The exciting life of a college student...

Honestly, my life has been so dull and boring since coming back from my visit home, there hasn't been anything interesting enough to take a picture of, either that or my creativity has been vanquished by school. Also, there is only so many things I can take a picture of in my room, which is pretty much where I have been confined. I've been sick with what I think is bronchitis for a few weeks, but I think I'm getting over it.

The bad thing about being sick is the medication. I can run somewhat normal while sick without medication, but once I start taking it, I'm out of it, I'm always stubborn when it comes to taking medication. It messes up everything from my sense of time to my standard way of thinking. I spent the majority of my drug induced weekend working on a lab that I thought I had another week on. The one week I'm not thinking at all clearly I get called up to the board to work a problem that under normal circumstances I'm a whiz at. That isn't the worst of it. For one of my classes, we had a substitute professor come in. Let's just say his techniques of teaching varies greatly than that of my normal professor. The majority of the class was a philosophical discussion about learning, engineering, and building your own paradigm. Then the actual lecture started, and his methods are a bit odd. Well, he asks random questions to the class that have nothing to do with the lecture, and guess who gets called. I was asked "do you think I'm weird" because he was rambling about how he was weird and how people think he's weird and how he leaves his ego at the door. I reply with what little voice I had, "somewhat." Normally I would have lied and said no, but I was in a drug induced daze, which somehow blocks out the filter from my brain to my mouth. But I did find his lectures stimulating, but not for the subject the class is intended for.

I lucked out on the lab, it got pushed back. If it is at all possible to accidentally procrastinate, I did it. I worked 5 hour shifts every night for the last few nights on this lab. I probably could have cut that down if I would have sat and drawn it out, but whats the fun in that? But even so, I think I've whittled down my options for my concentration. I'm definitely liking digital systems. Putting them together and implementing them is like one big logic puzzle. Using the software is my problem now since it is college and professors and Teaching Assistants aren't going to show you every little thing, which I think helps in learning how to do it, but under deadlines it's a pain. I think I managed to get it under control, because I am no stranger to procrastination. I think procrastination is a form of thrill seeking for the college student, because a studious college student has no time for seeking thrills otherwise, haha, not really, if that were true, that would be a sad life.

Today has been so dreary. Rain, rain rain. I think I even spotted little balls of hail. I can't believe it's almost April! But the sooner April comes, the sooner baseball starts! This time next week I'll be enjoying the beginnings of a great baseball game. I caught part of a spring training game that was aired on FSN Houston this weekend, I believe it was against the Tigers. It was a good game. The Astros were behind, then got ahead, then fell behind again and ended up losing due to bad relief pitching. That problem was settled though since that pitcher (Astacio for anyone wanting to know) got sent to the Rangers.

eh..

I've been sick.. not really anything interesting to take pictures of. Pretty much the health center here is pointless, the only thing I learned is that I didn't have strep throat or mono, and I could have figured that out for myself. But they did give me a bunch of drugs, which is the cause of the constant daze I've been in. I don't know what I have. Part of the day I feel fine, then the other part my throat is killing me and I'm coughing up phlegm while the whole time my ears feel like they're stopped up and I'm hoarse.

In good news I gave my notice to vacate. I can't wait to get out of these apartments, partially for my health since my roommate is most likely the cause of me being sick.

BUT I had a fun visit back home, didn't get to see everyone, but I'll be back.

Opening day is in 2 weeks VS The Pirates, a for sure win, I'm excited.

Toadies were awesome, I'd wait 6 more years for another reunion show. Of course there was a teeny, tiny little storm hovering over south texas that I had to drive through to get there, but it was worth it!


Every time I come home it seems that I am greeted with bad weather, and each time it seems to progress to something worse. This time it wasn't just rain, it was a LOT of rain, thunderstorms, and hail.





This is Louie, he only looks sweet and innocent.

On the road again....

Round 2 of cooking out of my new cookbooks didn't turn out too badly. I cooked some soup out of my 101 Ways to cook Ramen, it was delicious! I'll put the recipe up once I dig the book out of my car, I brought it along for the trip. I probably should have taken note of the weather since we were under a tornado watch and I had to carry all my stuff back and forth from my apartment to the "neighborhood center." I can't wait to get out of those apartments, once summer comes I'll be moving to the other side of campus.



