Geek Zone

Hi, Mrs. George!

Sun, 03 May 2009 23:16:26 GMT

I just now read the responses to a comment that I put on Kristi's journal a little while back. You little fox, Kathy! But no, it's nice to know you're still thinking of all us stupid kids, and I'm looking forward to seeing you in a month. ;) Say hi to Mr. Clawson & Rose (if you see her) for me.

Not a schnoodle!

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:55:50 GMT

This is Suki. She's a Pucker (a.k.a. pug/cocker spaniel mix), and she's the newest addition to my zoo/clan.

FYI I'm not dead yet.

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:38:48 GMT

Yeah, don't really know what to say. I moved into a townhouse across town so that the animals have more room, & so that I can avoid the psychotic war going on between my pot smoking neighbors & the crazy lady downstairs. My new address is 3130 32nd st S #2, Fargo, ND, 58103.

Sorry I haven't been keeping in better touch with you guys, but just so you all know: I miss you all & think of you all often.
-AL

Yes, I did infact fall off the face of the earth....

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 21:10:22 GMT

So, it's been a while since I've posted, but then again it's been a while since I've talked to anyone. Everything's been crazy, and I think I'm going to leave it at that. For those of you who may want to call me my number has changed. I got a new phone and Verizon decided to be a rat bastard and not let me keep my Oregon number. So login and keep reading, I'm going to make a private post of my new number. Sorry, that it's long distance, but I had no choice. Love you all & I really miss you guys.

-AL

PS: Jackie, I'm booking my trip home for your graduation. Kristi told me you graduate on the 9th of June, so I'll be home the 8th through the 14th. Love you, hun. I'm so proud of you & I'm really excited to see you for your special day. ;)

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:40:05 GMT

Happy Birthday, my beautiful Brittneigh!!! Have a blast. Love ya!

Compensating for my lack of posts.

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:34:38 GMT

So, yeah. School started on Tuesday. I've been to all of my classes thus far except for labs which don't start until next week. Oh, and my American Indian History class, but stuff came up and I'm praying that the professor will let me make it up. I'm so stoked about my physics class. I'm almost done with the first set of homework problems that isn't due until next friday (hang head in shame at my geekiness). I think Stoner might be getting cranky with me. We take physics together, and it's our first class of the day on Tue & Thur, and we have in class questions that we discuss and answer through PRS units (I don't know if PRS is a commonly used system or not). I tried to discuss the answers with her, and when our answers differed, I tried to either ask her why she gave the answer that she did or try to explain why I gave the answer that I gave, and she seemed to get frustrated. I think I'll just stop trying to do that and just answer the question. If she wants to ask me she can, if not then I'll just be pissing her off anyway. Oh, well. My physics teacher is cool, though. He's a Cornell graduate, and while he's not nearly as awesome as Mr. Gibbs, he's still pretty cool. But then again, Mr. Gibbs is pretty hard to top as a physics teacher.

Stats is going to be interesting. I'm suddenly so happy that Kristi, Neigh and I did that independent study in high school. I know no one in that class and that teach doesn't speak very well. She's nice and she knows what she's talking about; it's just hard to understand her during lecture. Chemistry is chemistry; I'm not excited about it, but it shouldn't be too bad. My zoonses class is going to kick ass, though. I was kind of nervous, because one of the first things Dr. Berryhill said is that he's going to be refering to microbio. a lot, which I haven't taken. The entire class consists of Vet Tech majors, so I'm out of the loop there as well. But I talked to Dr. Berryhill, and he's going to give me private mini-tutorials on microbiology so that I can keep up with the rest of the class. Unfortunately, my parasitology teacher wasn't as forgiving. Apparently, parasitology is a class for registered Vet Tech majors only, so they kicked me out. BUT because I expressed such an interest in higher-level applications, the parasitology teacher got me on an inside track into the necrology labs. Apparently, NDSU has the state animal necrology labs for all of North Dakota, and they have an independent study hosted there where you go in and get to participate in the animal autopies. It's very hands on. There's only 13 students in the class, it's one hour a week, and no homework! It's really neat. I'm really looking forward to it.

