I am thankful for...

Having Colin as my best friend and boyfriend.

My job at ZooFriends and my awesome coworkers there, all of whom I consider friends.

My job at the library, and my coworkers/friends there.

The library, with all the free books, DVDs, CDs, and information it offers.

My dad, who lets me live at his house and is a great roommate.

My mom, who takes me on cool vacations, like Disney World.

My sister, who will be a friend I never have to worry about losing contact with.

My friends who live close by and come hang out with me.

My friends who live far away and keep in touch with me.

Having a bachelor's degree.

Not having to be in school, but having the opportunity to go back if I want.

My cousins, more friends I can count on to always be in my life, no matter what.

Facebook, which allows me to easily keep in touch with so many people that I rarely get to see.

Barnes & Noble, for sending me coupons and making it affordable for me to buy gifts for everyone, including myself.

Neil Gaiman, for making the fantasy genre cool and the macabre accessible.

Hulu, which allows me to keep up with my shows when I miss their original air dates.

Hollywood, for providing me with endless hours of entertainment and escape.

Independent filmmakers, for providing me with endless hours of though-provoking and emotionally resonant stories.

All the band directors and music instructors I've ever had, for teaching me how to play, listen, and appreciate music.

Macaroni and cheese, for being the most delicious food ever.

Say no to hate

I drove up to Tulsa yesterday, I'm sitting in Colin's apartment on TU's campus now, and I just realized that for the first time in 2 years, I don't hate school. I hated it during my senior year--I could hardly wait to be finished. I hated it the year after that, remembering how "awful" it was the previous year. But now that I'm a little more removed from experience, I no longer have such negative feelings toward it. I can even see myself doing more in the future, either tech or grad school, and not being miserable the whole time. (The only downside--really steep downside--would be the cost.)

I think perhaps the reason why school seemed to suck so much was because I wasn't happy with my life in general at the time. I liked school my sophomore year, and I liked my life. I didn't like school my junior and senior years, and I didn't like my life. Funny how that seems to work. It's hard to be satisfied with one part of your life when another is severely stressing you out.

Right now, I'm mostly happy with my life, but I'm uneasy about where it's headed. I like both of my jobs, and I love my coworkers. I'm in a healthy, fulfilling relationship with a guy I love. I have a fairly good number of friends in OKC now. But I do still somewhat feel like I'm in a rut. I don't really have a concrete game plan. I don't know where or when I'll end up moving (or even if I'll be moving at all, frankly). My life so far has consisted of working toward the next level of school. Now that I'm done, I'm not sure what to do with myself. I'm not even sure I want to pursue a career in the field I studied.

At least I can rest easy knowing I'm not in debt, like most other people my age who just graduated. That's a really nice situation to be in, and since I'm living with my dad, not having to pay rent, I'm able to save up money. I guess even if nothing changes in the next year or two, I'll have a good chunk of change in my savings account that will allow me to do whatever, and go wherever, I want once I figure out what, and where, that is.

I is a college graduate.

It's finally over. I'm back in Edmond with Dad. I'm sitting on my comfy couch in the only place I've ever really considered home, and I'm done with school... FOREVER. Even if I go to a film tech school later, which seems likely, that won't be like regular old school because it's so hands on.

I was pissed off by not getting to wear an Ireland ribbon at graduation. Apparently I wasn't on the study abroad office's graduation list, so they didn't have one for me. The lady I talked to said I could wear a UK one if I wanted--uh, no. I didn't go there. So... that was dumb and annoying. I was, however, tickled by the fact that I got to wear cum laude cords, because my GPA is going to drop a little below 3.5 after my grades from this semester go through. :P The commencement ceremony itself was actually pretty fun. I got to sit by my friends, and it was a great day, in general. It felt significantly better than high school graduation, meaning it felt like it meant more.

Now I have to find a job. Ugh. Not excited. At all. My plan for now is that if I can't find anything after a while, then I might consider bartending school--there is one in OKC. Then I can become a bartender. They make pretty good money, so I hear, and the hours are pretty perfect for me, plus, I'm generally interested in alcohol. I think I could deal with the people--I'm already somewhat used to being sober around drunk people, anyway.

