I made the worst bowl of oatmeal this morning. It might have been that I ran out of milk and had to switch to water during the preparation stage. It might have been it was in the microwave too long. It might have been the mega high viscosity. Either way, this oatmeal was like concrete. When your oatmeal is like concrete, it’s simply not appetizing. When I restock my oatmeal-making foodstuffs, I will try again and generate The Best Bowl of Oatmeal; the oatmeal I remember from Sundays at home.
In my Into to Engineering class, Prof. Jalkio brought up something very encouraging: pre-dental undergrads are not just majoring in Bio anymore; Mechanical Engineering is a very real possibility for this track. I hope that I can make Electrical Engineering work with the pre-dental track as well. Tomorrow I have a 7:00AM meeting with my advisor, so I need to remind myself “Alex, go to bed early tonight.” There are so many things to do but it’s all so much fun! I would never use the phrase “stressed out” to describe me; things are simply going too well. I even did some public service by doing some tech support last night.
Learning to ride the bus. I think I’ll get a SuperSaver stored value card. It’s a buck 75 for this trip that i’m looking at. Times two, that’s $3.50 … so if that price is worth my time on the weekend (let’s say I’m really busy and gotta get down there quick), then I’m going to go with it. Bus riding will have to take place in bad weather too. So, it will be at most once per week. Assuming 7 months total, that’s 28 times 3.50 so that’s $98 even! Looks like the busses leave about 2 times per hour. Just gotta figure out the changing routes. Awesome.
This is not my speed, but I think it’s rather funny.
I need to do more English writing, I actually questioned: if you write “i’m” in a sentence if the “i” is capitalized or not. I think it’s not. Good lord where have my writing skills gone? I think I left all of my eloquent phrases at home in dusty love letters. The skills will be broken out again soon.
Glorious Jesus, my Lord! Oh, how glorious you are!
Blinded by fear and doubt
Because of my sins,
a thousand times a day I fall.
Each time you open my eyes, O Jesus,
each time you touch my tongue
Send your Holy Spirit to me now
as you sent him to your apostles.
I am off to email many people about a wide variety of things. I have errands about a wide variety of things. Isn’t it interesting that when we expand our horizons, we expand our contacts and our paperwork? I look forward to getting into a routine that doesn’t include bunches of superfluous freshman activities.
Finally, I noticed we’re getting a lot more traffic here at tumbledry. Please, tell your friends and spread the word! I like talking to the anonymous public.
I’m not sure why I have stayed up so late tonight. I think going to bed early would have been admitting defeat to all the factors affecting me. I plan on getting up early tomorrow and getting my work done, and resting on Sunday. We all need a Sabath even if we aren’t religious. I don’t miss the summertime nearly as much as I thought I would. I am sincerely and truly enjoying the richness of the college intellectual experience.
We went to the Casino night and saw a great turn-out combined with great prizes. I won a free meal at Old Country Buffet. That’s right, good ol’ OCB. We played pool at Grace with some Grace women for a long long time. It was all fun. Right now, however, I would have preferred to study. It simply interests me more. I am finding happiness from the inside rather than the outside. When you feel that contact with the crucial wellspring inside you, it becomes fulfilling to study in a room on your own. Meeting people is the least of my worries; it comes very easily. You see a person, talk about something, talk more, and the two of you know if you are compatible. If you are, then you talk more later. I simply see it as that cut-and-dry right now because I realize it’s not a big deal. My friends-to-be are out there and I will meet them. There is nothing to worry about and no friendships to force into being for the sole purpose of making myself feel better. I’ve learned that external things can’t patch our own problems on the inside. The outside person may help you solve the problem, but the truth is you make the decision yourself. I do believe in the power of love, however. I believe it doesn’t seek to change (the famous bible passage says “alter”) and that it makes the person want to be a better person. That reminds me of that movie … As Good as it Gets … “You make me want to be a better man” …. or what was the movie? … “you had me at hello … you had me at hello.”
Again, I am rambling.
My Mom stopped by today and it was great to see her. I am saving a trip home for some weekend where I really need to get away and feel at home once again. Frankly, this room and dorm seem God-forsaken sometimes. However, that is more than made up by my Philosophy classes in one of the most beautiful classrooms on campus. Aquinas Hall Room 302 has the most wonderful sunlit, breezy, expansive, and relaxing view on campus. The classroom felt like an entirely different world. When Dr. Laumakis discussed his annual trip to Hawaii to teach philosophy, it was very easy to picture this classroom there. If I ever need to relax, that is where I will be, at least while the weather holds.
I have a secret plan which I am currently on Phase II of. You’ll never guess what it is, and I may not even post the outcome if it does not succeed. I have had plenty of help from many resources and I pray for and look forward to a successful outcome. It has great potential. I understand you may not be religious, you may not care about what happens, and you definitely don’t know what I’m talking about. However, I still request that you pray for this project of mine. Great things are possible.
