then go to the ARC. I see them playing on court 8, stretch, and join them. AJ and I played three games of doubles against Joe and Brandon, beating them every time. It was getting competetive.

After that, I was going to go climb rocks, but I saw Elliot and Jacs playing games, waiting to leave. So I knew I couldn't make them stay the full time just because of me, so I said goodbye and parted.

When I got back to the dorms, I realized I left my ID card at the ARC, so I had to go all the way back there and pick it up.

Now I'm back, sweaty, and tired.

I really can't. They're numb from rock climbing.

Chem was blah. Everybody was falling asleep. Like me right now. It was beautiful though. I wore pants and a sweatshirt.

When I got back, the sweatshirt came off. I did my math, watched the new OE video, ate lunch. The sweatshirt came off.

Math was so boring, everybody started packing up and walkng out 10 minutes early. Grishin just assumed class was over, so he stopped lecturing. I don't think anybody really knew what time it was though.

I got back, did some reading. The shoes were replaced by flip flops. I really need a few extra pairs of Locals. We need to go to Hawaii to buy a couple 99 cent shoes.

I went to New Testament. Patrick's friend Zoe was sitting in the back, apparently as usual, so I told her to come sit next to me since the guy who usually does smells (true story). It was way too close for her though. Oh well, it was nice to be able to breathe. And it was nice not having someone staring at my laptop screen. That gets really annoying, Travis. Stop that.

Well, when I got back, I did some stuff. I read some more. I blah blah blahed. I ate dinner. Then I went to discussion.

It turns out that was the last discussion. We said our goodbyes and filled out our evaluations. Francisco said that if we were ever in Spain just to email him and he would show us around. I think I need to go to Spain now. He's a cool guy.

After I got back, I did some stuff. I practiced my trumpet in the stairwell. I changed from pants to shorts. Much nicer. I went to the ARC and climbed the wall. I talked to Jacs, Elliot, and Blake. I did some hard routes.

Now I'm back and really tired. I'm also contemplating doing my Chem lab, due tomorrow. Ah, it's due tomorrow night.

It wasn't bad. Started too early though.

And then I got up and ready, wearing wrinkle-free clothes. Breakfast'd and teethbrush'd. The Greenways picked me up.

Meeting at the Fleck's. I will say "the usual people were there" because I think they were. Pot luck afterwards. I played the piano a lot and sat with Riddy. I believe the theme of the pot luck was "Americanized Mexican Food," as there was taco salad and two types of enchiladas. Not bad, but not really authentic.

After that, Riddy, Miguel and I went back to their place to chill for an hour or so while Miguel cleaned his room. Riddy played Gunbound and I feigned interest. I can see how it gets addicting, but I would take preventative measures so I wouldn't succomb to that. But take something simple like minesweeper and I'm gone. Actually, my new craze is Klickety, a KDE game on Linux. So addicting.

Gospel Meeting was good, smaller than last time. Marion Pitcher, Kent Willisten, and Ed Alexander were there. It was nice to hear new voices in a dead place (get it[interrobang] It's a mortuary!).

Afterwards, Miguel put together a little dinner thing at Red Robin for all the kids, about 15 or so. It was hilariously fun. Chris and Shawna were the married ones, the chaperones. I sat between Kirstyn and Nate, across from Miranda, Russell, and his sister. It was fun.

After that, we went over to Darren's place for some rook/scrabble. We enjoyed playing with tea candles and melting wax to the table. It got pretty late, so everybody started leaving. Including us.

I'm now sleepy.

Oh, the Flecks are giving me a swivel wicker basket cushion chair. Riddy and Miguel thought it was disgusting, but I think it's wonderful. I'm excited.

Today hasn't been that bad. Mainly because I just found a dollar on the ground.

I woke up at noonish and baked some more muffins. I finished off the batter. It only made five, so I had two and gave Tony two. Jared asked for one, but being the inconceivable moocher he is, I denied his request and simply put up with his following me. But then I saw Jess in the hall talking to him, and she could barely speak so I gave her a muffin.

I did some other stuff, including trying to iron. I have a very stupid and useless iron.

I went rock climbing. It was such a beautiful day. After I got back, I saw Patrick, Adam, and Caitlin lying on the grass. It was nice and relaxing.

I eventually got around to eating dinner. It wasn't exceptional, but not bad either.

At 9, there was a Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory showing in Thompson, so I went there. There were a few people I knew, so I sat with them. I sat next to Carrie, whom I believe went to the same high school as my mother and another guy on my floor. Fun. I got a slap bracelet.

After that, I stayed around in the Thompson music room and played the piano until 12:30. I met some new people, made some new friends. It was good times.

I got back to Malcolm and found a dollar on the ground. On my floor was a bunch of people sitting in the hallways. It was fun. Now I'm sleepy.

Well, this isn't extremely bad, but probably the worst day I've been in Davis.

It started when I woke up at 7 to finish my paper. I finished it before Chem, so then I ate breakfast and got ready to go. Boys bathroom being cleaned, used the girls.

It was raining. There were probably 30-40 people in the class of several hundred. It was pathetic.

I got back to my room and decided I needed to study for Math. Math has always come easy to me, never being much I had to study for. But then I looked at the practice midterm and realized I knew nothing on it. So I crammed like crazy, but it was pointless. I figured that by going to class and doing all the homework (something not many people do), I would be fine. Not so.

I eventually went to take the exam. It was worse than expected. I did not have even the remotest confidence on any single problem. And it's not like they're multiple choice either. If you screw up, there's not even hope that probability will be in your favor. I basically conceded to the fact that I would be better off working on my paper (due an hour later) than trying to make up more work. So I left early.

