I'm Andrea Gill. I think this is one of the first time I've typed my last name, due to my irrational idea that if I never mention anything in the actual text of my blog no personal information will be given. However, my blogspot name... argill... Also the link to my Facebook and Myspace.. I never noticed those were both fake compound words.
The semester is ending, the summer is rapidly approaching, and the pile of unfinished schoolwork is looking more and more impossible. However, we are all doing our best to take it one step at a time and not lose our minds. Still, the worst for me is the observing. Five hours sitting in the back of a classroom with no other option but staring intently at the teacher whether or not she's actually lecturing causes me frustration to no end, especially when I realize that I could spend that time working on the final project for geometry.
The purpose of today is an update on life. I've been too busy to really have any inspiration for topics, and I have a webcam, so I've been video chatting recently, which is something new. Also, I own the domain andreagill.com. Another reason it doesn't matter if I say my last name. Now, the story behind this is that David owns his domain name, and Daniel was thinking of buying his. David said I probably should, too, and I remembered that I bought it last year in one of my classes when the teacher suggested we should. However, at the time I didn't know how to upload content or even make content. I looked up the information and found that I still owned another year on the domain name. I didn't realize until now that Web Design would teach me the elements necessary to actually use the FTP thing and upload content to the site. However, I don't have a program and right now an relying on my HTML and CSS skills to edit templates. I also know some JavaScript and even PERL now, though I expect to never use them again. (If you want to see that work, go to myweb.fsu.edu/arg07f/cgs3066/a4, click on survey and see the actual assignment. I only added a few questions to the pre-made survey and pre-made CGI file. I'll get your answers on my computer, so say awesome things in the comment box.) And with the schoolwork to do, my web design has reached a standstill. Over the summer I expect many changes. Keep checking, and feel free to offer any comment on the website or for what purpose it should be used. Or if you want to design it for me because you are that bored.
Yesterday, there were many tornado warnings. The school kept texting us alerts and all clears. My favorite, the last all clear that warned of flooding, followed by "Turn around don't drown." Text creating people, I want an explanation. Is texting your one creative outlet, as blogging is mine? The one place where you can say crazy things? And not have the entire class tell you to slow down because your explanation of how you find the radius is so rushed that you can't properly pronounce all of your words? I don't realize I'm talking that fast, I just get so caught up on a thought that I have to get it out before I can forget it. Maybe one day I'll learn to control the speed of my speech and hold on to my words better. Until then, frequent blog posts, because text is one of the few places where I don't lose words and can express all the thoughts that I have in my mind without getting tongue-tied.
Today had no theme. Maybe the next post will. Sorry if you read this post on nothing.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Fires.
RREEAANNGH...RREEAANNGH...RREEAANNGH....
Through my somewhat sound proof dorm doors and walls, I hear the fire alarm and sigh. The fire alarm goes off when there's a fire, or when someone burns something pretty badly, or when someone just pulls it for no reason. One of these happens once a month or so. When it does, we all have to exit the dorm and stand across the street, staring at the dorm until we can re-enter. Or we can walk away and do something else and come back later when we're allowed in again.
I find some shoes and my purse, exit the door, cringe as I stand next to the alarm to lock my door (they are very loud. Probably so they can wake up people in their beds and be heard by people in showers) and walk to the nearest staircase. I don't use the elevator. (I never would, cause I'm only on the third floor, but even if I did, I wouldn't in the event of this supposed fire.)
I, along with many other students, cross the street to stare at the dorm as the campus police pull up. Most people look kind of ticked. One person is dripping wet, she probably got caught in the shower. Someone else is holding a basket full of laundry. Apparently in dorms people steal clothes. I spent two years faithfully guarding my clothes every time I went to do laundry. Then, once I accidentally left a shirt in the washer. Later that evening, while walking by the laundry room, someone had left my shirt on the counter. Either nobody wants my clothes, or people actually have no use for stealing my clothes. Last week I left my clothes in the washer and went back to my room, only returning to move them to the dryer and collect them. Seeing as I did collect them, they weren't stolen. Either way, these people hadn't yet realized that nobody else in the dorm wants their clothes.
