“My first trip home of the year,” I thought to myself as I slowly got drunk at my friend Mikes house while watching Zombieland. It was the night before hittin the old dusty trail back home to Hagerstown, Maryland, and I couldn’t be happier. I kept wondering what it was gonna be like; seeing all of my old friends (who have visited home already four times by now), seeing the kids that are still in high school who think they’re my friend, visiting teachers. Then there was home; I’d get to chill, lay back in my living room recliner next to my dog and enjoy the taste of a home-cooked meal finally.
Late the next morning (2pm), my brother and I headed out. The four hour return trip home was as boring as any other drive up 81; with no XM radio or ipod, a staticy Lady Gaga and shitty list of today’s best R&B/hip-hop would have to do. Despite what seemed like an eternity, we finally arrived home around 6:30, just in time to miss the ending of the Redskins loss to the Cowboys. Home… I thought I’d be more excited when I saw it all, I thought I’d get the feeling like I was coming home from a big trip, instead it felt more like I had never left, which was a bit depressing. Nothing had changed except a new bank and a closed Starbucks. For a second I wanted to go back to Blacksburg, but then remembered all of the friends and fam I’d get to see.
First thing on my mind was food, I needed to eat. My bro and I first stopped at my dad’s house to say hi and stay for dinner and then it was off to my house. This would be the first I had gotten to see my mom’s new pad- we moved out from the place that I had grown up in earlier this year and since then have been living at my grandmas. It turned out to be a nice little townhouse about 15 minutes from town. It was quaint; a bit smaller than grandma’s place and a lot smaller than my old 3 story Victorian with room for about a family of 7 or 8. I didn’t mind too much though, I had my dog, some good eats, and my cozy bed- I had to go to the coffee shop or my dad’s house for internet though which was a drag.
I ended up sleeping in until only ten the next morning- my bro and I had to help my dad move. I hate moving with a passion; I had spent so much time moving crap to storage lockers, relative’s basements, dumps, goodwill and so on last summer and by now I was just sick of it all. So anyway, my dad used to own a furniture company (Statton Furniture) until he closed it down a couple of months ago, this company made really nice quality furniture; furniture you would see in lawyers or top-of-the-line politicians offices and dining rooms. It was expensive and heavy furniture that was spread out all throughout his house so needless to say it was quite a bitch gettin’ all of it out onto his pickup truck and across town to his new house or storage locker. Not only that, but he had heavy wood machinery waiting for us in his garage that had to be moved. After about 6 hours we called it quits for the day and headed back to mom’s place.
Not really how I had imagined the start of my first college break, moving around and all; I had imagined myself sleeping in late getting up to eat, watching a movie then sleeping again getting as much rest in as possible. Most of my friends didn’t get home until Wednesday or late Tuesday so I had time to kill, which unfortunately was translated into moving furniture with my dad which he liked to call “bonding” time. Once my friends got home I was pumped, I knew we wouldn’t do much but chill and eat pizza, talk about how life’s rough these days, maybe watch a movie or two, but I didn’t care that’s what coming home was all about.
Thanksgiving: a time for family, friends, food and football. Instead of waking up early this year to watch the parade like I normally do, I ended up sleeping in till about two o’clock and about an hour or two later I was at my grandma’s getting ready to chow down on some turkey, stuffing and much more. This week was going ridunculously fast and I didn’t like it. I quickly called up ma boy’s Steve, Charlie and Way and organized a plan to stay up all night and go shopping at around 3am; I didn’t want to just go home and chill like I would any other day, it was time I start making the most of my break, plus I wanted to get some sweet deals at Best Buy and Target. I was soon regretting I had made this decision; in fact this might have been the worst decision of my life- well, one of them. The line at Best buy was humungous and the line at Target was twice as big, by the time I found some sweet deals, the register line was already wrapping halfway around the perimeter of the store. I hid my on sale DVD’s that I didn’t want to lose behind a toaster in Best Buy, because no one’s gonna buy a toaster at Best Buy, then headed out to the mall figuring I’d come back later in the day and get the DVD’s. The mall was packed but not as packed, there weren’t a lot of things that had sweet deals and by this time the Monster energy drinks and frappuccinos were wearing off. I started to become bitter and grumpy and didn’t feel like shopping anymore. We all decided to give in and go home.
I get home and my dad call’s me… fml. “Hey I need you to help me move a little bit again, it won’t take that long, I promise.” 5 hours pass and we finally get finished moving everything in the house. I didn’t really know what to think at that time, I was too exhausted to show signs of grumpiness and hostility, so I took on the dazed and completely fried look. And then I remembered that it was Friday, “Friday already?!...” time goes so fast these days. I couldn’t think of anything but school for the next three weeks; the four tests and the finals after them. The rest of that day I attended my friends Eagle ceremony, studied chem. and did some homework. I had to wake up early again the next day to help my dad move his tools and such, after that I went home, packed and by 5 o’clock I was on my way back to VT. I guess this break was alright, wasn’t great, just alright. “Another three weeks…” I kept telling myself, “Another three weeks and it’ll all be done; I’ll be able to come home and truly enjoy a break without having to worry about tests, moving or anything.”
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
How to survive more wild animal attacks
Since I ran out of room in my last blog post, I will be continuing it now on how to survive wild animal attacks. I just want to further stress, though I have had some close calls, I have never actually been attacked by a wild animal, but I was, in the years of scouts and camping, taught how to withstand such an event as such.
Animal number 3… the mountain lion: the fierce mountain lion/cougar has been feared by adventurers, campers and hikers all throughout the United States. It’s probably one of the most lethal predators in North America next to the gray wolf which are nowadays only indigenous to Canada whereas mountain lions roam most of the western U.S. Just as I had learned about the black bear, I was enlightened about the cougar about 2 years ago during my Hiking trip in Philmont, New Mexico. I never had to worry about mountain lions until now, black bears were all over the east and west coast but this time was different, we were in the wild west. My troop was lectured about the danger of mountain lions and how attacks are becoming more and more common, mostly due to their invasion of habitat. I had only heard about mountain lions in books such as Where the Red Fern Grows and movies like Homeward Bound and Talladega knights; now I had to learn what to do when confronting them.
I like to think of mountain lions as overgrown alley cats that eat meat- a lot of meat. They usually travel alone and have an exceptionally keen hunting sense. They prey and stalk they’re food low to the ground through bushes, atop ledges and under covered spots. They can hardly ever be seen before jumping at your face from 10 feet away. One thing you can do to prevent these cat attacks is to never travel alone, or never hike by yourself; hike in groups like most people would do, the cougar isn’t looking for a challenge, just dinner, so make sure you have someone with you so it won’t be tempted to make a move- and when you’re in that group make sure your not the last one in line, just kidding, no but seriously. Make a lot of noise (especially when alone), like I said before, they aren’t looking for someone to fight, if you make a lot of noise, they will hear you from a distance and most likely avoid you; like most cats, they don’t like being surprised, and in this case it could mean your life. Cougars dwell in cave like areas, not necessarily large batman caverns but places with bluffs, rocky hollow cliffs, canyons, valleys and so on, just remain alert whenever you see rocks.
