Break Update

I realize I haven't been so great at updating this as I bask in the absolute nothingness that is collegiate winter break. 

Yesterday the whole family enjoyed one of my mom's christmas presents (from Dad), and we all headed over to the Kennedy Center for "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber." In short, it was AWESOME. In getting there, I realized why I never, ever drive in D.C. We got totally lost. We always do, when trying to get to the Kennedy Center. It's tradition. Luckily we'll get another chance on New Years Day, trekking over there for Claire and my birthday present, a Legally Blonde show. Which I am totally up for. I'm in the process of renewing my passion for show tunes. 

Last night we also had dinner with some family friends, and took the traditional (yeah, we're all about that) walk around the neighborhood (despite one member being in crutches) in the freakish 60 degree weather we are having. 

Christmas was great. On Christmas Eve we watched the movie Elf so that the rest of the family could finally understand what Claire was saying all the time, as the Christmas spirit prompted her to quote it constantly. 

"SANTA?! I KNOW HIM!!!" and  "Smiling's my FAVORITE!"

On Christmas, not keeping in with the spirit at all, we watched people get their butts kicked in Casino Royal. It was awesome.

We are a family of complex tastes. 

Today I plan on working on my room so I can remind myself what my carpet looks like. I also hope to take in a few of the amazing games that are going to be on today. I'm so set.

I Love Being Home

I love being home. I have spent most of my time laying on the couch, sleeping, showering (it's so exciting when it's hot the whole time), hanging with Claire, and waltzing for short amounts of time outside so I can loudly proclaim, "It's not cold outside, I KNOW what real cold is NOW!"

So basically, I may be turning into my father. Except, my father willing goes out into the cold for activities such as skiing. I sprint through the parking lot and hide in the ski lodge for fear of momentary discomfort.

Tomorrow is IB alumni day, in which I will try to portray the awesomeness that is Ithaca College (and how well IB prepared me for it) to a bunch of high school seniors who neither care nor want to be at school the day before break. Hey, I had to sit through it, senioritis and all. They will listen. I'm a big kid now, I know how to be persuasive.

And now, because of said Alumni Day I have to get up at an inhumane hour, an hour at which no college student ever sees the light of day.

I am also going to sleep.

Ahhhhhh....break.

I don't even mind that I spent 9 hours in a snow storm getting here! That's how great it is!

I'M DONE

I just turned in my final intro to journalism article. It felt blissful, if a little anti-climactic. I think the article turned out well. I learned so much doing it. Had I known what I know now about how to collect and organize stats and information, I would have saved hours. But that's what I'm in the class for. 

All I have for the rest of today is attending a wrap-up class for Mass Media, in which my friends Malti, Ashley, Steph and I have decided to have a picnic. I'm not sure how that will go over with Professor Lustyik, but I'm pretty sure she won't notice and/or care. 

Back in IB my group of friends determined a system to determine stress levels based on what music you are listening to. From least to greatest, it pretty much went: punk rock -> 90s pop -> country music -> musical soundtracks (enter freak-out mode). 

I guess I am feeling residual stress, because the Dixie Chicks are not coming off my iPod today. And I feel totally fine. 

What a weird week. I can't wait to just be home.

I Would Throw Something Out the Window if I Wouldn't Be Fined by Res Life

Granted almost all the hard work is done with. Over. 

I have to have this final 1200 word article done by Thursday morning. On the surface that doesn't sound too bad. My interviews are finished. Here's the problem: I have about 10,000 words worth of information, ideas, opinions, and confusing stats to sort through that I have been wrestling with ALL DAY. The histories and stats for each sport vary hugely in how up to date they are and if they are actually helpful at all. Sometimes it's difficult to figure out how many conference championships they've had. THAT'S how badly this information is kept. So, if all this information was kept in an actual object, I would throw that out a window in frustration. But it's currently on a website and in my word document, and there is no way my Mac is going out the window. It's my baby. Also, there are screens on the window, and if I break one, I get fined.

So, not an option. 

I also hate Excel. I have so much information, so many numbers that are jumping out at me, but trying to figure out what it all means is officially kicking my butt. My charts look like a crazed ant jumped in paint and ran around a chart frantically. 

It's weird that this article is all I have to work on right now. It's almost like I'm writing as a job. 

My biggest problem is that everyone in the universe is on break, and all I want to do is nothing with them. 

That said, I love everyone here. I seriously do. I want to take them with me, down to D.C. 

I just sat at the computer staring for about five minutes, trying to think of a way to end this post in a witty sort of manner. 

I give up.

It's Finals Week

I've just returned from rocking my Cultural Anthropology exam. It was pretty awesome. Not that I was really worried. I don't know if I ever mentioned it here, but I got a 100% on my midterm exam for that class. My brain just hold the analyses of the Malawi goat-milk project and the marriage practices of the Nayar tribe in India pretty darn well. That's all I'm sayin'.  IB taught me the ways of making ANYTHING sound intelligent. 

I got so much done this weekend. Hence the lack of posts the past two days. Now I'm unwinding a bit, doing some laundry, and waiting around until my interview at 2:30. Because my interview with the Director of Athletics on Friday fell through because, well, I got all the way there, and he had left. The secretary forgot. I was mad. Luckily I was able to reschedule. Let's just say he better be there. Or else. 

It got suddenly warm here (meaning, 40 degrees ish) today, so everything is melting. The campus is absolutely beautiful when there's snow. Under melting snow? Not so much. 

I just want to finish this day. I also never want to talk about football again. Or at the very least, the Redskins. Or the Cowboys. 

I dunno, maybe it's Steelers time? Mom, can I come on your side? Things are looking pretty rosy over there.

Not That This Post is as Good as the Last One

I woke up to about nine inches of snow this morning! It's gorgeous, but also requires me to wear those weird looking boots mom bought me. I'm not ashamed to admit it. They're warm. 

I got some great stuff done this morning, and I still have more to do, but I felt like giving myself a present. That present? Doing nothing for a few minutes. 

Here are some things I am absolutely happy about:

1. In exactly a week (to the hour, even!) I will be on the road to D.C. metropolitan area or...Maryland. Whatever sounds fanciest.

2. Today is the last day of classes!

3. Any time someone on the Redskins says/does something stupid, Terrell Owens comes to the rescue to prove that there is absolutely no one more bratty than him in the NFC East, or even the entire NFL. 

4. icanhascheeseburger exists for my procrastinating pleasure.

5. This video exists. Sorry Notre Dame fans/Mary Coyne. It's hilarious. 

Obviously I am in a linking, sharing mood. 

I was talking to my friend, a die-hard Bills fan, the other day about football, and he said something that scared me whole lot:

"Obviously I'm crazy depressed. But you're a Redskins fan, so you know exactly how I feel."

OH NO.

THE REDSKINS ARE THE BILLS.

I Got a Little Something at the Ithacan Awards Banquet...

Just in case you can't read that, it says "The Ithacan Sports Section hereby recognizes Abby Paulson as Best New Writer for the Fall 2008 semester."

OH MY GOD YAYYYYYY

It's so awesome to feel like all the games in the rain, hours spent in front of the computer, and all the weekend stress were TOTALLY WORTH IT.

What a great Christmas present.

There's also four inches of snow covering the ground right now, and it's still coming down like crazy. People are playing football in the quads, trying to sled down hills in the dark. To ward off some more finals stress, dormmates Tori and Sara bought tons of bacon and eggs and invited everyone down for breakfast. At 8 o' clock at night. 

I love it here.

That's not to say I like finals. 

But this totally makes it bearable, to say the least. 

It's Just About Finals Time

So I've got a lot of papers to write. 

Which I don't really feel like doing. At all. But I will. 

Starting Friday, for the WHOLE WEEK every dorm has 23 hour quiet hours. That's right. We can only be loud but "non-disruptive" for an hour a day. From 6 p.m to 7 p.m. If we mess up once, we get written up. 

So, essentially, Friday, the dorms become prisons. And everyone is serving a week sentence for, well, finals. 

Argh. I can hardly wait to come home to fires and couches and showers with water pressure. As much as I love Ithaca, finals makes being here college minus the fun. 

Which is obviously no fun at all...and makes me really need chocolate and caffeine in various forms. 

Wish me luck! All the stress should be gone by Wednesday night!

The Griddo Crew

A pic of us being as awesome as we truly are! I'll write more later, but work is calling. 

I Froze Yesterday and Today

Yesterday, as I walked through -2 degree windchill down to Park Studio B for the millionth time, I considered the possibility of purchasing a hat. You know, one that keeps your ears from falling off. 

I spent just about a year of my life (at least it felt that way) working the teleprompter yesterday, because I worked it on the Inquirer for the first time, and then ran it during our one-hour Griddo special last night. Total time spent: four hours. Gaahhhhh

If you didn't catch the amazingness that was our one hour special, full season recap yesterday, it re-airs on ictv.org on Thursday from 9-10 again. It even included an AMAZING PTI-inspired countdown and we brought in these awesome guys from commentary and Sports Final and they did some really neat, kind of funny analysis of the whole season. It was great. Our graphic was totally wicked. It felt like I was working for ESPN. 

