This is the thirtieth post.

Life has been going according to plan. I wonder if thats a good thing or a bad thing a lot of the time. right now I drove all the way to the Umass library at this late hour to print some stuff out as my printer has been shoddy lately, and now I have decided to blog a little bit as I waste more time. Its unlikely I'll be here past twenty or so minites, but I'll take the time I do have to write a little bit and get all of my readers, which I could more than likely count on one hand, updated in teh exciting life of Dan Hall.

so anyway, the days have been going by. Leaves are starting to turn to their autumn colors, which I really like. air is getting soemthing liek the hint of a chill in it, which is exciting for me. School has been going pretty well, classes are enjoyable mostly except for my mundane saumuri class. Unfortunatly its my most neccisary class as well, and I have to take it for the duration of the entire year. My favorite class is probably going to be Mexican history, onyl because I have a heaping, overflowing mound of respect for the professor. He exudes everything that I wish I could be in terms of ateacher. no nonesense, fun and direct. We need more like him, I think. donson is great as usual, but philosophy texts are really challeneging for me to read and comprehend. But, I'm certainly learning a lot. I hope so anyway. chinese history is very cool. their history plays out like some sort of fantastic roleplaying game or soemthing. Very epic.

Natalie and I went for a ride in the country the toher day adn we sw really cool old barns and abandoned fields and stuff. Well, they werent really abandoned, as there were obvious signs of agriculture amoung the greens and yellows of the land. However, the wide open spaces that I never associated with new england does exist in the foothills and forgotten gullys of Franklin county. I'm glad I live where I do. things with Nat are nothing short of awesome. Its great we can still be such awesome friends in the wake of all the awkwardness that transpired between us. I consider the salveging and then shining of our firnedship as one of my major successes in the recent history of me.

I'm trying to write more, because my ultimate dream is to be a writer and I really don't do enough of it to warrent dreaming such a thing. However, if I'm able to do it, I see no reason why I couldent become something great. all people who are worth anything beleive they are capable, and the difference is the reality of their assurtion. however, I'm not going to quit until my name is in print and my dreams become tangible, in the memories of my readers and the adventures carved out in my own mind. I have been on a horror and poetry kick, which are sort of opposites in my mind. Ones as campy and flase as you can get and the other, to me at least, is so obscure and poetic that it can't really be called art anymore than air could be called substance. Its more than that. but thats another blog post for another time, I guess.

the great gaping hole in my life is the lack of romantic love. There, its been said. this is the single, abysmall endless pit inside of me that is swallowing up everything else. I just want someone to love, someone to bestow all of this languished and wasted emotion onto. I realize she will have to be a fairly speacial girl to put up with all of me, but I can't help but pray that it will happen sooner or later. waiting is a slow torture, but I really hope its worth the wait. I know its whiney to talk of such things, but the fact of the matter is that I'm almost 22 years old and I've never been in an equivalent relationship of love and want. Its always been onc sided or unequally distributed, and thats no way to knwo waht love is. I don't really think I know what love is. and thats very upsetting.

The more I'm around people the more I'm dissapointed. I think its probably me, but I just cant comprehend the formation of people sometimes. It just wows me that all these...people who meerly exist and do not truly liver, who dip their toes into the stream of thought and no deeper...but I'm an intellectual snob and in fact no better than they. Whats the point of all this anyway? Rants are nothing.

Readers, I hope you think of me.

-DH

(there will be no spell check)

Philosophy and Hemingway and Octopuses and everything else.

One thing I'm really going to miss about college is the oppertunity to explore. And I dont mean this in just the intellecutal sense, like taking new classes and reading new books and what have yu. I mean this in the sense of exploring oppertunities, trying new things and reacting as a person, be it positive or negative. In all honesty, the beggining of the semester is always a little daunting for me, because I feel buried under work and ike my social life (if you want to call it that, really something in imitation of a social life) will be snuffed out. It is rarely the case. Umass has been a great place for me to grow as a person. I am better off for having come here, but I also know that my mind is still thirsty, and I'm worried, truly, that I wont have anything else to explore once I graduate. In a rut, so to speak.

So far my favorite class this semester is my 19th century german thought class, taught by my favorite professor, the only one im on a first name basis with at this point in my academic career, Professor Andrew Donson. Hes great, and the class seems like its going to be really interesting. Its full of people with opinions about things that are able to express themselves well, so I think heated debate and intense intellecutal growth is very feasible in there. The Empyricism of David Hume really resonates with me, but then there is the simple mathematical proofs that commits his theorys to flame. I'm basically an Empyricyst that believes in Math and perhaps a god. Interesting, huh?

My class with Elise is pretty cool too, although its not grounded in reality and I think thats sort of annoying. The guys a real charector, and he is finaly explosing me to Hemingway, a writer I have had embarrasingly ittle contact with up to this point. I'm very excited for that, because everything I have read by him I have enjoyed.

I met a girl on the bus ride home who was sporting a cool looking octopus tattoo. I got up the courage to speak to her. She told me all about it. As any of you know, the Octopus is my absolute favorite animal, so it was very coo to see one clutching stoicly to the fleshy arm of a near stranger. Made my day, really.


Its been a long day, and its only one. Evan is aparently going home this weekend, which means the room is all mine! I'm going to go wild, I think, haha.

Until tomorrow,

DH

A long time coming

Hey readers, thought to be extinct but proven to be alive and well. Hope all of you have done well in these past ten months. Mine have had their ups and downs, but lets just say I dont want to recount it one way or the other. The good times were great and the and the bad times were awful, but they were times, and more poignent to me in memory than they coud ever be expressed in word. I have started my senior year here at Umass, and its flooring. The passing of time is truly awe inspiring and cruel. Who knows what will befall me in the coming weeks, I know not what to expect. All I know it that its going to be exciting, and that there is a lot, a whole lot, that I must do. Should be interesting. I just moved into an apartment with Evan, Ashley and Jamie, and while I thought it was going to be a little bit questionable, I actually think its going to work out well. So thats good, living situation will be alright. Crowe is gone, and I actually miss the guy a lot. Sort of weird given our history, but time heals all wounds and we all look back on our experiance with fonder memories than the memories that actually happened.

Classes, experiance, adventure, wrap your arms around me, because here I come. I envy those just starting the journey, but I wouldent back tred. Here I stand.

History in the making and other cliches in action.

America has elected Barrack Obama as its next president. This is incredible. I am hardly a staunch democrat, but just from a racial perspective this is really ground breaking. Even 20 years ago, hell, even 10 years ago, this would have been impossible. It is time to see if the changes perscribed to America can be actualized, if the dream can be drempt. I am extreamly curious to see how all of this plays out, I feel like the next few weeks will be, more notably then before, iving history, a pagent of an adolescent America. Old wounds heal slowly, but perhaps we have the medicine now.

I watched the election in my friend Jaimes room with him, Natalie, Elise, Heather, Kyle and for a short time Jaimes girlfriend, Ashley. It was a pleasant experiance, but I never thought the election would end up being as one sided as it was. It really seemed as if Obama dominated McCain. Put him to shame. When it happened, and Obama was pronounced the president elect, I was in shock. Maybe its because my historical expertise lays in 19th century and 20th century America, not exactly a time of glowing race relations, but I feel like a black president is an incredible and nigh unbelivable thing. There are not enough words to really express how incredible this is, so I'll just let it sort of sink into the readers mind on their own.

America has changed, shed aside the tethers of slavery and oppression, or at least moved so that they stand in the shadowy background, and has become something new and hopefully better. Lets see how this all plays out.

