RANT: Professors who assign a paper, and also assign the argument you are supposed to make, but not in so many words. Actual assignment: Well shit prof, tell us how you really feel.
Rave: Got out of class early so I decided to get baked. Rant: Looked at the clock about 5 min ago and freaked out at what time it was because I am normally in class at that time, then I remembered we got out early.
rant / rave: Coming to the end to my 5 months in India. Stereotypically I have experienced every emotion going, had to deal with unscrupulous bastards every hour, vomited and shat every ounce of liquid in my body numerous times, been the hottest and coldest I've ever felt. Traveled from the very bottom of the country to the base of the Himalayas by train in 5 days and met some awesome people. It has seriously been the best thing I could have ever done, I was a fucking mess when I left and had gotten myself into a hole so deep I couldn't find my way out. Not that India 'cured' me or that I found myself or other bullshit, but after 5 months of traveling around, essentially on my own for the majority of it, I'm nothing but amazed that I've made it through so effortlessly. So much could have gone wrong in this, but between a bit of luck and a lot perseverance and patience, the whole thing has been a piece of piss. India didn't change me or make me into the more confident and self assured person I am now, but it certainly gave me the opportunity to be that person. The real question is, can I push myself to the same extent when I am home? Yes, I have done before and I will do again. This time I won't let myself get dragged down by the shit I have to deal with. rant:I really don't know how I'm going to adjust to life back home. Back to working 40 hours a week, even staying in one place for more than a couple of weeks doesn't sit right with me anymore. Rave: Got an interview for a festival job literally 2 hours after I land in manchester, working at Glastonbury again this year and will be spending most of June around London visiting friends and family. Not going to be at home for more than a few days at a time, which suits me just fine
Rave: Websites like this that make me laugh at loud when I really need to . . . Damn You Autocorrect! Beauty, eh
I had Chinese for lunch. It has now approached gutbomb level 8.5. I soon expect to be like Eric Forman after he ate the Chicken Pinciotti Donna had cooked. Ugh.
Rave: After 4 years of worrying about whether or not I could get a job after I graduate, I pick up a manager position at a local consumer loan business. It's not great pay, but it beats working on an assembly line, which was altogether a possibility even with a degree. Rant: I'm not entirely certain its a legit business. If anyone has ever heard of Tower Loan and has any experience with them, any advice would be more than welcome. It seems levels above your average Check into Cash, but probably not by a lot. Beggars can't be choosers I guess.
Rave: Beautiful day, just took an aimless walk along the train tracks to see if they led anywhere neat. Apparently there after a mile of rocks and nothing, it turns off into a wonderful nature trail. Impromptu four-mile nature hike ensued, and all with the pup. Saw some quail and a few weasel-like creatures (don't know if they were actually weasels), and the dog had a lovely time in the river. Love unexpected good times like that.
RANT: Fired. RAVE: Severance, and a bottle of scotch from a sympathetic bartender. Heh, fuckin' guy rang it in as a promo too.
Major rant: FUCK COPS. Additional rant: I have to go to court because of this jackass mother fucking piece of donut eating shit. Rave: Possibly getting hooked up with a good friends' girlfriends friend. I'm a pessimist, so the least I could hope for is a phone call or a text or something.
Rant: Given the dwindling amount of hair on my head, I really don't pay much attention to the shampoo I buy; as long as it says "shampoo" on the bottle I get whatever's cheap and on sale. Well, "cheap and on sale" at the most recent trip to Target meant shampoo that smells like strawberries. I really don't give a fuck because I can only smell it when I'm actually washing my hair but apparently this is potent stuff and my friend smelled it too at lunch today and demanded an explanation. Cheap and on sale wasn't enough of an excuse to avoid the subsequent mockery, but I guess I deserved it.
Rave: Decided to go nuts on my run this morning. There's a big hill right next to the radar tower, so I ran over there and did sprints. I am completely dead right now, but it's a good feeling. Rave: I remember watching a documentary back in high school on Dan Gable, one of the best wrestlers of all time. One of the quotes that stuck with me was one of his coaches, who said, "Dan trained every day because he knew that his opponents were training just like him... or even better, they were sitting at home doing nothing." I wish I had taken that mindset when I was in high school, but it works just as well here. I don't consider my coworkers to be opponents, but if there's ever going to be a question of who's the best, I don't even want it to be a contest. Rant: My roommate is getting court-martialed and doesn't give a fuck about anything any more. I don't have the heart to chew his ass out for leaving his shit everywhere, as he's facing brig time and a Big Chicken Dinner. I really hate to say this, but I can't wait for his day in court to come, because I can't stand walking into my room and seeing someone that depressed and bitter. It's gotten to the point that I'd rather sit in the lounge than sit in my room. Awesome, I'm basically homeless.
