SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: This Post is different. It is somewhat dry and does not have much to do with the Writer's life, experiences, or thoughts. If that's what you (the Consumer) are expecting, please proceed with caution. The Writer of this Blog would hate to loose a reader because of this Post. This Post may be due to a lack of required writing this semester by the Writer. The Writer sends his apologies in advance.
(The whole life, experiences, and thoughts is a lie but everything else is true about that warning. Be ye warned.)
I recently visited the wonderful city of Bloomington, yesterday and today, and realized, just like every time I go up there, that there is no good way, i.e. interstate, major hwy, to get to the town that lays claim to the university named after the state. On my return trip earlier today it dawned on me: they're planning on sending I-69 up past B-town on the way to Indy from Evansville. Then I passed a sign that really made me think. (Luckily, it was early in the trip so I had some time to mull over the situation and what I was going to write in this blog.) The sign, which happened to be in front of a church if I remember correctly, said something along the lines of stop zoning and I-69. I'm not trying to bash anyone, just going to provide some points (and take a stance) concerning this sign, partly because I have nothing else to write about and party because I'm not going to have to live with the fact that I wasted 2 good hours of thinking time over a dumb sign.
This sign, along with the MANY abortion signs promoted by churches, dotted the roadside all the way from the start of highway 57 until I got to Bloomington yesterday. I have no problem with speaking your mind, it's a free country and that's exactly what I'm doing right now, and I'm not even going to tread anywhere near the whole abortion issue, but what is the problem with I-69 other than people are being selfish? There are a few major advantages and disadvantages to the road being built. I'm not gonna try to go into all of them because this would be an excellent essay if I would, and I'm going to weigh in heavily on the advantages and probably just mention the disadvantages.
Advantages:
The road would provide a much simpler passage from Evansville to Bloomington, and further on to Indianapolis. The way to Indy's not that bad but those stoplights on 41 do get pretty annoying. That's not my experience to be discussed though. With I-69 going from Evansville through Bloomington to Indy, the trip from the southern part of the state to IU would be much easier for all the students who attend school there. (And the ones that just go up to party on the weekends.) Some of the smaller highways that must be traveled to get to IU from Evansville can get pretty nasty in the winter months. Not to mention that if you aren't familiar with the roads, driving them at night can be kind of treacherous depending on which route you take. Enough about that; you get the picture. (Yes, a semi-colon was just used, correctly I might add, in my blog: deal with it.)
The other thing about the roads is that they are all two lanes. It is impossible to use cruise control for extended periods of time on a two lane road. Unless you are traveling in the middle of the night or EXTREMELY early in the morning, it's inevitable that you will get stuck behind someone not going as fast as you would like to. This is where the issue lies. The person you are following is, along with going slow, not using their cruise control. You may fly up on them and be up their tail pipe before you know it if you're driving 60 (a reasonable speed on some of the roads to and from IU) and the next minute, after you've adjusted to their speed, a considerable gap has opened between you and the Envoy in front of you. I'm not saying everyone who drives an Envoy doesn't use their cruise, but I've never come upon a coal or dump truck that can't keep a consistent speed. That's why they put cruise control on vehicles. It saves gas and makes sure you're paying attention to the road. It requires you to be forward looking on the road instead of reacting last second to everything that's happening to you. You might be saying to yourself, "But Matt, what about that whole 'Highway Hypnosis' thing where you get tired on the highway?" I don't buy it. And caffeine works wonders.
Oh yea. It's also creating jobs in a somewhat down economy.
Disadvantages:
Some people are going to have to move. Yes, the road will require some people to move their residence, I understand that. But this country has been brought up thinking, "Me, me, me first!" and that could be tagged as our biggest downfall a lot of the time. We only want what will be best, or least hurtful, for us. If we had more of a collective view of our society, maybe more people would be able to use their cruise control on the way to Bloomington and save gas and lives. Just saying.
It may also be bad for the small towns along the roads leading to the B-nasty. To that I say maybe. Sure you get to see some of the smaller sides of Indiana on the way from Evansville to IU, but that's not the reason anyone traveling to Bloomington is, well, traveling to Bloomington. I think you get the picture here. A faster route to IU isn't going to keep the people who want to see Small Midwest Town, Indiana (a.k.a. Elnora, Indiana home of Michael Callison and the White River Valley Antique Association Show) from stopping to smell the ripe cow dung.
I obviously didn't exhaust either list or go into extreme detail and research each idea. ... ... ... I had a really good closing to this, but now I've gone and forgotten it. If I remember I will come back and post it. If you really care to see it, it'll be here if it ever gets here, no worries.