Good thing, since once I got my paper formatted the way I wanted, I went to print at the LRC and learned that Word changes the formatting. All the punctuation was screwed up, and the paragraphing was done in such a way that my page count was down an entire page. Which made it well below the minimum. So I frantically tried to fix the widths and font point, but came out with an odd looking paper. I really need a working printer of my own.

I got to New Testament. It was one of the hardest classes to sit through. I was falling asleep, forcing myself to punch keys and take notes. It was miserable.

Back at the dorms, it turns out Patrick and Adam were going to dinner later with Andrew, Ryan, and Diana. So I tagged along with them at 8. We went to Dos Coyotes, a really good Mexican fast food type restaurant. Aziza and Michelle work there, so we saw them. That was cool.

Again, back at the dorms, we sat around talking, nearly falling asleep. Patrick had a ladyfriend over, Zoe, who turns out to be in my New Testament class. Seriously, everybody is in that class. Disgusting.

I got a call from Kara and Landry, saying that they saw a play at the Mondavi Center and wanted to know if I would like to join them for dessert or coffee. Sure, fine. So I took them to Ciocolat, a dessert place I know Brandon took Kara. It was delicious. I had a chocolate covered coconut truffle, wonderful. The company was great too.

Then I went and had a fun laugh in Patrick's room.

Now I'm here, dying of exhaustion. I might not wake up tomorrow.

My day has been centered around procrastination.

I woke up, hit the snooze button, climbed back into bed. Instance one of procrastination. It just gets worse.

I took my lazy time getting up, and as a result, was out the door much later than I should have. Halfway there, I realized I forgot my bag, so I turned around and got it. I realized on my way back to class that I forgot to bring my midterm, since we'd probably be going over it. I figured by the time I got there we'd be done, so I didn't get it.

It turns out the whole class was devoted to midterm questions. We were done early, but everybody just sat around, talking. It was weird. It was as if nobody wanted to leave. Finally, the next class needed the room, so I gave Slava the CDs I made for her and left for racquetball.

Racquetball was fun. Three games of doubles, John and I paired against Eric and Nathan/Jamie. John and I tend to get paired together. Doesn't bother me, he's a great guy. It's odd that he's 10 years older than me and going to the same school, but I don't think about that.

Got back, did my laundry. Three huge loads. I took a shower to wash some more. Because the loads were so large, They didn't dry completely and I didn't want to pay for another 45 minutes of the dryer, so I have random bits of clothing draped around the room.

Now, my purpose of the day was to write my paper and study for my math midterm. Midterm at 1, paper at 3. In the 14 hours since class ended, I have written 2 pages and printed out the practice midterm. I am pure inefficiency.

Pretty much the rest of my day was trying to convince myself that I need to work, then ending up not doing it. I'm a terrible person.

I might not sleep tonight.

So I should have gone to bed a long time ago. Same goes for starting my paper. But too late. I'll keep this short.

I got a message from Scott saying that he had an emergency and would not be able to make my lesson. Good thing, since I forgot about it completely.

Chem was blah. I sat next to Claire, who read the whole time.

I actually did some research for my paper, taking notes, marking pages. Too bad it's due tomorrow.

Lunch.

Math was small, as usual. Grishin was not helpful for the test.

Trumpet ensemble was boring for trumpet ensemble. Maybe I'm just really tired.

New Testament was good. Worked on Galatians and Thessalonians. Tidbit of the day: Paul never changed his name. His full name was Saul Paulus, Saul being his Jewish name and Paul being his Roman name. It makes sense that around the time of his conversion he used his Roman name as he started dealing solely with gentiles.

After that, I goofed off until Brandon picked me up for meeting.

It was Connor's birthday, but he was sick. So we had cupcakes and celebrated his birthday without him. Poor little fella.

I hung out with people on the floor, burned CDs for Slava. Now I bed myself.

I can't type. My hands are dead from climbing.

As I look back on my day, it has been terrible. But at the time, things weren't so bad.

Raquetball wasn't bad, but getting there was. I actually hit the snooze alarm, I was so out of it.

I played doubles with John and two other people not quite as good as us that rotated in. The stupid shots were getting to me though.

Improv was pretty good. I was actually feeling the music. It's getting there. I just need to keep on playing, and the only way to do that is to keep going to class. So I do.

I ate lunch and messed around until my Chem lab. Actually, I totally violated the UC Davis code of ethics by completely copying the answers from the post lab. And I don't care at all. Cheating was so much easier. And allowed by Slava. What a great TA she is.

Oh, I got the headphones I ordered, the same ones Jayna has. After wearing them for a while, I realized that my ears are not the same, as my right ear has a knobby bone thing that protrudes more and doesn't like being pushed for extended periods of time. Maybe it will get used to it, or maybe I'll be miserable.

Chem lab was great, and by great I mean awful. Our pH meter didn't work, so we spent half an hour trying to figure that out. Eventually, we just told Slava to let us "help" other groups, by copying their results. It was really boring. But we decided we should hook up some music to the speakers in the lab. Next week shouldn't be that bad.

After that, I went straight to the ARC. I should mention that this morning/afternoon was beautiful, me wearing shorts and a t-shirt. By the time I went to my lab, it was raining cold rain. Miserable.

The rock wall was very unforgiving. It ate my knuckles. If I can figure how to hook up this camera in Linux, I will post a picture of this disgust that was my hand. Chalky and bloody goodness. Elliot and Jacs were there, which made me happy. It's been a while since I've seen those two.

Now I'm here, pretty miserable. I'm going to clean up then bed myself.