I'll Never Walk Again

Finaly, this blog has more stuff than White Foxx: Silver Crow. None of the other writers are contributing. Anyway, after an orientation on safe travelling we had our own versio of the Amazing Race where we had to split up into clans, take the bus into Edinburgh and find all these different sites as the answer to clues on a sheet of paper. It sounds like it would be fun but after that mountain yesterday...

I can't remember all of the different things we did but we wound up making a loop of the entire city and saw a lot of intersting things. Instead of trying to write up a paragraph for each thing I'm just putting up a quote for the pictures I got. I couldn't find new batteries for my big camera so I brought my little one. That thing works o.k. It held a charge all day and I got around 37 pictures. Unfortunately it doesn't have any kind of zoom so a few them were way off target. So, let's get started.

Sphynx on top of Scottish Museum

Sphinx on top of British Royal scottish academy across from museum?

Some cool looking palace

The Scotts Monument

The view from High Bridge

This is what happens when no one will take your picture and you have to do it yourself.

Sign outside Half Way House pub/tavern where we had lunch

Half Way House sign

More Half Way House

The funky old close/alley where the tavern was located

my feet next to the exact spot where the lat public execution in Ednburgh happened.

Some famouse Chappel I can't remember the name of.

A double wide Police box. Doctor Who's may look smaller but it is bigger on the inside.

A Cigar store Indian outside a shop on High Street. Right accross the way was a group of folk in full headress Indian outfits playing flutes in the street for change.

Edinburgh Castle. We didn't go in.

The Tomb of Mary Queen of Scots in the Museum.

Old guns in the museum.

Bedlam Chappel.

Joke Shop.

Basically we made a giant loop/circle around the entire city. We walked all day and my feet were pretty sore by the time we got back. I had some other cool pictures but I guess my camera ran out of room and didn't save them. We went into the MacBackpackers place to pay for Isle of Skye tour and we went to the museum of childhood and they had a little coin operated Sweeny Todd machine. There was an underground mall and a Robbie Burns Cafe. These pictures don't even begin to cover all the stuff we saw. We were walking constantly from 11 a.m. to five thirty at night. I made a stop at a cute little kilt shop and got a purple kilt and sash and a bag that looks like the scottish flag.

The Majority of the streets were all cobbled. In some of the closes you couldn't even see the sky for all the tall buildings. There were a lot of bagpipers and tour groups going about as well. It was pretty cool. Out clan won the contest. We were pretty much the only group that even tried to follow the list. We got to everything on it so we saw pretty much the whole city in one day. The other groups just hung out in malls or did whatever they wanted without the list.

Once we got back to Dalkeith I had just enough time to shower and change before we had to go down to a reception with cheese and crackers and a Scottish caleigh dance. As if my feet weren't sore enough before they had us hopping up and down and running this way and that for three hours to fast paced Scottish Polka music. At least I didn't mind the cool outside so much during that workout. The lady who taught us the dances is a proffesional caleigh caller and dance teacher. The whole thing would have been more fun if there had been more than just two guys for a group of over 25 girls.

My feet are killing me right now. Maybe getting some sleep will help. Though it didn't yesterday. I hope there's an extra notebook in the walgreen's closet I can use for class tomorrow. Guess I'll find out...

Climbing Archer's Seat and walking in Edinburgh

After getting up early to help set up the breakfast I had to go to a couple more orientation lectures with the group. I can't remember what any of them were about though. I went into Dalkeith town with a couple of my roommates for fish and chips at lunch. We got a nice picture one girl took and e-mailed to me but I won't be posting anything with my face in it online.


Afterwards there was a group trip into Edinburgh. We took the bus, a big double decker where we got to sit up top and feel tall. Town was pretty. All the buildings looked so old and neat. We walked past a very nice park with huge green lawns. There was a giant rock that was carved to look like a lion. I got a picture of it as we were walking past.

(The Lion)

(The Queen's Galery in Edinbirgh)

(The veiw from the top of the bus)

We went to this small mountain that used to be called Archer's seat. They've renamed it a few times but I can't remember what it's called now. We all had to hike up the mountain. The writers in the books make it all sound to epic and cool and exciting but really it was boring. My feet hurt so bad and I was so exhausted I thought I might pass out. They kept saying the view would be worth it but two other girls and I agreed that if you were so exhausted from hiking up you wouldn't be able to enjoy the view anyway. We stopped about three-quarters of the way up to rest and then decided to go back down. I did get a few pictures of the view but the batteries in my camera died so I asked another girl to take some of me. I didn't get the chance to give her my e-mail yet though so it may take a while to get those pictures.