It is cold outside, but it did snow last night. I love the way it looks, but it's thirteen degrees outside. It's bad when you announce the high temperature for the day and someone asks, "Fahrenheit or celsius?" 

Whatever. It's my last week of classes! I'll make it. 

Happy Birthday Mom!

It's my Mom's birthday, and I would just like to say thank you:

You're such a great mom. You taught (and am teaching) me to be a strong woman that can do anything she sets her mind to.

Even though I still lose all my hair ties, you made the transition from high school to college easy, teaching me everything I needed to know. The only problem? I miss you so much!

Everyone is totally obsessed with the candy wreath you made. As am I. Thanks so much!

Thank you for supporting me in anything I do, whether it's absorbing myself in football, becoming a journalist or swimming on the swim team. You're always there to cheer, or make all my friends love you by showing up with food (Continental pizza at Homecoming Decorations? You're legendary!)  and lots and lots of love. 

Have an amazing day! You deserve it. I can't wait to see you in less than two weeks! 

I love you!

Oh, and Dad, I love you tons too. 

Friday!

So I'm just estimating, but I'm pretty sure that 60% of my blogs are about Friday. Whether it's Friday, or I want it to be. And here it is again.  

I'm cleaning my room, which had (has) become a disaster area. I'm taking a small break, gaining a little perspective. Yesterday, because it was a Thursday, was long.  It ended with our last Sports Section meeting of the year. As usual, it was extremely entertaining. Next week's issue is our last of the semester, and since I don't have an assignment, I can take a break! Well...I've actually got to deal with my intro to journalism assignment instead. Ugh. But at least I won't have to handle both at once. 

Next Thursday is the Ithacan semester-end banquet. Everyone is supposed to dress "business casual." I'm not exactly sure what that means. I may resort to getting the girls in my dorm to pick my outfit for me. We are, essentially, an awesome sorority.  I don't know how it worked out so perfectly, but everyone that lives here is pretty awesome and fun. 

I also have a confession: I'm all the way in New York, and I am still listening to WashFM Christmas Music (online, of course). It's a hard habit to break. 

I love it. I even like listening to the traffic report, thinking about all the angry Washingtonians on the packed Beltway. 

That's what Christmas is all about.

Griddo Ends

I just got an e-mail from my Griddo producers, about our last episode of the year. Because it's the last episode, we're going out with a bang, doing an hour-long season extravaganza. So, if you're free from 9:00-10:00 p.m Sunday, tune in on ictv.org. It streams right on the front page live.  

Reading the e-mail made me very, very sad. Saying goodbye to Griddo for the year pretty much means saying goodbye to the seniors on the crew, and they've helped me so much and are so much fun. I can't imagine Sundays without them, because of how much I've learned. We're taking a full-crew picture afterwards, and I hope I'll get a copy. 

Of course, in true Gridiron Report style, Dave had to put in a little extra caution and advice to the crew:

"And guys, leave your guns behind. I know it's a football show and all, but bringing the pistol that I'm sure you all have to the show won't be necessary."  

And that's why I love the Gridiron Report.

 I didn't know I needed another reason to be sad when football seasons began to draw to a close!

So tune in Sunday!

Life in Not-So-Slow Motion

It's a Tuesday, which normally means I have extra time in the morning to get things done. I usually wake up early and try to crank out some work on long-term projects and such. I've already done quite a bit this morning. 

This week is just packed. Once Wednesday is finished, however, I'll have a few things to cross off on my master finish-and-then-you're-free list.  

Yesterday everyone was struggling to get back into the swing of things, and I spent an unexpected hour wrestling with my swimming article with my editor in the Ithacan office. It's never exactly fun to do that, because it drags on and on, but I always learn a lot when I go, and my articles always turn out way better. 

I'm listening to so much Christmas music. Claire sent me a short text message yesterday saying, "I CANNOT escape Christmas music!" If she went to Ithaca, I would totally be part of the problem. 

I worked a little on our family's Christmas letter, which I write every year to avoid the horrible cliches  that tend to plague Christmas letters, like, "Last year, while our family was vacationing in Bora-Bora, little Becky discovered a passion for aquatic life and quickly became one of the most highly respected dolphin trainers in the universe. Also, little Jimmy got straight As again, as he always does." 

Maybe ours is no better. Who knows. 

Okay, seriously, back to work. 

Okay, so another tally on the "things destroyed" list

I stated at the very beginning that I would use the blog to keep track of the things I lost/destroyed while making the journey through the crazy world of college. 

It all began with that silly yellow towel, which is now a...well, puke colored towel. That actually is (was) the only thing on the "destroyed" list. Now, my lovely, cherished red Einstein Swim shirt will join it, as my pen exploded on me yesterday. I rushed it to the washing machine like an EMT rushes a crash victim to the hospital, but it could not be saved. But I'm keeping it anyway. 

This incident did, however, alert me to the fact that I have only ruined two items in three whole months of college, which is a huge accomplishment for me. You would know this if you have ever lived with me before. 

I haven't updated the lost list either, but I think I'll just have to estimate the total to about 4 lost hair ties. See Mom? I haven't changed! 

I have created a Christmas-color themed list of all the ridiculous things I need to get through to get to Christmas break and posted it on my closet door.  It goes with our lovely dorm Christmas decorations, which includes lights, a big santa on our door, and my candy wreath. 

It's good to be back.

Back at Ithaca

So after a long ride in the rain, I'm back at IC.  It feels good to be back, and my candy wreath is already quite popular.  So, good job on that one, Mom! 

It was such a great break that it's a bit tough to return back to the harsh realities of homework, papers, and exams. On the bright side, I have Christmas music, cookies, and friends to help me get through all that.  I'm only here for about three weeks, and then somehow I'll make my way back to D.C. 

My Christmas wish is that I could go to college... without classes.  

That would be SWELL.

Oh, and an interesting note. I will be here for about 19 days until I leave again. According to the weather forecast, it is extremely unlikely that I will see ANY sunlight for that entire span of time.

Yay.

It's Saturday Already?!

I haven't been posting during break, mainly because I directed most of my energy towards eating and being as relaxed as possible.  

I think I succeeded to a huge extent this week. I ate absurd amounts, lounged in front of the fire, and reunited with friends.  Now of course, the week is ending and tomorrow I'll head back with Amma to Ithaca, so it's back to reality. This was such a great break that I'm ready to head back, because I really miss everyone there a ton. Also, I'll be back for Christmas break in less than 3 weeks, so departing won't be too sad. 

Today I actually have to work on the anthropology paper and write up my article, two things I've been putting off all week.  Then, I hope to head over to the Einstein swim scrimmage against Whitman. It could be ugly. But I don't really care. 

The best part of this week? I finally can legitimately listen to Christmas music. I won't even get yelled at. 

Wow. I am Home!

The ride back from Ithaca was long, but largely uneventful.  Uneventful is pretty much what you want for a 6.5 hour car ride.  

This was pretty much what I did when I arrived at my lovely, lovely home:

1. Squealed with joy. 

2. Jumped out of the car and dropped all my stuff.

3. Scurried out of the cold into the back room that that an awesome fire going. Hugged parents. 

4. Scurried some more around the house I hadn't seen since August.

5. Contemplated why my bed and room seemed to have shrunk. 

6. Lounged on my favorite chair in the entire world. 

7. Died of happiness.

Then, of course, there was yesterday. If you ever come spend a weekend with the Paulson family, you will discover that my love of football is, in fact, genetic. Because you really spend the entire afternoon/evening watching football (with a little What Not to Wear thrown in) and no one will ever say, "Guys, this is our third game, can we, like, do something else?" Really. They won't. This is beyond excellent, because some times the best thing to do is nothing.  Sometimes it's just really fun to watch Texas Tech be absurdly embarrassed by Oklahoma State with your Dad. 

For the record, MoCo seems pretty much the same. Which, you know, I appreciate.  I relish the fact that I grew up in the weirdest place ever. I kind of want it to stay that way. Even if my own house is creepily clean.  This can be fixed, however. When Claire gets home, we will set things back to normal.  

I'm Coming Home Tomorrow!

Hopefully I will arrive in Wheaton, Maryland around 9 o'clock tomorrow. 

I haven't been there in just about three months!  

I'm so ridiculously excited!  

Tomorrow night I can lay on my couch and NOT THINK ABOUT ANYTHING AT ALL.

Except, oh wait, the Ithacan assigned me an article due next Sunday. A profile. So, basically, I have to do a profile of someone I can only talk to over the phone. I kind of like to meet the person I'm supposed to write about. Who that is, I really can't decide on.  Generally the Ithacan likes profiles to be about upperclassmen, athletes who have a history and attachment to Ithaca and also have paid their dues.  The problem with the mens swim team? They have solid seniors, but the big stories of the year are really the freshman and sophomores. They are just taking over the spotlight in a huge way. Hopefully I'll have things figured out after my section meeting tonight.  I'll talk it over with my editors, seeing as they've got the final word on everything anyway. 

Whatever. I can't even worry about it because home-cooked food, my bed, the DVR and my couch are calling my name!  

Also, I am totally loading all the Christmas music I can onto my iPod so I can blast it non-stop when I get back from break. Just saying.  

