Holiday Time

It’s the night before Christmas and I can’t wait for morning. I just put the last log on the fire and turned off most of the lights. It's almost time to go to bed and dream about all the new toys i will find under the Christmas tree in the morning. Yay!!!

Exams

The semester is over and all that is left are final exams. I spent most of the weekend working on the essay questions my history professor gave us. Essentially he gives us the questions that will be on the exam so that we know what will be on it. Unfortunatly the questions are very specific and he demands perfection from our responses. One wrong move can take an essay from an A to a B or even a C if you are not careful. It’s a fine line to walk.

In between studying I managed to find time to clean the apartment. By the way, the room mate has moved out. Kevin needed to head back to TC in preparation for yet another move. This will be taking him out to Texas where his girlfriend is planning to buy a house. He plans to move in with her once it is purchased and start his life yet again in a new state. Bless that boy for his tenacity but I think he is going a little extreme. I tried to understand the sudden urgency to pack up and head back home. I guess not having to pay rent or bills is a major factor. There is a lot about that situation that confuses me. For one, I find it odd that he refuses to make any long term commitments to his own well being. Willingness to put others ahead of yourself is noble for sure and an admirable trait, but what good is that when you have problems paying your own bills? If all this time at the university and living on your own is that life takes some serious planning. I hope everything turns out well in the end, but for now I am concerned.

My brother stopped by this afternoon to say hi and to get some lunch. We watched a few episodes of Star Trek Deep Space Nine and he helped me clean a bit before heading off for other adventures. I like his random visits. He has been complaining about his out of date computer for months so for Christmas my mom and I are going to get him some parts for a new computer. He will end up having to spend a little money to finish the project but we will spend the money on the essentials. I got him an AMD X2 dual core 6400+ as well as a motherboard, power supply and a really nice case. That should get him started; even though I will be the one to put it together. C’est la vive.

I managed to snag a few good visits to Holly’s place this weekend too. Man she makes a killer good cup of coffee. We sat out on her patio and smoked a little while we talked. She recently broke up with her boyfriend of over a year and a half but despite her broken heart has managed to snag a date this week with a new boy. She has got it going on! I am impressed; the new guy pretty good looking too.

I am so getting drunk after exams are over on Wednesday. I don’t care if anyone else can. If I have to I will just go get me a bottle of gin and party at home. No, I’m not an alcoholic…

Recap

Holy crap it’s been a long time! Ok here goes:

Thanksgiving was fun. Before I even left campus to start my trip to TC I was in a car accident. Fortunately no one was hurt; however I now have a hole in my bumper where the gas lid of the other car dug in. The day after thanksgiving I had to go to the doctor and got a prescription for antibiotics, yeah it was that bad.

Came back home and started doing catch up for school as I do not believe in doing homework over break. The beginning of last week sucked for the most part. Piles of homework, projects, papers, and tests all were coming due. Thankfully on Wednesday I caught a small break in my management class when I got back my paper. A B+, now that’s not bad considering where I started out in that class. The professor was also impressed with my presentation of the paper in which he continued to use my examples and terminology for the rest of the lecture.

Interestingly though, I was invited to an “adult” toy party after class on Wednesday. My friend the bartender was hosting it at his place and it was only a few miles from me. So I decided to check it out. All I have to say is, interesting, and that I am not telling if I bought anything. Ha!

Thursday I missed my alarm to wake up my friend Scott so we could meet up with his friends for breakfast at a great little dive called Wolfgang’s... I think… The spelling might be off. Anyways, we missed them but decided to stay and have breakfast anyway. That was tasty.

The week ended and I began work on my history paper that was due on Tuesday. I work all weekend long only stopping briefly to meet with Holly for coffee and to meet someone I met. He turned out to be a really nice, charming, Latino guy. We spent 2.5hrs chatting. Clearly we got along well. That was Friday.

Saturday began with more homework and honestly the rest of the weekend became a blur of frantic work on both my history paper and statistics exam. Neither of which I finished until Monday night of this week.

Today I turned in both my exam and my history paper. After speaking with my statistics professor I am starting to feel a little better about our final exam in that class. Since this is his first time teaching the class and he has not even started writing it yet, he took some of my suggestions under advisement. He is an awesome professor!

Ok, I think I am all caught up. Sooo… sleepy…. More tomorrow, if there is time.

Home Again

I made it back home safely Sunday evening. The drive was uneventful, although there seemed to be a lot more cops on the road once I hit Michigan than there were in Illinois or Indiana. It’s funny since Michigan has the faster overall speed limit. At least I ended up traveling the fastest through Michigan than I did through the other states.

It was cold and a little rainy as I made my way back home. None the less I still enjoyed the drive, mainly because I think the weather kept most people at home instead of venturing out onto the road.

When I finally made it back to the apartment I unpacked, checked my email, played a game of Stronghold Crusader, and went to bed. Today was a standard Monday. There is nothing new to report. Next week however, is Thanksgiving break and I cannot wait! Three days off that I will spend visiting friends and family in TC. I will have to make good use of my time while I am up north.

Chicago By Foot

Kristin was kind enough to make me breakfast this morning consisting of a spinach and mozzarella frittata, scone cake, and English tea. Now that I say is the right way to recover from a night on the town.

After finishing breakfast we started to discuss our plans for the day. We tossed around the idea of heading to a museum to see some of the exhibits, but most of them were very expensive and ill timed. Our other option was to try out the planetarium; unfortunately this also was a bit pricey and did not fit our schedule very well. However, the one thing I was truly interested in was exploring the city. So we put on our walking shoes and hit the town.

We started on 9^th street and walked to Grant Park I believe. We walked from block to block seeing the sites and snapping photos. We eventually made our way to the magnificent mile, a section of Michigan ave. where all the nicest shops were located. We stopped at a coffee shop near the end of the magnificent mile to warm up a bit and to get some coffee and a hotdog shop for a Chicago style hotdog, no lie its not just with pizza. It was a beautiful day, however it was windy and about 50 degrees. By the end of the day I was freezing.

The entire experience was amazing. I must have taken a few hundred photos of the city as well as a few of Kristin and I. Once the sun started to set and I no longer had enough light to take pictures, we realized that we were very hungry. So we headed back to the car and took a quick driving tour of the University of Chicago as well as Wriggly field before meeting up with her room mate and her boyfriend at a quaint little hole in the wall sushi restaurant.

It was a tiny restaurant, clearly catering to locals and it took forever to get a table but it was worth it. We ate until we were sick, the sushi was so delicious. It was all you can eat and the sushi rolls were enormous.

After we finished, we headed home for some down time. Kristin and I are contemplating getting dressed up again and heading back into town to check out Boystown. However, it has been an eventful weekend already and we are both pretty tired so I am not sure if we will or not. If we do we probably will not be out nearly as late as we were last night. And if we don’t go I am sure I will be back to visit sometime and we can spend a whole lot more time down there. I guess I should get a little rest now and see how we feel in an hour or so.

Chicago Style

I am taking a short rest after arriving at Kristin’s place in Chicago. The overall drive was easy until I hit I-90 just south of the Eisenhower (I-290). The final ten miles took probably as long as my entire trip through Illinois had been up to that point.

Kristin is her bubbly effervescent self, and greeted me with hugs and laughter. After a quick nap we will be heading downtown to a Mediterranean restaurant where we will meet up with a few more of her friends for a night of drinking, eating and merriment. I can’t wait!