After a few minutes, we hear the approaching fire truck siren. The truck pulls up in the road we crossed, partially obstructing our view of the dorm. Two firemen, in gear, enter the building, looking less than worried at the smoke free dormitory. I sit on the curb and wonder how long it will take them. In theory, they check dorms for students. I've always considered just staying in my dorm. However, I'm afraid of breaking rules, so then I consider hiding in my closet. Then I remember the alarm also goes off if there actually is a fire, so I decide to exit the building.
A student exits the dorm. A little late, eh? A few minutes later, the firemen exit with two RAs that accompanied them on their sweep of the dorm. The firemen return to the truck. Instead of getting in, he waves us closer. We gather around. Over the quite loud sound of the fire truck engine, he begins to lecture us. He shows us the ID he confiscated from a student that didnt' exit the dorm. "When the alarm goes off, you'd better leave. I know some of you want to stay in your bed or..." He turns to the crowd opposite of me, and his voice is lost in that stupid engine. "Next time, for every ID I confiscate, you guys will wait here an hour. Is that clear?" I scowl at him in return, though the crowd sort of nods and murmurs in approval. He gives us the clear, and we walk back into the dorm. I think about what he said, while I reopen the doors in the building. Certain doors, like those leading to stairwells, are always propped open, held back by a magnet that releases when the alarms go off. When we re-enter, I try to reprop some of the doors, though eventually they all are back to being opened as usual.
I think his claim was unfair. I paid my dorm fees, and this is my one home within four hours, in which I keep most of my belongings. The majority of students don't take anything that could help during a four hour lockout from the dorm. I figure we spend the minutes waiting for the all clear contemplating what it would be like to actually lose everything in that dorm room to a fire. Some people are dripping wet, others carrying baskets of clothes. And he's threatening us, the ones that followed the rules and evacuated as quickly as possible, to have to stay outside longer just because someone else didn't feel like leaving in time?
Seems unfair to me.
Through my somewhat sound proof dorm doors and walls, I hear the fire alarm and sigh. The fire alarm goes off when there's a fire, or when someone burns something pretty badly, or when someone just pulls it for no reason. One of these happens once a month or so. When it does, we all have to exit the dorm and stand across the street, staring at the dorm until we can re-enter. Or we can walk away and do something else and come back later when we're allowed in again.
I find some shoes and my purse, exit the door, cringe as I stand next to the alarm to lock my door (they are very loud. Probably so they can wake up people in their beds and be heard by people in showers) and walk to the nearest staircase. I don't use the elevator. (I never would, cause I'm only on the third floor, but even if I did, I wouldn't in the event of this supposed fire.)
I, along with many other students, cross the street to stare at the dorm as the campus police pull up. Most people look kind of ticked. One person is dripping wet, she probably got caught in the shower. Someone else is holding a basket full of laundry. Apparently in dorms people steal clothes. I spent two years faithfully guarding my clothes every time I went to do laundry. Then, once I accidentally left a shirt in the washer. Later that evening, while walking by the laundry room, someone had left my shirt on the counter. Either nobody wants my clothes, or people actually have no use for stealing my clothes. Last week I left my clothes in the washer and went back to my room, only returning to move them to the dryer and collect them. Seeing as I did collect them, they weren't stolen. Either way, these people hadn't yet realized that nobody else in the dorm wants their clothes.
After a few minutes, we hear the approaching fire truck siren. The truck pulls up in the road we crossed, partially obstructing our view of the dorm. Two firemen, in gear, enter the building, looking less than worried at the smoke free dormitory. I sit on the curb and wonder how long it will take them. In theory, they check dorms for students. I've always considered just staying in my dorm. However, I'm afraid of breaking rules, so then I consider hiding in my closet. Then I remember the alarm also goes off if there actually is a fire, so I decide to exit the building.