It's Really Cold. REALLY COLD

So I woke up this morning and checked the weather as I do every morning. I was thrilled when I saw the words, "10 degree wind chill." 

I guess I'm really going to have to put away the flip flops for sure this time.  

My R.A: "Please, you haven't seen anything yet. I'll TELL you when it's cold." 

Things are winding down around here. Of course, I have a political communication paper due tomorrow, but I'm well on my way to finishing it.  It's about political talk radio, and so I wasted about two hours of my life yesterday listening to Rachel Maddow and Bill O'Reilly whine as I took copious amounts of notes.  

Maddow was actually informative, if occasionally annoying. She does start off every episode with a report on the Iraq War, which I find refreshing because the conflict has startlingly little coverage in mainstream news.  O'Reilly...was O'Reilly.  

I come home on Friday! It's exactly a week until I see THESE loves of my life: Yeah, I know, this picture is wicked flattering of all of us.  But I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEM!!

I Survived!

Like the mature college student that I am (well, at least appear to be), today I dragged myself down to the Hammond Health Center to get my flu shot. I did. I survived. 

The band-aid doesn't have any cheery cartoons of woodland creatures congratulating me on my bravery, but that's just something I'll have to accept. 

I hope this is a good sign, in that I'll be able to actually show concern about my physical well-being without the prompting of my mother. Granted, she sent Claire and me e-mails a few months ago about it, but hey. I acted like a big girl. I guess.

I'm off to class in just a few minutes. I wish Claire luck in all her craziness today and tomorrow! 

I'm in a very good mood today because of the snow covering the ground. I love it.  

Monday Morning

This morning I totally destroyed the egos of a few hardcore sports fans in my journalism class. We were talking about narrative journalism, and my professor brought up Rick Reilly.  

"You all know who he writes for?"

About three guys yelled out, "Sports Illustrated!"

"Not anymore," I said. "ESPN the Magazine."

"Ohhhhhhh!" said my professor. "Shut DOWN!" Then he gave me a high-five. 

So that kind of made my morning.  

That's all.  

Back in the Pool

I've been feeling achy and tired for a while now. My shoulders were bothering me and I just felt rundown.  When I was watching swimmers go back and forth in the pool for four hours yesterday, I finally realized the solution.

I HAD to get back in the pool.  Swimming fixes everything in my body. No amount of running or exercises can do what swimming can do for me.  So today, at 2 o'clock, I dug out my swim bag from under my bed, threw on a suit, and scurried out into the snow. 

There weren't many people there for open swim on a cold Sunday afternoon, so I had a lane all to myself.  I hopped in, and just swam. I really worked myself hard, largely because of the horror of how out of shape I was. I grabbed a kick-board and kept going, for the total of about an hour. I finished, got in the shower, and everything felt better.  My legs had that leadenness that I was so familiar to, my head felt a little light, my arms felt loose, and my shoulders, well, I felt them.  I feel so much better, it's incredible.  

I just thought about all the locker rooms I showered in, all the teams I've swam for, everything I liked about swimming.  Kenmont, Titans Swimming, AquaHoyas, Einstein. Now I'm done. I'm okay with that.  But I'm not done with the pool.  

I've still got a project meeting to go to, a teleprompter to run, and a football game to watch, but I can handle it. 

I've really got to do this more often.  

Oh Mens Swimming and Diving and Other Shenanigans

So today was the infamous "Cortaca Jug" game, and of course, because we are awesome, we won!!

Not that I watched a single second of the game. My parents, all the way in Maryland, saw more of the game than I did.  I was at a swim meet. A very, very long swim meet. Like, FOUR HOURS long. I guess that's what happens when you have 32 total events that include a 1,000 and 500 freestyle that take forever, and 2 20 minute breaks. Honestly, I bet they only give this job to people who have actually swam before.  Seriously, if I didn't know much about swimming or like it, I may have thrown myself off the bleachers at the 2-hour mark.  Even with my heightened appreciation for the art and physical exertion of swimming, I was about to die. I watched, but also fiddled with my tape recorder, which has decided to stop working.  It's probably just a problem with my tape, but still. I'm whining.  

It was fun to watch swimming, and I definitely got my fill of it. What I hadn't counted on was how impossible it would be to get any useful feedback whatsoever from the guys after the end of the meet.  I think the most insightful answer I got was to my question "What does the team need to improve on to be successful at the 4-team meet next week?" It was, "Uhhh...I dunno...swim faster?" 

They did win, which was good. I only got swimmer feedback, though. I had to sprint from the stands, downstairs, through the women's locker room to get to the deck, and by the time I did (about 2 minutes after the meet ended) the coach was no where to be found.  Luckily, I don't have to go to another meet until January.  

Tonight I'm going to see the new James Bond movie (my first, actually). Should be interesting. 

Oh, and Chris Cooley said in his blog that there is only 44 days left of regular season football, and that they've been playing for 115. ONLY 44 DAYS LEFT? How am I going to survive without the NFL? Seriously, last year the symptoms of my post-Super Bowl depression escalated to worrisome levels.  

I am going to have to buy Cheez-Its to cope with the struggle. 

Why I Love Ithaca

I am so glad I chose this place.

Why? This morning I got an e-mail from my producers at the Gridiron Report to the freshmen on the crew telling us all to be safe with Cortaca this weekend, and how to handle the craziness. My favorite part was when they referenced our crazy audio tech: "If you are going to think about doing something stupid, ask yourself, 'would Foster do this?' And if the answer is yes, THEN DON'T DO IT!"  

Priceless.  I love that they care. 

Last night at our Sports Section meeting, it was pretty much just a love-fest about what an awesome job we did these past two weeks. We did so well! We produced 13 pages of sports material in the issue, because we had the winter sports preview.  I had two articles. It was so exciting.  I got a break this weekend, and since Thanksgiving break is coming up, I won't have to worry about a feature for a while now.  I've got a meet write-up Saturday, but then I'm free! 

Yesterday I also had to help with a field segment for the Inquirer.  We went and interviewed a plumber...one that also happened to be the deputy Mayor of Trumansburg, about what he felt about Joe the Plumbers and the fate of plumbers in an Obama administration.  It was excellent.

Today, I realized that in all the business of the past two and a half weeks, I had not done laundry.  This morning, I did the biggest laundry load in the history of my college career. Granted, that's not very lengthy of a time, but I do put off laundry a lot.

I know you care. 

FRIDAY

Seriously, THANK GOD. 

Quick Update

Things you should know, in the limited time I am using to procrastinate:

1. I did, like a big girl, actually call and schedule for a flu shot. It's on Tuesday. Expect a later post discussing how it was either not bad at all, or how I saw my life flash before my eyes. 

2. I have two articles being published tomorrow in The Ithacan! 

3. After hearing horror stories about the Psych professor, I dropped it and picked up "Intro to Global Studies" just in case I want to minor in international studies or something. Because someday, I will have to pick a minor. Someday. 

4. I come home to Maryland in 9 days. Ish. So I get to sit in the awesome recliner in our back room. And see my amazing parents. And maybe even have a fire. Even maybe visit friend A at GWU.  

5. I'm helping with an Inquirer field segment tomorrow. It's sad, because we do our episodes a week ahead of time, and all shows go on a break for the end of November, there's no Inquirer studio filming until December! Sad. 

I've been busy....I AM busy, but the good kind.  I'm getting things done. 

Tomorrow will be busy, but then I have a swim meet this weekend, and hopefully I'll be able to celebrate CORTACA (!!) this weekend. We are going to win.  There is NO other option. 

The Weather Really Needs to Make Up Its Mind

On Saturday I happily skipped around SUNY Cortland in flip flops.  Today it is flurrying outside my window.  Seriously?

Anyway, today I'm out of my intro to journalism class way early, because we're getting a little break after the craziness of the past two weeks, with the Tom Wolfe article and the election article.  I got an A- on the Wolfe article and an A on the election article.  I was totally psyched, because before he passed out the Wolfe article, Professor Loop kind of issued a disclaimer.  "Okay, it's a little rough, but don't just drop the major because of one grade."  

Well, I guess I don't have to.  Our next assignment is due December 18th, and it's a 1200 word "investigative profile" written in the Wall Street Journal style.  We're pitching ideas Wednesday, and I'm thinking I may want to go after Ithaca's absurd non-compliance with Title IX.  I want to be able to ask some not-so-nice questions.  Or maybe I'll look into how terrible our facilities are.  I was writing up my final field hockey article yesterday, in which I was kind of digging into reasons why the team was 1-8 on the road.  In my research, I discovered that Ithaca and Elmira are the only two Empire 8 teams that play on natural turf.  The single road game that Ithaca won? At Elmira.  It's a tough adjustment from natural to synthetic turf.  

This week should be busy, but I've just got to manage my time with getting a bunch of reading done.  Obviously, I'm off to a great start because I'm doing this instead of reading.  The last two weeks have been crazy, but Thursday will be amazing, because I will have TWO bylines in this week's Ithacan.  If they give me a feature assignment this weekend, I may want to kill my editor. But at the same time, I'm so happy to make the switch to mens swimming and diving totally.  They've got quite a few characters on that team, and I'm hoping I won't be at a loss for topics to look into. But I want a break. Just a little one.  Long enough for me to finish reading about kinship for cultural anthropology. 

