Ah Distracted

Hey all

Life has been quite the distraction. So sorry for not updating in a bit. Last week was mid-term week and this past weekend was mid-semester break weekend, which basically means OWU gives us Monday off and calls it a break. No complaints here, I will take a day off anywhere I can get it, but I think instead of calling it a break it should be called mid-semester long weekend. It's more accurate that way.

Mid-terms: happy with them. Enough said.

Mid-semester long weekend: very happy with. OMT (Outdoor Ministry Team(that I believe I have mention before)) and that I am a member of journyed to Ohiopyle PA. We camped, rock climbed, canoed, and caved. It was amazing. Be prepared, most of the upcoming pictures will probably be of before mentioned trip. The views, the silliness, the everything. More details with more pictures.

This week I had a really neat opportunity. I spent some time chatting with and listening to the stories of Bill Morrissey. What an amazing person. He is a guitarist and novelist and combines those two talents into a folk style storytelling. That happened last night and it was just a great evening all the way around. Bill Morrissey was brought to OWU through the Poets and Writers series which brings poets and writers onto campus for students to listen to and learn about. Never hearing of his before and then to hear his work and getting to talk with him . . . wow.

Tonight I am going to a hockey game with my mom. That has also got me excited. The Dallas Stars and playing the Columbus Blue Jackets in Columbus.
GO DALLAS!

Have a great one.

Pictures: First is of me at the climbing site. I am not climbing but I am holding the rope for the person who is about to climb. Poses are fun. Second is Mery after she discovered we filled an empty box with acorns and gave it to her. It was funny. Third is of Jeremy bouldering in a cave. Jess is ready to catch him if he falls. Last is just a far view of our climbing site. It was a really pretty place.

Banned Book Week II

Because banned books are just that important they get a whole nother post. I'm excited.

So this week hasn't exactly been filled with great banned bookness. I went to the public library because I heard they had an amazing banned book display and there wasn't. It was a table with five books on it that appear on the Challenged Book List. I told my friends about banned book week and they just didn't seem to share my excitement. And tomorrow, this amazing week is over. So sad.

On a happier note my parents and sister are coming to visit on Sunday. Yay family. It will be nice to spend time with them and I look forward to their visit. Another note, in about a weekend I'm going to Pennsylvania to canoe, rock climb, and cave. It's part of OMT. Always and exciting time at OMT.

And now, for your viewing pleasure: Banned Book inspired fun, excite, and otherwise information that viewers probably don't need to know but that I feel is very, very, VERY important . . .

The Ten Most Challenge Authors (1990-2004) (it was the most up to date list that ALA could provide)

1) Alvin Schwartz
2) Judy Blume
3) Robert Comier
4) J.K Rowling
5) Michael Willhoite
6) Katherine Paterson
7) Stephen King
8) Maya Angelou
9) R.L Stine
10) John Steinbeck

Have a great rest of Banned Book Week.

Pictures: Tristan can't believe that more people don't know about and love Banned Book Week. Zoe loves word games, therefore she loves books and she wants everybody to see how excited she is about Banned Book Week. Ryan is sad that OWU didn't celebrate Banned Book Week. He is so sad the picture is blurry with his tears.

Lastly, some words of wisdom:

Banned Book Week

Lovely people,

Tomorrow, (refer to date for tomorrow's date) is OWU's Fall Open house. Yippee! Excitement starts early and goes afternoon-ish. If any of ya'll are gonna be on campus tomorrow find me and say hi. I'm giving tours and then I'm on a student panel later in the day. I'm excited. Get excited.

Tomorrow also kicks off Banned Books Week. Booyah. This is one of my most favorite weeks, not because of the banning or the books or the week even, but because in one week it encompasses banning and books. So exciting. Back home, when I worked in the library, we used to get all excited about Banned Book Week. We dedicated bulletin boards to it and displays and Katie got us wonderful pins to wear around. I've extended the pin wearing to a yearly jig because mine lives on my backpack.

Banned (or Challenged) books are books that are being removed from libraries (mostly in schools) because of questionable or inappropriate content. The purpose of Banned Book Week is to bring attention to those books that make "the list".

The top ten most frequently challenged books:
1) Scary Stories -Alvin Schwartz
2) Daddy's Roommate -Michael Willhoite
3) I Know Why the Cages Bird Sings -Maya Angelou
4) The Chocolate War -Robert Cormier
5) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -Mark Twain
6) Of Mice and Men -John Steinbeck
7) Harry Potter -J.K. Rowling
8) Forever -Judy Blume
9) Bridge to Terabithia -Katherine Paterson
10) Alice (series) -Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

For more information visit the American Library Association website: www.ala.org

Have a good one.

Benches

In my opinion OWU should have more benches. I came to this conclusion walking around the campus a few Saturdays ago. I had been walking for a bit and decided that I needed to sit and take a break but there was no bench to sit upon. Some would say I am just whining because there is always grass, but the convenience of a bench is something that should never be overlooked.

Why Benches are Convenient:
1) It invites a person to take a break. When walking, the last thing a person wants to do is stop and have to bend all the way to the ground to take a seat. Once situated, said person does not want to get up again because they already took the time to get down and get comfortable. It shortens the walk leading to obesity. (not really but I bet I made some of ya'll laugh).

2) A bench is a lovely place to rest and take in the scenery. It invites people to look around. OWU has a beautiful campus and more benches would make people stop and notice.

