Sunday, July 8, 2007

Saturday, July 7, 2007 - First Weekend, Fun?

Started off the day with a whodunit. There were flyers around stating that there was a meeting for everyone at noon, starting in the lounge, moving over to a small auditorium in Margret Morrison. Apparently there were some "communication" issues. Some sort of problem I guess. Everyone was confused, I guess except for the people in the know. People were asking questions for clarification, but the same vague responses were given. "Um, lets just say there are some really bad com-mun-ication issues." And then it was revealed that it was something that was either really serious or just a really bad practical joke or misunderstanding. Then comes the detective of CMU Police. Uh-oh, this is serious. He explains the reason why police officers have been roaming our dorm halls and staircases and lounge, and that his door is always open blah blah serious confusion. By the time I got back from the Waterfront there were signs everywhere saying that this issue had been resolved and that it was just a misunderstanding. Still confused.

The public transportation system in Pittsburgh is quite different than that of Broward County. You pay when you get off, and then buses have plushy seats. The buses run frequently and are really clean too. The first 59U going to the Waterfront was completely full, so we had to take the 61C instead, which wouldn't drop off AT the waterfront, but close enough. Similar to taking a bus and getting off on Sunset Strip compared to 56th.

[Interruption]There is a Musical Movie Marathon tonight, starting um...NOW. Rent, Purple Rain, and Dream Girls. I am SO there. Do these people know me?!
OMG THEY SUCK! They turned off Purple Rain and now we are watching The Wiz. What ADD people...not even 20 minutes into The Wiz and that is turned off to watch Dreamgirls [/Interruption]

I saw Transformers at the Waterfront on Saturday. It was a great movie. I was surprised that I actually liked it, being that it was all action-adventury. There was a bit of comedy too. I want Bumble Bee! The waterfront is a beautiful shopping center. The selection of stores, restaurants, and entertainment is as extensive as Sawgrass, but it is outdoors and beautiful. I ate at Panera Bread, as I had heard great things about it before. There was a great selection of soups, salads, and sandwiches, but nothing much that grabbed me. Individual breads looked good, but I'm still not much of a sandwich person. I had the Chicken Caesar Sandwich, which was great. We coincidentally all met up at the bus stop at the same time and went back on the 59U, and the RAs and most of the people that came back on this ride stopped and got off at Boston Market. 2 others and I continued the 5 minutes back to campus.

Sunday was a slow, peaceful...well somewhat, day. After waking up late, and then having the town hall meeting, I went over to the Baker cluster to do some Cog so I wouldn't get distracted by my laptop around 2ish, and then around 3-4ish, I went for a walk...in search of Quiznos. Google Maps said that there was a Quiznos on Forbes Avenue, just past Banquet Street. Now little did I realize that this was a mile away. It didn't feel like a mile going there, but coming back in the sweltering heat it felt like 3 times as long. By the way, I never found Quiznos. I settled for a McDonalds instead, realizing that I had already crossed Banquet St. with no Quiznos in sight. I ordered the usual, 2 Snack Wraps, a medium fry, and a Barq's (no Dr. Pepper!). I chose to eat inside, and there was only one small table at the front(back?) near the window. There was a woman sitting at a nearby table that seemed to be staring at me almost every time that I looked up, occasionally taking a drink from her small beverage. Now, everything on her tray was completely empty, including the drink after a few minutes. I began reading my physics book to distract myself from getting too creeped out, but I would occasionally look up to dip a fry in ketchup or get a sip of my drink, and I'd see her...looking directly at me! I was finally finished and left...quickly. Less than 3 seconds after I got up, she got up too! I dashed out before she could even make her way to the trashcan and was already halfway down the block when she walked out. Luckily, she went the other direction.

I stopped at 7-11 and got a Slurpee on the way back. Hawaiian Punch slurpees are the shiznit! It's carbonated, sweet, icy, and just delicious. I think the best flavor yet. I mixed the top with the Mountain Dew flavor, but it was better alone. The walk back was pure bliss with my slurpee, but when it was gone, the heat and sloping streets and stairs started to bother me. I got back a few minutes before the marathon began, but I didn't get back downstairs in time for the beginning, so I missed the opening scene, Seasons of Love, of RENT.

The movie marathon wasn't much of a marathon, but everyone definitely enjoyed singing along to Dreamgirls. Especially "Listen" and "And I Am Telling You". I think almost the whole lounge was singing along, and there was more of a crowd in front of the TV every time a sing-a-long song came up. I was sitting on the floor, in front of the couches, so I was just absorbing everything in. It was the same sensation that people used to get when an old Michael Jackson song would come on. "Oooh I'm gonna be Deena!" "You're Effie in this scene!" "OHH this is the gooood part!" "Who's gonna be Curtis?!" "Shutup shutup I want the mic(brush)!" The RAs were even more into it. No one left until after the credits stopped completely, ending the movie with a standing ovation...in front of a large, very large TV screen.

I did all of my homework (well, most) on Friday night, so I didn't have much to do except for some Cog after the movie.

In the meantime, I uploaded some more pictures here.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Okay, explain the "people" walking up the pole. What is the purpose of your circuit board?

Noelle said...

It's a sculpture called "Walking to the Sky" http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases06/060510_borofsky.html

The picture of that circuit shows the beginning stages of a counter. One of the chips counts down from 1-10, and the LEDs light up accordingly. I'll take pictures and video and post it late on today.