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My first impression of "New Keywords" was one of absence.

I had postponed my visit to the bookstore to sign up for a weekly "funky-style street dance" course with my roommate. We had decided it would be our last joint activity before she moved home. After UWP, I got a bran muffin and waited outside of the Silo for the Experimental College to open so I could ensure myself a place in the class. It was one of those transitional periods where time is essentially lost, existing in too small a chunk to be very useful or productive, yet too big a space to exclude boredom.

Ten things I thought about while I was waiting:

1. It is hot.
2. I wish I wasn't wearing jeans.
3. Oh shoot, I forgot to contest that parking ticket from a couple of weeks ago.
4. This muffin is delicious.
5. That looks like Becca over there.
6. That isn't actually Becca.
7. I'm not sure about this whole blogging thing.
8. There must be fifty blueberries in this muffin.
9. What should my blog be called?
10. Haha, look at that duck over there.

I got tired of waiting and ran upstairs and signed up for my classes. No one was ahead of me in line, so I managed to sign myself up for classes AND get a complimentary t-shirt in my size (generally a crap shoot at any place offering complimentary t-shirts) within ten minutes. I then made my way over to the bookstore to pick up my copy of "New Keywords."

Ten things I thought about on the way to the bookstore:

1. Do not forget to run the t-shirt through the dryer to heat-set the screen print.
2. Why is it still so smoky?
3. Canadian Regional Development, that's the first time I've heard that.
4. Do not forget to read other blogs, too.
5. Can you recycle a paper bag after it's held a muffin?
6. REALLY do not forget about the parking ticket.
7. I wonder if this is a book that I can sell back to the bookstore when I'm done.
8. I hope the bookstore doesn't rip me off like last quarter.
9. I hope if I get ripped off like last quarter it's at least for a worthwhile book.
10. I wish I had another muffin.

I threw my shirt and my notebook into one of the two remaining lockers in the bookstore and made my way downstairs; I remembered that someone in our class had said the UWP books were behind the information desk and I immediately noticed the green and yellow UWP signs taped to the top shelf.

Right above four rows of empty shelves.

It appeared as though the rest of UWP 101 had beat me to the punch and bought every last book while I was committing to my funky-style Wednesday evenings. I didn't feel like I had been busy for that long; I also found it hard to believe that everyone had immediately rushed to get their own copy after class. But there they were, five empty shelves next to a pile of creative writing and prose compilations.

Ten things I thought about while looking at the shelves:

1. Seriously? They didn't buy enough books for the class?
2. Oh, I bet that people on the waitlist bought books, too.
3. We didn't need to read the book yet, this was just first impressions, right?
4. I guess a lack of an impression is still an impression.
5. Parking ticket, parking ticket, parking ticket...
6. Hmm, I wonder if they'll get more books, I don't want to order online right now.
7. What will I write about if I don't have the book?
8. I have impressions from what we talked about in class, I guess.
9. Seriously, I don't understand how every book could have sold before I got here.
10. Maybe I should ask someone if they're going to get more books in soon.

A student employee asked me if I needed help before I even made it to the information desk; apparently my confusion made itself more obvious than I had realized. I asked him if he could tell me when the store would be getting more copies of the required reading for UWP 101. He asked me my class section and then said, "Well, I'm not sure, but let's go eyeball the situation" as he led me back to the shelves. I followed him reluctantly, knowing we'd again reach the blank racks of the back wall. He, however, walked past the empty shelves and stopped in front of a different section of the store. I was about to open my mouth to notify him of his mistake when he held up a copy of "New Keywords." "Is this what you're looking for?" he asked. "Oh... yes," I said, and took the copy from him. "Thanks."

Things I thought about while holding the book:

1. Well, that was stupid.
2. I can't believe that I didn't see the books over here.
3. But it says UWP over there... and over here?
4. That guy probably thinks I'm a little stupid.
5. Well at least I have the book... oh, someone wrote all over this.
6. Someone wrote in this one, too.
7. Wait, there was something I was supposed to remember...
8. Oh, this one doesn't have any writing in it.
9. Yeah, okay, this one looks good.
10. OH RIGHT, parking ticket!

So now I have the book. I still don't quite know how I feel about it; I've been flipping through it's pages and it... well, it honestly makes me think of my dad. He's one of those people whom you'll ask a question such as "Why don't the Milky Way planets ever bump into each other?" and he'll say, "Well, Aristotle once believed..." and by the time he's reached the part where he explains about the effects of gravity and elliptical orbits, you've learned more about astronomy than you ever wanted to know.

Not that that's a bad thing...

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think, at times, I'll get frustrated with this book. I'll want a simple answer to a simple question and I don't know if this text will grant such a request. There will probably be a couple of days where I only look at the boldface and do my best to guess the message the book is offering behind these key words.

But perhaps I'll learn more than I imagined I could...