Feb 26th: You're Listening to WUNH

I started my DJ observation hours today with one of the student DJs. He was pretty cool and we hit it off right away. Surprisingly, we had a ton in common and took a few classes together our freshman and sophomore years, but never met. I didn't expect any of the DJs to be science majors like I am. I suppose that's not a fair assumption, but people in science tend to have fairly inflexible schedules. All in all, it was a pleasant surprise.

Within the first 15 minutes, he let me talk on air and with the first half hour, actually DJ. I didn't expect that I would be able to do anything my first day. I kind of thought that it would be like Driver's Ed, where you sit in the backseat of the car while another student drives and you try not to fall asleep. Honestly, I think he bent the rules a bit because I don't think I was supposed to be actively doing anything until I'm fully trained. But I'm not going to complain. :) By the end of the shift, I could work the soundboard, switch tracks, do talkbacks (name songs and talk on air), run pre-recorded public service announcements, run the EAS, work turntables and play vinyl records, and take phone calls from the public. And the show is archived on the website so I can hear the whole thing.

So. Freakin. Cool.

Feb 25th: Movie Night

Happy 21st birthday shout out to my roomie!

Went to the movies and saw Fired Up! The movie was a lot better than I expected it would be; I never stopped laughing. It's a silly premise (Imagine Stifler from American Pie attending cheer camp with his best friend. That’s Fired Up!) and the plot requires a great deal of suspension of belief, but the one-liners make up for it. That and I noticed a few familiar faces in the movie. The two main characters are played by Nicholas D'Agosto and Eric Christian Olsen, whom you may have seen as Hunter on The Office and Austin in Not Another Teen Movie, respectively. Also, Molly Simms and Margo Harshman (whom you may remember as Tawny from Even Stevens) appear.


It might have been better if it was given full reign to be rauchy instead of trying to squeeze into the PG13 division, but I definitely recommend giving this one a try. If you're expecting Oscarworthy material, you're not gonna find it here. But if you liked Not Another Teen Movie or American Pie, you might like this flick.

After the movie ended, we went out to the parking lot and saw this kid who looked eerily similar to Christopher Mintz-Plasse. So of course my friend called out to the poor kid, shouting, "I Am McLovin" as we drove away. He was so confused!

We pretty much drove around after that before calling it a night. My friend had never been on a rotary (also called a traffic circle or roundabout) before, so we turned on the radio and I drove around it for a full song. We probably went around it like 20 times. Very dizzying. I wonder if there are laws about that. Hmmmm. Will do research. ;)

Feb 24th: RANDOM

Nothing special happened today. Besides my roomie making delicious cookies in anticipation of her 21st birthday tomorrow. So I'm just gonna stick a few random pictures in here for my own amusement.

Feb 23rd: More Music News!

Not much happened today. I had my classes and then went to my DJ meeting. I signed up for observation hours, so I will soon be sitting in on some live broadcasts later on in the week. I"m so excited!

Once my hours are done (which shouldn't take too long as my schedule is somewhat flexible - by the end of March for certain) I will be given my own show early in the morning. Once I prove myself in those broadcasts, I will have my show during "real" hours when more than just intoxicated or high students would hear me. ;)

And what's also cool is that once I start (the early shows), my shows will archived on the website for the week, so you can listen to the playback by streaming the show using iTunes. Cool, huh? :D

http://www.wunh.org/

Feb 22nd:: Oscar Night

Drove back up to school before tonight's big snowstorm. It was really rainy then. I like rain, don't get me wrong, but I walked in looking like a drenched rat. And nobody likes that. :P

Watched the Oscars. Some upsets, some sure picks. I know a lot of people say The Dark Knight is overrated, but I don't think so. And I don't care. So there! *sticks out tongue*

Hugh Jackman was so adorable, and his number with Anne Hathaway was hilarious. This goes in accordance with my theory that Wolverine makes everything better!

ZOMG! It's Wolverine FTW!!! :O

Seth Rogan and James Franco also had me lol-ing like crazy. Mad love.