Other than that I'm got work, CRU, prayer group, Chi-Alpha, church and college service, oh, and bible study with Stoner. Jess was telling me what she wanted to cover this term, and it seems like it's going to be a lot of fun. Oh, and my college service started talking about this bible study "tour" that is supposed to be absolutely incredible. No one else that I know will be able to do it, but it just seems like too good of an opportunity to turn down, so I'm going to attend anyway.

Other than that, my apartment is slightly less crowded now, since Amanda moved out. I'm not taking on another roommate, which is nice but does pose challenges. The challenges are managable, though. It's nice because now I can just have the place be mine and I don't have to worry about offending anyone or getting in their way. I can also walk through the apartment naked and not worrry about someone coming through the front door, which I'm certain I locked. :)

So yeah, that's my life for this term. There's a lot of uncertinty about what I'm going to do this summer, but I'm definitely going to be home for Jackie's graduation (as I promised I would be like two years ago), and if all goes well, I'll be coming home for my Spring break. XD *crosses fingers hopefully*

Hope you all have a great term. Love ya!

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 23:17:48 GMT

Okay, so it's happened, and as I predicted it's weirding me out. One of my friends is getting married. I don't know how many of you know Nicole Fuoss, but she's engaged. Fortunately, she is a year older than me so the blow isn't that bad yet. She's got the ring as her profile picture on facebook if any of you guys are interested.

This is freakin' awesome

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 21:23:28 GMT

So, my campus' chapter of CRU had a Christmas movie night where people made there own Christmas movies. This was probably the best. I met these guys through Stoner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klYCcx8SyV8

(make sure you have the sound on)

Enjoy and Merry Christmas from a snowless Fargo!!!!

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 23:41:55 GMT

Finals are over. I'm now working full time for part-time wages until break's over. I was baptized on Sunday (freakishly spectacular, btw). Thursday will be my Christmas, where many of my friends will be getting together at my apartment to cook, watch corny Christmas movies, listen to music, and be merry. As of January 1st, I will be living alone (aka, Amanda in moving out). And all I want to think about at this very moment is that I am putting on a skirt tonight and going out swing dance. mleh.

Okay, so this is just sick!

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 21:12:45 GMT

It rained last night!!! Rain! In Fargo! On one of the last days of November!!! And Ithaca has 60 degree weather??? And Oregon has snow!?! This isn't global warming; it's just messed up. It's like this year all the local weathers got board and decided to go on vacation to other parts of the country. Yes, I miss Oregon, but this wasn't the solution I had in mind! Anyone else in the country experiencing bizarre weather????

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 16:26:57 GMT

If it's going to be THIS cold and THIS overcast, then it should be snowing, damnit!!!! It is currently completely overcast, 23 degrees F (feels like 13 degrees F), and it's friggin' Fargo & the ground has nothing on it but dead, frozen grass!!! What the heck!?! Where's my snow!?!

Remember....

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 20:31:30 GMT

Remember, remember the fifth of November
The gun powder, treason, and plot.
I see no reason why the gun powder treason should ever be forgot.

