Wow, it's been so long since i've updated, but it's been CRAZY! First of all, two weeks after graduating high school, i'm officially a college student! it's nuts, but i feel like i've been here a year and not a week! Like i feel like i'll be a sophomore in the fall!

So i moved in last Sunday (June 28th) and it went really well. I love my dorm (i'm in the Honors College building; that's where they stuck everyone doing the LEAP program i'm doing this summer); it's really big (for a college dorm), the bathrooms are decent (again, for college dorms), and my roommate is so sweet and low-maintenance. I've met a bunch of people, one girl i've started going to the gym with, others i met during a community service project i did (working outside at a recycling yard...in the rain...in shorts...and flip flops. But the other girls i hung out with were wearing shorts, too, so we bonded). I've started chatting with some of the people from my classes about the homework and stuff, and i'm getting to learn all their names, too. A big group of girls from my building went to see the 4th of July fireworks, and then last night we went to the basement lounge and had a movie night! We watched Mamma Mia and ate pizza! So fun, i think we're going to make it a regular thing!

As far as classes go, i'm on day 3. They're good, a little intimidating (each class comes with a syllabus to tell us what we're doing this semester, and my speech one is pretty detailed, which i sort of like, so i can work ahead if i want to). For my speech class, we're going to have to do six speeches, three are big ones and they're linked together (1: present a social problem, 2: make a policy to change it, 3: motivate others to help change it). The others are small (your biggest pet peeve, one relating a youtube video to the course). And there's an impromptu one (the only thing about this course that's freaking me out) where the instructor will randomly pick a few people a day to do a spontaneous speech about a topic she picks. And since i'm not great speaking without prep, it's making me nervous. I did my first speech on my pet peeve (when my books are loaned out and returned to me in worse condition...yeah i'm bizarre like that). Otherwise, that class is fine.
English is pretty cool; i love writing, and we're doing 5-6 papers. I'm so glad i took AP English this past year; i feel so prepared for these essays, thanks to Mr. Wall! Both my instructors are really young (early twenties, grad students maybe?) so that's less intimidating. I answer lots of questions in class, because i'm sick of just sitting around being shy. No one from college knows how i acted in high school, which i think is sort of awesome! Anyway, i'm really chatty in English, and it makes it so much more fun!

As far as other stuff i've done, the night i got here, there was a big social (complete with Creamery ice cream, which apparently can't be sold anywhere off campus because the fat content doesn't pass inspection...limiting myself on ice cream now) in the Hub (the center for non-alcoholic nightlife at PSU). They had a guy making INSANE balloon animals (he made me Elmo!), a comedian who specialized in college campus performances (and was HILARIOUS; we sat in the front row and he picked on my Elmo), circus performers who juggled all sorts of things, and an ice cream social. Graham Spanier, the president of PSU, came for a while and scooped ice cream! He's so cool! Apparently if you write him an email, he'll respond within three days. I'll have to try that. Then last monday evening, i went to a movie with Bridget, my amazing RA, and some of the other RAs. It was really cool, and Bridget told me about what it takes to be an RA, so that's something to consider for next year. Guarenteed housing! :)

As for today, i have my English class at 12:45. I think i'll just eat some snacks here instead of going to lunch (since i ate at 9 and it's only 11:30 now); i don't go to lunch too often. After class i'll probably hit the gym for about 45 minutes, then do some homework and go to dinner. At 8:30, Bridget's holding a cookie baking party in the kitchenette on our floor, so that'll be fun.

Guess that's all my news. Arts Fest is coming this week, which is apparently a big deal. No one seems to know exactly what goes on, except there's a TON of people. So it should be interesting. My mommy's coming up on Satuday for her birthday, so i'm staying in the hotel with her and we're going to Johnny Depp's new movie! YAY!!!

If anyone wants to send me letters or anything, here's my new address. i love getting mail!!
Kaitlin Bartlett
116 Atherton Hall
University Park, PA 16802

Love you guys!
-Kaitlin

I graduated tonight. And now i can't sleep.

