blog wars

I know we all like our Blogger, and Google rules all, but I'd like everyone to be open minded and tell me what you think of multiply.com

It was referred to me by a couple people here, and it looks interesting. Seems to be more of an all-in-one resource for a single person's information (pics, video, blog, groups, contacts, etc.) so I will be checking it out. Just thought I'd get other opinions before I do any ship jumping.

Good, so good.

Well, it has been a while since I've written anything. I guess I've been busy, or lazy, one or the other. It's a new year, which hasn't meant much yet. It's just another month that will disappear before my eyes. Nothing real exciting has happened so far, school is back in session, early morning practices are back, stupid cold weather is still here, that's about it. A couple points of interest did happen last year though during my blogger hiatus, which I will kindly type for you now, in order to avoid doing homework for a few minutes.

Winter Break was nice. Thanksgiving and Christmas were both pleasant and happy, as usual. I was able to visit a lot of people, make some money, relax a bit (fall asleep on the couch watching football or Bond), etc. I was up in Atlanta for the first 3 weeks of break, working for the boss makin' some money. Last quarter I strengthened my patience, and my ability to make what appears to be a perfectly empty bank account hold me over for months. So, needless to say, it was nice to have money again. Of course, then came Christmas, and it was nearly all gone again. But thanks to a gracious boss, I am still a part-timer, able to make some change while down here at school. Don't ask how, it's complicated, and not homosexual in any way, no matter what rumor you may hear. Shut up.

Next moment of interest over the break would be the knot tying of some cool people, that being my brother and his new wife, Elise. The wedding was great. I got to meet lots of new people. (Ever have a parent tell you which girls are cute? It's strange to hear. "You should get to know her, she's cute, you'd make a good couple." Ugh. Yes, I know.) After the groomsmen and I vandalized Matthew's Jeep, and the festivities were over, I was privileged enough to drive the couple to their hotel in Atlanta for the night. I don't really care to know the details of how they rung in the new year, but one could take a guess. I'll just let the lasting memory be the one of me dropping them off, and thankfully leave it at that. I would later erase any unwanted images with 4 5 8 13 a couple beers. The next morning they went on their merry way down to Jamaica for a week or so. I'll post up some pictures when I get more developed, but for now Elise has a couple. UPDATE: Here are the official photographer's photos. Enjoy.

On our drive north to the hotel we often got a honk here or there from a passing car to congratulate Matthew & Elise, who were quite visible in the back seat. So after dropping them off, I must say it was an interesting drive back to the party. I wish I could have seen and heard the reactions of the people who honked at me on my way back south. Honking before getting too close to see inside, only to find out that there was only one tuxedo-clad person driving the decorated vehicle, no bride to be found. :)

The final point of interest is not as interesting as it is saddening. :(
My lady, my companion, my friend is gone. We were together for a good seven years or so, but due to my latest decision to attend school, monetary changes apparently had to be made, so we unfortunately had to part ways. We had lots of good times together, too many to mention, but all good; the best being the warm summer nights, riding home topless, with the wind blowing through my hair. You will be missed.

When the time comes, I will acquire another Wrangler, but it looks like that time will be coming a while down the road. Farewell, for now.


"Well, maybe I'll call
or write you a letter.
Now, maybe we'll see on the Fourth of July.
But I'm not too sure, and I'm not too proud.
Well, I'm not too sure and I'm not too proud to say.

Aha, it was good living with you.
Aha, it was good."

For love of the game

It's rare these days to actually see players in professional sports actually play and conduct their careers with sportsmanship. I found the NBA's, or was it MLB's, ad campaign "I love this game" quite humorous, always feeling that "...if the money's right!" should be should be mumbled next under the player's breath.

With loyalty and sportmanship at an all-time low in sports, I am happy to see one player forget about the millions of dollars they are about to receive, and think about what's best for their team. The player I speak of is Chipper Jones. He has stated it throughout his career that he work cut his salary if the team needs more extra cash to make certain trades or deals, and now he is backing up his word by cutting a hole in his wallet. When I had first heard him make such claims a while back, I had always felt a little reserved, mostly because such loyalty is unheard of, this being the true test. "Oh sure, Right, well we will just have to wait and see about that.", figuring a few more years down the road might change his mind once he's making the big bucks, but no. He has stuck to his word and done what is best for the team.

It would be great if this trend spread throughout the league, and throughout all sports, unfortunately I believe it may be too late with the T.O./Rosenhaus generation of greed in full force. But regardless, I applaud Chipper's loyalty, and wish to see other players to follow suit.

