Time's Past

SO, midterms are finally over. WHEW!
Now, on to the next set of craziness that shall be added unto for the final and make sure it all stays fresh in the mind.
But at least I feel like I have a breather for now~


In case you haven't (or have) been keeping up with the blog about the new book Limbo's Child, it's finally out!!!! *party*
Here's the main blog (which he's still posting chapters up on) -> http://jonahhewitt.blogspot.com/
'Tis now available on Amazon.com for the Kindle (or Kindle Readers, which are free) for just $0.99!!
Yeah; read that again. $0.99! Seriously!! You can get this amazingtasticness for under one barking dollar!!
Even if you don't have a Kindle, which I myself don't, Jonah links to where you can download Kindle Readers, which are free. Here's the blog's link about it -> http://jonahhewitt.blogspot.com/2011/10/kindle-readers-for-all-platforms-free.html

Now, if that isn't enough of a deal to at least interest you, for this first week of the book's release, Jonah's offering the first half of the book for free.
If you don't believe me, I can understand - so here's the link -> http://jonahhewitt.blogspot.com/2011/10/first-half-of-book-free.html
The last 300 pages will be for free next week; so if you find yourself unable to be bothered finding enough change for the entire thing now, go now and take your fill while you can.
Again: http://jonahhewitt.blogspot.com/2011/10/first-half-of-book-free.html

Does this all sound too good to be true? Well it's happening; the free half for only a limited time though, so get on it!
(I myself simply bought it all right now; I mean come on; $0.99?? Even I, a scrounging college student, can find the money for that.)


In other news...

Our school got a bomb threat at 1 AM this morning.
Here's a (albeit short) news article on it; it made the headlines apparently.
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/10/lockdown-lifted-buena-vista-college-after-bomb-threat
And here's the school's low-down on what happened when: http://svu.edu/news/alert-updates

I was just getting off to sleep, practically all the way out... when we got a knock on the door telling us we need to evacuate at 1AM. I myself didn't hear the knocking; my roommates had to get me up. So I groggily got up and put more layers on (I already had 2 layers, just added a few jackets; I'm rather cold-natured), grabbed my purse, and left with my roomies. I didn't grab my laptop, my phone, even my sketchbook. I was not all the way there. Actually, I was convinced we were doing a drill of some sort - we did a fire drill near the beginning of the semester at about 4 AM, so I wouldn't put anything past them now. When we left the building and passed multiple trucks and K-9 units, I began to be suspicious. I didn't really register that this could be something serious, though, until all we girls in the dorms were huddling and gossiping in the church building just down the hill. Well, there was talking going on; I was not a participant. In fact, I felt rather ill the entire time, I think I may be catching a cold... So that was added onto the fact that I just wanted sleep.
Alas, the floor of the church basketball area is not the most comfortable place to lie. That, and my stomach wasn't always sure what it wanted to do either.
At any rate, around 3:30 we finally got the all-clear to go back to our dorms. I didn't say anything, didn't really do much except trudge back up the hill, and fall into bed.
I probably got about 2 hours of sleep.
Then, at 6AM, my alarm went off for my 7AM Biology class.
No, classes had not been canceled in the slightest.

So, right now, I'm still going alright. I can do the few-hours-sleep thing for a while, but I will be sleeping good tonight... (I hope)


So, that's my excitement for the week. They still don't know exactly who sent the bomb-threat or why, it's still under investigation, but I'm (mostly) happy to say that classes are still going as planned and the entire campus has been cleared. I'm also happy I'm just a student. Mr Doxey, VP of organizations & student services here, said he didn't get home until 8AM this morning. Even then, he only grabbed a quick 2-hour nap before going on with the day. Plus, some of our Resident Advisers had to stand guard at the doors and make sure no one came in or left the buildings and didn't hardly get any sleep before classes began, if any at all.

So, I am lucky that I am not one of those people who freak out easily and couldn't have slept at all, as I am happy that I was not a Resident Adviser responsible for keeping track of people during this crazy time.
But that doesn't mean I feel any better physically. XP

Alright, I've gotten out my little whine/rant. I'm thankful that we're all ok and stuff, and hopefully it doesn't happen again.


Oh; and I drove out to Roanoke on Saturday~ Twas fun, I believe. Tiring, yes, but enjoyable. Especially since I got into a Barnes & Noble... <3 (and inevitably bought something or other :) )


Now, go check out Limbo's Child!
http://jonahhewitt.blogspot.com/2011/10/free-kindle-readers.html
Seriously.

Step On Up

So, I just took two exams and a quiz earlier today~
I feel ok about them; I've studied and prayed and that's all I can do.

