Whew.

Tonight, I return to my poorly attended blog after many events and emotional shifts. I've just completed my stint as RA for GIVIT, which turned out to be quite different from the experience last year. This time around, the kids were much better behaved, and they all seemed more positive about being there as a whole. The projects were much more polished, and I am proud to say that the girls I supervised at the end of the week had the most concise presentation.

One thing that threw me for a loop though was having to shift out of that role mid-week. I had been asked by Hope Martin and Shelley Richardson from the Office of Development to give a speech at the 50 Years on the Hill dinner for trustees, honorary trustees, and other honored guests. Turns out the past two presidents of the college were there as well as alumni from the college and other contributors from the past. Being a student that hopes to graduate in 2009, it was really cool to sit next to a couple that graduated from Champlain in 1959 and talk about all the things that have changed and what it was like when they were here. It was significantly less cool to have people come up to me and listen to me talk about the EMC for a little while and then suddenly say, "Oh, I recognize you from the alumni magazine, I knew you looked familiar!"

But anyway, speeching. I was under the impression that there would be a series of mini-speeches given by various students doing different things for the college at present. Dave Finney came up to me during dinner and asked to clarify his intro tidbits about me, and I was all set to go up after Professor Gary Scudder. I'd been practicing my speech all afternoon, nearly to the point of running my voice hoarse, and I was quite nervous about the fact that I was going to be the first student speaking...and that my three- to five-minute speech was looking more like ten to fifteen. I became even more nervous when Ann called me and told me she was going to be stopping in on the dinner to hear me, but when it came down to it, I did my thing. Or as much of my thing as can be applied to a speech, which felt a heck of a lot different than any presentation or question and answer session I've participated in with a mic clasped in my hands.

All in all, nerves aside, it was a huge success. The provost of the college started a standing ovation for me as I scurried along the wall and gave Ann a big hug. And apparently there was no string of student speakers; it was just me. Ann says she wishes that she'd gotten it on tape and every other person on campus keeps telling me what a great job I did, but I'm glad to have it in the past, just another check on the list of things I never thought I'd be doing when I first got to college. Next is going to South Africa to do research for the UN!

To move on to other matters, I'm taking careful notice of the fact that summer is officially half over. I feel like I've done a great deal and yet very little at the same time. I'm certain that I've spent too much money, and well aware that I've made little to no progress on plans for the upcoming school year. I just finished watching a somewhat abstract and highly philosophical movie called The Fountain, and it's shot my mind even farther into the future, blurring my view of things that are immediately before me and heavily require my attention. The only positive aspect of this far-flung pondering is that I've come to a sure realization: I'm still acting like a kid in far more realms of my life than I should be, no matter how well certain areas are developing. I gotta get my motor going on the parts of real life that I have yet to acknowledge.

But it's a little late to start tonight. So, I'll probably fall asleep thinking about bank accounts, passports, and driver licenses while wondering what purpose they will serve me in my life to come, and who else may join me on the way. Life is amazing. I can't wait for it to gather speed and take flight. I'm gonna be scared to the core of my being, but the best parts of life are those that aren't a sure thing.

Enough philosophizing for me. And probably for anyone else reading this. Hopefully I'll change it up a little whenever I write again.

Thoughts During the Downpour

My, how time flies. I've been staying away from my computer when I'm not at work lately, and this blog has suffered for it. I can't say that anything terribly exciting has happened in the interim, but I suppose that was the point of straying away from my normal routine - to get some peace and quiet.

My boyfriend has basically moved into my room, and it has created an interesting dynamic for me. Having spent the past two years with a relatively anti-social roommate, I'm not at all used to having people come into the room without the intention of visiting me, and I'm certainly not used to walking into a room full of people I had not invited into the room myself. It's strange to fall asleep alone and wake up with someone next to you, and the morning routine that I was so used to has been ripped from its foundation by an extra body in the room that sleeps until noon. That said, I still get by.

Went to the beach the weekend before this past one and picked up a pretty nice piece of driftwood. It's just a little taller than me and looks like it would make a good walking stick, though it only serves to prop open my door these days. That was the last day I spent outside for recreational purposes, with the exception of today - I've just returned from a walk in the rain. Although it did start to pour a bit while we were out, I didn't get properly drenched. It's possibly one of the things I miss most about home: laying down in our big side yard and letting the rain pour down on me until I know I'll have to engage in a wrestling match with my t-shirt to get into dry clothes. Burlington storms never seem to last long enough for that.

