Black Friday

shopping was pretty crazy on friday.

I had some friends stay over at my house on thursday night... we stayed up pretty late, expecting to pull an all nighter (which didn't happen)... we went to bed and then woke up and left at 5 in the morning.

unfortunately, (or fortunately, whatever way you decide to look at it), best buy opened at 5 in the morning... we were about 30 min. late. We did run into one of our friends from high school though. he said he was in line at 4:15 (45 min before best buy opened) and the line was still 200 people deep. So there were a lot of people there at 5:30, just not as many people as we expected.. of course, it was still crazy though. the line wrapped more than half way around the store.

all i needed to buy though was a 1 terabyte hard drive for 150 bucks.. pretty good deal. and i need something to store all my videos on.

heres a good tip though: check amazon.com for christmas deals. i was pretty excited to have my list complete, go shopping on friday, and then be done shopping... however, the night before i looked at amazon.com and everything on my list was the exact same price on amazon.. they even had free shipping... which means not having to get up early (unless you like to people-watch like my friends and i)

target however, was a different story. it was crazy. imagine hundreds of moms with shopping carts, willing to kill for a deal. wow. we walked to the electronics department, decided nothing was worth standing in line for 45 minutes, and then left.

which reminds me... a walmart worker was killed after being trampled to death in a new york walmart... which i think is pathetic. i don't know how people can be in that situation and not try and prevent a death... do people really care about getting their plasma tvs that much?

here's the youtube video about the incident:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S6UKRaM5fA

Cause I'm a Window Shopper.

I'm going shopping tomorrow. Just decided.

I don't know what I'm in for... My mom told me I won't survive.

But I think that Black Friday shopping is something that everyone should experience... I'm not sure what kind of benefit that would have on someone... But I'm sure it would be entertaining.

I don't even know if I need anything. I spent a little bit of time today looking at ads and trying to determine if I really need anything (I don't). And then I looked at amazon.com and most of the things I was looking at are the same price online anyway... so i'll buy them online... But i'm still going tomorrow with some friends just to experience it.

Speaking of which, one of the kids in my film class was talking about black friday shopping yesterday. He said that he would most likely be outside of a best buy at 5 pm today, waiting in line already with a chair that he will set up right in front of the door. (5 pm... really?) Oh, and did i mention that he takes a loan out of the bank in order to buy as much stuff as possible... and then he sells it all on Ebay and makes a few hundred bucks.

I sometimes wish i was that hardcore. ;)

Thanksgiving

It's good to be home.

Sleeping in my own bed is the best feeling in the world. And in the spirit of thanksgiving, I had pumpkin pie for breakfast this morning. That's right, for breakfast. (speaking of pumpkin pie, don't you love all those seasonal foods that they have at restaraunts right now? aka pumpkin pie blizzard at Dairy Queen... it sounds gross, which was my first thought, but it is A-mazing!)

I'm trying to avoid eating a lot now though... I plan on eating at least 3 plate fulls at my grandma's house. My grandma is the best cook in the world. I love eating her meals. I can not wait.

The rest of the day will involve relaxing, taking a nap, watching some football. Speaking of which, I bet that the Lions will lose to Tennessee by more than 21 points.. for sure. The Lions suck. I think it's almost as impossible to go undefeated as it is to win every single game, but the Lions have a shot of going 0-16 this year... And I'm not sure why... Just last year Kitna predicted winning 10 games. And they were decent... what happened?

Anyway, It would have been nice to not have class yesterday.. Most of my other friends from high school didn't have class and were home tuesday night already. But 2 out of my 3 classes were cancelled and i got out of Minneapolis by 2 yesterday afternoon. Traffic still sucked.

either way, Augsburg ends school pretty early... I think the last week of April, but i'm not sure. It's definitely earlier than a lot of other schools. Which is nice.

But I'm going to go eat some turkey.

And SCENE!

Hon 120 Scholar Citizen Theater Lab is officially over.

It is a sad, sad day.

Our play went excellent by the way. Nearly perfect. And the crowd loved it.

Professor Crockett sent us an e-mail the next day too:

Cheryl and I thoroughly enjoyed the play last evening. I am very proud of you!

We will do some reviewing before the quiz. See you tomorrow.

Larry Crockett

So I figured he would give us a break the next day and make the quiz kind of easy.. Not true.

