Not much happened yesterday, so I waited until today for the newest update. I got my Gov. paper back today, and it was pretty good. Tonight was our first performance of "Messiah," and it went really well. The concert hall, as usual, sounded amazing. I work tonight from 1 AM to 4 AM, so I've got that to look forward to. Hopefully no one else has quite as late of a night as me.

This is different than back at ND, because this implies that class was actually back in session today. It actually went well, mostly because I somehow managed to get a ton of sleep last night. I finally added a pictures page to the site, the easiest way for me to post large amounts of pictures is to host them on Facebook and then link to them, so thats what I'm going to do. If there are any other content suggestions just let me know. Tomorrow night, Father Hesburgh, the former president of the university will be speaking in our dorm. Hopefully I can get some pictures to post on the site. Thats all the news for today.

I got back to campus at about 4:30 EST today. When I got here, it was snowing and cold. Lots of stuff has happened since the last update, so I'll do my best to be brief. Wednesday was mostly about traveling back to Dubuque, in the snow as I'm sure you know. Thursday morning we went to Iowa City for Thanksgiving. We got there just in time to see all of the Packers v. Lions game (GO Pack!). Dinner was good and we got to spend time with family. Friday was poinsettia delivery day, but before that I went to Senior's swim practice and tried to keep up. After deliveries were done, we went out to eat for Connor's 14th birthday. Then Jordan and I went out with some friends that night. Saturday morning, I again went to Senior's practice, this time I didn't swim, just watched the guys work and helped the managers a little bit. After that, we spent some time at the house, I got a camera from my dad, and Jordan and I bought Connor a birthday present. At night, we watched the UNI playoff victory and the Kansas v. Missouri game. Then this morning, I left at around 8:45 to head to Rockford where I caught a bus to O'Hare where I caught a bus back to campus and thats pretty much where I'm at right now. I have a little bit of homework to finish before mass tonight, then I plan on getting to sleep a little early and tomorrow will officially be the beginning of the end of my first semester of college.

Isn't it funny how the little things in life can mean so much? A passing glance, a change of inflection, a different stance, and suddenly everything's different. Its not a major event, so often, that affects one's life, but, rather, the build up of the litany of little things over the course of a lifetime. You don't notice until the last little thing, but when you look back, you realize that a blind man should have been able to see it coming. No news til Sunday, so I hope you'll excuse the nonsense of a 19-year-old college freshman.

As I write this, all of my work is done, my bags are packed, and all I have left to do is go to two classes tomorrow before I start back for Dubuque tomorrow. My Astro test went well today, and I was the first one to finish it. We finally started actually playing racquetball in class today, and I was surprised to discover that I am fairly good at it, at least compared to the other students in my class. I met with my advisor today to map out my schedule for next semester, though the only classes I know for sure at this point are an art history class in English Society and Art and a major level history class. I leave tomorrow at noon, and because of that, I am not going to guarantee any additional updates until Sunday evening. Because of this, I will give a brief preview of my long weekend. On Thanksgiving, I will be going to Iowa City to celebrate with my mom's family at my aunt's house. Friday I hope to go to Senior's swim practice before delivering poinsettias for DASH most of the day. I also have to get a follow-
up shot from my college physical Friday afternoon. The weekend I have no concrete plans for, but thats fine with me.

Another long Monday, which I've decided is more a result of the day of the week than of the actual amount of stuff to do that day. Today did start off well though, with an abbreviated Spanish class in which I got two good grades back and a canceled Theology class that allowed me to chill out for forty five minutes. However, after that I went to Gov and was reminded that my paper is not going to write itself.  After classes, I had a review session for my Astronomy test tomorrow. Then we had our first chorale rehearsal that was strictly for Messiah. Now I'm continuing to review for Astronomy and working on my paper, so that I can be ready to come home on Wednesday.

I'm sorry for the cryptic title, but I think that some people will understand what it means. I want to start by correcting one of my statements from yesterday, after a terrible loss to Western Michigan, it looks like Iowa, unfortunately, will not be going to a bowl game. I took today off more or less, just watched football (Go Pack, 9-1) and worked a little at Reckers. The combination of wind outside and chlorine from the pool really seems to be wrecking havoc on my skin, but what can you do? I worked on my Gov paper some more today, but that was really all of the homework I have. I'm looking forward to being back in Dubuque for the long weekend and getting to see the people who weren't home the last time I was.

Wet, cold, no sun; the perfect day for a football game, right? Apparently so, as Notre Dame finally got there second win of the season today over Duke. I'm going to be honest, I was only there for the first half, because I was tired of being wet and you could hardly call the game exciting. While I'm on the topic of football, it looks like Iowa, even with the terrible loss to Western Michigan today, should be heading to a bowl game! My plan for the rest of the night is to get a start on my Gov. paper which is due no later than Wednesday. That pretty well sums up the day. I hope everyone back home is doing well.

