It's been a little over two years since we graduated from college and today began the Great Purging of the Papers. We quite literally have two boxes full of notes, papers, etc. to sort and determine what's good, what's bad, and what's Clint Eastwood. Which is why I bought one of these:

It's called a Canon PIXMA MP210, and it's a photo quality all-in-one thing. But mostly I just care about the scanning, which is key to archiving old papers. Somewhere mid-college I lost a hard drive or three, meaning a lot of papers went out the window. Plus I like to have the comments from my various professors as they tore my papers and tests into minute shreds.

The scanner has relatively mindless scan-to-PDF functions, which is great because that's exactly what I need. And the great thing is that is only cost $70.00. Which seems fair to back up every piece of average-GPA Hillsdale writing sample I have ever written.

For those who didn't know, I an in this year's rejuvenation of the Shakespeare in the Arb. Maybe Wazoo and those who did Hamlet those years ago will be proud of me. I hope so. Wish y'all could be out here to see it.

Collegian Article on Shakespeare in the Arb.

So I got a little sleep last night. But enough about that. Today has been good so far. I actually understood everything in German class today and could intelligently answer questions. And then Music Theory was cancelled. Which is a good break; I am actually on top of things with that class this semester so far and I really do not want to get too bogged down with it.

Good news is that I've been able to talk to my cousins in Indonesia a bit lately on IM. You know, IM is an annoying thing at times but I am really liking it right now. Pei-Chein is 16 and lives in Jakarta; her sister Marissa is a student at NIU in Illinois. It's so great having free "long distance" if you will.

Finally, the IM season starts next week. The girls team I'm coaching is looking pretty good. I have high hopes for the girls; they work hard and know how to play. Should be good.

That's all. Go buy the Killers album, listen to track 6 ("Andy, You're a Star") and think of Prout. He finally got a song that's "dedicated to him." Not really. But still, think about Prout. And for those who don't know him, think about him. Okay, that's creepy. But yeah, pray for him as he's recovering from a back injury.

And yeah, about this cd. I've had it since the day it released but I haven't really spent time listening to the whole thing until now. It's great.

First day of classes went amazingly well. I thought about posting my schedule and such on here but I am not sure if I care enough to do that. German is going to be rough this semester because I have to a lot of reading in German (read Dürrenmatt novel) but I will have/use a tutor for this. Kell, whether you know it yet or not, I will need your help. Giles and I talked about it today, how nice it is to have a good friend who is so good at something I am not good at but like to learn. Anyway, back to the post....

Guess who is back in the Dale? Since I don't keep up very regularly on Xanga sites I was pleased to see her today on campus. But of course most of you crazy Xangans already knew that so I guess I'm posting that for my sake instead of yours.

Well, it's back to the studies. Seriously, I've been studying today. Crazy times.

It is a huge relief to be done with all of my finals. It was nice to finally get some decent sleep last night. After all, I pulled two or three all nighters in a week and a half starting the night after the last Messiah performance. I thought I was going to die but somehow (as usual) I pulled through. I am grateful to the Lord big time right now; I was able to get through a fall semester of finals without being so sick I had to go to the hospital or take antibiotics. I know Giles was pleased as well; she didn't have to play nurse or worry as I passed out at random and went to the hospital.

It is interesting how people use their blogs to say things that they wouldn't otherwise say. They express themselves differently on their blogs. They write things because they know certain people are reading them. They pretend to be vague in their "this is my life problems right now" posts, yet telling stories that are obviously about specific people (whom they refuse to name). It's interesting to me how blogs are used when the writer(s) can't get up the courage to say whatever they wish to say in public.

Ebay rules. I'm selling a couple of dozen books on there right now. I absolutely love it.

Ebay + Mozilla = Happy Dean.

So it's now Monday and I have finished yet another final. That means that I only have two more tests tomorrow and then my fifth semester at [c]Hillsdale College will be complete. Only three more semesters until I am thrown out on the curb of reality and have to get a real job and all of that. Woo hoo.