EDIT: (Here's the big finish I was planning. The title helped me with it.)
The United States as a country is a very Individualistic society compared to just about every one else. Like I said earlier, we just want "me, me, me" when we should be saying "us, us, us." And that's not to say that people with the same views, i.e. I-69 shouldn't be built because I'd have to move, should band together and chant "Think about us! What WE want!" That's still essentially the whole me thing. You're getting the benefit, not the majority of people involved in whatever does end up happening. Think about that the next time you go to vote. Ask yourself, is this guy going to help "me," or is this guy going to help "U.S."
END EDIT
Ok, so other than the signs I saw, I had an excellent time seeing a dead IU campus and spending some quality time with the great Laura Ferguson. Wish I had more time to visit up there and see all the people who go there, but with my schedule, there's no way. I do get to go back for a couple of indoor track meets though. Getting pumped and putting in some good training for that season!
Hope I didn't lose too many readers with this post. God knows that I need to hang on to every one of you I can get.
Till next time, get lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids.
Dec 21, 2010
Dec 18, 2010
Nothing Profound
As the title has stated already, there's nothing profound about this post. Just an update.
I ran today. What's new? This run was one of those runs that takes you out farther than you wanted to go, at a faster pace than was originally expected. It may have something to do with having Michelle Branch's "Everywhere" stuck in my head for the first half of the run, but the pace didn't seem to slacken once I switched the song to "1000 Miles" by Vanessa Carleton. Must have just been one of those days.
The thing that really ticks me off about today's run is that I unknowingly took off just as NBC was beginning their coverage of the Ironman Triathlon World Championships from Hawaii. Not that I wanted to know who won. Could have figured that out in October when the race was run. I just enjoy watching that every December. It's fun to watch other people go through pain that you want to go through some day. Maybe it could be compared to watching a mother give birth? Maybe not. Actually, probably not at all...
Since break has started though, I've finished the last half of one book and gotten half way through another. I remind you that my break started around 5 yesterday when I got home from my last final and bringing my sister home from swim practice.
I highly recommend The Kite Runner. It is a very quick, enjoyable read. Gives an insider's look at the way Afghanistan has developed from a monarchy to the state of rebuilding it is in now. It was a very relevant read, although it probably would have been kind of scary to read right after it was released (in 2003, with the 9/11 attacks fresh in everyone's minds).
Now I've moved on to a novel titled Six Graves to Munich. Very quick read by the same author that wrote The Godfather. Should be done with this one in a day or two.
In other news, I'm finally making my way to Bloomington to see Laura Ferguson. I've been trying to make it up there all semester but with classes and cross country, I just couldn't make it. She has to work but I'd assume that we'll be hanging out to the max (maybe the origin of "maxin'" from the Fresh Prince theme song?) when she's off. After I return, it'll practically be Christmas so don't expect another update till after that.
It's time for bed now. Headed to Indy tomorrow for the Colts/ Jags game. Must win for the Colts. I just want to see a good game.
Till next time, get lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids.
I ran today. What's new? This run was one of those runs that takes you out farther than you wanted to go, at a faster pace than was originally expected. It may have something to do with having Michelle Branch's "Everywhere" stuck in my head for the first half of the run, but the pace didn't seem to slacken once I switched the song to "1000 Miles" by Vanessa Carleton. Must have just been one of those days.
The thing that really ticks me off about today's run is that I unknowingly took off just as NBC was beginning their coverage of the Ironman Triathlon World Championships from Hawaii. Not that I wanted to know who won. Could have figured that out in October when the race was run. I just enjoy watching that every December. It's fun to watch other people go through pain that you want to go through some day. Maybe it could be compared to watching a mother give birth? Maybe not. Actually, probably not at all...
Since break has started though, I've finished the last half of one book and gotten half way through another. I remind you that my break started around 5 yesterday when I got home from my last final and bringing my sister home from swim practice.
I highly recommend The Kite Runner. It is a very quick, enjoyable read. Gives an insider's look at the way Afghanistan has developed from a monarchy to the state of rebuilding it is in now. It was a very relevant read, although it probably would have been kind of scary to read right after it was released (in 2003, with the 9/11 attacks fresh in everyone's minds).
Now I've moved on to a novel titled Six Graves to Munich. Very quick read by the same author that wrote The Godfather. Should be done with this one in a day or two.
In other news, I'm finally making my way to Bloomington to see Laura Ferguson. I've been trying to make it up there all semester but with classes and cross country, I just couldn't make it. She has to work but I'd assume that we'll be hanging out to the max (maybe the origin of "maxin'" from the Fresh Prince theme song?) when she's off. After I return, it'll practically be Christmas so don't expect another update till after that.