How is it November 10th already? 

OH and by the way it took a lot of maturity (and time) for me to make myself go to the walk-in flu shot clinic today like a big girl would. And then they were out of stock.  WHYYYYY? WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN TO ME?! Now I have to make a special appointment for later. Hopefully they will get more. 

Pictures from a Great Game

Hopefully this weekend will be as fun as the last one was!

Foggy Morning

As you can tell by my creative title, it's very foggy this morning.  It's a Thursday, so that means I'm pretty busy today.  

My interview on the Bomber Nation podcast has been posted! It should be Season 3, episode 8, so click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the episodes, and find the correct episode near the top.  That is, if you want to here me talk about people you probably don't know. Or care about. 

One exciting thing is I might be getting a ride with a diver to the swim meet at Cortland this saturday, which I was looking to do because I missed the first home meet and wanted to get a feel for the team before I do a profile and such.  And, Cortland is close.  So that would be really fun.  

I really, really, need to clean my half of the room.  I actually did laundry yesterday, which was extremely overdue. 

So I'm going to get on that.  Then I've got work, and class. Three weeks until Thanksgiving!

The World I Know

Yesterday Barack Obama was elected to be President of the United States. 

Just in case you haven't heard already.  

I watched in the Boothroyd lounge with about 30 other people.  We erupted in cheers with every state announced for Obama and the excitement was overwhelming throughout the night. The one or two Republicans in the dorm quickly left and chose to watch results in a dorm room instead. 

After it was finally announced that Obama had won, I could look out the window and see people pouring out of the dorms and sprinting to the quad, where about 500 people gathered and cheered and screamed together.  Police pulled up quickly just in case, but didn't have to act because the mass of people didn't get out of hand.  They dispersed quickly as news spread that Obama was about to speak.  The speech was incredible. I am proud to be an American. 

For the first time, at least in my experience, politics reflect the world I know.  I grew up being taught that it doesn't matter what your race is, what your religion is, what your gender is. There was never any distinction made as I grew up.  As I got older I realized that there were not unspoken rules, but there were unspoken barriers.  There were bridges yet to be crossed.  Who knew this would happen in my lifetime. 

I've been thinking a lot about the kids I babysit for, who will grow up with this being history.  Maybe it won't feel strange for them.  It will be something they'll read in textbooks.  That's amazing for me.  

I'm so glad I voted.

Election Day 2008

Uggghhhhh to the Redskins game. That's all I'm going to say about THAT. 

Ithaca is buzzing about the election.  No one can concentrate and everyone is counting down the hours until polls close and we can finally have a resolution after two years of anticipation. 

I'm so excited.  Anyone who says they aren't interested in politics obviously isn't paying any attention.  

My journalism teacher told me this stat, which is sad yet encouraging in some way.  I'm not sure where he got it, or whether it's true or not, but this is it:

When the Redskins play the weekend or monday before the election and LOSE, the challenging party is 7-0.  When the Redskins win the weekend before the election, the incumbent party is 9-0.  I don't really know how the statistics work on that or anything, but maybe, just maybe, something good will come from the Redskins' embarrassing performance last night.  

The excitement is overwhelming!

Buffalo

My visit to Buffalo was everything I wanted it to be and more: relaxing, exciting, and, well, delicious. I got to spend time with two of my favorite people in the whole entire world for a whole weekend and we had loads of fun. It involved lasagna, hot cider, a bathroom without  a stall in it, about five football games, my first visit to Ralph Wilson Stadium where we had amazing seats and a tour of the press box (!), a tour of Buffalo, multiple bathroom stops, and a gigantically huge bed. 

It was perfect.  Except the Bills lost.  That was one hiccup in a flawless weekend.  Papa amazingly finagled a press box tour, something they don't normally give out.  We were shown around by an intern (I seriously want her job) and we saw the spaces where John Clayton of ESPN, all the major newspapers, Phil Simms, and other broadcasters and media would be located. Oh yes, and Marv Levy happened to wander by.  Amazing! 

Tomorrow is obviously a very important day. It will undoubtedly change all of our lives, and go down in history regardless of the outcome. I've already voted, of course.  I'm proud to say I voted for Barack Obama. I respect both candidates greatly but made the choice that felt right.  I don't think American women have waited 323 years for Sarah Palin.  But that's just my opinion.

 

Anyway, the Redskins game isn't over, let's hope we can pull this one through! I'll try to put up some pictures of the game tomorrow.

Prepping for Buffalo

So right now I'm taking a small break from stuffing wool socks and spandex-y things into my suitcase, to say nothing very interesting at all. 

Yesterday I went to (and covered) the Tom Wolfe lecture.  He was pretty interesting, white suit and wing-tipped shoes and all.  He said a lot of things about journalism that I liked.  He made the point that a good fiction writer has to be a good reporter.  He said young writers are often told to "write what they know," and so they write a very good first novel, using up about all 20 years or so of their knowledge.  He said the problem, then, is the second book.  He said writers often make the mistake in thinking that a good story is 95% talent and 5% content.  In reality, there is no substitute for good content.  You have to be willing to do the reporting, to be forced into alien situations.  

I liked that.  

I think my article came out well.  One nice thing is that my mens swimming and diving preview actually got pushed back until next issue, so my deadline was extended.  Yay!  

I'm so excited to go to an actual house!  

I can't wait for the GAME! 

Oh and I just had to mention the stupidest headline I've ever seen.  It was on people.com.  Oh yes, I go there. I am not ashamed.  Anyway, it was:

"Marion Jones: Giving Medals Back 'Tarnished' Olympic Memories"

DUH

Really? REALLY? 

On a happier note, there's only a few hours until Buffalo!

Maybe I Should Learn to Adapt to the Weather

Today it snowed. And rained.  Then it snowed again.  Then it rained again.  Then it snowed and the wind blew like crazy.  Pretty much every time I left a building, it felt like I was on a boat in The Deadliest Catch.  

I am learning how to dress correctly quickly. Meaning, I actually have to dress in response to the weather.  Also, my "winter jacket" is really a shell that I actually have to LAYER something under.  Note I have had this jacket since the eight grade. You would think I would have figured this out by now.  No. For many years I have survived by spending most of my winter days running from the car to a heated building, in the very mild state of Maryland.  

Today was so busy! I had a pretty useless meeting with my advisor who pretty much said, "Well, you look pretty set. You obviously have a handle on things. Good luck with registration!" So it's pretty much a free-for-all.  Then I pretty much ran from the Park school to the library, trying to not die in the horrific weather, to the library.  It was quite the trek.  There, I met with friend KM and we solidified our awesome plans and prep for our debate Friday, in which we will defend Title IX against those who say it hurts males.  We are going to win so crucially.  

Then, I headed to a meeting where I got information about becoming a "Dean's Host," which is pretty much like a Park Tour guide, but you also attend special admissions sessions and host prospective Parkies throughout the year.  There's a long training session, but I really want to do it.  One of the requirements is that you have to be totally obsessed with the Park School.  I qualify.  You also have to have stories to tell about your involvement in classes and extracurriculars, and that some people have to wait for sophomore year to have enough. I've got plenty already.  Seriously, it's crazy what I've been able to do this year already.  

I then went straight to Political Communications class, which is getting really repetitive.  The election is only a week away!  I can hardly bear it.  I've been absorbing every piece of election coverage I could find for almost two years now.  What will it come to? What will I be able to tell my children (if that ever happens) about when I tell them about my first election? 

I came back to the dorm and my friend SW and I thawed out with cups of tea.  I then scurried back out into the cold with friend AP, who is from Ithaca, both her parents work here, and she still thought the weather was horrific today.  Justified! Mass media class makes me want to smack myself repeatedly with several textbooks, but I survived.  We have an exam on election day. WHAT? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FOCUS ON THAT? I'll manage, but I'll be bitter and angry about having to.  

We had an extra Inquirer shoot at 8, and I got to work floor manager because we didn't have tapes for this one, because there were only a few clips and they would work it in later with FinalCut Pro.  Basically as floormanager I relayed directions in studio from producer Nick (whom the parents and Amma and Papa met while visiting) to host Greg.  It wasn't all that hard, but I certainly felt important.  

I've gotten a bunch of work done tonight, and I'm quite proud.  I'm making it through this week! It's supposed to snow, not even rain, tomorrow.  YAY! 

One Really Bad Blog Post

Here is what I am thinking:

1. I like not finishing my political communications paper, even though I'm only 1 paragraph away.

2. I like the Redskins. A lot. I also love Clinton Portis, who said about matching O.J. Simpson's record of having five consecutive games with over 120 rushing yards:

"It's great company. That's about the only time you can say O.J. Simpson is great company."

3. I like that all my Bills AND Jets fans friends are wickedly jealous of me. 

4. I don't like that I haven't been posting as often.

5. I am kind of split on the fact that my parents brought me a giant box of goldfish, and it sits conveniently near my desk right at hand level...a little TOO convenient...

6. I like that I have a meeting with my crazy advisor tomorrow morning. 

7. I like doing laundry. Ish.

8. I don't like that my conscience is telling me to get back to work.  

Conscience wins!

