Fickle is just about the best word to describe me right now. Fickle and busy.

It was nearly a month ago that I last wrote. I started writing something two weekends ago, but never finished it and, since I'm fickle, a lot of it doesn't apply anymore. Of course, most of what I write is an account of what happened, and what happened hasn't changed, so how it doesn't apply I'll leave up for interpretation.

Academically, this hasn't been a busy quarter. At twelve credits, I haven't had a whole lot of homework, though I do need to get myself in gear for senior project. I can't believe we have less than a month to finish. This quarter has whipped by.

But no, I've been busy because of friends. I have a lot more of them this quarter, seeing as how basically our whole mission trip team still hangs out from time to time.

So, had you not figured it out, I liked Donna for about a month. As far as anyone can tell, though, she wasn't interested in me that way, and I took a while to get the picture. We're still friends, perhaps better friends now that I'm not trying anymore, but it seems she and I will never be a couple, which I'm fine with. The story in my first post when I was at the restaurant with my grandparents was that I had just had my first real conversation with Donna, and we were messaging back and forth on facebook. I told my grandparents that Donna was a fan of the West Wing so I was practically ready to marry her. I was of course joking, but they didn't catch that. A little while later I figured out that they thought I was serious and practically spat while laughing that I barely knew her. After writing that, I think maybe it was one of those situations you had to be there for, and also maybe you had to have my sense of humor, because I can't imagine my roommates laughing at it.

The day after I last posted here (or anywhere for that matter -- I don't post anywhere else unless you count comments on facebook pictures), I was introduced to a girl named Ella by our mutual friend Christie. When I met her, she was preforming the most awkward hug I've seen (only improved upon by her in later weeks) on Christie. It was a sort of full-body hug, where she threw her arms around Christie, pressed her head into Christie's chest, and squeezed one of Christie's legs in between hers. Christie's facial expression was hilarious. Actually, both faces were hilarious; Ella's was of bliss.

I'd seen Ella around the INN before. I always thought she was cute, but seeing a cute girl was never justification enough for me to introduce myself. Even so, when Christie introduced us, I expected to forget her name like I do everyone else's. Somehow, though, that night I remembered long enough to facebook friend her. The next day, facebook chat was released for Western's network, and after class, she and I talked for about eight hours. I became pretty infatuated with her rather quickly. During our conversation, it came out that she'd never seen the Incredibles, and I felt moral obligation to correct her ways. She suggested we watch it right then, but I had just been invited by Hime to go to the fish store, so we decided to do it the next day after class. A little later, I was exposed as one who'd not seen the Princess Bride, and apparently my sin was greater than hers. I should have removed the plank from my eye before trying to remove the speck from hers, but her eye fixing was already scheduled.

The next day, we did indeed watch the Incredibles after a grueling two hours trying to solve an NP-Hard problem in Programming Workshop. She and I, it seems, have a lot in common. We've had a similar upbringing, have similar testimonies, have different ambitions and passions, but similar compassions. We also have a very similar sense of humor, which is huge to me. It seems like a smart match to me. After the movie, we talked for about a half hour. She said that she didn't want to talk to me online very much because she wanted to get to know me and not cyber me. I completely agree, having the hindsight of dating Tubby (which was my nickname for her because she was so incredibly thin). It kind of made me excited too, because I took that to mean she wanted to get to know me in person, and that we'd then actually see each other.

However, two weeks later, we'd really not talked much. I'd talked to Rosa about it a couple times. I kind of got the feeling she didn't like how Ella was treating me, which I found cute.

Two weekends ago, I went to Useless Bay on Whidbey Island with a bunch of the people on the CCF Worship team, for a retreat. The cabin we stayed in (which was every bit as large as a house) was owned by the grandparents of one of the girls on the team. We had a really good time. The weather was overcast, and at times misty, but that didn't deter us from walking out on the beach. Three of the guys even climbed a bluff. When they were out of sight, the rest of us went back to the cabin and about an hour later, the guys returned. They didn't come back down the way they went up, so it was better that we left them. We played a game called Signs that was pretty ridiculous -- really fun for groups of about six to fifteen. I also met a guy in the CS major, well, we'd met before, but we became pretty decent friends considering we only hung out for a couple days.

