Good Read

I said I like to read, and when they asked me what I read I didn't want to say "stuff on the internet."

But this is very cool.

Maybe the nap I took will help improve my ability to write. (No promises)

Throw Up Moment #1, 9:54 am: Where is Mike? I need his signature!

Throw Up Moment #2, 11:01 am: Hello Marta, Italian professor whose class I skipped this morning to get signature.

Throw Up Moment #3, 11:26 am: The next English project=HUGE.

Throw Up Moment #4, 11:39 am: The computer lab where I am has no cd burner, so I can't put my project on a cd until later.

Hilarious Moment #1, 11:43 am: The other guy who was at the computer lab all night (I saw him there) raises his hand to answer a question. When he is called on he shakes his head and says, "I can't think I'm so tired." For some reason this just cracks me up.

Throw Up Moment #5, 12:47 pm: Discuss PM stuff with Mike.

(Nothing happened all afternoon because I slept from 2-6)

Hilarious Moment #2, 6:20 pm: "Does that church even have a phone?" "Yeah, 'Hello, this is God, how may I help you?'"

See, it's getting better.

Yes, I'm sure this will help with the insomnia

I'm not really sure when this will post, because Blogger is being moody. The point is, I will be doctoring the time and I wanted you to know. Because I actually did write this at 6:11 am and the reason I was able to do so is because I just pulled my first all-nighter.

During this 12-hour-long homework marathon I realized something concerning those people who I spend my time with (professors, friends, family, ALPHA PHI PM'S): I have never felt like I was about to throw up as often as I have this semester. On the other hand, I have never felt like I was going to die from laughing so hard as often either.

That made no sense, did it.

I need to sleep. But I'll do it later.

I'm going to be live at 5, except for not live and possibly not at 5 but you get the idea.

Today I went to buy tickets for my family for the Steel Band Concert and when I left Shriver, Cincinnati's NBC station wanted to interview me about this story about a girl who was raped on campus last night. So I am going to be on the news for like 3 seconds tonight talking about whether or not I am afraid to go out by myself. (Mom, don't worry, I say yes.)

Chances are, I will look like an idiot.

So I would totally suggest watching it.


UPDATE: I didn't make in on tv. But the lady who interviewed me did say she really liked the spelling of my name, so it was worth it.

Easter Day Links

Because I can drink pop again, since Lent is over:
Death by Caffeine

Because Easter is for rabbits (and because holidays should never be devoid of a warped sense of humor):
Savetoby.com

Metro, 1; Loren, 0

There is a bus stop at the dorm in front of mine, and the bus that stops there goes right to my first class of the day. However, this bus is typically late, so I usually just walk. However, this morning it was raining and when I saw that the bus was actually going to be on time, I started running to get to the stop on time. I got to the bus just as she closed the door behind the people who'd been waiting. And she drove off as I stood there waving my umbrella trying to get her attention. I really am not sure how she missed me.

That is just one of those moments where I'm thinking several things. The first is, "Shit, those people waiting for the other bus are totally laughing at me right now," and the second is, "Was that an omen? Is the rest of my day going to be like this?" Because I hate waiting to find out. Especially since if it was an omen, I would really rather have just gone back over to my room and crawled back into bed. It would have been a much closer walk.

Has it really been since Thursday since I posted?

Well, things have gotten busy again and I guess on Friday I realized just how much I had procrastinated over break. Not to mention the week before, because then I was basically just going to all of my classes and saying, "I don't have to do anything, I'll do it over break!" The truth of the matter is, I did not do it over break. I did it in the last ten hours I spent at my house, but I don't think that really counts since it was still the result of procrastination.

Right now, actually, you are experiencing a prime exercise in procrastination, which is the heart and soul of this blog. I just signed up for a Flickr account, so I think I am going to get rid of the pictures page and just use that. Just give me time. You can't do ALL your procrastinating at once, you have to put some off for later.

The post that's late because I just couldn't think of a title

On Wednesday morning I got up early, made breakfast with Jimmy and his friends, and then got ready to go spend the day with my friend Mike in Cleveland. I had a pretty good drive because I only went the wrong way once, and that was when I actually got to the house and kept driving past it. (Lorenism #1: It’s not a trip with me unless we go the wrong way at least once. The only times this doesn’t count is when I drive between Oxford and Loudonville, and on occasion I have been known to miss an exit.)

I had my first Panera and then Mike and I went to this candy store where he bought like a pound and a half of those raspberry candies . By the time we got to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame he had one pound left.

So, my opinion on the Rock Hall will be saved for another day. We were there for a while and we saw some interesting stuff. We even stopped in the Ray Charles exhibit but we were disappointed when we didn’t find his Kappa Kappa Psi jersey or even a picture of him wearing it (I absolutely CANNOT believe I let Mike talk me into putting that sentence in this entry). Unfortunately, it got old pretty fast and we were tired, so we ended up going back to his house. On our way to the car, this guy threw a popcorn ball at us and conned Mike into donating $3 to something. Poor Mike. He just couldn’t say no.

I had a terrible headache and ended up driving home at about 10:30 at night. Because I had gone the wrong way already, I made it home just fine. It was the most fun day of my Spring Break. Mostly, I think, because I was finally with someone who has all the same inside jokes I do.

Also, on a side note, thanks to Matt for always being my html reference guide, not to mention a constant ego booster. You’re not so bad yourself.

