3-30-00 (3:37 a.m.) I figured I ought to do this now...been putting it off long enough ; ). Life's just been busy...haven't had time...so I decided to make time. How did I make time you ask? In the words of the Barenaked Ladies: "Who needs sleep?" The obvious answer is I do...but we're ignoring that for the time being ; ). Let's see...where did I leave off? SROW is I believe the next thing on the agenda. The Southern Regional Orientation Workshop is 3 days of absolute craziness. We got on the busses thursday at about 8 p.m. and landed back in raleigh at 2 a.m. on monday (with classes that day). What happened in between, was exhausting and a whole lot of fun. Being on the bus with these goofs (20 something people that I didn't really know) was pretty interesting. I spent a lot of time around Meribeth and Matt, got to know them a little better. I got to know most of the crew a little better...but them more than most people...just 'cause they were sitting near me on the bus. Anyways, we land in Mississippi around lunchtime. Eva about gets herself killed trying to cross the street ; ). She just assumed the cars would stop for her...they did. We checked into the motel...Kenny, Matt, and I got the best room. 3 guys, 3 beds, and a room the size of 2 normal rooms. This is considering that most of the people on the trip are females, put in rooms that look like this: 4 girls, 2 beds, the size of a normal room. Basically...very unfair, but we weren't about to object ; ). We learned how to "Ride The Pony" which is an experience which can only be explained in person...so ask if you're interested. Then we immersed ourselves in the craziness. Roll Call amounts approximately to a whole bunch of college students jumping, yelling, and slapping stickers on people. We nailed UNC ; ). We saw 'em over there, and hit them with bumperstickers and such. Resultingly, they nailed us, but we lead the attack. Eventually, it gets more organized, and all the colleges get called on to do a cheer, or some similar school spirit demonstration. We had this little routine, with a song we rewrote. It was decently cool....sure beat "Tulane in a Bottle" done to the tune of "Genie in a Bottle." After all this craziness, was a barbecue picnic...followed by climbing into a bus...peeling all the stickers off of our bodies...and heading to the song/skit presentation. We rewrote "Hey Baby" and performed that...we did really well...but it wasn't quite at the same level professionally as most of the other groups. However, since SROW wasn't really emphasized in our program, that's really not so surprising. I'm glad that we did ours completely us, with no faculty intervention. I suspect that many of the other groups, the faculty planned a vast majority of their performance. Regardless, we gave it our best, and that's what's important. We all cheered especially loud for any group from North Carolina. Then, it's back to the motel for some much needed sleep, though not much sleep ; ). We had to be back on the bus at....7 o'clock. We didn't get back to the room until 11:30. This is nearly no sleep, when you remember that the last time any of us had a bed was Wednesday night...it may only be friday...but it feels like Saturday at least. My voice is already starting to die from all the cheering and yelling I've been doing. Saturday, we eat breakfast, and head off for a busy day of yelling, cheering, and going to info sessions. There was a dance that night, which I hadn't planned to attend...but I ended up going, just so nobody'd feel like I was being left out or a party pooper, or anything. The DJ made S&M's DJs look good. I didn't like the music at all. I did the Electric Slide, and a couple other dances...then went and sat at a table in the corner. That got old quickly, even with Will and Matt to keep me company...It's hard to hold a conversation with 2 people across that kind of noise. Matt and I ended up touring the facilities under the dance floor. Their student center has a bowling alley...kind of cool I think. I'm a lousy bowler, but I still enjoy bowling...maybe with the bumpers I might do ok ; ). Ok, that's my train of thought getting lost...Matt ends up going back to the motel early. I was going to, but then I opted to stay...just 'cause I was going to end up doing nothing either way...might as well do nothing at Mississippi State instead of the motel. I wander about, and check back on the dance...it still sucks. I talk with a couple people...then decide to slip out into the night, wander around campus for a bit. I suspect Roxanna would not approve, but she didn't have to know ; ). I was just going to try and get some thinking time out in the darkness and the grass, and whatever else happened to be out there. I step out of the doors, of one of the many exits...and there's Angela. She's been dancing the night away, and has stepped out for some fresh air, and to cool down. So, we get to talking, and discussing how awesome our senior year was...and just all sorts of things. So, I don't get my walk, but talking to Angela was fun. Time slips by, we load the bus at about midnight, and head back to the motel. Then the OCs (no faculty) have a minor bitching session, where we discussed our little gripes with the way we were being treated, or stuff we wished we had known, etc. We had a curfew (not that we needed one..I would've been asleep regardless). All of us are over the age of 18, at least one over the age of 21...having a curfew bothered a lot of people...and just a couple other minor issues. I'd describe them, but the issues themselves weren't that important, mostly just that we were talking with each other, about what we thought was important. Sunday, was mostly just a big goodbye to SROW. There was an awards ceremony, and we were all given SROW cowbells ; ). The day before, they gave us SROW jackets. So, I got all sorts of SROW stuff to clutter my room ; ) yay. Then it's the long ride back. I learned on the way up to hold no serious hopes