Hi-ho, the Cherrio!!

I have no idea what that means, it just kinda came to me.

Anyway, how are ya doing this morning? I'm doing alright, just slouched down in this sorry excuse for a chair, trying to keep awake. I'm more than halfway through my shift and I've already finished one assignment and a book. I hope to get some studying done before I'm off and I have to get ready for the long day ahead.

I believe the most exciting thing that happened this weekend was my visit to the Springs. The whole gang came with me, as I stated they probably would last week, and we had a fun time touring the city. I mean, yeah, we had some tough spots, but we also had a very fun day in Manitou and the Garden of the Gods. I think the best part of the weekend was the last few hours of it where it was just Donovan, Fish, Bria and I. I'm very sad to say that the Seahawks lost, but Bria swears the Steelers cheated. I wasn't really going for anyone, I just like watching the game and commercials. We only caught the last half of it, but what I saw was good.

I'm a bit out of it for this email, I must admit. I didn't get to bed as early as I had wanted because I had an exam at 6 last night. It was Chem and I'm not the least bit worried about it. I was the second to finish, and that's just cause I waited until someone else stood up before I did. It only took me 15 minutes, I wasn't sure that was a good or bad thing. I have another exam today, Psyhc, and I just need to do some reading for it. It's going to be a memory exam, which means I just have to memorize all the facts. Considering my willingness to read lately, it shouldn't be a problem.

Yeah, I've been reading a lot lately. I finished the sixth Harry Potter last week and yes, I cried like a babe. I had reread the series before I read the newest one, and I'm glad I did because I hadn't remembered a lot. I just finished Memoirs of a Geisha (I wanted to read it before I saw it), and I'm very much reminded of a book I read my freshman year. I can't remember the title, sorry Mr. H, but I remember the cover well, lol. Anyway, Memoirs is a good book, if you're into reading foreign stories.

The thing that really gets me about that book is that it's fiction. I got halfway through it before I realized that while the book was first-person, the author was a male. After reading up on it, I found out Arthur Golden wrote his story with a considerable amount of research, only one source being a geisha. The geisha he interviewed wasn't the one he wrote about, for Sayuri is an invited character. But nonetheless, he writes the story so well that I had to remind myself at the end that it was indeed fiction. Throughout the book, everything seems a bit random, barely held together through the horrible things that happen to the main character. There is an antagonist and Sayuri is obviously the protagonist, but there are also numerous character whose roles seem to be nothing and those whose seem to be everything. While the ending is slightly abrupt when compared with the elaboration of the rest of the book, it makes for a perfect, and slightly surprising, conclusion to Sayuri's life. If you have any interest in seeing the movie, I suggest reading the book first. It's a rather quick read (which isn't saying a lot considering how fast I read) and you'll be hard-pressed to put it down even at the end. I must warn, though, that considering the nature of some parts of the book, younger readers should be advised against this book. I would say 15 and above. Also, it could kinda be perceived as a chick-book, so yeah.

I'm throwing this in randomly, I know, but I want to give a shout out this week to two very important people. Firstly, everyone give it up for my mom who has now moved into a new house without almost any support in packing and unpacking. I wish I could have helped more, but thankfully I had to go back to school. Heh. Second, to Mr. H who is sadly leaving Palmer for bigger and hopefully better things. I wish ya luck beyond the stars, Hamlar.

Alright, so that was mostly an email about a book. A few final notes, if I might. First, thank you to the three people, yes three, that sent me a reply after last week's email. I must say that while I am disappointed, I'm not really surprised. Secondly, could someone please send me the email of Marsha? I know she wants to receive these, but no one has sent me her address yet. And third, though it's early:

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!!!

Tar

Here It Comes Again...

Well good morning. And how are you doing today? Good, I hope. I am doing very well considering it's 4 in the morning here. Exceedingly well. See, I have discovered that if you move your sleep schedule forward about 7 or so hours and be consistent with it, getting up a 2:30am is not a big deal. Granted... I do climb off my loft on mornings like these, hit the snooze button and curl up on my couch, but that's why I set the alarm for 2:30 instead of 2:50. My friends aren't too pleased with me hitting the hay at 7pm, but that's because my room was the usual hang out till around midnight. The way I see it, though, is that they still get to spend time hanging out with me. I do all the work I can (basically everything that doesn't involve my computer) while working, so in the afternoons, I'm free as a bird to do whatever the gang wants to do. These 4 hours of silent work is actually really convenient because I have 4 hours of blissful study time, which I am curre! ntly taking a break from.