Made the "long" drive home yesterday accompanied by many mix cds. Only few can enjoy my vast array of music that should probably never be mixed together. Did my massive amount of laundry and went to see 300. It's funny that everyone flocks to the movie theater during spring break, but then I forget that there's nothing else to do in this town if you choose to come here during the break.


Now I'm back on the river, waiting for everyone to get off work, I may even get some work done myself, if only my homework would just do itself, then spring break would be more of a break. I miss the high school days when the teachers actually considered it a break and not just a extended amount of time for us to do work.

FINALLY

It's SPRING BREAK!! Due to the constant daze I've been living in, I almost forgot to go to class and turn in one of my assignments. I don't know why, but for some reason all day today I've been a hour off. I kept thinking my 3pm class wasn't for another hour when it was almost 3. It could be all the drugs I'm doped up on, but they make me feel better. Last night I was worried I was coming down with the flu because I was achy and started getting chills really bad, but I slept really well last night and feel a lot better. I just need to take it easy, because rushing across campus didn't help. I tried to relax earlier by watching Friends (I don't think I can ever get enough, I have seasons 1-7 on DVD), but THAT didn't help because I was laughing so much that I sent myself into coughing fits. So the only options I had were guitar and PlayStation, and I still would be playing guitar if I hadn't opted to play my acoustic for hours at a time and cause my fingers to be tender. Plan B was to work on my Guitar Hero skills...

So last night was night 3 of my lack of sleep, I probably got 2 hours at the most. I avoid taking medicine at all costs, but I had to go get some.

I think my roommate is one of those people who think they're always sick, so they take medicine constantly, so when they actually get sick, they've built up an immunity to the medicine and it doesn't work. She's been sick for over a month straight.

But I've decided I'm not coming home until I feel better or Tuesday, whichever comes first.



Quote of the Day
"What is the feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? -- it's the too-huge world vaulting us, and its good-by. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies..."
-- Jack Kerouac

Waiting...

It's finally happened, my black Chuck Taylors have been officially retired. They'll be like Roger Clemens of shoes, come in and out of retirement sporadically when I feel like wearing them, just with a little quick fix of course, gotta love duct tape!

Upon my arrival back home I was greeted with a sore throat and some congestion, some homecoming. Today was my first day to have time to get some medicine since I had a test yesterday and another today. But other than medicine, nothing makes me feel better than having some time to play some good music. I really am trying to learn some material from The Used, I've attempted several times before, but given up. The guitarist has a unique style, which is one thing I love about this band. I still can't believe my sister didn't recognize him, thats her story, I'll let her tell it, she loves to tell it (I've heard it several times).

In good news, I got a 84.5 on my test I took last week for one of my EE classes, average was around 60. With all the difficult classes and low scores I've been receiving lately, it's a good feeling to do good in the classes which correlate to my major. Since I scrutinize everything, low scores in anything will send my mind reeling with questions of doubt. Tomorrow I will get the score for my other exam I took Tuesday, not too sure how I did. I still haven't picked a concentration yet, definitely probably not controls, but digital systems and computers haven't been eliminated. The test I will get back tomorrow night is a glimpse into the computer concentration and the one I got back today digital systems, both keep me interested (and frustrated.. a lot of logic, its like sick, twisted fun... try Soduko puzzles, same thing).

In Astros news: they won their game today against the Nationals, Biggio and Ausmus caused a unearned run to get in due to errors (they're vets, they can make mistakes in spring training). But Biggio knocked in a solo home run. Now that I think about it, he seems to get a lot of solo homers, which is probably why he's always been at the top of the order, since he doesn't seem to be a good pressure hitter. It's good that Morgan Ensberg is doing good, he helped with a 3 run homer, maybe he'll actually be some help in the middle of the batting order this season, last season he didn't do so hot. Some guys can get away with not having a hot bad (Adam Everett, the shortstop), but when you're wanted as a power hitter then you have to put up numbers. Ensberg doesn't excel at his position like Everett (the best short stop in MLB in my opinion), so he has to get some runs in. Oswalt was on the mound, only allowed one earned run, I think this season he's going to come back with 20 wins just like the year before last (the season the 'stros went to the world series, oh the memories).


