"As it was supposed to happen," Bokonon would say.

That's not me, but you can pretend it is.

Guess what I did right after I wrote my post last Friday? Guess, guess! I did the thing I said I was going to do, which is snowmobiling. Now, I didn't take any pictures, and even though I think my mom probably did, well, her camera and her phone are each about three thousand miles away from me, and I'd rather write this post now than ask her to send me some pictures and wait and wait and wait. Instead, I'll just Google image search "Lofty Peaks Snowmobiling"(the company we used, duh) and see what I can find. Well, I found that picture that you're looking at now. Pretty much what we were doing. We rode a ways out to this meadow tucked away between some pretty big mountains, played around the meadow for a while, then rode back. Obviously, it was loads of fun, but I would have preferred to spend more time exploring different trails that just riding around in one meadow for such a long time. And no, I'm not apologetic about having a great time and wishing it was a little better. Nor am I apologetic about wishing the snow was a little better on Saturday.

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

I've written 38 pages for my four classes' final papers, and I have about four pages to go, which I intend on finishing later today. My Cartography paper was one of my favorite that I've ever written, my Intro Geography written final was pretty average, my Russian written final (of which I've written 8 of 12 pages) is going pretty well, and my Qur'an paper may well be the absolute worst paper I have ever written. I hope I don't get a C in that class, but I can't say I wouldn't deserve it.

Here Comes the Sun

Last week I was wondering if Rachael was alive. Turns out, she was, and presumably still is. (Speaking of Rachael, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Yes, I have all of your birthdays, plus those of several other people, written down in my calendar. I need not use an electronic crutch for such things.) Well, this week another member of our cast has gone AWOL, although I am less inclined to think that he has died than I am to think that he simply forgot to post. Rich, please come back. We miss you.

Advanced Darkness

10. ASPARAGUS

9. Without any milk.

During the August of 2009 I came up with a list of my top ten favorite Spongebob episodes. I know this because I saved the list on my computer and dated it. This small fact entered the royal realm of relevance relatively recently because a friend of mine, as it turns out, did not grow up with Spongebob.

It's not your aptitude but your attitude which will determine your altitude.

The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it.
Well, okay. To be honest, upwards of two thousand college students remember it. Vividly.
As you may recall, I wasn't exactly having the time of my life last week, and this was due to the inconvenient sickness that I had acquired, that which we call gastroenteritis. Spanning the time between Saturday the 21st and, oh, about Wednesday the 25th, Middlebury College found itself engulfed in something of an epidemic. Of the thirty or so distance runners (including both genders), the number of unaffected was either two or three; I cannot remember precisely and for that I apologize. But you get the idea. Basically, this thing took over the school and showed no mercy. Even after my recovery I had to hunt for toilets that had not been victimized to the point of being rendered almost useless for those who wanted to use them in the usual way.

A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.

Telluride, Colorado, aka retirement option 1A.

"Hello Derek, my name is the Weather, and I'm here to tell you that I'm colder than the freezing point of water. IN OCTOBER. HOPE YOU BROUGHT A SCARF. Later bro."Yes, that is an accurate account of a conversation I took part in yesterday, and by "took part in" I mean "listened to and said nothing." And yes, the Weather is apparently a bro. Go figure.

So Fall Break is happening right now. We get today and tomorrow off, which means I have all day to generate the most awesomeful (it's a word, trust me) post ever. Well, at least in theory. Speaking of theories, I came up with a pretty good one recently. It goes like this: Vermont is cold. DISPROVE THAT ONE, CREATIONISTS. Oh what's that? You can't? Sound familiar? Right.