The life and times...

New Advice Column

2007-02-28T22:38:00.000-08:00

My associates at BCLP&A (see my Wikipedia page to learn more about them) thought it would be a good idea if I started answering questions from MMA fans. Since I spent more time on this first response than I usually do on my blogs, I thought I'd post it here as well:

Dear Pink Pounder:

I've recently found myself in situations where the topic of MMA somehow comes up, but the environment is certainly one in which violence and things of such nature are frowned upon. Please help me describe the great sport of MMA properly and in a way that sheds it in the best possible light and does not leave me looking like some sort of brute or woman beater.

Signed,

Anonymmaous

Dear Anonymmaous,

This is a problem that I frequently encounter when discussing my current activities with individuals from my university as well as others that I encounter when I am working in the schools.

Most often I work to emphasize the commonalities between MMA and other, more acceptable, sports. There are numerous misconceptions about the sport that continue to hold strong in our society despite the growing popularity of the sport. Just as football or baseball have rules that can essentially go unstated because the common fan has fully accepted them, it is important to note that these competitions in MMA are not simply free-for-alls with no rules. This is one reason why I would like to see the term No-Holds-Barred pass away into obscurity. When the public understands that this is an organized sport with rules, regulations, and leagues, they begin to see it more completely. A large part of the battle is simply creating an understanding with the common person.

Additionally, many people don’t understand that the level of dedication of athletes to this activity easily matches the dedication of other professional athletes. When I first explain to people how much time I actually devote to this sport, they are generally astounded. I also try to emphasize the history of the sport and discuss how legitimate athletes (Olympic medalists, college All-Americans) have been using MMA to extend their athletic careers. Most people see this as a fringe sport, but when we look at the sport as having a colorful and distinguished history, they develop a much greater respect for it as a whole.

But beyond positive speech, the best way to shed a positive light on the sport is to be a respectable representative of the sport. By being a good role model (who just happens to be involved in MMA) a person can create a greater change in the public image of the sport than any amount of speech possibly could. In the last year, my fighting image has gone from people talking about the sport as “barbaric and idiotic” to being talked about openly in my mother’s church. This includes prayer requests for my safety and praises for my victories as well as numerous handshakes and congratulations. Most surprisingly, the women’s group at that same church, which consists primarily of ladies over the age of 60, now includes the watching of my fights as a part of their regular activities.

So simply be a good person and speaking intelligently without attacking your audience for their ignorance, and you will find that the sport can and will be readily accepted by most any group.

Peace.

OMG! WTF! It's the new blogger.

2007-02-26T09:02:00.000-08:00

Today I was finally forced to start using the New Blogger. I wonder how long they will call it "new" for?

If you are wondering why I don't write about nature and pastoral poets right now, it is simply because I don't have a single literature class right now. My only English course is Literary Criticism and that dry ass drivel has little value to me. Although I do know a hell of a lot about The Great Gatsby now since one of our books is full of analysis of that.

I have been reading gardening books to try and get me through the seasonal depression. I am thinking about hopping in the car next week and driving somewhere warm. It might be a good idea.

I read a book the other week, but I've forgotten what it was. I got is for my birthday, read it in two days, and now have no memory of it. Is that bad?

I really can't remember anything these days. Lost my digi camera for a week and then found it in the pocket of some pants that were hanging on the back of my door in Winona. There was a gift card to Gander Mountain in there too. I've got way too much going on.

The show for next week is having all sorts of trouble. We've had two guys drop out in the last week, so we are scrambling to come up with opponents for guys. Luckily, we had three guys fight this last Saturday in Nebraska, and all three managed to come through without too much damage. Liffrig is now 16-4 after knocking out a rather large BJJ guy (Travis is cutting down to 185 while his opponent was 6'3" 240), Forest was dominating when he took a shot to the groing that was so hard he couldn't continue the match, and our little beast, Alex Rutter, continued his winning ways as well.

Peace.

You thought I forgot?

2007-02-13T20:59:00.000-08:00

Well, I didn't. I've just been quite busy.

I am opening a gym in Rochester, but rather than getting my own building I am simply renting space and time from Fred Gommels and his academy. Convenient to have relatives in that business.
Right now I am busy with paperwork. The LLC paperwork is all done and needs to be sent it. I have to register as a sport's agent in the state of MN. And the insurance is the last piece of the puzzle. I overestimated my paperworking abilities, so the opening has been delayed. How sad.
It should be going by the beginning of March.

I am also promoting shows with the new company that my teammate Kevin and I have formed. Rochester Mixed Martial Arts's first show will be March 3rd at the Relay Station in Mantorville. We expect 700-850 people. I know how to turn a profit.

This is all being done so that I don't always have to fight. And so I won't be scared if I ever get injured, which I will.

Peace.

Greatest Television Series Ever

2007-01-30T17:03:00.000-08:00

"To Catch A Predator" on Dateline is the greatest, sickest, most amazing thing/show ever.

I hate it.

I love it.

It disturbs me.

It perturbs me.

It blows my mind.

I can't watch.

I have to.

Damn.

I gotta change the challenge.

Anal sex talk.

Wow.

Peace.

Newest Fight Excitement

2007-01-17T19:02:00.000-08:00

I spent all day running around taking care of medicals, paperwork, and an interview. I had an MRI and an eye exam this morning. It appears that I passed both. I didn't manage to get a workout in until 3ish. Then I had a nice long jog out on the streets during rush-hour traffic. I rather enjoyed it...especially when I was moving faster than the traffic.

I found out today that my opponent used to be a security guard at the Hard Rock Hotel. That is where I will be fighting and where he will still have fans. Funny stuff. I managed to set myself up like that twice.

I was at 194.5 after an evening workout, so I drank some good stuff.

Peace.

Glorious Rage

2007-01-09T11:17:00.001-08:00

Well, I just lost a nice, long post. That means you will never know what is going on with me. All two of you. Sorry.

I have to get to the gym.

Peace.

Generally Unproductive

2006-12-27T21:30:00.000-08:00

The one good thing that I have managed to get done this week was assist Rick in getting Grandpa George an ATV. It was quite an undertaking, but I think he is quite pleased with it.

For Christmas Eve, I cut my knuckle on a cousin's tooth during a grappling match. Good time. My family hasn't had its Christmas as we are waiting for Doron to come down for his birthday to celebrate it. I should probably go buy my x-mas gift for him sometime soon.

Looks like I will be practicing MMA in Lake City on Friday. Kevin called me today and is anxious to get back at it. We have some new fighters coming in, so he wants to get them some training right away. I'll still be taking it easy, but it will be fun to get a little bit of action back in my life.

I've been going out a good bit lately. But I don't feel like it is too much because the days I do spend at home are just so incredibly boring.

I haven't organized my socks, checked my grades, or done anything that I had planned to do this break. I'll get to all that soon enough. I am getting a good deal of tv watching and internet sitting around done. Weird, I am watching CSI, and Eminem is part of the soundtrack. I didn't expect that.

I have been watching the new MTV show Twenty Four Seven lately. I want to shoot me. But sometimes it is good to be reminded about just how douchebaggey I could be. It makes me feel better about myself. I still can't force myself to watch My Super Sweet Sixteen though. That'ld probably just be too much for me.

Okay. I better get back to internetting.

Peace.

Been A Week

2006-12-22T12:11:00.000-08:00

And in that week, I haven't done a damn thing. It has been fabulous.
I took a trip to Mankato for Jeffrey Hobbs's birthday on Monday with Wally. I was trying to rest my back, but ended up doing a spot of heavy lifting just the same. Wednesday took me to Eau Claire to visit my friend, Andrea, as I was invited to tag along with April and two of her pals. Both trips were great times.
Also, I bought my first ever digital camera before the trip Monday, so I am now like every other college age girl in that I take far too many photos of my nights out.

I haven't practiced for fighting at all, but I did make it to wrestling practice.
Just because I haven't been fighting doesn't mean that I haven't been working on things for fighting. I have people working on my nickname, persona, fan club, and sponsorships now. They have also done some fabulous artwork for me.

I am off to my buddy Nate's show. He is in a band called Verge Of Collapse, and we will be rocking the town of Mantorville this evening and night. Should be a grand ol' time.

I still need to clean my old bedroom to fulfill the promise I made to my mother. I only had to do it if I won my fight. I should have just lost. Probably less work.

Peace.

Final Thought

2006-12-15T15:51:00.000-08:00

Sorry it took me so long to get back here with my final recap. I was kinda exhausted and still didn't have my schoolwork done, so I had to take care of those sorts of things first.

So, in one week, I went from 204 (weigh-in Friday night after I got to the Marine base) to 186 (official naked weigh-in) to 206 (my unofficial weigh-in last night). I'm the champ. Hehe.

I guess I have to be happy with my performance despite the fact that I didn't really follow my gameplan like I wanted to. After the first round, my back was hurting, and I wasn't scared to go to the ground with him after winning the first round from down there, so I just let the fight go there and made him use up energy getting me down.
The most danger I got into during the fight was the semi-BS kneebar that he got into right off of the restart in the second round and when he got the full mount on me for a bit. He didn't ever really hurt me with any of his shots, and I managed to mash up his face pretty well. Basically, I punched him whenever the slightest opportunity presented itself.
I also hurt him a bit with all of my upkicks. He was fairly flummoxed by my reach, so I used that to my advantage from every position.

I don't know who the UFC will offer me for my next fight, but for now I am going to take a couple of weeks off to get healthy. Then it will be back to training.

I want to get a car loan so I can have a vehicle to get me up to the Twin Cities with relatively good gas mileage, but mother says that my income likely isn't steady enough for that. Bah humbug.

Oh well, you stay classy folks, and, if you have any questions, post them so that I have something to inspire me to write more.

Peace.

Oh, and if you are interested, my pre-fight interview, post-fight interview, and a couple of fight photos are all posted on the UFC website.

Last Minutes

2006-12-13T11:16:00.000-08:00

Just taking care of all the equipment and trying to keep the nerves in check. I am the underdog in this fight, but it is really silly to make any of those predictions since no one knows that much about either of us.

The nerves can be an issue as they will often cause a fighter's energy to go away quite a bit more quickly. If I can keep that in order, I think I am in a much better position than my opponent.

I probably weigh around 200 right now, so that is kinda funny. I've been getting messages of good luck and whatnot from friends all day, and I appreciate those. And I have one person that will always remind me that fighting is one small part of my life and that I have a lot of other, more important things going on in my life. Gotta keep everything in perspective.

Alright. I have have to report to the arena is about an hour, so I should take care of all that stuff.

Peace.

Making Weight

2006-12-12T22:23:00.000-08:00

I managed to make weight today. I dropped 6.5 pounds in the sauna, which isn't too much, but I really hate saunas and was struggling a bit. I was quite grumpy all day, and Keving was getting annoyed with me, so I had him killed. It had to be done.

Sorry, I forgot to come on and make this post earlier ('cause I was grumpy and dehydrated, and then I was busy drinking and eating and typing), so I will try to post a bit more in the morning before the fight. For now, I need to be getting to bed soon.

I ended having to drop my shorts to make weights, so the ring girl got a good look at my pale butt. I am sure it was great for her. There has been a lot of time wasted by various shuttling and waiting around this week, but it didn't get to me too much until today when I was getting near the end of the cutting time.

The MSNBC folks interviewed me a couple more times today and were at the gym with us as well, and I think I still managed to give them fairly intelligent responses.

Monte, my manager, made it here and gave us the shirts from my sponsor, American Fighter. Andy Fisher made it here as well, but he has the great distinction of wearing a Team Crazy shirt to the cage as we only had three sponsor shirts for some reason. I guess the team will get a little bit of free advertising.

Peace.

Update From A Whale's Vagina

2006-12-11T09:10:00.000-08:00

Sorry, an Anchorman inspired comment on the last post inspired me to make an Anchorman-inspired title. So much inspiration going around.

So I still don't have my papers done, which sucks, and I am starting to get more and more distracted now. Argh. Gotta buckle down.
Yesterday I just did a couple of workouts. One with my coach, and one with another Minnesotan fighting on this card, Brock Larson. He figured out that I have come here to learn as well as to fight, so he was showing me a few things. I learn quickly, so i wouldn't be surprised if I ended up using some of it in the fight.
It seems that most people expect me to lose, so I just have to work hard to not let that affect me mentally. I am around 10 over, so hopefully I don't weaken mentally as I lose the weight as sometimes happens to me. I would be fine after the weigh-ins, but I don't want to be weak at any time. It would depress me to the point of not getting my schoolwork done.
I've spent some time talking with Shonie Carter, another of the fighters who has been around a lot longer than me, about the business, and he has told me some interesting things. Too much to explain right now, with the schoolwork to do and all.