(The Veiw from 3/4 up the mountain)

(The View of Edinburgh from 3/4 up the mountain)

We left the rest of the group behind and went into Edinburgh to visit some of the neat shops. There were quite a few really touristy places. The one place we went into sold kilts, dresses, jewlery, kilt knives, real regular bagpipes and junior bagpipes as well as the usual assortment of sweatshirts and knick knacks. I was tempted to get a junior bagpipe for 14 pounds but decided to wait. I only have a limited amount of space to bring stuff back and what if I find something cooler I'd rather have?

The other two gals wanted to go in some of the shops that were more local mall places. A lot of the stuff looked like regular old JCP and depatment store junk. They thought it was cool but I would rather have gone to some of the more touristy places. We did manage to find the cell phone store and get international calling cards for the phones we were issued. I gave on of the other girls my sheet of paper explaining the numbers to dial in front call from the states and haven't gotten it back yet.

We got on the right bus and made it back to Dalkeith where we got a take-away pizza to bring back to the house. We ate in Willie's Cafe and it took me until after the other's left and I was alone to finally get the digi-box on the telly to work. I got to watch a little bit of Britain's got talent. Another girl came down to watch Robin Hood with me. It was a new episode but because BBC America is a year behind I had no clue what was going on and she had to catch me up. She's been watching online and that's what I need to do. I also found out we are both fans of Doctor Who. Finaly, someone other than me who gets a kick out of Time Crash were David Tennant makes fun of the old Doctor and his stick of celery. After that it was shower and blog. Now I'm going to bed. My feet still hurt. Maybe a good night's sleep will help.

Improved View, Boredom, and Bonfire

Today was pretty boring. To start, all the doors creak and so does the floor. There is a fireplace in every room but none of them work. It's cold and damp. We had to sit in a classroom all morining listening to instructors drone on about rules and regulations and no runnning in the house and food hygene because we'll be working in the kitchen at some point. We did get to eat lunch outside on the lawn in the nice bright sun. It's been really warm the past two days. Then it was back to that classroom. Again.

We had a little time off before dinner/tea so I did a little exploring. I got lost in the basement for a while and found the costume closet in the weight room. I wound up climing stairs all the way up to this room that looked like an attic. Then I climed a different set of stairs down and wound up at a different door. This place is like a maze. I found the one working t.v. in the house in Willie's Cafe. There were also a whole pile of musical instruments, a bhouran, bongo drums, guitars, ukelalie, bagpipe chanters, and tin whistles. I didn't trust the tin whistles, who knows how many mouths have been on them, so I brought mine down from my room and played a tune. That room has great acoustics. I also went down to the pool room and watched some of the girls and Matt play pool. All the walls in that room were covered in graffiti (So were the desks in the classroom). I'll have to take pictures at some point.

There was an outdoor fire after supper and we toasted marshmellows and had s'mores. They don't have grahm crackers here so we used some kind of chocolate covered cookie/biscuit. It was O.K. I recited what I could remember of It Happened One Night in Winton, the poem I wrote about how my great grandpa Joe got in a barfight with a guy over a card game and he died. It really did happen. I remembered the missing lines later but they weren't that important to the story so nobody missed anything. I sat out by the fire until dark then came in to get ready for bed. I have breakfast duty tomorow and have to be up early.

The only picture I took was this afternoon when I tested the found batteries in my big camera. I got a much nicer, or at least greener, veiw from my window.

From Scotland on Laptop

I HAVE The POWER!! A bunch of us got together and went on a walk into Dalkeith town. we stopped at the post office and I changed over some of my American Cash for pounds. Guess what the first thing I bought with it was? If you guessed a power adapter for my computer then you were wrong. The first thing I bought was fish and chips at a little cafe we found that was actually really busy. We got the food to go and ate it on the steps of Dalkeith house. Twelve of us left on the walk and six of us came back together. Everyone eventually made it back though, we had just gone in a straight line so it was pretty hard to get lost.

