The Plague has STRUCK!

It appears, that on this Eve of Halloween, the N1H1DoubleDoomvirusSwinepigflu has arrived on the Stonehill campus! Over a dozen cases have been reported thus far, and the trick'r treatin' by the neighboring little children has been canceled for the year. That's a major disappointment. Below, you can see the extent to which the plague has infected the campus grounds:

As you can see, The Plague has infiltrated almost every level of the campus' infrastructure, and it is estimated that a full 1/3 of the entire campus population will die as a result.Despite populare belief, the colors on the map do NOT correspond to the national threat alert level pushed by Homeland Security.

Here, as you can see in this artistic rendering of events earlier today in what I shall call 'Martin Square', anarchy reigns. I hear, currently, Lord Hopey-Change will be calling a Council of Czars to deal with the situation promptly and appropriately.

 In truth, those infected are safe at home, it's been raining the bee's knees outside all day, and I'm completely SOAKED. How to summarize my week? My best friend is infatuated in a ridiculous fashion to some girl I am convinced will hurt him, and my other best friend will be spending all Sunday with me. I'm wet, and a little tired, but I am happy. General Cadimus Orso of the 224th Boland Legion signing out.

A cold, wet, regular week.

Well, it's been sixteen days since I last left a small posting on this message board, so I find it completely appropriate to add something before I head off to my College Republicans meeting. These past few weeks have been busy, but ordinary. I've had a wonderful hiatus from writing any essays and taking many tests, but the prospect of making some head-way on my major term papers, coupled with the vast amount of pages that I must read each and every night surely makes up for the apparent easiness I've been having. Just the other night, I received a call from Jen, and we talked for nearly an hour about this and that, and all I'll say is that this Halloween should be one for the record books. All of my real friends, save for my comrade in Italy, shall be around me.

Outside of the academic fun, I find myself more and more becoming the person that others go to for advice on personal matters. They continue to say, quite accurately I think, that I am a "good listener". I think a lot of my success has to do with my ability to listen, and then to reply in a smart, serious, and yet witty way that can turn a dark subject into something to smile about. So, my friends continue to leave me short messages, or very long conversations, and I welcome that quite a lot. I enjoy the trust I share with my friends, and every one of these conversations leaves me in a positive air. I think they're a force of good (for me).

On a related note, Mr. Chatters was intercepted by Stalin's forces when he was crossing the Polish border shortly before October, in the midst of the night. As of right now, we have been assured by Uncle Joe that our dear Betta Fish, Mr. James C. Chatters Nixon Johnson is alive and has been given the necessary care. A series of negotiations will shortly commence, and if possible, I, as acting-President of Bolland 224 and Commander of its Armed Forces will make an impromptu visit to Moscow.
Cadimus Orso signing out.

'Round and round we go!

So begins my first full week in October at Stonehill College. To believe that I've already been here over a month is astounding. It's a strange feeling, really, because I feel I've transitioned much easier than I suspected I might. Oh, how busy I've been!

Worked at Country Gardens on Friday after getting my braces repaired, only after getting out of French class. I came home and then spent the entire next day absolutely devoted to starting (and finishing) my English Literature essay on Shakespeare. How I loathe writing about that man. It's so dull and convoluted now that I'm in college. Ugh. Well, I spent much of Sunday asleep, since the family had been chaotic for the past two days. We laid out some television cables, and set up yet another never-to-be-watching screen in the BATHROOM. Jake volunteered to take me back to Stonehill around 6:30, which in itself was a treat. I'm still musing over the idea of purchasing a Blackberry. Do I really need it? I could get by without one, but I think it would make life a tad easier. Oh well. Busy week ahead.

I managed to finish yet another essay tonight after arriving back to the Forward Outpost. I'll check it tomorrow, revise it, and then hand it in on Tuesday. I've finished so much in so short a time. Monday consists of a French exam. Tuesday consists of more history reading. Wednesday is more French and English. Thursday is more history. Oh, did I mention I need to meet with my Gen. Ed. History professor to schedule a meeting before Thursday? I -LOVE- research papers! Friday should be an easy day, but then I have to go work for Mr. Arguin. Joyous day.

Tonight I managed to do something that I haven't done in a long, long time. I had quite the heart-to-heart with my dearest comrade, Josh. It was really something great, as we both managed to tell the other of our infatuations. It's really striking how similar we are; we both cannot get over previous loves. His path is rocky, and mine is more of the character of being somewhat unrequited on the romantic level. After an hour or two of chattering, he and I both agreed that we were each on an exciting, risky course. We look forward to Christmas Eve with a great deal of excitement.

