"To the person in the bell jar... the world itself is bad dream."

I went swimming and then took the boat out for a few hours yesturday because it's the last weekend to take advantage of the lake before they start to lower it for the end of summer, which means half of the population will be gone soon. It was humid out, which is surprisingly rare, but the lake was freezing. I felt like a floating ice cube, but I didn't care... as soon as I went completely numb it was fine.

This summer went fast but it's been the best one yet... graduating, taking about 4 vacations, quitting my job, suddenly up and leaving everything behind, finding 2 new jobs... Except I've only managed to read 6 books! Normally I read 15 in a three month period (my personal record is 15.5 which I've been trying to beat every summer since). I hang my head in shame.

And now it's September, which can only mean one thing: football season. Finally. I'm anxious to see what happens this year, especially after all this Favre bs. Aaron Rodgers has some mighty big shoes to fill, which means everyone is going to compare his every move to Favre; if it were Favre this wouldn't have happened, if Favre was in there he woulda done this. I'm already annoyed by it all, but I'm curious to see how Rodgers holds up to the extra pressure.

College football is underway as well and (surprise, surprise) everyone is a diehard Bulldogs fan down here. "Oh, but ya see we respect Penn State." - This is what they tell me in their thick southern accents.

I've also come to realize that this is about the time that I would usually say goodbye to my bed, and all things normal and human, and prepare for another year of school - an equivalent experience to being hogtied to the back of a four-wheeler and dragged across a gravel driveway; something I would rather have spent my time doing then the torture I put myself through in the past 4 years. I am still recovering.

Considering I've always been an academic nerd with an unstoppable work ethic, it doesn't feel right to be done with school. I think a part of me felt like it would go on forever... it certainly felt like forever. But I'm glad it's finally over, besides I'll need some time off to recooperate before I ever consider going back; I've been through too much.

Now the thought of academia makes me physically sick. I've been having nightmares about school this past week too. It seriously haunts me.