This week has been the longest week ever, waiting for spring break to come. Still don't know where I'm going and when I'm going there. But I will for sure be home Tuesday so I can be in town for my concert on Wednesday!

back to reality...

2 tests and a homework assignment and then its spring break!! I'm ready for a break, my guitars and my playstation are starting to collect dust.

oh yea, i got my haircut last week, there was no way i was going to a concert with my hair that long, long hair at concerts is a pain.

To ease your minds about my "concert injuries," its nothing I haven't sustained before playing sports or just me being accident prone. And as for the pants, they were ripping to begin with, since they constantly drag on the ground and the material was thin, and the inseam was already comming out of them, so much for Old Navy pants. Those were the ideal pants to wear since they had a lot of pockets so I wouldn't lose anything, I'm like a seasoned vet when it comes to preparing for these concerts.

As for the Astros, I think they're 3-2 for spring training. Haven't been watching too closely, but it should get interesting with all the changes with pitching, and all the rookies trying to get a spot on the final roster. This season I'm waiting for Backe to do some rehab assignments for Corpus, it should be interesting to see what happens after his surgery. The last I saw him (the same night I made it on FSN.. haha) he did a great job, and went on the DL a few games later.

fun fun fun

Friday night i made it to Corpus, helped with some decorating for the birthday, and had pretty much all my good friends in one room. The thing I made for the present broke in my rush to get to Corpus, so she just had to settle with excessive use of tape!

On Saturday we went to Taste of Chaos, finally. I left the show with a few injuries (I will feel some more tomorrow, I know it..) and a LOT of bruises, barely a voice, and ripped pants. I was so scared my pants were going to rip all the way up throughout the show. We somehow managed to stay together up until the last band, which is rare, and my sister somehow found us in the massive crowd in mostly black.

Every band put on a good show, and kept the crowd moving, 30 seconds to mars was the worst live (bad acoustics + drugs = bad 30 show, they aren't the best live band anyway), but I kept myself entertained and pretty much jumped around like a moron. What was exciting is that Jared climbed to the top of the stage while they were playing a old song that hadn't been playing on the tour (which just so happens to be my favorite song of theirs), just for Corpus, so he said (that little white dot, 50+ feet in the air is him..). I had random bursts of energy, I don't know where it came from, since I had gotten very little sleep and had a lack of water. During the set changes was when I contemplated leaving, but once the music started, I got my 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th winds. I probably got like 8 hours of sleep this whole weekend, and I'm still running on adrenaline.

By running, I mean trying to walk without my shoes rubbing my swollen shins, which is a massive bruise. I have the oddest array of bruises on my arms, there's not just one big bruise, they're spread out like a bunch of people kept poking at me ferociously. I've acquired a high tolerance for concert related injuries over the 5 years I've been going to these things, one of my first being the headlining band last night.

Today went and ate lunch with the girls before heading out. Now I'm just trying to relax, I'm actually going to bed before midnight since my lack of sleep is catching up to me. But this weekend was a much needed break from San Antonio, since I haven't left since I came back for the spring semester.

Quote of the Day:
"Here I am, it's in my hands, and I'll savor every moment of this."
---The Used

so it begins...

Today is the first day of spring training for the Astros!! Finally, a new month has begun. I have a feeling March is going to be better than February, more interesting stuff going on (concerts, spring training, spring break).


Thursdays are horrible. Every morning I get up (early in the morning, what a concept!) with the slight hope that my teaching assistant for my math class can actually help with the homework, and every morning I am let down. I was asked the questions instead of it being the other way around. There's a reason why only two people show up every week.

I think the only time I really get motivated to do work is when I have a concert during the weekend or I go visit my friends. Since if I don't get my work done, it kind of puts a damper on fun-time. This weekend is going to be great! Pretty much all my close friends will be in corpus AND my 2 favorite bands will be playing on the same stage the same night. It's going to be insane!

What makes this concert so great is that I started listening to the headlining band before they were remotely big. I saw them on the small stage at a festival in 2002 in support of one of the other bands, and now I'm seeing them headline a big tour. It's hard to describe, but it's a great feeling.

Quote of the Day:
“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.”
---Plato