facebook made me do it.

I’m actually about a week behind the facebook “25 things about yourself” meme, but thought I’d give it a go anyway.

1.  I bite my nails, but wish I wouldn’t.  I do it mainly when I’m nervous or bored.

2.  I am jealous of those with access to excellent public transit systems, specifically like those you would find in Europe.  I completely understand that America in general (and the midwest particularly) is too spread out for that to work on a large scale, but I still like elaborate railway systems.

3.  I also wish I had an iPhone or an iPod Touch, but I am aware that that’s silly and I don’t really need one.  Still, they’re impressive, and it’s good for me to show restraint.

4.  I like when numbers and graphs tell you things.

5.  I love to read, and don’t do it nearly enough.  I probably say “someday, I’ll read all the books I’ve ever wanted to,” once a week.

6.  I’m pretty adaptable.  That’s one of the things I’ve learned during the moving my family’s gone through over recent years – I can get along pretty well in many scenarios.

7.  I can be pretty calculating, especially when it comes to risk/reward sorts of situations.  This may be why I’m not very fond of roller coasters and why you’ll never find me skydiving, but why I’m eager to try new things where the positive potential benefits outweigh the negative side effects – for example, trying new foods/going new places, etc.

8.  I like coffee a lot.  I have for most of my life (literally – ask my parents), and recently I’ve been enjoying it more – and more frequently – than ever.

9.  My brother, Wyatt, is 4 years younger than me, and at least a couple inches taller than me.  He’s also one of my very best friends, and maybe the funniest person I know.

10.  With respect to music, I tend to enjoy the experience of an album more than a song.  That is to say, a great album says more about the actual talent and skill of its artists than does one good song.  Of course, songs are easier to digest individually, so there’s a place for just falling in love with a song, too. [#10 probably makes no sense, sorry readers]

11. I don’t mind dressing up.  I’d even say that I like it.

12.  …however, I would probably rather just wear jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweatshirt most of the time, unless, of course, it’s warm, in which case I would like to be by a body of water in a swim suit.

13.  I’m fed up with shallow thinking, especially by people who are spending their days, weeks, months, and years learning to think about things more deeply – specifically, college students.  Our actions, the actions of others, books, movies, tv shows, music…all sorts of things have meaning besides what they might seem to say on the surface – everyone who’s been through a high school English class knows this.  Going to college is supposed to teach you to think about such things, and it bothers me greatly that many of my fellow students take the time to think about what a thing really means, and what it tells us about the ideas and worldviews of the people who made it.  (I mean to flesh this out into it’s own post sometime)

14.  I don’t really like movies that much, unless they’re either
A.  very inventively entertaining, or
B.  thought provoking.

They just seem like a waste of time to me.  I’m trying to get past this somewhat, as Amanda loves movies, and loves when I watch them with her .

15.  I’m not really “into” that many tv shows.

16.  I like sports quite a bit, for a variety of reasons.  I like baseball for its order and strategy – it is “The Thinking Man’s Game” for a reason (and I am amused by the idea of baseball as a metaphor for American life).  I like basketball because among sports, it is the closest thing to an art form of improvisation and virtuosity, like music or dance – all teams and players have unique styles.  I like football because of it’s combination of brute force, speed, and strategy, and because it has both variety and structure in abundance.  I am also intrigued by soccer, rugby, and various other sports that are popular throughout the rest of the world, but it takes a lot of time, energy, and effort to follow them from where I sit.

17.  Amanda recently got me some wonderful Moleskine notebooks, and they’re quite wonderful – I forget already how I lived without them.  I carry them with me everywhere, jotting down things to tell her the next time we talk, things to blog about, books I want to read, to do lists, notes from chapel, etc.  So basically, all the things that I used to put on disparate pieces of paper and then lose are now confined to two pocket notebooks.  I don’t know why I didn’t do that sooner.

18.  I think I have one phone number memorized, and it’s my own (this doesn’t count phone number of houses at which we no longer live).