Just mad a fool of myself. XD

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 15:40:15 GMT

So, I've got a huge exam for my comparative vertebrate anatomy class today. I REALLY need to do well on this test, so I pulled a surprisingly energetic all nighter & made awesome progress. It was by far the most worth it all nighter I've ever done. I realized that I would be required to be on the go today until about 8:30 tonight, so went on campus and ate at the cafeteria, because milk and cereal just wasn't going to get me through today. After almost face-planting in my fried potatoes, I decided to utilize my hour break between breaky and genetics lab to go home and sleep. I set my alarm. Climbed under the covers. Pet the cats until they were happy. And was out like a trout. When my alarm went off at 9:40, I didn't know who I was where I was, or care. All I knew was that I was asleep and liked it, so I told my alarm to shove it and went back to sleep. Fortunately, in my haze I hit the snooze button instead of the off switch. I woke up ten minutes later with all of my hair on one side of my head, my tooth missing, and 2 minutes straighten out, bundle up, and haul my butt to class. I do so, cursing myself for sleeping (but without any real regrets because I felt a lot better than I did at breakfast), and I go flying out the door. I'm incapable of running with the weight of my backpack without doing any bodily harm to myself, so I'm dorkily speed-walking like a fiend. I go careening across campus, into Walster Hall, into my classroom, and stop dead three feet in the door. I'm expecting the TA to be in his weekly 30 minute, pre-lab rant. Instead I find the room silent with everyone working. Then I go to take a seat at my table, and while my seat is empty, my usualy group members are not there but instead strangers. I look around for a familiar face, but only find that of my ususal TA. I look at him, eyebrow cocked and mouth silently gaping. He very patiently looks at me and says, "You start at eleven." It only took me a fraction of a second to process this bit of information, but it seemed a lot longer. I nodded, turned on my heels, and gave him a very suave, "Thanks. See you then." on my way out. I had at least half of his current class starring at me on my way out. It was awesome. So, I'm blowing the next 40 minutes on the internet while I wait for MY section to begin at ELEVEN. A morbid curiosity makes me wonder how many times I'll do stuff like before the day is out, but I guess I just have to hope that they'll turn out for the best like this did. And believe it or not, regardless of my current delirium, I'm actually really confident about my exam today.

Cat pictures!

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 01:41:45 GMT

Facebook finally got their "Share this album" function fixed! That means that I can finally share cat pictures with you guys. Whoohoo!!! I took most of these pics a couple of weeks ago.

http://ndsu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024056&id=33807061&l=c0847

Here's Spaz, my ADHD cat:

This is Jinx, my lioness:

And the "cute one", Saelah:

They are the biggest blessing in my life right now and are keeping me sane. Especially, right now. Amanda was getting after me about some stupid stuff the other night & I lost my temper. We haven't said a word to each other since Monday. I don't really know what to do. I've never lost my temper like that with Amanda, and every time I try to say a pleasant word to her, she looks and me with that look of complete disgust, and I run into my room like the coward that I am. I hope that it'll pass, but I guess we'll see about that.

Anyway, school's going good. I just found out what my final project is for my vertebrates class; here's a description:

"Fantastical Functional Animals

Over the course of the semester, we will be covering many body systems (muscular, integument, skeletal, etc.), including their form and function. Your job is to combine these systems together into a working organism by the end of the semester in order to gain a better understanding of the vertebrate body.
The organism cannot be extant (currently living). Extinct animals are applicable, as are creatures made from scratch and fantasy (i.e. dragons, monsters, etc.), however you must make them anatomically realistic. In other words, no six-limbed animals, animals with more than one head, or tentacle monsters from Planet X.
Groups may have up to four individuals, and evaluation forms will be filled out at the end of the project for individual grading."

My group already has a pretty good idea of what we're going to do. It's going to be awesome & as soon as I have some scketches done, I'lll show you guys. I'm so pumped for this.

And regardless of the current roommate akwardness, I had a great day today! Stoner and I went swimming this morning and had a blast. I haven't done any proper swimming since I was 13 and in just the hour that she and I were in the pool, I improved. Stoner competed all through high school, so my competetiveness kicked in, and I ended up pushing myself pretty hard. It was a lot of fun. The endorphines from that have been working for me all day. I had study with Stoner after that, and then Botany lab and work. I got home, made myself egg rolls for dinner, and played with me cats. It was a good day.

OH! And last night was my first night of fencing for the year. I haven't been in the game since January, but I was still kicking ass last night! I fought a new guy, who got so frustrated with how fast I was that he just gorged me in the chest with his rapier. He knocked the breath right out of me and today I've got a big ole bruise on my chest. Badge Of Honor! :D

Anyway, I need to go write up my lab report for Chem. Night all!

