Silent Hill?

Nope. Just CCNE on the weekend.

This is the third weekend I've stayed here, and it'll probably be the last this semester because we get out in a few weeks, and all of my friends went home. So, it looks like I'll be spending the weekend locked in my room watching youtube (which actually does get boring after a while.) Today I've rearranged my desk and cleaned up a little. I've tried to make everything a little more spacious and more comfortable. (If I'm going to be sitting in front of the computer for 2 or 3 days, I should probably be a little more ergonomical about it.)

Now for a fun compare/contrast list:

Chester College vs. Silent Hill
- There are cars everywhere, but you can't drive any of them (and if you can, you're probably not here.)
- There aren't many people around.
- The people you do come in contact with are probably a little weird (no offense. Remember, I'm here too, so I am also weird.)
- It gets foggy randomly.
- There are random floods and fires.
- When you hear the alarm, get the hell out of dodge!
- There's a map of the building in your room. (If there isn't one, you probably don't live here.)
- There are weird paintings and photos everywhere.
- There are weird things written on the walls. (not necessarily written ON the walls literally)
- It is not uncommon to see a few red stains on the floor (sure, it's probably paint, but who knows for sure?)
- Once it starts snowing, everyone goes crazy. (Snow. Ash. Potato. Pot-ah-toe)
- If you see a random little girl running around and she's not accompanied by anyone, it's a little creepy.
- It wouldn't be out of the ordinary to see someone walking around with a large pyramid thing on his/her head.
- The bathrooms aren't exactly at peak sanitary condition. There's probably a random closed stall door with no one inside, or one falling off the hinges.
- The kitchen's probably not that appealing either.
- The lock on almost every door you come in contact with is broken.
- You need a key to get in. Always.
- Your cell phone may not work here.
- If the power goes out, everything looks red.
- You also need a flashlight^^
- You also can't use the elevator if the power goes out (duh.)^^
- You never know what you're going to find on the other side of the elevator door.
- You will most likely meet someone who knows all about the zombies.
- It is not uncommon to hear any of the following noises: a door closing, footsteps, maniacal laughter, screaming, knocking, moaning, groaning, banging, pounding, etc.
- You may hear eerie music as you're walking down the hall.
- Everyone's got their own shit to take care of, so you're on your own.
- It seems like a good idea at the time, but you always regret opening the fridge.
- Once you're here a while, you want to get the hell out.
- But we love it anyway.

If anyone has anything to add/correct, let me know!

Lively Debate? Pfft. Yeah, Whatever.

Picture this. You're sitting in class, talking about the social commentary in a particular literary work, and you voice your valid opinion with eloquence and moderate intelligence when -- before you're even finished -- someone barks, "I don't agree with that because..." and goes off on a tangent about their opinion, which is probably also valid, but isn't done justice because it was delivered in such a non-eloquent, non-intelligent way. (This is not aimed at anybody in particular, just in general.)

Or, try this scenario. You're at an art show and you're admiring the work when someone comes up to you and asks what you think. You, as a moderately intelligent person with eyes, give your opinion of the use of color, painting technique, design principles, etc. and they automatically have to start a debate with you about it and try to make you feel stupid, even though you clearly know what you're talking about.

Now, I don't mind a lively debate every now and then if both parties are up for it and both opinions are voiced intelligently (rather than saying things like, "That's dumb," or "What do YOU know?" or my personal favorite, "Yeah, whatever.") But why in the name of all that is sacred and good would you want to walk up to a person randomly in a public setting and just disagree with them for the sake of debate? And why are you not willing to properly back up your argument? I don't know what is up with these random debates, but I'd prefer not to be caught off guard with some doof's random opinion, and then beaten over the head with it over and over again, only to have the guy/girl end the thing with, "Pffft. Yeah, whatever."

That is just lame and stupid. Don't do it.

It Was An Accident, I Swear!

Okay. A quick anecdote to start us off:

I was sitting in my dorm room yesterday with a few minutes to spare, but not enough time to do anything productive like an essay. So I searched Yahoo! for some fun quizzes and found one: Which Sin City Character Are You? I've seen Sin City. I thought the characters were interesting, and thought it would be equally interesting to see which of them I was. I clicked the link and started taking the quiz, a process which was surprisingly amusing and enjoyable. When I got to the last question and clicked for my results, it wanted me to register with an email address. This has happened to me before, and it's usually so the site can email your results. I thought, What the hell, I have an email address I made solely for things like this. So I complete the short registration page, figuring I'll be asked to activate a link in the email or something and then receive my results. No big deal. But, much to my surprise, I am asked to make a simple profile, writing a few sentences about myself. I think, Odd, but okay. I guess it can't hurt. So I include a few interests, some hobbies, fun facts. Whatever. And then I'm asked to pick 3 adjectives to describe myself. This strikes me as a rather unusual request for a quiz profile, but I do it anyway just wanting to get it over with.

