An Update

I need something a little more new and… well, not of Teddy when I happen across my own blog, so this is the obligatory “How are things going?” kind of blog, I guess.  I’ll keep it short (or as short as I’m known for keeping things).

Halloween: Dressed up as Helena Ravenclaw and passed out candy in the lounge–which was decorated at Howarts.  Awesome?  I think yes.

Uni: Stressful, as always.  The amount of reading is what’s really been getting me lately.  Five chapters for an exam in a week.  One novel for this class.  One book about psychology for another.  Statistics exams and psych presentations and art projects.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy them–I do, they’re interesting.  But it’s just a little much, and I’m really at that point in the semester where I just want to sleep for a week straight.

Friends: I got to see Laura and Katie D this weekend when they came into town for the Relient K and Jack’s Mannequin concert.  I’ve also been spending a lot of time with Katie, James, Ann, Jess, Abby, Jenn, Julia, et cetera.  Our house really does feel like a house and not like a bunch of rooms in a dorm.  I’m anticipating seeing some of my friends from back home for Thanksgiving, though.  It will be great to see all of your lovely faces soon!

Family: I’m doing okay with Teddy.  Really.  I mourned a lot for him over the summer when I knew that he was very sick and going to pass away soon, so I was very prepared for his death.  It just didn’t keep it from being completely painless, of course.  Meanwhile, though, my oldest sister is now engaged!  (And it is very exciting, as I approve very, very much.)  This means that both of my sisters are getting married some time in the not so distant future, like maybe both within the next year or something.  I’m looking forward to seeing them and our family!  My brother is currently in the process of moving out and into my dad’s in Florida because of continuous disagreements between Marshall and my mum.  It’s not the best of situations, but that’s another topic of conversation.

Relient K and Jack’s Mannequin concert: It was fun, and I enjoyed hanging out with lots of friends in line and at the show (even if the blistery cold outside did make some joints go out of socket).  Laura, Noah, and I watched most of Jack’s Mannequin perform from the very top of the seating and very far away, but they were excellent seats (much better than the floor) because you could really see everything.  They’re very energetic performers, and I enjoyed watching them, even if I really don’t know all of their music.

Last Friday: Between three hours of sleep, a week of studying and working, the stats exam at 7.30 am directly followed by the social pysch presentation that I had to run to get to in time, and then seeing a kid playing HvZ drop into a massive seizure after falling and hitting his head, I spent a good deal of it crying and then crying some more and then finally giving up and taking a nap.  I felt like a woman possessed.

Anyway, I’m now working on some projects and reading and chilling to a new Arcade Fire album, which is this post’s musical gift.  I hope that you enjoy.

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It’s April…

…Midway through April, actually, and yet I have not posted more than, what, one thing?  Ridiculous.  Yeah, yeah.  Ridiculous; I’ll fill you in.

Humans v Zombies continued on last week, and I spent an afternoon reading in the quad, watching a mission take place.  A gaggle of humans stalked by and then a horde of zombies, with me on a blanket sitting in between.  For more than an hour, I watched the ensuing battle, which was highly entertaining.  I’d show you the photos that I took, but my internet access at university is so poor that it will have to wait until I am back at home in three weeks.

(Note, I ended up getting a different picture to work:)

I’ve been spending the past weeks more and more outdoors reading or spending time with friends.  We’ve gone out on blankets to hang out, do homework, and even have a picnic.  It’s wonderful to not have to wear a coat and even better to wear only a t-shirt, which the weather has permitted over the past two weeks.  I’ve been able to be more active with this weather, too, which is nice since I now have a new goal for getting in shape.  I’m usually all about health and just making sure that my body is healthy, but now I want to shape it up so that I can join belly dancing next semester.  Granted, I could join as I am now, but I think I’d be more comfortable and have an easier time if I worked on getting a trimmer middle over the summer.  So I’m going to try swimming every morning, get back into running a few miles each day, and I’ll now try some preliminary dancing to tone up.  Belly dancing, here I come!

It seems funny to me that these pictures were only taken around a week ago, yet the entire campus has blossomed since then.  It’s absolutely gorgeous.

