Thanks, Mr. Grant!

Last weekend I decided, somewhat impulsively, to buy myself a laptop. I've had a mediocre desktop, courtesy of my sister, since the summertime now. But I can't tell you how irritating it is to have to erase music files just so I can watch a movie on Netflix. It's like the computer was asking me to choose which one I loved best, my music or watching a good episode of The Office. Oooh, just for that twenty minutes I would have to erase...well, only something like, say, Savage Garden. So, it was worth it.

Anyway, this is no longer a problem now, thanks to the courtesy of a Mr. Pell Grant, who is even more charming than the infamous Carey Grant, I assure you. And now I can have every song I've ever collected over my lifetime on my computer, AND watch Netflix to my heart's content without interference. I was also able to give my desktop to my friend Heidi, whose computer met with a mysterious malfunction some time ago. I say "mysterious" because I don't know exactly what went wrong. Though, I wish it were something hilarious and beyond explanation. It was a gift I was quite happy to give, as I remember my own six years without a personal computer. I'm surprised that I pulled that off, especially with my tendency to work best at hours of the night when the computer labs on campus are closed. Or, perhaps working at those late hours is simply due to my procrastination habits.

I've got a class now where we submit comments and summaries about things we read over Blackboard for assignments, and I always submit mine within fifteen minutes of class. Last class, our teacher actually had our submission times posted on the projector screen for everyone to see. While I was ashamed (i.e. proud) that mine had been submitted at 2:27, only three minutes before class, there was a Johnny-come-lately with an impressive 2:30 submission. Ohhh....I'll show him!

Well, sorry, I like to ramble. I wanted to keep this nice and short. So, my new computer has a program to make movies, which sounds like a lot of fun. So, I thought I'd make one and post it for ya's. However, I don't have a video camera, or even a regular camera (though I do have a low-quality webcam now). So, you will have to settle with a simple slide show of pictures I took years ago from our family vacation to Mexico.

In case you wonder, I do have a thing about taking pictures of people, particularly when they are posing. I don't usually do it. I figure we go on vacation to see things other than our family. And a gringo with a lime green fanny pack just does not mesh well with the scenery. Yes, my mom does wear those. And, yes, as it turns out, not one of the pictures I took had her in it. That's actually kind of sad. But, I'm sure they were aware of my tendency when they handed me the camera and asked me to take pictures for the entire trip. Although, perhaps it was just because they didn't feel comfortable using a digital camera. My mom still isn't comfortable with it, as I've caught her using some older cameras of hers with loaded film. And while my dad claims he's fine with using it, he doesn't. Where is your sentimentality, man? Oh, but I guess it's funny in a way. Despite this tendency in my picture taking, I somehow felt inclined to include a cartoon version of myself with the lot. Uh, yeah. Um...enjoy.