I'm pretty proud of myself

I have five papers to do. However, none of them are due tomorrow, so it was really tempting to go play basketball instead of write them. I denied myself, though, and here I sit. Of course, I'm writing here instead. NOW I'm going to write. Au revoir.

So I was going to do my homework...

But I left my backpack in the HUB, and it was locked by the time I noticed. Idiot. At least I live on the safest campus ever and I have complete confidence that it will be in the exact same place tomorrow. I love Whitworth. Who wants to take a backpack with nothing but a notebook and chem book in it anyway?

*gasp!* It has my fingerprints in it!

In other news, I just bought a Beck CD for very cheap and it's excellent!

I'm hungry.

Animal Collective Makes Really Happy Music

It makes me feel a bit better.

Friday Comes, and Not a Moment Too Soon!

Wowie. I'm worn out. I should be asleep, but I'm not. Want to know why? Because my mind has been going at about 100 miles an hour since about five o'clock today. That's also why I haven't done all the homework I want to do. Oh, and I just saw that I have a huge load of French homework to do. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! Well, at least everything should get better at about two o'clock tomorrow. Until Saturday, that is, when I give my live utterly away by dropping off my nicely filled job applications. Poop.

I've Been Sick

...but I kicked it in the butt! I slept for 13 hours last night and I did the absolute bare minimum of homework on Thursday and Friday, opting instead to take three-hour naps both days. It paid off, too; I felt pretty good today. Hopefully I'll be fully recovered by tomorrow or Monday.

Now, off to study!

Soundtrack of my Summer

Here it is. I'm kind of sad summer's over...

- Custom Concern by Modest Mouse
- Banshee Beat by Animal Collective
- The Skin of my Yellow Country Teeth by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
- The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows by Brand New
- Flannigan's Ball by Dropkick Murphys
- King of the Rodeo by Kings of Leon
- Million Pieces by Newsboys
- Tracy by Mogwai
- Boo by Pinback
- Hospital Beds by Cold War Kids
- Cowboy Dan by Modest Mouse
- Balaclava by Arctic Monkeys
- Uppers Aren't Necessary by Rocky Votolato
- Whatever You're Doing (Something Heavenly) by Sanctus Real
- My Eyes by Travis
- R U Still In 2 It by Mogwai
- Creating Something Out of Nothing, Only to Destroy It by Norma Jean
- Death Valley Queen by Flogging Molly
- Price of Gas by Bloc Party
- Armchairs by Andrew Bird
- Turn it On by The Flaming Lips
- Maps by The Snake The Cross The Crown
- Matthias Replaces Judas by Showbread
- Glósóli by Sigur Rós
- Austrailia by The Shins
- Secondhand Dreaming by Ruth
- Divine Romance by Phil Wickham
- A Glass Can Only Spill What it Contains by mewithoutYou
- We Need Each Other by Sanctus Real
- A Different City by Modest Mouse
- One Night by Travis
- Stare at the Sun by MuteMath
- Everyone's Someone by Newsboys

Yeah...good music...

School Is...

So I had my first (half) week of class and here's how it's shaping up:

British Literature before 1800 is going to be glorious, but difficult. I was told it's probably the hardest 200 level class that Whitworth offers. I like it, already, though. It's nice to be around folks who are actually enthusiastic about the same things I am.

Reading Literature is going to be a very different sort of fun. It's so much more laid-back and the prof is hilarious. It's not meant for English majors, so it has a different, more enjoyment-oriented feel. Plus, it's going to be a cakewalk. ^_^

French might be hard, but I already love my teacher. She's one of the most enthusiastic people I've ever met, and she's funny to boot. I think it'll be a decent class.

I can't believe I'm excited for chemistry. It's the only science class I'm taking, and for some reason, I'm stoked. I think since I'm actually interested, I'll do well.

Finally, there's Interpersonal Communication. It's going to be boring as watching grass grow, but I've been told it's super easy, so I'll take comfort in that. I know some folks in that class, too, so it should be alright.