Feb 21st: Home - Day 2

More laziness ensues.
I didn't get up until around noon. :)

In other news, yesterday was my parents' anniversary, so tonight we went out to dinner to celebrate. Food was great. Then we picked up my bro's gf, who I hadn't yet met, so that was pretty cool. She's wicked nice! And even brought everyone candy. :D

Nothing else of much interest to report. Nothing ever goes on in my town. So I think I'll study for my 3 exams next week... on a Saturday... night. *facepalm*

I'm so cool/FML

Feb 20th: Laziness!

I am so lazy.

Seriously, I take sloth to new heights.

What DID I do today???
Hmmmm.

Well..........

I shot my vlog last night and spent most of the morning editing.
Then I took a rather lengthy nap... oh yeah! ;)

Drove home rather late....
I made it on a quarter of a tank!
Just barely though....
My tank was nearly empty when I reached town...

Penny, as always, was thrilled to see me.
Tail wagging.
Sniffing everything.
I swear to God, she's not a cat.
NO cat acts like that.
i.e.
Jumps on you at the door
Begs for food and treats
Follows you around
Rolls over, plays fetch, & does tricks
Likes chewing stick-like objects
Enjoys bones even more
Howls when she thinks she's alone...

Seriously. I'm going to start introducing her as my dog.
And I've been pretty lazy. Maybe I'M the cat.
Meow.

<3 Penny

Feb 19th: SNOW!

Yep. More snow. And this is already New Hampshire's snowiest winter in 135 years... Earlier tonight my campus hosted a bingo game where you could win a flatscreen tv or any number of 90s cartoon DVDs. I almost won once, and my roommate won Season 1 of Pinky and the Brain. We got pretty competitive.... :P


It was still snowing on the way back and we ran around and played in the snow. Then I went inside and got my camera, came back outside and filmed my TWOA vlog in the snow. At midnight. I am sooo mature for 20, don't you think? ;)

Feb 18th: Silent Pictures

Feb 17th: The Secret Life of Frogs

Big lab exam tomorrow. It's on something that some may find pretty ridiculous: frogs, toads, and salamanders. I'm serious. Sooo I have to cram. Lot's of Latin. Ugh.... I'm gonna be up for a while.



Random side note: Did you know that poison dart frogs are only poisonous because of the toxic bugs they eat? So if you feed them nontoxic bugs, they will no longer have significant chemical levels as they can't synthesize their own toxins. The more you know. (NBC jingle)

Feb 16th: Happy as Can Be!

(v click on me! v)

Hey Mr. DJ keep playin' this song for me
Out on the floor in my arms she's gotta be
Let's get it on (let's get it on)
Jam all night long
Mr. DJ, Mr. DJ
Play it play it for me
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

- The one, the only, the Backstreet Boys

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tonight I went to the first meeting of the semester for my campus's radio station, WUNH. In just a few short weeks, I will be a full-blown professional DJ and will even have my own show! At the moment, I am in training and will be putting in some observation hours. Then (in two weeks maybe?) I will start at ridiculous o'clock (sometime between 2 and 6am) with my own show. Then after a few shows, I will move to a regular slot during the day. I'm so excited!

And I feel a little more at peace. In high school, I was a part of our morning news team. My school had a legit studio with all the necessary equipment. I usually worked as an anchor, but I've also held the positions of sportscaster, cameraman, and mostly head director. I also have a lot of experience working with mics and soundboards, so I'm not completely green.

But since I've graduated, I've missed the homey, comforting sense that the studio gave off. The family of friends I had made. The thrill of going live and talking to 60,000 people in the surrounding area (yeah... we went out to the surrounding towns).

Working at the radio station is giving me back some of what I thought I had lost. And it's a great feeling. Sure there won't be any video elements as with a tv station (like my campus's SCAN-TV, which I considered joining before realizing their studio REALLY needs funding), but as Gavin Rossdale so appropriately sings, "the love remains the same."

And we broadcast a 100 mile radius, so swing on through the area and listen! You can also stream music (usually live) from the website.

Feb 15th: Baby Animals Know How to Milk It!

