Halloween already?

This year is going by very quickly by virtue of perpetual motion. I am always doing something, and there is usually a list of things to do whenever I'm finished.

Fall break was last weekend. We had Monday and Tuesday off, but I mostly stayed on campus. I watched Return of the King with friends, did a lot of knitting and reading, caught up on my favorite tv shows. That Monday night, though, I went into LA with 3 friends to attend a book signing. The book, Heat Wave by Richard Castle, is a promotional thing for the tv show Castle, so the entire male part of the cast was there, including Nathan Fillion who is one of my favorite actors. Here is a picture of me and a few of my friends waiting in line at the book signing.

This weekend Taylor and I went to a concert in LA. Ben Gibbard (the front man for Deathcab for Cutie) was performing a soundtrack to a new documentary about Jack Kerouac. I haven't read any Kerouac, but the music was good, and I really enjoyed the concert.

This weekend was also Preview Day, when a bunch of prospective students come to look at the college. I've been volunteering with the admissions office, and hosted 3 girls for about 5 hours. We all went to dinner and then took a walk along the campuses. I love being able to answer questions and just talk to people about Scripps. I host another prospective student tomorrow night, and she will spend the night in the room. I'm really looking forward to it.

I don't have a Halloween costume yet. It's problematic. I'm supposed to host a Halloween contest on Thursday and I don't want to look lame. :(

October! Finally!

I'm not sure why I'm so happy that October is here, but it finally feels like the semester is progressing somewhat.

I am working really hard to 1) finally have a major, and 2) petition to study abroad for a full year. The second really relies on the first. I want to be a Creative Writing major, but since that isn't a major that the college offers, I have to go through a process of petitioning to get it approved. Between the five colleges we definitely have enough classes for a writing major, but writing a petition for it (statement of purpose, explanation, how it will help my future goals) is tedious and difficult.
I want to study abroad for a full year, because I'll never have an opportunity to live in Europe as cheaply as I will with the college paying for it. That is of course among many reasons. I want to do Fall in Rome where I can use all the Italian I've tried so hard to learn, and I want to spend the Spring in Copenhagen, which would give me an opportunity to learn Danish and to learn about a new country and culture.

This weekend has been such a good one for me! I got my first paycheck from my job, which is a relief. And I finally have all my banking figured out down here. I've given up on Chase, and changed to Wells Fargo. I've had nothing but problems with the former... I also made some money on Friday by selling some of my knit things at the craft fair! It's very exciting as it's the first time I've sold anything that I've made. And an alumna from CMC came over to talk to me about possibly knitting some things for a handmade clothing store that she's starting.

Saturday, Taylor and I went to San Diego to go see the zoo. It was amazing! They had pandas and kangaroos and hyenas and gorillas and just so many other animals. The Oregon Zoo is amazing, but the scale of the San Diego Zoo is just so large. We didn't make it around to see everything, despite being there for 5 or 6 hours. It also has a Scripps Aviary. And a Hummingbird Aviary, which was fantastic! It was a really good trip, and I'm glad Taylor and I finally got to do it.