It's time for bed now. Headed to Indy tomorrow for the Colts/ Jags game. Must win for the Colts. I just want to see a good game.
Till next time, get lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids.
Dec 15, 2010
Hear's the Deal
Yea, it's spelled wrong.
Yea, I did it on purpose.
No, there's no reason to it except I wanted to and you're listening to what I have to say and there was nothing else to title this post that jumped into my head at the time.
No, there's not really a point to this post. Just me talking about my life in general right now because it's final's week and I have a free day/ night that I don't have to flip out about a test so I decided to write on here.
We had our first Steeple workout today. Not sure what to think of the freshman yet. There is definitely some potential there but it will take a lot of polishing to get good steeplers out of them. I know it's early. I know indoor track hasn't started yet. But I also know that it takes a lot of work to be good at the steeple if you haven't ever really hurdled before.
I'm pretty excited about it though. Hopefully I can shave some MAJOR time off my PR and place well on the team this year. (Last year I only got 2 opportunities to run the event and ran a 10:14 the second time out, 14 seconds better than the first.) I'm also looking for redemption in the 10k on the track, that dreaded 25 lap race that seems to drag on FOREVER. We'll see how this season goes...
(For those of you who were lost at "Steeple," here's a site you might want to visit. It could come up in later posts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steeplechase_(athletics))
This semester has been very lack-luster for me. I seem to have actually started college now. Last year I had no trouble with any of my classes and breezed by just like I did in high school, not really studying and getting A's on the tests. Up until last this semester, I'd never gotten below a B in any class. That streak has ended, and gone down in a blaze of glory I might add. Three of my four classes will be getting a B or lower, mostly lower. O. chem, Micro Bio, and LSD Psychology are all dumb. Just so you know.
But it's really my fault. I got really lazy this semester and fell into a giant pit that I couldn't dig myself out of. A lack of effort in the beginning of the year due to the lack of effort I'd had to put forth in previous years caused me to take off with a sliding start and just keep going down the hill from there. I've recovered (somewhat) from what it could have gotten to. Even considered quitting college for a while in the middle of the semester. But thanks to all the wonderful people I have in my life, all's well, sort of. My GPA may be hurting but I think I can manage to scrape together what academic dignity I have left on my plate and revive my hopes for medical school.
People tell me I'd be a great doctor. I believe them. Maybe a mistake but I'm gonna run with it and keep doing what I can to stay on track. If all works out, I'll be a pediatrician in about 8 years. So until then, I'm going to wall myself into a room with some books and learn to be a doctor. Maybe not. Probably just study for my Organic final on Friday then take some time off. God knows I need it.
Till next time, get lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids.
Yea, I did it on purpose.
No, there's no reason to it except I wanted to and you're listening to what I have to say and there was nothing else to title this post that jumped into my head at the time.
No, there's not really a point to this post. Just me talking about my life in general right now because it's final's week and I have a free day/ night that I don't have to flip out about a test so I decided to write on here.
We had our first Steeple workout today. Not sure what to think of the freshman yet. There is definitely some potential there but it will take a lot of polishing to get good steeplers out of them. I know it's early. I know indoor track hasn't started yet. But I also know that it takes a lot of work to be good at the steeple if you haven't ever really hurdled before.
I'm pretty excited about it though. Hopefully I can shave some MAJOR time off my PR and place well on the team this year. (Last year I only got 2 opportunities to run the event and ran a 10:14 the second time out, 14 seconds better than the first.) I'm also looking for redemption in the 10k on the track, that dreaded 25 lap race that seems to drag on FOREVER. We'll see how this season goes...
(For those of you who were lost at "Steeple," here's a site you might want to visit. It could come up in later posts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steeplechase_(athletics))
This semester has been very lack-luster for me. I seem to have actually started college now. Last year I had no trouble with any of my classes and breezed by just like I did in high school, not really studying and getting A's on the tests. Up until last this semester, I'd never gotten below a B in any class. That streak has ended, and gone down in a blaze of glory I might add. Three of my four classes will be getting a B or lower, mostly lower. O. chem, Micro Bio, and LSD Psychology are all dumb. Just so you know.
But it's really my fault. I got really lazy this semester and fell into a giant pit that I couldn't dig myself out of. A lack of effort in the beginning of the year due to the lack of effort I'd had to put forth in previous years caused me to take off with a sliding start and just keep going down the hill from there. I've recovered (somewhat) from what it could have gotten to. Even considered quitting college for a while in the middle of the semester. But thanks to all the wonderful people I have in my life, all's well, sort of. My GPA may be hurting but I think I can manage to scrape together what academic dignity I have left on my plate and revive my hopes for medical school.