I went to plug in my battery charger when I got back and found it won't work because the thing is just a plug adapter not voltage one. My computer works just fine though but when we (as in the whole summer class) got taken on a tour of Dalkeith Park I had to use that little bitty fishing camera my dad got me. I did get a few nice shots though: the veiw from the window above my bed, some old gazebo/theatre, and a waterfall.

After that we split up into smaller groups and went to some local pubs for dinner. I had a fish finger sandwich. When we got back to the house the person in charge told us not to fall asleep untill nine o'clock local time to avoid jet lag but I think I'm going to go to bed a half hour early anyway. Oh, and I also found a couple sets of double a batteries in the wallgreens closet so now I can use my big camera tomorrow. Yay me!

From Scotland

My first post from Scoland. Yesterday I did a little last minute checking of luggage and rode down to Minneapolis airport with my mom and dad. Then I had to go through security at the gate. My mom was having a fit about my bringing a tin whistle in my luggage but as I was going through the security there was a girl in front of me who must have been a fire eater with a traveling circus trying to bring torches and hula hoops as carry ons. I think she had to go back and check them though. And mom was worried about a whistle.

I was at the airport a full three hours before my flight left and security only took me ten minutes. I think they came up with that arrive two hours early bit to keep you trapped in the airport mall so you'll buy more stuff. I found a WWII flight simulator in an arcade and got shot down six times but killed ten Germans.

I would have taken pictures of the scenery but it was too cloudy to see anything and my camera's batteries were dead. I switched planes in New York JFK and found out I was leaving from the same gate I arrived in. I made it to Edinburgh and got my luggage and met up with the rest of the kids on my flight doing the study abroad thing. There was someone there to meet us and it was a short trip in a taxi to the Dalkeith house. I was surprised to find that both I and another room mate brought sheets that matched the blankets they gave us. I feel bad I left my skeleton key necklace at home. Dad said it was junk but all the doors here still use them and there are a couple of doors wallpapered over behind our beds. Now if there is a secret passage I'll never know. Blast my father and his practical sensability.

I'm all unpacked but still don't have an adapter for my computer. I'm on one of the computers in the lab. It's so old it still has floppy disk drive. I really need to charge my camera and computer. Hopefully this post goes through O.K. on this dinosaur of a P.C....

One Last Hurrah

Today turned out to be my last hurrah before leaving for Scotland. I'll probably spend most of tomorrow on last minute packing and bank stuff. I didn't get up untill noon today. I was up late last night watching a Guardian marathon on Slueth channel. Interesting show about a layer who gets arrested for drugs and winds up doing community service as a layer for poor kids and stuff. It stars the same guy who plays the Mentalist and I like him as an actor.

Breakfast today was medium rare steak, lightly salted sweet potato fries, garlic toast, and Dr. Pepper. Best breakfast I've ever had. I cleaned up my room a little and then went out with L.G. and my brother B. to see that new Night at the Museum movie. It was better than the first one but there were a few reservations. It took place all in one night, so the plot was a little rushed. A few of the secenes could have been cut short, like the arguement with the evil pharoh. Overall worth it to see but I probably won't buy it on DVD (I didn't buy the first one either so it's not a big loss).

We stopped at Target on the way home. I got a box of chocolate chip cookies to tide me over till morning. I haven't actually eaten anything else since breakfast but, then again, breakfast was pretty filling.

I also discovered a pretty cool blog called Concept Ships that I decided I really like. It's got all these cool sci fi pictures of spaceships and stuff. I recommend visiting it at least once.

By the way, I started reading Interview with the Vampire as part of the Vampire Chronicles Collection by Anne Rice. So far it's not very good and I'm already half way through. Maybe it's the slow pace of the thing. I'll probably keep reading till the end anyway just so I can get to the next book. I bet the next book will be more exciting.

Headaches

I have been so lay the past few days. Most of Thursday was spent in bed reading. I finished reading Skybreaker. It was a pretty good book but I was sorry to see it end. Friday I spent on the couch watching t.v. For some reason there were a lot of Whoopie Goldberg movies on. Three of them weren't half bad. She's a pretty good actress and funny too.

