Just a few minutes ago, I found that my guess was right.

This means that I won't have to edit 10-plus pages for my reports when I want change the placement of, or add and delete common page elements such as headers, footers, and guides. This brings a smile to my face as I type with cold hands in an empty apartment. Maybe I won't mind staying in tonight after all, even if eng199 is a class filled with annoyingly repetitious work. (But the output of the group – thanks to me – will look nicer than any other group in the class. Guaranteed.)

My parents ask where we're going out to, and I say a bar. They're not too thrilled with the idea. ‘Can't you guys go somewhere else?’ they ask. I shrug; it's their call, not mine.

A few minutes later, my dad comes in and asks if I drink. I say ‘Yes, sometimes’. And as I'm expecting a long, overdrawn lecture on why I shouldn't drink, he sums up his words within two or three minutes.

It was surprising, really, because there have been countless times where I ‘uh huh’ and ‘yeah’ just so he can move on, in hopes of moving on to the final point. He was terse about something like drinking!

I think it's finally sinking into his head that I'm going to stick with whatever I've made my stance on, regardless of his lecturing. I'm a generally logical, commonsensical guy. He knows I have decent judgement. I hope.

More importantly, I didn't lie about it. It's time I stopped saving my parents from the truth about my college life, haha.

But I got ready for nothing last night, because my turdbrain friends never bothered to call in the end. (I waited more than an hour, Andrew.) I vow never to go out again while I'm home on breaks. I don't really like going out when I'm home, anyway. Solo and semi-solo missions to Barnes & Noble and the occasional retail outings (Best Buy, Gap, Meijer) are all I need.

So I went to Dr. Potter today. He shed light (literally, with a light source mounted on his headgear) on two things. First, there's a build-up of wax in my left ear, due to my improper usage of a Q-Tip, since I apparently push wax in instead of cleaning the ear out. Second, my septum is bent; as such, more air flows into my right [nosebleed] nostril than my left, which undoubtedly dries the right nostril out more and thus makes it more prone to nosebleeds. And upon hearing of my flight to and from Bangladesh, he said that air planes are excessively dry, and being on one for hours no doubt contributed to bleeding.

He saw some superficial vessels and offered to numb my nose and cauterize them with silver nitrate; it could lower the chance of future bleeds, but problems such as irritation could arise. As pleasant as that sounded, I declined. He did recommend Ayr Nasal Gel, which lasts for hours. I have it now, and I might just use it during these cold days.

This evening, after a shitty vanilla strawberry mocha and some reading and writing at Barnes & Noble, I went to Bo Rics to trim my hair. My neckline needed some pruning, and I wanted the back and bottom faded. I said, ‘I want the back faded’. She starts trimming my right sideburn, which is fine. But my glasses were off, so it took a couple of seconds to realize that she was going above the ear. By the time I stopped her, it was too late. Can't go on with only that bit of hair trimmed.

So I'm stuck with a fade around my head that I'm ashamed of. But she charged me $3 because she felt bad. I can live with that, I think. Just gotta wear a beanie for a couple of weeks. However, it puts a crimp in my goal to grow long hair again – what will the outcome be now that my hair is thoroughly uneven?

Oh well.

Today I realized that I box the shower walls the most when I'm at home. I also stretch more and sometimes even sit while the shower is running.

The activities amounted to ‘normal’ things, but since I'm generally devoid of social interaction outside this apartment (well, I have been going out much more this semester than the other semesters combined), it was all enjoyable and welcomed. The most enjoyable stretch of days on this campus, actually, in the past 3.5 years, despite me remaining relatively quiet.

I go home today. I don't fully want to, but my brother needs my help for his term paper (aside from generally missing my presence), and there will be a delicious turkey dinner on Thursday, and the new Harry Potter tomorrow with the older Bangali kids in Springfield. It'll be like the good old days.

Here, then, is a recap of the past few days of things.

Thursday. Substance abuse and such, as stated below.

Friday. Jam session with Pete and Dan. Pete and I played the ‘geetar’, as Dan fondly calls it, while Dan himself played the bass [geetar]. I need more practice though, since I don't know how to play a guitar.

A break ensued, wheretofore we sat and watched television. Highlights included cringing at Bill O'Reilly as a person, seeing Bjork's breast on MTV2, and watching the Cluckin' Chicken commercial (so funny) on SNL. The break lasted the remainder of our stay at Pete's.

Saturday. Cleaned our disgusting toilet so that it's no longer disgusting. (You can bet your bottom dollar that I'm going to make a bathroom cleaning chart and try to be a stickler about it.)