I completed my profile and the whole process took me 3 to 5 minutes, so it wasn't like I was sitting there for an hour just trying to get these stupid quiz results or anything. I just figured it'd be worth taking the 5 minutes if I got to take and make some awsome quizzes. I click the Submit button, and wait. And then I receive, much to my surprise, this lovely message across the screen:

Congratulations! You are now a member of OKCupid, the #1 dating site!

[insert open-mouthed, wide-eyed look of horrified shock, followed by a rather vocal exclamation of "What-the-F**K?!?!?!"] <-- This got my room mate's attention, who laughed hysterically at the situation only I could've found a way into.

Yeah, who saw that one coming? Cuz I sure as hell didn't.

The point, folks? Pay more attention to the web address on those fun quiz sites you sign up for because the "cupid" part definitely should've tipped me off.

Rule #1: Always look at the web address before submitting ANYTHING online.
If MySpace has taught us nothing else, let us hope it has taught most of us that little life lesson.

Oh, I'm Nancy Callihan, by the way. I'm also Wiley Coyote and my dating personality is "The Sonnett," whatever the hell that means.

New England Weather

About a week ago I was talking to a friend of mine, and we were discussing how beautiful the weather was. The sky was clear, the sun was shining, it was warm but not too warm, and the snow was almost completely melted. It was one of those days that makes you want to go for a run or play some soccer with your pals, or just sit at a picnic table somewhere and enjoy the great outdoors. And I thought to myself, "Finally, Spring has arrived and we can all relax and put away our winter coats."

Two days later, it was 35 degrees outside, there was a blizzard, and we lost power. Now it's just cold and there's always some kind of percipitation to deal with.

What the hell is going on? Attention Winter, it's April. Go away and let your pretty friend Spring have some fun, will ya?

As a side-note, during said power outage, I discovered that your friends totally have your back whenever you need them...

...Unless it's dark and you're the only one with a flashlight, but it's downstairs in your room. Then you can just go off on your own, like that dumb chick that dies first in the horror movies, wandering around the darkened hallways of the dorm. And they'll all wish you the best of luck, but no one will accompany you on this journey, or even form a search party if you go missing for too long.

Guys, I know the virgin's always the one to survive the killing spree in the slasher flicks, but do we really need to put it to the test?

Time is War

I am officially at war with time.

For the past few months, it seems the timing in my life for just about everything has been awful. A funny anecdote to highlight my point:

This morning I woke up at 8:30 AM, as I'd intended to when I settled into bed last night and set my alarm clock. I went to the bathroom, - which is probably crawling with disease, but that's a horse of a different color, size, and shape - got dressed, brushed my teeth, washed my face, yadda yadda. I came back to my room and started packing up for Poetry class when I realized I had forgotten to make copies of my poem the day before. That was because I spent most of that day in the disgusting bathroom feeling like an eel was doing summersaults in my stomache, but that's another story. I glanced at my alarm clock, saw that it was 9:30 and went to the library to borrow the copy machine.
I got to the library, and they were having some kind of issue with the copy machine (of course) so I had to stand around and wait for the girl ahead of me to finish up before letting Joe, who works at the library, copy my poem for me. I didn't have my phone with me so I couldn't check the time, but I figured I was going to be fashionably late for class. But, in the professor's head, it probably would've been worse to show up on time but unprepared than to show up a few minutes late with everything I needed.
As soon as the copies were done I bolted up to the Powers building, where my Poetry class takes place, and I opened the door to the classroom ever so carefully in hopes of sneaking in unnoticed...
And there was no one there.
I'm not even kidding, there was no one there. Nor was there any sign at all that anyone had been there at all this morning. I vaguely wondered if I should have looked for the word Croatoan carved on a wooden beam as I wandered around the building for a few minutes, seeing if the class simply moved to a different room for some reason. I didn't find them so, aggravated, I headed back to my dorm.
I got there and noticed my neighbor Dan, who is also in my 10 AM poetry class, was on line. So I IM'd him and asked what happened with Poetry. He had no idea what I was talking about, so I explained.
There was a long pause before he replied, "Uh, Noel... It's 9:42. Class hasn't started yet."
I looked at my alarm clock and it said 10:45, as I'd expected. But I looked at my computer clock and my cell phone, and both said 9:42.
Mind you, my alarm clock and my cell phone matched last night after I set my alarm for 8:30 AM.
I grudgingly reset my alarm clock, and still managed to be late for Poetry.

In a completely related incident, 2 weeks ago I had a leadership seminar at noon. I set my alarm for 11, woke up, got ready, forgot my cellphone in my room and went to lunch at around 11:30, figuring I'd make it to leadership by noon. I got there, and it turned out to be 1. I missed a whole hour of time. Mind you, the clock was right when I went to bed.
If I didn't sleep in a loft bed with the alarm clock in a spot virtually unreachable from the floor unless you climb up to get it, I'd say my roommate was messing with me.
But, no. It's time.
What a bitch.