Sam’s Blog

The cheerleaders are screaming again.

Leader: I SAY KITTY YOU SAY CUMMERE!!!*

Leader:  KITTY!!!!!!!! 8D!

Group:  CUMMERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  8D!!!

I’ll be glad when their summer camp is over.  They’ve been screaming their way around campus for almost 2 weeks now.

Speaking of kitties, I have this taped to my door.  :)

_{*Cummere = Come here, for those of you that don’t speak Oklahoman}

My truck bed is NOT a trashcan.

Especially not for your nasty empty cigarette carton.

I’d ask if they were raised in a barn, but country kids know better than to throw stuff into people’s truck beds.

I’m not sure if this is just a horrible allergic reaction to the chalk dust from that review session Seth and I gave last night or if I’m getting sick and the chalk dust sneezing just happened to coincide with the onset of the cold.

Either way it’s unpleasant.

But!  I have a large jug of apple juice, which I always want when I’m sick, so it could be much worse.  And I have an antihistamine for last night and a nasal decongestant / sinus headache relief med for today.

I’m not sure what’s up with my immune system this semester; I rarely get sick this often.

I feel vaguely guilty when I talk to my Spanish professor. She always gives me lots of praise for being well prepared, and doing a good job and whatnot. Today I gave a presentation over my favorite movie (The Incredibles!). My professor told me after class that she was very pleased with mine (I’d stayed to ask a question unrelated to my presentation). She said it was obvious that one other person and I had put a lot of preparation into our presentations, and she wasn’t so sure what was up with the others so far.

It took me 2.5 hours the night before to write the presentation, type handouts, make the PowerPoint, and memorize what I was going to say. (Yay Adam for switching me rounds so I could relax a bit earlier in the day [for the first time in a week]!) Does this qualify as a lot of preparation? Perhaps I’m just scarred by the last presentation that took me about 8 hours to put together… Of course I had to wade through several 15 page research articles over embryogenesis and apoptosis for that one… I know the skills I learned in speech and debate in high school* helped me enormously with delivery** and speech writing, but I really thought this was going to take longer.

I’ve liked two other presentations so far. They were well done and interesting (and the presenters speak pretty decent Spanish). The less said about the others the better. Bad Spanish (with occasional slips into English), bad movements, bad facial expressions… Bleh.

I’ve been wondering for the past several semesters of Spanish if I’m really good at Spanish or if the rest of the people in my classes just aren’t trying at all. I don’t think I’ve ever studied more than half an hour for any test or quiz in 5 semesters. I’m not bragging about my Spanish skills, I’m just complaining about the mind-shatteringly bad Spanish of most of my classmates. This is the 5th semester, for goodness sakes!

Opinions? Similar experiences? Expressions of deep hatred for me and my weird mutant abilities? I’d like to hear what you think about this. :)

*Project your voice without yelling, enunciate, stand up straight, make expansive gestures and hand movements or none at all (don’t wiggle your hands around your waist), don’t play with your clothes, USE YOUR FACE and be expressive, and memorize really long things*** in a very short amount of time
**I don’t puke at the first sight of public speaking anymore.
***High school: Wednesday: write 10 minute speech. Thursday: revise 10 minute speech. Friday: Memorize. Saturday: finish memorizing on the bus ride to the competition. Saturday Afternoon: Win competition and qualify for Regionals. Yay speech!

8-9am: Wakeupshowergetdressedcoffeecoffeegotoclass
9:30-10:20am: Spanish
10:20-10:35am: Talk to Spanish prof (in Spanish, about Spanish)
10:35-10:45am: Discuss maintenance concerns with maintenance men conveniently located in lounge
10:45-11am: Stuff
11:00-11:40: So tired. Coffee good. Sit at desk for a bit and enjoy free(?) time.
11:45am: Meet with Maryann to discuss RA activities for October
12-2pm: Center Office hours (work on presentation more, check out keys, explain for 5,000th time that we are not the post office and yes, Cate has a bathroom. It’s down the hall.)
2-2:10pm: Eat sushi with John the Office Assistant
2:10-4:15pm: Room office hours (sit in room with door open finishing presentation before 4:15)
4:15pm: E-MAIL PRESENTATION TO PROF OR ELSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (…Find her e-mail address before then)
4:30-6pm: Zoology seminar. Don’t fall asleep
6-7pm: RA secrets. Don’t forget citation pad.
7pm-8pm: Free time? lolno. Go over presentation. Food? hahano. Ramen.
8pm-12am: Rounds, yo. Don’t forget citation pad. Go over presentation and make sign and reminder slips for volleyball activity on Friday and don’t fall asleep.
12:30am: Sleep please?!?!!? lolno. Go over presentation more. Sleep eventually.
EDIT: No rounds, had nervous breakdown.  The other RAs are sweet (especially Phuong and Rachel, who herded me safely back inside and made sure I was ok) and are getting someone to cover my rounds.
Hi there overdose of stress hormones.  END EDIT

5 hours of sleep last night. Mocha is the only reason I am moving. Woo jittery.

NO CLASS FRIDAY (I have rounds, but whatever. No class!)

When a car with loud bass drives by my ceiling vibrates in a very disturbing manner.  Sometimes the windows do too.

I do not approve.

They don’t use spell check either.  Here’s the e-mail I got:

TKO NOTICE: A27 PayPal Suspension - Follow Instructions Immediately

In order to protect the security of your PayPal account, we have indefinitely suspend you from PayPal because our records indicate that your account was involved in activities that violate our policy governing shill bidding. This action was taken because your password may have been compromised.
We appreciate your cooperation in working with us to protect your account by taking the folowing steps:

• 1 Sign in on your PayPal account by folowing the personalized link: (Evil link here)
• 2 On the next page you will need to provide security information helping us verifying your identity and updating your account.
• 3 After you gain access to your PayPal account we recommend that you immediately change your password and your secret question.

Taking this steps will ensure you are the only one that has access to your designated account.

Due to the temporary suspension of this account, please be advised you are prohibited from using PayPal in any way. This includes the registering of a new account.

REMINDER: Under User Agreement (Section 9), we may immediately issue a warning, temporarily suspend, indefinitely suspend or terminate your membership and refuse to provide our services to you if we believe that your actions may cause financial loss or legal liability for you, our users or us. We may also take these actions if we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us.

Ann Hutchins
Safeharbor Department (Trust and Safety Department)
PayPal Inc.
Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.
Please do not reply to this e-mail as this is only a notification.

Silly attempted thievery.  English + them = fail.

EDIT:  Sat in the back, made a new friend, allergies are happy. And complaining is silly. :P

So I’m not sure what type of cologne or perfume has been assulting my allergies this week, but whatever it is it’s popular. And horribly strong. And it doesn’t fade with time, either.

On a much happier (and fluffier) note: Pillow!
For those of you that I have not already shown the pillow.