You know what I miss? Blogging.
Hey everyone! Austin here, and I am coming at you with season TWO of Let's Play: Life.
Now, I wanted to make this short intro-or prologue, if you will-for a couple of reasons.
1) I wanted to give all the hundreds of thousands of my devoted readers (that's not wishful thinking, right?) a heads up to let you all know that I intend to resume weekly blogging.
2) To get me back into the swing of things, and to hopefully give me something to look forward to doing during the week.
Regarding that second reason, it's just become harder and harder to get myself excited about studying. I mean, it's always been hard for me, but the day that I have to officially declare what the purpose of my life is and devote the rest of my existence (so it seems) to doing it is rapidly approaching, and I feel that I'm not any closer to deciding what that is. So hopefully getting back to blogging will bring some spice to my hopelessly dull life. Maybe I can do the same for you!
Also, I some Starbucks representatives were on campus today giving out free coffee so I am suuuuuuuuper jacked right now. Oh man. Oh, and I'm playing that game Cookie Clicker in the background as I'm writing this. I just bought my fifth time machine. Awwwwww yeeeeaaaahhhhh.
Okay now that we've got the ADD out of the ohmaniwantchips way..
Ahem. Speaking of blogging, I'm also currently working on a collaborative blog for my comp class. The blog I'm a part of is focused on themes found in fantasy, namely anime and western cartoons (think Avatar: The Last Airbender), as they pertain to reality. Even if you don't really watch anime or things like that, I still think it would be an interesting read. Not that I'm biased or anything. The other blogs in the class are also going to be really good. It's early in the writing process, so I haven't read any others yet, but I hope to soon. I'll try to get a link to mine as well as the others if you want to read them.
Well I think that's about it for today. I'm going to try to stick to Thursdays as my weekly post day like last season, but don't get your hopes up for this one. I'm really busy this week and there's a lot I still have to nail down. But rest assured, I'm trying to get back into to swing of things. Anyway, thanks for tuning to the season premiere of Let's Play: Life! Until next time! See ya!
Fantasy Themes Come to Life:
http://cagober.wordpress.com/
Monday, September 16, 2013
Friday, May 3, 2013
Episode 15: Buckle Up!
First of all, I would just like to apologize. I know I am a little late posting this, but better late than pregnant, amirite?
...ahem.
Anyway, I would like to make up my tardiness to you in the form of a longer post. Mostly because I feel like I owe you all, but also in part because I keep making a note of things I want to write about, then trying to pick and choose a few to write about each week, which never really works out. So before I forget all the things I made a note of, I'm just going to spew them all out in what I hope turns out to be a semi-coherent jumble of thoughts. So buckle up. This post is going to be a doozy (what a great and underused word).
So first things first, I am through with classes. I know, it's freaking weird. I have finals next week, and then my first year of college is over. I am SO excited to be home, so I can see everyone, spend time with my family, and then ship off to scenic Seminole, Oklahoma to be a camp counselor for eight weeks. That was a joke, by the way, there's like a Braum's and a Wal-Mart in Seminole and that's about it. Regardless, I love St. Crispin's with all my heart, and I can't wait to be out there. And, you know, making money is always a plus.
Speaking of finals, I did some studying today in the basement of my dorm today. You hear that mom? I studied. Well, it wasn't so much studying at it was working. In place of an actual test, my final in my music theory class is a composition assignment. We're given a 16-bar chord structure, then we have to fill in the chords in a pattern of our choosing, then write a melody on top of it. So it's like composing with training wheels. I didn't realize how much effort it would take, though. Not necessarily because it's hard or overly challenging, it's just that I'm really picky about my composition assignments, and everything has to sound exactly like I want it (in all my expert composition knowledge). It took me like 15 minutes to nail down one measure (which still isn't done) because I didn't like the way the bass chords sounded. This is going to be a lot more effort than I thought. But back to the basement. Today was like the first day I had ever gone down to the basement to study, or even just hangout. Which sucks, because I had a really great time down there and there's only a week of school left (which still baffles me). It was just instant acceptance. Granted, I knew a few people already from frisbee, but the basement dwellers just treated me as one of their own, talking to me and cracking jokes, even if I didn't know them all. They're good people, those basement folk. If any of you are reading, you are all wonderful people, and I will probably be down sometime tomorrow.
Just to be clear, there are actual dorm rooms in the basement. It's not like an isolated community of squatters. That would be really weird.
SUBJECT CHANGE!
So I saw Iron Man 3 tonight. Holy. Crap. It was SO GOOD people. SO. GOOD. I really enjoyed it. Robert Downey, Jr. is just such a fantastic actor, and he plays the role of Tony Stark SO well. And there were so many awesome, action-packed scenes. But it is a superhero movie, so you would kind of expect that. But I'm not here to play movie critic, especially because I don't want to give out any spoilers or anything for those of you who haven't seen it, which I highly recommend you remedy immediately. At the end of the movie, as with any movie, the credits rolled. Being a Marvel movie, you have to stay for the credits because of the fun little Easter eggs at the end. And I was looking at them, and I was kind of taken aback at just how many people worked on this movie. I mean, there was a point where the entire screen was just covered in names. Names on names. Names for days. And then I got to thinking. I know that, for the people who worked on the movie, that's really exciting. They have documented evidence that they, in fact, worked on this movie. And they can point out their name to their friends and family and prospective one-night stands, and that's a wonderful thing. But honestly, what average person is going to see two different movies, read the credits, and recognize that the assistant lighting manager was the same for both movies? Nobody. I mean you don't just meet a person, and then say, "Wait. I know that name from somewhere...ohmygosh! You were makeup artist #4 for that one movie! I absolutely LOVED your work. The way Emma Stone (what a babe)'s blush was so perfectly applied was just movie magic." I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade, it's just I don't know what that's going to get them in life. You know what? Let's start an IMDB offshoot designed to credit those who worked behind the scenes, for all those obscure people who would otherwise go unnoticed in society. That would make playing Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon a lot more interesting.
SUBJECT CHANGE!
I saw this commercial the other day, and I don't exactly remember what it was for. But I think it featured some sort of family scene (it was a while ago, so bear with me). And at the end of the commercial, it was all, "such and such company, proud sponsor of the word home." Is...is that a thing now? We can do that? Sponsor words? In that case, I am launching a campaign. I am sponsoring the more widespread use of the words "copious," "doozy," and "immaculate," as well as the addition of "muchness" and "suckitude" into the dictionary. This is a cause I'm very passionate about, and one I hope receives the muchness of support I truly believe it deserves. I know this issue has caused a lot of uproar in the linguistic community, and I know as well as anyone how much of a doozy it is, but I really think that we can get this to pass. For all of you immaculate people interested, there will be a Kickstarter for this cause up shortly, and expect copious amounts of financial aid to come pouring in. If we can't back this cause and allow it to succeed, we are paving the way for preposterous levels of suckitude, and nobody wants that. Every penny counts, people.
Well that about wraps up this week's episode. I feel that there has been an adequate amount of content. If you disagree, there's always next week, so make sure you come back for the next episode of Let's Play: Life! And remember kids, don't drop the soap! Because that stuff is really slippery. You're gonna have a hard time picking it back up.
*This post was brought to you by the Austin Lawhorn Linguistic Equality Foundation, proud sponsor of your uncle's toenail clippings*
...ahem.
Anyway, I would like to make up my tardiness to you in the form of a longer post. Mostly because I feel like I owe you all, but also in part because I keep making a note of things I want to write about, then trying to pick and choose a few to write about each week, which never really works out. So before I forget all the things I made a note of, I'm just going to spew them all out in what I hope turns out to be a semi-coherent jumble of thoughts. So buckle up. This post is going to be a doozy (what a great and underused word).
So first things first, I am through with classes. I know, it's freaking weird. I have finals next week, and then my first year of college is over. I am SO excited to be home, so I can see everyone, spend time with my family, and then ship off to scenic Seminole, Oklahoma to be a camp counselor for eight weeks. That was a joke, by the way, there's like a Braum's and a Wal-Mart in Seminole and that's about it. Regardless, I love St. Crispin's with all my heart, and I can't wait to be out there. And, you know, making money is always a plus.
Speaking of finals, I did some studying today in the basement of my dorm today. You hear that mom? I studied. Well, it wasn't so much studying at it was working. In place of an actual test, my final in my music theory class is a composition assignment. We're given a 16-bar chord structure, then we have to fill in the chords in a pattern of our choosing, then write a melody on top of it. So it's like composing with training wheels. I didn't realize how much effort it would take, though. Not necessarily because it's hard or overly challenging, it's just that I'm really picky about my composition assignments, and everything has to sound exactly like I want it (in all my expert composition knowledge). It took me like 15 minutes to nail down one measure (which still isn't done) because I didn't like the way the bass chords sounded. This is going to be a lot more effort than I thought. But back to the basement. Today was like the first day I had ever gone down to the basement to study, or even just hangout. Which sucks, because I had a really great time down there and there's only a week of school left (which still baffles me). It was just instant acceptance. Granted, I knew a few people already from frisbee, but the basement dwellers just treated me as one of their own, talking to me and cracking jokes, even if I didn't know them all. They're good people, those basement folk. If any of you are reading, you are all wonderful people, and I will probably be down sometime tomorrow.
Just to be clear, there are actual dorm rooms in the basement. It's not like an isolated community of squatters. That would be really weird.
SUBJECT CHANGE!
So I saw Iron Man 3 tonight. Holy. Crap. It was SO GOOD people. SO. GOOD. I really enjoyed it. Robert Downey, Jr. is just such a fantastic actor, and he plays the role of Tony Stark SO well. And there were so many awesome, action-packed scenes. But it is a superhero movie, so you would kind of expect that. But I'm not here to play movie critic, especially because I don't want to give out any spoilers or anything for those of you who haven't seen it, which I highly recommend you remedy immediately. At the end of the movie, as with any movie, the credits rolled. Being a Marvel movie, you have to stay for the credits because of the fun little Easter eggs at the end. And I was looking at them, and I was kind of taken aback at just how many people worked on this movie. I mean, there was a point where the entire screen was just covered in names. Names on names. Names for days. And then I got to thinking. I know that, for the people who worked on the movie, that's really exciting. They have documented evidence that they, in fact, worked on this movie. And they can point out their name to their friends and family and prospective one-night stands, and that's a wonderful thing. But honestly, what average person is going to see two different movies, read the credits, and recognize that the assistant lighting manager was the same for both movies? Nobody. I mean you don't just meet a person, and then say, "Wait. I know that name from somewhere...ohmygosh! You were makeup artist #4 for that one movie! I absolutely LOVED your work. The way Emma Stone (what a babe)'s blush was so perfectly applied was just movie magic." I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade, it's just I don't know what that's going to get them in life. You know what? Let's start an IMDB offshoot designed to credit those who worked behind the scenes, for all those obscure people who would otherwise go unnoticed in society. That would make playing Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon a lot more interesting.
SUBJECT CHANGE!
I saw this commercial the other day, and I don't exactly remember what it was for. But I think it featured some sort of family scene (it was a while ago, so bear with me). And at the end of the commercial, it was all, "such and such company, proud sponsor of the word home." Is...is that a thing now? We can do that? Sponsor words? In that case, I am launching a campaign. I am sponsoring the more widespread use of the words "copious," "doozy," and "immaculate," as well as the addition of "muchness" and "suckitude" into the dictionary. This is a cause I'm very passionate about, and one I hope receives the muchness of support I truly believe it deserves. I know this issue has caused a lot of uproar in the linguistic community, and I know as well as anyone how much of a doozy it is, but I really think that we can get this to pass. For all of you immaculate people interested, there will be a Kickstarter for this cause up shortly, and expect copious amounts of financial aid to come pouring in. If we can't back this cause and allow it to succeed, we are paving the way for preposterous levels of suckitude, and nobody wants that. Every penny counts, people.
Well that about wraps up this week's episode. I feel that there has been an adequate amount of content. If you disagree, there's always next week, so make sure you come back for the next episode of Let's Play: Life! And remember kids, don't drop the soap! Because that stuff is really slippery. You're gonna have a hard time picking it back up.
*This post was brought to you by the Austin Lawhorn Linguistic Equality Foundation, proud sponsor of your uncle's toenail clippings*
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Episode 14: Videos for Days
I am 15 days away from completing my first year of college.
What.
And I only have one more week of classes.
What.
I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around this fact. One whole year of my college career is (almost) finished. That is SO crazy. Before I know it, two years will have gone by. Three years. Four years. Now I'm an adult.
WHAT.
You mean to tell me that in 3 years I'll actually have to go out and get a job and be responsible and not play video games all the time? Yeah, I'm not sure I'm okay with that. If we could just put a hold on this whole life thing, that would be swell. There's so much I still want to do! Do you know how many video games will have come out by the time I graduate? And how many will come out while I'm busy being an adult and stuff? What am I supposed to do, not play them?
In all seriousness, there's so much I want to do, so many experiences I want to have. I want rent an old VW van and go on a road trip with friends. I want to go on a food tour, where all I do is drive around the country eating at places featured on Man vs. Food and Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. I want to (as weird as it sounds) model for a completely casual photo shoot. I want to have my own YouTube channel with my very own subscribers. I want to go rob a bank and take hostages!
Just making sure you're still paying attention.
This is supposed to be the time of my life (and it really has been, so far) but I feel like it's going by so fast. I actually saw a post on reddit where someone had said that by the time you hit your early 20s, half of your life in terms of your perception of time will have gone by. Half. Commence the mid-life crisis.
Quick side note: If any of you want an explanation as to why that is, check out this video:
I promise, there's no virus involved, and no pop-ups telling you how to enlarge your...well...you know.
Just click the link, kay?
SUBJECT CHANGE!
I love music. Like, LOVE it.
But you already knew that.
So one of my favorite bands EVAR is Relient K. Their music is just so...well, I don't really possess the vocabulary necessary to fully illustrate just how magnificent their music truly is. And that's saying something. I just used a lot of big words.
If you saw my rant on Facebook, you know where this is going. But for those of you who did not, I'll say it again.
So recently, I found out that Ethan Luck, John Warne, and Jon Shneck, three of Relient K's members, will not be touring with the band in the upcoming tour. When I first got the news, I freaked out. No, seriously. I was devastated. I was like, "OHMYGODOHMYGODMYFAVORITEBANDINTHEWHOLEWIDEWORLDISBREAKINGUP
WHATDOIDOWHATDOIDO."
Just like that.
