Keuka's Mentor program/ orientation part 1

I apologize in advance. My laptop is being kinda sucky and apparently some keys don't function all the time... so excuse the missing letters.

Hectic week so far... my first week of college (ooh, ahhh! - the magician had us saying that last night...). So, I arrived with all my crap, unloaded it, put it away (I know, definately not the exciting part) and then my parents left. And thus began my college life.

While I was unpacking, my 'mentor' walked in and introduced herself as Katie Campbell and gave me a nice little nametag. Anyway, then I read through my little blue orientation folder- which had candy!!!- and saw that my mentor's name was Jamie Caldwell. Uh oh. Confusion ensues. My nametag and folder say different 'orientation letters'. More confusion ensued.

Anyway, it ended up that I was in a transfer group because I had enough credits from all the AP classes I took to transfer as a sophmore, so right off the bat... different group than I thought. Only walked in circles for a little while...

So I get there, to my group, and everyone is... well... old. I think the youngest was 21. Other than me of course - tender young age of 18! Almost everyone in the group had kids. Yes, children!! And one of their children graduated with me. Weird. I was like, "crap, how am I gonna make friends!!" But it was fine. They are all nice people, and two of them, Heidi and Jess, are my Keuka college best friends.

All's good. The orientation really helped me get acquainted with the school and he people.

More to come.

Going off to college tomorrow

You never know how much stuff you have until you have to pack it and move out. I packed for college yesterday... well, I'm mostly done... and I just can't figure out how I got all this stuff. It reminds me of George Carlin's skit about stuff... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac . Anyway... tomorrow's the day!

St. Mary's Festival and the twlight zone

Went to the St. Mary's festival yesterday, and Olivia and I went on all of the rides. I was much fun. Then we had candy apples. yum.

Then I went to Marisa's, had worms and dirt and a bonfire, and learned how to speak some polish.

Just the important stuff, like yes (tak), no (nyeh), and I have to pee (mooshay shoe shoe).

Then, on my drive home, all the lights were yellow in canandaigua. Hence the aura of twilight zone.

Annoying drivers

Don't flash your lights at me when I'm driving and it's dark out because you make me think you're telling me to turn off my brights, which I don't know how to turn on in the first place, and that makes me fiddle with my lights and that makes me a not so safe and seriously confusing driver and makes me look like a fool to my passengers and when i keep turning off my lights thinking I'm being courteous and not blinding you, I actually cant see and the I have to put them back on right after you pass and then I look crazy and ADD to the next oncoming driver, who will invariably flash his lights at me and start the whole process again.

College in 5 days

Going off to college in 5 days... today I took down all the stuff on my walls (posters, postcards, etc.) and now my room looks sterile and uninhabited. I can see why I covered the walls with so much stuff, the paint job in this room is crummy at best. My mom and I painted it - bright blue with yellow stars, and inexplicably, clouds - probably about 7 or 8 years ago. It used to be boring white with a pine tree or lamb border... can't remember which... the lady who owned the house before us was crazy about stenciling things all over the place.

Anyway, I think the paint job should be categorized as a fail... but hey, it shows character. My sister is either gonna repaint it or decorate over the flaws like I did when she moves her stuff in here... (next week! Gasp!). I'm feeling homesick already.

I should probably start packing and buying all that last minute stuff...

Great couple days

Since we're all going off to college within the next week or so, my friends and I have been partying like... well, like party animals. We've hung out in Jess's basement and played singstar and guitar hero like every day of the week (good luck in college Jess! Her first day is tomorrow. Look out Naz, here comes Happy Feet! lol.), going to baker, the amazing maize maze, Marisa's house, Mary's house, my house for a while... Basically, we've been enjoying our last few days of freedom before we have to kick it into gear.

Okay, another thing that brightened my week was a call from my advisor. I officially obtained sophmore standing. 39 credits will do that for you.

Got my schedule, and I'm very happy with it. I do have an 8 am class on tuesdays and thursdays though...

Anyway, more to come as college quickly approaches.

Complaining about the dentist.

I hate the dentist. I hate going there. I dread it.