As a side note, I recently watched a TED talk by Sam Harris that really fascinated me, so I Googled him. He seems like one of the smartest people out there right now--I might try to read a couple of his books pretty soon.

I Want More Snow Days

Ugh. It's only 3 weeks into the semester and I'm already tired of school. Getting last Friday off because of snow and ice put me in the no-school mood and I'm still in it. Good thing my schedule isn't too strenuous. If it was, I'm not sure I could make it!

Nah, I could, but it'd be torture. So far, band, poetry, and digital recording II have all been great. I've had no desire to skip them and the homework either nonexistant or interesting. ASL IV hasn't been too bad, either. I'm liking it a lot better than last semester--probably because of the new professor. Astronomy is a doozy, though. Most of the stuff I'm supposed to be "learning" is stuff I already know, and the homework is fairly heavy and boring. I've already skipped that class 5 times. I know, I'm bad. But there's no attendance policy and the prof puts all the powerpoints online, AND my sleep schedule is wacked out.

Astronomy is my earliest class--at 11am. Now that's not early by any means, but when a person doesn't fall asleep until 3am or later, it sure seems that way. I'm in the process of trying to fix my sleep schedule, but so far I haven't made much progress...

Seniors got letters in the mail today from Signature Anouncements about ordering graduation announcements. It really can't come soon enough, I tell you.

Jobing

Looks like this semester is going to go pretty well. All of my classes are either interesting or easy, and I have a fairly loose schedule. No class on Tuesday, only one 2pm class Thursday, and I'm done by 1pm on Friday. Also, I don't have to worry about going to football games on Saturdays (or other days). I still work for The Collegian, which is a nice, easy source of income, so I shouldn't be too broke.

The only bad thing is that I have to search for a job or something to do after I graduate in May. I've always hated job hunting (as does everyone), and I've never been very good at it. I don't really think Craigslist is going to help me out much. I might need to use some kind of job-finding website. Maybe google will help some. Blurg!

I like the way this semester is looking, but my mind won't be at ease until I know what I'll be doing and where I'll be going after graduation. I really want to be ready to go as soon as I'm finished at TU. It'd be a real doozy to have to keep looking for something afterward.

Man, today was a full day.

So I've pretty much got my schedule all sorted out, and Monday is by far my busiest day.

I had a lesson in the uilleann pipes at 2pm. It's me and another guy named John Scott. Both of us are beginners, so we really don't know what we're doing, but I'm glad it's the two of us 'cause that'll give me more incentive to practice, I think--so I don't make a fool of myself.

My first impression is that it will be a bit hard to get used to, but the fingerings aren't to hard. It's just that while you move your fingers around, you have to move your elbows, especially your right one, to pump air through the pipes. You don't blow into it like Scottish bag pipes--there's a small bellows that you pump with your right elbow to get air flowing into the the bag and through the pipes. So... the trouble is that you have to move your elbows and fingers all at the same time. I'm sure I'll get it with practice, but I'm sure I'll have to practice to get it. I can't get away without practicing (like I do with the bassoon) because I don't know what I'm doing at all really. All I know right now is the D major scale. :P

Then I have three classes in a row--at 4, 5, and 6. At 4 is a Exploring the New, a music class about 20th, avant-garde, new wave composers--I think that'll be fun. At 5 is Intro to Irish Traditional Music, which is basically us looking at pictures of instruments and listening to clips of music--that'll be fun and easy. And then at 6 is a general Irish culture class that is less like a lecture and more like a class full of people listening and talking to a lively professor who tells cool stories--that will probably be my favorite class.

The only problem is that Exploring the New is in the music building, which is up on a giant hill like a 15 or 20 minute walk from the main campus. Irish Traditional Music is the Connolly Building, which is one of a group of buildings about 5 or 10 minutes from campus. And the last class is on the main campus. At least Traditional Music is in between the music building and the main campus, but I still have to hoof it from one class to the next to get to them on time. :P

So it's a busy day, but it's totally worth it because it's all of my coolest classes, and the rest of my week is pretty easy sailing.

On Tues/Thurs I have Aspects of Irish Folklore, which will be a typical lecture, with typical essay and final, but at least it's pretty interesting subject matter.

