Holli Rausch

Hopefully you have all realized that my last post was completely sarcastic. I had a great weekend and look forward to future endeavors with Bryce and Lindsey. *thumbs up*

I had a busy Valentine’s Day. (No, not The Honorable’s special day, sillies.) It was full of laughter and love and pain and African drums and tears and a guitar. Intrigued? You should be.

I went to Web Publishing II, where I was informed that there was no class. I was so excited, since this was the second day in a row that my 1st class of the day had been canceled. I came back to work on an assignment for the class and felt horribly sick. I was in so much pain that it was hard to walk. But I made it to my 11:00 class where Miles and I had an emailed conversation and decided to have lunch together afterward. We ate while the Kudzida cultural musical performance occurred, which seemed highly out of place for the day and location. Miles surprised me with some candy turtles his mom bought while we were in Big Stone City. Awwwwwh!

We headed to my room, where he had earlier placed on my door a CD case and a sheet of paper turned around. I was very surprised to see it. They were two CDs he had made for me. The paper actually had a poem on it that Miles had written for me. It was very sweet and romantic and it made me tear up! I need to figure out where to display it yet. He also created a desktop wallpaper to go along with it.

All of the above paragraph happened in a matter of five minutes because I had to meet up with Lisa and Ben and David to deliver Love Out Loud cards from the Drama Club. We delivered about 15 in two hours; it was a lot of fun, especially when we delivered to DSU faculty. I had my guitar and played chords and soft songs while the others read the Valentines. David got two LOL cards from Chuck Norris, Tony and Miles, believe it or not. And Miles got one from Chuck Norris’ lover, David, which is gross. We delivered his while he was in class. He got two, the other being from me. I was too chicken to read it to him myself though, so I just played the guitar while Ben read it. The most awkward delivery was to a mechanic in the body shop. All of his mechanic buddies were cat calling at him and laughing at him. When we left David said, “Someone’s going to get beat tonight.” True story.

I went to visit Miles at the library while he tutored. There he read me the LOL card he made for me. Enjoyable? Of course. Ridiculous? Nothing less. I also gave him one of his gifts, Season 2 of Arrested Development. Dad, if you’re lucky, maybe he can be coaxed into bringing it to Hawarden when we visit! He had no clue he was getting it. Even though when he’d say, “I think I’m going to buy Season Two of AD” I would respond with, “I think it would be best if you didn’t.” He never saw it coming. Then I went to class. I skipped band because I didn’t feel well and lied down in my room. Miles came to visit when he got off work and we went to eat at Common Grounds. We decided we weren’t impressed with the new location and atmosphere of the place. But it was still a great dinner and a wonderful time with Miles. I went to work at KJAM – because I’m dumb and never asked for it off. Then Miles and I broke in the first two episodes of his gift.

Check out Miles’ Valentine’s day pictures here. I received valentines from fellow RA Megan, Emry President Crystal, and friends Danielle/Carrie/Kensi/Sara. I gave none. I’m a horrible friend.

Biggest news from yesterday, friends Bob Davidson and Holly Smith got engaged! When she showed me the ring in class, I screamed and then started crying and laughing. – A typical response from me. I’m very excited for them. Cheers!

This morning on DSU’s newest campus internet radio station, KDSU, Dr. Berman played Metallica’s Enter Sandman. (Ironically, Miles had just mentioned the song last night.) It got me thinking of sleep. More so, thinking of my dreams. Often, my dreams good or bad are of things that can actually happen. A friend’s death, working at camp, doing RA rounds, going to class, DJing at KJAM, and everyday things. One dream I had close to five years ago still seems as ridiculous today as it did the morning after.

Dream background: I had a classmate in High School who was born with a hand that had not fully developed. We’ll call him Tom. Eric and Katie dated in High School for a little while.

A bunch of us were at a drive-in movie theater. In the car other than myself are Tom, Eric, and Katie. We were on a double date. Tom’s hands were both of normal size. We were enjoying the movie, when the giant Stay Puft marshmallow man tore through the screen! This monster began detroying everything. He walked on cars, on people, and ate trees. Then he stepped on our car. Katie and Eric were crushed to death -their relationship didn’t last long in real life either. I survived with no real injuries. Tom wasn’t so lucky. He survived yes, but was in a lot of pain. I came to his aid and soon found out that his pain was coming from his left hand. Stay Puft had crushed it when he stepped on the car. Unfortunately, it healed as a shrivled hand. I wake up here.