Rainy Saturday

Let's start this off by saying I'm heading to my LAST field hockey game in less than an hour.  It is pouring rain. 

This should be funnnnn.

I didn't end up updating again yesterday because I got distracted by the fact that it was Friday!  I made cookies, watched a movie, and made collages with my dormmates, because it was raining and there was no way we were leaving.  

We watched Jesus Christ Superstar, which I was pretty skeptical about to start with, but it was pretty awesome. My friend Michele kept having to explain to me what was happening, and at one point, she exclaimed, "ABBY seriously, didn't you ever go to VBS?!"  VBS, apparently, stands for Vacation Bible School.  In fact, I did once attend it, but the only thing I really remember from that is the time when an older girl told Claire and me if we ate the black watermelon seeds a watermelon would grow in our stomachs.  This probably explains why I seriously had no idea who anyone was in this musical.  Except Jesus.  I could pick him out of a crowd.  Andrew Lloyd Weber is awesome. I really enjoyed watching it.  

This weekend and following week will be crazy.  Many papers are due and there are tons of things to get done before I leave on Friday.  Luckily, the next crazy week ends with a trip to an actual home with an actual bathroom in which the sink and the toilet are in the same area.  There's also this little thing called the Bills and Jets game that will go along with my trip. 

I really really don't want to go sit in the rain. 

On the plus side, I am totally growing as a person because I just killed a giant bug that was flying around my room.  But after I screamed and threw my binder at it, I had to get my friend C to come and take it away.  She's so nice.  I'm getting there. Someday I will be able to remove the bugs I kill.  

The end.  Good post, right? 

One Beat Ends, Another Begins

Okay, so my winter beat has been assigned.  Drum roll please...

Men's swimming and diving!

So that should be fun, and they only have like 4 home meets, on Saturdays.  So it should be a lighter load than field hockey was.  They are also swimming RPI this year.  

I have more to report, but not enough time to do so, so expect another update later! 

Big Winds and One Freaky Weather Forecast

Just about everyone on campus, including the really manly football players (okay, and the not-so-manly ones too) let out a really loud shriek every time they exited a building.  The winds were crazy, and it made low forties feel like it was a wet February night.  It is October.  It is supposed to snow lightly tonight.  

WHAT. 

My horror is so great that I am unable to inflect a question mark on that sentence.  Even non-verbally.  Imagine my eyes growing very wide, and staying that way for about 5 minutes.  There we have it.  That's how I feel.  Of course I know I signed up for this. That won't stop me from whining about it.  My feelings about the weather in Ithaca kind of compare to those of a former-Bush supporter.  But I don't think I screwed up that royally.  It's not really a screw up at all.  It's just cold.  And I'm just bitter that I can't wear flip flops. That's all.  

Today not much happened except I tripped on the crazy tiles outside of Textor Hall and pretty much ate concrete.  Luckily there was only like 2 other people because my class had gotten out early.  Still, I tore the knee of a pair of jeans a little, and that damages the glamorous aesthetic I have been maintaining throughout this college experience.  Sarcasm!  

Oh, except today I VOTED (!) for the first time ever in a general election.  I sent in my absentee ballot after doing some reading and filling everything out.  So that's settled.  I've officially participated in the democratic process!  

Some of my friends and I went to watch the Ithaca Idol competition today after dinner, and it was very entertaining. Ithaca's got a lot of music, voice majors, so there were some great acts.  There were some not so great ones too.  That made it so much better.  But of course everyone was very nice.  

Tomorrow? Nothing dramatic, just classes. 

My 18th Birthday So Far!

It's only noon and it has already been a fabulous birthday. 

I woke up to a door covered in birthday wishes, and got immediately attacked with birthday hugs while I was rubbing sleep out of my eyes and trudging to the bathroom.  My e-mail, facebook, and text inbox has been flooded with love!  It sounds cheesy, but amazing.  

Another cool thing about today, along with the impending cake party later tonight in my dorm, is that I was invited to be a guest on the "Bomber Nation" podcast.  For the first time I'm being interviewed, about the field hockey team.  Hey guys, I'm an expert analyst!  I'm the Adam Schefter of Bomber field hockey, minus the grating arrogance (maybe)!  So I'm taping that around 7:30 tonight with the host.  

The Redskins won as a birthday present to me, I'm sure.  The Cowboys also lost, to put icing on the cake.  LOVE IT!

Updates today are to be expected, so you can check back later!

*Maybe Chris Cooley was inspired by my haiku about last week's game, because he wrote a limerick on his blog about yesterday's game.  Great minds think (relatively) alike!

7:00 p.m.  I got the biggest cake ever delivered to my door with a balloon attached!  THEN my amazingly nice roomie made me a birthday cake! I'm heading to my interview soon but I'm mad happy right now.  I'll try to take pictures, if I remember. Oh and I also got lovely cards in the mail from my Uncle Judd, Michelle, and Grandma! Today has been so great. 

There's a cake party at 9 in the kitchen, we're going to try to demolish both cakes!

Rensselaer Adventure

It was one amazing fall break.  Let's go through it, shall we?  

I got up at 9 Thursday morning, showered and scurried over to the dining hall to stuff my face before my epic journey around the great state of New York.  I had a swim bag full of clothes, my iPod, and a book for the bus ride(s).  The cab I had arranged for was even a little bit early.  At first I was a bit confused because they sent a giant van to get me, maybe expecting more than one girl and a single bag.  They grabbed some other kid a minute later and we finally departed the IC campus.  It was gray and rainy, but I still loved winding through the town I'm still not too familiar with and staring at all the leaves and houses.  I enjoy looking at houses now.  They are like inviting dorms with their own bathrooms.  

Of course the bus station was in a slightly shift area, but I am from Wheaton, so I was largely unfazed because it was about 11:30 in the morning.  The bus station seemed to be built about 500 years ago, seriously, because everything was wooden and their bathroom stalls were obviously made for midgets.  It turned out that the bus I was taking to Albany required me to change buses in Binghamton with an hour layover.  At that point, I didn't even care.  The fact that I had a ticket in my hand and a definite time of departure was enough for me.  I waited for about 45 minutes and the Trailways bus rolled up.  I hopped on, and it was a pretty nice bus! Now perks, but it was clean and I had a seat all to myself.  I stared out the window for the two hours to Binghamton.  I ooohed and ahhhhed at all the leaves.  I'm good at entertaining myself.  

The Binghamton station was fine.  I entertained myself for the hour with vending machine and watching the CNN they had playing.  I considered trying out the "Deer Hunter Version IX" video game, but I wasn't in the mood for shooting crudely-animated deer at that moment.  

My next bus was probably constructed while The Partridge Family was all the rage.  That's all I'm saying.  This bus made a few more stops at the most random SUNYs in the world, most of which I had never heard of.  Finally I got off at Albany at the sketchiest station ever, and grabbed the first cab I found.  The guy wasn't exactly sure where RPI was (I know, WHAT?!) so it ended up costing me like 30 bucks.  Claire's lovely friends found me in the Union and took me to dinner.  They were a really awesome bunch.  Then, Claire came back from crew and I was ridiculously happy.  I went with her to meet some of her crew friends, who were pretty hilarious.  

It was so much fun reconnecting with Claire, I even ended up going with her to chemistry the next morning.  I played on her laptop and marveled at the 320 person lecture hall.  Claire snuck me into dining hall #3 (we never paid for a meal for me!) and we had lunch.  I wasn't too keen on sitting through biology, so I wandered around campus and headed back to her dorm, where mom and dad met me!  They came bearing many gifts including CHIPOTLE.  Oh yes, we have the most amazing parents in the world, ones who would buy burritos for their children and refrigerate them while they crossed multiple state lines.  We went shopping, watched Claire be honored with the Rensselaer medal (during which I established that yes, her school was awesome, but my acapella groups were better).  We then went out to dinner and ate even more good food, and enjoyed all being together again.  Mom, Dad, and I said goodbye to Claire and hopped in the car to return to Ithaca.  

The next day Amma and Pappa joined us for a tour of the gorgeous Ithaca campus, and they got to see the TV studio I work in.  We found another awesome restaurant, had lunch, and took in a little local culture at the friends of the library book sale.  It's so cool having Papa and Amma so close.  I'll be visiting them for the Buffalo game in just two weeks!  Afterwards, Mom, Dad and I paid 6 bucks to explore gorge trail, which we found out was kind of like the stairmaster from hell.  It was fun and pretty, even so.  We were all pretty tired, and like the enthusiastic explorers we are, we decided our next activity was lying on Mom and Dad's hotel bed with cheeseburgers watching the Penn State football game.  It was bliss.  

This morning we ate at the Ithaca Bakery and drove around lake Cayuga.  Mom and Dad then came and tricked out my room, giving me enough food to last me for years, lowering my bed, setting up my printer, mounting my mirror, trimming my bangs, and pretty much setting me up for life.  It's SO nice to have parents take care of you.  

The best part?  I'm reenergized to return to classes and studies, my room is awesome, and it's only a month until Thanksgiving break.  I miss my dormmates.  I want them to come back!  

Anyway, this was the longest post ever.  For an amazingly perfect break. 