A student exits the dorm. A little late, eh? A few minutes later, the firemen exit with two RAs that accompanied them on their sweep of the dorm. The firemen return to the truck. Instead of getting in, he waves us closer. We gather around. Over the quite loud sound of the fire truck engine, he begins to lecture us. He shows us the ID he confiscated from a student that didnt' exit the dorm. "When the alarm goes off, you'd better leave. I know some of you want to stay in your bed or..." He turns to the crowd opposite of me, and his voice is lost in that stupid engine. "Next time, for every ID I confiscate, you guys will wait here an hour. Is that clear?" I scowl at him in return, though the crowd sort of nods and murmurs in approval. He gives us the clear, and we walk back into the dorm. I think about what he said, while I reopen the doors in the building. Certain doors, like those leading to stairwells, are always propped open, held back by a magnet that releases when the alarms go off. When we re-enter, I try to reprop some of the doors, though eventually they all are back to being opened as usual.
I think his claim was unfair. I paid my dorm fees, and this is my one home within four hours, in which I keep most of my belongings. The majority of students don't take anything that could help during a four hour lockout from the dorm. I figure we spend the minutes waiting for the all clear contemplating what it would be like to actually lose everything in that dorm room to a fire. Some people are dripping wet, others carrying baskets of clothes. And he's threatening us, the ones that followed the rules and evacuated as quickly as possible, to have to stay outside longer just because someone else didn't feel like leaving in time?
Seems unfair to me.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Driving.
College kids don't always own cars. I personally have always had my car at college, though I usually only use it once or twice a week if I can help it; I walk almost everywhere I can. Usually grocery shopping, volunteering, and churchgoing take me outside of walking range. Since there are a number of us on campus in this same sort of situation (Leah, Daniel, Judy, etc.) we usually carpool. For example, the weekly Tuesday get McDonald's and Wal-mart occurs after I have finished volunteering. I pick up Daniel and Leah in my car, since parking is still so horrible that there's no use trying to find a spot. Leah and I alternate driving the carpool to church, etc.
It rarely happens that I am driving my car alone at some point without specific plans in the very near future. However, today was one of those unusual exceptions. I drove to meet my friend Eric (he is one of the four or so people from my high school class that came to the same university, and the only one with whom I've kept any contact) for dinner. After some wonderful firehouse subs (right after I'd finished the blog prior to this!) I began the drive back to my dorm. It was one of my favorite times of the day; the sun was below the horizon, so the sky was still light, though there was no blinding glare in any direction. I was listening to music, and suddenly I realized I was not ready to park and walk back up to my dorm. I didn't want to stop driving, I didn't want to be here this weekend. I wanted to drive somewhere, maybe home, with just what I had in the car (basically just my purse.) No extra clothes, no preparations, no computer. Just drive somewhere far away.
I don't know what stopped me. Maybe some of my spontaneity is gone, maybe I know better than to make rash decisions, maybe I figured Mom would think I was ridiculous since she'll be here Tuesday, maybe I figured that it wasn't worth going on a trip without friends with me, though half the beauty of the car ride was the solitude. But either way, I followed the usual route back to the gravel lot where I always park, and calmly pulled my car into the spot where my car always resides. I exited my car and took the same path to my dorm room as I always do.
Jess told me once that I drive more than anyone she knew. I seem to spend many a weekend traveling. Last year I blamed the long-distance relationship, which was part of it, same with the month of December. However, it's really not that, because without those reasons I still find myself out of town frequently, whether visiting Jess or family or finding some other reason to draw me away. I just don't like staying put for too long. Maybe it's because I'm torn between my college home and the home where I was raised. Maybe it's because I miss all of the people whom I love. Maybe I just get restless staying in one place for too long and feel the need to change my life up. Maybe I'm not busy enough here, since I have so much more free time in college than I ever did in high school. Whatever the reason, I felt it tugging at me again tonight, the need to just drive, to go, to break free from routine, the desire to go somewhere else and see people I haven't seen in a while. Though I know if I left, I'd miss the friends still here. Neither option was really fully satisfying.
Now I sit in my room, on my bed, typing this blog, while the sun sets out the window. Somewhere in the course of the sun's descent and the onset of night, the sky will turn a shade somewhere between night blue and sky blue, and I'll smile, because it's the color I love best. And I'll continue this weekend like any other here, push the restlessness down, and find contentedness with where I am. I'll enjoy time with the friends that I love, and find time to get in touch with the people that I don't get to see in person daily.
And in a month I'll drive home for the summer, and in a few weeks I'll be itching for another trip. And next time, maybe I'll keep driving.