I will work out a little later today, after it warms up as couple of fighters apparently broke some exercise bikes while moving them, so we lost the use of one of the buildings. Now I have to train in a modified raquetball court that has a vent to let in the outside air and doesn't ever really warm up. I forgot to bring sweatpants and a rubber suit. Hopefully I get both of those in today.
I'll likely work out twice and need to get over to the commissary to get the food that I will consume after weigh-ins. I bet they have Pedialyte. I tried to go last night, but was incorrectly informed that they were open until nine when they closed up at eight. I did get a nice walk out of it as I decided to hoof it over there rather than call up the drivers to get a ride.

I'll try to do something exciting like get into a shoving match with my opponent or the biggest Marine I can find, so I'll have something interesting to blog about.

Peace.

UFC Journal

2006-12-09T22:38:00.000-08:00

Well, folks. I am already out in San Diego for my fight in the UFC, and I figured this was enough of a special occasion to deserve a special dedication to blogging.

This week I had to make a trip out to Vegas on Wednesday. I was on the ground there for less time than I was in the air. The day started out waiting up at 3:45 AM and ended with me getting back to Eyota 11 PM. Rather ridiculous. I got oiled up and sprayed down with oodles of water while getting videotaped and photographed in a cold warehouse room. I also had a nice interview to do there.
Thursday and Friday I was followed around in Winona and back to Eyota by a camera crew doing work for MSNBC. Apparently they are doing a series on MMA, heard about me from the UFC, and wanted to do a profile on me. That was an incredibly time consuming thing to be doing while I was trying to get my finals all done. Those folks are going to meet up with me out here again and film the last few days leading up to the fight as well as at the fight and after, so I better win because I don't want to wind up on television crying or anything like that. I am working on an image here. Hehe.
I wrote and eight page paper between 8 AM and noon Tuesday, and took four finals the last two days of the weeks, so now I just have to do a couple of other papers while I am out here. One should be done tomorrow and the other started up.
I flew out here Friday afternoon and have been putzing around since then. Didn't have time for a workout yesterday and had to go get a blood test done this morning and then had to get a neuro exam done back at the base where we are staying, so that took up all day, and I just got a short workout in later this evening.
My coach just got in late tonight after they screwed up his flight by thinking he was flying out from Rochester, NY rather than MN. My other cornermen won't get in until the week starts, but that is all good. I have a couple of other guys to work out with and will do just fine until they get here.

Tomorrow is a free day with a few workouts planned. I am 15 pounds over right now, so that shouldn't be too hard to get down. I'll let you know if anything too exciting happens, and I'll probably tell you about the mundane crap as well.

Peace.

Busy Business

2006-11-30T20:44:00.000-08:00

So....I had another busy week. I convinced myself that I didn't have enough extra time to shave this week. I get sick of my beard by that time, so tomorrow morning looks promising.

Oh, next week, I get to have lots of fun. I don't think I am going to get all of my papers written before it is time to leave, but I will have all of my tests taken. I have a paper due for Syntax tues and the final to take thurs, and I intend to get my Comparative Lit paper and test taken care of fri. It would most likely be the Salman Rushdie research paper that I would take with me.
Part of the problem is that my schedule keeps changing. I have to fly out to Vegas on wed morning this next week and fly back that night. I have to go to do a bunch of promotional crap. Pictures, videos, and douchebaggery most likely. Then I have to fly out to San Diego on friday afternoon. I figure having a little work to keep me in the hotel room might not be a bad thing.

I am up at DnM's again this weekend. The team is fighting at a show up this way on saturday, so at least I get to have a little fun this weekend when I go down to that. Other than that, I worked out for threeish hours at MMAA today, will be there from 9-2ish tomorrow and sat, then hopefully we will figure out a group to get in for a workout sunday. I will probably work out in Lake City on Sunday too. Eesh.

Peace.

Training Is Dandy

2006-11-18T14:46:00.000-08:00

I am nearing the end of another weekend. Yet again, I have done none of my homework, and I still haven't caught up on my readings that I didn't get done last week. The question of when I will get all my upcoming papers written still has to be answered, but I'll stick with my plan of not having a plan.
This weekend is being spent, like the last one, tooling around Minneapolis. I have been staying at brother Doron's house and spending my mornings and early afternoons at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy. I have some excellent training partners there and having been learning quite a bit. The technique work is fabulous, and the conditioning work we do there is working as well. At least, I am sore but not too sore, and I have managed to not get seriously injured.
I've got three weeks until my fight, so I'll probably come up here for a couple of days next weekend and the weekend after that. Fun times.

So far, for Monday, I need to go back and finish last Monday's reading for Rushdie and get the last 2.5 class sessions worth of Comparitive Lit reading done. Hehe. I wonder how much of that I'll actually manage to get done with? Little enough.

It is sad that I am busy enough to be behind in school, but not busy enough to have done anything cool. Went to a bar with my hosts last night. Grumpy's was good/entertaining. Clarks know how to get into odd conversations. I also get owned at Scrabble last night. Damn you, Molly.

Doron and Molly are watching Thank You For Smoking right now. I watched it the other day and enjoyed it, but I don't know that I really want to watch it for a second time right away. I should find something to do with my evening.

Peace.

Post-Bulletin Article

2006-11-15T21:17:00.001-08:00

This is the article from yesterday's Post Bulletin about my fighting. There are a couple of minor discrepencies in it, but I am posting it here for those of you who aren't subscribers and can't log in to read the article.

Eyota's Clark agrees to Ultimate Fighting deal
Tue, Nov 14, 2006
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By Ben Pherson

The Post-Bulletin

When the Post-Bulletin last caught up with Eyota ultimate fighter Logan Clark, he was busy defending his 185-pound Ultimate Combat Sports title and studying at Winona State.

Clark said he didn't plan to pursue ultimate fighting as a career after college. He was working toward his English teaching degree, and he hoped to join the Peace Corps after completing school.

But that all changed with one phone call.

Two weeks ago, Clark got a call from ultimate fighting super manager Monte Cox (he's the Drew Rosenhaus of ultimate fighting, representing big-time fighters like Matt Hughes, Rich Franklin, Tim Sylvia and Jeremy Horn).

A few weeks before the phone call, Clark had done a favor for Cox, taking a fight on only a few hours notice. Cox promised to repay the favor.

And he did it in a big way.

Cox called Clark two weeks ago in inform him he had secured a three-fight deal in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (the sport's top organization in this country). Needless to say, Clark was ecstatic.

"I didn't plan on this. I thought maybe in a year or two an opportunity would come up, but not this early," Clark said. "I was still thinking about the Peace Corps, and I may still do that some day. It will always be there. But this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up."

Clark, who is undefeated and trains with Jeff Luhman and Team Crazy in Lake City, will have his first chance in the UFC on Dec. 13 in San Diego during an Ultimate Fight Night Live, which will be broadcast on Spike. Clark's fight is on the undercard, so it's not scheduled to be on TV. But if later fights end quickly or Clark's fight is finished in a spectacular manner (generally a knockout), it may appear on TV.

The UFC will pay for Clark and a corner man (Luhman) to fly to California about a week before the event. He'll do interviews and other pre-fight publicity.

Clark's first professional contract will pay him well, and it will pay him even better if he performs at a high level. For his first fight, Clark said he will receive $2,000 just to step into the octagon and $2,000 more if he wins. In his second fight, he will receive $4,000 to show and $4,000 to win. His third and final fight will be worth $6,000 to show and $6,000 to win. That means he's guaranteed $12,000 and could earn up to $12,000 for three wins.

"The money is good, and it means I won't have to work while I'm going to school now," Clark said. "It's awesome. Maybe I can actually get a decent care for a change."

Clark immediately stepped up his training. He plans to train with the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy (home to Nick Thompson and UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk) in the coming weeks. If Clark does well in the UFC, there could be additional training opportunities, possibly in Iowa with Pat Miletich.

Doing well in the UFC won't be easy, though. Clark will meet undefeated Steve Byrnes of Hawaii in his UFC debut. Byrnes is a submission specialist and has finished all six of his pro fights in that manner.

Clark will be a major underdog but not because his skills aren't up to par. Byrnes is a former Marine, and the fight will take place on a military base in San Diego.

"I love it; I'll be the most hated guy on base all week," Clark said.

Clark has even more reason to do well under his first contract. If he wins two of his three fights, he could be offered another contract for even more money.

So far, the added pressure hasn't gotten to Clark.

"I usually don't get nervous for fights, but this is the UFC -- everybody gets a little nervous," he said.

And Clark's Team Crazy teammates -- how have they reacted to seeing one of their own make it to the big time?

"They love it, but they just don't want me to forget about them. I won't; I'll still be training with Team Crazy," Clark said.

Recent Developments

2006-11-14T21:12:00.000-08:00

Well, right after deciding to drop that title fight, I got an offer from the UFC to fight for them. I signed a three fight deal. Check the 11-14-06 Post Bulletin for details. Or I will post it here when I have time.

Mostly, I just have no time. It is all training and schooling. I'll find the time.

Peace.

Cough Cough

2006-10-29T19:14:00.000-08:00

So....I'm sick again. And I am sick of that.

Also, I forgot my copy of the Satanic Verses in Eyota. I kinda need that for class. I hope the library has another copy around.

Interesting fact: it seems that I have been lied to by the promoter of the Rochester fights. I was told that I would be fighting for both the title I have and the one held by my opponent. Turns out, Jami doesn't have permission to have offered up that second title.
Due to that lie and other lies/threats/shady-shit from the promoter, I will be giving up my title and taking myself out of this competition. We had been talking about doing for a while, and I think I have finally accepted it.
I guess I won't be as much of a local stud any more. What a shame. Hehe.

I went to a party with all of the classic douchebaggy drunk guys. I seriously had a dude say to me, "You try that again, and we'll see what happens." I love those threats. Good times.
Oh, I think my being dressed in a rather short skirt might have led to a little bit of the troublesome threats I dealt with.

Peace.

A Knee In The Face

2006-10-24T19:05:00.000-07:00

Sadly, that has been the most exciting part of my life lately. After my scheduled fight for last week was cancelled, I tried, unsuccessfully, to get a fight in South Dakota for Saturday. Saturday evening I was putzing around with the sheep while laying down some mulch at the grandparent's Clark when I received a call asking if I could fight in an event in Medina (a far NW suburb of Minneapolis). It was 5:30 and the event was scheduled for 8. I accepted and got to Roch at 6 to meet up with my ride.
I got to the event as it was started and had missed the fighter's meeting. My opponent was around, so I introduced myself. We fought about an hour after I had arrived. I felt uncomfortable and improperly warmed up, but it was time to fight, so I had to fight. It went all three rounds. I dominated the first and third and took some damage in the second (that knee from the title). But I won a unanimous decision. So that is okay.

School is busy. Couple of tests and a paper due this week. Wooo! Other than that, I am just fighting and schooling. Boring. Boring. Boring. No real romantic prospects. How sad.

I'll look into doing something exciting, but right now I am focused on training for my fight in Rochester November 18th. My opponent is tough and skilled, and this should definitely be my biggest test. My cardio must improve.

Peace.

Trouble-making Sissypantsers

2006-10-18T09:33:00.001-07:00

So it turns out that Doron's city really is full of wimpos. I thought Doron was one of the few. The city council of Minneapolis decided that serving alcohol in conjunction with having events that feature fighting must, of course, encourage violence in the crowd and by the fans, so they shut down the event that I was supposed to fight in tomorrow.
Doron assumes that someone complained, and the city felt that they needed to act. But it would have been nice if they could have acted a bit farther out than 2 days from the event. It could have prevented me from dropping 15 pounds before this time came. I am okay with starving myself to make money, but starving myself for nothing is not something that I am too keen on.
A pox on you council members.