Three weeks until summer, though…  What an odd realisation.  Over my extended break, I plan to go to Florida to visit my dad, maybe get a volunteer job on Main Street (if they should ever need the extra help; they can call me at a moment’s notice, I think), sew at least two dresses and a skirt, and paint at least four paintings.  I promised my friend Heather that I would enter a painting into the Missouri Hall Art Gallery next year, so if I make that over the summer, it will free my time up over the semester to work on it.  I’m thinking of painting a scene from the quad or somewhere on Truman’s campus, and it will be big.  Bigger than any other painting that I’ve yet done (I’m thinking one of those canvases that’s nearly three feet tall).  I’m also painting pictures for both my current room mate Jess for her room next year and my friend Abby for her room next year.  It shouldn’t be so odd that I’m looking forward to making these paintings so much, but I am.  That’s why I became an art minor, I guess.

Speaking of art, I finalised my schedule for next semester, and it’s a beast.  I have statistics, intermediate German, British literature from Romantic to Modern, a six hour long drawing 1 course, and a 400-level Intro to Clinical Psychology class.  The last one is rather intimidating.  It isn’t just a difficult class but a class meant for older psych majors, so I may be kicking myself next semester.  But, maybe it will teach me good work ethic, and it will put me ahead.  I just wish that I could have gotten into social psychology like I had originally planned for, but upon entering in the code during registration, I accidentally put in the code for psychopharmacology, which in no way interests me or goes toward what I will be doing with a psychology degree.  By the time I could try and fix my mistake, it was too late–the class was full.  So, I ended up finding this 400-level gem that fit into my schedule.  We’ll see how it turns out.

Meanwhile, what an awesome group of friends I have: they helped me create a Quidditch team for my university’s Quidditch match last week.  It was a great time with six teams vying for the top spot.  Now, we aren’t the sportiest bunch, so we definitely had more losses than wins, but it was incredibly fun.  The hosts of the events even gave out legit Harry Potter snacks (fudge flies, chocolate frogs, Berty Bots beans, pumpkin juice, butter beer, et cetera).  What an awesome time.  Here are some pictures that my internet finally allowed me to upload:

Our team name was Albus and the Dumbledores, and we even made legit tie-dye shirts for the event.

We played with beach balls, a volley ball, and these tall hoops.  It was actually quite challenging.  The snitch ended up being a track runner with a sock hanging out of his shorts that you had to pull out.  I was seeker, and it was definitely hard work; I was feeling muscles the next day that I didn’t even know I had.  Ouch!

And, of course, we ran with brooms in between our legs, which was more fun than challenging.  Awkwardness, after all, can be one of the best things ever to laugh at.

That’s about it for now.  Hopefully this filled you in a little about what has been going on in my life.  Thank God for spring and summer holidays!  Hope you’re all doing well.

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HvZ, Spring 2010

As some of you know, I blogged quite frequently last semester during Humans vs Zombies, a giant game of tag where the risks include death (by zombie hordes).  If you would like more information about the game, I recommend you check my intro post about it here.

Unfortunately, I have to tell you that I am not participating this semester, even though I’d like to.  My stress level is through the roof because of exams, getting my Quidditch team together (shit you not), and general university things.  So I ended up deciding to bow out.

Trust me, I wish I was playing (even though I’d be kicking myself).  Every time I see a human running around, I feel a surge of hope for them.  Of course, it’s dashed when I see a zombie running behind him, but nonetheless.  I ended up walking to the student union building (SUB) today, and a group of three guys were walking across the campus.  One had the arm band of a human, and I quietly walked beside his group to shelter him from the eyes of a nearby zombie.  We ended up talking afterwards, and it made me feel like I was playing a little bit.  Truthfully, I always feel like I’m playing; I get nervous when I see girls with big headbands, thinking they’ll be zombies, and every time I see my friend Blaine (who wears a bandana each day to keep back his hair), I inform him that he is a zombie.  It’s honestly something I’ll probably do for the rest of my life.

This game has made me overly paranoid and stressed at the sight of cloth.  Erg…

Speaking of some of the stressors that kept me from playing, I had a physics exam today that I spent the entire morning studying for (I even missed my sensation and perception class so that I could study physics and German).  When my physics teacher gave out the exam, he said two things:

“If you don’t put your name on the paper, I’ll take three points away instead of two.  INFLATION!”

