I've always kind of wanted to send a telegram, just for the sake of having sent a telegram. I don't know whether it's even possible; still, I'd like to try, someday. But I did just send a text message (yeah, it's been unavoidable - but I did make it all the way to college without ever having sent one) in telegram-speak because I don't know how to make punctuation (it was hard enough learning how to make letters, spaces, and especially capital letters).

Nobody's posting on Oasis......

My roommates are so wonderful. This evening we had to write up a 'Roommate Agreement,' like a contract wherein we agree on policies regarding using each other's stuff and letting other people into the room and so forth, but we treated it partly seriouswise and partly as a total joke. Like we decided that we would solve all conflicts that might arise by 'LIGHTSABER DUEL!' mediated by the Resident Adviser, who must be wearing a black cloak. And now we can't wait to have any problems so we can take our lightsabers and black-cloaked Jimmy out to the lawn and have an awesome battle.

Apparently I haven't been so discreet about using the 'wrong' shower room as I had thought. Apparently there have been 'rumors' and some of the guys have been getting uncomfortable. And now I have no idea what's going to happen next - I don't want to leave my wonderful roommates, I really don't want to have to explain to my family that I'm getting transferred to the apartments because I was using the men's bathrooms in the dorms, but I don't want to use the girls' bathrooms, or keep making the guys uncomfortable.

Yup. College classes begin today; I've had two of them already. I don't know whether I'm behind or not - my roommates have been doing homework since at least yesterday and I haven't even gotten all my books yet, but at least I know some of the material and I'm pretty sure that many if not most people are even further behind than I am.

One of the guys in my Welcome Week group suggested that some morning we have a semi-organised 'sing badly in the shower.' I hope that happens, though it probably won't. I'll try to learn the words to the proposed song just in case, though.

Yesterday I went home and visited my family and helped my brother study Latin and ate enchiladas.

You're not supposed to sleep at college. Or at least not during Welcome Week. Not sure how that's supposed to work.....

Also, the guys' shower room is closed for cleaning at eight o'clock every morning, which, depending on people's schedules, is may be one of the times people most want to shower. Seriously, why couldn't they clean the shower room at, like, noon?

Yup. Really good, actually. So much better than I had expected.

One of my roommates still isn't here yet, but the one who is here is great. She's super excited and enthusiastic about everything; she's nerdy and loves Star Wars and has a sandwich-cutter shaped like a Tie Fighter; she baby-talks to her one-eyed beta fish; she thinks bacteria are about the coolest things ever. Her codename shall be... Leah. Just because.

Moving to college today... Yeah, it's just on the other side of town (so why I'm even going to the dorms I'm not sure). Seems like half the people here on Oasis just started college in the past couple of weeks. So, I guess it's my turn now.

Yeah. Today I got a new learner's permit (the first one, which I got some time when I was sixteen, expired after one year, and then for maybe almost another year I didn't get another one, which is how I come to be eighteen and a half years old and have only the barest rudiments of driving ability) (this time I passed the written test with only one away from perfect, rather than one away from failing, like last time, though) (pardon the parentheses, I've forgotten where this sentence was before them...

Today my mom and I took Oma on a car ride through the hills north of town, down this mad dirt road. It was nice - Oma even enjoyed it. She was in a good mood today, but very confused. At one point she didn't know the answer to a question about her past, and so told my mom, 'You'll have to ask your father' - Opa, who has been dead some thirty-odd years now. And she didn't know who I was.

Why does my school start so bloody late, eh? The end of summer is so boriiiiing...... and still has maybe two weeks left.... Everyone else is going to school and so forth while I just sit here waiting...

So, my dad is the only person in my family who can actually get stuff done and doesn't procrastinate indefinitely...

For months after the big remodel of my mom's house, the walls of my bedroom were completely bare - just paint and the curtains. And I had a few things to put on them, but no definite plan as to what to put where, and for months and months I just never bothered to put these things up. And this weekend my dad came here, and together he and I put up all these things:

- The Masai shield I bought in Tanzania

Well, I feel like writing a journal, but I have pretty much nothing to say, so, random things....

Today my mom and I went to see The Help, which was an amazing movie... I cried at least twice. I cry at movies more than I used to, I've noticed. Still don't do it terribly often, but I used to never.

'Shnarr' is my annoyed noise. I think it comes from some children's book about a hyperintelligent Siamese cat, that I used to read when I was little. The cat was named Henry, and he could do things like fly hot air balloons and improvise skis, but aside from his smarts he wasn't anthropomorphised at all, and all he could say was 'Shnarr.' I think. Regardless. I've been feeling pretty good recently - for a long time, actually - but the only things I have to report are shnarr-worthy things.