dawsonology: a study in my life.

Memory Lane...

2009-11-21T02:55:00.002-05:00

I can't sleep.

So, instead I take a walk down Memory Lane in a quest to find something very specific I was looking for.

In the process of finding the specifics, I discover a lot of other things. How is it that memory lane can create sorrow, and not joy?

I found something I wrote.
I'd call it a "poem," but from my understanding of what Valparaiso University teaches, it is not classifiable as poetry... so I don't know what it'd be called. Thoughts?

I call it,

"What is Love?"

What is Gay?
According to Webster, “Merry.”
That is almost a compliment, isn’t it?
“You are so gay.”
And with a big smile, you respond:
“Thanks, I try my hardest.”
The only odd thing about this is
That society has made gay to mean
“Homosexual.”
“You are so gay.”
“Yeah? Fuck you.”

What about Straight?
Great Webster claims
“Exhibiting honesty and fairness.”
Sexual tendencies of society
Have made it to mean “heterosexual.”
Great Webster also says
“A person who adheres
To conventional attitudes.”
Where’s the fun in being conventional?
If it wasn’t for unconventional thoughts,
We would all be pretty much the same.

And here’s another Webster quote:
“Free from curves, bends, angles…”
Well, according to that, not much is straight.
The human body isn’t straight.
Neither is the human heart.
The human body contains
Countless curves.
The heart, capable of love,
Is curved, not straight.

Needless to say,
Love isn’t straight.
Love isn’t gay, either.
Love knows no labels.
Love is love.
Webster would tell you that
Love is a “strong affection
For another.”

Love doesn’t know a preference.
You can be merry.
Or free from curves.
You can be honest or conventional.
Love is still love.

What's the best season, I wonder?

2009-10-11T02:37:00.002-04:00

Below is a blip I wrote for an assignment for class. I like to think I quite like it:

------------------------------------------------

"Winter is an etching, Spring a watercolor, Summer an oil painting, and Autumn a mosaic of them all."
- Stanley Horowitz

Look about you. Everywhere, foliage is demonstrating a magnificent display of colors. Trees and plants are making a majestic masterpiece to reflect the previous seasons that have come and gone. Their beauty is a reminder to all of us that life goes on, despite everything. (It is also an unfortunate reminder that Winter is on it's way, but do not let that discourage you!)

The days may be getting shorter, and the winds may be getting colder, but consider the wonders that Autumn has to offer us:
- A colorful canopy to enjoy crisp evening walks with our cheerful companions
- Fallen leaves to burden us with the clean-up, but thrill us with their piles of jump-worthiness
- Hot apple cider to slowly sip as a cool breeze goes whooshing past
- Vegetables that look as great as decorations as they taste in Grandma's recipes
- Community involvement for one night that creates a Dentist's nightmare
- Gathering with family and friends to remember all that you have to be thankful for

Autumn is Mother Nature's last chance to make a vibrant impression before the first snow fall. Let yourself be like Mother Nature: Vibrant, Majestic, and Strong. Get out there, enjoy the beauty, and all that Nature has to offer us in this wonderful season.

Self Reunion

2009-09-29T12:48:00.003-04:00

Hi.

You don't know me. Except, you do. Or do you? Would you recognize me? I'm still who I've always been. How are you? Life has been interesting, hasn't it? My, you've changed. How are things? What exactly are you doing with your life? You look good. Wow, look at you. It's so good to see you. Remember that one time? Yeah. Those were the good ol' days. I miss those days. I'd never go back. Life's been treating you well. It's been a while. This was unexpected. Let's keep in touch, ok? I miss you. Hey, it's going to be all right. We'll get through this. I love your smile. I miss that smile. I have to get going. How have things been? Don't be a stranger. Remember me?

Banana Nut

2009-09-26T12:45:00.000-04:00

it's 2am and I cannot sleep.
I keep thinking about how thinking keeps me awake
My whole day of absolute nothing plays back through my head
music about vampires and suites about canyons loudly serenade me too soft to be heard

two pillows are too many and not enough

Otis Spunkmeyer came to visit.
Why is "banana nut" bananas and walnuts? why not peanuts, pecans, or salty cashews?

And, how am I supposed to eat half of this muffin?

it's 2 servings, but 2 good 2 leave in wait.

these four walls.

2009-09-24T23:23:00.004-04:00

I feel trapped; but... not traditionally.
There are no four walls. I've got all the freedom my world allows.
All of it outside my head.
No way to break through, no way to break out.
No understanding, no motivation. Fighting, and fighting.

no progress. continue fighting, scream, yell.
teeth bite, molars grind. making progress, time zone change.

no progress. Moskow, Moskow, dance the beat and turn around.
facing from which i came. progress?

no.
two steps forward, two steps back. a change in scenery, but nothing changes.
trapped inside. clawing, biting, screaming tears.
fear. darkness. dark nights.

alone.

two roads diverged in the wood, and sorry i could travel neither.
Poe'd be proud. Brooding souls. My soul hurts.

trapped inside desperation. no motivation.

tomorrow is another day. tomorrow comes too early.
tomorrow never comes. tragic story of star-crossed eyes. no lovers involved here.
just one poor, unfortunate soul. stuck to misquote and hide behind his own facade:

here's the face that he wears in the cold light of day.
here's the one he wears at night.
either way, nothing changes. two steps forward and two steps back.

no progress is made.

not traditionally, anyway.
and still i'm trapped.

in which I make a video blog while driving.