Busy day today. Quiz in Spanish. Paper due for Theology. Paper prep in Gov. And, we learned about matrices in Finite. After classes, I got ready for the big chorale concert tonight. My roomate, Jonathon got baby shampoo today, because he ran out of real shampoo. The chorale concert was great. The theme was "God, Country, Notre Dame." We got a great response to our performance of the school songs and the National Anthem. Our pianist also played an arrangement of "Stars and Stripes Forever," which was amazing. After that, I worked at Reckers again tonight, three nights in a row! Right now I'm watching Hawaii football game.

Today was a slightly crazy Thursday. This is all because of astronomy. This morning, I finally figured out how to do the homework that was due tonight. Then I completely forgot about it until 11:47 tonight. I ran home from Reckers and managed to finish it in six minutes and 13 seconds, leaving me with about 4 minutes to spare. It was also a little stressful because I have a Spanish test tomorrow that I am somewhat worried about, so I studied for that a fair amount. And, to top everything off, we had a 3 hour chorale rehearsal tonight to prepare for tomorrow's concert. So, as I write this at 12:30, shortly before I am going to bed, I am thoroughly hoping that tomorrow is a much easier day.

At the time, yesterday seemed very busy. However, reflecting on it now, I can't for the life of me remember what kept me from doing the update yesterday. Yesterday was pretty normal, aside from feeling extra busy. It was my first racquetball class. Today was a good day. In Theology class we watched the Colbert Report and Lord of the Rings, because of their strong connection to religion. I found out some great things that affect my trip home next Wednesday, basically I get to leave when I had hoped to. We were assigned a new essay in Gov. today, but it was expected. We're getting ready for this Friday's chorale concert, Friday at 8 in Leighton Concert Hall if anyone who reads this is in the South Bend area. I worked overtime at Reckers to try to be helpful tonight because the shift after me seems to have collectively decided not to come in. Here's hoping the rest of the week goes as planned.

Monday mornings always come so early. I'm sure this is true for everyone, but I thought I'd point it out. One positive from this Monday is that I learned that next Monday I will have one less class. We had a very interesting lecture in Gov. class about Cuba today. We had a very interesting discussion about merry-go-
rounds in Finite Math today. After tonight's chorale rehearsal, we only have two more rehearsals before our big concert this Friday. That about sums up the day. One late update for yesterday, I want to congratulate my brother Jordan on a great meet this weekend in Minneapolis. I can't wait for Senior's season to start.

A very average Sunday. Woke up around 11:30, worked out, watched football (Go Pack). Mass tonight, then a little bit of homework. Sorry for the brevity.

I slept late today, really late. I woke up just after noon, just in time to watch the Iowa game. I only watched the first half, since I felt the Hawkeyes had things under control, and I had a tail-gate to go to. Then I went to the Notre Dame game. I could only make myself stay for the first two and a half quarters though, since it was bitterly cold and we weren't able to put anything together on offense. I'm glad I was at least there for half-time though, because the marching band show was amazing. The theme today was dancing through the years. My favorite portion was when they played "Here it Goes Again" by OK Go. They formed treadmills and runners and had a treadmill that the Leprechaun was on. It really was nothing short of amazing. The rest of the day was pretty dull, not too many people excited after the game today. Looking forward to the Packers v. Vikings game tomorrow.

Today was the day, the O'Neill hosted pep rally. This came at the end of another relatively busy day for me. We had a chorale concert at the College Football Hall of Fame in downtown South Bend today. It worked in conjunction with a Veteran's Day promotion going on there. Also, in honor of Veteran's Day, members of the various ROTC programs on campus stood guard around the military memorial on campus today. Then came the pep rally. When we arrived for the rally, we watched the end of the volleyball team's victory over Cincinnati's. Then came the pep rally, with our front row seats, and recognition by the Leprechaun as one of the host dorms. This pep rally marked a resurgence of pep, following several weeks of reduced enthusiasm due to the team's performance. I write this as I get ready to work from 1 AM to 4 AM tonight. Here's hoping everyone has a great weekend. Go Hawkeyes and Go Irish.

Sorry to those of you who check the site regularly, this update is a full day late. Yesterday was a busy day, as it was the culmination of O'Neill Week. Our final activity was the "Spank O'Lympics," named in honor of O'Neill's pizza place, Spanky's. Though my section did not fare well in the feats of gastro-
intestinal fortitude, it was a lot of fun to watch. I also had a meeting with my academic advisor to start to hammer out my schedule for next semester, which is turning out to be a little tough due to my AP credits, a problem I'm more than happy to deal with. Yesterday was also my final day of handball in P.E., I move to racquetball on Tuesday.

As today's title suggests, not much going on today. It was the third day of O'Neill week, today's activity was a Halo 3 tourney. I didn't participate or watch, so I can't give you much info on it. Yesterday after the post went up I bought a whole bunch of O'Neill merchandise to prepare for the pep rally on Friday. I guess thats not terribly noteworthy, but oh well. Chorale and work tonight, we're prepping for two concerts in chorale, one this Friday and one the following Friday. I'm thinking about adding a forum to the site in the not too distant future, email me to let me know what you think.

