Off or On?

Is it better to live off campus or on? Its an often asked, often debated question, and its one that I'm not sure I have an answer to.

I'm wondering this a lot lately. I love the community feel you get living on campus -- you can't get that anywhere else -- but there are major advantages to living off campus too. This is my second year living on campus, but I plan to move off campus next year.

This is in part because I only have one semester next year, but also because I think it will make certain things easier. Still, the convenience of living on campus is one thing I will truly miss. I will continue this debate throughout the year, but I think I'm pretty set on living off campus next year.

Now the remaining question is: where? I think I'll put off answering that one a bit longer.

An Eventful Weekend

Sorry for the delay in posting. Let me catch you up to speed a bit.

Thursday and Friday blew by me last week. They now exist as a singular blur in which only scattered details remain. I do recall that I was very busy with studying and working, but that is about it. Friday evening I hung out with friends.

Saturday morning was supposed to be a lazy day with a friend. We had made some food and tea and were about settle in with a movie when... the toilet overflowed! I called Public Safety and someone came right away to fix it. It was unclogged -- he said someone must have dropped something down there, although what it was will remain a mystery as we were unable to recover it -- but the clean-up effort was not much fun. It is one of those things that's bound to happen to everyone sooner or later, and it was something we certainly laughed at both in the moment and after it had passed. That evening we celebrated a friend's birthday, which was great fun.

On Sunday I attended a concert for the band Thursday after being contacted by someone from their record label about covering the event. I was granted two tickets, a press/photo pass, and a pre-concert interview. I brought a friend along as a photographer (he knew the band better than I), and we had a fun time. The band was very humble and approachable. I'll post my article on here when it comes out on Friday.

So, that's a summary of my weekend, for the most part. Now it is Monday and I am at work, but I don't mind too much. After a weekend like the one I just had, I feel fully prepared to face the week ahead.

Election Day Follow-Up

Yesterday was great fun-- besides classes and my weekly Campus Kitchen shift, I tabled for the Democrats and worked to get out the vote. We brought a group of voters over to the polls and just made sure people knew of the ease and importance of voting, regardless of who they might vote for.

In the evening, my friends and I watched the returns late into the hours of the early morning and were very excited by what we saw (with a couple disappointments, but they were few and far between). It was great to be a part of the process, and it felt good to watch the results come in and feel as if I made even the tiniest difference in my area. All in all, an exciting day that I won't soon forget!

Election Day is Near!

Remember to get out the vote tomorrow! It's your right and responsibility as a (hopefully) informed and active citizen!

I'm cautiously optimistic about tomorrow's election... I don't want to get my hopes up, but I think the odds could be slightly in our (meaning the Democrats) favor this time around. I guess we'll see tomorrow night-- I'll be glued to the results into the wee hours of the morning. Also, the College Dems are taking groups over to vote tomorrow, so that should be fun.

Go Amy Klobuchar, Keith Ellison, Mike Hatch (I guess-- at this point, I'm for anyone but Pawlenty), and, please God... Patty Wetterling! (I can't vote in the sixth district, unfortunately, but I almost care more about this race than those I am voting in.)

Concert Recap

Wow! The concert was so much fun last night. An absolute blast. The Echo (student paper) photographer took some photos-- I'll see if I can't get some and post them here.

Capitol Jay and Dave Afdahl were great. My expectations for the main act, The Alarmists, were sky high, and boy did they beat my expectations. My friends and I had a grand time and the music was incredible. We told people about how to vote. And my friend dressed up as Neil Diamond and did a karaoke version of "Sweet Caroline" in between sets. All in all a fantastic evening!

Between Classes

I just got out of my English class-- we had an exam and a paper due today. I feel alright/pretty good about both, but I guess we'll see.

Tomorrow night is the big night: Augsburg College Democrats' "ROCK THE VOTE!" It is a concert to raise voter registration awareness. We've worked our tails off to pull it together, so I hope it will be a success. We managed to score a really big-name, award-winning band. Check them out: The Alarmists. Exciting!

I'll be sure to update sometime after the event. I'm one of three emcees, so it should be a blast. Then, Saturday morning I'm going to apply for my passport, then out to eat with relatives visiting from out of town in the evening. I'm looking forward to this weekend very much!

Busy

Yesterday was Halloween. I had a lot of fun celebrating with friends!

Otherwise, I'm just keeping busy. I had a midterm yesterday, and tomorrow I have a test and a paper due. Also, I'm busy planning for a voter registration event with the College Democrats-- more on that later. Right now I'm at work, so I shouldn't be on here too long, but I just wanted to check in.