All said, I'm pretty excited. I can already tell that most of my professors are really cool and that should make things very bearable. I just don't expect to have much of a social life this fall.

I draw on my arms too much

There's just four things that gross me out: ticks, leeches, flies, and barf.

Oh, and Moby Dick is a brilliant book. Go read it now.

Hey Looky!

I managed to go all summer without posting anything here! Cool!

Another Music List

OK, so I'm real excited for this one. This will be a list of my favourite albums and I'll throw in a few sentences to summarize and kind of review each. Perhaps the most difficult thing I've put together this year, I hope it's good. Enjoy.

11. Business Up Front/Party In The Back by Family Force 5
- What better way to start than with a party? Perhaps the most lighthearted, shameless, plain old fun album I own, this has something for everybody, whether it be heavy guitar licks, catchy, rappy lyrics, or an overriding sense of childlike fun. This band is a gem.

10. Robbers & Cowards by Cold War Kids
- Just plain brilliant. This band's singer possesses one of the most unique, inimitable voices in rock music. The fusion of old-school jazzy influences with modern indie sensibilities makes for one heck of an enjoyable experience.

9. Funeral by The Arcade Fire
- Sad, yet full of life, this album is a smörgåsbord of styles, ranging from classical to ballroom to indie pop. It's an acquired taste, but for those who fell in love from the start (such as myself), there is always something new to be found here.

8. Brother, Sister by mewithoutYou
- Lyrical perfection defines this album. Love him or hate him, Aaron Weiss manages to touch a chord with listeners and his bandmates provide an excellent backdrop for his half-sung, half-shouted, half-spoken (Yes, it is possible. Shut up.) words. This is essential.

7. OK Computer by Radiohead
- I'm limiting myself to just one Radiohead album, so I'll go with this one. Although all their records are different and brilliant in their own individual right, if you put a gun to my head and made me decide, I'd say this one is best. Nobody does rock like Radiohead. I can only dream of making music like this...

6. No Sir, Nihilism is Not Practical by Showbread
- The lone screamo project to make it onto this list, Showbread does so by sheer creativity and diversity. I've never heard anything like this album. Brilliant lyrics, brilliant music, brilliant performance. If nothing, one must at least appreciate this band's fearlessness and creativity.

5. Franz Ferdinand by Franz Ferdinand
- For a long time, these guys were my favourite band and they easily are in my top five now. The mixture of pop accessibility with angular, old-school guitars and Alex Kapranos' beautiful voice makes for an almost perfect record. Sheer perfection. It's only this low on the list because of the strange, disturbing song "Michael."

4. Z by My Morning Jacket
- Called "The American Radiohead" by some, My Morning Jacket puts forth an excellent effort here. Very original, very catchy (in their own strange way), and very high-quality, I do not get tired of this. The words are excellent.

3. Ágætis Byrjun by Sigur Rós
- Just plain gorgeous, this album never ever ever gets old. It gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it. Not to hear this band's lush, string-heavy, atmospheric sound is criminal. I can't even describe it properly. It just needs to be heard.

2. The Earth is Not a Cold, Dead Place by Explosions in the Sky
- Another incredibly beautiful work, this is less melancholy than Sigur Ros and a bit more hopeful-sounding. Completely instrumental, this music can be fit to a variety of moods and maybe that's why it is the most-played album on my computer. This is the classical music of our day, and it's a shame more people don't know about them.

1. Cotton Teeth by The Snake The Cross The Crown
- This was tough to put ahead of The Earth Is Not... but since this list is off of how I feel right now, I'll put it up here, because right now, this is definitely my favourite album. I absolutely love the world-weary feel (probably because I am right now mired in finals) and often easygoing instrumentation of this album. Lots of brilliant acoustic work with a singer's voice and delivery perfectly matched to the melancholy lyrics. It sounds quite blue-collar, easy to relate to. The perfect fusion of country and rock (thankfully with rock overwhelmingly prevalent), this record is a shining light for me. It somehow manages to be catchy and unforgettable, while also deep and meaningful. Buy it and listen to it until you die.