People tell me I'd be a great doctor. I believe them. Maybe a mistake but I'm gonna run with it and keep doing what I can to stay on track. If all works out, I'll be a pediatrician in about 8 years. So until then, I'm going to wall myself into a room with some books and learn to be a doctor. Maybe not. Probably just study for my Organic final on Friday then take some time off. God knows I need it.
Till next time, get lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids.
Dec 10, 2010
Clean Up
I'm going to make a concerted effort to clean up my act.
I've not ever been the best person around. I have a lot of faults and I feel like it's effecting my character too much. I cuss when I'm mad, I explode when I'm angry, and I get WAY too frustrated over the stupid little things.
It may be Napoleon complex still lingering from when I was smaller than everyone else my age. That should have cleared up though. I'm about average and can hold my own among my peers now. For some reason though, I still seem to be the butt of a lot of jokes. I think this may be due to my trying to be someone I'm not. That's another thing I'm going to change.
From now on, I will be a clean-cut, up-standing person. I'm going to refrain from losing my cool quickly like I have in the past. I'm going to clean my mouth up and refrain as best I can from dropping "dirty" words into my everyday speech.
Hopefully with these changes I'll be a better person and more likable in most situations. I can't drop my competitiveness though. That would be like a crack addict quitting cold turkey. Not going to happen.
Until next time.
I've not ever been the best person around. I have a lot of faults and I feel like it's effecting my character too much. I cuss when I'm mad, I explode when I'm angry, and I get WAY too frustrated over the stupid little things.
It may be Napoleon complex still lingering from when I was smaller than everyone else my age. That should have cleared up though. I'm about average and can hold my own among my peers now. For some reason though, I still seem to be the butt of a lot of jokes. I think this may be due to my trying to be someone I'm not. That's another thing I'm going to change.
From now on, I will be a clean-cut, up-standing person. I'm going to refrain from losing my cool quickly like I have in the past. I'm going to clean my mouth up and refrain as best I can from dropping "dirty" words into my everyday speech.
Hopefully with these changes I'll be a better person and more likable in most situations. I can't drop my competitiveness though. That would be like a crack addict quitting cold turkey. Not going to happen.
Until next time.
Dec 9, 2010
The Ships Friends Sail Upon
Everything's different and I'm not sure what I did. I wish I could fix it but I'm not sure what's wrong in the the first place.
If it's something I did or didn't do, please let me know so I can change it. I want us to be the way we were.
What we had was good, or at least I thought. Maybe it could have been more, but I was comfortable where we were.
Maybe it's the difference in age. Maybe it's that we were friends and I didn't want to mess that up.
Whatever it was, I wish it would go away and let us get back to the important things, like being friends again. Or get on to whatever is next for us. Whichever one needs to happen, I wish it just would so I don't have to worry about this along with all the other crap in my life.
I'm sorry if you don't like this. You're probably the only one who will ever read it and hopefully we can get this cleared up, but I needed to vent and couldn't go to my normal outlets, you being one of them.
If it's something I did or didn't do, please let me know so I can change it. I want us to be the way we were.
What we had was good, or at least I thought. Maybe it could have been more, but I was comfortable where we were.
Maybe it's the difference in age. Maybe it's that we were friends and I didn't want to mess that up.
Whatever it was, I wish it would go away and let us get back to the important things, like being friends again. Or get on to whatever is next for us. Whichever one needs to happen, I wish it just would so I don't have to worry about this along with all the other crap in my life.
I'm sorry if you don't like this. You're probably the only one who will ever read it and hopefully we can get this cleared up, but I needed to vent and couldn't go to my normal outlets, you being one of them.
Dec 7, 2010
Insomnia
It's eating me alive. Slowly though, from the inside out. Destroying every little bit of my life.
I can't commit to anything because sleep doesn't come when I want it to. I have to carefully plan and then re-plan what I have to do when I don't get the sleep I need at night. It also doesn't help that this is hell week and I don't have any time for me, unless you count the time I spend awake in my bed.
But that time is spent thinking and contemplating what I'm actually doing with my life. I still haven't come up with what exactly that's going to be. Still want to be a doctor. It's just getting through the initial stuff that has to be done before I get to that level. Someone just needs to tell me what to do and I'd be happy...
I can't commit to anything because sleep doesn't come when I want it to. I have to carefully plan and then re-plan what I have to do when I don't get the sleep I need at night. It also doesn't help that this is hell week and I don't have any time for me, unless you count the time I spend awake in my bed.
