Schriften

200

2012-01-31T00:12:00.002-05:00

1-31-12 I mean, technically it's still Monday for me, but I like consistency. Ha. We were talking at lunch today about how all of us were the epitome of predictability. I think the only one truly and deeply saddened by that was Blondo. I had a good day, though. Castle night is always the best. But I thought that my two hundredth post needed something better than just an update. So...

Realizations(?)

2012-01-29T02:03:00.000-05:00

1-29-12 (though I haven't gone to bed from the 28th yet, so technically it's still Saturday night for me, rather than Sunday morning) I've discovered that it takes me time to settle into a group, to really feel like a part of it. It takes me a while to truly trust and feel comfortable with people. Some of that's due to my personality, I think (I consider myself an introvert, though the business

Ender

2012-01-20T23:53:00.001-05:00

1-20-12 Fiction-y thing. _________________ If you can't join 'em, might as well beat 'em. That was the philosophy she'd unknowingly lived by since she was small. Since the others had teased her for doing the right things, for listening to the teacher, for doing her homework, for being nice to the student they had deemed unacceptable. But even that student teased her because kindness and

Um

2012-01-19T20:53:00.000-05:00

1-19-12 This semester is either going to kill me or make me stronger. Probably the latter, but of course it feels like the former. I'm so glad it's Friday tomorrow, which means it's almost Sabbath. Yay! Even though this week is just as long as any other week, it's felt really long to me. *sigh* We haven't even had a full week of school yet. More later.

Beginning of the End of Break

2012-01-06T18:35:00.000-05:00

1-6-12 Well, it was a record 10.5 hour trip down here to Tennessee on Wednesday (after a few days of weather delays). No, I didn't speed. The traffic was really light--I made it through Indiana in only five hours, but that may be because of the route I took--and the weather stayed nice and clear. So, I arrived in town at like 7:30 PM or so, EST (I left at 8:00 AM CST), and decided to check my

So Far This Break

2011-12-23T14:07:00.000-05:00

12-23-11 On Monday, I traveled from Collegedale to Michigan City. It took 11 hours, an entire hour less than what it normally takes. I only stopped three times, once in each state. I didn't hit traffic in any of the cities that I passed through, the weather stayed clear, and my truck only spazzed a little (which Dad has now fixed, to my knowledge, with putting anti-freeze in the truck). Granted,

Reading Books

2011-12-17T14:12:00.000-05:00

12-17-11 So, finals are over. Yay! Now I have a year until my own graduation. Not so yay. I mean, that's exciting, but it's also very scary, considering that if I don't get into law school, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'm still trying to figure out options just because, well, plans don't always go as planned. Besides, my mom keeps asking me what I'll do if I don't get into law school, and

Grown-up

2011-12-11T16:34:00.001-05:00

12-11-11 Fiction-ish. _________________________ In an odd way, she had to be thankful for the war. She wouldn't have met Him otherwise. Well, that was probably inaccurate. They would have met in some different way; she didn't doubt that at all. It was part of what made Him magical in the first place. But she didn't know the story of what would have been, of what if and what then. She only had

Trees and Plots and People

2011-12-09T23:18:00.001-05:00

12-9-11 Very fiction-y. ________________________ She'd never met anyone outside of her major who would intelligently discuss books and movies and music with her before, let alone about the fantasies and sci-fi that she liked the most. That he liked the most. That they both liked. She'd just wanted to say hello--that's the whole point of hanging back after a meeting, right? To see people whom

Brock Bowl

2011-12-08T21:52:00.001-05:00

12-8-11 English was once again victorious. We beat History, 215 to 100. Also, I'm apparently a good guesser. We threw out a random answer of "Trees" and we were right. Also, I threw out the answer of "Grover Cleveland" and was right. It was the strangest thing ever to guess things right. It was fun, though there was only like five English majors at the beginning of the convocation. Maybe

Rebel

2011-12-07T21:39:00.001-05:00

12-7-11 Fiction-ish thing. _________________________ She'd been classified as a rebel early on. Living under a dictatorship and having parents who would do anything (almost quite literally) for freedom and democracy and all those lofty ideals was almost certainly part of the reason. So, if anyone ever asked her what she thought (but no one ever did, not about that, anyway), she would have

Competition?

