Joy By Surprise

Hello Readers,

  This post comes in response to a conversation that I had with one of my dear relations only a couple of minutes ago.  It seems that in my family we do not know the joy, nor the technique, of surprise.  Now, in my limited experience, surprise can be one of the best experiences, whether it is a flower placed outside the door of a friend, a loved one taking the time to write you a little note, or a huge care-package that is filled with tons of goodies.  Many of my close friends have received one of these packages, and I have also but from someone I wouldn't expect.  This person was someone that I had once babysitted for and who I knew vaguely from youth group.  It was a great joy to open up the box and discover many foil-wrapped baked goods, along with a little note explaining how she hoped that I would get through this semester.  Not only did the snacks satisfy my appetite and get me away from the horrible DC food for a while, but this little gesture of love and kindness filled my day with joy.

  What I'm really trying to get at is that there is no way that a college student can express the joy that he/she gets from receiving a little unexpected love from home.  Not only does it make us happy for the week, but it reminds us that there are people at home who love and care about us.  Now, I know that not all of us have the time to go around making care packages, but students realize this, which makes a care-package all that more special.  Stuffed with necessities and goodies, this surprise that can easily be provided by parents is something that people like me dream about, and look forward to with anticipation.

  Unfortunately, I have never received one from my parents.  Nor my relatives (except Julie, who sent me a card once).  Not only is this horribly disappointing for me, it makes me feel like no one at home cares enough about me to take the time to collect a few trinkets and snacks to surprise me with.  And this fact makes me sad.

  Yet there is hope in this - I still have more than 2 years of college left.  So, repent of your sins and get those packages in the mail!!!

Tuesday Blues

Hello Readers,

  I am currently suffering with a horrible case of the Tuesday blues.  That's right, the Tuesday Blues.  Not only am I tired from getting way to little sleep last night because of a bad dream, it is also sprinkling outside, which really sets the mood for today.  Actually, today should be a good day because I have my Monday class schedule today (don't ask me why they switched it for just today), which is much less of a work load than my Tuesday/Thursday class schedule.  I only have one more class to go to today, other than college choir, where we just sit around and sing for an hour.  So, I really should be happy.  But for some reason, I have this horrible feeling in my stomach, like I have forgotten a huge paper to write or I have accidentally left the water running for the bath that I took two days ago.  I've been racking my mind, trying to think of what I have forgotten, but really there is nothing.  I did all of my work this weekend, with the help of the 3-day weekend that we had.  Maybe it is that I haven't finished all of Walden yet, but that doesn't have to be done until next week.  Then there's a paper that I wrote over the break, where I actually screwed up and wrote it about the wrong thing, but I know that the teacher will still take it because she only cares about whether it is well-written.  But, still, there is this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that just won't go away.

The Perfect Morning

Hello Readers,

  I just wanted to update you all on the perfect morning that I have been having.  It has been so picturesque, so perfect that it could be straight out of a movie.  Now before you start laughing at my ridiculousness at this idea of "the perfect morning", let me explain to you exactly what happened.

  All good mornings start with sleeping in.  This is a prerequisite to having a good morning in the life of a college student.  Now, some may argue that a good morning constitutes getting up early and, for example, watching the sun rise.  I concede that this also may be a good way to pass a morning, but this is why I added the phrase "in the life of a college student".  So, I woke up around 10am this morning, feeling rested and ready to start the day.  After doing my regular hygiene routine, I ripped the sheets of my bed and headed downstairs to the laundry room.  Although you may say that this looks like the start of a regular day (aka, doing work), this is a big step for me.  I only washed my sheets 2 times last semester (yes, I also cringe at that number, yet it is, sadly, true).  I am determined to be better at that this semester.  Anyways, back to the story.  Next I made myself a steaming hot cup of English breakfast tea, supplemented by generous doses of milk and honey, and taking my Norton Anthology of English Literature, I leisurely strolled down to the lounge and read William Coleridge for the next hour.  This was really the best part of my morning.  It felt freeing, yet good because this is part of my homework.

