The Day Dawns Red

Finally made my way back up to my room, which could be described more accurately now as a fortress. I've seen things today...

I headed down to my first class, and saw another one of the oddly lifeless yet animated people walking across my path. He made no indication he saw me, and kept shambling on his way. From observation, I had noticed that the people suffering from these odd symptoms shared a single common attribute: they developed a single band of red around their heads. This individual was no exception. I thought nothing of it until I attempted to go eat lunch at Franklin.

A man, fairly tall, was crouched by a bush outside the building. As I approached, his head gave a sudden jerk, and I knew this reeking, dirty being had noticed my presence. I found his lack of personal hygiene wasn't the only thing wrong with him, a stream of blood was dripping from his mouth and I can only guess some poor creature lay in the bush by him. In addition, he shared the red mark on his head that others with the lifeless attitude showed. He slowly, ungainly, and surely stood, blocking my way into the dining commons. He approached, one food slightly dragging behind the other. I backed up, not wanting to tangle with some psychotic college miscreant. Despite his injured leg, he seemed to be gaining speed. Just as I was about to turn and run, I hear the sound of a snap of a NERF gun from behind the man. My attacker collapsed, as my savior reloaded his gun and motioned for me to come with him to the building.

"I take it you know what you just encountered" he said, shaking my hand.
I, shaking from the encounter, just shook my head.
"That there was a zombie. Bona-fide. Here, take this," he handed me a six-shooter, fully loaded. "and these," handing me two socks. "These are your weapons. They'll stun the bastards for 10 minutes, long enough for you to get to safety. Best of luck to you. Don't be squeamish." And he went off, presumably to help out some other unwitting civilian.

Now armed, I ate a hearty meal and set off to my next class. For, if we stop our routine and show fear, we let the zombies win! After class, I made my way to work at the library. On the way, I caught sight of another rank gentleman attempting to use a phone. He too wore the red mark of the zombie. I made my way past him, at which point he saw me. I ran up the stairs onto the plaza of the library, where I stopped and made a stand. Curiously, he seemed to calculate, tried to find an opening. Before he could strike, I threw one of my sock grenades and knocked him out.

I made it up the hill again without incident, but the way down for dinner was a different story. Passing the Dickinson dorm, I went head-to-head with another zombie, narrowly shooting him and getting away while I could. Just as we reached the door to Worcester DC, we caught sight of another zombie charging down the hill to where we stood. Only through the quick thinking of my roommate, Tim, who threw me bodily through the door, were we saved. I saw many a zombie skulk outside the windows, but inside I greeted my fellow humans (we had started identifying ourselves with red armbands). All seemed well for that short hour.

And now, I hear the sounds of humans roaming the night, bravely attempting to eradicate the threat, of zombies converging and devouring those poor souls, and whatever was left, rising again to join the ranks of those who were once its enemies. A chilling thought occurs to me: This time, 24 hours ago, there were 7 of these abominations. Now, there are no less than 58. The infection is spreading. As time goes on, I can only imagine that hope will grow dimmer. However, more are becoming aware of the threat, and are taking action against them. I am one of them. Let us hope that we can prevail over the scourge, for we are all that stands between the zombies and the world.

Nut up or shut up,

Chris Chan

Twas the Night Before the End...

...And All Through the Campus...

So. I sit here, in front of my computer, listening to some sweet music ("Skeleton Boy" by Friendly Fires, thanks Geen) when it hits me. This swine flu has been showing some odd symptoms, at least here on the UMass campus. I've seen some people acting a little oddly. People not taking showers. Stumbling a lot. Generally acting like they're just going through the motions. It's weird. It's like the life has been sucked out of them. Normally I'd make some reference to the Dementors of Harry Potter, but it just seems...out of place here. I'll be keeping you updated. Stay tuned...

First Month Back = Great

So I've been back on campus for about a month now, and things are going quite swimmingly so far. My classes have been stressful; specifically Classical Greek. With the class meeting five days a week, it feels like we're barreling through the stuff and I'm only just keeping up. However, with determination and CONSTANT VIGILANCE, I believe I can do it. And, its important to challenge ourselves, right?

Also new to this semester is my debut as an OIT Help Desk Consultant. Basically, I take calls from clients who are having troubles with their computers. Its a fun job, and I like the work atmosphere. The $400 check to start off the year didn't hurt either.

The returning element of this here champion's life is my Vice Presidency of the UMass Quidditch Club. This year is shaping up to be truly amazing, and I can hardly contain my excitement at how excellently the club is operating at the moment. There will be more about this in a later post, because I want to address the members directly. We are attending the World Cup, featuring about 20 teams from all over the US and one from Canada (McGill). In addition, we will be hosting our own Veteran's Day Tournament at UMass on November 7th, featuring a few intercollegiate teams. This fall is certainly a busy but fantastic semester.

Back to my classes, my Anthro class is one I have a great interest in. Its focus is reforming the current standardized-testing system of education, which perpetuates inequality and is, simply, broken. With a mother who teaches, I hear the ills of the education system day to day. My final project is a testimony project, taking the opinions and experiences of those who have gone through the system and presenting them to the public. I am quite excited for this.

Something that is certainly new is my seemingly up look on life. Simply put, I have friends, I am learning things I love, and I am doing the things that I love. In reality, is there anything more I can ask for?

I'll leave it here for now. Watch for the open letter to UMass Quidditch soon.

I'm Happy? What?

So, it is roughly one month until the return to UMass.