"Grape! . . . or maybe Cherry, cause I like Cherry too, . . . but they're both favorites, only if I had to choose, I'd choose Grape, cause it's a little more favorite . . . but they're both good . . . they're both good!"

I've gone PRO

That's right, I put the PRO in Procrastination. In the midst of finals week, I managed to effectively finish one of my projects 20 min. before class started, but that's not the best part. The best part is that it was a class favorite. "Wow, that must have taken you a long time." What is bad is that I know this approval by others is subconsciously telling my brain that procrastination is OK, even when I know that it is not very good work ethic, and it only builds up more stress. But, apparently my best work is done at the last minute. It will catch up with me one day, and it won't be pretty.

This hasn't been my first feat of supreme procrastination this quarter. Nearly ever other project I have completed so far has been finished at the last moment. It started at 45 min. before class, then 25, then 10, today 20 min., and of then of course, my PR, 5 min. The thing I don't understand is that I am not really putting things off, yet it still comes down to the wire. I don't get it, I haven't even been playing any Xbox or watching TV or anything. Where does the time go?

Speaking of Xbox, the neighbor Jason has already purchased his wireless 360 controller. It put him out $50, ouch. I have been debating the idea of purchasing an Xbox 360. Actually, I've been debating when I'll purchase one. It's a given that I will have one eventually, then question is when. This next gen is going to put a hurting on the wallet. I am not looking forward to that, and right now I am having some reservations to buy as I am not entirely excited about the product. I'm having a hard time believing that the cost of the box is equivalent to the amount of happiness I receive from it. However, my feeling of want is trying to overcome my logic and reason. Want has won in the past, but I am actually going to resist and put up a fight this time. The neighbors are all purchasing their 360s day of release, that won't make it any easier. I'll fight it until I feel the product is worth the money, when want turns to need. Hopefully I won't have to wait to long to be convinced to buy.

Crew News:
Well, this last weekend was my first crew event. It was very hard, very strenuous, very tiring, and even a little bit fun. I don't even know how we placed. I'd say it's safe to say we finished in the middle of the pack or lower, as there were many larger, more experienced schools there, like Clemson, Bama, NC State, Ga Tech, etc. We competed better with the smaller schools, but unfortunately we still have to race the big dogs too.

We meet at the boathouse on Friday to winterize the boats and close things down for the winter. That means cleaning, painting, etc. Hopefully the day can be topped off with some sort of celebration.

I have some pictures from the race, but this stupid PictureTrail account is telling me to pay them money now for some reason, and that's probably not going to happen. So, I will have to find another way to post them for everyone to see. If you know of a better image hosting site, please let me know. Only requirement is that it is free.

Only 2 more projects to turn in before I am done with my first quarter here at SCAD. I've got until Tuesday to get it all done. Maybe I'll get them done early so I can relax this weekend. Right!

Looking forward to Thanksgiving, and the rest of my break. I will be heading back to ATL for some of the break to do some work at SFI, and make a little money, then I'll take the rest of the time off for Xmas and the wedding, then it's back to the grind in the Winter quarter. Sounds like a good plan to me. Hopefully I'll see you somewhere along the way. Take 'er easy.

"I walked around my good intentions
And found that there were none"

Eve

Well, it's the night before my first official crew event, The Head of the South in Augusta, GA. I am feeling some old, but familiar butterfly feelings, again from the CC days. But if my memory is correct, it turns into an awesome feeling right before the gun sounds. Then in the first few 100 yds (or meters in this case) the butterflies are let go, and it's all good.

It turns out that I will be rowing two races tomorrow. One with the Novice 8 that I have been practicing with the whole time, and then another 5k on a Mixed 8 boat (coed w/ novice & varsity). I am stroke on both boats. The boat with the varsity is obviously making me slightly more nervous, but at least that race is first to get the nerves out of the way for the Novice 8 race a couple hours later.

The bus is leaving for Augusta at 3:30 AM from the boathouse, so it will be an early morning to a long, long day. But the parents and bro will be meeting me there, so it should be fun. I believe I have everything prepared, and ready to go, so on that note, I think it's time for bed. Good night.

"And how can we expect anyone to listen if we are using the same old voice? We need new noise - new art for the real people.
...Can I scream?"

Stroke

Latest Crew News

That's me, Stroke. 8 seat. First to row, last in the boat (minus the coxswain).

I like my current position in the boat. It's a little more responsibility than most of the other seats, since everyone is following my move. "Do exactly what Zach is doing, even if it's wrong." - Coach Steve. Haha, nice. Follow me then as I jump off this bridge. No? Fine then, follow me as I move to 32 strokes a min. With 7 people depending on my perfection, it gets a bit tense sometimes, because if I fail, the boat fails. No pressure.

