Still, the experience itself was very rewarding. Being in an active setting with a task at hand forces people to socialize in a manner that you just don't get day-to-day. I managed to keep my shirt clean, we got the whole hallway painted (and with art students you can be sure of first-rate work or else) and I had some fun with people I [i]didn't[/i] go to high school with. When we got back, they had shitty ass Domino's pizza and several varieties of soft drink that I didn't eat. That left me mildly pissed knowing that I had one more meal option than possible opportunities to use them. Still, it was a beautiful day, and I found the perfect spot to take a picture of the pool from.

The rest of the afternoon I spent on the computer doing the first half of my website update. Then I wrote letters in response to all of the cards I received. I was through the second to the last one when I realized that it was seven and Gracie's had closed. Now I was very pissed, and continued writing until a little after 7:30. Then on a whim, I checked the RIT food service website and discovered that the Commons (on the other side of the tunnels from my dorm) was open until eight on Saturdays. I hightailed it down there, and as I was in line who should show up behind me but Mike. I hear his voice behind me: "You missed Gracie's too?" or some such. After a cheesburger, 30 oz. cup of Brisk Pink Lemonade, and a bag of Wise potato chips (which was quite possibly my best meal on campus so far) he went to work out with the other Mike from my high school at RIT, and I went back to the room to finish the last two letters. Despite a thorough search of the room, I couldn't find the cards, stamps, and envelopes my mother had assured me she'd packed. At nine, I began the walk to the Field House with all the stuff necessary for a night in the hot tub. The two Mikes still had three or four minutes left on their forty-five minutes so I did a hard core up hill 4 minute bike session. Then after a quick shower I hit the leisure pool with them. Alternating between the pool itself (having just discovered how little you have to move to float with the Noodles), the hot tub, and the high and low dives, it ended up being a hell of a night. In the hot tub at the end of the night, we met this deaf kid Dave. He was raised in the oralist tradition, so we could have a fairly normal conversation with him. It was quite fascinating, and he was first first one I've been able to have a conversation with. A girl bumped me in the head with a noodle and it took a good three minutes of confused gesturing between us before I could understand the simple idea that she had thought I was someone else.

Today I slept until 11:30. I surfed the web for a while and then hit Brunch at Gracie's determined to not waste any more meal options. I got three quarters of the way through the Belgian waffle I'd made with the waffle iron. I finished up with a bowl of Rice Krispies with four sugar packets on it. They just made a deal with Kellogg's which means no more General Mills cereal.

I filled the rest of my afternoon with finishing the site updates and dropping off the letters (having found all the stuff I'd search so long for in a drawer of my desk). Then I took the emergency stairs to the locked off hallway to do my math homework in peace. Turns out it's not as locked off as I'd thought and came back to find myself with the room to myself. Oh yeah, my parents called earlier in the afternoon too. Anyway, having the room to myself I managed to breeze through the majority of the math homework. What little I have left can be taken care of during the break between Comp Sci. and Cultural Anthropology. I was in a bit of a funk through dinner, little bout of homesickness, but knowing I had most of my homework done helped. Then I spent the night watching the Emmys and was rewarded when Arrested Development picked up 3 Emmys, including Best Comedy Series! Yes! Then I talked to Darren online for a while before coming online and writing this. Now I go to bed.