Anyway... Despite our play making fun of Crockett, everyone was pretty excited that he enjoyed it. The honors play has been going on for 4 years now, and one of the seniors said that it was the best play (as a whole) that they've had in all 4 years. I dare you to try and beat our play.. I'm still amazed that we pulled it off in such a short time.

and after the play: PARTY TIME.

Yeah, that's right. An Honors Party.

complete with food and drinks, a d.j. and the craziest game of Catch Phrase i've ever played.

On Monday night, we all got together again and watched the video that Erica (our director) put together for us. It was funny to see all of us at the beginning of school (she recorded pretty much everything form the beginning to the end of the whole semester). We all looked so awkward as we were trying to learn everyone's names and fit in. Erica made a DVD for everyone of us too.

The play has brought us all so close together. So sad that it's over... I'll miss those monday nights.

Field Trip

For class on Wednesday, we took a field trip to go see the movie Ana's Playground being filmed. This is the same film that I have interned for a couple times, so it was definitely a unique experience seeing it from my perspective.

I don't think people know how much work goes into making a movie... You know those barriers that you barely see of in the distance of that 10 second action shot? Yeah, that took me 3 hours to paint... (see what I mean?)

The was another thing I noticed while I watched them film a couple scenes... It looks extremely fake.... Yeah, when all the editing and post-production is all done, the movie may look like it came right out of a scene in the middle of a warzone... but, while we were watching the filming process, there were about 50 people standing behind the camera and watching everything that took place. It kinda makes you appreciate the work that the actors do.. how can an actor act something out with so much emotion while 50 people are watching every single move.

Anyway... Later that night I went to the downtown Target with Katie. She needed to get some groceries for her trip to Georgia. The Augsburg CSA (Coalition for Student Activism) is bringing students down to Georgia to protest the School of Americas (which now has a different name... not sure what it is). Thanks to Augsburg Day Student Government, the cost of the trip is only 5 dollars per student. That's right.. wanna go to Georgia? Well, then pay 5 dollars.

I really wanted to go, but I had my honors play and I couldnt skip that... Anyway, we went downtown to the Target, and since it was so cold we took the skyways... and got lost. We walked from the lightrail to Target in the skyway, got there, bought our groceries... then we started to walk back to the lightrail, somehow went in a circle, and ended up back at Target. It was frustrating. And i missed the new episode of the Office.

But that's what the internet is for.

Title and Registration

Tuesday was registration for next semester's classes... which meant that basically every First Year student was sitting at their computer and counting down the minutes until 5:00 pm.

First Years were the last to register, so I was pretty nervous when I saw that some of the classes I wanted were already half full (or half empty???).

Each student is given an adviser to help them through the registration process. I was pretty confused at first, mostly because I wasn't sure which college credits from high school transferred into which classes.

And then it came down to picking classes... I was kind of disappointed that I did not get to take any film classes next semester. My film professor suggested that I wait to take my production classes so I can take them with fellow First Years... mostly because I will be more comfortable taking them with the same people for the rest of the film classes. Either way, I'm already ahead of the other film majors in my grade anyway because I had so many english credits transfer.

So I decided to take the required business classes for a business major.

I'm almost 100 percent confident that I will double major in film and then business. I'm not quiet sure what kind of emphasis I will have on my business major though... Either Business Administration or a combined major in Business and Economics.

So here's my schedule for next year (I luckily got all the classes that I wanted):

Principals of Marketing
Honors: Science, Technology, and Citizenship
Honors: Liberating Letters, the Humanist Tradition
Principals of Microeconomics

I'm really not looking forward to that Science class, however... I hate science.

To be, or not to be?

At this very second, I am sitting backstage for the Honors Play 2008.

I am nervous.

After 2 months of writing, directing, practicing, gathering props, etc. the night to show off our play is here.

I am nervous.

This has been one of my favorite experiences here at Augsburg so far. I've grown so close to all the other honor students as we've put this play together. It's been stressful.. It's been fun.. I'm excited.

And nervous.

I've never been nervous in front of crowds before, but this is different. We've put a lot of work into this play.

And it's 7:05.. the play is starting.

I'll let u know how it goes :)

Meet the Parents

I woke up at 8 in the morning on Sunday... Tragic, I know.

And it was all because I am a nice boyfriend and decided to go with Katie to her relatives house for their early Thanksgiving... which happened to be all the way in Moorehead.

