Freshmen Year was full of excursions and meeting new friends and finding new places.  We explored all of campus like it was our personal playground, climbing walls and trees and having great conversations inbetween. 

Sophomore Year was jam-packed of adventures.  I had so many friends- it was ridiculous.  I think we counted 50 friends in just the inner -circle.  We ran around in the Arts building and climbed into rafters and had joyous times. 

Junior Year was certianly my most sleep-deprived year.  I stayed up with friends until 3am on many occasions.  We sat in the car after a trip to Wal-Mart and listened to music and talked about life and things.  I miss that.  I fell asleep almost anywhere- in subways and fields and benches near fountains. 

Senoir Year has been crazy in it's own special way.  I have a real job, working with autistic kids.  It's wonderful and exhausting to add on top of school and all my normal obligations.  I'm still section leader of the flutes, started up a flute choir for next semester and having grand progress with my musical studies.  I'm the president of Psi Chi, a psychology honors society and an officer of the Psych. club.  I still have friends to keep up with and all 400 level classes.  I'm meeting a few cool new people, but mostly just struggling to stay in touch with old friends who've graduated and friends who're as busy as I am here.  I'm still in a relationship and finding it a blessing and a struggle to add on top of everything.  Getting along with other humans is hard no matter what.  It makes it crazy hard when everyone is busy and stressed and anxious about their future.  I'm not going to grad school next year.  Maybe the year after, maybe never.  We'll see.  I want to keep working with austistic kids.  Sounds super-noble, but there's a lot of grunt work involved. 

I'm a terrible blogger for keeping you hanging since the middle of summer.  Call if effects of senior year.  Intense- seriously.  I am a week and a half away from Christmas break.  Then I'll catch a breath and run it down for one more semester... and then I'll be done.  I'll finally have to pay off those student loans and get a real job and move away from all the wonderful friends I've made.  This is going to take some getting ready for. 

And the votes are in...

As probably none of y'all know, I have the honor of living in the largest dry city in my state.  Which means that we don't sell alcohol.  Not a little, not at all.  There are no ABC stores, no bars, no gas stations that sell beer beside the gatorade, no cheap wine on sale at Wal-Mart.  And I've really enjoyed growing up here.  We also don't have drunks out on the streets or people who beg for booze money outside of establishments.  In fact, we don't have any homeless people who just wander around, lost and dazed.  Somebody, some organization, some church is willing to help them get back on their feet. 

Last night, my city finished voting on an alcohol referendum that would allow alcohol to be sold in the city limits.  This may not really seem like such a big deal, but while I'll agree that alcohol isn't all that bad, it certainly doesn't have any real good tied to it either.  I don't believe it will "boost the economy", as the leaders of the FOR party assure everyone.  I think that alcohol is expensive, not just to buy... but to pay for.  It comes as a lot of encouragment to problems already here.  Gang and domestic violence will rise.  Sure the convention centers will come, but they will eventually be followed by strip clubs and other "adult" places.  You can't tell me that that's not an eventuality.  Which is just what the leader of the FOR party did.  He actually happens to be my high school mock-trial coach, so long-winded debates were inevitable for us, I suppose.  With 60% majority, the FOR alcohol party won.  Did I metion that within the last few decades this referendum has already been voted AGAINST twice?  This time makes the third.  Since each time was promised as the last time we vote on this, that seems rather hypocritical.  Apparently, what they meant was... this will be the last time (if we win) and were not content to let the vote rule, but kept at it until they won.  Honest- everywhere else in America sells alcohol.  If it's that big of a deal to you, just move.  Why ruin something that makes us unique and family-valued?  Last time I checked, alcohol has a greater track record of dividing and destroying families and communities than it does of promoting them.  In fact, I'd love to hear a story where alcohol brought a family together in a positive way... not just that they're all drunk together at Christmas kind of way. 

So, that's about it.  Even though I don't plan on living in this city the rest of my life, a great part of it has been killed by a bunch of people who just want to "have a drink in Asheboro" or to "pocket a few extra dollars".  Selfish intentions aren't what make good decisions. 

