I find myself in the dorm's computer lab again this evening, but this time, the air is comfortable, not the -30 degrees Farenheit is was in here last time. Anyway, I figured I'd give an update on my life while I'm here. Over the last week or so, I've written my first college essay, been complimented on my French accent, and played indoor soccer on a regular basis. I've had some interesting times in other classes as well: choir's been fun; voice lessons started rocky, but got better; music theory makes the torture that was Vocal Lab useful; the reemergence of Hacky Sack into my daily life has been a blessing. It's really weird how I didn't realize I missed Hacky until I started doing it again. Other than that, I've just been chilling, playing FIFA, watching TV, hanging out with Kuni, that sort of thing. I do need to get out more, though. I'm limited in social contacts. I need to meet more people, but the only way I see that happening is meeting people through my classes, and with only two academic courses, that seems a little difficult: English 102 and French 101. I hope that I'll be able to meet some people next semester, but that is too far ahead for me to be thinking right now. I need to be focused on getting to know the people around me. It's really odd how much UAB's choir resembles what LHS's choir was and should have been, but I digress. My priority right now is to be good at anything that I do, and I'm on the right path. My secret? I don't do anything I could be bad at.  I should be updating more regularly after this weekend, but we shall see... As always, be easy, my friends.

Man, the past three days will go down in my memory as the most eventful for this summer, judging strictly by the amount of physical energy spent. Saturday had me canoeing down the Elk river in Tennesee with my church group. The day was hot, but the water was cold - and I mean cold. It's amazing how quickly a 6 hour trip goes by with good conversation and laughs. Sunday, I went to The Mellow Mushroom with my Mom and some of her friends, and had the best pizza I've ever tasted and, quite possibly, the world has ever known. I really loved it. We ordered their version of the Veggie Lovers, and I can't stress enough how wonderful the food is. You must go if you get the opportunity. After that, I went to a pool party with the same church group I had just went canoeing with, but this gave me the chance to see my friends again for what will more than likely be the last time in many months. Today brought me awakening to an empty condo - the younger brother went back to school! - as well as UAB stuff to deal with. I got my account statement, so I know exactly how much I owe, and I met my roommate through Facebook. He seems like a pretty cool guy, but I have to tell you about this. He forwarded the move-in/roommate email notification to his dad, who then, apparently, Googled me and sent a youtube video back to Josh[my roommate], who then, as we were messaging back and forth, compliments me on my voice. ... I guess you had to be there... or maybe you had to be me... I found it amusing. Hope your weekend was as enjoyable as mine!

So, with it being August 1st and all, I decided to fix my course schedule that I so wonderfully butchered at orientation. So, I found out that the Calculus course I planned to take with Kuni was full. Fun times. I then racked my brain and come up with this: I'll take the French 101 course I am signed up for, and I'll add some other course to fill up my schedule. My AP scores are still not registering, so I have to wait to sign up for ENG 102. With calculus out of the question - the only open course was a night class, and I'd rather not have class post-sundown - I figured I'd take a philosophy course. I mean, why not? Almost half of Ms. Hyatt's class was learning about how to make an arguement, so I figure this will be... well, not easy, but maybe easier with that background. So as soon as my ENG 102 prerequisite comes through, though, I'll have a full schedule... well, with three academic courses and six music courses. Is 18 hours too much? Thoughts?