Especially when you wake up 5 mins before your appt. I almost fell asleep in the chair... except for the fact that some lady had her hands in my mouth and was scraping my teeth! Minor details...

Luckily, my dentist is like 2 mins away... so I was only a little late. I actually got a semi-interesting dental hygenist this time (if that's at all possible... ) Her stories were actually okay and kinda funny... and lo and behold... may I have a drum roll please... She actually took her hands out of my mouth when she asked me questions! Plus I got to tell my bear story, and let's face it, I love to tell stories (that's what the blog is for).

Oh, and on a bit of a tangent, when I was laying in that chair, staring at the bright light and making jokes in my head... 'don't go into the lllliiiiiiiiiiigggghhhtttttttt!!!' and I thought, why would anyone aspire to be a dental hygenist? They must get paid a freakin' fortune. I mean, that seems like the worst job ever! Is it something they aspire to as a small child... kinda like Dennis on Rudolph... are they really awkward kids who always want to stick their hands in people's mouths and then later are like, 'hey, I can do that as a job!?!?'

Anyway, they told me that my gums were puffy (?) and to floss more. K, whatever, I hear that every year, and then do it for the next week or so, until I forget again and move on.... I think my flossing habits are fine.

So then I walked home through the park, and it was very nice. This dude was mowing the entire place - I felt sorry for him, but I was mostly trying not to get run over by him.

My Favorite Roller Coasters

Here are my two favorite roller coasters - I just couldn't pick one. Both are heart-pounding, adrenaline pumping, out and back roller coasters that both amaze and nauseate with a flurry of loops, corkscrews, and impossible air time.

Millennium Force - Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio

My favorite features of Roller coasters are inversions and air time. Millennium Force has plenty of both. This coaster provides the most weightlessness (air time) of any coaster I've been on. It's first drop is really freakin' scary, as it is one of the tallest in the world (310 feet), and also one of the fastest (98 mph).

Fahrenheit - Hersheypark (yes, they make it all one word), Hershey, Pennsylvania

This coaster actually has the steepest first drop in the world (97 degrees). Riding this coaster in the front seat and in the dark is one of the most thrilling experiences you'll ever have. This coaster straps you in and sits you vertically, like a space shuttle, until it suddenly blasts you upward, surprising everyone (and producing some colorful language). Then on the other side, you plunge 121 feet, at a 97 degree angle. Then you go 58 mph for 85 seconds through an 107 ft inverted loop, inverted corkscrew roll, cobra element, and airborne inverted s-roll. It's absolutely amazing.

Amazing Maize Maze - and generally acting like 5 yr olds

Today we went to the amazing maize maze in Macedon. It was freakin' awesome.
It was "Boomerang weekend, so we bought tickets to the maze and "back 40" - code for children's area- and got a free ticket to come back in the fall. Sweetness.

First of all, planning the trip was annoying... I'm too ADD for it and people don't read messages carefully (Meredith!). But hey, it happened, and it was fun.

Jess, Joanna and I got through the maze in less than an hour, but unfortunately Mack and Richard beat us by about 2 minutes. Btw, Jess is like the corn whisperer or something... She has a crazy awesome innate sense of direction which I envy.

Then we kinda snuck onto the back 40 when the guy was closing up, and Richard and I raced these tiny 'quadricycles' that were built for threee year olds and super tiny. It was amazingly fun and probably hilarious to watch.

Then we went on the jumping pillow, which was awesome. Less bouncy than a trampoline, but longer so you can run across it and slide on the ends.

After that we had ice cream and then went to Jess's house to play guitar hero and singstar. That was awesome fun and hilariously funny... picture Richard singing wake me up inside by evanescence, me singing Big girls don't dry by fergie, and Jess and Joanna singing Jenny from the block by JLo. Absolutely gut-bustingly hilarious.

Overall, great day. I feel like getting a blog has helped me because it's made me go out and do more so that I have something to blog about. I think making your life something to blog about is a worthy and admirable goal.

Roseland

Went to Roseland Waterpark today with the boys - my dad and brothers- and saw a great example of how not to treat your kids, a couple cute lifeguards, some people who should not wear bathing suits, and a really curious little kid who could not walk in a straight line.