2009-09-12T08:50:00.000-04:00

Friends List Hierarchy

2009-08-16T00:48:00.003-04:00

I'm lame. I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep and was like "Ah! Need to change something in my buddy list." I'm lame because I was then like "And I should blog about it!"

I - proudly - only have 28 Buddies in my Buddy List. I'm certain about 5 of them never sign on. And I probably only talk to maybe 10 of them.

I have so few, that I'm capable of having three categories - which I am to share with you now:

Buddies - The people I talk to with most frequency. The people in this category account for probably 95-97% of my IMing capabilities.

EMUs - People I met during my career at EMU, whether they be friends of friends, went to EMU, or live(d) on the East side of Michigan.

West Michigan - People I met through friends, knew previously, live/spend a majority of their time in West Michigan.

And those are the three categories I have.

Now I'm sure I can sleep comfortably.

Tidbit #29

2009-08-08T00:06:00.002-04:00

I'm contemplating whether or not the whole theme of "A study in my life" for this blog really works.

I would guess that it does... but title-ing everything Fact #__ : Tim is.... seems interestingly weird to me. I can't come up with any good titles. I also never have the desire to post, which I'm kicking myself for because I told myself I was going to do this - and... I'm not.

My life is presently pathetic. I work. I just got done with class, so that's one less thing I'm doing. I spend half my days on Facebook playing Farmville, watching my little crops grow.

I just made a purchase on www.wwbw.com (Woodwind and Brasswind's website). I cannot wait for it to come in the mail. It'll be pretty, and I'll love it. For those of you reading this on facebook who can't see the picture... too bad, I guess.

Homework #1: Word Association

2009-07-13T22:27:00.002-04:00

Often times, I see things that remind me of other things; certain words or phrases that I know the exact meaning of, but I completely think of something different.

For instance: On my cellphone, if I type #msg#, I can be told the amount of text messages I have sent/received for the billing month. However, when I physically type it out and send it, I always giggle because while "msg" in this instance means "message," I pretend it means "monosodium glutamate." If you've attended class previously, you'd know I love MSG.

Another instance: "Drag Racing." I know this is a very manly event in which two beefed up cars accelerate quickly and see who can outrun the other in a short amount of space. Heck, I even watched this at work today (not by choice - it just happened to be on). Regardless, whenever I see the words "Drag Racing" - I think of another all-too-manly event which requires two men, dressed as women (thus 'Drag') running a short distance against each other in high heels. When I see this and think it, I giggle and live out the little fantasy in my head.

When I was younger, I used to think that "Body Shops" sold pieces of Human Body - not Automobile bodies. I presently can't think of anything else.

This was titled "Homework" because I'd like to hear if you have any words/phrases like the above mentioned that make you think of something completely different. And please, keep this G-rated. Not because I'm a prude, but because I don't want to know how dirty you all are.

Fact 27: I am not a Professional Blogger.

2009-07-09T00:45:00.002-04:00

A lot of my friends, recently, have been all like "I've started blogging!" and then, in their first post, the one that provides an explanation to themselves and why they've started the blog, they tell you "I've always blogged, but I want to be more professional, so I've switched from Livejournal and viola, here I am" - wherever here is.

Well, I'm not going to lie. I already did an welcome entry post. And it doesn't say much about me, in the least. I admit I did have a livejournal once upon a time, and I wanted to start blogging again. But really, I'm not a professional. There's not going to be anything "professional" about this blog. I'm not going to try to change the world. I'm not going to inform you of things that I think you need informing about. I'm not going to create tutorials, and if I provide my two cents about something, it's going to probably be an uneducated guess. I'm not going to be able to be used anywhere as a creditable source.

Simply put, I started this - not to change the world - but for something to do. To type out things that come to me, to rant, or to rave, about menial human things. I'm allowed to do that. I'm not going to have a million readers, and I won't get upset that I'm not growing in popularity and am not ever going to be sponsored by somebody. That's okay.

This is just here to inform people about things going on with/in my life. And if you have a problem with that, I apologize for you.

I am the Eggman, I am the Eggman. I am the Walrus. Goo goo ga joob, goo goo ga joob.

Fact 26: Tim is unconventional.

2009-07-04T22:53:00.002-04:00

I am unconventional. And here's a good example: It's Saturday Night. The "Fourth of July," none the less. The day we celebrate the United States' Independence from Great Britain. A day that, for every other country in the world, is just another day. A day that requires drinking, and fireworks, and barbecues, and family time. A day that rarely falls on a Saturday, and it in fact fell upon a Saturday this year.

