Ktria's Little World

This is why, as much as I'm excited about my move to the real world, I'm also really going to miss college:

My roommates and I all went to bed around midnight last night (yes, we're losers like that). I had my bedroom window open because it was so nice out, and as I was getting into bed, I heard two guys talking under the window. Our building backs onto the woods and there's hardly ever anyone out there, so I looked to see what was going on. They seemed to be running an extension cord up into the trees, and after a couple of minutes, they managed to rig up a light in a clump of trees just to one side of the building. I heard "Okay guys, we've got light!" and a whole group of other people came running over to join the party.

At this point, I needed backup. Either a bunch of drunk people were being obnoxious and we needed to call the cops on them, or something really amusing was going on and I had to share it. So I went and got Julia, and together we tried to figure out what the heck was going on out there. Eventually our spying paid off: we heard something like "No, move the camera, there are still houses in the shot." They were filming a movie! Not only that, it turned out - they were filming a ZOMBIE movie! This was highly amusing. They were pretty serious and organized about it too - they had a soundtrack and costumes and everything. We continued to eavesdrop as they staged a dramatic scene in which a poor human victim is sacrificed to Satan. They did take after take, to the point where Julia and I had both memorized the scene.

So we decided we had to prank them a little bit. They were being loud outside our window, and we weren't going to call the cops because they were actually working on something, but we had to get our own back somehow. Plus, we had gone to all this effort in figuring out what was going on, and that shouldn't be wasted. It took us a while to come up with an appropriate response, and a while longer to work up the nerve. But eventually, as they ended yet another take with the knife poised over the victim, a voice (me and Julia trying to sound scary in unison) boomed out from our window:

"THIS IS SATAN. YOU HAVE SUMMONED ME. I WILL ACCEPT MY GIFT NOW."

Moment of stunned silence. Then, from one of the girls: "Um...will you accept jewelry?"

"Sure! We take checks too. And chocolate."

Then they went back to work, while Julia and I fell over laughing.

So on the off chance that anybody knows the intrepid cast and crew of this mysterious zombie movie: We expect tickets to the premiere. And maybe a mention in the credits: "Special thanks to Satan"?

I love college.

Sorry for the lack of posting recently. There's not been much interesting to report - I've been sick with the same cold/sore throat/whatever that everybody else at UNC seems to have, compounded by the fact that I was stubborn enough to sing all the Holy Week services anyway. (It was totally worth it.) Anyway, I seem to be getting better now. I went to kickboxing tonight and made it through without too much difficulty, so that's a good sign.

In any case, I think it's about time I kept my promise and posted the cover of Laurie's book in its full glory. So here it is. It's in two images here (for the front and back) - click on them to view them full size.

Firstly: The Second Annual CS Department Pub Crawl was a great success. I wasn't hardcore enough to start drinking at 3 in the afternoon like some people; I met up with the party at around 7, which still gave me a chance to visit plenty of bars! B was in town to join the fun, and she and I made it through the night by splitting beers. Some random amusing moments: weird Spanish talk shows on the TV at Hector's; pushup contests; trivia at BW3's; encountering several groups of sorority girls playing bar golf, complete with plastic golf clubs. B and I made it home at about 3 a.m., completely exhausted. It was a good time. Though I wouldn't want to do it any more often than once a year!

Secondly: WE GOT THE CONDO! After much red tape and non-communication, and an exciting detour in which my roommates and I managed to convince our current apartment complex that they should not be mad at us for ignoring a renewal notice that they never actually sent us, Ed's and my application to rent a condo in Reston was approved today. Yay! That's one less thing to stress about. Unfortunately, it also raises my senioritis level by another notch, which means I have very little motivation to get through all the work I have left this semester. Oh well...

And on that note, I think I shall put off my homework and go out to dinner. Today what made me happy (besides the condo, obviously!) was an impromptu lunchtime gathering in the halls of Sitterson to tell stories about the pub crawl. :)

Hmm, I seem to blog in spurts. No updates for weeks, and suddenly I have all kinds of things I want to post. (Yes, Aimee, I will put up the rest of the pictures from Laurie's book!) But this is too amusing not to share. I was just using Google Maps to drool over downtown Reston and our prospective condo, and as I was scrolling around the map, this appeared:


Yes, that's right. Apparently, there's some guy skiing just west of our apartment complex. Take a closer look...


If this is a bug, it's a really weird one (how could that picture even be in the same database as the satellite images?) I'm inclined to think it's an Easter egg put in there by some coder. It doesn't seem to show up consistently - it's not there when I look up the map in IE, and Tim doesn't see it on his computer either. Want to check it out yourself? Googlemap "Lake Shore Crest Dr, Reston, VA" and zoom all the way in, then scroll slightly south and west. If you see the Mystery Skiier, let me know!

Because B is awesome (and trying to avoid doing work) she wrote me a haiku. So I'm posting it here. To show off her awesome poetic skills, of course. Not a bit of narcissism here. What do you think this is, a blog?

Sing Wicked with me
computers, dancing, and beer
butterfly spirit

This probably won't make any sense to anybody except me and B (and possibly those who have been unlucky enough to be stuck in a car and/or dorm room with us) but it makes me happy anyway. :)

This weekend was apartment hunting, part two. Ed and I spent Saturday driving around Reston looking at apartments/condos - an exhausting process, of course, though slightly simplified by the fact that we ended up with a real estate agent who showed us most of the places. To simplify things further, we both instantly fell in love with the last place we saw. It's a condo in a nice development, walking distance from downtown (and my office!) and with plenty of space and a big porch out front. We put in an application for it, and should hear back later this week. Keep your fingers crossed!

We also got to hang out with Colin and Dee, which was a lot of fun - they introduced us to California Tortilla, we watched the George Mason game, and Dee and I tried to trick the guys into watching a chick flick. (It didn't work.) She and I have decided that once I move up there, we'll be football widows together. :)

Then I drove back to Chapel Hill and arrived just in time for dinner - it was Laurie's birthday! Julia and I had put together the best present ever, if I do say so myself: a manuscript (well, okay, the cover) of Laurie's upcoming first book.

Complete with quotes from reviewers, an "About the Author" bio, and a blurb on the inside front cover. An excerpt, written by Julia, who is awesome:

Was Brahms secretly a homosexual? Did his clandestine yearnings not for Clara but for Robert seep through the notes of his esteemed Requiem? Do we catch the masturbatory practices of Tchaikovsky among the themes in his masterpiece, Swan Lake? Was Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries really a yearning for a pale and delicate shade of pink? Are these questions not stupid and inane in the first place? ... [McManus's] revolutionary methods of applying logic and factual information to music interpretation reach to wider circles as well. ...There really is no longer any excuse for this shit to exist in academia, unless for our own amusement.

When Laurie actually writes this book and it becomes world-famous, just remember - you heard it here first. ;)

Okay, I've rambled on long enough for one blog post. Today what makes me happy is getting to say stuff like "Oh, our real estate agent is going to talk to their agent and call me back." It's fun being a grownup - or at least pretending to be one!