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.

So here's what's on the schedule for this week:

Friday- Class Registration (Someone punch me in the face to distract me from this bullshit)
- 1st show of 365 Days, 365 Plays (yeah, I'm in it and totally tweaking)
Saturday- 2nd show of 365.
Sunday- Nana's Birthday.
Monday- Back to school.

So you can imagine how exciting this week has been in preparation for all of these things.
Toss in some PMS and some allergies and we're cookin' with gas.

...which means there could either be an amazing outcome... or something could blow up.
We'll see how it goes.

A Blog About Nothing

Hey, it worked for Seinfeld.

So, my spring break is nearly over and I'm going back to school on Monday. I haven't gone anywhere or seen anyone, sadly. I've been watching movies and playing video games, and contemplating life.

When I watch a movie, strange as it sounds, a part of my brain tries to apply it to my life: a current problem or situation, or one in the past. Whatever. Yesterday I watched The Departed and The Holiday. An interesting combination back-to-back. The former is about organized crime and corrupt cops in Boston (Really? You don't say!). The latter is about 2 depressed women, fresh out of difficult break-ups, who switch homes for 2 weeks. One is a crime-thriller with lots of blood, cursing, and back-stabbing; the other is a total chick flick featuring quirky humor and emotionally distraught women. So watching them both in one sitting was a little jarring.

I was easily able to relate The Holiday to my life. I mean, what girl hasn't wanted to just say screw it and just take off? The Departed, however, was difficult. I am not a crime boss, nor am I a corrupt statie from Boston, nor am I a shrink playing both sides. But I do like the song "Shipping Up To Boston" by the Dropkick Murphys and I know people who live in Boston. I guess that's close enough.

And if I ever decide to refer to these movies to solve any of my problems, please hope I pick The Holiday. I really don't want to have to kill anyone. Although I've been told I could fit several bodies into the crawlspace of my loftbed...

In other news, I saved Anne Darrow from some dinosaurs today in the PS2 game King Kong. It was awsome.

Cheers.

What happens when you wish for vacation to start sooner?

...Your dorm floods and you evacuate.

No, I am not kidding.

So first Adams Hall catches on fire because of some contractor's genius idea to melt a frozen pipe with an industrial heating lamp. Now Adams re-opens after extensive repair from water and smoke damage -- not to mention the inconvenience to all the Adams residents who had to live in a hotel in Derry for several weeks. Now Preston Hall is out of comission. Why? Because a sprinkler pipe burst and dumped a shitload of water in the main upstairs hall, flooding the 10 rooms in the hallway and damaging parts of the first floor.

So those Preston residents whose rooms were damaged were going to stay in the hotel (yes, the very same hotel the Adams residents just checked out of) while the rest of us stayed in Preston and tried to ignore the in-your-face irony. Then we're told that not only is the sprinkler system out of comission, but also the fire alarm system is shorted out. Therefore, if there is a fire (a FIRE? At CCNE? You don't say!!) we're basically sitting ducks with no defenses. So we're told we can't legally stay in the building and have to haul ass out of there.

Dear Chester College,

Do us all a favor and fix the pipes... And the heat. And stop telling us to calm down when there's a disaster that we're totally NOT paying $24,000 to experience. Where are the hidden cameras and what ancient burial ground did you build this friggin school on?

Yours Truly,
Noel

p.s. So that hotel probably loves all the business they're getting... But the Fire Department effing hates us.

It's Time for a Vacation when...

...you find yourself wanting to bash your head against the wall just to distract yourself from the amount of bullshit you have to deal with.

Everyone hates you, even if you do nothing wrong. Everyone's paranoid, even if they have no reason to be. And everyone is trying to study for midterms.

Everyone is ready for vacation, and ready to throw down as a potential distraction.

Jeez, people! Lighten up! I've never wanted to yell "Jerk alert!" in serious context before in my life until now. (Anyone who hasn't seen The Goonies, you should.)

A Letter to the World

Dear Assholes,

Stay the fuck away from me for once.


Your pal,
Noel

p.s. See you all on Monday.