Well, I figured out how to use my wireless connection and it's spiffy. We got cable internet (finally!) after like five years of 56k, this is like a dream come true. Now I can go online wherever I want in the house. And it's pretty dang fast too.

Yesterday we were hanging out at Arney's watching Bravo (damn, that channel is so addicting now, what with its Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Boy Meets Boy), and Jeff said he had to leave for a bit. He came back with presents for us from Missourah! And they were beautiful presents too. I got a turquoise necklace that perfectly suited me. Mel got a fake diamond bracelet that perfectly suited her. And Arney.. well, as Jeff said, Arney was somewhat screwed over because Jeff got all our presents at a jewelry shop. So Arney got a blue shark tooth necklace, which coincidentally, matched his new hot shirt. And... Jeff also got one for Laura and I really think she'll like how it looks too, as well as the subliminal message that accompanies it.

Our trip to the Cities was tres fun, but of course! So many memories.. mints strewn all about, Mel being paparazzi, yawning, evil remote controllers, shopping for the boys. But those are private details.

I feel like there's so much I want/need to do before I go, and there's definitely not enough time.

Oh my darling, how I'm going to miss you.

You know who you are.

Let's see, what I have been doing... well, my friends and I have been planning a road trip up to the Cities, yay! I can't wait.. we're just hoping Jeff can come though, because his parents are a little iffy about it. Actually, a lot iffy. But if they don't let him, we're going to enlist all the persuasive powers of our parents. So. There you are.

What else.. what else. Yo Yo Ma is amazingly talented. I was listening to his Bach unaccompanied cello suites and wow. Everyone should listen to these two CDs. I mean, just by listening to him, I wanted to read more, write more, be more creative. I remembered how I used to be this crazy little artist/writer, how I was so happy with my watercolors and how all it used to take to amuse me was a pencil and a piece of paper. I am now going to try and watch TV less. I already don't go online all that much, so.. all right then.

Sometimes, and maybe now I'm going to sound like a crazy schitzophrenic, I feel like I'm two Christines. One is the pop-culture loving, dancing, live in this real world Christine. The second is the reading, writing, painting me. The first mostly overshadows the second, except when I listen to classical music, the really good kind, or when I read an amazing book.

I want more of the second me. But it's so hard to be the second without losing the first, and the friends that come with it.

Wow, these past three days have given me many a new material item. I got my laptop yesterday, finally! It's the new Gateway 200X... the laptop itself is a new player in the market, so hopefully it'll prove to last a long time. Sigh. Call me a geek, but it's so beautiful! And weighs soo little! And has wi-fi, which I must figure out how to use!

Another new item is a CAMERA! It's not digital, so it'll be a big change for instant-gratification me. The Nikon N65 looks tres professional, which is something I've always wanted because my Nikon Coolpix, as great as it is, looks anything but.

Also have bought dorm stuff... bed linens, towels, cookery (ah yes, did I forget to mention that the dorm I'm living in has a KITCHEN? and two bedrooms for two people!), etc. I also got this Whipped Silk lotion from St. Ives that smells heavenly. And whoever came up with that name, "Whipped Silk," is obviously a marketing genius. Think about it. Who doesn't want to have silky skin? It's like the Bath and Body Works Purely Silk lotion. At least, I think it's called Purely Silk. Close enough.

I believe I'll have to tell you about orientation another time. I want to go play with my new toys. Thank you very very very much parents!

Quick note: the contact form is if you want to give me a comment or question. Not for random pressing so that I get empty e-mails. The form spaces are as follows: name, e-mail, website, and comment/question for those Mac users who probably can't read them (I'm using a mac right now and it's hard going).

Met other NYU students. Pretty psyched. Think am in tres cool dorm. Ciao.

In New York. Finished Sense and Sensibility, a movie I saw when I was young but a book I never could read. Now that I have, it is truly one of my favorites.

What else? Mmm. Always heart rending to go in supermarkets and see live seafood writhing around or fish swimming in cages much too small for them. Today I saw sea turtles for sale. Couldn't help but feel awful. Hope to stop it someday.

Leave for orientation tomorrow morning.

By the way, I received a ProQuest article from a user at our public library today... the person didn't sign their name. Do you want to tell me who you are so I can properly appreciate it? As it is now, thank you.

So I leave tomorrow morning for NY. 7 A.M. bright and early, which means that I will have to get up at 5.

I couldn't sleep at all last night. Maybe ten or twenty minutes. An hour, tops. I kept tossing and turning. And I still don't know why. There are so many things it could have been. Worrying about placement exams. Worrying about being the hick girl in the strange big city. Worrying about finding friends like the ones I have here, who'll stick by me through thick and thin (thin being the most important times, of course, the times that try relationships).

Conversely, while I worry, I am also looking forward to so much. I look forward to the Florence trip that NYU Presidential Scholars get to take in January. I look forward to joining the staff of the newspaper and meeting new people (having been on the high school paper, I know we are a strange but interesting bunch). I look forward to deciding what I want to do with my life, with learning in classes that I actually want to take. I look forward to being in New York. I mean, it's New York!

But enough sentimental babbling. Driving in the rain/cloudy day with Kascade playing in the background is so lovely. Good music does that... heightens the beauty of things around you. As does being with people you love.

I'll get Chicago pictures up as soon as possible.

Ate my first piece of chicken in a year. The bet is over and wahoo, I managed to be pesco-vegetarian for a year! I think I'm still going to try and stick with just fish and veggies because as much as I like meat, I still consider it to be rather unhealthy. I always hear about the shipments of meat that need to be recalled because rats pooed on them or some such thing. So.. there you are. I think I'll stick to eating meat once a week. Possibly even less.

Ate at Applebee's last night with Jeff and Arney... it was funny because apparently, Jeff nodded at a girl he thought he knew, but she returned the nod with a "Who's your daddy?" motion. It was directed at him and me... odd, how strangers are sometimes. Then after, shopped around for a bit with Arney as Jeff went with Laura to Pirates of the Caribbean. And read. I think I've found the planner that I'm going to use next year.. it's funky and from B&N.

To read about the Chicago trip, see Mel's website. I have to go clean our bathrooms and pack. Going to New York Saturday. I'm getting really really nervous about the placement exams because I haven't done Latin in a year. Not so worried about math. Maybe I'm over confident. But tonight am going to eat at Outback with friends... my first steak in a while as well!

Hey everyone--I'm currently being a big dork with Mels at the Apple store on Michigan Ave. in Chicago. We're here visiting Ayesha in her ginormous new house in Lake Forest. Seriously, all the cars in this neighborhood are pimpin'.

Let's see what's happened so far. Well, yesterday we saw Legally Blonde 2, which was definitely not as good as the first one. Good enough though. I really want to see Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas. I'm still a big kid at heart.

Had interesting dreams last night involving a restaurant, soap opera, and a certain boy.

Having fun.. haven't bought anything yet. Saw a beautiful Burberry coat for $1190. Bit much for my budget. Still haven't seen the ONE thing that is screaming "Buy me! Buy me!" so am saving money for food. I've been a lot more quiet lately, being more introspective and thinking of things.

Hope everyone is well. Ciao.