So Close to Fall Break

Today was extremely boring.  Classes? Ugghhh.  I did just get back from filming a segment with the Inquirer crew, on which I got to work audio. The journalism major is learning some television tricks!  Last night I caught the game with some guys from my sports management class in a dorm that was closer to mine.  I watched cheerily as the Giants imploded.  A bunch of the fans left the room, and friend KM was like, "Okay, celebrate fast!" I'm not a closeted Redskins fan, but there were a lot of angry Giants fans in the room and we all know they can be dangerous.  

I got a 96% on my Sport Management exam.  YESSSSS

I also made a video today.  We'll see if it works! I'm so happy it's almost break!

I Did It!

What an absolutely absurd day.  Three exams.  Four hours.  Loads of studying, mind melting.  BUT I AM DONE! Let's run through it, shall we? It's not painful, because I'm all finished and can sit back a relax a bit, or daydream about not getting lost on the way to RPI on Thursday. 

I went to IC Square in the morning with my journalism notes, knowing I was prepared but intending to refresh my memory on significant court cases.  Sportscenter was on.  I had to maneuver myself away.  I got a coffee, bagel, and a banana.  Breakfast of champions, yes.  The journalism test was long. Lots of AP Style questions.  I think it went fine.  There were no choruses of angels following the test, but it was fine.  

I went and picked up a "grab and go" lunch and headed back to my dorm for an hour more of review on sports management and cultural anthropology.  I absorbed.  I contemplated shoving everything off my desk and learning via osmosis.  I chose to look at lecture notes instead. 

The sports management test was relatively short, I finished pretty early, and I was perfectly prepared.  I hope I'm not jinxing anything here.  Anyway, there was a back page where Professor Farrell said we could write how we felt about the class, or anything we wanted.  I wrote a haiku. I hope I get extra points. Which I doubt, because its relevance is questionable For your lovely enjoyment, here it is:

We lost to the Rams

Clinton Portis costumes are

not so good-looking

Deep, right?  I wrote it in 2 minutes.  Art. Expect more in the future.

Cultural anthropology was grueling, but again I was pretty well prepared.  Except, my professor is kind of torturous.  At the very beginning, he said, "I have graded your papers, and set them on this front table.  They are arranged from A to E across the table." This was totally stressful because it was a big paper, and all I could think about (as was his intention) was how everyone can tell your grade by where you get your paper.  Mean.  College.  Luckily, I finished my essays, trotted up to the front (I really had to pee. Trotting was necessary), turned them in, and found my paper.  95, baby! Right up front! So yay.  I ran to the bathroom, and as I did so my brain officially turned to mush.  

Now? A little reading.  A lot of being happy I have no more exams.  

Today I am Studying

First off, I've changed the template of the blog because I wanted it to lighten up a little. The blues were just a little too dark for me.  I like this one much better.

Yesterday I didn't get as much studying done as I would've liked.  This was mainly because I was ridiculously busy.  I ran from an Inquirer taping to a field hockey game (they won! 4-0!), to the gym, to not doing work, to an IC Voicestream concert (oh yes, IC has a million acapella groups. This one is co-ed, and awesome. They did a cover of Coldplay's Viva la Vida and it was amazing), to my computer to type up my game coverage.  I got some studying done after.  

One awesome development? It's looking like I'll be heading to RPI on Thursday to impose upon Claire's hospitality during my fall break.  It'll be a short visit, leaving Friday night, but it's nice that there will be a little family-reunion before Thanksgiving. Yay! Let's hope I can master this bus thing. I have only a middling faith in my ability to handle public transportation at long distances. I hope I won't have to transfer, which, according to the website, is a possibility.  

I'm sure there will be a very detailed account of my journey across the state.  Today will  be books, food, and Gridiron later.  Maybe a little football. Just a little. 

I Recognize That I Have Been Shirking My Blogging Duties

I also recognize that other than the revelation that I don't hate doing laundry, not too much has been going on.  

Well, I may as well ramble extensively anyway.  I just sent in my field hockey recap, which I didn't mind doing, because THEY WON. That always helps.  A lot.  Never mind that the team, SUNY Morrisville (yeah, I'd never heard of it either. How many are there?!) was a considered a junior college team until 2006.  We will ignore that fact.  We won brilliantly, 4-2.  It should have been 4-1, but she put in all the non-starters at the very end to give them a chance (nice!) and it...ended badly.  Oh well.  Maybe I will try to cover women's tennis next year or something.  They're SO good.  

It only drizzled a little during the game, enough to get me all frizzy and my notebook a little more sad looking and crinkly.  Never mind that it was gorgeous and sunny and NOT windy, drizzling and cold until I got to the game.  Let's not think about that.  

I aced my journalism quiz again, even without my failure to gain extra credit through my limited knowledge of baseball.  YAY ME.  Now I must absorb media law and formative libel court cases allllll weekend for my midterm monday.  Oh wait. I have 3 midterms, ALL on monday.  So this weekend will involve little merriment.  So media law, financial and league formation, management structures, finance, marketing strategies, cultural linguistics, essentialized identity, and theories on evolution shall crowd my brain these next few days. 

Speaking of sports marketing (oh yes, it was buried in that last terribly-formed sentence), I love that class even though it is finance week.  Because this is what you get in ANY Annemarie Farrell (and yes, I do write notes along with all the funny things she says.):

"The Perfectly Competitive Market does NOT EXIST! We take entire classes in business about something that...it's like unicorns and mothers in Disney movies, it does NOT EXIST!"

"And here we have Adam Smith's concept of the economy's 'invisible hand,'  Doesn't that phrase creep you out a little? Invisible hand. It's like that Clay Aiken song where he wants to be invisible and watch you in your room. THAT'S creepy, not romantic. That's disgusting.  Oh yes. I did just go from macroeconomics to Clay Aiken in 10 seconds flat."  

And then, you realize, you have to read about economic impact analysis for an hour or so, and you remember why you are not a sports management major.  

Today I also wrote a paper about what's good and bad about most teenagers getting their political news from comedy news like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, if there's any value for the audience at all.  

We all know what I argued.  I love political communication.  I love everything about covering politics, even if most of what we discuss in class is how badly it's done by the mainstream media.  We watched the documentary The War Room about Bill Clinton's campaign.  It was really interesting to see how they actively engaged the media, how the campaign managers pounced on every opportunity to work the press.  Both candidates did it.  Fascinating.  It's something I knew went on, but to see it in action was interesting.  I also think James Carville is a crazy person.  But a really cool crazy person.  

See? I can fill up a lot of space while talking about nothing.  It's a talent. 

The Sun is Back!

I'm pretty much relieved that the sun has remembered that Ithaca exists.  Now I have the luxury of actually being able to sense time passing throughout the day!

It's all windy and fall-like today, which is something I get way excited about.  I took another journalism quiz today, and the extra credit questions did not go my way this time.  One of them? What is Babe Ruth's real name?  REALLY? I had no clue.  I had to reiterate my point that I had only recently discovered, upon my arrival in New York, that people actually care about baseball. I requested that we stick to special football questions.  I don't know if this will actually happen, because Professor Loop is a Raiders fan, and I'm pretty sure football is a sore subject in general for him right now.  

Yesterday at the Gridiron Report everyone was super excited because we got these awesome new lights that are totally professional and are not boiling hot.  We always had problems because our host Lee sweats like my Dad does while working in Otis while under those old lights, and he'd have to mop himself during breaks.  We got these new ones for the permanent set, and the problem was largely solved.  Also, we established that Syracuse would be totally jealous.  Based on the lighting I saw on one of their shows, which was terrible, they are SO jealous right now.  Yay IC-TV and increased funding!

My Cultural Anthropology class was cancelled today, which is completely awesome.  I have to attend a speaker for my seminar class tonight.  Maybe I will be able to nap today.  That would be amazing.  I have yet to take a nap during college, but so many of my peers speak highly of them.  Chances are I will spend possible napping time actually doing work. Go figure. 

How 'bout them Redskins?

I've Decided I'm Not Busy

I've gone two days without blog posting, mainly because I've just been running around either doing work or having quite a bit of fun. 

Here's the quick rundown, because very soon, I'm off running again!

1.) Yesterday I played pick-up basketball at the gym and surprise! I played very well.  It was a blast.

2.) Also yesterday I experienced the magic of a Wii.  I also shrieked a lot while playing.  

3.) The website of the Ithacan has not been updated with the newest issue including my feature because of technical difficulties.  It is pretty much dead right now. 

4.) The sun finally did return, to some extent. 

5.) It's actually October, my favorite month.

6.) I don't understand baseball.  I do understand that there are quite a few unhappy Mets fans who despise the Phillies. 

7.) There are suddenly many Phillies jerseys around campus. 

8.) I had the longest Inquirer shoot ever today, but I learned how to work a field camera and work tape op! Yay! 

Even with the Bomber football bye-week, I still have a Gridiron re-cap show to do tomorrow. Luckily, everything goes on a break during fall break.  Can't wait!

Business/Busy-ness

This morning I rolled out of bed ready to attack this day!  I was fully alert while taking lecture notes on the intricacies of media law!  I celebrated World Vegetarian Day largely because IC goes crazy for it! I even ate hummus!  I went to political communication and did nothing worth remarking on! 