There was a cute girl on the trip, and the only reason I was attracted to her was physical beauty. She's a nice girl and everything, don't get me wrong, but she just doesn't have the personality that I'd do well with in a relationship. It really bothers me that I was so attracted to her, when I liked Ella for much better reasons, even if she and I hadn't talked in a little while.

We got back on Sunday, and I immediately went to a brunch put on by the Jamaica trip girls in honor of the Jamaica trip guys. It was originally Hime's idea, and she did the most work (I think) toward getting it organized. I know I really appreciated it, and I suspect all the other guys did too. It was nice, too, because it was the first time in a few weeks that nearly all of us were in one place at the same time. A couple people were working, and there's a girl who is doing an internship in California, so obviously she couldn't make it, but the rest of us had a good time seeing each other again. Rosa manned the barbeque and did an excellent job.

I told Hime that night that I was thinking and could imagine Rosa and me together as a couple, but that I had no intention of doing anything about it. She actually seemed to be excited about the prospect of the two of us as a couple, which has never happened. Hime has always tried to dissuade me from liking a girl, and I've asked her a couple times why with Rosa it was different. "I like [Rosa]."

On Wednesday, I met with David for coffee at the Underground Coffeehouse. I've been here nearly three years and had never been in there. Neither of us actually got coffee, but we talked on one of the couches for a couple hours before my Senior Project review session on algorithms and data structures taught by Perry. I wish I'd had more classes with him. David and I talked about all sorts of things, kind of like Bill and I do, but something about the differences in our personalities makes it harder to talk at length, I think.

Rosa and I had planned to meet for coffee after David and I met, but I'd forgotten that I had the algorithms review, because I normally don't have anything after 1:30 on Wednesdays. So, we rescheduled for dinner after the class. She and I went to Boomer's, ordered burgers and shakes, and then went to Boulevard Park. We, too, talked for a couple hours. Somehow we got onto the topic of past relationships and I gave her the abridged history of my life related to girlfriends. In turn, she gave her experience with boyfriends. There's something that really should bother me because of my family's past, but for some reason it doesn't with her. And now I find myself doing what I said I had no intention of doing. We plan on having dinner again sometime next week.

Even before the Sunday of the barbeque, I'd kind of started giving up on the thing with Ella because she and I had talked so infrequently. I made small attempts to put myself in her vicinity after the INN, and it seemed like she was avoiding me, though since, she's assured me that was coincidence. We still haven't seen The Princess Bride, though we'd decided to schedule such a viewing the Tuesday after watching The Incredibles, at the INN. At any rate, I don't think she's interested in me. Like I said in the post I half wrote and then deleted, that if you were really devoted to me, you would have read, she seems like the kind of person that would treat everyone the way she treated me the first few days we got to know each other, so I wasn't foolish enough to think I was special.

This past weekend, I went home for Mother's Day. On Friday, I ran PowerPoint for CCF, and then went to Sabbath. Two weeks ago, I left my Bible at CCF, and Rufus picked it up for me. He forgot to bring it to CCF, though, and brought it when I was at Sabbath, putting it in the church's mailbox, so as to not interrupt. I walked across the room to get it, and sat back down near Rosa, mostly because I didn't want to walk back across the room, who happened to be sitting right behind Catherine. Catherine is actually what we call her, because Swood and I decided that's what she looked like she should be named, but she graduated last year. I think I was the only one she recognized at Sabbath so it was cool that I ended up sitting next to her. After Sabbath, Minnie and I had planned on playing Cranium, but there were several reasons we couldn't, so I went home and slept.

The following morning, Nala picked me up and she, her boyfriend's sister's best friend, and I went to the bagelry, another Bellingham/WWU treasure I'd not yet experienced. All I'll say is that they're some pretty fantastic bagels and cream cheese. Nala paid for mine, since I was out of cash. From there we headed south. We drove around rather than taking a ferry. It turned out that there was a bomb threat on the Kingston-Edmonds ferry anyway, so it's good we avoided that one. There were no ferries from Seattle to Bremerton or Fauntleroy to Southworth either. Somehow, we made it home in two hours, which I think is a record for people driving me.