And, Fireworks don't thrill me. Drinking makes me tired. My family is gone, and I'm positive my dinner will be a chicken sandwich from McDonalds in probably two hours. Today, I worked. And then I got sent home early, and I took a nap. After that, I sat at my computer watching tutorials on video editing, and took a quiz. I got a 105/100. Go me! Then I took a bath, and did laundry. Now I'm going to go see what's on the Disney Channel.

I am unconventional.

Fact 25: Tim is not that interesting.

2009-06-29T22:56:00.002-04:00

I am not that interesting. Not much goes on in my life, really.

Sure, I started a job at the Four Winds Casino, and I have been working for two weeks. No, I haven't updated to tell about that. I've been busy with work and not really thinking about posting anything.

And sure, I started grad school today - but I'm still getting the hang of it, and still freaking out about how I'm going to get money to pay for books and stuff before I get my financial aid (which is still two weeks from getting to me...).

I've been worrying about money in general. And then there's this whole needing to move away from Ypsilanti (possibly For Good) and moving to Valparaiso - that will cost money.

I've been wanting to make video blogs but I haven't had the slightest idea about what.

I've been trying to read "Seeing Red," after I bought it at VU's book store for $4. I'm only like 7 chapters through and can't remember the last day I picked it up.

I need to get outside and do something, but it's 11pm.

I also don't have favorites, but that's because I like too many things.

How are you?

It's a command.

2009-06-26T23:44:00.002-04:00

I need to update this. Sometime soon, when my head is some place logical.

But for now:

1. Spell your name without E,R,S,H,K,I,M,L,C,A,Y,N:
Tot Dwo.

Fountain of youth.

2009-06-14T23:47:00.002-04:00

We have a pond, which I installed last summer. It's starting to take shape, but still needs work (however, work demands money and there is none of that to go around).

The pond itself came with a pump that connects to a hose to run water to another basin, to flow into a second basin, and finally into the main basin. This pump also has the option to have a fountain attachment attach to it. Last year, we never used the fountain because it would always end up falling over and spraying out of the pond. Bad. This year, I've been trying to get it to work and have thus far been unsuccessful.

Tonight, however, I decided to use an old tupperware lid to suction the pump to (it has suction cups). To keep it in the position where I wanted it, I used rocks to anchor the lid in the bottom of the pond (also, this hid the lid). Unforunately, though, the fountain head I wanted to use - which creates a cascading bubble/ball of water - kept acting up and getting disfigured. So, I tried to use a regular fountain head, and it kept getting clogged. I got the idea to remove any "feature" and just to let the water billow through the fountain pipes. This didn't give any good effect. I then had an idea to place a rock atop of that. Brilliant! It creates a fountain feature, and it's easily changeable and is very individual based on the rock that is placed atop. (This is a problem though because if the rock is too light, it shifts around a lot).

I should take a picture tomorrow.

VU. but not Deja.

2009-06-10T22:42:00.002-04:00

I had a lot I wanted to talk about, but I'm only going to say this:

Valparaiso University's facilities for digital medias and broadcast medias are gorgeous. And what blows my mind is that they're all relatively new (most of them within the past 10 years), and the new University President has decided that they aren't good enough and the Communications department will be getting new facilities in and around fall term. ::jaw drop:: EMU should be jealous. Big time. 20 Mac Computers that will all run Avid, Final Cut Pro, and Adobe Premier. High Def television studio + brand new cameras, lights, monitors, boards. Brand new weather studio (and this one is apparently all ready state-of-the-art). A radio studio that is better than the professional one I interned at.

And I'll have access to it all! <3. They trust their students.

I just hope I can really get to like my program-mates, seeing as there's only going to be a maximum of 20 of us and we're most likely going to have all of our classes together.

I'm just continuing to knock on wood that I hear from Financial Aid soon. I was advised by my advisor that I needed to enroll in Summer II classes - and they start June 29th. Let's hope I get the financial aid, 'cause I sure as heck can't pay for them.

Also.... in a side note: I'm SUPER stoked for my uniform at Four Winds. :)

Tonight, tonight

2009-06-07T23:35:00.002-04:00

So, the Tony awards were on. And much like any other awards show, I found myself relatively bored. I did love that the cast of "Rock of Ages" recognized a tradition in Michigan to use your hand as a map to indicate where you're from. I give them props for that, and would see the show if it was guaranteed to happen again.

This post really isn't intending to have anything to do with the Tony's, though. Indirectly, I guess.

I realize that award shows, especially something like the Tony's that is rather specialized, isn't everybody's cup of tea, but it kind of hurts to know that I had to verbally claim a tv three hours early so that I could watch them. And, even then out of courtesy and knowledge, I chose the tv in my mom's bedroom because I didn't want to cause a fight over one of the bigger tv's. It also hurts to know that my "Number One Fan" doesn't want to even attempt to watch tv programs with me that fill my heart with hope and desire (and also painful suffering for the fear/knowledge that I know I'll never be in that position).

