The End is Near!!

Oh boy, my first semester in college is nearing to its close. It has gone by so fast. It feels like I just got in only a month ago.

However, this doesn't means it's going to be all fun and games from here on out. I've got 3 exams to look forward to and this English portfolio to complete. It's crunch time! I feel like I'm running around like a decapitated chicken. I've got so much to keep up with surprisingly. There's been a snowball effect that has been activated over the course of the semester. But I'll deal with it, I'll pull something out. Like a wizard!

I'm not so sure that I can say I've grown over the last three months. I mean, I've gotten a little more independence but how much is the question. I still live at home, so I don't probably feel the same way as someone that lives in a dorm might be feeling. Yes, I'm doing all my own work and keeping up with everything, but I'm still under someone else's thumb. I've grown my wings, but I still feel caged. Maybe it's the teenage angst and loathing of parents talking, but nevertheless it doesn't feel like I thought it would be. Maybe I'm being impatient and bitchy. I've got a few more years before I grow up.

And like any play this is only the end of Act I.

So true

Yeah, this is kinda dealing with stereotypes and I know everyone is told to ignore them, but yet they're still so relevant to us. The picture definitely says a lot.

I'm not "punk", I love punk rock and everything, but I don't identify myself the subculture though. I'm more of a rocker/metalhead, but the point is the same regardless. I've got long hair, black shirts, leather jacket, and the pseudo-badass thing going on. I look like the kid you don't want your daughter dating. (Hey, it kinda works sometimes. For the girl, not the parent part) Anyways, I'm not joking with the pseudo-badass... because I'm not one. Ha!  I think some ignore the fact that metalheads are people too and that some of us actually have moral scruples.

I Wanna Start a Car Chase...

Really.

I'm that bored. Granted, I was playing some Grand Theft Auto and just messing around, but I honestly think a nice 15-20 min car chase would do me some good. I need some damn excitement once in a while!

Isn't that bad? Needing  a devilish plot to cause some enjoyment. Maybe it's just because it's different. Or maybe I just secretly, or not so secretly rather, wish to break some rules.

Don't blame video games, we're all here to interpret them.

Just another wasted night I guess.

History of Writing?

I wonder, how did the system of writing come to be?

Did some man scribble some odd signs on the ground or on a wall and deemed it to signify words and meanings? It's hard to fathom such a thing when we take it for granted everyday. We grow up and learn it as we go along without thinking about where it has come from and where it has been.

Imagine if there were no such system, no reading and no writing. It'd be chaotic I'd say. Everything would be passed out orally such as stories, news, gossip, homework, grocery lists,etc. I wouldn't even be doing what I'm doing right now. Hell, I bet English class would be a lot easier! ...Maybe?

The Druids used to remember thousands upon thousands of tales and myths; all committed to memory and all passed down from generation to generation. They didn't have an alphabet or writing system. People used to rely on them to remember things and look to them for wisdom.

And yet, now we write everything down. Does that lead to memory loss? Or does that mean we're just committing to memory only things that matter. I mean, who wants to remember the grocery list from 3 years ago? Although, it would beat having to write that stuff down every single time you go out. So, do we write for laziness? Are we not competent enough to memorize things anymore? Probably not.

But some things have become easier with writing such as the spread of knowledge. Math equations would be extremely difficult by solving them out loud. Ha! Imagine the math whizzes try that one!

As for me, I'm writing to keep a grade like every other school boy/girl/it.

Just one of them days...

Ever have just one of them days? Where shit just tends to go wrong when you don't want it to? Of course, no one wants anything to go wrong when they DO want to, but that's besides the point.

I just wasted 4 hours of my precious time waiting around for people, only to have those plans cancel in the last minute.

Killing me, Smalls.

It irks me when I have to waste my time. IRKS ME. I don't spend much time out of the house or with friends, and when I do I'd like to actually do something other than sit in a cold, dark parking lot waiting around for people to meet up only to find out that nothing is going to happen.

Sure, wasn't their fault at all. Shit happens, other things come up. But I can't help but feel that there's some force in the universe that's sole purpose is to ruin weekend plans of mine. Bastard.

'Nuff rambling for the night.

Music Listening

I tend to listen to music while I work, it's how I concentrate. I need background of some sort, but nothing too distracting.Awhile back I signed up for  Pandora radio, pretty cool stuff actually. Instead of looking stuff up on Youtube and having to find a new song each time, it just comes in right after. Hence, "radio."

However, the way they group bands together tends to irk me. I've got two different stations with completely different bands, but they always end up playing the same style of music. I'm not sure how Metallica and Van Halen have similar styles, but okay. Also, they tend to replay a lot of the songs. I mean, I love hit singles and a band's popular song, but I don't wanna hear it all the damn time. I like to hear some deep cuts!

I wish I could give them my music library...

Old lingo

Some learn Spanish, come Chinese, others German, and then there's the sophisticated cat who learns French.

I, on the other hand, and attempting to learn some Gaelic.

Scots Gaelic to be specific. The language of my ancestors.

Unfortunately, since this is a small and diminshing language (blame the English), there aren't any courses on this language anywhere near me. However, thanks to technology I can learn stuff online!

I've found some free episodes from the BBC on Gaelic, it's really basic stuff so far, but I have to start somewhere.

What's getting me is that the written language isn't phonetic at all, well, to my English-trained ears and ears they aren't. Dh is sorta like J... unless its at the end of a word, then it's silent.

I guess I'll try focusing on oral...

What have I been doing lately...

Well, let's see...

Last week took a turn for the worse, or at least to me it did. For a few weeks now, my brother and I had planned a road trip to Kentucky to visit some friends of ours. Yes, we knew full well what responsibilities we'd have to take; we knew it was a long-ass drive to the middle of nowhere and that it'd take a lot of gas (and money for that gas) to get there. We planned out everything to the minute detail, saved enough money for gas, and had directions to get there... and then everything took a dive like a downed Stuka.