Ahhh so much work, so little time! I got it all done, though, which is good. I do have some ridiculous exams coming up, so I'll be pretty preoccupied with them over the next 2 weeks...

After meeting some friends for dinner, I went with my friend Lindsay to visit her cow at the barn. My school has a herd of dairy cattle and offers a program called CREAM. Students are responsible for the health, breeding, milk production, feeding and costs of running a working 26-cow dairy herd (out of however many there actually are - maybe 100?). Also, each student gets an individual cow to care for in particular.

So we visited her cow, Vache, for a little bit (<= that's her, off to the side). She's the sweetest thing! She's really big, but gentle (well... for a cow). She loves having her ears scratched! And you can tell that Linds is taking excellent care of her. She's so clean and her tail is so fluffy! Trust me, it's VERY hard to keep a cow clean!!! (& she's even won "best groomed" a few times) ^_^

We also visited some of the calves, although you can only pet the males (as they won't be joining the herd and will be purchased). SOOO CUTE. The one male who was there this time was only about two days old! I scratched him all over and played with his hooves, which were still soft! As soft as say, your heel or the balls of your feet rather than a hard hoof.

::A bull calf I met last spring::

It's kind of weird because I was going to be in the program if I hadn't changed my major from prevet medicine. Actually, I would have done it regardless if my new schedule wasn't filled until graduation, with no free time to spare... but then I'd have to get up at 3am some days... err, maybe I can live with my current situation!

Feb 14th: Happy V Day!

V-Day is one of those holidays that pretty much everyone hates: single people for reminding them that they aren't in a relationship; couples for hoping the day would be more amazing than it actually turns out to be... blech.

This February 14th, I found myself without a boyfriend. Big whoop. It happens to the best of us. And you know what? I don't need to be in a relationship to be happy. I'm lucky to be surrounded by such a loving family and a completely rockin' circle of friends. What's there to be sorry for? Being totally awesome? I think not! Everyone should appreciate all of the love in their life every day!

So, in total defiance, I decided to flip Valentine's Day the good ole bird and set out to have a day of awesome for myself. And you know what? I think I might have had more fun than if I sat around, moping and eating chocolate.



Okay that was a lie, I totally stuffed my face with chocolate. But I did not mope!!! :D

Feb 13th: Long Live Freebies

I would be a total liar if I said I don't love free stuff. So you can bet your sweet ass that I was at the student activities fair tonight. There were live acts, comedians, and magicians. People with "FREE HUGS" signs. Clubs, sororities, and frats had tables and tried to recruit new members with the lure of free candy, pens, and rainbow slinkies. And ooooooh did I fall for their evil plan. Like a moth to a flame. The college radio station was even giving out free shirts and as many CDs as you could grab.

Oh. Baby.

Actually I've been meaning to join WUNH for a while. I wanted to DJ last semester but my ridiculous schedule made it impossible. But this semester, I'm only taking four classes and my labs are shorter. So it can happen.... I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, I'm gonna chill out with my free shot glass.

Feb 12th: Kangaroos, Koalas, and Wombats, Oh My!

So, I had to pull the first allnighter of the semester. I had to write a paper for mammalogy on the location and time of the evolution of marsupials. It was kind of a pointless assignment because NO ONE KNOWS. And there's very little info that's not conflicting. It could have been North America, could have been Asia.... they could have evolved on Endor with the Ewoks for all I know!!!! So pretty much everyone stayed up all night staring at blank Word documents.

So I went to class, dropped off my paper, and took a 7 hour coma. And woke up after 8pm. Well, at least I don't have class tomorrow. Time to recuperate!

Feb 11th: Another Lame Post

Ehhh this week has been kind of uneventful, hasn't it? Only one lecture and one lab today. We had to learn about 20 different species of toads. How... riveting. NOT.

I'm kind of swamped with homework, but after my lectures tomorrow, I'm done for the week! So we'll see what happens, as I have nothing planned at the moment.

Random sidenote: I'm quite addicted to Blip.fm. If you haven't been acquainted with it, I strongly suggest you do. It's kinda like Twitter, only with music. It's awesome.