Theatre is my dream, and I wish my family would actually support that. They can't even remember what my degree is in, and I've even tried to simplify it from it's actual title "Comprehensive Communication and Theatre Arts with a concentration in Theatre" to just "Communications and Theatre Arts," and even just "Theatre Arts" and they still forget. They also except and assume that my life goal is to work in television/film/radio. That's my minor - "Electronic Media and Film Studies," and yes, I admit that is also what my (first) master is going to be in: "Digital Media" (encompassing Audio, Video, Desktop Publishing, and Webdesign).

The minor and the Graduate degree.... those are necessities. Those are to pay the bills so I can live out my dream being in/on/around/on top of/gobbled up and spit out by theatre. Theatre is where my heart is. Especially tonight.

For, it sure wasn't at home.

what if i were a god, i would smite her.

2009-06-05T00:17:00.002-04:00

Xanadu is probably one of the coolest shows ever. And probably one of the best soundtracks. Interestingly though, I feel it should be classified more as a "review" and thrown into the category of musicals with We Will Rock You and A Boy From Oz. I've never seen those, so I don't really know. The lyrics really don't progress anything along - it's all the dialogue that happens between verses and choruses.

I'm currently discontent with my current life path. And by current life path, I mean the way that this summer is going. And by currently discontent, I mean I'd like it to change. I don't always want to be doing something every day, and I want that to be okay. I also don't always want to be tied to my computer or my cellphone, and I want that to be okay. I want to spend time alone, and I want that to be okay. And, it should be. But something keeps telling me it isn't, like I have to have a more definitive reason to have time by myself than I simply "want to."

It feels really weird knowing that some other's summer projects won't get completed unless I'm there to do that. That's really, really weird. I wish people could survive without me. But, if it wasn't for me, I feel that nothing in my world would get accomplished - things would just be discussed about and talked of, but it wouldn't occur.

I want my life to be more meaningful, and I'm not seeing a return.

That's all-right, right?

2009-06-04T00:40:00.002-04:00

I don't really like the Dave Matthews Band. I'm a fan of iTunes on facebook and they were all "Download music on us! Featuring TWO songs by DMB." I refused the free download strictly for that fact.

But, because I don't like DMB, I should not have ripped off the lyrics "You come crash into me" when I uploaded a photo album on facebook, right? Wrong. They're mine for the taking!

It sounded better than "Big Waves Crash into Big Rocks." Taking photos of the waves of Lake Michigan crashing into the break-water in St Joe were sweet, despite getting cold in the low 40degree waters. Oh, how I love living by a gigantic body of water. Mmmmmm.

That was the highlight of my day. The next highlight was getting the pond functioning (sorry, no photos yet). I also planted a letterbox for a comrade from Ypsilanti, painted an alligator/crocodillo silver, held a frog for a hot second, and vacuumed cars.

Nothing spectacular to say the least.

Softball, but not really.

2009-05-30T17:38:00.002-04:00

Ah, so here we are again, although we were never here once before, were we?

My sister plays softball. That should probably be more descriptive, but it's not. She's played on the Sunshine League in Three Oaks for several years, but she's graduated to High School and should have been playing Junior Varsity, but our school is so small and so few girls tried out, they couldn't field a JV team, so she got to play on Varsity. If "playing" is what you can call it. Unfortunately, she didn't get to play much this year; It's a real shame, but she will get her varsity letter! HUZZAH!

River Valley is not known for being good at much of anything. The Marching Band is fantastical, but is usually never recognized. Our Varsity Softball team hadn't really been doing so well this year (and I'll admit I never went because Brandi didn't play and I didn't want to cheer on people I didn't know). Well, this week they beat the right team to advance into the District Playoffs. Today was the day. This morning they won their game 5-2 in the 13th inning - Their league only requires 7 innings for a game, so that's 6 innings of Overtime! So, because of beating that team, They got to play in the Deciding game. I arrived at the field while Lake Michigan Catholic and Watervliet Grace Christian were playing. LMC won, and our girls went head-to-head with them.

It was a slow start, with some bad calls from the field Ump (who very much seemed to be favoring LMC in the beginning), and by the 5th inning, they were tied 4-4. Everybody was starting to joke about having to go into overtime again.

Well, we had to. We're in the 8th inning and our girls got the score 6-4 in their favor. I was jumping up and cheering my head off like a fanatic fan! The game was so intense at this point! The batted the top, and all they had to do was keep LMC at bay during the bottom. Unfortunately, Our girls got a little nervous and with two outs and two girls on base, things got a little stressful for them. :( We lost, 6-7 in the 8th inning. It was such a bummer to see all our girls afterwards.

