Where Has He Been?

Well, he's not dead. He hasn't been captured and held for ransom. He hasn't left the country. He's just in good ole Lyndonville, back to the hometown. And in that hometown in the old homestead he has lived in his whole life, there is no internet. This blog post is coming to you from the nice little Lyndon State College just down the road from where he lives. He had to hole himself up here for internet access. Oh well. He hopes you had a fantastic Christmas and wishes you an awesome New Year! Stay tuned for more adventures!

Peace out!

Going Home/The Misadventures of Velvet, Ashley, and Ryan/Lunch

I'm looking at that suitcase over in the corner of my room and I know it has to be packed...but I really don't want to do the work. All my focus right now is going into what's going to happen tonight. Tonight is the Christmas gift exchange at 308!!!! It's going to be amazing. We all got each other presents and out them under this really puny fake tree Ashley brought from home. It's pretty excellent. And as I said in an earlier post, my present for Megan and everyone else is amazing. I can't wait to see what happens tonight!

Speaking of Christmas gifts, yesterday Velvet, Ashley, and I all hung out and ran around Burlington trying to finish our shopping and packing routines. I had one thing I had to do while Velvet has a list a mile long of Christmas gifts to get. Ashley has a couple things to do. Here is my list of reasons why not to wait until the day before the exchange to go Christmas shopping: (I say these things because this is what ACTUALLY happened)

1. You might end up gallavanting all over the city of Burlington in freezing cold weather.

2. You might end up being stuck on a bus and not being able to get off because people won't move out the way, leaving you stranded away from your shopping buddies.

3. You might have to go into Victoria's Secret with Velvet and have her spray perfume all over your hand because she can't find the little papers.

4. You might lose Ashley in the mall.

5. You might drag Velvet's HUGE packed suitcase down the sidewalk because she has too many shopping bags.

6. You might have to unpack everything out of said suitcase in order to find the key to someone else's dorm (308) to get in and out of the freezing cold.

7. You might drop dead on Church Street from extreme hypothermia.

8. And yet...despite everything....you might just find what you're looking for

Also yesterday was my last final. Yay! I'm officially done with my first semester of college! The only thing is, it was my acting final and as amazing as it was, I was sad that the class was over as was basically everyone there. We had all grown so attached to each other that it was hard to think about not having class all together, especially acting class. So we all had lunch together. Granted, it wasn't like going to Dobra Tea or anything, it was just Cooks Commons, but it was nice having everyone together for just one more moment. Although, most of us are in biology together next semester, so I can't wait for us to see each other again! Have an awesome Christmas guys!!!

Peace out!

Success!

We did it! (well...Megan did it...) We (Megan, I was really of no help) beat Spyro! We finally defeated that stupid boss and saved the dragon kingdom. Now we're trying to get all the gems we might have missed in all the other levels. Granted, I put in a cheat code that gave us 99 lives, but we still beat it! Thank you, Playstation, for your countless hours of fun, profanities, and a feeling of success.

Some other things have been very successful as well. For one, exams have gone pretty well for me. I got an 88 on my sociology exam giving me a 91 average for the semester! I'm not sure about my other exams yet, but the religion one wasn't as bad as I thought. I guess those 8 hours of studying paid off. I was very proud of Megan too. She got an awesome grade on her final project. She'll probably post something about it on her blog: http://308maple2.blogspot.com/

Basically, things are going well. My parents got a tree at home, so I'll be all ready to decorate it when I go home on Saturday. Can't wait!

Peace out!

Spyro: An Excellent Adventure

Last Tuesday when we had our Music Makers concert and our families came to hear our beautiful voices, Megan's Mom brought over a very old-school Playstation given to Megan by Luke, her boyfriend. That's right folks, take a jump back to the beginning of the millenium, we have a Playstation! The only game we have found really worth playing (besides Tony Hawk Proskater, we're getting there!) is Spyro the Dragon.

For the past week, we have been playing Spyro and minus the occasional whoop ass handed to us by weird creature magical thingys and multiple GAME OVER's, we've been doing well. Megan stayed over this past weekend at good ole Jeanne Mance again (only this time it wasn't a sick weekend) and we had a party time. This included playing Spyro for SIX HOURS down in the common room. We hooked the old-school Playstation up to the old-school TV down there.

We got to the second to last level, and gave up. But not forever. We will succeed! Spyro, here we come!!!

(Maybe once finals are over)

Peace out!

Think About It

Sorry it's been awhile Three days to be exact. I've been thinking a lot about a lot of different things lately, and I've been quite busy. That seems to happen around this time doesn't it? There are finals, and Christmas, and concerts, and social gatherings. Everything needs to be maintained and everyone needs to be pleased. I am very excited for Christmas this year mostly because I have the money to buy my friends and family actual presents. But I still feel like I'm mostly going to make them except maybe for my parents. I guess what I really want to do is share with you what I'm getting everybody. OK, here goes:

THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN BLOCKED BY THE CHRISTMAS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN BLOCKED BY THE CHRISTMAS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN BLOCKED BY THE CHRISTMAS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN BLOCKED BY THE CHRISTMAS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN BLOCKED BY THE CHRISTMAS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA.

Awesome ideas, huh? Yeah, I basically can't wait until next Friday when it has been decided that 308 will distribute their gifts. It's going to be a good time.

