The Name of the Wind

I read a book that Amanda let me borrow called The Name of the Wind. It is intriguing, and as far as science fiction/fantasy as the library here in Edmonton seems to classify it, is not so far fetched that I don't want to believe it. I can actually pretend this world exists.
Now I'm reading the second book of the trilogy called The Wise Man's Fear.
Here is an exerpt:

He stalked over to the bundle of seeds, picked it up, and waved it vigorously until the air was full of gently floating puffs of milkweed seed.
Then Elodin started to chase the seeds wildly around the room, trying to snatch them out of the air with his hands. He clambered over chairs, ran across the lecturer's dais, and jumped onto the table at the front ofthe room.
All the while he grabbed at the seeds. At first he did it one-handed, like you'd catch a ball. But he met no success, and so he started clapping at them, the way you'd swat a fly. When this didn't work either, he tried to catch them with both hands, the way a child might cup a firefly out of the air.
But he couldn't get a hold of one. The more he chased, the more frantic he became, the faster he ran, the wilder he grabbed. This went on for a full minute. Two minutes. Five minutes. Ten.
It might have gone on for an entire class period, but eventually he tripped over a chair a tumbled painfully to the stone floor, tearing open the leg of his pants and bloodying his knee.
Clutching at his leg, he sat on the ground and let loose with a string of angry cursing the like of which I had never heard in my entire life. He shouted and snarled and spat. He moved through at least eight languages, and even when I couldn't understand the words he used, the sound of it made my gut clench and the hair on my arms stand up. He said things that made me sweat. He said things that made me sick. He said things I didn't know it was possible to say.
I expect this might have continued, but while drawing an angry breath, he sucked on of the floating milkweed seeds into his mouth and began to cough and choke violently.
Eventually he spat out the seed, caught his breath, got to his feet, and limped out of the lecture hall without saying another word.
This was not a particularly odd day's class under Master Elodin.

 Bahaha. Thank you Patrick Rothfuss. This made me giggle.

I'm back!

So I've been gone for basically a year travelling and working and exploring. It was a blast. I don't regret a single bit of it. I've learned so much, I've been really sad at times, I've been really happy at other times, and I'm just proud of myself for taking that year to become more of who I am.
I kind of wish I could write into words how I've changed, but I can't really describe it. I remember my first few weeks in Sydney when Rachelle asked me if I felt like I had changed as a person since I left home, and I said that I was basically the same person. I think that still applies, but I've also changed in very subtle ways that I can't explain. I feel happier in general and I feel like I've just grown into who I am. That's about all I can say. It's a good feeling. I feel more confident.

I'm back in Edmonton now and it feels pretty good. I feel like some of the year will be falling back into the same routine as before I left, but I want to change some things about my life. I want to go out and be part ofthe community. I think it will be a good year. Friends will be different because I've lost touch with basically everyone here. Elizabeth seems to be doing well. Much better than before I left and she gives credit to me getting her into being social again. It makes me proud to see what kind of changes people can have in a year.
On the other hand, I hung out with Jeff last night and it was horrible. We went shopping, then to dinner with some of his friends, then to a movie. My problem with people like him are that they can never be wrong and that they are overly pushy in asserting how they are better than others. A consistent need to comment on why you can't eat as many shrimp as other people is pretty much a pathetic call for help for your lack of self-confidence. If someone is happy with their skills and their accomplishments, they won't rub it in others faces just to feel like they are better. It's just not something happy people do. He also kept talking about how drugs are this amazing thing, and he doesn't know how people go to movies without getting high. BLAH BLAH BLAH.

It's so horrible to see people improving themselves and then to see the complete opposite in others. Sometimes people use drugs for fun with their friends. Sometimes they just want to experiment. And then you see how other people use drugs to cope with their lives. How drugs seem to make everything seem better. I don't know what to make of it, but I sure as heck don't want to associate myself with those types of people.

Now that I'm back, I'm ready to get this degree done and out of the way so that real life can start. Although I'm scared, I'm ready to embrace the changes and the experiences to come :)