Whatever and Ever, Amen.

True love surpasses all, even computer usage.

Awsmack (9:35:00 PM): ah, well, I'm rarely on blogger anymore. seriously, I am occupied all the time...and I love it!
Awsmack (9:35:06 PM): it was a nice filler for a while, but nothing compares to true love.

...Lord help us...

Well what the hell is the point of returning if no one has stuck around to acknowledge my ongoing existence???

This week is absoutely insane.
I have three tests and then directly after my last I am taking off, vehicularly, for Dallas where I will spend the Easter weekend with my family and boyfriend.
I am peeling horribly.
This new Listerine Pre-Brush Whitening Rinse makes my mouth shed lining.
I haven't worn my contacts in a good week.
I make a really sexy fat pimp.

And that about sums up my life to this point.

After a rather long hiatus, I have returned.

This weekend, in Snook, Texas, was held Chilifest for the fifteenth year in a row. Chilifest, a country music festival and, as is implied by the title, chili cook-off, lasts for three days, Friday through Sunday. Groups of people, usually students as Snook is merely fifteen minutes from College Station, form teams that submit their made-from-scratch chili recipe for judging on Friday and results are announced on Sunday; Saturday sees, from 10:30 AM to 8:30 PM, a full day of country music performances, including this year such Texas artists as Pat Green, Randy Rogers, and, our favorite Ag, Robert Earl Keen.
Though Chilifest is presented as a Food and Music Festival, it is largely an excuse for Aggies to get together, camp out, and drink beer. Indeed, the grounds are marred by crumpled beer cans, empty kegs, destroyed boxes, and interesting campsites:



Most made their camps feel like home with old couches, makeshift cots,



makeshift coolers,



and flags to demonstrate their pride:



We arrived at around 10:00, just in time to see the Randy Rogers Band, true Texas Country, play, and it was incredible:



The first half of the day was incredibly entertaining. What could be boring about watching amazing concerts, as after Randy Rogers another Texas Country classic, Cross Canadian Ragweed, came on, drunk Aggies stumbling back to their camp cots to pass out at noon, and eating good ole Texas BBQ? However, after five hours of this, the drunk people began to become rather bothersome; one can only have beer sprayed on them and be stumbled over so many times before one begins to get annoyed, not to mention I, being incredibly dimwitted, forgot to put on sunscreen and was essentially fried in the sun:



(Seriously, the shadow over my chest is darkening very little - I really was, and still am, nearly that burned.)
Nevertheless, after being soaked in beer many times, burned to painful extremes, stumbled over and stepped upon constantly, and after slipping in the mud so that the entire lower-half of my body was covered in it, I was done. I was exhausted and irritable and ready to get home. Thus, at 7:00 we left, quite controversially, about an hour into the Robert Earl Keen, the Old Army Ag, concert before we could even hear "Fightin' Texas Aggie". Honestly though, I have no regrets; I was so drained.

Overall, Chilifest was absolutely insane. It is one of those things one must do is one goes to Texas A&M, but do not expect to be up to anything the day after. Don't get me wrong, I had a fantastic time, but today, let's just say that I am taking full advantage of the 8th Commandment and resting.

Nobody reads my blog anymore...

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... I swear these really hurt. The knuckles and wrist injuries came from punching the big canvas Everlast bags, and the foot injury, which actually bled and is still bruised, came from a poorly-judged side kick which planted my instep on the corner of the stereo speakers.

As some of you may know, Cliff came down to College Station this weekend, but his trip was not easily had. On Friday night, I recieved an email from American Airlines stating that his flight, set to depart Atlanta at 8:30 Saturday morning, had been cancelled due to ice storms in the Dallas-Fort Worth area; thoroughly distraught, I then spent the following three hours on the phone with a Walter, a Ryan, a Tiara, and a LaShira, somewhat calmly attempting to reroute him to anywhere within the state remotely close to College Station. Finally, after a full night of worrying and negotiating, and an eight hour round-trip drive to Dallas on Saturday morning, he was home with me at A&M.
Unfortunately, the weekend weather did not prove very condusive to exploration. The temperature reached a high of 36 degrees (no exaggeration), and Cliff, having brought only a sweatshirt and flip flops (idiot), was not wont to venture outdoors. So, we spent the weekend as recluses. In fact, we were so antisocial that some actually questioned whether or not he had actually come. This is, of course, a ridiculous idea, but just to put the worries to rest, here is my proof:



Listening: Mae "Embers and Envelopes"

After five years of successfully holding to my morals, I have finally caved.

...

I got a myspace. I told myself time and time again that I would never fall to the pressures of contemporary culture, that I would stick with the higher class version called facebook, but alas, I am not as strong as I once was.
Actually, to tell the truth, due to a lack of school support, Cliff is unable to have a facebook, so my establishing of a myspace account is solely to save myself the trouble of having to relive every online conversation, photo, or encounter to him; now he can see for himself. So, if you, like myself, have fallen to the whims of the cyber Muse myspace, increase my virtual popularity by one and add me as a friend!
( http://www.myspace.com/mere2009 )

Listening: Waking Ashland "Silhouettes"
(PS: I was excited to learn recently that someone else has actually heard of Waking Ashland! And I thought I was the only one...)

My computer looks so different now for I was forced to download Mozilla Firefox.
Let me explain.

My roommate, apparently not feeling well, was in the midst of a nap yesterday afternoon while I was trying to finish my work on Lycidas. This work required me to look up various archaic words and their definitions in the OED online, not to mention quite a bit of concentration, so I plugged my headphones into my computer and listened to The Album Leaf to provide some white noise. The room was dark save for the minimal glow coming from my desk lamp, and the musing, abstract sounds of string, beat, and bagpipe mixed with the myriad conceits of Milton had put me in a strange, ethereal mood. All of the sudden, in my ears, I heard the loud moans of the sexual variety and, upon looking up at the computer screen, a pop-up. In this advertisement was an offer to find hot, young, local girls to be my sexual partner as well as some rather tasteless quick videos of these girls in very awkward, not to mention uncomfortable positions with baseball bats.
Needless to say, I immediately downloaded Mozilla Firefox.

So, I am having a rather difficult time accustoming myself to the changes.
Actually, I also downloaded AIM Triton, which, now that I think about it, is the real reason that I am having difficulty accustoming myself to said changes. Mozilla Firefox is really no different than Explorer; I really just wanted an excuse to tell my dirty pop-up story.

Listening: The Album Leaf "Thule"