I've actually played a couple of games and watched a handful of movies in last week or two, which may also have contributed to my time away from the computer. The first game, My Life as King, was a WiiWare title produced by Square Enix as a minor continuation to the Gamecube title Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. While the game is nothing like any other Final Fantasy game, and it doesn't take more than a few hours to complete, it was somewhat appealing to me. The artistic direction was certainly strong and well polished. I'm not sure I can say as much for the slightly repetitive mechanics and lacking instructions, but it was still a decent price for the amount of content. The other game, which I'm still playing around with at the moment, is an Atlus game for the Wii called Baroque. The thing that I find interesting about this game is that when you die, it appears as if you've started the game over again entirely. I have also come across two cut scenes that sent me back to the beginning of the game again. The interesting thing is that there is a feeling that you haven't completely started over again. I have yet to discover whether or not this is actually the case. If you truly are starting over every time you die, my interest in the game will be completely nullified the moment I find out.

And just for kicks, here's a brief run-down of the movies I rented:
Enchanted - seen it before, liked it more the first time though it still has its moments.
Amelie - absolutely adored it and am restraining myself from buying it...the little things in life are truly something to be celebrated.
The Science of Sleep - strange, quirky, enjoyable, but not worth another watch in my book.
Atonement - wonderfully composed tragedy, not so well composed narrative.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - too many snarky comebacks, useless references to sex, and ridiculous plot points.
Mirrormask - beautiful art style and imaginative concepts, slightly weak and childish plot (but what's to be expected from Jim Henson anyway?).

A World of Words

I contributed two new recommendations for the library's Core collection yesterday - this brings my count of books bought by the library because of me up to three! They weren't books that I was personally interested in this time, but something still feels good about the contribution of more than just my secretarial skills for once. I wonder whether most people would feel so pleased with a relatively small occurrence like this, or if my fondness for books has bolstered my level of satisfaction.

On a slightly related note, an interesting remark came up at the lunch table today. An education student declared that the e-gaming student who works in the writing lab is a rarity among students of our academic concentration, because gaming students are apparently not interested in writing. I was highly offended by the comment, even when it was clarified to mean uninterested in the mechanics of writing and the grammar of the English language. To hear us e-gamers labeled as having turned a knowingly blind eye to one of the very foundations of our society is utterly disappointing, even more so because this education major in particular used to be an e-gaming student herself. I don't think she stands in a position to make any such statement, and it disheartens me greatly to hear such blanket stereotypes spoken even by my peers.

I'd be lying if I said this conversation hadn't dampened my spirits today. Heading back to the game lab for an hour after work and walking in on a boisterous monologue about light sabers and Superman didn't restore my confidence in the academic nature of e-gamers either. It's sad to see a few loud and unfocused individuals destroy what might otherwise be a healthy working environment for a group of diligent individuals who neither reflect nor deserve the harsh judgment inflicted by outsiders.

That's my rant for the day. I'll think of something better for next time.

I Am The Grower...Just Kidding!

I feel as if I've forgotten to water a plant when I don't write in this space for a while, and in a way, I have. This writing marks my growth, and without any markers, there might as well have never been any growth at all, at least none that can be seen and appreciated. So, here I am to water and grow.

I was trying to rewrite my profile for GIVIT today (which is coming scarily close!), and I realized that while not much has changed since last summer, one very important thing has - last year, I said I had a really boring job that I would love to get a distraction from. The fact that I'm doing work that I enjoy and am committed to this summer, at least in part, is wonderful. I couldn't imagine a better way to spend this summer, at least as far as employment is concerned.

I started understanding the organization of code a little bit better today. Little things were catching me up all over the place, but I pulled through and swept up the loose ends. I also put comments in my code, which always makes me feel better about handing it off to someone else, as is inevitable.

On a note regarding leisure activities, I've become instantly hooked on Beatmania. I'm terrible at it, utterly and completely, but I adore it. I'd only seen the game once before in arcade format at Anime Boston two years ago, and barely remembered it at all until Munchies mentioned that he's been hurting his hand playing it. I'm pretty sure I'm going to develop severe problems with my wrist joints if I keep playing, but it was unsettlingly addicting - I played for four hours straight, and I only played seven different songs! It may have been because I was in the mood for a rhythm game, though. Even if it weren't, I don't have the time to devote to the dear game.

And where does that leave me? Feeling somewhat relaxed into the week. I need to cram some work together, I've realized, so I can go downtown at some point and get a passport (!!!), but I sorely lack the motivation, or the proper means of payment to do it. I'll figure something out.

Happy June, everyone!