If come face to face with one and you see that it’s crouching and licking its lips, by all means do not start running away. If you haven’t noticed by now, running is not a good idea when confronting wild animals. It will, like all other predators, start to chase you at speeds of 30 to 40 miles per hour- try not to bend or crouch down either since they prey on small things. Always maintain eye-contact; they are extremely stealthy and quick and you don’t want to miss any moves they make. Make yourself look big as possible by waving your hands, picking up sticks, putting someone on your shoulders, etc… you could try running at it like a mad man; it’s a pretty bold move and it might make it frightened enough to cower away, but on the other hand it may just defend itself by violently slashing your neck and then killing you without mercy. Make sure your big enough to know you can scare it if you decide on this. In other situations, you should hold your ground and be prepared to fight. Lions will always go for the neck with their teeth to try and suffocate their prey, so know this when being pounced upon. Pepper spray and a pocket knife are probably the most powerful tool/weapons a man or woman could and should wield when in the wilderness. Aim for its eyes and giv’em all you got. You’ll suffer a lot of blood loss in most cases just make sure it’s not in the neck or chest area, cougars can rip limbs off if they have to, but if you have the right tools to counter it, you may come out of it unscratched with a hog-tied 6 foot cat on your back.
Animal #2… the snake: I’ve seen so many snakes in my life it’s hard to keep track. There’s been the black snake, diamond back rattlesnake, black tailed rattle snake, copperhead snake and cotton mouth snake. The poisonous ones being all but the black snakes; the ones you have to worry about around here are the copperheads and cottonmouths. Rattlesnakes are rarely seen in the north east region but do appear every now and then. There are several more snakes in the United States but these are pretty common. I was at summercamp several years ago when I encountered two copperheads at the same time. The rain was pourin’ down that day and I had been under a pavilion with a few other guys minding my own business playing some cards when I drop one or two on the ground. I reach down to pick them up and there they were, two medium sized copperheads coiled up getting some rest and just tryin to stay dry like the rest of us. I was stunned and in awe but I kept my cool and told an adult who later kicked them out from under the pavilion and into a stream (don’t worry, they can swim… just like all snakes).
It’s pretty easy to avoid contact with a snake if you see one, just walk away slowly- or run, it doesn’t really matter it’s just a snake and it won’t chase after you, unless it’s an anaconda in which case it will chase after you, most likely catch you and then swallow you. If a snake is in the middle of your trail, try stomping around it to scare it away; a lot of times the snake will be asleep when someone see’s it in the middle of the road, they’ll make the mistake of just “lightly” walking by, the snake will wake up startled and snag them in the leg- always stomp to make sure it’s awake and to scare it away. Do not get close to the snake to further “examine” it or whatever: this might be the dumbest mistake a person could ever make, when you do, it bites, simple as that. Also, a snake has to coil back before biting so be ready it. A snake bite (poisonous) is not something you want to deal with, it gets really ugly in a matter of seconds. If you do get bitten, keep your cool and act calmly; do not rush or panic- keep your heart rate level and seek help. If a snake is coming at you, or just plainly won’t move out of the way just give it a little nudge or two with a long stick (not leg), it will bite at the stick but just keep pushing it along and soon it will be on to better things. A snake hates confrontations and sure as hell wouldn’t want to fight something 30 times its size so there’s no sense of trying to kill it or beat it senseless. Just let it be after moving it.
Animal number 3… the mountain lion: the fierce mountain lion/cougar has been feared by adventurers, campers and hikers all throughout the United States. It’s probably one of the most lethal predators in North America next to the gray wolf which are nowadays only indigenous to Canada whereas mountain lions roam most of the western U.S. Just as I had learned about the black bear, I was enlightened about the cougar about 2 years ago during my Hiking trip in Philmont, New Mexico. I never had to worry about mountain lions until now, black bears were all over the east and west coast but this time was different, we were in the wild west. My troop was lectured about the danger of mountain lions and how attacks are becoming more and more common, mostly due to their invasion of habitat. I had only heard about mountain lions in books such as Where the Red Fern Grows and movies like Homeward Bound and Talladega knights; now I had to learn what to do when confronting them.
I like to think of mountain lions as overgrown alley cats that eat meat- a lot of meat. They usually travel alone and have an exceptionally keen hunting sense. They prey and stalk they’re food low to the ground through bushes, atop ledges and under covered spots. They can hardly ever be seen before jumping at your face from 10 feet away. One thing you can do to prevent these cat attacks is to never travel alone, or never hike by yourself; hike in groups like most people would do, the cougar isn’t looking for a challenge, just dinner, so make sure you have someone with you so it won’t be tempted to make a move- and when you’re in that group make sure your not the last one in line, just kidding, no but seriously. Make a lot of noise (especially when alone), like I said before, they aren’t looking for someone to fight, if you make a lot of noise, they will hear you from a distance and most likely avoid you; like most cats, they don’t like being surprised, and in this case it could mean your life. Cougars dwell in cave like areas, not necessarily large batman caverns but places with bluffs, rocky hollow cliffs, canyons, valleys and so on, just remain alert whenever you see rocks.
If come face to face with one and you see that it’s crouching and licking its lips, by all means do not start running away. If you haven’t noticed by now, running is not a good idea when confronting wild animals. It will, like all other predators, start to chase you at speeds of 30 to 40 miles per hour- try not to bend or crouch down either since they prey on small things. Always maintain eye-contact; they are extremely stealthy and quick and you don’t want to miss any moves they make. Make yourself look big as possible by waving your hands, picking up sticks, putting someone on your shoulders, etc… you could try running at it like a mad man; it’s a pretty bold move and it might make it frightened enough to cower away, but on the other hand it may just defend itself by violently slashing your neck and then killing you without mercy. Make sure your big enough to know you can scare it if you decide on this. In other situations, you should hold your ground and be prepared to fight. Lions will always go for the neck with their teeth to try and suffocate their prey, so know this when being pounced upon. Pepper spray and a pocket knife are probably the most powerful tool/weapons a man or woman could and should wield when in the wilderness. Aim for its eyes and giv’em all you got. You’ll suffer a lot of blood loss in most cases just make sure it’s not in the neck or chest area, cougars can rip limbs off if they have to, but if you have the right tools to counter it, you may come out of it unscratched with a hog-tied 6 foot cat on your back.
Animal #2… the snake: I’ve seen so many snakes in my life it’s hard to keep track. There’s been the black snake, diamond back rattlesnake, black tailed rattle snake, copperhead snake and cotton mouth snake. The poisonous ones being all but the black snakes; the ones you have to worry about around here are the copperheads and cottonmouths. Rattlesnakes are rarely seen in the north east region but do appear every now and then. There are several more snakes in the United States but these are pretty common. I was at summercamp several years ago when I encountered two copperheads at the same time. The rain was pourin’ down that day and I had been under a pavilion with a few other guys minding my own business playing some cards when I drop one or two on the ground. I reach down to pick them up and there they were, two medium sized copperheads coiled up getting some rest and just tryin to stay dry like the rest of us. I was stunned and in awe but I kept my cool and told an adult who later kicked them out from under the pavilion and into a stream (don’t worry, they can swim… just like all snakes).