It rarely happens that I am driving my car alone at some point without specific plans in the very near future. However, today was one of those unusual exceptions. I drove to meet my friend Eric (he is one of the four or so people from my high school class that came to the same university, and the only one with whom I've kept any contact) for dinner. After some wonderful firehouse subs (right after I'd finished the blog prior to this!) I began the drive back to my dorm. It was one of my favorite times of the day; the sun was below the horizon, so the sky was still light, though there was no blinding glare in any direction. I was listening to music, and suddenly I realized I was not ready to park and walk back up to my dorm. I didn't want to stop driving, I didn't want to be here this weekend. I wanted to drive somewhere, maybe home, with just what I had in the car (basically just my purse.) No extra clothes, no preparations, no computer. Just drive somewhere far away.
I don't know what stopped me. Maybe some of my spontaneity is gone, maybe I know better than to make rash decisions, maybe I figured Mom would think I was ridiculous since she'll be here Tuesday, maybe I figured that it wasn't worth going on a trip without friends with me, though half the beauty of the car ride was the solitude. But either way, I followed the usual route back to the gravel lot where I always park, and calmly pulled my car into the spot where my car always resides. I exited my car and took the same path to my dorm room as I always do.
Jess told me once that I drive more than anyone she knew. I seem to spend many a weekend traveling. Last year I blamed the long-distance relationship, which was part of it, same with the month of December. However, it's really not that, because without those reasons I still find myself out of town frequently, whether visiting Jess or family or finding some other reason to draw me away. I just don't like staying put for too long. Maybe it's because I'm torn between my college home and the home where I was raised. Maybe it's because I miss all of the people whom I love. Maybe I just get restless staying in one place for too long and feel the need to change my life up. Maybe I'm not busy enough here, since I have so much more free time in college than I ever did in high school. Whatever the reason, I felt it tugging at me again tonight, the need to just drive, to go, to break free from routine, the desire to go somewhere else and see people I haven't seen in a while. Though I know if I left, I'd miss the friends still here. Neither option was really fully satisfying.
Now I sit in my room, on my bed, typing this blog, while the sun sets out the window. Somewhere in the course of the sun's descent and the onset of night, the sky will turn a shade somewhere between night blue and sky blue, and I'll smile, because it's the color I love best. And I'll continue this weekend like any other here, push the restlessness down, and find contentedness with where I am. I'll enjoy time with the friends that I love, and find time to get in touch with the people that I don't get to see in person daily.
And in a month I'll drive home for the summer, and in a few weeks I'll be itching for another trip. And next time, maybe I'll keep driving.
Food.
My favorite food is, without a doubt, pizza. Many of my friends.. Jess.. share similar, if not identical views. Maybe it is why we are friends.
I have always loved pizza, from quite a young age. During high school, when I became busy and ate on my own, not as family dinners, I lived on frozen pizzas. Tostino's pizzas are wonderful. I ate them and bagel bites. You must not microwave the bagel bites. This is imperative. Jeff used to commit this atrocity before I showed him the light of yummy, crispy, pizza-y bagels. You can use an oven or preferable a toaster oven. Microwaves and frozen pizza is a horrible, horrible idea, though I microwaved a lean cuisine pizza the other day and it was bearable. However, by eating some combination of these foods on average four times a week, I survived. I think it was difficult for my parents when I left for college and they had to remember that there was no longer any need to buy the pizzas at the grocery store. In middle school, we had like a sandwich press and I used to make "pizza pockets," with bread, pizza sauce, and cheese. Good times.
Tostinos pizza rolls, as I recently discovered, are also tasty. Gauraw introduced me to these. Again, don't microwave them. Use ovens. Cheese needs to be baked, not radiated.
Now, another food I love almost as much though not quite as closely as pizza is subs. Is subs a singular way to refer to this food? Anyways, I love subs. I hated them until high school because I didn't like bread crust and they were all crust. Now, however, they are amazing. I never get cheese on them, it just ruins it (represent, Dustin!) I either get turkey or some sort of chicken. I prefer toasted subs, so I really like the trend of toasty subs that has taken over the sandwich industry. Now, here's some ideas of my sub choices.
Subway: Sweet Onion Chicken Terriyaki. This is an amazing sub, also a $5 footlong. Turkey is also good.
