Just for the Hell of It

Howdy.

"You Are Here"

The maps at information kiosks at malls and amusement parks are certainly handy. Just look for the little red arrow boldly confirming both your identity and location, and you can accomplish a great many things. You can see who wants to take your money, how to get to those eager people, surmise where the mall rats might like to hang out, and how best to circumvent them. Best of all, in my opinion, is figuring out how to get the hell out.

It is unfortunate that there is no such information center for life. Sure, there are many people and institutions who will tell you where you ought to be. There are similar numbers of entities that will give you vague and well-meaning, but ultimately useless suggestions on how to get there. My favorite morsel of sage wisdom is "plan for success." That's just great. It is akin to teaching someone to walk by saying "take a step." That would certainly seem like a reasonable approach, but if I knew how to take a step, I wouldn't need much help walking.

I sit here wondering what the hell I'm doing with my life. I have an idea of where I want to be, but I'm not certain I'm going about getting there the right way.

Professionally, I think I'm close to the right track, but I may have started too late. When I look at my fellow classmates, I feel old. In each of my classes, I am the oldest person in the room until the professor arrives.

Socially, I'm very happy with my circle of friends. Weevil, Sky, and Thumper are awesome to me, and I only hope they feel half as fond of me as I do of them.

There is something I could say about my personal life, but there's a couple problems with that. First, I'm not sure how best to articulate my frustration with that aspect of my life. Second... well, there's not really a second. If I could figure out how to form these words, I would.

This post came out a more melancholy than I anticipated, but it feels like the right avenue. I'm not sure how to end this anywhere close to elegantly, so I will just say "goodnight."

Goodnight.

Beastie Boys, Beer, and Boobs

First, Thumper and Sky are the worst kidnappers ever. Saturday, I get a call saying "We're going to kidnap you. Can you be here at 5:30?" Not very intimidating.

The night was fun, though. We went to see a roller derby. The match started out slow, but ended up as a good time. We were all disappointed the girls did not pick me as their tug-o-war partner, but oh well.

The after-party... afterwards was fun, too. Though that was possibly the most expensive pitcher of beer I have ever heard of. Things were pretty quiet for the most part, but good time were had when some of the roller girls showed up. Since the party was split between two tiny little bars, I wonder if we just picked the quiet of. No big deal. Any night that includes my face buried in boobs can't be all bad, right?

I'm actually looking forward to going again.

Where Am I, and Why Am I in This Handbasket?

So, midterms are done. As usual, I realize now that I was worrying entirely too much about them. It can be difficult, however, to recall two different Japanese words to describe sushi.

Now that we are done with midterms, my professors don't feel guilty about piling on the homework. I have two papers for English comp due Tuesday. I also have two chemistry projects due Tuesday.

The good news is I have a three-day weekend. The bad news is that I know I will not use the time productively. We-Evil is on his way over to play Rock Band. I know tomorrow I will just waste the day doing things like house work. Sunday is right out. I can already see myself cooped up in my room with a book and some music. That leaves Monday as the day to get everything done.

I can already see myself procrastinating, and am procrastinating on doing anything about it. It's a vicious, self-perpetuating cycle. But it has worked well enough for me over the past 31 years.

Midterm Time in Zombie Town

Stress level is extremely high right now.

Like Counting Sand on the Beach

I'm beginning to feel overwhelmed.

Here I am, midway through my second quarter on college, and I'm starting to feel the pressure. Bothersome. Last quarter, about this time, everything started coming together. I was understanding what was happening in my Japanese class, writing great papers for my media and film classes, and generally feeling fine. Now, I feel like I'm struggling to keep things from flying apart.

The recent snow we've had is contributing to this. A week of class was wiped out, so there's a ton of catching up to do.

I have two Japanese exams coming up within the next five days.

I have two chemistry projects due Friday. I'm halfway through one of them.

I have three papers due "soon" for my english comp class. This professor is absolutely insane. He scribbles hardly legible notes all across the whiteboard, throws out vaguely defined assignments with nebulous release dates, and then seems to take it personally when assignments are not turned in "on time."

I don't know why I'm still in my basketball class. The only time I get the ball is on accident.

Sleep has been scarce. 3-4 nonconsecutive hours a night. I'm constantly in a fog, and not sure I'm even getting the classroom information that is presented to me.

On top of all of that, my friends are being neglected. I'm sorry, guys, but right now you are about 9th on the priority list for me. I should still be able to go to P&P this weekend, though.

Could be worse. I could be back in the hospital.

I wish I could drink heavily.

Perfect Ending

Giants win!

There isn't anything I can say that hasn't already been said repeatedly. However, I have little problem with repetition.

The Pats are being called the worst 18-1 team in NFL history. That makes me laugh. I like it.

Pretty much all the talking heads are saying that 20 years from now, we will likely remember that the Pats fell short, rather than who won. I'm OK with that.

The Giants' six losses are tied for the most losses ever by a Super Bowl champ (record!). Whatever, they still won.

I'm not going to say Eli is the greatest QB ever, but he played awesome in the playoffs. I hope this becomes the rule, rather than the exception. The only downside is that we now have to hear from Mercury Morris the next time someone starts 10-0.

There's a couple videos I've seen today that I like quite a bit. The first if from Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

And then, from Nike: