This post is about three things.

1. 24 hours until I'll be on the road.  I'll actually be on the road in less than that time, but I know that within that time, I will actually be driving "east" on I-40 back to Cookeville.  Hooray!

2. 24, Season 6, will be premiering on Sunday with a double-header.  Then, on Monday, there will be TWO MORE EPISODES!  Holy cow, I won't be sleeping.  For those of you not already into 24 (which is most of you reading this, I'd wager), you may not want to start with season 6.  Find the older seasons on DVD and catch up; it'll be better for you in the long run.

3. 24 hours until I'll be on the road!  And 24 returns this weekend!

TIHS IS TEH BES THTING EVEr!!11!??


So, now that I'm finished with my channeling of Connie, I say goodbye until tomorrow.

If all goes according to plan, 72 hours from now, I will have been on the road for about an hour on my way back to school!

Hooray!

I've got a secret, and tomorrow's going to be fun!

It's a new year now, and, as I am wont to do, I spent the evening looking back over the past year at how I've changed and grown.  Since this time last year, I've dated two more girls, lost my viriginity, had my first drunken night of puking, had my first drunken night of fun, been to Philadelphia, seen a few plays, worked my ass off, goofed my ass off, seen about 30 movies, earned a few thousand dollars, spent a few thousand dollars, made some new friends, lost some old ones, and alienated a few more family members (they deserve it).  As for my spiritual and emotional development, well...I can't really describe that, but I have a feeling that people around me can tell, and that's what's important.

So, my new year's resolutions are these:
01. Keep this girlfriend; she's my favorite thus far (as indicated by the fact that I'm still with her)
02. Lose my fat
03. Build some muscle
04. Re-attain full membership in the Honors Program
05. Get along better with my parents
06. Whine less
07. Spend a few more drunken nights with the girl in Resolution #1  ;)
08. Play soccer again (hopefully!)
09. Let my knee heal (before I do #8)
10. Finish the books I've started
11. Start new books
12. Spend more time with friends who will be leaving in 2008
13. Canoodle
14. Write some more songs
15. Get the hell out of the dorms
16. Improve my piano skills
17. (vastly) Improve my singing skills
18. Start scoping out bars in preparation for April 7, 2008

That should start me off well...I can probably keep 3 or 4 of them.

So I've noticed that I've been in a negative mood lately in my posts.  I'm going to try to be better about that this time...

I got a knee brace, and it makes my knee feel better whenever I'm active.  I also finished Season 5 of 24, which is a totally rocking show.  I enjoyed Christmas, more or less; I could have done with much less interaction, but it was nice to play piano for Granddaddy.  I've started writing 3 different songs, probably for my musical if I ever get anywhere but the intros.

See?  I can be positive.  Now for the complaining (since I'm much better at it due to my continual practice)...

Just kidding!  I'm good, aside from missing my friends in Cookeville.  I can't wait to get back up there.

I went to see Dreamgirls tonight.  I went in hoping that it would be a great movie and wonderfully received and the like.  WRONG!

The song numbers were uninteresting and stereotypical, the character development was nigh non-existent, and the crowd was terrible.  Read my title, and if you want to continue, go for it.

I tend to be fairly non-racist.  I will make many racist remarks for humor, but I don't really hold these ideas to be true.  Tonight was one of the nights that push me that way.  In my dealings with African Americans, the only two emotions I observe are amusement and anger.  For example, in the movie, it's a particularly heart-breaking scene that had me slightly emotional.  However, because a black woman just told a black man off, the crowd erupted into laughter and applause.  After that wonderful scene of beautiful acting, the best the actors get is the rowdy guffaw of an overly zealous ethnocentric crowd?  I wanted for this movie to be the one to offer more than typical Black Movie fare (i.e. Soul Plane, etc.), but I was sorely disappointed.

So, coming from this movie as uninspired and disappointed in my fellow Memphians, I can't recommend it.  I'll try it again later on my own, but I'm not sure if it can save my hopes.

I like to characterize a true visit home as having satisfied two separate criteria - Abuse and Chewing Off of the Ass

The Abuse can just be the constant picking and pestering of my brothers or my Dad's wonderfully down-trodding speeches.

The Chewing Off of the Ass is reserved entirely for Dad; it could be one of the above speeches (two different speeches are needed; no double-dipping on these requirements), a blown-out-of-proportion problem, or some such retarded thing designed to humiliate me into fitting his mold.  Humiliation, yes.  Fitting into mold, no chance in hell.

So, as of breakfast yesterday morning, this has been a true visit home.   I can't wait to get back to Tech.

So it's the 9 pm Christmas service at my church in Memphis, and I'm just chilling in the video booth, sipping on a frappucino, and marvelling at the youth of others.  It's weird - I see other Phusers who were born 6 years after me spouting out their bits of wisdom just as I did.  Then I look the other way and see the Phusers, you know, 30 years older than me, seeing me spouting out my little bits of "wisdom."  At every stage in my development, I think that my problems, my complaints, my ideas, are the pinnacle of human thought, while those I had before or those that others my age and younger have aren't worth a hoot and holler, but I tend to forget the fact that there are people who have progressed farther beyond me and have complaints or ideas that are actually valid. 

So answer me this: is there any chance that I will ever reach a point at which I will cease to think that I am at the apex of humanity?

I just don't like the vast majority of humanity.  I mean, let's face it: when other drivers, your family, and most of the people you would have called friends all push you to your breaking point within an hour or so of contact, it's a bad thing.  I can count on one hand the number of people who don't just drive me up the wall after a barely prolonged amount of time with them, and they're all in Middle Tennessee.

Also, if someone asks you why they didn't know you were coming back into town, the correct response is never "If you had called me in the last 6 months, you might have known" under any circumstances.  Apparently, you should say something along the lines of, "I am so so sorry!  Next time I will email you a copy of my entire schedule with highlighted time slots during which we can hang out if it matches with your planner."

Bastards.

So I've been trying to figure out a way to get Brittany down here after New Year's, and my parents have been a little unrelentingly against the idea.  Well, as luck would have it, her dad sold his tool truck, and has to deliver it to Memphis, and she is being forced against her will to come to Memphis and have lunch with me.

As you can imagine, she is incredibly upset about all of this, but I selfishly am looking forward to it.  ;)

Life goes on.  Went to Aunt Dink's funeral today.  Turns out I was wrong - she was 92, the same age her sister (my great-grandmother) was when she died.  What are the odds?  That means I'm stuck with my evil aunt for another 50 years; I'll probably die first.

Anyway, I'm in Memphis (as I said already), and I wish I was in Cookeville or, even better, Sparta, TN.  I miss my friends and this one particular girl; my family I can do with or without...maybe I could bring Jason back with me and he can drop out of school and work and we can just hang out and stuff...

Yeah, right.

I've got a 3.3 cumulative GPA.  Not good, but not bad.  I'll have it up to 3.5 next semester and keep slowly pressing it higher over time.  I'm checked out of my dorm, have everything loaded up in the car, and am finishing up a few last Christmas cards.  So now I'm wasting time in the Office because I'm just too nice to take my free time for myself.  What can I say?  I would feel too guilty.  I'll have fun tonight.

So my great-aunt Dink died today.  It wasn't too much of a blow or too unexpected because she was approaching 200 years old...seriously, though, she was in her 80's, so we were expecting it soon.  Anyway, I'm off to a party, so I'm happy!

Okay, so I've gotten all of my finals finished.  My grades so far: French (C), Social Psych (B), and Developmental Psych (B).  I'll get my Biology grade sometime soon, but I'm expecting A or B.  Probably a B.

I was going to say something else, but it's not that important.  Now I've got three days and four parties.  Hoorah.

On Friday, I drove to Memphis with Brittany (my woman) and James (my friend).  We got to my house and talked to my parents for a while (it went surprisingly well...a pleasant surprise), then we watched a movie and talked and ate leftovers until 3 in the morning when, since Brittany and I kept dozing off, James went to bed, then Brittany went to bed, the I cured cancer and went to bed.  Unfortunately, since my handwriting degrades as I get more tired, I couldn't read the formula for the cure the next morning and cancer is still uncured.
So on Saturday, we went to Brad's BBQ (my favorite barbecue restaurant in the world), then I got a haircut from Little Joe (who is slower than his dad, Joe).  As I drove downtown, I made an error and we were in Memphis calling for directions.  The play started at 2.  Had it not been for that burning Methodist church a few months back closing the roads, we would have been there earlier.  However, because we ended up detouring all over downtown Memphis, we got there at 2:02, missing the prelude.  No biggie.  The play was good (at least, I enjoyed it); afterward, we went walking in Memphis *insert drumroll sound* and I showed them the Pyramid, the River, the New Bridge, the Old Bridge, the Peabody, and, from the roof of the Peabody, just about everything else in downtown Memphis.  We went to church (it started at 5:30, we got there at 6) and they met Brian, my former boss, and a few other friends of mine.  After that we went home, packed up, and left.
From the house, I took them to 6 Flags over Jesus (a.k.a. Bellevue Baptist Church), Central Baptist School (where I attended from K5-12th grade), and the house in which I grew up, which we sort of sped by, U-turned, and re-sped by because I don't like that part of town.  At all.  We also almost stopped at Kari's house and introduced Brittany as my fiance' because I hate her, but I remembered that Kari works with my cousin and I would get in trouble eventually if I did that.  So I imagined doing it for half an hour and laughed an evil laugh.  Drove back, got Brittany home at about 2:30, crashed on her couch until 6:30, then drove back to Tech where I crashed again and am now studying for my exams.

Now, for my exams...
In Social Psych, I need to make an 87/135 in order to make a B and a 123/135 (91%) in order to make an A.  I don't have the book for that class yet, so I'm iffy about the A.
In Developmental, I need to make an 87/135 in order to make a B and a 132/135 (98%) in order to make an A.  I shall try for an A; I do have the book for this class.
In French, I need to make an 82/100 in order to make a B; I can't make an A in there.
In Biology, I need to make somewhere around an 85/100 in order to make an A.  I can pull that off fairly easily.

A few quick notes, now...I missed about 50% of my Developmental classes, and can still get an A if I'm lucky.  I missed two tests in French, and can still get a B.  I don't have the book in Social and can still get an A if I'm lucky.  I'm not going to talk about Biology; I was there every day and had the book and did all of the work.

I feel encouraged by this.

I saw the Lion King on stage at TPAC last night.  I knew I was in for a great show when I teared up during the opening number - the sheer beauty of the set, the costumes, the music, the harmony of the voices...it all got to me.  Anyway, the cast just kept delivering on every song, every line; it was so fabulous, I want to go back and see it again tonight.  But I can't.

Anyway, I enjoyed myself, and I want to say that, if you ever get a chance to see it, SEE IT!  Seriously...I've never recommended  stage performance as strongly as this one.

Well, I got one friend back, so that's good.  And my roommate is living down the hall because he's "allergic to the mold" in my room.  There's no mold.  It's that he hasn't done his laundry from soccer in two months, and when he moved it onto his bed during the flood, he caught a whiff of it and it funked up his system.  How do I know this?  When talking to a friend the other night, I sat on his bed, and in less than 30 seconds, I was sneezing, my eyes were watering, and my head hurt.  I don't think it's mold, but what do I know?

Where do I sleep?
Who do I talk to?
What do I do?

So far this semester, I'm down 5 friends from Tech, 8 or 9 from high school, I've got a room that smells like feces and has water seeping up around the tiles whenever there's any pressure applied, traitorous peoples abound, idiotic people harass, and I'm stuck here having myself a nice pity party because I have no clue where to find a place to sleep.  I would, you know, use my bed, but because of the current floor condition, I have to have things piled on the bed (my shelves and all surfaces are covered with my and my roommate's belongings, like books and such) and therefore can not sleep on said bed.

I'm tired and I'm whiney.

Bleh...

Here I am, sitting around in the Lounge because at 1:30 am today, the friggin dorm flooded from Exploded Toilet Syndrome.  One guy flushed and it started spraying a bit, so while he was trying to find an RA or a maintenance person or some such thing, some moron from down the hall grabbed a wrench so he could "fix it."  He broke it worse and sprayed water all over the place.  It leaked down through the lobby floor and into the rooms on both sides of mine.  From there, it flowed out into my hallway and into my room.  By the time it was all said and done, there were ~3-4 inches of water in my floor.  I'm not happy.

