Trinity University

Well.

I'm sitting here in the library.

Because I have a paper due in less than two hours, of which I have yet half a page to write. Not much, I know, but for the past page I have just been going through everything and elaborating any sentence that could use more clarification. It makes me sound like I just really like to explain things. Kind of like the way my Mom does. I can always tell when she wants me to do something because she'll start the conversation by overexplaining a certain situation.

"Hi honey! Well I was on my way to pick up Isabelle when I realized that my friend Stacey had also -
"Mom! I'll do it! Just tell me what you want!"

Anywho, I'm taking a break because I have been advised that it is smart to take breaks from doing homework every hour or so. To keep my brain from getting fried? Yes.

I'm trying to write a paper eight pages in length arguing that the introduction of marriage counselors actually contributed more to the rising divorce rate in earlier decades more than they subtracted from it.

And honestly, I would take pictures of the library right now and upload them since I feel guilty that I haven't uploaded many pictures even though I have a camera now, but unless the mental image of endless shelves of books severely fascinates you, I don't think you would take much interest in the waste of pixels.

BUT MY BREAK IS MORE THAN UP AND OHMYGOSH I NEED TO GET DONE OKBYE!

Posted by Connor at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I am caught unawares.

I have a few incomplete blogs I need to complete and post, but otherwise finals are almost here and I should get my butt studying.

So... I suppose that means that anybody reading this will experience a flashback of Connor's life at Trinity sometime soon.

I really don't like referring to myself in the third person. It makes me feel too... regal.

This is something I would say if I were sitting on a throne, holding a scepter, and wearing a gorgeous robe and a dazzling crown:

"Puhah! Connor the Great desires a peanut butter jelly sandwich! Knave! Get thee to thine kitchen and prepare for me such an entree! Puhah! Now kiss mine hand!"

Posted by Connor at 5:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What the flip?

It’s fall break and I’m one of the few nimrods who are staying on campus.

Wait… ok… I just called myself a nimrod. I was kidding. I promise. Who even uses that word anymore?

APPARENTLY I’m supposed to be doing homework.

This is what I told myself:
“Okay! I’m going to get ALL of my homework done on Friday so I can relax throughout the weekend.�

But this morning I looked at my calculus book. And then I looked at my unfinished essay. And then I looked at my sheet music. And then I looked at my physics book. And then I looked at the computer.

Something must have clicked, because I stood up and made myself a peanut butter and honey sandwich.

Lunch: COMPLETED!

Shower: COMPLETED!

Exercise: COMPLETED!

I feel like the most pitiful son of a mother right now: blankly staring at the computer screen with my guitar pick barely hanging on for life from the edge of my lips. If my pick had a voice and a brain and a mouth and a circulatory system and nerve endings, I’m sure it would be screaming. And if it had tiny hands, I’m sure it would be clawing at my lips to try to get a better hold on them. But that idea kind of makes me shiver, so let’s not imagine that.

I think I’m sitting like a woman. But I’m not wearing a skirt. What a pointless use of unnecessary etiquette.

OKAY! Re-cap of… the last two nights.

Wednesday night! - Some of my peoples from Swing Bums and I went dancing at a dance hall. WITH OTHER PEOPLE. It was ridiculous. I didn’t know anyone else in the world knew how to swing dance besides our little community of swingers at Trinity.

I just wanted to dance.

Afterwards - IHOP. I ordered these Butterscotch Rocks pancakes and they didn’t look anything at all like the picture so I stood up on the table, threw fake butterscotch rocks pancakes at the world, did a little jig, and then sat back down. Everybody cheered.

Thursday night! - Fall break started. So I went to see Ghostbusters in this really awesome-looking but kind of funny-smelling-in-certain-places park with some peoples from Inter-Varsity (Christian group on campus). Fantastic.

Afterwards - IHOP again. I received a very warm welcome. I ordered stuffed French toast and shared it with my ravenous friend Sarah. No food throwing this time. I was satisfied with the way my food looked. Everyone was disappointed.

AND THEN! We went to someone’s room to watch this movie called the SCARLET PIMPERNEL. Whoa… I half-expected Word to tell me that pimpernel was spelled wrong. Oh well. I like how I occasionally refer to the people I hang out with as “someone� or “somebody� or “some people�. It’s like I’m robbing them of the credit they should receive for being born.

But then again, if I were to use names, no one would really know who I was talking about unless my classmates or maybe their parents actually read this.

Too many decisions to make.

Okay, well I feel like my brain is slowly leaking from my head so I’m going to go out and draw on my window with dry-erase markers. IF I HAD A CAMERA AS WAS PROMISED TO ME FOR WRITING THESE BLOGS, I WOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE A PICTURE OF MY DOODLES.

But I guess it can wait.

Posted by Connor at 5:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So I’m representing the entire freshman class with my musings.

Waaaaaaahhhhhhhh this is ridiculous. I can abuse this power in so many ways. And no one in my class will even know because no one will even read this AHA!

Well… I mean I guess they could read it… but who at Trinity wants to learn about life at Trinity?

Ehhhh… apparently I do. I have definitely read some of my fellow bloggers’ …. blogs. Geez… why is Works so stupid? “Blogs� is a word. AND SO IS “GEEZ�. Holy cow make up your mind… “geez� is apparently only a word WHEN IT’S IN ALL CAPS LIKE THIS: GEEZ! Maybe Works thinks it’s an acronym.

ANYWHO!

I have a theory.