Destiny exists; free choice moderates. You know the answers inside you. Go on a journey within your being and find the truth. You’ll know when you’ve found it. It’s been there all along.
Adam Smith points out that people who lose their mental faculities are the objects of our compassion even though they themselves are not aware of this loss: what is significant is the magnitude of the loss, as the onlooker estimates its role in the life of the loser. This requires, in turn, a highly complex set of moral abilities, including the ability to imagine what it is like to be in that person’s place (what we usually call empathy) , and also the ability to stand back and ask whether the person’s own judgement has taken the full measure of what has happened.
Hope for compassion; it will save us all. Guess where that’s from? You got it right; Cultivating Humanity by Martha C. Nussbaum. Assigned reading for my English class - I love that boook. I love that class. I love all these classes. I was talking to a guy today from Woodbury and he thought I was being sarcastic when I said “I love that class.” I really do. Having fun and learning - holy crap!
Every night I hear footsteps and I look out my window to see the guitar major from two floors up, leaving the dorm with his girlfriend. Every night they walk hand in hand to North Campus. Every time I see this I am filled with an emotion. It’s the emotion that you feel when you are laying out in a hammock for hours in the filtered shade of a warm summer afternoon. It’s the emotion you feel when you step out into the first winter snow and see the flakes drift gently down and sparkle in the light. It’s the emotion that fills your heart when you welcome someone home who has been gone for a long time. That emotion is peace. But more than that, I am filled with the sense that everything is right with the world. That this crazy rock we live on isn’t filled with psychos who will destroy everything soon. It convinces me that good will triumph.
The true virtues of life thrive in the realm of simplicity.
It’s almost as if the weather knew that classes started today. The air was brisk with a morning tinge of cold that announced fall has begun the slow march to take over summer. The cool breeze reminds me of many fall afternoons spent playing football at Richard’s. The evening will remind me of those football games I always speak of. It is time to associate some new memories with weather.
PhyEd 100 will be an interesting class; it is a pity the weight room doesn’t open earlier in the day, but it looks like I will workout in gym class, go to classes hopefully not smelling too bad and then lift later that day. It’s going to be awesome! Gym is seven weeks, so I will only have weights and gym on four of those weeks. English was awesome; it’s in an old building that I am told has asbestos, which could be part of the reason they are knocking it down soon. Either way, we tried not to disturb any insulation or ceiling panels, so I think we’ll be OK. The prof’s name is Micheal Mikolajczak and he seems like he will be a very good moderator of discussions and opener of minds. I grabbed lunch because we were out of that class early (something I won’t normally be able to do) and headed over to German. Paul Schons is a very easy going guy and thankfully there is no mid-term or final in that class. Thus, I have a midterm (which is the end of the term for that class) gym final, no English final, and no German final. I am thankful, but that doesn’t really mean there will be any less work, it will just make finals week easier because I will be able to focus on my Calc and Philosophy finals. Mental note, I have a meeting with my faculty advisor at 7:00AM on the 9th of September. Gotta go to bed early that night. Then again, I’m really getting into the going-to-bed-early idea. I feel great and every night since I got here I’ve been getting to bed earlier and earlier.
Martha C. Nussbaum’s Cultivating Humanity is calling. Away!
The speaker who came to motivate us talked of “dead wood” in our lives, and how the storms clear that dead wood and make the tree of ourselves stronger. However, I don’t have any “dead wood.” And I didn’t have any dead wood. But my tree is damaged. I’ll explain. Trees have branches called “leaders.” Merriam Webster defines this as the “a primary or terminal shoot of a plant.” There are usually only one or two on a tree, and this leader is an extension of the solid trunk; the growth of the tree follows this thick branch. My leader has been violently ripped off the tree, destroying years of growth. It was coursing with life right up until the day it was agonizingly twisted and then wrenched free of the rest of me. Thus, I will start out in a new direction and forget about that old branch. The tree still lives and is stronger for it. It doesn’t need any crutch or enabler to get through these rough days; it only needs time. Time to forget and bottle up and throw away.
There you have it. I’m moved in, feeling pretty good about classes starting tomorrow, and staying in touch with some people. Working out is going well, I am finding times and places to play the piano, and I resolved all of my connectivity issues with the TechDesk. Scoped out campus, walked through the arches, ate some food, cooked Oatmeal successfully, enjoyed life! The weather is picture perfect. I am looking forward to meeting people in my classes because they will be the ones I will really want to get to know better. Every girl I talk to is smoking or has a tatoo (well not every girl, I have met some very cool women) but classes do serve as a rudimentary people-sorter. Opposites do attract, but within reason!