I did wind up with a terrible headache last night. It got so bad I thought I was going to die. It turned out to be nothing though; I'm prfectly fine now. I even wrote a poem about it called Headaches that goes a little something like this:

A headache is a ghastly thing
Y our eyes hurt and your ears do ring
You cannot think because your brain
Is throbbing with some horrid pain
The medicine has no effect
And so you mumble “what the heck!”
You shut your eyes and curl up tight
And pray that you will last the night

The only other thing of note the past few days was that my dad had to cut off the apple tree in the front yard because it got infected with some kind of fungus. It was my favorite tree too... Anyway, I'm posting a memorial picture of it. At least I got a few good shots of it in bloom before it went. I didn't have the heart to take an after picture though.

An Apple a Day Would Have Helped

I really should have eaten an apple a day. Maybe it would have helped. Then again, caveties are inevitable when you drink three cans of Dr. Pepper every day for five years of school and never brush your teeth. Luckily I learned my lesson after I found out I had ten caveties last year. I've been brushing, mouth washing, and flossing everyday since. I had my final dentist appointment this morning. Now that all my teeth are cavity free I'm going to work extra hard to keep them that way.

After spending an hour hanging out at the courthouse (my poor sister had an appointment and me and my dad had to take my car because she can't driver hers until she gets insurance) I had my dentist appointment. We went to lunch at the Sawmill. I got a very good bowl of creamy chicken wild rice soup and a breadstick. It took me forever to eat it though because the left side of my mouth was still a little numb and I couldn't chew anything on that side. This reminds me, be sure to check out Silver Crow's Chicken Soup poem over on White Foxx: Silver Crow. It's pretty good and was probably the reason I was craving chicken soup in the first place.

I set up my online banking and checked it today, that student loan money hasn't gotten to my account yet but the school called last week and said they'd recieved the check. I'm going to have to call them tomorrow and find out what happened to my money.

It was really nice out today, 80 degrees and with just a touch of breeze. I sat out on the deck reading for a while until I got rained on by one lousy raindrop and decided to go inside. I finished reading the Apocalypse book and now I'm reading Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel. So far this one's much more interesting than the last one, primarily because it has a faster pace and airships (which are sort of like zepplins). I've always liked the idea of airships. I think they're so much more romatic and cooler than airplanes and jets.


Well, It's getting late and I've got some more reading to do.

New Luggage

I can't actually remember what I did yesterday but I beleive it involved doing a rather large ammount of laundry and at some point during the day going out for chinese with my dad and sister.

Today I had to bring my car in to the shop because of a factory recall on one of the parts. Luckily I didn't have to pay for the replacement. I don't even remember what part it was. My dad and I went to Target and did some shopping. I got a new coleman watch and a really nice set of luggage on sale. The funny thing about the luggage was that the middle sized one was on sale for 14 bucks cheaper than the small sized one. Since I already had a middle sized one in a different color we got the just the small and the large, a carry on and a checked luggage.

They're really nice. I spent most of the afternoon packing and managed to get everything to fit with a little room to spare in case I buy anything. But boy, all that packing sure was exhausting. If I hadn't drank all that soday pop I'd be asleep right now.

Baby Mule

The trip home yesterday was pretty exhausting, five hours in the car. We decided to actually follow the advice of the lady who lives in the truck (the GPS) and wound up taking fifteen minutes off the trip back. We stopped at a neat little place called Zorbaz on the Big Sandy Lake; and I thought mexican pizza places only existed in movies. They had the best tacos I've ever eaten.

When we got home I barely had time to unpack before I was busy wrapping the birthday present I'd gotten for my best friend K.R.; I did it up in old newspaper comics and even made a nice oragami bow that everyone was really impressed with. I went to K.R.'s going away to Ireland/junior college graduation/birthday party. There was some good food and a nice slideshow of pictures. I didn't really get along with a couple people who where there but that's o.k. After most everyone left me and K.R., F., and K.R.'s aunt played five card draw poker. I was winning for a while until the aunt gave F. all her chips and he started to fake lose so K.R. could stay in the game. It wasn't until 11 o'clock that K.R.'s dad sprang the new car present on her. It was pretty cool, even had custom plates with her name on them and neon glow tubes underneath for runnung lights. I'm so jealous, my cardboard convertable seems not as cool anymore. I'm still more jealous of the silver claudah (spelling it wrong) pocket watch they got her though. I already have a cool car but I lost my watch.

