Fatman
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2004 5 September :: 6.46pm
I got a new car...
Leather Interior...
And a spacious back seat.
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jburt1
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2004 5 September :: 1.26am
:: Music: Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News
I don't think tonight was the "real deal" as Megan said it'd be. But don't get me wrong, it was still a fun experience. It just didn't seem amazing like everything else in chicago is. I guess a lot of people went home for Labor Day weekend, so campus is kinda like a ghost town. Rather nice, actually. Most of us slept in pretty late from the night before. But it was definitely needed. Tonight we hoped on the el and went to the jazz festival in grant park. That was nice but not really my thing. As sara would say, I like "pizza hut jazz" instead of the real stuff that they played tonight. It was kinda cool though because Mr. Moody, this really famous jazz guy, was playing. We decided to leave that in search of food. That proved more difficult than expected. Problem: Find a place to eat that's 1) Not a fast food place 2) not expensive. Luckily, we found this really good place called Governor's Pub on State St. Plus, the played realllly good music. Sara wanted to go see Navy Pier after dinner, so we waited forever to catch a bus. That was an experience unto itself. It was my first time riding a public bus in the U.S. I was kind of disgusted. There were empty beer bottles, wrappers, pop cans, and...chicken bones!?! Ugh. I should probably go wash my hands a few times. Oh wait...I think i already did. Anyways, when we finally got the Navy Pier we found out it was closed, so instead we got off on Grand and hoped on the el back to campus. By that time it was almost midnight, so we called it night. Everyone was pretty exhausted. All-in-all, the night wasn't too exciting. Maybe I just had my hopes too high. I mean, this is chicago, you'd think there'd be something to do on a saturday that didn't involve 1) IDs 2) Underage Drinking 3) Tons of Money. Maybe I was wrong. For $5 I could've gone to a Rugby party and gotten wasted...well, before they ran out of beer, anyways. That's where my roomate headed because he has friends whose friends play on the rugby team? I dunno, something like that. Matt's not a "partier" but he'd pay $5 to watch people drink? I wanna watch SNL but we don't get any reception without cable. Plus, it's probably over due to the hour difference. I'm tired, but I don't like going to bed with this feeling of unaccomplishment. Tomorrow's not going to be fun at all because I plan on reading the Odyssey ALL DAY!
1 Word(s) |
give a word, take a word
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jburt1
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2004 4 September :: 3.59am
:: Music: guster
first real weekend on campus
Fridays feel good. I think three day weekends feel better. I guess tonight was the open of my first real college weekend. Last weekend didn't really count because not everyone was on campus yet. Now that school's in session, the weekends are going to be interesting. As to be expected, Loyola has a party life. North Shore and Albion are where it's at. Earlier in the evening, though, a bunch of us (Kyle, Tex, Megan, Laura) went to Sara and Theresa's dorm, where they fixed us awesome lasagna and pizza bread from their very own stove - it was full on homegoodness. Around 9:00ish, we headed out because the band we saw last weekend at Zips was playing at this this coffee house called Chase Cafe. Theresa and Sara split off to find some party with Tex and Kyle. The rest of us waited for my roomate, Matt, and these two other girls in front of CFU before heading to the show. We hoped on the "el" and got there just before 10:00. A little late. The room they were playing in was packed, so we just hung around outside the doors listening. Plus, Megan got to talk the bouncer who knows the band. Afterwards, we headed back to campus via foot. It was funny because some black guys in a car shouted out to my roomate: "two girls - that's what I'm talking about." Then they saw me and said "Three girls!? Man, that's even better!" Haha. Chicago is definitely not like muskegon. When we got back to campus, Matt and the girls went back to Mertz to chill in someone's room. Sara headed back from the frat party she was at. She's not a partier, but she went to accompany Theresa. She said that the party was hot and packed and lame...but I dunno. I'm not really into that stuff, but I think it'd be interesting just to go to one some day, to see what it's like. Anyways, Sara, Megan, Laura, and some other girl headed back to my dorm where we watched an intellectual comedy called A Mighty Wind. It had it's funny moments, but overall, something you have to think to hard about. Still, it was fun. Ten minutes into the movie, these guys knocked on my door. They asked if they could hang out with us, so I let them in. Despite the fact that they smelled like alcohol, they openly admitted that they were drunk. It made for an amusing show. I guess they're both on the rugby