The other day, I had woken up and fell back asleep for a few minutes before getting ready for class. I started to dream. I dreamt that I had turned my alarm clock off and fallen back asleep and was sleeping through my morning classes. Then, in my dream I start yelling, “No! You aren’t dreaming that you’ve overslept. This really is happening! You’ve gotta get up NOW!” I woke up with a start and looked at my clock. It was 9:34…Web Publishing II starts at 9:30. I remembered that my clock is five minutes fast. I put on my glasses, threw on a sweatshirt, grabbed my computer, and headed to class. Turns out, my professor was running late as well and I arrived before he took attendance. Lucky me.

Dreams are strange.

Currently reading: Angels and Demons by Dan Brown; The Book of Galatians

It’s not good for a worrier to need to be at work at 5:00 AM. I’ve basically been awake since 2:33, afraid I will not hear my alarm go off. Then I come to KJAM and have to keep the front door locked until its daylight, just because who knows who could be out there.

——

This may come as a shock to all, but until this weekend, I had never seen any Lord of the Rings movies. Starting Friday, Miles and I ventured into the unknown to watch all three extended versions. As you can tell by my title, the first two really have just blurred into one seriously long film. But one seriously good film. Today at some point, we will be watching the third and final. I tend to find things funny in the movie that apparently aren’t meant to be comedic. I think I just see the lighter side of everything. I foresee us also watching the special features DVDs in the very near future.

I’m not sure how long these extended versions are supposed to be, but for us they tend to be darn near 5 hours. Because of many unexpected distractions, it makes watching these movies very difficult. I will name a few of these disturbances: eating, me asking lots of questions and Miles pausing the movie and explaining everything (if you know Miles, you know how long that could take), and random visits from two of my future roommates Kensi and Sara.

Sara, Kensi, and Danielle. Those girls. If you check out the picture I’ve posted, you’ll see what I have to look forward to. They can’t even spell “disturb”. Oh, but as much as I like to poke fun, we’re going to have a good time next year. Who else would play London Bridge is Falling Down incorrectly? Who else would spend a significant amount of time brainstorming ideas on how to transport objects with a slinky? Who else would obsess about swoop bangs? I tell you, no one.

Big week ahead of me. I’ll be finishing up my first Daktronics project, bidding on the Angels and Demons audiobook (there’s no way I’ll ever find time to read it), writing my first paper for the semester, attending a scholarship banquet, celebrating Groundhog Day, and heading to Miles’ hometown; all while saving the world. Good news: I’m not on weekend duty again until March 17th.

OK, bye bye!

I work part-time for KJAM radio in Madison, since January 2005. They play Country on the FM and Soft Rock on the AM. Most Sundays I come to the KJAM Radio station near 5:00am to run the morning show until noon on the AM. FM just runs on its own from Friday night until Monday morning. Sunday mornings are to be our Christian show. Basically, I’ll play music (I pick it from a playlist when I come at five), give the weather forecast and current conditions, latest news and sports, happenings around town and such. Then after doing that for almost four hours, I play sermon recordings from area churches. I’ve been coming in on some Sunday mornings since the beginning of October and have developed quite an annoyance for some things. And so begins my list of:

Things that really bother me on Sunday mornings at KJAM

Callers phone in with the question, “Can you tell me what time it is?”

I can’t find The Star Spangled Banner CD anywhere.

Someone calls to ask what the DQ Secret Word of the Day is, when they know fully well I will tell them to listen to the radio for it.

I receive more than two calls to wish the same person Happy Birthday.

I always get the chair wheel caught in the huge hole in the chair mat.

People fail to bring in their recording of today’s sermon and I am forced to play the recording from the previous week.

The phone rings 25 seconds before I plan to go on air and the caller talks slow.

I lose my train of thought while on air because my brain is trying to figure out what is coming up in the next hour.

We play Christian music that isn’t good. Some isn’t even Christian, just somewhat clean. Chicago’s Will You Still Love Me? That is no Sanctus Real or Remedy Drive, my friends. I’m working on getting some real Christian music in there, but I’m not for sure on licensing rules and the like. Needless to say, there are a couple good songs. These people don’t know Christian music and that the right songs can make Ben Heinrichs rock so hard, he’ll give himself a black eye. (True story!) It doesn’t have to be boring.