Well, my brother had actually texted me about Ethan, so I went and looked it up for myself. Then, I proceeded to freak out. Just like that. The thought of life without the music of my favorite band crushed me. I had just seen them in concert in August! What went wrong? What did I do to deserve this? Tears (the manliest goddamn tears you've ever seen) were on the verge of being shed.
And then there was hope.
The next day, Relient K posted a link to this video:
Click that. No, really. Click it. Now. You don't have an option. That first link, I couldn't care less if you clicked it or not. But this one, you will click. I'm not writing anymore until you click it. Did you click it yet? Don't you lie to me. You did? Great. On with the show.
The first time I listened to the song, a single tear of joy (the manliest goddamn tear you've ever seen) trickled down my face right there at the end. Partly because I loved the song so much, partly because the last lyric of the song hit me smack dab in the feels. But mostly because I realized, in that moment, that no matter what, I will always have Relient K. All the albums, the concerts, the self-made harmonies, the memories will always be with me. And it doesn't matter if Ethan, John, and Jon leave the band, either temporarily or permanently. There will still be a Relient K, at least for the time being. They've gotten a drummer and a bassist to play with them on tour, and the new album (for which I am SO excited) is still coming out, although the release was pushed back to July. This song made me realize that people are always changing. Life is always changing. And you can lament about the past, or you can look to the future. This song embodies the evolution of this band and their sound over time, and showed me that Relient K will always be Relient K, even if only in my heart.
And you know what? I think that's a great metaphor for life. Sure, times change. Sure, I'm getting older and have to be an adult soon. But that's life. People grow up. They change. They adapt. While sometimes and might look back and think, if only I could relive this one moment, I know that there is much more out there waiting for me in the future, and so much I'm going to do and accomplish. I might not know exactly what the future holds, but I sure am ready to find out!
And that's where I'll leave you today. See what I did there? Nice surprise ending. It actually tied the two posts together. Bet you didn't see that one coming. Boom.
Anyway, thanks for tuning in for this week's episode of Let's Play: Life. As always, come back next Thursday for more! And remember kids, don't you blink, or it's gone! See you next time!
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Episode 13: Things That Suck and Things That Don't
You know what sucks?
When you're going about your own business, maybe trying to sleep, and your brain is like, "Hey bro. Broski. Brosencrantz. Remember all those mistake you made in high school? Yeah, those. Let's relive all those in excruciating detail. Also, here are all the other ways it could have turned out. Just something to think about."
Sometimes the brain can be a douche.
Seriously though, don't you just hate that? That's what I imagine hell is like. Just a constant loop for all of eternity of all the mistakes you made, the people you hurt, and all the things that could have been. Some nights I'll just randomly think about those things, and I will literally bury my head under my pillow in hopes that they'll go away.
Spoiler Alert: They never do.
You know what else sucks? The weather. Sometimes it can be so fickle. Like today. It's in the high 40s. It's definitely bearable, and I do love me a good hoodie, but for the last few days it's been in the high 80s. EIGHTIES. And all of a sudden it just drops 40 freaking degrees? What's up with that, Texas? What are you trying to pull here? Oh, and it's supposed to warm back up tomorrow. What the hell Texas? Do you even weather? Seriously.
But you know what doesn't suck? Having only one class today. I slept in until 10:45 this morning. And still had an hour and a half before I had to be in class. You know what I did with that time? Took a nice, long, relaxing shower, hopped on YouTube for a bit, and had a nice meal, all before class. Oh, and I did HOMEWORK. Yeah, that's right. For once I did my homework at a reasonable time of the day instead of starting it at 2:00 in the morning. I mean, what? No mom, of course I do my homework before I do anything else...
Whew, that was a close one.
(Just for the record, I don't actually wait until 2:00 am to start my homework. That would just be silly.)
Also coffee. Coffee doesn't suck.
SUBJECT CHANGE!
So sectionals was awesome! SO much fun. And we did really well too! We got 3rd place in pool play and 4th place in bracket play. Unfortunately, we did not do well enough to go to regionals, but we did much better than I thought we would. I'm a little bummed (okay, a lot bummed) that the season is over, but it was a great one. We improved so much since the beginning of the year. Next year, man. That's the year. Oh, and I got a Callahan during the tournament, which is SUPER exciting.
For those who don't know much about ultimate, a Callahan is basically the equivalent of a safety in football. We were playing defense, and the other team had the disc basically on their goal line. Our cup was playing solid defense, not giving the upfield throw, so the guy with the disc throws it to another handler. He ended up overthrowing it and the wind picked it up, so I saw my chance and ran toward it. I ended up catching it in the endzone, resulting in a point. I was so excited after catching it that I momentarily forgot how to run and ended up falling over. But I caught the disc, and that's what's important. And here I was beginning to think I wasn't going to make any big plays all year.
SUBJECT CHANGE!
So back to things that suck.
You know when you finish a TV series or complete a really long video game (think JRPG) and you suddenly don't know what to do with you life? Well, that happened to me. Two YouTube series I've been watching just ended (one of which was over 30 hours total), AND I just finished a Dunsparce solo run of Pokemon Crystal, so now I just feel empty inside. Accomplished, but empty. Thank goodness I have another episode of Psych to watch, or else I'd probably just crawl into a hole and wither away. So now I need to find something else to do with my free time. I mean, I still have LoL, but I really only enjoy playing that with friends. If anyone has any suggestions of games I should pick up, please feel free to hit me with them (keeping in mind I have only a computer at my disposal, no consoles). I mean, what else am I going to do during dead days in a couple weeks? Study for finals? Pfft, yeah right. What? I mean, of course mom, I'm going to study.
Whew. Another close one.
Anyway, that about wraps up this episode.
Ooh, I just looked out the window and the sun is shining now. Maybe it'll warm up now!
Wow, okay, ADD probs. Back to the conclusion.
Okay, NOW that about wraps up this episode. Thanks for stopping by! Tune in next week for another episode of Let's Play: Life! And remember kids, don't tickle a sleeping bear! Because that's just stupid. He'll probably wake up super pissed and maul your face off. I mean, he probably won't stop at your face, but your face will definitely be mauled at some point. Ouch.
See ya!
When you're going about your own business, maybe trying to sleep, and your brain is like, "Hey bro. Broski. Brosencrantz. Remember all those mistake you made in high school? Yeah, those. Let's relive all those in excruciating detail. Also, here are all the other ways it could have turned out. Just something to think about."
Sometimes the brain can be a douche.
Seriously though, don't you just hate that? That's what I imagine hell is like. Just a constant loop for all of eternity of all the mistakes you made, the people you hurt, and all the things that could have been. Some nights I'll just randomly think about those things, and I will literally bury my head under my pillow in hopes that they'll go away.
Spoiler Alert: They never do.
You know what else sucks? The weather. Sometimes it can be so fickle. Like today. It's in the high 40s. It's definitely bearable, and I do love me a good hoodie, but for the last few days it's been in the high 80s. EIGHTIES. And all of a sudden it just drops 40 freaking degrees? What's up with that, Texas? What are you trying to pull here? Oh, and it's supposed to warm back up tomorrow. What the hell Texas? Do you even weather? Seriously.
But you know what doesn't suck? Having only one class today. I slept in until 10:45 this morning. And still had an hour and a half before I had to be in class. You know what I did with that time? Took a nice, long, relaxing shower, hopped on YouTube for a bit, and had a nice meal, all before class. Oh, and I did HOMEWORK. Yeah, that's right. For once I did my homework at a reasonable time of the day instead of starting it at 2:00 in the morning. I mean, what? No mom, of course I do my homework before I do anything else...
Whew, that was a close one.
(Just for the record, I don't actually wait until 2:00 am to start my homework. That would just be silly.)
Also coffee. Coffee doesn't suck.
SUBJECT CHANGE!
So sectionals was awesome! SO much fun. And we did really well too! We got 3rd place in pool play and 4th place in bracket play. Unfortunately, we did not do well enough to go to regionals, but we did much better than I thought we would. I'm a little bummed (okay, a lot bummed) that the season is over, but it was a great one. We improved so much since the beginning of the year. Next year, man. That's the year. Oh, and I got a Callahan during the tournament, which is SUPER exciting.
For those who don't know much about ultimate, a Callahan is basically the equivalent of a safety in football. We were playing defense, and the other team had the disc basically on their goal line. Our cup was playing solid defense, not giving the upfield throw, so the guy with the disc throws it to another handler. He ended up overthrowing it and the wind picked it up, so I saw my chance and ran toward it. I ended up catching it in the endzone, resulting in a point. I was so excited after catching it that I momentarily forgot how to run and ended up falling over. But I caught the disc, and that's what's important. And here I was beginning to think I wasn't going to make any big plays all year.
SUBJECT CHANGE!
So back to things that suck.
You know when you finish a TV series or complete a really long video game (think JRPG) and you suddenly don't know what to do with you life? Well, that happened to me. Two YouTube series I've been watching just ended (one of which was over 30 hours total), AND I just finished a Dunsparce solo run of Pokemon Crystal, so now I just feel empty inside. Accomplished, but empty. Thank goodness I have another episode of Psych to watch, or else I'd probably just crawl into a hole and wither away. So now I need to find something else to do with my free time. I mean, I still have LoL, but I really only enjoy playing that with friends. If anyone has any suggestions of games I should pick up, please feel free to hit me with them (keeping in mind I have only a computer at my disposal, no consoles). I mean, what else am I going to do during dead days in a couple weeks? Study for finals? Pfft, yeah right. What? I mean, of course mom, I'm going to study.
Whew. Another close one.
Anyway, that about wraps up this episode.
Ooh, I just looked out the window and the sun is shining now. Maybe it'll warm up now!
Wow, okay, ADD probs. Back to the conclusion.
Okay, NOW that about wraps up this episode. Thanks for stopping by! Tune in next week for another episode of Let's Play: Life! And remember kids, don't tickle a sleeping bear! Because that's just stupid. He'll probably wake up super pissed and maul your face off. I mean, he probably won't stop at your face, but your face will definitely be mauled at some point. Ouch.
See ya!
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Episode 12: I'm Old!
It was cold today.
That might not seem like it's that big of deal, but come on. Yesterday it was sunny with a high of 75, and today it's the the 40s. THE FORTIES. What the hell Texas? Get it together. And this is the only day of the week like it. Tomorrow it gets back into the 60s, and by the end of the weekend it'll be in the 80s. Which is nice. I love me some warm weather. Especially since Ultimate Frisbee sectionals is this weekend. Finally, we get to go to a tournament where it's not freezing. Seriously, every tournament we've been to has been SO cold. But, as a trade-off, it's going to be windy. That disc (and subsequently the team) is not going to have a good time. Still, I will gladly trade wind for 80 degree weather.
So what's new in my life? Good question. Not much, unfortunately. Same old, same old really. Class, LoL, YouTube, homework (and yes, I actually did my homework), more LoL, more YouTube, maybe some Minecraft. Plus Ultimate practice on Tuesday and Thursday. And then writing this, of course.
I'm really excited for summer. The weather, the relaxing. And then the being a camp counselor for 8 weeks. I can't wait for that. I'm a little nervous for it though. 8 weeks is a long time to be away from home (not that far away, but still), and I don't really know how I'll be around kids, especially the young ones. I like them, don't get me wrong. I've just never really been responsible for kids, other than babysitting like once or twice. Although I did Love and Logic my little cousin a few weeks ago. That was cool.
Just to explain, Love and Logic is the basic guidelines we were taught at camp training to deal with campers, which involves disciplining the child, but explaining the situation and maintaining their dignity. You know, as opposed to just yelling at them and bossing them around. Or beating them. Which would not be good. Because that would be child abuse. Which is bad.
Anyway, over Easter weekend, I went home to see some of my extended family, and was playing with my little cousin, when the time came for us to eat. She didn't want to stop playing, so I assured we could play any game she liked as long as she came and ate first. And it worked like a charm! I was so excited that I had actually applied some of my training. It was a proud moment. It's little things like that that tell me I just might be alright at this counselor thing.
And then I think of sick little children throwing up everywhere, and I'm not so sure.
Well, I'm running out of ideas. A lot of the stuff going on in my life, or things I want to talk about, I don't want to post on here just because I don't want certain people to read it. Not that I would be talking bad about anyone behind their back (because the internet is a GREAT place to do that). It's just that I'd rather talk about these things with the specific people involved, or just don't want to put out there quite yet. I would never put anything out there that I wouldn't want someone to read and be offended or hurt by. Except girls that think tights are pants. And stupid people. I am not afraid to shame them. Man.
Okay, okay Austin. Just take a chill pill. It's all good, playa.
*Ahem*
Moving on...
I have just one month of my freshman year of college left. I cannot even begin to describe how weird that feels. I am almost 1/4 finished with my college career. What is this? I'm so old! I don't like! I don't want to grow up! Seriously man, it's so weird. People around me are getting jobs, getting married, having children. Is this what life is supposed to feel like? I mean, I know that stuff is coming eventually, but all in due time. Not soon! I'm not ready! I feel like it'll be a while before I'm ready for any of that.
But now that I think about it, that's what I said about going to college. Toward the end of high school, I was deathly afraid of making this transition. I didn't want to be away from people, I didn't want to be on my own. Especially since I wasn't going to school with people I knew well, like a lot of my friends ended up doing. But looking back, I know I made the right decision. Not knowing anyone (basically) going in, I was forced to branch out, and it really helped me. I have some great friends here, I'm doing things I love to do. And now that I'm here, I love the college environment. Even being on my own. I miss my family and friends and all, but it's just nice to do me, you know? Yeah, you know.
Well I'm afraid that's all I have for you this week. A little shorter than I'd like (and maybe you'd like as well), but frankly, I'm just not sure what to talk about. Still keeping that note of potential ideas in my phone, but nothing really came to me this past week. Anyway, I'll be sure to have more for you next time. Make sure you tune in next week for another episode of Let's Play: Life! And remember kids, God hates figs! (Mark 11:12-14)
PS - If you caught the song reference in this post, good for you!
That might not seem like it's that big of deal, but come on. Yesterday it was sunny with a high of 75, and today it's the the 40s. THE FORTIES. What the hell Texas? Get it together. And this is the only day of the week like it. Tomorrow it gets back into the 60s, and by the end of the weekend it'll be in the 80s. Which is nice. I love me some warm weather. Especially since Ultimate Frisbee sectionals is this weekend. Finally, we get to go to a tournament where it's not freezing. Seriously, every tournament we've been to has been SO cold. But, as a trade-off, it's going to be windy. That disc (and subsequently the team) is not going to have a good time. Still, I will gladly trade wind for 80 degree weather.