Weird Dream

A series of very weird and disturbing dreams startled me out of bed this morning. I wish I could remember the details but unfortunately the stress and distraction of the day’s events has eroded my memory.

I distinctly remember two separate scenes; one was of being back in Key West and the other being in an apartment that I do not recognize off the top of my head. There was a correlation between the two dreams however; I cannot remember exactly what it was. It is very frustrating to not be able to remember more details about these dreams. Clearly they were potent as they were able to startle me out of a dead sleep and leave me disoriented for sever seconds.

Exam Time

I swear to god I am going to do well on this exam. I stayed for the review in class, I studied over the weekend, and I am studying right now. Or at least I was up until a few minutes ago. I need to take a break and rest my brain.

I guess some might argue that I have been neglecting my schoolwork while spending more time than I should socialize. What can I say, I like people! Damn it all sometimes I need a distraction from school and if that means heading to the club Friday night and having a few drinks and getting a few phone numbers than what the hell!

Seriously, you would think the way some of these professors prattle on about how important the topic is that we as human beings would be hard pressed to survive without it. I personally think that most of my professors seem to be taking themselves a little too seriously this semester. Whether it be the time of year or dissatisfaction with the economic situation in the state is beyond my ability to discern. I was always told to leave my problems at the door when I went to work. Apparently this is not the case for those working in higher education.

I still plan to go out with my bartender friend tomorrow after this wretched exam, even though I may not be in a favorable mood. I don’t get to see him very often and when I do he is usually working. I will not take any of my frustration with poor grades or graduation issues out on him, but I'm sure it may be amusing to listen to me rant about it for a while.

Back to work. And you thought your job was rough.

Halloween

I know it’s a little late. I am a little behind on the postings, not my fault. Stupid school getting in the way of my life, how dare it! Ok, Cliff’s notes; Halloween was fun, didn’t dress up but did go out for a celebratory dinner and then spent the evening in the company of a significant other. At precisely midnight I lit some candles and began to meditate. Some strange images flew through my head but for the most part fairly uneventful. It was hard to concentrate with so many people moving nearby.

School has been taking its toll. Papers are coming due and there seems to be a test every week for one class or another. On top of the day to day activities my advisor is doing his usual absolute minimum to help me prepare for graduation. I am trying to get some flexibility when it comes to my senior project. The company I interned with over the summer is beginning a major project and it would be a great opportunity for me. However, the administration of GVSU feels differently of course. They are very reluctant to allow deviation from the standard senior project. We will see how good my powers of persuasion are I suppose.

All in all decent for the most part; Daylight savings has kicked my butt and have been tired and irritable since Sunday. I can’t wait for thanksgiving break.

Sick Day

You know when you just don’t feel like going to class? You don’t feel all that great, there really isn’t anything new going on, and the next assignment isn’t due yet? Well I guess that’s what my History of Warfare professor thought.

It’s my own fault for not checking my email before class. So when I arrived at my classroom this afternoon bright eyed and bushy tailed I saw the sign on the door that tells me that class has been cancelled. Uh! Oh well, I am ok with taking a little drive. It was a beautiful day today. So after I got back from campus I called a friend of mine, Scott, and we had lunch together.

He is a really nice guy, loves video games. He just bought an xBox 360 about a week ago. Yeah, yeah I know heresy! How could he not get a Wii. Well there were two good reasons. One, one of his most favorite games is on the xbox 360, Blue Dragon. It’s an RPG and actually I watched him play it for a while, its pretty cool! Second, the Wii is still in short supply. I have not seen a Wii in a store since I bought mine almost a year ago. It is crazy that Nintendo is not increasing production in order to meet demand. Oh well, I guess it’s the Japanese honorable thing about keeping your word. Bless them! I love Nintendo! Amen.

Recuperation

I went to the club last night with my friend AJ to listen to some live music and chat with my bartender friend. Oh yeah! We finally had our coffee date and we seem to hit it off really well. I even got a kiss to end the night, how awesome is that?! So AJ and I sat at the bar and listened to music and chatted. After a few drinks we were feeling pretty good and somehow got to talking about weird things to do when you are bored. One of his suggestions was tying a maraschino cherry stem into a knot in your mouth. Intrigued, I asked how it was done and he said that it can’t be shown but that you just have to learn how you do it on your own.

Determined to unlock the mystery of the knotted maraschino cherry stem I asked my bartender friend for some maraschino cherries. With an inquisitive look I got a small glass full and I went to work. AJ managed to tie up 4 of them in no time while I struggled to tie only one. Undeterred I continued to work at it, and after 45 minutes I was finally able to take the knotted stem from my mouth. I was thoroughly pleased with myself. The bartender thought it was cute too. lol.

Sleepy Time

Presentations suck! I gave a presentation on Wednesday. I had to dress up in a full suit and tie, which was kind of fun. In addition I also had a 12 page research paper that was due that day. I had originally started the paper a few weeks ago with gathering research and starting to lay out the format for the paper. However, I didn’t actually start writing it until last Saturday. After turning in the paper Wednesday and giving my presentation (how to hold a successful meeting) I was pretty much dead on my feet. I am so exhausted right now.

Rejecting The Null Hypothesis

The fourth step of the hypothesis is to state whether your data supports the null hypothesis, thus rejecting or failing to reject what is trying to be proved.

After collecting both quantitative and categorical data on relationship advice, applying the appropriate statistical formulas, and accounting for outliers I have come to the conclusion that I am improperly wielding my assets.

The advice has been unfavorable. However, I am ready to accept that since I am really not very good at making new relationships. However, over the past few months that seems to have changed drastically, and I think it’s starting to make some of my old friends worry.

I think that they are uncomfortable with the changes that have been occurring to me over the past year. So many things are different now and I think that makes even my best friends a little uneasy. I think change can be good for many reasons; perspective, empathy, appreciation, and understanding are all things that come with change. All of which are very important in a relationship. Not bad eh?

Happily, I got to talk with my bartender friend again. I can’t wait to meet up with them again and chat. A coffee shop sounds like the perfect place to mix a little socializing with a little nosh.

Rough Enough

You know you’re in for it when you get an exam back on Monday that you took the previous week and you set the curve in your group with a score of 68%. Ok, I think to myself, a minor setback. It’s no biggie, the first test is always the hardest, do better next time.

Wednesday rolls around and I head off to my concepts of management class. There we also get our exam back that we took the previous week. I get my exam back and look at the score, a C. Ouch! Not again! But wait there’s more. There is a note on the back page of my exam that says something about seeing the professor. So after class I go up to him and ask what he needed to talk to me about.

Apparently I had completely missed the point of the final question on the exam, all essay by the way, and that because I had done well on the other questions he decided to give me pity points so as to not kill my grade. Great! Not only did I get a C, I didn’t even deserve it! Grrr! Oh well, it was better than nothing and I had to admit it was might kind of him to not kill me on the first exam. So I thanked him and went home.

On top of this I am getting extremely conflicting advice from my friends about relationships. One says I am way out of line and am moving too fast, and the other says I’m not doing anything wrong at all. I needed a drink after that class on Wednesday so I went out to the bar with AJ and unwound a bit.

Thank the goddess the weekend is almost here. I think I need a few more drinks, and a hair cut! It always helps to look good when you do whatever it is you do.

