Man, I've been running this week on zero sleep and lots of Mountain Dew. Not cool. Last night I worked on a paper until nearly 4 a.m. That was because of procrastination....and because I was having trouble organizing my thoughts...and because I didn't get as much done at work as I had planned to....and the library was open until 1 a.m. And has been all week. Yeah...that's super cool when you work Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10 p.m. until 1 a.m. Yeah. Super cool. It's crazy though, because my paper ended up being 6 pages double spaced. It was a feature story for my journalism class, so I had a several interviews and whatnot, and the writing was different from a research paper (though really a news story IS a research paper), but it still only took me 2 hours to write. I remember back in Junior year of high school in my Advanced Comp. class we had to write this absolutely MASSIVE research paper. I had something like 150 notecards. And that ended up being a whole 7 pages. How far we've all come, huh?

Yesterday the Winter Term Editor-in-Chief for the campus newspaper talked to me after our class together about my column. She wants it to have a more promininent spot in the paper, so I need think up a name for it and then start writing weekly. I've only come up with one idea for a column name --if you don't follow, a column name is like "The Backfence," or "Off the Beaten Path," or "Mr. Fixit," etc-- and the idea I have is "The Soapbox." If you have any ideas, help me out. I'm staying away from anything like "Corey's Comments," or "Corey's Corner"....because those sound so juvenile and hokey, I can't stand it. I want one that says I'm making a statement about the college, or society. That I have 500 words to make an analysis on society and this is what I have to say. I have until Jan. 10th to come up with a title, so it's not a huge rush, but I will have to have it ready and my first column ready the monday after the 10th.

In other news, the 2YG has been planning this beek outing for tomorrow night down in Iowa City. It's my Christmas present and it's a surprise. I'm a little nervous because I don't like NOT being in control of a date. But whatever. I guess we'll see how that goes.

This looked fun. I stole it from somebody who stole it from somebody else. I really should probably go to bed...but I had to work until 1 and now I'm wide awake. So it goes.

An "X" means it applies to me, then there is an explanation if I felt like it.

[ ] I'm afraid of silence.

[ ] I am really ticklish. Not really, but if you get me right I may pee myself.

[ ] I'm afraid of the dark
[X] I'm afraid of facing my back to open doors at night. The Sixth Sense made me this way.
[ ] I am homosexual.

[x] I believe in true love. Definitely. Although, I also think that your true love could come in the form of a best friend, not a spouse. Sometimes a friendship can affect your soul in different ways than a relationship.

[ ] I've run away from home.
[ ] I listen to political music.

[ ] I collect comic books.
[ ] I shut others out when I'm sad.

[ ] I open up to others easily.
[X] I am keeping a secret from the world. Uhhh....we all keep secrets...

[x] I watch the news.

[X] I own over 5 rap CDs. Even if you don't count the Beastie Boys as rap.

[x] I own over 10 Rock CDs. Even if you don't count the Beastie Boys as rock.

[X] I own something from Hot Topic. My John Deere shirt came from there.

[ ] I love Disney movies.
[X] I am a sucker for green eyes. I do like them, but it's not a deciding factor by any means...especially when there are people who have colored contacts (jess).
[ ] I don't kill bugs.

[X] I curse regularly. Not when I'm at home, but at school it's a different story. Especially around my roommates. Wow.

[ ] I have "x"s in my screen name
[ ] I've slipped out a "lol" in a real conversation

[ ] I love Spam.
[ ] I bake well.
[X] I have worn pajamas to class.

[X] I have owned something from Abercrombie. They make good clothes for skinny people.

[X] I have a job. SA, Student, Library Manager, being a stud...take your pick.

[ ] I love Martha Stewart

[X] I like someone. I like lots of people....but if we're talking "like," then you all know it's the 2YG.

[ ] I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS.

[X] I am self-conscious. How can you not be when you've grown up gianormously taller than everyone else. I've almost gotten to be ok with it, but there are certain situations (the Hmong festival over Thanksgiving break) that are especially tough.

[X] I love to laugh. When I actually laugh, yeah. But it takes something big, usually with family, to make me laugh for real.

[X] I have tried alcohol. No comment
[X] I drink alcohol on a regular basis. Not so much since the 2YG.
[ ] I have smoked a pack in one day.
[ ] I loved Go Ask Alice.
[ ] I have cough drops when I'm not sick
[ ] I can't swallow pills.
[X] I've been out of this country. England almost doesn't count, though.
[X] I can't sleep if there is a spider in the room. Gotta kill it, or I'll probably end up eating it.
[X] I love chocolate.