Honestly, liquid adreneline must be coursing through my veins, because my brain is on fire. It's 12:11, and i'm uploading my graduation pictures to facebook and tweeting about the evening. Oh, and i'm watching Whale Wars, because there's nothing else on at 12:11 in the morning. The sad part is: I've seen this episode before.

But, anyway, back to what i was saying. I can't sleep. Which is apparently okay now, since i graduated high school and don't have to work tomorrow...i can stay up as late as i want. I'm in my pajamas with my teeth brushed and retainers in (don't laugh, i still wear them every night) but i can't sleep. I guess because i have so much to do. Not really, but i feel obligated to upload pictures and tell everybody who couldn't make it to graduation all about it!!! Because it was perfect.

All day, i'd been flipping out because they predicted thunderstorms. And, if that happened, the ceremony would have been in the auditorium, and each student gets only three guests. The rest would have to watch it on a screen in the gym, which is LAME. So all my family who came went out to Shady Maple (which is the most fabulous all you can eat schmorgasbord ever), and i was freaking the whole time about rain, even though it was sunny. Around three, my mom told me that the OJR website said commencement would be held outside. YAY!

So i got ready, and we took a billion pictures (see my facebook, haha) and my parents and grandma drove me to graduation (so they could save seats for the rest of the crew coming). I had to go to an assigned room to check in and line up. But we were there an hour and a half early (per instruction), so we all just hung out in the hallway and visited each other's classrooms. A bunch of the honored teachers (each graduate gets to invite their most influential teacher to the ceremony) came to visit, so i got to talk to a bunch of my old teachers, which was nice. My favorite spanish teacher ever (who was out on maternity leave for half of this year) came back, and all of us AP Spanish kids told her how much we missed her. and we got pictures with her and stuff.

Then one of the teachers had us line up, but it would up being too early, so we ruined the line by going and talking to other people. I stood in line right near the valedictorians and saludatorians (some of my really close friends) so me and Kristen (my AMAZING AMAZING best friend since FIFTH GRADE) hung around with them, contemplating the increasingly darkening clouds in the sky. Finally, it was time to go, and we all cheered, and it did like a wave of sound as it carried down the line in the hallway. The girls were in all the classrooms in a hallway upstairs, and the boys were in the hall directly below us, so we could alternate (a pair of girls, a pair of guys, and so on) so the two colors of our gowns (girls white, guys red) would alternate and look cool.

We all walked down to the field, and i got really excited. I kept looking at back at Kristen, who was only a few pairs away from me. Then they introduced the class of 2009, and we all walked across the stadium to our chairs. Once the ceremony started, it was so nice. All the speeches were interesting and funny and so true. A lot of the people talked about how talented our class is, which is flattering. I consider myself blessed to be a member of it.

I actually have a full memory of when i actually got my diploma cover. I remember hearing my name, walking across the platform and shaking hands with the schoolboard president/Myra/Dr Marchini, and they all smiled and me, and i remember walking across the field and back to my seat. I didn't go on autopilot (which is what i normally do when i'm in front of a ton of people) which i was proud of myself for. After they got through everyone, we all flipped our tassels to the left at once, then all us choir kids sang the alma mater. Then we sort of awkwardly tossed our caps/waved our caps/decided not to because we had to turn them in to get our diplomas afterwards. i sort of waved mine around but it never actually left my hand. Then we filed out and went to the parking lot where there we hugs all around. It wasn't too sad, because i'm going to see most of them again at grad parties and when we all come back to visit for the choir concerts/musical. I also talked to Mr. Venza, the teacher i invited. He was my first teacher in the district, and i met Kristen in his class. Hence us becoming best friends!

We went home after talking to everybody i wanted to talk to, and we ate cupcakes from the bakery. They were YUMMY, and very Katie Holmes. Then everyone sort of went to bed, except for me. because i just graduated. and i'm excited about it.

So that's basically my June 12th, 2009 for you! Now i have to go out into the world and make something of my future. Wish me luck!

Love from a high school graduate,
Kaitlin

I'm DONE WITH FINALS!!!!