So what's new in my life? Good question. Not much, unfortunately. Same old, same old really. Class, LoL, YouTube, homework (and yes, I actually did my homework), more LoL, more YouTube, maybe some Minecraft. Plus Ultimate practice on Tuesday and Thursday. And then writing this, of course.
I'm really excited for summer. The weather, the relaxing. And then the being a camp counselor for 8 weeks. I can't wait for that. I'm a little nervous for it though. 8 weeks is a long time to be away from home (not that far away, but still), and I don't really know how I'll be around kids, especially the young ones. I like them, don't get me wrong. I've just never really been responsible for kids, other than babysitting like once or twice. Although I did Love and Logic my little cousin a few weeks ago. That was cool.
Just to explain, Love and Logic is the basic guidelines we were taught at camp training to deal with campers, which involves disciplining the child, but explaining the situation and maintaining their dignity. You know, as opposed to just yelling at them and bossing them around. Or beating them. Which would not be good. Because that would be child abuse. Which is bad.
Anyway, over Easter weekend, I went home to see some of my extended family, and was playing with my little cousin, when the time came for us to eat. She didn't want to stop playing, so I assured we could play any game she liked as long as she came and ate first. And it worked like a charm! I was so excited that I had actually applied some of my training. It was a proud moment. It's little things like that that tell me I just might be alright at this counselor thing.
And then I think of sick little children throwing up everywhere, and I'm not so sure.
Well, I'm running out of ideas. A lot of the stuff going on in my life, or things I want to talk about, I don't want to post on here just because I don't want certain people to read it. Not that I would be talking bad about anyone behind their back (because the internet is a GREAT place to do that). It's just that I'd rather talk about these things with the specific people involved, or just don't want to put out there quite yet. I would never put anything out there that I wouldn't want someone to read and be offended or hurt by. Except girls that think tights are pants. And stupid people. I am not afraid to shame them. Man.
Okay, okay Austin. Just take a chill pill. It's all good, playa.
*Ahem*
Moving on...
I have just one month of my freshman year of college left. I cannot even begin to describe how weird that feels. I am almost 1/4 finished with my college career. What is this? I'm so old! I don't like! I don't want to grow up! Seriously man, it's so weird. People around me are getting jobs, getting married, having children. Is this what life is supposed to feel like? I mean, I know that stuff is coming eventually, but all in due time. Not soon! I'm not ready! I feel like it'll be a while before I'm ready for any of that.
But now that I think about it, that's what I said about going to college. Toward the end of high school, I was deathly afraid of making this transition. I didn't want to be away from people, I didn't want to be on my own. Especially since I wasn't going to school with people I knew well, like a lot of my friends ended up doing. But looking back, I know I made the right decision. Not knowing anyone (basically) going in, I was forced to branch out, and it really helped me. I have some great friends here, I'm doing things I love to do. And now that I'm here, I love the college environment. Even being on my own. I miss my family and friends and all, but it's just nice to do me, you know? Yeah, you know.
Well I'm afraid that's all I have for you this week. A little shorter than I'd like (and maybe you'd like as well), but frankly, I'm just not sure what to talk about. Still keeping that note of potential ideas in my phone, but nothing really came to me this past week. Anyway, I'll be sure to have more for you next time. Make sure you tune in next week for another episode of Let's Play: Life! And remember kids, God hates figs! (Mark 11:12-14)
PS - If you caught the song reference in this post, good for you!
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Episode 11: Back On Schedule
Hey folks! Here I am, back in action! I really I hope I can stick to this schedule. I hated not blogging almost as much you hated not being able to read my blog. Also, I realize that I said Wednesday would be when this went up. I was mistaken. If you recall (and I sure hope you do), I said that I would try to make Thursday my regular update day. The reason I was so fixated on Wednesday was that I usually write the posts Wednesday NIGHT so I can get them up at midnight or after, so they're up basically all Thursday for you to read at your own leisure. I think that's what I'm going to stick to. So if you're up at midnight on Wednesday nights, consider popping on over for a read. If nothing new is there, chances are it'll be there in the morning. Greater chances are I forgot and am going to come up with some excuse in a few days as to why I didn't post on time. Given recent history, that seems to be far more likely. Moving on...
Before we begin (and boy do I have some good stuff for you today), I just wanted to make a little PSA to Google+.
Side note: That punctuation bothers me so much. Is that how it's supposed to be? The "+" is throwing me off my game.
Anyway, back to what I was saying.
Every time I log in to this website so I can blog, I get taken to the homepage. As it should be. But on the homepage are statistics, like how many page views you've gotten on what days, and where you audience is coming from. Stuff like that. But I really don't think they're accurate. It says I have 500-something total page views, which seems a but high (if that's really the number, that's awesome). But then when I check the views of each individual post, they range from like 7 to 30. I don't know what's up with that, but it makes it really hard to tell just how many people actually read this. If I knew more people were reading, I might lay off with the aggressive advertising (but let's be honest, probably not).
Speaking of, while I have you here, tell your friends to read my blog! Please? Pretty please? I'll give you $100 dollars for every friend you make a regular reader!* But really though, I really enjoy doing this, and I would love to know that other people do as well.
Anywho, enough of that spiel. On to the good stuff! And boy, is it good. I feel so bad about having such an irregular schedule the last few weeks that I'm going all out today. Today, we're going to talk about something I know all of you have strong feelings about. Nope, it's not religion. Not politics. Not warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies. Today, we're going to talk about people.
Stupid people.
Leggo.
SWEET PECAN PIE do I hate stupid people. This is by far my biggest pet peeve. It's more of a pet peeve than all my other pet peeves combined.
I usually don't come into contact with many stupid people, and I am severely thankful for that. I usually hear about stupid people from others, mostly on Reddit. I'm proud to say that 98.2% of the people I have come into contact with have been perfectly decent and intelligent beings. And you! You're not stupid! You're reading this, which automatically gives you 300 point IQ boost. True story. But sometimes you just meet a person, and you're like, "How...What...I don't...You. How are you even functioning right now?"
Now, I will admit, everyone has stupid moments. I myself probably have more than my fair share. But I'm talking about people who, for whatever reason--the way they were raised, their lack of education, or just a sheer stubbornness and refusal to understand things--are just unable to function as proper members of human society. Sometimes I look at people and think, "..." because there are literally no words I can fathom that could even come close to describing the sheer lack of a brain that person possesses. Most of these incidents involve political leaders and the Westboro Baptist Church.
Speaking of, HOLYCRAPONACRACKER do I hate the Westboro Baptist Church. I am so sick and tired of hearing about all of their stupid, intolerant shenanigans. It is one thing to have an opinion about something, bigoted and intolerant though it may be. It is an entirely different thing to try to force feed those beliefs on others with a rusty fork and shame them for their own beliefs (or lack thereof, if that's your cup of tea). Discussion is wonderful. It's what makes us human. I love to talk and discuss things. Let's sit down, have a conversation, tell me where you're coming from (seriously though, hit me up and we can discuss the meaning of life or whatever). But be open to discussion, to challenge, to debate. Don't argue one side, shame the other, and walk away like you've won some sort of contest. You haven't. You've only made a fool of yourself. You are what needs to be changed about current society.
I'm trying really hard not to just spout off all my pet peeves. Let's save that for another time, shall we?
Okay. Stupid people. Let's see. Oh, I know.
So I was playing League of Legends today. Not unusual. I decided I'd play some ranked and try to make my way back up to Silver. I'm currently Bronze, which is the lowest tier. I'm Bronze I, so I'm at the top, but still, it's the top of the bottom. Anyway, I'm trying to climb my way out of elo hell, and I get into a game. I'm the first pick for my team, so I'm charged with banning 3 champions that I don't want to see played. I target some champions I have had bad experiences with who bring a lot to the team, and I don't want to see them played (Amumu, Jarvan IV, and Xin Zhao, for anyone who plays LoL). In doing so, I didn't ban Blitzcrank, one of the most widely banned champions because he's really good at setting up kills for his team. The other team gets him, and right off the bat my team is raging because I didn't ban him. No problem. I shake it off and get ready to play. Within the first 2 minutes, Blitzcrank sets up and double kill, and two of my teammates just give up. They refuse to play after one mistake on their part, giving up quite a few more kills. Then, while the rest of us are trying our hardest to carry the game, I start getting flamed for not banning properly. I banned champions I though were more threatening, eff me right? So I defend my position by telling them that I banned champs who I though would bring a lot more to team fights, and they couldn't expect to never play against a Blitzcrank. Gotta learn sometime, amirite? Besides, at my skill level, I wasn't expecting much anyway. And they just go on and on and on, raging and feeding, until eventually we surrender. But it's people like that who just can't ever accept the fact that they are wrong that really grind my gears. And what's unfortunate is that it seems that close to 90% of the LoL community is like that. As addicting as it is, this game had one of the absolute worst communities I have ever seen.
I guess now that I'm thinking about it, intolerance is the major aspect I despise about people. Be open to change! To challenges! Be able to say, "You know what, you're right. I was wrong. Thank you so much for shedding a new light on the situation. You and your marvelous face have a most splendiferous day!" You'll feel better about yourself and other people, I promise.
I could go on and on about this subject, but I don't want to make this post overly long. I also don't want to overlap into other topics, because I want to save as much material as I can for future posts. But that's basically the gist of what I have to say on the subject.
Oh, real quick, just wanted to give ya'll (that's right, I live in Texas, I say ya'll) a life update. Just so it's not all some weird, unrelatable dude ranting at you all the time. I'm a real person, I promise. Anyway, my parents are moving. They're closing on a house and are trying to get our current one on the market pretty soon. They're only moving like 3 minutes away, but still, they're moving. It's a really weird feeling. In a few weeks (or however long it takes), I won't have a home. I'll have a place to come back to to see my family over breaks and stuff, but it's not my home. There won't be any memories there. I know, I know, the home is where the heart is. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for my parents and brother. The new house looks great, and it's going to have a pool and a theater room, and just other stuff my parents have really wanted in a house for a while. It's just weird. I'm an adult. I don't get to stay in my childhood home forever. I'm closer to 21 than I am to 18. I'm almost done with a whole year of college. I have to declare a major and actually decide what I want to do with my life. What is this? What is my life? Ugh. Life changes, man. They get to you.
Well that's all I have for you today. Once again, sorry for having such a wonky schedule the past few weeks. I hope this makes up for it. Thanks for reading, as always! Tune in next week for a new, phantasmagorical episode of Let's Play: Life! And remember kids, always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman. Always be Batman.
*Offer ends 3 seconds ago. So sorry you missed it. Sucks to suck. But still recruit your friends, kay?
Before we begin (and boy do I have some good stuff for you today), I just wanted to make a little PSA to Google+.
Side note: That punctuation bothers me so much. Is that how it's supposed to be? The "+" is throwing me off my game.
Anyway, back to what I was saying.
Every time I log in to this website so I can blog, I get taken to the homepage. As it should be. But on the homepage are statistics, like how many page views you've gotten on what days, and where you audience is coming from. Stuff like that. But I really don't think they're accurate. It says I have 500-something total page views, which seems a but high (if that's really the number, that's awesome). But then when I check the views of each individual post, they range from like 7 to 30. I don't know what's up with that, but it makes it really hard to tell just how many people actually read this. If I knew more people were reading, I might lay off with the aggressive advertising (but let's be honest, probably not).
Speaking of, while I have you here, tell your friends to read my blog! Please? Pretty please? I'll give you $100 dollars for every friend you make a regular reader!* But really though, I really enjoy doing this, and I would love to know that other people do as well.
Anywho, enough of that spiel. On to the good stuff! And boy, is it good. I feel so bad about having such an irregular schedule the last few weeks that I'm going all out today. Today, we're going to talk about something I know all of you have strong feelings about. Nope, it's not religion. Not politics. Not warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies. Today, we're going to talk about people.
Stupid people.
Leggo.
SWEET PECAN PIE do I hate stupid people. This is by far my biggest pet peeve. It's more of a pet peeve than all my other pet peeves combined.
I usually don't come into contact with many stupid people, and I am severely thankful for that. I usually hear about stupid people from others, mostly on Reddit. I'm proud to say that 98.2% of the people I have come into contact with have been perfectly decent and intelligent beings. And you! You're not stupid! You're reading this, which automatically gives you 300 point IQ boost. True story. But sometimes you just meet a person, and you're like, "How...What...I don't...You. How are you even functioning right now?"
Now, I will admit, everyone has stupid moments. I myself probably have more than my fair share. But I'm talking about people who, for whatever reason--the way they were raised, their lack of education, or just a sheer stubbornness and refusal to understand things--are just unable to function as proper members of human society. Sometimes I look at people and think, "..." because there are literally no words I can fathom that could even come close to describing the sheer lack of a brain that person possesses. Most of these incidents involve political leaders and the Westboro Baptist Church.
Speaking of, HOLYCRAPONACRACKER do I hate the Westboro Baptist Church. I am so sick and tired of hearing about all of their stupid, intolerant shenanigans. It is one thing to have an opinion about something, bigoted and intolerant though it may be. It is an entirely different thing to try to force feed those beliefs on others with a rusty fork and shame them for their own beliefs (or lack thereof, if that's your cup of tea). Discussion is wonderful. It's what makes us human. I love to talk and discuss things. Let's sit down, have a conversation, tell me where you're coming from (seriously though, hit me up and we can discuss the meaning of life or whatever). But be open to discussion, to challenge, to debate. Don't argue one side, shame the other, and walk away like you've won some sort of contest. You haven't. You've only made a fool of yourself. You are what needs to be changed about current society.
I'm trying really hard not to just spout off all my pet peeves. Let's save that for another time, shall we?
Okay. Stupid people. Let's see. Oh, I know.
