graduation tomorrow at 9:30am. its a good thing its not early.
i turned in my ID and keys at RCC today. as brian probably knows, its a very good feeling being relieved of all RCC work, forever. its been a good four years, but its been a long four years.
look for a college review coming soon.
tonight jesse, ray, pat, justin b. and i went to brystana's to hang out for a little while - she's the girl i went out with earlier this week. she was awesome again tonight, and we graduate at the same ceremony tomorrow. it stinks that we met each other only the last week of college, though i think that's some divine intervention, that it took us until the last week to meet. because i'm pretty into her, though the graduation restriction keeps it at friends, how i think it should be.
you know whats a good way to celebrate being done with school? grilling out. thats what the roommates and jesse, ben, rick, jaime and i all did tonight. it was great.
katie, i'm sorry the whole 'methods' thing rubbed you the wrong way. you're secondary ed, which is hard and i definitely don't want to sound condescending toward you or your major. i'm talking about some of the other people at bgsu who can't hold intelligent conversation. whose math classes consist of cutting out shapes, whose history classes seem like you've already had them in high school, or whose communication classes tell you the value of listening. it just doesn't seem fair that we can all say we graduated from bowling green because we have such different majors and classes. i'm on your side, katie!
anyway, we're about to start a movie. and that's good, because i have to graduate tomorrow and be with my family all day. at least i'll have some friends at the ceremony! (j.e)
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thumbs up: leaving BGSU behind, and seeing brystana again (she's way cool)
thumbs down: not having a lot of time to savor the flavor with the roommates
quote: "nice washer" -rick
cd rotation: juliana: understand this is a dream
after finishing up on wednesday, ate with the roommates and successively helped ashley fix his car. we replaced a belt and a battery and that 85 topaz is running like a dream. i even had ice cream after dinner.
almost to the tune of "fred jones pt. 2" from ben folds i cleaned up my share of the office today. deleted all of my 'legacy' files from the past four years. kind of makes me sad that i will not be an RCC employee after tomorrow. and of course, RCC will miss brian even more. he's been there as long as i have, but has taken more leadership roles and has chosen to step down after this semester. it will not be the same without him.
frisbee golf with greg and tim was fun (and wet) this afternoon, and a trip to outback with pinewood sans jesse was good also; it was awesome to see brad out of the hospital. he's doing quite well without his appendiX.
and then tonight jesse and i (with justin and his friend patrick) went downtown to catch some of the post-finals scene. and for some reason i get excited to go out, maybe to see a friend from class or work or a good band. well, i didn't really get much of either. everyone is kind of into their own thing out there. the band i saw, treysuno was ok but nothing special. the music was good but the vocals were lacking in style and originality. i wasn't into them much.
and now i just feel dumb for going out there. it seems like everything that i think is wrong about bowling green, everything that is dumb and pointless and a sham i just tried to experience. people at the bars just to drink. i mean, the same thing happened at ziggys earlier this week: lots of people who go only to drink, not for conversation, not to hear a good band, not to 'party,' but just to be out and get toasted. the people who say after graduation, "i think i had a little too much fun, if you know what i mean." i can't stand that at all. i feel so out of place in that crowd. do something with your life. from kerouac: 'so shut up, live, travel, adventure, bless, and don't be sorry.' which i don't take to mean living from one high to the next. i generally don't want to be snobby but sometimes, like now, i really do. like, i feel like i've earned something bigger than this. i've put in so much hard work these four years, but somehow a big group of education majors who just finished their methods are having much more fun than me. you finished your methods? oooh, good for you. try numerical analysis II. try thermodynamics. or as mike/andrew/wags/franklin could say, try anything in their majors. maybe its this: all degrees are not equal. i feel like i deserve something, but don't get anything for it, and someone else gets all the credit. i don't know why i feel this way.
so i look to maryland for my escape. not that i don't expect a typical college town there - but i will have a fresh chance to be a new person and to meet some new people. don't get me wrong, i love my friends here at bgsu - but everything feels so tired here. the people, the scene, everything. and i don't feel tired at all.
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thumbs up: finished
thumbs down: emptiness
quote: "the appendiX is your Xstreme organ"
cd rotation: the juliana theory: understand this is a dream
brian, you are too kind. of course i'll miss rcc, defintely your determination and cool-head-edness in lots of trying situations. you're a great co-worker and a great friend.
haha, tonight was the night. as i alluded to in earlier blogs, i actually set something up with a girl (gasp!). i met this girl after our honors presentations last week, and i think i was thirsting for some intellectual conversation or something (that and this girl has some style and is pretty cute) and so i asked her out for coffee.
