settled in

I moved into my new apartment a few days ago and I love it so far. It's already a million times better than my old place just because it's not a basement apartment. My room's small-ish, but not uncomfortably so, and it's painted dark red and the furniture (the girl I'm subleasing from is kindly letting me use hers) is black, which kind of appeals to the wannabe goth in me that I haven't completely gotten rid of since high school. My roommates are both incredibly nice. One, Brooke, is only here for a couple more weeks, but she's been really friendly and talkative and I'm kind of going to miss her when she moves. The other, Katie, invited me out for drinks before her humane society coworkers' volleyball game about two minutes after we met, which was really nice of her. Her coworkers were all really nice too, and I think I impressed them with my crazy ninja reflexes when I stopped a rogue volleyball from slamming into my face.

Both roommates have dogs, which has been loads of fun but also has taken a little getting used to. Brooke has a pitbull/boxer mix named Spud, who is super hyper and affectionate. Katie has a Newfoundland the size of a pony named Abby-the most chill animal I have ever met- and a shih tzu named Minnie, who looks like a mop with little legs and one blue eye and one brown eye (which makes me think of David Bowie...I want to watch Labyrinth now...). They're all really sweet and entertaining, although I'm still adjusting to the massive amounts of shedding and the dog smell everywhere.

Besides the move, there's not much else going on right now. I'm working a little and apparently I will be through June; I just found out there's one more Spanish class next session. It's only a few hours a week, but it's better than nothing.

Some highlights of summer so far...

-I went to Book World last week and got Everything's Eventual (a collection of short stories by Stephen King) and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (which is by the same author who wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies). I'm also reading Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut for my English class next month. I'm enjoying it, but not as much as I did Cat's Cradle; I couldn't put that one down. I'm almost done with it, but I'll probably read it once more before the class starts just so I'm prepared.

-I went kayaking last week and I'm going again in about fifteen minutes. This is definitely something I plan on doing a lot this summer; it's fun, it's relaxing, and it keeps me from being a lazy ass, sitting around on my computer all day.

-I MET PIRATE STEVE. I'd heard people in my classes talk about him wandering around downtown but last night was the first time I'd ever actually encountered him. Unfortunately, he was not dressed as a pirate, but he was still plenty entertaining. He says our big dipper is amazing; apparently it's bigger in Winona than it is where he used to live ("180 degrees on the other side," wherever that is). He is certifiably insane and I love it.

-Winona is FINALLY green and warm and beautiful. It was a little cloudy yesterday and this morning, but it's perfect now. I'm sitting on a bench in the middle of campus right now and I could stay here forever (if I didn't have to meet my friends for kayaking in two minutes). As it is, I plan on spending lots of time reading outside, sprawled out under trees or by the lake or in any nice sunny patch of grass.

Anyway, I have to run. Hasta luego!