2011-12-02T22:11:00.001-05:00

12-2-11 Okay, so I guess I should feel honored that they want me to organize some English majors for the Brock Bowl next week. But, apparently the head of my department was "trash-talking" to the leader of the opponents. Before my class with him, he told me about their conversation with his excited face on, the one where his eyes twinkle mischievously. What was said: "I told [that professor]

A Singular Rant

2011-12-02T21:51:00.001-05:00

12-2-11 I would have made this fiction-y, I'll have you know. I tried to think of an adequate way of doing so, but nothing happened. So I'll just revert to honesty. I'm growing tired of being told that being single is a gift because I am more free, I am in more control, I am more whatever. I know this fact. Perhaps I need the occasional reminder when I'm feeling whatever, I'll admit that. I

Christmas on the Promenade

2011-12-01T21:15:00.001-05:00

12-1-11 Christmas on the Promenade is my favorite event at Southern. At least, I'm pretty sure it is. Most everyone gathers out at Taylor Circle, listens to the academy band, watches the Thanksgiving tree be lit, and then walks up and down the Promenade listening to musical groups perform, looking at the decorations, and eating doughnuts and drinking hot chocolate or hot cider. I found a couple

Infographic

2011-11-29T22:15:00.001-05:00

11-29-11 So, today, I was headed to Pirates, Captives, and Slavery class, which takes place in the classroom where I took Comp 101, which is on the first floor of Brock. (I think I'm sitting near or in the same place I did in that class, but that's a different story and/or mental disorder of mine.) As I was rounding the corner, one of my friends spotted me. I don't see him a lot, but we were

Tiny Update

2011-11-27T20:37:00.001-05:00

11-27-11 I was going to try and write something fictional and/or fiction-y, but I'm not feeling that sort of expressive today. I've been working on my fiction, though, and that's good. I did a lot of bumming around this break, which is odd, but maybe I needed it. I did miss my friends, though, but that's to have been expected. Back to the grind for 2.5 weeks. More later.

Warm and Fuzzy

2011-11-23T23:20:00.001-05:00

11-23-11 Yesterday was a good day. Not that today wasn't, it's just that yesterday was a particularly good day for warm fuzzies. The people who gave them probably don't know how much it means for them to have told me those things, but I'm awfully glad they did. First off, a person whose opinion on my writing and such I really value told me that he thinks I'm a good writer and that he's glad

What?

2011-11-18T19:33:00.001-05:00

11-18-11 So, yesterday, one of my teachers asked me, "So, Ashlee, when do you plan to take the LSAT?" and my response was, "Um, I don't know. Next semester or next fall, I haven't decided." But what puzzled me then (and still does) is how she knew I'd made that decision. I haven't really said anything specific on Twitter (and that's where she could have seen something). I suppose my blog could

Three Trailers that Intrigue Me

2011-11-18T14:45:00.001-05:00

11-18-11 I mean, yes, trailers are supposed to intrigue you, but these three are ones that really do. First, the trailer for The Hunger Games. (If you haven't read the first book, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, please do so and then go watch the trailer.) This is the description from Collins' website: Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the

Progress

2011-11-13T22:41:00.001-05:00

11-13-11 Well, on Sabbath, I overslept and ended up streaming the Renewal service through my computer (even though I live across the street from the church). I know, I'm lazy, okay, whatever, I needed the sleep. Anyway, the mission moment was the Pewitts, who returned three weeks ago from eleven years of missionary work in Cambodia. The organization they went through is Adventist Frontier

Vespers

2011-11-11T23:25:00.001-05:00

11-11-11 (Of course I had to have a post today, since everyone's been freaking out about today's date.) I was really on the fence about going to vespers tonight. Not because I hate vespers or anything. I actually like vespers. I like sitting and hearing most of the school sing praises to God and listening to great speakers. I like vespers and have since academy. Recently, however, I've ended up

Small Quantities to Achieve Results In

2011-11-10T21:52:00.001-05:00

11-10-11 I have so much to do. (Who doesn't?) But, I don't know, this semester I've been more unsettled and distracted and unfocused than ever before in my life. I don't think that's exaggeration. And I don't really know why. I thought making some of the decisions I've made would have eased it a bit. Maybe I'm taking worries back from God without even realizing it. Yikes, I hate it when I do

Pedestrian

2011-11-08T21:02:00.001-05:00

11-8-11 Walking around a place lets you get to know it better than if you just zip through in some fancy schmancy vehicle. That's my opinion, anyway. Granted, I am a little biased because I prefer walking to driving (when I can, of course), but I think it holds true. There's only so little one can see from the driver's seat of a car. Now, there's more to see if you're a passenger, but most

Comfortable

2011-11-07T21:13:00.002-05:00

11-7-11 Fiction-y description thing, definitely based on fact. ______________________________________ She stretched out on one of the padded benches, her dress shoes off and set neatly on the tile floor (For who would think of putting their shoes up on the furniture?), and flipped over onto her stomach. She was tired--tired of traveling, of striving, of playing, of dealing with people. A nap

Contemporary

2011-11-06T21:45:00.001-05:00

11-6-11 I've been wondering why I don't write anything that's particularly contemporary. I usually write far in the future or in some indeterminate time that could be both alternate reality or the far future. Depends on the story. I've read some great contemporary novels (and even beta'ed one that I hope gets published), but it's not something I'm drawn to write. I think part of my problem is

Oh Boy.

