running.

I'm going to college. I've already signed up for all my classes, and not a one is on a Wait List. First block, I'm taking Humanities and 2D Design. Second block has Math, Writing, and Computer Essentials. 15 credit hours. I am totally jumping into this cold pool called college, whereas some people just kinda slink in. Reminds me of when we lived in Lake Tahoe. I would run into that melted-snow-filled hole. The beaches there had very gritty sand, not nearly as fine as you get on oceans. The geese were cruel, too. Small, green strips of feces littered anywhere the geese gathered.



I got a job. I've had interviews at the Pizza Pie Cafe up in Sandy, the Trafalga in Lehi, and the Trafalga in Orem. All of the interviews went well. Pizza Pie almost hired me on the spot, but the position was just filled. They recommended I call in 2 weeks, just in case people are fired or quit. The Lehi Trafalga said they would call back by tomorrow. The manager at the Orem Trafalga was a bit worried that I would only work for 4 months if I got a job there, but he understood my missionary situation (As he said, "You see, I'm LDS as well. So I want to help you pay for your mission." Or something along those lines). He told me he would let me know within a week if I got the job or not. I got a call that night, saying I had gotten the job. From what he told me, it sounds like I'd start off by working at least 14 hours a week (7 hours a day), which is terrific, considering I was only working 4 a week over at GameStop.

I joined a club. The "Anime" Club, they call themselves. I don't have any reason to take these guys seriously yet. I'll consider it the "Relieve Stress by Doing Something You Find Fun" Club, since watching new anime is something I'm interested in, and I need a place to unwind and be myself for a bit. I don't take them seriously (for the most part) because it seems like a gathering place for social outcasts. You can always tell those people by how they talk to others, and what they talk about. There's a sense of insecurity that seeps through their teeth, and they only know how to talk about things they know a lot about, just so they can puff themselves up. Any other subject gives them a chance to embarrass themselves, which they want to avoid at all costs. Or something like that. I have yet to define behavior for the socially awkward, especially since I've been around them a lot. And I'm not saying I'm not socially awkward; I know there are still a few elements in my mannerisms that would make me appear like that. I'm trying to find out what those aspects are and destroy them. The more I hang around these people, the more I want to not be like them. But I still love what they love, and they share that with me, and I share it with them. It'll all figure itself out, I hope.

I turned in my mission papers. They should come next week, but I don't plan to leave until August 20th, at the least. My dad's still set on me going to Mongolia. "I just feel like there's supposed to be a Staib in Mongolia," he says. Wherever I'm called, as I've said many times, I won't feel like it's not the place for me. I'll be called to that place for a reason beyond my understanding. It could be for me, or it could be for an investigator, it could be for a companion... But whatever happens, I hope that I work hard.

I don't have a car anymore. My sister took it down to Arizona with her, and all the cars we have are manuals. "So learn how to drive a stick!" is what everyone says, but even THAT won't solve anything. We only have 2 cars right now, and my dad has to use 1 to go to work, so we need a backup car to be here. Plus, my sister goes all over the place once she's home. I have to, once again, rely on being driven around. I haven't minded much so far, but now that I think about going to college, having a job, club activities, and continuing D&D, a car would just solve all my problems right now.

I need a computer. Maybe not need, but unless I get a routine going, a laptop would also fix a lot of my problems. And even though I finally have a job, all of my money must 100% go to my mission and education. I would love to do what my sister did (Parents pay for 50%), especially since all I want is a humble PC laptop – well, a DECENT one, anyway – but I think the notion would degrade the value I have for my mission and education. At least, that's how it would appear to my parents. Micah kindly offered to let me use his own PC if his friend let him have his nice one. It's an extremely generous offer. It's not a laptop, but PCs have one benefit that this ol' Mac does not: You can upgrade it. There are too many features I'm cut off from right now that are going to be important for college. Google Docs, for example. Yes. I can't use Google Docs. And what if I'm required to install some special program for class? I know my computer can't handle those. Lately, my computer's been force-quitting out of applications at random, as well. I'm pretty much sick of this white trash (DURR HURR).

I need a vacation. I still haven't broken the news about the Pokémon tournament in San Diego to my parents. I think I'll wait until the start of the second black to do that. At this point, it sounds like the tournament vacation and the family San Diego trip would intertwine. That'd sure be interesting. Micah suggested taking an 8-hour road trip to listen to the entire Beatles discography, which sounds incredibly fun. Just grab a hippie van to Moab and back, singing along to Beatles. That'd be fantastic. Possibly print the lyrics so we can all sing well. Utah's own Magical Mystery Tour! Roll down the windows, blasting "I've Got A Feeling". The perfect road trip, it sounds like. Someone made an interesting comment after I said that I can sing a lot like a couple of the Beatles: Since a Beatle had died before I was born, maybe I gained some of his singing talent, or something. But I sound more like George, who died in '01. Maybe some of his talent's in me, too. BLUH BLUH BLUH GHOSTY SPIRITS