well, today i talked to her and we set it up for cosmos, then she switched it to ziggy's because of their 'drink specials.' now, i'm not the big drinking man, but i am over 21 and do take the opportunity when it presents itself, as it did today. so after getting nervous this afternoon, i step into ziggy's patio/porch and talk the night away with my newfound friend. don't worry though, it was strictly business (the conversation) -there was no macking going on, i assure you. if the 'boyfriend' drop didn't cue me, or the fact that she's into some junk, whatever, i wasn't in it for that. we DID though, have a flowing little chat for over 3 1/2 hours, just the two of us. we covered everything - lots of thoughts of school, BG in general, God, more school, the real world, etc. it was great. people say i'm smart, but i don't have much 'smart' conversation. this was refreshing - someone who wants to do something with their mind and make a name for themselves. of course, we're doing it for different reasons - me for God, her for $$, but the drive is almost the same.
the coolest thing is that i went out on a limb last week when i asked her out, knowing full well that i was gonna get all nervous and crap. but 'stepping out of the comfort zone' ended up being very fun tonight, and i'm glad i did it. of course, it goes to show that the second girl i ever ask out in college has to be during finals week, senior year. we stopped by jesse's after ziggy's and she invited us to a graduation party, i think i'd like to go. she's way cool and very nice.
that, and dunking on a 9 foot rim were the highlights of my day. i worked on my project a lot today and will look to be absolutely finished tomorrow.
here's to graduation...
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thumbs up: an actual conversation, non-surfacey
thumbs down: getting a bgsu "alumni" shirt from rcc. i'm not even graduated yet!
quote: "hey, do you drink alcohol?" "uh, occasionally i guess" - changing from cosmos to ziggys
cd rotation: october fall
my brother called me tonight, parents' 26th anniversary is tomorrow. ouch, forgot about that.
the guys (and michelle) caught some excellent jazz up at rusty's tonight, it brings back memories of last year. i haven't been there nearly enough and it was good to be back. michelle doesn't think i'm very j.crew, but i guess i don't think i am either.
i worked on my math project a lot with mike, he helped me out a ton, and hopefully i can get everything finished tomorrow. its just hard to work through it when the output, which is supposed to be a set of numbers, instead reads, "NaN" or "infinity." those aren't good for business.
i played some frisbee today barefoot in the wet grass and it was a blast.
i DID turn in my senior honors project this afternoon. all the secretary said was, "congratulations."
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thumbs up: rusty's by far ($2 a plate of spaghetti, salad, and bread. where can you find another deal like that (with live jazz?))
thumbs down: still not finished yet
quote: "ashley, use your inside voice." -michelle, to ashley, after the music stopped and he's still belting it out
cd rotation: october fall
this from the associate dean of the ohio state graduate school:
"Dear Eric,
It is the Graduate School's policy to release students from their
Fellowship commitments when they have, as you have here, followed the
appropriate procedures for gaining their release. We wish you success
in your graduate studies.
Best,
elliot"
i forwarded that message to the univeristy of maryland, and my osu advisors, indicating that i am now free of any obligation to ohio state.
in other words, i am now OFFICIALLY going to the university of maryland to study aerospace engineering!
since i've made this decision, i've spoken with two people who went to school there or have lived there, and both loved the campus & school. they're going to help me find a decent place to live, too. the university is located in college park, within the capitol beltway near washington d.c. its only a twenty minute subway trip into the washington monument. i'm smiling right now.
today was senior sunday at h2o church, its hard to believe i've been there for four years. all the seniors were able to tell the church what we've learned about God over our college career, and i said this: i learned that church is not a building, its not a service, its not a structure. a church is the body of believers. h2o church has met at the union, at the ice arena lounge, upstairs at easy street, and even the park for its services. but i don't think of h2o as being those physical places; i think of h2o as the people that are its makeup. if you ask me about h2o, i'll tell you about my friends or about the pastors, matt & matt, or about the music we play or the teachings we hear. don't get me wrong, some churches have awesome buildings with architecture and history - just know that the believers are God's churches on earth.
in addition to saying goodbye this morning, i finished a few long projects for school. i worked on my math project some this weekend, and look to finish it completely tomorrow. i finished a video for the mens club volleyball team, and got some cash for the summer. and last but not least, my senior honors project will officially be turned in tomorrow, its due date. great.
i listened to all seven pwd songs we've recorded - three this year, four two years ago - and i realized 1) how good the music is, 2)how good of songwriter jesse is, and 3) how much i'm going to miss those guys next year. speaking of pwd, brad is still in the hospital but is looking at coming home tomorrow, praise the Lord.
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thumbs up: dq with pat and ray
thumbs down: haven't got that phone call yet
quote: "one thing i like about bryan, he doesn't care what he looks like." - a serious comment followed by lots of feet in the mouth
&
"only in dreams, you see what it means, reach out our hands, hold on to hers, but when we wake, its all been erased, and so it seems, only in dreams."
cd rotation: winter 2003