Today I washed a load of jeans and hung out with L.G. She had a whole herd of horses over at her house that they were taking care of for a while. I got to go in the field and pet them. They were really nice, docile, friendly, following me around and sniffing. It was pretty great. The only one I didn't get to pet was the little baby mule. She was so cute and fluffy, I bet she feels like cotton candy.

After hanging with the horses we went into town and got a pizza. They were even having a special so we got it for half price. Pepperoni and black olives Mmmmm. Then it was home, watch t.v. and be bored. Me and my dad watched the Underdog movie on t.v. and we both got a kick out of the line "there's no need to worry, Underdog is furry". Our poor pooped pup of a beagle fell asleep halfway through. I'm kind of beat myself...zzz...

My Bright Red 58 Chevy Convertable

I won't spend much time talking about yesterday, suffice it to say I cleared out my dorm room and made it home where I spent the evening in excrutiating pain due to a bad Arby's Sub.

Today I went with my dad on a five hour drive to New York Mills, MN where he presented and was given a Tree Farm award. There was a lovely reception dinner at the Mills Creamery. The food was good and I met a lot of very nice people. I must sat, bird stories are much more fun to listen to and tell than fish stories.


We made one stop on our drive down in our old town of Brainerd, where we used to live ten years ago. We ate at my favorite resturaunt when I was a kid the 371 Diner. It's a great place with glass brick walls and neon lights. I had a delicious peppermint bon bon shake and it even came with a bright red 1958 Chevy convertable! I used to love those convertables when I was a kid. I was hoping for blue but I'm just so happy they still have them at all. Blame the fuzzy pictures on my crappy camera.

Right now we are staying at the American Inn in Wadena to avoid a five hour night drive in freezing rain. I'm going to try and get a few minutes in the hot tub before bed.

Moving Out Apocalypse

I spent most of yesterday finishing up The Fox; it was a cliff hanger, I'm so mad... I did a little more packing and watched T.V. Went to Pizza Hut with J.F., we just had to get thin crust but I wanted regular. I was still hungry after we finished.

This morning I went to the mall and hung out in Barnes and Noble. So many books, so little time (isn't that a song lyric?). I looked at a lot of books but nothing really stood out to me. I got one that looked kinda interesting called A Kiss Before the Apocalypse. I'm only on the second chapter so I don't know if I like it yet. The blurb on the back intrigued me: a private eye who's a former angel searches for the missing Angel of Death and averts the apocalypse. Plus it had a dog on the cover. The last book I read with a dog on the cover turned out to be pretty good.


I had a little Chinese for lunch in the food court and headed back to my dorm. My mom came by this afternoon to pick up a load of stuff, my fridge, microwave, and some boxes of junk I won't need tomorrow. After that, mom, J.F. and I went to Dairy Queen (or the gay milkman as my dad would call it, no offense). Hot fudge sudaes hit the spot on such a warm day.

My room is practically empty now. Only my t.v., bedspread, and clothes are left to take home tomorrow. I found out none of my books are worth any money at the buyback. I spent over 250 dollars and only one of the six books was worth anything, if one lousy dollar counts... I'd probably have better luck at the paperback exchange or selling them on Amazon. Most of them were brand new too! I'm really angry but don't want to write the p word, my mother would disaprove. Maybe if I sleep on it I'll feel better...

Pirates...

I had a meeting today at 3 for the study abroad in Scotland. I got to meet Matt, the other kid from this capus who's going this summer. He's arriving two days earlier and leaving eight days later than me so there's no chance of getting flights together. I got an e-mail this morning about signing up for a backpacking trip to the Scottish highlands. It's not included in the fees so I would have to pay out of pocket. I have till Friday to decide but I'm not sure yet. I also got copies made of my passport and important cards.

I walked to the cafeteria from my dorm for super and then went again later at nine with J.F. for the free finals week tacos. I probably shouldn't be eating so much food so late at night but I only weigh 103 and could stand to gain a few pounds.