In sports management today we did the craziest things, because we're learning about marketing. It's really fascinating.  We had to use some techniques we'd learned and apply them to some situations she'd given us. Mine?  I had to create a marketing and advertising campaign for a new women's pudding wrestling league in the feminist hotspot of Berkeley, California.  Really.  I had to include promotional tactics, giveaways, ads, the locations of ads, my target audience, and I also had to include methods of preventing protests that my info sheet said were already brewing.  Crazy, right?  Other people had challenges like marketing a NHL team for Honolulu, or Childrens Ultimate Fighting.  Really.  I love college.  

Oh, and really, I've been studying Nike campaigns, and they are fascinating.  The most interesting part?  The are horrifyingly terrible at marketing to women.  That "If You Let Me Play..." campaign?  Disgusting.  

Anyway, in cultural anthropology my professor kept lecturing about data collection in fieldwork and also about how awesome he is.  

Then, I shoved some EasyMac down my throat and booked it to the field hockey field, stuffing my sensible raincoat in my bag just in case.  THANK GOD.  It was like being at the John Mayer concert this summer, meaning there would have been puddles in my pants if I hadn't had that raincoat, minus 20 degrees.  I better not get sick.  It was disgusting, but THEY WON!!! The most annoying part was that I had trouble taking notes without soaking my notebook, and I fidgeted with covering it with my body while I scrawled, but it was useless.  I just used my recorder, which held up in the torrential downpour, in my interviews.  Oh, but hilariously horrible?  My goalie, who I did the feature on, did not play.  Really.  I just did a profile on the back-up goalie.   

In real life, this would probably require the article being killed.  Not so in college world, where in these features we have to pretend nothing is terribly wrong with our sports teams.  We can report on anything about professors or other scandal, but sports?  Everything is pretty much dandy.  Or we make it that way.  It's twisted.  

So I got soaked.  Then had dinner.  Oh.  Good news: I totally rocked my Mass Media test, which is 20% of my grade.  An A for Abby!  Also, we wrote up these AP style stories for a quiz in journalism, and Professor Loop said mine was the strongest in the class.  The only reason I did so well with this is because I'd done these run-down articles like 20 times with field hockey away games!  Otherwise, I would've had no clue.  So the Ithacan just got me my A+.  Work pays off sometimes, which is nice.  

Finally, I would just like to reiterate that I ate both hummus and easymac today.  I swear I am not turning into my sister.  I just respect her choices in food consumption.  

Let's Talk About Today

So today my alarm went off, and this was my exact response: "GurrRRGhhh!"  Then, I began my lovely day by dousing myself in water in the handicap shower.  This thing is an amazing discovery. It is actually a normal sized shower, and does not make you feel like you are in a capsule being preserved solely for research purposes for future generations.  You can actually move around without fretting that you will get some fungus.  Really.  The shower is usually busy, because people usually have to worship it in the morning because of its amazingness, but I snagged it!

Then I had breakfast with friend KM, who had me fill him in on the absolute fabulousness of the Redskins.  Or maybe I just kind of forced it on him.  He didn't get too jealous, because he is a Jets fan.  I did manage to sneak in a few snide remarks about the Jets' throwback jerseys though.  Here's one thing about going to Ithaca: I don't think I ever had a conversation about or even referencing the Jets until I came here.  I kind of ignored their existence.  Then, I came to New York. Now I pretend that I didn't grow up thinking that Jets fans were lame.  Thank you father, you have taught me the ways of football fan-dom well.  

In journalism we had another quiz and I rocked it.  My confidence was boosted because I got one of the bonus questions right:

Which NFL team fired their head coach today?

It's the Rams, which I hadn't actually heard that morning, but I made an educated guess because I am awesome.  

My journalism professor is a sports fanatic.  And a Raiders fan. So, I expect another question like that soon.  

Then, I had sports management and my teacher spent a lot of time making fun of the Mets.  I don't understand baseball at all.  No one I know, except for my uncle, really follows baseball.  In D.C there are a few fake Red Sox fans, a few former Yankees fans, some middle-age Orioles fans, and absolutely no Nationals fans.  At least, this is what I observed in a high school setting. 

APPARENTLY in New York they care about baseball.  Again, who knew? 

In cultural anthropology I thought a lot about how I wanted to sleep for the rest of the day.  I also considered the differences between race and ethnicity.  PARTY!

Then, I headed down to the Ithacan office, where I worked out the kinks in my article with my editor Cory.  It actually turned out pretty well, despite it being cursed and all.  THEN, he told me that I have earned the title of staff writer!  No more "contributing writer" for me!  I'm mad excited. Love it!

The weather is awful.  It was about 53 degrees today.  No more flip flop weather.  Or, knowing me, I may try to push it a few more days...

YAYYY

THE REDSKINS WON!

THE COWBOYS ARE NO LONGER UNDEFEATED!

Oh yeah, but guess who are still undefeated? That's right, the Bills.  

What is awesome is that they were actually playing the Redskins game up here because it's the Giants' conference.  So I actually watched most of it.  I stayed home from water polo, mainly because my deadline was 7 p.m.  

So even though my feature was cursed, it turned out fine, and I guess I got some good karma.  I wore my Darrell Green jersey today, and then the Redskins beat the number one team in the league.  

I love life.  

I still have Gridiron at 8 and some work to do.  But that's totally fine because WE WON!

YAY!

A Rainy Lazy Saturday

Boothroyd Hall is kind of infested with a cold right now. Everyone up and down the hallway has a sore throat and the sniffles.  I woke up this morning and ugghhh.  I let the Inquirer know I wouldn't be at filming, which was fine, and snuggled back under the covers.  After a few more hours of sleep, I felt much better.  A bunch of my friends who are also feeling under the weather and I headed down to brunch and drank hot cups of tea and ate fruit and muffins.  It was a nice contrast to the drizzly, chilly weather outside.  

In Ithaca, I think the weather is either fantastic or dismal.  For some reason, most of the weekends are icky.  Oh well.  Yesterday was loads of fun.  After class my friend K and I rearranged my side of the room, and it makes the room feeling even bigger.  I really love the way it's set up now. My friends K, L and I also ordered Mediterranean food and I had a pita that had random stuff it in with chicken.  I'm not sure what it was, but it was tasty.  You can really get anything delivered in Ithaca.  All kinds of stuff.   Later, almost all of us headed over to the IC After Dark party, where I got to ride a mechanical bull, and we all learned to line dance.  So much fun.  

Today, some homework, an update on the field hockey away game (PLEASE WIN) and a bit of relaxing.  

Another "I'm Happy It's The Weekend" Post

I'm happy it's the weekend.  Very happy.  

And so I posted a picture that makes me happy, and it will probably make claire send me a very stern text message.  I love her!

I have a feature due sunday. I'm doing it on the field hockey goalie, because I really had nothing to write about, and I decided, "I like goalies!"  Also, the players straight up asked me not to do an article about the coach.  Really.  So the goalie it is.  I did my interview with her today, and she was a tough one.  Getting info was a bit like pulling teeth, but I kind of enjoyed the challenge.  It was good for me.  I really had to dig for any, well, emotion I guess.  

Anyway, tonight is "Urban Cowboy" night at IC AfterDark, which essentially means there is a lot of free food and a mechanical bull to ride.  It is nasty outside tonight, so we shall see whether we venture out into the disgustingess that is the weather and go to it.  By we, I mean my dormmates and I.  

Apple Fest.  Caramel apples in dorm kitchen.  Cheez-Its from my parents (and a Darrell Green jersey!)

I think it's going to be a nice one.  

Let's Try Some Vloging!

So with the MacBook it's very easy to take videos.  I showed a little bit of my room and talked about my day.  I was inspired by Aida and now I just want to do it all the time.  Let's see how this works!

So yeah.  Exciting, right?  It's only about 5 minutes.  

Short Update

I'm sorry I haven't been able to update lately, usually I'm so good about it. 

Work has been out of control right now, but it's all right because I don't have a field hockey game to cover this week.  So that worked out.  Update:

1. Yesterday I officially colonized the Ithaca College library for myself.  I have taken over, and I will probably never leave.  Except when I sleep, or in the morning, like now.  

2. I discovered I really miss cheeseburgers.  I called my mother to inform her of this fact.  

3. Dormmates have confirmed that yes, the meat products provided by the Ithaca College dining services are a little suspicious looking/tasting.  Enter my consumption of hummus. 

4. The weather? Still fabulous.

5. Yesterday, The Ithacan Inquirer had field-shooting at IC Feminists meeting.  Let's say I probably can't join now.  I don't think they really understood what we were about.  Think Colbert's interviews. Hilarious.

6. Didn't watch the Jets game. Tragic, I know.

7.  It's Wednesday!  This weekend is AppleFest!!!!!!  Which means, Ithaca gets taken over by apples and all sorts of apple products, and people go crazy for it. 

8. Breakfast time, more later perhaps.  

A Good Day

What a great, great day in football.  So many good games.  I got to watch some, which boosted my mood crazily.  I got to watch some of the Bills game, with the amazing ending and all.  I finished a very satisfying game, chucked my Easy-Mac cup in the trash, and headed upstairs to get ready for water polo.  It felt strangely good to pull on my swim suit, because it had been quite a while since I'd been in the water.  I stuffed all my belongings in the Speedo bag we bought, what, 8 years ago? and I headed out into the mildly chilly temperatures. 