19.  I am bored of the labels that we put on people, but also guilty of doing some labeling, probably.

20.  I don’t like winter.  Sometimes I say this and people say, “how would you appreciate the other seasons if you lived somewhere that was not bitter cold for 3 months a year?”  HAHA.  Trust me, I won’t forget what winter’s like, and I won’t miss it.

21.  I am curious to find out what sorts of things will confuse me when I’m old – specifically, technologically.  What will I be afraid of, or speak of with disdain despite not even understanding it?  (I’m thinking specifically of the way some older adults speak of blogs, or iPhones, or webcams, or facebook).

22.  Being a PA has been one of the more rewarding things I’ve done in recent memory.  I’ve learned a lot about myself, and hopefully been good at my job.  The most rewarding thing, though, has been the staff I’ve gotten to work with – the other PAs and the Residence Life staff.

23.  I’ve been dating Amanda for 13 months and one week now, and couldn’t be happier about it.  I could go on, but if you want to talk to me about this, let’s talk in person .

24.  I like shoes a lot.  I try not to buy them too much, because they’re expensive, but if they weren’t, I would have a lot of shoes.

25.  Finally, what I almost always have in my pockets:

a pen
a tube of chap stick (this one is a MUST for me – my lips get chapped quite easily)
my keys
my phone
my wallet
two moleskine notebooks

Filed under: MLB, Music, baseball, college, family, friends , 25 things, Amanda, college, facebook, family, friends, Music, shoes, spring 2009

to Tide us over

I feel like I’ve had an excess of bloggable thoughts over the past (any length of time) and have not had the time and/or motivation and/or mindset to post.
That’s okay, I guess. I usually write down the idea somewhere (recently in my fancy new pocket sized Moleskine notebooks from Amanda ). But after awhile, I don’t have such intense feelings about whatever it is I wrote in that notebook, and feel less inclined to blog about it.
Those thoughts will make it here eventually. Hopefully this ridiculously cute photo of Amanda and I will tide you over (thanks to Amanda for the picture):

We took this at school on Amanda's last day in the states before leaving for the semester

Filed under: Uncategorized , Amanda, blogging, procrastination, spring 2009

VIP MGN Tickets

Remember my VIP seats for Airband 2007?  And my recap of My Gen 2007 (in which I didn’t have VIP seats, because no one did)?  Well, this year, there are VIP My Gen (they’re calling it MGN this year, so I’m indulging them, because that’s ridiculous), and guess who has two thumbs and a VIP seat?

This guy.

It should be pretty good.  At least, it better, because some guys and I tried out with this song, and didn’t get in (there were some sound problems that were sort of out of our hands – i.e. my guitar was too loud on the solo – but we still nailed it), and I know of at least a handful of other good acts that got cut, so I have high hopes.

I was going to give the setlist with links to videos by the original artists, but realized that might not be a good idea for a number of reasons.

Also, No Shave November!!  I meant to put something about it in my last post.  I’m participating, and I’ve never had more facial hair.  I wish, however, that my facial hair was more brown and less strawberry blonde (the sideburns are brown).  I tend to think that having an unshaven neck adds to the holistic experience, by the way.  However, I do plan to shave between now and next Wednesday, as I’m accompanying my girlfriend to her family’s Thanksgiving, and don’t want to look like a bum the first time I meet her family, so I’m not the most adherent follower, I suppose.

At lunch today, Amanda pointed out that NSN (like MGN, but less confusing) is a good time for romantic relationship development, because, if you have a bad beard, there is some absence of shallowness required from the female side to really appreciate that you’re not shaving anyway.  We sort of had that – last November is when we first had that, “so I like you…” conversation.  I’m getting to observe that from outside the situation this year, as a friend and an acquaintance are getting to that point as we speak, and the male party has a pretty goofy set of facial hair.

I’m going to make coffee.

Filed under: Uncategorized , "MGN", Airband, Airband 2007, Amanda, coffee, fall 2008, My Gen, My Gen 2008, No Shave November, romance, two thumbs, VIP