They played a great game (and from what I've been told - a great two games!). It's been 26 years since they've won Districts, and it was SO CLOSE! They have every right to be really proud of themselves, especially since we are pretty much close to the underdogs in our League and probably should not have gotten as far as we did.

Valley is joining a new conference next year. From what I can tell, if they continue to play the way they did today, We might stand a great chance next spring. And, here's to knocking on wood that if there's enough girls to have JV and Varsity, Brandi gets to play Varsity (and actually gets to play!).

GO BLUE!

In other news, The Marching Mustang's fall show sounds Intense:
The theme from "New World Symphony," Dvorak; "In the Hall of the Mountain King," Grieg;
"Farandole," Bizet; "Jupiter," Holst; ......And I think there was one more... but I cannot remember it right now >_<.

It's going to challenge them, and I have full faith in them.

GO BLUE!

monosodium glutamate

2009-05-26T14:39:00.002-04:00

Oh, MSG.

I'm rather fascinated with MSG lately. I don't know why, but I want to cook with it. I'm very tempted to buy a bottle of 'Accent.' Solo Ingredient: MSG. My mom does need more spices, anyway...

Ted Allen, on his show, Food Detectives, said that the Asian taste 'umami' is achieved through MSG. He then did an experiment to see how it affected people. It barely did. I guess, like most anythings, it only affects you if you're allergic to it.

Kikkomann has commercials where they're all "u-ma-mi," and say that "umami" is in every bottle. Ted Allen said "umami" is MSG. I looked, but Kikkomann's doesn't list Monosodium Glutamate. It should be there, by algebraic logic. Does it go by other names?
Personally, I think they probably just don't list it, but it's there.

I mean, it's technically salt, right? Or, a salt-sugar compound. One sodium and a glutamate, and isn't glutamate referring to along the lines of glucose?

This post sounds better on paper when I wrote it at 3am last night.

Memorial Day Weekend. Still.

2009-05-25T01:32:00.003-04:00

So, nobody follows this blog. I have it set to import into facebook, and still nobody follows it. Whatever. Apparently my friends are phonies and don't really care.

Today was National Plant A Letterbox Day, according to Atlasquest. It's not a real holiday. It just happens.

Sean and I went to Three Oaks to plant boxes. While driving through Three Oaks, I look and I'm like "That's EMILY!" Our Friend Emily and her boyfriend Joe were in town visiting Joe's family who lives/has a cottage in Three Oaks. We flipped a 'uie' (youie?... u-turn) and I'm like "Do you need help finding somthing?" and Joe replies "No," and Emily looks and is like "OMG HI!" We hung out with them for a while. Yay!

After we hung out with them, we got our boxes planted. I didn't plant mine where I had wanted to, but I found a place that actually worked better, so hurrah. I'm not telling you the title of it because well.... since nobody reads this, you probably don't care.

Came back here, ate dinner, listened to records. Yeah, like, for reals records. Ended up watching a lot of Disney channel and even the Disney channel movie "Tinkerbell." It's about how Tink got her starts. Lots of witty humor in it, and Kristin Chenowith was totally a voice, which she's phenom so it made the movie.

I need to go to bed. I've been staying up far too late.

Memorial Day Weekend.

2009-05-23T00:00:00.003-04:00

So, technically Memorial Day Weekend began today.

And, technically, while Summer doesn't begin until June 21st, Summer began today.

Living in a tourist region, Memorial Day to Labor Day is known as the busy season. Prices of all the locally owned (non-franchised) restaurants and businesses go sky rocket crazy. The freeways never cease to be frequented. Beaches turn from sandy to crowded. The average license plate goes from being that of Michigan to that of Illinois.

Time doesn't change, but one would swear that the Southwest Corner of Michigan's Great Southwest becomes a subsidy of The Land of Lincoln. We here in the county of Berrien realize that a majority of our county's income comes from Summer Tourism. We've accepted this, but it still doesn't necessarily appease us.

We have Lake Front, but unless you're the General Manager of Cook Nuclear, or a bigwig for Whirlpool, you can't afford to live on it. So, the richies from Chicago and the surrounding Suburbs buy second homes, which drives up the property value and makes it harder for locals to remain. The lakefront ran out, and they've started moving into old historic towns, and most likely thinking that it's cute, they buy all the store fronts in the town and turn them "kitch." Property values continue to rise. Luckily though, Several school districts are lucky enough to be allowed by State Legislature to fund the schooling based off Property Taxes, and since Second Home Owners have to pay ridiculous taxes, these schools find themselves in a surplus of money.

We have a nickname for our visitors that remains on the dl, but It's fun to say. "Fip." I'll let you decide what it means.

I can't wait for school to start and Chicago to go home. (Don't get me wrong, I love Chicago, just when it's in Illinois.)

Just like Summer Rain

2009-05-22T11:33:00.002-04:00

I found a tick on me last night. Ugh. No idea how it got in the house and/or onto me. Glad I caught it before it bit me... those things are nasty when they bite (So I've seen/heard).

