her offbeat dance makes me fantasize, her curves - she's sexy.

I'm learning so much about myself every single day, good and bad. I can already tell this experience is going to change me incredibly.

i'm useless but not for long, the future is coming on.

This weekend has been fantastic. After an interesting night at Mad Cow on Thursday involving a certain contest, I was ready to not go back to the city for a few days. Friday we celebrated Matt's birthday by bonging as much as we could. He bonged a bottle of white wine, a gin and tonic, and a ton of beer. He puked so, so much. It was hilarious. He wasn't even puking because he was drunk, either. His stomach was just so full of liquid and he couldn't hold it down.

After the festivities, I went to bed and had to wake up at 6:30am on Saturday for a field trip. We went to Green Island and did a field study on the reef. We walked around and saw a bunch of really cool stuff like an octopus and a puffer fish. I got a bit sunburned and I spent $60 on a bathing suit (but it's really cute!). After the field trip we got back to the lodge, ate a quick dinner, then headed to Trinity Park for the bonfire. It was a lot of fun, minus the huge ants that were crawling around everywhere and a tiny bit of drizzle. We got back and hung out in Andy's room for a bit, then I went to bed.

Today I spent the entire day in the sun. Cece and I started to lay out at around 11am in the courtyard and then moved to the pool because it was so damn hot. The pool was chilly but it was so refreshing. I opted against going to Crystal Cascades with the boys and ended up going to the Beaches to swim at that pool. We just got back about half an hour ago, so I was in the sun from 11am - 4pm today. I'm quite burnt. The pool also washed a ton of the dye out of my hair, so I'm sitting here with more pink dye settling in my hair as I type this.

Oh! My lab on Friday was awesome, too (minus the hangover). We cut open cane toads and injected adrenaline + other things directly into their hearts and got to monitor the effect on the heart rate. It was neat.

So I think that catches you up on the past few days. I'm going to go wash the dye out of my hair now.

i'm just goin' through the motions.

The pink hair has returned. And boy is it pink. I love it.

Cece, Jeanne, and I hung out all evening and drank wine and dyed my hair. It was fun. Then I went to bed early. Now, here I am at 10:28am, trying to figure out what to do with the first of my two weekly days off. I'm going to need to go to school to check out a camera so I can get my four pictures taken for my folio that's due next week. Maybe that will involve a trip to Trinity Park for some beach shots. Kill two birds with one stone - relaxing day at the beach PLUS getting some homework done.

Eh, who knows. We'll see where the day goes. Unfortunately, I also feel like I might be on the brink of getting sick again. I'm definitely overloading my body with cigarettes and wine. I'll give myself a break for a few days and hopefully my sore throat/cough will clear up.

clean out the reds in my eyes to get by security lines.

And it's Monday again. The weekends seem to go by so fast. Saturday night was fun, we all went out to Gilligan's and danced. Then we drunkenly wandered around the city, caught the bus, and got back to the lodge around 4am. I ended up staying up until past 7am, then finally passed out. I woke up at 1pm and hung out all day. Me and the boys sat around by the pool and drank beer for the majority of the afternoon. Later, we watched a few episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, then I went to bed early. It was a nice Sunday.

Now I'm in class during our break. Only an hour and a half to go... Yikes. Three hours is a long stretch. A nap will be much needed this afternoon.

if the plane goes down, damn, i'll remember where the love was found.

The weather has finally cleared up and today was the first sunny day in too long. We woke up after a long night at the beach party, ate lunch, and headed to the beach. We ran into Matt there, and we all tanned and played around in the water a bit and listened to music. It was really relaxing, just what I needed. I felt like I hadn't been to the beach in a while. The sky was the most vibrant blue color, it was beautiful. I buried my feet in the sand and watched the waves crashing onto the beach. Therapeutic, to say the least.

Now that I'm showered and sand-free, I'm waiting for dinner and then we'll see where the night takes us.

you can wake up sounder if you get analyzed.

Last night was hilarious. I'll leave it at that.

I had my first real lab for my Venomous Australian Animals class today. It was actually really fun. We had to determine protein concentrations in anti-venoms. I worked with Dave and Grant and we were spot on with all our results and finished before almost everyone. It was awesome. Now I'm home and waiting for dinner. There is a big party out at Trinity Park tonight that we're all going to. Hopefully the weather cooperates. It's a bit drizzly and very overcast right now.

I'm glad the weekend is here.

we treat mishaps like sinking ships, and i know that i don't wanna be out to drift.

I feel like I'm doubting myself in a lot of ways. I don't like the feeling. I'm used to being totally sure of myself and of who I am and I feel like recently I've sort of lost that. I have a slight idea of where it is stemming from, but that's only the beginning.

