i just walked through the math building and saw a large crowd of people all eating ice cream. so i got into a line, and boom, ice cream in my bowl. and then i did it again. i have no idea who those people were, or what organization they are in. all i know is that the ice cream tasted good and i don't have to buy lunch today.
i'm tired of being anonymous on this campus, from now on, everyone will know my name!
that sounds like i'm either going to go meet a lot of people and be a rock star or something, or that i'm going to blow something up. i'll probably do neither.
i played some frisbee with the team today and actually felt like part of the club. i talked to my brother jeff last night and he gave me a confidence booster and so today was a good day. this weekend (my weekend starts tonight!) will be filled with homework, running, and college football. just the way a weekend in the fall should be!
and today i missed jenna. in case you were wondering, yes, i do miss her. i've heard from her a few times and it sounds like God is doing some incredible stuff in haiti. she started teaching this week and has also been spending time sleeping out on roofs underneath the stars. pray for her, if you aren't already. i moved away but have been able to meet a few people. she moved away but will not see more than three english-speaking people in the next three months.
my sept. 11 story, to the tune of the edwards'.
i had a 9:30 class in olscamp, and while walking up the stairs, i noticed a tv was on in the lobby area and one of the towers had been hit. when my professor (dr. gary hess) came into class, he told us what happened, but he wasn't sure of the magnitude, so we had lecture like usual. on the way down, there were three tvs set up with a timeline on the wall of what happened. i went into a giant lecture hall where cnn was on the screen (with a hundred other people, i sat next to jen kinser who is now at the u. of arizona) and watched for an hour everything that happened. shocking, yet fascinating. i couldn't fathom anything that was going on: the two towers, all they stand for, are gone, an obvious attempt at the white house/capitol, and another plane down in PA. what are we supposed to feel? even now, what are we supposed to feel? i felt so removed from the drama that it was, as justin said, like watching a movie. my next class was canceled, i went to a vigil that night and i remember a lot of praying. it still seems surreal.
and you're right, justin, the nation remembered God for about two weeks, two months, whatever, and now we're back to the same old crap. how long can God hold our attention? two weeks or 40 years? its been 2000 years, and look how far we've come.
digression.
music: further seems forever
quote: "you graciously add to, i graciously add you to my heart." -fsf i listened to a CD for the first time since i've been here, while on my bike, riding in the dark and the cool night air. it was great. i felt alive.
i'd really like to write a lot here but i'm so frustrated with my email being stupid that i'm tired and want to go to bed. my email was forwarding to a non-existant address, so basically i haven't gotten anything outside of university emails in the last week. hopefully i'll catch up but we're talking stuff from organizations and professors and students, etc. not to mention friends.
i did play disc golf today with my roommate and on the fourth hole, a bee stung me on the top of my ear. out of nowhere. its still warm and throbbing and it hurt more than i thought. maybe it was a yellow jacket wasp bumble bee hornet.
i helped people out today in office hours, it kind of justifies me being here a little.
music: taking back sunday has been in my head all day
quote: "oww, you hit me in the ear!" -brad pitt in fight club
i didn't go to the frisbee throw around because i had my usual tuesday of four classes back-to-back (which leaves little time for eating, i've learned) and i was feeling pretty crappy. and so i went home to run instead. i ran hard, and it was great, because by the time i was finished my day was going much better and i got out of my funk. sometimes i really get down being here, and then sometimes i'm really excited. because what better would i be doing back home? i'd be wishing i was here.
i'm kind of leading a small group this semester so we had our first meeting, it was fun to get to know some more new people. i know i've hit on the diversity thing a little- today, of the eight people there, i was the only white male. *this* is how the world usually is, i hear.
i'm hoping a professor gives me some grace with a homework assignment, because i've not had some of the prerequisites, so i'm kind of making up a class on the fly, as i need the material. so far everyone's been cool.