Enjoy the following imagery:

Posted by Connor at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Dear reader,

I am not writing an essay. Well, I’m supposed to be writing an essay, but I’m not.* Instead I’m writing a blog.

Really,
Connor Gorman

Sigh… Wow… that letter I just wrote you was so awesome that I’m already starting to feel nostalgic for it.

It’s been about two and a half weeks since classes actually started. But there’s no way I can actually condense (or have the patience to condense) the enormous amount of activity that has been going on around me. So I’ll leave a few spaces blank and let you make up some crazy awesome/fantastic/disgusting adventures for me to go on in my spare time (who does that??).

The world of extracurricular activity is spinning ridiculously fast and I think I’m about to be flung into a coma if it doesn’t slow down sometime soon.

I have auditioned for choir despite my complete lack of previous experience and musical taste (I auditioned using the song Zazu from the Lion King sings while he’s in a cage in Scar’s lair… “I have a lov-e-ly bunch of coconuts…�) and even still the director seemed absolutely thrilled that I was even auditioning, so by doing that, he alleviated some of the pressure. You’ll find that many of the professors here are great at paying attention to you and reducing your confusion and stress. Anywho, I didn’t exactly make it into the choir, but I am going to be playing guitar for one of their October concert songs and then joining them for the Christmas concert.

I have gone to two Swing Bums meetings and have already become addicted to swing dancing, despite my lack of skill.

I am now taking guitar lessons with the guitar professor here and… I’m not quite sure there’s much to say about that, except maybe “I’m pretty sure that someday I will become a beastly guitarist.�

I have been running consistently, which is actually kind of scary. But it was so easy to find a running buddy (Patricia told me to mention her somewhere in here… she’s my running buddy) amongst the many people who participate in weekly “Running with the Dean� events in the mornings (my engineering professor being one of them). Most of these people are actually signed up to do a half marathon in November, as am I.

I am already signed up to run the light board for one of the school’s plays in November… pretty excited about that actually.

And I have never enjoyed eating food so much as I do here.

AND HOMEWORK!

… is not too bad so far. I’m kind of suspicious.

The homesickness hasn’t set in yet… but every now and then I decide to write letters to a few of my friends and family… it’s more fun to communicate through snail mail rather than ewww Facebook or e-mail.

AGHHH HUMIDITY IS THE SUCK! I DON’T LIKE BEING SWEATY!

I promise I will sing and dance for you guys later. But I’m still not settled. Patience… running… thin… OK BYE

*My conscious decisions to procrastinate are in no way affiliated with or encouraged by Trinity University.

Posted by Connor at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Okay… hell. I’m just going to start typing?

Wait… no that’s not a question. That question mark was incredibly inappropriate. I apologize.

Am I allowed to say “hell� in these things? Does that make the school look bad or something?

“Trinity University has students that say ‘hell’ in public. I don’t want to go there.�

Yeah ok… weenie.

Ahh I’ve put this off for way too long… and this is what happens when the guilt gets to me and I decide to “just start typing�.

OKAY! Restart.

***

Well the pressure is definitely on.

The first blog has to be the best, one because you have to be able to pull readers in to your story and two because New Student Orientation (NSO) is probably one of the greatest (if not the greatest) concern to most prospective students.

“Will I be able to make friends? Will I miss home? Will I be able to keep in touch with any of my old friends from high school? How will I get settled?�

Yes. Depends. If that‘s one of your priorities. Heck no! (respectively… <3 censorship)

You never get settled here. There is nothing even remotely settling about the lifestyle I’ve been living the past two weeks.

Well I mean sure, I eventually became comfortable with calling San Antonio “home� but there has not once been an opportunity for me to quietly sit at my computer clacking away at the keyboard in order to write a blog. Ever since I have gotten here I have been busy. Not busy with things I have to do, such as school work, but just busy meeting people and well… going places with the people I meet. Let me start from the beginning… again.

***

I moved in a little bit earlier than everyone else because I went on a freshman Outdoor Recreation trip (O-Rec) so I had a little bit of time to become more knowledgeable than all of the incoming freshman would be once they got here. One of the first things I discovered is that I am basically living in a “people zoo�. The windows of my dorm open out towards the adjacent sidewalk. People walk on that sidewalk. If I pull up the blinds, anyone who walks on that sidewalk has no choice but to casually turn his or her head to look inside my room… where I sometimes happen to be. It was kind of creepy at first. I imagined what would happen if I were to leave the blinds up while I was asleep and I shivered. But don’t jump to conclusions too quickly… I soon realized that being in a people zoo isn’t bad at all.

The notion of living in a people zoo was solidified the first night of orientation. There were so many people jumping around to karaoke music that the only words that capable of passing through my head at the time were: “Yes. Definitely people zoo.�

I’m having this debate about whether or not to tell everyone exactly what happened every night of orientation so they get an idea of how easy it is. But I think I’ll take the slacker’s path and claim that I am not saying anything about every night because I “don’t want to ruin the surprise.�

But now that orientation is over, just about everyone, when they turn their head to look into my dorm as they pass, smiles and waves. They smile and wave because they are comfortable. Not settled… but comfortable. NSO does a good job of allowing that comfort to happen… because of the fact that you are encouraged to “step out of your comfort zone.� It’s a weird paradox, but something incredible happens once you decide to expose yourself to discomfort… you become more comfortable.

I am contemplating getting a little light-up sign to put in my window that says “Welcome to the People Zoo� or just “The People Zoo� to save space.

I think it would be appropriate… unlike the beginning of this blog.

Posted by Connor at 5:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)