Friday Adventures and Juice

Let's talk about some adventures, man. Scattered throughout are pictures of an adventure Jason and I had.

So Friday after all of those unappealing gauges of intellect and work ethic called finals were finished, I stumbled upon an exciting night of adventure. Usually, I go home on Fridays instead of staying the night, but these year I was leaving Saturday afternoon. So I had the entire night to myself, which I expected to fill with a dinner alone, doing laundry and prowling the internet for innocent souls to troll. Or go on Neopets to collect from the Advent Calendar.

But instead, my good friends, I ran into Barbara, Nick and Jordan on their way to dinner. We celebrated Erika's last day at Bates (she does not plan on coming back) by partaking in the beloved "One Bite Dessert" competition where friends pair up to make the best dessert for the special judge (Erika this time) to decide upon. Mike and I took a potato chip, dipped it in melted chocolate chips, put it in the fridge, and then topped it with marshmallows and granola.

We did not win.
I am still ashamed.

After that, Barbara, Nick, Mike and I played MarioCart, where I proceeded to get 4th place every round despite being the only sober driver (I will not put Princess Peach's life in danger!). After failing to win, even when Mike tried to lose so that I would finally get 3rd place (I would not have it. Instead I slowed down right before the finish line and let him race ahead of me), Jordan and Erika joined us in a ritual burning of some of Petrarch's literature (Latin) and some of Barbara's notes on the Quran (I would like to make it clear that she did not burn any writings of the actual Quran). The fire started to get larger and smokier than anticipated, so of course half of us started running around and freaking out (as a Sim might do) while the other half decided to douse it with water and create more smoke. It turned out fine, but after the adrenaline high of the fire we got a little destructive. We tried to burn a pumpkin (to no avail. It had too high a water content) and then just threw it around and kicked it until we smashed it (Smashing Pumpkins, har har). Then Nick decided to UPROOT a tree and all the drunk minds decided it would be hilarious if they placed it in the Pierce House common room (I freaked out and did not partake in this part. Instead I was a not-so-silent onlooker, making tree puns nervously the entire time they moved the tree. I then ran away once they actually got it in the house. "I'm going to go out on a LIMB and say the ROOT of the problem is that we're not just LEAVEing the tree alone. I don't mean to BARK at you guys, but shouldn't we just leave it be and take a BOUGH" etc.)

After that, we hustled to the Outing Club Room (and by the way, wherever I went I was offering friends and strangers Buttermints because Alex gave me a tub of them for Christmas. A surprisingly large amount of people accepted my offer.) which is this extremely outdoor-hipster pad with path signs and gear and a giant tree stump in the middle of the room. It's excellent. Barbara and I played a competitive game of Foosball with Mike and Nick as our opponents. We were always miles ahead of them in the game (everytime we scored Barbara would scream "WOMEN!" and we'd high-five) except for the very end when Barbara and I switched places (I can score really well (ha), but am crap at defending)  and I let the opposition score a few times. Finally we were neck in neck with one more score to win the game for each side. Babs and I switched back so that I didn't need to defend any more but sadly we let in one more goal and lost the game.  Alas.

After that, I did some tight-rope walking (I told you the outing club room was excellent) and played this game which involves the giant stump, flipping a hammer, and then hitting a nail into the stump (all in one swift move). I did not do very well. But mostly because no one WOULD LET ME TRY MORE THAN ONCE. After that I mosied over to Frye Street with Babs, Jordan, Mike, Nick and Erika. We went to this party in the basement but the floors were tracked with mud and these belligerently drunk guys were punching the ceiling of the roof and I was like "okay, time for me to go!". So I did just that.

I went home and started to finish my laundry which I had started about 10 hours ago (it's a day long endeavor for me), but then received a call from my parents (another one, technically. We had had about 4 conversations that day already) saying that they found a place for me to live over the Summer for my internship.
What's that?
Did I not tell you? (I probably did in real life, but for those readers who I do not communicate with outside the blog, this is new.)
I will be living in San Francisco from Late May to Late July while interning for Green Corps as an Executive Assistant Intern. The reason I am doing this is

1. I need to fulfill a 200 hour Environmental Studies-related internship to graduate from Bates with an ES major.

2. All the places I could intern at in Irvine/Newport that are ES related I've sort of already worked for or seem very boring.

3. I won't have to drive to work in San Francisco.

4. Also, San Francisco holds a few friends and family members to spend time with.

5. And also, an added perk, I get to live very close to Chinatown.

So yes, that is a thing that is going to happen. Derek and I have discussed possibly getting the TeMyDeWa crew  (plus Devin, Kevin, Max, etc.) to have a road trip up to San Francisco and then camp in Yosemite for the weekend. Sound like fun? Of course it does. We can see the glory that is the stars without light pollution! We can become one with nature! We can make instant coffee and then complain about forgetting to bring deodorant! CAMPING!

So now finally to my break.

Jason and I went on an adventure to Thrift Shops, an anti-mall, and  a 99 cents store  around Orange Country, and we had a great deal of fun. We were searching for a Christmas sweater for him but instead just found a good time. And no sweater. Which sort of sucks but whatever. Scattered throughout this post are pictures of the adventure. Well, some of them.

My mom and I also finally went to "The Hobbit" which was really not what I was expecting. There was a whole lot of filler in the movie. As in, a lot of the plotline or stories were not as elaborated upon or even brought up in the actually book. I'm guessing some of it was from the "Simerillian"? I'm not sure, I haven't read Derek's review of the movie yet. I don't want his opinion to influence me too much. But anyways, it was a good (if not long) movie, and my mother was very moved by it (i.e. she cried).

Lately I've been just hanging out with friends (you guys!), going shopping with my mom (groceries!), watching movies and just creating activities for me to partake in (making juice!). I want to start making a lot of food, raiding the attic for interesting things, and cleaning out my room (Winter Cleaning!). So that's what I'll be doing pretty soon. I should also start reading more. I need to find some books.

Okay, that's about it.

Talk at you soon,

Nicole