Our first competition, I believe they are called 'regattas', or maybe 'meets', is going to be next weekend (Nov. 12) in Augusta, GA. Currently, I am bit worried we may not be prepared in time. We may just run out of time, as we have not yet moved to rowing with all 8 rowers at the same time. That's important. We have made it up to 6 w/o having too much of a problem. With less than 8 rowing, those stationary keep the boat keel (level, stable) while the rest row. With all 8, the only thing keeping us keel is a bunch of rowing oars, a lot less stable. The more the boat rolls from side to side, the harder it is to row due to inconsistencies in the height your oar's blade is off the water. So...hopefully we can move up to all 8 soon, since we won't come close to competing at all with only 6 going at it. Today we did a 5k on the ERGs (rowing machines). That was a blast. It brought back feelings I haven't felt in a long, long time, not since my CC days. The feeling in your body that is essentially a lack of feeling. Your body is moving, but all you are really doing is telling your brain to go faster, no longer telling it where to put arms and legs. It's a high that is hard to cherish at the time. We need to keep out 500m splits as low as possible. Today the lowest I could get was 1:42 @ 30spm, but not everyone was in 'sync behind me, so it really meant nothing. Some guys in the back of the boat (actually, the bow of the boat) are having a hard time with endurance, not so much their Power endurance, but their Form's endurance. When your form breaks down, everything else is for not. Form, comes before Power, a new concept for some. I fear some will just drop out half-way through our 5k next Saturday. That would be a total embarrassment. We've worked to hard to fail now. I am hopeful that it will all come together in time. This next week we will just have some long, hard practices to get it all down. Since this is the Novice's only race of the fall season, it's feeling pretty big. After Saturday the fall season is pretty much over, resuming when we get back from winter break, I believe, for the spring season.

I will post the results of the regatta, good or bad, when we get back. Maybe even some pictures of us in our spandex unis as well (uni has two meanings here, not just uni as in uniform, but also uni as is one piece). Spandex brings out the 'dead sexy-ness' in all of us, not to mention the previously unknown level of 'cool' that we will bumped up too. w00t, I can't wait.

"Is it raining? Is it snowing?
Is a hurricane a-blowing?
Not a speck of light is showing,
So the danger must be growing.
Are the fires of Hell a-glowing?
Is the grisly reaper mowing?
Yes, the danger must be growing,
For the rowers keep on rowing,
And they're certainly not showing,
Any signs that they are slowing!"

The path is fading away...

I've followed the path as far as I can, now it's fading. It's a strange feeling. I've been guided up, down, through harsh terrain, and even temporary paradise, and I've taken it all in along the way, good and bad, in hopes that it was all beneficial to the final goal in some way, only to find the path doesn't end in permanent paradise, but in a dense forest with no obvious path out.

I've arrived here at school after a long journey of ups and downs, now what at first seemed like another waypoint on the path's map, it is instead turned into a forest. So many ways out, so many different routes. Which way do I go? I could go the apparently obvious way, the way that would use my knowledge of the path to date. It wouldn't be the easiest route, but no way is going to be that easy. Right now it doesn't seem to be the most exciting route either, as it's just the same ol' path, only I'm defining where it goes now (an attribute of any path). OR I could go in just about any other somewhat interesting direction. Only problem is that I don't know too much of anything about those paths, are where they lead, but they would be a change, an interesting challenge, and hopefully provoking more excitement than the original path would. But, would the interest fade on those paths as well? All of these paths lead to a different unknown destination, none of which guarantee happiness, and/or prosperity. It's a risk, a seemingly big one, or is that just in my head, and it doesn't matter which way I go? Do I take that risk, or should I just trudge on straight ahead and hope it comes out OK? Which way should I go? There are so many interesting ways to go, at the moment it seems to be such an enormously daunting and important decision, yet no one is forcing me to decide but myself.

As much as I enjoy the idea of being an architect, there have only been a few times when I have been able to envision my future as actually being an architect, and for some reason I can't envision being happy as one. This worries me. Shouldn't I have a good idea of where I want to go? a dream? I do have a dream. The dream I keep having is of the future, but it only shows me where I end up, and not the path or profession I took to get there. My problem is that I have too many varying interests. They vary just enough to not be combined in some way, at least that's what it seems like. Here at school I am surrounded by several of these interests, all of which are tempting me in some way or another. I've been trying to figure out which I have the most interest in, but it keeps coming up 'too close to call', and now I feel like I'm stuck, stuck in a hole I willingly jumped into.

I need to get out of here. I need to think. The beach usually works at home, but I guess Georgia's sorry excuse for a beach will suffice. I'm gone.