Well, enough of that heart-warming mush. I can hear the terrible thundering of cannon in the distance. Hush. Monday is soon to begin and I must once again join to battle with my comrades in arms.

Commander Cadimus Orso of the 224th Legion signing off.

Oh the Webs We Weave!

So, I had meant to post up something on this place last week after Carleen came to visit, but I've been so busy that I've yet to get around to it- until now.

So Carly came by the campus on Thursday and stayed the whole, entire day! It was my best day on campus so far, and I can't wait to see her again. I hadn't seen her since my party in July, so that was a special treat. We've agreed to meet up a lot more frequently now as time allows, so I'll just say I'm really excited.

This week I've been very busy. I learned on Monday that I had a history essay due this Thursday, and I hadn't even started it. Sufficed to say, I crammed to get everything finished and tonight I not only managed to finish a first draft of my essay, but I did a video conversation with Josh, and then talked to Carly before she went to bed. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, too.

Tomorrow, which is Wednesday, I'll be meeting with my assigned First-Year Adviser to talk about my "dream Four-Year Plan". Since this is a mandatory sort of thing I'm glad to finally get it over with. In addition to that, I'll get to ask her a question about my Jury Duty coming up in December. I have another meeting that day, too. I get to talk to Professor Shane Maddock about the subject of my Term Paper. It's a Contemporary America course, so I chose to do my paper on Radical Islam and its implications on the West. I have trouble deciphering the professor's script, but I'm slowly gathering that either my topic is unacceptable, or he views my proposed thesis as something more centered on Europe, rather than America. So, I'm going to try and work with him to work on modifying the argument to better fit the course. If that fails, I can always do something on Richard Nixon. Yet, what? What to do on Nixon that's specific enough to fit into 12-15 pages? I need to decide before long. Perhaps tomorrow. Think. Think. Think.

I had planned to visit the Career Services this week, but because I've been so busy with this and that, and I may not get out of class in time to make the walk-in hours, I'll make it my goal to go NEXT week. I have a lot of my plate this week.

I should mention that last night I was forced to attend a two hour plus special on the philosophies of life called "The Examined Life".It was part of my First-Year-Transitions requirement. In short, there were 8 modern philosophers who were each interviewed about their various thoughts on what they thought it meant to "live a meaningful life." So, we sat through 10 minute clips from people talking in platitudes that were so high in the clouds or so convoluted that even Qaddafi would be put to shame. Topics ranged from staging revolution, to redistributing wealth, to going green, to giving animals the same rights as people, and to feeling guilty about buying expensive items when that money could go to some poor child in an unnamed, undeveloped country.

When I got back to my dorm room I decided to research this Canadian "movie" and the philosophers in it, and to my surprise I found that just about every single person presented was either an affiliated Communist or a Socialist. Nowhere did this appear in the credits, and nowhere was there a warning or disclaimer. One woman went so far as to say President Bush was hauling people up to the gas chambers and eletrocuting people in the electric chair. Granted, ALMOST nobody liked her because she looked like she belonged in some dusty, dark, closet, but these sort of opinions were displayed nonetheless.

I want to complain, but to whom? I'll mention it to my academic adviser tomorrow. I don't want that sort of garbage to be shown again. Not only can we not understand most of it, but what we do understand is funneled through the eyes of socialists and communists without critiques from democratic/republican sort of voices.

Everbody Hates Mondays

Here it is, Monday night, and I'm already writing about new happenings! I should start by saying that after my log post last night, I was just about to shut myself off to bed when my phone rang with a certain little chipper tune I hadn't heard in some time; Jen had called!

I'll not elaborate on the conversation, but what transpired was a near two hour conversation that definitely boosted my morale and made me feel on top of the world. It's a funny thing, when you realize just how much power a simple gesture of dear friendship can mean to both people. I've out so much worth in her, and the mere thought that she would take two hours out of her busy schedule to talk to me is exciting to say the least. Sufficed to say, that was the definite high of the night.

After our conversation ended around midnight, I finally laid myself down for classes at 8:30 that next morning when I was greeted by the constant banging beats of "Jammal's" music. Bryan and I call him Jammal as a term of endearment; we'd kill him otherwise. From midnight until three in the morning there were people running down the halls, one room playing the thumping beats, and I heard some person knocking repeatedly on a door nearby. Swearing to myself (and aloud) I wondered what in the hell was going on. I didn't get much sleep at all last night, so I ran through the day and finished my homework on an empty tank. Such is life, sometimes.