School has been pretty good, been pretty happy lately. Went Cha Cha dancing randomly tonight, haha. It was awkward, as I kne wit would be. Then we had a very successful house council meeting, and then a late dinner and some leisure time. Working out has been good, I ahve decided to start doing more cardio then I am doing. I dont think I am very athletically balanced, and I need to work on becoming a better athlete overall. If my strength doesent skyrocket for a while, thats fine.

Hmm, mgiht be going to montreal this weekend again. Still not for sure, but I think I'd like to.

Thats all I feel like writing right now, but I do have a lot more to say. Next post, readers!

Its been a while, and I don't even like Staind.

Hey readers, its been to long since my last post, so I guess its time for me to resolve that and have a nice big post. I am currently in the library, listeneing to the same song again and again and pretending to study German History. Big test on monday. Should be ok, though. I know I am supposed to finish the story of the south, but that might have to wait a little while. Its alright though, I promise I will do it, and it sits eagerly in my heart, leaning forward toward the window of my mind in an attempt to get out. One can only be denied so long, haha.

So I went to montreal last weekend, and I love that city. I had an incredible time, it was honestly the most fun I've had in quite a while. The city itself is architecturally pretty cool, what with the french influenced buildings and old statues and stuff. The people there were different than any people I had ever previously encountered in my life. they were decidedly trendy to the max, and everyone was rocking scarfs. it was pretty entertaining. Lauren has a great apartment, her cat is morbidly obese, and the city is beautiful as the sun sets upon it. all in all, a fantastic time.

This week has been alright. not as good as I had hoped it would be, but I have been in amrkedly high spirits lately, so no reaosn to burst that enjoyable bubble, haha. But I had a lot on my plate past couple of weeks work wise. I had to do a presentation for Deans Book, which was not so bad but my poster was atrocious. It was embarrasing, haha. However, aparently the verbal aspect ofmy presentation was so impressive that it made up for ym alck of a poster, and my professor ghave me quite the compliment later on. She said I epitomise everyhting that a comcol student is supposed to represent, and tha tI was one of the most powerful speakers she had ever encountered. Made me feel pretty good, I must say. I don't mean to brag on myself, but it was jsut one of the ncier things I had heard in quite some time, so thought I would mention it.

After that, its just been a lot of studying for tests and stuff. Had one yesterday, and it went real well. I am thinking a mid to high A, which you can't complain about. I know my classes are coming to an end though, in the long term, and soon school will be voer forever. I sort of wonder how I feel about it. Sometimes I get sort of excited about the prospect of not having to do essays or go to lectures anymore, but other days it gets me phenominally nervous about the future. I sort of have a tenative plan for what I'd like to do, as discussed earlier in my blog, but I'm never certain about anything. so we shall see how it all plays out. iacta alea est.

Gym has been going ok. Bench is feeling good, squats are deifnetly improving. Nat has begun lifitng with me, which I think is really awesome. She has an unreal level of strength for her lifting experiance and gender. Oodles of potential, and I'm not just saying that. be interesting to see how strong she gets in the coming weeks.

I have started tutoring at greenfield middle school, although I have yet to actually tutor. It seems to me like im goign to be running recess and helping out with gym class a lot more frequently than sitting down for learning time. But thats fine, I just like chillin' wit the childrens. However, there are some really striking and somewhat concerning differences between Greenfield and amherst middle schools that I feel needs to be discussed.

So Amherst may not be a phenominally wealthy community like Weston or Sudbury or something, but there is definetly some money there. When I was tutoring at the school last year it was fairly obviious that these kids didnt go without very often. a lot of them had cell phones and fancy clohting and robot dinosaurs and model planes. Greenfield kids have nothing. they are obviously from a drastically different socio economic class, and its really kind of shocking to see how classism plays out in general. For example,. the kids jsut have a sort of resignation to them, like things are the way they are and they arnt going to impriove. I mean, i've only been there a lil bit but it seems like a community that is losing hope. The school itself is sort of filthy, the hallways are dirty and need a paint job. It kind of references the Malcomb Gladwell book The Tipping Point, which says thatthe upkeep of communitys are extreamly important to their overall development and mental image. for example, if you clean uyp a high crime negihboorhood and show that you have pride in it, the people there will have priude as well. this is certainly not the case in Greenfield. Its a mess.

Also, not to make fun of children, burt its obvious that the greenfield kids have not been exposed to the same sort of academic curricula that the amherstites have been. At amherst, kids would build trains and planes and automobiles and all sorts of exciting stuff. in greenfield, they wear camo and sing about lil wayne. just striking is all.

What else to discuss? I have been in incredibly high spirits lately in general. Been feeling real good about life. Way I figure it, there is nothing wrong with me and I have a whole life of great memories to make in front of me, so what is there to be sad about? Regret is a waste, the most useless emotion. However, I'll be honest, little things still set me off. I get down and out occasionally, but its been a lot less frequent. so thats good. I was a little down last night, and like usual I turn into some sort of a zombie and just lay in bed waiting for sleep to overtake me. It only rarely ever does. mostly I lay there and think, and thats never good. So I got up and went online and talked to gumbleton, who is my roomate for those of you who don't know. But happyness looms in horizons forthcoming, I'm certain.

I guess I could rant.

This sort of bothered me the other day, so I guess thats what rnating is all about, no? Anyway, I was reading a freinds facebook, and the first thing they had in their about me part was their major and intended career goals. Is that really, REALLY, the thing, first and foremost, that defines you? I should hope not. I am Dan Hall, and I am a lot more then a history major and potential education/museum worker. Honestly, if that was all I was I wouldent be anything at all. maybe this person just didnt think that there was anything else notewrothy about themselves, but it just sort of made me mad. People are a lot more then their careers. Its important to remember that careers are human fabrications. We are, first and foremost, animals with basic and primal aniamal needs. Remebering this should be how we define ourselves. I am not a citizen of the united states first, or a student, or an aspiring writer. I am a combination, an articulation rolled up into a strange sort of creation, of everything I have ever done, ever drempt, ever concieved. I am not something so base. neither are you. You are incredibl;y unique.

Another thing that bothered me was that Natty told me he was depressed because someone told him that every thing he would ever think has already been thought. that idea is ridiculous to me, its overly pessimistic and unoriginal. Perhaps in that persons brain thats true, but the human mind is a collection fo individual experiances, and can not, and should not, be thought of as the same as everyone else. People are not assembly lioned produced dolls. Each mind has experianced different things. There are no two people on this planet, in this or any other age, nor will there evr be, that have the exact same experiance. simply being in a different body, standing on different soil and hearing different words creates new experiances inside of ytourself. So don't think your ideas are useless because they have alreayd been thought of. nothing could be farther from the truth.

There is a phenominal quote on T-nation right now. I'll go get it for the quote of the day.

Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear.—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


there we go.


should be an interesting weekend, I'll be sure to update. Pce.

This weekend's happenings up to this point. And a short reflection on physical decay.

First ad foremost, grammar is for wimps and I'll be cutting this post off around 2 this morning, at the latest. I have to take an hour long shower as part of a pact with myself. I'm going to give a brief summery of what I've done this weekend, while playing online poker and chatting on aim. So this may end up being sort of disjointed, but know that my intent is to inform and nothing more, haha.