team and the other rugby players "forced" to drink a bunch of some hard liquor. They didn't stay for long, which I guess is good because as funny as they were to watch, it was kind of awkward. After the movie, I walked Megan home. On my way back, I bumped into Ryan and this chic named Kim. I guess she was at one of the parties tonight with some other girl. Both of them got drunk AND took a few hits of vicadin. Not good. Kim didn't seem that bad, but I guess the other girl was really fucked up. Ryan handled the situation pretty well though. He was coming back from taking the other girl to her dorm, and I helped him take kim to hers. I feel kind of bad because him and bunch of the other kids in my dorm are watching aladin. I want to get to know them, and I don't want them to think that I'm blowing them off, but Im too tired to go out there and watch anything right now. Maybe another tonight. Probably not tomorrow night because tomorrow night is the "real deal" as megan would say. Tonight was just practice. I guess we might check out the jazz festival and see what else is going on. Well, I'm spent.
give a word, take a word
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jburt1
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2004 2 September :: 11.39pm
The worst part about chicago is that my hands always feel dirty. But aside from that, it's all good. Italian is still WAY over my head. It's a class that I'll definitely have to work at, maybe even *gulp* get a tutor! I still have a lot to do from honors, but I'm hoping I can catch up this weekend, maybe even start the next session's readings. For now, I have to go read until I fall asleep. Tonight I went to the Student Environmental Alliance. The people there aren't all tree-huggers or anything, but it's not something that I'm hardcore about. I mean, I'd like to do projects and promote awareness about taking care of the earth, but I don't want to go to meetings every week. I just want to volunteer my time every couple weekends. We'll see how the year goes. At least my roomate's doing it too, so that makes it something of a "bonding" experience. It's not awkward living with him anymore because I think we're both starting to open up a little more, but there's still a ton more we could get to know about each other. In other matters, I applied for a job as a student ambassador. As such, I'd give tours of the campus to prospective students. That job would be so awesome. I hope I get it. It wouldn't quite be enough hours, that's why I'm also hoping to get this part-time job in evanston selling tickets at a theater company. I went to the campus job fair today and found out that best buy hires based on "personality" and not experience. Hmm..okay. So I guess it's supposed to be very easy to get a job there? ha - I'll believe it when I get one. Maybe I'll apply just for the heck of it. What could it hurt? Well, off to read...
give a word, take a word
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jburt1
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2004 2 September :: 11.20am
After a week at college
Things don't seem AS overwhelming after the second or so class. After my first day of honors and my first day of Italian, I was feeling a little scared. I'm still going to have to work my ass off to pass honors, but at least I have a little more feel for how the class is run. Italian - well, I have my second class of that today. If it doesn't go as well as I hope, perhaps I'll talk to the teacher about my audiovisual learning capabilities. Anyways, yesterday wasn't bad. I felt a little out of it at my honors discussion just because there are some really smart, really detail-oriented people who bring up points like their "theories" of why something is the way it is. Okay! But after all of that, I headed over to the Organization Fair. I can't even remember everything I signed up for. Some of them included Ultimate Frisbe club, Thai Club, italian Club, radio, newspaper, Resident Hall Government, Theater Department, Irish Club, and some environmental action group. Okay, I just realized that sounds like a lot - but I'm not actually doing all of that. Those are just some of the clubs I singed up for to get more information. Out of those, I think I might end up joing RHG, newspaper or radio, and the environmental group. As for sports, I think intramurals will be better than club just because there's no scheduled practices or meetings you have to go to. I also looked up information on jobs yesterday. I'm filling out an application to get a job through the admissions department where I would give tours of the campus. That would be sweet! I'm also going to call some theater in Evanston because they need someone to work the box office a few nights a week starting in novemeber. I can't really find a "real" job because everything that's gives 20 hours a week and pays well is during the day, when I have classes. Hmm. I have to read the Odyssey by Wednesday, so here's my game plan: read as much as I can whenever I can, saturday go to a public library and see about getting it on cassette tape. Oh yeah - I saw Dean Howard speak last night at my college. Interesting...