It’s pretty easy to avoid contact with a snake if you see one, just walk away slowly- or run, it doesn’t really matter it’s just a snake and it won’t chase after you, unless it’s an anaconda in which case it will chase after you, most likely catch you and then swallow you. If a snake is in the middle of your trail, try stomping around it to scare it away; a lot of times the snake will be asleep when someone see’s it in the middle of the road, they’ll make the mistake of just “lightly” walking by, the snake will wake up startled and snag them in the leg- always stomp to make sure it’s awake and to scare it away. Do not get close to the snake to further “examine” it or whatever: this might be the dumbest mistake a person could ever make, when you do, it bites, simple as that. Also, a snake has to coil back before biting so be ready it. A snake bite (poisonous) is not something you want to deal with, it gets really ugly in a matter of seconds. If you do get bitten, keep your cool and act calmly; do not rush or panic- keep your heart rate level and seek help. If a snake is coming at you, or just plainly won’t move out of the way just give it a little nudge or two with a long stick (not leg), it will bite at the stick but just keep pushing it along and soon it will be on to better things. A snake hates confrontations and sure as hell wouldn’t want to fight something 30 times its size so there’s no sense of trying to kill it or beat it senseless. Just let it be after moving it.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
How To Survive Animal Attacks
Animal number one: The Rottweiler. This isn’t a wild animal, but it’s one of those animals that I think one should know how to combat against if ever they were attacked by one of these beasts. Rottweilers are capable of being the most vicious and ferocious dogs you’ll ever set eyes on. They’re not all like that, in fact they can be very loving and obedient creatures if brought up right. My friend’s neighbor has 4 Rottweiler’s and I came to notice that every single one of them was nice and fond of human beings despite my foreknowledge of them being police dogs, tackling criminals, tearing them to shreds, and instilling fear in everyone’s eyes.
It wasn’t until last summer when I decided I needed to know how to protect myself from one of these brutes. I was walking down an alley when all the sudden 3 huge Rotty’s and a Pit-bull came tearing down a backyard and jumping at my face. Thank God there was a steel fence in the way or I would’ve been puppy chow. I nearly jumped out of my pants they came at me so fast. They were all massive, 100 lb’s plus easily, and for some reason or other they were pissed as hell ready to destroy the lanky 6ft tall kid in front of them. There they were barking so loud, clawing, digging and jumping at the fence, I remember one looking like it was getting ready to clear it- it literally had its hind legs inches away from the top post at 6 feet high. I kept walking though, as if it didn’t faze me that I was nearly eaten. Back at home, I quickly got online and looked up ways to fight off mad dogs like those I had just encountered. Here’s what I found out… Tip one: never look the dog in the eye if it is slowly approaching you- keep calm, speak softly to it, and try to make it sit, lay, roll over, etc… Tip 2: If the dog is coming at you full-speed ahead, running is an option but not a very good one; save your energy, Rots are twice as fast of the average human, you’re better off bracing yourself face to face ready to fight than getting tackled in the back, weakening you’re chances of survival. Kicking, I hear, doesn’t work too well; a dog’s reaction time is so much greater than that of humans- you’ll end up missing or only just swiping it. Tip 3: when the dog tackles you (which it will), shield yourself with whatever you can to keep the dog from biting your face or neck, i.e. a stick, a book-bag, a friend… After that it’s you’re move, try beating it hard in the snout or head with a heavy object, punching will hardly do anything when you’re on the ground. If you have nothing at hand, cover your face and neck and crawl up into a ball.
Animal #2: the bear. This could go for both the grizzly and the black bear. You won’t find any grizzlies around these parts of town, but just in case you take a trip to Yellowstone or Alaska, I want you to be prepared for the worst. Let’s get one thing straight, Grizzlies and black bears are almost complete opposites of each other- they act different, they look different, and they live in different areas. So make sure you know which one you’re defending yourself from before you screw something up and have your head torn off, literally.
Being a boy scout for the better half of my life has taught me many of things; how to tie knots, how to pitch a tent, how to cook over an open fire, etc… One of the most memorable teachings I have taken part of at a summer camp was that of a survival class some 4 or so years ago. “Bear attacks are very rare but they do happen,” I remember the guy saying; I found out that you’re actually more likely to be struck by lightning than be attacked by a bear. Nonetheless we didn’t hesitate learn. I have personally only encountered a a black bear twice, once at a petting zoo and the other in New Mexico while on a week-long hiking trip. It was crazy, the bear (in New Mexico) was just minding its own business, tossing a rock around about 40 feet away while I stood there shakin’ in my boots- it then walked away and that was the end of that.
Anyway, some things you should know about bears: 1: like most mammals, bears are territorial and very protective of their young, so stay away from their cubs at all costs, or you will die immediately. 2: if you leave bears alone, chances are they will leave you alone; they don’t want an encounter as much as you don’t. 3: A bears weight alone can kill a person; some black bears are only about half the size of some full grown grizzly’s but are still very big, adult black bears can reach up to to 600 lb’s or more, while some Alaskan Grizzlies exceed 1000 lbs. 4: Black bears eat plants and meat, mostly plants though- grizzlies prey on moose, deer, etc…
Survival tip number 1: if ever you were to stumble in to a bear, do not look it in the eyes or it will think you are trying to start something, unless of course you are trying to start something… either way I wouldn’t recommend it, it is likely they become very offended and kill you. Tip #2 put your food, if any, on the ground; bears, especially black bears are always looking for food and they can smell anything, literally anything- from a bagged lunch to crumbs in your pocket, even a nalgene water bottle that only once had Gatorade in it. Tip 3: back off slowly; if you run, the bear will mistake you for prey and then chase and kill you. Tip 4: if all of this fails and the bear is about to attack, stay calm and follow my instructions. For a black bear, playing dead won’t work like it might for grizzlies, black bears will just toy with you and beat you up if you play dead, basically take advantage of you, to survive a black bear attack try and make yourself look as big, aggressive and scary as possible, this will seriously scare the bear off. If you have a friend, get on his shoulders, shout and yell, act like you’re bigger than the bear- he/she will become scared because it doesn’t want to fight and it will run away, unless you have one of its cubs in hand, in which case you will die. If it is still coming at you, then you have no other option than to fight back- do not run and do not climb a tree. Use anything from sticks, to rocks, to your bare fists to try and fight it off.
Grizzlies can be a little more serious, and quite honestly you have little chance of surviving one of these things. Do everything I said for a black bear except trying to scare it off. You try and ward off a grizzly it will laugh at you and then kill you. If it attacks you just crawl up in to a ball and pray; it won’t think of you as a threat anymore and it will leave, but bears are known to wait and watch from a distance if their victim gets up again so wait on the ground for a little bit after it leaves.
To be continued…
It wasn’t until last summer when I decided I needed to know how to protect myself from one of these brutes. I was walking down an alley when all the sudden 3 huge Rotty’s and a Pit-bull came tearing down a backyard and jumping at my face. Thank God there was a steel fence in the way or I would’ve been puppy chow. I nearly jumped out of my pants they came at me so fast. They were all massive, 100 lb’s plus easily, and for some reason or other they were pissed as hell ready to destroy the lanky 6ft tall kid in front of them. There they were barking so loud, clawing, digging and jumping at the fence, I remember one looking like it was getting ready to clear it- it literally had its hind legs inches away from the top post at 6 feet high. I kept walking though, as if it didn’t faze me that I was nearly eaten. Back at home, I quickly got online and looked up ways to fight off mad dogs like those I had just encountered. Here’s what I found out… Tip one: never look the dog in the eye if it is slowly approaching you- keep calm, speak softly to it, and try to make it sit, lay, roll over, etc… Tip 2: If the dog is coming at you full-speed ahead, running is an option but not a very good one; save your energy, Rots are twice as fast of the average human, you’re better off bracing yourself face to face ready to fight than getting tackled in the back, weakening you’re chances of survival. Kicking, I hear, doesn’t work too well; a dog’s reaction time is so much greater than that of humans- you’ll end up missing or only just swiping it. Tip 3: when the dog tackles you (which it will), shield yourself with whatever you can to keep the dog from biting your face or neck, i.e. a stick, a book-bag, a friend… After that it’s you’re move, try beating it hard in the snout or head with a heavy object, punching will hardly do anything when you’re on the ground. If you have nothing at hand, cover your face and neck and crawl up into a ball.
