White Christmas?

We lost a lot of snow this past week and have just a few inches on the ground up here in Harbor. However, I'm holding judgement on the weather because it's currently snowing right now and we're supposed to get dumped on sometime soon. One year we came home from downstate and we had to basically swim to our garage.

Last night a few of us went to the Austins house to spend some time with them. I think it was uplifting to them and I was glad we did it. It's important that we remain apart of their lives because we were all close friends with Mike and I'd like to think he'd want us to remain in contact. We went to the bowling alley afterwards last night where I saw my name on the list of shame (as Danny calls it) or the successful finish of the Beer list plaque. Saw a bunch of classmates and other people last night, most of whom I haven't seen in quite awhile.

Another reason we need snow up here is because my friends are coming up on the 27th to board/ski and we need some fresh powder to hold our reputation as a good place to ski.

Well, I was just summoned to work out with Corey at some place he knows about here in Harbor, so I'm off in hopes of turning nothing into something. Have a brilliant Christmas!

Can Smell the Pacific...

Well, we made it official. Last night, Drew and I purchased our tickets for our trip out west this coming April. We are taking the trip during his spring break which runs from April 5th to April 13th. The plan is to leave Flint on Saturday morning early with a flight from Flint to Los Angeles, with a stop at Minneapolis. From there, we have a lot of decisions to make about what we want to do. We should be getting in Los Angeles in the middle of the day and have the rest of Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to kind of do what we want. There are many options that I've been pushing around in my head. We'd really like to get up to Portland and Seattle and visit a couple friends. Our friend Rob lives in Seattle and we'd like to get there to see him. Also, Drew's sister is going to school in Spokane and could probably meet us in Seattle or somewhere closer. We'd have to book it up the coast, but that is kind of what I wanted to do anyways.

Portland is somewhere that I really want to stop. My late friend Mike lived there and I really want to experience some of the same things he did. I was even thinking about visiting the bridge where he passed away... but I'm not sure if that will happen. San Francisco is another city that I hear is awesome and a must-stop, so that will most definitely happen. We may even be able to sneak away for a Giants game - with or without Barry playing. No matter what we choose, we have time to stop and check out different areas. We've got a bunch of leeway.

After we finagle our way up and down the western seaboard, we are to return to Los Angeles for a train trip back east. The train leaves Wednesday afternoon/evening and we should be getting into Chicago Friday night. We should be passing by the Grand Canyon, through Albuquerque and Kansas City and will go through a total of seven states. We didn't get a room because of the price and instead will be sleeping on train seats that recline. Hopefully we don't go too stir crazy, but I think it's not a matter of when, but where (hopefully close to the end). By getting back to Chicago and the Michigan area before the weekend, we allow ourselves some time to decompress and pout about how much we miss the west coast already.

I'm obviously elated about the prospects for this trip and have now taken it upon myself to move the priority in getting my camera fixed several slots up on the importance list. I will be missing a full week of class, but will get everything taken care of way ahead of time. And because we purchased the tickets so far in advance, we saved ourselves a bunch of money. The plane ticket and train ticket were around 140 dinero each. The most expensive cost we're looking at is the rental car plus gas which could be a pretty penny. All the more reason that we got some of the expenses out of the way early.

Here is a link that shows the route of our Amtrak train: http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Route/Horizontal_Route_Page&c=am2Route&cid=1081442673827&ssid=132

Here is some of the places I'd like to visit:

Portland, Oregon

Big Sur, California

Seattle, Washington

I Am Legend

Not a bad movie. Ending wasn't what I expected, but I wasn't really expecting anything either - does that make any sense? Will Smith was pretty stellar though. And I'm pretty sure that I hope our world never ends up like the movies that Will Smith star in (think Men in Black, Independence Day, and now I am Legend). If your looking to be scared, go see it. If you hate movies that make you jump, go see Alvin and the Chipmunks instead.

So I came home to different photos all of a sudden being showcased in my Slideshow - maybe they change once and awhile. Who knows? Now none of the early nine are there, but the rest are. I'm out of ideas and my body is telling me to put my mind to rest. A battle for another day.

I Give

I give up for the time being fighting with stupid internet programs. I may have to set up a whole different account to get more pictures in my slideshow, but if you want to see all the pictures I have proposed, you can click on the "Flickr" link below the slideshow to the right. I'm sure 9 pictures with me in them is way too many anyways - don't hate me for it. Sometimes you just can't escape.

New Layout

I'm expanding my knowledge when it comes to creativity on this page and it's starting to show. I now have pictures and links on the right side of the page. I'm wrestling with flickr and blogger at the same time in trying to upload and showcase more photos, but at the moment, I'm losing that battle. So for now, you get to cycle through a grand total of nine pictures. I'm going to eat some food and maybe magically when I get back, all my photos will be sideshowing.