So Friday is when the weekend starts, in my book. I don't really think there are many days that surpass Friday in grandeur. Anyway, I got to sleep in because one of my classes was canceled, so I did. Then I got up and did a little research on Dresden, before getting lunch and heading off to class. It was moderately interesting, but what else can you expect, haha. What does he even mean by that last sentence, especially the HaHa. Curious. Anyway, Ryan and Jim came up and made my weekend. We hung out that night and sort of got tricked into going to Karate practice. It was wild. Then we watched Iron Man and went into town for Pizza. Went stargazing briefly, it was enjoyable.

Saturday, we got up at ten and went to breakfast, meeting up with Elise, Clem and Lawrence at one point or another. We feasted, then made our way back up the hill, got in my car, and set off toward Holden. We got a little lost, but made it to Nat's house alright. We then climbed Mt. Wachusett, which was a lot of fun per usual. Way down was intensely beautiful. We got to hang out with Ozzie, who I am convinced is probably the coolest animal in the world.

After that we hung out at Nat's house for a bit, and made her lift some weights. She is freakishly strong for a girl her weight. It was startling. At the end of this post, I'll link you to a chart that shows you exactly how she, or anyone else for that matter, stacks up. It was impressive.

So after that we went to friendlys and had a long long long meal. It lasted a few hours. It was fun, though. We ate way to much ten went to Nat's house, chilled and played a medley of musical instruments, then watched momento. With teary eyes we bid Ryan and Jim adieu, and then ventured off into the night ourselves.

Time for my rant...I actually think I may have ranted about this before.

The death of the body in the shadow of the mind.

It sickens me to see people who think they are some sort of intellectual Juggernaut hide behind a computer screen and some thick glasses and act like they are better then the rest of us. In earnest, they are pretty pathetic. They cultivate their minds to the point that their bodies suffer in comparison. All those people who know how to dissect any argument, or have memorized countless facts about something, but are fat, skinny, weak, frail or what have you. In my opinion, its as important to have a powerful and healthy body as a powerful and healthy mind. Perhaps I'm a little bias being sort of a strength athlete, but its fuckin' pathetic to see people who , if it came down to it, would get destroyed in a fight by a lot of girls I know think they are anything special. For gods sake, have some pride in your capabilities and physical prowess. Its fine that you like to know things. I do to. I'm curious about almost every branch of knowledge. But to sit there and let your body, the place where your mind lives, die, is such a waste. Think of it this way. It's awesome that you have 100,000 Homeric hymns memorized, and can hack my computer, but if we got trapped in a small room together, I could rip you limb from limb. If we were outside, I could chase you down. Your a bi-product of an age that was never meant to be. Have pride in everything you do, learn, and think. Have pride in who you are, in the most complete sense of the word.

It's two-o'clock. Shower time.

I really think this will be good for me

I need this, I think. Man, I don't understand myself at all. But honestly, I don't think anyone really gets themselves. Perhaps the greatest mysteries are not the cosmic questions or origin stories and what have you, but the purpous, the idioscycrasies, of the human spirit? I can't tell you how often I look at my reflection and I have no concept that I m the figure that is staring back at me. I sort of think I oly exist within the mind or something. The body is just an extensio of the mind, right? But I also can't understand or percieve my own mind. I dont know what type of person I really am. Am I the net values I am judged as by others? Or is there some deeper truth to my persona? If an actor acts like a doctor his whole life, and everyone thinks him a doctor, is he really anything but a doctor? Man, messed up metephysical conundrums.

This is a good example of my moodiness I always talk about. I was having a pretty decent, if really busy day. Then all of a sudden, for no reason at all, I just violently switch to that which I am now. There ust be a trigger, but I haven't the slightest as to what it might be. School is going fine, im busy and enjoying being busy, working out consistantly. I have great friends and all the supposed awkwardness I was expecting this year never transpired. So why do I get like this? I realize im actually in a pretty privalged position, so in all honesty it only adds to my guilt to get like this. I'll blame it on hormones. Fuck Hormones.

I have started dieting a bit. nothing serious, just cleaning my stuff up. I was kinda getting a little fat, so its nice to not have that going on so much anymore. And honestly, it just feels cleaner and better to eat the way I do. Makes me feel like a well oiled machine that runs on whole wheat pasta and grilled chicken. haha, what an abomination.

I go to meet with the lady who wil be facilitating my tutoring experiance at Greenfield Middle School (henceforth refered to as GMS) tommorrow at 10 am. I'm moderatly excited about it, but ironically it sort of feels liek the first day of school again. Jitters. Should be exciting, and its entirely possible I'll be spending the next few years teaching there in some capacity, as one of the grad programs i am considering would have me placed there. so i will be good to establish some ties, and that all starts tommorow.

Man, I don't even have anything to think about. its just a void in my mind sometimes, a cesspool. I guess I'll talk about these cool banned books they had on display at the library. Apparently its Banned Books week here at Umass, and they had some interesting titles out for all to see. The expected "Origin of the Species" and Communist Manifesto were out, but there were some cool unknown books as well. Child of God by Cormac McCarthy is certainly on my reading list, and even though its supposedly extreamist feminist liuriture, I want to read Bastard Out Of Carolina as well. There were a bunch other, and it will be nice to have the word bug bite me all over again. I'll use the salve of interpritation to make it better, haha.

I'm pumped about Ryan and Jim coming up this weekend. Be a nice home coming for Ryan, I think. We are going to go to Nat's house on Saturday for a hike, which should be fun. She seems excited to see Ryan again. Ah, to reunite old friends again!

Tommorow night into Friday morning I will be on an intense mission to know all there is to know about the firebombing of Dresden, Germany. I have a big research presentation on that due on monday, and I'm going to try to get it all out of the way on Friday as to maximise the ejoyment of my weekend. so thats gonna be annoying, but its not like I'll have anything else to do, anyway. Probably gonna make it a marathon session in the library, work until the sweat is replaced by tears or something, haha.

I sometimes wonder who my true friends are, but then I grapple with the idea of what it means to be a true friend, and then the question of my status as a true friend comes into contention in my own mind. I guess I'll give you the run down of my friend groups, I believe I have about 4 major ones.

Here goes

Group one- Neighborhood friends/Basement- These guys I have probably speant the most time with out side of my mom. They all ahve their flaws, and so do I, but generally I feel pretty close to these guys. We grow o each other, and while I sort of believe I don't have that much in common with a lot of the themes of the basement, like video games and d and d and war hammer, I still love that place. These guys will always have my back, and I'll always have theirs. Its a fact.

Group two- The "Nerd Friends"- Sorry for the offensive title fellas, but you get the idea. Your mostly the people I went to high school with, who I bounced my ideas off of and heard echos that sounded like intellectualism. This is Tino, Wilson, Robie, Fogarty, Evan, ect. I don't see most of you guys very often, but I think of you a lot because your all cool people. While we have scattered like leaves in the wind, lets not forget were all from the same tree, you know? I'm not sure I have anyone in this group who I could confide in like I know I could in the basement, but you guys are awesome and make for a pretty powerful trivia squad, I must say.

Group three- The "I'm a year younger then dan and usually fairly athletic" group- This group is dominated by Kenny Adams and Jon Bishop, with some supporting roles from Pickett, Jerry Smith and Ryan Loring. Again, yall are pretty cool, but I wouldent know most fo you had it not been for Kenny Adams. Kenny and I have been friends for ages, and I do feel like ours is a lifelong friendship. jonny B has been a more aggressive friend, and I have abosulutly no problem with that. Its obvious that we get along, and I'm glad to have known him.

It just dawned on me that there are actually two other groups. so this entry will be slightly longer then anticipated. Bear with me.