I watched Spirited Away again, this time with Ryan. But we were late, and the lines were long, so we went to the next showing. While in line, Ryan noticed a large HDTV with a cool videogame being played; it was Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers for PS2. So we ended up playing that for over an hour. The game rocks.

After the movie (which was good, or else I wouldn't have watched it twice – very cute), we stopped by his place to get some videogames. The next few hours were spent playing the new Bond and Tekken 4.

Sunday. Hannah and I went to the mall for a few moments. She wanted a new pair of jeans, and I ended up buying a turtleneck which I'll return in a few days because I really don't need it now (that, and the whole idea of deficit spending is not a good idea for me). And then we went to Borders for a bit, flipping through various magazines.

Back to Ryan's house I went not long after Borders. Hannah and Jeff made dinner. Much Tekken 4 was played (I'm starting to learn some combos and develop a strategy, but my skills are generally shoddy). Billiards was also played.

Monday. Finally made another wicked batch of chili during the day. Finally got my film from Sam's, after four trips in four days.

Went to Empire Chinese with Ryan and Jeff for dinner. Then Ryan and I went to Blockbuster, at which time I opened an account and put Ryan down as a family member. We rented The Two Towers and went back to his place, and that constituted most of the night. Oh, and we messed with Hannah online; Indian tribes throwing a baby into the Carlsbad cavern each year and whatnot.

College should consist of more play and less work.

While searching the aisles of Sam's for bread last night, I came across a box of giant croissants. It didn't take long to make a justification for the purchase: I'll make wonderful croissant omelette sandwiches tomorrow. It was a vision, really.

Tomorrow became today, and sleep was cut short by my mind's finickiness, so I started the day with a walk to Walgreen to break a bill to make change for laundry. Once two loads were secured, I decided it was time to eat.

I chopped cilantro, onions, green chiles, and boiled mushrooms, then combined them with three eggs and dashes of salt and pepper. I used a wire whisker for the second time in my life for the purpose of beating eggs. The eggs went into a pan in two shifts, flipped and folded with varying degrees of meticulousness, and two croissants were toasted with a spread of butter in-between.

Several minutes later, my delicious masterpiece was finished, my first vision brought to satisfactory fruition. Butter coated my fingers as the vegetables, eggs, oils, and other savory flavors coated my mouth. It was great.

But these are lonely times now. People are leaving for home. Once Andrew leaves for Chicago in a couple of hours, I'll have no real company until Tuesday evening, when I go home.

I've spent the day slowly organizing my room. I've attempted this a few times in the past four weeks, but my procrastination in other things trickled down to the cleaning, so I've had piles of papers stacked on the floor and on my bed. I bought two stackable plastic shelves from Target yesterday to help with this. I have a feeling that my houses and apartments in the future will have several bookshelves filled with things I really don't need but can't bring myself to throw away. I've been called a packrat, and that goes uncontested.

I also bought a scented candle. Green apple. But when to light it? Or is it a waste when there's no person to light it for, to set a mood?

Brass Rail. Paige. Amy. Seeing Vashitty; Paige's frantic dash to ATM, me pulled behind. The Most; good, interesting, rocking. Terminus Victor; ditto. Woodchuck Draft Cider. ‘…shy…drunk…you're cute’; in a childlike way, no doubt. ‘The Rapist’. Vashitty's note-on-napkin; ‘…sensuous lips…’. Spinning and falling. Driving. Singing Pedro off-key. Nathan's house. Charlie. Megan. ‘Pink’. Big guy with beard; called me Supreme Kai. Pussytron. Bong. Joints. Home. Consumption of tortilla and salsa.

Very fun night.

Bad morning.

The two other guys I'm working with, Ian and Will, seem like good guys. They're CS majors of my sort or another (i.e. – cs/math in LAS). Ian, the supervisor, is also a freshman, which surprised me because he seems much older than that. He's also a skater to some extent. And his manner of speech is interesting: when he talks about the on-going projects, he's a bit formal, but then gets casual about everything else, slipping into colloquialisms and ‘fucks’ between stretches of formality, but I guess everyone else does it. He just seems to have a higher degree of separation.

The office is just one room with four desks and four computers. There are two boxes of the company's candies (Sour Punch, Snaps, Riza, Red Vines) near the door. And a whiteboard on the wall.

In-between watching skating videos that Ian downloaded from Kazaa, listening to Jamie Foxx stand-up, and getting to know a little about him and Will, I received an overview of the projects. Lots of stuff need to be done. It'll hopefully be interesting, and I think it will be more challenging than my summers at IDPH, which is nice.