So I was playing League of Legends today. Not unusual. I decided I'd play some ranked and try to make my way back up to Silver. I'm currently Bronze, which is the lowest tier. I'm Bronze I, so I'm at the top, but still, it's the top of the bottom. Anyway, I'm trying to climb my way out of elo hell, and I get into a game. I'm the first pick for my team, so I'm charged with banning 3 champions that I don't want to see played. I target some champions I have had bad experiences with who bring a lot to the team, and I don't want to see them played (Amumu, Jarvan IV, and Xin Zhao, for anyone who plays LoL). In doing so, I didn't ban Blitzcrank, one of the most widely banned champions because he's really good at setting up kills for his team. The other team gets him, and right off the bat my team is raging because I didn't ban him. No problem. I shake it off and get ready to play. Within the first 2 minutes, Blitzcrank sets up and double kill, and two of my teammates just give up. They refuse to play after one mistake on their part, giving up quite a few more kills. Then, while the rest of us are trying our hardest to carry the game, I start getting flamed for not banning properly. I banned champions I though were more threatening, eff me right? So I defend my position by telling them that I banned champs who I though would bring a lot more to team fights, and they couldn't expect to never play against a Blitzcrank. Gotta learn sometime, amirite? Besides, at my skill level, I wasn't expecting much anyway. And they just go on and on and on, raging and feeding, until eventually we surrender. But it's people like that who just can't ever accept the fact that they are wrong that really grind my gears. And what's unfortunate is that it seems that close to 90% of the LoL community is like that. As addicting as it is, this game had one of the absolute worst communities I have ever seen.
I guess now that I'm thinking about it, intolerance is the major aspect I despise about people. Be open to change! To challenges! Be able to say, "You know what, you're right. I was wrong. Thank you so much for shedding a new light on the situation. You and your marvelous face have a most splendiferous day!" You'll feel better about yourself and other people, I promise.
I could go on and on about this subject, but I don't want to make this post overly long. I also don't want to overlap into other topics, because I want to save as much material as I can for future posts. But that's basically the gist of what I have to say on the subject.
Oh, real quick, just wanted to give ya'll (that's right, I live in Texas, I say ya'll) a life update. Just so it's not all some weird, unrelatable dude ranting at you all the time. I'm a real person, I promise. Anyway, my parents are moving. They're closing on a house and are trying to get our current one on the market pretty soon. They're only moving like 3 minutes away, but still, they're moving. It's a really weird feeling. In a few weeks (or however long it takes), I won't have a home. I'll have a place to come back to to see my family over breaks and stuff, but it's not my home. There won't be any memories there. I know, I know, the home is where the heart is. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for my parents and brother. The new house looks great, and it's going to have a pool and a theater room, and just other stuff my parents have really wanted in a house for a while. It's just weird. I'm an adult. I don't get to stay in my childhood home forever. I'm closer to 21 than I am to 18. I'm almost done with a whole year of college. I have to declare a major and actually decide what I want to do with my life. What is this? What is my life? Ugh. Life changes, man. They get to you.
Well that's all I have for you today. Once again, sorry for having such a wonky schedule the past few weeks. I hope this makes up for it. Thanks for reading, as always! Tune in next week for a new, phantasmagorical episode of Let's Play: Life! And remember kids, always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman. Always be Batman.
*Offer ends 3 seconds ago. So sorry you missed it. Sucks to suck. But still recruit your friends, kay?
Monday, April 1, 2013
Episode (Almost) 11: One of These Days...
One of these days I'm going to get it right. I promise.
I am so sorry I disappointed you all yet again. I know how much it kills you that I missed another Wednesday. I swear, some day I'll finally get my act together and be able to adhere to my schedule. But unfortunately, last Wednesday was not that day.
And today really isn't either. This post is more of an apology to you all and a time filler to last you until this Wednesday. I just wanted to get something out there, mostly for you, but also for me as a reminder that I have a blog to maintain. And of course, to provide excuses as to why I missed last Wednesday.
So.
Last Wednesday I got invited to attend a sorority event. Some friends on the ultimate team were going, so I thought, eh, why not. The dress code was "sexy casual," so it was just an excuse to wear a bow tie. And boy, do I love a good bow tie. However, the event itself was just a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I still had fun. Hung out with some friends, met a few people, hunted glow-in-the-dark Easter eggs. But I was back in my dorm by 9:15. I felt like I got all dressed up then got a big let down. So I text my buddy and I'm like, "Do you want to do anything? Like, anything at all?" Because I was all dressed up and didn't have class until 11:00 the next day. So what do we do? Logically, the only thing for a man in a bow tie to do at 9:30 on a Wednesday night:
We went to Waffle House.
That's right. Waffle House. This was actually my first time going, and I tell you what, I was not disappointed. We drove to the sketchy part of town, ordered a very delicious waffle and egg combo, and met a homeless man. I feel like this is just standard protocol for a Waffle House outing. I'm like 83.4% sure. But then again, I've only been the one time.
Anyway, that's what happened. But another reason I haven't been keeping up with my blog lately is that I feel like I'm running out of things to say. That, and sometimes I just don't know if you all even enjoy reading this. Or are reading it at all. In which, I'm writing words which nobody is reading. Wait...I can say whatever I want then.
Poop.
Heeheehee...
Yup. I'm a child. I totally admit that. But don't try to tell me you didn't laugh a little. Or at least blow more air out of your nose than usual. Anyway, to remedy the not-having-things-to-say problem, I've started a note on my phone of potential blog post ideas. That way, whenever I randomly think of something I can write about, I won't forget before the next post. Which has a high potential of happening. I'm really bad at remembering things.
...What was I saying?
Hmm...
Ah well, who knows. Anyway, that's all for today. If you come back Wednesday, I promise I'll have something for you. In fact, I'll be sure to make the next post a good one, chock full of wit and ranting. Thanks for being patient with me! I really appreciate it. Make sure you come back Wednesday for the next (real) episode of Let's Play: Life! And remember kids! ...That's it. Just remember. Remember all the things. It'll do you well in life. Fo real. See ya!
I am so sorry I disappointed you all yet again. I know how much it kills you that I missed another Wednesday. I swear, some day I'll finally get my act together and be able to adhere to my schedule. But unfortunately, last Wednesday was not that day.
And today really isn't either. This post is more of an apology to you all and a time filler to last you until this Wednesday. I just wanted to get something out there, mostly for you, but also for me as a reminder that I have a blog to maintain. And of course, to provide excuses as to why I missed last Wednesday.
So.
Last Wednesday I got invited to attend a sorority event. Some friends on the ultimate team were going, so I thought, eh, why not. The dress code was "sexy casual," so it was just an excuse to wear a bow tie. And boy, do I love a good bow tie. However, the event itself was just a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I still had fun. Hung out with some friends, met a few people, hunted glow-in-the-dark Easter eggs. But I was back in my dorm by 9:15. I felt like I got all dressed up then got a big let down. So I text my buddy and I'm like, "Do you want to do anything? Like, anything at all?" Because I was all dressed up and didn't have class until 11:00 the next day. So what do we do? Logically, the only thing for a man in a bow tie to do at 9:30 on a Wednesday night:
We went to Waffle House.
That's right. Waffle House. This was actually my first time going, and I tell you what, I was not disappointed. We drove to the sketchy part of town, ordered a very delicious waffle and egg combo, and met a homeless man. I feel like this is just standard protocol for a Waffle House outing. I'm like 83.4% sure. But then again, I've only been the one time.
Anyway, that's what happened. But another reason I haven't been keeping up with my blog lately is that I feel like I'm running out of things to say. That, and sometimes I just don't know if you all even enjoy reading this. Or are reading it at all. In which, I'm writing words which nobody is reading. Wait...I can say whatever I want then.
Poop.
Heeheehee...
Yup. I'm a child. I totally admit that. But don't try to tell me you didn't laugh a little. Or at least blow more air out of your nose than usual. Anyway, to remedy the not-having-things-to-say problem, I've started a note on my phone of potential blog post ideas. That way, whenever I randomly think of something I can write about, I won't forget before the next post. Which has a high potential of happening. I'm really bad at remembering things.
...What was I saying?
Hmm...
Ah well, who knows. Anyway, that's all for today. If you come back Wednesday, I promise I'll have something for you. In fact, I'll be sure to make the next post a good one, chock full of wit and ranting. Thanks for being patient with me! I really appreciate it. Make sure you come back Wednesday for the next (real) episode of Let's Play: Life! And remember kids! ...That's it. Just remember. Remember all the things. It'll do you well in life. Fo real. See ya!
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Episode 10: I Failed...Again
SONOFA...MONKEY.
I did it again. I told myself I wouldn't, but I did it anyway. I failed to post on time AGAIN. Geez, Austin, what in the world is wrong with you? I feel like I ask this question a lot more than is healthy.
Anyway, I am terribly sorry for disappointing you all again. I know I had you all on your toes all day Thursday, rapidly refreshing the page to see if a new post would appear. I am so sorry for your suffering and anguish. But hey, at least I didn't skip this week all together, right? Better late than never, right? I know, I know, no excuses. But I'm going to give you one anyway.
So the reason I didn't post yesterday was not that I got too busy. In fact, I had plenty of time, I just failed to do so. I was actually playing Minecraft for awhile, trying to perfect a house design. I tell you what, as addicting as this game is, I feel so inadequate every time I play.
For those of you who aren't familiar, the whole concept of the game is very minimal. Gather resources and build/do whatever the heck you want. You can do a variety of things, such as simply building structures, or you can venture off, discovering caves, fighting monsters, collecting loot, etc. There is no right or wrong way to play, really. Anyway, I have seen some amazing things done in Minecraft, so I always feel like I have to live up to them. And I simply cannot. I have no creative capacity when it comes to this game. Well, let me rephrase that. My creativeness does not translate onto this game. This house I was working on wasn't even my design. I looked up some simple designs and found one I really liked, and set out to replicate it. But all I had was one picture of the outside (one side of it) to go off of. So I tediously tried to recreate this house block by block, until I had, more or less, a side of a house resembling the picture. From there, I tried my best to improvise, but it just did not work out well. I had all these ideas for it, but none of them turned out the way I envisioned. I'm still tweaking the first floor of the inside, which is pretty much a disaster zone at this point. It might be awhile before this project every gets finished. But it will be a glorious day when it finally is.
Anywho, I actually had a really great idea for yesterday's (today's) post, but I decided against it. For one, it had the potential to get a tad inappropriate (sorry mom and dad), but mostly because I wanted to save it. For what, you might ask?
For YouTube of course!
That's right! I'm really strongly considering pursuing the whole YouTube thing. Not soon, though. Between school and my job this summer, I'm not really going to have time. But I do want to start at least preparing to be a YouTube sensation (if only). Figuring out how to go about it, what I'll need, what I'd post, yadda yadda yadda. I think it's high time I actually set out to do something instead of just wishing for it to happen. Follow your dreams, kids. They just might come true.
Well that about wraps it up for this post. Once again, I'm sorry for the lateness. If you don't usually get around to reading these as soon as they go up, you probably wouldn't have even noticed, but I would know. And that's what matters. Man, I've really gotta get my sh*t together. Anyway, thanks for being patient with me, and, as always, for reading. Tune in next week for a new episode of Let's Play: Life! And remember kids, if you're not old enough to sign your own paperwork, you're not old enough to get pregnant!
I did it again. I told myself I wouldn't, but I did it anyway. I failed to post on time AGAIN. Geez, Austin, what in the world is wrong with you? I feel like I ask this question a lot more than is healthy.
Anyway, I am terribly sorry for disappointing you all again. I know I had you all on your toes all day Thursday, rapidly refreshing the page to see if a new post would appear. I am so sorry for your suffering and anguish. But hey, at least I didn't skip this week all together, right? Better late than never, right? I know, I know, no excuses. But I'm going to give you one anyway.
So the reason I didn't post yesterday was not that I got too busy. In fact, I had plenty of time, I just failed to do so. I was actually playing Minecraft for awhile, trying to perfect a house design. I tell you what, as addicting as this game is, I feel so inadequate every time I play.
For those of you who aren't familiar, the whole concept of the game is very minimal. Gather resources and build/do whatever the heck you want. You can do a variety of things, such as simply building structures, or you can venture off, discovering caves, fighting monsters, collecting loot, etc. There is no right or wrong way to play, really. Anyway, I have seen some amazing things done in Minecraft, so I always feel like I have to live up to them. And I simply cannot. I have no creative capacity when it comes to this game. Well, let me rephrase that. My creativeness does not translate onto this game. This house I was working on wasn't even my design. I looked up some simple designs and found one I really liked, and set out to replicate it. But all I had was one picture of the outside (one side of it) to go off of. So I tediously tried to recreate this house block by block, until I had, more or less, a side of a house resembling the picture. From there, I tried my best to improvise, but it just did not work out well. I had all these ideas for it, but none of them turned out the way I envisioned. I'm still tweaking the first floor of the inside, which is pretty much a disaster zone at this point. It might be awhile before this project every gets finished. But it will be a glorious day when it finally is.
Anywho, I actually had a really great idea for yesterday's (today's) post, but I decided against it. For one, it had the potential to get a tad inappropriate (sorry mom and dad), but mostly because I wanted to save it. For what, you might ask?
For YouTube of course!
That's right! I'm really strongly considering pursuing the whole YouTube thing. Not soon, though. Between school and my job this summer, I'm not really going to have time. But I do want to start at least preparing to be a YouTube sensation (if only). Figuring out how to go about it, what I'll need, what I'd post, yadda yadda yadda. I think it's high time I actually set out to do something instead of just wishing for it to happen. Follow your dreams, kids. They just might come true.
Well that about wraps it up for this post. Once again, I'm sorry for the lateness. If you don't usually get around to reading these as soon as they go up, you probably wouldn't have even noticed, but I would know. And that's what matters. Man, I've really gotta get my sh*t together. Anyway, thanks for being patient with me, and, as always, for reading. Tune in next week for a new episode of Let's Play: Life! And remember kids, if you're not old enough to sign your own paperwork, you're not old enough to get pregnant!
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Episode 9: What Is My Life?
Hey there people! First of all, I just wanted to apologize. It's been not one, but TWO weeks since I've posted, and I just know you've all missed me and my incredible wit. Things got really busy and I just failed to post last Thursday, but I just want you to know that I am back on track and ready to go.
That being said, let's address the question so eloquently stated in the title of this post: What is my life?
And my response?
I have no idea.
Now, I know I posted a while ago about trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life as far as a career goes, but there are plenty of other things I haven't figured out either. For starters, I am terrible with females. Can't talk to them, can't express my feelings or communicate my thoughts.
I am a mess.
As far as girls go, that's just a confidence issue. And an overwhelming fear of rejection. But I think the biggest thing preventing me from knowing what I want to do with my life and things of that nature is that I can never focus on one thing for an extended period of time. I don't mean this as in, I can't study for more than 10 minutes because SQUIRREL. No, I mean that I jump from activity to activity. Examples: I have what I call Video Game ADD. I'll pick up a game, play it a lot because it's shiny and new and fun, then after a period of time ranging from a few days to a few months, I'll get away from it and go onto a new one. I may return to that game in the future, but usually not after a significant hiatus.