give a word, take a word
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jburt1
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2004 31 August :: 8.45pm
So this is what college is like? Man, someone get me a brown paper bag before I hyperventalate. Monday I had Pre-Calc at 9:30, followed by the honors lecture and discussion until 2:30. I think precalc is going to be very easy for me, but I just need a little bit of time to get reacquainted with math. Honors is "not impossible, but very hard." We have to read half of the Odyssey by tomorrow morning. It's been a struggle for all the honors kids I've talked with so far. Looks like I'll be spending the night in my room reading. My roomate and his friend were kind of enough to go back to her place so I can study. Today I had the rest of my classes: Italian 101, Writting II, and Freshmen Seminar. Italian might just be the end of me. At 11:30 the teacher just walks into the classroom and starts giving orders...in ITALIAN! I'm not used to this! I thought this was Italian 101, you know!? Plus, I think I'm a visual learner, so I need to see something before I can understand it. Just today we leared how to say "my name is," "what is your name," "where do you live," "I live in...," as well as female and male pronouns. At least Sara's in my class, so she can help me to tough it out. Writing shouldn't be too bad. It's our teacher's first year at loyola, and he seems to be really laid back. I guess the class is going to be centered around reading short essays and writing a few, short opinion/argument papers. Not toooo bad...until you factor in all the reading I'll be doing for honors. Then, freshmen seminar is kind of a joke. So far at least. I guess our seminar leader has some structure to the class, but mostly we just show up for 50 minutes and get an A. No out of class homework, which is good. Well, I have to continue my studious behavior. If I start falling asleep I might head over to the gym for a little work out.
give a word, take a word
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jburt1
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2004 30 August :: 12.58am
Today was a relatively laid back day. Even though I went to bed at 3:00ish, I woke up really early and found it hard to fall back asleep. Instead, I woke up and made a few phone calls, taking advantage of those free weekend minutes. I went to lunch around 11:00, where I met up with my roomate and his friend Kim, a theater major. She seemed pretty cool. At 2:00 we had our "floor meeting." Pretty much it was just to explain all the rather obvious rules and to make a list of what are living agreements are. Overall, it was boring. Later on, Theresa answered Sara's phone. We were both bored, so she decided to stop by with a friend named Allison. Allison was pretty nice too. She's from Georgia, so her accent is pretty nice. When sara woke up from her nap, she called me, and since we can only check in two guests at a time, matt went downstairs with me to check her in. He was also expecitng Kim to come over for a bit, so when Megan called wanting to chill, I had to ask my suitemate, John, if he could help us out. All-in-all, we had seven people in our room, and I guess the most we are allowed is six. Such rebels we are. Not too long after it was 5:30 and all of us that hung out the night before were supposed to eat dinner together. However, Tex and Kyle never showed, but about 8 other people must've been there because of people bringing other people. The more the merrier, right? That evening was pretty laid back as well. I did some laundry today. It's $1.75 to wash and dry a load of wash - but it's a big load. I ended up calling Ashley from Kzoo to see if she wanted to find out where all her classes were. Keith ended up coming too, and even though half the buldings were locked, at least we have a good idea where the classes are at. I find that Ashley and I are both equally worried about honors and maintaing our GPA because we need the scholarships to go here. A little later, I called emily. I was downstairs when John, my suitmate, and Danny (on my floor) asked me if I wanted to go on a walk with them. So we took a little stroll around campus, identifying which buildings were which and swinging by the lake. I really like Loyola's campus. It's the perfect mix of urban and serene lakefront. When that was done, I headed over to Sara's and we hung out before mass. yes, I went to mass. Loyola has this 10:00pm student-led mass every sunday. It was packed, but to be honest, it wasn't as exciting as I was hoping. I think they could learn a lesson from Fremont's Lifenet(?). But anyways, I signed up to be an eucharistic minister and to sing in the choir...possibily. I figure if I'm going to go anyways, why not be involved? I really like the fact that they leave religion an open option for everyone. For a moment, it seemed like emily thought they might've forced us to go to church. No way. It's not like that at all. In fact, we had an athiest speak at our convocation! Besides, a lot of the students who are catholic aren't even true practicing catholics. I just thought I'd update before I become swarmped with stress. Tomorrow is the first day and I have my "easy" classes (sarcasm, folks): Pre-Calc and Honors. At least I don't have to be there until 9:20.
