School's Out, For Summer

Ah, Alice Cooper--you said it so well!

Well yesterday was a pretty cool day. My last day on campus this semester. I got to school early to study for my Shakespeare final (the one I'd been dreading since the semester began) and to turn in my last two books. I saw Dr. Martone outside and he gave me this broken keyring that was a miniature John Deere tractor on it. I guess that is because I wrote all those rural poems for his class. Then he said that in the fall, he wanted Travis and me to meet him and maybe put together a small poetry magazine. I was pretty psyched. I went to the library, sat down, and saw ALAN. Alan decided to sit by me and talk about German mythology for a while. Finally I told him I needed to return my books and he said he needed to get some lunch. No lines at Station 3 at TRS, so that was a good thing. No fines either. No fines + no lines = one great way to end the semester.

Then I met Mr. Jones at 1:30 in Coleman and we went bowling in the union (discounted bowling this week). But first, we had to pick up his check, cash it, and then pick up his coursepack for study abroad this semester. That was all right though. Bowling was interesting. He won the first and 3rd games, but I creamed him on the 2nd. Well, it was as close to creaming as it gets with me and bowling. I got 90-something--really not that good. Kris kept throwing the ball so hard it knocked him down. Honestly I think he was being theatrical and showing off for the most part. There were these jock types laughing at him, and it really was pretty funny. I thought he was going to foul a couple of times acting up like that. We bet Mountain Dews on the second game--I claim that was my incentive and how I managed to win it. The third game he said if I won I had to tell him what to get me from England and if he won it was a surprise. Well, I wanted a surprise anyway.

So then we went to the union and I claimed my free Mountain Dew (and a bag of chips because he offered and I was hungry). So we're just being crazy and there's hardly anybody around. Yep--I was singing "Truckin'" (Grateful Dead) and he was singing all these New Wave 80s songs. I'm surprised no jocks were pointing and laughing at us that time...

Then we hung out in the commemorative courtyard until time for my final. Without all those people around, it was a lot easier for me to belt out my rendition of "Mercedes Benz"--not my favorite by Janis, but a lot easier to sing than "Me and Bobby McGee."

I was nervous about that final and it took me from 6:00 until 7:50--almost the entire time. I don't know how I did--probably an A or a B though. I'm sort of anxious to get my grades and see how I did this semester. Anyway, after I handed in my final, I walked out in the hall and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but Kris Jones and a small bouquet of roses. He's like well, I knew you were pretty stressed out about that final, so I thought I'd get you some flowers and a card. It was really sweet. Then he kept saying he hoped it wasn't too much. Hey, I like gifts. Then we saw Shauna--another grad student--and went outside to hang out for about an hour and a half. It was kind of sad because I don't know how often we'll see each other in the summer, but it was a good way to end the semester.

Now I'm going to have to start writing summer DEN columns.

And take the GRE.

And apply to grad school.

But I'd also like to take a mini-road trip to Mississippi and check out Ole Miss sometime this summer. I also plan to get my hair cut and donate it to Locks of Love. Hopefully it will be a fun summer. Today is my first day of break and one good thing is I don't have to go to work today (though I'm supposed to work tomorrow). And, it is a beautiful day, so I think I'm going to go outside and enjoy it!