2 points (one good, one bad)

Bad:
I'm sick...with a cold I hope, and nothing more serious. I even cut class today in order to get more sleep and recover.

Good:
I'm going to try and study in Ireland this summer. Thus, every penny I earn is going to be set aside for that. Or at least, the majority of my money.

A valid excuse for absence

Hey all, quick updates (cause I have a paper due tomorrow):

1. Power was out at my house for about 5 days (Wednesday night till 7:00 pm Sunday). Hence, no posting ability.

2. School is tough.

3. Work is long.

4. Fencing is demanding.

5. Fiction writing is going well.

That's about it....hopefully I'll be able to talk about something soon.

Business and Finance

Work is a funny thing. Inspiring both hatred and love, it is something we all must do. At this point in my life, I happen to hold three jobs...all fun and stress inducing at the at the same time.

But this is not a post on job satisfaction, this is a post on money. Earning green. Cold-hard cash. Deniro (or however you say in Spanish). While I don't see it hurting my academic life (yet), I do have the ability to rack in lots of money.

For example, the library needs me to work the occasional night. At first, it kind of bugged because 1. it was a day that I had nothing going on, and 2. I frequently use that day to work at St. Mary's. The latter reason especially because I make more care-taking than I do shelving books. Or so I thought. As I found out today, I get paid $10 an hour to work at night! That's a more than $2 raise over my normal day pay. Thus, I have greater incentive to be there. Now, here's a question for everyone (but particularily those who worked/are working in college):
Is it wise to work more than 15 hours a week? I know statistically, your grades tend to drop, and I don't want to burn out, but I'd like to know others' opinions on this.

With the increase of fundage, some other issues have come up. Firstly, I thought of moving to Dinnaken, given that I'll be making more money than previously anticipated. But, I realized I'll just increase the wealth of the Bank of Adam, and hopefully do it next year (or rather, someplace else since I'm not hearing much praise about Dinnaken). Secondly, the purchasing of more expensive objects. Like, I can justify spending more money on stuff. At present, I'm thinking of getting an MP3 player. Which brings me to my next question:
Any suggestions on which MP3 player to buy?

I realize this a pretty drab post, so I'll leave you with this update on.............my hair. That's right, I think I'm going to let it grow until Halloween (going to dye it blue). Any particular reason you think? Yes. Conditioner. I've tried it in the past, but now, when I use it, I'm so pleased with the results. Girly I know. But hey, nothing beats the golden shimmer of my locks.

Insulted by someone I don't even know (alternatively titled: there's a lot of hate on Frat Row)

Last night, me, Jordan, his brother, and another friend hung out (grammar police, you are not welcome; any posts published will be deleted. Consider this warning eternal). At one point during the night, around midnight, we decide to go on a walk around Dinkytown. This meant walking up Frat Row. In the future, better ways will be taken.

I'm not anti-social by any means, but I hate navigating through loud crowds of slutty girls, punks, drunks, and general idiots for half a dozen blocks. Not worth it. Plus, so many people are angry drunks (well, girls are just plain annoying when trashed, so this refers to guys) that it's most unpleasant to be around them. It doesn't help that practically all these people are freshman too.

Anyways, our quartet was doing our best to get through the masses when one fellow (not a freshman and not drunk but a prick nonetheless) says, "hey, are you guys from Middlebrook?" and then smiles that "I'm-so-cool-and-witty" smile. Now, what exactly was he insinuating? Firstly, he mistook us for freshman. Well truthfully, one of us was, but the rest of use are third or fourth year students. Mildly insulting, but not scathingly. It's more of the Middlebrook thing. Our quartet all has longer/shaggier hair, thus we look like the stereotypical artsy student from that particular dorm. Plus, he was implying that we were gay; another charactersitic associated with Middlebrook. Oh, and it wasn't an innocent case of mistaken identity either (quite sure of that).

We didn't actually start discussing this until after we had passed this guy; we laughed off the comment and kept walking. It had to be discussed because half of our group isn't familiar with the U. Reflecting on it, me and Jordan jokingly thought it would have been a good idea (or at least funny) to pound the snot out of the guy. He had that punkish vibe, and we had had a discussion on how we have to "bring the war to the punks" that very night. See, we're sick of the skinny little arrogant brats who get away with things; we've ran afoul of them one too many times and now it's payback.

So remember readers, next time a punk is giving you crap (perhaps a post on how to identify a punk is forthcoming), just stand your ground, let him take the first swing (thereby making it self-defense), and then mop the floor with 'em. You'll have done a good thing I assure.

Beaten' down by all sides

Going into this school year, I realized it was going to be tougher than most. Five classes, two jobs (one of them new), and fencing club officer duties would certainly keep me busy. Plus, having to deal with the craziness at the U would not help things. However, I'm quite surprised at just what I have had to deal with in just two days of the new semester:

1. The workload. Oy vay, the workload. Guess who has 150 pages of reading and two 1-page papers due tomorrow? Me baby, me. Well, not entirely true; one of those papers is due Friday.

On that note, I did something rather stupid and embarassing; I bought a wrong book. Yes readers, I made a huge mistake, and it cost me much both personally and financially. Such is the way of life.

2. The LADIES yeah! Despite the first day of class being miserably muggy, it warmed my heart to see so many attractive girls wearing precious little clothing. But only at first. See, don't get me wrong, I'm all for the objectification of women; in fact, I don't think we objectify them enough. Just kidding (seriously I am; the comments have shown that this line has been met with confusion rather than laughter). However, I realized I want something more than a pretty face, and being in upper-division classes, I get to deal with more mature, developed (personality wise you dirty minded people), and intelligent young women. So that said, let the games begin...

3. The new school email format...I HATE IT. For any of you involved in that, I'm awaiting for your apologies.

4. The Daily. I've ranted before about certain issues I've had with it (one day Daily, you're gonna go to far and then BAM! To the moon!), but a little piece in the opinion section caught my eye and earned my wrath. The first was that the auther (the editorial editor himself) believes that since students spend time doing the crossword during lectures, they [the students] are "not being challenged." I think it's because these certain students are dumbasses who don't have the drive to actually apply themselves in class and will soon flunk out of college. Ok, truthfully, this isn't always the case. I've been bored in lecture too and zoned out. But, I realize that if I do poorly on a test, it's my own damn fault and not the professor's (again, exceptions exist, but rarely). Everyone talks about when you're at college to go out, challenge yourself, try new things, etc., but maybe that means working on having a longer attention span.

The second thing that blew my mind in the article is the author's apparent dismissal of academics in general. He says, "What idiots we are to worry about the petty details of syllabus when the world around us...bustles with the fervent heart of progess...This college campus however, is too tied down to paper deadlines and disconnected lectures." Ok buddy, I'm sure your professor will love to hear that you didn't write your paper because you were too busy attending political rallies. If you don't want to deal with college work, drop out. I'm attending [and paying] for college to learn, and to learn, one must work; no matter how boring or tedious the class is.

Speaking of, time for me to get cracking on my homework.

Oh, and the Network sucks. Almost as bad as last year. Well, it probably is, but it's the begining of the school year so there's hope.

Ooh, not done yet; I want to leave on a happy note. Perhaps, my new shoes rock and I get treats (edible ones) in one of my classes.

Goodbye summer, hello school

Well, Fall Semester begins tomorrow; I'm both happy and sad about that.

My apologies for the sub-par blogging over summer, but hopefully that'll change in these coming weeks. For the oddest of reasons (actually, desire to avoid actual real work), I blog more when I'm busier. Keep your fingers crossed readers.

In closing, stick to your stengths in life. Now go to this site:

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/flash/peanutbutter.html