I'm also tackling the idea of starting a webpage, but that might be a huge undertaking and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that. Maybe if I'm bored over Christmas break... maybe.

Inspirations

Some come. Some go. Some are engraved in my mind forever. Others come with a vengeance, only to drift away a few days later. They are sometimes people. Other times it's an idea, a concept. Some are larger than life, while others are humble, yet important. If you haven't figured out what I'm talking about (you could have just looked at the title too), I'm writing about the ideas, people, concepts, objects and just about anything else that can be rolled into an inspiration. What is an inspiration to me? It's who I am and what I want to become. Inspirations are deeply important to me and have become more so as I age. I'm going to discuss what some of my first inspirations were and what some of them are today.



Mitch Albom has always been a big inspiration. For a long time, he has epitomized what I have always dreamed about becoming - a journalist. He used to be strictly a sports guy working for the Detroit Free Press, but now has taken on larger endeavors such as writing top-selling books, hosting his own radio show and even making apperances on ESPN's Sunday morning Sports Reporter Show. I am a big fan of his writing style and of his books. Tuesday's with Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven and For One More Day are his top-selling books and I look at each in the highest regard. Maybe I'm biased because I've enjoyed his writing for so long. The way his books, articles and demeanor affects others makes me want to pattern my career like his. He is a true inspiration to me.



J.K. Rowling is another inspiration. Her inspiration is more recent and is because of her successful Harry Potter series. The reason she's an inspiration to me (aside from the fact that she's a writer and I love her books) is because she really came out of nowhere. She was sitting in a cafe, just writing every day, trying to raise her child on book grants and she became an overnight success. She has done everything so modestly and graciously and this inspires me.



I'd say another general inspiration for me is sports. It's really provided me with a lot of direction even though much of it I didn't see until recently. In high school, sports provided me with a hobby and as I always said in high school, sports was my "anti-drug." I've never, ever, even for a second really lost my love for sports. It's always been there in my life and it's a comfort for me. Without sports and without the knowledge of sports, I'd probably be a lost individual. I can't see a day in the future when I will wake up and want to look at the stocks before the sports page in the newspaper.


Lastly, my parents have had a very large impact on my life - obviously. They are inspirations for me not only because they are my parents, but because they are strong individuals. They are dedicated, honest and fairly hard-working (haha). They have both had some very unique life experiences and many of these are engraved in my mind and have really shaped who I am today. They are model parents and should be credited with the difficult upbringing of yours truely, among other things. They have supported me everyday of my life and have encouraged me to follow my dreams - which I know can't be said about all parents. Their constant care and encouragement helps me everyday and I'm not sure where I would be without them.


There are several other important inspirations that I'd like to mention, but seeing as it's pushing 1 am and I've been up since 6, I'm going to call it a night and possibly continue this another day. In closing, I'd just like to say that as a baseball fan, I actually feel embarrassed because of the steroids report submitted today and hope that baseball gets all this nonsense cleared up so that America's favorite pastime can continue on in a more positive light. Let's leave all this behind when we enter the new year... please.

Nothing but Time

I find myself once again, starring at a big day of nothing. This seems to be happening much too often recently. This is the second straight day that they have refused my services at work. Ahh, the joys of working at a hospital which is currently trying to cut back on the budget. It'd be nice to find a steady job where I know that I'm actually working, instead of crossing my fingers everytime I call to see whether they have a room for me or not. Oh well. Hopefully I will get a few more shifts before I travel home next week.

I'm going to go on record right now and say that this is the earliest that I have ever had my Christmas shopping done - by far. I remember once year in high school, I was at Walmart at about 7:00 pm Christmas eve, shopping for just about everyone. I almost did it all in one day this year as well. So this is a virtual pat on the back for getting it done early. I even splurged this year and bought wrapping paper, instead of taking all the gifts home and using mom's. Wow.

Update on the west coast trip: we're getting closer to purchasing some tickets that will take us to the Pacific Ocean and back. I'm pretty excited and we've still got about 5 months until this actually takes place. I might have already said this in a previous post, but the plan is to fly from Michigan to one of those coastal California hotspots (San Fran, L.A.) and then do some aimless wandering up and down the coast, even going to Portland and Seattle. Then after we get sick of that (which I'm sure we won't), we'll be traveling by train back to Michigan or somewhere close. If we do it right and get the tickets now, this trip won't be nearly as bad as I once originally thought. Can't wait to see the other side of our country. I'm sure it's going to blow my mind. Just need to get a working camera in the meantime.

White Substance in Air

Well... winter is finally upon us. Today was officially the first day of really doing some work on my car before departing. Always nice spending that extra few minutes every morning removing mother nature's doing. Don't get me wrong though. I'm actually giddy with the sudden snow we have received within the past few days. Three weeks from this moment (or close to that), I'll be sliding down the slopes in Harbor at non-safe speeds. This is also my chance to extend an open invitation to anyone who would like to snowboard/ski for a few days up in Harbor a few days after Christmas. We already seem to have a pretty safe amount of "crazys" coming, so it should be some good, old-fashioned fun.