This morning presented some more proof that I am one of the most absentminded and detail-ignoring individuals around. I thought that I was going to presentation on character creation by Kent Nerburn (author of Neither Wolf Nor Dog) at 10 this morning. Turns out that I was late for the 10 AM start time and that the event had actually started at 9 AM. So I got to see none of the event and got a dirty look from a prof that I had told I would be here. I went to his lecture last night, and I am sitting around in the commons waiting for a special interview with him at 11.
Neither Wolf Nor Dog, a book that I believe I blogged about at some time in the past (I guess I should get tags for my blog so these things could be easily drawn up), was chosen by the school as a book of great merit or some shit like that. Anyway, about a thousand freshmen and some other students are reading it this semester (I had it for a class last Spring), so they keep crowding up the events. They bring laptops and make noise and leave early and generally annoy me. I doubt that they get much out of the event. Man, I am a snooty prick.
I doubt have much ambition for fiction prose writing, but I'll go to the events about character creation just for the heckity hey hey of it.

I sleep a lot lately. Little over nine hours last night. I rather enjoy this now. I don't really understand why I am able to do this. I should be really busy, and I am, but I find time for sleep. School work is sacrificed, but I get readings done, and my grades haven't begun to suffer yet.

Blah blah blah....I need to finish another Salman Rushdie essay now.

Peace.

Phemonological?

2006-10-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

Why not? I perceive, and so it must be.

I have been enjoying playing with Google Earth lately. It might be old news to some folks, but it is still a fun time for me. I want there to be a 3-D version of it, so that I can look at elevation changes. For now, I am happy cruising cities I know (and some I don't).
I think I might go look at the Taj Mahal tonight. I am trying to vacation without using gas. Not too easy to see trees and animals over the internet though.

I am fighting next week. I have a bunch of weight to drop for next Thursday. 17 poundsish. Should be a grand ol' time.

Oh, I am still enjoying my drives up the Lake City for practice. The fall colors aren't fully passed yet. Lots of red-leaved sumac along the road to go along with the trees. Makes for a beautiful frame. The drive home in the dark isn't quite as great.

I am debating buying The Decemberists album. You see, I am trying to take on a budget. I hope I can look at that and apply myself.

Peace.

Returned Thought

2006-09-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had my Comparative Literature class led by a couple of Chinese grad students as our prof is gone this week. We just so happen to be studying Chinese literature at the time, and yesterday was our chance to go over Li Pai and the Tang dynasty. During their introductory portion the two grad students introduced the Tang dynasty as not only the greatest period of Chinese literary history but also the greatest single literary period in the world.
So is this the truth, or are the Chinese simply taught this from an early age in their country's schools? This is interesting as shit to me. I am apt to go with the latter, but not because I think that any Eurocentric period is any better than the Tang dynasty. I think this simply because I doubt that anyone can claim that any one period is the greatest of all time. Call me wishy-washy or noncommittal, but I just don't think it is so.
Let me know.

Lately I have been having some trouble getting most of my reading done. Not that I am overworked or any such thing (although I am busy, and I like to whine about it), but I am busy with a couple of other books.
Some might remember my slight obsession with Wendell Berry last year...and it's back. I picked up a couple of his books the other day. A collection of his agrarian essays, The Art of the Commonplace, and a collection of his Sabbath poems (you know, written on the Sabbath) that spans from '79 to '97, A Timbered Choir. I haven't gotten into the essays yet, although I have read a few of them before in a different collection. But the books of poems is making me feel all happy overall but sad for the end of the growing season.
I also picked up a farming book by Gene Logsdon, All Flesh Is Grass. This is basically the how-to and why-you-should book of pasture farming. Oodles of useful information and an indictment of our current agricultural system. None of it is too new to me, but it gives more facts to back up the ideas than I previously had, and it has an ungodly amount of logic too.

Okay, back to the schoolwork. Actually, I am going to read some more about sheep farming.

Peace.

Good Times and Great Oldies?

2006-09-26T05:41:00.000-07:00

That title makes no sense.

I am supposed to be studying for an English Syntax test, but I haven't even managed to read any of the chapters yet? And I would like to go to bed. The first few chapters were all things that I already knew from a previous grammar course and a language study course, but I wasn't even doing well on the assignments that I didn't know how to do previously. And I am required to get a B in this class, which most people have trouble just passing. Am I just a moron? Probably.

Went up to Lake City for practice today. That is my new place to hang out at on Monday and Wednesday evenings. It's a grand ol' time.

I had something else to say. Damn, I really should write these out when I have the ideas. I'll come back tomorrow and finish this up.

Peace.

Contrary to Popular Belief...

2006-09-17T20:25:00.000-07:00

Fighters and other trained athletes don't always need to lift weights. I haven't lifted weights since some time last spring. Apparently I got bigger just from working all summer though. Throwing grown men around at practice probably helped some too. Now that I am back at school, I might need to take it up again. But I will only do squats, cleans, deadlifts, and a couple of explosive lifts.
Hehe, like anyone who reads this cares about weightlifting. Good times.

I picked up two CDs for under $20 yesterday. I felt that shopping was a productive use of my free evening that I happened to come upon. Anyway, I got the Plain White T's cd (not bad, poppy, but not bad), and I stumbled across a best of Jimi Hendrix disc. Normally, I wouldn't purchase such things, but this beast had twenty songs for $10. It has been fabulous to me. I've listened to it 3 times straight through so far.
The rest of my evening was spent collecting llama manure, so that I can make the most fabulous compost around. After dropping that off at the grandparents Clark and feeding my lambs, I was off to Whitewater. My late evening time was wisely wasted up on Inspiration Point reading Midnight's Children and generally being chill. You would have enjoyed it, and you know it.

Fisher is quite the bass player, and Nate isn't too shabby with his guitaring.

Peace.

Respectful Holidays

2006-09-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

Umm....I managed to find a receptive audience for a 9-11 joke today. We were supposed to be taking a reading quiz, but I asked if I could just be like everyone else these days and give answer as "9-11" whenever a tough question was asked.
It went over well....in a class of five total people. Maybe I'll not pull it out at hick parties. I hate fighting 300 pound Bobs.

Peace.

Sept. 2, 2006 vs. Chuck Parmalee

2006-09-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

(I don't know if anyone who still reads this page cares about my fighting, but I wrote this for a different site, so I might at well post it here.)

I fought last weekend in Sioux Falls for Chris Christianson's Cage Inc. promotion. This was my first fight with this particular promotion, and this was a fight that they had been trying to set up for some time.

Parmalee was 13-2 coming into this fight. We expected him to try and strike fight with me or to attempt to go for an armbar if the fight went to the ground. But he was apparently not fully aware of my wrestling experience, so he seemed to go against the striking in favor of taking me down and going for the submission.

I sprawled and caused him some damage with knees and hammer fists. When I did go to the ground, I was able to sit back and avoid his attempts to control me or work the armbar.
From there, I just worked on my gnp and eventually got side control. After a large number of elbows and punches, he decided that he had had enough. I had thought that the fight would get stopped earlier, but I think the ref was letting ti go because he was a local guy and it was close to the end of the round.
It officially ended with six seconds left in the round. Apparently, I can punch hard enough to hurt people and make them want to stop fighting but not enough to knock them out.

Hopefully, they will invite me back for another fight with this promotion.

Peace.

R.I.P. Steve Irwin

2006-09-05T19:45:00.000-07:00

Of course this is one of the few celebrities that would deserve a remembrance on this rarely updated blog (wow, I am full of myself for thinking I decide what anyone deserves).

Anyway, I definitely have a fondness for the man despite his being a show that I didn't regularly watch. My fondness is based purely in his love of animals and his conservation work. And the fact that he appeared to have a real zest for life, even if it did manifest itself in his mind-altering voice.

Peace and Love.

School days are here again

2006-08-30T06:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I couldn't find a dance class that fit into my schedule, but I did manage to add a couple credits to get up to 18. I go for 18 because we get charged the same whether we take 12 or 18, so I might as well get my money's worth.
These are my classes:
Bowling - for the second time in my college career I will be spending my Wednesday mornings bowling.
THAD 141, Oral Interp. - I guess I get to express some of my creativity? Eh, it is a requirement for my major, so whatever.
Educ 449, Middle Level Phil/Org/Planning - Apparently half of this class is yet another adolescent development class and half is curriculum planning. Can't I just take half of it?
CMST 287, Conflict and Communication: Umm....we look at types of conflict and methods for solving it, yay.
Eng 432, Comparative Lit - We compare literature from different cultures. Turns out different cultures have a different theory on what a story should be. Who knew? Everyone? Well...yeah.
Eng 328, English Syntax - Wooooo! Sentence structure is exciting.
Eng 326, Figures in Lit: Salman Rushdie - A two credit course with my favorite/hardest prof that I picked up for the heck of it. Should be a fun time. No tests and just a couple of papers. She hates my method for creating papers but loves my papers.

Oh, time to go get dressed and run off to finally turn in my PC. I really don't want to get a new one.

Rainy Day Freedom

2006-08-17T07:10:00.000-07:00

It is raining, so I have the day to sit around and be chill. I don't know when I will get in all of my hours this week since I am supposed to take off tomorrow as well to set up for my fight team's show, which is going down tomorrow night. I say that this is still part of the same return as last time because it hasn't been a month gap yet. It takes a month to be considered away. But Em is correct that it hasn't exactly been triumphant.

I still haven't turned in my laptop as I was supposed to early this summer. Oh well, I just need to get it in before the 28th. After that, I start getting fined.

My school schedule only has 15 credits. That is hilarious. Easiest semester ever. Perhaps I'll find myself another course to take. I also need to take care of an equivalency still. Goodness I am behind the times.

Peace.

Triumphant Return

2006-07-28T14:23:00.000-07:00

Yeah. I have not posted in a month. I am aware of that. It seems like a good time to start this back up, so I am going to try and post here fairly often. I assume that it will take a while for people to come back this way, but I think I can get by in on the voices in my head for now.

In my last post, I said that I was going on vacation. I went.
I spent a week wandering around up north. I camped out when I felt like it, stayed with friends, and passed out in my truck once too. It was a rather fun time. Aloneness is a good thing.
The best time was in Ely where I did karaoke and drank with the locals. Del was the man. I should learn how to load pictures just so I could show you the spectacularity of this man. He was half Elvis and half Johnny Cash and 100% super.

After the vacation, I spent a few weeks training like crazy for a fight. I beat a guy named BJ Lacy who was apparently 16-2 before that fight. It was a good time. I pounded on him for a while, but he wouldn't give up.

I just finished up a two week Shakespeare course. We have been reading a play a day, but I haven't read any of them. I've seen plenty of movies though. I should get a C, my first ever, but that seems just fine to me. I am pretty sure that one three credit class isn't going to be enough to knock my GPA into the basement.

The Olmsted County Fair gets going next week. I'll be taking some flowers and visiting the place most nights.

I'll be back with an update on fighting and gardening in a bit.

Peace.

Change of Schedule

2006-06-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

So obviously I am not in Montana. I was forced to change my plans by the inability of people to plan ahead and the fears of others. I spent the weekend down in Winona and now I think I'll take off for Northern Wisconsin. Once there, I will choose between the U.P. of Michigan and the North Shore. I will be hiking, and I will be by myself, so it should be fun.

Peace.

Attention: I Am A Farmer

2006-06-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

I now own two sheep and have actually moved them to an area where they are my responsibility. This makes me a farmer. A hobby farmer, but a farmer just the same.
'Fitti is an adorably tiny runt, and Nitro is a classic Suffolk with a bad leg that has a chance of recovering.

I have been very busy working all day every day, going to graduation parties, gardening, and apparently farming.

Peace.

Wolves In Wolves' Clothing

2006-05-22T19:25:00.000-07:00

New album today. NOFX, my title is its title. This is an accomplishment for me as I can only rarely let my money flow. I think this is the first album I have purchased since getting Mike Doughty double and the Raveonettes quite a while back. I probably got it because I was able to listen to a lot of it before it and rather enjoyed it.
It is still good, but I will check back in after the second and fifteenth listenings.

Today I was rather active. 9.5 at Think. 2 at Marilyn's. Digging for a while in Tyrel's yard (we are on the way to having a new perennial bed there). 6 mile run with Max (my half dog). Now I am extra cool because I am choosing to listen to this music rather than watch a brand new Mtv challengy thinger. Oh, and I planted some beans and sweet corn this evening.