3) Benches actually encourage people to start walking again. Their feet are already on the ground so the incentive to get up and go it there, plus, when sitting on a bench, examplery person is already half way to walking because they do not have to get up off the ground.

Why Benches are not so convenient but still better than no benches:
1) They are made of stuff like wood and metal which is sometimes hard to find . . . except its not.

2) They sit upon the grass and flatten/kill it. I like grass but a little bit of flat grass never hurt anyone.

3) Sometimes they are uncomfortable but still more comfortable than sitting upon rocks, sticks, raccoons, and squirrels.

So, now that we have all agreed that OWU needs more benches because they are awesome, I will provide some pictures of prime bench spots. Enjoy and I hope to see you on a bench somewhere nearby.

Today

I am writing a blog. You are apparently reading it. I suppose you are curious how my unscheduled life is going. Haha, without editing I wrote ungoing . . . I am tired this evening. Today was the OWU Science Visit day so I was a host last night and gave tours all day today. All day is an exaggeration but it felt like it. Sleeping wasn't on my agenda this weekend. Friday night equaled four hours and Saturday night equaled nine hours and Sunday night equaled seven point five hours for a total of twenty point five. I shouldn't complain but you are reading a girl who usually gets nine hours a night, school and weekend. I believe in sleep. I'm in bed by ten and up near seven. It's a good routine.

So, what happened this past week. Is it bad that I can't really remember? Oh, I conducted my first interview for the Transcript (the OWU newspaper). I'd never done an official-for-something-interview before so after I finished it I jumped and danced around my dorm room. Then I danced across campus and I was so excited. It was a decent article too. I think, that for my first time, I did an amazing job. Check it out in the upcoming issue.

What else . . . oh! On Friday, author Brian Groh gave a small presentation. It was very nice. Ohio Wesleyan is very good about getting speakers on campus and getting the information about them out to students. Campus wide e-mails are probably the best invention since car doors. But Brian Groh came and he spoke and it was excellent. He is a debut novelist. His novel is titled Summer People. Check it out.

Have a great one.

Pictures: First is of my phone in the Bishop Cafe. I was with it but behind it because I was taking the picture. Second is of me on Ryan's shoulders, in my dorm room. Right beside us is my bed, the one that I dove off of the first night on campus. Picture three: Can you find the bug?

Scheduling the Unscheduled

My calender is filled with more stuff from the past two weeks of school that it was for the entire summer. Is that not ridiculous? Not that I mind too much; I like being busy, but my goodness. I thought I led a very active life this summer but by the calender, I suppose not. But, thinking about it, I suppose my summer activities weren't the planned sort. My summer adventures weren't the sort that you could write on a calender and say "On this Thursday, July 12th, Olivia and I are going to get a lime-aid and drink it by the river while discussing the finer points of life."

I don't even know if July 12th was a Thursday.

But I'm sure ya'll catch my drift. There is something to be appreciated in events with a schedule. I guess that is what summer is for. It would be a little harder, in campus society, to plan groups and organizations without consistency. And class attendance would be a nightmare. But not everything about campus has to be planned. I realized tonight that I've gotten myself on an interesting schedule when it comes to things that should be unscheduled. As I paid for my dinner it hit me. I eat at the same exact times everyday. Breakfast is the only thing that varies. Lunch is at 11:30am and dinner is at five pm, every day, including most weekends.

I don't like that too much.

Also, I realized that the only reason it happens is because that's when my closer friends eat. I think I'm going to start variatizing the eating times. I can meet new people that way and I won't feel so scheduled because honestly, who schedules unscheduled events. Not me any more.

College advice: don't get so scheduled that everything you do relies on a schedule. It'll make you boring and bored with yourself.

Have a great one.

Pictures: The first two are of Ryan and my adventure to Blue Limestone Park. The second two of the Anime night Ryan, Zoe, Tristan and I had in my room.

Week One Done, How Many to Go?!

Granted this post is being composed on day one of week two so I suppose the title is a bit late but today I am not in a caring mood. So, the first week was a good one. I went to class and then went to some more class. I went to meetings. I gave tours. I was in my cousin's wedding this past weekend. It's been fun. I'm almost finished with room set up. I wrote a poem with magnetic words on our fridge. I learned how to play Scrabble on Facebook.

The knees are recovering from my grand fall. They are still bruised but not as bad as it was. I will say that they did not appreciate the four inch heels I wore for the wedding but neither did my toes and they weren't bruised from a fall.

I got a camera so my blog will have even higher quality digital technology. I am still in love with the paint pictures though, so don't be alarmed. I will still include some scenes done with paint. I feel that it allows so a quality that can't be achieved the a camera. There are some events that can't be capture with pixels. In such instances (or if I've got a lot of time that isn't devoted to reading) the paint pictures will reappear.

There is a squirrel hopping outside my window. Now he is in the tree. Wait, there are two squirrels. There is on in the tree and one on the roof of the workout center. I have a lovely view of sweaty people from my bedroom window and my desk window. At least the outdoor space around the sweaty people is nice. I might want to be a sweaty person one of these days. I really would like to start running again, but I don't run inside because running in place defeats the purpose of running. I would run outside, among the surroundings of the sweaty people.

There are now three squirrels and they are chasing each other.

Have a great one.

Pictures: Number one is me, Ryan, Zoe, Ryan hiding in the background and Ryan's pants. Second is of Ryan. Third is at the reception that is my cousin and me. Fourth is my camera done in paint because you can't take a picture of your camera with your camera.