1 Word(s) |
give a word, take a word
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Fatman
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2004 29 August :: 10.19pm
give a word, take a word
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Fatman
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2004 29 August :: 9.31pm
I been done commanded! Eek! I start school tomorrow, and I should start working sometime after that. Yay! I might be getting a new car, as well. Other than that, not much is happening.
1 Word(s) |
give a word, take a word
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jburt1
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2004 29 August :: 3.17am
:: Mood: drunk
:: Music: something ordinary "more than alive"
high on life
When I think back on it, I don't know how in the world tonight came together. It was the craziest night so far. I guess it started with Megan's idea to go down to Grant Park (by the Loop) and listen to some free music at the Latin Music Festival. After going with Theresa and Sara to to the bookstore (by the way, my math book for precalc cost $150!) I went back to my dorm to take a nap. Kenesha woke me up by the way! haha. Anyways, I was bored and didn't know what to do so I decided to head over to CFU and see if anything was going, possibily paruse all the free literature. You know, the stop light at Sheridan and Winthrop is the perfect spot to meet people. I just started talking to this kid named Keith. He's on my floor in room 232. He was in the same boat with being bored and heading over to CFU. No one was there, so we headed back to Simpson because before we left, I saw some kids hanging out in the lounge. It was a whole bunch of random kids from all over campus, eating lunch in our lounge. It was fun to hang out with them, but nothing too exciting. Then, Sara called me wanting to come socialize in our lounge, so Keith and I checked her, theresa, and megan into our dorm (You can only check in two people at a time). We told everyone about the latin festival, and keith, his roomate ryan, me, and the three girls headed to dinner. I don't know what it is, but we all just clicked. I mean, I could see people opening up from their normally reserved selves right in front of my eyes. By the time we were done with dinner it was time to head downtown. By that time, we picked up a LOT more people and got on the el. It was about 40 mins to the loop. Fortuneately, ryan knows his way all around chicago, so he got us there. I got to see Milenium Park for the first time. Man is that sweet! One of the attractions is this giant tv screen with a persons face, and actual water is protruding from their lips. Really cool. We also wandered over to Buckingham Fountain. Pretty nice all lit up at night. Finally, the festival. Speak about culture! All of us learned to salsa dance fairly well, and then we saw a bunch more people from Loyola. When we finally let, we were fortunate enough to catch the BEST TRAIN EVER! There were a bunch of theater-type students from Rosevelt University singing...and they asked us for requests. I said "Where is the Love" by Black Eyed Peas just because that sounds awesome harmonized, but they didn't know that one!? Instead, they sang "Seasons of Love" from Rent, and those of us that knew it joined in. For a good 20-30 minutes all we did was sing. It was the best ride ever. When we got back to campus, we checked out this "Carnival," which had stuff like bungee racing, pictures on this giant red chair, frisbee tye-dying, and that jousting type game. There was a band playing, and they were good, but not as good as SOMETHING ORDINARY! We left to get pizza at Zips (bottom floor of the student union) and they were playing. They rock! And some of us are going to watch them before next friday for only $3. Plus, I got a free CD! Finally, some cool local music...YES! Also at Zips, I bumped into this girl Kelly who's majoring in theater. She noticed my shirt and said that she was in anything goes. She told me I