Rant: I am training for my first ironman triathlon in November, so far the training has been challenging but not too bad. I am currently in India with daily highs of 105-110 degrees. Never in my life have I ever wanted to quit something so much. The pain is just too much. How the fuck do people live in this heat, let alone train.
RAVE!!!: Just got back from my audition for music school, and it went really well. The guy couldn't tell me if I'm in or not right away of course, but he strongly implied that I shouldn't have any trouble getting accepted. Longer version, and why it's a rave"!!!". Just feels good to write it all out. Spoiler I've only been playing bass for 10 months, so this was a big test for me. I dropped out of education school (high school teaching program) to pursue music, which was a little crazy. I knew/know I love/d music, but dropping out of a solid career track to go after something I've been doing for such a short time has caused me a lot of stress. At 24, I'm obviously still young, but I feel like I shouldn't just be fucking around. I've been worried I'll look back on this music endeavour and see it as a waste of time going after something I could never actually achieve. This audition today was the first real test I've had; they aren't looking for elite pros or anything, but they are looking for competence. They aren't going to let beginners in who will be lost after the first week. So, even though I'm not in for sure yet, just the fact that I was taken seriously and told I did well on the audition was huge for me. He said he was really impressed with how I was doing considering I've only been playing for 10 months, and that my skill level was right on par for starting in the program. Assuming I do get in, I've got a lot of work ahead of me, but music is one of the few things I've found that I actually like working hard on. Hehe, hard on.
RAVE: I graduate from college in the morning. RAVE: My Dad's gift to my Mom for Mother's Day was a quick trip out here to see me graduate. The kids are super happy to have Grandma here. Pretty damn cool of my Dad to pull that off. RANT: Wish Dad could have come too, but at least he'll be here for my Master's in a couple years.
Rave: Consulting job wrapped up on Thursday. 95% of major equipment disposed of 10 weeks ahead of schedule. Fat ass bonus for making it move so fast. Rant: Flying to Chicago to drive to Kalona IA. Then driving back through Chicago land to get to Grand Rapids, MI for meetings Tuesday. Rave: I get to fly direct from my little no-hassle regional hub airport and the travel time with driving will be exactly the same if I had flown all of the legs of the trip. Fuck airports and FUUUUUUCK Boston-Logan. Rave: Flight isn't until tomorrow evening so there's nothing standing between me, a case of Otter Creek Summer Ale and a Bruins-Lightning game tonight.
Rant: Fireworks downtown tonight to celebrate Manitoba's birthday. This is a rant because the sound of the fireworks has produced two wide-eyed dogs crowding into my lap, not sleeping and growling lowly whenever another volley goes off. They won't relax until the fireworks quit. Super mega miracle rave: I still have two healthy dogs beside me. I don't know how, but despite being hit dead-on by a van at 60km/hr, my little guy is unscathed. I'm not a spiritual person, so I have no explanation as to why he's still here. I am profoundly grateful, though.
RAVish/RANTish: My 22 year old nephew has been deployed in Afghanistan for 3 months now somewhere near Kandahar. He has pictures posted on Facebook of his squad?/platoon? lined up for inspection and someone is getting a medal or a citation of some kind. They're all just kids. When I was that age I barely knew my ass from my elbow. Generally speaking I hate just about everyone, but he's really a great kid. I don't think I've ever heard him say anything in anger or have an unkind word toward anyone. My boys really look up to him.
Rant: My buddy's 6-year-old daughter told me that her dad was "listening to old time music in the car today." So I'm thinking he must have had a classic rock station on or something, and asked her "Oh yeah? What kind of old time music?" "I dunno, it was some stuff from the 90's." You stupid little bitch.
Rant: Had to alter July's trip to Newfoundland. The plan was to fly into St. John's, rent a car, drive across the island, take the ferry and make our way to Halifax before flying back to Toronto, but no rental company will let us take a car out of the province. I rented 0 cars in my life. Is that normal? So... Now we'll be flying to St. John's, renting a car and driving across the island. Twice. This trip just went from possibly fun to fucking monotonous.