Then he walked across the room to start handing out each exam, and before giving it to the first person, he said:

“RELEASE THE KRACKEN!”

Okay, okay, fine.  Maybe I don’t regret taking this class, if only for that.  But I will regret the B grade that I will get, which will lower my GPA.  Oh well, such is life.

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The following selection from this post has been deleted.  Sorry.

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Humans vs Zombies (day 4, part 2)

I’m sorry for the belatedness of this post.  It’s not that I’ve been too terribly busy (though I have been rather swept away by course work over the past month), but I have been lazy.  For that, I apologise.

Day four of HvZ was, by all extensive purposes, the final day of actual playing.  I began the Saturday morning relaxed, went to Walmart, then ended up getting trapped in R’s dorm.  It seemed obvious that I would have to stay in Centennial until nightfall, so I pulled out my laptop to browse the web and do homework.  While routinely checking my E-mail, I discovered that there would be mission for the humans in ten minutes and that it would be inside of Centennial.

So, in my slip-on shoes and pajama shirt, I trudged down to the main lobby in Centennial, armed with eleven socks.  Gathered there were approximately thirty to forty humans, with nerf guns and hard core weaponry.  It became immediately obvious that I was in a different class of survivors, and I would most likely not be returning from this mission human.

The mission started out simply–save a girl from Red Barn Park.  We didn’t see a single zombie during the first part of the mission, and we managed to get inside of McGruder in safety.  From there, though, we were told to hold down three separate places for five minutes each, without the subject being killed by a zombie.  And we had little more than a half hour at that point.  It was a mission made for us to fail.

We ran around hopelessly in McGruder, as a horde of sixty plus zombies surrounded the building and our target area of the fountain.  They watched our every move from the glass walls, and we ran around trying to find alternate areas to escape and decimate the forces.  Unfortunately, our numbers had been split from their original, and there were only fifteen to twenty humans.  One by one, we lost more, with over ten dying in a massacre as they tried to storm out of the building.  Somehow, at ten till the end of the mission (when, if we did not pass, it would mean that humans officially lost the entire game) I became one of five humans left standing.  How on Earth had I gotten here?  The four others around me were ready to storm out, kill as many zombies as possible before we died.

One kid ran out, suicide, to give us a chance, and we ran out.

I stunned one of my friends who had turned on the second day, and then another.  My socks were power.  My gun given to me by suicide-kid became something to be feared.  Yet, we were losing.  Two of our four were taken, and it left me and another man as the only humans left.

We walked side by side away from our small battle and towards a horde of sixty zombies at the fountain.  My friend Franz was on the other side, bandanna on head, looking mischievous.  He pointed at me in surprise.  I pointed back.  It was like something from a movie, as the two of us walked intensely toward the horde.

What was not like a movie, was the zombie (whom I thought had been stunned before) ran behind me and the man, tagging both of us at the same time and running forward, hands stretched up to the sky in triumph.

And that’s why I tyed to be the last human killed on the last mission.

Other humans remained, yes.  But I had been turned one minute before the end of the mission, and when that one minute passed, it meant that all humans left were dead.  They would get a more official death the next day when the zombies were allowed to simply destroy all of them.  But, it was the end.

I couldn’t believe that I had gotten this far.  It was… simply amazing.  I’m definitely playing next semester, and I’m going to sign up to try and be the original zombie.

I cannot wait.

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Humans vs Zombies (day 4)

I made it to Walmart and back without seeing a single zombie, and I felt sure that I could then stay in Mo hall for the rest of the day.  Unfortunately, I then went to R’s dorm over in Centennial.  While filling up my water bottle in the hallway, I became surrounded by seven zombies.  Granted, I was indoors, so they couldn’t tag me.  But that doesn’t matter.  What does matter, is that I’m now trapped in Centennial until I can get around zombies who are surrounded the building.

So, I’m hiding on R’s room-mate’s bed, doing homework and watching Mean Girls while R and N are texting our Mizzou friends with gossip.  They’ve started some shit with each other, and I’m staying uninvolved, as usual.  But I’m one to avoid trouble or mediate if I get into it.  So, thus I’m being reclusive.