should go to Mundelein and sign up for auditions, but I think I'll wait until winter semester if I do theater at all. But after zips, the gang went to halas field and played ultimate frisbee. My team lost significantly (2 to 10), but it was a great, sweaty time. By the end, my team was getting really good. Around 1:40am we called it quits and went back to our dorms. I feel kinda bad because I may have woke up my roomate when I walked in. Plus, it's really strange because I keep on getting him confused for this other guy on my floor. I hate to sound like I'm in a clique. Hopefully, we're just a bunch of friends. It's unusal how well we all bonded tonight, but here's everyone in the "gang":
1) Theresa - the hot, popular girl
2) Sara - the smart rock chick
3) Ahpo - the thai buddhist
4) Megan - the hyperactive, yet nicest person ever...we nicknamed her "yearbook"
5) Laura - the fun-loving girl? Don't know her too well yet.
6) Keith - the tall, goofy kid, but really nice
7) Mike - aka Tex, the southern charmer
8) Kyle - the american idol look-alike.
9) Ryan - the kid who knows chicago and is open to new experiences.
10) Me - the one who can't stop laughing because this is the best group ever.
We've already got plans for all of us to meet up for dinner tomorrow. I guess we'll see where the year goes, but tonight may have been the single best night of my life ever.
1 Word(s) |
give a word, take a word
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jburt1
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2004 28 August :: 4.16pm
:: Music: autopilot off "I know you're waiting"
second impressions of roomate
Before I go and find stuff to do, I thought that I'd spend a little time discussing my roomate while he's away. It's strange because we both seem so similar, yet there are plenty of those semi-akward, quiet moments when both of us turn our attention to our computer screens. I actually got to talk to him last night and this morning for a little bit, so I've been able to compare the ways in which we're similar. For example, we both:
1) went to catholic high schools (he, of course, going to an all guys jesuit school).
2) Aren't really "partiers"
3) Pretty much use the same hygene products (okay, not that exciting, but we both have electric razors).
4) Pretty much have the same indecisive views of politics.
5) Played midfield on soccer.
6) Have a lot of friends that are girls (at least that I can decipher from his pictures on the wall).
7) Have verizon phones - although he's not currently "in."
8) Brought amost identical comforters.
9) Come from families of four - pretty much same background.
There's probably more, but that's all that I've been able to decipher from what little conversations we've had. Maybe we're just two non-original midwestern guys. Or maybe it's something in the water since we were both born in Ohio (at least I presume he was born there). Overall, we seem to share the same philosophy of life - at least I think so. I'd really like to get to know him personally. Not just the trivial facts but who he is, you know? Maybe I just came here with the wrong mind-set that my roomate and I would be best friends? But then again, I look at Sara and Theresa; they're in no ways best friends, but they hang out a lot and can make each other laugh. I guess we'll see what the year ahead brings. I met a few more people today. There was this one girl that I've noticed for a few days now. She was at breakfast, so on my way getting juice I said "cool t-shirt" and we just started talking. I think her name is..Amy? She lives on the 2nd floor of simpson and is in the honors program. She's a criminal justice major and just a little worried about honors, which seems to be the major concensous. Did I spell that right? Hmm..anyways, I'm going to go around find something to do, maybe meet some new people. I might give Sara a call and see what she's up to. Or maybe Ashley, the girl from Kzoo? Tonight I'm supposed to go to a latin music festival. That should be an experience. later.
