Oooo Shiny

I've had an exciting weekend don't ya know. I have officially entered into the forty second hour of the Naruto marathon. This is my television splurge before school starts up again. It is a fifty hour marathon and I hope that when it is finished I am done with TV for a while.
But, I haven't just been watching Anime. Along with the shiny distractions on TV I have been writing. Lots of writing.

And I've got to go pick up a book from Katie. I'm borrowing one before I go back to school and I need to read it and get it back so I should go get it today. It is called The Toyminator which is the follow up novel to Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse I highly recommend the first one and I'm hoping number two doesn't disappoint.
Katie heads north a week after I go back to OWU. It is an exciting thing to return to school but I really am sad about leaving the Cincy gang. It's a click I haven't been able to find anywhere else and I am going to miss it. But, we made it through one year and I know that we can make it through another. It is a special thing to find a group of people that you leave off with and don't feel any awkwardness when you get back together.
Mike leaves the same weekend I do. Liv and Rose go back sometime in September. Goofy late starters. I'm not complaining though. I really do like getting out in May.

Let's see, I started packing. I have bags all over my room but I prefer not to think about it. The most frustrating thing is the packing. That is the one thing I hate and because I am an organization guru I am not happy with the state of my room nor the prospect of what it will look like when I really start to bag things up. Le shrug, only a week left.

Have a great one.

Tech II

Okie dokie, so I realized as I stared at the DVD player on my floor that I forgot something that is important but not . . .

Television: Now at OWU cable is included in the bill so all the rooms have cable. I do recommend having a TV. Whether you watch it consistently or not the television does provide a nice way to de-stress. I like to turn it on when I'm writing just for background noise. But don't go overboard on the TVs either. Not everybody in your room needs their own picture box. I would say the most you need is two and if you organize right you can bring it down to one.
In rooms like those of Thompson or Bashford you will only need one because the room configuration is just one big room. Two would be a nuisance. Anywhere else two is okay, though in the Smith rooms you can rearrange them so you would only need one.

The best way to organize the television and all its extras, as far as bringing, is to split it between the roommates. For example, this coming year Megan and I are sharing a bedroom and we are going to have a TV. She has the television and VCR so I went out and got a DVD player. As an incoming freshman such conversations can be a little awkward but believe me, if you take care of it now it becomes a lot easier once you get on campus.

Also, make sure you have a place to put the television. I don't recommend keeping it on the floor so just converse with your roommate(s) and make sure somebody is bring a table or shelving of some kind.

Another good thing to have is a cable splicer which allows you to connect two television to one cable feed. In some rooms (I believe those of Welch and Hayes) there is only one cable access so it is a good idea to have the ability to split that between the two bedrooms.

Bring some duct tape as well. Trust me, you'll need something to hold those cords to the ground.

Have a great one.

How to Build a Dorm Room Part II

So, I said I'd get to the tech stuff and here it comes.

A computer. As a college student it is about time to invest in a computer of some kind. Majority of college students do prefer laptops because the take up less space and are portable. I recommend them because they take up less space and they take up less space. A desk top is okay but on a small desk it becomes a hassle and it does confine you to your room for studying.

Do you need a computer? We are a tech generation and the convenience a computer gives you is amazing but if you don't have/can't get one you might survive. Here are your options are OWU. In both Beegly Library and the Science library we have computer labs as well as a small congregation of computers in the science library. You can work there but you can't save anything to those computers because the memory is wiped every night. Two dorms (Welch and Hayes) also have twenty-four hour labs in them but again with the saving issue. It is your choice of course.

Ethernet cable: This is very important. OWU is not a wireless campus but all of the dorm rooms do have internet hook ups and in order to connect to the OWU network you need one. We do have some wireless areas but not the dorms.

Wireless areas: Beegly Library. The Science Center and Library. Slocum Hall.

Printers: I debated this issue a lot as a readied myself for school and decided that I did not need one. I did not want to sacrifice the space. And I found the you don't need one. The library has printers (including the amazing print station which gets spotlighted in my tour) and it takes maybe two minutes. This is coming from an English major with a focus in creative writing. You don't need a printer. I had papers of multiple pages due nearly every week and I survived.

Flash Drive: This is a good way to save important papers or easily transport papers to a printer. It is a five second save job, you carry the device to said printer, and you print. I did not know the glory of the flash drive until college and now I am in love.

Please leave me any questions. Have a great one.

College and How to Build a Dorm Room

I remember when July was ending and August beginning my parents took me out and asked, "What do you need for your dorm room, Samantha?" and, in typically fashion I responded, "Why, I have no idea?" I had no plan nor did I have any stuff. So, I have decided to help out all you incoming freshmen with a small list of good ideas. You can't get this from a magazine!

Okay, here we go:

1) Privacy is something we all strive for a dorm room. I suggest bringing something with you that you can put stuff in and lock, like a trunk. Important things, expensive things, stuff that has no where else to go can go in a trunk and be locked away. It's like having your home room in a box. Lock the door and nobody can get in. It's also a safety thing. Your in a dorm and as safe as they are, sometimes they just aren't safe. Rooms do get broken into, usually by a roomies own stupidity of not locking/closing the door, and its another level of security.