I’m a bit angry at myself for getting into this trap, though.  There’s no point in even leaving R’s room until after dark.  And since it’s a sunny day today, that will be an hour later.  So, I’m stuck here for another six hours.

Luckily, I planned ahead a little bit.  I brought my laptop so that I can type up two reports for art and my public speaking outline (not to mention for blogging and Facebook and BBC news).  Also with me are my text books for psychology and maybe history (if I was smart enough to bring it along).  Though, I’m pretty sure I didn’t bring along my syllabus, so it doesn’t really matter–which sucks since history is my favourite subject this semester.  It’s the only homework that I actually enjoy doing, since history is like a story.  Hell, it has the word “story” in it.  After that, I really enjoy learning psychology, though the heavy work load gets dull.

So, let’s hope that I can get through this.  Only two of my thirteen friends who ended up playing are left, and I want to be able to beat them.  Yeah, that’s really lame.  But seeing as how there are only 92 humans left out of the original 331, I’m getting pretty competitive.  Again, lame.

Know what else is really lame?  That I’m trapped here.  At least there’s a cafeteria inside of the building, so I’m good on food.  Speaking of, I’m going to go grab a bite to eat.

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Humans vs Zombies (day 3)

I managed to get back to Mo hall safely last night, and I made it to and from class earlier this morning.  There was an encounter with a zombie while running from Dobson, but I luckily survived.

Unfortunately, I will have to make my way over to Baldwin tonight for a screening of Harry Potter, and I’m not sure if I will survive the night.  Zombies have begun to guard the exits of Mo Hall and OP.  Unfortunately, I live in Mo Hall, and OP is my safe spot next door (it take about fifteen seconds to run from Mo to OP’s safety).  From there, it’s a one to two minute brisk walk to Baldwin.  The zombies have begun to sanction off areas of Baldwin to guard it.

Fellow humans came through the living room today, where I was sewing up an old t-shirt (my shirt is ripped and jeans muddied), and they informed me of an exit in OP that was kept secret.  I will hopefully be able to use this exit.  Otherwise, I will have to tempt fate and leave through the exit that I have been using.

Once I’m in Baldwin, I will be relatively safe–especially since I will not be leaving until after dark.  By that time, I should hopefully be able to get out alive.

Wish me luck in surviving the night.

PS: As a side note, the death toll has now reached 195, and only 113 humans remain.  I can’t believe that I got this far!

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Humans vs Zombies (day 2)

My jeans are covered in specks of mud, along with my bag (which is filled with socks).  I’m on the third floor of a building in the middle of campus, waiting for a presentation or something.  I actually ended up getting here two hours earlier, and I’ve sat around, doing homework ever since.  So long as I am indoors, I am still safe.

We’ve passed the forty eight hour mark, now, and it’s stressful.

Going out into the dark rain is treacherous.  It’s easy to slip in the mud and puddles, visibility is very low, and there are zombies everywhere.  Now that we’ve passed the half way mark in how many humans have been turned into zombies, it’s a much more difficult game.  In fact, out of the ten of my friends who decided to play HvZ, only two are left.

Honestly, I’m just happy to still be alive right now.  More than half of the players are now zombies (167 are zombies, and 164 are humans).  Being in the winning half is feeling pretty nice at the moment, and it would be enormously cool to get into the top 25th percentile instead of the 49th or so that I’m at now.  Still, all is well.

Tomorrow will be more difficult.  I don’t know how I will get to my 9.30 class without dying.  It will be terribly difficult with the day-light and large amounts of zombies around Baldwin Hall.  And I don’t even plan on leaving from that class, not even for lunch.  My other class is so close and only two  hours later, so I’ll bring something with me from breakfast so that I can eat before religions.  After religions, I’m not quite sure how I’ll get back to Missouri Hall, but I’ll try my damnedest.  And once I get back there, I only have to leave for one other thing–a screening of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince around seven.  It’s on the complete other side of campus, so I’m not quite sure how I’ll get there, but hopefully it will work out.

Really, though, I should be trying to think of a way to get out of this building for right now.  After the presentation that I’m seeing ends around nine or ten, I’ll probably stay a little while longer before venturing out of the basement to another building, going into its basement, then cutting to Mo hall.  The only thing that I can hope for is that the rain and the dark help me on my late night journeys.