I'd also like to pat myself and Harry on the back for not even questioning ourselves on keeping the heat off so far this winter. Our last bill was our lowest yet and we're trying to best that one this month. I've lived all winter wrapped in a blanket before and look forward in doing so again this winter. Stubborn, maybe... cheap, probably... stupid, most likey.

Also would like to mention that as of today, I'm officially paying Western money again... I mean, I'm registered for classes next semester. Two communications classes and one journalism class. All this is geared towards another major - which would end up being journalism. We'll see how it goes this semester, but I'd like to think these classes are going to benefit me in the long run.

Watched Pursuit of Happyness tonight. Pretty good movie. Could see why Will Smith was up for an Academy Award. Can't wait for I am Legend.

Detroit Pride!

I've been meaning to write something for awhile, but have either been away or busy. I've started writing something and although I'm not sure it's going to turn into anything, it's a start. I've got a pretty good storyline and basis and it incorporates a lot of personal feelings from the past. We'll see where it goes.

Just like to say that I'm ecstatic about the Tigers trading for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. If I do recall, I predicted this in a blog a few weeks ago and although I didn't think the trade would be this large, it's blowing my mind right now. I'm pretty excited for the season to start and can't wait to see the Tigers at Comerica this year.

I'll try and write a more detailed post in the immediate future, but for now I'm going to sleep before my 6 am wake-up call tomorrow morning.

Searching

Work didn't need me again today and this is the 4th out of 5 days that they have either sent me home early, or didn't even have a room for me. Therefore, I am searching for a new job. I'm going to continue with the job that I have, but as it is no longer reliable, I have to at least find another part-time job. I've been checking into the newspapers and other writing-guided jobs, but there doesn't seem to be much out there - unless I wanted to deliver newspapers.

So if anyone sees anything that you think might be worthwhile for a post-college graduate such as myself, please let me know.

The Dream... a Reality?

Hope everyone had a good turkey day last week. I was in Tennessee for a few days with my parents and grandparents. I am positive I ate too much... I had to lay down for awhile Friday after dinner. Altogether had a great time and might go back in January when my parents are down in Tennessee for a longer stay. Our Thanksgiving Dinner here in Kalamazoo was once again a huge success. We had more food than we could handle even though we had a pretty good showing of people this year - I'd say at least 10-12 people were here. I'm actually going to see what we have left here in the fridge after finishing this. I'll try and post some pictures from the party as well - not sure how many turned out. The only downside was our neighbor (in the direction of directly below us) decided that we were too "loud" for her liking and yelled at us from her porch balcony. We received a formal complaint and warning, blah blah... Anyways, we patched everything up and I'm now ready to play some DDR.

I know many of you have doubted me actually making a cross-country trip, but I am closer to making it a reality. Over the break I read an article on the cost-efficient train trips that go across the country. Well, they would save me a bunch of money and although I probably wouldn't be able to hit everything I wanted to, it would save my car and me having to drive 500 miles a day. Here's my go-to plan. I fly out West (either Seattle or San Fran or somewhere) and then drive around in a rental or something for a few days. Definitely going to visit Portland and Rob in Seattle and try and hit whatever else I can on the west coast. Pretty much use up my money and resources and then ride the train home. I have been looking at trips that go from Emeryville (next to San Fran) to Chicago and there are also ones that start in Seattle and end in Chicago. Once in Chicago, I'd either take a train to Detroit or Kalamazoo or find some other means of transportation (friends). Train tickets are cheap and even though the ride would be something like 52 hours, I think it'd be totally worth it. Drew already said he was game for the trip, so I am extending an invitation to anyone else who first of all reads this and secondly, would be willing to give up at least one week in the middle of April (we think anyways). Can't wait.

And if anyone is looking for some good music, everyone should try a little Sigur Ros pie... Sigur Ros is an Icelandic band and even though I have no clue what they are saying in any of their songs, they put my at complete ease whenever I listen to their music. Some of the tastiness music that I have ever listened to... Try a piece of the pie, will you (click on the link below)?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY1danz2G9A

Baseball Anyone?

I know it's November and yes, the Lions are actually putting together a pretty sexy season so far, but I'm starting to get jacked up for baseball again. I've been jogging through games, lineups and even possible Tigers trips for 2008. And they haven't even handed out the MVP Awards for this year yet for 2007. I need a life. That or a girlfriend.

