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wAug 7, 2006 | |
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Six Flags, the Upcoming Year, and apparently releasing stress by telling you all about my paper So yesterday was pretty cool. Louise got here around 7:00 am and we drove to Steph's to meet her and Gordon. Then we all piled in to Gordon's car and drove down to Gurnee, Illinois to meet Creighton, Carolyn, and Antoine to go to Six Flags. There was a Jimmy John's having a grand opening, and subs were only $1.50! What a good deal. Despite a persistant rain all morning until about 12:30, the park was extremely busy. Apparently Gordon's mom wasn't the only one to score free tickets through work. The lines were long and there were lots of people, but it was still fun. Despite having a fear of roller coasters, I rode Batman, American Eagle, and Viper, in addition to the two-story carousel and the twirling teacups. After riding Viper, I was starting to feel pretty queasy, so I decided to sit out Raging Bull (especially after staring at all of the loops and curves!). The ride home consisted of Steph and I singing along to nearly the entire soundtrack of Phantom of the Opera, and then Louise and I discussing our futures and excitement for the upcoming year. Six Flags itself was kind of strange - I've been there twice before. Once in 8th grade for our band trip, and the second time for our high school senior class trip. Both times, the day was spent in the delightful company of friends, and both times, something rather significantly awful happened between myself and the person to whom I was closest with. Fortunately, I don't foresee that happening this time. The trip was not 'the end' of any sort of era in my life, but rather a high point in a set of many friendships that will continue for a very long time. Long lines and eating overpriced food meant that the majority of the day was spent in conversation with my friends, which was really, really nice. I mean, doing things is obviously fun, but what's the point in having friends if you can't enjoy conversation with them about things like politics, the future, and Anime Club? Haha, I am excited for Anime Club to start now. It's really weird that I'm going to be the president now. My mom takes delight in telling people this, because it proves how much of a geek I am. I'm also excited to move into our house (In case you missed it, I'll be living with my friends Paul, Louise, and Chad - Paul has been MIA all summer at an internship half-way across the state). I'm glad that Louise and I at least will have 2 weeks to settle in. It's not definite yet which house we're living in - it seems that there are 2-3 people interested in the house we're trying to lease, but they need to lock in 1-2 people so that they can sign it. Either way, I'm okay with what happens. Both of the houses are nice, I'll have my own room either way, and I'll be living with good friends. It'll also be nice to have a car when I want to go grocery shopping, book shopping, or make trips to the mall or something. I'm sure that once I get there, some amount of angst will begin to set in - I need to figure out what I'm going to do after college. I also need to figure out whether or not I'm going to bust my ass trying to find some sort of internship or job when I'm there. I had been considering trying to become a Senate page at the Capitol - basically the only paid job (only $6.50/hour, but still) someone like myself could get there - but it really seems like it would be a pain in the ass. Working in one of the campus libraries sounds like a good job. Even if I only do it for a semester....well, I'll have to think about it. Anyway, these things are all in the future, and I need to stay grounded in the present. I won't have time to clean up my room or start packing or decide what exactly I'm taking with me to school. Starting now, this week needs to be focused on getting this paper finished. My professor emailed me back responding to my questions, and it seems I'll be able to write about the things I had wanted to write about. Hopefully, reaching 20 pages won't be too bad. It's just harnessing my thought-flow and tightening it down that will be the challenge. Isn't it weird, how differently people write academic papers? I was discussing this with Jennifer the other day. When Jennifer writes a paper, she starts with an outline and makes it very detailed, filling in every single thing she wants to include, and then writing it. I, on the other hand, begin with a free-flowing stream of consciousness on what the paper is supposed to be about. I include everything I thought was interesting as well as everything I would like to include. Most of this ends up being deleted, and hopefully I can find one small gem of an idea that can be the focus of the paper. I then flesh it out and try to include as many references to things discussed in class as possible. This paper will be different, though, as its focus is on personal experience, as opposed to academia (although references to classes and a book are supposed to be included as well). Anyway. I need to keep my sanity, so I'm going to make a to-do list for myself and set to work. My plan is to balance hard work some leisure time - hopefully Ryan and I can work on burning through Monster (an anime series: we're on 37/74 episodes), and I can also do things with my other friends - so that I don't feel too stressed out all of the time. I have until Friday. (ohgodohgod ;_;) Current Music: Pool - Spitzscribbled mystickeeper at 12:44 PM  
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