It's been pretty eventful, and fairly awesome.

-Got the Twitter. http://twitter.com/ArgenteusDraco for all my updates.

-Saw Paramore and No Doubt in concert. To be honest I went for Paramore (who were excellent to say the least), but No Doubt certainly brought an amazing and energetic show.

-4th of July weekend in Kingston with Web 2 (Love you guys! I'll have to see you again soon), then Wilmington carnival and Tewksbury fireworks with Hudson friends and Walton, then Wilmington fireworks with Walton and Geen. Did I mention I love fireworks? Cuz I do.

-Recieved a test card for my Brown Belt 1st degree, I'll keep posted as the test draws nearer.

-Saw Enter the Haggis once more at the Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival in Northampton. Speaking of which, buy their album Gutter Anthems, it's wonderful.

And since the festival, I have been feeling fantastic. It seems a lot easier to be happy now. I've been helping out with renovations at my house, hanging out with my family and my friends from high school, generally having a great time.

The Tewksbury Quidditch League has been going along wonderfully considering it is in its first year. With only two more meetings to go, I am hoping to make the last one a magnificent event. Dubbed the "Tewksbury Quidditch Championship," I will be advertising to hopefully get more spectators. If enough people respond, there might possibly be 4 House teams...we'll see.

I leave you with this suggestion: the movie Galaxy Quest (1999), featuring Tim Allen, Sigorney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Enrico Colantoni, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Justin Long and Rainn Wilson out of nowhere. Its unexpectedly hilarious, and very good. Here's a sampler.

What's Up Guys?

So yeah, its been a while since I last updated here. I bet you've all been wondering, what has the Chanimal been up to? Well, let me give you a few highlights.
-Scored a waitress's number, "just in case"
-Played in the Patriot's Day Quidditch Tournament on Boston Common, bringing Middlebury College to its first ever sudden death (UMass lost in the end)
Some footage here:

-Finished my first year of college (When did that happen?!)

-OH HEY MET BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY. I shook his hand, and he told us to "get rich, and dare I say it, CHANGE THE WORLD." Challenge accepted, Bill Nye.

Also:

-Went to my friend's prom, which turned out to be more fun than my own.

-Started a Quidditch club in my home town. I'm still trying to get together the equipment, but it is in the works. People will be having fun.

-Well, 3rd Quidditch-related news: UMass Quidditch made an appearance in the June issue of Sports Illustrated for Kids. Definitely check it out, it is a small article documenting the immense popularity of this unique (and, take it from me, incredibly fun) sport.

-Caught up on Supernatural, finished Rome, and now am watching Burn Notice

Also worth noting, Rick Riordan's final Percy Jackson book The Last Olympian came out May 5th and it was excellent. It was a quick read, so if you have some down time during your busy summertime romps, I definitely recommend this. The book culminates in a massive battle for Manhattan, involving all our favorite characters and even a few new ones. Riordan weaved in a parallel to the Iliad throughout the whole novel, taking the tradition of Achilles and putting it into his own characters. Once I finished reading and I realized the allusions he wrote in with great subtlety, it blew my mind.

I am considering getting a Twitter, thoughts?

Crazy Roman Parties

So, today was the great Roman spectacle for the tour groups that have been coming by our dorm. If I do say so, it was a rousing success. We had the event in partes tres. For Part I, Kyle and I choreographed a gladiator fight with Caesar presiding, seen here:

The ending is cut off, but I picked up his sword and Caesar offered him mercy.

Following that, Caesar (played by Joe) gave a speech which ended in his assassination by Emily and Ariel.

And finally, as Marc Antony I gave a funeral speech for Caesar from Shakespeare's play, seen here:

I think it went really well, though we didn't get much of a chance to get feedback from the guests.


In other news, I have been turned zombie, and zombie I will stay. Sorry about the lack of a journal, there just hasn't been much activity this time. I defeated Dan, the guy who got me, but he came back out before some other guys coming up the hill snagged me. Of course, I got right out hunting with them and caught my first kill, so its all good.

Pictures

I love pictures, and the memories that go along with them. I seem to have a very "live in the past" kind of outlook. Things are better when looked back at. Whenever I feel down, I flip through the slideshow of my favorite pictures and it never fails to pick me up, because I remind myself that "Hey. Your life is flippin' amazing, so get out there and get something done."
The Romans, too, had this outlook. There was always a desire to, through advancement, return to a purer, simpler time. All throughout the time of the Republic, even while Roman power was extending far over the world, the Romans maintained a sense that at heart they were simple shepherd people working the farms.
The fact that I'm talking about the Romans makes it clear where my sights lie.
Anyway, back to pictures. I seem to have inherited my dad's passion for taking lots and lots of unnecessary pictures. The upside to it though is that among the many pictures there are always the few perfect ones.
I spend a ridiculous amount of time organizing memories, from tagging pictures to editing movies. However, I don't spend so much time that I don't have any to make memories. I think I keep a good balance.
I found this program for Vista that allows you to change your log-in screen to anything you want. So, my latest project has been creating a background highlighting some of my favorite pictures from the last few years. I'll tell ya, it looks really great and it customizes my computer just that little bit more.
I was only able to fit up to graduation, so I might rework it a bit. Anyway, the program is called LogOnStudio Vista, and I believe you can get it for XP too. It has a place where you can download premade images.

PS. This is the final entry before the outbreak. Stay tuned. For my past experiences with the zombie problem, look for the Lazarus Corp. Journals in my Facebook notes.