Today was one of those days that looks like it could really snow all day, but the temperature is just hovering around 57 degrees.  So no chance of that.  Anyway, water polo was a work out like none other.  It was really fun, but waaayyy harder than I expected.  It's pretty much a bunch of senior guys, two senior girls from the swim team who started it, and a freshman girl who played in high school, and me.  I'm a bit behind, but they don't mind because they had no idea what they were doing at the start either.  Oh yes, we have the awesome looking caps to wear and everything.  I have not yet gazed in a mirror while wearing it, but I assure you it looks fabulous on me.  Really.  

Then, it was off to Gridiron where I went on pizza duty with director Dave, helped with some tech a little, and then we all sat on the ground waiting for Newswatch to get out of the studio so we could plunk down and get everything going.  What's interesting is watching each show come out of their studio after finishing live.  Today, for instance, the Newswatchers come out slowly.  "How'd it go?" asked Griddo producer Becky.  "I don't want to talk about it," says about every single person.  Our show was flawless, if I do say so myself.  

Then I came back, and much to my happiness, there was a miniature dance party going on in friend A's room, and I joined in and happily as we all started singing to the Lion King soundtrack.  That's one thing about college: five-ten minute dance/karaoke parties happen frequently.  Like, at least twice a day.  

Oh yes, and the Redskins won!  I just can't believe the Patriots...ugh.

But other than that, it was a really, really, REALLY  good day.

Tomorrow: classes!  Jets on Monday night? Should make for interesting viewing.  

I am Currently Wearing Sweatpants!

My title is very true.  I am currently wearing sweatpants.  A bunch of us are staying in tonight because somehow, the weekends have become as busy as the weekdays, and we have some relaxing to catch up on.  So I am extremely comfortable right now.  

I guess I haven't updated lately.  I don't particularly have anything interesting to write, which I'm sure is exactly what you want to read in a blog post.  

The homecoming pep rally and following bonfire was a blast.  I didn't get to go to the football game today because of field hockey.  I WISH I could've.  Because seriously? The Bombers won 62-45.  That's worse than Dallas-Philly.  That's D-III football for you.  

Garrrr!!

Also "garrr" worthy is the fact that the field hockey team lost, which was spectacularly un-fun.  I don't know a better way to put that, and I guess I'm a little spoiled, but it is far easier to interview happy people.  I guess I should get used to it.  6-11 last season, remember?  

Tomorrow: water polo and Gridiron.  What perplexes me is that taping this show is keeping me from watching the Dallas-Green Bay showdown at 8.  I am not-so-patiently waiting for the Cowboys to lose.  Please!  

Speaking of winning: here's something for Claire.  

So Close to the Weekend

So I guess a lot of my entries, or entry titles refer to me wanting it to be the weekend.  Because I do.  Thursday is always a long day, but luckily I only have two classes on Friday.  So, when Thursday ends, I get very excited.  Today my classes were spectacularly dull, and I worked the salad bar in the dining hall. Again.  Which is not so bad, considering other jobs I could have.  

It's going to be a pretty full weekend.  Saturday morning I'll roll out of bed to the Inquirer, then right on down to Yavits field, where I will desperately hope the Bombers win.  Then, I'll head back and type up my article.  Speaking of which, I'm published again!  You can see it here.  The Ithacan publishes Thursdays.  It really brightens my day.  I've got a sports meeting tonight.  Yay! Sunday, I have water polo and Gridiron taping. 

It was another beautiful day here.  I also got a package full of food from my lovely parents.  I suppose I should let Claire know that it included Easy Mac, and I'm officially a convert.  That stuff is great.  I wish I had something funny and/or interesting to say, but it was a pretty tame day.  Which is nice, I guess.  Oh.  Well, I washed my towels and such.  Um, let's just say that somehow, even though I washed bright colors on cold all together, some how my light yellow towel is kind of...moldish colored now.  So that's pleasant.  I've also discovered the amazing wonder that is the handicap shower here.  Basically, with that shower, you can actually exhale without fearing that you will get some type of fungus from the shower by touching the sides.  We might as well start the tally now:

Items uglified: 1

Items lost: 0

Items broken: 0

Let's keep it that way, shall we?  

Happy Things

So I've officially joined the water polo club team, and I'm very very excited.  According to the president, none of them really played before joining as a freshman, and she said they mainly get together and just have a blast.  Which is something I totally need, because I miss being on a sports team.  I will just have to RUN from there to Gridiron taping, but it will be so worth it, I'm thinking.  So that makes me very happy right now. 

One not so happy thing is that I believe the field hockey team is UNABLE to win when I don't attend their games!  Seriously! They have lost every single away game.  Badly.  Granted, two of the losses were to nationally-ranked non-conference teams, but still.  They need me.  Or they just play better at home.  They need to stop this losing thing fast, because I don't want to interview the coach saturday about a three game losing skid, especially if it includes a conference loss.  I really don't.  Last year their record was 6-11.  PLEASE GOD NO.  That's all I'm saying.  

So classes were busy today, I had three in a row.  I had about a twenty minute break before one class, so I didn't have time to go back to the dorm.  So, I laid on the grass and read some of my political communications book (one of the FOUR).  I kind of felt like I was in a college pamphlet.  I really thought no one did that in real life when I saw those things.  They do, at least at Ithaca.  We're all over grassy areas.  People live for that stuff here.  Mainly because weather like today's is rare.  But it was fabulous anyway.  

I was in a rough mood earlier.  Now? Much better.  

Nothing in Particular

Last night I had SO much fun watching the game, Cowboys vs. Eagles.  Of course, I didn't get the outcome I wanted but getting there was a blast.  I watched with about five football-obsessed guys, one was a die-hard Eagles fan from Jamaica, and there was the usual scattering of Jets and Giants fans.  One kid had Terrell Owens and Donovan McNabb on his fantasy team, which combined for hilarious results.  DeSean Jackson is the biggest idiot I have seen in quite some time.  There were many discussions about whether it was getting boring to hate T.O, whether Donovan McNabb was too old, if the Eagles actually had a ton of talent that is just managed incorrectly, and finally, if it was true that all women have a secret obsession with Tony Romo.  That, I guess, was my area of expertise. The answer was NO.  If it was Tom Brady, well, that's another thing all together.  Tony Romo is dating Jessica Simpson.  Do you really want Jessica Simpson's leftovers?  I don't think so.

Today I did a ton of laundry and studied in the morning, and then trekked off to politics and then later mass media.  I had dinner a bit ago, and I'll be heading to the gym in a few minutes.  I swear I am not fat and lazy!  Tomorrow I have class from 10-3 straight.  What a party.  It's getting chilly here, and I may risk saying, "It's only mid-September!" and I will sound like an idiot.  I'm not sure if this is normal or not, here in the Fingerlakes region.  

Okay, off to the gym I go!

Oh, but if you're interested, here's something funny from my new obsession The Onion:

here

God Made Live Television to Give Me Ulcers

Okay so last night was the first episode of The Gridiron Report, for 2008.  I don't know how closely it followed the standard set by Aaron Sorkin's Sports Night, but it did have one of those little rooms where Felicity Huffman would stand, panic, and give orders, and it also involved lots of linear editing.  Which I learned how to do.  Which is good.  

I am not going to lie and say that doing the teleprompter is all that challenging.  But I get to do extra stuff too, which usually involves me following people and learning how to do things, or  the other freshman and I stand there in awe and random things we have never heard of happen. Which is why I'm there.  

It's nice not to be the dumbest one of the group, and luckily most of the freshman have no idea (like me) what they're supposed to be doing.  One guy, a Strategic communications major (?) is there because he likes baseball or whatever.  Umm....

We also ate the greasiest pizza ever, and you could pick out the New Yorkers by whether they tried to find like the 9 paper towels it required to soak up the grease.  I felt a bit nauseous after one piece.  Maybe I will pass on having heart attack-inducing food next time.  

I didn't get to watch football yesterday, because I am pretty sure the world wants to fill up all my time.  I did receive Pats updates, and was very happy with the Redskins result.  So far I have resisted all the attempts made to stop me from liking the Patriots.  

In Professor Farrell's management lecture today:

"See, you can't always trust your leaders, your CEOs.  Look at ENRON!  Belichick!  ENRON!"

Bills fan.  

Today I slaved away in the Ithacan office with my editor Cory, tidying up my profile.  Luckily, he really liked it and the changes were minor.  Also, the cross country writer only had one source in his.  So basically, by comparison, I was practically David Halberstam.  

I have a paper due tomorrow for political communication.  Party! Oh and I also had my first quiz in journalism, and I believe I did fine.  I got a little extra credit, because I knew that Lehman Brothers had filed for bankruptcy.  

Go me!

***Edit: Earlier in this post I used the wrong "to" and published it.  Seeing as that is one of my pet peeves, I'm very embarrassed.  It is now fixed.

***There are tons of grammatical errors in this.  Please forgive me.  I fixed a few more, but woah.