I guess it was a good thing though. I got about 100 pages of reading done for Scholar Citizen.. which was very good. I probably would have waited until 10 o'clock that night to do the readings if I didn't have the car ride to do it. I even got a little bit of a nap in there. So it was all good.

And then, the moment finally came for me to met Katie's family. I already had met her mom before, so I wasn't really worried about that. Maybe just slightly nervous about making a good impression to her grandma and her other relatives... So I was expecting a nice little get together, some small chatting over lunch, watching the football game in the living room, etc...

That was until Katie's aunt gathered the entire family up in the kitchen and Katie had to formally introduce me to everyone. Here I am, in the middle of the kitchen, surrounded by her entire family as they stare at me and measure me up... I felt like I was being judged. I felt like a dog at a dog show... Yes, that's the best comparison I could think of...Yes, I am slightly exaggerating... but yes, it was still a slightly terrifying experience...

After an excellent home-cooked meal that I had been looking forward to all week, it was time to watch the Vikings game. During the entire meal and the chit-chat that happened afterwards, I had been thinking about that game... I was cringing over the fact that I did not know the score (how could there not have been a single vikings fan in her entire family?!?). Luckily, perhaps by chance, one of her uncles turned on the TV, exclaimed "OH.. the Vikings game..." and I was relieved...

That was until we fumbled a kick return that basically lost us the game....

And then the Bucs missed a field goal that would have gaurenteed them a victory....

And then we failed miserably at our last-ditch efforts to make a drive down the field. And we lost... of course.

I wanted to scream... I wanted to cry....

But then that wouldn't have looked very good in front of her relatives.

So instead, i decided to bottle up all my emotions no matter how painful that might be....

Hey Jealousy.

So I spent most of my day Saturday in freezing temperature and 20 mph winds.... Why you might ask?

Well... Remember that film internship? Yeah... I helped Set-Dress the set for 6 hours. It involved carrying fake barriers and then setting them up to look like those cement barriers used in war zones. Oh, and did I mention that I forgot to bring gloves? I felt like my fingers were going to fall off... Until a merciful man let me borrow his gloves... Which didn't happen until AFTER I cut my thumb between two of the boards... Yeah, it wasn't exactly a glamorous day.

But it was a great experience... I was amazed at how the set was set up. It didn't look like much. Just a fountain here, a wall here, some pillars over there... But with a little movie magic, BOOM... I couldn't help imagining how I would shoot a particular scene a certain way, and all that jazz...

And then, the director came to the set... I was so jealous watching him walk around and talk with the director of photography about how they were going to shoot the scenes. I was sooo jealous. I wanted to be in his shoes, and not lifting plywood boards... You gotta start somewhere though, i guess.

If your interested in the film, it's called Ana's Playground. Check out the website here:
http://anasplayground.com/

And so that was my Saturday... I got back to campus around 6:30, which felt like 10 at night because it gets dark so early... And then i did absolutely nothing. I was exhausted and tired, and wanted to sleep... So Andy and I watched Superbad instead.

Down and Out

I just (most likely) failed my Spanish test.... So I went to Cooper's and bought a Mocha Auggie to drink away my sorrows....

I actually studied for this one too... I studied last night and I studied for a solid hour and a half before class.... It feels pretty crappy.

I think I'm going to blame the fact that I got absolutely no sleep last night.

First of all, Nathaniel was watching TV until 1:30 in the morning... Finally, he falls asleep... Luckily, I brought ear plugs with me to college (a necessity considering Nathaniel's snoring can be heard from the opposite side of the hallway), however, the radiator in my room sucks.

We did not even have the heater on last night, yet it makes the most terrible noise ever. Imagine someone hitting a metal bowl with a metal spoon next to your ear every 11 seconds. Combine that with Nathaniel's snoring and you have a full-piece band.

Considering this was one of the worst days I've had in a long time, my weekend has officially began. Hopefully things will start to look up.

Temple Israel

Today for my Augsem we went and visited Temple Israel in Southern Minneapolis.

Until I got to Augsburg, I had never met a Jewish person. Ever. That was until I met Dan, a kid from Plymouth who lives on my floor.

And then today, we went and visited the Temple. It was definitely a great experience. Temple Israel is a Reform Jewish Temple. Reform Judaism is a form of Judaism that is a relativily modern, middle of the spectrum sect of Judaism. Rabbi Saks gave us a tour of the Temple, explained the foundations of Judaism, and then answered some questions.