2011-11-01T21:08:00.000-04:00

11-1-11 If you know me, you'll know that I'm not the type of person to compulsively do something (except maybe buy dessert because I'm stress-eating, although that is getting better). I mean, I've never skipped a class on purpose or without permission, I look both ways when crossing the street (though that might be due more to the crazy drivers zipping down College Drive; 30 MPH means thirty

Balance

2011-11-01T07:17:00.002-04:00

11-1-11 I guess this could be titled "Time Management." It's just rather crazy at the moment--I go on tour with the Wind Symphony Thursday (through early Sunday morning), and so I'm trying to balance doing homework (including my infographic, of which I lose a day of work time on because of tour) and prepping for tour and working on term papers (one of which I've only partially planned, one of

Busy

2011-10-30T21:25:00.001-04:00

10-30-11 So, I spent the day doing homework, working, and doing homework. Oh, did I mention that I did homework today? And there's still much to do. Oh well, time to go to bed. More later.

Inexplicable

2011-10-28T22:36:00.000-04:00

10-28-11 Sometimes I feel inexplicably joyful, where the joy just bubbles up out of somewhere that I can't identity. (Or it's flowing from Someone who I can most certainly identify.) But it's for no particular reason; it's not connected to a person or situation or anything, to my knowledge. It just is. It comes when sunrise is pink and orange and streaks of red--what Homer would call "

Hmm

2011-10-28T07:08:00.001-04:00

10-28-11 So, I was reading a friend's blog. He had just read this, and so I followed his link to it and read it for myself. Hmm. That makes a lot of sense, and it's really annoying. It makes sense because it resonates (and that's the same reason that it's annoying). It took me forever to start trying things that I might fail at. Actually, I'm still working on taking good risks instead of

Choices

2011-10-27T20:58:00.000-04:00

10-27-11 Fiction-y thing. ______________ In her mind, she stood at the edge of a precipice. Choosing which way to go had never been this difficult before. There'd always been beaten paths. Safe paths. Paths whose beginning and ends and in-betweens could nearly always be clearly discerned. Paths with predictability. But then she'd met Him, and He'd turned her world upside down. Oh, not

Levellers

2011-10-25T21:10:00.001-04:00

10-25-11 So I am slogging away at my Pirates, Captives, and Slavery paper, the one that Diller's so excited about since no one has ever studied this sort of thing, to my knowledge. (I'm studying the parallels between the New Model Army of the English Civil War and pirate societies.) One of the factions inside Parliament and inside the New Model Army was the Levellers. Their official statement

I Willingly Chose to Have a Microphone in my Face Today

2011-10-24T21:22:00.000-04:00

10-24-11 It was the strangest thing, being interviewed. Especially since it was only for the sounds. For the pictures that I could create with my words. It made sense to me, seeing as I'm a writer, but there I was, trying to talk about music and creating music and how to put my bass clarinet together, trying to find the right words, the clearest words, and I wondered: How do people on television

Root Beer Floats and Answered Prayers

2011-10-22T14:00:00.000-04:00

10-22-11 When I was at Red Robin yesterday, I totally made the waitress' day. The hostess had seated us, and the waitress (her name is Cindy) came up to the hostess and said, "I have to sell only one more and then I win!" in this excited tone of anticipation. Curious, I said, "What do you have to sell one more of?" "A root beer float!" Cindy said. I thought I could hear the tone of hope in her

Truck Adventures

2011-10-21T23:29:00.003-04:00

10-21-11 Today I had lots of adventures! I actually had most of the adventures with Brooke, since she texted me right before I was ready to go and asked me for my plans and I said, "Why don't you come along?" and she did. We went to Great Clips and we both got haircuts, and I'm pretty pleased with mine, enough so that I think I'll add myself to their database when I go back for another haircut

"Just as stupid as the rest of us"

2011-10-21T23:13:00.003-04:00

10-21-11 Fiction-y thing. ________________ She didn't know if she'd have done this for anyone else. Perhaps she would have made excuses (though the most ready excuse no longer existed), perhaps she would have said "Another time." But, for him, she made time. Maybe it was because they were friends; maybe it was because she had told him that he was stuck with her as a friend months ago.

die grüne Maschine

2011-10-20T19:37:00.000-04:00

10-20-11 I've been avoiding driving at night because I only had brights and my dims had stopped working. Well, I usually avoid driving if I can help it. I don't like doing it, really. Something about other people being idiots and potential bringers of injury and/or death, at least three vehicles that have left me stranded on the side of the road, the fact that sometimes following the traffic

Smeagol-ish

2011-10-18T21:40:00.004-04:00

10-18-11 Okay, I've already written and then shelved two blog posts. I'm just not sure how personal I want to be. I love you guys, but I'm still learning this being open thing, and the Internet is still a big wide open indefinable sea of pages and what not. (I referred to the Internet as being similar to the high seas in my Pirates, Captives, and Slavery midterm essay today. I also used the