Animal #2: the bear. This could go for both the grizzly and the black bear. You won’t find any grizzlies around these parts of town, but just in case you take a trip to Yellowstone or Alaska, I want you to be prepared for the worst. Let’s get one thing straight, Grizzlies and black bears are almost complete opposites of each other- they act different, they look different, and they live in different areas. So make sure you know which one you’re defending yourself from before you screw something up and have your head torn off, literally.
Being a boy scout for the better half of my life has taught me many of things; how to tie knots, how to pitch a tent, how to cook over an open fire, etc… One of the most memorable teachings I have taken part of at a summer camp was that of a survival class some 4 or so years ago. “Bear attacks are very rare but they do happen,” I remember the guy saying; I found out that you’re actually more likely to be struck by lightning than be attacked by a bear. Nonetheless we didn’t hesitate learn. I have personally only encountered a a black bear twice, once at a petting zoo and the other in New Mexico while on a week-long hiking trip. It was crazy, the bear (in New Mexico) was just minding its own business, tossing a rock around about 40 feet away while I stood there shakin’ in my boots- it then walked away and that was the end of that.
Anyway, some things you should know about bears: 1: like most mammals, bears are territorial and very protective of their young, so stay away from their cubs at all costs, or you will die immediately. 2: if you leave bears alone, chances are they will leave you alone; they don’t want an encounter as much as you don’t. 3: A bears weight alone can kill a person; some black bears are only about half the size of some full grown grizzly’s but are still very big, adult black bears can reach up to to 600 lb’s or more, while some Alaskan Grizzlies exceed 1000 lbs. 4: Black bears eat plants and meat, mostly plants though- grizzlies prey on moose, deer, etc…
Survival tip number 1: if ever you were to stumble in to a bear, do not look it in the eyes or it will think you are trying to start something, unless of course you are trying to start something… either way I wouldn’t recommend it, it is likely they become very offended and kill you. Tip #2 put your food, if any, on the ground; bears, especially black bears are always looking for food and they can smell anything, literally anything- from a bagged lunch to crumbs in your pocket, even a nalgene water bottle that only once had Gatorade in it. Tip 3: back off slowly; if you run, the bear will mistake you for prey and then chase and kill you. Tip 4: if all of this fails and the bear is about to attack, stay calm and follow my instructions. For a black bear, playing dead won’t work like it might for grizzlies, black bears will just toy with you and beat you up if you play dead, basically take advantage of you, to survive a black bear attack try and make yourself look as big, aggressive and scary as possible, this will seriously scare the bear off. If you have a friend, get on his shoulders, shout and yell, act like you’re bigger than the bear- he/she will become scared because it doesn’t want to fight and it will run away, unless you have one of its cubs in hand, in which case you will die. If it is still coming at you, then you have no other option than to fight back- do not run and do not climb a tree. Use anything from sticks, to rocks, to your bare fists to try and fight it off.
Grizzlies can be a little more serious, and quite honestly you have little chance of surviving one of these things. Do everything I said for a black bear except trying to scare it off. You try and ward off a grizzly it will laugh at you and then kill you. If it attacks you just crawl up in to a ball and pray; it won’t think of you as a threat anymore and it will leave, but bears are known to wait and watch from a distance if their victim gets up again so wait on the ground for a little bit after it leaves.
To be continued…
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Good Weekend
Pretty good weekend; on a scale of one to ten I’d have to rate this one an 8½. It was one of those weekends where I wasn’t stressed, wasn’t frustrated, and for once wasn’t tired. Not to mention the weather was awesome to say the least, a little bit hot on Saturday but I’ll let it slide. I didn’t want the weekend to end, basically; it was too nice. On Friday afternoon, actually every Friday afternoon I take a physics quiz, this one was one of the easiest I have taken in a long time. I understood absolutely everything that was on it- which I admit is pretty rare- and it’s like after that I immediately felt like a million bucks. I casually handed in my paper, opened the doors to leave Robeson Hall, took in a few breathes and walked across campus back to my dorm like it ain’t no thang.
I dropped my bookbag on the ground, plopped down on my roommate’s hokie beanbag and watched some ESPN. “What should I do tonight,” I kept asking myself as ESPN went over the upcoming college football games. Then it hit me, “it’s parents weekend… shit.” It’s not that I don’t like my mom (my dad didn’t come), I love her, it’s just that, well a couple of things. One: the campus is gonna be packed full of parents, and that might, or actually will get annoying when I’m trying to buy my food. Two: I’m gonna have to get up somewhat early to greet my mom and let her in to my dorm. Three: I’m gonna have to walk around campus with her and my brother (who is a senior here at tech) when I could be sleeping or playing Mario-kart. Four: I probably wouldn’t be able to go out on Saturday night like I usually do. Five: I would have to push all of my homework and studying onto Sunday night, which I hated doing.
So there I sat, irritated, feeling more like ten bucks rather than a million, watching sports center. I was still thinking of what tonight might bring, though: “Well I could go to my brothers, cuz he’s always having something,” well it turns out he wasn’t. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that my options for Friday night shananigans were little to none. My good friend Chuck who goes here went back home along with his roommate, Chucks roommate’s friend’s were both sick, my roommate was out at sigma chi all night doin’ his thing, half of my hall mates either had parents already in town or went back home to chill, My Junior friend Mike was working, and my brother was downtown, bar-hopping. I had a few more options, but they were with people I hardly knew, and I didn’t have audacity to ask them.
I gave up, plugged in Golden-Eye to the N64, laid back down and accepted the truth: this weekend was going to suck. About three hours and 7 levels of James Bond in, I got up and depressingly walked down to 7-11 to get me some hot pockets and an energy drink. This cheered me up, when all else fails to make you happy, eat something. After the feast, my roommate invited me down to his room to play some Halo 3. This cheered me up a little bit more. I’m no good at Halo, in fact I suck real bad, it’s no fun when you play someone who’s not bad, so I got crushed but I still had fun and we all had good laughs. “Whatev” I said after being slaughtered several times. I shuffled back to my dorm room. I decided since I wasn’t going to have much time to study this weekend, I should finish my Aris chem homework. I got that out of the way then watched Thursday night’s episode of The Office on Hulu. I was feeling unexpectedly good after that and decided to get on Facebook. I don’t get on Facebook that often because I feel it’s tedious to write everybody; it just takes a lot of time. I got on and wouldn’t you know it, my best friend from home is on and we have long talks about how life’s rough these days. I finally got done writing everyone who wanted to know how college was and realized it was 1:30am. I snuck in another episode of The Office then called it a night.
