O, Fortune! (OR: OMG CONFIDENCE where have you been)

It'd been so long, I'd forgotten the feeling of being on top of the world. Things have at long last been falling into place a little. I'm far from where I wanted to be right now, but considering where I was, this works quite nicely.

To be honest, I'm adept at finding ways to make myself feel happy, to accept what I have as good, as perfectly fine. But to be honest, I couldn't really say that this summer. And I really had a hard time accepting it. I have this desire to be happy with whatever it is I'm doing, and there really was no way that I could do that. I was stuck in a dead end job that I really couldn't stand, a student without a school, and with no money. Some of my best friends were hundreds of miles away, and I realized I might not see most of them for months.

Dude. I knew it, but I denied it. I ignored it. I pretended it wasn't. But flat out, life sucked. Four months of the worst summer of my life. Not to be melodramatic or anything.

And to be honest, life isn't exactly ideal, anyway. I still have to pay off my books, and I'm probably facing a full year at CSCC instead of the quarter I was hoping for. I'm trying to claw my way back to Western, and there's more distance left than I thought. Though I have solidified my choice of a minor.

Still, I've actually managed to enjoy life at CSCC, even if it is just a glamorous version of the "single-serving friends" theory (I'm working on a separate entry for that, in fact, so stay tuned). I've got the glorious return coming in "a mere" month and a half. And I've totally got a hot date at the zoo with Maddie tomorrow. Heh.

So, here's to good times, and the hard stuff we had to fend off getting there. Here's a toast to all those who hear me all too well.

O, Bewilderment! (OR: Pondering the Perplexing Maze of Love)

"He'll change, I know it."

The words of yet another soon-to-be disappointed woman.

Why in bloody hell do people get back with the source of their misery? If it doesn't work for the third, or the fourth, or the tenth time, it's not meant to be. I'm one who doesn't like change, and I know to move on in those situations.

Alas, things are never, ever so simple.

O, Despair (OR: Girls is confusing)

CSCC girl is confusing. Ex-girlfriends are both confusing. Other girls confusing themselves are confusing me.

But most of all my mother. And that is what worries me more than any other.

If I can't even understand almost anything my mother does, what chance do I have with the female population in general?

El Kitchen Krew (OR: Life at this exact moment)

It's 2:30 on a Saturday night...Sunday morning...you get the point. I should probably be asleep; considering my sleep schedule takes a major shift starting Wednesday, it'd be for the best. Alas, I am...not wide awake, but certainly not wilting. I'm rather content here; on the end of my bed, in a hoodie (damn, hoodie weather has come rather abruptly, no?) and...boxer briefs..pounding away on the keyboard once more, whilst watching new wallet teeter on the edge of the mattress...this moves me to look through it again, admiring the fact that I had a little bit of balls filling out the form, and listed myself at six feet tall. It's bullshit, but I give myself the little things like that sometimes.

Anyway, this is not supposed to be blogging in real time, this is supposed to be me talking about what the hell is going on with me. And the moment, really...like my wallet in a way, I am teetering. (Yeah...so it was a stretch. Give me credit for an attempted segue?)

Columbus State starts class on Wednesday (also International Talk Like A Pirate Day, as Matt and I have dutifully noted). I suppose I'm probably putting more stock into this as a major change than I ought to. It's not gonna be college, not the way I've been used to it; really, it's just a new routine to adapt to. Three days a week, drive to CSCC, go to class, eat, class, drive home. Work on weekends - I've become a regular kitchen closer. I also realized I could probably actually run that kitchen now, unlike the previously described evening where I pretty much ran around like a lineman on a busted pass play (for the non-sporting types out there, like a person who has no fucking clue what's going on). I've also gained a) the ability to bark out orders to other staff and be heard, and 2) a nasty cut from the FREAKING PAPER PROTECTOR ON A JAR OF HONEY MUSTARD, which, if you've never had the pleasure, stings like a son of a bitch.

And yeah, my ADHD is definitely kicking in. But it's readable, is it not?

(refreshing restroom break, cue Thom Yorke)

Now, where was I? Ah, Columbus State. I'm basically taking all the Freshman courses I didn't take as a Freshman...that's gonna be a fun explanation to everyone I meet. From experience, when describing your status, if it's not a specific year, then you have 25 words or less to explain it. Something like "taking my freshman gen. ed. stuff" should do the trick.

I've truly become happier with who I am since I took this new job. It's more complicated than BW3's and yet...it's hard to describe why it works so well. It pays scant more than Bee Dubs did, there's usually a lot more chaos, and the rush is killer...yet I feel far more content. I think there's a shared respect among all of us, that mutual "we have no idea what we're doing, but we're trying" vibe. That, and the fact I actually have some relative seniority.

I just happened to look at my guitar and think what a pity it is that I can't quite get down how to play it. Seriously.

The Joys of Working (OR: My Rough Equivalent of Slavery)

I think I need to check with someone at Movie Tavern's corporate HQ. Here's a rundown of my first paycheck (coming a month after I was hired, nonetheless):

Total hours worked: 31.38
Rate of Pay: $0.00

Total:

I don't believe that meets current Federal minimum wage laws. I could be wrong, though.

Somehow, both my high school and my college are the center of quite a bit of attention. This is weird.

Hilliard Darby High was the school victimized by the now-infamous "We Suck" prank. My friend, Matt, held up one of those pieces of cardboard that was supposed to spell out "Go Darby", but instead landed us across headlines around the country.

The video:
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Right at the :20 left mark, that's the money shot. That is probably going to be Hilliard Darby's legacy, I'm afraid. Not that we're not laughing our asses off, too.

Meanwhile, Western Kentucky is starting it's slow trudge toward mediocrity...er...ascent into I-A football, gloriously being pummeled by Florida for a cool $750,000 on Saturday. The awkward spot put them on the front page of ESPN.com, in a column by Pat Forde.

Weird times, my friend. Weird.