I only had two (AP English and physics), and luckily they both fell on the same day. English was easy. Two essays, we had to pick a book/play we read in class that year and explain why it has literary importance. And for the other one, we had to pick a character and explain how that character taught us how to live a meaningful life. I used Equus for both essays (it was my favorite thing we read this year), and yes, that's the play with naked Harry Potter *eyeroll*. It's such an interesting play, so bizarre, but absolutely intriguing. When we acted it out in class, i was Dora Strang (the mom) and i had this huge monalogue where i had to cry and scream and it was SO FUN!!!! Anyway, i think i did well on that final.

My physics final wasn't as great. It was only seven questions, but they were really long math problems (not multiple choice) where you show all your work. I did about half of them really well i think, but the others i sort of guessed on. I blatantly made one up. It was about circuits, and we'd done a lab like it a couple weeks back. We had to make a model of a house and do all the electrical wiring. I had no clue what to do; my lab partner did it all and i stripped wires with the box cutter. So i completely bombed that question. But otherwise i think i did okay.

So i was out of school by 10, and i told Stephanie (my awesome boss!!!) that i'd be into work by 11:30. So to kill time, my mom and i went to Exton mall! I went to Aerie and shopped there for the first time EVER. OMG it is HEAVEN. so many cozy clothes! there was no one else in the store except the two girls working, so they were really nice and we chatted a little. I wound up buying a pair of sweatpants, shorts, a night shirt and five pairs of the most adorable underwear i have ever seen for $25. And i signed up for their A-List thing, where you get free gifts every month! YAYYYY AERIEEE!!!

Now i'm at work. I had this yummy cajun chicken and cheese sandwich for lunch. It was AMAZING. I'm babysitting the front desk for another few minutes and just relaxing. I've been wading my way through all the work i have to do, and i'm slowly beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It'll keep me busy for another day or two! I'll be in all day on Monday, and then Tuesday 8-3:30 because the choir banquet for the seniors starts at 5. We get senior gifts and yummy food! So much fun!

Wow i rambled a lot! It's been a really good day; everyone says i look super cheerful! Because it's a GREAT DAY!!
-K

Every day when i open my internet browser, Facebook pops up. Then i check my notifications and resume the stalking of my friends that Facebook facilitates so well. Up until yesterday, that is. During my last official AP English class, Mr. Wall (while handing out an article) asked us, "How many of you have the New York Times as your homepage?"

Needless to say, nobody raised their hand. He then continued, "You should. Even if ninety percent of the time you don't look at it, maybe you'll learn something on the one day you do."

And, considering Mr. Wall is a combination of the Godfather, Batman and a wizard, i'm taking his advice. I'll let you know what i learn. ;]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-david/adam-lambert-loses-homoph_b_206154.html

If this is true, i'm moving to Canada. I want to believe that Kris won American Idol because of his talent. I started liking him about a month ago, even when everyone else hated him because he "took allison's place, then he took Danny's." I'm not a sore loser who whines and makes excuses for her favorite who didn't win. I'm not mad at Kris for winning. He's good. His arrangements rock. He did everything the way i would do it if i was on Idol.

But if people voted for him because Adam's gay (and Jewish), that's just awful. Really folks, just because he wears eyeliner and hangs out with theatre people and isn't a small town country Christian...

It's really upsetting, considering all my friends do musical theatre, and we seem to be one of the few accepting types of people, at least in Republican Pennsylvania. Just because you don't agree with someone's lifestyle doesn't mean you should be scared of them or hate them unconditionally.

I really hope this isn't why Adam lost, because then i'd be embarrassed for my fellow Idol voters.




P.S. Kara Dioguardi needs to be fired. How immature is she? She allowed herself to feel threatened by a ditzy contestant, fought with her, then lowered herself to her level! Very unprofessional. Apparently i'm the only one who thinks so. Not to mention the Idol single is the worst one so far, and i'm pretty sure that was the only reason FOX added her to the panel in the first place, to try and write a decent song. I like the fan submissions better.