It seems I am too tired to type anything creative.

Oh, my planned opponent for my June 7th either dropped out or isn't being allowed to fight me. Whichever, I have a different (probably not as tough) opponent now. I can deal with that. I think I'll stick with my ground and pound plan as usual. I have a great wrestling advantage over this guy and will go ahead and use it. Plus, I tend to get hit in the head less and with less force when we are on the ground.

Time to eat a banana and drink some more water.

I am well-rested

2006-05-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

And it is grand. Well, I lie. I am trying to pretend that sleeping the last couple of nights is better than having gone out and done something fun, but I know that I would rather have been camping or hiking or vacationing to the moon. Luckily, it was raining, and none of those things were on the agenda.
Whenever the blogger url is gone from my recent history list, I know that it is probably time to post something on here. I have mada a resolution to not blog from work, so I don't know how often I will find the time for this.

My gardening season is off to a less than stellar start. My peas, tulips, and croci were all terrorized by the local rabbit population, so each had or will have a sub-optimal performance this spring.
I did have one interesting occasion to take down one of my enemies the other day. I was weeding the back of the border bed when I noticed a light-brown, furry lump six inches from my hand. It was baby version of one of my foliage foragers. All of six inches, he was. He was...
But I couldn't kill him. Just couldn't do it. Partially from my own innate compassion and partially because I saw one of his family members four feet away with its face eaten off (hey, maybe this little turd was a cannibal). For whatever reason, I couldn't take him out, and I didn't feel like taking him to the country, so I put him in a neighbor's yard across a street and few yards from Iris's place.

I haven't been paying attention to politics to my normal degree, but I am still a hell of a lot more informed than the average American. Isn't that sad?

The new Red Hot Chili Peppers album is good stuff. I would even buy it if I could afford anything more than gas money.

I am watching a Jennifer Lopez movie right now. Yeah, I know.
My day has consisted of going back to sleep many times, mothe complaining about a running toilet, a long bath (and a Whitman biography), a staggered breakfast, and this movie. I should probably learn the title of it, but I won't. I think I will go to the grandmother's today. There are some rasberries to be planted as well as a number of bulbs.
It is time to plant sweet corn. I know this because the oak leaves are as big or bigger than a squirrel's ear.
My lettuce is coming up, and the radishes and carrots have been placed.

Maybe instead of doing anything, I will just listen to Allison Krauss and do nothing. That might be more productive for my mental state. Who am I kidding? Brooding and lazing about is never more productive than breathing clean (relatively) air and using hand tools.

Peace.

Nobody's Fault But Mine

2006-04-30T07:02:00.000-07:00

I think I am done with church for now. I get more mental, spiritual, and moral stimulation from reading by myself than I do from listening to a middle-aged man read a sermon. And I don't have any desire to find myself a new church at this point in time. This doesn't particularly bother me in any significant way. I will miss chatting with my great-aunt Marilyn and reading the bible during the sermon, but I am quite capable of doing at least one of those things while sitting in the basement, and the other can be done when I am landscaping for her this summer.
Glad to have that issue resolved.

I have four finals, two written assignments, and one twenty minute video to splice together during this last week of the school year. That doesn't seem to be a daunting task, and I am glad to be getting done a few weeks before all of my other college-aged breathren. This means that I will get to do a couple of visits.
This end of school will also allow me to get back to training for fighting. At least that activity is capable of distracting my constantly churning mind for short periods. I don't think I value the violence so much as I enjoy the physical exertion. I get a lot of the same feeling from running with deer in the woods, but the opportunities for deer-human running partnerships are few and far between. Plus, the woods will be overly hot and sticky soon enough, and fighting can supplement my income while helping me to make connections for other opportunities as well.

I am in the midst of a splendid biography of Whitman. I really should be doing some of my reading to prepare for my various finals, but my growth from this experience is likely to be more noteworthy than anything my moderism and postmodernism course has left to teach me.

Back to Weezer, Josh Turner, Keith Urban, The Sounds, Johnny, and Marving Gaye (I guess those are my music endorsements for the day).

Peace.

America is "Special"

2006-04-17T11:17:00.000-07:00

We have to be taught how to do anything. My brothers used to claim that I had no common sense, but I would now contend that even then (I still claim that I just chose not to use the common sense that I had) I was better off that most of us in America. I was watching the Weather Channel today (well, scanning through), and there was some sort of home improvement show on. On the segment I caught, we were being taught how to USE A LADDER. Yep, complete with readings of the warning stickers and an explanation of why not to go above the step marked "do not stand on this step." Going beyond the fact that they put in full steps and then tell you not to stand on them, did any of you not know how to use a ladder before this?

Darn it, the Gangs of New York is now on television, and I really want to go to Great River Bluffs State Park. Oh, and I need to read End Game by Beckett sometime today. I should finish up Love Medicine as well. It seems like there was something to do for a couple of other classes as well. I'll have to look into whatever assignments those were. My, this is a good movie.

Red Vines are probably the best licorice ever.

Henry Weinhard's is still the best Root Beer in the world.

Captain Morgan is the best booze ever.

Water is the best liquid ever.

So....drink lots and have a merry day.

Peace.

R.I.P. DJ Proof

2006-04-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

Dead at 32 from a gunshot wound to the head after an altercation in a night club. Survived by his wife and five children.

For those not in the know, Proof was a member of D12, a solo artist, and Eminem's best friend.

Now, I am not saying that making music that glorifies violence (Proof was actually better about not doing this than most) is the worst thing a person can do, but I don't remember the last time a member of a boy band got murdered. Or a country singer.

Peace.

Another Week Down

2006-04-09T20:18:00.000-07:00

I am nearing the end of my school year. Me happy. My gardening season has started and it is tough to not let my number one priority make my number six priority lose all of its limited time allotment.

Crud...I forgot this post and now it is my bedtime (that post time is about two hours early). Umm...short version:

I went to Eau Claire this Friday, pretended to work Sunday, and fell asleep in my clothes from tiredness in my Eyota bed early on Saturday night.

I am introducing Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance to a class of juniors tomorrow. I don't feel qualified, and I should probably get some more background knowledge before 11:30 AM tomorrow. Still have to pick out the poems to study. Trouble trouble (that is double trouble).

This is my favorite reading quotation for the week:
"That the world I was in could be soft, lovely, and nourishing was more than I could bear, and so I stood there and wept, for I didn't want to love one more thing in my life, didn't want one more thing that could make my heart break into a million little pieces at my feet. But all the same, there it was, and I could not do much about it..."

Peace.

Sidetrack From My Real Work

2006-04-02T21:48:00.000-07:00

Rant inspired by Abe Lincoln and some reading.

Lincoln: "The theory of our government is universal freedom.

But on the idea of freedom (and older N.A. gent):
"The white world puts all the power at the top [...] when someone gets to the top, they have the power to take your freedom. When your people first came to our land they were trying to get away from those people at the top. But they still thought the same, and soon there were new people at the top in the new country. It is just the way you were taught to think.
In your churches there is someone at the top. In your schools, too. In your government. In your business. There is always someone at the top and that person has the right to say whether you are good or bad. They own you.
No wonder Americans always worr about freedom. You have so damn little of it. If you don't protect it, someone will take it away from you. You have to guard it every second, like a dog guards a bone."

So, what I am saying is that I disagree with Lincoln. The earliest theory of our government, not to mention the first applications of that government, was not universal freedom. But I think that Lincoln, a man of many contradictions, understood this. The continuation of too many situations and actions proved this statement to be false.
We have no understanding of what true freedom is and neither did Lincoln. Our government is not about freedom, especially not today, and not at any time in our history. It may be necessary and good, but it is not based on universal freedom.
Our principles that guide our actions and judgments are based more in personal ownership and majority rule rather than universal freedom, which, by definition, conflicts with both of those ideas.
Even when applied over the long run, these central precepts of our government still conflict with that ideal. Also over the long run, we are so far removed from true freedom that it is nearly inconceivable.

Maybe all of this writing will inspire me to get my other mindless writings done.

Peace.

Can't Stand The Schoolin'

2006-04-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

Yeah. I done gots lots o' work to be doin'. Had to get an extension on a paper, so I still have that one to get done for tomorrow. And two more, 12 pages worth of high quality analytical stuff, for Thursday. A couple more quizzes and I think a test will lead me to a poopy week.
I gave an excellent explanation of why school is silly for me last night. I should have saved it. It even gave a justification for the acceptance of "poor" grades. I'll have to ask Esther to relate it back to me, if she remembers.

I had a good fill of the testosterone-charged college males on Friday night. And I managed to not even knock anyone out. That was nice.

Oh, the worst part of this school thing is that it is now taking me away from my training. This, however, highlights one of the best parts of my job. I can choose my hours and disapear for a week or two if I have to. But that is something I do not enjoy doing. Hopefully, I will find the time to meet up with the fighters down in Winona as least one day this week.
School also keeps me from gardening, but it is quite wet out anyway, so it is okay that I am not getting there too much. I would like to have taken down some trees this weekend though, as the grandparents are in Cali forn i a.

Back to schoolwork.

Peace.

Worst Ever Award

2006-03-29T05:56:00.000-08:00

Today I can give out the worst song ever award. MTV2 has saddened me greatly by playing some crap song by a crap singer, Robin Thicke, who has the weakest voice I have heard on the radio or televsion in quite some time. I couldn't bear to see the end, but I think it was called, "When I Get You Alone."

"Girl, you are hotter than the earth's core"

The entire chorus just goes:
"Love you girl, love you girl...."

Oh my goodness, Pharrell is in the video too. Sellout. Wait, he had already done that, now he is just making really shitty music.

Peace.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

2006-03-26T19:19:00.000-08:00

Another day, another punch in the eye. I had another fight last night. It ended about one round earlier than my coach and I had planned (and two rounds before the promoter expected in to, "three round war," ha). My opponent ended up tapping out due to strikes. I don't think he had experience taking too many punches.
Now, a quick recap for Ron and any other interested parties:
Off the start my opponent came with a leg kid, and I made the mistake of slightly dropping my hands, so I took a solid shot to the eye. This is my usual stategy as I need a punch in the face to remember that I am in a fight. Even my opponent's friends claimed that "your (my) eyes changed" after that.
Directly following the shots that hit my face, my opponent threw a strong right that I slipped by and went into a bodylock. I took him down, but was unsuccessful in passing his guard. Eventually he was coming off the ground when I faked a kick and brought down an elbow that knocked him back into the fence. From there, I worked into another bodylock. This time I took him away from the fence and lifted him to turn him to on a side so that I could avoid his guard.
I started out in half-guard with my other knee near his stomach, so I moved into a full mount.
I worked to create space but couldn't get the separation needed for elbows, but I eventually got him loosened and out at punching distance. After that, it would have been stopped pretty quickly if my opponent didn't decide to tap out.

I may have actually gotten the order of events a little wrong as I haven't seen a tape of the fight yet, so I will change it if I was wrong. I will let you know if I do that.

In other news, I don't really have to worry about money as my newest bit should last me through the start of summer work. That's nice.

Oh, the DVD should be out in time to take it down to Easter. It is certain to horrify the family.

I have been neglecting my studies as of late. I have a presentation on Tuesday, ten-page paper that needs to be started and finished by Friday, and I think there is a second presentation that I am forgetting about. I have a bunch of other little assignments to catch up on as well. For shame. I don't think the Dean's list is on the horizon this semester.

That is enough for now.

Peace.

You Don't Want To Read This

2006-03-22T10:03:00.000-08:00

I was standing next to a man at a urinal today, minding my own business, when I began to hear a flicking sound. It took me a second to realize what the sound was...the young man next to me had apparently finished urinating and had decided that the best way to shake off any extra drops was to flick his penis. And he was flicking it hard. I thought it was all over after about ten flicks, but...
Then he started shaking, also quite vigorously, and did so for ten seconds. I have no idea whether or not his penis was especially peey, but that just seems excessive.
I remember the old rule of shaking it more than three times being playing with it, but what would you call this, genital abuse? This is odd, right?

Just thought you might want to hear about that. Ha. Now, back to teaching the future leaders of the world.

Peace.

Best Part Of Having Cable

2006-03-21T05:48:00.000-08:00

Well, 7:30 in the morning, which means that Saved By The Bell is on. I wonder if it is on at 7 as well? That would allow me to watch it on the days when my 8 AM class isn't cancelled. I'll have to add this to my routine. I mean, what/who is more important than Zach Morris/early 90s television?

