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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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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