School has been winding down for a few weeks now, but this week, i've realized just how little i'm doing in any of my classes. I'm still learning stuff in calc, but then i go to spanish where me and Jenny have been going to the library every day to work on a project. which is basically done. Then i go to study hall/gym, then choir and lunch. We've been watching The Godfather in AP English, so that's easy. Then i go to another study hall and physics, where we've basically been doing labs for a week. and that's my day!!! love being a senior!!! :]

The last day i will ever have to be at OJR at 7 and stay until 2 is JUNE 4th!!!!!!!!!!!! then it's finals/half days friday & monday, not tuesday because i'm exempt from the spanish final because i have an A average for the year. HOping my grades will settle out as A's for some of my other ones, but i have 90s for final grades in physics/english which is SO ANNOYING. Who decided 92 was the cutoff for A's? I hope they suffer great physical pain equal to mine. They should be subject to the physics final. That seems appropriate. I'd planned on not taking the calc final, but my grade dipped after i missed a week of school in april for disney/NYC/PSU. my overall grade is back to a 92, which gives me no cushion for error. i have to keep it like that until the 28th. No pressure, Kaitlin. *bites nails*

The choir concert is Thursday. My last one ever :[ It's kind of sad, but i'm ready to graduate now. I'll be up at PSU again next Friday for orientation.

American Idol's finale starts tonight! I'm really happy with Adam&Kris being there. Adam has been my favorite since his first audition; i want him to win so bad. His voice is so incredible...it's just not normal. no one should be that good all the time, i love it!!! And i've been liking Kris more and more ever since disco week when he rearranged "She Works Hard For The Money". I guess i liked it so much because it reminded me of something i would do if i was on Idol. And then "Heartbreaker" last week was insane. But Kara makes me want to take a fork to my face, she can say SUCH STUPID THINGS! She picked the song for Kris, gave him ZERO instructions (and Simon said judges are allowed to help) and then said, "Why didn't you do it acoustic?" Then he comes out and does his second song acoustic. Then after that, she goes "Why didn't you do the first one acoustic?" BECAUSE HE DID THE SECOND ONE ACOUSTIC. WOW. Idol does NOT need four judges, it's why they've been overrunning their time slot. All Kara does is reiterate everything the other judges say. They just wanted her to write the coronation song so they wouldn't have to take fan submissions. Can we vote her off next season instead of Simon? Please?

*end soap box*

Okay, i'm going to catch up on last night's Gossip Girl finale! I've heard amazing things about the last five minutes!!!!

love <3

So in eighth grade, we all wrote letters to our future selves that we'd get back at the end of senior year. I got mine back today. And i'm totally not going to tell you all the lame stuff that was in it, except for the last line:

"Good luck at Penn State!"

Even then, i knew. And reading it kind of gave me goosebumps.

This is my last entry before i go to Florida and am computer-less for a week. But i'll be updating from Twitter if you want to follow my Disney-induced freakouts. Or you can text me, whichever you please. :]
http://twitter.com/kaitlinbartlett

Anyway, i went to Wal-Mart after work yesterday to get a second memory card (see my refusal to delete pictures in previous post). I found the one i wanted right away, but the metal rod that it was hanging on had one of those plastic things over the ends so you can't get the cards off; a worker with a key needs to do it. Only i didn't know that, and i thought the plastic thing had a button or something. So i spent a good five minutes staring at, fighting, and shaking the rod with the 2G SD memory cards while the girl working in the photo section looks on in amusement. She doesn't offer any assistance until i ask, "Are these locked on?" (again, stupidity was running rampid at that point), and she just mumbles, "Yeah, i have to get them." Then she waits a good thirty seconds before walking ten steps to help me, all the while making fun of me in her mind, i'm sure.

But i now have a second memory card and the power to take a billion pictures in Florida, which i totally will. And a fun story to tell on here. So i guess it was worth it.

Tomorrow i'll be waking up at three. That's AM, folks. As in the time when there's nothing on TV and people start getting loopy at all night cast parties. But a car's coming to pick us up at 4:15, and apparently they're never late. Most likely, they'll be early. So that means by four, we have to be ready to go. I think going to bed early is pointless in this situation. I'm already going to be exhausted and grumpy; an extra hour of sleep really isn't going to do much here. Plus, that would involve me skipping Lost, in which case i'd have to wake up an hour earlier to watch it in the morning. So, really, there's no way to win.

