As Technologically Savvy As Always

Having fun with computers!

... I might've accidentally killed it, oops!

Moving on, I visited the Buddha Mind Monastery yesterday and did a lot of manual labor- oh! I mean "working meditation". It was not worth it!
  
We had to go for our religion class and it was cool to see their culture even if there was no way they were gonna get me to bow to Buddha! They fed us a vegan lunch too. It was ok. Personally, I wasn't all that impressed, but that may just be because I'm more of a steak and ribs girl myself!

Overall it was an interesting experience, but I don't think I ever want to go back! (Sorry cute little bald nuns)

I fixed my computer!!! Yay!!! I will never again watch TV on sketchy sites again because that was way more confusing than I ever thought it would be. Thank you daddy for helping me!

There's really nothing else to say, I had a lazy weekend! I literally did not even get out of bed at all on Friday. :D

As Technologically Savvy As Always,

Ali

As Collegiate As Always

 

Yes, this is the beautiful picture of a girl who took her first ever college exam yesterday. That's right folks, that attractive girl right there took her Religion midterm and survived with only slightly major injuries. Yay! Studying in my forlorn corner of the library paid off!

 

EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!

I only have two real days of classes left! Huzzah!

 

Short update, haven't done much! Sorry guys!

 

As Collegiate As Always,

 

Ali

As Poetic As Always

So... hey! It's been a while, how've you been? Good, good, glad to hear it! Me? Oh! I've been great! I'm just really wondering about something right now... you wanna help me figure out the answer? Ok!

So I'm trying to figure out which of the following just drove out my roommate and her two male visitors:

A. My disapproving glare
B. My silent brooding
C. My sarcastic smile
D. All of the above

You think it's D.? Me too!

I'm not going to comment any further on what just happened, but can I just say, "Oh darling."

So I'm studying for my midterm right now, but I got a little bored so I figured I would write to all you wonderful people who miss my beautiful voice... my writing voice...

Can I just start off by saying that my mom and dad should be so proud of me! Not only am I actually studying, but I turned down the offer of being emailed a "cheat sheet" (completed study guide) for this exam. I'm either going to know the answers on my own or I'm not going to know the answers on my own. Someone else's study guide won't help me figure out what I need to review.

Speaking of my World Religion class, the class I have a midterm for, I found it fairly entertaining today when, for entertainment, the girl next to me counted how many times out Professor chuckled, said "Fascinating", or said, "Isn't that interesting." Chuckles got up to 193, fascinatings got 46, and interstings got 71. The theme here: Professor May is a very repetitive man.

UPDATE: I'm sure you're all wondering about what happened to the cockroach. Yes, anyone? Well, I'm happy to inform you that the cockroach was meticulously split into seven pieces by our very own Jake and was promptly disposed of! Yay for dead cockroaches! I have yet to see another one, but I have my poison trap things ready incase the cockroach population comes seeking revenge.

So I wanted to post pictures of our awesome trip to River Sports, but Sydney hasn't put them up on Facebook yet so I just have to tell you about it. Basically: 6-Story Ropes Course. Not only that, but at the very top there was this perch that went out that had hay directly underneath on the ground, so naturally we all had to take Assassin's Creed/Batman pictures on the perch! I will post the pictures here after I bully Sydney!

Now, the meat of the post!

We had to do this... project. It wasn't for a grade, but serious bragging rights were involved. We had this awesome poet called Q (because no one could pronounce his name) come and teach us about poetry with the intention that we were going to create a piece about a historical event that related to our scholarship. That means that us Clara Luper Scholarship people has to relate it to underrepresented groups, discrimination, leaders of movements, etc.

Now, I hope to get someone to video me when I read it for our presentation, if so I will post that video. Until then, I am going to tease you with the first stanza of the poem I wrote. It's nothing spectacular, but I'm proud of it! Here goes:

Summer heat,
cold drink.
See the sweat
drip.
Suburban life,
born white.
I am a product
of America.

That's just the first stanza and I will post the entire thing soon!

Oh! Random! I got to watch Spirited Away for extra credit in my World Religion class. That was awesome! One of my favorite movies AND credit for a class, so there!

Until next time my friends!

As poetic as always,

Ali

As First Posty As Always

So... hello! I'm honestly not too sure about how to do this, so please forgive me my mishaps or boorish nature. I mainly decided to start this since I figured my family would probably want to know what I'm doing and I'm not a Facebook freak. I do like to write though and while I initially wanted to just do a video blog cause I knew I would talk a lot, I believe this really might just be my niche.

Now, for everyone who's been living under an abnormally large rock for the past month or so, I'm at college! Yay! I'm actually at the end of my second week at Mind The Gap and have two more weeks before vacationing and starting real college. Can I just say, this is really weird. I feel like I'm in some foggy, vertigo-y limbo where nothing actually works the way it will, but it's still new and different to little Ali.