Quiznos: Honey Mustard Chicken. Wonderful. Again, Turkey is also good.
Firehouse: Turkey. I think that's all Iv'e ever tried.
Publix: Turkey. Or anything, really. Publix is a great maker of subs.
Jimmy John's: NOT acceptable. All college kids seem to think this place is the best. MAybe cause they deliver. Wrong. They are not toasty and have a weird refridgerator taste about them.
Blimpie: Occasionally I still find one of these. Turkey, of course. I am pretty predictable.
Arby's: They make toasted subs. Surprisingly good, though the turkey is a little dry and bland.
Dominos: Have yet to try their subs, if I'm ordering from them I'm obviously getting pizza.
Hungry Howie's: My mom loves their subs. I tried one once, not so much a fan. Maybe I should try it again sometime and see if my tastes have changed.
Dining Hall: My dining hall makes sandwiches, and then toasts them. They are good.
See, it's not that I'm against other subs, it's just that I usually always know what I want. If I'm going to Subway, it's because I am craving a specific sub, not because I want to try some other sub they have to offer. Quiznos also has good side salads. Publix has good side everythings. Like a whole store full of sides. And entrees.
I should not write blogs when I am hungry and figuring out what to do for dinner.
I have always loved pizza, from quite a young age. During high school, when I became busy and ate on my own, not as family dinners, I lived on frozen pizzas. Tostino's pizzas are wonderful. I ate them and bagel bites. You must not microwave the bagel bites. This is imperative. Jeff used to commit this atrocity before I showed him the light of yummy, crispy, pizza-y bagels. You can use an oven or preferable a toaster oven. Microwaves and frozen pizza is a horrible, horrible idea, though I microwaved a lean cuisine pizza the other day and it was bearable. However, by eating some combination of these foods on average four times a week, I survived. I think it was difficult for my parents when I left for college and they had to remember that there was no longer any need to buy the pizzas at the grocery store. In middle school, we had like a sandwich press and I used to make "pizza pockets," with bread, pizza sauce, and cheese. Good times.
Tostinos pizza rolls, as I recently discovered, are also tasty. Gauraw introduced me to these. Again, don't microwave them. Use ovens. Cheese needs to be baked, not radiated.
Now, another food I love almost as much though not quite as closely as pizza is subs. Is subs a singular way to refer to this food? Anyways, I love subs. I hated them until high school because I didn't like bread crust and they were all crust. Now, however, they are amazing. I never get cheese on them, it just ruins it (represent, Dustin!) I either get turkey or some sort of chicken. I prefer toasted subs, so I really like the trend of toasty subs that has taken over the sandwich industry. Now, here's some ideas of my sub choices.
Subway: Sweet Onion Chicken Terriyaki. This is an amazing sub, also a $5 footlong. Turkey is also good.
Quiznos: Honey Mustard Chicken. Wonderful. Again, Turkey is also good.
Firehouse: Turkey. I think that's all Iv'e ever tried.
Publix: Turkey. Or anything, really. Publix is a great maker of subs.
Jimmy John's: NOT acceptable. All college kids seem to think this place is the best. MAybe cause they deliver. Wrong. They are not toasty and have a weird refridgerator taste about them.
Blimpie: Occasionally I still find one of these. Turkey, of course. I am pretty predictable.
Arby's: They make toasted subs. Surprisingly good, though the turkey is a little dry and bland.
Dominos: Have yet to try their subs, if I'm ordering from them I'm obviously getting pizza.
Hungry Howie's: My mom loves their subs. I tried one once, not so much a fan. Maybe I should try it again sometime and see if my tastes have changed.
Dining Hall: My dining hall makes sandwiches, and then toasts them. They are good.
See, it's not that I'm against other subs, it's just that I usually always know what I want. If I'm going to Subway, it's because I am craving a specific sub, not because I want to try some other sub they have to offer. Quiznos also has good side salads. Publix has good side everythings. Like a whole store full of sides. And entrees.
I should not write blogs when I am hungry and figuring out what to do for dinner.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Umbrellas.
