I actually think my new HP computer is back to normal. I spent today and the weekend installing and downloading stuff (plus a crash scare), but since Norton and Ad-Aware didn’t find anything, I think I’m okay. I also got WS_FTP back (courtesy JMU of all places), deleted FileZilla (which sucked), and fixed my MP3 player … just had to re-install everything. Soulseek still won’t work though. Blah … though it may be a network problem according to The Breeze. All I ask is for this computer to give me another four years of use — if it doesn’t I’m gonna be really pissed.

Well, Doron told me at lunch today that he’s thinking of transferring to VCU at the end of the semester. And that Eddie and Nate have a 99% chance of doing the same — they want him to come with them, he just can’t decide between a good education (JMU) or a happy social life (VCU). If they all go I’ll lose about half of my very small population of friends here, but eh … it’s not my decision. If they’re happy, that’s what matters.

Today was the first day since I got here that I had people to eat both lunch and dinner with. What a rare occurrence.

If I can convince myself to get up at 7:45 again, I’m going to UREC tomorrow morning. Jessica and I were talking and figured I might as well get it over with … plus my day will seem longer … but wait, do I really want that? Eh, I can’t keep making excuses.

Welcome to nowhere and finding out where it is
And fixing your problems and starting over agin
You’re feeding your ego with what you can see outside
And you’re killing yourself for not speaking your mind …

Aww I want so many of them.

I officially hate animation. By Tuesday I have to do a table with objects (when he hasn’t gone over how to do that), as well as re-do my hammer since I got lost 1500 times during class and the TA had to keep fixing it. Why can’t he slowly introduce us to LightWave instead of throwing us at it full-force and expecting perfection? My hammer looks like a palm tree beat up by a hurricane, and it’s so frustrating ’cause there’s no help menu, the movie he made doesn’t explain anything, and I keep trying to do Photoshop commands … I just wanna set him and the computer (which has no internet) on fire. Stupid expensive crappy class. But apparently there are tutors tonight from 7 - 9, so I’m gonna go and see if they can help, which I have a feeling I’ll be needing a lot of. Oh yeah, and I still have labyrinth reading to do

I met Crissi yesterday for dinner at Market One, which was cool. I’m so glad tomorrow’s Friday. This no computer life is not fun, and I get to see Brian. Yay.

I just went to the wrong statistics class … I forgot it was at a different time and place on Wednesdays. Man am I glad I wasn’t in this one — the guy couldn’t speak English and I could barely understand him. He was covering the same stuff, but I was lost. Gotta leave in fifteen minutes for the right class, then go straight to human rights. Sucks that I don’t get to have lunch ’til 1:10, but that’s why there’s TDU. Just got coffee and a blueberry muffin. So won’t need to eat for awhile. I could get ten extra credit points in labyrinth if I go to some church with a labyrinth in Charlottesville this weekend — how about no. Not only am I going home, but Charlottesville sucks for a variety of reasons. Some band called Xnelo is also performing covers on Saturday … but oh well. By the way, I’m in the Hillside lab right now — this keyboard has sticky keys and they have the annoying no-food policy. Bah. And if you were wondering, school still sucks.

It needs to be winter — walking to Chesapeake from Duke was hell. My calves hurt from step and my back hurts from my backpack so I’m not going to UREC today. I have five billion things to do for animation. My art history class is filled with high-pitched sorority girls and I think the professor is gay. He’s also using three different sites for class content which is going to drive me crazy. The poster people were out of the Passion poster.

What’s the good news? I finished reading for statistics and started Larry’s Party for labyrinth. I bought the Iris poster. My dad said I can get a new computer. I got a new JACard.

I hate the beginning of school.

It’s 8:54 and I’m tired. WTF? Just finished my Reader’s Digest. In two days. That’s close to a record. I wish I still had my Anita Blake book. Classes start tomorrow … mine’s at 9:05 am. Trying to decide if I should get up early enough to shower or not, ’cause I have step at UREC later. Hmm *yawn* I got Sprite at dinner for the first time in like … never. Usually it’s Diet Coke or water. Maybe it was an unconscious Brian thing Returned my grandma’s call earlier, I think she’s gonna send me a package soon. But who knows. Man, I’m so glad I’m coming home this weekend, and not just ’cause I forgot a bunch of stuff. I miss Brian … and it’s weird, half my friends here (which isn’t much) have either moved off campus or aren’t really talking to me … I feel like a freshman all over again *sigh* I hope there’s some non-Barbie-ish girls in my classes tomorrow. My computer’s still not working right. It’ll give me a half hour to an hour online before flashing its ugly white screen. I’m pretty sure Gateway won’t know what to do about it, and I’m definitely not spending any more money on it. I sooo want a new laptop — all my files are backed up, and this one just keeps getting crappier. No more Gateway. Sarah and Jessica both like my vampire duckie. Yay.

Stupid computer. I just had it fixed, and now the screen turns white at random intervals, forcing me to shut it off (three times today so far). I can barely do anything online … but at least my info is backed up on the external hard drive. I can so see myself getting a new laptop in the next few days if this one doesn’t stop screwing me over.

Just got back from the bookstore — walked for fifteen minutes carrying ten books that must’ve weighed twenty pounds in the heat. Not fun. And I couldn’t park there ’cause you need some special permit. Gotta go back later to return a book and get binders and stuff. Sarah warned me to drop the labyrinth class ’cause the professor is a freak. For example, she said, he makes you find the labyrinth in the arboretum and write a paper about it. You also have to do everything his way or else it’s wrong. Interesting. I’m gonna go to the first few classes to see what it’s like … though I can’t really drop it ’cause I don’t have much choice. Blah.

Well, I guess it’s back to the bookstore, then maybe a nap. See ya.

Last day at Titan. Last day of my summer vacation. Here’s something I found in “My Documents” to celebrate:

You know you’re living in 2004 when:

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
2. You haven’t played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.
4. You email the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends is that they don’t have email addresses.
6. When you go home after a long day at work, you still answer the phone in a business manner.
7. When you make phone calls from home, you accidentally dial “9″ or “0″ to get an outside line.
8. You’ve sat at the same desk for four years and worked for three different companies.
10. You learn about your redundancy on the 11 o’clock news.
11. Your boss does not have the ability to do your job.
12. Contractors outnumber permanent staff and are more likely to get long-service awards.
13. You read this entire list, and kept nodding and smiling.
14. As you read this list, you thought about forwarding it to your friends.
15. You got this email from a friend that never talks to you except to send you jokes from the net.
16. You are too busy to notice there was no #9.
17. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn’t a #9 and now you’re laughing at yourself.