After getting home, my mom was stressed about her homework, so I was doing chores and laundry while she worked, rather than the other way around. That evening we went to the Mariner's game, where we lost at the top of the second inning. It was still fun to go, though, and we made some attempt at a comeback. We got home around midnight. The atmosphere on the ferry is quite dependent on how the Mariner's do.

The next morning my mom and I searched for Mario Kart Wii for William's birthday, and a couple smaller toys for Lucy's. I bought the two of them a Mario Kart Wheel (Wiil?). We had to go to three stores to find Mario Kart. There wasn't a lot of hype about it -- I didn't even know it had come out the day I got it -- but I guess they were selling after people started playing it. From there we went to church, and we left a little early to get to the ferry, which was a half hour late. The night prior, my mom had called my aunt to ask what time we were supposed to arrive at her house, and she never called, so we just decided we'd get there when we got there, early or late.

We got there two hours after it was supposed to have started, two hours after the ferry came. My sister and I talked for a while. Our relationship is becoming more mature, I think. We used to never talk, but now we get along pretty well. Well, it's not that we didn't get along before, but we never talked either -- an indifferent relationship rather than a good one. The hot topic of the evening, it seemed, was my job at Microsoft and what I would do with the money, particularly in the ways of housing and car-buying. My family was pretty split down the middle as to whether I should buy or rent. My grandma suggested I rent for 3-6 months to see if I like the neighborhood before buying. As for cars, my sister thinks I should get a Prius, but I've done literally no research. I've heard, though, that Toyotas are higher quality than Hondas. We'll see I guess. What no one seemed to understand, though, was that I don't intend to be rich. I want to live way below my means, on $35k, or so. That leaves $45 to give away, which is something I want to do. My mom keeps saying that I'm not rich yet, that even though I have an $80k salary, doesn't mean I'm starting out with all that money, and so maybe for the first year, I shouldn't give as much as I'm hoping, so I can start off on the right foot. That's probably wise, but I worry that if I don't start in the habit of giving, it's going to be harder to start giving later. Also, it's not like I don't plan to invest a little, too, but my uncle asked me why I even care about gas milage, because I can just afford to buy more gas. Financial issues aside, I'd like to not hurt the environment as much; is that a bad thing? He also suggested I buy a big house and let rooms out to girls. Something tells me he and I aren't quite on the same page.

When I left I felt stressed and exhausted. It felt like my family had nominated me to inherit my grandpa's position. But I don't want to be a millionaire. I think if I ever became one, I'd feel like I hadn't given enough away. I've told several people this story since then and I'm kind of sick of myself now.

And now I believe it is time for some last thoughts that didn't really fit into the normally scheduled chronologically written writing. Yes, written writing. Deal with it.

Over the weekend Hime got a boyfriend, the guy that facebook has said she's been dating for a year or so now. (She was doing him a favor to get some stalker girl off his back.) I'm rather jealous of him, but I don't know whether it's as a guy or as a brother. At any rate, it's been hard for me. I think it's funny, though, that she gets all excited about some quality he's displaying and tells me about it, when I think I have that same quality in our relationship. Maybe I'm wrong. For example, they went to the aquarium, and on the ferry, she wanted to see something he had, and he never let her. I'm trying to remember the last time I gave into her on something I didn't want to do, especially something small.

Two Mondays ago I had been feeling a little flabby, which is so very unlike me, so I went with Gaul to the gym. We worked legs. We worked them hard, and I didn't even do the deadlifts. I was sore until Saturday, and I seemed to be getting worse for the first four days, not better. I started limping on Wednesday because my legs were so stiff. We had to run to catch the bus on Tuesday morning and I almost fell down the hill because I couldn't use some muscles that I'm apparently used to having.

