Summer's Over

I'm supposed to be sleeping now, but for some unidentifiable reason I'm still awake. I am currently at the Paramount Plaza in Gainesville, awaiting New Student Convocation/Navigating the Swamp at school tomorrow and moving into my apartment. Being that I'm no longer at home and the first day of classes is only three days away, my summer is pretty much over.

I can definitely say this has been the laziest and least productive summer of my life. The transition from high school to college is like a waiting game, and that's all. Sure there's so much "preparation" to do, but that comes and goes quickly and is usually towards the end of the waiting period. A few days of frantic packing, worrying, catching up with friends and family, and then BAM suddenly you're in a new city, new home, new life.

I set out some goals for the summer, but with my summer pretty much down the drain, let's see how much I actually accomplished:

Summer 2009 To-Do List

• See Up
• Go to the beach a few times
• Figure out what classes I want to take
• Do Chem and Calc Readiness Assessments
• Blog at least twice a week
• Mock up some ideas in Inventor
• See Away We Go
• Go to Rapids Water Park
• Get rid of a bunch of old high school crap
• Attend UF Preview July 14-15
• See Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
• Cook more often
• Go bowling
• See Funny People
• Go to Miami Metro Zoo, mainly to see/feed giraffes up close
• Enter a few video contests
• Hang out with friends more often
• Brush up on some Calculus
• Try to pick up Spanish
• Do something with my website (kinda sorta not really)
• See Bruno (maybe)
• Plan how I'm moving to college in great detail
• Go to another Laser Quest all-nighter (kinda, played a regular game)
• Try to take a photo a day

13 out of 24 ain't to shabby. Most of it is just that I didn't get to go to the movies as often as I wanted to and logistics prevented Metro Zoo from working out. Regardless, I'm satisfied with my relaxing summer and time spent with friends and I am finally ready to go back to school for the most part.

Haha it's just so weird that I'm finally here to stay and not going back home. So surreal. I'm experiencing a suppressed version of excitement, weird. Updates on moving in and such later...

To The Hurricane Gods:

Dear Tropical Storm Ana,

According to the 2 AM advisory of the National Hurricane Center, I see you have made quite some progress since we were first introduced. Moving west at approximately 17mph with maximum sustained winds of 40mph and gaining strength, I've noticed you're on track to come and visit me. Normally, I would have welcomed your visit, but since you have chosen to arrive on such short notice and at such an inconvenient time, I'm afraid I am not too pleased with your anticipated presence.

If you haven't recieved the memo, most schools in the state of Florida will begin classes on Monday, August 24th. It's such a shame that you have chosen to come visit on Wednesday or Thursday, as many will be scurrying to prepare for school, get settled in for college, or finish up summer vacation. My dear Ana, you wouldn't want to interfere with that, would you?

Now I know TS Fay may have started a trend last year among you tropical storms and hurricanes to arrive on the first day of school (yes, I know it's exciting, but unfortunately unacceptable for hurricanes to attend too!), but may I suggest taking a European vacation instead? There's still time to make a sharp turn east and venture out into the Atlantic before you make contact with the beautiful islands of the eastern Caribbean. The journey may be tiring, and you may lose speed and force, but I gaurantee the sights, food, and experiences are worth it. I also suggest you take your buddy TS Bill along as well, and perhaps stop by the Cape Verde islands to warn your budding hurricane/tropical storm pals to steer clear of Florida and the Caribbean this season.

Though I do not look forward to meeting you, if we shall meet, please be kind and gentle to our area. Mediocre rainfall, thunderstorms, and light wind are tolerable, but please withhold the tornadoes, flooding, and intense winds. Thank you for your consideration and have a peaceful trip to your destination.

Sincerely,

Noelle

One Week

Unrelated note: Doesn't the title of this entry remind you of the awesome Barenaked Ladies song bearing the same name?

Next Thursday I leave home...forever. Sounds powerfully scary, eh? With these 12-month leases, prospects of studying abroad and finding internships, I don't plan on returning home for the summers or for more than two weeks at a time. And then after that, who knows.

Thinking too much is dangerous.

My thoughts are all over the place.

I don't know where my summer went. I barely did anything that I really wanted to do even though I spent so much time being bored and doing nothing. I can definitely say that I know what total relaxation feels like though.

For the past few weeks I've been fretting over stupid shit -- Do I really need to waste time reading this depressing, slow-paced, uninteresting Devil's Highway book? Am I bringing enough stuff? Too much? Will I get along with my roommates? Will my courses be too challenging? Should I wait to buy books? When am I ever going to grow up for real? Will I have too much time? Enough time? Am I really going to go to grocery shopping and cook for myself? Will mountains of laundry bury me? Am I really going to change in the manner that I want to? Will I become a failure?

Typical freshman thoughts, I'm sure.

And as much as these thoughts ping around in my head like those super high-bounce balls, I'm still incredibly relaxed and stress-free about everything, which is abnormal behavior for me since I'm known to worry myself about simple, simple stuff.

I also feel like I'm supposed to feel some kind of way about leaving, but I don't. I'm ecstatic about starting college and living on my own and new social experiences all that good stuff, but for the most part I'm indifferent about leaving home.