2) Clothing is nice to have on campus but you do not need your entire closet. When doing your own laundry you quickly discover that hand wash fabrics are not suitable for a college lifestyle. As a college student you can still dress nice just in the same jeans you had on yesterday. Bring one nice outfit and leave it at that because anymore and you are just wasting closet space.
And on the subject of laundry; at OWU you can put money on your ID card to do your laundry but don't rely on that system to be up and running every day. Last year it wasn't and I was cursing the laundry gods. Have some on hand quarters, just in case.

3) Always include a little of you. Pictures, collectables, colors, posters, just something that screams you. For the next nine months that cardboard box of a space is your home and you should make it yours. I decorate with newspaper clippings and I brought two tassels from my tassel collection. It was uniquely me.

4) Good extras: a calender or date book of some kind, an alarm clock, hangers, a first aid kit (or kits for the accident prone), towels (not ninety-six, three is a good number) shampoo soap toothbrush/paste, organizational materials, etc.

If you have any questions about necessary items drop me a message or as a current student if you would like to add anything. Please note I am doing a separate post on tech. items due to the length of it.

Have a great one.

Book Advice

What to write in a blog about my summer which has been spent making money to send me back to school next year. I know my books are going drain the little money I've made and that my dear readers is only the first semester. But that is not something special to OWU. Any university you go to makes you buy way-too-expensive books and half the time they sit unused in a desk drawer. I guess you should read them but sometimes you only need one chapter for one project in a four month semester. Or read-learning just isn't your style. Trust me, I understand and I am an English major. Some books are worth the price though and I have enjoyed a few of the reads for college. Those within your major are usually handy to hold onto.

My recommendation, especially for something outside your major, find out if the book is reserved in a library and if it is not reading intensive I suggest using that copy. It saves you money and for a college student that is always a plus.

I am wearing a shirt that says I love moose and I do. Katie got it for me up in Maine (where she goes to college) and its nice. Soft too. It was a Christmas present. I gave her and OWU Rugby t-shirt because she plays rugby in Maine.

My kitties are good. They like to eat grass. Lots and lots of grass. I don't really like it though. And Spencer rolls in the dirt. I like rolling in the dirt. And, as a follow up to a previous entry, I find that Spencer does not have allergies nor does he get any kitty illnesses. :-)

Have a great one.

Picture the last is of my face after eating grass.

Olivia Pressed on her Face and Passed Out

No kidding, a bird just flew into my window as I was trying to decide on a title. I heard a thunk and saw this very crooked bird start toward one of the trees in my side yard. I don't know what kind of bird. It was big enough to make a loud enough thunk to make me jump but not so big that is scared Mr. Simon the cat who is sleeping at the end of the bed.

Jeez, now I'm distracted.

I just wrote in The Quote Book with a flat pen. It is the kind of pen that you can clip to the page of a note book and close the book and it is flat and won't disrupt the pages at all. I have a whole set and they are very handy for the notebook bookmark but pen. The one in The Quote Book is pink and orange. I was remembering some that Olivia said yesterday that was definitely worthy of remembering.
A quote book is a neat idea for any group of friends. Liv has been wanting to start one since our freshman year of high school and we just got it started a few weeks ago. It is a neat memory keeper because you read one quote and it immediately reminds you of what you were doing, why, and then you laugh and laugh or in the case of sneaky incidents it makes you remember a very good time. We currently have thirty quotes. Magic that its an even number like that huh?

Katie gave me a bracelet that is actually a spoon just bent like a bracelet. I gave her a cow that when you press the button in its head it moos and its nose glows flashlight style.

I just finished reading East of Eden by Steinbeck. It is my second reading and while I enjoyed it the first time I really enjoyed it the second time. I find that I grasp stories and novels better when I have the opportunity to read them a second time. I have friends that are one read people but I benefit from two. And I was able to find time to do such, last semester. So if your a two read person, no worries! you can find time . . . or maybe make time is better but there is enough time.

Have a great one.

Two Hundred and Thrity-One

Happy 231 birthday America.

Compared to other counties around the world, America is the toddler. Japan had a founding date of 660 BCE and, while there is debate, in 871 Alfred the Great named himself the first king of England. Even Kenya beats us by a couple hundred years with an official colonization date of 1505. And aren't we a trouble maker. Born of civil war we immediately decided parent didn't know best and decided a quest for juvenile freedom was better. Break away we did and we learn the price of freedom was actually very expensive so we decide that perhaps and alliance with parent country isn't a bad idea. Now we are again exploring our individuality and breaking away from our friends.

We are going to discuss pictures now because that will help illustrate my point. Again these were taken with digital technology beyond that of anybody. It is so ahead that it was personally developed by myself. Picture number one is our flag with one dot representing the country before it was state-ified. Following that is the thriteen colony flag and then the current American flag. Please ignore the stripe count because I only want to focus on the stars or in this case the dots.

Okay, flag one has one dot because before the exploration of America started it was one country with no division. Then we split into thirteen and then into fifty. While we all still answer to one government I'm afraid that the division has had an interesting effect on the human psyche. When asked where you are from Americas don't respond America or the United States they respond Ohio or Florida or etc, like each state is its own country. I am guilty.

Can we get back flag number one?

Last picture is of the firework I saw. Color breakdown: green is a symbol of envy and purple of royalty. They do make the sky very pretty though. I like the ones that look like weeping willows myself.