Yesterday, I was at Wal-mart with Leah and Daniel, Leah's boyfriend. Daniel and I have coupons for McDonald's, so we go every Tuesday to get our free value meal, then go to the Wal-mart behind the McDonald's for our weekly shopping excursion. I had a caramel iced coffee, which was the perfect balance of coffe, caramel, milk, and sweetness.
Anyways, the weather has been frightful these past few days, what with tornado warnings, rain, thunder, and the like. Did you know tornadoes on average have a 500 foot diameter? Some get to be over a mile. This is something I have often wondered and only recently remembered that I wondered it within range of the internet. Now I know. Anyways, as we go to walk into Wal-mart, we open our umbrellas to the drizzly water falling from the bland gray sky. Daniel's umbrella does not open properly. It "works," its just one of the spokes is broken.
My mother always gets the words "jump rope" and umbrella confused. Even to this day, she'll tell her students to play with the umbrella and reminds us not to forget the jump rope. I always assumed that she learned these words in the same vocabulary lesson as a child and her brain filed them next to each other, like me always confusing Leah, Mary, and Judy. And alot of other words. My friends tell me that I talk oddly. I get caught up on words, I talk so fast that I can't physically form the words, and sometimes I use the complete wrong words. They can usually contextually tell what I'm saying, so they don't correct me, and so I never know. Also, I confuse beginnings, like Chepsi Perry (cherry pepsi.)
So, Daniel decides to buy a new umbrella. As he stands next to the stand of umbrellas, I think, Ive been here before. Deja Vu! Actually, it wasn't deja vu, I had in fact been in that scenario twice before. Daniel is on his fourth umbrella this year, and the handle on the fourth is already breaking. He has the worst of luck with umbrellas, poor guy.
For Christmas somebody should buy him an umbrella with a lifetime warranty, Leah and I decided. My umbrella, which I got at the beginning of the semester, is beginning to break. It gets jammed when I try to open it. It still works well enough for me, though. Maybe it'll get sunny again and I won't have such a need for umbrellas. This weather is crazy. I like the rain unless I'm trying to walk across campus to my class.
At least the weather fights the pollen. Whenever it doesn't rain, all the cars everywhere on campus, even the ones in garages, are covered in a sheet of yellow powder. It's not exactly pleasant.
I hope Daniel's new umbrella lasts a good long time.
Anyways, the weather has been frightful these past few days, what with tornado warnings, rain, thunder, and the like. Did you know tornadoes on average have a 500 foot diameter? Some get to be over a mile. This is something I have often wondered and only recently remembered that I wondered it within range of the internet. Now I know. Anyways, as we go to walk into Wal-mart, we open our umbrellas to the drizzly water falling from the bland gray sky. Daniel's umbrella does not open properly. It "works," its just one of the spokes is broken.
My mother always gets the words "jump rope" and umbrella confused. Even to this day, she'll tell her students to play with the umbrella and reminds us not to forget the jump rope. I always assumed that she learned these words in the same vocabulary lesson as a child and her brain filed them next to each other, like me always confusing Leah, Mary, and Judy. And alot of other words. My friends tell me that I talk oddly. I get caught up on words, I talk so fast that I can't physically form the words, and sometimes I use the complete wrong words. They can usually contextually tell what I'm saying, so they don't correct me, and so I never know. Also, I confuse beginnings, like Chepsi Perry (cherry pepsi.)
So, Daniel decides to buy a new umbrella. As he stands next to the stand of umbrellas, I think, Ive been here before. Deja Vu! Actually, it wasn't deja vu, I had in fact been in that scenario twice before. Daniel is on his fourth umbrella this year, and the handle on the fourth is already breaking. He has the worst of luck with umbrellas, poor guy.
For Christmas somebody should buy him an umbrella with a lifetime warranty, Leah and I decided. My umbrella, which I got at the beginning of the semester, is beginning to break. It gets jammed when I try to open it. It still works well enough for me, though. Maybe it'll get sunny again and I won't have such a need for umbrellas. This weather is crazy. I like the rain unless I'm trying to walk across campus to my class.
At least the weather fights the pollen. Whenever it doesn't rain, all the cars everywhere on campus, even the ones in garages, are covered in a sheet of yellow powder. It's not exactly pleasant.
I hope Daniel's new umbrella lasts a good long time.
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