The first day of the last semester ever.

The day is over, the first day of the last semester ever. It's a little surreal to think of it like that. I had three classes today...

I'm really excited about European Witch Hunts and I think it's going to be a very enjoyable class. My professor seems like he's really into this stuff and super excited to be teaching it. It doesn't have any major paper or research requirements, also very good. I already started reading for the next class and the material is (so far) not mind numbing. It's off to a good start here.

Personality Psych however... well to put it simply, I think my professor sucked all the personality out of me. Yikes, I'm not so sure about this one. I wish I had more wiggle room but I've got a minor to finish sadly. At first, I thought "Okay, this guy doesn't seem so bad" but as the time went on, I kind of looked at him like "Wtf?" and was checking my Blackberry every 5 seconds trying to see if it was 5:15 yet. Not a good sign. No major papers/research assignments though, so good sign. My feelings remain mixed.

I also had my capstone which will prove to ultimately be my favorite I'm sure. Looks like a good group of people, lots of Creed veterans, and a handful of people who were in my classes last semester. Will I curse myself along the way? Of course, but that's all part of the fun (or something, haha). And the best part is I already have several ideas as my potential research project for the semester, which is a much better start then where I was last semester with my Middle East research (still don't like Lebanon, btw).

After class, I went with Michelle to pick Paula up from the airport. She's back from Espana, yay! Life feels a little more complete :)

Quick little life update, I should probably go back to reading. Oh the joys of the daily grind.

Fly Eagles fly!

Eagles - 23

Giants - 11

Believe in green baby, believe in green.

Because a girl can dream.

I've discovered this great Nikon forum that distracts me for hours longer then it should and leaves me drooling over amazing pictures and dreaming of new lenses for my little D60. Because it can't hurt to dream, here's a little wish list (and I'm always accepting donations):

1. Nikon D300 body. It will eventually come time for me to upgrade from the D60, as much it will always be my baby and I will never, ever get rid of it. It was my first DSLR so therefore will always be my favorite.

2. Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 lens. Basically the super expensive upgrade to my kit 18-55mm lens. Greater light range, less need for a flash with this baby. The pictures I've seen come from this lens are just stunning.

3. Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8 Fisheye. Because I want a fisheye lens. Seriously, that's the only reason. And it's a super wide angle. But the following item on the wish list eliminates the need for it, aside from the fact it's not a fisheye.

4. Sigma 10-20mm f/4 lens. Super wide angle never hurt anyone. And because it's not the Nikon Nikkor brand, it's (somewhat) more reasonably priced.

5. Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 lens. Again, another super expensive upgrade to a lens I already have. For the same reasons of greater light range and all that jazz.

6. Adobe Lightroom 2. After browsing the forum, it seems more people use LR to edit photos, something I've yet to really venture into, in comparison to Photoshop (which is what I have).

7. A really, really good tripod. I haven't really researched too heavily into it. Maybe I should, since it's probably the only reasonably priced option on this list.

8. The Kate Spade shoes I saw at Saks over a month ago. Completely unrelated but I was thinking about them earlier, since I work across the street from Saks.

As my mother always said, I always find the expensive way to any hobby. And my new passion in life is something that doesn't fit the poor college lifestyle. I wonder if I could sell my soul on E-Bay? Katie and I are supposed to go "hiking" tomorrow. Hiking in quotations because this is the Lowcountry after all. What will really happen? Walking around a park and me bringing the D60 with me of course. 

This morning's workout and this afternoon's work shift have left me exhausted and ready to crash. I need to rest up for my big hike tomorrow! And tomorrow is my dad's birthday! :)

(Big Eagles game is 2 days away. My insides are in knots.)

Blast from the past.

So, I rediscovered this old Xanga that I had way back in high school after it came up in conversation with Katie at Panera yesterday. It took me a little bit to hunt it down, since I couldn't remember the username to save my life (which was in true teenage fashion, so corny Aly and I were dying of laughter). Anyways, it chronicled the summer between my sophomore and junior year of high school - 2003 - and I could not stop laughing. The link to it will remain a secret, in fact I should probably delete it, but I pulled out a few memorable quotes.

"Guys, I almost have a whole page done in my history paper! This is a huge accomplishment for the procrastinator, who usually waits till the night before to start a report and finishes it the morning it's due. And I still have 8 days till it's due!"

For the record, I start 99.9% of papers before the night before now. I have Dr. Creed's classes to thank for that. However, I am still very good at scrambling the night before to put it all together. I remember that paper too, it was my AP history paper I had to write over the summer. I think it was about the Revolutionary War. Or maybe it was the Civil.

"Suckage? Major."

No significance in this besides good old fashioned slang. That should have never existed.

"I'm in a red phase.. everything I want is red.. and I like things better, if they're red."

Nearly six years later, I'm no longer calling it a phase. Yes, red is my favorite color.

"Another thing.. THE EAGLES.. man.. 4 players went down during yesterday's preseason loss to the Patriots.. including JAMES THRASH, starting wide receiver.. aw man, that was scary.. but he's out indefinitely with head and neck injuries."

The obsession of my life, yea? At this point, I may have been this little 15 year old brat who was so "punk" but I still loved my Eagles. The was the year before they would go into the Super Bowl, which was my senior year of high school. I remember we were pretty good that season though. And, what the hell happened to James Thrash? 

"WARPED TOUR 2003 WAS SO FUCKING AWESOME!"

...Yea, no comment.

"I miss Australia, too."

That also hasn't changed.

If nothing else it reminded me how much things change and how much they don't at the same time. And unrelated, as of right this second, the dryer is not making any noises but it's still taking forever to dry things.

The evil sounds coming from our dryer

If I wasn't pretty certain it would result in a broken toe, I think I'd kick the shit out of our dryer. For the past couple weeks, it has been making the most awful noises no matter how many times we bang it, hit it, (lightly) kick it, shake it, punch it, etc. Now, I think it's deciding to not actually dry anything since the load of clothes in there has been in there for...oh 3 hours. Resulting in me sitting around the house all day, because there's still a load of laundry in the washer waiting behind it. 

So for three hours I've been listening to these awful noises. There's nowhere in the house to go to escape it, the walls are too thin. It's just the most irritating noise, over and over again. Like Dane Cook said, it's the sound that makes you want to punch a baby.

New episode of Grey's Anatomy tonight. I remember when this used to make more excited then it does now. What happened to that show? This only means to me that it's Thursday and that little thing called school is right around the weekend corner. Where did break go? Where was I? Why haven't I gone to get my books? That's right - sheer denial. The semester really isn't starting on Monday, and I really didn't decide to torture myself in my choice of capstones. 

Last night, wings with Michelle got me back into the swing of things down here. Who does love a night of good food, good conversation and good company? Besides, I topped it all off on a sweet note with dessert at Kaminsky's - one of my favorite places here and somewhere I haven't gone in far too long :) It was quiet, not overrun with tourists which is half the reason I usually avoid it, and I had my usual Tollhouse cookie pie. Even if the combination of dinner and dessert left me with a stomach ache, I enjoyed it!

Time to go check on my clothes. I can only hope they are dry.

Angel Oak pictures

Just a few pictures from yesterday's adventure to Angel Oak out on John's Island. Katie and I found it by accident, since the directions were completely wrong. And I got to experience my little Civic on a dirt road for the first time, not the biggest dirt road at that. But the tree is amazing! Definitely worth checking out, only took us about 20 minutes to get there from the house and it was free.