It turns out someone nextdoor thought it would be a good idea to drink alcohol in a dry dorm. He drank so much alcohol, it seems, that he had alcohol poisoning and the people walking down the halls and knocking on a door were police officers or medical people, I've not heard a corroborating story yet. On top of all of this, I still find it impossible to chew on anything at all. There's no pain, of course, and I don't expect pity from any of my friends who've had braces for four or fice years, but eating pasta today was a chore. I hope that everything will be worked out by tomorrow. I'm tired of teetering on the edge of fullness and hunger.

As far as today is concerned, there are two important developments to report:
1. Bryan and I have begun our own sort of story-telling involving a character by the name of "Mister Chattahs". Whenever we have to go run an errand, use the bathroom, or when we are in general public, we're always exclaiming the virtues of Mister Chatters. You see, a history professor of ours decided to assign us a pointless 20-page reading assignment, and the person who was involved in the reading was named "James Chatters". So, all it took was Bryan and myself cursing this mandatory reading, and in our cursing using a very Bostonian slur, and it stuck as an instant classic. Currently, he and I are jokingly planning on writing a series of short stories detailing the life and times of a Mister J. Chatters. Oh, the fun I can have...

2. I managed to get into contact with Carly maybe ten minutes ago. She is coming to visit on Thursday and plans to spend the entire day with me. I've not see her in years it seems, and she seemed very, very happy to have my call. I'll get to see one friend, at least?

As an aside, I attended the "Historical Society Re-foundation Meeting" today and officers were elected among a body of 11 or so people. Apparently there are only about 100 history majors at any given time. The faculty was excited. For now, I've decided to hide in the shadows and wait to see what exactly an officer position entails before I volunteer sometime within the next two or three years.

Finally, with some time to myself and with my work caught up for the week I can take a deep breath and stay up a little later than normal. So far, this week is going splendidly.

This concludes the military log of Commander Cadimus Orso of the 224th Boland Legions.

Titter, titter.

Well, it's a peaceful (if chilly) night here at Stonehill. I'm writing this now, because I'm really behind on my blog posts. What else is new? Hah.

Braces went in last Thursday, and I've been reeling in pain and discomfort since. Day by day, hour by hour, the pain disappears and the discomfort diminishes. Hopefully I can start to actually chew my food in earnest. It's a strange, but sadly true little cliche that you realize what you desire most when it's no longer within your reach. For me, that phrase encompasses two or three specific people, and a whole bunch of delicious food that I won't be able to enjoy for a good year or more. Steak, gum, hard candies, and lots of icecream are going to be sorely missed. I don't know how much patience I'll have for dicing my food up into small little pieces and practically swallowing them, with the occasional chewing every now and then. It's something I'll have to get used to, I suppose, and I simply cannot wait to get the whole affair over with in the summer! That being said, there ARE things that I'm looking forward to in the coming months.

Thanksgiving and Christmas, moreso the latter than the former, will set a special place in my heart this year. Why? Because I'll get to spend a hell of a lot of time with my dearest friends whom I miss daily, and long for hourly. Everyone has been so busy lately (myself included) that it sometimes feels as if it'll be an eternity before I see them again. That said, I try to busy myself with the day-to-day aspects of living. I focus on my academic work, on trying to establish some social relations here at Stonehill, and I sneak in some reading or gaming time when I can.

On another note, Carleen and I have made plans this Thursday. Apparently, she will stay the afternoon with me once I get out of my classes for the day. I've not seen her since July, so I'm hoping and praying that everything will work out just fine. I'll probably be reporting on that, and any other interesting developments as they arise.

This is Commander Cadimus Orso of the Boland 224th Legion, signing off. Good night, and good luck.

Heartening Developments!

So, today I ventured a walk to the first of hopefully many Stonehill Republican meetings. I was surprised to see so many potential members! There had to have been about 20 in all! Coming from a place where I was one of the only conservative voices in the educational discourse, seeing so many like-minded people in a liberal arts college is heartening. While we are the definite minority, I saw some intelligent, attractive young people at this meeting. I'm very excited for the next few meetings, and even more excited in getting to know many of my conservative compatriots. I only hope that my fellows in this group are not simply playing the part of anti-democrat. To have such a philosophy would be very close-minded and self-defeating to the entire conservative argument.