My channel.

Feb 10th: Busy Busy!

Aaaaah busy busy busy day!

Tuesdays are always my toughest days because I have 3 lectures and 2 labs in a row. It actually went pretty well this time. I was especially proud of my lab performance as I wasn't clueless and I think I'm kind of the favorite in my mammalogy lab as I'm the only person who actually likes being there. Of course, if I hadn't already taken anatomy, I would be as clueless as the next person. We got to play with moose antlers and bobcat pelts... yeahhh New Hampshire wildlife majors ftw.

Feb 9th: Blaaaaaah

Mmmm kind of a boring day. Pretty much just went to class, an optional review session, and the gym. Study parties ensued and then a late night trip to the BK Lounge. All in all a rather blah day. No wonder I couldn't remember what happened.

MOVING ON!

Feb 6th, 7th & 8th: The Weekend Getaway! :P

When I leave campus for a weekend vacation, I do it right!

Friday:

My friend and I left campus and chilled at my place for a few hours before heading into Boston to see Eve 6. The show was great! Two of the three opening acts were great (the third sketched me out - they were really creepy guys). I especially loved Lansdowne. They are an amazing yet unsigned up-and-coming Bostonian band. They are really sweet and now we're pretty much bffs. Many hugs and even a kiss! Yeah I'm cool.

Eve 6 was waaay better live than I expected. Like recording studio quality. The crowd was pumped, the guys were rocking, and I pretty much died of sheer happiness. I'm always at my happiest at a show. I love a good mosh too, where everyone is just HAPPY and having a good time...

Saturday:

The next day, we went to my house down the Cape. We ran around the beach and through the resort down the street. I couldn't help but mess with one of the signs... LOL.



Afterwards, we went to eat at one of my favorite restaurants - The Silver Lounge. Attached to the restaurant is the real caboose of a train. There are booths in there and a ladder going up to two tables up above. You kind of have to jump to get across to the second booth, and the waitresses just lift the food up and you have to bend down and grab it. I always think I'm going to spill chowder on their heads but it hasn't happened yet...

After that, we went to the cinema at Mashpee Commons to see He's Just Not That Into You. I loved it! I thought it was going to be a lot more of a chick flick than it was, so I was pleasantly surprised. It features an all-star cast and they all performed well, especially, in my opinion, Justin Long. I fall in love with him in every movie he's in (Yes, even Zack and Miri Make a Porno). Overall, I recommend it - there's a lot of lessons to be learned.

Sunday:

Sunday we hung around downtown and got some food. Then we went back to the beach and watched some kitesurfers. They were incredible. One guy, who was clearly more of an expert than the other four, pulled some crazy moves. Each time he jumped, the wind picked up his kite and he gained maybe 20-30 feet of air! WOW.

Then we cleaned up the house and headed back to school. I think the best part was turning on the radio to hear the complete Doctor Who theme. We were looking around wildy to see who's iPod was transmitting before we realized it really was the radio. America, I knew I could believe in you. Ahhhhh.

Feb 5th: Life Is a Highway

Today was pretty uneventful for the majority of the day. Some events did go down during dinner that I won't go into, as they were amazing and horrific at the same time...

But after working out at the gym and embarking on a short trip to nowhere with a friend, I've had time to clear my head. Exercising just makes you feel GOOD and I love highway driving at night. There's just something about it that soothes me: the dark sky and twinkling stars, the murmur of my favorite songs resonating through the speakers, the draw of the open road with infinity stretching out far ahead of me...


I'm not sure whether or not I overreacted to what happened (I need more info to go on). It's confusing to be unsure whether or not you should have a broken heart. But for now, I've decided to go on with my life and let the chips fall where they may.

I can be Loki's advocate.

Feb 4th: Secret Time!

Secrets. Everybody has 'em. And there are all types of secrets. Secret ingredients. Secret agents. Conspiracy secrets. Dirty little secrets. Um... Victoria's ... Secret...s.

And then there's PostSecret. It's an amazing website that is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine.