This. This is EXACTLY what.

"You guys just make me feel like a bad person when I come home."

"Well...?"


UPDATE: The "what" in the title refers to what they do that makes me feel bad. "They" are my family.

This wouldn't have happened if I didn't have Photoshop.

I just got carried away, photoshopping pictures I've taken and then I thought, "hey! it would be fun to spend a day of break stressing over some HTML." So I did. It's not the most refined page you'll find on the internet, but hey, it's not the worst. Right?

Comments should be back soon, and the sidebar stuff will be top-aligned ASAP. Or as soon as I figure out how to fix it.

Until then, you can just leave me IM's telling me how much you like what I've done. :)

Update: How My Spring Break Began

First, I almost killed myself on the snowy roads. SNOWY. SNOWY roads on SPRING Break. Needless to say, I was pretty grumpy to be heading north while everyone else was heading for the beach. And then my car started fishtailing and it was all over.

I baked a very good batch of cookies today, which means that I have not lost my baking abilities and that I may retain my title as Pledge Class Mother. Whew. I was getting worried.

I am getting ready to redesign this page. Hopefully I will do it this week, but I have so thoroughly enjoyed doing nothing for the past two days that it might just not get done.

Buddy Info for: LorenAnn03

I spent my fair share of time in high school using AIM, and once I got to college it became a staple of my lifestyle. And I'm sure you know what I'm talking about because I'm willing to bet that 99% of the people reading this got here via the link in my buddy info. Anyway, it's like that for most other people and I find that fascinating.

It's fascinating because we all treat it the same way. We all know each other's typical away messages, we all use online information as fodder for gossip ("it's like there's a mass-IM button on that computer"). "What's your screenname?" is just as common as "What's your number?".

It's an amazing form of expression. You can let people know as much or as little as you want--your info can have anything you want; your away message can be a random phrase--Rollercoaster ride greetings, popular quotes, a joke, a personalized message--or it can simply be, "away."

Thinking about it today, I signed off and decided I just didn't want to put myself out there right at this moment. I didn't want to let anyone know how I was feeling or what I was up to. Funny how a few sentences in a pop-up window can make you feel that your privacy is being invaded. Is that weird? I just couldn't help it. I guess I'm just in a weird place right now. I guess I just need a break.

Did you know I can sew?

I didn't. But I pretended that the sewing kit my mom gave me gave me the right to say I could. And that is why I have fixed the hem on a pair of pants, made wristbands out of socks, and sewn buttons back onto a shirt and a blazer all in the past month. Maybe that's not real sewing. I'm going to keep pretending.

As far as my other homemaking skills, well, the knitting, that's not coming along as well but I'm sort of strapped for time with more pressing things (classes, membership ed, sleep, socializing--maybe not in that order...) so I figure I'll just do it this summer. Along with the learning how to cook.

Down on the Farm

God love you, LHS. I may get teased for this, but it is just so darn cute that I had to post it.

This is where I'm from.
FFA Week

It's All Just Gone To Hell This Week

It got sort of cold last week, snowing and everything, and suddenly our room got cold too. Typically, our room isn't warm, but it was verging on ridiculous--you could feel a temperature change when you went into the hallway. So we decided to turn on the heater, which would normally be a good idea. However, we have never used the heater in our room, first because we don't want it to get too hot and second because we could never figure out how to turn it on. We realized this week that it is actually broken. Go figure. So, no heat. No big deal, it's gotten warmer today so we didn't really need it. But on Friday night our light burned out. There are several things that are difficult to do without light:

• do your hair
• do homework
• find anything you need
• see things that you might step on and hurt yourself with

So getting ready to go to Big/Little Reveal last night was interesting to say the least. Hopefully we will get this all fixed before break. I'd rather not spend the next five days in cold darkness. I'm pasty white enough as it is.

Because I Support Writing When You Need to Write.

And because when other people get to thinking, it inspires me to think, and learn from their experiences. And maybe even their mistakes.

I always thought that I was insecure, and shy, and unsure of what I wanted. And I felt pretty bad about that. I felt bad about not being the prettiest, the most popular, the funniest, the best. Mostly because I was constantly trying to find some way to make myself "better," and it just wasn't working.

Then I started thinking about other people. I wondered if I could model myself off of them, because weren't they happy? And if I did what they were doing, wouldn't I be happy too? At first, I tried relentlessly to be someone else. And it didn't work. I felt weird at the time but now I can identify that weirdness as feeling uncomfortable and unnatural. It wasn't who I was. Then I looked a little harder. What was I missing?

And then I realized something as I watched all those people I thought were happy and secure and together. They were dealing with the same things I was. They weren't happy the way I thought they were. And that's why trying to follow them wasn't working--because what they were doing wasn't the answer, either.

So I stepped back and evaluated myself again. And I saw that I did know what I wanted, and what I liked, and what my goals were. Sure, I probably couldn't verbalize all of that, but I would say I have a handle on who I am. And if I'm wrong, isn't that okay? Because as long as I believe I know, I think I'll trust myself. And I think that's the key.

Hair Poll

It's that time again when I decide it's time for a change in hairdo. And by hairdo I mean color. So I need some advice.

See me as a blonde here.

And as a brunette here.

And tell me which you prefer (i.e., leave me a comment). Because I'm going to change it soon.

Wondering

Is Sprite even that cool? As cool as hip-hop?

I didn't think so.