Group 4- The Kate Stevenson Crew- I met Kate working at the library, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that she is not only the best, but the most amazing thing I ever found there. for those of you who don't know, Kates a superstar in every sense of the word. Smart, awesome, funny, ambitious, intellectual, down to earth, and my lil' sister in all but the blood sense. It has actually been an interesting and, surprisingly, somewhat painful experiance watching her grow up from a wide eyed 8th grader to some kind of---gasp---adult. I know she and I will remain close for the rest of our lives, and I am quite privalaged to have my existance seasoned with the greatness of her own. Through her I have met a bunch of cool people, like Steph Baima. There are more, but Steph deserves the next mention. Shes pretty sweet as well, and its refreshing to be around her because shes always going to speak her mind and tell you whats up. I don't mean this in the sassy kind of way, but more in the honest and poingent sort of way. Shes one of the better people I have ever come across. A few more people belong to this group, but Kate and Steph are easily my favorites. No offense to the rest of you nameless ones, though.

The final group, Group 5- School Friends- Is the most hotly contested in my mind. I have met a bunch of very interesting people here, but I have a hard time drawing the line between friend and aquantence. for example, I know Natalie and Elise are my friends. I know Clem is my friend, and Crowe and Eli and Marra and Pickett. Kelley and Rebecca are friends as well. I am not certain about some of the auxillary charectors. But enough of the negative, lets talk good. Some people here at school are pretty awesome. I can thank Natalie for getting me into Hiking, and Clem for making me a better magic player. Crowe and Pickett provide me with a lot of entertainment as well. I hope, and believe, that the friendships I have cultivated here at school will withstand the test of time. I certainly hope so, I know they have withstood lots of problems in the past. Heres to a bright future!

Thats all for the time being. I feel considerably better, but better is not good.

PS: I'm extreamly excited about something in November, but more on that later.

Wax Political

This is it. This is the last post where I put off writing about the rest of the southern trip. Trust me, it will get done. But I decided, as much for myself as for anyone else, in this post I am going to expressly state my stance on many political issues. I'm going to show everyone whos curious where I stand on the hot topics that plauge our society today. And its going to be eye opening and perhaps a little bit frightening.

Gay Marriage-

I am not against gay marriage, but I am not so empassioned with it that I would take to the streets to protest for it. I guess I just don't care either way, but as I have some friends who are gay I suppose it would be nice if they could be made more happy by marriage, if thats what they are looking for. To be frank, I don't think I have anything against the gay in gay marriage, but rather the marriage. The whole idea seems sort of proposterous to me, but then again maybe I just havent met the right girl, haha. Anyway, do what makes you happy, and who am I to deny anyone that basic right? I'm not going to tell people how to live their lives. And for anyone who might say that marriage is some sort of sacred and heavenly thing, not to be lowered by the hands of homosexuals, I'd ask them to look at the divorce rate and spousal abuse rate (Not as much in the North, but if you do your research the statistics are utterly terrifying) and try to tell me that marriage is some silky white unstained construct. It isin't, it has not been, and it will never be. So, to sumerise, Gay Marriage= Fine by me.

War in Iraq- I never support senseless war. The question is, is this a senseless war, or a war with reason? Let me showcase the difference between the two. WWII was a war with reason, a somewhat noble struggle against facism and genocide. Thats something I support, although there are defiently aspects to WWII that bother me. More on that another time, maybe. Vietnam was a senseless war, for the most part. We were playing at something we had no buissness playing at, and stayed there because we were afraid to leave and look bad. Thousands of men lost their lives for really no reason, economic, political or military. The only people making money off of 'Nam were the weapon manufactorers in the good ol' USA. So this is a war I do not support, and find terribly foolish.

I think the war in Iraq leans more toward vietnam then WWII, although it is not exactly either. For example, there is some nobility in taking control of Iraq, in that we were able to stop a genocide and bring some resemblance of peace to the toherwise persecuted minoritys in the nation. Thats good. We toppled an evil dictator and established a more stable government. However, we are there to make a profit as well. Oil is a key reason as to why we stay in Iraq. We can't leave, because without our support everything would fall apart back into fueding war lords and stuff. The very lives we sought to protect would turn on each other and leave the most ancient of nations in nothing but ruins. But heres the thing...

Should America be charged with maintaining peace in the world, as the worlds most powerful nation? Why is this our responsability, and if it is, why are we ignoring many areas of the world? Its all political. If we are staying in Iraq to keep its innocents safe, why arnt we in darfur? why arnt we in Chechnia? Why arnt we in Rwanda? There are a lot of places, with a lot less oil, where we are a lot less present then Iraq. So really, its not Americas job to police the world, just to look out for its interests. If we were suddenly to find a boom of oil in ohio, a literal sea of black gold, I somehow think Iraq would be vacated a lot faster then is estimated these days.

So, overall, I am morally opposed to the idea of the war as it stands today, althugh I understand the need for people to be there. The economic incentive bothers me, but I dont think pulling out right now would be a good thing.

So War in Iraq= bad war that we should get out of, but can't currently.

Next topic: Illegal Immigration

The historian in me would like to note that this entire nation was founded on Illegal immigration, what with taking the indians land, pushing the Indians west, forcing the Indians onto the worst land in America, keeping the Indians impoverished, ect. But, for the sake of this blog post, ill keep my focus to Mexican immigration.

Mexican immigation is, for the most part, not a terrible terrible thing. Its ot a good thing, either though. This is one of those topics that is really ripe with positives and negatives, and im going to try to spell them out for you. The positives of illegal immigration is a lot of work gets done that Americans generally don't want to do. There are a lot of manual labor jobs that dont really appeal to Americans, even American laborers. The Mexican workers get these jobs done for us, and bring their money back to Mexico, usually, to help abutt the intense poverty there.

The negatives, the more I think about it, outweigh the positives, though. For example, at the msot basic level, what they are doing is ILLEGAL. While I am a person with an extreamly skeptical view on the law, you cant really aruge that they are not citizens and do not deserve the rights of citizens. And when Mexican workers reproduce across international lines, it leads to more poveryy and crippled academics in America. These children, who are americans by birth, are placed in a position where it is much harder for them to succeed. Their parents are laborers, they usually dont have a mastery of English...one thing leads to another, and this causes a rise in crime amoung mexican-american born youths in America...

I don't know what the solution to this problem is, but I know it is a problem. Maybe a seasonal Mexican worktroop could be established, where during times of labor they can come to America as forign workers and do the jobs, and get the pay, that they were accustomed to. Then they could return to Mexico and help negate the poverty that is so vicious there. If they want to relocate to America permanently, they should have to go through the same nationalistic process of all other immigrants.

So, overall, Illegal immigration is bad, and should be fixed!

On to more fun stuff!

Religion in Schools!

No place for it. I have never been a religious person, but I see no reaso to keep religion in schools. To what purpose does prayer in schools serve? Does it help to stabalize minds or something? I realize that America is supposedly a nation founded on Chrisitan beliefs (Again, I could contest this until the cows came home) but it is no longer that way. Perhaps the fact that I live in Liberal Massachusetts has soemthing to do wth it,b ut the chruch just is not a dominating institute around here. The south, yeah, I suppose it is. However, America does not need to push its ideology and traditonalistic faith onto other people who dont want it. Thats what church is for, not schools. Schools are a place of learning, not of forced consent. So, in my opinion, there is no place for religion in school, unless in a religiously orientated school or perhaps in a class based on religion.

Next....

time!

