RyanHarne.com

Don’t you hate having to explain your costume to people? Although, the ones that don’t need explaining are generally the all-too-common and overused outfits - you can fill in the blank. But the truly good costumes need no explaining and aren’t seen twice during the holiday. People putting that much effort into a day of hullabaloo deserve gold medals.

So, today, I was asked an unfortunate question. Truly unfortunate. A fellow Math Emporium TA asked me, “so, who are you?” I was puzzled by this and so I asked what did he mean. He replied with his initial question. And I was still bewildered. Until.

Until I realized he thought I was wearing a costume. Or at least he thought I was dressed up like some character or something. I explained that my dress was typical for the standard day and that, despite the coincidence of the holiday, I, in fact, wear a tie two or three times per week. Not to be confused with anything out of the ordinary, or Halloweenie.

A few minutes later, someone else remarked, “that’s what you get for being atypical.” I think that was a compliment.

Ney was very close in her guess. The pumpkin is only 30-ish hours from being carved and already it is limping around the LCD. This one certainly won’t last until next Halloween as originally planned. I will dedicate this carving to a friend who recently got his hands on the new iPod and purposely flaunted it in my presence (comment: video is good times .

Ney was also prudent to remind me of the impending annual Nuggetfest. Last night was the grand celebration. Some friends and I were able to locate Boca veggie nuggets, organic nacho bites, and some less-than organic mozzarella sticks and jalapeno poppers. And we ate every. single. one. of them. Period. Plus, we watched Clue; nice to see Christopher Lloyd in something other than a scientist’s outfit.

This weekend has been an enormous festive occasion of Halloweenie activities. But, the actual day isn’t until tomorrow. It feels incredibly oddly-timed. I’ll write that one off due to daylight savings ending.

The poverty of a college student is once again setting in. Granted, I have a nice (fulfilling) job, but I’m doing my best to save cash. My best.

And I’ve been looking for pumpkin pie. I have scoured the on-campus dining centers for pumpkin pie. Never before have I subjected my employeed peers with questions like “Do you have any pumpkin pie?” or “Are there any plans for a future supply of pumpkin pie?” I’m seriously experiencing a master pumpkin craving. I am well aware that I can travel to Kroger and pick up some vat-made pumpkin pie, but it won’t be the same, won’t be satisfactory. To satiate my lust, I’ve enslaved myself to continual doses of Pumpkin Harvest soup at Au Bon Pain in Squires; that stuff is good. But it’s no slice of pie.

Last night was my redemption. The 2nd Annual Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza took place with a slew of carved pumpkins and pumpkin foodstuffs. Pumpkin cookies, oatmeal pumpkin cookies, baked pumpkin seeds, real apple cider, and… AND!!!… homemade pumpkin pie! As I’ve been anticipating this event, my cravings have become more frequent and more absurd, my drool being more visible to the occasional passerby.

Despite there not being any available (necessary) whipped cream at on the onset, a quick conversation deemed it necessary for some people to fly to the grocer’s to pick up the goods. I was set. Plus, I carved my first ever pumpkin. I may have done it years, years, years ago but there is no memory of such. Surely, it was an evening to remember.

Anyone like to take a guess at what I carved?

You know. You know.. it’s kind of frustrating when you spend 50 minutes on a homework problem and then turn to the back of the book for the answer and then see that, while your answers are still in the same order of magnitude as the book’s answers, you are way off. There is this flash of hope as you turn to the appendix of answers because you look at your results and say “hey, i don’t see why not” and then you’re caught in a road-rage knifing attack upon getting a face full of reality.

So, it’s true, no more students this spring semester. VT overbooked so much this fall with incoming freshmen that they are unable to offer zero students admission for the spring semester. Zero transfers to campus, zero. However, they still offer online courses for transfers but nothing else. I find this to be horrendous behavoir on the part of an overzealous admissions staff and am seriously not pleased. Honestly, I have no idea why this makes me angry, but seeing that level of poor planning exhibited in a group of people I expect to display the highest standards of organization… well, it makes me a bit peeved.

The weather is cold now. Snowing and hailing and freezing raining. Not now, but just recently. Today greeted us with a healthy, day-long, ice-cold rain that made it futile to carry and umbrella because the wind would steal it from your grasp. Not enough rain to dampen you, but enough to absolutely freeze exposed skin. I like this weather. I like it because you can layer clothes. I like returning from classes and taking off five different jackets or sweaters. Three, usually.

I like it that I’m so tired I really am not paying attention to what I write here. And I like it that my entry subject lines have no connection to my actual writing. I get an F for effort.

Things I’ve been doing lately:

Eating lots of fruit. Lower body workouts apart from running. Drinking soy milk. Staying at Torg1080 uber-late after work to do assignments. Getting minimal sleep due to the previous event. Compiling an assortment of napkins on my desk. Refraining from eating meat except for fish (although, I began eating a quiche last Friday when my comrades informed me there was both egg & bacon in the item, and I felt somewhat [not really] stupid because I was unaware egg is a staple to quiches). Almost not reading at all. Not being by myself.

The last one I would say is the most detrimental for me, since much of my “centering” comes about by just taking walks around campus in the now-cold evenings or by sitting down to have coffee and read something enthralling. Of my visits to Bollo’s this semester, only one of them included me reading something other than a textbook.

I’m managing well, though. There are many things going on now and in the future that I’m trying to not forget are important events/dates. My iCal is full and overflowing, but the worst things to deal with are those that don’t fit into iCal. Like making time to be alone and read or deciding what to do about housing next year. I do apologize, resulting from a few emails, about the dwindling webcam shots. But I have a reason for that.

My camera is dying. And I need a ride to the BestBuy in Roanoke to get a new one (yay for warranties). It’s been an honorable trooper for the past two years but once it records digitized static for a portrait shot of a friend, I know it is time to put it out of its misery.

And I go right back to studying for these midterms.