I could write for hours about everything that has happened; but I can only share a couple of highlights. During the ice breaker, we heard a very sad story about a man from 3rd floor Cretin. Yes, he was kicked in the groin by a girl, sent to the emergency room with something ruptured, and suffered the humility of surgery. We all felt for him; there was a moment of silence for his loss. However, he can still have kids! What else … oh yes they put a brand-new floor in the weight-room and it looks like a couple of new machines and some mirrors and the like. It is very nice! In addition, it is an excellent place to meet people. Places to play piano include: Koch Commons, pratice rooms on South campus, Grace basement, and UV Cafe on first floor Cretin.
I still remember joking how maybe the Cretin-Grace brother-sister floors wouldn’t go 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, and on but how they might go, say, 2-3. Which is exactly what has happened. Strange, isn’t it?
I need to call Matthew, Steve, and Tina. I need to mail Nils and Marty something. I need to get to bed on time tonight! Sleep is a beautiful thing.
A good friend will bail you out when you get arrested. A best friend will be sitting next to you saying, “dude that was freakin awesome!”
MLG[edit]: oh my god MLG[edit]: i just got to the bed bath and beyond website MLG[edit]: and i tried to look up my account MLG[edit]: and it sent me to bridal registry instead MLG[edit]: and it says that i am getting married to susan mentges on august 25 MLG[edit]: thats so weird
“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.” - T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom
We’re right in the middle of the pre-freshman-year-in-college exodus. It is so very strange to see everyone leaving. The summer was long enough, and we are ready to go, but leaving has a strange sense of finality to it. I should re-cap yesterday as has been my habit lately:
After that, I said farewell to Laura, Simon, Katherine, and Tommy [and others!]. It’s really starting to sink in; I’m leaving soon as well. It’s almost over, the summer is almost up. True, it is the end, but I because I’m moving on to something very very exciting, I’m not really sad. I’m more pensive and reflective than anything. Now is a time of great change in all of our lives, and i’m happy to know that we have one another and we do really look out for our friends. I owe a huge thank you to all of my friends who have given me support and guidance this summer. I would list them, but I fear I would leave someone out. Too many people to count have given me more support than I could have ever asked for. Thank you all.
We returned to Steve’s around 11:10 and proceeded to rip his inside plastics off as a part of his door dissembly. Why do this? Well, his outside door handle stopped opening the door. In 50 minutes we fixed it. Let me tell you, it feels so good to start out with something working incorrectly and finish with it working perfectly. Fixing things appeals to my desire to help others and my streak of organizing, coordinating, and regulating the things in my life over which I have control. But most of all, I simply like to “fix stuff.”
Ooh, I bought my chair! It is ridiculously comfortable, space-efficient, and retro.
Finally, I got two roles of film back. I shot 200 speed for the first time. Let me tell you, if you’re into any photography that doesn’t involve action, go for the 200 speed film. True, I was blest with a tripod to compensate for the slower film. But, that is more than worth it considering what the prints looked like. 200 captures colors so beautifully, richly, and without grain. I will shoot nothing but 200 and 400 speed in the future. Also, if I have the opportunity, I will shoot an even slower film to get better detail and color reproduction. I love slow film. The point of all that is, I finally used my “Ten Frames in a Box” from Target. I looked at two years worth of my prints and selected the ones that best represented my time here in Woodbury. Unfortunately, there are no people in these pictures. I don’t shoot people becasue I’m rather shy about my love of photography. However, the pictures still are an accurate portrayal of my time. They include: a black Stingray Corvette [color, ISO200], double exposure yellow flowers [color, ISO200], one classic Ford [black and white film and processing, ISO400], double exposure nature perspective shot with filtered sunlight [color, ISO800], piano keys [black and white film and processing, ISO400], Lord of the Rings foldout map [color, ISO800], double exposure white flowers [color, ISO800], Saint Mary’s Point waves [color, ISO800], single yellow flower [color, ISO800], and a large aperature (that gives a narrow field of focurs) shot of morning dew on grass [black and white fillm and processing, ISO400]. Many of the nature shots were taken right in my own back-yard, and most of the shots were taken around Woodbury. So, looking at these pictures in my dorm will bring back the good memories of summertime and wonderful times I had. I hope you all find something to put in your dorm that will remind you of the “good times.”
Once again, not an ego trip, just sharing the pictures. If I could, I would scan them and toss them into the imagexhibition section of this site, but I don’t have a scanner. Someday, maybe. Oh, I thought I’d mention that this journal will shortly become less of a daily log and more of a place to reflect on certain select things. In college, I will not have time to record all the events of one day. Therefore, you will get the highlights, the funny parts, and basically the stuff that’s actually interesting. I hope to post 3 times per week.