Things I Learned from 2D Design:

1. If something's "phallic" and/or "penetrating," it's probably neither of the two
2. If it's "masculine," it's definitely perfume
3. We may be college students, but it doesn't mean we act like it
4. Everything can be described by the terms "magical" and "nostaligic"
5. The 2D Design classroom definitely has the worst chairs in the building--you either fall off or they sink down a foot when you sit down
6. You definitely can--and will--leave the only supply you need for the project you'll be working on for two and a half hours in your room.  And you'll spend those two and a half hours doing absolutely nothing.
7. Smelling Sharpe's for an extended period of time is BAD
8. Bringing your knitting to class is a good idea--it's still creative and it's fun

I sat down with the intention of trying to sum up what it's truly like to be in my 2D Design class right now.  I've probably missed a lot (it's not my fault I have a bad memory . . .) but this is pretty much what's been happening in that class lately.  Umm . . . hiking is fun . . . I went on an impromptu hiking trip on Sunday and it was amazing.  Seeing the guys in the car in front of us was funny and seeing a six foot, seven inch guy squeezing into the back seat of a Toyota Corolla--priceless.  The place where we went hiking was beautiful.  It was a little muddy, but not as bad as I thought it would be considering it rained all of Saturday.  Watching Lion King 1 and 2 all afternoon on Saturday was pretty fun, too.  Now on to the dreariness of a wellness paper.  Adios, all.

Random Lord of the Rings Quote of the Day

"I like that!" said Sam.  "I should like to learn it.  In Moria, in Khazad-dûm!  But it makes the darkness seem heavier, thinking of all those lamps.  Are there piles of jewls and gold lying about here still?"

I'm presently working my way back through The Lord of the Rings for probably the millionth time.  I wish more people were able to appreciate the amount of literary genius that went into the writing of that trilogy.  I've read it multiple times and I still find that there are details that I've missed.  I actually went and sat by the pond to read for a little while before dinner, but didn't get much reading done.  There's just so much general activity there, between the people walking by and the ducks and geese . . . It's ok, though.  I really just needed to get outside for a little while.  It was a beautiful day today and I spent 90% of it inside.  In class.  That seemed to last forever. 

Now on to Psych.  I can't wait until 12:00 tomorrow because it means that I will then be done for the weekend.

10 Things I Learned from College:

1. People have very different definitions of "normal"
2. There's no such thing as privacy
3. There's never enough time to sit down and knit an entire row
4. If you want to avoid drunk people on a Friday night, close your door
5. No matter how much time you spend studying, there will always be more homework
6. You can and will get locked out of your room at least once, and at the most inopportune moment
7. You will meet many different kinds of people--some crazy in an awesome way and some just plain creepy
8. Trying to avoid said creepy people is more difficult than it seems
9. You're not going to become archenemies with your rommates just because you knew them from high school
10. You will forget about a test and not bring a pencil at the worst time, even though you never did anything like that in high school

Yes, this is a summary of the things I've learned. And none of them relate to class material either, apparently. I know I kind of abandoned the blog up to this point, but I'm trying to keep up with classes and just experience college--work, play, creepers and all... I think I'm starting to get the hang of it.

Nerves

Classes start today. I'm not sure whether to be happy or sad. Orientation just seemed to drag on and on forever, but I'm still not sure I want classes to start. I'm really nervous. Of course, I don't have anything better to do right now than just sit here and think about it because all of my friends have left. Of course they have. I'm the only one in my wing (that I'm friends with, mind you) that has an eleven o'clock class. That may work out to my advantage later in the semester if I have to pull an all-nighter--meaning I can sleep in later--but that doesn't help me now. So let's talk about happier things, shall we?I've decided that I need an easy project . . . well . . . I have a lot of easy projects going right now. What I mean is the kind of project that I can do while sitting in the dark watching a movie. We were watching Howl's Moving Castle last night with a couple of other girls from our wing and some random guys and I couldn't knit! They insisted on having the light off. Since I was working on this:

And since I need to be able to see the stitches so I can knit without dropping any, I need the light on. So, I need something like a sock or a scarf or something of that sort . . .