I'm almost finished with the book I've been working on this semester, The Fox by Sherwood Smith. It's the second in a series. So far it's a pretty good series, wars, pirates, political intrigue, romance... all the good stuff. Only 58 pages left to go. I bet it's a cliff hanger and I won't be able to get the third one till I get back from Scotland (if it's even out in paperpack).

Also, don't forget to check out the third part of Fish Soup over at White Foxx: Silver Crow.

Frog Togs and Fried Fish

My mom and I went online this morning and ordered the books I'll be needing for my Scotland classes. I also signed some papers for online banking. My mom gave me her old suit of frog togs in case it rains in Scotland, which it probably will.

I went fishing with my dad this afternoon. We each caught four walleyes, three keepers and a too small each. My dad also caught a white fish. We had a mess of fried fish and chips when we got home. It was soo good. Unfortunately the white fish had maggots and my dad had to throw the whole thing out so I still don't know what white fish tastes like. My mom says they're only good smoked anyway. I still have a paper to write and then it's straight to bed.

Here's a picture of the jet that flew over us while we were fishing and a picture of my regal fishing reel.

Saturday, May 9, 2009: Annie Oakley

This post should be for Saturday, May 9, 2009 but Monster wouldn't let me post anything until I finished cleaning my room. You can actually see almost the entire floor now (minus the spots where furniture is of course). I also posted the second part of Fish Soup on White Foxx: Silver Crow. Turns out it's going to be a three parter.

The batteries on my camera died so there won't be a new picture in this post. I just put it on the charger for the night so there will be a new picture in the next one, promise.

I spent most of the morning watching more Blood Ties online; I'm halfway through season two already and can't wait to see how it ends. This afternoon I went to town with my friend L.G. We turned in some old books at the Paperback Exchange downtown; L.G. wound up with over 300 dollars worth of credits. I'm so jealous. After that we went to Arby's for lunch. We both got club sub sandwiches, but what we really wanted was the peacan chicken salad wrap. Arby's had to get rid of them because some bozo, probably from the cities, said they were alergic to the nuts. If they were alergic to the nuts they just shouldn't order the peacan chicken salad, the nuts are right there in the name of the thing. Idiots ruin it for all of us.

After Arby's we came back to my house and watched a movie, Twilight. I have to say, the movie did not deserve all the hype that it got. It was o.k. and definetly worth seeing once so long as you don't have to pay for it. Bottom line, I've seen better vampire movies. Same goes for the book; I read the book too and the story was good but the author couldn't write.

After I brought L.G. home I spent the rest of the evening cleaning my room and putting all that junk from school away. It feels pointless because I'll only have to dig it out and repack it in a couple months.


By the way, since this post turned out to be so long, I decided to include a picture any way. It's an old one from last summer; it's kind of fuzzy but if you look close you can see the marks where I split a bullet in half like Anie Oakley on the metal gopher, and on the backboard there are two separate holes where the two halves went in.

Monster's Blog Post

Mwha ha ha ha ha, I am Monster, stealer of laptops, read my post or die. That dumb college kid came back home for the weekend and left their laptop alone in my presence while going out with mom for chinese. I'm taking the opportunity to do a little writing myself. It really helps to have those extra opposible thumbs, I don't see how other cats get along without them.

Boy, this room is a mess. The kid brought home all this junk from school and it's taking up a ton of space, I can hardly see the floor. I'm really tempted to knock over the new water bottle the kid got... It's so new and shiny.


I also have a sudden craving for fish, maybe from reading the first half of that Fish Soup story on White Foxx: Silver Crow. I can't stay... the kid's back from town and I don't want to get caught typing on the computer.

Guess the Secret Spot...

I didn't post yesterday because nothing happened. I slept in, watched t.v., spent an hour in class, more t.v., and went to bed. Not very post worthy if you ask me. Today was slightly more intersting.

I found out that there is another kid from this campus going on the Scotland study abroad trip. Apparently his name is Matt and I'll be meeting him on Monday. I had to go to the registrar's office and sign a paper for my Scotland courses. The registrar's office was also the answer to yesterday's scavenger hunt clue. Today's was the financial aid office. I didn't get my card stamped today because you have to turn them in at the dance Friday night and I won't be here for that.