[X] I bite my nails when I'm nervous or bored. Almost broke the habit, but I broke a worse one instead.
[X] I am comfortable with being me. Depends. I'm still not sure who "me" is. There's the Lakeville me, the Wartburg me, the 2YG me, the SA me, and the family me.

[X] I play computer games when I'm bored.

[X] Gotten lost in the city. Oh my lord....the worst was in London at night, with VIEV!

[X] Seen a shooting star. I actually saw one when the 2YG and I had our little camp-out.

[ ] Had a serious surgery.

[X] Gone out in public in your pajamas. Man, I've gone out in public in my boxers.

[X] Have kissed a stranger. I'd say 90% of college students have, though.

[X] Hugged a stranger.
[ ]

[ ] Been in a fist fight.
[ ] Been arrested.

[ ] Laughed and had some kind of beverage come out of your nose.
[X] Pushed all the buttons on an elevator. Did that everyday when the marching band was in Hawaii.

[ ] Made out in an elevator

[ ] Swore at your parents.

[X] Kicked a guy where it hurts. On accident.
[X] Hit a guy where it hurts. Ah yes, the twapping days of highschool.
[ ] Been skydiving.
[ ] Been bungee jumping.

[X] Gotten stitches/staples. Wisdom teeth removal.

[ ] Drank a whole gallon of milk in one hour.

[X] Bitten someone.

[ ] Been to Niagara Falls.

[X] Gotten the chicken pox! I think, at least.
[ ] Crashed into a car.

[ ] Been to Japan.
[X] Ridden in a taxi.

[ ] Shoplifted.

[ ] Been fired.

[X] Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back. Yeah that always sucks.
[X] Stole something from your job. Technically speaking, eating a hotdog off of the roller grill without paying for it is stealing...

[ ] Gone on a blind date.

[X] Had a crush on a teacher/coach. Mmmmm....Dr. Bane. Intro to Psychology. Short skirts and loooong leather boots. Everyday. My roommate and I had a hayday with that one.

[ ] Celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
[X] Been to Europe. Again, England almost doesn't count.
[X] Slept with a co-worker. Not in the sense of sex, but I have spent the night with one.
[ ] Been married.
[ ] Gotten divorced

[X] Saw someone/something dying. When we put our first dog, T.K., to sleep.

[X] Driven over 400 miles in one day. Colorado Springs, CO to Park Rapids, MN is 1117.68 miles.
[ ] seen a Rocky Horror Picture Film
[ ] Thrown up in a bar.
[X] Eaten Sushi. Joe Goodman brought some for lunch at Snyders one day while we were in high school.
[ ] Been snowboarding.
[X] Been skiing.

[X] Been ice skating. They would flood the Lion's Park parking lot in Rockford.

[x] Cried in public. Funerals.
[ ] Walked purposely into traffic with your eyes closed.

[X] Liked someone even though you knew you shouldn't have. See Dr. Bane reference above.......

I love it when you finish a paper before actually reading what it was supposed to be about, and then realizing you did it totally wrong. Fortunately I only wrote 2 pages before I checked. Unfortunately, it only has to be 2 pages. damn, damn, damn, damn, DAMN!

My last column of the term came out today. It was decent. I think I said what needed to be said. The original headline was "Four years for the rest of your Life," but I guess that wouldn't have fit on the page or something. Check it out here.

I know it as Night Magic. Jess calls it Sleep Drunk. Perhaps it's more widely known as the Witching Hour. No matter what you call it, everything looks different late at night/early in the morning. You problems look worse. You pine for your significant other with more obsession. The scenery looks strange -- almost foreign. I definitely experienced the foreign scenery last night. You see, I had the grand idea to leave off a project until nearly 11 p.m. At about midnight I realized what a bad idea it really was. I finished work on it at 2 a.m. I got the final draft all printed out to my liking at about 3 a.m. and I left the journalism lab shortly after (I had to use Adobe InDesign and Photoshop to make it as nice as I wanted it to be). As I was walking back across campus to my room in the -10 degree weather, I noticed how erie the campus looked. You know how the cloudy night sky is always lighter when there is snow on the ground? Well last night it was pitch black, which made the lamposts seem even brighter. As my eyes trailed the line of smoke billowing from the building ahead of me, I realized how alone I was. I pulled my coat tighter around my neck and quickened my pace. That was when Night Magic was in full effect. Perhaps mind was playing tricks on me because of the late hour, or maybe it was the extreme cold, but I began to look at the campus in a different way: my own playground. It was mine to create. It was mine to destroy. And then I entered my suite and went to bed.