I think thats enough politics for one entry. I have other beliefs, but I'll keep them to myself for now. Maybe next time, though.

Inhale.

Exhale.

I'm not an artist, but I know a few. I met Jonathan Safern Foer yesterday. It was pretty cool.

Words as honey, words as venom

This post will not be long, or consist of what I usually write about. I dont have the time right now for all of that, but I do have the time for alittle something. so for you who wish to see the southern trip further explained, yuor going to have to wait until my next post, unfortunatly. more then likely, that means no Rant or Quote section this time either. Anyhow, I'll give a breif recap of ym day so far, and perhaps discuss some other things.

I woke up. Thats good. Went to clas, and didnt have anything to say unfortunatly. I feel liek deadweight showing up without having done the reading, like I'm wasting my time and the time of the professor and classmates. ultimatly I suppose I am (see: my p'rents) are paying for me to be here, and while that means I can pretty much not do anything as this is a service industry and is serving me, it also means that I should try to get the most bang-for-my-buck and experianc ethe most things I can, be that intellectually, socially, or what have you. so silence sucks, but it happened and won't ever again.

I had to buy a new book today for German history, so I went into town. It was easy enough to find, but tis such a ridiculous sham the way they overcharge you for books. I find it baosulutly disgusting, especcially ebcause I could get the book for free at the good ol' Wilmington Memorial Library. Anyhow, I saw this sweet journal in the store, so I decided to buy that as well. So far thats been the highlight of my day. It has lots of cool pictures on the front of ancient architecture, and I feel like some sort of bookish intellectual type writing in it. I don't really think im going to be using it as a tradtional journal, as I have this blog for that. The other journal, which I have named I WILL FILL YOU, is more for creative outlets. While reading in the library today, I wrote some poetry in it, and recanted a really stupid thing that happened this morning which I will elaborate on in a moment. I also storyboarded a short story I have committed myself to writing. When I finsih, yall can read it if you want. And you might.

Anyway, the ridiculous thing that happened to me, or happened near me thereby involving me. I was was walking back from class toward my car, when I hear the type of scream that the fabric of nightmares is consistant with. Blood curdling,e ct. i keep hearing it, so curiosity and perhaps a dash of altruism causes me to sort of hurry up and see. what I see sort of upset me. Theres a blind girl SCREAMING, screaming, on the side walk. She is flailing her cane around as if it were a weapon. I don't know why this is, but through her screams words start to form. The speacial transportation bus missed her, so now her roars will be her vindication! The bus will pay in the form of worried students and birds scattering off in fear. how ridiculous is this?

I'm sorry, but this is not pre-school, even though occasionally I wonder if perhaps I'm mistkaen and just at a resort of children. How can you, as a college student and thuis logically aged 17-24, think screaming after missing a bus is ok? I don't care whats wrong with you, its not the only thing. I understand that it means you can't go to class, but jesus. I thought a girl was being raped. I thought a girl was being murdered. And you missed the bus? Your ridiculous.

In other enws, I had a pretty killer conversation with my favorite professor, Prof. donson, this morning. I told him about Neutral Milk Hotel and how their lyrics are vaugly based on the European holocaust and anne Frank. It peaked his interest, and then he said he rememebred me from a few classes in the past. We caught up on some stuff, and he asked me to emailhim the songs later. So I guess I'm going to. Hes a cool guy, that Donson.

It's time for an embarrasing confession. Please, don't think any lessof me readers, becaus eI don't. I didnt choose this, but If I could have I probably would have. I am starting to become a rather big fan of Taylor Swift. Its not anything that can be helped, nor would I want you to. I basically know all her songs, and its basically awesome? Or something. I want to see ehr in concert....in November. anyone want to go?


I guess that blind girl casuing an uproar will be my rant for today, so now all I need to do is find a quote.

Hmmm

"I am intimidated by the idea of being average"- Taylor Swift.

I'm lame, I know.

more later.

"The Die is Cast"

And so it is. How goes it, readers? Its been a while since I blogged last and honestly my only excuse is I ahve been rpetty busy. But thats not leigitamite, so I'm going to make a bigger effort to post more frequently. So, here goes my next post. I'll start by detailing our first day in the city of New Orleans.

We woke up late, because we were so close to the city we decided sleeping in would be a good thing. We eventually did get up, packed up our things, and left our little motel next to the Winn Dixie. Before we left, however, Pereira was horrified to see a hick woman yelling at him not to pour the wtaer in our cooler out and onto the ground. He did so anyway, and we left that small stone of a place behind.

We drove through the last shady remnants of Mississippi, what with its truck stops and hate crimes, and then crossed into glorious Louisiana. The welcome center was my second favorite, behind only Alabama nd its rockig chairs. They had a lot of information, which we gathered up and then continued on our way. We drove closer and closer to the city, and I dont knwo if anyone else felt this way but I thought Louisiana was much much more....civilized? then the other areas of the south we had been in, a few exceptions (Birmingham, sort of) standing. It just seemed like a bastion of civilization in the otherwise rural southland. To be honest, I'm a country boy at heart, and the farmland sort of drew me in with rapt attention. So Louisiana, while a relief to the unease that encapsulated MS, was not the same south as Virginia or Alabama was for me. Anyway, I digress...

We continue, getitng closer and closer to the city. Surrounded by pelican clad liscense plates (State bird of LA), we get onto the massive and seemingly endelss bridge that connects Slidell to NOLA, going over Lake Pochartrain. It was excellent, and itneresting, and beautiful and made me feel happy in the stomach. We listened to Ludo, of course.

We crossed the city limits and entered NOLA soon thereafter. Its an interesting city. It definetly has its slums, expeccially on the outskirts, but its probably one of my favorite cities ever. It was beautiful in the areas we were at, but ill get to that later. For now, we checked into our hotel and then decided to explore...

And as today is the climax of our southern adventure, I'll continue this post tommorow!


As for college life...


Classes are good. I enjoy them all, for the most part. I guess a breif rundown will be in order.

Age of Augustus- Rome from the death of Julius caesar to the death of Augustus Octavian. Its probably my favorite class, but I'm not so sure anymore. Classics ids are easily the geekiest kids outside of the sciences, and our professor, while awesome, shows what being a classics professor means, socially and otherwise. Hes an odd guy, but I had a fun discussion with him one afternoon about the sexual liasons of romes greatest emperors. Always fun.

Great Trials- Prolly my least favorite, but its still not bad. Just a lot f reading and then a lot of discussion. The kids in my class are all fairly intelligent, and I think one or two are probably smarter then me. I know one kid picks up ons tuff I dont even really see. But watever, I cold totally beat him up :)

Modern German History- with ym buddy prof donson, this class is a ton of work, but well worth it. Its interesting seeing how Germany grew and developed. It really is all about coal, you know... Nazism is coming up, and that should be terrifying and interesting.

Witches-Myth and Reality- This class rivals the Age of augustus for favorite, although its taught from a feminist perspective. Although I suppose theres really no other way t teach this, as the majority of people persecuted for being witches were women. Did you know that there are still withc hunts going on today? Mostly in South Africa and Indonesia. Wanna know the craziest thing? Theres a group who sit on the friggin' UN to discuss hunting witches. Yeah, that UN, the united nations....And yeah, they kill them. Pretty horrificly, as well. Like drag through lonley afican roads until the skin literally peels from you, like the soft red flesh from an overripe apple...
The discussion for this class is the best, because its me and 5 other kids with the professor, and we just have the most interesting discussions.