In a time and place where liberally biased books and professors rule the arena of educational discourse, I shall join the mighty ranks of my fellow conservatives and those willing Republicans to transform us from the Silent Minority of Stonehill students to a very vocal, well-respected group with strong foundations in the community, state, and national politics. I only hope there is room for advancement in this group, and I could one day see myself as a leading person in this group once I've proved to them my worth and leadership abilities.

For now, I'm sitting here at 10PM in my lounge pants and blue bathrobe, munching on ritz crackers, peanut butter, and sipping some sprite. All is well, and I've finished all of my work until next Monday. I am very proud of myself so far. Three obstacles remain in my path:
1. I must find a topic to write about for my Contemporary America term paper.
2. I must decide what I shall run around as on Halloween with the girls.
3. Christmas gifts for the girls, and for Josh. Oh, the choices! My wallet will cry little capitalist tears.

A Day Forgotten? Never.

So, today is always a dark day in my memory. The loss of over two thousand citizens on what had been a beautiful Tuesday morning and afternoon came as a complete shock to me. Eight years ago I ceased being the innocent, always-optimistic little child and began my long, still-unfinished trek to becoming a full adult. That day managed to do what teachers, friends, and family members had, up until that point, been unable to do. I began to acquire a cynical twist to my humor, which was often a tad on the darkside. Yet, for all the negative aspects brought out that day, all was not lost in me. I began to see the world for what it was; a dangerous and untrusting place; a place where only the self-reliant, rugged, and Machiavellian survive. On September 11th, 2001, I lost no aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, nor parents, yet the sense of loss is no less severe. I remind myself each and every day of the loss we have sustained, of the generations that shall never be because of the evil in the world.

On September 10th we made a grievous mistake in underestimating our enemy, and today I fear we've returned to that state of mind. Some of us, especially those in government, or those on the left, have forgotten that our enemy has cells all across the world. These cells are led by patient, scheming, and meticulous organizers. They will wait one, two, five, ten, even twenty years before they make their strike, because when they -do- attack, they want to inflict as much damage as possible. I'm amazed at how many people think that if we retreat in the face of terrorism, that our problems and our vulnerability will disappear with the rising death toll. How ignorant can you be? The only way to safeguard our nation from insidious foes such like these Islamic terrorists is through eternal vigilance. Former President Bush, think what you will of him personally, understood the character of the enemy in which we face. They were called, "The Axis of Evil." And he was quoted, rather famously, as saying, "You are either with us, or you are with the terrorists." It's a shame, then, that the United States and other such "allies" were still funding tyrannical dictators in Saudi Arabia and other post-colonial jurisdictions. That aside, and that's a big aside, he understood that what we must battle against is evil.

The academic's response was one of disdain and of condescension. Liberals and the elite mocked this cowboy aristocrat for being a simpleton. Yet, eight years on it seems that a vast majority of Americans don't even feel as though we are in two wars and battling against entrenched terrorist forces. On the whole we are a people who can no longer conceive sticking out the long, brutal fight, and I fear that Vietnam, rather than being the exception, will be the model for America's future foreign policy. I can only pray that I am wrong.

We have entered into a culture that has permeated our society since the fall of the Soviet Union: A Culture of Passivity.The only ray of hope are those people who are like the passengers of Flight 93. As Mark Steyn illustrates quite vividly, they were not passive.

 Steyn wrote this article shortly after the events of 9/11, and regardless of the political persuasion you possess, I hope you will agree with me when I say that this is one of the best written articles on the tragic, murderous events of that day.

Link: http://www.steynonline.com/content/view/2424/30/

Fun Times!

Well, today has been a relaxing day of naps, forced-lunch visits, Obama-bashing, and the setting up of "The Council" above my bed. What is "The Council", you may ask? I'll tell you.

I took the liberty to print out high-quality photo pictures of each of the following gentlemen and in this order:
Ulysses S. Grant. General MacArthur. Richard Nixon. George W. Bush. Bill O. Mark Steyn. Glenn Beck. This is all done much to the annoyance of my roommate and his Obama-Bot friends, who are, by the by, going to watch Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress tonight in our dorm. I simply cannot wait; shall I wear my Obamunism shirt, or my Mark Steyn shirt? Such choices! Well, because this is going to be such a short note, I'll leave with a funny anecdote that took place when Bryan and I got out of class earlier this week:

So Bryan and I were walking up the main path on our campus, when he observed that, "We couldn't see the dorm, so we weren't close to it." This was in response to me complaining that he was complaining about the great five minute distance we had to walk to return to the beloved Forward Outpost. So, almost instantly, I shoot back by pointing up at the Dean's Building (think 19th century southern mansion) and I say, "We can see the white man's house." Later, I amended my statement by saying, "We can see Massah's house." I am brilliant.

