The Dragon's Keep

pix

I just uploaded a bunch of pictures to my Flickr account. Go check 'em out!

...no, seriously. Go check 'em out!!! My skills are improving, I think. ^_^

posted by Erin Duncan @ 11:04 AM 0 comments

internets down

The wireless connection in the dorms is saying that I have to "pick a certificate" or "provide credentials" in order to connect to the internet. When I enter my school ID and password, it just said the same thing again and won't let me connect. It's happening in the whole dorm since Saturday night, and the only reason I'm able to write this is because I'm at work in the mailroom, so it seems the rest of the campus doesn't seem to be having troubles.

Beautiful.

This past week has SUCKED HARDCORE. :|

Edit: internets back up...and my grammar sucks at 6:45 in the morning, apparently. ^_^;;;

posted by Erin Duncan @ 5:57 AM 0 comments

rant time

Item #1 - the guy still hasn't called me. Is there some protocol for the amount of time you're supposed to wait before calling a girl whose number you've gotten?

Item #2 - f'in hate the roomies. Again. More like still. It's on and off. One minute, we're all having fun and getting along, and the next, they're acting like the popular girls in high school.

Ok, so two of them have had their mattresses out in the front room for a little over a week now, which I've deduced is because the one who shares my room can't stand my snoring. See "sick and tired" post below for that story. The other one joined her to make it look like it wasn't just because of me, but I'm not retarded, nor deaf, so I figured it out already. One of the girls next door also brought her mattress over to join the party. Whatever. It didn't bug me for the first couple of days, but now it does because it's the freakin' front room and no one can sit down without touching/putting feet on/etc. their beds, which they apparently take offense to.

I was wanting to take a nap earlier, but I didn't want to be back in my room where I'd miss if people came over to chill, and the couch is very VERY uncomfortable. So, not wanting to take up any one girl's bed, I had the brilliant idea to lay across the foot ends (note I said the FOOT ends, NOT the heads or middles of them) of all three of them, thus being comfortable and not feeling left out. I used my OWN blanket and my OWN pillows. Well, when they got back, they said they just really didn't want me to be on their beds. Oh. Ok. So, letting the guys lay across them is ok, and you can use my PS2 and dishes and food whenever you want, but I can't take up 2 square feet of space on the end of your bed? Right. Got it.

I just packed up my PS2 and moved it into my room, so that takes care of that. They can go out and buy a DVD player.

posted by Erin Duncan @ 11:31 PM 0 comments

"can I have your number?"

...asked a very nice young man about five minutes ago. Wow, I'm still in shock. I mean, I've dated a few times, but it's usually people like my FHE brothers or close friends. No one's actually asked me for my number like this before.

This guy is totally my type and I'm so excited. We just met tonight kinda randomly because he's friends with my roomie's friends, but I just knew by how we clicked that he was going to ask for my number. Oh, so happy. ^_^

posted by Erin Duncan @ 10:09 PM 0 comments

midterm

Wow, it's kinda weird to think that I'm already about halfway through this semester. Each one at BYU-I is only about 12 weeks long. It's nice, because you don't feel like it just drags on and on and like you'll never get done, but it's not so nice because all the instructors have to fit what used to be 16 weeks worth of lesson material into a whole month less of time. It's taking some adjusting on the part of everyone, but overall I really think it's a good change. The teachers have learned to cut back on the amount of work somewhat, and we students have learned how to work extra hard to get good at what we do.

Also, I'm very grateful to Ricardo Rosas, the art director for Skogen Group in Salt Lake City, for the wonderful presentation and lecture he gave last night for my art seminar class. I've been in a bit of a rut, wondering what the crap I'm going to do with my life once I finally graduate. His work and the way things are done at Skogen have really helped me realize that I don't have to be an amazing artist like the peers who intimidate me so much. I can do the parts I excel at and then hire a photographer and/or illustrator to help me! Or, I can get hired for just my specialty. I don't have to do it all! I guess I didn't really understand my area of emphasis as much as I thought. Graphic Design is definitely the way to go for me, and I'm finally excited about it.

posted by Erin Duncan @ 12:56 PM 0 comments

positivity

Well, it seems my cold has finally run its course. My voice is still a bit funny, and my nose a bit runny (I rhymed haha), but I'm feeling about 95% now. For now, I'm also stress-free, as I have no projects due for a little while.