Deans Book- Extreamly Loud and Incredibly Close- This book is phenominal. I love it. The class is so so, but the book. The book is phenominal. I feel like a softy, but there are parts in it that force emotion out of me. Like, it makes me sad, or happy. Its beautifully written, and I reccommend it to anyone and everyone. I'll be meeting the Author next tuesday. But legit, I amost cried once while reading it. Cuz im a weirdo like that. But more on that later...

Socially, things have been good. I have been keeping pretty busy, went on a few hikes, made a few new friends. Lots of vollyball has been played. I am going to be tutoring kids from perhaps the most fiscally impoverished school system in the state, Greenfield, 2 days a week. Ought to be fun. I also get to run recess, which will definetly be fun.

I'm probably going to do this thing called bes uddies, where I hang out with a metally challenged person my age and just be a friend to them. Get to make a few friend, and do a bunch of cool stuff, so thats gonna be good.

Natalie and I have said we are going skydiving. I want this to happen, so I intend on doing it. If anyone wants to join, we can plan it accordingly, but its gonna be awesome.

I'm president of O-hill house council again.

RANT!!!! its back!!!!

Emotion from media-

Why is it that Extreamly close and incredibly loud makes me almost sob like a lil kid? Why is it I had to fight to finish Anne Frank, that reading every ew chapter was like tearing open a half healed wound? How come whenever I hear certain songs, I lose my ironlike masculinity and get all mopey? If anyone doubts the power of words, and how they can transform the way you percieve, look no futher for evidence of the contrary. Words are more powerful then images, if you ask me. Write baout a child dying, and its more real for me then a picture of a dead child. Its sort of scary how emotions can be summoned so. I'd almost go as far as to say they can be packaged. Watching a sad movie isint anyhtig other then going to experiance a unique expression of sadness, and the same is true for a happy movie, ect. For things we can't see, feel, weight, tough, trade or hold, emotions sure can be used to create powerful effect, and powerful profit. I have no doubt in my mind that through the manipulation of emotion, its entirely possible to change the course of a nation, or the world. Manifest destiny, an emotional package of glory and self right. go for it, take it all. From a different perspective, what was done to the native Americans was the worst travesty on Americas tract record (With maybe an exception in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Read the first hand descriptions of those if you want to feel real lucky to have not been there...). Its just interesting....if I could make everyone mad at someone, or happy for someone, ro sad for someone...I could definetly do something to someone.

So that was the rant.

QUOTE:

"iacta alea est" The Die is Cast - Marcus Julius Caesar.

And so it is.

It's a hard pill to swallow

But oh how the flavor sticks with you, time.

Anyway, Its been a little while, and im gonna blog big time tonight. I'm gonna finish Alabama day, then write all about my college experiance thus far. So here goes!

We went into the woods in Moundsville to explore that which was not presented before us. There are a lot of cool things out there, we saw illogically placed trees and bugs that were really red and dangeorus looking. Ryan also got a rare soda for his collection, the unusual and almost surreal Grapico. It was a happening. We left Moundsville after I attempted to charm the women at the counter, to no effect. Even my knowledge of Alabama football didnt make her budge. But I got a t-shirt and a magnet and a mess of memories.

We set out toward Tuscalosa and the esteemed highway that we called home, but saw the irresistable signs that said "Flea Market" and couldent resist. We were in the boonies, lemme tell you. We pulled over and it was set up like some sort of odd little village of trash, with tiny houses overflowing with debris and other peoples rubbish being resold as hidden treasures. We encountered a old woman, named granny, who gave us life changing advice and ideas about what to do in new orleans. After that exchange we set out o the road, going back toward the bustling college town of Tuscaloosa. We stopped to get some food in this buffet (which are all over the south) place called Ryan's. We were in a minority there as far as the color of our skin is concerned. As in, we were the only white people in the establishment. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Just sayin'.

So we have what is known as a solid hang there, and finaly set out on the highway west, toward the barren wasteland known as Mississippi. (The lady at moundsville I so ineffectivly tried to charm told us to roll up our windows and plow right through the big Mississip) We basically didnt stop as we drove through Americas second poorest state, the black highways and occasionally trucker our only company. We got hit by some pretty furious rain on the way through the state, but kept on trucking driving down the body of it, toward the coast. We were actually gunning for Louisiana, but had to settle for the border town of Picayne.

We got to Picayne and decided to stay in a hotel for the night. So Me, Land and Ryan made it happen and ran into a nameless girl at the desk who I christianed Vicky. She looked like a Vicky, whatever that means. She was wicked southern, but not the belle kind. More like a swamp land cinderella, and thats putting it nicely. Ayhow, we got our room, move our stuff in, and then explore the parking lot a bit. I went into Winn Dixie, a rare and unique supermarket that only exists in the deep south. There we bought rare Sodas, big Red and something else which name escapes me currently. We then called it a night, mostly.

Now, for college!


This year has already had its ups and downs, and only a week to experiance them. So I'm gonna highlight the highlights and scrouge up the lowlights for ya, right quick. Who knows, you might even enjoy it.

My classes are generally ok. A lot of reading, more then I am willing to do, honestly. I'll manage though, no worries. Scheduals not to bad, a few intense walks here and there to get across campus, but nothing heart breaking. Nice to see my friends again, but I miss those who arnt here anymore. Pat Storey came up, and it was a delight to see him as usual. Living with Gumbleton has been better then expected, but I wouldent call it good.

I guess thats it for now. Its late, I ahve class, blah bla blah /end.

How goes it?

First and formost, I am exhausted. Things are wiggling in front of me and I don't like it very much. I dont knwo how long ill be abl to mak this before exhaustion kicks in and I pass the F out! Anyway, here goes.

Day Three of the great southern trip!!!


This day was known quite simply as Alabama day. It was, perhaps, our most action packed day. We got up arly, rising with the very stars that happened to have fallen on Alabama, and raced toward the state line from our hotel in Georgia. It was an incredible feeling crossing into Alabama, as I feel it really encapsulates the heart of dixie. We stopped at the welcome center and took note of the new time zone, as Alabama is Mountain time, or something. We rocked out on incrediby comfy and cliche southern rocking chairs and then said adios, getting back into the SUV and blazing through northern Alabama.

We saw a sig for a flea market every sunday, somewhere near Decarur, Georgia. We couldent resist, and I doubt any of you readrs could eaither. We pull off the road and into this magical place where the southland is strong, and ride down a long dusty dirt road ( no joke) to this massive warehouse typ place. They wre slling melons and produce outside of the place, and then as we passd thorugh I could feel the hot stares of angry southerners as thy gawked at our MASSACHUSETTS plates. We entered, and I could write for days about this palce. The country people smoked freely in their stands, and th scnet of tobacco filled the already murky air. Confedrate paraphanalia abounds. I almost bought a CSA shirt, and no, I am not a confederate. Just to hav one, thats all. A man sold Ryan and Jim some variously flavord ciders, and I ended up buying a book for double the price it was marked at from a fat woman who wouldent show her face to me. Sketchy!

We left this place--rather hastily on the departure-- and got back on the interstate, with the destination of Alabamas largest city, Birmingham, in our hearts and on our minds. We drove for a while, and noticed more and more religiously themed overtones on the side of the high way. W eventually arrived in Bham, also known as the magic city, also known as Bombingham, also known as the most racist place in America, also known as th belt buckle of the bible belt! Your city can't stack up.

The streets were deserted.