First Day of Classes.

Tue, 22 Aug 2006 16:37:04 GMT

Well, here it is:

Classes start today = Good but nerve racking.
Homework starts today = *groan* & again nerve racking.
College friends are back in town = Very cool!
Everyone else is back = Noisy.
Cats are settled in at the apartment = Awesome.
Cats are getting comfortable enough to start tearing everything apart = Meh...

Nothing else really interested to report. My roommate and her boyfriend are having issues and I'm stuck in the middle. That's been fun & now it's living in my apartment. Oh, well. Our room has officially become socializing headquarters, which is interesting with my social roommate and my social anxiety. We'll see how that all pans out. :j Anyway, overall things are going pretty well. School will be paid off in a couple of weeks along with all of my bills. That'll be nice. My textbook load is atrocious, and organic chem is going to suck, but that's okay, I wasn't really expecting to have any sort of life this year.

So, that's the update. I'm alive, well, and boring as ever. I'll update again later with pictures of my kitties.

Tootles!

I may be in Fargo, but that's no reason to leave me out of the loop.

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 17:20:36 GMT

Okay, so freak curiosity: What's this Savannah weekend thing about. I mean, I know I won't be able to go even if I am invited, but I keep reading about it and now I'm really curious and confused! What are you all up to?

This one's for you, JB!

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 22:16:20 GMT

Okay, so Jess made me feel uber happy when I she told me that she wanted to talk to me but couldn't cause she didn't have my phone number. And then it hit me! Maybe I'm not actually a social outcast, but instead just an idiot because my contact info has change a like 20 times in the last year! So, for anyone who would like to make my day & give me a call, log in! I'm making a private post with all my new contact info. Love you guys! I hope you're all having an awesome summer. :) & I hope to hear from people too. XD

-AL

I make Fargo cool!

Thu, 06 Jul 2006 19:38:18 GMT

Okay, so I'm in Fargo. Fargo's flat & boring. But then enter AL! Zoolgy major. Supervisor at the dinning center. (Shut up! I still make it cool, even if the food still sucks.) Kennel tech at the local Vet clinic. And oh, yes! A new addition to my coolness list: I now own an apartment. Amanda and I bought our freshly redone, two bedroom, third floor apartment with balcony, kitchen, living room, bathroom, and garage. The following photo albums give you a guided tour of the place.

http://ndsu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019107&l=f19ad&id=33807061
http://ndsu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019112&l=45c63&id=33807061

Sorry about the lengthy captions for the pictures, but Amanda doesn't see the place untill August when she comes back for school, and she wanted to know the layout. Unfortunately there aren't any pictures up of my room yet, because it's still in the assembly process & I'm still having stuff shipped out from my Oregon storage unit. My room should be up to photography standards by the end of the month when I'll post again. By then, my apartment will also be complete with kitty! That's right! My apartment building allows cats, so of course! I must flaunt the rules. :D Her name is Spaz & I'll be getting her about the first week in August. With the pictures of my room there will also be many pictures of Spaz. :D

Oh, and speaking of animal pictures: Brittney! Do you still have the pictures of Mai? I realized I don't have any pictures of her, but I'd like to put some shots of her up in my room. Would you mind sending me some or posting them for me??? PLEEEEAAASE!!! :D

Anyway, that's my update for the time being. I've got lots more, but I've got stuff to do this afternoon before tonight. Tonight I've got my first Color Guard practice. I don't know if I'm going to be able to stay with the college's guard. Or at least I don't know if I'm going to be able to perform with them because of my work schedule, but I might practice with them anyway to get my foot in the door for winter guard. We're trying to get an independent winter guard started to perform in Minniapolis/St. Paul next Spring. We'll see how that goes. Tell me, what do you guys think of a Swing Dance Guard??? I've been rolling the idea around in my head for a while now & I think I'm going to try to get them to do it. Tell me what you think. But I've really got to go now. Sorry about the long post guys.