of sleeping, so I chat, listen, and play cards. Then I skip my morning classes, a bad habit I'm developing. I don't really remember that week much. I know I went to some classes, got a formal lab report in, graded Short program 3, got a less formal lab report in, reserved a tux, and went to some of my classes. Friday, Patrick picked me up, and we met Kate, Sarah, Brandon and Anna at Anna's for dinner. For anyone who doesn't know...Patrick's Anna's Boyfriend (has been for a while) and Brandon is Sarah's current boyfriend. I like Patrick. The Jury's still out on Brandon. Brandon seems like a decent guy, but makes some bad judgements at times, in my opinion. Kate had I-viz friday, and everyone was supposed to come, but nobody did. I think she was a little disappointed. She put on some music, and we sang some songs, and just hung out until I had to run back to Hunt. Saturday, was prom. Ben and I get up, and run down to the florist. They don't have my order...can't find it, nothing. So, I place the order a second time, and Ben places his order for the first time. We're told to come back at 12. At 12, I'm walking out of Hunt to go pick them up (Ben has a prior obligation) and there's Kate and Sarah. They're trying to reach Brandon, and nobody's answering the phone. So, I go wake Brandon up ; ). While he's doing his showering etc. Sarah and I go pick up the flowers. I drop them off in Ben's refrigerator, and head back downstairs to hang out with Kate. Kate had been up since fairly early, because she often has trouble sleeping, and also she and a number of the others had organized an effort to get flowers for the guys who didn't have dates. They decide to get together for this at 8 a.m. So, Kate takes a nap around 2:00? Daniel and I wander around, discussing this that and the other (mostly the other). Then he departs, and I kill some more time. Finally, around 4:00, I shower, shave, and climb into my tux. It is at this point that I realize that those little fancy things that you use instead of the buttons, and the cuff links etc. (accessories) somehow got left at the formalwear place. I hope that nobody notices...nobody comments...there's often a difference. At 5:00, I go hang out with Brandon waiting for the females. I personally don't expect them until about 5:30...but we were told 5, so I'm there. They show up at 5:26...or something very close to that. Kate apologizes for being late. *freeze frame* Now watch as the man in the blue vest does the exact wrong thing. "That's ok, I was expecting it" Even a moron could tell you that's the wrong thing to say, but I never claimed intelligence. It's a simple case of the lips moving, when the brain isn't...anyways, we get on the road...and make it all the way back to Raleigh ; ) yay. We're eating at a place called Kanki, or something like that. It's one of those Japanese places, where they cook the food right there, and put on a show. I got to catch a shrimp in my mouth (took me 2 tries, but I made it, and didn't get any on the tux). We make a stop off at Audrey's house, and head to prom. Kate's driving, and she hands her "wrap" to Sarah. At this moment, I have a thought that's something like "I could offer to hold onto that, she is my girlfriend after all, well Sarah's her sister, what does it matter who keeps track of the thing?" As we turn the corner towards the museum, it starts to rain. Luckily, we have umbrellas. Unfortunately, Sarah just hops out forgetting that Kate's wrap is in her lap. I retrieve it from the wet ground, but Kate's kind of stressing out, and wanting to gripe at Sarah, but also not wanting to cause a scene (that's my best guess at any rate). So, we take it inside, and hang it up to dry. When getting our picture taken, we're lucky enough to find someone with a similar wrap Kate can borrow, and eventually hers dries out. Prom's about what you'd expect. Dancing, being introduced to various juniors, everyone complimenting everyone else on how they look, making sure you have pictures of your friends, etc. And of course (the nerds that we are) looking at the exhibits, and the new Butterfly house. Afterprom is, as mentioned before, held at Cameron's house. We've been forewarned that there is to be "No Sex." A good rule, considering that all 12 or so of us were sleeping in the same room. Cameron's mother is one of the sweetest women I've ever met. As expected, Cameron mostly just ignores me. *shrug* I s'pose let him do as he likes. We all just sort of sit around talking, eating, etc. All of us in various stages of exhaustion. I pull all the hairpins out of Kate's hair, and do my best attempt at brushing it. Eventually, everyone goes to sleep. I wake up with Mandy and Brandon on top of me, going "wake up, everyone else is up." If you've ever seen me wake up, you know it goes something like this: Oh, there's a world beyond my bed? That's nice. I think I'll just go back to sleep. This however, doesn't go over real well, and they make me get up. So, I just kind of sit up, and try to look vaguely aware of my surroundings. Various people have to be back to return tuxes, etc. So we get out of there, and I sleep most of the way back to Raleigh. They drop me off, and I try to stay awake, and make up for all the work I haven't been doing. I do poorly on both counts. So, monday I study for the test on that same day (Physics). I don't think I did real well...I'm seriously thinking I might have to retake Physics. I'll likely do that this summer if needed. Monday night on into Tuesday morning, I write my assembler program (due Tuesday). I spend most of the night looking for a bug that doesn't exist. Eventually, it works, and I turn it in. I help peoples prepare for their C++ test, and that brings us roughly to the current state of things. Tuesday, between classes, I managed to find a present for Kate. I feel kind of bad not having anything for Sarah, but I may find something between now and then. Time marches forward, and so must I. I'll keep you posted ; )