The Lizard has apparently become an escape artist. I don't know how that happened. I don't really condone the lizard anyway.

I like knowing people's middle names. Some people might find that strange, but I think it's neat. I mean, it's part of your name, and if I know the first and last parts, why am I not entitled to the middle? Not to mention, I love figured out if initials spell anything, whether it be rad, tad, son, jaw, or things that don't make any sense: ees, bks, bsd, eag, whatever. They're neat.

Don't Stop Believing

2009-05-19T22:50:00.002-04:00

Um, so, I don't know about the majority of Fox's fall lineup, but I do know for certain that I am SUPER stoked for the show "Glee."

If you haven't heard, shame. It's about a HS Glee Club. What's that? Show choir! They so nicely aired a preview (aka, the pilot) tonight. I love that any and all background music is a Capella. And, you can also download the songs after the episodes air from iTunes. Um. I'm in love.

EEEE, yay! The prospects of this show give me Glee.

Swine Flu

2009-05-18T20:31:00.004-04:00

I wanted to make a joke that Pigs probably found it funny that humans caught Swine Flu, but apparently it doesn't work that like and this entire post is wasted.

Paper Bags.

2009-05-17T00:10:00.001-04:00

I wonder what it would be like, to play in a paper bag.

Sure, I could easily make things out of a paper bag - masks, puppets, a really small tshirt... but, to be small enough to play inside one. Cats seem to like it at times. I'm sure I would, too.

I'm feeling better. Still broke, but feeling better.

Gived up.

2009-05-16T19:27:00.002-04:00

I never finished telling my Las Vegas story...

But, one person reads this? They heard it already.

I'd really rather not re-delve, for I miss it too much. They're expecting temperatures in the 100s. We're living temperatures in the 50s. Stop stealing my Heart, Sin City. I've already been given to go to pack up and move to you, I don't want to make it actually happen.

I'm broke. Goodbye, car.

Viva Las Vegas: A Recap, Day 1.

2009-05-07T17:34:00.000-04:00

Whoa, so... A lot to talk about.

My Graduation present from my Mom was a trip to Las Vegas. Four Nights, and so much to talk about. I’m going to have to break this up into shorter bits.

To begin, let’s start where we did:

Sunday, May 3rd.

I was all set and ready to type little notes on my iPod and use those to post, but they were nothing but complaints on Sunday: South Bend Regional Airport? Not the best. Weird concourse area, weird gate set-up. I’ve never been to an Airport where I had to walk outside to get to my plane, and because of that I was nervous getting on the plane because the walkway up to it was very wobbly. Also, for whatever reason the cargo hold with my carry-on wouldn’t close properly because of my bag, so the Flight Attendant (who had to have been 50+) had to move it. I offered to do it, because she didn’t look capable. She tells me “No” and that she has it, but then proceeds to complain that it’s so heavy, and there’s no handles. Um, Hi, It’s a Suitcase. There are Handles. And Hi again, you’re a flight attendant. If you can’t move a suitcase that weighs approximately 18 pounds, how on earth are you going to assist somebody in an emergency situation? “Oh, sorry. I couldn’t help get that man out of the plane because he’s too heavy.” Other people even were offering to help her and she was being too stubborn. I was not very faithful in her abilities. Also, it was rather discerning that the Flight Attendants on that flight though the whole safety procedure informative section was a joke - they were laughing during it. Mom and I couldn’t fall asleep and it was a long four hour flight.

McCarran Airport is gorgeous. Very much on-par w/ Orlando International. I immediately fell in love with Dry Heat. Not so much with our hotel. We stayed at the Riviera, which is kind of in the middle of nowhere and across the street from Circus Circus. They are building a really gorgeous new Hotel right next to both of these. It’s called FontainBleau. I’m pretty sure the Riviera and Circus Circus will find themselves being bought out or disappearing in the not-so-distant future.

We check in, and the average age in the hotel is Death. Good God Was I Young. We decide to take the monorail to get down to the strip so we can pick up our tickets to “O”. This requires us going to the Hilton, and turns out the Monorail (which was rumored to be free) costs money. We later learned the best deal for Public transportation is The Deuce - the bus. $15 for Unlimited Three Day? Not bad.

We make it to Bellagio, Get our Tickets, and are running out of time to find something to eat, so we decide to eat at the Bellagio’s buffet. Expensive, but totally worth it! Best Buffet I’ve ever eaten at.

Mom gambles a little after dinner, and we go see the show. The theatre was beautiful. The show was also beautiful. I enjoyed it, but I found myself more interested in a lot of the secondary performing - I found the synchronized swimmers more interesting than the contortionists during their act. Oops. Good show that. I’d rank it #2 in Cirque I’ve seen. Current Rankings: 1. La Nouba. / 2. “O” / 3. Kooza / 4. Delirium

We exit the show, watch the fountains at the Bellagio (I take a crap ton of photos). We walk the strip, past Paris, Ballys, Caesar’s, and make it to the Mirage. We are able to catch the Volcano. It was amazing and probably my favorite free show that we saw. I take a crap ton of photos. We continue walking. Approach Treasure Island as the ‘Sirens of TI’ is happening. Cannot see it, continue walking. Walk past The Fashion Show Mall, walk past Wynn and Encore (both whom have artificial grass.) And keep walking. Finally make it back to the hotel, and sleep.