I got most of my stuff packed in boxes to take home for the summer. I was thinking of scramming out tonight but I have that stupid comm 110 class at two o'clock. I found out that I won't have a final for my health class or my history class. There also won't be a test for my creative writing class, I just have to show up on the last day. Unfortunatley I will have a Shakespeare final at one o'clock on Thursday, otherwise I'd leave Tuesday. I'll have to get my mom or somebody to help me with my fridge and microwave.

I also finished that Fish Soup story I was working on. It turned out to be nine pages double spaced format. I'm not sure how intersting the plot is, it's more like two stories combined into one. I'll try and post the first half tomorrow. In the meantime here's a picture of the shoreline taken from the secret fishing spot where the first half of Fish Soup takes place. Bet you can't guess where it is...

Fish Soup

I had to give a group speech for my history class today. I had completely forgotten about it. I printed off some things from the website early this morning and totally winged it. I must have done a good job because the instructor said it was very well researched. I figured out the second clue to the scavenger hunt during lunch. The clue about logo sweatshirts and knowledge for money had to be the bookstore.


The student paper had its last meeting of the year today. There was an election for next year's managing editor and editor in cheif. Since everyone up for election was running un-opposed it went pretty quickly. On the way back to my dorm I threw out the student life story ideas I had printed off thinking the last meeting would be next week.

I finished revising my Duct Tape story for my night class on short story writing, only to find out that I was supposed to write a whole new one as well. The class got out an hour early and I made it back to the dorm building in time for the Cinco de Miyo pinyata breaking in the basement. I stayed long enough to nab some free candy.



I just spent the last couple hours working on a new short story I decided to call Fish Soup. It's about how my dad taught me to make kalla mojakka but so far I've only written up to catching and cleaning the fish we needed to make it. When it's finished I might post it, either here or on White Foxx: Silver Crow.

I also found out I have to go online and switch my refund card to have any money left from my summer loan after tuition and room and board to go to my bank account. My mom called me and apparently I need to print off a form, sign it, and fax it to the bank. I don't have a fax here and we don't have a fax at home. When I go home on Friday me and my mom will work on the papers and hopefully my grandma will let us use her fax machine.

Busy, Busy

Today was a busy, busy day for me. First I had to go over to the financial aid office and find out when my Student Loan would be dispearsed. It will be on the 13th. Then I had to go over to the Study Abroad office and ask the Study Abroad coordinator about leaving Scotland a day early to go to my cousin's wedding and avoid having to switch airports in New York. She said switching airports wasn't actually that big of a deal on the way back, she'd done it before with no problems. Then I had to go back to financial aid and find out if the money would go direct to the school or my bank account. It will go to the school and after they take out the tuition and room and board the rest goes on a refund card unless I go online and change it to be my bank account.

I spent an hour on the phone with my dad while he booked my plane tickets. I'll be flying out of Minneapolis to New York's JFK then straight to Edinburg. On the way back I'll be going from Edinburg to New York but I will have to switch from JFK to Legwardia (I'm probably spellng that wrong but I'm too lazy to look it up right now) before flying to Minneapolis. On the bright side, I'll be back in time for my cousin's wedding.

After taking care of that I was walking around campus and discovered that there was some kind of barbeque going on to promote Campus Rocks week. They were handing out clues for a scavenger hunt. Each clue describes a location on campus and once you figure the clue out you go there to get a stamp on a yellow card. They give out a new clue each day this week. At the end of the week you turn in the card with all the stamps for the chance to win a free parking permit for next semester. I figured the clue out right away, the last line about being temporarily relocated was a dead givaway for the Library. I suggested they do a scavenger hunt that would eventually lead to the X on the man-hole cover in one of the parking lots. The gal in charge said they couldn't do that because I would know where it was. My reply was "Yeah, but nobody else would."



I gave a group presentation in one of my classes and then I had to go to an award ceremony for honors students and graduates. I got a nice certificate for being on the Dean's List/Honor Roll. They had some free food after, sushi, pot stickers, finger sandwiches, and coffee. I didn't stick around for that though.



My mom called me too to talk about getting a taveler's Visa card for my trip and some other financial considerations. I'm supposed to e-mail her back about the textbook I'll need for my literature class. I just got a link right to the Amazon page in my student e-mail. I guess it's too late to reconsider now. It probably won't sink in untill I'm actually on the plane. Only 23 days to go!