The next two days- that I thought I would be dreading over- went pretty smoothly, for the most part. I ended up sleeping in till 2pm on Saturday, missing all 14 calls and 5 texts from my mom on my phone that I didn’t know was on silent. She brought a boatload of snacks which was awesome. We ended up not walking all around campus but instead walked straight to Mikes Grill around 3pm (surprisingly the place was empty), had some extra delicious pizza, then headed out to my brothers place in Pheasant Run where I was met with my dog that I hadn’t seen since before July. That might have been the best part of my weekend, seeing my dog. After this, we all decided to go to the VT soccer game against UNC, we lost 1-0 but still had a good time. After a windy 90 minutes of soccer-watching, it was time to eat dinner. I thought I was just gonna go back to Pritchard and cook up some Ramen noodles, but instead me and my bro were treated to Olive Garden. I stuffed myself to the rafters with bread sticks, salad, mozzarella sticks and chicken parmesan. I got back to the dorm around 11 and took an online quiz; got another thing out of the way. The next morning we all went to church, had communion then went out to IHOP for some blueberry pancakes and coffee- real coffee, not like that cheap junk at D2. My ma decided to stick around for a while and actually cook us dinner, which was nice. I then gave my dog a bear hug, kissed my mom goodbye, and said my farewells.
“Well that was pretty painless, I guess,” I said to myself as she drove away. I got back to the dorm studied some calc and geometry and got done all of my homework before 9 o’clock. I couldn’t believe I actually had free time. I cooked up some leftover Olive Garden and sat back for a while. All in all, I was satisfied with last weekend. Despite not going out Friday or Saturday night, I got done all of my work before 9 on Sunday, I got to see my dog, I didn’t have any hangovers, I saved some money on my meal plan, I ended up beating Golden-Eye, and I had a ton of food in a previously barren mini-fridge. I had a lot to look forward to as well; Halloween next weekend, only four more weeks until Thanksgiving break and only 3 more chemistry labs. Pretty good weekend.
I dropped my bookbag on the ground, plopped down on my roommate’s hokie beanbag and watched some ESPN. “What should I do tonight,” I kept asking myself as ESPN went over the upcoming college football games. Then it hit me, “it’s parents weekend… shit.” It’s not that I don’t like my mom (my dad didn’t come), I love her, it’s just that, well a couple of things. One: the campus is gonna be packed full of parents, and that might, or actually will get annoying when I’m trying to buy my food. Two: I’m gonna have to get up somewhat early to greet my mom and let her in to my dorm. Three: I’m gonna have to walk around campus with her and my brother (who is a senior here at tech) when I could be sleeping or playing Mario-kart. Four: I probably wouldn’t be able to go out on Saturday night like I usually do. Five: I would have to push all of my homework and studying onto Sunday night, which I hated doing.
So there I sat, irritated, feeling more like ten bucks rather than a million, watching sports center. I was still thinking of what tonight might bring, though: “Well I could go to my brothers, cuz he’s always having something,” well it turns out he wasn’t. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that my options for Friday night shananigans were little to none. My good friend Chuck who goes here went back home along with his roommate, Chucks roommate’s friend’s were both sick, my roommate was out at sigma chi all night doin’ his thing, half of my hall mates either had parents already in town or went back home to chill, My Junior friend Mike was working, and my brother was downtown, bar-hopping. I had a few more options, but they were with people I hardly knew, and I didn’t have audacity to ask them.
I gave up, plugged in Golden-Eye to the N64, laid back down and accepted the truth: this weekend was going to suck. About three hours and 7 levels of James Bond in, I got up and depressingly walked down to 7-11 to get me some hot pockets and an energy drink. This cheered me up, when all else fails to make you happy, eat something. After the feast, my roommate invited me down to his room to play some Halo 3. This cheered me up a little bit more. I’m no good at Halo, in fact I suck real bad, it’s no fun when you play someone who’s not bad, so I got crushed but I still had fun and we all had good laughs. “Whatev” I said after being slaughtered several times. I shuffled back to my dorm room. I decided since I wasn’t going to have much time to study this weekend, I should finish my Aris chem homework. I got that out of the way then watched Thursday night’s episode of The Office on Hulu. I was feeling unexpectedly good after that and decided to get on Facebook. I don’t get on Facebook that often because I feel it’s tedious to write everybody; it just takes a lot of time. I got on and wouldn’t you know it, my best friend from home is on and we have long talks about how life’s rough these days. I finally got done writing everyone who wanted to know how college was and realized it was 1:30am. I snuck in another episode of The Office then called it a night.
The next two days- that I thought I would be dreading over- went pretty smoothly, for the most part. I ended up sleeping in till 2pm on Saturday, missing all 14 calls and 5 texts from my mom on my phone that I didn’t know was on silent. She brought a boatload of snacks which was awesome. We ended up not walking all around campus but instead walked straight to Mikes Grill around 3pm (surprisingly the place was empty), had some extra delicious pizza, then headed out to my brothers place in Pheasant Run where I was met with my dog that I hadn’t seen since before July. That might have been the best part of my weekend, seeing my dog. After this, we all decided to go to the VT soccer game against UNC, we lost 1-0 but still had a good time. After a windy 90 minutes of soccer-watching, it was time to eat dinner. I thought I was just gonna go back to Pritchard and cook up some Ramen noodles, but instead me and my bro were treated to Olive Garden. I stuffed myself to the rafters with bread sticks, salad, mozzarella sticks and chicken parmesan. I got back to the dorm around 11 and took an online quiz; got another thing out of the way. The next morning we all went to church, had communion then went out to IHOP for some blueberry pancakes and coffee- real coffee, not like that cheap junk at D2. My ma decided to stick around for a while and actually cook us dinner, which was nice. I then gave my dog a bear hug, kissed my mom goodbye, and said my farewells.
“Well that was pretty painless, I guess,” I said to myself as she drove away. I got back to the dorm studied some calc and geometry and got done all of my homework before 9 o’clock. I couldn’t believe I actually had free time. I cooked up some leftover Olive Garden and sat back for a while. All in all, I was satisfied with last weekend. Despite not going out Friday or Saturday night, I got done all of my work before 9 on Sunday, I got to see my dog, I didn’t have any hangovers, I saved some money on my meal plan, I ended up beating Golden-Eye, and I had a ton of food in a previously barren mini-fridge. I had a lot to look forward to as well; Halloween next weekend, only four more weeks until Thanksgiving break and only 3 more chemistry labs. Pretty good weekend.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Rhetorical Analysis
So, I missed the memo about doing a rhetorical analysis last week for our blog, sorry about that- here it is...
I decided to analyze Marlboro Cigarette advertisements. I figured it would be easier to analyze pictures rather than an essay or a speech, etc…. If you haven’t seen very many Marlboro ads, they’re usually represented by some kind of western front and cowboy snapshot; rough-edged, old and wise looking cowboys riding horses and looking off in to the distance, lassoing horses and bulls, branding cows, filling their canteen from a stream, leaning on a fence post pondering life… you get the point. These ads usually come with a catch phrase: “Come to where the flavor is. Marlboro country,” probably suggesting that America is more than just polluted, drug-fed and crime driven cities and suburbs that have lost or have no ‘flavor,’ but is also a land of unsophisticated, beautiful, rich, plentiful and immense wilderness full of cowboys, farms, and anything else beautiful that goes along with this kind of environment- including cigarettes.
To begin with, the main purpose of these advertisement is to persuade buyers (smoker and non) to buy their product over all other brands of cigarettes. 2: These ads persuade buyers that Marlboro’s are better than other cigarettes by implying they have more flavor; richness of flavor equal to that of the wild western front. 3: It persuades buyers that Marlboro’s are cool to smoke because rough and tough lookin’, hardworking cowboys smoke them on a regular basis while doing rough and tough cowboy like work.
