A Squirrel…

A squirrel ran over my feet yesterday.

I was walking to class when out of my peripheral vision I spotted a gray squirrel monkeying his way down a tree right next to the sidewalk.

Apparently he didn’t see me until the last second when he paused and almost turned back around, but instead he made a snap decision and just hightailed it across the sidewalk(and my feet).

It scared the hell out of me. The situation was somewhat similar to a deer jumping out in front of a car.

I could have stepped on it, but luckily the thing moved quickly enough to avoid getting squished underfoot. It’s not often that one gets run over by a wild animal, especially if it’s small, cute, and very fat.

Making coffee

The alarm clock went off at 7:15 this morning. Even though it was blaring in my ear at maximum volume, I didn’t actually hear it until about 7:20 or so. I always forget to turn the alarm off on weekends.

So I hit the Alarm Off button and slept for another hour before I finally found the strength to open my eyes again and get out of bed. The first thing that’s usually on my mind at this time of the day is coffee. So I grabbed my little coffee pot and slipped my bare feet into my fuzzy, muppet-like slippers, and silently hurried to the kitchen to fill the pot with water; all the while hoping that nobody saw me shuffling down the hall with hair that resembled a squirrel’s nest and an unsettlingly vacant look on my face. I made it back without being noticed and poured the water into the coffee machine’s reservoir, shut the lid, stuck the pot under the filter, plugged in the machine, turned it on, and then went to scavenge around for something to eat while I was waiting for the coffee to brew.

However, I missed one crucial step to making the coffee. 

When the machine made its final steaming hiss to signify that it was finished doing its job, I went to pour myself a cup of joe. All that landed in my cup was piping hot, clear water. It was then that I suddenly realized what I had forgotten to do. I forgot to put a few scoops of ground coffee into the filter! Ah! 

So I went back and poured the water out of the pot and into the machine’s reservoir again, but this time I heaped the coffee grounds into the filter before shutting the lid and turning the machine back on. The results were much more desirable after the second try.

This was a startling first for me, seeing as that I take making my coffee very seriously. But I guess when you’ve only had four hours of sleep, your memory tends to get a little fuzzy around the edges.

Song of the day

Today I find myself listening to Edvard Grieg while doing my homework.

I’m really not much of a classical music fan, but lately some very distinctive tunes have been replaying in my head. What’s worse is that I can’t even remember the titles of the pieces or the names of their composers. I hate it when this happens. My mental “name that tune” game will haunt me all day if I don’t figure them out soon enough. This afternoon when I was through with my one class and many reading assignments for the day, I hurried back to my dorm and searched around in my laptop’s music library, dredging up some of the moldy oldies that have been echoing beautifully inside my head. 

Song of the day:  In the Hall of the Mountain King from “Peer Gynt” by Edvard Grieg

The sound of the bassoon in this particular piece is awesome. It’s such a unique and peculiar instrument.

Click this Link to watch a video of an orchestra performance of this song. It’s very interesting to watch the musicians as well as listen to the music. Not only is the music very lively, but the players and especially the conductor become quit animated throughout the performance.

A visit from the folks

So this weekend my folks came to visit me. We hadn’t seen each other in a month, and when I came outside to meet them in the parking lot on Friday night, I was ambushed right outside of the door by my mother who all but heaved me up off of the ground and into her arms as if I were her long lost child of yesteryear, which at that point I may as well have been considering she hadn’t seen my face in several weeks (the longest period of time we have ever been apart). After Mom had set me back down on my feet, I was then attacked by my dad who, being the rough-and-tumble guy that he is, clutched me tightly to him in a tremendous bear hug until I waved my arms in the air, wheezing “Uncle! Uncle!” with blue lips. 

We then went out to eat at Applebee’s. Having fasted from alcohol of any kind over the first month at college, I was desperately craving beer. I’m of the legal drinking age, but I admit that I’m not much of a drinker. I’m more accustomed to having the occasional nip with a pal on a Saturday night, usually in the comfort of home. However, at that point I was missing the thick, filling, and deliciously bitter taste of a brew. So I had one, and boy did it hit the spot. 

As most parents with college kids do, my folks decided that we needed to go to the grocery store to stock me up with some provisions on Saturday. I gladly accepted their offer to buy me groceries because at this time I am not working. Since this is my first semester at school here, I decided not to pursue a job until I can get a handle on things such as my school work (I have an ungodly amount of homework). Thus, I am a poor college student surviving on whatever she has saved up from the job she had back home. I can’t wait for spring break because I’ll be able to return home and scare up some hours from the place I was working at before I left. 

Anyway, it was great to see the folks again. My brother didn’t make it up to visit this weekend because he suddenly got this wild hare to buy a new ice auger and go stay out on the lake all weekend fishing in his ice house. He apologized profusely over the phone and promised to buy/cook dinner for me every day when I came home for spring break. I’ll hold him firmly to that seeing that I miss his wonderful cooking.

