(of this American life...) No, really. Major ickiness inside my body. I can't talk, I'm coughing up a storm, and just generally feel lousy. On the plus side, I don't have any pressing assignments (for the moment) and I'll be able to take the weekend nice and slow.

There aren't really words to describe college. It's just the way life goes now. There are good bits and bad bits, and life goes on. It's gonna be really interesting to visit home on fall break. A lot has changed, and yet not much has changed at all.

Serenity comes out tomorrow. The geek side of the force grows strong within me.

I think I'm learning more outside the classroom than inside. My teachers are great, but the stuff that comes from living in a family of people thrown together is inspiring.

So many random thoughts. Oh well.

You scored as Hoban 'Wash' Washburne. The Pilot. You are a leaf on the wind, see how you soar. You have a good job, and a stunning wife who loves you (and can kill people). Life is good, which is why you can't help smiling. Now if you can just get people to actually listen to your opinion things would be perfect. Hoban 'Wash' Washburne 94% Kaylee Frye 75% The Operative 69% Shepherd Derrial Book 63% River Tam 63% Capt. Mal Reynolds 56% Simon Tam 56% Zoe Alleyne Washburne 50% Inara Serra 38% Jayne Cobb 19% Which Serenity character are you? created with QuizFarm.com

...out of Florida came Jeb bush to prove me wrong.

Doncha just love the U.S. of A.?

Arr, and a happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day to ye all, buckos!!

*ahem*

Anyway, life continues at school. I turned in my first paper (compare and contrast two early versions of Cinderella), and have a meeting with my prof today to discuss it. Meanwhile, it's a new week, which means a new Shakespeare play. Having finished Henry V and Richard II, it's time to get cracking on Macbeth-- and write a paper on one of THEM by Friday. Woohoo! Socially, I'm happy as Larry (however happy he is), and I'm thrilled with the great friends and exceptional roommates I've got. And within a couple days I'll borrow a friend's camera and put some pictures up from around campus. I promise.

Time passes, in that insufferably smug way that it does. Friends become acquaintances, acquantances become friends, and for some bizarre reason it's 89º outside in Vermont. In the midst of all this stands a young man simply doing his best to keep his heaad above water (not a terribly hard task in the literal sense, as he lives on a mountaintop, but much tougher figuratively). His mind is a whirlwhind of responsiblities, priorities, and the instinctive need to escape. There are moments of reprieve from his inner struggle, however. Conversations with loved ones and time spent with new friends make the days lighter and easier to bear. I cannot say what comes next, however. His story has yet to be told, and only that unbearably conceited time knows what is yet to pass.

Tunes: "Runaway Train," Soul Asylum (iTMS); "What a Good Boy," Barenaked Ladies (iTMS).

The seabury crew has been floating this around, and I need something to do, so:

How many total songs?
2510 songs, 9.42GB.

Sort by Song Title - first and last songs?
First: ¿Dónda Está Dolores? - The Flirtations
Last: Zoot Suit Riot - Cherry Poppin' Daddies

Sort by Time - first and last songs?
First: (0:04) Interlude Cue Music - Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Last: (11:49) God Fearing Man - Ben Harper

Top Ten Played Songs
1. Feel Good Inc. - Gorillaz
2. Beverly Hills - Weezer
3. Landed - Ben Folds
4. Devil's Haircut - Beck
5. Tender Comrade - Billy Bragg
6. My Best Friend's Girl - The Cars
7. Love Song - The Cure
8. Elias - Dispatch
9. Best of You - Foo Fighters
10. Come On Eileen - Save Ferris

Last Ten Played (its been on shuffle for about an hour)
1. Elias - Dispatch
2. Come As You Are - Nirvana
3. Jackass - Bloodhound Gang
4. They Don't Know - Kirsty MacColl
5. Angel - Slick Shoes
6. Working Undercover For The Man - They Might Be Giants
7. Fell in Love With a Girl - White Stripes
8. Swing Swing - The All-American Rejects
9. The Nearness of You - Norah Jones
10. Praise You - Fatboy Slim

Find 'sex.' How many songs show up?
17, with the most outrageous award going to Big T and The Oaktones' "I Want Your Sex Pootie."

Find 'death.' How many songs show up?
11. Highlighted in this category is the Five Iron Frenzy classic "The Untimely Death of Brad."

Find 'love.' How many songs show up?
132. And every one fabulous.

Tiny delicate
flowers purple and yellow
outside my window

Faces around a bonfire
some familiar, some new
all drawn together into a community
living with each other on the hill
for four long formative years
making connections
Will I see them after I'm done?

Tunes: "I Ain't Marching Anymore," Phil Ochs; "Living in the Love Life After," Vic Thrill.

So now, the rush of orientation has died down, and classwork has started to kick in. I THINK I've got my class schedule pretty much set. All that remains is to clear it through my advisor. As it stands now, I'll be taking:

Fairytales, Fantasy, and Fiction (writing seminar)
Intro to Shakespeare
Poetry and War
Solfedge I
Chorus

I'm thrilled with all of them, and would say that I can't wait to get under way, but I am underway-- My first official class is tomorrow, and I'm supposed to have read the entirety of Henry V by then. Woohoo! Hitting the books!

In more social news, there was a contra dance in the dining hall last night, which was quite fun. Some of us also went over to the sauna and baked for a while afterwards.

Should anyone wish to send me mail, care packages, or anything at all, my mailing address is:

Josiah Adam
P.O. Box B-158
Marlboro College
2582 South Road
Marlboro, VT
05344

If sending packages, leave out the P.O. box bit, and it'll get to me.