Round No. 1

First Week of Classes: Well, kind of the first week. Everyone pretty much just gave us a syllabus then gave the always favorite "peace out". My Astronomy professor is alright... he's got a British accent but also has a speech impediment of some sort, so it makes listening to him for extended amounts of time slightly difficult. Sociology should be cool. Oh, except for the cross-campus treck that I am being asked to make in 10 minutes right after the class (which is completely unrealistic). Picture a box the size of, oh, let's say 40 acres. I go from the top left corner of the box to the right side of the box. And I can't leave Soc early because the prof is pretty insistent that he needs his full 50 minutes from 9-9:50. Intro to the Management of Sports starts at 10 at Bellmont (part of the stadium) and that prof is pretty insistent that we be on time. This may take a bit of negotiating. My American Places of Leisure writing course should be alright though. We will be writing about stadiums, parks, bars, bridges, malls, etc. in search of what attracts people to these places. And as an added bonus, my prof is kinda cute and witty, making the 8 AM start on TTH not quite as painful :)

First Pre-Game: Coolest thing ever. I thought I would be insanely nervous being in front of 98,000 people, but there was really no time to think about anything at all. We marched from the Music Building to DKR doing all the chants and dancing and people were stopping what they were doing to watch and cheer for us. Video cameras everywhere, flashes from the top of the stadium as we approached it.. it was pretty sweet. We went in through the huge university sealed gates and started to line up in the tunnel waiting to enter onto the field. My favorite part of the whole game experience yesterday was all the people that were crowded around the tunnel along the orange railing (see pictures in previous post) and that were lining up and shoving others out of the way to give high fives to us. To us. The band. I'd never experienced any enthusiasm and school spirit like that given toward the band. I tried to get my camera out to record the whole tunnel bit, but it didn't really work out (I'll give it another shot when we play Arkansas in a couple weeks). Pre-Game happened just like it should... and I DIDN'T MAKE ANY HORRIBLE MISTAKES! I was worried that the crowd would be intimidating, but again, there really wasn't any time to think about it. Once I finally looked around, I was already marching across the Bevo at midfield playing Texas Fight. We finished up and I paused to capture the moment:

First UT Game with LHB: Went well. Wasn't ridiculously crowded in the stands. And playing with a 400-member group is just spectacular... I am loving the fact that I cannot hear myself. The actual football game was kinda boring, but it was FAU. Each game will progressively get more exciting.

First Halftime/First Brush with Fame: Again, went okay. Easy show for the most part. Boring, but easy. Following the leader is always fun. Matthew McConoughey was there (like at every game), so I snagged a picture of him on the sideline as we went back to the stands.

First College Crush: Hot Snare Boy. I can't help it, he is just so dang good looking. It doesn't even really matter because nothing will come of it, but he took a step when I didn't and bumped his snare into my butt a couple days ago. I apologized for not giving him some more room, to which he simply grabbed my shoulder and said, "No no, don'tworry about it. It was my fault. *cue irrestible smile*" Talk about some weak knees... I felt like I was 80 or something. And I'm sure I just had a goofy grin on my face, which is exactly why I smiled but then turned away pretty quick.

First Day Off: It's nice. Woke up at 11:45 after being out kinda late last night... plus the fact that I was apparently completely exhausted. Got some breakfast/lunch across the street, did a little cleaning and picture uploading, and am about to read 42 exhilirating pages of "What is Sociology?" I'll head over to the gym in a bit... it's just so amazing that I can't not use it when I have some time. But my FAVORITE thing about today is probably the fact that, at this very moment, I am singing a familiar FSN theme as we close out the 8th inning of some good 'ol Ranger baseball. It is the first time since I have been in Austin that I have gotten to watch them, making this tiny little dorm feel a bit more like home.

Tomorrow is Labor Day. Yay for no class!