My first weekend at Denison is nearly over, and I'm happy to say it was a very fun and eventful one. I started out Friday by watching the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It was a good movie and I was really glad I went because I had wanted to see it for awhile, plus it was free. So yeah, that was fun. After that, I had to go to a party across campus because all day long I had been telling a bunch of my sorority sisters that I would. So I made the trek to the other side, to brave the drunken wasteland of east quad. Oh east quad, with your flashing lights, deafening mixture of hip-hop, dance, and rock music blasting from each different room, and your constant smell of beer that lingers in each and every dorm! I'm endlessly grateful that I do not live within your walls! Ok, seriously, I'm so glad I don't live there. Maybe I'm just too uptight, but I don't think I would like having crowds of people standing drunk in the middle of the courtyard with all the music and yelling and screaming that goes on there, even if it is the weekend. Although I'm pretty happy I don't live there, it's not a bad place to visit. So I spent a few hours in Shep, the nastiest dorm on campus in my opinion. I can't understand why so many people would want to live there, it's so old and dirty, and it smells like beer and cigarettes at any time of any day. Of course I may just be holding a grudge because I was there last year so many times when there was vomit in the hallways and it really grossed me out. Either way, that's where many parties are at.

I got there late, so by the time I arrived, pretty much everyone who drinks (which is most people) were already drunk, which is funny, because it means you are greeted with cheers and hugs from everyone. I don't really mind going to a party like that where I'm friends with most everyone there, even if they have been drinking. They're just funny because they get so excited about everything and you can say absolutely anything and it'll make them laugh. However, I am not entirely comfortable at parties where I don't really know anyone other than the person I followed to the party. I'm not so good at the whole small talk thing. Although I have to say that drunk guys are complete idiots. Sorry if it's mean, but it's so frequently true. They stand there and say the stupidest things and think that it's something intelligent, clever, or funny, then if you laugh, they act like they think they're so cool and proud because they made you laugh. They don't realize that you're laughing because they're stupid, not because they're funny. For the purpose of being diplomatic, I'll say that I know not everyone is like that, but that has been my experience in so many situations. Anyway, with the exception of the freshmen girls traveling in packs of 10 or more trying to pretend not to be freshmen when it was so completely obvious that they were, Friday night was fun. Nina and I literally herded the intoxicated people back to west quad making sure that they didn't chase after everyone they passed. Yay sober squad.

Today (actually I guess it was yesterday) was really fun too. After sleeping late and going to brunch, Nina, Emily, and I went to Easton for the afternoon. It's overwhelming being there because there are so many stores with so much neat stuff. Of course the highlight of the trip was going to the Gap where I couldn't resist the urge to spend some of my summer cash. However, I didn't feel too bad because everything I bought was on sale. Plus I got a black dress (yay!) because I don't have a black dress and I need one because 1. Everyone needs a fun black dress, 2. I need it for various sorority functions throughout the year, 3. It only cost half of it's original price! It was even better because it was a size smaller than what I usually wear, and that's always one of the best feelings in the world, when you try stuff on and discover you need a smaller size! Anyway, the rest of the time there was spent window shopping and sifting through all the stores where a simple t-shirt costs $58; stores where it is impossible for us poor college students to actually buy things, but where we spend hours wishing we could. Luckily, we left just in time to avoid the traffic from the OSU-Cincinnati game, because God knows all these crazy Ohio people are obsessed with Ohio State football.

The dining hall was closed yet again so they could have another outdoor picnic thing, this time with all sorts of carnival type things, like sumo wrestling suits, a laser tag place, some kind of simulated skydiving, and a few other things. We didn't really do anything other than eat, but it was kind of a neat thing to have and lots of people seemed to enjoy it. At least the activity planning people are trying to have interesting and original things. After that, I didn't really have anything much to do. I mean, there were several parties I could've gone to and several people I knew who were going to parties, but I did that last night and didn't really want to go again; low-key Saturday nights are the best. So, because we're such nerds, my roommate and I were actually reading homework assignments on Saturday night. It was completely silent when all of a sudden, she blurts out, "Do you want to go to a movie?" and I said sure, so with 15 minutes until the movie started, we ran down the stairs, sped down to the nearest movie theater, and made it just at the beginning of the previews. So spontaneous, but so fun. Yay, our first episode of roommate bonding! We saw the movie Wicker Park, which was pretty good I guess. Not horrible, but not spectacular. Probably one I would've preferred to rent though. It was one of those movies that starts near the end of the story and works it's way backwards, slowly unravelling events piece by piece until it all makes sense. Kind of weak subject matter/themes, but it was better than reading the speeches of a Puritan leader about the model Christian.

Tomorrow (really today) should prove to be eventful as well. First of all, my parents are coming to drop off my refrigerator, so it will be neat to see them again even though I've only been gone a week. I'm sure they'll want to do something with me, especially since they're driving 3 1/2 hours just to drop off the fridge. I didn't get any academic work accomplished, so now I have to read a bunch for 3 different classes tomorrow. Plus, it's the first chapter meeting of the year, then I'm going to hear Howard Dean speak. So it'll continue to be a busy weekend. Although it means lots of school work, I'm so glad to be back at college! I really missed having so many great people so close. Ok, I'm getting really tired now. I started writing this at about 12:30, but had to stop halfway through because Emily and Lauren stopped by for awhile, so now it's almost 3:30 and I'm really exhausted. Sorry I just made everyone read every minute detail about my weekend. Goodnight, I'm seriously falling asleep.