Favorite Spots And My Dorm Room

     I've been meaning to update this for awhile but just haven't been able to find the time. I also wanted to procure a couple of things before this post so that I could give some insight about my life at college with pictures of my favorite places and my dorm room and just generally my world as it is now.
     My dorm is pretty close to the local eatery JCL (Jester City Limits) which is in the Jester dorms. I'll actually be staying in Jester West (They have a Jester East and West because it's so large) for the fall and spring semester. Jester West is actually attached to the building with JCL in it. I'll be able to get food without leaving an air conditioned building! (It's hot out there okay?) As lazy as that may sound.

 

Said path on the way to my dorm.

     One of my favorite places to just walk through is actually on the way to JCL. There's this canopy of trees right by my dorm. The branches and leaves just reach over you and these beautiful slats of sunlight fall through and there's a faint green glow shining through the leaves. It's diffused and for a moment there is this quintessence of everything before you come out on the other side with the feeling like you've just accidentally slipped into another world. A brief respite from the world. An insight into everything. One that you forget as soon as you're out. Or it's a bunch of really pretty trees and I take everything too seriously. Either way I love it.
     There's another place on the way back from one of my classes by one of the two gymnasiums on campus called Gregory Gym and that picture is below. The old man in the hot pink short shorts came walked into the frame just as I took the picture. Ironically he came from the gym all sweaty and then lit up a cigarette. I don't really understand the point of spending all that time exercising getting healthier and then canceling it all out like that, but that's just me.

Gregory Gym on the left. By far the prettiest place on campus.

     I have my Cultural Mythology midterm tomorrow (which is what I'll be studying about all night) and my Classical Mythology midterm Friday. I'm significantly more worried about the mythology class because of a monstrous essay question and the sheer amount of things we have to know, but I absolutely LOVE that class and my professor. She's amazing. My Cultural Anthropology professor... not so much. Anyways, the place where I spend most of my time is this lovely place. 

My dorm room! You can see my bed (top bunk) and my laptop/desk area.

     Well, I sure really get back to studying, but I wanted to tell everyone about what's going on. There aren't too terribly many people on campus right now, but everyone tells me that the population will explode when fall semester starts. I can't wait! Until next time!

In Which Something Other Than College Is Discussed

     I realized that up until now all I've really talked about is college which while making perfect sense in reference to the title isn't too terribly interesting. So, I love to write creatively and in an odd way a story idea hit me that I'm doing preliminary work on. Basically, the entire book would be in a short story format from the perspective of the main character who is doing a documentary pretty much on break ups and exes. Each short story would be each interviewee telling their story to him and through all of the interviews, the main character will move on through their own heartbreak and that's the easiest way to describe it in short terms. The different types of interviews and relationships will range from tragic to hilarious to ridiculous, meaningful, pointless and everything in between because that's what life and love is. It's funny, it's heartbreaking, it's crazy and it's incredibly difficult to pin down with one singular, short summary. You need the gambit of emotions and words to even get close to it. One scene in particular I cannot wait to write because I picture a little girl coming into the room and sitting on the couch in front of the camera and the main character and the entire chapter would be like, "He was too loud so's I called him a poophead. Danny gave me Crayons. I like Danny now." And she would stand up and just leave.
     I'm also working on my extremely complicated fantasy/fiction idea which is slowly shaping up and rewriting my teen fiction idea. It's an arduous and long process, but hopefully in the next few years I can actually write something good and get it published! (It would definitely go around the family and close friends first though. ;) )
     Well, I studied for almost two hours with a classmate for my Mythology quiz tomorrow and I'm pretty exhausted. Until next time!

Day Three- Still Fed and Clothed (And Clean!)

     Well, the fun thing about summer classes is that they have to squeeze so much material in such a short amount of time. Today my Classical Mythology professor said, "Today will kind of be Intro to Greek History and Intro to Roman History all in one day! So, bear with me." That was all kinds of cramming. In my Cultural Anthropology class, we're looking at ethnography meaning anthropologists that actually go out and live within foreign cultures, building a good rapport and becoming very involved or as they say, being "participating observers." If I weren't so interested in english and psychology, anthropology very well might be the next thing I was interested in!
     I think that I might still give off that new, doe-eyed look of a freshman because today in the JCL (Jester City Limits) which is pretty much a very tasty cafeteria, a man was kind of watching me and making sure "I knew where everything was." When I gave him my ID to pay he was kind of surprised. I'm pretty sure that there's an orientation going on, so he may have thought I was an orientee instead of a student. l:/
     I'm reading Jude the Obscure for something called Reading Round-Up where you read a book and then get to discuss it with a professor just before fall starts and I'm trying to squeeze in the 400+ pages along with all of my other reading. Kind of crazy. Other than that, I saw a gang of three squirrels today. Apparently in Austin squirrels travel in packs. I pictured the most adorable gang in existence complete with squeaked threats and generally squirrely activities.
     Well, I have to go read I suppose so until another day!

My First Day!

     Well, for starters, I absolutely love Austin and UT. The campus is bigger than my entire town and has about ten times the people easily. My first ever college classes were a little overwhelming today and I forgot to eat an actual meal until twenty minutes ago, but I know I'll fit in great.
     The classes I'm taking for this second summer semester are Introduction to Classical Mythology and Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. I'm much more excited about the mythology class just because I love to write and Greek and Roman (And Near East) mythologies are something I've never really had the opportunity to study before. It's almost like a historical english class. We only went over the basic "Twelve Olympians (Dodekatheon) which are- Zeus/Jupiter, Poseidon/Neptune, Hera/Juno, Demeter/Ceres, Aphrodite/Venus, Ares/Mars, Hephaestus/Vulcan, Apollo/Phoebus, Artemis/Diana, Athena/Minerva, Hermes/Mercury and Hestia/Vesta. That's probably too much information, but yeah! I'm exciting. I have a lot of reading homework to do and my legs hurt from walking all across the 40 acres of campus. I won't even have to work out at the gym at this rate!
     I'm in a smaller dorm called Prather and the community shower/bathrooms aren't bad at all. My roommate Jamichael is extremely cool and so far we've gotten along great! The most I've really had time to do is read, eat, walk and write. I'm afraid if I sit still for too long then I'll completely pass out! Aunt Claire's snacks are keeping me alive very well, so thank you for those. :)
     Well, about thirty pages of reading for both of my classes is calling my name so I'll have to upload another post soon and with pictures around campus. Until next time!