I was studying over the weekend, except for Saturday evening when I went to the Homecoming dance. The theme was "A Night Under the Big Top". Yes, like a circus~ It was awesome! They had booths Christmas lights and everything~ :)

 There was facepainting, 'fishing', arm wrestling, a photo booth... Even a guy doing balloon stuff~

Plus the dancing itself! I even got my friend Eddie out on the dance floor a little bit.
I left before it ended though; I was sooo tired... Hopefully I'll have caught up on my sleep by tomorrow.


In other news, I got to go to the D.C. temple last Tuesday!

It was beautiful~
(and massive)
It's about 3 hours or so from here. My roommates were all "That's so long to just sit in a car!", while I was thinking "Hey, like a trip to Wal-Mart back home!" XD We even got to take charter buses instead of vans~


Other than that, anticipating the release of Limbo's Child~!
Due to some last-minute strokes of genius, Jonah ended up adding one more chapter to the book, and it entirely works! It's the new prologue, if you care to read it on his blog~ -> http://jonahhewitt.blogspot.com/
However, because of it, some re-organizing occurred in the book's formatting; some of it planned, some of it not. So he's having to do another editing session to fix it up. It sets things a little off on his schedule, but greatness can't be rushed. In the meantime, I wish him luck, and I invite even more of you guys to go check out what chapters he has already got up!
-> http://jonahhewitt.blogspot.com/ <-


And, simply because I was watching them again recently, check out this awesome dance group called Remote Kontrol!

This is from 2010, but they're still doing awesome stuffs now! This is just the first vid of them that I saw, and was blown away. It's a bit long, over 10 minutes, but it's still well worth the watch~
This is their website, with more clips of their amazing talent! http://www.remotekontroldance.com/media.html

Ever find random things happen to you when you're not looking? I swear I was just doing normal stuff today, even a little less crazy, and poof! I find a raw bleeding spot on my knuckle by just noticing it. Didn't hurt or anything, just noticed the red stuff on my milky complexion. (and I thought I was done with that after high school XD')
Guess I'm still as observant as ever~ 


Well, here it is, OCTOBER~ <3
Probably my favorite month of the year, right after December. :)
(The only reason December beats it out is because of school breaks, instead of the test-taking induced in October. Yes, that's counting Christmas and my birthday. I just think October rocks that much!)

And I find myself not quite as frazzled as I was expecting. Of course, it's only the first week thus far, but still. I believe it has been enjoyable! It's been getting chilly enough for me to wear my warm(ish) jackets, and start wearing gloves! <3 I love them~
And more trees are turning colors! Yay!!


Heheh; and, I got to see WICKED~!! <3 It was Oztacular!!

SO MUCH FUN!
Unfortunately, we kinda missed the first 10 minutes because we got there right as the show was starting, and we had to go up a few flights of stairs. The actors' guild (I believe? That's what the attendants were telling us anyway) had mandated that if any of the audience was late, they had to wait for a good 10 minutes (until the first 'break' in the scenes) to get in to seating. >0 But at least we could still hear it~ And the theater was EPIC.

(Just so you know what I dressed up in, I put in the brighter pic of me. But then focus on the intricacy of that stage behind me in the darker picture - that dragon moved!!!)

I ended up buying a magnet and poster. The soundtrack was super-expensive, so I'm just gonna find that someplace else cheaper. :p Until then, Youtube, my friend!

This is the opening song to the entire thing~ <3
Seriously, that musical has such an epic score!!
I want to find the piano music soooo much, but first I'll focus on getting the soundtrack~


In other things, I've been working on homework; reading lots and lots, wrote a paper for Philosophy...
Yeah. Nothing too exciting. Yet very time-consuming. X.x


Again; October 15 is coming ever-closer!! Go check out Limbo's Child over here -> http://jonahhewitt.blogspot.com/ <-

There's a few of the first chapters up, as a special treat to those who go there~ <3
PLUS
If you stick around for the news, I hear that he'll be offering the book for the first few days at a special deal....
for free~
Yeah, I know!! SO AWESOME, right?? SO, be prepared to go for it when the time comes! >D
(of course, it's not too expensive anyway... BUT who doesn't love free??)

So, get your bums in action and head over to http://jonahhewitt.blogspot.com/ right there!


And thanks for reading this randomosity~

News and News of News

Things are a-going, if they ever were.

Let's see...
The leaves have begun changing colors around here~ Not in any big FWOOSH! or anything yet, but I don't know if that happens here. What I do know, is that there are a multitude of colorful leaves on the ground every day and continually falling off one by one if I watch long enough.

(No, I wasn't lucky enough to capture that leaf falling off the tree perfectly facing my camera - if you're even tempted to think that. I found this awesomely-red leaf on the ground and held it there, my hand just out of view~ ;P)


Also, my first long-term experience with 'cafeteria' food is rather enjoyable! They've got something new in the Dining Hall every day, heck, every mealtime! Sometimes, I'd prefer not to guess at what a certain dish is, but most everything is recognizable and tastes great! I love that they always have a salad bar, too, if the main dishes don't look all that appealing at the time. A grill to the side is available if one wants to cook up some eggs or something as well.