The parents said no at the last moment.

*insert expletives*

I felt like the Red Baron (Ha, two German airplane puns in a row). Completely shot down. They were okay with it at first, but then had second thoughts. They were worried that it was too far for us to handle and that we'd be tired from it all and that it wasn't long enough weekend to do it all (4 days?).

I wasn't even mad, in fact, I completely understood. Okay, I was, but I was more dissappointed. Dissappointed in the fact that I couldn't go, that it was my only opportunity to get out of town for more than a few hours. I didn't go anywhere for my summer vacation, I worked nearly everyday of it, and when I came across this chance to get out, I pounced on it. I'm 19 for jovessake, I need to spread my wings a little bit.

So, we were "asked" to postpone it until later. Later in parentspeak usually means never. However, I'm willing to keep some optimism here and hope something pops up in the near-yet-so-distant future.

                         
Well, on the upside of things, it did mean I could go to the opening weekend of the Renaissance Faire. This was my second time there, but I had a bit more to wear this time. Pirate shirt, vest, kilt, and an accent. Was actually quite fun, I got to try the "Steak on a Stake" (which could've used some sauce) and got to meet up with some good friends of mine. So, I guess my weekend wasn't completely trashed.

Future of Performance Cars

It seems every carmaker today is playing the hybrid game and going after the high MPG numbers; it's only logical with all these high gas prices and the want of fuel-efficient cars. That's fine and dandy and I completely respect that, but there are CAFE laws and demands to carry over the MPG numbers to the performance cars. Sure I'd like a sports car that can get great mileage and all that, but when you're taking away the "sport" part of it, you're cutting off the proverbial balls off.

However, technology is advancing further and further every year, so there may be a good chance of having a 500 horsepower V-8 engine that gets 40 MPG (for those that don't understand car-jargon, that means: A big mama-jama of an engine that sips gas like your grandma at tea time). That'd be great, I  can own a super cool car and I don't have the pretentious-Prius-driving pricks give me ugly looks for driving a "dirty vehicle."

Although, what of the older cars? That's something else...




Here's a link for any and all interested in this.
Warning: this article is a bit on the long side, so pick 20 minutes of free time, get a nice snack, and click away.

Future of Performance Cars Article

A look back

A bit of an interesting video, especially if you're into history and all that jazz. For those of you that are lazy, the video is 4 separate films of the same street, each taken from different time periods. It shows San Fran before the big '06 -1906 mind you- Earthquake and after, as well as 100 years afterward.

And notice the change in traffic! Holy pedestrians, Batman! Talk about jaywalking, these people are walking all over the road with carriages and horseless-carriages zipping all over the place. And that's another thing, the cars are going all over the place, too. It's a big risk to just take a drive out in the city; there are no traffic signals, no crosswalks, no defined lanes of  any sort. It's amazing how just a few decades later, the same traffic systems we all know and love (or hate) was developed. If we think we have idiot drivers now, look at 100 years ago.

The automobile was so new then, it wasn't even 10 years old depending on the manufacturer. They didn't treat it any different then carriages. I don't think they realized the impact it would have on our civilization until much later when Henry Ford made it more aFordable (pun intended) to the masses.

So maybe in another 100 years, someone is going to take this video and then have their own time period's film! Maybe it'll be taken in the air like something from the Jetsons? Who knows!

Loop Da Loop

So, it's Friday! And no, I'm not referencing Rebecca Black, I actually have taste in my music!

Anyways, I  think today was a decent hit off for the weekend. It was a cool morning, I'm not sweating pools out there anymore, I can feel that it's going to be a colder winter yet again!

I'm going to the UNCC Car Meeting tomorrow...for two reasons. One, I like cars; Two... I have to go to a total of 3 social events for my Freshman seminar class, so I might as well do something I like. Frankly, I just don't wanna drive to campus on a SATURDAY.

The class kinda annoys me actually, there's so much work involved in a class that really doesn't matter all too much. Living off campus really doesn't help either as most of the club events don't happen 'til later in the evening. So, it's either I stay on campus for 12 hours of my damned day or come home then come back to campus later. Fuck. That. Really, as cool as college is I don't wanna be there all day long.

Oh, look, I'm ranting again, I was supposed to be having an opportunistic spiel here, too!

I've gotta figure out something else to blog about.

My First Posting

Well, it seems I've now joined the bloggin' crowd, albiet for edumacation, but I'm here nonetheless.I can't think of anything worthwhile to blog about except school, so I guess I'll settle for that for now. And now for some sporatic rambling...

So I'm on my fourth week of college and I'm just barely feeling "assimilated." It's completely different from high school in so many ways, but I'm trying to be adaptive. In high school, "managing your time" meant whether you twiddled you thumbs and slept through class or did your work like a good, diligent student; in college, it means if you choose to do something OUTSIDE of the classroom... not to mention find and appropriate time to do work on certain days and whatnot. The teachers don't give two $#!*'s if you show up or not, nor if you turn in anything; there's at least a gazillion students in the classes that you don't know nor care to know; AND EVERYONE GOES TO CHICK FIL A AT THE SAME TIME!!

I'm wishing I lived on campus or at least closer to school, these daily commutes are killing me financially and costing me a little be of sleepy time. It takes about 30 minutes to get here in the morning and it takes at least 45 in the afternoon. Last  week it took me an hour and a half to get back home. An hour and a half!! Holee hotcakes, Batman! Imagine how much procrastination at home I could've done! Instead I had to stare at someone's bumper and hope that my car didn't overrheat.

I've probably just gotta get back into my groove and I'll be okay. Hopefully. Maybe. Possibly.