So aside from my crazy sleep schedule which I just decided to justify to all of you, what have I been up to this past week? Simple, I've been trying to stay aware in my classes. I thought I had boring classes last semester but they have nothing on this semesters classes. Everything I'm taking this semester I've either already had before or is a freshman level course (snore). My stats notes now have interesting cartoon characters all over them and I'm seriously considering using that class today to make a comic for the buggers. My health notes are non-existent and my discrete structures notes are full of typos and doodles. The only class I feel like I'm learning anything is Chemistry, but all I'm really learning is review (you were such an awesome teacher Ms. Smith that I could probably sleep through class and read the book and still pass with an A). My psych class is, well... yeah. We're learning about the brain now, which! is fine, but I swear the professor has a memory lapse because half the things she says is an exact repeat from a previous, or sometimes the current, lesson.

So those are my classes. The only really other exciting thing is that the gang has decided to start playing my stress relief game, Ragnarok. It's kinda weird to be showing and teaching them to play a game that I've never played with anyone I've known before. It was my personal pass time, ya know? Like Rachel and Bria did weird art things when they wanted to de-stress on their own, Fish went off and was Fish, Tirrel runs or bikes or swims, and Beth slept. I played Ragnarok. Well now Bria, Fish, and Beth play Ragnarok too. It's funny, though, because it's an online game (meaning you play with people from all over the world) and we're all playing within walking (or shouting) distance of each other. So we decided that our characters would all look alike, which is really funny considering Fish's is male! , and that we would only ever play with at least another member of the group. Oh, and none of us speak English in the game. The version we play has a lot of Germans and Brazilians, so we decided we'd pretend to play as French people. Bria taught me a few sentences, like "nous somme Francaise" and "d'accorde" and we just have a ball with it. People always wanna talk to us cause we all look the same, but we pretend we don't understand them and start speaking in French and really broken English (We is of Francaise). The laughter can be heard all the way on the third floor, I'm sure.

So whose pumped for the Superbowl?! Wooo!!!

Ok, so I'm not really that pumped for it, I mean the Broncos aren't in it and after watching the play-off game two weeks ago, it's obvious they shouldn't be. Bria is an avid Seahawks fan, so we're all cheering them on for our own safety (Bria has a very way of convincing us to follow her: her purse h! urts when it collides with your head).

Kidding. She just glares at us and screams louder for the Seahawks.

So yeah, we're all heading down to the Springs to catch the game with my mom, bro and Crystal (his serious girlfriend). We'll be swinging through various points of interests as well, like the Garden of the Gods and the bowling alley. Amy, also be aware that we will probably be arriving on your doorstep sometime this weekend as well. Everyone's coming at this point, I think, including Donovan! If our lives were a sitcom, he'd be the next door neighbor who shows up every other episode or so. He's been spending a lot of time around lately, though, spending quite a few hours on the couch. Everyone else thought it was weird at first, but he does this periodically. I would say I would send a picture, but I left my camera at home so I'll be grabbing it this weekend. I really wish I had brought it the first time I came back u! p, though, cause it's been a funny week. Tirrell cut Beth's hair one day, in the shower stall with the trash can. She did a really good job, too, considering it's now 6 inches shorter and really, REALLY cute.

So yeah, this email has kinda been everywhere this morning. Sorry about that. I'll try and be more even next time, it's just a bit distracting because the pipes are making a lot of noise this morning. That and this keyboard isn't the greatest ever, nor the computer. I'm going to head back into homework land and take a few online quizzes. They're all I got left for homework, unless you count those 4 essays which aren't due till March, but whose counting those, right?

I hope you all have a very eventful week until I send again and I've decided I want you to send me pictures. That's right, you heard me! I'm assigning you all homework. I wanna see recent pictures or at least some sort of response that you're still ! alive and I'm not sending these emails to a trash bin somewhere. Tell me what's new, what you're doing for the Superbowl, the summer months, spring break, anything I don't already know about.

Love, Peace, and Don't You Just Love Online Radio?
Tar

P.S.- Yes, I did say free hoody last week because, yes, I received a free LiveLifeLate hoody for working the Casino night that first week back. So there ya go.

Good Morning World!

So there I was, on the second floor of a building I'd never been in before, a janitor halfway down the hall. She was looking at me and wondering what in the world I was doing there at 7 in the morning. I had to think fast.