After today and last week's tour of the Mosque, I've come to realize that the great three monotheistic religions are more similar than one might think...

All three follow the Old Testament.
According to Islam, Moses, Abraham, Jesus, and Noah (along with many other Old Testament characters) are all important.
All three are peaceful, loving religions that value social justice.
And there are many many more similarities.

But I've got a lot of homework to do... And I have an intermural Volleyball game tonight at 10:30.

Blue's Clues

I'm sitting in the Honors Suite right now... we're doing a run through for our Honors Play that will take place on Saturday the 22nd.

I may have talked about this earlier... I've had play practice every Monday night since school started. Basically, all First Year honors students work together to create a play based off of the first book we read for The Scholar Citizen, "The Question of God". We were all split into four different groups and come up with four different plays involving themes from the book... All four plays also have a theme based off of various kid's TV shows.

I am the Stage Manager for my group (in charge of props, script changes, blocking, etc...). Our play is Blue's Clues. The basic plot is Sigmund Freud and CS Lewis are stuck in the Blue's Clues house until they find all the Clues and learn the Truth to all life's questions. Hilarity ensues.

Our play is pretty cool, but it's not as risque as some others.

Example: The Sesame Street play... Big Bird gets shot. Oscar the Grouch gets pleasure and happiness from causing pain on others. Bert and Ernie visit a strip club in search of happiness. Yeah, it's crazy.

The Honors Play is one of the most unique things about Augsburg College... It has definitely brought us honors kids closer together.

Speaking of the play... I have to miss practice next Monday (which I usually wouldn't do, but I think that we're all prepared for the 22nd)...

I got tickets to see Atmosphere at 1st Ave. next Monday.... Yay.

We haven't located us yet.

I love Tuesdays.

Especially this particular Tuesday. My one class of the day was canceled so we could get together with our groups and work on our city project. My group has to write about the significance of cities in the bible and the role various religions have played in the city of Jerusalem.

I don't think it will be that bad.

So... I rolled out of bed at 9:34 this morning, brushed my teeth, strolled up to the 9th floor in my pajamas, and then met with my group at exactly 9:40.

After all that was all done, I decided to be productive.

So I went back to my room and watched "A Complete History of My Sexual Failures" in the warm comfort of my bed.

It's a documentary where a 30-something year old man tracks down his ex-girlfriends and tries to figure out exactly why they broke up... hilarity ensues. It's a decent documentary.. most of the time I was pissed off at the guy because he seemed to ruin every decent relationship he ever had... If you ever want to learn what NOT to do, watch this movie.

And then I decided to realistically be productive and reorganize all the things in my room. It was a good feeling. I also have to finish my homework that I fell asleep doing earlier today.

And right now it feels like midnight but it's only 8, which is an awesome feeling. sometimes i wish there was more time in a day. sometimes i dont.

So i'm wasting more time watching the Darjeeling Limited (hence the title).

Song of the week: "The Temptation of Adam" by Josh Ritter

I don't know why I love it so much.

Procrastination is the Devil

I hate Microsoft Word.

Maybe it's all my fault that I finished my spanish paper 2 minutes before class started.

Maybe it's all my fault that I was tempted in to beating the crap out of Nate in a game of Madden and then ordering pizza and then watching The Incredible Hulk when i should have been doing my homework last night.

Maybe I shouldn't have slept so much while I was home this weekend and laying in my awesome, comfortable, warm bed.

Oh, well... It was fun while it all lasted...

...That was until 2:15 today (15 minutes before class) when "Microsoft Word has unexpectedly quit" as soon as I tried to print my Spanish paper.

I skipped lunch today, started working on my paper at 12:30 (two hours should have been plenty..), and i refused to be distracted by Facebook, Youtube, etc... That's right, I sat in the Honors Suite and did nothing but my spanish paper.

And it was damn good.

Until Microsoft Word taught me a lesson:

Never procrasinate. It's bad... really bad. I did it a lot in high school, and I learned my lesson once... So I thought I'd get by this weekend... Luckily, I have a friend named "Auto-Save" and about 3/4 of my paper was saved automatically... That meant I had approximately 8 minutes to retype the rest of it, make corrections, and then get to class... I was only about 3 minutes late.

But I learned my lesson.