Tomorrow will probably be the end of my human life and the start of my life as one of the undead.  But even getting this far is an accomplishment, and I keep telling myself that.  After all, I’ve fended off plenty of zombies so far, and I’ve been logical, rational, and quick with my escapes and walking to and from classes.  I’m proud that I’ve used my brain in finding the best ways around campus and in avoiding zombies.

Anyway, that’s about it for today.  Should I become a zombie while heading back to Missouri Hall, I will inform you.

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Humans vs Zombies

I was sitting in the middle of the living room, my face red, breathing hard, a purple bandana around my forearm, and ten rolled up socks in my Harry Potter bag.  I had just power walked from Dobson to Missouri Hall in less than two minutes, and my legs were heating up in anger at my over-exertion for nearly the fifth time in two hours.  I had been lucky.  I had survived.

I had survived the zombie hordes.

Truman State University is not unique in the fact that its students get together each year to play a game of life and death.  This game is called Humans versus Zombies, and it is the fight to survive (if you’re human) and to feast on the living (if you so happen to be turned into a zombie).

My purple bandana identified me as what I was–a human, a human running for life.  The rainbow bandana around my friend’s head signified what he was as well–a zombie, a zombie wishing to feast on my brains as I went to lock my door.

“Fuck…” I muttered, turning to Franz.  “You?  What happened?”

He looked at me with a defeated look, the bandana tied clumsily around his hair.  “Well, I dropped my phone, and it was raining, and I was ambushed.”  I shook my head as I walked around him towards my candy dish.

“We won’t be seeing each other outside of MO hall for a while, by the way,” I said, sighing as I kept myself from grabbing some Starbursts.

You see, Franz had been tagged by a zombie, which meant that he was now a zombie and must tie his bandana around his head rather than his arm.  He could have defended himself with Nerf darts or even rolled up socks (my weapon of choice), but an ambush was more tricky.  So, now he’s a zombie.

The rules of the game are simple: survive.  You can stun a zombie for fifteen minutes by throwing a sock ot Nerf dart at them, and they can tag you to turn you into a zombie.  Pretty basic stuff.  The game itself usually lasts around five days before every human has become a zombie or every zombie has starved to death (for they must eat one human every two days).

For the moment, I am still in the resistance.  I managed to walk a mile to class and a mile back safely, though I did stun two zombies who chased after me.  The girl ran faster and was gaining on me.  Quickly, I stopped and faced her, pulling rainbow socks out of my bag.  She edged around, ten feet from me, and I threw two socks, missing both times.  Finally, as she neared ever more, I threw.  And third try’s a charm, right?  Her friend came running after, panting and stopping to rest behind a dumpster.

“Sorry, I’m a fat zombie.”

“No worries,” I replied, “I’m a fat, slow human.  By the way, hi!”

“You introduce yourself?” He and the girl laughed.

“Yeah, why not,” I shrugged, grasping a pink sock in hand, feeling somewhat safe on the other side of the dumpster.  “I saw you guys leave Dobson, and I was just like ‘oh fuck!’  There was a girl in front of me, and she just turns around and stares.  And then I started running–”  And that’s when I threw a sock at him to stun him.

“Gotcha!” I yelled, happily moving forward to retrieve my four socks.

He looked down at the sock wide-eyed and then down to where it hat him, “You lured me into a false sense of security!”  The three of us couldn’t help but laugh.  I picked up the rest of my socks as we talked, wished them a good day, then walked through the park to class, completely safe.

Once inside, the zombies couldn’t touch me, so I let off my guard and sat by a friend who was also human.  He had a Nerf gun ready to go for when we exited class, and I’m happy to say that we both survived (for the time being).

Granted, I’ll probably die tomorrow while going to or from psychology, but that’s okay, honestly.  If I become a zombie, I become a zombie.  There’s not much stopping it.  But, if I can, I will try my darnedest to not get tagged.  Mainly because I want to be able to go as long as possible as a human; more for bragging rights than anything else.

So, we’ll see how tomorrow goes.  I’ll try to inform about the goings on.  Hopefully they’ll be exciting.

Here’s to survival.

Humans vs Zombies

Humans vs Zombies

These were photos that I used for the Humans vs Zombies website.  Get excited.

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