  The rest really isn't that interesting.  I took a shower, got my sheets and put them back on my bed.  There's something about the smell of newly washed linens that lifts my spirits.  Now, for the rest of the day, I will be doing various tasks which involve shopping for tights (I'm going to a Pinkus Zuckerman concert next week), spending my gift certificate to Macys, and watching another movie with my friends tonight.

  I'm predicting that today will be a good day.

Twenty Two

Hello Gentle Readers,

  This is the way in which my super-cool, soft-spoken English teacher addresses us, the class, in her emails to us.  So, I thought that I would update you on that first of all, and secondly to give credit to her for that fine phrase so I don't get charged with plagiarism with what is only my third attempt at blogging.  Anyways, I digress

  Twenty two.  The importance of this number is indicated/implied by the title of this blog.  Why twenty two, you may ask yourselves?  What is the reason for this obscure number taking the title of one of the infinite pages of cyberspace that chronicles the thoughts, ideas, and daily life of a college student?  I'll tell you why!  Because that is how many profile views I have already!  Twenty two!  Actually, I prefer to write it out 22 because I think it looks bigger.  This useful little tool on the side of my dashboard (tech speak for how I view and manage my own profile) tells me how to measure myself against other bloggers by telling me the exact number of people who have visited my page.  The worst thing about it is that I keep telling myself that this is just a number, yet I find myself wanting that number to go up.....a lot.

  Not that these things matter much to my life at all, but I would like all of your readers to keep updated on my daily life, which I should actually start updating you on.  I'm currently quite excited about tomorrow, since I don't have my normal 8o'clock early-bird-special class so that means that I get to sleep in until 9.  Yessss.  Even though I know that it isn't very late to sleep in, the thought of not having to wake up early and go listen to Mozart is bliss.  Plus, since Martin Luther King's holiday is on Monday, I also get that off!

  Now, on the downside, I have 150 pages of reading in only 1 class!  150!  Plus an extra 80 pages in my British literature class.  Then an essay where I have to stare at an inanimate object for 30 minutes and write down only what I see (if you have any suggestions on what I should stare at, please post them on this blog!).  Wow, I'm getting tired just thinking about it.  I should probably go to bed too, speaking of tired.  OK, I'm off to count sheep, but please before you go to bed tonight, think of me.  Pity me.  Pray for me.  And, most of all, thank God that you aren't the one that has to stress out over some dead person wrote 100 years ago.

In the beginning...

Hi peeps,

  Wow, my first blog post ever!  This is certainly a monumental moment in the history of my life, as was my first wall post on facebook or the first time that I sent a text message.  And, even though I resist these technological changes to my lifestyle, they keep on creeping in, and finally getting me addicted like the rest of America to the worthless desire that everyone in America wants to know my thoughts.  But, seriously, this blog is for the few people I tell about it, unless my writing style is much better than I think it is and this blog becomes wildly popular.  Then, I may have to pay a little more attention to my grammar.

  Anyways, it is 10:49 right now in Santa Barbara and I should be heading to bed shortly, but I was in a literary mood, having read several different renowned authors in the past couple of hours, and wanted to make my crude, yet heartfelt contribution.  I have my hardest day coming up tomorrow and I just want it to be over with already.  Selecting classes last semester, I truly thought that it would be "fun" to have two two-hour-long English classes back to back every TTH.  Not the case, as I am quickly finding out.  Although, I am not quite brimming with teenage angst, I fear that it may get to the point in the semester where it comes to collapsing on the floor in tears after realizing that your computer, containing the 6 page paper you spent a month working on, has crashed and you are now hopelessly doomed.  This is real life Tragedy (take that Romeo and Juliette!).

  Even though I should be going to bed shortly, I will make this one promise to my faithful, yet few devotees (a coterie following, if you will have it): that I will try and keep this blog up as best as I can.  I can't promise that my life and thoughts will be interesting, thought-provoking, or even just entertaining, but I can assure you that I will devote myself as best as I can to posting them on this obscure little page among the masses.  And, please, tell me your harshest critiques.  As an aspiring English major, I should be able to take them, or at least cry myself to sleep and learn from them years down the road.  OK, enough of being morbid, goodnight my fair readers, I will be updating you shortly.  Amen and goodnight!