But that's not really what I wanted to talk about. What I wanted to talk about is how people seem to hate anything sad. What has been brought to my attention lately is how people hate any cathartic and how they put side blinders on to block out anything sad or depressing that may be going on in the world. My mind has been completely opened this semester to all these kinds of things, but especially last night at the Festival of Lights concert that Music Makers sang at. There were so many different cultures talking about all the different holidays celebrated during this time, but there were also stories of people who have had horrible things happen to them, and have recovered. They use this time, this holiday season, to reflect upon these things. I think it's time we take a more optimistic outlook on life. Those times when things are bad are the things that can only make us stronger. I'm tired about people complaining and pitying themselves. It's time to take control, learn, and grow. So watch that dramatic movie and cry, listen to the "Christmas Shoes" song and feel something for that boy, and most importantly, don't put side blinders on to the world.

Those are my words of wisdom for the day.

Peace out!

Concert

"HAHA!" roared global climate change. "I control the weather now!"

"No!" cried Mother Nature, her shriek shattering the tops of the trees nearby. "I will not let your evil reign!"

And with that, Mother Nature pulled out her battleaxe and battered global climate change down, letting the clouds rip open and the soft snow drift to the ground. The winds blew and flung the snow around, plowing it to the ground.

It's snowing again today. I was so happy when I looked out the window this morning. It's a storm. A rip-roaring noreaster whose fury can destroy even the greatest global climate change has to offer. I mean, it's coming down. Everything is covered in white and shines in the semi light. The trees are highlighted by the white covering provided to them by Mother Nature. It's perfect. Winter is perfect.

Anyway, I bet you're wondering how the concert went last night. I was able to overcome this cold enough to the point where I was able to get out the notes I needed to for these songs, but that's it. I'm working on the rest though. This weekend was exactly what I needed and I think I'm doing a good job taking care of myself. It's not the first time I've had to do a concert sick. One time, I sang at one of our Select Choral Ensemble benefits sick. I had a solo too. My sophomore year, I played every show of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown sick. I was Charlie Brown. Good times all around. Powering through a cold is hard, but it can be fun at the same time. Lying around and taking cold medication. Fun.

I'm really happy to be a part of Music Makers. I'm really happy to be a part of a music group at all. Singing is just too much fun to not partake of it. Especially at Christmas. I think this is the beginning of a great relationship with Music Makers. Can't wait till next semester!

Peace out!

How To Fight A Cold

Here are my top things to have on a weekend when you are trying to fight off a nasty winter cold:

1. A good friend :)

2. Meds (my top faves include Advil cold and sinus, NyQuil, Suddafed, Robitussin cough cyrup, and Ricolla cough drops)

3. A computer with internet (trust me, it gets pretty boring in bed)

4. Food and candy

5. Tissues, tissues, tissues!

6. A comfy bed with pillows and blankets for warmth. Inlcude sweatpants in this category.

7. Trips downtown to go see New Moon or go make your own ice cream at Champlain College. Bring a jacket. And a scarf. And gloves. It's cold out there.

8. A phone to report a crime.

That's for real. Megan and I were just walking home from making our own ice cream at Champlain only to find a truck with it's front window busted. We called Velvet, our very own personal Criminal Justice major to see if we should report it to the proper authorities. With her blessing, we called the police. It was the first time I had ever been witness to a crime scene. It was weird but sort of cool. I felt like I was on an episode of CSI or something. Anyway, I'm feeling much better than I was yesterday, but there is still much progress that needs to be made before the big concert on Tuesday. Will keep you posted!

Peace out!

Anyone Got Any Meds?

I'm sick. It's actually the first time since I've been at college that I've gotten sick. My throat is all sore, I have phlegm in my throat, and my nose is starting to run. These symptoms are bad and I don't like them. Especially when the Music Makers concert is Tuesday and right now my voice sounds like a 50 year old chain smoker (Angela!).

What's pretty cool is that Megan came over tonight because my roommate had to go home and she will be staying for the weekend. We get to have an awesome cold medication party! Break out the Sudafed, Nyquil, Vicks, cough drops, and water! We're gonna kick this sickness out of here!

Also, tomorrow is Deck 5 Day. Megan and my offical holiday on December 5th so we're going to a Holiday Bazaar and attending an afternoon matinee of New Moon. Should be fun! I just hope I can get better this weekend because exams are coming up too. My first college exams AHHHHHHHH! I don't think they're going to be that hard though. The lecture ones will probably be crap but we must get through these things in life especially when trying to reach an education.

Tonight I also got to star in another movie! Not that this was probably a great thing seeing how sick I am. It was for Sarah's final project (remember Sarah is Jess' friend who is a film student see http://ryhowland.blogspot.com/2009/10/makin-movies.html) and it was pretty awesome. She's putting it on facebook so I'll let you know when you can see it.

Hopefully this cold goes away and I can make it through to this concert. I'm so excited to sing again! Performing, performing, performing!

Peace out!

10 Things That Happened to Me Today

1. I decorated my room to the dismay of my roommate. He didn't want me decorating the room for Christmas so I decorated my side.

2. I decorated the theater for the Christmas show going on this weekend! Of which I am ushering.

3. I evaluated my sociology class.

4. I aced my Spanish oral exam.

5. I had a killer headache and had to take meds to have it go away. I think the latte I had this morning was too strong.

6. I had lunch in my room because I didn't feel like fighting off a crowd to eat a decent lunch today.

7. I went to Glee night (with my pillow!).

8. I found out that Jess' brother Dylan made awesome progress and is starting to talk again!

9. I wore my scarf.

10. I found out (to my dismay) that Glee won't be back until April after it's midseason finale next week. It's a sad day...

But it's also happy! Spread the optimism!

Peace out!