This episode has Tori of season 4a. This badass young lady was so spectacular that the TV webpage that I checked gave her a season of her own, as part of their senior year no less. Fall Balls are the bestest.
Slater's hair is so spectacular, I would have given it a season to itself.
OOH, Tori in a dress. "Girlfriend, that dress is going to kill." Also, Lisa Turtle is incapable of judging distance. Someone check for a glass eye. The side ponytail is one of the greatest fashion trends of all time.

"That is a really great shirt." I wish I had the fake valley-girl tone for that.

People often claim that SBTB was shallow especially in the depth of treatment of serious issues, but do you people remember the drunk driving episode?
I also forget that the Miss Bliss episodes portrayed 8th graders. Spectacular stuff, so true to life.
Lastly, can you believe that the College Years only lasted for one season?

Crap, Dawson's Creek is on, gotta change the channel.

Peace.

Outlook Cloudy

2006-03-20T16:20:00.000-08:00

I have quite a bit of work to get done for my various courses tomorrow, but I have cable now, so that isn't likely to get fully done.
I am also somewhere near ten pounds overweight for my Friday weighin. It would be nice to know exactly how much I am over, but I always seem to forget something at home. This time, it was my scale (and my laptop charger, but I like inconveniencing Shane by stealing his).

In celebration of Saint Pat, we had a party on Friday. I believe that will have to be the last of the large-scale Clarkian parties. Small gatherings will still be allowed, but that was just out of hand. Tyrel claims to have counted 60 visitors. I never got that high, but it is possible.
The parking situation was also absurd. Apparently, by fairly early on, the culdesac was filled to the brim (curb), and the cars stretched out onto Jefferson. I would like to take this time to thank my lovely neighbors for not calling the police and my mother for building a well-insulated house. I guess I could thank Dale and Iris for not murdering me either.
Other thanks go to Seth for cleaning, Tom and Dan for decorating, and some wanker for robbing the tip jar (you are the reason this is the last Clark party).

Peace.

Happy Anniversary

2006-03-19T20:30:00.000-08:00

I thought I might miss it since Blogger wasn't working earlier, but I made it, so HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Iraq War. A happy day indeed. Three years now, and folks are still dieing.

For fuck sake, get a plan and get out.

Peace.

A Seperate Piece

2006-03-17T10:07:00.000-08:00

Continuing with my news of the odd theme. This one is just spectacular enough to make it on the page.

Self-Severed Penis

The article is cleverly written as well: "Before cops threw the book at him, Jakub Fik threw something unusual at them -- his penis."
Bravo Eric Herman.

Peace.

Multiply the Idiocy On That One

2006-03-15T11:26:00.000-08:00

I will be back with more as I am at my field experience right now, but I thought you folks should see this.
Back.
So, we now have new information on the death that I linked up with yesterday. Apparently, she was text messaging as she was walking along. This makes perfect sense. They say that talking on a cell phone is just as distracting as being drunk while driving, so it makes perfect sense that I thought she was drunk when she was simply using her cell phone.

A new twist on the dead, deaf beauty queen.

Peace.

Things That Make You Go, "Whaa?"

2006-03-14T21:40:00.000-08:00

I noticed this earlier today, and, after telling a couple of different people about it today, I thought it was just interesting enough to mention to you folks. I feel a little bad since this is getting entertainment from death, but I am an ass so the feeling only goes so far. So...

Why was this girl allowed to wander near that area anyway?
Miss Deaf Texas Killed By Train
Also, do you think that you would feel the vibrations or am I crazy?

Maybe more information will come out, and we will find that she was also drunk. Then we just wonder who her drinking buddies are.

Peace.

The Miracle of Non-Birth

2006-03-13T17:17:00.000-08:00

I had one of the greatest disapointments of my life last night. I had high hopes of hanging out with a new-born lamb, but the fickleness of Mother Nature, or maybe Mother Farm, decided that the babe would have to wait. That led to me being sad little boy at six-ish this morning when I came back out to the barn and found no new being to cuddle with. But I am just being selfish.
Happily enough, I did get to hang out with a number of lambs the night before. The triplets were particularly, fantasticly cute. I would go into more details, but I feel that you should be forced to try to imagine it. Next time, I will bust some Ernest on this and give you more cuddly descriptors than you can handle.
I named a lamb 'Fitti (grafitti) after tagging his body. This was not done simply for evil titilation, but for identification as I might just make him mine. Then slaughter the little bastard. I have to prove to myself that I can raise something, kill it, and eat it. Otherwise, I will never be able to raise cattle and I will have to switch to raising dairy goats later in life.

Well, it is time to go street sledding with Seth and some second-grader that we are stealing from the street. Better us than the Eyotan ghetto, I say.
Perhaps I will report on that.

Peace.

10 Yards For Bullshit

2006-03-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

Well, I think it is time for my fighting to actually makes its way onto the blog as I don't really feel like explaining my unhappy tale to everyone this next week. This way, I can just refer them to the blog.

Last night, I was not a happy camper and that continues with me today. Got screwed.
After cutting from 12 pounds over on Sunday afternoon, I got a call on Tuesday, the day before a scheduled fight, to tell me that my opponent had a shoulder injury and would not be allowed to fight me. I was already unhappy with that since the guy has been working with the injury for a little while and they should have at least had the decency to call me a few days beforehand.
Then it got even shittier. I was informed that they would be giving the guy that I was supposed to fight, who was supposed to be my first real challenge, was going to be given some scrub to fight because he was a big ticket draw, and they couldn't just take him off the card. I said, "Well, that's bullshit, why do I get fucked on this deal?" They said, "We'll try to get you a fight."
That, ladies and gents, is where the bullshit flag gets thrown. I found out that the promoter of my fight on the 25th of this month was already upset with me for taking my previously scheduled fight when it was so close to the date that I was to be fight for a title in his show. Since he has some ability to influence the other promoters, they decide that I shouldn't even get a scrub to fight. So now I am pretty much as pissed of as I get.
I did, however, receive a small compensation for my troubles, but I don't believe that it makes up for my hours spent training, my anticipation, my weightcutting, my hours spent talking to people and trying to sell tickets, and the mountains of bullshit that I now have to deal with.
Lastly, I talked with the guy who I was supposed to fight, and they are giving him a title shot at the show in the cities in May. Should I throw another flag for that one too?

On a slightly more exciting, and happier, note, I now have the internet and cable at my apartment. My first order of business was to watch C-SPAN 2 for about an hour before my last class. Exciting stuff.

I am going to parent-teacher conferences today. I am hoping to see a confrontation, a fistfight, and maybe a biting.
On Monday, during my Spring Break, I will be teaching my own lessons as Mr. Smith will be out of town. They are giving me the children, and I don't even have a license.

Peace.

Exciting News

2006-03-07T15:23:00.000-08:00

Tommy has a new post up on the Jeffrey Hobbs blog. It is most grand and Tom's writing skill is improved.

I will have more later. There is a rant coming. I swear.

Peace.

Breakdancing Makes Me Smile

2006-03-01T16:23:00.000-08:00

Hasidic Jew Breakdancing.

My favorite part is when he takes the time to put his yarmuka back on.

Peace.

2/5 Ain't Bad

2006-02-28T11:18:00.000-08:00

My 8 AM class was cancelled; my 11 AM class was cancelled; my 5 PM class is a film fest. That is all well and good. But why is the Prof from my 3:30 PM class, who had previously cancelled our class, coming into the class that is watching a movie? I think she is planning on having her class after we get done watching this movie. Is this allowed?

I was on a field trip from 5:20 AM until almost 5 PM yesterday. We went to Humboldt High School in Saint Paul. I guess the planners of this program felt that we needed to get an experience in at an inner-city school. It was probably for all the white folks who were unaware that african folks and asian folks happen to make up most of the population in some schools.
Talking with the kids was nice, re-realizing how bastardly some high school sophmores are, eating school lunch again was fabulous, and bus sleeping is fun, but I didn't get much else out of the whole thing.
Oh, getting up at 4 AM is neato, I hadn't done that in a while.

Huh, people just got up and started leaving. I guess if she intends to instruct, it will be with a significantly reduced class. I will wait it out since I have nothing to do until open swim at 7 PM.

I am starting to actually use my student athletic fee. Weight rooms, swimming pool, gym, and all that other good stuff.

Umm...I am leaving now.

Peace.

A note: the time on this post is way off, I opened it up a while ago and never typed anything. It is currently 5:08 PM.

Back with the bad habits.

2006-02-20T00:34:00.000-08:00

Umm....so this is what it took to get me back to writing on here: an all-nighter to finish a paper on a Sunday. Wait, did I say finish? Start, lay-out, revise, finish-up, proofread. Perhaps I should get started. I have read a great deal for this one. So I am ahead of the game in that respect. We all know that the crap can spill forth from me at will, so the writing shouldn't be an issue once I really kick it in gear around 5 AM.
Does anyone have a good way of getting me to not do this anymore? I think the only thing that could push me to it would be if I knew that I got anything in return for getting excellent grades. I will probably still get a low A for this still unwritten paper, but I think the school could get a bit better effort out of me if they offered me some financial incentive. I know I shouldn't do things for money, but the best way to get me to do the crap I wouldn't otherwise bother with is to...umm...show me the money (I get corny around three AM).
Right now, I make the Dean's list and it doesn't get me crap. Last semester I didn't even know that I had made it until I was making up a resume and thought that would make a decent stat padder (for an unpaid position, ha). Other than that, I get nothing from it, and it isn't likely that a public high school is going to offer me another 5 grand in the future for making the Dean's list one less time. What would I do it for? It doesn't prove anything to make it. I know what I am capable of, and I have no desire to impress people with such things. Is that an impressive thing? I guess I don't even know that much. I bet old people dig it, and I think my grandmother and the McDougals still check the paper for it. But, other than that, what do you have for me.
I guess I'll just have to resign myself to doing it for the old folks.

I can tell you about the one thing that I am enjoying about this semester of school, my field experience. I do some tutoring on Wednesday morns at the Winona Middle School and spend 3.5 hours in Saint Charles Public High School every Wednesday and Friday (that works conveniently around my practice hours). I would probably do it on Monday afternoons too, but I can't justify the extra gas costs when I am already going there a couple more hours a week than I am supposed to.
At the middle school I tutor Tyler. Good kid, little bit on the lazy and easily distracted side when it comes to getting work done. Who knew that kids still played those Magic the Gathering card/war games (they probably have a new name for them now, but it is the same thing)? Anyway, all I do is make sure that he gets his homework done, finish up any work he has left with him, and play chess if we have time (we both are no good; makes for a spectacular match-up). I should find a way to get more involved in this program. If I didn't have class on Tues and Thurs 'til 7 PM I would just go in on those afternoons. Perhaps there is something else to be done on Mondays. I'll get back to you on that.

Hmm...it seems that this post has stretched on long enough. I will have to hit you folks (if there are any of you left after my vacation) up with part deux when I am next awake, probably sometime on Wednesday. The things from SCHS (highlight: I choke a kid in a ten-finger guillotine and he thinks it is a grand ol' time) should be most entertaining, at least, I am capable of making them appear so.

Oh, my paper is all about form and Modernist techniques in Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. You would all find it most enjoyable if you had ever read the tale.

Peace.

R.I.P. Kyle Putzier

2006-02-13T05:46:00.000-08:00

Live, Learn. Ludicrous.

2006-02-02T17:34:00.000-08:00

For the past five nights or so I have been performing a wonderful little experiment. The science lover in me is coming alive (I am still trying to justify my ACT scores, hehe, they don't know crap).
I knew that I would be spending Wednesday evening (last night) in the Twin Cities. The reason for my trip up was to see the inaugural MMA show at the Myth nightclub. Good venue, few thousand people, and plenty of good seats. If all goes as planned, I will be fighting there March 8th.
Anyway, back to the experiment. I knew that I would only have a few hours of sleep and I know that experts advise that a person should make sure to make up for all sleep lost by sleeping extra on the follow nights. I wonder if it was possible to make up that sleep beforehand.
So, for the four nights prior to the fight night, I made sure to get extra rest, including ten hours of sleep on Tuesday night. I figured that I had made up for at least five missed hours of sleep.
The end of the night came, I got back to Eyota at about 2:30 AM and headed to bed after reading the newspaper. I got up past my alarm time and barely made it back to Winona for my 8 AM class. Now, I feel like crap. I fell asleep in one class (granted, the movie on multiple intelligences wasn't that interesting).
This proves, definitively, that pre-event sleep banking is impossible. All it does is get the body used to getting generous amounts of sleep. It is actually worse for a person than just going about the regular schedule.
I despise this silly body that I occupy. But at least I have good genes.