Oh, but the walk to Neil and Kirby drained me a bit more than I expected. I wanted to close my eyes so badly halfway through my shift. Neil is also a shady street to walk along at night: not enough lighting at certain parts, and all these little streets and alleyways of sorts. I can see myself getting mugged one of these days. Maybe during winter, if there's work at that time. Regardless, I'll get decent 4-mile-walking exercises each day, and that, in turn, will shrink my stomach a bit.

I walked down Florida and 4th, and through parts of the graveyard, on the way back and repeatedly sang ‘A Mind of Her Own’ out loud, but made sure to drop my voice a bit when passing passerbys.

Good morning.

Though kayzar has been receiving hundreds upon hundreds of pieces of junk the past several months, it's taken me until today to come to my senses.

That, and I need screen real estate for the newcomer, ‘SILA’.

It's been a decent four years, kinbox.

Second, he's funny and weird and reminescent of Paul Barman; I probably should've asked him if he knew of Paul?

Third, the unaired story of him covering the porn awards was great. Movie titles such as The fist, the whole fist, and nothing but the fist and A midsummer night's cream will remain with me until I die. The scene where he plays with Alicia Klass's breast while she's answering his question is cute.

I would like the semester to end. Because I have a bad luck-of-the-draw type of thing going.

1. Excerpt from A Squirrel's Tale by Richard Fowler; purchased from Salvation Army
2. Front of Whirlwind Heat's 7", Glaxefusion
3. Back of Whirlwind Heat's 7" (Whirlwind Heat rocks; I should've mentioned this a week ago)
4. Hannah (to my right, mind you)

(Not pictured: me sporting a Bior� strip, because I accidentally overwrote the file.)

Except that I didn't totally like the style of the new beanie. And it bothered my head after extended use (though a wash might've fixed that). But I wore it anyway.

And I think it was yesterday when I realized I lost it somewhere. Last I had it, I was walking towards Krannert, crossing the street east of the Natural History building. I stripped the itchy head covering off and must've pocketed it wrong. That was Friday.

I shouldn't have bought it in the first place. I like my old beanie.

(Not a word, Ryan. I know what you're going to say. o.O)

So yeah, brunch was good and fun. Being an observer is always ok.

(Why isn't faxing a ubiquitous option on Windows systems nowadays? Such an old and simple protocol built into most modems… but where's the pre-bundled software? I need to fax things and have outdated software from the late '90s. Boo.)

Hannah, Ryan, and I went to Salvation Army (picked up some nifty things, including a ‘We Are the World’ video in Beta format and a Rick Springfield vinyl record), then to China Buffet (which either sucks, or maybe I just wasn't fully in Chinese mode). A Meijer and Target mini-extraveganza followed.

The evening consisted of the faculty art show (complete with shitty wine, or was it champagne?), pizza and drink at Jupiter's (at which time I was told I wasn't smart enough to appreciate contemporary art because of my general disdain for it), and then Phantasy Star action at Ryan's.

Oh, but the best part is that I'll now have a steady source of income working for American Licorice's internet division, headquartered in town, making $12–$15 per hour (I should ask them exactly what it is).

A new, good-omened beginning, or a deceptive end? That's some heavy shit for the mind.

Word.

I don't want to be inside. I want to do something fun. Like hang out with friends. In a non-‘stranger heavy’ setting. Or this buzz will go to waste.

(I went to the High Dive with Ryan and Hannah; met with their teacher Jen (super cool), her husband Bob (super cool), and their roommate MJ (super cool). And had a long island and a half. What was that, maybe 3–4 drinks? But Jen and Bob paid for it all, and dinner. And I got invited to brunch at their place Sunday. It was a good time. I also had a stone & sour at Krannert, thanks to the devious innerworkings of Derek. I wan tto dance, dammit. Someone dance with me…)

I thought it would be funny if they worked in Muslim terrorists so that it was them that somehow obtained dinosaur DNA or some breeding pairs and unleashed them. Derek's idea for collars attached to their necks, and a main transmitter thing on Osama bin Laden that would allow him to control the beasties was another good suggestion.

Where would they be unleashed? I'm thinking Ariel Sharon's house. But I'm really dreaming now.

That all changed Sunday.

Not only did I remember, but I also found them. And bought them. And used one that night. And it worked, sorta – didn't give as deep a pore cleansing as I expected.

But the package says that big things will happen with regular usage. If only I could make time go faster…

(I fully understand that it's a product for women. But guys have noses, too.)

In what way can I seize the day?