Philia

2011-10-18T21:15:00.000-04:00

10-18-11 Fiction-y thing. ____________ She'd told him lots of things in the time they'd know each other. He was one of the few people who'd seen her cry, and had once threatened to violently harm anyone who ever made her cry like that again. They shared in-jokes that only seven people in the entire world knew, laughing at the remembrance of sunshine and the sound of the sea. He could tease her

Misunderstandings and Understandings

2011-10-14T22:34:00.001-04:00

10-14-11 Fiction-y thing. It's sort of long, but yeah, all the parts are necessary. Also, a few posts ago, some of you asked me a question, and all I can say is, "Have a look at this and see if you can get an answer out of it." ________________________ Why did the letter say what it said? Why had he written that? She didn't understand. Sure, she'd asked him to Sadie Hawkins, but that wasn't

Whittling

2011-10-11T21:11:00.000-04:00

10-11-11 Well, I've never actually whittled anything, unless you can count the times I used my pocket knife to scrape bark off ridiculous "walking sticks" that were never strong enough to be walking sticks. So, no, I've never whittled. Literally, anyway. Metaphorically, however, is a different story. I have decided that I don't particularly want to be a reporter. I like knowing new information

Corn Mazes and Crazy MacBeth

2011-10-10T09:04:00.000-04:00

10-10-11 Well, I've had a great weekend. I went to bed early on Friday evening, slept great, and enjoyed listening to the orchestra and to Pastor Dave at church. I made a great lunch (that both Amy and Chelsea liked) and I had a nice nap. Then a group of at least 40 of us went to a corn maze. More specifically, The River Maze, which was just straight up awesome. It was dark, but the moon was out

Thinking?

2011-09-28T21:57:00.001-04:00

9-28-11 I waver between being an adult and being an almost-adult. I think most people (if not all people) do. But what does it take to feel like an adult? Or are the adults just running things while pretending that they're adults (while secretly feeling that they're not adults)? Thinking about that makes me think about Ender. And Ender's Game. And why I like that book so very, very much. It

Autopilot

2011-09-26T21:04:00.000-04:00

9/26/11 [status: awake] [function_getready] [function_shower] [function_havedevotions] [function_eatbreakfast] [function_checkemail] [function_gotoclass] [function_takenotesandlisten] [note: repeat function until classes end] [function_work] [function_benicetoclients] [function_remembertosignthesheet] [

Well...

2011-09-22T20:30:00.000-04:00

9/22/11 I am certainly ready for Midterm Break, though I keep wondering why, since by that point in the semester I'll be at least hip-deep in two term papers. One's for Haluska, the other's for Diller, and, sure, I can do it, and, yeah, I chose my classes for the semester, but still, that's going to be tough. Whatever. I've also realized that I've got a lot to do, like start my honors project (

Firefly and Early Modern State Formation

2011-09-11T00:03:00.000-04:00

9-10-11 (You know, the date is in numerical order if you write it month-date-year. That's sort of cool.) Okay, I like the show Firefly. I know there's only fourteen episodes (I own them) and I know that Fox screwed them over by not playing the first episode first. But that's not what's on my mind. I'm in one of Diller's classes, Pirates, Captives and Slavery (also could be known as Early

Unexpected

2011-09-09T16:08:00.000-04:00

9-9-11 This is another of those fiction-y things. So, yeah. ___________ She wanted to do something unexpected, something that people would be pleasantly surprised that she had done it. Nothing illegal or completely stupid, just...unexpected. For everything, it seemed, had become expected, routine. Homework, work, classes, all routine. This teacher assigns easy work; that teacher assigns hard

Rain (and Other Sundry Bits of Information)

2011-09-05T20:40:00.000-04:00

9-5-11 So, rain decided to come in through the part of my window where the curved window meets the rectangular window. Not cool. I texted and called JP, and she got someone from Plant Services to look at it. He dried it and put some plumber's putty on it, but I have to leave my room disarranged so that someone can look at it tomorrow to see what else needs to be done with it. *sigh* You would

Rain

2011-09-02T21:59:00.001-04:00

9-2-11 Rain. I love how it sounds when it patters against the roof and windows, how the thunder rolls and the lightning flashes, how the dry, cracked earth soaks up what it has badly needed. I went out to my truck to make sure that the duct-tape window was keeping the rain off my back seat. (So far, so good.) I went barefoot, with the wet new smooth sidewalk underfoot. The wind pushed the rain

Birthday

2011-09-01T07:11:00.000-04:00

9-1-11 Yesterday was my 24th birthday. Yet somehow people kept asking me how it felt to turn 21. (I don't know why. I either must act or look younger than I am. Hopefully the latter.) Anyway, I've also been asked that annual question: "Do you feel different?" Answer: Not really. I still have homework, I still am in school, I still have work, etc., And that's probably how it's going to be for

A Summer of Firsts

2011-08-23T17:11:00.002-04:00

8-23-11 Okay, so now I finally have some time to write about my summer. It was definitely a summer of firsts, as my title indicates. Let's see, perhaps a list would be good here: First time climbing straight up a mountain (as in, clambering over boulders and picking out footholds, etc.) at Devils Lake, WI. I learned a lot about my fellow staff members during that climb, which, despite being

Travels

2011-08-17T20:47:00.000-04:00

8-17-11 I start traveling back to Southern tomorrow. I plan to arrive in the afternoon on Friday. Then I'll have some more time to write about my summer after I unpack and go buy food. More later.