Here's what the Tigers line-up and rotation could look like next season:

CF Curtis Granderson (.302 BA, 117 runs, 23 3B, 26 SB)
2B Placido Polanco (.341 BA, 105 runs)
RF Magglio Ordonez (.363 BA, 28 HR, 139 RBI)
DH Gary Sheffield (25 HR, 75 RBI)
SS Edgar Renteria (.332 BA, 87 runs)
1B Carlos Guillen (.296 BA, 21 HR, 102 RBI)
LF Jacque Jones (.285 BA, 33 2B)
C Pudge Rodriguez (.281 BA, 63 RBI)
3B Brandon Inge (14 HR, 71 RBI)
Bench Marcus Thames (18 HR, 54 RBI)
Bench Ryan Raburn (.304 BA, 27 RBI)

SP Justin Verlander (18-6, 3.66 ERA, 183 K and a No-Hitter)
SP Jeremy Bonderman (11-9, 5.01 ERA, 145 K)
SP Kenny Rogers (3-4, 4.43 ERA)
SP Nate Robertson (9-13, 4.76 ERA)
SP Andrew Miller (5-5, 5.63 ERA)
RP Fernando Rodney (2-6, 4.26 ERA)
RP Todd Jones (38 Saves, 4.26 ERA)

Pretty close to last year's team with a few positive additions to the offense. I'd be nice to see the Tigers go out and get another quality arm for the bullpen and maybe another top-line starter like Dontrelle Willis. There's plenty of time for that as this post is about four months before the season actually starts. If you have made it all the way through this post without losing interest (it is baseball in November afterall), then you'll want to make sure to read this again... in March.




I'm also saddened to hear about Lloyd Carr's retirement following Michigan's disappointing loss to Ohio State this past Saturday. Many fans and media guys only see who he is on the field of football. They don't see him making numerous visits to the Michigan Hospital or spending time with his players, encouraging them and making life-connections. He even made sure last year that his assistants received two-year contracts so that if he did retire this year, they would be able to continue on at the program. I grew up watching his teams and it will be hard to see another head coach on the sideline next year.

Hail to the Victors!

Go Michigan tomorrow! I'm going to be at work during the game, but hopefully I'll be able to watch it - and I should be home in time to watch the end. Tomorrow's game determines who wins the big ten this year as both Ohio State and Michigan come into tomorrows game as the only teams with one loss. It's definitely going to help that it is being played in the Big House where there will be 110,000 screaming, mostly Michigan fans. My prediction for tomorrow's game is 24-17 Michigan, winning it in a defensive battle that's decided in the 4th quarter. Hopefully Mike Hart and Chad Henne are able to play because we definitely need their leadership in a game like this. Who would have thought that Michigan would be in a position to go to the Rose Bowl after their 0-2 start this year? Let's go Blue!

Thanksgiving at Western

It fell right off the bone!

Feast in the Study Lounge

Bek, Cait and Nate eating delicious food

This coming Tuesday is our 5th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner. Even though many previous members of this yearly affair have moved out of the area, those of us who are still here continue the tradition - and thankfully we still have some. This pre-holiday Thanksgiving dinner (usually two or three days before the actual day) all started 5 years ago in the dorms. Ever since that time, I have made it my duty to keep it alive and have re-kindled this event every year - no matter what. It all started 5 years ago, in French Hall. I attended a Western hockey game with some friends and as usual, signed up for the contests during the period intermissions. I was (for once) chosen to try and toss the turkey down the ice and into the goal. Succeeding, I earned a gift certificate to Hardings to collect a free turkey and a variety of other Thanksgiving-related items like corn, beans, gravy, etc. Our tradition was born.

The turkey didn't fit very well in our small, dorm fridge, so obviously it sat in our bathroom sink, de-frosting. The next morning, we basically took over the third floor study lounge. I remember Rob and I camped out all day in the study lounge, constantly studying the turkey to make sure we didn't burn it. Of course, we didn't know how to make stuffing and cooked it once and then put it in the turkey while the turkey cooked. It pretty much looked like mush and tasted even worse. Luckily, that wasn't the only side we had, even though it was pretty close. Mashed potatoes of course were plentiful and has pretty much been a staple of Steph's at our dinners ever since. The turkey came out so good that when it came out, I pulled up the bone and the turkey fell right off. I remember many of the other kids on our floor trying to buddy up that day because the food smelled so good. We filled the floor and maybe all of French Hall with the smell of turkey that day.

Our dinner's have improved dramatically since the first one. We had two at Sterling, one at the little red house last year and our fifth will be at my current apartment at Ramblewood. We have the same base people every year with a few different friends thrown in there, but always have a wide assortment of food to compliment the turkey and mashed potatoes. Last year we had so much food, that our fridge was filled with leftovers for over a week. Last year was also the year that we gave the turkey's bones to the cat that lived on our porch and we promptley never saw that cat again. I refuse to agree with the view that it choked on one of those bones, but that seems like the most likely conclusion.

This year promises to be just as good as any. I'm going out to buy the turkey this weekend and have received commitments from several friends still in the area on side dishes and desserts. I fear that seeing how this is my last year in Kalamazoo (most likely), this will also be the last Thanksgiving dinner for my friends and I, however I am not ruling out next year's dinner, wherever I am.