Okay, so I was listening to some clips from Chris Daughtry's cd.  He rocks.  He's amazing.  My man-crush on him has intensified.  I can't wait until Christmas so I can get his cd and revel in the glory that is his voice.

Maybe I am getting a little too deep in this...

Thought I'd toss this one up here, since I like doing this on my blogs:


Normal Academic Term: 1/16/2007 to 4/27/2007



Time

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday


10:00AM

  

  

  

  

  

  

  


11:00AM

 SPAN-2020 SH 212 

  

 SPAN-2020 SH 212 

  

 SPAN-2020 SH 212 

  

  


12:00PM

 POLS-1000 MH 353 

 PSY -3010 FB 309 

 POLS-1000 MH 353 

 PSY -3010 FB 309 

 POLS-1000 MH 353 

  

  


01:00PM

 POLS-1000 MH 353 

 PSY -3010 FB 309 

 POLS-1000 MH 353 

 PSY -3010 FB 309 

 POLS-1000 MH 353 

  

  


02:00PM

 PSY -4160 FB 309 

  

 PSY -4160 FB 309 

  

  

  

  


03:00PM

 PSY -4160 FB 309 

  

 PSY -4160 FB 309 

  

  

  

  


04:00PM

  

  

  

  

  

  

  


05:00PM

  

  

  

  

  

  

  


06:00PM

 HIST-2010 HH 114 

  

  PSY 4923 TBA


  

  

  

  


07:00PM

 HIST-2010 HH 114 

  

  PSY 4923 TBA 



  

  

  

  


08:00PM

 HIST-2010 HH 114 

  

  
  PSY 4923 TBA

  

  

  

  

So I got back from Philly to find Paige in bed with a former friend of mine (former as of Sunday).  Then I got a call from my roommate today when I had just gotten to Memphis telling me that he and Paige are now dating.  Is there a reason to be a bit perturbed by this?

In a few short hours, I will be boarding a plane and heading to Philadelphia, the "City of Brotherly Love" and whatnot.  Never been there before, but I've heard from good sources that, not only is it in the North, it is also colder than the South.  BOOOOOOOO!

What is it with cold?  We need more global warming so we can get rid of the cold.  Sounds good to me.  What do ya'll think?

If things go according to plan, then I should have 75 hours completed at the end of the Spring semester, including 15 Honors hours and two colloquia, so if I take 15 hours/semester for the next three semesters and maintain my 3.5, I'll be graduating in cursu after the Fall 2008 semester.

Or, I could just do 12 hours/semester for the next four semesters to graduate after Spring 2009 with a better chance of keeping my GPA up.  We'll see.

Well, I've been reading Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis, and in one part of it, he was talking about how we are supposed to live today like it's our last day because Christ told us such.  Well, it's something I've always struggled with - I want to plan for tomorrow, the next day, and every day after that what classes I'll take, what job I'll have, who I'll marry, how many kids I'll have, when I'll retire, where I'll live...I like to have some sense of certainty about it.
Well, something about how he said it must have struck (or would it be stricken there?) me differently from the other times I've read such things because I actually acted on it for about 40 seconds, which was long enough for me to recant what I said in my last post, plus take care of a few other things.  A lot can happen in 40 seconds, believe you me.  So yeah, Josh was right even before he said anything on the last post.  AND IT'S NOT MY IMPATIENCE.  Just wanted to use that disclaimer.  I'm blaming this one on God instead of me  ;)

Anyway, in less happy news, I was being a moron last night, as I am wont to do, and I was running down the hall (as we tend to do here) with a USB plug-in card for this guy's wireless mouse (I had stolen the card, then told the guy I was faster than him, which I was), so he was chasing me.  Well, in the middle of our hallway, for some stupid reason, the floor drops two steps, so there are two stairs on either side of this drop.  When I dropped (surprise, surprise), my knee made that poopy popping sound and I hit the ground hard, unleasing a torrential downpour of less-than-kind words about the floor's parentage.  Anyway, needless to say, my walking has once again been hindered.  Bah.