2011-08-10T11:15:00.000-04:00

8-10-11 I'm headed back to Indiana today. It'll probably take six hours, even though Mapquest says it'll be five hours and twenty minutes. Mapquest doesn't take construction slowdowns into the equation. Anyway, I'll probably write a long, detailed blogpost about my summer because it was excellent. However, I'll write that when I'm back at my parents' apartment. More late.

Wow.

2011-07-29T18:29:00.000-04:00

7-29-11 Um, I've been at camp. Sorry for the long absence. I'm still at camp, and it's time for supper. I sort of wish that I could avoid some of the family campers because they didn't tell me they were leaving today until yesterday and now their ceramics projects aren't out of the kiln yet. Argh. More later.

Hmm

2011-04-25T23:00:00.000-04:00

4-25-11 Although one may spend the day as a mobster, one doesn't have to be a mobster for one's entire life, and that's a wonderfully gloriously freeing thing. That's it. If I feel like writing the story behind it, I may. I'm just--I have a final at 10 tomorrow and I need sleep. More later. ~Ashlee

My Mom Sent Me A Picture

2011-04-19T09:24:00.000-04:00

4-19-11 This is my new truck. Just thought you might want to see it. I'm thinking up a name right now. :D More later. -Ashlee

A Blessing

2011-04-17T22:50:00.001-04:00

4-17-11 On Friday I became the owner of a truck. My parents found it, and I still have to wire $900.00 tomorrow to my mom's bank account so it can be completely paid for (and I have a friend who'll be taking me to Regions tomorrow after Writing for the Media), but I have a truck. It's under my parents' name because they're paying for the insurance and all that, but I'm paying for most of it, so

Just So You Know

2011-04-11T23:49:00.000-04:00

4-11-11 I got back to my apartment at 11:26 or so. This is past check. However, there was no sign-in sheet hanging on the clipboard by the RA's apartment. I don't know what I'm supposed to do in this situation: wait to see if the RA comes around? keep checking outside to see if the sign-in sheet appears and put the time I got back? send an e-mail to the dean just in case I fall asleep and the RA

Psychic Entrophy

2011-03-24T21:30:00.000-04:00

3-24-11 So I wish I saw someone enough to even have the chance to be cowardly. I wish the chemistry department hadn't updated to a new edition for next semester, thereby locking me out of being able to sell back my chemistry textbooks at the end of this semester. I wish I knew how I was getting home when the semester ends, and how I am getting to camp by June 7th. I wish I got to spend more time

The Day Before St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-16T23:00:00.000-04:00

3-16-11 I found this cool logic puzzle site that I've been trying to do a puzzle or two from it per day. I figure it would flex the logic muscles and get them in better shape. I thought you all might be interested in checking it out, if logic puzzles float your boat. I'm usually more of a crosswords gal, but like I said, I want to stretch the logic muscles. Why do I want to stretch my logic

Ides of March

2011-03-15T22:06:00.000-04:00

3-15-11 Yes, indeed, it is the Ides of March. It hasn't ended yet, but I'm decently sure I'm not about to get done in by a bunch of literally backstabbing friends. No, I just wanted to update whoever reads this on my life, since I haven't posted since the beginning of Spring Break, and it's been almost two or so weeks since that point. Last Sabbath afternoon I went on a potluck picnic to Red

Real Life This Time

2011-02-27T22:55:00.000-05:00

2-27-11 Not that what I haven't written previously hasn't reflected real life, just that it was fiction, whereas this will be about stuff that actually happened. :D On Friday I went to Panera and to the Chattanooga McKay, which is like a den of temptation for me, seeing as it's full of secondhand (or third or fourthhand) books, movies, and music. Suffice it to say, some money burnt a little

I Think I Understand Why Robby Labels His Posts with the Current Date

2011-02-26T18:20:00.001-05:00

2-26-11 Fiction-y thing, inspired by the brilliant this. Probably not the best thing ever, but this is what I started thinking when I read what Robby wrote. Here goes: --- He'd asked. Asked her. Of course, the first thing out of her stupid mouth was, "But why are you asking me out?" Beauty and brains was the answer. She'd expected the brains part, everyone talked about that, but Beauty? No one

Yes, I'm Up Late (For Me). Whatever...