The audience could be anyone who is old enough to buy cigarettes. I think the main audience would have to be men, from age 20 to 60. Men look for ways to look cool but not cocky, rugged but not ragged, tough but not a jerk, down-to-earth but not careless, strong but not sterodic, wise but not critical, and intense but not aggressive every day. What better way to portray these feelings than with a cowboy. If you’re a true man, you’re ultimate goal is to become an astronaut, a pro football player or a cowboy. These are the only three ways to attract attention, a lot of attention, a lot of attention from girls, hot girls. And who doesn’t want to be a cowboy? Who wakes up and says, I’d rather keep my 9-hour-a-day job inside of a cubicle than be a handsome and strapping cowboy who gets to explore the country and live in peace… queers, that’s who say it. The Marlboro company, obviously understanding that pro athletes don’t smoke for health reasons and knowing there is no oxygen in space to light up a cigarette, grab the American cowboy perception and slap a cigarette in his mouth.
Marlboro depicts the cowboy life as a kid would dream about: the cowboy is lean and cut, wears old rugged button down shirts with the cuffs rolled up just a bit. He wears his tan colored cowboy hat and work gloves along with the rawhide leather jacket, with or without sheep skin, and dirt and sweat stained chaps. The cowboy never smiles, he is always hard at work and he shows it with his stern serious and focused look, and if he’s not working then he’s looking off in to the distance taking in the cool mountain air breeze and thinking about how awesome his life is and how much cooler he is than all of them city-slickers with their fancy ties and white-collared shirts.
The background to these advertisements is of course a wild western frontier; pine trees, mountains, horses, snow, rivers and streams. It’s what we, as Americans like to see; it’s what we’re proud of in a sense. It’s peaceful yet energetic, subtle yet forthright and adventurous, dirty yet beautiful. The cowboy is just the icing on the cake; the butter on the bread. It is an incredible scene, something you don’t see every day. The pure manliness and masculinity of the bronco wrangler catches our attention as that of a gorgeous and slim Top Model does to a young woman, and makes us look at him/her over and over again leaving us to question ourselves, “what can we do to look more like them, how can we be that frickin awesome?” for the men, the only way to look like a cowboy is to smoke Marlboros, for the girls to look like Top Models, its abstaining from eating.
It’s movie-like really; practical but at the same time seems unrealistic, it’s like seeing Kobe Bryant break through a line of defenders untouched before his one-handed dunk finale, as if there was nobody in front of him the- beautiful, even if you hate basketball, you know it’s beautiful and it makes you wish you were Kobe, or makes you actually want to watch NBA, maybe, probably not, but still.
SOURCE: http://marlborocigarettesblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/marlboro-cigarettes-ads.html
I decided to analyze Marlboro Cigarette advertisements. I figured it would be easier to analyze pictures rather than an essay or a speech, etc…. If you haven’t seen very many Marlboro ads, they’re usually represented by some kind of western front and cowboy snapshot; rough-edged, old and wise looking cowboys riding horses and looking off in to the distance, lassoing horses and bulls, branding cows, filling their canteen from a stream, leaning on a fence post pondering life… you get the point. These ads usually come with a catch phrase: “Come to where the flavor is. Marlboro country,” probably suggesting that America is more than just polluted, drug-fed and crime driven cities and suburbs that have lost or have no ‘flavor,’ but is also a land of unsophisticated, beautiful, rich, plentiful and immense wilderness full of cowboys, farms, and anything else beautiful that goes along with this kind of environment- including cigarettes.
To begin with, the main purpose of these advertisement is to persuade buyers (smoker and non) to buy their product over all other brands of cigarettes. 2: These ads persuade buyers that Marlboro’s are better than other cigarettes by implying they have more flavor; richness of flavor equal to that of the wild western front. 3: It persuades buyers that Marlboro’s are cool to smoke because rough and tough lookin’, hardworking cowboys smoke them on a regular basis while doing rough and tough cowboy like work.
The audience could be anyone who is old enough to buy cigarettes. I think the main audience would have to be men, from age 20 to 60. Men look for ways to look cool but not cocky, rugged but not ragged, tough but not a jerk, down-to-earth but not careless, strong but not sterodic, wise but not critical, and intense but not aggressive every day. What better way to portray these feelings than with a cowboy. If you’re a true man, you’re ultimate goal is to become an astronaut, a pro football player or a cowboy. These are the only three ways to attract attention, a lot of attention, a lot of attention from girls, hot girls. And who doesn’t want to be a cowboy? Who wakes up and says, I’d rather keep my 9-hour-a-day job inside of a cubicle than be a handsome and strapping cowboy who gets to explore the country and live in peace… queers, that’s who say it. The Marlboro company, obviously understanding that pro athletes don’t smoke for health reasons and knowing there is no oxygen in space to light up a cigarette, grab the American cowboy perception and slap a cigarette in his mouth.
Marlboro depicts the cowboy life as a kid would dream about: the cowboy is lean and cut, wears old rugged button down shirts with the cuffs rolled up just a bit. He wears his tan colored cowboy hat and work gloves along with the rawhide leather jacket, with or without sheep skin, and dirt and sweat stained chaps. The cowboy never smiles, he is always hard at work and he shows it with his stern serious and focused look, and if he’s not working then he’s looking off in to the distance taking in the cool mountain air breeze and thinking about how awesome his life is and how much cooler he is than all of them city-slickers with their fancy ties and white-collared shirts.
The background to these advertisements is of course a wild western frontier; pine trees, mountains, horses, snow, rivers and streams. It’s what we, as Americans like to see; it’s what we’re proud of in a sense. It’s peaceful yet energetic, subtle yet forthright and adventurous, dirty yet beautiful. The cowboy is just the icing on the cake; the butter on the bread. It is an incredible scene, something you don’t see every day. The pure manliness and masculinity of the bronco wrangler catches our attention as that of a gorgeous and slim Top Model does to a young woman, and makes us look at him/her over and over again leaving us to question ourselves, “what can we do to look more like them, how can we be that frickin awesome?” for the men, the only way to look like a cowboy is to smoke Marlboros, for the girls to look like Top Models, its abstaining from eating.
It’s movie-like really; practical but at the same time seems unrealistic, it’s like seeing Kobe Bryant break through a line of defenders untouched before his one-handed dunk finale, as if there was nobody in front of him the- beautiful, even if you hate basketball, you know it’s beautiful and it makes you wish you were Kobe, or makes you actually want to watch NBA, maybe, probably not, but still.
SOURCE: http://marlborocigarettesblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/marlboro-cigarettes-ads.html
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
October
October is here at last… the never ending heat is finally showing some sign of departure and the long awaited cold front is finally beginning to accommodate itself in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Blacksburg, Virginia. As of now, I can say we are half way through the fall-semester (FINALLY), and of course three quarters of the way through the year. October is awesome, it is undoubtedly (to me), the best month of the year. So many good memories and familiarities pop in to my mind when I think about beautiful October, in fact, no kind of bad memories or thoughts come to mind when I reminisce this month- except having my wisdom teeth pulled last year.
It is likely that some, or probably most of you wouldn’t agree, and attest that some month like July is the best month of the year because of it being in the middle of summer, and that is when the “livin’s easy;” some of you might even go ahead and confirm December to be the best month of the year because of its long winter break, or even just Christmas day. I deny these undeveloped theories, these fifth-grader-like statements and attempt to persuade people otherwise, even against these theories by trying to bring to light the sheer attractiveness of what October means and brings to the world. I look past the thought of more school work, the thought of more studying to come; the ending of beach volleyball and shirtless grill-outs with Frisbee and Cornhole on the side. October is the best- I don’t care what nuhna yall say.