give a word, take a word
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jburt1
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2004 28 August :: 2.00am
:: Music: kansas "carry on my wayword son"
Another Interesting Day
With such long, jam-packed days, it's hard to recall everything that I did. I know that I woke up at 9:00, tired as hell. (Last night I couldn't sleep.) So today I got my vaccination. That was nothing. I didn't even need a band aid. Breakfast was closed at 10:30, so I had a poptart in my room while giving theresa and sara a tour. Then we got on the el and headed downtown so that theresa could buy her books. It takes 35 minutes to get to the Water Tower Campus from here, but hopefully I'll be living down there by my junior year. Anyways, we headed back and went to lunch. (Sorry if I'm posting meaningless details, but I'm trying to recall my day). So...oh yeah. Everyone had floor meetings at 2:30. I finally got to see who all the guys on my floor were. I probably know eight of the guys so far. My RA's name is Travis and as an ice breaker he made us draw a card and answer a correspding question. Our Convocation was at 4:00. It was kinda like church; ritualistic. And our Alma Matter sucks. Maybe I'll post it later. The only decent part about it was that Barbara Ehrenreich gave a speech, and she talked about the book that we were given at orientation. I have to say her speech was much better than the book itself. Except the fact that she's excessively liberal and used the podium as her platform. After that was "Taste of Loyola." Basically, it was free food. With 2,000 kids in my class, it was kinda packed. I met a few new people, but not very well. Megan, another girl from orientation was there. She's a little hyperactive, but still fun to hang out with. We might go jogging sometime. Later on, we all went back to sara's dorm. Sara and Megan left, so I was stuck there with Theresa and some other sarah. We eneded up going up to the 2nd floor where was this "social gathering." From the looks of it, a bunch of horny guys and bunch of horny girls. Fortunately, sara called me when she got back to her room, so I met up with them. We walked around campus before going to Comedy Sports. That was the best thing ever! Pretty much, it was exactly like Who's Line is It Anyway with Drew Carrey but really fun to be involved with. When that was done, we headed over to CFU to listen to John Adam's 4, some band. They were alright. We met two girls. One of them, Melissa, is in Honors and lives in my dorm on the same floor. I also re-met Ashley from Kzoo. She's in simpson also, but on the top floor. Well, tomorrow should be another fun, yet busy, day. Out.
give a word, take a word
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jburt1
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2004 27 August :: 2.19am
My brain is trying to absorb so much in one day, that I can hardly remember what I did tonight. First of all, Sara, her roomate Theresa, and I headed over to "The Metropolis." It's this really cool, urban-trendy cafe. We were told that thursdays were live music nights, but appearently not because tonight was open mic night. Some "host" was up there telling jokes, but we were only half-listening at the time. Then "RKB" took the stage as host for the night. He introduced such fantastic acts as the 60 year-old hippie pretending to play guitar and sing. If anyone's ever been to Village Inn, it's almost like that one old lady that sings all those country songs. Next was this angry chic who did this great (no sarcasim this time) skit about someone stealing her bike and how she wants to make them pay. Then there was a female poet followed by another poet/rapper. By that time, we decided to leave for another adventures. We went to Halas sports center and played ping pong with some indian guys. Surprisingly, I was the best one at ping pong. Yeah, nick and melissa and lowell will have a hard time believing that one. By that time, theresa's guy friends from UIC arrived. Not much happened until after they left and we went to the sports field to play volleyball without a net. There were a lot of people there actually. And one of them MAY have been my roomate. Okay, that kind of scares me that I don't know if it's him or not but I only saw my roomate for 5 minutes today and I didn't even get to really talk with him. Plus, it's already 1:30 here...so I'm taking it he's not sleeping here tonight. I want to get to know this kid! Today was a reality check for me: I'm living with someone I don't even know. But anyways, at midnight they were supposed to have free pizza at Zippoli's; that's like the on-campus hang-out/rec room. It turns out the pizza was all gone by 11:59, so four guys from Mertz, Sara, Theresa, and I headed over to Dunk'n Doughnuts to get some food. When I got back to my dorm around 1:00ish half my floor was in "Da Lounge" as it's called. I guess they were all getting to know each other. Well! That's the first time I've seen the people on my floor! (With the exception of my suitmates, of course). I stopped in there for a bit while my RA (I don't know, but I think his name is Travis? or Trevor? hmm.) asked me some questions about where I was from, what I was majoring, etc. Now I'm here. In my dorm. Alone. That has been one long-ass day, and I am tired! Tomorrow I get my menigitius (sp?) shot at 9:45. So I'm out...
