Wow. Tonight was so stinking awesome. We, as in Brittany, Noz, and I are such dorks... As you all know, the annual Tipton County Pork Festival (PF) is this weekend - FYI if you didn't already know - so my roommates and Janeen and I were all going to go. We decided to invite lots of others to come with us, so we made a big sign up sheet and posted it right outside the elevator on our floor. Sadly, nobody was signing up (And I'm not sure why. Who wouldn't want to spend a night at the PF?), so we took matters even more into our own hands. And that meant bringing out the big guns. Cowboy/farm clothes. Yeah. Brittany wore tight jeans and an old tshirt and a long-sleeved button-up shirt that she tucked in with boots and Noz's "Pace 86" hat and a big belt. I wore dark jeans and a plad shirt that i tied in front over my K-9 police unit t-shirt, my pink Chuck Taylors and a belt with a big buckle, and Noz was decked out in a dark denim jacket and a pair of light jeans. We brought our chairs and sat out by our sign and talked to every single person who got on or off the elevator. It worked, b/c lots of girls from our unit signed up. Yea!! But we didn't think that was enough, so we went down to the lobby and talked to people as they passed by. Some signed up to go, but most just looked at us with weird expressions. And lots of people laughed. I laughed at us. We looked great! Plus, we were giving out free popcorn, so they were helpless against us. It gets better, though. So, there I was, looking ridiculous, and who happens to walk through the door? Who floated in as if on a cloud and graced us with his presence, instantly attracting my attention to his...well... to him? None other than Hot Guy himself. That's right, I spent the next 10 minutes talking to him. *sighs. Sadly, he already has other plans. He's not really the PF type, though. But that's ok. That topped my night. Definitely. ANYHOO, enough about the eye candy... The group that's going is more than 20 strong. I am so pumped! This is my handiwork! I didn't think people would really want to go, but I guess that promises of seeing the Pork Princess will win any crowd. Everyone said they'd dress up, too. We'll blend right in! Seriously, Tipton-ites are a different breed. And everybody in town shows up for this at least one night. It should be fun. I hope I see people I know! "Oh, there's Keenan...isn't it? What is she doing? Who are those people she is with? Are they MOCKING us? Ugh!!" Have I mentioned that I am excited? Because I am. And if anybody else wants to come, we are meeting in Kem Lobby at 4:30 on Saturday to carpool. You are all more than welcome to come!! Please dress appropriately, and no, khakis are cowboy-ish. Cowboy, farmer, hick... they will all be in attendance. Take your pick. I just can't wait to turn around and see a crowd of 25 people from my school faithfully following me through the crowds of the PF. This will be great. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

It's official. Wednesdays are going to be a problem. Even though I get done with class at noon, I still feel overwhelmed and rushed to get stuff done before I leave for group at 5:10. And the drive to Tipton will be such a bore, especially considering that my CD player in my car is so touchy. Kalee went back with me today: it was her last time with the junior highers. But from here on out, it is just me and the open road.
Group went well, but only 3 girls showed up. Is it asking too much for the rest of the kids to come? I AM driving 45 minutes just to teach them... oh well, they all had legit excuses. It turned out nicely though, because we got to talk lots and they had all sorts of questions about stuff they had been reading, etc. Good talks. Even though more than half of the people weren't there, it was worth it.
AND, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING OF THE DAY: I brought my Legolas stand-up back with me. It's so great, standing in the corner of the living room. I don't know how I forgot him at home in the first place: it WAS the buy of a lifetime. :) Now our place is almost complete. I still need a small shrine to Melissa, but that will get done some weekend. Speaking of weekends, Shane Barnard and Shane Everett are in concert in Indy on Friday night. I'm so pumped. The Tipton County Pork Fest is also this weekend, so I am bringing some friends from school to that. It's sure to be an experience they'll not soon forget. It's actually kind of scarring. What with "Cowboy Corner" and all...

