I'm in

Friday was the big day when I was supposed to find out whether I got into the University of Florida, which I applied to a few months ago. And I did find out: I got in. My sister did too. We all went out to dinner to celebrate.

While anticipating the outcome, I had suspended my usual self-deprecation, and I was pretty sure that I would be good enough to make it in. When I found out, I was a little surprised, but not much. Instead, I looked at the future and saw it coming into greater focus. I saw myself living among the old brick buildings, skimping on money, trying to juggle schoolwork and a lousy job, visiting my aunt, and walking across the stage for my diploma in 2011. I hadn't been sure, but now I am. That is going to be my future. That will be my life, starting in a few short months.

I don't even know what I want to major in. It doesn't seem like anything's going to come to me anytime soon. I hope I'll get an idea during my first few years in college.

And there's no turning back on this, either. I signed the Early Decision contract, effectively selling my soul to the school. I have to go there unless they change their mind. On the plus side, that means I have an immunity from the tauntings of people who wanted me to apply to Cornell/Yale/NYU/Stanford/etc.

And now, a moment of comic relief:

Yesterday, Justin, Nick, Mark, and I shot most of Beowulf 2: This Time It's Personal. It was exhausting, and I'm not sure if we'll have enough footage, but I think there are ways we can stall for time. For example, some people from school were big fans of Beowulf: The Movie and desperately wanted to be in the sequel. I figure we can do some brief shots of them at school. I plan to edit it next weekend. Most of the footage is on Justin's camera rather than mine, so I'll have to get it from him first.

As I said, it was fun, but exhausting. Nick and Mark had to leave early, so we hurried to shoot their scenes first. And of course, we had to record the vocals for the original song that Justin and I wrote for the movie. In the course of about two hours, Nick and Mark ended up completely wet, Justin lost a hat, and I very nearly lost a knife. I'm afraid that there's something missing, like something to hold the scenes together. It appears that what we did shoot is very rough, but I guess it'll all come together nicely with some more filming and editing and music and stuff. I think I felt the same way about our last video, and that one turned out great. (Watch it, by the way.)

Also yesterday, I realized that my school doesn't have a Wikipedia article. So I spent a few hours toiling away at one, and here it is.

Silent Penultimate Panel Watch documents examples of a comic-strip cliché: the awkwardly silent panel right before the punchline.

True stories told in one sentence.

One year ago: "'I don't want any trouble,' I practice saying to myself."
Two years ago: "The next time I consider going on such a field trip, I'm just going to do it -- or, if I don't, I won't tell anyone I was thinking about it."