One of the times I sat down to eat and had my camera randomly with me. There was tortelini (yum!), and random beef-stew-type soup that I mixed with the pasta for fun~ PLUS, they sometimes have quiche!! I only generally see that stuff listed in fancy resturaunts or something, much less actually have it. I'm loving it when it's available~! <3


Also, this past Friday I was able to attend a senior recital by one of the students. He's got a family and everything, but he's still doing school and piano lessons. He memorized his pieces. He did four of them. They were barking epic!!! I didn't know human hands could move that fast! Actually, I have the program with me...

Here's what he played:

Prelude and Fugue no. 4 in C-sharp minor WTCI, BWV 849 - J.S. Bach

Piano Sonata no 21 in C major "Waldstein", op. 53 - Ludwig van Beethoven

*Intermission*

Ballade no. 1 in G minor - Frederic Chopin

Vers la Flamme - Alexander Skryabin

[I highly suggest looking these up on youtube, if you don't recognize them. I can tell you, I still don't - but the tunes I do.]

He did an amazing job, I'd be blown away even if he didn't have a family at home and school going on at the same time! But he does. And he still memorized them.
I... miss playing piano; for there are practice rooms here on campus, but I don't have a lot of time to play. I've only used them once. Plus, I still really shouldn't do so for extended periods of time. XP


More good news: apparently, in Richmond (about 2.5 hours or so away), there's going to be a musical performance. My school is selling tickets, as well as transportation to/from the performance! I've only ever actually seen one musical, CATS, with my piano teacher a number of years ago. I loved it, and I've always loved musicals! So, of course, I jumped on this chance to see another one live~
And what would this oh-so-wonderful opportunity be presenting?
Take a guess.
...........
..........................
................
Wicked!
*exceedingly excited*
NO, I kid you not. Seems my recent Oz'dity is going to be further ingrained by means of a live performance!! YAY!
.........ok, back to regular life.


This past Saturday (aka yesterday), our ward went on a service project. Turns out, we (my roomies and I) joined a different ward by accident, but such things are easy to do when times and meeting places are similar. Plus, service is service! Anyway, we got to go help pick up trash around a local riverbed trail. And you know what? This riverbed actually had water in it! Running water!! Plus, the greenery around it was beautiful~

Twas beautiful~ <3

Lots-o-trash though. :(



Well, that's all I can think of right now. :)

...Ok, so I personally don't have all that much in the way of news. BUT, someone else does~ CB

Jonah Hewitt, and his new book 'Limbo's Child', the first in his 'Dead Things' series.

-> http://jonahhewitt.blogspot.com/p/limbos-child.html <-

It's supposed to come out on Oct. 15th!! (his main blog page -> http://jonahhewitt.blogspot.com/ )

It's coming out in e-format, on Amazon, and I've been anxiously awaiting a date on which to anticipate the release. I've heard and read some pretty barking awesome stuff about the book, as well as seen some of the concept sketches in the first trailor video, which can also be found on the blog. I'm really really excited to see this come together, and desparately hope that my Nook will be able to view the format. If not, I have a format-changer (InkScribe? eScribe? something to that effect... can't remember names right now) from a friend that shall have to do it's magic for me~

As for all of you, I simply ask you to go look at the blog he and his illustrator are updating, and read about it! It's Young Adult, and an awesome mixture of imps, mortals, mythology, and, well, dead things!

Here's the link to the book's description again -> http://jonahhewitt.blogspot.com/p/limbos-child.html

 Go! Discover! Get ready for the release! :D

The World of Oz

Math is ever-presently my homework time-sucker. Seriously, it takes me more time to finish a section of College Algebra problems than it does for me to read sections in Descartes' "Meditations on First Philosophy" or Plato's writings of Socrates (and I find them a good deal more interesting).
Alas, it is probably because of the infernal strategy that has given me problems since I first tried learning all the different ways of doing it: factorizing. Oh, I've learned the different ways; I just forget the ones that will make a specific problem simpler when doing it - or I forget an entire concept completely. Generally, it then involved me making thungs infintely more complicated than they need to be, and as such have a higher chance of making mistakes. (of course, I seem to be making quite a few of them even with simple math... Remember, 1+3=4, NOT 5)

But moving on, as I'm sure I shall in math...