2011-02-24T00:02:00.000-05:00

2-23-11 (for nine more minutes) Fiction-y thing. ----- "Um, I've got lots of stuff to do." That really wasn't an answer--it wasn't a Yes or a No or even a Maybe. It was just an evasion. She wouldn't be mad if she were told No. It's not as if No made it the end of the world. Made the world a little more difficult, yes, but it didn't end it. But no answer had come forth, so she sat there and

If You Multiply The Month with the Year, You Get Today's Date

2011-02-22T22:34:00.000-05:00

2-22-11 <--At least, when it's written in this format. And which has nothing to do with this post. No fiction-y thing tonight, but description. So maybe it's sort of fiction-y. Okay, it is. ----- The light pours from the sky, soaking the people as they walk along the betelnut-juice-stained sidewalks. It's not much different from when it rains, except then the people duck under awnings or behind

I'm on a Roll (seriously)

2011-02-21T23:36:00.000-05:00

2-21-11 Another fiction-y thing. I'm on a roll today. Here goes: "Is that all you ever talk about?" She closed the notebook, accidentally crinkling one of the pages. Smoothing it back out, she answered her mother. "I just like talking about my stories, that's all." "Well, it seems to be the only thing you talk about." What else would she talk about? The only interesting thing at home was

And Now for Something Entirely Different

2011-02-21T23:19:00.000-05:00

2-21-11 Or not. I think I'm going to try my hand at that fiction-y stuff that everyone else seems to be doing. ("Oh, so you're doing it because everyone else is? Would you jump off a cement ship if everyone else was?" "Actually, I did that, so I guess the answer's yes." "*exaggeratedsigh*") Here goes: She didn't know what to do. Never had, actually. Since she'd never seen it properly exampled,

Grungy Danes in Leather Vests

2011-02-20T23:00:00.000-05:00

2-20-11 That's the version of Hamlet we went to today, for the Sigma Tau Delta induction. It was at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre, and I enjoyed it. I've never seen Hamlet before, though I have read it. The guy playing Hamlet actually slammed the girl playing Ophelia into the "Road Closed" sign and dented it during the "Get thee to a nunnery" speech. Also, I have no sympathy for Rosencranz and

Pops Concert

2011-02-20T22:35:00.001-05:00

2-20-11 Saturday night was the evening of the Pops Concert. Blue Shades went well (my solo begins around 4:34 of that clip). My solo didn't go perfectly, but it went decently. (That's partially because Parsons and I discovered last Thursday that I'd been practicing something wrong for like a month and I probably spent about three hours maybe fixing that mistake.) Despite that, it sounded nice

So...

2011-02-15T21:46:00.000-05:00

2/15/11 I just e-filed my federal tax return. That was weird. It's the first time I've ever done it "by myself." I put that in quotation marks because technically I was also on Skype with my mom at the same time and asking questions. But I was the one clicking the buttons. And then I go to e-file my Indiana taxes, and I can't do those online because Mom said that I've never filed my Indiana

Lessons I Think I've Learned This Week

2011-02-11T22:25:00.001-05:00

2-11-11 1) Knowing the right thing to do in a situation is sometimes more difficult than doing that right thing. 2) Taking a risk doesn't mean there will be a reward for it, except maybe the fact that one took the risk. Granted, it would be nice if there were more of a reward, but that doesn't mean such would actually happen. 3) There's still a decent amount I need to learn about when to keep

A Screw Loose

2011-02-08T21:49:00.000-05:00

2-8-11 I've got a screw loose. No, literally. Not metaphorically, all you people out there who automatically thought, "Well, finally she's admitting it." I have a screw loose on my bass clarinet. It must have come undone due to the massive amounts of practicing I've been doing because we have an upcoming concert. (And by "upcoming," I mean a week from Saturday night.) I practiced my scales

Productivity

2011-02-03T23:14:00.000-05:00

2-3-11 Today I got a lot accomplished, even if it wasn't necessarily what I wanted to have gotten done. I'm learning how to be flexible. It's been a long process since I started learning on that Maranatha trip to Peru in 2005 and during my first summer of camp in 2006, and I'm a lot more flexible than I used to be, but I like things to be orderly and planned. Ducks in a row, that sort of thing.

Just A Thought Based on Observation

2011-02-03T23:04:00.000-05:00

2-3-11 Something I've gleaned from people-watching: God lights up when we're around Him. He loves us unreservedly. It's evident in the things God did and does for us, in the gifts He gives us, in the time He spends with us. But then we go and flirt with other things or other people and break His heart. Then we flit back to Him and act like nothing's wrong, like He doesn't have eyes and can't

Adding to The Portfolio Which I Have Yet to Put Together

2011-01-27T23:22:00.001-05:00

1-27-11 Last week I (along with other people) was asked through Facebook if I could please contribute something for the Religion page in the Southern Accent, Southern Adventist University's weekly newspaper. I took something I'd written for my journal report in Expository Writing last semester, made it a little longer, polished it up, and sent it along to the religion editor. Well, lo and