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 00:16:43 GMT

Happy, Happy 19th Birthday, Nana!!!

THIS IS SO FREAKING AWESOME! I'M SO EXCITED, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF!!!!

Sat, 08 Apr 2006 21:16:52 GMT

Okay, so I just got an e-mail from the NDSU Gold Star Marching Band, and I found out that they really want people on their Color Guard for next year. And after rearranging my Fall class schedule like FIVE times to fit in my all the classes I want to take, work/supervising shifts, SCA fencing practices, and marching/Color Guard Practices, I found out that I going to do guard again!!! I'm so freakin' happy!!!! Also, I found out that no one they have yet knows any weaponry work, so they want me to train a weaponry line for next year! I almost passed out from excitement what I found out that I'm going to be able to hold a sabre again. Of course, his may mean that I'll have to do rifle as well, but I don't care because

I'M GOING TO BE ON A COLOR GUARD!!!!!!!!!!!

I've already got a ton of ideas. It's really sad, because this year NDSU had a four person color guard and few, if any, of them are returning. BUT that means that we'll be starting from scratch, just like with the Glencoe Guard. It may be small, but oh, IT WILL BE MIGHTY!

I am so stoked! And if all goes well, I want to try to get some of the Fall Guard members to stick around and get a Winter Guard started. All we need are four people to call ourselves a club or team and then the college will supply all to most of our funding, which will be so awesome! We'd have to go to Minneapolis/St. Paul to compete, but so what? Roadtrip!

Next year is going to be so awesome!

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 23:09:17 GMT

Okay, so I screwed up. I went and posted that my hair was pink a week ago. My red hair dye had faded to the point where it was a bright magenta. It looked really funny on me. I posted about it just before on spring break. Everything was so hectic before we left, didn't get a chance to take & post pictures. Then I spent the entire week in the cities with Amanda's family, where I went back to the stone age. Her family doesn't have internet!!! So, I'm back at school now, & while it's not as cool as before I left, here are some pics for you guys. I'm going to be touching up the red this week, so maybe it'll fade the same way & I can get pictures when it's that bright pint again. These aren't quite as impressive, but here ya go:

And yes. Just in case your curious or you think that your eye decieve you, I do have a blonde spot on the left side of my part. It sounds funny, & it may not look that good in these shots, but it's really cute.

Fri, 10 Mar 2006 01:17:35 GMT

My hair's pink. No! Seriously! My hair is pink!!!! But see, that's no the wierd part. The wierd part is that it doesn't bother me. .... in fact, it looks kinda cool. *shrug* Who knew?

WOW! Somebody cares!!! I feel loved. :D

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 03:08:56 GMT

Okay, so Neight asks me what am I doing if I'm not coming home? Neigh, I'm glad you asked! Now I have an excuse to brag & rant. :D

So I was invited to an informational meeting for an internship for this summer. I went to the meeting on Monday, just curious about what it was, but I didn't expect anything because I heard the program was really selective. So, I went to the meeting, I stayed 'till the end and asked one of the women questions afterward. Well, she started to ask questions back. Long story, short: THEY HIRED ME RIGHT THERE AND THEN! I was so giddy after that! Here's why: The company that I'll be working for is called Southwestern; they're a publishing company. Basically, what it is is that after finals I'll be going to Nashville for a week for business training, where I'll learn how to run and manage my own small business. Then, they move us out to the East Coast where we'll be staying with families and selling Southwestern's products door-to-door. Their products are educational books and student study guides. We'll be selling to schools and middle- to upper-class family districts. And I know! I know! Selling stuff door-to-door is going to suck, but this is the great part: The average student makes $8500 their first summer selling!!! That's like 2-3 years of annual income for me!!! And that's if you don't even work that hard. I've been meeting with my trainer all week, and she says that if I work hard and visit 30 families a day (which will be easier than it sounds) then I'll probably make $10,000-$12,000, easy! Some of the top sellers have made almost $30,000!!!! I'll also be earning three college business credits with my training in Nashville, TN.

