Blog
So for the past 6 months, almost, my blog page was a nothingburger with no content because I fucked up my javascript because I don't know how to write javascript. Or HTML or CSS really for that matter.
My blog is about nothing particular. Mostly I write about the stuff happening to me. Sometimes I write about stuff that I think matters. Mostly this page is just the reason I'm reluctant to give my IRLs my URLs. You know what I mean?
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- Things So Far - 09/11/25
I've been at school for three weeks now since yesterday. It's going pretty well.
PS I'm trying out a new format ... I know it's inconsistent and I DON'T CARE!---------
When I first got here, I wasn't sure how things would go. Being in a completely new environment with an unfamiliar climate, without friends or any knowledge of the local area, it felt like I got airdropped onto an alien planet. I was scared. It didn't help that the "welcome week," the first week between moving in and starting classes in which student organizations put on events for new students to mingle and socialize, turned out to be ran almost entirely by a handful of Christian missionary groups on campus. The only non-religiously-affiliated event all week that wasn't mandatory university orientaion was "Big Queer Welcome" on Sunday. Quite the contrast from the church potlucks and bible studies, but I moved in and I was at a loss for how to spend the week beforehand. It was honestly pretty chilling to walk around campus and see all the tablers around were church groups, Christian fellowships, and massive corporations. I felt insanely out of place and I will be real with you! I started freaking out a little bit! I spent the night [all but physically] alone in my dorm room feeling fucking awful while my roommates kept going back and forth bringing random guys to the room through the wee hours of the morning.
But by the next night ... everything had changed! That Thursday afternoon I ended up being pretty busy between orientation, dorm shopping, and a fitness seminar. As I was walking back to my dorm after the session, I was approached by two *clears my throat* eclectic young men who complimented my TV Girl shirt. I was most pleased. I had worn it in hopes someone would approach me and exchange pleasantries. Then they asked if I liked live music. Errrm, yeah, I do like live music! So they handed me a flyer and told me they were putting on a "music festival" with their frat. Intriguing. I looked them up to make sure they weren't one of the several Christian Fellowship fraternities and was pleased to discover from their instagram that they're queer/trans-friendly and they seemed to have a history of bangin house shows. None of my [three] roommates were busy but none of them wanted to go with me, so I took a leap and decided to go on my own. It turned out to be awesome, like a breath of fresh air! Immediately I got there and noticed ... holy shit ... almost everyone here is alternative or queer or both ... none of them appeared to be Christian nationals, at the very least. I was being shy in a corner when this mysterious dropout introduced themself to me and proceeded to help me mingle and break out of my shell. We danced together and then I threw myself into the mosh pit as it formed. I learned that midwestern people mosh way differently from the people back in Phoenix ... three weeks and two more house shows later I'm still trying to figure out how to do the transversal two-step thing ... I met a bunch of second years and a fifth year in my major. I stuck around with the group of sophomores for most of the night; everyone was so cool and nice and everyone in my program had nothing but positive things to say about it. It was so reassuring! On so many levels! And I even did well enough socializing that I didn't have to walk back to campus alone, two of the cool nice girls offered to walk me back. On our way, they told me that they thought I was brave and I was like what does that even mean. Apparently to them it was brave to go out on my own to a punk show on my second night in the city. It felt less like bravery and more like an act of self preservation to me. If I hadn't gone out I would have spent the night cooped up and frustrated just like the first one. And two bad nights in a row tends to turn into a snowball rolling down some miserable hill. I needed to throw myself out and force myself to get used to this place! Force myself to socialize! Make friends and learn The Spots and figure out how to have fun here!
The following night I spent time with my mother before she was to fly back home. We went to a minor league baseball game. There were fireworks. The night after I went back to same frat house for the final night of their festival. It was just as great as the first night except better because I met J, another freshman who shares my major, who I think has since become my best friend here so far. I don't think I'm J's but I don't care. It's okay for there to be an imbalance when I know like three people.
Since that first weekend, I've been going to classes and clubs and shows and all kinds of shit. I got a piercing on the following Saturday night just to give myself something to do. I've been seeing all the live music I can and becoming acquainted with the local bands. I went to a furbowl at some point and I've been spending time at this public park near campus that's like a little patch of woods in the middle of the city. Yesterday I hung out with the aforementioned dropout for a while. They drove me around and showed me some interesting spots in the city. I have approximately three friends right now. That's pretty good for a dog like me. And I'm going to a concert with one of those friends tomorrow night. Then on Saturday I'm going on a day-long hiking trip with a bunch of strangers from the mountaineering club. It's going to be sick, I can't wait to get outdoors. Then maybe I'll see one of my new favorite local bands later that night at a street festival event. I've been hanging out with my classmates for study sessions and just for fun, too. I have all the same people in all of my classes because my program is cohort-based, and so far I'm really getting along with them. We're talking about living together next year. We had a listening party for the new Big Thief. J comes over to my dorm all the time and we snuggle and watch movies. I like my classes, too. I'm feeling good.
Also, I'm less bothered by the prevalence of the churches and missionary organizations on campus now. They're still intensely fucking annoying, don't get me wrong. They do sermons and shit in the middle of campus all the time. The other day there was some grown ass man with a megaphone shouting about a fearsome god right outside the main dining hall. Like ... what the fuck are you doing here. Go away. But I'm less bothered because it turns out that there is a community here that I fit into ... you see, all of the gay and trans and alternative students just happen to naturally be funneled into the design school. I was conveniently funneled in here, too. It's kind of hilarious, actually, the ratio. I guess gay people are design students and design students are gay.
The leaves are starting to turn yellow. THIS has me EXCITED. Having grown up in the desert, I've never really experienced seasons before. I didn't think it would start to become "autumn" so soon and I'm delighted. I'm getting super excited for Halloween, too. I got a little Halloweeny garland to put up in my quarter of the dorm today and it's making me happy. Autumn, to me, is one of those things that's totally real but totally seems fake. Like dinosaurs or pirates. I get all giddy whenever I think about it. The fact that autumn is real and I finally get to know what the fuck it's all about.
Okay, Dogblog Nation. I think that about sums up my three-weeks-in college experience so far. I want to show u all my dorm but I also don't want to whip out my camera and take pictures right now. So I'm gonna leave u with this image that I think is really representative of me and how I'm doing as a student.
Maybe I'll upload some pics or a video of my dorm here soon. 'Til then, take care everypuppy!! - College - 08/16/25
I'm moving across the country to start college in a couple days, and I wanted to catalogue and share some of my anticipatory thoughts on the matter. This one's scanned and uploaded straight from my journal, which is a bit more vulnerable as I go off on tangents and I keep in the stupid things. - THROW AWAY YOUR SMARTPHONE NOW! - 08/09/25
A review of my cell phone and how it's made my life better. - This Dog Gets Everything They Want - 02/12/25
Me oversharing. - Dogblog 4.0 Launch, and the Rest of My Life - 02/03/25
I don't really remember what this one was about and I don't feel like reading it but there are some pretty pictures at the end.