Our flight leaves at seven, we'll hopefully be in Florida by ten. Which means we'll get the whole day in the park! And Friday we're hitting Sea World so i can accidentally fall into Shamu's tank and have a Free Willy moment. It's going to be awesome! ;]

Speaking of awesome, Adam totally is going to win American Idol. He sang "Mad World" last night, and oh my GOD it was just mesmerizing! The vocals were haunting and perfect, and SIMON GAVE HIM A STANDING OVATION! Does that happen? Ever?

I just Googled it. Adam got the first. I mean, unless you count when someone wins or gets kicked off and all the judges stand up. But i don't. So he's going to win. He's in such a different league than the rest of them; i LOVE it. And i totally picked him from his audition date as the winner. :]

That's all for now. Talk to you all after Disney!

I was just thinking about how often i'm in a bookstore, and i realized that it's a tad bizarre. So, to justify it to myself, i'm making a logical list of why i buy as many books as i do.

1. Other people's lives are far more exciting than my own. I mean, yeah, i'm going to Disney, and i do musicals, but i've never dated a vampire or fought an evil wizard. So i like to read about people who have.

2. The covers are so pretty. It's like predators that look really pretty to get their prey to stick around, and then SNAP! the poor prey is dinner. Except books don't eat me...they eat my wallet.

3. Bookstores are the perfect place to hang out. The lighting is nice and bright, and they always smell so good. Plus, at some stores you can get coffee or cool bookmarks that you clip on the side of a page to mark the exact line where you left off (i own two).

4. I love carrying around books. There's something so cozy about having a huge book in the crook of your arm. Like you can almost snuggle with it.

5. No two are exactly alike. Okay, so this is arguable, but unless there's some world class plagiarism going on, there are going to be some differences.

6. I love quirky characters. My favorites are the ones who have crazy jobs (like working as a drive-thru specialist) or live in strange towns where they practically worship a type of food.

7. I want to be a writer. So i feel like reading is almost like studying. If all these people can get published, i should (no pun intended) take a leaf out of their book.




P.S. You know what i hate? People who joke, and you think they're joking, but you aren't positive, so you don't know whether to believe them or not. So when you're at work and you call someone to tell them their guest is here to meet them, and they say they don't know that person but you hear giggling in the background...yeah, at nine in the morning, it causes confusion (see previous entry).

Okay, so i don't really think i'm an insomniac, but it sounded like a cool title. I'm more of a night owl than a morning...bird...i guess that's the best analogy i can come up with. Give me a break, it's the MORNING! And i DO think i'm much much more productive at night. I always think of all sorts of stuff to do before i go to bed.

Like last night. From eight to eleven, i packed most of my clothes for Florida, read a few chapters in "Somebody, Maybe", got ready for bed, virus-checked my computer, ate two cookies and a candy cane (yes, leftover from Christmas), downloaded new songs, synced my iPod, copied old pictures from my camera onto my computer, deleted pictures off my camera, took a test movie with my camera, learned that Windows Movie Maker doesn't take .mov files, downloaded a program to convert the files to the acceptable format (i finally found one after six tries), put my hair in one of those fake bobs that all the celebrities are rocking now, and watched some of Taylor Swift's video blogs. All that before i went to bed. No wonder i'm so tired when i wake up in the morning!

So i tried to clean off my camera's memory card last night but realized that would involve deleting pictures from the Carrie Underwood 2nd row concert (of which i have about a hundred and fifty) and i refused. I can't part with them! WHAT IF my computer crashes, AND my back up network suddenly becomes overtaken with a virus AND all the CDs in the world become rendered unusable by an alien invasion? I would have no memories of the concert whatsoever! And i would just have to die (or surrender myself to the aliens). So i'm buying another memory card after work to bring to Florida in case i run out of room on the other one.

Dear Self:
-Get Carrie/Lady A concert pics printed (just the good ones; mom'd throw a fit if she picks up the prints and there are 150 of them)
-Buy another memory card (preferably 2G)
-Read books at a rate almost proportional to the rate at which they are purchased
-Finish packing for Florida (and make lists of the last-minute items, like makeup and shampoo)

More Books to Buy (this really must stop; it's getting a little ridiculous):
Evermore - Alyson Noël