Also, my keys are in a car in Zumbrota, my truck is in Rochester, and I am in Winona with my coach's car. Good stuff.

I got my assignment for Field Experience in Education 305. I will be spending a few afternoons a week in the classroom of Mike Smith at St. Charles High School. Bernie Wegman knows that man, he has been around for a while and is supposed to be a good fella.
I am looking forward to this activity as much as one can look forward to something that will make him horribly busy and boost his gas bill considerably. Dadgumit.

Also, according to Discover magazine, redheads have a 25% higher pain tolerance than the rest of us. This explains so much about Mark Storm.

Peace.

You have toiled and labored...

2006-01-29T20:25:00.000-08:00

Well put (a couple of the better things that I have read lately):

Mr. Malter:
"We live less than the time it takes to blink an eye, if we measure our live against eternity. So it may be asked what value is there to a human life. There is so much pain in the world. What does it mean to have to suffer so much if our lives are nothing mroe that the blink of an eye? I learned a long time ago that a blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something. A span of life is nothing. But the man who live that span, he is something. He can fill that tiny span with meaning. That I do not think you understand yet. A life filled with meaning is worthy of rest. I want to be worthy of rest when I am no longer here."

F. R. Higgins:
"Song For the Clatter-bones"

God rest that Jewy woman,
Queen Jezebel, the bitch
Who peeled the clothes from her shoulder-bones
Down to her spent teats
As she stretched out of the window
Among the geraniums, where
She chaffed and laughed like on half daft
Titivating her painted hair-

King Jehu he drove to her,
She tipped him a fancy beck;
But he from his knacky side-care spoke,
'Who'll break that dewlapped neck?'
And so she was thrown from the window;
Like Lucifer she fell
Beneath the feet of the horses and they beat
The light out of Jezebel.

That corpse wasn't planted in clover;
Ah, nothing of her was found
Save those grey bones that Hare-foot Mike
Gave me for their lovely sound;
And as once her dancing body
Made star-lit princes sweat,
So I'll just clack: though her ghost lacks a back
There's music in the old bones yet.

A question: how do you think the poem is changed by using "the old bones" rather than "her old bones"? It is startling enough that it must be intentional, so what does it mean? It goes along nicely with "That corpse" and "the Clatter-bones".

I am constantly disturbed by the punctuation inside quotations in MLA, so I am disregarding it here.

Peace.

Darn Wishful Thinking

2006-01-27T08:07:00.000-08:00

I am pretty upset with myself this morning. My mind allowed me to believe that I had solved my money problems by finding $425 in a pair of shorts on my bedroom floor. I hadn't sorted out the lack of truth until I thought of the fact that I had already cleaned my room up for Christmas. What a shame, I awoke quite contented only to be disapointed by all of that.

I should get back to the class I am in at this time.

Peace.

Where the coneflowers grow.

2006-01-26T20:52:00.000-08:00

I will be heading back out to the farm again tomorrow. Went on out there on Wednesday as well. I didn't do much for work, but I did do a good bit of planning. That is almost as good, I swear. Once I have the plans in mind, the only thing that limits me is the rain. And laziness.
My blueberries are getting a fence and I will be adding a few more plants to that patch this spring too. I'll expand the hill garden around Maggie's grave too. Other than other clearing plans and probably one more expansion of the hill garden , I don't have all that much to do this season.

I do believe that tomorrow evening is just asking for a trip to Saint Paul. Or, at least, the old roommate, Brody, is asking. Seth and I will have to have a jolly old time as it will be the first time that I have visited Hamline since August. I have a rep to keep up...or something. I just feel like hanging out with all the spoiled Hamlinites.

I'll let you know if I come up with anything interesting to say, but I don't think you folks want a critical analysis of Mrs. Dalloway or The Chosen or some of that stuff. I could do that, but I will just stick with occasional website listings, comedy routines, and general narration of my inactivity. I know you want it.

Peace.

Well, whoops.

2006-01-23T18:40:00.000-08:00

Looks like I gave out the wrong date for the next Battle at the Barn. I had originally told folks March 11, bug it looks like the date for my bout with Nelson is actually going to be on the 25th of March. They had the wrong date on the old posters, and I believed them.. I apologize.
Tell your friends.

Oh, Emily, since you were wondering. Yes, I won my fight last weekend.

I should really get to homework at some point today, but I thought that watching Where the Red Fern Grows and hitting up the Pizza Hut lunch buffet (for $2.60) were more important.
I heart that movie. Chop down that big cottonwood little boy! Good job.

Hey, I brought down a couple more trees yesterday. Slowly but surely I will have my self a blueberry patch and western treeline that look lovely and grow well. Hooray, and thanks to Seth for the help. Giving him an axe to use didn't even get anyone killed either. Amazing stuff.

Ha, I must be getting depressed. The only movies I brought back here with me this week were and adult oriented romantic comedy and a drama (but if you trash talk Gilbert Grape I might take you out). I did watch Rambo II last weeks, so I might just be recovering from all that masculinity.

Someone should explain to me why riding the Amtrak is so damned expensive. Does it have anything to do with the price of diesel these days? If so, provide me with some good info and we can being pimping the B-5 and B-20 blends.

Alright, I might just get to that homework now.

Peace.

Dandy Times

2006-01-19T08:33:00.000-08:00

I don't know if I ever mentioned my great love for a particular OK Go video on here. Anyway, it still exists and I though I should share.
Video here (it is the "A Million Ways" one).

I just almost drooled. It was awesome.

Remember that time when you got drilled in the head with a kickball? That was awesome.

Sorry, I just thought that getting hit in the head with a kickball was something that happens to everyone at least once, so it is safe to put it in there. I heart the comedy of Chris Farley (granted, he probably didn't write that set of jokes, but he did perform it to perfection).

I have noticed that my appreciation of and addiction to all things plant related is starting to mess with my academics. Previously, this crap was just a hobby and something that I might occasionally mention during a "get to know you" session in class, but now it has gotten into the way that look at literature.
While reading Mrs. Dalloway I have found myself paying special attention to all of the little details where flowers are described, applied to characters, and generally appreciated by characters to the degree that the rest of the novel is being neglected. This could spell trouble (what an odd colloquialism). I should probably get this under control, but I don't know how to do that in the winter.
You see, winter doesn't have much for growing things so I am forced to sink into my gardening books and catalogs. I supplement that with wandering the woods, checking the snow covered gardens to make sure they are properly insulated, and reading excessive numbers of Frost poems. Heck, most all of the poems I seem to be really concentrating on in my free-time reading seem to be nature based. Damn this season.
This should be a trouble that begins to fade when the cold starts to leave, so hopefully we don't have snow on May 1st this year or I will be writing some essays that will be oddle received for finals.

Other news: Kylie is set to become the youngest crownbearer in memory for this Monday's D-E Snoball Coronation. Plus, she is walking with Mikey Nelson, the coolest little kid I know.

Bonus Video:
Conan and the greatest Walker: Texas Ranger clip ever. This is an old video, but I felt like watching it again today, and I am in a sharing mood.

Peace.

Classes classes classes

2006-01-18T08:34:00.000-08:00

I gots me a whole lot o' dem. Plus a bunch of other required volunteer hours that I must do for my Education program.

The list:
English 220 - American Multicultural Literature - This would be a class about writers from other cultures who spent some time in America. This is a Gen Ed. for some folks, so it is filled with non-majors and with be a joy I am sure.
English 305 - Modernism and Postmodernism - Essentially Modernism (Virginia Woolf and all that) with a little of Postmodernism (if that exists). I hope we spend a week on e e cummings. Should actually be a fairly tough course.
Comm. Studies 371 - Small Group Discussion - Lots of talking with our wacky prof. Good lady, I just enjoy watching her talk as she puts herself into some odd positions for emphasis. Also, she was nice enough to create her own packet for a textbook, $15 bucks rather than $65. I might just enjoy this.
Education 305 - Human Development and Learning (for Secondary Education) - Umm...yeah. Don't really know. I haven't done any of the readings yet. Hehe. It also includes five hours a week of in school work as a teacher's assistant. I will probably get shipped up the road to Lewiston-Altura High School where I will have to do a good bit of work including leading classes. Neat stuff, but I have no time for these darn kids.
Education 308- Human Relations & Student Diversity - Learning about cultural differences between me and all the poor, minority children. C'mon, I already know everything, I lived in St. Paul for a year. Hehe. Also includes a one or two day a week session where I will be tutoring a child at a local middle school. This was just one of the volunteer options, but it seems to be the neatest.
Education 312 - Instructional Planning & Assessment: Secondary - I must learn how to create a curriculum. Also, I should learn about the unfunded mandates of No Child Left Behind. That is sure to turn into a gripe session. It should be awesome.

All in all, whatever, it's school. The only person I posted that stuff for was Emily; I am sure she will find it most interesting.

I still find it hilarious that I was so irresponsible that I did not even know when my classes actually started this semester. I would have shown up half a week late if not for Brooke (or maybe Noah since it was his baptismal party where I learn that information).

Umm...I fight on Saturday in Rochester. Maybe I will actually start writing about my fighting on here, doubtful.

Flippin' Youngsters

2006-01-17T08:01:00.000-08:00

More proof that Bernings should not be allowed near technological devici: Seth deleted the blog I wrote last night before I could finish it up and post it. Learn to check the other windows of the browser before closing crap. Jackhole.

Well, back to you previously scheduled lack of new writing on here.

Peace.

All the Standard Activities

2006-01-11T17:40:00.000-08:00

Last night, with my last night of winter break, the only logical thing left to do was to go camping. It was a grand ol' time. We had a good set-up on the slope of a hill in the pasture. No cow patties around and a nice flat shelf to lay camp. A couple of us had been out a couple of days before to take care of the fire.
No need for tents or any of those things. Fine to have a sleeping bag and a ground mat.
There was a lovely full moon and a total lack of clouds. These factors combined to create a very well lit environment. The four campers, Dan, Seth B., Seth W., and me, were able to wander through the pasture and woods until the time that we were weary.
I can't say that I had ever wandered out to the sand cliff during the night time. It probably wasn't the best plan in the world to try and climb out from the valley floor with a gun in one hand (at least it was unloaded while I was climbing). Luckily, Dan only wound up with one small wound on his forehead. Hardly any blood either.
The night passed smoothly enough. Apparently Seth B. was feeding the fire throughout the night. Such a responsible young lad. I was able to sleep through the night with only one wake up. I think that was based more in my bladder than any cold feelings. Would have prefered my 0 degree sleeping bag rather than my 30 degree one, but a few extra layers of clothes took care of that.
All in all, a quite successful trip. Dandy stuff if you don't mind the weather.

Peace.

Hilarity

2006-01-03T20:24:00.002-08:00

There is a particular television ad that I love to loath. It is an anti-sex ad featuring two teenage boys lifting weights and include this quote:
"I may not be able to lift as much weight as you, but I am strong enough to say no to sex."
It makes my day every single time I see it.

Hey, anyone remember when the Iraq War was supposed to cost the American taxpayers 1.7 billion dollars. That is almost as hilarious as that commercial. Oh wait, people are dead. End humor.

Hehe, update: O'Reilly is still a liar, this time on Letterman. He is getting schooled by Letterman. He has been school on the "War on Christmas," Cindy Sheehan, intelligence, and the legitimate questioning of authority.

Peace.

Post-Christmas Chillin'

2005-12-28T13:21:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't done anything since the celebrations of the weekend. My truck hasn't been starting for the last couple days so I haven't really been able to drive anywhere, but I have gotten a good bit of reading done.
Louis L'Amour was the first novelist to ever be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Good for him. I need a time machine so that I may head for the mountains as they were in the early 19th century. That would be dandy.