P.S. The Incredible Hulk is a decent movie... nothing groundbreaking.. It's awesome if you're a comic book fan like myself, but the film-maker in me keeps saying "i could have made it better"  :)  Definitely better than the last one directed by Ang Lee

P.S. P.S.  I saw "Rachel Getting Married" last week after my film professor briefly talked about it in class.... I loved it and do not understand why he had some problems with it. It's a very cool take on realism.

P.S. P.S. P.S.  After doing kinda bad on my first film test, I studied hardcore for the second one and we finally got them back today... Yeah, that's right.. I was the only one in my class to get a 4.0.  Whoop, whoop.  :)

Life of an Auggie

The life of an Auggie:

In order to truly experience what it’s like to be an Auggie, one has to do a little bit of exploring. Yes, campus has got a nice, homey feel to it. You can spend some time in Murphy Park and (somewhat) feel like your out of the city. For the most part, everything you’ll ever need can be found on campus. But who doesn’t like to get out every onece in a while, right?

In order to really live the Auggie life, some exploring is neccassary. In my short few months here at Augsburg, I’ve definitely figured out how to get around Minneapolis.

I’ve been to the U of M.
I’ve gone to Dinkytown.
I’ve gone to Uptown.
And just the other night, I went Downtone.

I haven’t gone Downtown all that much.. I’ve been to the Dome for a Vikings and Twins game, and once to go to Club Spin… But when I was Downtown late the other night, it reminded me exactly why I decided to go to Augsburg.

The city is alive.

Take advantage of it. You’ll learn soo much, just by exploring (do it with a few buddies of course.. and be safe). But there’s soo much to do. The possibilities are endless.

Another great experience… yesterday my Augsem went to tour a Mosque in the Cedar-Riverside building. Coming from a (very) tiny town, this is NOT something I ever would have done back home...

It was a great (important) experience. There are so many misconceptions about Islam now a’days… It’s rather unfortunate.

We visited the Mosque, a young man explained the basics of Islam and the goal of their Mosque, we watched a prayer service (of about 50 men, which was amazing), and then he answered our questions.

It was one of my best experiences at Augsburg so far…. My explanations will never do it justice… It’s just something you have to experience on your own.

Divided We Fall

So my friend Dustin asked this question the other day after the election:

Should we be worried about the way that other countries are celebrating the election of Barack Obama?

My answer:

Yes We Can

I might not be able to sleep tonight.

Whether or not you supported Barack Obama, the President-Elect, in this year's election, I hope that you recognize the truly important thing for the future of America:

Unity.

McCain or Obama, either way, I hope that you stand behind the President of the United States.

Please continue to question authority. Continue to voice your opinion. Continue to fight for your rights.

But please, please, please... recognize that you live in the greatest country on the face of the earth. The world is a mess right now... and now, more than ever, is the time for all Americans to work together and fix the problems faced over the last 8 years.

From Obama's Acceptance Speech, according to http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2008/11/05/president-elect-barack-obamas-acceptance-speech/

"America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?"

Politics will no longer be expected to work from the top down... It is the responsibility of the people to keep our leaders honest.

I also believe in compromise... that's why I will stay awake until the Senate races are done... I am kind of afraid in the overwhelming amount of power obtained by the democratic party tonight. I can only hope that our politicians will abstain from resorting back to the "us vs. them" mentality that has occupied our politics for so long.

Compromise: one of the main reasons why this country is so great. Don't forget the minority.

And of course, Welcome to the new America.

Get Out the Vote

I've been up since 6 a.m this morning.....

At 6:30 a.m., I reported to the Century Room in the basement of the Christensen Center in order to get ready for election day.

At 7, when the polls opened, I walked across the Franklin Bridge to the polling location to make sure that everything was going smoothly. 

Every two hours I then had to go back and check how many people had voted at my precinct and then report those numbers to the Obama campaign. This is basically just to prevent anything really funky from happening at the polls and so the campaign will be able to notice if something is wrong.

I've also helped people (in a very non-partisan way) know their voting rights... we also went and knocked on all the doors at Augsburg to see if anyone voted, and then escorted them to the voting location... It's been a long, busy day.

At 8 o'clock we have to walk over to the polls and make sure that people's voting rights are maintained by assuring them that they can vote as long as they're in line before 8.

And then... it's time to relax. Or try to anyway. I'll probably be up all night... Partying, hopefully.

Today was a day of firsts:

I drank coffee... I NEVER drink coffee.

I skipped class to help out. I never skip class.

OH, and of course, I voted  (I actually voted last Friday, but either way, it's a first)

God bless America.