More to follow when I have more energy. I’m exhausted from the travel home.

Three Thousand, Nine Hundred Eighty Three.

2009-04-30T22:48:00.005-04:00

Sawyer, Michigan is where I tell people I live. In all technicality, I live in a small town known as New Troy, Michigan. New Troy is the hub of Weesaw Township. Located in New Troy is 1 Cemetery; The Weesaw Twp Legion; a tiny Church; A school that used to be owned by River Valley and is now a "Community Center;" A post office - P.O.Boxes only; A convenience store; A Car-Fix-'Er-Up place; the Fire/Ambulance Department + Township Hall. There are only 35.6 Square Miles in the Township, and according to the 2000 Census, 2,065 residents.

I tell people I live in Sawyer for multiple reasons: 1) We get our mail delivered from Sawyer's post office. Because of this, our address says Sawyer. 2) People sometimes have some semblance of knowledge where Sawyer is. Having an exit off of I-94, A truck stop (The TA), an Adult Book Store, and the Warren Dunes State Park have created some knowledge of the city of Sawyer. 3) More often than not, when I told somebody at EMU that I lived in New Troy, I got one of the following responses: "Yeah, I know where Detroit's at." "I've been to Troy." or "Where?"

Regardless, here at home, I live on a block with a total of 6 plots of land. I can lay in my driveway and see the stars. I can walk to the convenience store. I can open my window and essentially hear nothing. At night, it's virtually pitch black outside. It's peaceful.

But it also makes me miss the Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor area, so much.

I completed the first leg of moving home for the summer today. I'm going to Las Vegas next week, then I get to complete leg two of the move: furniture. I already miss my apartment. Sure, I have my dogs here... but I don't have many friends. I don't have city water. I don't have a Taco Bell that serves Baja Blast nearby. I don't have WDVD 96.3FM. I have to drive 30 minutes to get to the closest Department store.

I do have several beaches nearby, though. People should come visit me, I suspect.

I've been meaning to...

2009-04-27T22:43:00.003-04:00

Lots of stuff has happened.

Friday - Letterboxed in Wayne, Westland, Canton, Livonia, and Plymouth. Broke 100. Ate at Checker's for lunch.
Saturday - Letterboxing event in Ypsilanti. Acquired 37 stamps. Met awesome people. Spent all day outside. Dad & Tammy came up. Tried to go eat at bd's, but it was busy. Got stuffed at Red Robin's, where our waiter was named Tim. Irony. Dad & Tammy stay at Lamp Post Inn - cute little motel with awesome written all over it.
Sunday - Awoke early, 6AM. Showered. Mom, Brandi, Aunt Marty and Uncle Paul arrived. Got my graduation present from Marty & Paul - an iPod touch. Score! Dad/Tammy show up. Leave. Arrive at Convocation center. Photo op. Go stand in an auxilary gym, get sore feet. Sit and listen to long speeches. Get recognized with all the other Undergraduates who have obtained Summa Cum Laude. Get my photo taken tons by family. Get my photos taken by professionals during the procession to get my name read and an empty diploma cover. Blah blah, event is over. I'm graduated. Get an EMU alumni pin. Photo ops. Go to Quirk for the CMTA reception. Say 'bye' to Anita. Applebee's for lunch. Get stuffed.
Wow busy day. Come back to apartment, family leaves. Sean's family stays. Go to Melting Pot and have the best dining experience of my life with an amazing waiter and deliciously good food. A++, Melting Pot, A++.
Monday - Sean's family leaves. We go to the zoo in Detroit... well, Royal Oak. Spend all day there, decide we really want Slurpees. Forget how to find 7-Eleven. Drive around Ferndale, park in Ferndale Foods. Fight with GPS. I remember the nice service Google provides: 1-800-GOOG411. Call them, learn of 7-Eleven's address. Use that into GPS unit (which I somehow ruined her voice of...). Find 7-Eleven, have good concoction of Orange Cream, Vanilla Cream, and Banana. Come home and go on crazy mad mall rush quest to find a pair of slip-on deck-like shoes for me for my trip to Vegas. Find none that are in my budget. Come home, defeated. See that all the stores I shopped at do sell them - but online only. Find Walmart carries some for $10. Hope Walmart has it when I go there tomorrow.

Now I'm going to bed... well, reading first... then sleep.

An Eventful Earth Day

2009-04-22T23:19:00.003-04:00

Earth Day, April 22, 2009.

