Seth Kinast’s Blog

My toenail came off today. It feels nice. Not crackly and funny anymore. There’s already a new nail underneath about halfway up.

This has been the best week and a bit of the semester. So much fun stuff… prom, phone calls to odd places, making new friends, growing closer to old ones.

Today was my 3rd psychology test. I think I’ve finally got the rhythm of how to work them.

• Test 1: Take careful notes. Study ~ 3 hours. Take test in 45 minutes. 96%
• Test 2: Take no notes, but listen in class. Study ~ 1 hour. Take test in 40 minutes. 95%
• Test 3: Take some notes but play games or do physics mostly. Study < 1 hour. Take test in 17 minutes. 98%

Probably my easiest class since 6th grade

Working backwards, I’ve been really productive these last few days. This week is fairly intense (three tests, an evil physics lab, an essay, and a CS project) but I already have one test and the essay, lab, and project done. Sam is good for my work ethic not to mention being good for my hug-deprivedness.

I got KUbuntu added to my Ubuntu install on my laptop. If I can just get a FEW more kinks ironed out, it’ll be time to blow Windows up on the lappy and go full-time to Linux. Wine is about ready to do the few remaining Windows tasks I need. KDE is gorgeously lickable; Gnome is clean but just so ooglay. And KDE is more functional-feeling for me; more features. A combination of things that makes me like KDE far better than Gnome (not that Gnome doesn’t have it niceties!)

Last week, Rory called me from the UK for three minutes. It was hilariously funny to hear him call me “a little muppet” in his thick British accent. Put me in a happy mood the rest of the day. His calling me inspired me to call Loth, and I talked to her for almost half an hour and even got told I was allowed to call back (which I did a few days later ) That girl is so sweet.

The Monday after prom (week from yesterday), my CS class was canceled. So I dragged myself out of bed for 8:30 physics, but then was soooo tempted to skip French (my only other class) and go back to bed, since CS class wasn’t going to be held. I ended up doing it and feeling guilty. When I got there Wednesday, I asked one of my friends what I had missed. Her response? “Oh, we didn’t have class on Monday.” How lucky am I?

Disgusting.

I was lying on my bed talking to Kristen when I shifted to nudge my reading pillow out of bed. I suppose that it was miffed that I would shun it so lightly, so it jumped up and attacked my Cherry Coke cup. Blooosh. 44 ounces of Cherry Coke, allllll over the rug. All over everything, in fact. The explosion wasn’t as spectacular as I would have expected for 44 ounces, but it managed to get a lot of things wet. Everything important was saved, thankfully, but the rug was just drenched.

I brought in an armload of paper towels, but it would have taken all night to dry the rug out and it would have been sticky. So off to the bathroom I went with the rug, holding it in the shower to rinse and then washing it in a bathtub. I started to get pretty wet and sticky myself, so I just stripped down to shorts and jumped in the shower with the rug. It’s clean— but wet— and hopefully it’ll be dry by morning. It got so heavy while wet; was like wrestling with a big green wet smelly monster, such as a dragon. Ergo, I dubbed it Rug Dragon. And I vanquished the Rug Dragon. I think.

The word applies to everything about that night. The dance, the food… but most of all, the girl.

I found out a couple weeks prior that I was going to be able to take Kristen to her senior prom after all. Originally she was going with a guy from her class, but I guess he got a girlfriend in between the time he asked her and prom. So even though she had already planned on going with him, she was kind enough to step down and say “it’s okay; you go with your girlfriend instead.”

His loss.

I drove down April Fools’ Day after classes. About halfway there, I called her house and asked to talk to her. When she picked up, I put on a worried voice and told her I had a problem… my car had broken down, I couldn’t get a bus, couldn’t get the car fixed for a week, didn’t know how I was going to be able to make it down there. Silence. Then I thought I heard a sob and freaked out (”oh no, gotta tell her fast, gotta tell her fast”). She asked, “So… what are you going to do?” “Oh… tell you it’s April Fool’s Day today?” “AHHHHHHH!”

I met her at the mall when I got back and walked around with her for awhile as she shopped for earrings. Slept in late, got some work done, then drove over to pick her up around 5:00. Got gushed over by her parents and Eric & Faith for a bit… Kristen looked so pretty. As you soon shall see. I wouldn’t tell her where I was taking her for dinner but instead just set out. 15 minutes later we arrived at the Red Onion, where we got Tuxedo Chicken (fettucine with bowtie pasta, so good). We went afterwards to my grandma’s house and saw my family, then over to the mall to show Kristen’s hairdresser how wonderful she looked. The hairdresser was this hilarious black lady— lots of “soouuuuul”. She looked me up and down a few times then whispered exaggeratedly to Kristen: “THIS one’s a keeper!”

Made it to prom by 7:15 or so and met some of Kristen’s friends. We had the “Grand March”; everyone walked down the aisle when their names were announced. Then upstairs for pictures and dancing. Some of the songs were just obnoxious (I made sure to shuffle the girl off the floor for those) but others were just fine. Since I’ve been taking this ballroom dancing class, I didn’t feel quite so awkward as I would have otherwise. On some of the slower songs, of course everyone began slow dancing (”slow skating” as Kristen and I called it). No movement of anything, just rocking back and forth. I taught her a bit of rhumba and started dancing REAL dances with her; we did some cha cha and salsa later as well! Good times; everyone was watching us

After prom we went to the bowling alley for a little bit just to make an appearance, then I took her home. Best prom I’ve ever been to, thanks in no small part due to there being no one I’d rather spend time with than Kristen. I’ve been in such a wonderful mood all this week, and pictures even came in yesterday! So without further ado, here are a few pictures

I should really get that gallery set up… :/

Prom 2005 Pictures

April Fool’s Day was quite nice this year. Not spectacular, but not half bad either.

We had been planning our joke at InvisionFree for a couple months. I created a fake staff room, and all the staff started making topics in it, ranging from “let’s ban all the members!” to “here are the top secret moon base plans”. I then whipped up a fake Admin CP with lots of fake errors preventing anyone from doing anything productive, and Stefan created a code to add a fake Admin CP link to members’ toolbars. The stage was set.

At 12:01 a.m. April 1, I turned all members into “Admins”. They had red names, admin badges, an Admin CP, and could even see the “Staff Room”! :O Furthermore, all staff turned into Members. Mass chaos ensued, most definitely for sure. People couldn’t figure out WHAT was going on, except for a smart few

But I had the first laugh, and the last one, too…

—

Later that day, I was finally ready to pack up and go home to go to prom with Kristen. I was so excited! I got to Tulsa (about halfway there) and called her on my cell. When she answered, I hemmed and hawed for a bit and sounded ashamed, until she asked me what was up. I told her I was still at OU— my car broke down, I couldn’t get a bus, and it wouldn’t be fixed for a week! How could I get to prom? She sounded freaked out and finally asked in an unsure voice: “Well… what are you going to do?”

“Oh… tell you it’s April Fool’s today? :angel:”
Winner. She was so angry