Well readers, this week is over. And tomorrow begins the month of April. And my Junior Year is coming to a close. I have been interviewing for engineering positions and hoping for summer jobs and co-ops and internships. However, good co-ops are either hard to come by or i’m just not good enough for those co-ops. I am questioning my ability to land a job i want. And so it goes. If you need an undergrad EE, for any reason, please call me. I am enthusiastic and polite.

this weekend i’m stuck in baton rouge, to barrel my way through a couple of birthday celebrations, the Final Four basketball tournament, several homework assignments, and 2 projects.

Oh yeah and my co-ed intramural soccer team has advanced in the playoffs. Soccer is fun.
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What’s up internet?

i am compelled to fill in the big gap in between last time i posted and now. Ready? school midterms music co-ed soccer job interviews work projects parties music chilling out bookcases basketball games sorority formal and homework.

That’s it. Spring break is coming up in 2 weeks.

I’d hate to make some empty promises of upcoming photos, but i will.

So its been another weekend well spent in Lafayette. I’m so thankful, that in spite of all the rough times this semester, I’ve always had a great family to come home to.

In other news, I hate Sunday because it always means tons of homework. Why don’t I ever get this stuff out of the way on Thursday?! This week: 1 small paper due on Monday, 2 small papers due on Tuesday, 1 large class presentation due on Tuesday, and … nothing for the rest of the week. So Monday/Tuesday = suck. And I shouldn’t say I have nothing to do after Tuesday. I’ve got three rather large term papers looming in the near future. Which is why my spring break is going to be booked (no pun intended) at the library. Oh the slings and arrows.

Also worthy of note, coming up at the end of this week is the scottish holiday of Beltane. If you’re interested in celebrating the coming of spring with a large bonfire, you know who to call…

Finally…
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Morning by Billy Collins

Why do we bother with the rest of the day,
the swale of the afternoon,
the sudden dip into evening,

then night with his notorious perfumes,
his many-pointed stars?

This is the best—
throwing off the light covers,
feet on the cold floor,
and buzzing around the house on espresso—

maybe a splash of water on the face,
a palmful of vitamins—
but mostly buzzing around the house on espresso,

dictionary and atlas open on the rug,
the typewriter waiting for the key of the head,
a cello on the radio,

and if necessary, the windows—
trees fifty, a hundred years old
out there,
heavy clouds on the way
and the lawn steaming like a horse
in the early morning.
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You know, for me it’s the small things. Those little moments in life when I suddenly realize everything is just the way its supposed to be, the only way it can be. You can’t force these moments, they just happen. Really, I’m just lucky enough to realize them. People don’t realize when they are really happy often enough, I think. I have a little phrase I always say when things are really great, “Well, this sure is nice.” It reminds me that things can indeed be great.

It’s the small things. It’s not the big symphony that really moves me, it’s the lone guitar instrumental, perhaps a cover of an old classic, by an out-of-the way player that I’ve never heard of. It’s better if it’s a bit eccentric, maybe the timing’s off, maybe there is a blown note or two. Imperfect, human, real.

Sometimes I try to explain this to other people. I try to share a small thing that really moved me. Most of the time, they don’t see it. It’s just a bad song. It’s just a regular day. Do you really think that sounds like fun? (Or even better: Are you having fun?)

I’ve come to the conclusion that if you ask me if I’m having fun, you are not my friend. You don’t know me.

In a world obsessed with big (big jobs, big power, big money, big cars, and on and on) I feel so out of place liking the small. Today I felt displaced.

I miss my best friend. I miss home. I’m tired of school, of pretending to be smart, or secure, or happy. Really, I’m insecure, sometimes unhappy, completely ignorant of so many things.

Sometimes it really is the small things, the small flaws even, that make it worth it.
But tomorrow is another day.

i just saw a friend on campus, and said hey and then she said, “i don’t see you wearing any green!”

And I, fully knowledgeable of the trends and styles presented in and advocated by chic and hip magazines such as the venerable Vogue, the classy Cosmopolitan, and the exemplary Elle, decided not to dissapoint this friend and totally ruin her day with the common knowledge and current designer practice that Blue, in fact, is the new Green.

I was reminded just the other day by a good friend that I don’t update this page often enough. I remember back in the good old days of ‘03 when I used to write all the time…
Well, maybe it wasn’t exactly like that, but I think the criticism is fair. So I’m doing my part here to keep current.

The problem, of course, with updating about my life is that, in general, I’m so boring. (Can I get another common splice please!) Seriously. I go to school, I go to work, I do school related work. Sounds exciting right?

I guess that’s not completely true. I do stuff. I just censor myself into believing no one wants to hear it. Today for example, I got to eat lunch with Tom and Dave, and, right in the middle of said lunch, I get a phone call. Who was it? My sister - with urgent information. She had locked her keys in the car, and wanted to know if I could get to the law school within ten minutes to unlock her car so she could get her jacket that she needed for her interview. Oh yeah, I forgot to explain that she had an interview that required a jacket. But now you know that because you just read that run-on sentence up there that I’m not deleting because I’m lazy.
Anyway, I hopped onto Dave’s trusty bike (the green stallion I believe is what its called) and flew over to the law school to rescue my sibling-in-distress.
I should add at this point that Dave’s legs are just a tad longer than mine, an anatomical difference which made my heroic ride a bit uncomfortable.
Never the less, I made it, in 8 minutes, but (and this a big but) this story was fated to end in tragedy. Sister had already been called in for her interview, I was too late.
However, all that drama was not in vain. I got a nice little story to tell, and Jessie has a new nickname: The Jacket-less Wonder.
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The other day, one of my georgia friends called me and said, “Hey, guess what, they’re about to play one of the Newtons’ songs without you…” and sure enough, in the background, i heard Alex singing our wildly-popular-in-Germany song called Paid Off.

At first i was thinking, man how great, they are still rockin’! Then, instantly, i had 3425 questions, but the person on the other side probably couldn’t hear me, and hung up. Where were they playing? Who was filling in for me? Where did they get the PA? What’s the set list? Has Alex written any new songs? What would it be like to be sitting in the audience? Who’s doing the sound for them? Why aren’t i there right now?

Then came the somewhat overwhelming, mind-quieting wash of emotion. I love being part of a band, i love recording a band, i love creating music.

March just marched right on in while i wasn’t looking. and i don’t know what to do about it. he’s just hovering right there, practically sitting in my lap, staring me in the face. i don’t know what his freaking problem is. February, apparently, wore all my clothes and then dumped them in a big pile on my floor. ALL of them. in a dirty, stinky pile. and now i can see March glancing sideways at it, sort of in a nervous tick, like “o… m… g WTF is that?” and he needs a breath mint, like some serious winterfresh action, and not the wimpy sticks either, like, one of the foil-backed plastic medecine container sheet brands. yeah you know which one i’m talking about. who knows what this loser expects of me. oh geez, i think i can hear April in the hall, literally skipping towards us, like the total fruitcake she is. and when she gets here, she’s going to scream “play with me!!”

I really wish i could enjoy spring for what it is. Really, i think the weather is calm and beautiful at every time of day, and i appreciate the general good-moods that circulate in it.

However, my body and my classes want the opposite for me. The springtime allergies ensure that when i wake up, i will feel as groggy as a swamp. And the only springtime activities i have time for are the homework, midterms, and terribly uninteresting classes that suck the life out of life.