Attended my last final in my Undergraduate Career at EMU. Ran into several friends on the way to leave campus. I'm going to miss this place.

Saw Disney's earth. It was a good movie, even if it only uses footage from Discovery/BBC's 'Planet Earth.' I love the show - it's so gorgeous; and so was this movie. New editing and new narration provided a very fun spin. The music was fantastic and I'm glad I went and saw it. Not to mention, it started late because a school group had a special viewing, so we got curteousy coupons for it being an inconvenience. Just a note to my (non)readers: Do Not Take Small Children To See This Movie. They might be all "Mommy, Daddy! I wanna see the pander bears!" and you might think "Aww, they're cute. Okay!" But note: Young Children will probably find this movie boring. Also note: The Disney Channel even says that this movie is not recommended for the Younger 'Surfers' (as they're called).

Worked. Last day of work. I got to keep my awesome EMU nametag. Awesome.

Judged the St. Francis Middle School Forensics Team 'Friends and Family Night.' They performed, I gave feedback. Good luck to all those competing in State this weekend.

And finally, in an effort to get myself out of a funk about graduation, Sean and I ended up playing stupid in our caps and gowns:

This is called "The Tassel Dance"

it hailed today.

2009-04-21T12:09:00.002-04:00

I took what constitutes as my last exam at EMU today. Wow.

Graduation on Sunday. Four years of college, where did you go? It's been a long process, but it honestly has not felt that way.

Everybody says High School is the best years of your life. I beg to differ, for college has been great (High School sucked).

I'm really emotional as of late - listening to music in the car recently makes me want to cry. It's been The Lion King (OBC). I can't believe I'm graduating on Sunday. I'm kind of not ready for it, even though it's all I've been wanting this entire semester. One 2 hour event and a little green folder will say "Congratulations, You're officially done with your Undergraduate career. By the way, the real world is calling and it's standing right outside your door. Tomorrow."

.... wow.

Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread

2009-04-20T22:56:00.001-04:00

I took a Play Direction class this semester. We directed scenes. Our final was to direct a 5-15 minute scene. I chose to direct "Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread" by David Ives.

It's a short play for four actors that examines a brief moment in the life and mind of Minimalist Composer, Philip Glass. We see Philip enter a bakery to buy a loaf of bread, and in doing so passes a woman from his past and remembers all their time together and deeply examines his life in a style thought process that is super reminiscent to his style of composition. This leads the audience to ponder, is this how Philip Glass really thinks?

Sleep?

2009-04-20T02:41:00.004-04:00

It's Finals week. I have finals to attend to. And somehow, despite it being 2:40AM Monday Morning (with a long day ahead of me), I find myself unable to fall asleep. Too many thoughts run through my mind, with concern of my final project in my Play Direction class (I am directing 'Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread' by David Ives and we present today.) I also have a scene I have to act in, from 'Anything Goes' (and if it goes anywhere, I'd prefer it go away...).

I complain, but I'm really wanting to be asleep. When I don't get enough sleep, I turn into the Hulk.

How do you tell the difference between Well and City waters?

2009-04-19T14:04:00.003-04:00

If you're my roommate, you apparently assume you can do so by looking at it.

So, spent the day in Dexter letterboxing to our heart's content and our feet's soreness. Note: better shoes for hiking on paved trails. It was APPRECIATION DAY in the Metro Parks, so we got into Hudson Mills for free. Nice.

We started, though, at Burns-Stokes and there were supposed to be two boxes. We found none. Well, we found a Geocache, but that doesn't count. I've been happening upon Geocaches by accident. That's the third I've found thus far. One was warranted - a logbook for a letterbox we found said that there was a cache nearby. I've found two by strange happenstance.

Hudson Mills had 11 boxes that I knew of. Turns out it had more, but by George - I was so tired by the end of the trip there, I'm glad I didn't know about the others.

Anyway, at a picnic table near a water pump (which was a clue for a box), we took a break to eat lunch. I posed the question as to if the pump was well or city water. I get up, and pump the pump. Water pours out. My roommate seriously then asks "Well, which is it?" Like you can tell from looking? I was literally speechless. By taste, I was able to deem it Well water.

Anywho, Managed to find 7 of 11 boxes, which brought my atlasquest total to 81. I have several boxes that aren't listed on atlasquest, but instead are on letterboxing.org. Oddly enough, these two sites are not super compatible and not everybody uses them. Humbug. Personal total, I'm probably at like 85, but I like using Atlasquest to do my totals because I get pretty ribbons on there...

It's raining today and I have a play due tomorrow for a class that I need to go print off.

Jai Ho.

2009-04-18T09:40:00.002-04:00

So, to be honest... I miss blogging.

I used to have a livejournal, and then people stopped reading it and I stopped wanting to share information. So, I stopped.

But I want to start again.

I don't have much to say right now, except that I hope my roommate wakes up sometime soon so we can go to Dexter and spend the day Letterboxing. (What's that? Visit www.atlasquest.com for more information.)