Back To Reality

The worst thing about having an awesome weekend is that when Sunday afternoon rolls around you start to feel the tug of reality, and it sucks. The weekend went splendidly. There was much drunken debauchery had on Saturday; so much so that my neighbors knocked on our door. When I answered the door I saw two good looking girls, one of which was wearing nothing but a bath towel. Seriously, no lie! They wanted to know if he had plans for the evening and if we wanted to get together at some point. I invited them in, however, the one in the towel made a bolt for their apartment to finish getting ready for whatever. Mandy, as she introduced herself to me as she entered my apartment turned out to be a student from Ferris State University, and grew up in Big Rapids.

It turns out she was pretty drunk and soon after returning to her apartment passed out and was out of commission for the rest of the night. Her room mate, whose name I never caught went out to the club.

Seriously, I cannot make this stuff up! Even if I did it would be this good. So anyways, back to the sad and inevitable truth that the weekend is almost over and it is time to get started on a research paper that I have been putting off for weeks. Writing the paper won’t be hard, it’s the research that sucks.

Party Time

I managed to put together a little birthday party for my good friend and room mate. I thought it would be nice to have some friends over, go out to a nice restaurant and chill. Besides, it was an easy way to justify a party.

Everyone seemed to have a good time. After dinner we came back to the apartment, and had a cigar to celebrate the evening. The rest of the time was spent chatting and playing Wii sports! I love the Wii! Now I am a little drunk and I think its time for bed.

A Third of The Way

It’s been a hell of week. Two exams one on Monday for my IS project management class, and another was yesterday for my other management class. These are both heavy classes with teacher who take the content very seriously. My first exam was true/false, multiple-guess, and essay. Needless to say the vast majority of that exam was just that, a guess. However, I do think that I manage to articulate some decent essay answers.

The second exam that was yesterday was all essay. Why a professor would want to put themselves into the position of having to grade 5 essays from each of the 50 or so students in each of his 3 sections is quite beyond me. However, in our favor is the fact that this professor isn’t so much instead in if you could regurgitate what was in the book as much as be able to pay attention during class discussion and to relate that to concepts in the book. Its really simple, show up for class, pay attention (the hard part), and ask questions. If you can manage that then the exam should be easy. Surprisingly he was true to his word. The exam was far easier to get through than I had thought.

Tomorrow should be easy, the exams are over and the professors will be busy grading so we will not cover a lot of new topics. I couldn’t ask for better timing as I am throwing a birthday party for my room mate. I have invited a bunch of people over and we will be celebrating at a Japanese steakhouse nearby. It’s sure to be memorable as I’m pretty sure this will be a unique occurrence. I have to admit I am partly doing this for selfish reasons. There is no bad reason to have a party right? Holla! \o/

P.S.—The bartender has yet to respond to my email request for a meeting. I want to meet for coffee so we can chat and get to know each other a little before we tear each other’s cloths off… What? I don’t like sticking things in places I know nothing about!

I Met The Bartender

So, after Holly and Brandon finished singing their karaoke duet we got ready to head downstairs to the dance floor when holly pulled me aside and said, “You need to talk to the bartender!” She nudged me over to the edge of the bar. I smiled like an idiot and said hello to the bartender as they were cashing out someone. They wrote something on the back of receipt paper and handed it to me as said, “It was great to meet you.” Bright red with embarrassment I smiled and turned to head down to the dance floor.

Everyone was heading to the dance floor when I arrived on the lower level. Sadly I am a horrid dancer, and being fairly drunk would surely not help things. But after being yelled at by everyone in attendance, including people who I didn’t even really I succumb to peer pressure and went out to the dance floor to make a fool of myself.

Thankfully everyone else was really drunk too so they thought I did just fine. Score! We danced for a while, taking short breaks during slow or bad songs until closing time. The lights went on and we slowly made out way to the exit, stopping along the way to say high to people. I made it outside and stood waiting for our cab to arrive. Brandon had somehow managed to get a hold of a couple of cigarillos but could not get them lit. He ended up breaking one in half.

AJ tapped me on the shoulder and pointed at the entrance to the club where the bartender was standing motioning for me to come over. I immediately panicked thinking that I must have forgotten to pay my bar tab or something. I went over and to my surprise; I received a big hug and a thank you for stopping by.

Now I have a phone number and an email address. The ball is in my court now, so I guess I better play it.

It Was The Best of Times

Hell of a weekend, that’s all I have to say. This weekend was just one of those weekends when you through caution to the wind and really allow yourself to experience new things. For those who have yet to experience sensation, I highly recommend it. Just find some good friends and go do something you have never done before.

Friday night I went out with some friends to a new club in downtown Grand Rapids. I knew this was going to be an interesting night as it didn’t begin there. It actually begins about 5 hours earlier at my friend Holly’s apartment. I arrived at her place about 7:30pm. The plan was to hang out until about 930p and then head over to Applebee’s where her friend was bartending. So at the appropriate time we made our way over to Applebee’s and had a few drinks. Mind you we had already pre drunk at her place. She had a glass of Arbor Mist, her all time favorite, and I had a hard cider. Hard cider is an interesting beverage, think of it as a cross between apple cider and beer. Its brisk babe!

We hung out at the bar with her friend for a while when a friend of mine, AJ, arrived. I had spoken with him earlier and had decided to join us. So the three of us sat and talked until the bar closed, around 1145p, when we staggered for the door. I must remember to thank Brandon the bartender. I don’t think I paid for a single drink. He r0x0rz!

Since Holly and I were both pretty drunk at this point and AJ had decided to be the DD, bless him, Brandon too Holly and I went with AJ. We both left and headed for the club. AJ needed to stop back off at his apartment to get a pack of smokes so we were a few minutes late getting there.

We got a table on the upper level of the club and Holly ordered us a round of shots. I forgot what they were called, but they were blue, and tasty. Shortly after that I went to get a gin and tonic. I needed something to clean out the sugar from my mouth. Whatever that shot was it left a weird aftertaste.

After sitting back down and taking a few delicious sips Holly came over and leaned into my ear saying, “hey, the bar tender thinks you’re cute!” Embarrassed I looked over and watch as the bartender mixed another drink. Holly whispered again in my ear, “Seriously Justin, the bartender wants your phone number.” At this point I was glowing bright red, even in the darkness. And that is just the beginning. To be continued...

When It Rains It's Poor

Rain in the form of bad news tends to fall all at once it seems. It wasn't more than a few hours ago I was sitting in the apartment of a good friend of mine, talking about his new entertainment center that he built from scratch (Cinder blocks and ply wood, Hey us college kids have to make due with what we have!).

On my way home i gave a friend of mine, Holly a call. I was suppose to have called them back earlier in the evening but since i was busy i had not been able to do so. She informed me that her and her boyfriend were having some relationship type issues and that things were not looking good. After some light hearted words of encouragement she hung up with me to continue chatting with her boyfriend. I hate when good relationships get rocky.

Upon my return to my apartment i greeted my room mate and went to the fridge for a quick snack before bed. I hopped on my laptop to check email and Facebook and took it into my roomie's room to irritate him while he played World of Warcraft. He explained to me that after a long and tedious quest they had finally defeated the final boss. However, when it came to splitting up the loot, one of the party members decided to take a piece of treasure without asking and promptly logged out. Not a very nice thing to do, even if it was in just a game. That sort of behavior reflects badly on the person.