and i have my first office hours tomorrow! i have lots of homework to grade and a few students said they'd be stopping in to go over some stuff from the lecture. of course, i haven't had this class (aerodynamics) either, so this may interesting. i've tried looking some stuff up in old textbooks but then i just remember how dumb those classes were and that gets me nowhere. so anyway, i heard of a coffee shop nearby (only a metro stop away) so i may do some grading there tomorrow.
song: radiohead "the bends"
quote: "c'mon little roy, show 'em what you've got" - my thoughts from owen wilson, getting over stage fright (i guess they haven't invented the little privacy things in maryland yet)
i talked to ben tonight for a while and it made me very happy to hear a friend's voice again. i told him that its been pretty cool here, meeting new people but not wanting to go through all the work in making them new friends. and then making the new friends old friends. such a long process! i already have good old friends!
one of the perks of living out here is all the stuff that goes on: today howard dean, the leading democratic presidential candidate, made a stop by maryland and spoke to about 3000 people in a crowded ampitheater. i liked a lot of what he had to say (esp. with national health care, why are we one of the few industrialized nations not to have this?) though he was confident to the point of cockiness and bad-mouthed bush throughout the 20 minute speech. but that's what rival candidates do i guess. there was lots of excitement and i'm happy to be somewhere where *stuff actually happens.* i wonder when the novelty will wear off.
ultimate frisbee also had its first practice today. we had about 30-40 guys out and a lot were good. i really want to play on the 'a' team but if i'm not good enough, i may not put in the time & effort. we'll see after a good week of practice where i stand. i don't want to sound like a quitter, but i'll have little time being a grad student, a TA, and trying to get involved in a church and maybe a band. either way, i'm totally exhausted already, today.
one of the great things about maryland is a taco bell express IN the math building. and another full-service in the union. i made it there four consecutive days last week, and twice today. but today's was only out of convenience, because its getting wicked old real fast. we have a chick-fil-a that has really short hours and a mcdonalds and panda (chinese food), with the usual diners around campus. and they do a lot of things right, like adding only however much $ to the meal card that you want, it rolls over each semester, etc. the drag is paying $.10 per page to print with the same card. but it works to conserve paper, thats for sure!
tomorrow i get my first set of 50 problem sets of aerodynamics homework to grade. and i also get my solutions manual!
and finally, people know where bowling green is, thanks to a big win over purdue. sorry andrew, but that helped me out a lot.
haven't eaten a crabcake yet though, fertel :)
music: saves the day, my sweet fracture
quote: the republicans were chanting "G-O-P! G-O-P!" during Dean's speech. he said, "i'll let them keep chanting until they lose their breath. i mean, by the election, half of them will be without jobs, so they'll vote for me anyway!" the loudest applause of the night followed.
yeah i thought about that marr after i posted it but, eh, as far as i'm concerned, osu got pretty lucky (again) and played only good enough to win. they could've (should've?) been beaten.
so i've been working on that post about 'the bowling green box' for a day or two now and its almost done. don't expect anything elegant, but i guess there's a lot i want to say.
today i rocked out for the first time in a few months with a couple of guys i met from church. jim, who basically is a cooler version of me, orchestrated a little 'band' rehersal with a couple of other guys. i had a lots of fun playing some songs he'd written, his claim to fame is that he was in a band in HS that played with the get up kids, braid, etc. he also said he was friends with the guitar player who is now in good charlotte (they're local here) and that he saw them a lot back in the day, and they even sucked back then. anyway, i was so happy to be playing music again, with people i just met even, anything to feel at home here.
we were chillin in annapolis for a while too, which sits on the chesapeake. people bring their sailboats & yachts in from all over to a little harbor that sits in a cozy downtown area, park their boats, then hang out for the day. its faster than driving through traffic, thats for sure.
music: for some reason, five iron's "where zero meets the 15th"
quote: "chitty chitty bang bang" -jim, rehearsing a little ace II