Amber Tamblyn (That girl from"Joan of Arcadia." I never watched the show and it was probably sappy crap, but she is a poet in addition to being an actress and she seems to have things pretty well sorted out for herself.):
Q - What do you think is the most difficult thing that young girls face?
A - Social anxieties and image in general. I've been really fascinated recently by watching the shows on MTV, like "Sweet 16" and "Laguna Beach." I'm fascinated by this whole new generation of cultureless and deprived white kids in suburbia, and I feel like they have no connection to the outside world, and we're totally glorifying this image. We're glorifying that all white kids are dumb and cultureless."

Granted, I think she is a little too sympathetic for my taste, but I really do wonder if this really is conscious ignorance or these bastards just have never had the opportunity to experience anything. Shit, I think they might just be lazy, standardless peons.
Also, I was flipping throught the channels and saw one of the girls from "Laguna Beach" being punked. Ha.

"To live in a city, one must be larger than one's environment or enjoy belonging to the crowd. Out here a person can become a part of it all. He can walk the heights with the eagles and the cloud, but it needs a special kind of person."

Peace.

Airing of Grievances

2005-12-23T06:49:00.000-08:00

It is Festivus time again. As the this celebration for the rest of us rolls around we must take time to clear the air. I shall begin and will update through the day as I decide to add others to my list.

Danny has disapointed me in the following ways:

you are unable to clean up after yourself

Emily has disapointed me in the following ways:

excessive whining
insufficient humor

Tom has disapointed me in the following ways:

no Mankato egging sponsorship
not delivering me Wayne's milkshakes this afternoon

Seth has disapointed me in the following ways:

getting a job
acting like he was going to get into fights
not going after the various women he desires

Oh, I still have to finish gift shopping and room cleaning. Back to work. More later.

Peace.

On a break.

2005-12-22T11:29:00.000-08:00

As I am on a break, I have been taking it easy. Posting is a pain. Instead, I have been reading good deal of Frost and watching the Discovery Channel.
My room will be clean by the time family members arrive, and that will be my greatest accomplishment of the last year. Not that I have done so little but that it is such an enormous task. In my absence I will leave you with this:

Frost:
Bond and Free

Love has earth to which she clings
With hills and circling arms about--
Wall within wall to shut fear out.
But Thought has need of no such things,
For Thought has a pair of dauntless wings.

On snow and sand and turn, I see
Where Love has left a printed trace
With straining in the world's embrace.
And such is Love and glad to be
But Thought has shaken his ankles free.

Thought cleaves the interstellar gloom
And sits in Sirius' disc all night,
Till day makes him retrace his flight
With smell of burning on every plume,
Back past the sun to an earthly room.

His gains in heaven are what they are.
Yet some say Love by being thrall
And simply staying possesses all
In several beauty that Thought fares far
To find fused in another star.

I think I have run into that poem on more occasions than I ever expected to, and it still brings me pleasure.

Peace.

A Christmas Poem by Rep. John Dingell (D-MI)

2005-12-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

'Twas a week before Christmas and all through the House,
no bills were passed 'bout which Fox News could grouse.
Tax cuts for the wealthy were passed with great cheer,
so vacations in St. Barts soon should be near.

Katrina kids were all nestled snug in motel beds,
while visions of school and home danced in their heads.
In Iraq, our soldiers need supplies and a plan,
and nuclear weapons are being built in Iran.

Gas prices shot up, consumer confidence fell.
Americans feared we were in a fast track to ... well.
Wait, we need a distraction, something divisive and wily,
a fabrication straight from the mouth of O'Reilly.

We will pretend Christmas is under attack,
hold a vote to save it, then pat ourselves on the back.
Silent Night, First Noel, Away in the Manger,
Wake up Congress, they're in no danger.

This time of year, we see Christmas everywhere we go,
From churches to homes to schools and, yes, even Costco.
What we have is an attempt to divide and destroy
when this is the season to unite us with joy.

At Christmastime, we're taught to unite.
We don't need a make-up reason to fight.
So on O'Reilly, on Hannity, on Coulter and those right-wing blogs.

You should sit back and relax, have a few egg nogs.

'Tis the holiday season; enjoy it a pinch.
With all our real problems, do we really need another Grinch?
So to my friends and my colleagues, I say with delight,
a Merry Christmas to all, and to Bill O'Reilly, Happy Holidays.

Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas.

Good for Ford

2005-12-14T15:13:00.000-08:00

An update on the whole Ford-not-putting-ads-in-gay-mags thing:
They must of told the AFA to screw off as they are now going to continue to create tailor-made ads for distinct groups, including gay folks, and will be including those ads in various specialized magazines.
Isn't that nice?

Dick Morris used a Fox News poll in his last op-ed (Tuesday P-B for the local readers) to show that most Americans still support the Iraq War and that a bit over 50% still believe that Iraq had WMDs when Shrub said they did.
Isn't that like polling teen-aged boys over the phone to find the average penis size for American males?

Sorry for my brevity, but I must get back to something resembling studying.

Peace.

Update: Holy Shit. Look at this. Didn't expect that to ever happen. Shrub is turning soft on us.

“It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!”

2005-12-11T19:21:00.000-08:00

The Constitution that is. Thank you Mr. President. That guy simply continues to astound. Sure, he said it in the privacy of a meeting and never thought that it would be made public, and we should respect his privacy. Hehe.
Oh, the story is here.

Next thought:
Why is it that, with a Republican controlled Congress and White House as well as the common social-conservative belief that life begins at conception, we don't have an income tax exemption of those babies that are still in utero? I mean, wouldn't that just be an excellent way for conservatives to start to show their belief that a fetus is a life? Assigning value to a fetus links right up with charging folks with murder when they kill one.
These whole idea has a little bit of merit too. Afterall, it is expensive to be pregnant. Eating for two and what not. The medical expenses are already written off, correct? This would just add another hitch in the giddiup of couples looking at baby-making and families are the basis of a strong America (or some shit like that), right?
Oh, this is a great plan for conservatives, but the lack of this being brought forward simply proves, as always, that conservatives always care more about money than they care about babi, famili, and you or me.

Peace.

R.I.P. Miss Maggie

2005-12-06T22:26:00.001-08:00

My most consistant, most tolerant, and most sincere companion has passed on. She made it to the age of nine, but I still say that she was taken too soon. I guess she finally found something that he stomach couldn't handle; the chocolate could never kill her, but rat poison (the vet's best guess) was enough to do it. I don't blame the owner of whatever place she found the stuff, this was simply the result of her freewheeling lifestyle. She lived the equivalent of a rock and roll lifestyle for dogs. Too many wild nights on the town finally did her in.
She was my cuddle buddy for eight years, although she did abandon my bed for a couch when I decided to move to the basement, but I can understand her apprehension. I don't know that there is anyone who is her equal in the cuddling department as she was a mastermind of head placement and would never overstay her welcome.
I miss having someone to roll around on the floor with every time I come home, the kitchen floor will never be quite as spotless as she managed to keep it, the backyard will seem quite a bit more empty, and I don't know who will keep me company on lonely nights in the TV room.
I only wish she had at least had her opportunity to retire to the farm before her end.

Goodbye girl.

Peace.

Christian Tolerance?

2005-12-06T16:45:00.000-08:00

Yeah, not only do fundamentalist Christians not want to allow homosexuals to be joined in any sort of union, they also don't want them to buy cars. That is the gist of what I get from this story. Yeah, the American Family Association doesn't like the idea of Ford trying to direct advertisements at gay folks. This is just disturbing.
Oh, funny part of the story: Ford will pull these ads for all of their brands except Volvo. Um...gay folks love Volvos? I guess that makes sense, Volvos are fine motor vehicles. Folks with good taste are likely to enjoy them.
Looks like I forgot this part: Excuse me, AFA, the reasonable folks are trying to get some work done. Perhaps you would like to step outside and play a rousing game of "Go Fuck Yourself". Just a thought.

By the way, my time wasting knows no bounds. I have been sitting at the same desk in the library for almost three hours and I don't know if I have gotten a single bit of real work done.
I am still sticking to my promise to myself that I would get at least five pages of typing done this evening.
The things I have been reading for the last while haven't even been interesting. I am just that worthless.

Peace.

Social Libertarian

2005-12-05T15:34:00.000-08:00

Does that even count? It just doesn't work in a two party system.

By the way, I don't support government sanctioned marriage between homosexuals. Then again, I don't support government sanctioned marriage between hetrosexuals either.
The government has no place in this debate as it does not have the right to make such decisions as to which consenting adults are capable of entering into a loving relationship.
I can't recall if I have posted directly about this before, so I'll say it again: Civil Unions for everyone. If you want to call yourselves married go ahead and do it, the government will give you the legal status that is now given to married couples.
However, your marriage would not be one recognized under God or any higher power (this is assuming that we don't consider the government a higher power), at least, it wouldn't be in the wording. If you want to be married under you religion, head to your church or any church, but they reserve the right to refuse to conduct a service for any reason they please. If they aren't receiving federal funding, then they are a private entity (granted, one with tax-exempt status, but I will take away whenever I darn well please. hint: stay out of politics).
Civil Unions are the best way to retain, or, more appropriately, achieve, the seperation of church and state on this issue.

How does that strike you?

By the way, I am still boycotting the Meadow Park Church of Christ, they should have known better than to bring a in a guest preacher who would rant about the "Minnesota Marriage Amendment". What a wankster.

Peace.

The Red Hoodie Punkass

2005-11-29T17:50:00.000-08:00

Would it be proper to slap the man sitting near me at the table? The situation: he apparently likes chewing tobacco and is too much of a Sally to gut it when he is indoors so he has taken over a community trashcan for his spitting purposes. I can't stand him.
Lucky for him, I only fight for money now.

No time for other blogging. Studying, studying, reading, researching, studying, reading, writing, researching, writing, or some combination of two or three of those at the same time.

Peace.

I shot myself in the face with a shotgun.

2005-11-28T08:05:00.000-08:00

It's true. I done did it. A truly exhilarating experience and a bit freaky too. Granted, I did only take a single BB to the lower lip area, but still puts a little fear in you to follow a very loud blast with a strike to the face. More on this later.

That is the sort of activity that I get involved in when I ventured southward to visit far southern Iowa and my relatives who reside in that area.

Following my fight last Wednesday I ventured home and got to bed nice and late so that I could wake up very sleepy at 6 AM to get started on my trip south with Cousin Whitney. Nothing eventful other than having to detour to Des Moines to pick up Tate and a few hours spent listening to Whitney complain about one thing or another. (Hehe, she even tried to convince me that I would need to spank my children later in life. Her proof? My bratty childhood.)

On Thursday night I was fortunate enough to pay a visit to the new homestead of a young man my age named Shane, a bandmate of Tate's. The lucky fool owns 600 acres (I believe they came through his grandparents in one way or another), a bunch of goats, some peacocks, an eight-track player, and a crappy TV that gets a fuzzy vision of NBC (I think). What a life! I am so jealous, but only of his current situation. We'll see how it works out for him and hopefully I can wind up in such a situation on of these days.

Back to shooting myself in the face. My family seems to enjoy shooting guns and I seem to enjoy it a bit too. I found a new appreciaton for my .222 (much stronger than a .22) while I was attempting to shoot the hood hinges off of Tate's old Pontiac 6000. With Uncle Leon and Cousin Kurt it seems that shotguns are the game. We really didn't spend too much time shooting, but we really took advantage of our last thirty minutes before darkness each day.

It was at the end of a quick session where we had each emptied a few boxes of shells rather rapidly (how wasteful) that I got into my previously described situation. We were fulfilling Kurt's lifelong dream of shooting a car when I took a shot at the gas tank cover and felt something come from the dark and slap me in the mouth. Turns out I was perfectly fine and continued to shoot the that evening, but now I can forever say that I once shot myself in the face with a 12 guage. Isn't that just special?

I have other stories to tell since I took a break from blogging and blog reading for quite a while, but I also have class to get to and bit of reading to take care of.

Peace.

R.I.P. Wyatt Ammon

2005-11-20T20:13:00.001-08:00

Hamlinite, trackster, Peace Corps Volunteer

Memorial Page

Wyatt's Zambia Page

Peace.

Haughtily Symbiotic

2005-11-18T09:46:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I am dependent on Shane, and one of us is definitely condescending about it. Making fun of me for not having the fridge fully closed or for leaving the light in my room on for a few extra minutes. That kid is going down.