Oatmeal cookie and the melodic sounds of Lifehouse. Yum.
I had 2 more classes today, World Literature and Basic Christian Doctrine. And we had chapel for the first time. I am finished with class at noon on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That's nice. I think I am really going to like my doctrine class. It's all theology. We walked in and the first thing Dr. Bounds said was, "Ok, class. Let me ask you a question. Which is more serious, which is worse, committing a moral sin or committing a doctrinal sin?" I didn't know there was a difference. Enlightenment is a wonderful thing. It was a good discussion. I learned lots in the hour I sat in class; thoroughly enjoyable. The only bad part was this very large guy sitting diagonally infront of me who kept biting at his hangnails and picking scabs. Yuck. Besides the fear of ending up near him again, I am pumped to go back.
This afternoon has been really busy so far. I ran all sorts of errands around campus... paid my bill ($87 for each semester. Not too shabby.), got a new parking permit, etc. And since I lead a small group on Wednesdays, I had to go to the library to make copies of the handout. I expected that to be a 3 minute long process, if that, but there was a girl in there copying the first 2 chapters of a chemistry text book on the copier that my paper had been sent to. And she did it all twice. It took so long and it was all I could do to keep myself from asking her about copyright laws. And from the looks of things, with the amount of money she was spending on making copies, she might as well have just bought herself a copy of the book in the first place. But I digress.
And now I have lots and LOTS of reading to do. I have to read about 1/2 of the Iliad by Monday and all of Mere Christianity, plus all the normal stuff for my other classes. So much for having nothing to do. :) Wednesdays will be really busy, I think. I'm just glad I have a few hours between class and when I have to leave for group.

First day of classes = not too shabby. I had 3 today: inductive Bible study, English comp, and Spanish. My Spanish class should be good. My prof is new, fresh from Houston. She's Venezuelan and she is every bit the stereotypical beautiful Venezuelan woman. It's a conversation and composition class and there aren't any guys in it. So, that should take some of the pressure off the ladies who are overly concerned with finding "the one" while at IWU. No fears of messing up horribly infront of a potential husband. And you think I am joking... girls here make me laugh. It's sad, really. But oh well. That's for another entry.
As of right now, for just the 3 classes I had today, I will be writing 15 papers. And 5 will be in Spanish. They aren't all long, difficult research papers, but still. 15 papers is 15 papers. And that doesn't count the ones I will find out about tomorrow. I'm taking a world lit. class, so I'm assuming there will be a few essays for that, too. This is such a change from last year, it's crazy. But, in the words of Polycarp of Smyrna, "Why do you delay? Bring on what you will." I couldn't have said it better myself.
And now the promised shout out. Hey, Drew. Sorry I got your name wrong.
I bought my books today. I only ended up needing to buy 3. $99.51 to the IWU bookstore. I was so happy. I'm not a fan of that place. Again, that's another entry.
Ok, well, it's 2:11, despite what the clock on this thing says. It's off. And I am off. To bed. Because I am waking up in 5 hours.

11:30.
My school year can begin. We had the first dance party of the year tonight. I had no idea Nozomi could dance. She can shake it! I was so impressed. It's amazing how girls will let loose as soon as you put in Mariah Carey...singing into hair brushes and dancing all around. It was great! And then we decided to kick off the year on the right foot and hold an all out DPR/WWW. I put in "THE" mix and we cut a rug. Holy Mother! Dancing on chairs, Nozomi's bed... it was so fun. An hour of non-stop move busting. We were all hot and sweaty, which means it was a killer one. I'm suprised nobody came and yelled at us: we WERE breaking several rules.
1. No dancing. As we all know, social dancing leads right to sex. The only possible outcome is intercourse.
2. Quiet hours. Yeah, we definitely didn't adhere to the quiet hours sound limit.
Oh well. What are they going to do, kick me out? :) Maybe.
Also, I had my first frappe of the year. We waited in line for about 45 minutes for them. It was ridiculous. They had the new people working at the coffee shop tonight. It just took forever. But mine was good. The Monday Frappe has returned. I will be frequenting McConn. Goodbye, points.