I mean it. No one was walking the streets of a city almost 400,000 strong. It was incredible. A rouge exception explaind to us that this was becuase everyone was in church, ad it would be impossible for peopl to walk those incredibly wide and empty streat when they were getting their worship on. So we just walked the streets ourselves! But we encounterd a homeless man who asked us for change in the most complimntary fasion ever. We couldent oblige him.

We explored the city more, around UAB and th hospital. Then we left. I will return someday, birmingham. I have things yet to do with you.

After birmingham, we went out toward tuscaloosa, to Moundsville archeological park. Its a lot cooler then it sounds, and it actually sounds prtty cool. Lots of big ol' native American mounds and such.


I hate to do this, but im to tire to continue. I will finish this entry tommorow, with what happend today and the remainded of Alabama Day.

PCe

Wax poetical

Day 2 of the grat southern trip

This was the day that we went to Gettysburg, nice and early in the morning. We encountered an over eager historian type who told us about the park, then went on a short tour of the museum before getting out into the fields thmselves. There is something humbling and queting in walking through the fields where tns of thousand died and the fate of our nation was largely determined. We posed on top of monuments and lookd ovr the rocky outcrops to the battlefields below. After that, we decided to leave the park and make a bee-line toward Alabama, our destination for the third day of our journey.

We missed th supposed second sonic on th list, locatd in Winchester Virginia. We drove for what felt like forever before getting off the high way in the small town of Salem, Virginia. Here, we were able to find sonic, and wer greeted by a strange fellow bearing an excess of honey mustard and the nam tag that read "Fuzzy Lumpkin". This fine fellow decided to make a game of Ryans well known honey mustard infatuation, and smotherd him in an excess of the sweetest sauce. Ryan enjoyed it very much.

We then drove through what I consider to be the prettiest region we encountered in our trip, that of Western Virginia. It was rolling hills and farms, beautiful green land. It was gorgous, especcially th areas around blacksburg and christiansburg. We drove through Virginia into Tennessee, which stood in guady juxtoposition in comparison to the rural beauty that was W.Virginia. We stopped at a wafflehouse near Knoxville, and it was an experiance. Its a prerequisite to be overweight, miserable and otherwise mishapen to be employed by a wafflehouse in the Tn. Valley, if you were curious. From there we continued to Jettison southward, into rural westrn Georgia, where we found a hotel and stayed the night, watching olympic weight lifting (heavy weight women) until our eyes were weighed down into sleepy submission.

Now for today-

Slept in late, got up, mulled about. Didnt do much until my mother got home from work, when we then went to I-party for my fathers birthday, and bought im some cool stuff. She then took me out to Outback and w discussed some aspects of my life. There are so many things that only my mom knows about me. You can easily say we are extreamly close and feel no apprhension in doing so.

After that I guilted myself into working out, did alright. good military presses, but my legs were really sore so my explosivness in olympic lifting was not really there. Gotta improve that, thinking of buying some Glutamine.

Hung at the basement after that.

I am over the river that tore through the forrest earlier this summer, but the ocean of the year beggining is wide and I think I might b still stranded. I speak in illusion, but man do I miss what once was.

Rant suspended for the time being.

Quote too?

The long return

Th southern trip was great. It was eye opening, interesting, and altogether facinating. Plus it was a lot of fun just hanging out with my friends for a few days on the road. As it is such a long excursion, I am going to b chronicalling the happning in one day at a time intervals, combined with th other events in my life and the occasional rant. So this should b interesting.

Friday morning of last week, we all meet up at the Basement at our predetermined time. Me, Jim, CP, Lane and Ryan all pack our things up, and thn hit the road. Prior to leaving, howevr, we talk about the possibl sighting of bigfoot. Turns out it was all a hoax on the news, but it made for some intersting car time banter. We blaze down th highways at alarming pacs, stopping at th occsional rest stop to re-fill our provesions and strtch our legs. W make it to gettysburg Pennsylvania at the nd of the day, and set up our tent at a local camp ground to rest for the big day tommorow, which will be documented, coincidently, tommorow.

As for today in RL, nothing to exciting. Slept in for a bit, went wimming, worked out. I went to Kennys pig roast, which was pretty cool. Its always nice to see those guys again. Anyhow, after that I went to the basement, whre I was alone for a while. Then we went to the playgound and hung out for a while. For some reaosn, I felt wicked happy there, but then I becoma fairly miserable. I'm so moody sometimes it sickens me, honestly.

Rant time:

I dont feel like talking about anything in depth right now, so I guss I'll make this quick. Love is not a hoax. I have no intentions left me anymore, and I'm ok with that, honestly. But It might be a long and lonley road.

Life looks better from a star thats right above from where you are

This will be my last blog until at least next thursday, unless situations change and I come into contact with a computer. Today was my last day at work, and I am glad to be done with that place. I have honestly never been around more miserable people trapped in a life they dont enjoy then when I am there. The scary part is, I have a sinking feeling that Mico isint that unusual as far as work places go. But a I know I am destined for education, hopefully I'll be able to avoid all that.

I suppose that that is a bit of an anouncement, so I guess I'll make it now. I decided a few months ago that I am going to work in education, in ome capacity anyway. Probably a high school or middle school teacher, although I toy with the idea of working at a community college. Also, a big part of me wants to work in ESL in other countrys. After I graduate, I'm going to teach english in Asian for a year. Should be fun. Its nice to have ome idea of what I'm going to be doing with myself down the line I suppose. The ultimate goal, as always, is to be a writer, but as anyone who write knows, one mut write to be a writer, and I just dont write that often. I wish I did, and I easily could, but I just don;t. No explanation, just excuses. But what happens to a dream defered? I'd rather not know, and I promise you my name will be in print down th way.

Also, I am looking into getting an olympic weight lifting coach and sriously dedicating myself to the training of strength athletics. I have a lut for glory, for individual exaltation, and I will not be sated until I achave that which I apire to. Lets see how far I can take this, shall we?

LAter tonight, I watched the Olympics. It was the Female Gymnastics individual finals, and I had two heavy favorites in Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin. I find thm both very attractive, and alo athltic. Does it speak to my inherent sexism that I chose that order for the words? Maybe. Anyway, Nastia got gold and Shawn Johnson got silver, so it was definetly a success. Hopefully they will be back for more a few years down the line.

It's rant time....


Todays topic....Insomnia- Fact or Fiction, and arnt you to tired to tell anyway?

I have a lot of troubl getting to sleep a lot of the time. Most ights of the week, epccially lately, I'm lucky if I get 5 hours. Then I generally gt a two hour nap in the aftrnoon. Whil I dont think that thi qualifys me for Inomniac status, I do belive that I should be catching more Z's than I am, especcially as I considr myself a strngth athlete and les recovery time means less time to train means les progress. But I digress. Is Insomnia a real diase, or i it all in your head?

I find that the reason I cant sleep is uually an ovractive mind. I reflct on the days evnts, and soemtim major life themes and motiffs. It an odd xperiance, and even though I waste aay with little to no sleep, I end up being a bit more knowldgabl to my inner self then I was. but I'm getting off topic. Is it a real condition, or do I ust have to much going on to rest my weary mind?

Well, I alrady said I dont have insomnia, so I guess I'm not the person to ask. But I dont nccisarily belive it legit.

I need more interesting rant topics....



Quote "Me, we". Shortest commencement speach ever delivered, Mohammad Ali to th graduating clas of Harvard some random year.


Dunno when I'll be back, Love you all!


-DH

What is up with me?