give a word, take a word
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jburt1
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2004 26 August :: 6.51pm
a little midday update
Let's see...this morning I bought my books. A whole $413, and I don't even have my math book or one of the honors books that's not in. By the way, I needed THIRTEEN books for honors! What's up with that? Among the selections are "The Odyssey," which we read sections of freshmen year, "Confessions" by St. Augustine, which we learned about in brooks' religion class, and, most interesting "Aristotle's On The Soul." Afterwards, I met Sara from PA for lunch and to take the Rogers Park tour. Appearently that's the neighborhood I'm in. When we got back from that I headed over to see about appealing my math placement. Afterall, I was one point away from getting into pre-calc, and I didn't even get to the whole last section. I guess if my appeal is approved, I have to take the math 117 final and pass with a 75% or better. But I can only take it once. I could just take the class for an easy A. Afterall, I'll only take 3 semesters of math - assuming I don't fail any. When I got back from that, guess who was here? My roomate! He seems like a nice guy, but that was just a bit strange. His parents were here and everything. They seemed pretty nice, but they mentioned something about him possibly staying the night with them? In a hotel? I'd kinda like to meet the kid. I mean, just two weeks ago I realized that I didn't even really know much about him. Now I'm supposed to live with him? I think it will be strange until we can find out more about each other. But I also met one of our suitemates today, John. He's in the honors program too, so hopefully we can help each other with the mounds of homework I'm expecting from the looks of these books. At one point in the day, I headed over to centennial forum to see if there was anyone there I could meet. On the way, I started talking to this kid Mike, who lives a few doors down from me. He's an alright guy, but he just seems very cynical for some reason. Also, his friends aren't exactly the kind of people I'd like to hang out with. They remind me too much of the guys back in high school. Before we met them, we wandered around Halas Sports Center, eventually meeting a bunch of girls there for some Intro to Ballet workshop. One of the girls, Sarah, was from kalamazoo. It was crazy. She knows all the kids that I went to elementary school with. I'm pretty hungary so I'm going to go downstairs and grab a bite to eat. I might call sara and see if she wants to go too. I'll post later, but I might go to some local shop where a band is playing tonight.
give a word, take a word
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jburt1
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2004 26 August :: 8.44am
wow! I'm really excited now! Last night, I couldn't get online because I didn't have an ethernet cord, and now for some reason, my computer found a wireless network to connect to! I love technology! Last night I was really excited about my first day here, so this is what I wrote:
Yes, my eyes are bloodshot, but no, I am not stoned. I did get invited to a kegger though, haha! Overall, my first day on campus was nice. A little solitary, but nonetheless NICE! My roomate moves in tomorrow, so I spent about two hours alone in my room unpacking all my shit. Correction: Almost two hours alone. For 20 minutes the locksmith came in to fix my lock. You see, for the first hour or so, I couldn’t even get INTO my room because the lock was jacked up. Finally, when my parents left, it just opened!?! But the locksmith did make it much smoother to lock and unlock. As for the family, it wasn’t an emotional moment. For me anyways. My sister’s the only one who got teary-eyed. My mom gave me a hug. My dad shook my hand and told me “good luck.” If and when I have kids, I hope I’m more of a father than he was. But I’m going to worry about that…because I’m at college…in CHICAGO! So far, at least, I am thoroughly glad in my decision to attend Loyola. Simpson Hall, my dorm, is a pretty sweet one. Home is now a “big-ass” room, or so the desk person tells me, complete with Ethernet (not wireless, but better than dial up!) I share a bathroom with four other guys. Not too bad, but I was expecting to share it with only two. What sucks, though, is there’s no room in the