Oi Vey

We'll get the pointless updates out of the way:

1. Frozen Friday: Take 2 was temporarily delayed until this week because of The Apocalypse. OK, so maybe it wasn't quite that bad, but it WAS Freshman Move-In on August 20. Once on campus, my usual two-minute driving trek to the parking garage near the Berkey Creamery turned into 20 minutes of my eye twitching. So, this means I missed out on Mocha Fudge, which was the flavor of the week. This also means that no matter what university I attend, I abhor Freshman Move-In.

2. Tree Hugger Tuesday: II was also delayed. It was my first day of class and, quite frankly, I have felt somewhat frantic all week. The good news is that a rather pretty tree in my parking lot is already changing colours, so I have something pretty to post next week.

In other news, my first week of classes is complete. For the first time in four years I have non-evening classes... and multiple classes in a day. Let's just say that's screwing with me big time. Getting to class at 9 a.m. actually felt strange, and then knowing my second class of the day (also strange) was going to run from 5-8 p.m. was the icing on my day-long cake.

The good news is that all my classes are going to deprive me of sleep, but they should be interesting. Admittedly, there was nervousness on my part because I wasn't sure how prepared I felt. After introductions and flipping through the texts (one of which I've used for a class at USF... Yay, Dynamics of Persuasion) I feel like I've seen all the material, but I could also stand to get refreshers or better understandings of the readings. My Proseminar course actually made me giggle because it's essentially Killebrew's theory class. And from Holtzhausen's intro class, I can say that Popper makes me want to stab my eyes out, but it's nice to see a familiar name in the readings.

As for my assistantship, I think I could be persuaded to believe in Heaven... I don't think that I could be asked to sit down and describe my dream job and come up with anything even remotely close to what I'll be doing for the Curley Center for Sports Journalism. (Speaking of, I'll be posting a link to my first blog post on the Sports, Media and Society Blog within the next few days.) But, more to come about the assistantship later.

Other random tidbits:

• There's a rooster that lives somewhere near my neighborhood... and it never shuts up.
• I've lived in lots of loud places in my life, including downtown Stamford, CT and Trieste, Italy. But NOTHING in this world has ever kept me awake like the loud ass crickets that live in the Forest Moon of Endor. No, really. It can take me up to an hour to fall asleep just because of how loud the damn crickets and animals are. Don't get me wrong, I love my forest, but shut up when I'm trying to sleep.
• The people here are ridiculously, amazingly nice. Meeting other students in the program has been an absolute breath of fresh air. I can talk sports with them and be nerdy about it. And the best part? I am surrounded by hockey fans. *makes sound of angels singing* 
• After talking to one of said hockey fans, I found out there is still hope for me to get Center Ice on my TV (and not just via the internet) this season. Fingers crossed, my friends. Fingers crossed.

OK, that's it for now. I have work to do... lots and lots of work to do.

- Mel(li) :)

PS -- Love and hugs to my Tampa peeps. I totally wish I could have you guys up here sharing and experiencing everything with me. The place is awesome, but it is missing all of you. <3