After dealing with that little incident he tabbed out of WoW to check his email. In his inbox was a letter from his boss. You can't imagine what it contained and lets just say it wasn't good news. He was informed, and on no certain terms that he was no longer employed. From the tone of the letter, my room mate concluded that the company must be closing its doors.

It's been a long day. I think we all deserve an extra drink this Friday. Cheers!

A Cup Of Sugar

It was something out of a 1950s sitcom I swear it. Saturday afternoon I was tidying up around the apartment after Friday night’s little soirée. All of a sudden I hear a knock at the door. Intrigued I go to my door and open it to find a pair of very good looking girls standing there. “Hi, Do you have a phone book we can barrow?” Happily I replied that indeed I had a phone book that they would barrow and went to the drawer to get it. They took the phone book smiled and left. A few minutes later they returned and gave it back.

Ok, so what’s the big deal you ask? Shut up and let me continue. This afternoon, while I was lying on the floor writing a paper on biological warfare in the ancient world, there was a knock at my door. I hopped up to answer it. It was one of the same girls from the other day. She had a pink measuring cup in her had and a sheepish look on her face. “Can I barrow two cups of milk”, she said. It was almost too much. How funny is that, the perfect cliché. I of course was more than willing to share my dairy products with her and invited her in while I measure out the proper amount. I asked what she needed it for as I was pouring. “We are making dinner”, she said. “Oh, what are you making tonight”, I asked. “Hamburger helper”, she replied and began to turn red. I said, “No, that just won’t due. You and your room mate will have to come over for dinner sometime”. I handed her the milk, and she thanked me. Smiling and beat red she went back to her apartment.

I hope they come over for dinner sometime. They seemed nice enough. My room mate I am sure would be very appreciative.

Gaming While Intoxicated

There is nothing better for an IS student than to unwind after a busy week of learning how to manage the IT infrastructure of the worlds communications network than with a cold drink and the company of friends. For some, another joy comes from fragging those same friends in a video game.

By themselves, each activity carries great amounts of stress relief. However, on the statistically improbably chance that these two activities coincide with one another, a new level of rapture can be experienced. (For those to like to frag…)

/side_note
“This is a personal feeling towards IS and CS individuals but I simply have trouble understanding how some people in my program simply refuse to accept that video games are fun. If you are an IS or CS student or in either fields of work, it is a foregone conclusion that you are more comfortable in front of your computer than in front of the karaoke mic, myself included. I socialize to the extent society requires, however I also take great relish in blasting my friends in a good wholesome video game.”
/end side_note

Right, so yesterday evening was a convergence of those two favorite activities. We discussed issues of importance and polished off a bottle of wine. Yes, wine and hard cider too. We had females in the hizouse. Spooky I know. Then commenced the main drinking game of the evening, Wii bowling. Over the next several hours we played countless games of Wii bowling and boxing. Then, one of my guests was struck with a moment of pure genius. And with credit card in one hand and a Wiimote in the other, points were added to my Nintendo account for the purchase of several console games.

Without a doubt the favorite game of the night was Super Mario Bros. 2. Instantly, we were all transported back to our earliest childhood gaming memories. (That game is a lot harder than I remember. But we were all pretty smashed by then too.)

The moral of the story here is that friends don’t let friends spill their drinks. That’s alcohol abuse!

The Metroids Are Coming

After renting Metroid Prime 3 all weekend long i decided that it was worth a purchase. It is quite possibly one of the best games for the Wii so far. Metroid is a perfect example of how the Wii can be used to make a killer FPS/action game. There is no need for lock-on anymore! With the mobility of the wiimote, you can lock on to one target and shoot another.

The gameplay is seamless and the puzzles are unique and entertaining. It is easily the best Metroid game yet if for no other reason than its controls.

The Phazon Conundrum

Samus is at it again. The space pirates are on the move and the galaxy is in peril. Great asteroids filled with Phazon have smashed into several planets in the vicinity of the Galactic Federation fleet while engaging the Space Pirates in bloody battle. Samus must eliminate the pirate threat, destroy the defenses surrounding the leviathans as they are called, and discover the real motives behind the Aurora Unit's actions. Tricky...

Sweetness

Today begins another weekend, and i have made plans. I have made a new friend in my IS project management class who happens to love the Wii almost as much as I do. So when i mentioned the fact that i had rented Metroid Prime 3 this morning in class he was, interested to say the least. We made plans to meet up later today and I believe there will be much gaming and fun had. Thankfully most of the homework issues have been taken care of and i will have ample time to indulge in a little fun. Huzzah to all, and to all a good drink!

To Be Zen Again

With all the changes that have been going on lately. and now that school is now officially under way I feel tension already starting to build. The stress knots are already starting to form in my mind, keeping me unfocused on tasks and listless during class lecture.

So, to alleviate the problem i sat down in the middle of my apartment yesterday and began to meditate. It had been a long time since i have taken the time to clear my mind of nervous thoughts and worries. It was exceptionally refreshing. As my mind cleared, i began to feel energy around me as it moved slowly and calmly. I began focusing my own energy into a ball between my hands in front of my as i sat cross legged in the middle of my apartment. before i knew it i realized that i had already created a small energy ball. Intrigued that it had taken so little time to form I began to move it about. I dissipated it and reformed it and dissipated it again.

My room mate came into the living room to ask me something, and as i came out of my meditation to answer him i realized that my hands had gotten rather warm. I assume it was just because it was warm in the room, until i realized that it was actually quite cool as the sliding glass door to the balcony was open and cool air from outside was flowing into the apartment. My hands were the only warm part of my body as i stood up and shuttered slightly as i closed the sliding glass door.

I cannot wait to meditate some more. It's a lot like i remembered, only more intense now. Age does have its benefits after all.

Company

It has been an official day with my new room mate and things seem to be going pretty well. I have to admit, for all the things that room mates do to annoy you, he does very few of them. He keeps the bathroom neat and makes sure the shower curtain is closed. He is quiet and a little shy, things that i like to see in a room mate as it keeps the wild sexy parties to a minimum. Not that sexy parties aren't welcome from time to time, I just have other semi important things to do, like homework and getting ready to graduate.

A most pleasant surprise was this morning, when we got up for work (him) and school (me) he made enough coffee for both of us. Little things like that are really important. Common courtesies like that are far too lacking in the world and i really appreciated the effort (the coffee was good too).

I got a chance to chat online with an old friend who has since moved to Arkansas. She happened to move while i was in Florida working on my internship. Fortunately, she is doing well in her new place and although she isn't making much right now at her job she was optimistic that things and and will be good.

Finally i was able to get in a full workout today as well as a 45min swim. My room make has expressed interest in increasing his fitness level and will accompany me the next time i workout. He spends a lot of time playing World of Warcraft which doesn't help his situation, but on the other side it means that he will be able to entertain himself. Overall i cannot complain. This room mate is better than most.

Shinanigans

It was a hell of a weekend. I could not have asked for better circumstances. I acquired a copy of the statistics software we use in lab that we use to do our assignments and was industrious enough to complete all of my homework Thursday night. So after my IS project management class ended i went to lab and made sure the outputs from my work were what the professor expected, printed out my assignments, and went home. Score!

I met up with a friend of mine at the grocery store and after putting my perishables away in my fridge, went back to his place to play Halo 2 until 1am.