And I'm going to leave that one there, whahaha. Good morning everyone. I'm sending this to you at beautiful 5 am. I've been up for a bit more than 2 hours, and I must admit, I'm pretty much wide awake. People might think this job stinks, but honestly it's the best job I could get. Sure, I have to get up early, but all I do is sit at the desk, watch movies, and do my homework. There is no better job. There are no distractions from my homework. I mean, really, I'm already done with all my homework for the day already. Another bonus is I'll be sure to be awake for my first class at 8.

So what has happened in my first week back? Well, a whole lot of nothing, really. I mean yes, I did attend all of my classes (the only one in the group who has so far) and yes I've been working. My classes are going to be pretty easy this semester, I think, and work isn't much of a concern as far as difficultly. My first class most days is Stats, and I must say it's a snore. Second is chem, which might actually nee up being my hardest and favorite class this semester. Third is usually Psychology, which isn't that tough and only slightly interesting. My health class reminds me of one of those seminars with inspirational speakers. The Psych and health class really go hand in hand, that's for sure. My last class is Discrete structures, my only remote programming course this semester.

Oh, speaking of educational things and infos, I think I have decided to pick up a minor. My brother is thrilled, I know. I'm going to go for the history minor with a focus in Asian studies. I'm going to try and get the paperwork through this week, but I'm not sure how that's going to go. I mean, I want the minor, but do I really want to have to write papers again? Hmm... I'll talk with my adviser and see how that will buy into my three-four-two year plan.

My coffee is currently wearing off. Uh-oh.

Friday night was Casino Night at the Lory Student Center. I was one of three people who volunteered to deal cards. Three. We had a full ballroom, with 23 tables, and only three dealers. It was a blast!!! Students started dealing for other students and people were having a great time. The prices went quick and the free sodas and popcorn too. My table, as usual, was awesome. I'm not the best card dealer in the west (I only ever deal at these events) so it was a little rough at first. After an hour, though, no one was complaining. I had dealt a straight and they had all decided that when I dealt a 2 on the flow, it was going to be a good hand. When my shift ended at 11pm, no one wanted me to leave. I stuck it out for another half an hour and then had to pass my spot over to Bria before I fell asleep on the table.Of course, once I got back to the dorms, I didn't want to go to bed and ended up staying till 1. Oops. Hehe.

Alright, here's this week's interesting story (though maybe not told so interestingly). You might have noticed it in the beginning, and I hope I caught your interest.

So this is the deal: Tirrel, Beth and I responded to an ad in the paper to distribute flyers. We had to be in front of the library at 6, so we were there at 6. AM. The deal is, the woman would give us $10 an hour to place flyers in various classrooms around campus, without those flyers being thrown away by the janitors. Janitors were the enemy. Let me tell you, even though it was about 30 degrees, we were still sweating from running to building to building. There were three groups of us, we all had flyers, a map, and a list of classrooms to paper. It was a ton of fun for 6 in the morning. Also, we were able to gain a better understanding of our campus. So yeah, that would be another fun and unique adventure for my college life. I mean, not every college student gets up early to distribute flyers, then get up even earlier the next day to work. Oh, and tomorrow I'm going to distribute again.

Alright, the coffee is completely out of my system, so I'm going to go back to watching my third movie of the morning. What can I say? I finished all of my homework.

Love, Peace, and a Free Hoody!
Tar

New Year, New Semester

Alright, so I just rolled out of bed. Bare with me for this one.

So it is now 2006! Woo Hoo, we made it. Entering my second semester, I find I can't wait for classes, but I'm still a bit nervous. I mean, I have early classes all week, and as most of you know, I'm not an early morning kinda person. Add on to that the fact that most of my courses are science or math (meaning my books cost A LOT) and you have one brain-fried kiddo. It's all good. I mean, I've taken most of the courses I'm taking. That health course and phyc course are the only two I have to kinda start fronm scratch, so I'm not truely worried.

So the gang's all good. There was much hugging and jumping up and down when we all arrived together. Beth and Rachel are still rooming together across the hall, and they are happy as ever to be back. Bria is still down the hall, but in a different room. Her roommate isn't back yet, so she has the thing to herself and all her stuff has exploded. Fish is in Ingersoll still. He had a lot of his stuff from his old house shipped up here, cause he'll be living here from now till whenever. His room is bursting with stuff, I feel so bad for his roommate. Miles is now in Ingersoll as well, but I have no idea how he's doing. I haven't seen him since I picked Fish up at his house yesterday morning. We'll probably all get together and do lunch or something today.