1. Dear angry mean lady,
Hope I just saw you at a bad time. But I don't think so. If you're that mean to your kid in a waterpark, which is supposed to be all about fun, I can't imagine what you're like at home. I feel bad for your kids and hope they grow up to be nice in spite of you.

2. What more needs to be said about cute lifeguards? Definately the highlight of my trip. Except when I almost fell over in front of one of the cute, shirtless ones.

3. I know this is slightly rude, but it's true. Some people really need to wear less revaling clothing. Yes, I know it's a waterpark, but some people can't pull off a bikini. I'm not comfortable in a bikini. People need to cover up and have some modesty. Please, lay off the skimpy bikinis.

4. And now for my specialty- comic relief. While I was walking to the little kids splash place -which my brothers enjoyed a little too much, considering they are 9 and 15 years old - I saw this little kid who was walking like the drunkest person you've ever seen. Seriously, she was zig zagging all over the place, drifting through the crowd and constantly staring at everything in the park, like she couldn't stand to miss any little piece of grass, unfamiliar person, or colorful attraction. Seriously curious and unbelievably observant.

Vick to the Eagles!?

The Eagles - my favorite team, just signed Michael Vick to a one year deal. I'm so excited! He make the eagles so much less predictable... and they got him for like dirt cheap. I'm actually unreasonably excited.

Yeah, I know, the guy tortured dogs. But as awful as that is and always will be, I'm really glad he got his second chance with the eagles. (Believe me, I'm not excited for him, but for my team!!) Honestly people, football is a GAME. I think that's what everyone keeps forgetting. It's a game, and the point is to win. Vick will help the Eagles win.

Party!

We had a awesome surprise going away party for Mary from 5 until 12:30. She had no clue, even though I thought I gave it away, because I was the one who had to bring her and I kept having to delay...traffic on main street made me delay more than intended - they're repaving that road again. (In RI, they never repair roads, there are potholes everywhere, and the manhole covers stick up in the middle of the road. then again, they pay way less taxes...) So the party was a major success. Mary sniffled a little when we gave her the scrapbook, and the ultimate chocolate cake and ice cream cake were awesome (one more bite!!). Then we played scene it, outburst, and taboo all night. Then we left, and I almost ran over a possom on the way home, and had mucho trouble defrosting my windshield. The end.

My favorite websites to waste time on

According to John Lennon, "time you enjoyed wasting was not wasted."

Well, here are my top 5 websites for not wasting time.

1. Facebook.com
The ultimate way to waste time. Especially if you have something crucially important to do, like homework. Seriously, I could spend days on facebook. They even have games!

2. Stumbleupon.com
This is an awesome way to Holy cow! a bird just landed on the screen of my window. like the vertical screen! Spidey bird, spidey bird... lose a couple hours discovering random sites on the internet. If you've never tried it, stumbleupon lets you "stumble" to random websites and then you give them a thumbs up or thumbs down, and thus it figures out what you like and brings you more of that. You could find anything from an interactive autopsy to hysterical "motivational" posters. http://www.stumbleupon.com/s/#8XXJ5S/villageofjoy.com/25-motivational-posters//topic:Humor

3. Listverse.com
Yup. It's a website devoted to lists. and it's freakin' amazing. Want a list of the best soccer players never to play in a world cup? freaky science facts? Like that lightning can be fossilized... http://listverse.com/2009/08/04/15-fascinating-lesser-known-science-facts/ How about bizzare cases of mass hysteria? http://listverse.com/2009/08/07/another-10-bizarre-cases-of-mass-hysteria/ What more needs to be said? This website could keep an ADD person like me occupied for hours.

4. Goodreads.com
A site about books for a nerd like me. Or a librarian...

5. Pandora.com
A website where you create a radio station based solely on music you like.

Rhode Island review, with pics

Time to relive my wonderful Rhode Island vacation. Above is the wonderfully quaint little cottage I stayed in for the first week. Here's what was in back of this house...

Yes indeed. That is the ocean. In the backyard of the house. How sweet is that!?! We saw lots of surfers out there, but never swam there ourselves because it was too rocky. A breathtaking view nonetheless though.