Pain Train

I was just looking through all my pictures this morning and found some rather interesting ones from our Pain Train teams. During our sophmore year in college, many of my friends and I played various intermural sports at Western. We played all sorts of different sports (some that we did much better than others) and had a lot of fun doing it. We played football mostly every year and although we mostly struggled, we did get a win one of the years. Our sport was whiffleball. For some reason, we just clicked and ended up making it all the way to the championship game. What all intermural sports participants vie for at Western is the IM Champion tee-shirt and that was on the line when we played in the championship game. We had beat the team we played that night, but they had a new guy on their team and were able to come away with the victory. We made a good run at it, but feel short. It was fun regardless. The sport we never should have tried was basketball. We had a few guys that had played basketball before (myself included), but we just didn't have what many of the other teams had - guys that could dunk. Our last game, we played another 0-3 team and fell in a close one and that pretty much closed the chapter on basketball for us.

Pain Train wasn't really about wins and losses though. One of the best things about Pain Train was how much we and our fans got into it. Just getting ready for the games, all wearing the high orange socks and joking around before the games was the best. We always had the most fans at football games, even though we usually were getting dominated. It was kind of like a high school feel - many of the girls would make little cards and put them on our dorm doors. One of our members Colin even started a Pain Train appearel website with a logo that he created. We would all come in together with out orange jerseys and although we probably didn't strike fear in anyone, we certainly made a few heads turn. I remember sitting in class once and a kid was talking about IM Football and said, "those kids with the orange jerseys looked like they were having fun." Those games were some of the best times that we had. We looked forward to those nights of Pain Train games, even though most times we knew the outcome would be a loss.

One Crazy Night

One of the things that I wanted to do with this blog is post pictures. I've had a camera since sophmore year of college and have captured much of my college craziness on my Canon (which is now half-broken). This picture is one of my favorite pictures from college. This was one crazy night at Sterling (where I lived for 2 years). I remember there was just three of us at our house, Matt, myself and Little Mel. We were watching the remaining minutes of a Pistons playoff game (in which I believe they won - it was during their championship run) and were getting a little bored just sitting there. Matt, my roommate (the one in the grey shirt) asked me if I wanted to be wrapped in graph paper. Sure, why not? So, Mel (in the green sweatshirt) and Matt proceeded to wrap me and tape me in graph paper for the next half an hour. They made me a ninja hat and even a sword. Then they but "A" on the front for Adam and "B" on the back for Bouton. As we were pleased with our accomplishment, we took our show outside and succeeded in scaring most of the neighbors (who thought we were drunk - we weren't). We then went over to the girl's apartment which was across the complex to show them what we had done. When they answered the door, they screamed because they had no idea who or what I was. It took Matt laughing his head off for them to realize that something was going on. This picture is all of us laughing about where boredom leads on a summer night such as this one. Boy we had some good times.

Booo Central!

Western lost a close game last night to our rivals, Central Michigan. I attended the game and suffered through near-freezing temperatures most of the game. It actually started to snow near the end of the game. The game was close for the most part. We led 7-3 at halftime and then the scoring picked up a bunch after the break. The big hit for was that we lost our leader and leading receiver, Simmons in the first quarter after he alledgedly kicked a Central player (I've heard he was trying to shake his foot free). Our offense didn't look quite the same after that. The defense played surprisingly well and kept us in the game throughout. The game looked over after Central scored to lead 27-17 with about 4 minutes left. We pushed the ball down the field quickly to make it 27-24 and forced Central into a fumble on their next possession. We scored almost instantly (almost too soon) to lead 31-27. In the back of my mind I knew that Central had way too much time left. They pushed the ball down the field in plenty of time (and with more than a few calls going their way) and scored after a couple goal-line tries with mere seconds remaining. Final score: Central 34, Western 31

The refs were pretty bad in this game. They made some bad all-around calls and it seemed like most of them went against the Broncos. The last drive saw a horrible pass-interference call against Western and some very questionable calls at the goal-line, especially the last one which clearly looked like the Central QB fumbled before reaching the end-zone. However, upon further review, the call stood as a touchdown and iced the game for Central. Oh well. Our season was pretty much shot anyways and the only satisfaction would have been ending Central's perfect conference record. Central clinched a MAC Championship bearth after beating us last night. This was also the first time they beat us hear in Kalamazoo since 1993.

Moving away from that depressing game, I didn't make it to advising today to talk about signing up for classes next year. Friday looks to be the big day and that is my goal now. I'm working tonight and tomorrow morning and Friday looks to be the first time that I can get onto campus to talk with an advisor (they have some weird hours).

Sick....