Saturday i invited my friend back to my place to play Wii. We ended up getting lunch at a great little Italian place nearby that just opened. Lunch was splendid. On the way back to my apartment my brother called to let me know he was going to be stopping by. Perfect timing as my friend had to leave for work. My brother and i went to the pub to get a few drinks and catch up. We hung out at the pub until he also had to take off back to his place where it was his turn to watch the baby while mom went to take care of some family business.

It has been a very busy weekend. Another item of not is that i now have a room mate. An old friend of mine from high school just got a job in the Grand Rapids area and needed a place to stay while he looks for his own place. I was more than happy to offer my facilities to him as my apartment is nearly large enough for two people anyway. Only one bedroom however. And no, we are not sharing it. I took the futon in the living room. I have been sleeping there lately anyways. Not sure why exactly, however it just seems easier for me to get to sleep. I have been use to living with other people. I had two room mates in Key West. So the company will be appreciated. But now i have to go.

Bandwidth Queen

Finally, after long last I got my own internet hook up yesterday. Until then i had been... Borrowing it from my kind and generous neighbors. I made sure to be curious and conscious that i was on someone else's network by limiting my activity to school work and email. I did my best to resist the urge to crank up the bit torrent and hit the xxx sites. Besides, you never know if they are logging it.

My new internet, which is though the same group i had before is as i expected, still awesome! I support my local CLECs and independent ISPs (nuts to Comcast). And I was rewarded with a fat 10mb pipe and a 1-1.5mb upload. Bless those kind administrators. It is always nice to see your torrents coming down in well, torrents! TGIF!!! Holla!

Moon Cycles

The moon as I am sure most realize exerts a noticeable force on the earth. The moon being a full one quarter the total size of the earth itself is by far the largest orbiting satellite relative to its parent planet's size in the solar system. (The Discovery Channel)

My point here is that the moon affects the earth in a number of ways, the most commonly observed of these phenomenon are the tides. As the moon orbits the earth every 24 hours it pulls the ocean's water toward it causing swells. However, the moon can also have an affect on people. It is my feeling that the moon can greatly affect the moods of people who are sensitive to its electromagnetic forces. I have personally noticed that during a full moon i am far more restless and aggressive. I am far more likely to try new things or take chances.

As a matter of fact, it was during a full moon when i met a very good friend of mine. It was a whirlwind evening that ended with the two of us in bed. Something that i would never do after just meeting someone for the first time.

Every time i see the moon i get a chill that goes down my spine, and the closer it gets to full the stronger the feeling gets. The feeling is difficult to describe. Think of it as a combination of a quiver and a shiver, with goose bumps and all. It is a full physical reaction. Thankfully it has always been a pleasant feeling and I always seem to feel a little less stressed and anxious after the feeling passes.

I recommend for any of you who are lucky enough to catch a full or near full moon to take a moment to stop and look up, feel the moon light shine down on you, let it touch your skin and see if it doesn't make you shiver a bit. Maybe it will help calm your mind and give you peace if only for a moment. Praise be to the goddess of the moon!

Busy Busy

I am finally done with the most grueling part of my school week, the dreaded Wednesday. I have two classes from noon to 2pm. Then, my last class, which is at the downtown campus (shorter drive, but it is my first class there) at 6pm.

It turns out that the bookstore had mislabeled the required book for my class and thus, I purchased the wrong one! This however, worked in my favor as most of my classmates had similar trouble. When the professor asked who had the wrong book most of the class raised thier hands. This led to the early dismissal of class so that we could get to the bookstore before it closed so that we could purchase the correct book (yay!).

The rest of my classes are good. My IS Project management class is ok, but the prof seems to take himself a little too seriously. We don't have any homework in that class yet but I'm sure when it hits, we will wish for these days. My History of warfare prof fancies himself an English teacher as well. "Two classes for the price of one", he said, thinking that we should be happy. However, we knew the truth. Twice the class means twice the work. We were not overly pleased.

My Statistics class is awesome. We will be spending more time in the computer lab working than I spent in my programming classes! The work is easy to manageable, and with the prof's charm and wit classes end quickly.

Now i need to get back to reading the first 48 pages of, A History of Warfare, by John Keegan. He is suppose to be an authority in this area. It should be an interesting read. Nice binding though.

Back to School

And another semester begins, albeit a little more bumpy this time. The Ministry is undergoing an expansion phase. No coincidence that we students have had to endure a steady rise in tuition costs.

Regardless, the construction on campus in conjunction with the thousands if not millions of little freshmen scurrying around has made for a marginally more hectic first day of school. I know i should be more understanding. It wasn't that long ago when I myself was a freshmen. Whatever, those little bastards are always getting in my way. I really need to invest in a freshmen plow for my car. I swear don't they have to go through driver's training?!

More importantly my classes are excellent so far. My IS project management class will have us giving presentations (damn, as if i haven't done enough of those) and learning how to convince business executives to spend lots of money on our toys. Then, I have my statistics class. I really wasn't looking forward to this class as I have come to the conclusion that math was just something that my mind cannot grasp (thank you core math!). However, this teacher is actually quite entertaining. His background is in survival statistics and it took him seventeen years to get his doctorate. It could be the future me! Suffice to say i won't be dropping this class.

Unfortunately, still no new friends. I was told that i must try to at least make one new friend this semester. Clearly they didn't understand the nature of my degree. Oh, you spend how many hours a day on a computer? Then clearly you have no time for social activities like going to the bar, movies, or parties. Bastards... I swear I'm willing to leave my computer alone for a few hrs.... I think.

Yin and Yang

After coming back to my apartment last night i was invited out to the bar by a friend. It was like a toast to the end of the summer and to the start of yet another school year. I didn't drink, since I had already consumed my fill of alcohol earlier in the day. However, seeing some old friends and being back in a familiar setting was nice.

This should be an interesting semester though. I will be finishing all courses deemed necessary by the school... I mean ministry for graduation, I think. If i have one piece of advice for those just starting their college career it would be, find a school you really like and stay there. Take only the required courses and try not to substitute. This makes for an extremely boring education, however, it may be preferable to spending the better part of your twenties going to school like I did/am.

Knowledge is Power

Wednesday a friend and I went to the university bookstore to purchase our books for this semester. The university has implemented a new system where if you present a picture ID and your student number you can charge your books directly to your financial aid account. This is really nice as you don’t have to worry about having money on hand to get books and then getting a financial aid check a week after classes start.

Unfortunately, this streamlined process has not diminished the astronomical cost of books. Being a student of Information Systems makes it especially painful as 90 percent of our books are brand new, and will never be able to sell back. This is because the instant the book is printed, it is obsolete. And since no one wants an out-of-date computer book, they are bought back for only a fraction of the price.

On the other hand, my friend, who is going into elementary education was able to purchase all of her books for all of her classes for less than the cost of my IS project management book. When all was said and done my books cost roughly twice as much as hers did. What a rip!

Moving Friends

I spent the night Sunday at my friend's house so that we could be ready at eight o'clock to go get the Uhaul truck. She moved to a new one room apartment because the room mates she had before in her three bedroom apartment were all moving on to other things. One found Jesus and left for Arkansas and the other is moving back in with her parents. This left my friend the task of finding a new place to live for the coming school year.

We awoke to light rain. Not the best weather for moving, but we were determined to make it happen. We got the Uhaul and started loading it up. We were almost done loading the truck when i overhead a conversation between the apartment manager and my friend. It turns out that because of some ominous smells in the apartment they had decided to replace all of the carpeting.

