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.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
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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