I think my ideal career would to just come up with big ideas and then give them to people to carry out. Seriously though, if that was an actual job, I would be SO good at it. At various points in my life, I've gotten really great ideas, and just never followed through with them. Here are the highlights.
1. A Capella group. You all know how much I love music. Like, LOVE music. After watching The Sing-Off, I got really inspired and wanted to make beautiful music with just my voice (along with other voices). I really wanted to recruit people to the cause and at least pull something together for a talent show, but never got around to doing so.
2. Drama Camp. This one actually came closer to being realized than the others, but still had a long ways to go. A few years ago, back in high school, I was talking to a friend of mine who was also part of the theatre department, and we came up with a great idea to make some money over the summer. We wanted to host a drama camp for younger kids, teaching them the basics of performing on stage and possibly putting together a little one-act play or something. We actually started thinking about this at the beginning of the school year, so we had plenty of time to get things together. We started planning the structure of the camp, figuring out all the factors we had to account for. But, in the end, we got too busy with other activities that we just never put this plan into effect.
3. YouTube. A few years ago, I thought it would be fun (still do) to be on YouTube. I didn't really have a plan for what my channel would look like, or the kind of videos I would post, I just wanted to go for it. I actually ended up starting a video blog (a vlog, if you will). I recorded my first video, but then when I couldn't figure out how to edit the freaking thing, I just gave up. I actually am thinking more and more about picking this up again in the future. I really like blogging now, and I think having my own, consistent YouTube channel would be super awesome. Maybe post a weekly rant, a let's play or two. Alongside this blog, of course. I wouldn't just up and quit. I wouldn't want you to have to suffer in such a way.
Anyway, that's about it for this week. Once again, I'm sorry I missed last weeks post. I promise to try my hardest not to let it happen again. Quick shout out to my friends up in Lawrence who I'm going to go visit! I'm excited to see you! That's it for this weeks post. Tune in next week for a new episode! And remember kids, don't talk to strangers (unless they offer you free candy)!
That being said, let's address the question so eloquently stated in the title of this post: What is my life?
And my response?
I have no idea.
Now, I know I posted a while ago about trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life as far as a career goes, but there are plenty of other things I haven't figured out either. For starters, I am terrible with females. Can't talk to them, can't express my feelings or communicate my thoughts.
I am a mess.
As far as girls go, that's just a confidence issue. And an overwhelming fear of rejection. But I think the biggest thing preventing me from knowing what I want to do with my life and things of that nature is that I can never focus on one thing for an extended period of time. I don't mean this as in, I can't study for more than 10 minutes because SQUIRREL. No, I mean that I jump from activity to activity. Examples: I have what I call Video Game ADD. I'll pick up a game, play it a lot because it's shiny and new and fun, then after a period of time ranging from a few days to a few months, I'll get away from it and go onto a new one. I may return to that game in the future, but usually not after a significant hiatus.
I think my ideal career would to just come up with big ideas and then give them to people to carry out. Seriously though, if that was an actual job, I would be SO good at it. At various points in my life, I've gotten really great ideas, and just never followed through with them. Here are the highlights.
1. A Capella group. You all know how much I love music. Like, LOVE music. After watching The Sing-Off, I got really inspired and wanted to make beautiful music with just my voice (along with other voices). I really wanted to recruit people to the cause and at least pull something together for a talent show, but never got around to doing so.
2. Drama Camp. This one actually came closer to being realized than the others, but still had a long ways to go. A few years ago, back in high school, I was talking to a friend of mine who was also part of the theatre department, and we came up with a great idea to make some money over the summer. We wanted to host a drama camp for younger kids, teaching them the basics of performing on stage and possibly putting together a little one-act play or something. We actually started thinking about this at the beginning of the school year, so we had plenty of time to get things together. We started planning the structure of the camp, figuring out all the factors we had to account for. But, in the end, we got too busy with other activities that we just never put this plan into effect.
3. YouTube. A few years ago, I thought it would be fun (still do) to be on YouTube. I didn't really have a plan for what my channel would look like, or the kind of videos I would post, I just wanted to go for it. I actually ended up starting a video blog (a vlog, if you will). I recorded my first video, but then when I couldn't figure out how to edit the freaking thing, I just gave up. I actually am thinking more and more about picking this up again in the future. I really like blogging now, and I think having my own, consistent YouTube channel would be super awesome. Maybe post a weekly rant, a let's play or two. Alongside this blog, of course. I wouldn't just up and quit. I wouldn't want you to have to suffer in such a way.
Anyway, that's about it for this week. Once again, I'm sorry I missed last weeks post. I promise to try my hardest not to let it happen again. Quick shout out to my friends up in Lawrence who I'm going to go visit! I'm excited to see you! That's it for this weeks post. Tune in next week for a new episode! And remember kids, don't talk to strangers (unless they offer you free candy)!
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Episode 8: Laundry, Layouts, and Long Weeks.
I hate doing laundry. No, let me rephrase: I hate doing laundry in a public laundry space. You know why? Because people suck.
True story.
So I walk into the laundry room searching for an open washer. All of them are full. Now, normally, that wouldn't be unusual or piss-off worthy, except only one washer was still running. All seven other washers had completed their cycles. And laundry was just sitting there. Occupying the washers. That I needed to use. So I set down my basket, sit down on the counter, and wait. Surely someone will show up soon. They must know their laundry is done, right? They obviously had the decency to set an alarm so they'd know when it was ready, right?
Wrong.
After a few minutes, a guy walks in. Sweet relief. NOPE. He gets his stuff out of a dryer. The washers are are still full. After about five more minutes, a girl walks in talking on her phone. At this point I'm thinking, Sweet Jesus just get your sh*t and go. Lolnope. She's clearly more interested in her conversation than in clearing the washers for the obviously aggravated telepathically screaming at her to hurry it up. She, I kid you not, takes about ten minutes to get her stuff out of not one, not two, not three, but FOUR washers. This girl, holy crap this girl, left her stuff just sitting in FOUR separate washers. One of which had ONE SINGLE pair of pants in it. SERIOUSLY PEOPLE. So after what felt like an eternity, I finally start my laundry, which is great, because I really needed to do it. Once I have to break out the sweatpants, you know it's serious.
SUBJECT CHANGE!
So I had my first layout the other day at ultimate practice. For those of you who aren't familiar with the game, this was a pretty exciting moment for me. Basically, a layout is what it sounds like: You lay out (dive) for the disc and make the catch. You should definitely look up ultimate highlights on YouTube. Some of the craziest displays of athleticism you will ever see.
Now, I've been on the ground for a disc before, but this time was different. So we're scrimmaging with a local club team, and the disc gets swung to a handler. I see my chance, and I break for the endzone. It had been pretty windy that day, and the throw was down wind, so I run as fast as I physically can to try to get to this disc. It's floating right out in front of me, just begging to be caught. So I dive out, grab that sucker with one hand, and secure the point right at the back of the endzone. Oh man, I was so pumped. I tell you what, there is nothing quite like the feeling you get from a successful layout. #ultimate4lyfe
SUBJECT CHANGE!
I don't know if it's just me, but these past few weeks have just taken their sweet time. I find myself working for the weekend before the current weekend is even over. I think it's because Spring Break is so close. I really need some time off. To just chill, you know? Also, I've really been looking forward to this weekend, because the ultimate team is traveling to St. Louis for a tournament. I'm really excited to play some ultimate and hang with my friends and just be college kids, but the one thing I'm not looking forward to is the cold. It's supposed to be in the 30s all weekend. With a chance of flurries on Saturday. Blech. No thank you. I hate the cold so much. The thing I love about the South is how warm it stays year-round. Call me crazy (not maybe), but I would gladly trade 110 degree summers for 50-60 degree winters.
Anyway, that about wraps it up for this week. This episode features a little more variety than my other posts so far. A little ranting, a little life update. I hope you enjoyed it! Tune in next week for the next episode of Let's Play: Life, featuring the ever so handsome and charming and witty and magical Austin! And remember kids: Get your freaking laundry out of the washer/dryer in a timely manner. Seriously.
True story.
So I walk into the laundry room searching for an open washer. All of them are full. Now, normally, that wouldn't be unusual or piss-off worthy, except only one washer was still running. All seven other washers had completed their cycles. And laundry was just sitting there. Occupying the washers. That I needed to use. So I set down my basket, sit down on the counter, and wait. Surely someone will show up soon. They must know their laundry is done, right? They obviously had the decency to set an alarm so they'd know when it was ready, right?
Wrong.
After a few minutes, a guy walks in. Sweet relief. NOPE. He gets his stuff out of a dryer. The washers are are still full. After about five more minutes, a girl walks in talking on her phone. At this point I'm thinking, Sweet Jesus just get your sh*t and go. Lolnope. She's clearly more interested in her conversation than in clearing the washers for the obviously aggravated telepathically screaming at her to hurry it up. She, I kid you not, takes about ten minutes to get her stuff out of not one, not two, not three, but FOUR washers. This girl, holy crap this girl, left her stuff just sitting in FOUR separate washers. One of which had ONE SINGLE pair of pants in it. SERIOUSLY PEOPLE. So after what felt like an eternity, I finally start my laundry, which is great, because I really needed to do it. Once I have to break out the sweatpants, you know it's serious.
SUBJECT CHANGE!
So I had my first layout the other day at ultimate practice. For those of you who aren't familiar with the game, this was a pretty exciting moment for me. Basically, a layout is what it sounds like: You lay out (dive) for the disc and make the catch. You should definitely look up ultimate highlights on YouTube. Some of the craziest displays of athleticism you will ever see.
Now, I've been on the ground for a disc before, but this time was different. So we're scrimmaging with a local club team, and the disc gets swung to a handler. I see my chance, and I break for the endzone. It had been pretty windy that day, and the throw was down wind, so I run as fast as I physically can to try to get to this disc. It's floating right out in front of me, just begging to be caught. So I dive out, grab that sucker with one hand, and secure the point right at the back of the endzone. Oh man, I was so pumped. I tell you what, there is nothing quite like the feeling you get from a successful layout. #ultimate4lyfe
SUBJECT CHANGE!
I don't know if it's just me, but these past few weeks have just taken their sweet time. I find myself working for the weekend before the current weekend is even over. I think it's because Spring Break is so close. I really need some time off. To just chill, you know? Also, I've really been looking forward to this weekend, because the ultimate team is traveling to St. Louis for a tournament. I'm really excited to play some ultimate and hang with my friends and just be college kids, but the one thing I'm not looking forward to is the cold. It's supposed to be in the 30s all weekend. With a chance of flurries on Saturday. Blech. No thank you. I hate the cold so much. The thing I love about the South is how warm it stays year-round. Call me crazy (not maybe), but I would gladly trade 110 degree summers for 50-60 degree winters.
Anyway, that about wraps it up for this week. This episode features a little more variety than my other posts so far. A little ranting, a little life update. I hope you enjoyed it! Tune in next week for the next episode of Let's Play: Life, featuring the ever so handsome and charming and witty and magical Austin! And remember kids: Get your freaking laundry out of the washer/dryer in a timely manner. Seriously.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Episode 7: Awkward...
Oh. Uh...hey there. How uh...how are you? Um...yeah...
So today we're gonna talk about BEING AWKWARD. If you read that in a complete normal voice, you need to rethink your life choices. Refresh the page and try again.
What is it about humans that make interacting among ourselves SO freaking awkward? Think about it. When was the last time you had a normal, completely comfortable conversation with a stranger, excluding those you were hitting on (because, let's be honest, everyone at least tries to turn on the charm and suppress the awkward)? Quit lying, it's never happened. And don't think your closest friends are immune either. We've all whiffed a hive-five, waved without the other person seeing, or messed up a hug at some point. People are awkward. It happens.
But today, we're going to try to mitigate some of the awkwardness present in our lives. My goal here is to set forth some general guidelines on how to interact with your fellow man/woman in various, awkwardness-prone scenarios. Here we go.
Scenario 1: Two or more strangers in an elevator.
Now, this doesn't mean you should go all out and confess your deep, dark secrets to this person, because that's adding more awkward to the situation, which is what we're trying to avoid here. I'm talking small talk.
SMALL TALK: one of the most important skills you can ever possess as a human.
Seriously, it is SO important to be able to carry out a conversation with people you're not comfortable with. Whether you're interviewing for a job or just passing the time, you will have to talk to strangers at some point in your life. And the more you practice, the easier it gets. It took me so long to grasp this concept, and I'm still working on it, quite frankly, but I'm proud to say I had a nice, one minute conversation with a girl in the elevator the other day. What did we talk about? I have no idea. I can't remember. But I remember her face and I remember talking to her, which is more than enough to go of next time.
But back to the elevator.
Small talk is perfect for this situation. I know that social norms dictate that you must be silent and stare directly ahead (or at your phone) while in an elevator, but screw that rule. Humans are social beings. Why don't we start acting like it? And the elevator isn't the only place this applies. Small talk is also appropriate for co-workers in the work place, students who get grouped together for projects or assignments, people doing their laundry, and, the staple of the college existence, parties. If you aren't willing to be social at a party, what's the point of even going? No. It's not alcohol. Stop that.
Scenario 2: Holding the door open for someone.
Let me just start by saying that you should be holding doors open for people. If you pull one of those jump-through-the-door-like-a-ninja-before-it-closes moves when someone is behind you, I got news for you: You look like a weirdo. An insensitive one, at that. Not that weird is bad in any way, because I have definitely done this before (and it was awesome), it's just that I made sure nobody was behind me (mostly so there would be any witnesses to the weirdness). And for the record, I'm not saying to have to pull a doorman and hold the door open and wait for everyone behind you to file in, because sometimes you're in a hurry and don't have time. I understand that. You are morally obligated, however, to at least prop or push the door open so the next person behind you can stop it, get through, and continue the cycle. Unless you're a male and a female is behind you. Regardless of how attractive she is or how much you do/don't like her, you are a male. Be a gentleman and be her doorman.
On the reverse end of the spectrum, don't awkwardly prop the door open for someone who isn't near the doorway and make them feel like they have to jog to the door to take advantage of your kindness. That makes it awkward for that person, which basically negates the gesture in the first place.