This, to the right, is the Point Judith lighthouse. A stunning sight to see from our deck, regardless of its obsolete-ness. Apparently it was blocked off by Homeland Security. That according to my teenaged brother.



I burned like a lobster on this trip, but at least I got rid of my farmers tan! Later my skin started peeling, and along with the bug bites I got at Meg's Gramma (hereafter known as Deedo)'s house, I looked like I had leprosy. That, along with a healthy pounding from the ocean, produced quotes such as

"My freakin' leprosy hurts"

And other equally wise sounding comments. After my week with my family was done, I met up with Meg, Haley and Mary, and stayed another 5 days. Here we went in the ocean, Mary lost a frisbee (among other things) in the ocean, Deedo's dock shook and then collapsed like the Tacoma Narrows when the 10 pound Meg ran across it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxTZ446tbzE

If you haven't noticed, I'm prone to exxageration. We were never in any real danger (I know you were worried!) We were above about 3 feet of water. Anyway, Meg had to rescue the three of us that were stranded with a little inner tube -we really did not want to get wet (except Haley, who was to the point of dropping her pants and swimming to shore when Meg got back).

We also went to a candy store, mini golfing, and sightseeing. We played a lot of games. Overall, the trip can be summed up in one word. AWESOME.

I'll leave you with a few words of wisdom from the trip:

"You can ride a whole bunch of birds if you tie them together. Seagull?
Seagull!! The seagulls like carried the peach through the arctic. It can carry me!!" ~Mary

Strange signage in other states.

One of the few things NY has going for it seems to be its relatively normal signage. Or maybe I'm just used to it.

For example, Pennsylvania decided to step up their game and help promote safe driving habits by posting slightly alarming signs on their thoroughfares and turnpike saying things such as...

"High DUI area" and "High acccident area"

That'll make you drive slower... or scare you right out of the state.
My personal favorite was... "Buckle up, next million miles" lol. Someone thought they were being funny. lol.

Also, Pennsylvanians are so un-creative with their names. Everything ends in a -ton or -ville. how boring. We've got Canandaigua and other Native American names, and RI has crazy native american names like Misquamicut and Narragansett.

Sounds like Pennsylvania needs some Indians.

Dollar menus

I love dollar menus. Why? Because I'm cheap. The only problem with dollar menus is that milkshakes are never on the dollar menu. Milkshakes should be on the dollar menu. Why should my milkshake cost more than my chicken sandwhich!?!

Kayaking

As awesome as the ocean was, we decided to take a break from it to heal our sunburns - I looked like a lobster for the first couple days, then I looked like I had leprosy when it started healing.

Anyway, we decided to go kayaking. It's a wonderful outdoor activity. Except in some cases.

When we arrived at the small kayak rental place on Narrow River, we rented two double kayaks and then hopped right in (after some sunscreen of course). As my father and brothers paddled out, we laughed, because they were going sideways. haha, us girls could do way better. not.

The rental guy observed that that's why double kayaks are called 'divorce boats' and then pushed us off into the river. And then karma killed us.

We zig-zagged like the ball in a pinball machine, unable to go straight ahead for anything, probably because of our bad rhythm. The guy had told us to stay near the edges of the river because there we sandbars and shallow spots we might get stuck on in the middle, and guess what, we did.

Unable to follow his wise advice, we beached ourselves at every possible time (accidentally of course). We even got stuck one time... stranded on this sandbar... so I got out to un-beach us, and well... things went downhill from there. I got out and pushed them off, but that was not nearly the hardest part. Then I had to get back in the boat, which was really difficult considering that they were moving away and NOT COMING BACK FOR ME and I was stuck in the freakin' knee deep mud. Long story short, I left my crocs there, buried in about a foot and a half of mud. Hope the fishies enjoy them.

When we got to the end of the river -where the river met the ocean- we stopped at a beach (on purpose!!) and swam to a little sandbar that made it look like you were walking on water. Then my dad and I went ocean kayaking, which was freakin' amazing! Even capsizing was fun!

And thus our trip ended, our kayak zig-zagging into the sunset, only me paddling because my mom got tired. And me sans shoes.