Right now I am bordering that edge of being full-fledged sick. I think I have one reason why I might be getting sick. My head sleeps next to the window, which quite recently has begun to become very cold at night. I now wake up pretty much every morning with a sore throat. Throughout the day I seem to get rid of it, but sure enough next morning it seems to come creeping back. I am seriously plotting the move of my bed to a more safe area in my room.

I've been having some very strange dreams recently. Dreams about the future and none of them involve me. All of them, or most of them are dreams about my friends and family in the future. They are usually glimpses of my friends in the future, married or with children. At least they don't include me, otherwise I might wake up in a cold sweat. Last night's version included my sister and a baby. I'm not sure if it was my sister's kid, but mom, dad and I were there, so I am gathering that it was. Freaky, let me tell you. It seems like yesterday I was starting college.

So, within the next week or so, I am going to attempt to re-enroll into Western. If this is even possible, I am not sure, but I am going to try and enroll into some writing classes. I took one Journalism class when I was a sophmore in college and it was a pretty good class. I found myself enjoying the work that I was doing, so maybe if I try a few more classes, it will push my interest even further. I guess we will see.

Best Year(s)

A very random thought occured to me while I was taking a shower this morning - what is the best year of my life? I'm thinking that seeing how most of my life has been spent inside a school, I am going to say that years can include school year timeframes (like September to August). I'm going to seperate this into a two categories. Pre-College and College.

The Pre-College one is easy for me. Senior Year of High School. Kings of the school. Year of major senioritis and everything else that goes with it. 2001-2002 was the best year of my life at that time. This was the year that I finally played in the State Tennis finals and even though we lost in the second round (I played 3 doubles), it was a fun season and capped off my tennis career nicely. My friends and I had gym class last hour our senior year, which meant lots of goofing off and pretty much staying out of the way of everyone else. Mrs. Paige (our gym teacher) told us at the beginning of the year that as long as we didn't get into trouble and stayed out of the way, we'd get an A. This meant, leaving early many times, sitting in the weight room and doing nothing (except spotting Corey) and of course beating up on the smaller kids during prison ball on Fridays. We performed West Side Story this year (probably one of my favorite plays that we did). I graduated on my 18th birthday, which doesn't happen to many kids. I was cleared medically as far as my back is concerned this year. I was accepted into Western as a student and preparing for the next step in my life.

Now to the best year of my life since my senior year of high school. Sophmore Year of College. This was the year that I made many of the college friends that I still have today. We all lived on the same floor of French Hall (which wasn't always cool, but was convenient most of the time). This is when our Pain Train intermural teams took off (ok, the only team that truely took off was our wiffle ball team). We made trips up to East Hall all the time to smoke cigars and just shoot the bull. We had our first Thanksgiving dinner (after I won a turkey dinner at a hockey game) and promptly cooked and ate in the study lounge on the third floor. We went to many athletic events - as we lived right next to most of the stadiums. We made trips to Canada and Windsor Casino and enjoyed being legal outside of the United States. Most importantly, many of us were still in that stage of our college lives where we didn't have to cut out our social life yet. We had fun and that was the most important thing.

Drew and I always talk about what year of college we would do over if we could and each time we agree on Sophmore year. This was the year of many ups and downs (for me personally), but I would do it all over again if given the chance because just how great that year was.

Racing Thoughts

As I have posted earlier, I have been thinking a lot about my future (as so many 23-year olds do after the graduate college) and am really puzzled as to what my future has in store for me. I really have a ridiculous amount of time at work to think and oftentimes I think about my future and what I should do - for those of you that don't know, I work at a hospital sitting with patients in need of immediate care (overdoses, suicide, fall risks, confusion, etc.). Tonight was just one of those nights. I have concluded one thing and have stated this before. I do not want to work in health care. I have been at Borgess Medical Center for three years now and the job is generally pretty good, but it's not something I see myself doing for more than the next half a year. I have a degree and I intend on using it! At least, I hope so. I am thinking more and more about going back to school for writing and English-oriented things. There are a lot of writing jobs around the world and I feel as though I have some strengths in this area. My parents seem to feel the same way. More on this tomorrow, I am feeling pretty tired, but just punching some of my feelings out through the keys on this keyboard.

Oh and go Rockies. They lost 13-1 tonight, but I'm not jumping off the bandwagon just yet.

Sore Day at Western

Yesterday was a pretty long day. Western Michigan lost a real close game to Ball State (23 to 27) in which we led pretty much until the last 2 minutes. I also pulled or strained my groin running the campus classic (very uncomfortable). It was a pretty fun day otherwise. Beautiful weather and really a great day to watch football and hang outside. We tried tailgating, but not many people showed up and I had the wrong kind of charcoal - we never got it going until we got home later. My parents came over to watch the Michigan football game last night (they won 27 to 17) and all and all, it was a great homecoming weekend. My groin feels a lot better today and I don't need to limp around as much - which is always good.

