College isn't supposed to be an easy time for anyone. It's a time of transition. Transition from one school to another, from youth to adulthood, and so many other ways. It is by no means made easier for someone who chooses to go out-of-state. I don't mean something like going to a college in a neighboring state, I mean going to a college where you just can't go back for the weekend, much like the situation that I'm in. I may not be going to Yale or MIT, but I don't think that people like me are praised enough to have the maturity and strength to step out of the familiar, to go halfway across the country, to isolate ourselves from the friends and family we know and care about so much. It's no easy feat, and I don't think that the people who choose to go UW when they live in Kent or Renton really understand.
Gone are the comforts of home. Old friendships are not necessarily severed, but may become strained by the incomprehensible miles in between. You start to realize what you had, and how much you miss it. Not that I am hopelessly homesick, UND is a good place. I have made many great new friends, and the opportunities that I have had to grow as a person here are some that I may never have had should I have chose to go to school in Washington. I enjoy nearly every minute of my time here, no matter how trying the circumstances may be.
The Catholic tradition is to give up something that you enjoy during Lent. In a way, I have been in an extended lent since last August. I sacrificed my family, of my old friends, of home for the sake of my education. The gravity of this sacrifice is not an easy burden for me to bear. I thought I could just sever my ties to Washington when I left last fall, but I find myself thinking that this idea is wrong now more than ever. I can stand being away from home, but everywhere I go out here, I see reminders of home. The airport brings me back to the sights and sounds of Boeing Field, the southern end of the city evokes thoughts of Southcenter, I compare people to friends I knew at home.
Is it for the better? Yes, I have grown so much, and I think that the ways I have grown are beneficial in all ways. Do I wish to detach myself from my life in Washington? Never. I have too much.
I feel it needs to be stressed, if just once, how much of a big shift it is to just up and leave your old life behind 1500 miles away. Just so that people who do or did not have the sheer willpower, or rather courage, to step out of their comfort zone and try life in a new state, away from their friends and family understand what it is like. Maybe you will never understand, but I hope that I may have given you an idea of what it is like. I feel like people who make the sacrifices that I and others have made need to be recognized. To be appreciated by their peers. To receive some aid in maintaining the relationships that they once had that have been strained by the vast distances between them.
20090320
My Spring Break, In Haiku Form
Friday
Last classes today
Lower bowl at hockey game
Sioux win 5 to 1.
Saturday
Rode bus everywhere
Another Sioux victory
They hoist MacNaughton.
Sunday
Woke up, went to church
Flew very far that evening
Then ate Jimmy John's.
Monday
Sat around my dorm
Planned the next day's cross-country
Flew again at night.
Tuesday
I woke up early
Flew so far across two states
To eat Qdoba.
Wednesday
Late to wake up
Went on walk in afternoon
Golden Corral dinner!
Thursday
Was a slower day
Flight in afternoon today
I enjoyed Watchmen.
Friday
No flying today
A Doctor Who Marathon
Got bored and wrote these.
Last classes today
Lower bowl at hockey game
Sioux win 5 to 1.
Saturday
Rode bus everywhere
Another Sioux victory
They hoist MacNaughton.
Sunday
Woke up, went to church
Flew very far that evening
Then ate Jimmy John's.
Monday
Sat around my dorm
Planned the next day's cross-country
Flew again at night.
Tuesday
I woke up early
Flew so far across two states
To eat Qdoba.
Wednesday
Late to wake up
Went on walk in afternoon
Golden Corral dinner!
Thursday
Was a slower day
Flight in afternoon today
I enjoyed Watchmen.
Friday
No flying today
A Doctor Who Marathon
Got bored and wrote these.
20090319
The New Facebook
Why does everyone complain about Facebook's layout every time that they change it? Are you all afraid of the concept of change? I would find this pretty hypocritical since most of you who could vote this year probably chose to elect a man to our nation's highest office who ran almost purely on a vague platform of "change."
The new Facebook layout is actually pretty functional and streamlined, and I think that if you just took the time to step back and realize that, you'd be a lot happier with it. Now you can do so much more from the home page, whereas before you had to go all over the place just to do things like upload photos or post a link. It's so much more convenient, but because you're stuck in "ZOMG FACEBOOK IS STUPID, THEY CHANGED THEIR LAYOUT AGAIN!" mode, you're completely missing that.