Good news we thought, until we found out that they wouldn't be starting until 2:30pm. It was now 9:45am. So, we continued to pack the truck up and then proceeded to pack up my SUV. (On loan from the mother unit, bless her!) Then the waiting began. We waited, and waited, and waited... and waited.

We managed to get all her stuff moved in only two trips with the Uhaul and with the help of another of her friends by 9:45pm. She has nice new carpet tho. Score!

So today i am kinda tired. I went for a swim at the pool in my apartment. Something i have been looking forward to since i left for my internship in April. The pool has been renovated and it looks great. Not a bad swim either.

Its still chilly out. But of course its always cool to me after being in Florida for the summer. But at least the rain has stopped. I won't complain about it at all though. Oh yes there isn't any sun out, but the trees and grass are emerald green and lush. The air smells clean and fresh, like the way your dryer sheets are suppose to make your cloths smell.

Super Brief

So much going on and no time to post. I know both of my readers are upset that i have not blogged in a while. I am very sorry! With getting back to Michigan and traveling to see friends and family it has been CrAzY!

Now that most of the school stuff has been taken care of i feel a little better. Classes have been selected and tuition has been paid, curtisy of our federal government! I love you guys! (pound the rock!)

Now to set up some communication lines to my friends in Key West. I miss them a lot but few have been around to talk. I will chalk it up to Tropical Storm Dean who is moving their way and will most likely become a hurricane soon. Curse my bad timing!

Rain Rain

I am back in Michigan and this morning i am welcomed by one of my favorite meteorological events, a rain storm. It has been months since i have seen it rain like this. It feels so refreshing to watch the rain coming down from the sky hour after hour. I am home.

A New Member of The Family

This morning at approximately 1:30am my good friends, Hesaid and Shesaid brought into the world, Babysaid. He came into this world kicking and screaming just like his daddy. Congratulations are in order to them both. I can't get wait to see the little devil.

Also i need to give a shout out to my home girl in TC who is having an awesome birthday party! Holla!

Last Hurrah

It is my last weekend in Key west. I will be going out to say goodbyes and to wish everyone well. The three months in Florida has been wild. However, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. The trip home will be a stir up a lot of feelings. But it isn't the end as i have a return ticket. This means that they still have a hook in me, and thats ok. I kind of like to know that they still have a strong enough desire to see me return when they need me the most and are willing to pay me what i am worth.

I shipped my computer back to Michigan yesterday so i will not have ready access to the internet for the next few days. So my ability to post and read comments may be impaired. Although, my flight will put me next to my friends who have ample internet connectivity.

One last thought for now; last night a dear friend of mine hearing of my imminent departure has offered to give me the ride to Fort Lauderdale for my flight if he has the day off. There are still good people in the world. I am pleased to have found another.

Gone to The Movies

Just got back from watching the Simpson's Movie with some friends. It was decent. I liked it, there were some funny parts, but it wasn't anything profound. It was a spur of the moment thing. My room mates came home from being out at happy hour, or where ever they were. They asked if i wanted to go, and at first i refused. I kind of felt a little off. However, they insisted saying that they needed a forth person to make the group complete. Our neighbor came along as well. And that, is how i saw the Simpson's movie. Random, no?

A Terrible Thing to Waste

I realized something the other day. I have stopped having dreams. Up until just a few days ago every night when i went to bed i would have wild and prolific dreams. Many of the dreams were disturbing, some were passionate, and a few were so profound that i still remember them clearly now as tho it had just happened.

I suppose that some might say that i simply got whatever it was, out of my system.

I am curious to wonder what had prompted this rather extreme activity in my subconscious over the past few months; only to have it completely cease unexpectedly. I find myself missing the nightly adventures terribly. I wake in the morning now feeling tired and soar, as if i never went to bed in the first place.

All Quiet on The Western Front

The weekend was quiet and uneventful. Good, because I really wasn’t feeling up to going to the club. Getting crammed into a smelly sweaty room with loud music just did not sound like too much fun. So I did the next best thing.

Nothing! I didn’t do anything. I laid around the house watching TV and playing video games. I took my Vampire thief to the pale pass and fought the undead Akaviri soldiers guarding the Draconian Madstone.

Using my mastery of sneak and expert aim with my bow I fired round after round cutting their brittle bones apart. They never knew what hit them.

I returned to the Countess of Bruma with the madstone in hand. After a hearty thanks and hefty reward I bade farewell to the court and made my way back to my home. Dawn was approaching and I needed to find shelter.

The rest of the weekend was spent cleaning and organizing. I vacuumed the floors and scrubbed the bathroom. I dusted and washed the windows and mirrors. I burnt some incesnse and lit some candles to help purify the air of bad energy that had collected.

This being the optional step in the cleaning process as most people don’t sense it. However, it drives me crazy and is essential for me. You could say was physical and spiritual cleansing this weekend.

Ain't Technology Grand

After reading a rather provocative post on slash dot about how technically backward the US wireless phone system has fallen far behind Asian and European wireless providers I started thinking, am I getting what I pay for? While the average American pays somewhere between $50-100 in monthly charges for basic telephone service; in Japan you can get a wireless plan that includes a full range of multi-media, and oh yeah you can make calls too for around $40 a month.

The article got me to thinking about what I use my phone for. Sure it makes calls and sends text messages. Until recently I only used it for phone calls, like most people. However after working all summer at my internship I have come to rely heavily on text messaging as well.

The more I think about it, the more I wished that my phone would do more for me. Then I start to wonder, “Man wouldn’t it be nice to have an iPhone”. But that is just excessive. I cannot and will not spend $600 on a phone no matter now deliciously pretty and feature full.

But what is so astounding is that kids in Europe and Asia have been using phones with web surfing and email for years, and the real kicker is that they pay a fraction for all that functionality than what Americans pay for basic service!

There is simply no competition in the wireless phone industry in America to push innovation and expansion of the mobile network. So, I started hunting for a new provider. My current provider, Sprint, works well enough, but I am a geek and by nature when I see new emerging technology I must investigate, sometimes even at personnel risk.

A friend of mine told me that he is switching his service over to Helio. They supposedly offer phones and services that allow you to email, text, surf, blog, and chat, as well as make calls all from your phone and what is best, they are all unlimited. Accept for call minutes, all other multi-media usage is unlimited! Neat!

My friend should be getting his new phone either this week or next so I am anxious to see what it is like. If you are interested in checking them out take a look at their website www.helio.com .

Two Weeks And Counting

It’s always something. I am trying to register for classes and the one class that is left standing in my way of graduation is full. Statistics, I hate statistics! I was never good at math and i blame the Michigan State University Core math program!

I am a reasonably intelligent person and my chosen career field it is very useful to have an analytical mind. Those same traits i would expect to help me in math. Apparently not. However, all of this stewing and brooding is pointless since all sections of the class are full at the moment. I fully intend to contact the professors to explain my situation and see if they would be willing to overload one of their sections to allow me to enroll.

I still need to talk to the university about my financial aid status and to finish my student loan applications. So i have plenty to do in the meanwhile.

Two weeks left. I am only two weeks from my departure from Key West back to the Midwest. I didn't realize this until last night when i was asked when i was leaving. It came as a bit of shock that the date was creeping up so fast. Creeping, I suppose, is an inappropriate word to use; more like racing up on me. thats it, no more coffee for today.