It is another real warm and nice day again today and it is starting to make me wonder if we are just going to go from summer to winter this year. What happened to fall? Oh well, I will take this extended period of warm weather for sure. I think we may go out and get pumpkins and donuts today at a cider mill, so hopefully that happens.

Safety First

After last weekend, I am looking forward to a weekend of safety and fun. My parents are down here this weekend to help ensure that this happens. Hopefully all the homecoming festivities will happen without incident. I am running a 5K tomorrow morning that circles most of Western's campus (the Campus Classic). This is my third straight year running it and I am by far the most out of shape this year. My effort tomorrow will likely be more of a trot/walk at best. I believe that we are going to the Western game tomorrow afternoon (they are playing Ball State) and hopefully watch them win. They are near the top in the conference and need to keep playing well to make bowl play this winter.

My roommate Harrison and I went over to Detroit last night to see a Brand New-Thrice with my old roommate Robbie. It was a pretty sweet show. I personally felt rather old attending the concert with a bunch of middle and high school kids. The joys of getting older. It was fun none-the-less.

I work a bunch next week, but am going to try and get back to Detroit next weekend for the Eastern-Western game. More and more of my friends are located in that area now and it seems like if I want to see anyone outside of Kalamazoo, that is the area I am headed. No problem - I'd rather see them there than somewhere way out of the state.

Finally saving a little money for my trip next spring. Just hope that I don't have to buy any new phones soon - that really takes a chunk out of the savings.

Lesson Learned

What happened last night is not going to happen again. This is definitely a lesson learned. As a few people have told me today, this is just one of those turning points in your life that you look back on. I feel extremely lucky to have some good friends who would come to my rescue at an hour such as the one the other night. Hopefully I can move forward and just realize that things happen for a reason and that what happened won't happen again.

What I felt all day yesterday was a mixture of many things. I felt embarrassed, upset at myself and scared all at the same time. I'm glad that what happened is over with and I can just move on and look forward to some better moments. Again, I am extremely lucky for the friends and family that I have in my life right now. Thank you for your support.

I am looking forward to this weekend and what hopes to be a fun homecoming weekend here at Western. Now, I must go on a quest in search for a new (and hopefully not expensive) phone.

Week of Revelations

I just seem to be having one of those weeks. It has been up and down, left and right, backwards and forwards - you get the point. My mom made a comment today on the phone that left me thinking about it. She told me that Adam time is good once and awhile and she made this comment after I told her that I would be by myself most of Saturday evening. I told her that I pretty much have Adam time always because of my job. I basically sit in the hospital and do next to nothing most days. This leads to much boredom and thinking. Today was one of those days.

I came to one conclusion today if nothing else. After my lease is up here in Kalamazoo, it will be time for me to find a job of much more significance. I haven't ruled out going back to school or chasing some of the dreams that I have or even leaving Kalamazoo, but I am determined at actually doing something. Don't get me wrong. For my current situation, this job is great, but it is also something that I want to be doing much longer. I could be doing so much more with my time and talent (I know there isn't much talent, but there's got to be some - haha).

I really hope that this trip I take across the country will lead to something. At least open my eyes to other possibilities. I am constantly in a mind of thought these days about careers and what makes a good, solid and successful career. It fascinates me at what some people believe to be personal success and I hope that I can attain this one day.

It's really up to me right now to make something out of that piece of paper they mailed me 3 months ago. At least I know that I have the right mindset in chasing what I want.

Heroes of the Day: Apple Orchards and Cidar Mills, Mmmmm...

Up Above

If any of you are wondering about the new picture in my profile, here is your chance to wonder no-more. This is a shot of East Hall on Western Michigan University's campus in Kalamazoo, MI. I received this photo from my Aunt as "collection of the best pictures of the year" in 2006. Apparently the white in the clouds above are lightning bolts taking form. East Hall is located on East Campus and if you stand at the front (like in the picture) and look out you can see most of downtown Kalamazoo from an elevated position. You can even see fireworks from the Kalamazoo Kings games on summer nights.

East Hall is a pretty special place in Kalamazoo for many of my friends and I. We used to take trips up there all the time starting Freshman year. Many times we would take cigars up there and just sit back and shoot the bull. Other times it was a gathering place for all of our friends to meet up when we didn't live in the dorms anymore. I recall several times when we would run down the big hill and then try and scramble back up. We still visit East Hall at times even though most of my friends have moved away from Kalamazoo.

By the way: I have no clue who the girl in the picture is.

Glass Half-Empty or Glass Half-Full?

Something hit me yesterday when I least expected it to. I was working at Borgess and really just minding my own business (as the patient I was working with was fairly tempermental) when the nurse asked me if my patients water cup had any water in it. I told him that her cup was half-full. Almost immediately the nurse said, "Glass half-full. I like that. That says a lot about a person." Now, everyone knows about the whole glass half-empty and the glass half-full thing which usually shows what kind of attitude and position you might have on things. But, I did this totally without thinking and on the spot. Says a lot for a guy going through a period in his life where he's pretty unsure about what the future holds. And by that guy, I mean me.