While I am giving up going home for the summer, this pretty much sets me up. If I were to go back to Oregon for the summer, I have no idea where I'd stay or if I would get hired anywhere. With this, I have work, food, and a place to stay, and I'll be earning more money than I could doing anything else. This is such an awesome opportunity that even if the work kinda sucks, I'll be able to earn as much money as I work for. The harder I work, the more I'll make. I think that it goes without saying that I'll be working damn hard this summer. :D

Okay, Part II:
I'm also not coming home next year. Transfering to another school isn't working out. No one is giving me a dependency waiver for my FAFSA, which means if I were to go back to Oregon, even with in-state tuition, it would still be cheaper for me to stay here.

Besides, things are finally starting to fall into place here. Granted, Fargo sucks! But Amanda (my new roommate) and I are getting along so well! I've made a ton of friends here, and I really feel like part of the group here. They're always happy to see me, and they always seem to want me around. That's such a nice feeling. I don't want to leave Amanda, nor my other friends. And while I really want to see you all, many of you aren't in Oregon anymore and everyone else still has school and work. Even if I went home, I'd still rarely ever get to see any of you. At least here I'm still included, and I don't get lonely.

But that's not the end of my reasons... Well, it's hard to explain, but a lot has happened to me here. Especially, in the last month (I think it has a lot to do with Amanda). I've changed, and I'm finally starting to become that person I always wanted to be. The other day, Geoff, Amanda's boyfriend (& my "other roommate"), told me that he couldn't believe that I was ever manic depressant or bitchy. He said that I was always so happy and smiling. I was blown away, guys! I mean, he said that about me!!! Me!!! I feel like I've been sent here for a reason, and I don't think I'm finished yet. I don't think I'll be finished by May either. Amanda and I are applying for an appartment next year, but we picked out a room in one of the high-rises just in case we don't get it. We're so excited about living together, and I'm actually really excited about staying here. I think that I'll end up at least finishing my undergrad school for Vet Med here. Then I'll try applying to other schools again. By then, I'll be 23, and I won't need parental information anymore.

Anyway, sorry for the uber-post, but like I said, a lot has happened. The great part is that what I've told you here isn't half of it. ;) Hopefully, I'll still be staying in touch with all of you over the summer and such. All things will work out in the end. They've been working out pretty darn well thus far.

FYI, for anyone who cares...

Thu, 09 Feb 2006 22:39:03 GMT

I'm not coming home this summer. I'm really busy right now, so I'm not going to waste my time with a huge long post unless someone inquires. So if you want to know, leave me a comment & I'll take the time to post again. Later guys.

-AL

Question ????

Sat, 04 Feb 2006 06:01:33 GMT

Okay, so I was trying to explain to Amanda the tiers of Love Hate Doom & I realized that not only do I not know the rules or illustrations for that game, but I don't know all of the teirs either! Help me out guys! Could somebody please write down all of the teirs for me, and if you really wanna, give me the rules & illustrations, so that I can explain it properly? Amanda was really intrigued, so I thought I'd share the love... and the hate... and what the hell, I'll give her some doom too! :D

Anyway, Fargo's boring, but the company is awesome! Amanda & I are getting along just swimmingly as roomies. (FYI: For anyone who doesn't know this, Amanda's the one in my icon for this post.) We're having so much fun, and I can hardly believe how great we are working out & working together. I'm even going home with her for Spring Break. She'll be working, but she's going to get me a temp job at her church. I'll be calling people and asking them to answer surveys. *shrugs* Not great, but at least I'll be earning money while Amanda's at work.

I'll be coming home in May! I don't know where I'm going to stay yet or where I'm going to work, but I'm coming home in May! I can't wait to see you all again. I know I haven't been posting a lot lately, but I really do miss you all.

Anyway, enough of that sappy crap! I've got to get back to work... or update my facebook. One of the two. :)

-AL