Changes

2011-01-27T23:15:00.000-05:00

1-27-11 I wanted to call this post "Kicked Out of the Nest," but seeing as I've jumped instead of having been kicked, it would not have been entirely accurate. I said in an earlier post that camp staff retreat had been stretching. Well, it was. There it was, New Year's Eve, and my camp director slings an arm over my shoulders and says, "Ashlee, you're a girl with options." First thought: What

Realizations

2011-01-23T21:52:00.000-05:00

1-23-11 I've come to the realization that I'd fallen into a trap. A trap that I hadn't realized I'd fallen into. In a way, it reminds me of when I got caught in the rip current in the Atlantic Ocean during senior class trip. I just couldn't get to shore, and I couldn't get to shore, and all of a sudden my feet could no longer touch the sandy bottom. I wasn't freaked out because I hadn't

News

2011-01-23T21:34:00.001-05:00

1-23-11 I seriously think that Writing for the Media is my favorite class thus far this semester. (We haven't started our first big assignment yet; that starts tomorrow, and by the end of tomorrow, I may be singing a different tune.) We had this inverted pyramid exercise, and, except for adding a few necessary details, my tiny attempt was the one my group picked to read to the class. The

Community Service Day

2011-01-17T21:51:00.000-05:00

1-17-11 In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, Southern cancels classes and sponsors a community service day. Granted, community service takes place during the entire school year, but this is the day where Southern students go out en masse and serve. I went to the Tri-State Therapeutic Riding Clinic, and I ended up doing data entry for three hours. Other people in my group mucked out stalls,

Sort of Distracted

2011-01-14T18:24:00.000-05:00

1-14-11 In scuba diving, getting distracted can get you dead. Our instructor gave us plenty of crazy stories about people wandering off and getting stuck or eaten or running out of air and just plain ending up dead. I believe his stories, though I'm sure he made sure to tell us the scary stories so we'd do what we were supposed to. Anyway, I'm sort of distracted right now. And it's not even

Snow Day

2011-01-10T18:36:00.001-05:00

1-10-11 Last night, when Southern canceled classes, I was skeptical. There wasn't anything on the ground, and even though everything was proclaiming what was to befall, I was skeptical. This skepticism comes from the knowledge that school's been canceled in anticipation of an event that didn't actually come to happen before, and from the knowledge that the South has an slightly understandable

Christmas Break

2011-01-03T18:27:00.001-05:00

1-3-11 I finally had found a ride, with a friend's roommate and that roommate's boyfriend. Maricel and Matt were very nice, and we left at 5:00 AM and made super good time to Indiana and points beyond. When we got close to the rendevous point with my dad, the traffic slowed way down. Rubberneckers, we figured. When we went past the wreck (which was on the southbound side, actually, and had

Brock Bowl

2010-12-09T15:23:00.000-05:00

12-9-10 Today we had the annual Brock Bowl, that geeky convocation where English majors and minors face off with History majors and minors in a trivia contest of English and history questions. I always play on the English team, despite the fact that I am also a history minor. For years, one of my now-graduated history major friends tried to get me to play on the history team, but I had to show

Christmas Concert, Taco Bell, and Homework

2010-12-05T21:10:00.000-05:00

12-5-10 The annual Southern Adventist University Wind Symphony Christmas concert (also featuring the SAU Jazz Ensemble and the Southern Ringtones) went well last night. We had a decently filled gym despite the cold and the fact that it was a Saturday night. (I'm sure the offered convocation credit brought some of the other students in, but some just really like our music.) I didn't play as well

Starbucks

2010-12-05T20:40:00.002-05:00

12-5-10 After vespers, I went with some friends to Starbucks. I went for the company; most went for the coffee. I'm not a coffee drinker, but one of my friends bought me a vanilla bean frappuccino; it doesn't have caffeine (I try to avoid drinking it because I get headaches the next day if I drink too much). It was all right. Tasted a bit like thinned ice cream, but it was decently yummy.

Thanksgiving Break

2010-12-01T21:57:00.000-05:00

12-1-10Yes, break ended on Sunday, and so the busyness descended upon all of us students once again. This is the first chance I've gotten to write some blogs, and I'm trying to be fair to both my blogs.Anyway, break gave me a great chance to do a LOT of writing. I spent about four hours on last Wednesday putting the rest of one of my unnamed stories onto my computer, and so then I had to do what

Decisions, Decisions

2010-12-01T21:40:00.001-05:00

12-1-10 So I know I mentioned in an earlier post that I was having doubts about whether or not to be a teacher. I did some career counseling (which included a Meyer-Briggs personality test and two career interest tests) and did a lot of thinking over Thanksgiving Break. I came to a couple conclusions. One, I believe that a person choosing to be a teacher should be passionate about it, and,

Giving Thanks

2010-11-25T12:35:00.000-05:00

11/25/10 Today is Thanksgiving, and I'm thankful for lots of things (even if it sometimes doesn't seem like it). I'm thankful for sunshine, smiles, and time spent with friends. I'm thankful for my family and for teachers who open their homes so I can have a Thanksgiving dinner with other people. I'm thankful that I have an apartment to live in, feet to walk with, food to eat, the ability to read

Post #100!!