The busses are something that have really gotten on my nerves lately. The 105 in the morning consistently shows up 4-7 minutes early. We're supposed to get there five minutes in advance, just in case that happens, but half the time, it's already leaving even if we do. Further, they added a bus, the 95, for people going to south campus to alleviate the 105's, but if the 105 gets there before the 95, everyone gets on it, and no one is there when the 95 gets there, leaving an empty, useless bus. If a bus gets there early, it should wait to leave until the time the schedule says it's going to leave.

Today I took the WASL of the CS department: the MFT, the Major Field Test. Technically it determines whether I can graduate, as I have to pass it, but no one from this school has ever failed, so I'm not too worried, especially as I think I did pretty well on it. I knew the answer to all but about two of them, I think, maybe three, but that's not to say I filled in the right bubble. I was having some difficulties with that, but I hope I caught most of them. It'd be like "Oh, the answer is C", and then I'd realize I was filling in E for some reason. There were two parts to the test, and after I finished the first part, I kept finding myself trying to fill in question 34 on part one, rather than the next question on part two.

Tonics dropped Senior Project today, so now it's just Lolbot, Curly, and I. (It sounds like it should be "and me," but you'd say "it is I," not "it is me" [though Underdog might disagree].) I'm not too worried about our project -- we've got a good start on it -- but I hope Tonics is alright. Her mom has fifteen forms of cancer and she's having issues with motivation and motivating her sisters, so I'm worried.

Alexander has started a fantasy book on LiveJournal. It's pretty entertaining, but it's still in its rough draft stages, I think. It has great ideas and content, but the occasional convention is messed up, and right now there's a lot of tell writing. When I get kitties for graduation, I think I'll name one of them after the cat in his story, Kotenok, which he said was Russian for kitty. The other thing is that he's posting as he writes the chapters, so I anticipate some plot holes to emerge that, were he to get this published, he'd have to fix. I can't blame him though; I have a plot hole just within this post. (I said that before Sunday I'd started to give up on Ella, and also that I felt bad for being distracted from her by the cute girl on the worship team retreat. Both are true.) Anyway, I really do find his story entertaining.

Last night I was at the INN and everyone was trying to get me to go on the Spring Retreat. The Coin Flip of Destiny (CFOD) that sent me to Jamaica said I shouldn't go on the retreat, but enough people talked me into it, that I went against it's nondeterministic wisdom. Everyone I told after that was pretty excited to have me along. That always feels good. The other reason I didn't really want to go, well, I did want to go, but I also wanted to stay home, was that I've done stuff the last two weekends, and I haven't gotten to sleep in adequately in a while. What I'd forgotten when I signed up, though, was that I had signed up for Man Day for CCF which was like $5 or so. Also, after that Nala and I were supposed to go to Boundary Bay, another of Bellingham's gems, so I had to take a raincheck.

On Monday night I went to Pizza Theology. This one was one on reading the scripture, which I'm ashamed to say, I don't on a regular basis, and when I do, it's like reading The Wheel of Time, and taking things at face value rather than really trying to figure out what it means contextually. Usually after a Pizza Theology, I come out the other end with a lot to think about; this time I felt overwhelmed. That might be good though. I remember a lot of what was said, and I can chew on it for a while. In the meantime, I need to start reading more consistently.

I think one of my favorite things about my Mac is Dictionary. It's so very nice to just always have a dictionary and thesaurus that runs faster than dictionary.com. Control+space dict <enter> word <enter>. Wallah!

I've decided to realias Dumb Girl as Eowyn because unless someone read the first entry here, they might be inclined to think I think she's dumb. Anyway, Eowyn and I have been text messaging every now and then over the past few months. She's dealing with some pretty heavy stuff, so we've been there for each other. It's been really helpful. I offered to bring her a monitor for the computer I gave her four months ago on Saturday, but she'd just had her wisdom teeth taken out, and so she was a little groggy. I wouldn't have minded seeing her in that state, if only to laugh, but I think she might have.

I think that's all for now. Minnie was reading my posts earlier and I don't want to deprive her any longer. Also I should probably work a bit on senior project. And I'm getting up early tomorrow morning to meet Bill for coffee since we couldn't meet on Monday. Everyone is so busy lately.