Well, technically I have been for a little while already (last week was my first week of classes).

This is part one of three why I've been playing least-in-sight here: I've been busy settling in, unpacking, finding my way around campus, etc. The second is that I discovered that, although having a more flexible schedule than high school, I still find myself not having as much time as one would think, which I then spend goofing off with friends rather than doing much of anything productive by way of drawing and sketching. Third, and arguably the most direct, is that I don't have access to my own scanner anymore, along with leaving my newly-filled-up sketchbook at home. So... yeah. Hopefully I'll be able to pester one of my friends into letting me steal their scanner for a while.

Other than that, things have been pretty good. I'll hopefully be uploading things soon thanks to a couple people out there asking about my quietude (is that even a word? I don't think so...). You know who you are!

Journal title is the title of a song by Manchester Orchestra; incidentally, it's the song I'm listening to right now. Coincidence? I think not!

/Any/ways, life is trucking along, like it always does, right now. I've learned that not all hospital food tastes icky, and that one can actually sleep decently well on sofas if one is tired enough. I've been spending a good amount of time in hospital lobbies, waiting to see a family member who's, two weeks ago today, had a double bypass surgery.

A week ago today, a wonderful thing came in the mail: my tablet! :3 I've been saving up for one for a couple of years now; I blame gas prices and my own wariness of spending any large amount of money for the long time I had to wait to get one. I've been fiddling with it, mostly to odds and ends of coloring, re-coloring, and doodling digitally. Expect late-night nonsense to show up in my scraps every once in a while; apparently that's when I get the doodle bug and my stuff actually ends up being somewhat funny.

This Saturday is my last day working at the part-time job I've worked at for four years. Two weeks from today I move into my dorm room at college. Three weeks from today my classes start. Wow. Early. It's just now hitting me how soon that is. O.o))) Well, at least I won't have time to forget things I've learned from last year. ^__)));

I've been trying to fill up these last few weeks of my relaxing-summer with the activities that I know, love, and won't be able to do as much (if at all) once I get to college: golfing, visiting friends, working on a bamboo fly rod with my dad, getting dragged along on shopping trips with my mom... it's almost endless, all the things I want to do before I leave.

Still, I'm enjoying my time here. I'm looking forward to heading off to college, too. It'll be interesting being mostly on my own, though it doesn't scare me like it might for some people: I'm a fair independant person, after all. Doesn't mean I won't miss the creature comforts like a private bathroom, though....

That's all for now, I think. Valete, omnes, until the next time! ^.~

Well, more updates, two of which went into my scraps and a few in my gallery which may follow in the not-too-distant future. (Methinks it was next Tuesday.) And if you know that reference, you get +10 cool points.

Speaking of somewhat-obscure references, I'm playing a somewhat obscure game. Wild ARMS Alter Code:F, to be exact, which is a remake of the original first in the series. Awesome game; if you haven't played any of the Wild ARMs series, you should give them a try if you like RPGs and puzzles and awesome storylines. Expect to see fanart for it and the other couple of games in the series that I own. Rudy = <3!

I drew some concept art - for what I imagine, at least - for an RPG that'll hopefully soon be on its feet and flourishing. It's by no means canon, but it's better than nothing. Much of it is little better than glorified sketches, to be honest, but I wanted input before I got too terribly far.

Crazyness? That would be that I only have three days left of high school. Forever. That's... actually, both exhilirating and terrifying at the same time. And so there are end-of-the-year projects and physics field trips to amusment parks (which is awesome - rollercoasters FTW) and saying tearful goodbyes to teachers and friends. Well, it could be much worse; I'm not too terribly far from home where I'll be going, so that's reassuring, at least.

Not to mention that this Thursday through Tuesday I'll be in Washington, D.C., to march in the National Memorial Day Parade. *squee~!* That's something I've been looking forward to all year. ^.)))-<3 Smithsonian Museums and other national landmarks, here I come! >:3 Digital camera, go!!

That's about all I have to say for now. Until next time, keep those obscure video game RPG references coming! ^__)))

FIRST Robotics tied up its season this year at the World Championships in Atlanta, Georgia. Being the proud team member and ubergeek that I am, I was there screaming at robots along with the best of 'em. My team ended up second in our division, which we've done three times in the past four years, now. I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't make it all the way to Einstein (the final finals field) but it was a good year: we had a good robot, made good friends on other teams, and had fun. The biggest drama was usually me dying my hair and watching it fade into interesting colors on the way back to its normal shade or getting an autograph from Dean Kamen (which I did. Awesome!).

I'll probably slowly update things from the past five days as I feel like it - catching up on half a week's homework and a general lack of sleep will probably slow that down more than I care to admit - but everything from autobiographical doodles/strips about the trip and event to pictures and prose will likely end up on here eventually.

Yeah, it's my last season as a student, but nothing short of death could keep me from coming back as a college mentor and a full-fledged mentor. Maybe I won't be with my original team all the time, but that's okay: I'll still be with the program. I'll get to see them. It's not so bad knowing that, at least - I'll always have people rooting for me, even if they are competition.

Go co-opetition and gracious professionalism! Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers, keep it up! I'll wait with bated breath until kick-off next year!

Perhaps it's to be expected, what with life and work and school and friends and stuff, but I still wish I was a bit better about updating this account. It's not that I don't draw - that's not it at all! I draw plenty enough. It's a question of quality and actually dragging myself over to my scanner to scan them in. I can only procrastinate so long, though, before I start going "Well, I should probably do that soon or else people will get upset..."

Unfortunately, my scanner isn't large enough for some of the stuff I really wanted to scan. Go figure.

In other news, school's plugging along as usual. There's not much more to say there, really. It's just the same old, same old as far as schoolwork goes. Of course, FIRST Robotics is kicking into high gear. Go ahead. Call me a geek. I dare you to! *proud of geekdom* But I've been in competitions in that twice in the past three weeks with another competition coming up on Thursday to Saturday. It's fun, but tiring. Presenting in front of judges for the most prestigious award is fun in its own small way. I'm kinda sad to see it go. This is my last year on the team as a student.

It's been a bunch of lasts lately, actually. Being a senior is a bittersweet time. I'm leaving behind things I love and things I hate. I had my last band concert Sunday, in which my band got a standing ovation for one of our pieces. Goosebumps. Then, being the emotional sap I am, I went and bawled into a friend's shoulder. XD

I'm also looking at my last few months of working at my part time job. It's a family-owned business, run by a close member of my immediate family. The people there that aren't blood relations might as well be. That's how close I am to them, even the grumpy and irritable ones. And, after three and a half years, I'll be leaving to go off to college. It's... hard. It's been a big part of my life. I'll miss it more than I know right now, especially since I leave in the first week of July to move in. My classes start mid-July. It's strange, knowing that I'll be going off to college two months earlier than virtually everyone else I know from my town, and a bit lonely.

The thing is, though, that I know that there'll be plenty of opportunities for me there. If there wasn't, then what good would college be? Again, it's just that I'm leaving behind everything I know - my family, my friends, my town - to go to a strange city at a school where I don't know many people. It's not that I'm afraid; I'm just not sure exactly how things will go yet. Needless to say, I like knowing things. XD

I think that's my ramble for now. Better out than in, I suppose!