2010-11-21T21:12:00.000-05:00

11/21/10 Not that getting to a hundredth post is actually any sort of accomplishment when I've been keeping this blog since July 2009 and here it is November 2010. I don't have to do any sort of math to see how lax I've been in keeping this at times. (Stupid homework.) Anyway, last night/this morning, some friends and I climbed the ridge behind our school. We have miles of biology trails out

Book Recommendation

2010-11-21T20:46:00.000-05:00

11/21/10First of all, a little over a week ago, I splurged. I bought two books: Ender in Exile, by one of my favorite authors, Orson Scott Card, and The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde. It was a splurge because I was actually at Barnes and Noble, and I couldn't really afford it, but I hadn't bought myself any books in a VERY LONG TIME. (Granted, I've been trying to stick with the ones in my

Wind Symphony Tour

2010-11-07T17:32:00.000-05:00

11/7/10 We got back from our Wind Symphony tour to Michigan at 2:30 this morning. Well, 1:30 this morning, if you take into account the time change. I slept for a bit and then I got up, did homework, and am at work. We played at Great Lakes Adventist Academy (after a rehearsal with their band), Battle Creek Academy (after a rehearsal with their band), and Andrews University vespers and the

How School is Influencing My Writing

2010-10-28T15:47:00.000-04:00

10-28-10Other than making my fiction writing nearly non-existent, I have been doing lots of thinking. Granted, thinking does not equal writing, but good ideas come from everywhere. (I do get some writing time squeezed in, but then other stuff (like this blog) gets squeezed out.)I am currently in History of England, and we are currently in the time period of the Stuarts. We just started with James

Rollerblading, Concerts, and Time with Friends

2010-10-19T22:58:00.002-04:00

10-19-10 On Saturday night, I tried rollerblading for the first time. Now, I've worn regular skates before, mostly within the last ten months (and about ten years previously to that), and I am very unsteady on such skates. The last time we went to the Hamilton Skate Place, I fell twenty plus times and spent most of the two hours getting used to having skates on my feet. This time, it was

Concert Week

2010-10-14T18:36:00.000-04:00

10-14-10 It's a concert week, and an honors seminar night, which is the only reason I'm still at school on a non-work night at 6:35 PM. Unfortunately, rehearsal and honors seminar overlap, so I only get to go to half an hour of rehearsal. I know my parts, but that's not the point. *sigh* I wish I had more time with my friends. I miss being able to hang out at night like we did on Ebeye. I'm

Thursday

2010-09-30T17:11:00.000-04:00

9-30-10 Partially, I just want to make a post because it's the last day of September. Also, I've have some very good thoughts today, due to conversations with friends during lunch or around classes. It was sort of deep relational stuff with some spiritual stuff thrown into the mix. Anyway, it was deep and I'm glad to have a part of that conversation. Convocation was about relationships; the

Seriously?

2010-09-22T21:53:00.000-04:00

9-22-10 First of all, I'm an education major. I am planning to be a high school teacher. (Brave soul, I hear some of you saying while others mutter, Idiot.) I also spent a year attempting to teach high school while I was a student missionary in the Marshall Islands. Those glimpses into the life of a teacher still do not make me ineligible to be frustrated and/or annoyed by the fact that four of

Something I Wanted to Share

2010-09-16T22:15:00.000-04:00

9-16-10 I first heard this song while I was still slightly in shock from the whole van debacle (see a few posts below). The wrecker guy had just left, I had a reeling stress/needing food headache, and I was surrounded by all of my stuff that I still didn't know where I was going to put. It was a nice reminder that I'm not in control of everything, but that God is. So even when I don't know how

Tennis and Friendship

2010-09-15T23:10:00.003-04:00

9-15-10 So I started playing tennis with Alan, Beth, and Sarah. Tonight Justin played as well. I'm not the best, but I'm okay at serving, I think. I've actually invested in this because I bought a racket from Hulsey. It's good, playing tennis is, because I get a chance to be with my friends and I get a chance to exercise. And I really think that my hour and a half of tennis a couple times a

Today in My Life

2010-08-24T20:32:00.002-04:00

8-24-10 I walked to Four Corners with Katie, ate at Subway with her, and walked back to campus. That's two miles. Add in the fact that I walked from and to Southern Village and that we had to walk to get to the Greenway, I think I can honestly say I did about three miles of walking today. I also hung out with Alan, Beth, Katie, and Chase (that seems to be becoming a trend), saw lots of people I

Southern

2010-08-23T20:13:00.001-04:00

8-23-10 Well, I'm back at Southern for the second semester of my junior year, and it was a little bit of an adventure to get here. There's this steep mountain-grade section of I-24 E, right near Monteagle, and it usually scares me the entire time I'm driving down it because my overactive imagination is like "What if you go barreling over the side of the mountain?" and "What if one of the semis