I think I sent out my course schedule before, but I may have not. I've attached it, so there ya go. You can just ignore the strange symbols on it. They came with it when I saved it. It should just open in your Internet browser. As you can see from it, I'm insane.

Oh! And the most exciting information is this: I have single! Goodie goodie gum drops. It's still a mess right now, but it's getting there. Beth and I hung my hammock up last night and it's looking good. You can't really swing in it or the whole loft moves, but other than that, it rocks. I still have BerBer's couch, and I'm keeping the spare bed and desk. I'll send pictures of the room when I get it all together and neat, which may be never right? Kidding. It should all be clean by tonight.

Alright, I'm going to go find Bria and Fish and see if they want to go to the gym to work out and look up a class to take. I'll talk to you all, hopefully, later. And as always, feel free to reply and chat. Oh, and Joel, I WISH I had your schedule man. I'm afraid of mine.

Love, Peace, and Single Dorm Rooms!!
Tar

P.S. - Tom has a new girlfriend and not only is she really cute, but she's convinced him to take her to Florida over my Spring break. So guess who's tagging along. That's right! Mom, Tom, Crystal and I will all be heading down to Mel during my spring break, the second week in March. So gas up the boat and jet skis, and we'll see you Flordians then.

Merry Belated Christmas

Okay, so this is late. I know, I know. I was going to try and send one out on Christmas day, but honestly, I was too busy launching rocket balloons and pieces of potato at my brother. All I have to say to that is this: Stocking gifts.

So, yeah. It's been an eventful week of holidays. I've been getting into work again, remembering why I was so happy to leave it in the first place, and then remembering that I need the cash. Nanny and Papaw are here, well, okay, actually they are in Nebraska right now visiting more family, but they were here at one point and time and they will be back.

Christmas was Christmas, and honestly, I don't really wanna get into it. Don't get me wrong, nothing bad happened and I got everything I wanted. I just don't really feel like typing it all up. Call me lazy, I've been doing it for years.

Now to the juicy stuff. I got my grades back from CSU! Okay, okay. I know they aren't all straight A's, but I'm darn well close! Here's the break down: A in Java, A in Seminar, A+ in Physics, A in History, and a B in Math. The math made me sad, but I think that that exam I was sick for is what really brought me down. And next semester, I'm taking two, count them two math courses and a Chem course. I really don't want to take the math but my advisor swears that they will be the last two I ever have to take with this major.

And now I'm going to Village Inn for pie. Yes, Sara is back in town and we all demand pie.

Peace, Love, and Pie,
Tar

P.S. - I'll dig up some pics for the next email.

Long Time, No Email-y

Alright, so I'm sorry. I know, I know. It's been like, what, three weeks? Jeez... I never thought I would do that to you. Forgive me?

Good.

So, yeah, it's been a few weeks. I think my last "little" email was sent before Thanksgiving, so this one is wayyyyy over due. As a lot of you guys know, I went to Florida for Thanksgiving with my brother and mother. Even though I wasn't able to make it out on the water this trip, I still had a blast. Nanny and Papaw, you guys are always the best hosts. Ya make a girl feel at home. I'm just sorry I had that headache all week.

After I got back from my little vacation I jumped right back into my studies. Oh joy. I'm happy to say that I think I got an A in my history class. We had our final presentations last week and I must say, my group's was the best. Thank goodness that I didn't have to take a final in that class. My hand would have fallen off cause of all the writing. That teacher just loves to give 5 essay exams.

I think I'm landing an A in physics as well. I would probably smack myself if I didn't, considering this is my 3rd year of physics, at the same level. It's not that I keep failing, oh no, I have gotten A's in all my physics courses. It's because my required courses don't except the credit from the previous physics classes I've taken. So, because IB wouldn't take Honors Physics credit, I had to take IB Physics. And now, because the CS Department wouldn't count my IB credit towards my degree, I had to take college physics, which is actually EASIER than IB or honors. No, no. I'm not peeved about that at all.

My math course is the one where my A is teetering. I was really, really sick for the second midterm, so I only got a 33/50 on it, which really dragged down my average. So I have to get a very high A on the final to get an A in the course, which is going to be tough, I've been told. The final is supposed to be very difficult. Cox, my math and physics study buddy, had an A in that course last year and then took the final and failed the course. Hence the reason he's taking it again this year. Needless to say, I'm studying hardcore for that one.