Anyways, this weekend should be pretty low-key. Seems like everyone is heading out of town and doing something this weekend. Harry won't be back til midnight on Saturday and my sister is going to a wedding with Steve. I work Saturday morning, but the rest of the weekend is unplanned. Hope something exciting comes up. We'll see. Already not a fan of this cold weather, but I should brace myself for the long winter to come.

Already have some projections on how much my trip is going to cost and it doesn't look pretty. Might have to cut out some of the cities that I planned on visiting and just focus in on some of the key ones. Hopefully I can make it to the west coast. That is my target area.

Savoring the Summer

I walked outside this morning on my way to work and I could see my breath. I felt extremely disappointed. Here it is, September 13 and I can already feel winter approaching. This is why we need to soak every ounce of sun, warmth and activity dealing with summer if at all possible. I do love winter and fall, but I am truely not ready for the long, long months of winter. I prefer to live where I don't freeze every single extremity of my body.

Speaking of weather and seasons, next spring I am planning on making a monumental trip in my life. I am planning on traveling cross-country (funds allowing) to the west coast and down through the south and then back to Kalamazoo. This trip will be a combination of soul-searching and welcoming of my friends to travel with and stay with me along my journey. I am looking to save at least a couple grand to support this trip and hope that I can do it. To save money, I am thinking about staying with some of my friends as I travel on this trip. I know people sprinkled throughout the country who would be more than happy to house me for a few days while I make this journey. Whether or not this trip will happen remains to be seen, but all signs point to me making this trip, whether it's for 4 days, or 24.

I didn't think it was possible to hurt yourself playing wii, but I just did trying to smack imaginary homeruns off an imaginary computer character. Oh well... Wish I could bowl a 300 in real life... or 200 for that matter.

Graduation is..... near

12 more days... this is what i have been telling myself for way over a week now. just 12 more days and then the rest of my life. these next three weeks are probably going to be the slowest of my life because i just want them to be over with. i am tired (even after a week off), i am anxious and frankly, i am sick of student teaching. everyone tells you (including my mentors) that student teaching sucks and it really is the worst part of the whole teaching experience and i can now honestly say that i agree with them.

this whole experience has been a good one. i had my doubts about if i would be a good teacher or not before student teaching, but after teaching for 6 or 7 weeks now i know that i can be a good teacher. not sure that i want to start teaching right away or if i want to do it the rest of my life, but i definitely want to teach for some portion of my life and can see me being successful at it. maybe i can get into coaching and athletics or maybe even counseling at some point.

ok - enough with the career goals. in the immediate future, i want to have a real fun summer. that means lots of tigers games, trips to harbor, camping, going to the beach and hitting up some of the bars in the zoo. hopefully all of these things can be accomplished before the fall arrives.

who knows if i'll have a job by then and if i don't, hey another year in the zoo couldn't hurt? i was in no rush to graduate; why should i be in any rush in starting the next phase? some of the teachers at school say that sometimes taking a year off is the best thing to do - i should take that advice.

alright - enough of this for tonight. hopefully i will write some more in here this summer.

it's been awhile

so yeah, it has been awhile since i last posted anything in here and now seems to be just the right time.

i am student teaching now for all of you who didn't know and so far, so good. i am teaching (or right now observing) in Centreville High School and Middle School and for those of you who do not know where that is, it is southeast of Three Rivers. it is a bit of a drive everyday and i had to fill up my tank twice last week, but fortunately gas prices are going down. the experience has been good so far. most of the students seem to like me and althought it is hard to gather authority, i seem to have control most of the time. i will not start teaching for another two weeks, but after that i will be teaching about 4 classes for the rest of the semester.

i am not sure what to think about what will happen after college. honestly, i am scared stiff. i am not ready for the "real world" and am certainly not ready to settle down and find a job. i want to explore, travel and live out some of the dreams that i have took hold of while in college. i hope that after college, i can live some of these dreams and maybe perhaps move out of this state of michigan for awhile. i would really love just to go out west for a couple years, live in some sort of city and just get by and live life on my own terms. whether or not that is going to happen remains to be seen. i am going to do everything within my power to make it happen and if it doesn't, oh well. the best part about teaching is that summers off allows us to travel, even if the budget doesn't.

nothing else is really exciting at the moment. sleep seems to be consuming my life as the six o'clock days are way too early for my body right now. give me a few weeks and i think my body will be able to catch up to the alarm clock. tonight is the only night this week that i am able to do something freely and not have to worry about getting up tomorrow. tomorrow is an important day of sleeping in!

take care those of you reading this very inconsistant journal. hopefully i will find time in my busy semester to write in here more often. please do not count on it though.