PostSecret is an ongoing community mail art project, created by Frank Warren, in which people mail their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. Select secrets are then posted on the PostSecret website, or used for PostSecret's books or museum exhibits.

Now, I've never sent in a secret. Although I'm often tempted. Someday I will. But for now, I've decided to share one here:

If I'm alone in one of the student parking lots after it snowed, I occasionally write messages to strangers in the snow on a few cars.

Why do I do it? ... I don't really know. But whenever I get to my car and someone's drawn a smile on my windshield, I can't help but smile back. So I spread the love. Who knows? Maybe someone out there is in need of a little extra happiness in their day. So if you get to your car and see that someone has written 'hello,' you can bet it was me!

Feb 3rd: My Toughest Day of the Week is Over!

I had to get up even earlier than usual this morning to move my car from the faculty lot back to my parking lot. The school had us move our cars so that they could plow the lot, which is stupid bc it's snowing RIGHT NOW. Ugh....

Anyway, I stopped at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, since I have class 8-5 on Tues, and got stuck in "traffic" on the way back. Which is like half a mile. Anyway, I ended up being 10 min late to vertebrate biology, as I had to run all the way from my parking lot (holding my cocoa) to my class, which of COURSE is located on the far side of campus. In the 10 min I was late, my prof issued out a pop quiz, which I ended up missing. Double ugh. And that's not the worst of it. To sit down in that classroom, you have to walk its entire length because when you walk in, everyone's facing you (and it's REALLY overcrowded). And all the front seats were taken, so I had to squeeze through and I think I knocked maybe five people unconscious with my backpack. And each time I turned to apologize to one person, I hit another... whoops. >_<

I did get to learn some pretty cool words though. Like deuterostomes, rhinencephalon, ovoviviparous, schizocoelous, and symplesiomorphy...

Paedomorphosis is cool too. It means that a sexually mature organism retains the morphology of a child at an adult stage. Basically you're an adult with the body of a kid. I feel like that's a pretty good insult, eh Shakespeare?

Mammalogy was a little bit better. I got to say Euarchontoglires.

Policy was a bore, but mammalogy lab was awesome. I really really like my TA. He's really enthusiastic about the subject and genuinely gives a crap about his work. I've had a lot of TAs, and most are only in it for the stipend. This guy is clearly in it for the long haul. And how can you NOT love a guy who tries to hide a tie-dye shirt under a button down in order to look "professional". WIN.

Anyway we had to assemble cat skeletons (yes, real bones). It was kind of ridiculous as no one else had any experience with bones, but I've already taken human and animal anatomy and physiology when I was still a pre-vet major, so I knew my stuff. See?

My last lab (GIS) got out wicked early. Bleh. Give sme enough time to get dinner before going to the gym with my friend.... (although I don't really feel like it bc my stomach is full of hot wings.... oooooooh dining hall, why do you take away all of your good/healthy food at night? WHY?) That and I'm slightly concerned since it's currently blizzarding outside. I might not be able to make it... maybe we'll go in the morning?

Laters!

Feb 2nd: Gettin' Physical

HiiiiiYAH!

Wow. My only lecture today was quite possibly the most boring class I've ever had to misfortune to sit in on in my life. I would rather have watched paint dry. Much more entertaining. Anyway, after that I hung out with a friend for a while before we visited a potential apartment for next year. The boy who lived there might have been the cutest boy I've ever met. Unfortunately, the place was MAD SKETCHY. A definite no, even though it's in a great location.

I had enough time before my policy recitation to go to the gym. I've been trying to get off my lazy butt for a while now and I finally worked up the nerve to just get up and go. Once I'm there, I'm a workout-aholic. It's just GETTING there that's the problem. The thought of spring break and then summer is finally enough to motivate me. Perhaps it's because there are only six weeks left til my trip... hmmm.

I am sooo sore but it's going to be so worth it.

Feb 1st: SUPERBOWL!

So yeah. I had a Superbowl Party. It was epic. There were chips and salsa and Bri even brought a banana. Always bring a banana to a party.

Oh, and Steelers won. Huzzah!

RIP CARDINALS