I get o moody, and nothing triggers it. I really dont undertand it. I can go from having a blast to being bummed out in the blink of an eye. I wonder if everyone i thi way? Today wa ok, worked, came home, took a short nap then went to the movies. Hung out with some new people, and I'm sure I'll be getting to know them better as time goes on. Anyway, I have a headache and I'm a bit overtired, but the blog must go on. So here goes nothing.

Sometimes Irish muic really relaxes me. Othertimes I think that its not even really Irih muic that I like, but rather Americanized irish muic. Which bring me to todays rant. National Allegiance: tribute to who you are or standing on a pedestal made of race?

I was born in Winchester, Massachusetts, which conincidently i also one of my least favorite places in the world. But that not the point. Being born on American soil, I am 100% American. I have actually never left the country, and only once have been across the Mississippi river. So I'm very much born and raied in America. However, when people ask my nationality, I have never said 100% American. I identify most strongly with my Irish and German roots, although apparently I have a good deal of English blood in my veins as well. (My family hail from Coventry, if you were at all curious). Is this right?

Well, I have never been to Ireland or Germany. Neither have my parents. If you go back far enough, someone has, but i have almost nothing in common with that person culterally. Be like me and a true german having lunch together proba bly. Having never left America, how can i claim any allegiance to any other nation? In reality, I'm American, and nothing else. But why is that so....boring.

I am probably les bored then most, as I love American lore and history. But still, comparitivly, it much les interesting then the complex and ever chngn hitories or thoe other nations. Theres something empowering about having come from knights and lords, as opposed to shoe shiners from long island and salesman from des moines.

Anyway, im to tired or this right now. More tommorow, then none for a bit.

On today, nd my key is stuck!

Hello readers. Hope all is well with you. Tody was exhusting. I barely slept at all last night, so for the first thrid of the day I was quite the zombie. I hate not being well rested, but I made it through the day and slept like a baby this afternoon. Workout went well, but I did not have the fire like I should. Next time, I hope.

Onto the rant! (Ps: I promise these will get lot better once I go back to school, as my life will probbly be more exciting and ill lso have no time constraints in which to write. I'll probably feture some new aspects to it, different parts. Should be fun!)

Rant: Naturalism, and finding wonder in the strangest and most normal places.

I was wlking over to the basement tody, and I saw meteor. It streaked acrss the sky in blaze of white light, and then it was gone back into the drkness of the night. I then remembered tht tody was the lst day that the persids, or the Tears of Saint Lawrence, were supposed to be visable. So I thought about it, and had my head cocked u to the sky for the rest of the walk to the door. It blew me way. Here I was, thinking about my workout and what I need to improve upon, and a huge rock burns up in the atmpsphere above me, leaving a trail of light. It was like a miracle. It made me really appriciate the wonders of the world, the under bellys of leafs and the strange swarm ming of ant colonies. The world is a mystery, and when I see things like that it makes me think about how it would be hard for everything to have just happened. Surely something must have designed something as complex as the human body. But Evolution makes sense to, and perhaps the designer is just trial and error, what works and what doesent. but maybe its not. No way to tell. I'd argue that the fact that science exists at all, that there are a set of rules and principals to which everything in existnce is goverened, is more evidence of a designer then any biological feat. How coincidental is that that everything happens to make sense? Obviously something is going on here. God or no god, and I dont believe he is neccisarily benevolant if he exists, the world is still a marvoulous place filled with stuff that routinely blows my mind on the daily. For all the bad inside of it, theres a lot of interesting shizzle.

Quote!

"All good things are wild, and free"- Henry David Therou

Against my better judgement

Against my better judgement, I am still awake and have decided to blog. So here goes.

Today was average. Work went fast, followed by a quick nap, the a great workout session. hung at the basement afterwards. Thats about it. I'll speed up and go to the rant.

Rant: Diary of Anne Frank

This book is powerful. There is no debate about this. I am reading the diary of a young girl who lived through, and eventually died under, one of the worst situations in all of modern history. Its incredible. It just makes the entire dark situation seem all the more real and human to me, to read the thoughts and desires of this girl not so unlike myself. I remember being her age and thinking so many similar thoughts. I have actually grown a bit of an affection for Anne Frank. Shes a great protagonist and its incredible to glimpse through her eyes at a world I can hardly fathom, let alone understand. And she makes it all the realer, and thus more crushingly sad, along the way.

There are some people in this worl who think the book is fake, writte by Otto Frank, her father, as a way of validating the supposedly "False" holocaust. This is ridiculous, and holocaus deniers must seriously be drinking some strong koolaid. For gods sake, ther are phtographs and body counts. There are many many people still alive today who lived through it all, and saw the five chimineys of Auschwitz with their own eyes, who tasted typhus at Bergen and generally were treated as animals or a time. Its revolting to me to deny such a thing. Thie argument is that she writes at a level that the typical 13-15 year old girl in this time period would not be capable of. I think a better argument would be to deny the holocaust ever happened because it contradicts so many basic human truths, and leaves me absoulutly faithless in humanity. Theres no way something so grotesque, so disturbing and all encompassing that even still it evades my comprehension could have happend. Except it definetly did. so is it so unbelivable that a 14 year old girl could have cptured the actions of these monsters in an eloquent manner? I'll leave you to decide.

The attitude she has throughout the book is unbelivable. I dont know that I know anyone today who could see something beautiful in that type of darkness. Anne Frank, rest in peace. You are a beautiful person, and honestly, your diary is a testament, a shining hope for man kind. If a young girl can love and hope and wonder in times as dark as Holland, 1945, then maybe theres something worthwhile out there after all.


In the immortal words of Anne Frank- "Despite everything, I truly believe that people are really good at heart"

Tommorows post- A recap of a mindless day, followed by a discussion about birds. Or anything else.

Its been a while

Its been a few days since I last blogged and honestly I have no excuse for it. Just been taking it easy I guess. I'm gonna try to blog extensivly this week as I'll be going on a roadtrip pretty soon and wont have internet access for the most part. Anyway, here we go.

Today I didnt do much. Slept in pretty late, got up and felt very sore. I had a pretty good workout yesterday doing the olympic lifts. The Snatch is one of my new favorites, I think I'm gonna start training those more often and hopeully compete sometime soon. It was a lot of fun. Anyway, I woke up this morning and generally did nothing for a few hours. Then me, Jaclyn, Crescenzo, Ed and Clark went to see Pineapple Express. It was alright, but I dont think it lived up to the hype. Then I came home and ate dinner, rediscovered the show freaks and geeks and watched that for a while, then went to the basement. Lane and I mapped out the Great southern Trip, or the most part, and I'm feeling a lot better about it overall now.

I have no idea what I want to blog about.

This could be a problem

I guess I'm going to blog about something really random. I'm actually going to go to Wikipedia, hit the random article thing, and use that for inspiration.

IQ tests

I dont know how much faith I put in these tests. They seem sort of arbitrary, and not an indicator of real world success. I have always done pretty well on them, and I dont think I'm any better off for having done so. honestly, I think Emotional intelligence, like how you relate to people and empthize, is much more important. Still, I think IQ tests, if anything, are indicitive of someones potential to learn something. to pick up on something quickly. All these child genius types do very well, and gifted societies use them as a cut off for their programs. So who knows, maybe a test can tell me if I have it in my to be a genius. The real task, dear readers, is turning the key and activating it. Tapping into your potential. So many smart people let countless oppertunites rush by them by becasuse they are to lazy, or perhaps afraid, to accept a real challenge when it comes a'knockin. No more of that. Conquest. Take the world, if your capable.


"Many people let oppertunity pass them by because its wearing overalls and dressing up like hard work"