Invigorating, that is, when it involves getting things accomplished. Today, since about eleven o'clock, I have worked on just two things - a group project and a research paper. Since that time, I have helped the group make great progress on the project, and have made considerable progress myself on the research paper. That's not even including the stuff I'm going to do tonight! This is probably the busiest day I've had for awhile, and for once I'm not yawning the whole day, but instead am finishing stuff that has to get done quick, and not dillydallying too much on the way. :-)

....has to be one of my favorite holidays, if not the favorite. It might possibly be second to Christmas, but it might not. So I got to see lots of cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents - family is half the reason to have any holiday. My grandma wasn't doing well, but I'm praying she'll recover some. The rest were doing just fine, and we had a ball playing together, especially on my dad's side of the family. There we played a million games of "up and down the river" (a game using a normal deck of cards) and not a few of something called "authors" (which closely resembles "go fish"). I also took lots of funny pictures (which are not online, since I just got back to college a bit ago!). One round of photos features five of us cousins crammed onto a three-seater couch. It was a bit of a tight squeeze. :-P

...it is the official beginning of Thanksgiving Break. And, to commemorate this momentous occasion, I shall.... ...wash a load of laundry? Anyhow, I'm quite excited to go see my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I'll get to exchange notes with my college cousin and my seamstress cousin; and I will probably get to entertain the various members of my extended family who will ask lots of questions about college (just like last time). Doesn't that sound fun? Well, it will be. I will also get to eat lots of GOOD FOOD! In fact, I'll probably help make a good portion of it. In addition, I will be investigating stores for a good black skirt. My beloved Mafia has appropriated my current one for several months now.

A conservative news outlet put me onto this meteorologist who called global warming a "scam." Curious, isn't it? Because, as OneNewsNow describes, he's got some credentials.

I finally have pics! Another here . Anyhow, notice that black stripe down the side? There's one on the other side too; their purpose is mainly to disguise the zipper. (Can you see it? It's in this picture.)

Invariably , that is the line I think of when I see the first snow of the year. Well, seeing as last year's first snow was halfway through October, the sixth of November is pretty good for having the first snow of the season. As before, no accumulation; it's cold enough though, and I'm rather glad I found a ride to Wal-Mart instead of biking into town as I had planned to do. I'm also glad of head, and sweaters, and coats, and various other garments intended to keep one warm. :-) So yeah; half the vivid leaves still cling to the tree branches, yet the clouds have decided to hurry their demise.

Yeah.... once I'm in a groove, things are routine and there's not much new to tell. Two months, has it been? Not bad. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are especially routine, just because of my class schedule and various events that happen those nights. I rather like it though. I'm contemplating a quick trip into town tomorrow to pick up some toothpaste. I hope it doesn't rain. Oh, one rather interesting thing - but backstory first. In my English class we've been assigned to do an audio essay, and as part of that we had a class session all about using the recording program Audacity. One of my friends, experimenting with mixing tracks, created an a capella beat using his mouth (as in POH-pupupu-POH or something like that), his hands, a file scraping against something, a couple pencils... he just kept adding parts to the beat. It reminded me of something like STOMP. And it was very very cool. Hilarious, too. :-)

See, it's November... and along with Thanksgiving and the end of Daylight Savings, the month brings us NaNoWriMo . (I've mentioned this before .... but few of you will remember.) So is anyone at all writing a novella by midnight on the thirtieth?? I'm not. Not this year. But someday.....

The very symphony that is my absolute top favorite... and they played it!! (Oh yes - the previous post might give a clue as to who "they" are ....) I've loved B's 6th ever since I saw it on Fantasia. (And if you need a clue as to what that is, check out an old post of mine.)

This is what happened this week: ... I enjoyed a concert by the college's instrumental ensembles ... I attended a comedic play put on by the drama department ... I watched "Hero" at a friend's apartment (artsy Chinese film) ... and I will be attending a county orchestra concert tonight. In addition, I just finished that purple skirt that I started awhile back . (No, no pictures yet - but I promise, I will post some very soon!) Now, doesn't that sound like a very artistic week? Anyhow. I really enjoyed the college concert because I knew some people in the bands and they did the theme from "Lawrence of Arabia" among other good pieces. The play was definitely funny, especially since my small group leader played two very different parts quite well. "Hero" was cool, in that it had some interesting special effects and uses of said effects, plus it made excellent use of color in differentiating parts of the story. I have no opinion on tonight'