My seminar course didn't even have a final. It was really a very low-key kinda course. Little effort, not much brain power needed. I'm pretty sure I've got an A there, but no real way to check cause she never really gave assignments or tests.

My java course is my last final, and I think I'll do alright on it. Java has been my skate course this semester, the course that I do the minimal amount of work I have to to get an A. The final is on Tuesday, around noon, so I'm going to study for it then. I have an A in the course right now, so I'm not worried about it too much.

So yeah, Monday morning, everyone be thinking of me. My first final is 7AM. It's physics. Can we say "Ouch?" I'm not looking forward to getting up that early and taking a test. And then I have my math final that same day, three hours later. Ugh... don't try to talk to me that day, I'll be brain dead. Tuesday's java and then I'm done. I'm going to hang around till about Thursday, though, cause all my friends don't leave til around Friday. I have to clean the room anyway, because my roommate moved out. It's very, VERY nice not having her around while I'm trying to study, so I'm just hoping that I don't get assigned a new one come next semester. If they don't assign me one over break, I'll be able to have a single for a simple $500 more. Oh, that check will be written and sent in the blink of an eye if I get the chance, so everyone think happy thoughts about me getting a single next semester.

Alright, Miles is over so I've got to start studying physics. Attached are some pictures for your amusement and what-not.

Peace, Love, and Please, no more free t-shirts!
Tar

A "Little" Quicky

This one is a quicky between exams and classes. As some of you might know, I'm going to Florida for Thanksgiving. This of course means that a lot of time will be spent on the water, working on my tan, and on the computers or sitting in front of the big screen TV. I've been working hard trying to finish all my homework before this weekend so that I may truly have a vacation, but I have a feeling that that physics and math assignments will still be haunting me when I hit the beaches. Oh, sorry for any typos. I chewed one of my nails too short last night in a study group meeting, so the band aid is hindering my typing.

Typing that is currently happening in the LSC. Yes, I love the ability of this campus' computer setup. I have Internet access anywhere I could possibly want. And right now, I'm trying to kill the 20 minutes before I have to walk to my next class. Mmm... only three more classes and one more exam until Thanksgiving break is official! I cannot wait. Speaking of killing the time, though, lately it has seemed like I've had more and more of it. See, next semester I have to get up around 7 in the morning everyday. And, unless I want to spend my entire vacation sleeping til 2 Florida time, I really had to get my body used to getting up early. So, this entire week, I am proud to say I've been getting up anywhere from 7:30am to 8:30am. Considering my earliest class is at 10 on Mondays and Wednesdays, I feel that this is extremely good progress. The only down side is that I have to crash before midnight. Now, if you knew my little group of friends and I, you would know that we usually force ourselves into bed around 3 in the morning. So, in a nut shell, I've been trying to force the little party known as Berlin and friends out of my room around 11 at night. Last night was really tough, though, because Tirrel and Robby got piercings last night (I didn't, thank you very much mother) and they just had to sit in my room, listening to loud music and eating McDonald's. I can understand why some people like their roommates, I just don't understand why anyone would like mine. The only reason I think that it's a good idea I continue to room with Berlin is that she knows me and understands my stupid little quirks, which a new roommate would take years to learn. That and she's hardly ever in the room.

Alright, that's enough of a rant on my roommate. I mean, look at that paragraph, it's structure is completely off. Hehe. All my friends have been complaining because they have to take College Comp, the basic English course here that really sticks. And I, of course, don't! Whahahahaha. Ha. Haha. hahahahaha.... Ok, one more and I'm done. HA! I'm sorry, it's just that they always remark on how I'm always studying and working and always so serious, but once again my hard work has put me ahead and out of certain annoying courses that they must now take. I mean, yeah, so what if I have to schedule when I have my down time? At least I find time for it and all my homework. I am proud to say that my grades at the end of this semester will most likely be favorable. Speaking of favorable, that cup of coffee is screaming my name in bloody murder pitches, so I'm going to ample over there and spend my last few remaining bits of credit on a Large Snicker Delight, hold the cream and sugar. Whahahahahahaha.

Peace, Love and Another Free T-shirt,
Tar

P.S. ~ Yes, I got another free t-shirt yesterday when I stopped in the plaza and got a free tune-up from the cycling team. My bike now runs GREAT and I have a free t-shirt. Who says you have to pay for things on campus? You just have to wait long enough until they are free. Who cares if my tires were so low they looked flat when the bike was on the rack.... they're full now! That's what counts!!!