Orientation

So this is my third day at college orientation. I've been learning the in's and out's of life that is college. My triple room is way bigger than I expected it to be and it looks awesome. For example:

My bed and my desk....and the giant shoebox full of cookies from my grandmom (in front of the TV) We've had several RA's complimenting our set-up. And, for probably the first time in my life, my stuff is pretty organized. For the moment, anyway. That's bound to change when classes actually start. But I've gotten a surprising amount of knitting done over the past couple of days during boring sessions. And I've found that it's very difficult to knit while there's an auditorium full of college students waiting for Keenan Thompson. The Orientation Leaders kept sending a wave across, threatening my knitting with every swing of their arms. But my scarf survived without any dropped stitches, fortunately.

I was rather disappointed with the show . . . I found Keenan Thompson very . . . not funny. Even my Orientation Leader, who was really looking forward to seeing him, said that she didn't think he was funny. But whatever. I got a lot of knitting done, so it's alright. And then I got even more knitting done today during our campus security talk this morning. I was listening, I promise. I just didn't feel like looking at the person talking . . .

Unfortunately, I've got to cut this short. There's a department meeting that I've got to get to. Art Ed! Woohoo! Yeah . . . of course I'm normal, why do you ask?

Productivity

Finally, for the first time in a while, I feel productive. First, I went out to breakfast with the youth minister from my church and a friend who also just graduated. Then, I went to the bank and cashed the last two paychecks I got. I haven't actually done any packing today, but I did order my textbooks online. This means that they'll be waiting for me in the student center for me when I get there next week. I also looked said textbooks up on Amazon and Alibris and decided that I might as well get them directly from the school (partly because none of the books were on Amazon orAlibris, but that's a minor detail). I've decided that college makes you harbor random objects that really don't belong in a bedroom. Other than the obvious books, yarn, bed, pillows--I've got dish soap on my desk and tons of crates full of stuff in front of my dresser (in a way that it's a pain to get clothes in and out of the dresser) and a second bed set (bedspread, sheets, etc.) and a laundry basket. Weird.
Anyhoo, yesterday, I started making Knitty's Shetland Shorty with my Knit Picks Imagination yarn:

Here's the yarn hanging out with the pattern on my laptop as I wound it into a ball. I've decided that a swift would be nice. Really nice. My knees will do in a pinch, and I'm sure borrowing somebody's hands would be great, but a swift would make life so much easier. I've always been stuck using my knees. Despite the fact that I have five younger siblings and two parents, none of them would ever be willing to hold my yarn for me while I wind it into a ball.
Anyway, I digress. I've gotten almost past the ties. Here I was thinking that the 300-stitch long garter-stitch ties would take me weeks. But watching Pride and Prejudice with my sister last night helped a lot. I know the storyline really well (I've read the book twice--first on my own, then in eleventh grade English), so it was easy to knit along with the movie. Maybe I'll talk everyone into watching another movie tonight . . . the perfect way to get lots of knitting done. I never knew 2700 stitches of garter stitch could go so fast. But I better not rejoice too loudly lest someone get jealous and let the rest of the wrap go painfully slow.Let's hope that doesn't happen. :)

Differing Perspectives

Why is it that non-knitters automatically assume that, if a knitter takes out their knitting, they’re bored? I went out to dinner with my friends Friday night (which was super-fun, by the way). We were at this Moroccan/Indian place for a six- or seven-course dinner; I kind of lost count after a while. While we were waiting for the next course, I decided I would take out my knitting and knit a few rows. In hindsight, I don’t think it was a good idea, anyway, because we were eating with our fingers and my fingers were all sticky—but I digress. My friends were horrified, thinking that I was bored! On the contrary, I was having a really, really good time. My hands just felt empty sitting there without an eating utensil. Even my friend who crochets didn’t believe me, though. So, unfortunately, I didn’t get to knit in the restaurant, which was rather disappointing. But I did get some knitting done later. :)
I’ve decided that I want to make a pair of legwarmers. I have no idea what I would do with a pair of legwarmers, but I want to make a pair. Now I just need to find a good pattern…