I'm listening to a 90's mix CD that I made. Sir Mix-a-Lot is busting out "Baby Got Back" presently. It's a great CD. Makes me very happy. Speaking of things bringing me happiness, COMPUTER VIRUSES ARE FROM THE DEVIL. Yep, straight from the pit of Hades. I got one today, right in the middle of a conversation with Andrew. He was giving me lines to say to Nozomi in Japanese. Stupid Blaster Worm virus. But, John Dean came to my rescue later in the afternoon and fixed it for me. Many, many thanks to Deanis.
Other than that, it has been a fairly unproductive day. I woke up when the phone rang at 10:45 (i finally got to bed 6 hours before that) and some Asian-sounding sales person wouldn't let Brittany hang up. I don't know how he got the number. Supposedly, businesses can't get the dorm numbers. Apparently not. Vicious rumor! It rained all day, so nobody was out and about on campus. She ended up telling the guy to never, ever call here again. Such a stud: that's my roommate! We changed clothes and trudged through the rain to get lunch at Baldwin at noon. And it was closed. Honestly, what college dining hall is closed at noon? So, we turned around, embittered, and walked back through the rain to the room and settled for ramen noodles and spaghetti-os.
Why am I going on and on about my pathetic day?
I'm meeting some freshmen! Woo hoo!! 2 stopped by a few minutes ago. They came in and asked all sorts of questions and got to vent about being scared and homesick, etc. And I got to tell them about their classes and profs, etc. I felt like the old, experienced upperclassman. Wait, I am. It was great. I'm glad I was here. I invited them to get frappes with us later. My first frappe date of the year!! YEA!!!!! So, they seem really nice. I hope I can get to know them better.
Random thought: How did the song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" become so big? I don't understand. And it was ranked the #1 rock and roll song of all time on a VH1 countdown. What the heck? I think it's just b/c Cobain OD-ed. I really did. But hey, nobody asked me. What do I know? I'm just a normal, everyday American female. :)

Things I am excited about for the upcoming school year (Note: most of these things are IWU only, so don't be alarmed if you feel like you don't know every minute detail of my life. It's ok. I'd be slightly frightened if you did think you had to know that much about my life. Yikes.):

FNL, seeing look-a-likes on campus (Jesus, Frodo and other assorted hobbits, Jenifer Aniston, Lady from Lady and the Tramp, etc.), Hot Guy...*swoons..., random spontaneous road trips, Cherry Cokes from Wildcat, my daily regimine of turkey bagel sandwiches, being sung to on the way to chapel, blank-faced stare at complete strangers across the dining hall, checking my mailbox everytime I pass (and threatening the post office workers for not giving it to me. "Yeah I know you are tkaing my mail!"), Monday frappes from McConn, movies in The Globe, raquetball, Air Band, Spotted Cow, Taste of Marion, being able to call freshmen "Freshmen" and not feeling guilty about it, naps on the Evans lawn, the drive home, DPR/WWW, trips to Purdue to visit Stroup and the Smellion, "special" brownies, ice cream after dinner, random thoughts late at night, having the bottom bunk, having a couch that is long enough to lay flat on, my pink shag carpet, "Loft Ball," Res Life Week, watching people trip and fall down on the track, going to class in my pajamas, OBC/CCC picnic, driving to IU to see plays, musicals, etc., making fun outgoing messages for our machine, meeting freshmen, offering pearls of wisdom to freshmen, care packages, movie nights, sitting in the third row on the left side every chapel, getting emails from my dad, chatting until the wee hours of the morning, never sleeping, pulling an all-nighter just so i can play raquetball at 6 a.m., studying outside, watching the guys try to play volleyball, stalking...i mean..., actually having homework, hanging out with Shea, Stacy, and Rinia, pasta salad, being attacked by Brittany, skipping a few classes just for the heck of it, wearing my winter coat, playing in the snow, waking up and the first thing I hear is Brittany singing to me, making CDs, watching Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in the theater on opening night... and wearing a hobbit costume, getting to know my roommates, unit activities, hanging out with the guys from our brother unit, Wal-Mart runs, and lots of inside jokes.

This list, of course, is not complete, Just some things I thought of quickly. I'll update this bad boy when I think of something else. :)

Apparently you do not have to have musical ability to be in a singing group. It doesn't matter if you can play an instrument or if you can even sing on key. Think about it. I always thought the music business was pretty competitive, but judging from some of the stuff I've heard lately, it sounds like some companies are just desperate. Take the group we heard this morning, Living Proof. They sang at the church I went to. When they talked, I felt like I was listening to a radio commercial. They all sounded WAY too energetic about what they were saying. They travel all over the states performing in public elementary schools: it was obvious that 7 year olds were their target audience. They sang us a song that they usually do in the schools. It was about teasing people leading to kids bringing guns to school. No joke. They called schools "No-Tease Zones." Positive messages, I suppose. :) I don't know, I guess I just expected a group of 8 people to be able to sing on key and to sound good together. Maybe my standards are just set too high? And if my theory is true, why haven't I been offered a six album deal yet??