Short of Time

Decisions are easy to make. Following through, now that’s the hard part. I think now I truly understand Thomas Edison’s famous statement that invention is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

Following my decision to come back to MI for one last semester I have been working feverishly to get things in order for my return. I resigned my lease, began signing up for classes (a trauma of its own), and started looking for good deals on books.

Then, I realized that I need to write my experience report on my experiences during the internship. That is due Friday. So I had to switch gears and begin writing that yesterday. At this point I am a little over 1/3 complete with the report. At first it seemed really easy and straight forward, but the more a worked on it the more I realized that I had so much to say in response to each question that it is turning into a thesis paper on working for my company.

I am still happy with my decision to come back home, and I am excited to be doing so. I can’t wait to see my old friends again, and to come home to my apartment. There are so many things I want to do before school starts. I want to swim in the Bays, have a beach fire, go to the bar, visit with friends, and of course play with my kitty! I miss her so much!

Time to get back to work, there is so much to do and so little time.

p.s.—I would really like to go ghost hunting again. I haven’t done that in a long time. A good scare is good for the heart.

The Game Plan

Here is the plan as it stands. I will be flying into Detroit on August 9th at some point. I will spend a few days with my friends there and then move on to Lansing to visit with the Father unit and brother. Then i will get a vehicle and continue my journey to Grand Rapids where i will offload most of my stuff back at my apartment. finally, i will make the final leg of my trip back up to Traverse City. I expect to be in TC by that Saturday. Excited yet? Ya know i am!

Engage!

Now that the big decision has been made, its time to take care of business, so to speak. Since the Tuesday meeting where i decided that I will come home to take another semester of classes I have been extremely busy. I resigned the lease on my apartment late Wednesday afternoon; locking myself into another six month contract with my complex. I don't really mind, honestly. They are good people, and it is really a nice place to live.

I sent numerous emails to my adviser and to my coordinator asking for information about my current standing as well as help deciding which classes were still available to sign up for. Getting my class schedule is proving to be a real pain because Grand Valley just switched over to the Banner system this summer and they are still working out the bugs. I have been locked out of all business classes because of my major. Yeah, the system isn't perfect.

I am also applying for student loans and other financial aid. Thankfully, most banks recognize the value in investing in education so this should actually be an easy task. Paying them all back afterwards, thats going to be hard.

TGIF. I need a drink. I have not been this busy since exam week in April. However, its good to have direction again. I feel productive. Life is still good.

Poker Night

Since i came to Key West I have been lucky enough to find a few friends that i have grown fairly close to. After two months of clubbing and hitting the bars at least two to three times a week i was already getting tired of it.

I enjoy the club scene still, but in moderation. I know some of you club goers disagree but for me it is something that i can only do once in a while. Being in such close proximity to so many horny people and mixed with alcohol is a recipe for an anxiety attack for me.

Anyways, back to the good news! Tonight was poker night. Once a week some of us get together and have a friendly game of poker. Nothing too fancy or competitive, we only play with quarters so a typical evening of fun can be had for about five dollars.

Tonight was my night. Our table was smaller than normal, only five of us for the majority of the evening but i was able to someone bluff my way from the $5.75 at the beginning of the evening to a fortune of well over $25-30 by the end of the night. It was so bad i literally starting throwing hands. I was dealt three of a kind on the first hand and i literally folded. Tonight was my night.

Tonight was also the night that i told one of my good friends that i will be leaving Key West in a month; heading back to school to get another semester out of the way while the company where i have been working gears up for the launch of its new division.

This was especially sad since this was the first of my new friends i have met here. It set a somber tone for them for the rest of the evening. I promised to keep in touch as best i can while i was gone. Since i will be back in December. Everyone knows that when someone you care for leaves it is always a little painful.

I will greatly miss all the friends that i have made down here. I will not say their names to protect them but if any of them stumble upon this post i was you to know that you are dear to me. It is hard to find such good friends.

There And Back Again

After a lengthy discussion with my boss yesterday afternoon, we have come to a mutual agreement that at this point it is not in my best interest to stay on full time for his company. This is both a huge relief for me as I now have some direction for the first time all summer. Not knowing if I was coming or going made it difficult to make other decisions about long term plans.

It is also a great disappointment seeing as how I am just starting to get comfortable with the area and starting to get into a good routine. But, c’est la vive.

The good news is that I have a job with this company, they just have nothing for me to do at this instant. With the launch of their new division delayed due to vendor issues their plans have been put on hold for the time being. However, i have been assured that by December the position will be required and at a much higher pay scale than could be offered now. This means that i can go to work for them now and make less than if i were to come back in December. So i will bide my time and get another semester of school under my belt and then see what happens.

One last thought. What do you do when a friend is so upset about something that they have buried the problem deep within themselves and as it festers within their psyche, making them so unhappy yet will not admit to it?

Conscious Unconsciousness

I have been having the strangest dreams lately. They are so vivid and profound that I can still remember most of them. I remember waking up from one dream convinced it was Saturday when in fact it was only Friday. I know, big difference, but still it was very unsettling. I had never had a premonition type dream before. As I reflected back on it now, days later, it still gives me a shiver. It wasn’t necessarily a bad dream, however, it left me with a strange feeling that I still cannot describe.

Another dream I had just the other day involved a new friend that I had just met about a month and a half ago. We have been out on a few dates, and one thing lead to another and well, you get the picture. However lately we have not seen each other very much at all and I have really started to miss this person. Anyways, back to the dream, sigh. This one was even more potent than my future dream. I dreamed that we were in a truck and were driving somewhere. We were talking about relationships and such and how we felt about each other.

It was about this time that the truck came to a stop in front of a subdivision, apparently where I was going. As I got out of the car they told me that it would not work and that we shouldn’t see one another anymore.

I was completely devastated. I could feel my eyes welling up with tears as I ran from the truck which I noticed had a logo of some company printed on it. It reminded me of a construction or grounds keeping company. This is also strange as the person whom I was with is actually a very intelligent customer service manager for a local hotel.

I ran into what I recognized was a partial recreation of my old apartment in Grand Rapids as well as parts of a friends apartment. Strange, that I would see such images of both apartments together. I can only assume it was meant to represent a safe place as I loved both my apartment and my friend’s apartment when I lived up there.

I collapsed onto the floor by the couch in the living room and began to cry wondering first how I got myself into this mess and second, how dare they not find me attractive enough to pursue a relationship with. It was a selfish thing to think but I didn’t care, I was writhing in agony.

Suddenly I realized I wasn’t alone. An old friend kneeled down beside me and gave me a hug and told me it would be ok. She spoke to me in a calm soothing tone that seemed to help pull me together. I remember thinking that I am so lucky to have good friends.

I woke up at that point with tears running down my face and soaking into my pillow. I have not had a dream that shocking or vivid in a very long time. I was stunned that it was so emotionally charged that it carried over into the waking world.

Lying in bed for several minutes, I was stunned by what had just happened. I think it was soon after this experience that I realized that I was doing too much, too quickly. I am in the process of completely changing my life. I am transitioning from a purely school and academic environment to real life career and its scary. I am making new friends and exploring relationships far more quickly than I had in the past and all of these things coming together at once are really taking a toll on my psyche. My dreams must be telling me something. They are so vivid and memorable possibly because I am dealing with so much in real life that that my subconscious is trying to tell me that enough is enough and to take it easy for a while and let the rest of my mind catch up with my body.

If you guys are interested in hearing more about my dreams let me know, there have been a number of them that I might be persuaded to share for your analysis. Maybe getting some perspective on these dreams will help me make sense of them.