Here is the simple rule I follow: If the door would shut on its own before the person behind you would get there at their current pace, you do not have to hold the door for them. This avoids the whole jogging-to-the-door awkwardness. The exception to this rule is if the door locks behind you. At that point, you have to factor in how much time it would take the person behind you to get out their key (allowing a grace period in case they have to search for it) and add it into the previous formula. Simple, right? Right. moving on.
Scenario 3: You see someone you know walking toward you from a distance.
Man oh man, we deal with this everyday. What do you do in this situation? Do you pretend you don't notice them until the last second (which you both know is complete bullcrap)? Do you yell at them from awkwardly far away? Dealing with this situation can be tricky, as the amount of eye contact you are comfortable maintaining with this person varies with how well you know them. Let's start with friends. Friends, meaning you are comfortable around this person, have hung out at least once before (extracurriculars count), and can have a decent conversation with this person. Upon seeing this person, you should acknowledge that you have, in fact, seen them. If you both see each other, flash a little smile or give them a wave to establish contact, then give them a proper greeting once you are within conversing distance. If they don't see you, you should feel comfortable enough with your friend that you can say "Hey _____!" and get their attention so you can say hello and chat for a bit. Dealing with acquaintances is a little trickier, but should still follow the same rule. If you spot each other from a distance, DON'T ignore each other. You both know you made eye contact. Man (or woman) up. If your paths cross, go ahead and greet them. A simple "Hi" or even a smile will suffice. However, if they don't see you, don't feel like you absolutely have to get their attention. This has the potential to create an awkward situation for the both of you. You might bring up on a later occasion that you saw them in order to create small talk, but this is also not necessary.
Scenario 4: Misspelling "awkward."
...I ain't even gotta say it.
Scenario 5: Whiffing a high-five/fist bump/hug.
Oh man is this painful.
This is also a tough situation to deal with, as how you handle it once again depends on how comfortable you are with this person. If it's a friend, feel free to laugh it off and try again. No sweat. But if it's an acquaintance or even a complete stranger, this situation physically hurts me it's so uncomfortable. And there's not much you can do about it either. If it's a high-five, it's usually pretty funny when you miss, so you usually can laugh that one off and try again. But hugs are a completely different story.
SIDE TANGENT!
Let me just say that if you ever give someone a side hug, you deserve to be forcefully pelted with broccoli. Seriously. Side hugs are the absolute worst. Every time someone give me a side hug, I die a little inside. It makes it even worse because I go for the full on hug and just get one arm. Then I look like the awkward one. That's not fair. That's not fair to me.
BACK TO THE MAIN SUBJECT!
If you're side-hugging your friend, you're not really friends. Rethink your relationship with this person. Any respectable friends don't have this problem. But hugging acquaintances can cause all sorts of awkwardness. The easy solution is just not to hug the person. But sometimes you it can't be avoided. If it's an icebreaker game or a hug line (yes, these exist and they are magical), you have to participate. You're awkward for not participating. So if you're going to do, do it right. Give them a solid, respectable hug. If someone initiates the hug, respond. Don't just sit there and cringe. That makes it even worse. Even if it's someone you don't like very much, all you have to do is wrap your arms around them for a second or two, then you can be on your merry way.
So these are the common, potentially awkward scenarios we as humans face in everyday life. I'm sure there are plenty more, but these principles extend beyond merely these isolated situations. I sincerely hope I have opened your mind to a less awkward way to deal with uncomfortable situations. If not, meh, I tried. And don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a little awkwardness. I am such an awkward human being it's not even funny. But I embrace that about myself, and try to control it in these instances.
So that's it for today. I promised I'd give you all something a little longer to make up for last week, so here it is. If you were keeping track at home, the "awkward" count ended up at 22, with 5 awkwardness's and 2 awkwardly's. I know I just threw a lot of words and concepts at you, and for that I apologize. Like I said before, I have some really strong opinions on the most random stuff, so once I get going on a subject, I go. I just think that if we were more conscious of how to deal with these situations, the human race would be less awkward as a whole. Anyway, thanks for reading! And remember kids, just because it's "diet" doesn't mean it's healthy!
So today we're gonna talk about BEING AWKWARD. If you read that in a complete normal voice, you need to rethink your life choices. Refresh the page and try again.
What is it about humans that make interacting among ourselves SO freaking awkward? Think about it. When was the last time you had a normal, completely comfortable conversation with a stranger, excluding those you were hitting on (because, let's be honest, everyone at least tries to turn on the charm and suppress the awkward)? Quit lying, it's never happened. And don't think your closest friends are immune either. We've all whiffed a hive-five, waved without the other person seeing, or messed up a hug at some point. People are awkward. It happens.
But today, we're going to try to mitigate some of the awkwardness present in our lives. My goal here is to set forth some general guidelines on how to interact with your fellow man/woman in various, awkwardness-prone scenarios. Here we go.
Scenario 1: Two or more strangers in an elevator.
Now, this doesn't mean you should go all out and confess your deep, dark secrets to this person, because that's adding more awkward to the situation, which is what we're trying to avoid here. I'm talking small talk.
SMALL TALK: one of the most important skills you can ever possess as a human.
Seriously, it is SO important to be able to carry out a conversation with people you're not comfortable with. Whether you're interviewing for a job or just passing the time, you will have to talk to strangers at some point in your life. And the more you practice, the easier it gets. It took me so long to grasp this concept, and I'm still working on it, quite frankly, but I'm proud to say I had a nice, one minute conversation with a girl in the elevator the other day. What did we talk about? I have no idea. I can't remember. But I remember her face and I remember talking to her, which is more than enough to go of next time.
But back to the elevator.
Small talk is perfect for this situation. I know that social norms dictate that you must be silent and stare directly ahead (or at your phone) while in an elevator, but screw that rule. Humans are social beings. Why don't we start acting like it? And the elevator isn't the only place this applies. Small talk is also appropriate for co-workers in the work place, students who get grouped together for projects or assignments, people doing their laundry, and, the staple of the college existence, parties. If you aren't willing to be social at a party, what's the point of even going? No. It's not alcohol. Stop that.
Scenario 2: Holding the door open for someone.
Let me just start by saying that you should be holding doors open for people. If you pull one of those jump-through-the-door-like-a-ninja-before-it-closes moves when someone is behind you, I got news for you: You look like a weirdo. An insensitive one, at that. Not that weird is bad in any way, because I have definitely done this before (and it was awesome), it's just that I made sure nobody was behind me (mostly so there would be any witnesses to the weirdness). And for the record, I'm not saying to have to pull a doorman and hold the door open and wait for everyone behind you to file in, because sometimes you're in a hurry and don't have time. I understand that. You are morally obligated, however, to at least prop or push the door open so the next person behind you can stop it, get through, and continue the cycle. Unless you're a male and a female is behind you. Regardless of how attractive she is or how much you do/don't like her, you are a male. Be a gentleman and be her doorman.
On the reverse end of the spectrum, don't awkwardly prop the door open for someone who isn't near the doorway and make them feel like they have to jog to the door to take advantage of your kindness. That makes it awkward for that person, which basically negates the gesture in the first place.
Here is the simple rule I follow: If the door would shut on its own before the person behind you would get there at their current pace, you do not have to hold the door for them. This avoids the whole jogging-to-the-door awkwardness. The exception to this rule is if the door locks behind you. At that point, you have to factor in how much time it would take the person behind you to get out their key (allowing a grace period in case they have to search for it) and add it into the previous formula. Simple, right? Right. moving on.
Scenario 3: You see someone you know walking toward you from a distance.
Man oh man, we deal with this everyday. What do you do in this situation? Do you pretend you don't notice them until the last second (which you both know is complete bullcrap)? Do you yell at them from awkwardly far away? Dealing with this situation can be tricky, as the amount of eye contact you are comfortable maintaining with this person varies with how well you know them. Let's start with friends. Friends, meaning you are comfortable around this person, have hung out at least once before (extracurriculars count), and can have a decent conversation with this person. Upon seeing this person, you should acknowledge that you have, in fact, seen them. If you both see each other, flash a little smile or give them a wave to establish contact, then give them a proper greeting once you are within conversing distance. If they don't see you, you should feel comfortable enough with your friend that you can say "Hey _____!" and get their attention so you can say hello and chat for a bit. Dealing with acquaintances is a little trickier, but should still follow the same rule. If you spot each other from a distance, DON'T ignore each other. You both know you made eye contact. Man (or woman) up. If your paths cross, go ahead and greet them. A simple "Hi" or even a smile will suffice. However, if they don't see you, don't feel like you absolutely have to get their attention. This has the potential to create an awkward situation for the both of you. You might bring up on a later occasion that you saw them in order to create small talk, but this is also not necessary.
Scenario 4: Misspelling "awkward."
...I ain't even gotta say it.
Scenario 5: Whiffing a high-five/fist bump/hug.
Oh man is this painful.
This is also a tough situation to deal with, as how you handle it once again depends on how comfortable you are with this person. If it's a friend, feel free to laugh it off and try again. No sweat. But if it's an acquaintance or even a complete stranger, this situation physically hurts me it's so uncomfortable. And there's not much you can do about it either. If it's a high-five, it's usually pretty funny when you miss, so you usually can laugh that one off and try again. But hugs are a completely different story.
SIDE TANGENT!
Let me just say that if you ever give someone a side hug, you deserve to be forcefully pelted with broccoli. Seriously. Side hugs are the absolute worst. Every time someone give me a side hug, I die a little inside. It makes it even worse because I go for the full on hug and just get one arm. Then I look like the awkward one. That's not fair. That's not fair to me.
BACK TO THE MAIN SUBJECT!
If you're side-hugging your friend, you're not really friends. Rethink your relationship with this person. Any respectable friends don't have this problem. But hugging acquaintances can cause all sorts of awkwardness. The easy solution is just not to hug the person. But sometimes you it can't be avoided. If it's an icebreaker game or a hug line (yes, these exist and they are magical), you have to participate. You're awkward for not participating. So if you're going to do, do it right. Give them a solid, respectable hug. If someone initiates the hug, respond. Don't just sit there and cringe. That makes it even worse. Even if it's someone you don't like very much, all you have to do is wrap your arms around them for a second or two, then you can be on your merry way.
So these are the common, potentially awkward scenarios we as humans face in everyday life. I'm sure there are plenty more, but these principles extend beyond merely these isolated situations. I sincerely hope I have opened your mind to a less awkward way to deal with uncomfortable situations. If not, meh, I tried. And don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a little awkwardness. I am such an awkward human being it's not even funny. But I embrace that about myself, and try to control it in these instances.
So that's it for today. I promised I'd give you all something a little longer to make up for last week, so here it is. If you were keeping track at home, the "awkward" count ended up at 22, with 5 awkwardness's and 2 awkwardly's. I know I just threw a lot of words and concepts at you, and for that I apologize. Like I said before, I have some really strong opinions on the most random stuff, so once I get going on a subject, I go. I just think that if we were more conscious of how to deal with these situations, the human race would be less awkward as a whole. Anyway, thanks for reading! And remember kids, just because it's "diet" doesn't mean it's healthy!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Episode 6: Strong Feelings
Before I begin on what is sure to be a heated rant, I just want to say that the point of this blog is not to offend or hurt in any way, shape, or form. It is merely a medium for me to express my thoughts and feelings in a (semi) healthy manner for my own benefit, but mostly for your enjoyment. That being said, on with the show.
I hate Valentine's Day. Now, I know what you're all thinking: "It's only because you don't have a girlfriend." And you know what I say to you?
FALSE.
I've spent a few Valentine's Days with someone special, and still don't see the point. It's just an excuse for Hallmark to sell more cards and companies to sell more chocolate. It's a Hallmark holiday. A Halliday, if you will. If you really need to make an effort to set aside one day a year to celebrate your relationship, you're doing something wrong in that relationship. Why do you need a special day for that? Why aren't you doing that every single day? I guess it's a nice idea, but, coming from someone who has seen firsthand what happens when you don't, you should always be in constant appreciation for the person you're with. It's that simple.
All that aside, I am in no way hating on those of you out there who have somebody you love, nor am I hating on Saint Valentine for fostering that in others. Love is a wonderful thing, and I sincerely hope you hold on to that. If you make each other happy, who gives a sh*t what other people say? I certainly wouldn't. And you shouldn't either.
And that's about it for today. I apologize for the lack of length in this post, but that's really all I had to say, given the day. I'll have something better for you next week, I promise. Thanks for reading! And remember kids, tights are NOT pants. Later!
I hate Valentine's Day. Now, I know what you're all thinking: "It's only because you don't have a girlfriend." And you know what I say to you?
FALSE.
I've spent a few Valentine's Days with someone special, and still don't see the point. It's just an excuse for Hallmark to sell more cards and companies to sell more chocolate. It's a Hallmark holiday. A Halliday, if you will. If you really need to make an effort to set aside one day a year to celebrate your relationship, you're doing something wrong in that relationship. Why do you need a special day for that? Why aren't you doing that every single day? I guess it's a nice idea, but, coming from someone who has seen firsthand what happens when you don't, you should always be in constant appreciation for the person you're with. It's that simple.
All that aside, I am in no way hating on those of you out there who have somebody you love, nor am I hating on Saint Valentine for fostering that in others. Love is a wonderful thing, and I sincerely hope you hold on to that. If you make each other happy, who gives a sh*t what other people say? I certainly wouldn't. And you shouldn't either.
And that's about it for today. I apologize for the lack of length in this post, but that's really all I had to say, given the day. I'll have something better for you next week, I promise. Thanks for reading! And remember kids, tights are NOT pants. Later!
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Episode 5: Ups and Downs
You know why nobody uses Google+?
Because it's so FREAKING confusing. Seriously. All I wanted to do was follow some friends' blogs, and I can't figure out how to do it. But perhaps I shouldn't hate on the very site that is allowing me to post this. Don't get me wrong, I love everything else about Google, it's just that I kind of want to bash Google+ with a sledgehammer.
Anyway.
As you might have deduced from the title of this post, I've been having an off week. I guess all those feelings from last week have carried over into this week. I don't know what it is. My ultimate game has been shoddy at best (at Tuesday's practice I dropped the pull, resulting in a turnover and, subsequently, a loss of that point), I've lost EIGHT straight League of Legends games in a row, and I've been procrastinating so much I haven't been getting enough sleep. Maybe I'm on my man-period.