The summer months…
Okay, I’ll have to admit, summer is pretty sweet- anyone can agree to that. Although, this is only to an extent; what I mean by this is that summer can be awesome, amazing, spectacular but at the same time crappy/boring/same old and/or a drag (for some people at least). Think about it… It’s May 31st, the last day of school for the year, the 3:30 bell rings and of course, the indescribable joy and happiness skyrockets. This feeling proceeds for the next couple of days, and then it’s practically gone. You’re in the real summer now; you’re working full time at Rita’s or Burger King, trying to make some dough and saving every penny of it before heading off to college. After getting off work, you go straight home to escape the desert heat of July then nose-dive into the living room couch in front of the TV. You take a nap, watch day-time summer TV then consider your limited options for the night ahead: “should I go out to that farm party, get a few drinks and pong games in like I do every night? Should I stay here and play Halo live by myself for 7 hours straight? Should I stalk my friends on Facebook to see what they’re up to? Or, should I just call it a night since I have to work again at 10 tomorrow morning.” And so, this routine continues throughout your summer- or at least until you go on vacation (if you go on vacation), and even then a quick relaxed week of playing in the sand goes by like a New York minute and then it’s back to the lab again. You’re sleeping in till 3:30 on weekends, waking up and sitting around all day, maybe even going to the pool for a few hours only to find out its swarmed with bratty little kids half your age… another week starts, another week ends, and in conclusion by the end of summer you’re left with a slight tan and memories of excessive relaxation and insignificant nothingness.
The winter months…
The winter months are pretty cool as well. College kids, of course have a month long break and there is certainly enough ugly sweater/Christmas and New Years parties to keep one busy. The family usually comes together at this time, which is nice, and most kids don’t have to worry about work when coming home from college. Those are all pluses, but what about the negative sides? The weather… it’s below freezing at all times, and the wind makes your face feel like it’s gonna fall off. There is no going outside to run or shoot hoops so you can abandon that idea right off the bat. You have to scrape the ice off of your car every day before going anywhere and the roads might be slippery so you have to drive slowly, which is never fun. And the atmosphere is by no means pretty- unless you get a heavy white and beautiful snowfall (even then, what it comes down to is a lot of backbreaking shoveling)- it’s usually cloudy and murky, there’s no one outside walking walking around, the grass has lost its luminous green color, the trees are bare, and roads are dried up with salt and have ugly brown and charcoal colored slush lines in fixed patterns following an array of tire marks.
October…
My impression of October: the leaves are changing to the alluring colors or yellow, orange, red, purple, and brown which soon start to fall and create a beautiful murals on the ground. The sweaters, sweatpants, long sleeves and jackets that have been suffocating and collecting dust in the attic are being withdrawn from cardboard boxes to embrace our bodies with snugness and warmth. Fall decorations such as scarecrows, pumpkins, and Halloween ornaments flood the foyers and front porches of every American home. The day of oppressive heat and humidity is spent; I can now go outside and enjoy the crisp coolness of an autumn breeze on a still sunny day, play a game of basketball, backyard football, or soccer, all without breaking a sweat.
I love October because it is a time for hay-rides, pumpkin carving, pumpkin pie, apple cider and sweet potatoes; a time for making bonfires to actually keep you warm and not just to keep the bugs away like in the summer. I can’t help but think that there is a nostalgic sensation of country-side calmness, beauty and balance in October that is hard to come by in all of the other months; it generates a down-to-earth state of mind that not only hinders stress but invokes peace, tranquility and harmony in everyone’s heart and soul.
It is likely that some, or probably most of you wouldn’t agree, and attest that some month like July is the best month of the year because of it being in the middle of summer, and that is when the “livin’s easy;” some of you might even go ahead and confirm December to be the best month of the year because of its long winter break, or even just Christmas day. I deny these undeveloped theories, these fifth-grader-like statements and attempt to persuade people otherwise, even against these theories by trying to bring to light the sheer attractiveness of what October means and brings to the world. I look past the thought of more school work, the thought of more studying to come; the ending of beach volleyball and shirtless grill-outs with Frisbee and Cornhole on the side. October is the best- I don’t care what nuhna yall say.
The summer months…
Okay, I’ll have to admit, summer is pretty sweet- anyone can agree to that. Although, this is only to an extent; what I mean by this is that summer can be awesome, amazing, spectacular but at the same time crappy/boring/same old and/or a drag (for some people at least). Think about it… It’s May 31st, the last day of school for the year, the 3:30 bell rings and of course, the indescribable joy and happiness skyrockets. This feeling proceeds for the next couple of days, and then it’s practically gone. You’re in the real summer now; you’re working full time at Rita’s or Burger King, trying to make some dough and saving every penny of it before heading off to college. After getting off work, you go straight home to escape the desert heat of July then nose-dive into the living room couch in front of the TV. You take a nap, watch day-time summer TV then consider your limited options for the night ahead: “should I go out to that farm party, get a few drinks and pong games in like I do every night? Should I stay here and play Halo live by myself for 7 hours straight? Should I stalk my friends on Facebook to see what they’re up to? Or, should I just call it a night since I have to work again at 10 tomorrow morning.” And so, this routine continues throughout your summer- or at least until you go on vacation (if you go on vacation), and even then a quick relaxed week of playing in the sand goes by like a New York minute and then it’s back to the lab again. You’re sleeping in till 3:30 on weekends, waking up and sitting around all day, maybe even going to the pool for a few hours only to find out its swarmed with bratty little kids half your age… another week starts, another week ends, and in conclusion by the end of summer you’re left with a slight tan and memories of excessive relaxation and insignificant nothingness.
The winter months…
The winter months are pretty cool as well. College kids, of course have a month long break and there is certainly enough ugly sweater/Christmas and New Years parties to keep one busy. The family usually comes together at this time, which is nice, and most kids don’t have to worry about work when coming home from college. Those are all pluses, but what about the negative sides? The weather… it’s below freezing at all times, and the wind makes your face feel like it’s gonna fall off. There is no going outside to run or shoot hoops so you can abandon that idea right off the bat. You have to scrape the ice off of your car every day before going anywhere and the roads might be slippery so you have to drive slowly, which is never fun. And the atmosphere is by no means pretty- unless you get a heavy white and beautiful snowfall (even then, what it comes down to is a lot of backbreaking shoveling)- it’s usually cloudy and murky, there’s no one outside walking walking around, the grass has lost its luminous green color, the trees are bare, and roads are dried up with salt and have ugly brown and charcoal colored slush lines in fixed patterns following an array of tire marks.
October…
My impression of October: the leaves are changing to the alluring colors or yellow, orange, red, purple, and brown which soon start to fall and create a beautiful murals on the ground. The sweaters, sweatpants, long sleeves and jackets that have been suffocating and collecting dust in the attic are being withdrawn from cardboard boxes to embrace our bodies with snugness and warmth. Fall decorations such as scarecrows, pumpkins, and Halloween ornaments flood the foyers and front porches of every American home. The day of oppressive heat and humidity is spent; I can now go outside and enjoy the crisp coolness of an autumn breeze on a still sunny day, play a game of basketball, backyard football, or soccer, all without breaking a sweat.