But that time is spent thinking and contemplating what I'm actually doing with my life. I still haven't come up with what exactly that's going to be. Still want to be a doctor. It's just getting through the initial stuff that has to be done before I get to that level. Someone just needs to tell me what to do and I'd be happy...
Dec 5, 2010
Slightly Longer Absence
Today was XC Nats and I'm dead tired but can't sleep because of the coffee I drank on the way home. Didn't stay late but... never mind. Not important right now.
So I haven't written in a very long time. I'll try to sum up my crazy semester with a few short sentences about each part of my life.
School
Sucks. Why the hell did I ever want to be a biology major? Oh yea, because I want to be a doctor and help kids. Not sure how many times I've actually said that this semester with organic chem, microbiology, and trying to run too. I did get the LOTR books done though. Whatever on to running.
Running
Craziness. I had a pretty good season this year in cross. Should have done better in my summer training. That will probably improve things more than anything, but I can't change the past. All I can do is look forward, train like a devil this winter, and keep getting faster. Oh yea, the guys got 10th today by the way.
Biking
Not much has happened here. My computer stopped working for some reason and I haven't gotten that fixed yet. I did get a new saddle. It's really nice. Haven't had much time to ride since school's been in session though. Hopefully Summer comes soon so I can get some quality time in with my baby.
People
Undecided. Not sure if I like living with people in my life right now or not. Some of them are awesome and I love them to death (not even trying to be sappy). And then there are the others... Too much to go into for just the few sentences right now. Maybe later.
Although I love my family (more than immediate here), they have SO many problems it's not even funny. Can't even imagine the series of books I could write about them. Maybe I will. But seriously now. My family's been through a lot since I wrote last. Gran's in a nursing home now, problems with estates, fighting about estates, and the ever popular drunken get togethers. I've got them till they die though so what am I to do.
I guess that pretty much wraps it up. I've got finals coming up and a couple projects that have to be done on Monday that I really haven't started on (it's 1:30 on Sunday morning), so I should probably get to bed. I think I'm going to be really dumb tomorrow and just start running and just keep going till I get tired. In between working on those projects of course.
Christmas Break,
Please come soon. You have no clue how much it would mean to me if you came sooner than I would have expected (the 17th of December). I really want some time to just read and work on my novel. It needs some work and it's been over a year since it's gotten any attention.
Thanks, your friend,
Matt
So I haven't written in a very long time. I'll try to sum up my crazy semester with a few short sentences about each part of my life.
School
Sucks. Why the hell did I ever want to be a biology major? Oh yea, because I want to be a doctor and help kids. Not sure how many times I've actually said that this semester with organic chem, microbiology, and trying to run too. I did get the LOTR books done though. Whatever on to running.
Running
Craziness. I had a pretty good season this year in cross. Should have done better in my summer training. That will probably improve things more than anything, but I can't change the past. All I can do is look forward, train like a devil this winter, and keep getting faster. Oh yea, the guys got 10th today by the way.
Biking
Not much has happened here. My computer stopped working for some reason and I haven't gotten that fixed yet. I did get a new saddle. It's really nice. Haven't had much time to ride since school's been in session though. Hopefully Summer comes soon so I can get some quality time in with my baby.
People
Undecided. Not sure if I like living with people in my life right now or not. Some of them are awesome and I love them to death (not even trying to be sappy). And then there are the others... Too much to go into for just the few sentences right now. Maybe later.
- Sub-category: Girls This one needs some special attention. Although I'm sure none of them who pertain to this will read it, the girls in my life are confusing. And crazy. And great friends. And gorgeous. And stunning. And some have no clue how much they mean. And others think they mean too much.
Although I love my family (more than immediate here), they have SO many problems it's not even funny. Can't even imagine the series of books I could write about them. Maybe I will. But seriously now. My family's been through a lot since I wrote last. Gran's in a nursing home now, problems with estates, fighting about estates, and the ever popular drunken get togethers. I've got them till they die though so what am I to do.
I guess that pretty much wraps it up. I've got finals coming up and a couple projects that have to be done on Monday that I really haven't started on (it's 1:30 on Sunday morning), so I should probably get to bed. I think I'm going to be really dumb tomorrow and just start running and just keep going till I get tired. In between working on those projects of course.
Christmas Break,
Please come soon. You have no clue how much it would mean to me if you came sooner than I would have expected (the 17th of December). I really want some time to just read and work on my novel. It needs some work and it's been over a year since it's gotten any attention.
Thanks, your friend,
Matt
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