Now, I know what you're thinking, and YES, a man-period is a real thing. Go ahead, look it up. You can find on the University of Shut Your Mouth's website. They did a study. Fascinating stuff. But really though. Sometimes you just get in a mood. While the man-period doesn't involve, you know, period stuff, I firmly believe your hormone levels just fluctuate and get to a point where you just feel low. But the good news is, according to biorhythm patterns, there's nowhere to go but up.
At least, I really hope so.
Although, it hasn't been all bad. Now that Wednesday is over (my longest day), I really got over this week's hump. Also, I got paid this week. Paid. Real money and everything. How did I earn said money? I sang. That's right. Sang. I tell you what, there is not much better in this world than getting paid to sing. Seriously. So the rodeo is in town until the end of this week, and last Thursday was TCU night. So, the Frog Corps sang the national anthem, the showgirls were there, the band played. It was a grand ol' time. But the rodeo asked Frog Corps to fill the national anthem slot every night. They offered to pay small ensembles to sing it each night. So we signed up to sing on the days we could, and last Monday, I sang with four other guys. And got paid. AND I get to sing again on Friday. That's almost unfair. They're paying me to do something I love? Can real life please be like this?
While we're on the subject on money, I also officially have a job this summer. I get to be (again, get to be, getting paid to do something I love) a counselor out at St. Crispin's, one of my favorite places in the whole world. For 8 weeks I get to be out there, working with kids of all different ages, leading activities, facilitating their spiritual growth, stuff like that. And I get to play ultimate at least once a week. So that's awesome.
Anyway, that's about it for this week. Thanks for reading, as always. It really means a lot. Sorry for all the complaining though. I'm really trying not to let this turn into a medium for me to moan and whine all the time. That's not what I want. I hope I have not bored you or depressed you. I tried to end on a more positive note. I think that's what I'll try to do every time, especially if the content is more on the serious or depressing side. Again, I hope that's not too often.
Well, I have ranted long enough. I'll let you go now. Tune in next time! Later!
Because it's so FREAKING confusing. Seriously. All I wanted to do was follow some friends' blogs, and I can't figure out how to do it. But perhaps I shouldn't hate on the very site that is allowing me to post this. Don't get me wrong, I love everything else about Google, it's just that I kind of want to bash Google+ with a sledgehammer.
Anyway.
As you might have deduced from the title of this post, I've been having an off week. I guess all those feelings from last week have carried over into this week. I don't know what it is. My ultimate game has been shoddy at best (at Tuesday's practice I dropped the pull, resulting in a turnover and, subsequently, a loss of that point), I've lost EIGHT straight League of Legends games in a row, and I've been procrastinating so much I haven't been getting enough sleep. Maybe I'm on my man-period.
Now, I know what you're thinking, and YES, a man-period is a real thing. Go ahead, look it up. You can find on the University of Shut Your Mouth's website. They did a study. Fascinating stuff. But really though. Sometimes you just get in a mood. While the man-period doesn't involve, you know, period stuff, I firmly believe your hormone levels just fluctuate and get to a point where you just feel low. But the good news is, according to biorhythm patterns, there's nowhere to go but up.
At least, I really hope so.
Although, it hasn't been all bad. Now that Wednesday is over (my longest day), I really got over this week's hump. Also, I got paid this week. Paid. Real money and everything. How did I earn said money? I sang. That's right. Sang. I tell you what, there is not much better in this world than getting paid to sing. Seriously. So the rodeo is in town until the end of this week, and last Thursday was TCU night. So, the Frog Corps sang the national anthem, the showgirls were there, the band played. It was a grand ol' time. But the rodeo asked Frog Corps to fill the national anthem slot every night. They offered to pay small ensembles to sing it each night. So we signed up to sing on the days we could, and last Monday, I sang with four other guys. And got paid. AND I get to sing again on Friday. That's almost unfair. They're paying me to do something I love? Can real life please be like this?
While we're on the subject on money, I also officially have a job this summer. I get to be (again, get to be, getting paid to do something I love) a counselor out at St. Crispin's, one of my favorite places in the whole world. For 8 weeks I get to be out there, working with kids of all different ages, leading activities, facilitating their spiritual growth, stuff like that. And I get to play ultimate at least once a week. So that's awesome.
Anyway, that's about it for this week. Thanks for reading, as always. It really means a lot. Sorry for all the complaining though. I'm really trying not to let this turn into a medium for me to moan and whine all the time. That's not what I want. I hope I have not bored you or depressed you. I tried to end on a more positive note. I think that's what I'll try to do every time, especially if the content is more on the serious or depressing side. Again, I hope that's not too often.
Well, I have ranted long enough. I'll let you go now. Tune in next time! Later!
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Episode 4: Future? What's That?
So just a head's up, this post is going to be a little more serious than the rest. I don't know if it will be the only one of it's kind (probably not), but I just wanted to warn you. This stuff ain't for the faint of heart.
Anyway, on with the show!
So college. It's great. I love it. I love the people, I love the atmosphere, I love the responsibility.
Wait, you're telling me I actually have to do stuff with my life after I get out? And I have to decide now what that's going to be?
...and here we have the age old dilemma of college kids everywhere.
And let me just start by saying that there are NEARLY enough Pre-Majors (undeclared, undecided, whatever you wanna call it) in the world. Seriously. The number of people that change majors is ridiculous. Why people even declare majors going into college is beyond me.
That being said, I have been thinking a lot about what I want to do with my life after college. Not that I've made much progress, but still. Because I do have to decide soon. So, you know, I can actually study and prepare for it and graduate on time. College is awesome, but I'm not staying longer than I have to.
When I was younger (think elementary through middle school) I was so convinced I was going to be a computer programmer/engineer. Then when I got into high school, I realized something: I don't know jack shit about computers. Sure, I was on the computer all the time, but there were people that had built their own computers. That stuff was over my head. So that was out. After taking AP Psychology my senior year of high school, a class I enjoyed immensely, I decided to look at psychology once I got into college. Granted, I didn't declare a psych major. I just took a seminar class to get a feel for it. After writing that research paper, proud as I was of it, I realized that if I had to write one more research paper, I was going to jab a frozen banana in my eye (I detest bananas, so that's why that's funny). So that was out as well.
Which brings me to the present. After writing last week's post, and talking to a friend about music and stuff, I started seriously considering a Music Education major. As we all know, I LOVE music. And I've always thought about teaching.
But as with any thought I have about my future, I encounter the same question (Here's where things get deep. I'm about to drop a serious-bomb on you all. Feel free to turn back now):
What if I'm not good enough?
I've always struggled with self-confidence, be it with sports, girls, or just plain outgoingness (if that's not a word, it is now. You heard it here first). And as much as I love music, I've always been haunted by this question in my musical endeavors. There are SO many better musicians out there. I sing and can play a minuscule amount of piano. I know some people who play upwards of 6 or 7 instruments. And there are plenty of singers out there better than I am. I can barely sightread music or play piano. How the heck can I expect to be able to teach anyone else how to? All my life I've been surrounded by music, and all my life I've been surrounded by people better at it than me.
I've been surrounded by people better than me at everything, for that matter. I think Nate Ruess of fun. put it best when he said (err...sang) "I am a man of many hats, although I never mastered anything." Of all the song lyrics out there, this line is one I identify with most. I'm a very adaptable person. In fact, it's one of the things I pride myself most on. I can pick things up relatively quickly and acquire a certain skill level within a fairly short amount of time. But I've never quite mastered anything. I'm certainly not the smartest person out there, not the most musically talented, I still have a long way to go as far as ultimate frisbee goes, and I'm pretty mediocre at video games given how often I play them. More often than not, I'll pick something up, or get an idea, and after the initial few weeks of excitement, I just get away from it.
SO HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE!?
I'm so scared that I'm never going to find that one job that I'm passionate about, that I want to make a career out of. And I'm even more scared that I won't be good at whatever I choose to do.
Life man. It's scary stuff.
So yeah. That's about it. Sorry to pour out my heart and soul on you. Although I did warn you. This rant was more for my benefit, but I'm happy to share my innermost workings with you anyway. Thanks so much for reading. It means a lot. It's the reason I feel comfortable enough to say stuff like this. I love you all! Yes, even you. You know who you are.
Just to end on a happier note: puffins. Seriously, the puffin is like 100% happiness. They're so freaking cute. And what's more, they mate for life. That's true love, right there. Upon mating, puffins make cliff-side homes for their young to live in. They even make a side room for the toilet! How awesome is that?
Alright, that should do it for tonight. Thanks for stopping by! Tune in next week! Puffins.
Anyway, on with the show!
So college. It's great. I love it. I love the people, I love the atmosphere, I love the responsibility.
Wait, you're telling me I actually have to do stuff with my life after I get out? And I have to decide now what that's going to be?
...and here we have the age old dilemma of college kids everywhere.
And let me just start by saying that there are NEARLY enough Pre-Majors (undeclared, undecided, whatever you wanna call it) in the world. Seriously. The number of people that change majors is ridiculous. Why people even declare majors going into college is beyond me.
That being said, I have been thinking a lot about what I want to do with my life after college. Not that I've made much progress, but still. Because I do have to decide soon. So, you know, I can actually study and prepare for it and graduate on time. College is awesome, but I'm not staying longer than I have to.
When I was younger (think elementary through middle school) I was so convinced I was going to be a computer programmer/engineer. Then when I got into high school, I realized something: I don't know jack shit about computers. Sure, I was on the computer all the time, but there were people that had built their own computers. That stuff was over my head. So that was out. After taking AP Psychology my senior year of high school, a class I enjoyed immensely, I decided to look at psychology once I got into college. Granted, I didn't declare a psych major. I just took a seminar class to get a feel for it. After writing that research paper, proud as I was of it, I realized that if I had to write one more research paper, I was going to jab a frozen banana in my eye (I detest bananas, so that's why that's funny). So that was out as well.
Which brings me to the present. After writing last week's post, and talking to a friend about music and stuff, I started seriously considering a Music Education major. As we all know, I LOVE music. And I've always thought about teaching.
But as with any thought I have about my future, I encounter the same question (Here's where things get deep. I'm about to drop a serious-bomb on you all. Feel free to turn back now):
What if I'm not good enough?
I've always struggled with self-confidence, be it with sports, girls, or just plain outgoingness (if that's not a word, it is now. You heard it here first). And as much as I love music, I've always been haunted by this question in my musical endeavors. There are SO many better musicians out there. I sing and can play a minuscule amount of piano. I know some people who play upwards of 6 or 7 instruments. And there are plenty of singers out there better than I am. I can barely sightread music or play piano. How the heck can I expect to be able to teach anyone else how to? All my life I've been surrounded by music, and all my life I've been surrounded by people better at it than me.
I've been surrounded by people better than me at everything, for that matter. I think Nate Ruess of fun. put it best when he said (err...sang) "I am a man of many hats, although I never mastered anything." Of all the song lyrics out there, this line is one I identify with most. I'm a very adaptable person. In fact, it's one of the things I pride myself most on. I can pick things up relatively quickly and acquire a certain skill level within a fairly short amount of time. But I've never quite mastered anything. I'm certainly not the smartest person out there, not the most musically talented, I still have a long way to go as far as ultimate frisbee goes, and I'm pretty mediocre at video games given how often I play them. More often than not, I'll pick something up, or get an idea, and after the initial few weeks of excitement, I just get away from it.
SO HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE!?
I'm so scared that I'm never going to find that one job that I'm passionate about, that I want to make a career out of. And I'm even more scared that I won't be good at whatever I choose to do.
Life man. It's scary stuff.
So yeah. That's about it. Sorry to pour out my heart and soul on you. Although I did warn you. This rant was more for my benefit, but I'm happy to share my innermost workings with you anyway. Thanks so much for reading. It means a lot. It's the reason I feel comfortable enough to say stuff like this. I love you all! Yes, even you. You know who you are.
Just to end on a happier note: puffins. Seriously, the puffin is like 100% happiness. They're so freaking cute. And what's more, they mate for life. That's true love, right there. Upon mating, puffins make cliff-side homes for their young to live in. They even make a side room for the toilet! How awesome is that?
Alright, that should do it for tonight. Thanks for stopping by! Tune in next week! Puffins.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Episode 3: I've Got the Music in Me
Let's talk about music.
If you know anything at all about me, you know I love music. And I mean, LOVE. Seriously. Music is without a doubt the greatest thing in the world. Screw food, screw sex (heh), screw winning the lottery. Without music, my life would be empty and devoid of meaning. Here's why music is just awesome:
1. Music makes you FEEL. You listen to happy music when you're loving life. You listen to sad music while you cry your eyes out because your crush starting dating some self-centered d-bag and chained you down in the friendzone. You listen to music to get excited, to relax, to cheer you up. Music conveys emotion. But beyond that, music has a physical response. You know what I'm talking about. We all have that song we love to listen to, and when it gets to our favorite part-be it a dissonant chord, a sweet riff, or an epic drop- we FEEL that part of the song. You might get more excited, your heart rate might increase, you might even get chills and breathe a sigh in sheer awe. I know I do.
2. Music has existed since forever. There have always been music as long as mankind has existed. It's one of the many gifts we humans possess. Before much of history was written down, bards and minstrels and poets would travel around and tell stories and news about other places through song. Which leads me to my next point.
3. Music communicates to us. The lyrics of any song are just as important as the melody and chords. That's part of what makes us feel emotion when listening to music. When a song's melody and chord structure perfectly complement each other, the result is unlike anything in the world. I'm not afraid to admit that I've shed a single (yet extremely manly) tear at a few concerts and musicals just in awe of a piece's sheer beauty.
Or (on a less sappy, romantic note) look back through history. Music is a prevalent communicator. In wars (not so much anymore), drummers would drum a beat to which soldiers would march, dictating their movement. Or how about during the age of slavery and the Underground Railroad? Slaves would sing as they worked, not to keep their spirits up (which I'm sure it did), but to communicate to other slaves as to when they would be moving and where to go to escape to freedom. Who thinks of that? That's just freaking awesome.
4. A capella music. Nuff said.
5. Music makes you smarter. No joke. According to the multiple intelligence theory in psychology, music makes us of pretty much all the different intelligences. Not to mention, being able to read and play music correlates with a better understanding of math. And, studies have shown that children who are musically fostered can begin to carry a tune by the age of 3. What studies, you ask? The study of shut your mouth, what I say is the truth. No but really, I'm sure you can find some sort of literature on this subject out there. 3 years old, man. How cool is that?
I could go on and on about music and why it's awesome (I mean, I kind of already did), but I'm sure that you're probably bored of listening to my musical rant because you hate music and probably other wonderful things like puppies and ice cream. If that is not the case, good for you. I like you. Let's be friends.