Today we got snow in South Bend for the first time this school year. It wasn't really snow, it was more like sleety, rainy, snowy blah, but officially it was our first snow. The most important part about the snow today from my point of view was the fact that it was bitterly cold and generally miserable weather. On a brighter note, I had gym class today, which is always fun. I had my first meeting with my Peer Advisor today. It was short, and basically just meant to make sure that I wasn't in completely over my head or anything like that. I also had an hour long voice lesson today. I'm really enjoying the laid back nature of the lessons here. Today's O'Neill week activity is a Slushie Pong tournament. Two teams of two from each section competed to see who was the most dominant. It was a lot of fun to watch.

Today is Guy Fawkes Day, the four hundred and second anniversary of the night that Guy Fawkes was foiled in his attempt to blow up the buildings of the English Parliament. On a lighter note, I picked up my tux for choir today. Today also kicked off O'Neill Week here on campus. The best way for me to equate this to something from home is that it is like homecoming week at Senior. Every day there is a different activity, with today's being "wear O'Neill stuff." We are also one of the four host dorms for this Friday's pep rally. Other than that, it was a pretty run of the mill day today.

This morning I woke up at 11:30 AM. I got moving and out of bed and by 1:00, when the pool opens, I was ready to swim. You can only imagine my embarrassment when I got to the pool and found out that it didn't open for another hour. I guess that explains why there was no football on when I left my room. After I swam I came back to my room to watch the Packers beat the Chiefs. I went to the library then for a couple of hours to work on my Spanish paper for next Friday. I made it back to watch the second-half of the Colts/Pats game (so close).  The night ended pretty quietly, and religion heavy, with Sunday night mass and theology homework.

At 1:30, when I went to bed, 7:30 AM didn't seem that early. When I woke up at 7:30 and it was still dark, I decided that it was, in fact, terribly early. All that aside, the concession stand wasn't bad at all. While I was there, 8 AM to 11 AM, we sold two hamburgers and two brats. I realize that that sounds like terrible numbers, but very few people ever buy food before noon. After work and another bike ride, I multi-
tasked to watch the Hawkeye game on TV and the Girl's state swim meet online. My congratulations go out to the Ram Women's Swimmers and all of the Dubuque swimmers on a great meet. I went to the Notre Dame game late because the Iowa game was so exciting, and I went to the Notre Dame game very happy with a Hawk win. The Notre Dame vs. Navy game was in one word intense. The sorry state of both defenses showed as regulation ended in a 28-28 tie. Unfortunately, at the end of overtime, Navy had won, snapping Notre Dame's 43-game win streak over the Midshipmen. The night ended fairly quietly, as most people in this area are preparing for the Colts vs. Pats game tomorrow.

The air was crisp and the ground, as well as the seat of my bicycle were covered with a fresh coat of frost. The familiar feel of a late fall morning in the midwest. As I rode to Spanish class, I thought of how smart it would have been for me to wear gloves today. My Spanish presentation went well, I even interpreted the poetry correctly! Following Theology and Government I had lunch with my friend Emily, and we discussed our trips to Iowa City last week. A trip around South Bend on my bicycle rounded out my afternoon, following Finite Math, of course. Fortunately, as the day wore on the temperature rose, and my decision not to wear gloves turned out to not by so terrible. Following my bike ride, I returned to campus and launched what I am calling version 3.0 of TheJes.net. I opted out of the Pep Rally this evening, in favor of dinner with friends from my dorm. I decided to take the rest of the evening easy, to prepare for working at a concession stand before our game against Navy tomorrow. Tomorrow's news will include the score of the football game, along with my reaction to the Iowa Girl's high school state swim meet, and, of course, a report of all of the most important news from the day.

As I write this, I realize that trying to do daily updates could prove to be very difficult. Very little out of the ordinary happened today. However, I am going to stick to daily news updates for a while. Well, here goes. I had class, I lost in handball in gym class. I finished my last observing project for astronomy tonight at the observatory. I worked at Reckers, which got unusually busy just before I left (I guess I lucked out there). I have a Spanish presentation tomorrow, which made up for most of my homework today. Thats about it, I promise tomorrow will be more interesting, even if only in the way it is written.

Little did I know when I sent the email earlier today, that there would be one last piece of news. Considering that today is Halloween, I probably should have known that there might have been some crazy stuff.  I'll start with the school day. Campus was overtaken by characters from video games, comic books, and more.  I saw a banana being chased by a gorilla, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the cast of Super Mario, just to name a few.  At dinner, we were able to frost our own cookies and cupcakes.  Then, when I went to work, Reckers was virtually completely overtaken by customers in costume.  To top it all off, there was a small fire in Reckers, which really helped to set the appropriate mood . :)  Even with the fire, it was still a great day, and I even got candy.