I wish I had more close friends here. I love Cece, but as far as everyone else, I can't help but feel a rift between us. They're really nice people, but I just can't help but feel like we're just very different and it makes it hard for me to really open up to them. I wish that things with Matt and I weren't so weird/awkward (though I'm not sure why it is so much) because I really enjoy hanging out with him and Andy. They're the type of people that I would be friends with normally. Laid back, funny, and I have a good time with them. Half the time I feel like they just don't want me around, though. I just don't get it.

I love it here, I just wish I had more people around me that I could really get to know. It's tough to not have a real support system when I'm so used to having a really stable one. I don't know. I just feel alone.

eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.

I love life. That's really all I have to say right now.

this is the first day of my life.

The basketball game last night was fun. The preceding hour was not. We took the bus into Cairns and were going to walk to the arena from there. Mapquest said it was a 25 minute walk, straight shot. So we walk and we finally hit the street that it's supposed to be on. And it's not there. So we walk down the street more. I'm wearing my flip flops and they're giving me awful blisters and we're on a sketchy side of town and we just keep walking. An hour later we finally find it. I got some french fries and a beer and I felt better. Purdue lost, but it was a good game.

We grabbed a taxi back into the city and caught the bus back to the lodge. We then headed to Chris and Devon's apartment for their little shindig. It was fun. I crashed there and ate scrambled eggs in the morning and sat by the pool. Then I came back to the lodge and did some homework and now here I am. I just ate dinner and I am stuffed. It was my first real meal of the day and I overdid it a bit, but oh well. I think I will head down to Andy's room in a bit and play some Wii then go to bed early.

So it's back to school tomorrow. My week off has made me even more lazy/apathetic, but it's what I'm here for so I've gotta just suck it up and go.

the good times are killing me.

Nothing eventful to write about, really. I've just been hanging out. We went fishing yesterday afternoon but didn't catch anything. Well, I take that back - I caught a shirt.

This evening, Cece and I are going into the city to see a basketball game. Purdue is playing the Cairns Taipans, and Cece goes to Purdue so we're gonna go cheer them on. Afterwards, I believe there is a party at Chris and Devon's new apartment.

Other than that, I've been fairly hungover all day. It was partially cured with peanut butter and jelly, though. That's about it. Now I'm off to eat dinner and head to the game.

lost at sea you drift to me and into someone's nightmare.

I bought a bike today! And I'm so glad that I did. It was a wonderful purchase. Jeanne and I both got bikes, hers is hilarious. She bought a child's bike and it's all colorful and stuff.

After dinner, Matt took me on a bike tour of some of the area. We went to this pet cemetery and read old headstones for peoples' dogs. Then we biked to Yorkey's Knob, which is another beach in the area. We sat out there for a while but the mosquitoes were eating us alive so we left. I was thoroughly exhausted after the bike ride, which was about an hour long, and Matt had barely lost his breath. I am quite out of shape, I suppose. I'm gonna have to get on that.

We were all going to go fishing tonight because it's supposed to be one of the best nights of the year, but we didn't leave early enough. I think we are going to go tomorrow afternoon, though.

I feel a million times better today. My throat has stopped hurting pretty much entirely and I can eat again!

we'll do our jobs 'till we break down and fall.

Sometimes I have a really hard time reading people. Actually, that's a lie. I'm normally excellent at it. But now I don't know. This is buggin' me, yo.

I wonder if this is my most tagged posted.
Now I'm going to lay in bed and listen to Electric President.

and the verdict is in:

I have tonsillitis. Suuuucks. I got antibiotics, though, along with some more throat lozenges, so I should be feeling infinitely better in 48 hours. It still hurts too much to eat, which sucks because at this point I'm starving, but oh well. I'm very much looking forward to feeling better and having a good, hearty meal.

I need to buy a bike.

keep on playing our favorite song, turn it up while i'm gone, it's all i've got when you're in my head.

Two days later and I still feel like complete shit. I have a doctors appointment in about an hour and a half so hopefully I'll get some medicine and be on the road to recovery. It's about time. I woke up this morning around 7am just crying because my throat hurt so bad. Let's hope for some antibiotics to kick this shit out of my body.

Yesterday, Cece and I were planning to move out of the lodge. There are these apartments not far from here, still close to JCU, called the Beaches, that seemed too good to be true. And, indeed, they ended up being just that. It's $300 a week, split between two people, which is $100/week less than what we're paying at the lodge. It has queen size beds, a kitchen (self catered), two separate bathrooms, etc... But it turns out that you need to lease for atleast 6 months (which isn't possible for us) and it also requires a $1600 dollar deposit. That's money that I don't have. So for now, it looks as though we're stuck at the lodge. I guess it could be worse, atleast the people here are cool.

That's all for now. Oh, wait, one more thing: I'm contemplating getting one of my nipples pierced. The only thing stopping me is the potential pain. What would mommy say...? Oh dear.

I still can't believe the life I'm living.

so sick, so sick of being tired and oh so tired of being sick.