"Every night these silhouettes appear above my head
Little angels of the silences that climb into my bed and whisper
Every time I fall asleep
Every time I dream"

Spinning

My head is spinning. No alcohol tonight, that was this last weekend, where apparently I gave my first and last lap dance ever. Anyway, today it's because I've been up for about 36 hrs. straight. I don't know if that's a PB, but I'm ready to cut it short anyway. Why up so long you ask? Well, I had a powerpoint presentation due today at Noon. The bulk of the presentation was completed between the hours of 5pm Sunday and 11:30am Today. Then at 11:45 I decided to change the name of my file to include my name, just like the professor likes it. Well, for some reason my flash drive decided to corrupt my one and only electronic copy of my powerpoint when I changed the name. Luckily the professor dropped his no-tolerance policy on 'technological mishaps', since I did just print out my slides right before the corruption. So at least he knows I did the work. But that means I have to create it all over again. Ugh! Is this a test? That is why my head is spinning. That and because I had to complete another project by 6pm tonight before class. This has to be some kind of test. Tomorrow holds another project due date @ noon for another class, ask me if it's finished.

Had to skip crew this morning to finish the project I erased. That's 4 miles of punishment. wonderful.

"these will cure my aching head, help me see again. these will take away the guilt, ease my soul again..."

Lucky #14

This goes out to that large community out there known as Brave-haters, but I think it's actually just Kyle and his imaginary hater friends. As I have been forecasting the entire season, tonight the Atlanta Braves have clinched their 14th consecutive National League East title. So there. As stated before, this is the first most important goal of the season, second being advancing to the championship series, and finally, the World Series. Because if you can't win your division, you are only good enough to watch the playoffs from your couch. Wild Card teams being the only exception, but I guess some teams do deserve a second chance for being kinda close behind.

Kyle- you predicted the Washington Nationals to win the division. Not a bad choice, they did have a valid shot to take the division and run with it. However, they returned to their Expo ways and floundered away the second half of the season. The NL East was far more competitive this year than in the past years, and I will admit, their were certain points of the season when I wasn't totally certain the Braves could pull it out. But as usual, Bobby Cox and his staff managed well with what they had (10+ rookies on the active roster), and pulled out another title. Maybe next year you will pick the team most likely to win. The door is always open here at the Braves fan club. We accept all denominations, and don't judge those betraying their previous teams. So just come on over whenever you're ready.

As for the remainder of the season, and the playoffs, I hope the Braves can play well, and stay away from injury and errors, in order to advance to the final Series. That would be incredible. However, as the past has definitely proven in every sport, the playoffs are quite unpredictable. That is what makes them so exciting to watch, anything can happen. So, with that, Go Braves! and we'll see you in the World Series. Maybe next year we'll have the chance to defend more than just the Division title...again.

Back to the Future

I haven't written anything since I've gone back in time. So far I am enjoying the new life. The change from 40hrs. of work a week to waking up at 11am for class at 12, has been sooo tough. That is the easiest change however. I am surrounded by kids that are...well, kids. I didn't realize so much of my 'college guy' personality had been overcome by my 'grown up' personality. For the sake of making new friends and not sticking out like a sore thumb, hopefully my 'college guy' side will come back to me a bit. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to revert to every aspect of the College-guy, but simply mix it with a dose of Grown-up to make myself into some kind of Super-dude. I have been worried about my age affecting my college experience, but now that I am here, I am not going to worry about it anymore. My experience will be what I make of it.

Classes haven't been too bad. Homework has been lots of reading, and a few small projects. I fear the worst is yet to come. Hopefully I will be ready for it, but more importantly, I hope I will enjoy it.

My running endeavors have come to a complete halt. My running log seconds my laziness, NO DATA. However, I have been quite busy over the last month, so I am not going to hold it against myself. I do want to continue my running progress so that I can get into some kind of shape. I figured the easiest way to do that would be to join a sport here at school, so I have done just that. As of Saturday, I am officially on the SCAD Crew team. I have yet to row a boat, or even see one, but that will come. Crew is a sport that I think I will really enjoy. It is similar to the Cross Country I ran in high school, only that it will work my entire body, via lots of running, rowing machines, weights, repeat. Unfortunately, I will have to sacrifice my sleeping in to 11, since practices are daily at 6:30am. Ouch!

I will be happy to represent my new school, but I am not entirely ready to defend SCAD's mascot, Art the Bee. He has made every attempt to make himself appear mean, only to fail miserably. His clenched fists outstretched, scowling face, and angry eyes have not made him look mean at all, but more like he should be riding the short bus. *sigh* Go Bees!