Chai + jazz = independence

I'm drinking chai tea and listening to independent jazz on the radio while watching my neighbors' very illegal fireworks.  So what'd you do on the Fourth?  My family always ends up spending at least half of our holidays together for manuel labor... that meant that my morning was early (way early) and spent out in the yard hauling things and cleaning things and fighting bugs.  Nothing's worse than hard work in July in the great outdoors.  Actually... I'm sure that there are many worse things... like being sent to the Gulag by one of Stalin's cronies or finding yourself half-way there on a subway ride in a strange city and realizing that you've left someone or something important at the last station (and you don't yet understand the metro system, so you spend at least an extra hour getting lost and re-found before you get back to the half-way point).  Lunch was nice though.  I spent it over grilled fish at my place of work (respectively the ONLY restaurant open in town on the fourth of July) while catching up with an old friend.  I'm gladly convinced once again that we were surely destined to be friends... no matter the place or time of meeting.  Any one who reads about the Mathematics of the Universe while on the ellipitical machine at the gym is surely meant to be a friend.  Who else spanned the wide topics with me in highschool, unafraid of literature, science, math, poetry, philosophy, theology and more?  Since college, I've been fortunate to meet so many great minds, but to meet a Fitzgerald fan in highschool is a rare treat.  Anyways, great times were had and remembered and planned for the future. 

I always forget just HOW much I like jazz until I'm suddenly listening to good jazz somewhere.  I mean, I never forget that I like jazz... but I mean I like jazz a LOT.  A scary lot that pushes it up to be my favorite genre everytime I hear a good jazz song.  Not that I'm disloyal to my oldies or indie or opera or anything like that.  But smooth amazing soulful jazz is just a rare delicious treat.  The bass, the drums, the trumpets, flutes, whatever they pick up... and the vocals are all just killer.  Add some deep/sweet lyrics and I'm hooked. 

Summer's been happening in mad-crazy waves.  Upon my tiny boat in the midst of the immensity of summer things have been happening.  I waitressed for the first time recently!  Everything went well... even with my overconfident boss putting me in one of the busiest sections... albeit on the slowest night of the week *phew*.  Tips are nice and happy customers are almost even nicer.  Almost.  Adventures of the non-working nature have included visiting friends and having them to visit me.  I journeyed to a certain young artist's home and enjoyed tea and jazz just like in days of old.  *Sigh*  Were that every day could be punctuated with jasmine tea, homemade breads, and talented artist friends.  A small portion of the CU gang were able to come to my house (and Hannah's) for dinner and zoo adventures.  My guy's been able to come up and see me a couple of times, including this weekend... for a swingdancing gig.  He's a brave soul.  So in general, I've been able to see people in between my work hours, family stuff, and vague research for future potential grad schools. 

In literary news, I'm almost finished with Issac Asimov's book Nightfall, which came highly recommended by my old astronomy teacher (who better to recommend science fiction?).  It's pretty incredible and much needed after I finished Emma.  Maybe I just picked Emma up at the wrong time in my life, but I just didn't like it as much as I thought I would.  In musical news... I'm back on an oldies kick (when am I not on an oldies kick?).   Part of the wonder of having my new-to-me car is that as I ride to work I get to listen to any... tapes or radio I desire.  So all my parents' tapes from back in the day are getting dusted and recycled into my music library.  The Beatles are, of course, incredible.  Been listening to their albums Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Abbey Road pretty much on loop. I get those songs stuck in my head, like Maxwell's Silver Hammer... and they're just not okay to sing in public.  I guess even the more well known ones like, "I want to hold your hand" aren't really public-safe to sing.  Some odd-ball person might think I mean them and... well, yeah... that's just hilarious and awkard but let it happen to someone else. 

It'll be nice to go back to school in the fall and trade my summer work load for an academic work load.  Honest- I can't believe I only have one more year of undergrad work.  Meh.  When did that happen?  But time passes on and I'm sure a good many things will come of the transition to grad work or jobs, or hopefully both.  By this time next year, I guess I'll know which. 

Pendulum Swing