I have had the worst luck with my health since I've been here. First, it was the issues with my knee, which are just now starting to feel better. Every now and then I feel a twinge of pain, though. And NOW, I think that I have strep throat. I've got a really high fever, my throat is really swollen and it hurts to talk and swallow, I'm achy, and I just overall feel like shit. Cece has been good to me tonight. She walked to the pharmacy with me and I got some over the counter medicine to take away the aches, sore throat, and fever. Then she went to dinner with me, made me hot tea, and got me ice cream. She's going to go to the doctor with me after she gets off of work tomorrow. I'm very appreciative of it.

Well, I'm going to curl up on the couch, eat some cough drops, and watch the Olympics. I'll probably pass out afterwards. Damn, it's not even hot in my bedroom and I'm dripping sweat as I type this. I hope I feel better soon. I feel bad missing classes the second week. I just have photography tomorrow and then Wednesday and Thursday off, so hopefully I can get back on Friday and feel better.

let go, jump in, well whatcha waiting for?

Today we went to Crystal Cascades. It's a river with a couple of waterfalls. It was so amazingly gorgeous.

We swam and tanned and hung out for a few hours. The water was freezing cold but it was a nice escape from the heat. We also saw this really cool monitor lizard thing:

My first week of class went well. For my Venomous Australian Animals lab, the professor was letting us know how serious the venoms we'll be working with our. They could potentially kill every single person in the room. It's a bit frightening knowing that we'll be working with the most lethal venoms in the world up close - so many things could potentially go wrong. It's quite exciting, though.

Other than that, I've just been partying and sight seeing and meeting people and enjoying myself. I'm potentially thinking of staying for New Years and going to Sydney for it. We'll see what happens..

i shall avenge the death of all the romance.

The past couple of days are a kind of blur. My head has been jumbled and I haven't quite felt like myself. I've got to sort some things out before it eats away at me.

Classes have been good so far. Monday I had my indigenous cultures class and my tropical marine science class. Both were decent. Tuesday I had my photography class. We just got to fuck around with the cameras for a while. It was fun. Tomorrow I have my Venomous Australian Animals class. I'm stoked.

Yesterday a bunch of us walked down to Trinity Park beach and spent the day tanning and fishing. Dave and Mike were the only ones that caught anything, but it was still a lot of fun. We drank beer and smoked a few joints on the beach, listened to music, told Chuck Norris jokes, and talked and talked and talked. Mike found a coconut on the beach and we cracked it open and ate it. It was a really good day, although I think everyone got slightly sunburned.

I have today off of school again. Not sure what my plans are for the day. Hopefully I'll get some quiet, alone time to figure myself out.

each beat, every note played perfectly by you.

Yikes. It's 5am and I'm sleepless. Today is the first day of classes. I feel pretty apathetic about it. Normally I get excited about school but here, school is just putting a damper on the relaxing atmosphere. Oh well, it's what I'm here for and I'm sure once things pick up I'll get more into it.

So the Great Barrier Reef trip was absolutely amazing. The water was a bit cold for my taste, but everything was so beautiful. I was surprised at how clear the water was and how much you could see. Snorkeling was fun and I got to see a lot of really amazing, colorful fish - including Wally, a huge wrasse!

After snorkeling in the cold water, we would get out and go up to the sundeck and warm ourselves back up, then repeat. I got a lovely, pink sunburn, complete with a goggles tan. It was definitely an amazing experience. As I was in the water, I kept thinking, "Holy shit. I'm snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef right now."

That's all I've got for now. I'll write later and let you all know how classes were.

even though i haven't seen you in years, yours is a funeral i'd fly to from anywhere.

I am absolutely exhausted. Today was way too long of a day for the night I had last night. We went out to this bar called Mad Cow's, where there were 1$ drink specials. Enough said. I danced on the bar and all over Cairns. They played the YMCA in Rhino Club and it was awesome.

Cece woke me up this morning at around 9am and then, after lunch, we walked to Smithfield and I got a cell phone. I went to get it activated and then was told that I couldn't without my passport. So we had to walk the 30 minute walk all the way back to the lodge, my knee hurting all the while. I retrieved my passport and we took the bus back to the mall. I got the phone turned on so now I've got a way to be in contact with people, which is nice. I also bought some face wash and an ice pack for my knee. We hopped on the bus to head back and were distracted by my new cell phone and we missed our stop. We rode the bus all the way to Palm Cove and back around. I was so nauseous the entire time, I had to close my eyes and take deep breaths. I really thought I was going to hurl on the bus.

Now I'm sitting here, waiting for 5:30 to roll around so I can eat dinner. I'm starving. Missing breakfast this morning really fucked with my hunger today. Tonight I'm taking it easy because I have a long, early day tomorrow. I have to be at JCU at around 7:30am because I'm going on a trip to the Great Barrier Reef! I am mega-excited for it. We're going to go snorkeling and stuff. Maybe I'll see some lovely sea turtles. I want to find a way to take pictures underwater.

I like having my entire iTunes library on shuffle. It reminds me of all the wonderful music I have.