Currently, I am here:


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This amazing place is called Oklahoma City University! Yes, bask in its awesomeness!

Well, I'm not going to bore you all with the details of the lack-luster food, the classes that barely hold my interest, or the intriguing dorm situation and am instead going to tell you about all the fun stuff! Say it with me, "Yay! Fun stuff!"

It's really late so I'm only going to share two adventures (don't cry, there will be more soon!):

Adventure Numero Uno:

Last Friday (July12th) we (my Mind the Gap peeps and I) went to the Chickasaw Cultural Center. I posted all the pictures on Facebook so you can look at them there, but I forgot my camera and was only taking pictures with my phone so there's a lot of stuff that could've been there that isn't that I, in my infinite wonderfulness, will now tell you about.

It was about an hour and a half drive out there which was fine with me cause I got to listen to my awesome book: Ender's Shadow for the win! When we first drove up I noticed that the complex was BEAUTIFUL! The Chickasaw spent a lot of time and money to make sure that this place looked good and did it look good. All the buildings were made out of natural materials so it was all stone, wood, and steel and looked really well designed.

They also had all this open space between each building where incredible gardens were grown, each with a purpose and symbolic meaning. There was also this water feature that ran through most of the complex and I... found these steps that went down into the water and I really wanted to stick my feet in but I knew I would probably get yelled at and I didn't want to cause issues so I didn't get to, but I wanted to!

After participating in some stomp dances, we went down to this area where they build an accurate village like what the Chickasaw used to live in. They said that on weekends they would have their ladies down there making breads and clothing like the Chickasaw ladies normally would which would have been so cool to see.

We were also introduced to a game called Stickball. To me it seems like an early form of Lacrosse. This game was invented as an alternative to war. Basically, there's this big wooden pole in the middle of a field and all guys (5 on each team) get two sticks with nets on the end. They have to scoop and toss the ball and try to throw it up to hit near the top of the pole. But, there an no boundaries when it comes to hitting with the sticks. As long as someone has the ball, you are allowed to hit him as hard as you want...

Before I continue I would like you all to know that I just stood on my roommates bed at three o'clock in the morning attempting to trap a cockroach under our trashcan. He is still of the loose and I'm having a mild heart attack, I will keep you updated on my progress.

Anyway... Stickball! Coed games are particularly entertaining because the females do not use sticks, they get to use their hands to grab the ball and can claw, bite, scratch, kick, punch- do basically whatever to the guys to get the ball without fear of the guys hitting back because even then they knew not to hit a lady.

Although we did not get to play, it was really cool being there and getting to go through their museum and everything and I would very muchly like to go back someday and see the village when everyone's in it.

Adventure Number 2:

I got to go into the city for the first time since I've been here! It's been difficult to make friends since most the kids... adult people... fellow scholars are doing stupid stuff. No, I don't want to go to the club with you. No, I don't care for Casinos. No, drinking so much alcohol that I throw up and can't remember a thing in the morning including where my license is doesn't sound fun. No, I really don't want to go to a Hookah Bar...

Our power just went out. This is seriously freaking me out right now. What if someone tries to break in... What if the cockroach comes back? Unh... I'm just going to keep typing and ignore the scary, silent, imposing, foreboding, enclosing, pee-my-pants freaky darkness...

Heh, heh... where was I?

Ok, so all those things that I've just mentioned are things people have already done that I've heard about or things they asked me to do with them. You can see my dilemma. I've made a few friends and tonight I went into the city with them to Marble Slab.

Downtown Oklahoma City is super pretty. There are all these different districts in OKC and our university is kinda in the Asian District, but mostly in The Paseo. We drove to Bricktown and parked at the end of the River Walk so we could walk and take pretty pictures and stuff.

It is so nice down there and I loved it! After we got ice cream, some of us were walking and this tour boat full of people went by. Sydney (a musical theatre major) and I decided we were going to act like Disney Princesses and wave and say hi to the people in the boat and stuff.

Why? Cause we're weirdos! So this lady in the boat so thought we had been drinking which we all found very ironic all things considered.

Anyway, there's this square that's just super pretty. There's a really big fountain and an awesome looking movie theatre and all these swanky restaurants and stuff and a sit down Sonic! It's in the middle of the city so there's no place to drive-up at all, it's all inside. I found that so strange.

The good news though is that those cool people want to do more cool, non-harmful and stupid stuff and invited me! YAY!!!!!!

When Sydney puts the pictures she took up on Facebook, I will put them up here for all you people... or something like that!

I have no clue how often I'm going to post or anything, sorry. I'm going to try to post at least once a week, but then you might just sick of me! :D

Until next time!

As always,

Ali

UPDATE!!! Not only did we finally regain power, but the cockroach reappeared with a vengeance; he came charging out from underneath Abbie's bed and I'm so happy my feet were not on the floor or bad things might've happened. He is now successfully trapped underneath the trashcan and numerous heavy things are ensuring that he will not escape anytime soon!