The Sign

There are decisions that need to be made at this point. I need to know what my future in Key West will be. However, until I have certainty of that future I have no choice but to continue on the path of least risk.

I am aware that life is a risk. However, when it comes to major life decisions I prefer to mitigate risk as much as possible in order to find the best possible solution. I will not accept only but the smallest risk of failure possible to achieve my goal.

Some may think that this sounds like a terribly boring way to live ones life, but I must disagree. I have been known to take plenty of risks in my day. I took a risk moving to Dearborn and living with friends while I worked as a contractor at Ford. The risk was acceptable and I felt that the experience I gained was invaluable.

What I will not accept is a promise of success that is based on a possibility. It would be like building a foundation on clay.

As of today I will be signing up for classes and preparing my financial aid forms. I will need to spend a few hours getting my tax information printed out and sent in to student services.

After I take care of my aid for next year I will need to spend some time with my advisor talking about which classes I can still get into.

Ambiguously Boolean

Time is starting to slip away from me. The internship is already two thirds over, I am amazed how fast time has started to move. The days are starting to blend together into weeks. Over two months have passed since i arrived on the island.

At first i remember the days were very long. They were not boring by any means, but they seemed to be much more distinct. I remember my first day of work. I walked in and went to my desk, sat down, and thought to myself, “ok, what now?”. I remember opening in my journal for the first time and starting to write down things that i should look at, ways to organize and procedures to which I should start to follow.

Looking back on the past few months i realize just how much i have experienced in such a short period of time. I've spent years acquiring the cold facts and theories that make up the structure of IT in college; like a hard line drawn in a sketch. Yet, what i am beginning to understand now is the “art” of putting this practical knowledge to use in a creative way to solve a problem. To fallow the analogy, it would be taking the hard lines of a sketch and using your thumb to blur the lines to form shadow and give depth and substance to an image.

I have a new goal, to be an artist, and my medium will be technology.

The path is still unclear, however. At what point is it, that the academic give way to the practical? I wonder if I have the foundation with which to build a successful career. And if not, will i have the patience to continue in academia and complete my schooling. Will it matter?

The Mixer

After work today I attended a mixer, basically a mixer is a fancy word for a party that usually occurs shortly after business hours where professionals and business owners get together to network, schmooze, gossip, wheel, and of course deal. It is an excellent way for new businesses and owners to get their name out into the community and to drum up new clients.

Today, thank god, the mixer was held at a bar just off Truman called Inkahoots. My boss usually doesn't like to go to these sorts of events because most of the business owners are clients of our company and they always have questions or want something changed and it ends up turning into a big pain in the ass, as my boss put it.

The turnout was surprisingly good, probably because the bar was air conditioned. Thats important this time of year. Its hot, damn hot! And with little to no wind and an above average humidity. You can bet i wasn't sure.

At the end of the mixer there was a raffle. They raffled off dinners from local restaurants and merchandise from some of the local clubs and some gift certificates. The one that I really wanted to win was the 50/50. But alas luck was not on my side.

I had invited a friend of mine to come with me this evening so that i would have someone to talk to. I have a bit of a problem with large groups of people. They make me nervous. So if i can have just one person there that i am comfortable with then it makes the entire process easier. But unfortunately, before i could respond to his text my phone battery ran out. My charger was back at the apartment and the mixer started right after work. Hopefully he wasn't really interested in coming anyways.

Silent But Deadly

Last night after hours, my friend and I set to work reconfiguring our office network. Its IP scheme had to be changed to a non standard private IP range in order to make it easier to integrate our backup internet connection as well as to make it easier to connect our remote offices via VPN.

After setting the new IP and DHCP range in the router we went to all of the servers and static resources and manually set their new IPs. My concern was that there would be a problem with the printers, as all of the desktop machines would have to be updated to reflect the new print server IPs.

Thankfully it was only a minor fix and once I had the routine down the update on each desktop went quickly. All in all in less than two hours the job was done and I sat back to watch the router blink happily in its new configuration.

As of this morning there have been no fires due to our work on the network the previous evening. This to me is the most gratifying part of my work. The users only know that their email and internet work and have no idea that the network had undergone a major reconfiguration and upgrade. Ninja!

Worry Not, young One

This weekend I was finally able to work up the nerve to open my grades from last semester. With so much trauma going on right now I was not about to add to my problems with bad grades.

My mother was actually the one who threatened me with bodily harm if I didn’t open them up and tell her that instant just how brilliant her baby boy was. Mom’s a great aren’t they? And for an instant, I felt like her baby boy again. But then I realized that I had to pay rent and I had a meeting to attend Monday morning first thing. Damn!

I got my grades in the mail from the university almost a month ago. When I saw it sitting on the table of my apartment with the little yellow foreword sticker from the post office all I could think about was the dread of seeing my grades.

Fortunately my grades were not nearly as bad as my sick self-pitying mind made me think. It was stupid to think otherwise, I love what I do and I love my field of study. I have a passion for IT the way Mac folks feel about Apple.

Anyone who doesn’t care about their grades is a prick who either always gets all A’s or has their education paid for. Both of these types of individuals irritate me. Not because I feel inferior to the people who get strait A’s, well maybe a little, and not that I am jealous of those who have rich parents, although I suppose it would be nice to be a trust fund baby. But it’s mainly that I see going to university as a lesson in life. People who don’t take it seriously usually end up hating whatever job they end up getting and just making the rest of us miserable.

Concerning Hobbits

Hobbits, or in this case me, has been attending school at the Ministry of Moral Order (MMO) also known as Grand Valley State University, in my home state of Michigan for what would seem like many thousands of years.

My course of study is in the dark art of Information Technology. Those who choose to study under the banner of the great Paul Leidig, dean of our school, spend countless hours in class learning the subtitle techniques required to bend the minds of the executives to our will so that we will receive more than our fare share of funding for the coming fiscal year. Likewise it is our duty to Sheppard and mobilize the legions of developers under our command to wage holy war against the ever creeping scope of the project. And in the immortal words of the great Professor of Database Administration, Dr. George Nezlek, "The Data Are!".

Nearing the end of my tenure at school, I was tasked with a quest. The quarter beloved, half despised, and the rest confused journey into the sunset. You know of what i speak, those of you who attend university at this very moment. Yes, I mean the one thing that could make or break your love for your chosen field of study. The Internship!

As luck would have it, my best friend from high school had found steady employment at a security company down in Key West, Florida. To my delight it was no more than a year ago this month that he informed me that his company was looking for someone of my schooling to come to work for them. Score, i thought to myself! With little to no work i had snagged a sweet internship.

The months went by and i came down for an "interview" in December for six days to meet the employees and to check out the town. Key West for those who are unfamiliar is a small island no larger than a few square miles at the end of the Florida Keys. It is roughly ninety miles from Cuba and 130 some odd miles to Miami, yeah i thought that it was funny too.

The "interview" was painless and sounded more like a job interview rather than an interview for an interns position. And soon i was back on the plane and headed back to the mid-west. The days continued to fly by as winter gave way to spring and the semester came to a close. With my finals complete i packed up my car and prepared for the adventure before my adventure. You see, I decided to drive the 1800+ miles to Key west in my 1993 Dodge Intrepid. That was probably my first mistake.

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This is the first post of the first blog. There will always be something to say, because life is always in a state of ambiguity.