Using old equipment. See the picture above of the AM station I am sitting in as I write this.

The people who listen are no younger than 40 years old. That’s probably why none of my Christian music will end up on the air.

I forget I have the headphones around my neck and I get up to go somewhere.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my job here and am glad I have given the former Sunday morning DJ a break most weeks; but it really can get boring and monotonous after a couple hours. So I read everyone’s posts while the songs play and I’m off air; and write my own posts. I even do a lot of homework. And to think, I’d be sleeping otherwise…..!

OK, bye bye!

I was “woke up” Monday morning by a phone call from Miles, making sure I don’t miss my Biology final; I was already awake. :)

Well, last night was the first performance Comedy Bytes has performed with its newest members: Miles, Marci, and Mike. MMM……. Twice as many people showed up as I expected. It was a good turn out. SAB had to get out more chairs from other places so that everyone had a seat, even! It seemed to get lots of laughs, however I never cease to be amazed at the things an audience will laugh at. Hot jokes for the evening: “your mom” comments about Ben’s mom, a snowboard outing gone terribly terribly wrong and I end up with a bruise on my tushie, a male giving birth, and anything that even remotely referred to sex. (I think it’s because Miles and I watched the Seinfeld episode, The Mango and it transferred from us to them…if you’ve seen it, you’ll understand.) I really feel like I’m at a higher educational institute. But, I suppose you give what the people want. It also doesn’t help when you’re improvising with someone and you know exactly where the scene will end; either with a bloody nose or feeling violated in some way. It’s hard to escape it, though though. Paul resigned from the group without coming out and saying why exactly. We all have our ideas. It makes my heart sad. *insert sad face*

I had girl night with my potential future roommates: Kensi, Danielle, and Sara. They were watching “The Perfect Man”. I’ve never been huge in to typical chick flicks…and it was just that. Also, there is no perfect man, or woman. There are people who are perfect for certain people. But they still have their imperfections, which makes them wonderful. A good relationship isn’t built on a good orchid sent to the woman, or a nicely written letter. Those are wonderful things and a woman would cherish them, but they honestly don’t lead to a wonderful relationship. Talking about nothing in particular and even still being interested in the conversation because you want to hear what the other person has to say; being content with sitting around and doing nothing; throwing fish at a friend (the best thing in the world to do with a friend). Those are a few things that make a good friendship or relationship. Also, see the previous post.

I repaid the “wake up” call favor this morning. :)

Today I worked at KJAM for a few hours. I DJ’d on the FM side, which is a little different from the AM side. In my opinion, the biggest thing is that more people listen. That station is more common to be played around town in stores. I even had one of my residents tell me she heard me on the radio while she was at work. Things were about “A-” worthy in the DJ area, if given a grade. I did, however, give the wrong call sign as I signed off the air and had to correct myself. That was upsetting. My boss laughed at me.

Fear the Turkey Drama Club had our Christmas party tonight. I received a daily planner and the game ANTS IN THE PANTS. Only, when I played it…it was more like ANTS IN DAVID’S GLASS OF POP. The ants didn’t get very sticky. Mainly because I was horrible at making the grasshopper-like ants to make it in David‘s pop. He was better than I, I’ll admit. But he’d make a pretty ugly girl.

Then we went to the Holly-Bob house. We includes: Lisa, Ben, Miles, and myself. We watched some movies they had made over the past couple of years, which was entertaining…as expected. And we watched the video of Comedy Bytes. It has inspired me to stop laughing, because I could hear myself…and it’s not attractive or quiet. I didn’t enjoy the way it sounded. So that’s it. Cold shoulder.

While leaving, it started to rainsnow. It was snowing rain, basically. It was not at all fun to stand in. And yet, I stood in it for a really long time. I went to Miles’ apartment to consume only one episode of Seinfeld. As it turns out, we didn’t watch any episodes. But talked for close to 5 hours. One of my favorite parts was us discussing the correct term for someone who fences. Is it fencer? Are you a fence player? I decided since you can be a golfer, not a golf player, it must indeed be a fencer. We then went through and listed all of the terms that would describe someone playing a sport, ending in “er”. Luger was the most fun to say out loud. It sounds like you are being mean and saying loser, but really you are just describing someone who Luges. It has been a great 10 hours. And I just returned to my room. I’ll be getting lots of sleep shortly.

OK, bye bye!