It's Either a Backpack or a Vacuum Cleaner

So I finally figured out how to switch the settings on this blog to "English - U.K.", and now my weary eyes are soothed by such options as "Customise posts" and "Colours and fonts".
In other news, I took a trip across the continent a few weeks ago, to visit that small denominational college in the middle of nowhere that I mentioned earlier. (Come to think of it, a lot of them are like that, so this one will be called University Alpha; the small denominational college in the middle of nowhere nearest my home will be University Beta.) It was seriously cool. My friend Seven and her mum came with me and my mum, and we had a great time trying to convince ourselves that it would warm up soon. The music department is AMAZING, and they have a tracker organ in the church that defies all description. The scenery was beautiful, I liked the food, people were friendly; in short, it seemed like a good fit.
But.
Their English Department leaves much to be desired.
It's also an insane distance away from home, and I have no strong yen to recover from jet lag four times a year for the next four or so years. Furthermore, I really don't want to haul all of my stuff (plus a 'cello) back and forth via aeroplane or mail service.
The bottom line: University Beta is looking better and better all the time. It's got a solid English Department and a good organ teacher, and it's only about six hours from home.
Just to keep all my fans informed (all one of you, right).

More Tales of GERD

Having finally convinced most of my class that GERD is indeed a real condition (I admit, it does sound like something I'd make up, kind of like the time I told my friend Seven that her CD player would charge up if she plugged it into her bellybutton), I skipped school on Friday to have an EGD done.

Quick pop quiz:
1. EGD stands for:
a) economic goat domestication
b) enormously gross dissection
c) esophagogastroduodenoscopy

Okay, so that was a bit obvious. Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Anyhow, I had a great time. It doesn't rank with catching a few rays at Bondi, but it's definitely not as bad as going to the dentist. There was a bit of consternation on my part when the nurse greeted me with, "Hi, you're here for a colonoscopy, right?", but apart from that, it went well. Turns out I have a couple of stress-related ulcers, but they're still small. In return, I ate a lot of instant pudding, watched The Incredibles three times within seventy-two hours, and got a top-quality (albeit very expensive) nap. All in all, a good experience. I highly recommend the hospital here in town. They are highly skilled and extremely conscientious.
Makes you wonder ... they have restaurant critics, music critics, and film critics. Who critiques the hospitals?

Yale, Finals, and Hep. B

I love my school: we don't have finals. We have tests throughout the year, of course, but two years ago there was a change in staff and when we asked one of the new teachers what we needed to study for finals, he said that he didn't give any. I just finished my end-of-quarter Bible test and if you can remember the difference between tequiyah and tariqah, let me know.
Yesterday I received my second college acceptance. (Query: Is it a common practise for a college to send out fact sheets on Hepatitis B and Meningococcal Meningitis?) Just for the fun of it, I decided to research some of the Ivy Leagues to see what it would take to get in. NEWS BREAK: In the words of Monotone, "Donneven." The application fee for Harvard is $65, Princeton requires at least three (3) SAT Subject Tests, and Yale's deadline was December 31. Yeah, I think I'll stick to my little denominational college out in the middle of nowhere.