Right now I am sitting in the graphics lab with my wonderful Miss Giles, getting in some together time before she leaves (and I'm getting paid for it, figure that out!).

What can I espouse my opinions on....I have to say, MXC is one of the world's greatest shows. Unfortunately there are a lot of people out there who have never heard of it. Shocking to them, however, is the fact that they have probably seen it before. MXC (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge) is a Japanese show called Takeshi's Castle. It is almost a hybrid of reality television and jackass-style hurt-yourself competitions. I am not quite sure what the point is of the game but I think that makes it all the more amazing. 50 people or so are on each "team" and they compete in these absolutely ridiculous competitions; things like swinging around on a rope and dropping onto a small platform surrounded by cold, dirty water. That in itself is funny, watching these people voluntarily make fools of themselves. There are two hosts and a number of random characters on the show as well, but what pushes into "amazingness" is the English dub overs that really do not apply whatsoever but make fun of the whole thing. I have to give props to Spike TV ("the man channel") for bringing the show over and all that.

I'd like to announce that I have officially passed "Not Sleeping 101" as taught by Trin. At this point I have no intentions of sleeping again until next Wednesday. Of course I will sleep. But I have no intentions of it. Here's to coffee. And more coffee.

Please hop on Purevolume.com and check out the bands Showbread and The Chariot. They absolutely rock. I mean it. They are both scary good. The Chariot is basically Norma Jean, just a little different. It's the lead vocalist from NJ from Bless the Martyr with a new band that has a very similar style. Except they recorded the whole thing without any computers. Soooooo hot. Check out the album version of the track "And then, Came then." That is a great great great song. And Showbread. Wow. I don't know what to say. I'm not sure which I would vote for if they were on a list for Album of the Year but I am pretty sure my vote would be one of the two. Or maybe I would have to vote for something else so I could slight both of those instead of one in favor of the other. That's how good they are.

So right now I'm sitting in the computer lab, getting paid to surf the web and even work on homework occasionally. Plus Friday afternoons we get these training sessions (that we get paid to take) and after so many of them we get a raise. It is real nice, I get paid to sit here, get free training while I am at it and I will have a raise after about two more training sessions. Glorious.

Big news this weekend: Miss Giles does not have to be on duty in Mauck at all! I am very happy that she is an R.A. and all but it can be a bit tiresome when she has to sit desk every weekend. I feel bad for her when that happens. This weekend, as I said, she does not have to work. Which will let us hang out with our friends. She has decided to be absolutely amazing this evening and fix me dinner (I suppose it is in return for the dinner I fixed her last Sunday). Then it is off to the school's production of Phaedra and probably to Jordan's house with Jen and Whoooooolia. We'll see. I'll give you a rundown later on this weekend. Oh yeah, my friend Justin is supposed to come down on Saturday or Sunday. *Knocks on wood.* Here's hoping.

Today is a normal Saturday. Except that I have to work. And then we're going to Jackson. And then there is an emo/alternative band from Ohio that will be playing on campus this evening. Which is bizarre because there was a concert Thursday night as well. I think, if you count the concerts and events from the beginning of the year as well, Hillsdale has had four concerts this semester. Which is probably more than my first two years combined. You have to give credit to the Student Activities Board for their hard work. For being a small school in the middle of nowhere Michigan the SAB has been working hard to keep the complaints of the students at a minimum.

So that is what I am doing on this gorgeous autumn Saturday.

Hillsdale College featured the bands the Spill Canvas and This Day and Age this evening. I was extremely impressed. Hop on PureVolume.com to listen to music from This Day and Age and the Spill Canvas. For those of you not familiar with Pure Volume, it allows bands to post mp3s for listeners to hear on a Macromedia Flash supported Player. Bands can choose to allow for downloading or not; you should definitely search for some of your favorite bands, especially Tooth and Nail/Solid State bands that are posted on there. But please do me a favor and check out the two bands that I met and heard live tonight. They both rock.