So that's about it for today. No real life updates, because my life is kind of uneventful at this point. Just trying to get back into the college routine. Playing ultimate, singing in choir. Super exciting stuff. Anyway, for those of you who plan to keep reading my blog in the future (and I hope there is a plethora of you wonderful people), it looks like this is going to be a weekly thing with updates every Thursday. The updates might not come at the same time on Thursdays, but there will most definitely be updates on Thursdays. Anyway, thanks for reading! See you next week!
If you know anything at all about me, you know I love music. And I mean, LOVE. Seriously. Music is without a doubt the greatest thing in the world. Screw food, screw sex (heh), screw winning the lottery. Without music, my life would be empty and devoid of meaning. Here's why music is just awesome:
1. Music makes you FEEL. You listen to happy music when you're loving life. You listen to sad music while you cry your eyes out because your crush starting dating some self-centered d-bag and chained you down in the friendzone. You listen to music to get excited, to relax, to cheer you up. Music conveys emotion. But beyond that, music has a physical response. You know what I'm talking about. We all have that song we love to listen to, and when it gets to our favorite part-be it a dissonant chord, a sweet riff, or an epic drop- we FEEL that part of the song. You might get more excited, your heart rate might increase, you might even get chills and breathe a sigh in sheer awe. I know I do.
2. Music has existed since forever. There have always been music as long as mankind has existed. It's one of the many gifts we humans possess. Before much of history was written down, bards and minstrels and poets would travel around and tell stories and news about other places through song. Which leads me to my next point.
3. Music communicates to us. The lyrics of any song are just as important as the melody and chords. That's part of what makes us feel emotion when listening to music. When a song's melody and chord structure perfectly complement each other, the result is unlike anything in the world. I'm not afraid to admit that I've shed a single (yet extremely manly) tear at a few concerts and musicals just in awe of a piece's sheer beauty.
Or (on a less sappy, romantic note) look back through history. Music is a prevalent communicator. In wars (not so much anymore), drummers would drum a beat to which soldiers would march, dictating their movement. Or how about during the age of slavery and the Underground Railroad? Slaves would sing as they worked, not to keep their spirits up (which I'm sure it did), but to communicate to other slaves as to when they would be moving and where to go to escape to freedom. Who thinks of that? That's just freaking awesome.
4. A capella music. Nuff said.
5. Music makes you smarter. No joke. According to the multiple intelligence theory in psychology, music makes us of pretty much all the different intelligences. Not to mention, being able to read and play music correlates with a better understanding of math. And, studies have shown that children who are musically fostered can begin to carry a tune by the age of 3. What studies, you ask? The study of shut your mouth, what I say is the truth. No but really, I'm sure you can find some sort of literature on this subject out there. 3 years old, man. How cool is that?
I could go on and on about music and why it's awesome (I mean, I kind of already did), but I'm sure that you're probably bored of listening to my musical rant because you hate music and probably other wonderful things like puppies and ice cream. If that is not the case, good for you. I like you. Let's be friends.
So that's about it for today. No real life updates, because my life is kind of uneventful at this point. Just trying to get back into the college routine. Playing ultimate, singing in choir. Super exciting stuff. Anyway, for those of you who plan to keep reading my blog in the future (and I hope there is a plethora of you wonderful people), it looks like this is going to be a weekly thing with updates every Thursday. The updates might not come at the same time on Thursdays, but there will most definitely be updates on Thursdays. Anyway, thanks for reading! See you next week!
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Episode 2: Back to the Real World
Long drives are the best.
Not to be confused with road trips. Road trips can be fun, don't get me wrong, but that term implies restless siblings, families shouting at each other, way too many bathroom stops, and cramps from sitting on your butt for 12 hours.
No thanks.
I'm talking about long drives. It's just you in your car. The sun is shining, your playlist specifically tailored to this occasion is blaring, you're jamming like a rock star in the privacy of your car, life is good.
Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.
I think the car is about equal to the shower in terms of quality of alone time. Some of my best ideas and speculations on life come while I'm in the car. Not to mention, the acoustics are wonderful and make you sound like a freaking musical god. The only problem is, both shower and car time come to an end eventually. As much as I would love to, I can't stay in the shower forever. And not just because we get to wrinkly and would need to eat eventually. I got League of Legends to play. Until I get a completely waterproof laptop, my video games will always take precedent over endless showers. Combine them, and that's a whole different story.
But I digress.
My long drive, wonderful as it was, eventually brought me back to Texas Christian University. Not that I'm not excited to be back. I love this school and all the people in it. I've made some great friends here, and love playing ultimate and singing in Frog Corps. It's just that having a WHOLE MONTH (that still blows my mind) off of school was just magnificent. Almost surreal. No cares, no work, no blaring alarm clock yelling at me to wake up and be productive. Life was good. I got to see SO much of my friends and family, and had some really great times. Getting away from all that, quite frankly, sucks. It's mostly just the class aspect that has me down. I am not ready to be productive. Probably won't be for a while. Such is life, I suppose. But I think, overall, I am ready for this semester to start. I mean yeah, I have to do work and do things with my life, but I'm glad to be back in the college environment. My own room, my own schedule, my own responsibilities. I missed it. I'm also really excited to get back into ultimate. I didn't play nearly enough over break. This game, man. I love it. Love it, love it, love it. Granted, our first practice was SOOOO brutal. I don't work out as it is, but being away from any and all physical activity for a WHOLE MONTH just made it so much worse. Not to mention, it was BELOW FREEZING. I could not feel any sensation in my hands after practice was over. If I didn't love this game so much, I might consider myself insane. Well, I kind of already do.
SUBJECT CHANGE!
You know what's awesome? Gardetto's. You know, that Chex Mix-esque snack with the pretzels and breadsticks and delicious rye chips? Yeah, those things.
You know what's even more awesome. Finding a bag of JUST THE RYE CHIPS. I kid you not, that exists. I found one in a gas station on my way back to school. I would just like to say, that is some seriously fantastic marketing on somebody's part. I don't know why I don't see them in more places. Why anyone would turn down a bag of just rye chips is beyond me.
EPIC TRANSITION!
So that's about it for this episode. Thanks for reading! More updates to come soon, hopefully. I tried to update this a few days ago, but I accidentally closed the page and couldn't find my saved drafts. It was just a mess. But episode 2 has finally come. And you have read it. So thank you. Tune in next time and follow my experiences playing this game we call life! See ya!
Not to be confused with road trips. Road trips can be fun, don't get me wrong, but that term implies restless siblings, families shouting at each other, way too many bathroom stops, and cramps from sitting on your butt for 12 hours.
No thanks.
I'm talking about long drives. It's just you in your car. The sun is shining, your playlist specifically tailored to this occasion is blaring, you're jamming like a rock star in the privacy of your car, life is good.
Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.
I think the car is about equal to the shower in terms of quality of alone time. Some of my best ideas and speculations on life come while I'm in the car. Not to mention, the acoustics are wonderful and make you sound like a freaking musical god. The only problem is, both shower and car time come to an end eventually. As much as I would love to, I can't stay in the shower forever. And not just because we get to wrinkly and would need to eat eventually. I got League of Legends to play. Until I get a completely waterproof laptop, my video games will always take precedent over endless showers. Combine them, and that's a whole different story.
But I digress.
My long drive, wonderful as it was, eventually brought me back to Texas Christian University. Not that I'm not excited to be back. I love this school and all the people in it. I've made some great friends here, and love playing ultimate and singing in Frog Corps. It's just that having a WHOLE MONTH (that still blows my mind) off of school was just magnificent. Almost surreal. No cares, no work, no blaring alarm clock yelling at me to wake up and be productive. Life was good. I got to see SO much of my friends and family, and had some really great times. Getting away from all that, quite frankly, sucks. It's mostly just the class aspect that has me down. I am not ready to be productive. Probably won't be for a while. Such is life, I suppose. But I think, overall, I am ready for this semester to start. I mean yeah, I have to do work and do things with my life, but I'm glad to be back in the college environment. My own room, my own schedule, my own responsibilities. I missed it. I'm also really excited to get back into ultimate. I didn't play nearly enough over break. This game, man. I love it. Love it, love it, love it. Granted, our first practice was SOOOO brutal. I don't work out as it is, but being away from any and all physical activity for a WHOLE MONTH just made it so much worse. Not to mention, it was BELOW FREEZING. I could not feel any sensation in my hands after practice was over. If I didn't love this game so much, I might consider myself insane. Well, I kind of already do.
SUBJECT CHANGE!
You know what's awesome? Gardetto's. You know, that Chex Mix-esque snack with the pretzels and breadsticks and delicious rye chips? Yeah, those things.
You know what's even more awesome. Finding a bag of JUST THE RYE CHIPS. I kid you not, that exists. I found one in a gas station on my way back to school. I would just like to say, that is some seriously fantastic marketing on somebody's part. I don't know why I don't see them in more places. Why anyone would turn down a bag of just rye chips is beyond me.
EPIC TRANSITION!
So that's about it for this episode. Thanks for reading! More updates to come soon, hopefully. I tried to update this a few days ago, but I accidentally closed the page and couldn't find my saved drafts. It was just a mess. But episode 2 has finally come. And you have read it. So thank you. Tune in next time and follow my experiences playing this game we call life! See ya!
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Episode 1: Lol, How Do I Blog?
So, I made a blog.
Yeah. Not sure how this is going to turn out, but we're just gonna roll with it, kay? The whole reason I'm doing this is because I really wasn't sure what else to do with myself. I don't check Facebook or Twitter that much anymore, nobody follows me on Tumblr so I feel like I'm posting to nobody (Except the one guy who lives across the street that happens to follow me. That sounds waaaaayyyyyyy creepier than it actually is, now that I think about it.), and basically all I use Instagram for is posting pictures of my coffee.
#hipsterlyfe4eva
See, the thing about me is that, normally, I'm not a big talker. I'm incredibly introverted, and sometimes I don't have much to say. But sh*t, if we hit a topic that I have a strong opinion about, you better strap your poor unfortunate self in, because I'm gonna talk that sh*t into the ground. Youse gon' wish you ain't neva knew me.
...and so it begins.
Sometimes, I really just want to talk. And often times, in conversation, since I sit back for so long, I always wait too long to say something or make a point, and then it becomes irrelevant. So this blog is my outlet. My time to shine. But you knew that. That's why you're reading. At least, I hope you're still reading. Otherwise, that's just awkward for all of us.
Well, maybe just me.
Yeah, definitely just me.
SUBJECT CHANGE!
Big shout out to my bestie Ellen for being the biggest part of the inspiration behind starting this blog. I saw she had one, liked what she posted, and thought the whole thing was just really neat (ellenpearse.blogspot.com if you're interested). So I figured, why not do that myself?
Anyway, if you don't already know this about me (perhaps you don't, and that's why you're reading this now), I'm a pretty huge gamer. I pride myself on this, in fact. The blog's title might have given that away, though. If you have no clue what I'm alluding to, get on YouTube and search for Let's Plays. Enrich yourself.
So that's where the other part of my inspiration for this blog comes from. I've always admired people who have YouTube series. I think it's so cool, especially people who do playthroughs of video games. I've always wanted to do one myself, but I've never thought I'd be good enough at a game to have people watch me play it or knew how to go about doing so. Regardless, it's been sort of a dream of mine for a while now. So I thought to myself, "I like to talk about random things, I want people to hear said things, and I want it to be my own. I know what I'll do!"
And that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm gonna Let's Play my life.
So we'll see how that goes.
Thanks for reading! I mean, if you actually read. If you just skimmed to the bottom just so you could say you read it, your loss. You missed out on some quality commentary. I hope you step on a Lego in your bare feet. Anyway, hopefully there will be more of this in the future. Maybe not on a daily (or even weekly or monthly, depending how this semester turns out) basis, but there will be updates. Fo sho. Aight den, playa. L8r.
Yeah. Not sure how this is going to turn out, but we're just gonna roll with it, kay? The whole reason I'm doing this is because I really wasn't sure what else to do with myself. I don't check Facebook or Twitter that much anymore, nobody follows me on Tumblr so I feel like I'm posting to nobody (Except the one guy who lives across the street that happens to follow me. That sounds waaaaayyyyyyy creepier than it actually is, now that I think about it.), and basically all I use Instagram for is posting pictures of my coffee.
#hipsterlyfe4eva
See, the thing about me is that, normally, I'm not a big talker. I'm incredibly introverted, and sometimes I don't have much to say. But sh*t, if we hit a topic that I have a strong opinion about, you better strap your poor unfortunate self in, because I'm gonna talk that sh*t into the ground. Youse gon' wish you ain't neva knew me.
...and so it begins.
Sometimes, I really just want to talk. And often times, in conversation, since I sit back for so long, I always wait too long to say something or make a point, and then it becomes irrelevant. So this blog is my outlet. My time to shine. But you knew that. That's why you're reading. At least, I hope you're still reading. Otherwise, that's just awkward for all of us.
Well, maybe just me.
Yeah, definitely just me.
SUBJECT CHANGE!
Big shout out to my bestie Ellen for being the biggest part of the inspiration behind starting this blog. I saw she had one, liked what she posted, and thought the whole thing was just really neat (ellenpearse.blogspot.com if you're interested). So I figured, why not do that myself?
Anyway, if you don't already know this about me (perhaps you don't, and that's why you're reading this now), I'm a pretty huge gamer. I pride myself on this, in fact. The blog's title might have given that away, though. If you have no clue what I'm alluding to, get on YouTube and search for Let's Plays. Enrich yourself.
So that's where the other part of my inspiration for this blog comes from. I've always admired people who have YouTube series. I think it's so cool, especially people who do playthroughs of video games. I've always wanted to do one myself, but I've never thought I'd be good enough at a game to have people watch me play it or knew how to go about doing so. Regardless, it's been sort of a dream of mine for a while now. So I thought to myself, "I like to talk about random things, I want people to hear said things, and I want it to be my own. I know what I'll do!"
And that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm gonna Let's Play my life.
So we'll see how that goes.
Thanks for reading! I mean, if you actually read. If you just skimmed to the bottom just so you could say you read it, your loss. You missed out on some quality commentary. I hope you step on a Lego in your bare feet. Anyway, hopefully there will be more of this in the future. Maybe not on a daily (or even weekly or monthly, depending how this semester turns out) basis, but there will be updates. Fo sho. Aight den, playa. L8r.
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