/soapbox
The new Facebook layout is actually pretty functional and streamlined, and I think that if you just took the time to step back and realize that, you'd be a lot happier with it. Now you can do so much more from the home page, whereas before you had to go all over the place just to do things like upload photos or post a link. It's so much more convenient, but because you're stuck in "ZOMG FACEBOOK IS STUPID, THEY CHANGED THEIR LAYOUT AGAIN!" mode, you're completely missing that.
/soapbox
20090315
I think I need to get to bed now....
the cabin fever's starting to go to my head, man. I'm not even sure why I drew this:
For just the second time in my life,
I have won at Microsoft Hearts. This time, it wasn't even close. This is a good feeling.
20090312
In these troubling times,
it's always a good sign to know that Kidz Bop is still alive and well, even as major car companies struggle to survive and banks fail left and right...
20090311
The Blizzard and North Dakota Winters
For those of you who don't know, a pretty nasty blizzard just made its way through pretty much the entire eastern half of North Dakota and northwest Minnesota. It went from about some time last night to sometime early this morning. I'd already experienced one blizzard out here before, just after Thanksgiving, but this one may just have been worse.
Those of you in places that don't normally get blizzards (A.K.A. Washington), they're a pretty interesting experience. Yesterday, there was heavy snow, and according to measurements, the winds were gusting in excess of 35 knots. What that translates to is lots of snow blowing all over the place, leading to visibility that, at its worst, was probably only about 100'. The temps and wind chill are so low that staying outside for any amount of time over say, about 20 minutes, can lead to some kind of problem. In other words, they're a bag of fun. The following is a picture of the blizzard from my dorm room, slightly enhanced for effect. This was taken at a point when the blizzard wasn't that bad, and visibility's maybe about 300':
North Dakota doesn't have the best winters, I knew that coming in to UND. They're cold, windy, long, and dark. You know, they're not really all that bad, though, once you get past the fact that it's so cold you could throw boiling water into the air and it would vaporize before it hit the ground. I can't say it's been a short winter. On the contrary, the winter around here seems to drag on forever, refusing to go away. I'm used to Washington, where it hovers around 40 for a couple months, maybe dips down into the freezing range a couple times, then suddenly things get better. This year might be an exception (Snow in WA in March? LOL WUT?!), but the rule generally holds true.
Hopefully this blizzard is the winter's last hurrah. Maybe now it can start warming up, and North Dakota will seem moderately hospitable again.
Those of you in places that don't normally get blizzards (A.K.A. Washington), they're a pretty interesting experience. Yesterday, there was heavy snow, and according to measurements, the winds were gusting in excess of 35 knots. What that translates to is lots of snow blowing all over the place, leading to visibility that, at its worst, was probably only about 100'. The temps and wind chill are so low that staying outside for any amount of time over say, about 20 minutes, can lead to some kind of problem. In other words, they're a bag of fun. The following is a picture of the blizzard from my dorm room, slightly enhanced for effect. This was taken at a point when the blizzard wasn't that bad, and visibility's maybe about 300':
North Dakota doesn't have the best winters, I knew that coming in to UND. They're cold, windy, long, and dark. You know, they're not really all that bad, though, once you get past the fact that it's so cold you could throw boiling water into the air and it would vaporize before it hit the ground. I can't say it's been a short winter. On the contrary, the winter around here seems to drag on forever, refusing to go away. I'm used to Washington, where it hovers around 40 for a couple months, maybe dips down into the freezing range a couple times, then suddenly things get better. This year might be an exception (Snow in WA in March? LOL WUT?!), but the rule generally holds true.
Hopefully this blizzard is the winter's last hurrah. Maybe now it can start warming up, and North Dakota will seem moderately hospitable again.
Welcome to my Blag!
Good day, and welcome to my blog. I felt that giving you an idea of what this is all about would be the only correct way to start this blog off.
Anyways, I have decided to start blogging about all sorts of stuff, just whatever is on my mind really. There is no central theme except that there is no theme, so expect anything (Within reason-nothing NSFW). In a sense, I guess that you could call this a window into the world that is my mind.
I think I'll start this off by explaining why my blog is so oddly colored. The credit here goes to Maddox, who holds the opinion that it's easier for people to look at light lettering on a dark background, hence the white and yellow lettering on a black background.
Anyways, I have decided to start blogging about all sorts of stuff, just whatever is on my mind really. There is no central theme except that there is no theme, so expect anything (Within reason-nothing NSFW). In a sense, I guess that you could call this a window into the world that is my mind.
I think I'll start this off by explaining why my blog is so oddly colored. The credit here goes to Maddox, who holds the opinion that it's easier for people to look at light lettering on a dark background, hence the white and yellow lettering on a black background.
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