I started sorting my clothes yesterday and will probably do some serious laundry today. I realized just how much of my wardrobe I don't wear. I'm almost ashamed to say that it consists of about just as much as the stuff I do wear. There is so much old high school crap to go through and I don't even want to touch it, but it has to be done.

Everyone has been talking about all of the shopping that they're doing for school, but I'm trying to make this transition as minimalistic as possible. I've made so many revisions and streamlined my packing lists so that what I'm taking should fit into a large rolling suitcase, a medium rolling suitcase, a large rolling duffel, a backpack, and a messenger bag. I almost feel like I'm forgetting something really important.

I really don't know what I'm getting at with this entry. I feel like I'm prepared to go, yet it seems like there is so much to do between now and next Thursday. I keep hearing that I'll be missed and there are a few others that I'll miss as well, but I'm trying not to obsess over it. I guess my issue at the moment is I've been waiting for this time to come for quite a while and thought that it would be SUCH a huge deal though now that it's here I feel like I'm just going through the motions. Perhaps feelings will intensify down the road, or maybe I'll just shrug it all off. Sometimes I hate being so apathetic.

Seven days left in Sunrise, sigh.

Noelle in a Nutshell

I posted this as one of those "25 Things About Me" Facebook notes a few months ago, but I went back and reread it and realized that I did a pretty good job of summarizing myself in 25 not-so-brief lines. If you didn't know...

1. I have a mild addiction to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. I take too much enjoyment in slamming people with a bat until they fall in weakness and then stomp them to the death until they bleed and give me money. I don't think there is anything wrong with this at all, and I don't consider it to be an anger release. I'm not a violent person, it's just fun. Just like how I can't dance or play a guitar in real life, I can't smash people with bats or steal cars either.

2. It seems that all of my major plans are failing or becoming unrealistic at the moment. I'm just being pessimistic though. It helps me from becoming saddened if things actually do fail. Yes, I am talking about college and post-college.

3. I'm not really a studious student, but I do well in school. Go figure! The key to being smart is sounding/appearing/acting smart, not actually being a huge book nerd.

4. In spite of #3, I won't doubt that indeed I am a huge knowledge-nerd. I love learning! I love knowing useless facts, like the fact that Burger King uses ~1/2 million pounds of bacon monthly.

5. I'm a huge scaredy-cat. Sometimes I'm afraid of the dark. Sometimes I'm afraid of answering the phone. Most of the time I'm afraid of talking to people that I don't know.

6. I don't like seafood.

7. I want to get a tattoo with the No L symbol. I'm just having a really hard time deciding the location and orientation. (somewhere on the lower-mid arm, but which way? which arm? how big?)

8. I don't have any friends that I've known since early childhood. It feels like everyone else does though

9. Speaking of which, I really don't have many friends at all. There are very few people that I consider to be friends. I hate it when people are like "we're friends!" when I didn't consider them more than a mere acquaintance. Social networking has surely skewed this perception.

10. I love musicals. Almost all of them...

11. I'm a huge 90's Disney/Nickelondeon fan, especially Disney Movies (including the early DCOMs). I know almost all the words to The Lion King/Pocahontas/Aladdin/Mulan/you name it sappy-moral-having flicks and listen to their respective soundtracks daily. I know there is enough of this out there, but Nick and Disney died in the early 00s. Who can replace old awesome shows like Pepper-Ann and Salute Your Shorts and All That and Even Stevens.

12. Blogging is probably the best thing that I've done since [I wish I had some sort of time identifier to mark an enjoyable time in my life]. It's a relief, is entertaining, a creative outlet, a life chronicler, and a cool way to meet new people or find out more about the people you know. Check it out: technol21.blogspot.com

13. Vlogging is equally as cool. I've tried to start on like 3 or 4 occasions, deleting quite a few videos of my own in the process. I'm not quite comfortable with hearing my voice on camera yet, but I'd like to get there.

14. I have a love/hate relationship with robotics. It's interesting.

15. I love airplanes and airports, the entire experience of flying is fascinating. Experiencing new cities only comes second to flying. I just wish I could travel more often.

16. Working in retail has changed my view of many things: people, the shopping experience, life. I've learned lots along the way, but I hope to never go back to retail unless it's somewhere high up in corporate. RIP Circuit City

17. Sometimes I doubt my creativity. For most projects I come up with some ridiculously intricate plan, which I eventually deem a failure and then end up relying on something simple at the last minute that most people love for its simplicity. Why can't I ever choose the simple plan from the get go?

18. I wanted to be an astronaut and ballerina when I was younger.

19. I still would love to go to space. When space travel becomes commercialized and I can afford it, better believe I'll be in line to get my ticket!

20. I have mild interests in photography, film, and tennis. I wish I had more time to dedicate to them.

21. I just watched a 60 Minutes special about lowering the legal drinking age to 18. I totally agree, especially now that I'm 18.

22. I've never been to a concert. Even though there are a few artists I'd be willing to pay to see, the thought of being so closely crammed into a stadium/arena/concert hall with thousands of people is frightening.

23. I did not enjoy high school. Whoever said these would be the best years is greatly mistaken.

24. I have a habit of over-elaborating. Note this note.

25. I like having money, which is perhaps why I'm so cheap. I know when and to what extent to treat myself and others; I'm pretty responsible with money. I like saving. I will be wealthy.

...now you know.