Today, Mom and Dad came to see me in my dorm to hang out for a couple of hours before they hit the road. There’s supposed to be some icy weather heading their way down home, so they had to leave a bit earlier than expected to beat the storm before the roads turned into a slippery mess. The only good thing about parting from them was that there were no tearful farewells, which I was dreading. I don’t know what I would do if I saw my mom cry. I’d be even farther up a creek if Dad suddenly started bawling. Instead, they were very happy to see that I was doing well and I think they went home with more contentment in their hearts at that knowledge.

Sunday afternoon

I have just updated my “About christa88″ page. Look if you dare.

Sundays are known to be very restful and, in some cases, boring. My Sunday began with me dragging myself out of bed at 11:00 AM and up until now I have devoted the rest of my time to homework, save for the breaks I took to go out for an invigorating walk and to eat some food.

This is my Sunday.

Good times

Today was a beautiful day. The temperature here in Bemidji, MN has finally taken a warm turn for 40 degrees!

I was so excited to actually be able to go outside without a winter jacket that, instead of using the campus’s public transportation, I decided to walk to the store to get some provisions. The only thing I wasn’t counting on was the wind. It was blowing to beat the band by the time I got halfway to Walgreens. It felt like I was pushing against an invisible wall. However, the walk back from the store was the complete opposite experience. The wind at my back felt more like a giant hand that was shoving me down the street. I almost fell over, it was so windy.

Seeing that the wind was bringing a bunch of ugly gray clouds with it, I assumed that we were going to get another front of cold weather. The gusts were starting to grow to miniature hurricane proportions, so I decided to step it up and quickly scurried inside my dorm where I decided to stay the rest of the day until it all blew over.

So, inside I stay, tapping away on my keyboard, trying to think of something to blog about. At the same time, I’m watching a movie I haven’t seen in years. It used to be one of my old favorites, and now it is quickly making its way into my top 10 list again. Maybe you’ve heard of it:

Beetlejuice

As I watch more and more of it, I start to relive some of the feelings I had about the movie when I first watched it all those years ago. I must admit it still creeps me out. I just watched a scene where these people’s shrimp appetizers turn into hands that reach up off of their plates and grab their faces. My horror at seeing it for the first time when I was ten (or thereabouts) suddenly came back to me, and I broke into gooseflesh all the way up to my neck. There’s just something about food reaching out and grabbing someone’s face that makes my skin crawl.

Although there are plenty of disturbing scenes in this particular movie, I can’t help but revel in the nostalgia of seeing something I remember from a very pleasant period in my life: childhood. I start to remember the night I first watched this movie. It was in the middle of summer, back when us kids used to spend almost every day at the beach or the public pool. Afterward, we’d stop at the video store to rent a movie, then come home and collapse in front of the television, satisfied with our exhaustion from playing all day. Summer was also the time when us kids could watch as many movies as we wanted and not have to worry about getting any homework done or going to bed on time. I settled down on the couch in the basement to watch Beetlejuice with my big bro, the both of us still wearing our damp swimming suits and wrapped up in beach towels while we waited for Mom to make dinner upstairs. We laughed and shivered throughout the whole movie.

It’s funny how one little thing can bring back so many memories. Maybe it’s just because I can’t wait for summer to come again. I’m tired of the cold, but I am not yet tired of movies.

Looking at blogs

Not having any experience with blogs myself, I decided to search the Web for some and see what people are blogging about. What I discovered is that people blog about everything from politics to instructions teaching us how to make paper airplanes. One does not have to be an expert on subjects they blog about as long as they reference whatever information they gather from other sources. Then again, it is a plus if there are experts out there blogging about the things they know best. There is no limit to the number of interests people blog about. Some just post current events along with their own commentary while others pick a topic of the day and go to town on their blog.

And then there are ones that are just dull and yet extremely entertaining in their simplicity.

The Dullest Blog In the World

This particularly interesting blog is about one man’s broad range of interests and hobbies.

One Man’s Blog

Because my own interests border on the strange, I like to read about weird things.

My Strange Blog

I never have been a fan of reading blogs, but I figure I could learn a thing or two by reading a couple once in a while.

My first post

Okay, so, yeah, this is my first post. Don’t really have much to write about right now, but while I’m thinking of something I’ll start by giving you a link.

92KQRS

It’s my favorite radio station. Being a huge fan of music, especially classic rock, I turn to this station to get my AC/DC fix.

I’m a Minnesota native, currently attending Bemidji State University. My major is in Creative Writing. This is my very first blog and I am not familiar with blogging at all, so this is sort of a trial by error experience for me. I’m usually a pretty shy person, but hopefully I can work my way around it while I’m here.

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