On Thursday I also have a lesson in the bodhran, an Irish drum. My first lesson is this Thursday, and I'm pretty excited about that one.

And then there is Intro to Modern Irish, which I think will be really cool, but we don't yet have the timetable for that one because they set it up according to everyone's schedules. Hopefully it won't meet on Fridays 'cause I'd really like to keep that day off. I also hope it doesn't end up in the morning, because right now I don't have any morning classes and that is awesome.
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In other news, I went with a group yesterday (Sunday) to Blarney Castle, which is just about a 15 to 20 minute bus ride away. That was great fun.

Yes, I kissed the Blarney Stone.

I also took a ton of photos. It was drizzling pretty much all day, but it was still a very pleasant trip. It wasn't too terribly cold, just a bit wet. I got to really try out my new waterproof boots and they turned out to be very convenient. I could tromp through puddles without any worries.
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By the way, I've been having trouble uploading all of my photos to the livejournal website I linked to earlier, so I'm trying out a new sit called Shutterfly. I think that will end up working much better, and it also has a journal entry section included on the share site.

So, bottom line... I'll probably be moving everything over to that website pretty soon, photos, journal, everything. Once I get it all updated and pretty, I'll post a link to it from here and then I'll probably just stop posting on here for a while--no need to have 2 separate blogs for the same span of time.

America in Ireland

It's funny the amount of American culture I'm encountering while outside America. Though a lot of it is older stuff. I watched Sabrina the Teenage Witch on tv a few days ago. I heard Eagle Eye Cherry's "Save Tonight" in a grocery store. House is starting new with season 1 on tv this week. I never expected to come to Ireland and see Will Smith's face plastered everywhere on advertisements for the movie Seven Pounds, but there ya go. I also just finished watching a movie on tv called Orange County. I really liked it! It's really funny--Jack Black, Scarlet O'Hara, John Lithgow, and others. Great coming-of-age story. :P

Last night, a group of us (Maureen, Jon, Kate, Holly, Allie, Patrick) went out to a couple of pubs (Preachers and Counihan's), and we passed a guy playing didgeridoo. That was kinda random and cool.

The beer here is really good. I never really liked it much before, but that's probably just because a lot of beer in the US is just bad quality, and I had only tried a few different kinds. Fosters is my favorite so far.

I have to admit that I'm already starting to miss home a little. I think that might be partly because I didn't get much time to chill between finals and my flight. I was working constantly the last few weeks of school, and then any free time I had I was spent sort of frantically trying to see all my friends before leaving. I did a pretty good job of that, and I'm glad, but I wish I had had a little more time to just sit back and relax before leaving. Oh well. I can look forward to doing that this summer (though I'm sure I'm going to be working a lot since I'll be broke when I return).

At least I won't have to worry about school when I get back. As for school here, I don't think it'll be too bad. I think the uilleann pipes and bodhran will be fun, though I will have to practice, and I've heard that Intro to Irish Traditional Music is super easy. The rest of my classes are lectures that have one longish essay and one exam at the end. Not too bad at all, but after having just finished a semester that was all projects, it'll take me a little while to get back into the groove of listening to lectures, taking notes, and writing papers.

Here's the website for the photos, by the way (I also added a link to it on the right under "Links"):

http://pics.livejournal.com/caseylowry/gallery/0000cbs9

It isn't completely updated because it's taking me a really long time to upload all of the photos. I'm gettin' there, though.

*whew*

The semester is finally over. I am so glad. I ended up with pretty good grades, too, which is great, considering what a bad month November was. I can finally relax after working almost constantly for 2 weeks--I even stayed up for 54 hours straight at one point.

Now I can finally start concentrating on my trip to Ireland. Woo! I'm excited. I still have a lot to do to get ready, though, and so little time to do it--my flight is only 10 days away, for crying out loud! One of the things I need to do is see friends. I got that done in Tulsa, but I still have some Edmondites to take care of. I'm really glad I'll be in Edmond for the next few days so I can do that.

Man, oh, man. It's gonna be surreal. It's gonna be a blast. It's gonna be awesome. Especially after talking to Ciaran (student from Northern Ireland going to TU), I'm really pumped for this adventure.

