Seems like a lifetime ago, but here...

I realized that I never put up pictures from my crazy cross-country road trip here. Here's a few. A lot of 'em look weird because I took them from the inside of a moving car. But there's some pretty stuff too. If there's any demand I can put up all of 'em on an offsite location and then link to them here.


From Indiana... "HOW FAST CAN A MAN SINK IN GRAIN??" from one of the grain awareness booths at the state fair. I kid you not. They even had a tug-o-war with an grain simulator. I lost :(


Rolling hills and incoming thunder in Iowa. Purdy.


Night at the Olympic Village just outside of Salt Lake.


Driving through Wyoming... so pretty. I have a lot of shots of Wyoming. The nothingness that is out there is so dramatic.

Yay!

I miss you guys.

Thanksgiving

Yes, I know it's September still (barely...almost October which is almost Halloween) but I wanted to just throw this out there so that people know.

This applies to anyone at Marquette or going to Marquette for Thanksgiving:



I will not make it to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving.



I'm going to Virginia with my roommate, Emily, to spend Thanksgiving with her family...it's closer, and I can continue training over the break.


But man, what I wouldn't give to be with you...think of me while you're eating God-knows-what (a delicious God-knows-what, I'm sure).

Trust me, it makes my heart hurt to think that I won't see a lot of you guys until Christmas...Christmas, that's not until December...wow, that's a long time.


Everybody feel free to post your Thanksgiving plans (or lack thereof), whether you're going home or not, etc...that way, people going home can hang out, and people who aren't can... have solidarity.

"Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day." Robert Caspar Lintner
(what do you think, guys, have another thanksgiving on some random day when everybody's home? i think it could be a great time. of course, at this point, sitting in the same room with you guys would qualify as a great time for me...i'm easy to please.)

The Good, the OK, and the Pretty

The Good
Orientation Week. I played tennis, basketball, and guitar with some of the guys at Varsity House. Entering Jesuit I knew a couple people and slowly got to know a few at a time until it grew into our big group. Upon moving in Sunday I’ve been picking up about twenty names a day. And a lot of them are really befriend-able, especially the church groups. There were a couple social activities everyday like potlucks, night-games, a dance (I’m so glad I learned to swing dance).

Varsity House. It’s is my ideal home. The guys are all pretty cool. There’s half of an outdoor basketball court by the parking lot. Our cook definitely knows what she’s doing. We get two home-cooked meals every weekday. We make our own breakfast, and there’s a whole bunch of cereals, waffles, and bagels. Plus we have a Bible study for new guys every Tuesday and worship every Thursday. We have a piano, so I’m learning the Moonlight Sonata right now. 69 measures. I have about 8 of them down. It’ll take awhile.

Friends. I keep seeing people from Jesuit, and I have a few classes with Chris Dieringer. I played basketball with Matt Heberling (soccer team Matt). Good times. Plus I got to see people from my old school again. Even better though, is hanging out with some of the girls from my old church.

My Room. It’s in the basement. It's pretty roomy. We have a three person couch facing a TV. I have a couple roommates. One of them spent the summer in Germany, and he’s studying German, so I’m picking up some of it. He looks like Andrew Cotton. The other knows computers pretty well, so he’s pretty useful to have around.

My Classes. Chemistry, Math, Engineering, and Spanish. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I get all of my classes out of the way in the morning, and Tuesdays and Thursdays I have one class. They’re all pretty close together, and they’re close to Varsity House. The course load isn’t too much work, and what I’m learning feels interesting/relevant enough for me to be motivated for them.

The Churches. They’re everywhere. Greater Portland Bible Church didn’t really help my faith all that much, so this time I’m checking out a whole bunch of different church groups before becoming a regular member. I went to United Pentecostal Church last Sunday. Man that was interesting.

Sports. I'll be doing intramural basketball, tennis, and soccer. Dixon Recreation Center is about as awesome as it gets as far as athletic facilities go concerning my preferences.

The Just OK
My sleeping porch. A couple guys snore sometimes, and I have a top bunk that’s hard to climb into. Plus it’s below a creaky part of the main floor. I have a soft sleeping pad on top of a new mattress with two heavy blankets, so it’s really hard to get out of bed in the morning on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, but I have to if I want to wake in time to be allowed to have the breakfast food (which tends to cost more) before they cut off the supplies at 10:30.

The Pretty
The Girls! I know Maggie earned Jesuit’s “most likely to win a beauty pageant,” but college girls seem to be in a whole other league. The school is full of runner-ups to say the least. And what’s more, they’re really easy to meet at college-age church groups.

P.S. Ken was right. You guys are unique and no one can replace you. Being in a new community doesn’t take away the place in my life you guys are a part of as the high school group I’ll always remember.

So I went and saw me some Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (a tribute to the dearly departed Harumph!)

Because Shakeer has decided that he wasn't breaking enough hearts the old-fashioned way and chose to discontinue his blog (when I read that last post I felt like Obi-Wan when the Death Star destroys Alderaan), the Outsiders obviously need to pick up the slack with regards to concert reviews. As such, your two intrepid Irish investigators, John and myself, were in attendance when Clap Your Hands Say Yeah played here at Notre Dame Saturday night. And I was moderately disappointed, mainly in Alec, the lead singer who appeared half-hearted in everything except "Helpless," a Neil Young song they covered to end the show. I can't really blame him because maybe 10% of the people there were actually fans or had even previously listened to their music, the rest were there for other reasons (there is something to be said for charging for tickets.) So they got very little crowd feedback, except for plenty of inebriated dancing. Their CD just sounds significantly better to me, which made seeing them live unsatisfying. On the other hand, I really dug the opening band, Margot & The Nuclear So & So's and didn't feel so bad about accidentally buying their CD before I had even heard them. Unfortunately the CD isn't nearly as good as they were live. Man, life is just crazy, isn't it?

I don't really have any other Domer news. I guess I didn't know it was possible to miss this many things at one time.

"It is a horrible thing to feel slipping away everything that we possess." -Blaise Pascal

Twice Bitten, Once Shy

I really have no reason to be posting, but I really wanted to post with that title. Fits really well; during rehersal, I hid this girl's sandwhich after she told that if I did, she'd stab me with her room key. So she tried to key me. I easily blocked the attack, but doing so, I left my arm open to bittage. She bit and held on. I still have a welt there, and its been over a day. Then she bit me again today. The once shy thing, I think I actually found friends that begin to compare to you guys. First of all, Ken went caving this weekend, so I had to find another source of amusement, which happened to take the form of a Disney dance party in my room. We stayed up until 4, and most of us ended up sleeping on the floor, but there was a bed and an air mattress that went unused so... whatever. (Okay, it quickly faded into a non-Disney dance party, but still there was way too much Disney for my tastes). I also found out that the people who live directly above me are huge Harry Potter fans. Contrary to what I'm assuming is the general opinion amongst you guys, they like Ron's hair and detest Harry's. But they are obsessed, and I found people to go to the midnight showing (like I'd actually go to the midnight showing, but my RA might make it a floor event, in which case it'd be free...).

PS: Ben, the football gods have taken their revenge on me. Cornell lost to Yale. Horribly.

PPS: I also have another story that involves me being bitten but that's better because it involves lesbians. But alas, it's a story for another time.