I may well be getting my first digital camera .

oh my! (You knew it was coming...) Visited campus Thursday and Friday for a big incoming-freshman bash. Went bowling, sat around in the cafe, enjoyed the beginning of a dorm party, ate a couple times in the cafeteria (different building from the cafe), went to chapel and three classes, wore out my shoes (figuratively) on a sort of scavenger hunt, and heard the president speak about one paragraph. (The college president.) And talked to a bunch of people at the various functions. 'Twas enjoyable enough. I met a few girls that I think I'll like - one who will definitely be in my dorm. The only other kid that I knew prior to this big bash found a roommate (but I didn't; I'll survive), who seemed nice enough. A lot of the girls struck me as.... oh, I don't know. And it wasn't that many; they just stood out. Chapel was fine; the most interesting person was the choir director, and for good reason! She was so into directing that her (relatively short) hair flop...

Yesterday I headed up with the rest of my family to see my uncle. He's a photographer - has been for years, and took the pictures at my parents' wedding. (He wasn't even related yet!) Anyway, the reason: SENIOR PICTURES. So we spent an hour at an assisted-living community (no kidding) shooting me, in various positions, in various locations, at the little pond outside the complex. The ducks got in a couple of my photos, but I don't think I picked those. Of the six that I did pick, in one you can see the pond and the little stone bridge in the background - Mom says that is the "essence of me" picture, as I am also holding my fountain pen over a book in that. (It's supposed to look like I'm writing in a journal, but the book's actually my darling little copy of Pride & Prejudice .) And, another of my pics featured my wonderful little gold acorn hat. It's the one left-of-center in this pic, beside the pink rain hat: I really should get a pictur...

Quoted from Heidi's blog : --Go to Google.com --Click on Maps. --Click on Get Directions. --From New York, New York --To Paris, France. --And read line # 23. Seriously..... or, not so seriously.... In other funnypapers, I dreamed up a one-question multiple-choice pop quiz for you last night! 1. The one and only question: what is a puncher? The choices: A. a remote control B. a device for synthesizing tropical fruit juice C. a hanging exercising bag D. a combination of B and C E. none of the above F. a sleeping bag G. not a sleeping bag H. a person hired by an underworld organization to rough up potential squealers or business associates I. a person not hired by an underworld organization, etc., etc., etc. J. a combination of B and H K. a combination of A, B, C, F, and I EDIT (5/1/2007) :::: I guess it is line 24. My wonderful sis pointed that out.... on the map directions, I mean. Line 23 just tells you to turn onto Long Wharf.

Ho-hum. I'm relaxing after about two-and-a-half hours at a sort of health fair at a local high school. I helped out at one booth - in fact, the booth with two (sometimes three) pairs of FATAL VISION goggles. You know, the ones you wear to find out what it feels like to be drunk. I got to lead one gaggle of kids for about two hours, one after another, in walking down a line and maneuvering around three cones. Worked pretty well, though it was really hot in that gym. (Oh yeah, I helped out because I am part of a 4-H group that does this every month.) Last night, however, was boring. Attended another monthly 4-H meeting for the county, spent two hours stuffing bags with literature for a mock crash, and paying little attention to the mindless babbling around me. It got old.............. I mean, imagine people playing with their cell phones and talking about the most trivial things! And not in an interesting manner. Sometimes trivial things are fascinating, but not this time.

Go read the other post first (the one from today, I mean). It's not that long, really! It just looks long because of the font I use. Anyway, in case you desire to follow the saga of the autographs in the future, you may go find the "autographs" label down on the side under "Nooks in the secretary as recorded by the amanuensis". I just found all the posts and added that label to 'em. Did the same thing with "links", actually. And if you're wondering what an "amanuensis" is, either look it up or don't. If you look it up, you can sound really smart in front of your fellow 4-H'ers (and crack me up in the process, as my sister did). If you don't, you may encounter a joke some day playing on the general ignorance of the meaning of that word. (Something about a pastor and his church-secretary wife going on a cruise, and him telling everybody he was travelling with his "amanuensis", and him getting envious lo...

Item #1 in today's dispatch: my cousin sent out a news release to the family - about his first date at college. (In his particular family, there's a running joke that all the aunts have banded together to marry off the nieces and nephews; this release was named a "CALL Report" after the name of the band, CALL, which was derived from the first initials of the four aunts. Fortunately these are only his aunts, not mine, since they are really serious!) (Okay, long parenthetical...) Apparently he took a friend of his out to a banquet, where he won some awards. However, I don't know if it really counts as a date: "It was mutually understood that (my cousin and the girl) went together just for an enjoyable evening because of unfortunate religious incompatibility." So is it or is it not a date? Does it just count as a fun outing? Item #2: no, not the Reagan from the RI. This Reagan is an adopted son of the late President, who also hosts a radio show and ...