I love October because it is a time for hay-rides, pumpkin carving, pumpkin pie, apple cider and sweet potatoes; a time for making bonfires to actually keep you warm and not just to keep the bugs away like in the summer. I can’t help but think that there is a nostalgic sensation of country-side calmness, beauty and balance in October that is hard to come by in all of the other months; it generates a down-to-earth state of mind that not only hinders stress but invokes peace, tranquility and harmony in everyone’s heart and soul.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
8 a.m's
I don’t know about you guys, but I think 8 a.m. classes suck- suck real bad, in fact. Now, I don’t complain often but when I do, it’s usually about 8 a.m’s. I never thought I would have to get up at 7 a.m. or earlier ever again after leaving high school. I thought, “I’m gonna be sleepin in till 9, 10 or even noon when I’m at college just to go to two or three classes every day.” Not so much; for this semester I have an 8 a.m. class every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. And not only do I have four 8 a.m. classes, but I have 17 credit hours as well including two labs. Going to sleep around two a.m. and waking up at about 7 a.m. on four out of the five school days (8:30 a.m. on Tuesday) and getting about an hour’s nap in somewhere between was not my ideal of a college experience. I would have never thought college would be so harsh. Then again it is freshman year; my brother, who also goes here, told me that that is basically how freshman year is for everybody and that I should just keep pushing on. “Alright,” I said, “I can do this, and I’ll manage to tough it out this semester.”
So I’m sure some of you, or probably all of you have an 8 a.m. wedged in your weekly planner somewhere, and if you’re anything like me your daily routine looks somewhat like this: alarm goes off at 6:50 a.m., still 90% asleep I hit the snooze button and in two seconds I’m 100% back asleep. 7:00 a.m., the buzzer goes off again and I once again slam its snooze, then, halfheartedly make an attempt to rise up with the warmth of my mattress and comforter pulling back down on me. Finally making it off of my loft I scramble around and quietly (while trying not waking my roommate) try to collect my things for the shower. I open the door and am immediately hit in the face by the hall lights, my eyes clinch shut and I duck and shuffle to bathroom only to find out that I have somehow or another forgotten my towel. The shower does a decent job of waking me up or at least making me a bit less pissed. After a quick wash down, I briskly walk down to D2 for a normal breakfast of pancakes, old re-heated bacon, scrambled eggs, Lucky Charms and a small cup of coffee and then I’m off to Calculus 1206 class followed by Physics 2305.
I cannot wait till this kind of day ends, when I can sleep in on a Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and not worry about falling asleep in class. It’s gonna be great; I’m already beginning to fantasize what it must be like waking up after 8 or 9 or 10 with time to spare before making it across the drill field to the first class of the day. My roommate is a business major and his schedule is about half of what mine is so he gets to sleep in late, take his time getting up, and then attend his geology and psychology classes etc…. I’m in University studies right now but am fixing to be a Mechanical Engineer someday, this entails a lot more work than one would expect so I’m trying to get all of the preliminary classes out of the way as soon as I can, which include Physics, Calculus, vector geometry, English and my least favorite, Chemistry. Having all of these classes in the same time frame is what really blows; I have little to no time to get everything done and I’m almost always studying something or other. What freshman year really comes down to is a lot of busy work and basic understanding. There is always homework to be done: book problems, lab reports and pre-lab questions, weekly blog posts, online quizzes- and always concepts to be memorized. It’s overwhelming at times and sometimes I even start to freak out but I never completely break down, and It’s at this point in time when I wish I would’ve taken AP physics and chemistry in high school; even if I didn’t get credit at least I’d understand it more and have more time to sleep and chill. I would not recommend taking all of these core credits all in the same semester, to any 2010 freshmen.
So here I am with 7 or 8 weeks left in the semester and I seem to be doing alright- besides the extreme lack of sleep and social activity. I attend all of my classes every day, do all of my homework and study what I can until past midnight and later, taking a break every now and then for lunch and dinner, and of course to see how Tim Tebow is recovering from his concussion that happened last week. Keeping focused is the main thing, I think; keeping an eye on my dream and future is what keeps me and probably everyone motivated. Without a dream I wouldn’t be here, no one would be here; come to think of it 8 a.m’s don’t seem so bad, I know it’ll be worth it in 10 years. So I guess I’ll just have to tough it out, all of these 8 a.m’s and busywork; man up and do work towards my… pursuit of happiness? Something like that, all I know is that I’m never taking another 8 a.m. for as long as I live.
So I’m sure some of you, or probably all of you have an 8 a.m. wedged in your weekly planner somewhere, and if you’re anything like me your daily routine looks somewhat like this: alarm goes off at 6:50 a.m., still 90% asleep I hit the snooze button and in two seconds I’m 100% back asleep. 7:00 a.m., the buzzer goes off again and I once again slam its snooze, then, halfheartedly make an attempt to rise up with the warmth of my mattress and comforter pulling back down on me. Finally making it off of my loft I scramble around and quietly (while trying not waking my roommate) try to collect my things for the shower. I open the door and am immediately hit in the face by the hall lights, my eyes clinch shut and I duck and shuffle to bathroom only to find out that I have somehow or another forgotten my towel. The shower does a decent job of waking me up or at least making me a bit less pissed. After a quick wash down, I briskly walk down to D2 for a normal breakfast of pancakes, old re-heated bacon, scrambled eggs, Lucky Charms and a small cup of coffee and then I’m off to Calculus 1206 class followed by Physics 2305.
I cannot wait till this kind of day ends, when I can sleep in on a Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and not worry about falling asleep in class. It’s gonna be great; I’m already beginning to fantasize what it must be like waking up after 8 or 9 or 10 with time to spare before making it across the drill field to the first class of the day. My roommate is a business major and his schedule is about half of what mine is so he gets to sleep in late, take his time getting up, and then attend his geology and psychology classes etc…. I’m in University studies right now but am fixing to be a Mechanical Engineer someday, this entails a lot more work than one would expect so I’m trying to get all of the preliminary classes out of the way as soon as I can, which include Physics, Calculus, vector geometry, English and my least favorite, Chemistry. Having all of these classes in the same time frame is what really blows; I have little to no time to get everything done and I’m almost always studying something or other. What freshman year really comes down to is a lot of busy work and basic understanding. There is always homework to be done: book problems, lab reports and pre-lab questions, weekly blog posts, online quizzes- and always concepts to be memorized. It’s overwhelming at times and sometimes I even start to freak out but I never completely break down, and It’s at this point in time when I wish I would’ve taken AP physics and chemistry in high school; even if I didn’t get credit at least I’d understand it more and have more time to sleep and chill. I would not recommend taking all of these core credits all in the same semester, to any 2010 freshmen.
So here I am with 7 or 8 weeks left in the semester and I seem to be doing alright- besides the extreme lack of sleep and social activity. I attend all of my classes every day, do all of my homework and study what I can until past midnight and later, taking a break every now and then for lunch and dinner, and of course to see how Tim Tebow is recovering from his concussion that happened last week. Keeping focused is the main thing, I think; keeping an eye on my dream and future is what keeps me and probably everyone motivated. Without a dream I wouldn’t be here, no one would be here; come to think of it 8 a.m’s don’t seem so bad, I know it’ll be worth it in 10 years. So I guess I’ll just have to tough it out, all of these 8 a.m’s and busywork; man up and do work towards my… pursuit of happiness? Something like that, all I know is that I’m never taking another 8 a.m. for as long as I live.
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