I was able to finally go and see the college's latest play production, a musical actually~ They did a retake on 'The Wizard of Oz'! Well ok, I don't know if I'd call it a 'retake'... they didn't exactly change much, they kept the same lines and everything, they just... added a few things to make it more fun~ Like... the entire cast was of 9 people. (quick changes) And they used minimalistic props, for the most part. (just some boxes and their clothes/attitudes to show they were on the farm) Plus some subtler things, like the intonation with which the lines were said. PLUS, an awesome musical score (from the original) that occasionally threw in other references. (Chariots of Fire, Phantom of the Opera, Wicked...) It was somewhat long, from 7:30(ish) - 10 PM, with a 15 minute break in the middle; but it was so worth it! The actors were great at everything, from the quick scene-changes, to singing, so their subtle inflections. I loved it!
Plus, I also got to meet the Olsen's dad. Mr. Doxy and his family were there, and they introduced me~

That brings me to another subject. Ever heard of the musical/book "Wicked"? I have heard about it for quite a while now, and just never really got up the motivation to investigate what everyone was raving about. Upon getting here, I discovered that one of my roomates and a new friend had seen the musical quite a while ago, and loved it. Plus, a friend online has been gushing about it occasionally. So, I decided to watch it on Youtube. Lazy? Perhaps; but I highly doubt it's coming anywhere near here sometime this coming year. OR back home, for that matter.
I. LOVED. IT!  I even found myself crying at the end...
I understand now why so many people love the musical - it's so barking ingenius! Yes, the original concept comes from the book - but the book didn't come with the musical score. I'm still unsure I'd read the book, not only for lack of time but because of some *scenes* I've heard about in it (though what book doesn't seem to have some these days?), but the musical is wonderful! I highly reccommend it, as it's very fun and educational about friendships and choices~ <3

And just because, here's one of my absolute favorite songs from it, simply for the fun of it.

"What Is This Feeling"

Since I've been so Oz'd up lately, you'd think I'd have had enough by now. BUT nay; now I'm getting an urge to watch SyFy's version of this classic, in a miniseries called "Tin Man" which I actually have with me here! It's very intriguing and fun; D.G. is 'Dorothy' in a modern setting; Glitch has a zipper on his head where his brain was removed; a sorceress named Azkadellia rules over the O.Z. with an iron grip...

Man, now I want to watch it again even more!

But first,  to finish homework. Reading is really rather relaxing, whatever it may be about, I'm finding. :3

Ever Onward

Just want to take a moment to ask everyone to think back to where they were when they heard of the Sept. 11 attacks back in 2001. Just remember for a few moments when everything about foreign relations and other things changed.
I was in my 3rd grade classroom, huddling with everyone else in my class around a kid with hearing aids listening as our teacher was told (outside of the room) what had happened; she'd forgotten to turn off her microphone.
I didn't really understand the fullness of what had happened, but I remember it nevertheless.


Alright, on to happier things~


This past week has been rather full - successfully switched to the Health & Wellness class, and the book is a lot more realevant than I expected. There's even self-assessments in there to help figure out where you may stand or give ideas to get you going. I'm liking it~ (though unfortunately, the site with the quizzes still won't let me in... The teacher says he has no problems gaining access with my information though. Frustrating.)

On Friday there's no Health & Wellness class, so at that time I went to BodyFlow for the first time. (I only recently recieved notification there would even  BE a class) It's a mixture of yoga, Tai Chi, and pilates. By the end of the hour (and at various points during it), I was shaking with the effort; but I'm pretty sure that's how it's supposed to go until one becomes used to it. I'll only be able to go once a week, in-between classes, but I'm going to continue for a while to see how it goes. I've been wanting a class with at least some yoga in it and haven't really been able to find anything. I still have this AM stretch DVD I brought with me, but I was hoping to do a little more. Over the next few weeks, I guess I'll find out if that's even physically possible.

At the end of church today, they handed out Visiting Teaching partners and 'students'. I'm lucky enough to know at least one of the people on my list - I get to teach one of my roomates~ My partner and the other girl on the list, though, I've yet to meet. I suppose that'll be happening over the next month.

Speaking of months, next one is October! Anyone else excited for Halloween?
Of course, I've yet to come up with a costume for this year, but more than likely I'll wear what I did last year - steampunk herpetologist~ Always interesting to see people's reactions! (now I just gotta get the rest of my costume from TX... probably...)

Just thought it might be a good time to add some pictures, for those who haven't the slightest what VA looks like. (I know I didn't)

me in front of the main hall ; shmancy, eh?

a comilative picture of my portion of the dorm room. It's changed up a bit since then, the hooks are gone and my necklaces are now on giant push-pins in my cork-board, but that's negligible~

The main entrance to campus! Up a hill. (behind the camera is a Dollar Store accross the street; good planning on their part)

The Lofts! In other words, the  girls' dorms. On another hill.

 For perspective: these are the steps that go up to/down from The Lofts to the rest of campus.

Yup; won't have to worry too much about keeping in shape, I believe. (though I do have a car; not worth it to find parking at times, though)

Yeah... can't think of anything else at the moment. I should probably work some on reading Biology! Yay!
(then do a math quiz.... meh...)