A Triumphant Return

Well, after a long weekend back home with the parents, cat, and fish, I have returned to the Forward Outpost with a well-supplied convoy of crackers, breakfast bars, and munchy snacks. Now, I get to look forward to a set of classes tomorrow at 10:30 in the morning, which I suppose isn't as bad as it could be. This weekend is going to be an interesting juggling of my time; Friday I'll spend the time at home, Saturday will be busy all day until MIDNIGHT, and Sunday I'll be working from 1-5PM, with the intention of returning to Stonehill shortly thereafter, so my friends won't see too much of me. I'll need to make sure I have all of my work finished before Friday spins around, because Lord knows that I won't have the time to do it when I'm at home.

For right now, I'm sitting in my little dorm room corner, surfing the web, getting my games set up, and chatting with Jen. Carly says she'll be planning a visit one of these Thursdays, so I'm definitely excited about that. There is one good thing about Stonehill: Dunkin Donuts is a three minute walk down the road. Delicious. :>

It Begins!

Well, after three days of nonstop orientation, I find myself among the fortunate few who may, I believe, proudly call themselves Stonehill students. It's going to be a wonderful experience to at last engage myself in the monotonous schedule of attending classes, cramming food down my throat, and getting involved in leadership roles while on Campus. It's an exciting, liberating, and yet confusing time. Luckily, for my own sanity, I'll be returning home on most if not all weekends to spend time with my family that I miss very, very much. I will say that I am thankful that my orientation is over. I can't think of the hell and misery I'd be in if classes didn't start 'til Thursday, and here I was slushing stuff around at a band camp that began the Saturday before. So, I suppose my heart goes out to Jen for being able to put up with all that craziness.

As it stands, I don't believe I'll have any trouble with my courses this semester. I was, however, very upset to learn that I need a full year of French, and not merely a semester. It's wonderful, then, that I took perhaps the easiest French course offered. I'd rather focus on classes more suited to my interests, those being history and contemporary America. Well, it's late and there's more carousing to be done, so off I go. Woo, me.

Don't they go by in a blink?

With less than a day to go before I run off to Stonehill, and with all the packing done, I'm sitting here and wondering about how my comrads and family will do without all of us around, laughing and seeing eachother multiple times during the week. I can honestly say that I'm feeling all sorts of things at the moment, and more than anything else I already miss Josh, Jen, and the rest. Due to the lack of having a car, I may only get to see those two when the breaks roll around in December. Both of them have become such an integral part in my life, and beyond one or two members of my family, they know the most about me. There's a great deal of trepidation going through my mind at the moment, and that's mainly because both the distance and the time separating all of us is a little disheartening. In retrospect, I think that the strength of our friendship will endure and grow because of all the varied experiences and interesting stories we'll have to tell. I look forward to Christmas Eve, which is my favorite time of year.

On a less-mushy note, the parents were all in a hectic uproar with packing these past two or three days. I love them, but they always have a keen method for getting on eachother's nerves long before the job is done. It's amusing to watch, and I can only wait with a smile on my face to see how they are when we're all together unpacking in the midst of a tropical storm. Stormy weather has always been my first greeting at Stonehill; I'll look forward to seeing the place when it's bright and sunny, or covered in snow.

Senator Kenney, dead at 77.

How surprised I was when I flipped the channel to FOX and CNN at 2:47 in the morning to find that Senator Kennedy, whom we all thought would never die, has passed on. He lived both a priviledged and heart-wrenching life, long and influential. I am relieved to know that he suffers no more, and I am even more relieved that Massachusetts may now have a chance for a fresh face in the Senate. I've grown very tired of a select few families dominating this state, and controlling national politics. His time has passed, finally, and now we may look forward to a bright and different future. My thoughts and prayers to his family.

The Initiation!

So, I've had this blank blog sitting here for little over half a year and just now I've finally decided to set it up in preparation for my departure to Stonehill College. I'm a little excited, a bit apprehensive, and I hope I have enough time to myself in those early days to just acclimate without being bothered by too many "Team-building" excersizes. We shall see if this holds true or not.