Today was very interesting. It's been raining for the past couple of hours, with mushy snow that isn't sticking mixed in from time to time, and it's just cold and wet overall. It was overcast before that, so normally a day like this, most people would be moping about and grumbling. But strangely enough, everywhere I've been today, people have been cheerful and friendly, and I've run into tons of old friends and roomies and coworkers who were really happy to see me and I them. My typography classmates were all talking to me today as well, and I felt like we were all bonding during class. Maybe it's because everyone's turning in major projects today, like we did in typography, so the euphoria of having that much less stress makes everyone friendly. Maybe it's what I'm wearing today, which I've been complimented several times today on. Maybe I'm just so happy because lots of things are going right and so everyone's feeding off of my positive energy. Whatever it is, today is a good day, and I'm really happy. :)

posted by Erin Duncan @ 4:58 PM 0 comments

backtrack

Well, I *thought* I was getting better, but it turns out I'm actually getting worse. :| I guess it's my fault for going out and doing stuff yesterday instead of resting and drinking orange juice all day like I probably should have. Doctor visit tomorrow...

Yesterday, we went to the ice caves (when I have a better idea of the location I'll edit it in), which included quite a stretch of a dirt road that was perfect for off-roading. So that was a fun event in itself, and my friend's old Chevy Blazer is still in one piece. ^_^;; I feel like such a wuss though, because I only went a few yards into the cave before I freaked out and came back out. What I saw of it was very cool, and if I was a bit smaller I might not have panicked so much. See, they're called the *ice* caves for a reason, as there is very thick ice on the floor and around the walls and ceiling further in year-round. But in order to get to the bigger, open areas, you have to squeeze through some very claustrophobic tubes, and I guess I just freaked out. Dark, tight spaces through which I've never been and really don't know what's beyond doesn't sit well with me. It's one thing to go on a guided tour through caves you can walk upright through most of the way (Mammoth Caves, etc.), and I had a hard enough time with that as a kid.

Maybe next time I'll do better, if there is a next time. :|

posted by Erin Duncan @ 11:27 PM 2 comments

Subway delivers!

Oh really? Yeah, really. Hooray for that, because I'm still sick and unable to walk down and get it myself. :|

posted by Erin Duncan @ 10:24 AM 0 comments

sick and tired

Well, the sick part I meant literally. I've had a sore throat since about halfway through yesterday, and the stuffiness started this morning. I really HATE having to call in sick to work, and I avoid it at all costs. But there are days like today when it's unavoidable because I really don't want my coworkers to get what I've got.

The other part of my rant spawns from the fact that when I am sick like this, my already abnormal snoring is worse. Apparently, my roomie took offense to it, but rather than telling me so in a polite-ish way, I woke up a couple hours after calling in sick to hear her telling my other roomies about it. And we're not talking a low-toned conversation here. She was practically yelling about the fact that she turned her iPod on at some point during the night (which, incidentally, ALSO woke me up >_< ), and she could *still* hear me. Well, pardon ME for things that I can't help.

Gah, my roomies, all three of them, are just immature like that in general. I know they talk about me behind my back because I'm not perfect, like apparently they *are* or something. *eyeroll*

posted by Erin Duncan @ 11:12 AM 0 comments

Mexican food and postal holiday

I always love being able to come home early from work on postal holidays because we just deal with the previous day's mail and then have nothing else to do. However, it always comes back twofold because mail is still moved on days like today, Columbus Day, we just don't see it until a day later, when that day's mail is ALSO needing attention. So it means double the work in the same amount of time, which almost makes having postal holidays totally not worth it in the end. Lol. But oh well. I probably wouldn't have time for an update if it weren't for the extra hour I have now.

Also, Gringo's in Rexburg has the best Mexican food ever. So good.

posted by Erin Duncan @ 9:47 AM 0 comments