bathroom to put all our necessities. I plan on buying some kind of under-the-sink shelving if I can...maybe get the other guys to chip in too. For the meanwhile, I have to haul my stuff from dorm to bathroom, a long eight or so feet! It’s so weird. I don’t feel any different. I don’t necessarily feel like I’m in Chicago. I guess that’s what’s nice about campus. You choose to or choose not to be a part of the larger city. Am I’m going to stay sheltered on campus? Hell no! I love this new experience. Tonight I was in the dining hall (by the way, dinner costs a whopping $7.25!) and I heard the kitchen staff speaking Spanish or Italian or something definitely NOT English! Speaking of dinner, it was rather solitary. There’s a cafeteria in my dorm, but around 6:15 it was pretty much deserted. Yeah, there were a few people, but no one I could sit with and strike up a conversation, which I was hoping to do. Nonetheless, it didn’t bother me sitting alone eating my pizza and salad. In fact, I felt quite content. After dinner, however, I had to find something to do. I was going to wander over to the library and maybe go online, maybe see if some other new kids were there, but before I could get there I bumped into Sara. That was another pleasant surprise. At first I just passed her and smiled, thinking that she looked familiar. Two seconds later I turned around and said “Hey, weren’t you at orientation with me? Don’t you live in Pennsylvania? “ In fact, it was her! I hate to be this clingy, insecure kid, but I hung out with her for the rest of the night and had a great time. I can definitely see myself being friends with her. She’s into a lot of alternative music and tonight invited me over to listen to some band called Rosie Kailey, or something along those lines. She’s just one of those people that I’d never meet back in Muskegon. I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t bring myself to take the initiative and try to meet other people. It’s like I need them to approach me first, to let me know that I’m an acceptable human being? I don’t know, but it’s something I’m hoping to get over fast. See, I can, at times, start up a conversation (like I did tonight with Sara), but I have to be in the right position. Tomorrow, in addition to running a whole bunch of errands, I’m probably going to go on a walking tour of Roger Park (the neighborhood that Loyola’s in). Hopefully that’ll put me in position to meet more people. Anyways…back to Sara. We walked around the neighborhood a bit and talked before heading over to see the movie Mallrats at Damen Hall. Very funny movie, by the way - and a LOT better than Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. The scene with the topless psychic who had a third nipple was hilarious! Although, I still can’t believe a catholic college would be showing freshmen a film with tits…but hey, I’m not complaining! As for other people that I’ve met so far, the list is slim. I’ve briefly met Michael from Texas. He’s going into pre-med. I also saw Dan (at least I believe that’s his name, if I remember correctly from orientation), but he was with his family and I had just got my room opened, so we didn’t talk long. Also from orientation, I bumped into Ty (as in Tyson, not Tyler). From my impressions, he was former class clown back in high school. And tonight he’s planning on going to the “beer social” to meet people. He’s a nice guy, but he shakes hands for-ev-er. Just in case anyone’s interested to find the details of the “kegger,” here they are. As we were walking out of the auditorium after Malrats, some random guy (upperclassmen I take it?) started telling Sara and I (as well as those following us) that there was a party at N. Lakeshore, and not to worry because they had “four kegs.” First of all, I don’t go to parties. Second of all, if I were to check it out, I wouldn’t do it on my first night here! Yeah, I’m not trying to make any more of a fool than I already am, especially before the year even starts! Well, I think that’s it for now. I’m gonna try sleeping in my new bed.
I forgot to mention that I also met Jen, a sophomore from none other than GRAND RAPIDS! She went to Grand Rapids Catholic, and said she met a few other people from the Holland area. Well, I'm off to start my day! I gotta figure out why my damn alarm clock isn't going off!
give a word, take a word
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