In other news, I got an email from the editor of The Castle (Wartburg's Literary Magazine) saying my poem "Judgement Day" made it into the Fall Term edition. Whoopee...I knew it would make it in. It's the best poem I've ever written. The bigger news, though, was that my short story did NOT make it in. The reason she gave me was that "The misogyny was just too significant for the story." In other words I was hating on women too much. Uh. Ok.

Let me give you a brief synopsis of the story: It's entirely first person of a guy who is clearly disturbed. He's obsessing over past events where people didn't appreciate him enough, or didn't like him enough, or (most importantly) his girlfriend said no to his marriage proposal. In short, he plans her murder and then carries it out....or so you think. Right before you think he's going to get caught, it transitions to a nurse saying that it's time for his medication. The previous scenes were entirely inside his mind, for he's in a psych ward. The cool part of it all was that I never said that he was insane. I never used the words gun, bullet, kill, shoot, trigger, blood, murder, marriage, fiance, girl, etc. I implied the entire story. It's entitled "Two Pieces of Brass."

She didn't like it because of the part where the main character says "She deserved the brass." Oh yeah, and did I mention this editor is a feminist? She never forgave me for one of my stories that made it into The Castle last year that ended with the main character leaving his apartment carrying his girlfriend's severed head in a bowling bag. She said that was anti-woman as well. I mean, I value her opinion especially because she edits a lot of my work for me, but seriously....

On a side note, I realize that those two stories may seem a smidge messed up, but it's so much fun to watch people's reactions to stories like that. Especially when it comes from me. Plus, The Castle is comprised of college students' works. That means everything is about relationships and heartbreak. It kinds pretty monotonous. I read the submissions and none of them had the shock value mine had. ARGH! It pisses me off so much because I worked hard on that and she rejected it because it offended her feminist values. PUH-LEASE!

And so another weekend has come and gone. Only one more left for this term. That's pretty scary, I must say. Friday was my one free night....in other words, the one night that I was able to hang-out with the roommates. Except, none of them were really free. Bummer. So instead I kind of just drank alone and went to bed early. It was not very exciting at all. Last night, though, I went sledding with the 2YG.

So in years past, we've (roommates and I) gone sledding at the local golf course because that's where the biggest and best hill is located. But we've also got late at night...like between 10 and midnight. Last night the 2YG and I got there at 8...and there seemed to be a Christmas party going on at the club house...because when we walked out to the hill and turned around, there was a big bank of windows all full of people looking out at us. Hmmmm....so we left in search for another rumored hill. 30 minutes of driving around later, we found out that the hill was actually a road that only was plowed occasionally. And last night it got plowed. Another bummer. I was convinced it would still work, though and made the 2YG try it out. And it didn't. Long story short, we said screw it and went back to the golf course and sledded for a long time. It was great.

After I finally left her room at like 1 a.m., I went back to my room. My roommates had thrown a party that I skipped to spend some time with the 2YG, but there was another party just starting as I got home. Not in our suite, but one just down the way...thrown by band people. It's an annual christmas party that I've attended in the past...but this year I knew that there was going to be some choice people there that I had no need to see. In fact, after just spending an awesome evening with the 2YG, they were the last people I needed to encounter. So I just skipped it.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm missing out on some great memories by skipping out on events like that....but then I realize that I've spent 3 years of college partying and zero years spending time with someone special. This year can be different...and it is different.

Now today I'm in a mode of procrastination. I have this Public Relations project due tomorrow morning at 7:45 a.m. I haven't started it yet. But I also do not think it will be hard to make. And I have to do it in the journalism lab...which is where the campus newspaper is put together today. In other words, I'm putting it off as long as I can so that they'll either have the paper finished by the time I get in there...or only a few editors will be left. Either way, I've gotten some other work done today as well. I woke up and wrote a column for the paper. I spent 2 hours learning how to diagram sentences for Grammars class, and then diagramming about 15 sentences. And now I'm about to start typing an optional book report for my advanced news writing class. Pretty much I'm guarunteed an A in the class, but I want to make sure. So I'm going to quick write-up a half-assed report before Tuesday on this great book of magazine articles. I'm not quite sure how I'll fill 4 pages of critique, but I'm sure I'll find a way. Especially since it's the only thing I have to do for Tuesday.

Anyway. Yeah. Peace.