I'm in a perpetual state of waiting.

Well, I thought that with the coming of November, my life in general would become less stressful, but so far this has not been the case. This semester is starting to wear me thin. I'm STILL in the thick of all my class projects, so school is a bit chaotic. Band obligations have diminished slightly, but I've been skipping rehearsal some lately and I feel guilty for it. I keep staying up till the early hours of the morning (take a look at the post time below) and then waking up obscenely late. It's not responsible and it's not healthy. I have yet to fully catch up in Animation, though at least I haven't gotten any further behind. Today (meaning Monday) was the most unproductive day of the semester as well as one of the worst days I've EVER had. Study abroad forms continue to bombard me and probably will through December. I can't wait to leave on January first. I definitely need a change in scenery. Routines make me crazy, which may be why I'm slacking off so much lately--this does tend to happen in the latter half of semesters. In any event, tomorrow (meaning Tuesday) I will try to force myself to get my act together, and hopefully I can get through the rest of the month and half left of school with good grades, health, and confidence to be ready for travel. I'll be counting down the days.

"Now I see clearly, and the dawn in coming nearly."

Well, my situation has definitely improved quite a bit in a week.

I now have a job at the bike shop. Today was my first day. It was fun! Putting bikes together. The only bad thing about it is that it's in the morning, but that's ok. I need to stop sleeping so late, anyway. The job doesn't really take any skill; it's just screwing in this, and attaching that. I love putting things together. Legos were my favorite toy when I was little.

I'm also going to be the photo/graphics editor for The Collegian again. I'm glad. I thought last May that I wouldn't do it again because I knew I had a busy schedule, but I do really need the money, and it is pretty fun most of the time, and my class schedule isn't going to be as hectic as I thought...

I'm not doing orchestra this year. *whew* My only B last semester, and probably the most time consuming class I've ever taken, and it's at such an inconvenient time! Ugh! No thank you. I might do it my senior year if there's not too much else going on, but for now, no way, José.

I've also decided to drop Music History III. I only went to two class periods and I already knew it was going to be my most boring class, by far. It would likely turn out as a B if I were to stay in it, and I really want this semester to be a blast, so I can wait till next year to take Music History. Also, the books for that class were WAY expensive. I didn't see that coming. But now I get a refund, thank God.

I think I am set. I have some great film studies stuff ahead of me, and band is going to be great, and I will be able to earn some money, and... I have decided to get out more, meaning I am going to get into exercise. Agatha and I had decided to play tennis on a regular basis, which shall be wonderful, I am sure. I am going to go disc golfing as much as possible, partly depending on whether others will go with me. And I'm going to start running. I have decided. I think now is when I will finally be motivated to get out and just run. I have an iPod that I don't use much, so running will be good use of that. Also, I've heard Riverside is a great place to run about. Also, I'm just sick and tired of being out of shape (pun intended). I miss that feeling. I miss being active. I feel better about myself when I'm outside moving around, and hey, that's basically a description of running! Imagine that!

I should probably add that I'm helping out at a film shoot tomorrow through Sunday, which should be a good and fun experience. I can't wait to use the sound mixer, if I can figure it out, that is...

I think this semester is going to be good.

Well, the first week of school went well. I think my film classes are going to be a blast, and I'll be able to overlap some projects with some of them, which is cool. Music History is probably going to be my least favorite, but at least it won't be real difficult.

Band is great. The pit music this year is quite challenging, which is a nice change. It was frustrating during band camp, but now that I'm starting to get it down, I'm having a lot of fun with it. Also, I love all the freshmen and new members. We have a great section this year. A real section.

It's amazing what listening to a bit of music can do to change one's mood. I was feeling somewhat blue earlier, and I decided I'd just sit down, chill, and listen to some of my favorite songs. It did wonders. I feel at least 50% better. :P I think the song of the moment right now is KT Tunstall's "Saving My Face".

Also, Lori has offered to give me a ride to Scottish dance on Thursday nights sometimes, and that is awesome. It's going to take me a while to get used to my new bike, so this way I won't have to miss dance for the first half of the semester.