Dream one:
I was on a fanciful version of campus that doesn't appear to exist in even the slightest of associations. The only part of the inside of a building that I can recall was like the inside of a flight control tower (or at least my imagined version).
A few select "English profs" (Mrs. Dunn, among others) berated me for being a worthless scholar and told me that I should quit the major. They seemed genuinely angry with me for something, but I can not recall what.
There happend to be a few other "profs" (Betty Bermel) who told me that I was a great guy and an excellent student. They apparently got my jokes and didn't mind my disdain for school or my lack of seriousness.
If any other portions of this dream come back to me, I will let you know. I really should have written this down closer to the time I actually had the dream.

Dream two will have to follow tomorrow or later today.

Peace.

"Always look on the bright side of life"

2005-11-16T12:59:00.001-08:00

This officially brings a selfish little project to its end. I have been titling my posts with nothing but lyrics from the particular Monty Python song that is listed as the title of this post. The project was primarily started so that I could be amused by reading the lyrics in order on in the archives section. I thought the lines might inspire me to write something interesting; that didn't happen, but I am not too upset about it. Honestly, it is not like I had anything better to be doing.

I arrived at school at 8 this morning. It is now 3 PM and I realized during my 11 AM course that I had left my lights on. Shane and I will have to go get some jumper cables and take care of that at some point this evening. I should be done doing school work on campus at 9 oder 10. What a splendid day.

My registration window opens up on Friday morning. I have to take 18 credits a semester for the next couple, take two summer courses, and take 15 credits during a semester when most majors with the 12 credits of required courses are usually overworked if I want to get out of this place after Fall '07. Shit yeah. Either I am going to have no life for awhile, or I am going to have to stay for another extra semester. My great disdain for this education precludes me from wanting that. So, instead, I will destroy myself.
This should be fun for you folks to watch.

I have a couple of dreams that I should type about on here, but I have a meeting with a prof.

Oh, looking on the bright side: I got my two pieces of pizza from the Smaug for free today (I have never eaten here before), but only because my ATM wouldn't give me any money and I had already gotten the food dished up. The young lady simply instructed me to walk away. It feels great to be such a badass. Hehe.

Peace.

Some things in life are bad

2005-11-12T16:18:00.000-08:00

Like Johnny Cash being dead. However, things are looking up since we all have the chance to go check out the new biopic Walk the Line, and that should be a dandy. Who is going? I think I'll give it a go next friday on opening night. Yeah, I am that nerdy.
In other Johnny Cash news I watched a lovely show that was made way back when during one of Johnny's first shows at San Quentin prison. It intercut snippets from the prisoners, some heartbreakingly sad, some simply interesting, with songs from the shows. It is nice that they let the female backup singers into the prison.

In other film news there is a new Pride and Prejudice coming out. This one apparently does Austen proud. I don't actually know that, but it is supposed to be pretty good. Part of that is an increased realism, how nice. Keira Knightley and Donald Sutherland are two notables in this version.

Peace.

They can really make you mad

2005-11-10T07:45:00.000-08:00

No they can't. What a liar. You make you mad and I won't have you making excuses for such things. Demand accountability. Or not. Whatever, at least demand sound agricultural techniques. What?

I think I may have found a sinister means of getting away with not paying for the broken case on my laptop. It will require me to break the case in another area, but I am willing to do that. I will wait for a while before I do that. That is, wait until I have the money to pay for the case if my efforts fail.

Yesterday afternoon I continued my practice of attending seemingly random presentations by profs and other folks. The most recent was a presentation titled "How To Watch Dance" and was led by the quintessential dancer prof. Black flowing fabric on top of black stretch pants and limish green sweater. No shoes of course. And she flowed about the stage with limbs of rubber.
Oh, I want to say more, but it is time for class. Maybe I will update this when I get to work this afternoon.

Peace.

Other things just make you swear and curse

2005-11-09T12:13:00.000-08:00

Fuck. Shit. Whore. Ass. Damn.
Hmm...so they do.
I done broked somethin' on my 'puter. Some little grid of metal (maybe just hard plastice) on the shell of my laptop began to bulge out the other day. I was convinced that I could protect the thing and not hit it anymore as I believe that the bulging was caused by dropping my backpack or bangin this beast on something or other. However, I was foiled again. I dropped the backpack at the end of a class and when next check a few little pieces of the speaker protecting grid had popped off. This is sure to cost me a pretty penny (and I have so few of those left). For now I think it will be ignored for a year or so since I can't afford to be bothered by paying for it and I am going to have damn thing for another year and a half anyway.
Perhaps I will go in and find out just how much this is going to cost me, but the more likely senario is that I won't and that I will hope to sneak the damage by the folks taking them back in the future. I will get caught and will curse some more. Damn.

I also forgot to tell the story of me locking my keys in the truck at the state park on Monday. Anyway, I did it, I got to spend more time on the trails with Dan, I had to run a bunch, and I now have one less roadside visit to use up from the good folks at AAA.
It did take them a good fifteen minutes to locate me though. Apparently Great River Bluffs has no real address or some such thing.

Peace.

When you're chewing life's gristle

2005-11-08T16:29:00.000-08:00

What a waste of a good walk. I decided that I should probably work to move the democratic process forward so I took a half hour walk to my local polling station in Winona. I had intended to vote "yes" on the referendum to benefit the Winona public school, but I was thwarted in my attempt to help the children (they aren't that great anyway).
It seems that it is impossible for me to vote as I neither live on campus nor receive utility bills at my current address. You see, if I lived on campus or in campus sponsored housing I could simply present my student identification card and vote, but I do not and so it is necessary for me to come up with some sort of a utility bill with my current address in order to register. I for some reason thought that only some sort of mail or other bil was necessary so I brought something from an education testing service.
Yeah, that wasn't good enough and there is really nothing that I could have presented that would have worked. The only utility bill that comes to the apartment is the electric bill and that comes in Shane's name. Other than that bill the only utility (term being used loosely) bill that I pay anything for is my cell phone bill and that reaches me in Eyota.
So, conclusion, I don't really exist in this town and that just proves my point.

I am surrounded by thirteen-year-olds (maybe even younger) who help to prove another of my points. No adults believe that the Insane Clown Posse make any sort of decent music and their only fans are children like those around me. I wish they would at least debate the merits of the music rather than just printing of poor quality pictures of the douchebags.
Also, these same kids still like pro-wrestling. I might slap one of them if there is another argument over who owns a particular picture of Ray Mysterio Jr. Probably kid with the fucking mustache because he is loud and doesn't seem to know anything about computers and because he has that damn mustache.
Which gets to the next point, why do kids try to grow mustachios as soon as they possibly can. I recall Bigalk doing this when he was younger so I don't know if it something only dumbass kids who develop physically much earlier than mentally do, or if this is a pervasive disease within the age group.

Oh, why am I surrounded by early/pre teenaged children? The internet seems to have almost completely disapeared around my apartment. That is correct the net of inter seems to have faded. How disapointing. That just means that I extended my walk back around to campus so that I could type for you folks.

I walk quite a bit lately. I am punishing myself for leaving my bike in Eyota. I am also saving the planet (hehehe).

Last point, Shane, my roommate, is a nutbag. He puts ketchup on his mac & cheese and then questioned my dipping my grilled cheese in the same substance. C'mon.

Peace.

Don't grumble, give a whistle.

2005-11-06T16:25:00.001-08:00

I have a lot of homework to do, but I only have a little over 100 pages of Stone Angel left to read for tomorrow. That is only a third of the book, oh yeah. Trying to be positive here. I don't know what kind of a spin I will put on my Writing In Communities work that hasn't been started at all. Oh, hey! I don't have school on Friday. I will dedicate a portion of a garden to some veterans or something. Is that insensitive? Oh yeah? I don't see you slaughtering native peoples when Columbus Day rolls around, so who are you to judge?

Enough of the positive.
Bah to my mother for her spendthrift ways. That, or bah her for her hatred of teenagers. She is causing me to get fat again.
Explanation - My mother dislikes teenagers who go trick-or-treating and because of her hatred she refuses to give them more than one piece of candy. That factor is combined with her love of buying a wide variety of candies and the habit that young people have of passing by our cul-de-sac on this evening. All of those together cause us to have oodles of leftover candies.
I have already gone through all the licorice and Butterfingers. Next are the peanut M&Ms and the Snickers. I haven't decided what is after that.
My summer weight loss had already started to disapear and now I am speeding the process. I would rather be a 185er than a 205er. Bah.

Oooooh. Treehouse of Horrors number something or other is on.
"Ooh, ah, my Flanderdoodle!"

Peace.

And this'll help things turn out for the best.

2005-11-02T18:14:00.000-08:00

Wowzers. I just got home from my first ass-kicking in over a year. It came when I was at fighting practice this evening, but I didn't even get punched once. We did a few drills and I even did the running-man, but then the fun ended. It was a grand ol' workout, and, so far as I know, I didn't push myself quite that hard while coaching last winter. At SCSU I did, but that was a long time ago.
Regardless, good times. I will pay for it in the morning. Come to think of it, I should be stretching right now.

A message:
Uncle Ron,
Yes, we still need a coffeetable. I wouldn't mind using the cardboard-box/laundry baskets combo for the whole year, but it gets to be a pain trying to balance the whole thing out when Shane has to do his laundry.
Let me know what you might have for us.
Thanks.

Why is it that my favorite magazine both only come every two months? (Also, what is the term for a publication that is published six times per year? I could look it up, but you will remember it for longer if you have to look it up.) Both my Organic Gardening and the DNR's wonderful Minnesota Conservation Volunteer are of that status and it makes me a little sad. Although, it does make me extra happy when they get here. Then, to add one more wrinkle, it is once again bad because that leads to me reading through them as quickly as possible. I can only read them a couple of times in a week before they seem to get a bit stale. Especially when it is gardening information that I am unable to use until the next Spring.

My blog has gotten intolerable boring. I promise to go on a bender and write from the book of Hunter S. Thompson at some point. Yeah, probably not, but if I get kicked out of school in the future, all bets are off.

Peace.

If life seems jolly rotten, there's something you've forgotten,

2005-10-31T18:01:00.000-08:00

What all have you forgotten? I have forgotten more than I care to recall. It seems that I am correct in my previous assessment of my faculties. Not only was I better read as child, but I seem to have lost my ability to spew massive amounts of bullshit.
I still have the capabilities to produce more b.s. than the common person, but my production has been greatly reduced. That is the only explanation that I can find for my recent troubles.

Who wants to read something completely random? Well, this next piece is something that I just started writing for no particular reason today. I have no idea what the inspiration was nor do I have an explanation for the whole thing. I will try to come up with a title though. How about....

Weakened Desire:
He was born of the cold, breath sucking lands. That is, discourse with him was like taking in air at thirty degrees below zero. The vapor crystalizes in your throat and leaves only Jake to keep at the yakking. The temperature seems to have no effect on his speech or his willingness to gossip. I would dare to say that he is the only one who appreciates his "discussions". The obnoxious taunts and tangents don’t suit the senses of many others. Then again, what do I know? I am simply a college dropout with no motivation and little desire. Call me lazy, I’ll call myself unaffected. My ambitions, if they can be called such, are opposing to most folk's desires. The Almighty Dollar is not my god, I couldn’t care less for sexual experience, and the admiration of others is not admirable to me. Sax, my hound, seems to have a high opinion of me. She keeps getting fed as it gives me someone to talk to, but I am really only avoiding the Jakes, Janes, and Genes. Sax is a sounding board for my lack of desire. She is a willing acoustic wall, so long as I don’t kick her off the couch. If only someone could do that for me. The mutt might be up to job, but she would think much of it and expect me to pay her for services rendered. I can't afford the kibble.

Yeah, so that came from somewhere, but I bet that it is based primarily in my lack of sleep mixed with my rum & coke elixir. Grammatical errors probably abound throughout that bit of trash. I don't even know why I would post it. I should stick to poetry. Perhaps I will be back a bit later with a well inspired bit of verse. I doubt it.

Peace.

Update: Nov. 1, 2005 9:00 PM, I am revising the paragraph as it didn't seem right to leave a first draft up there. If you want, Emily, I will post the original along with the revised version for you to compare.

And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.

2005-10-31T07:49:00.000-08:00

I tried to make this post on Friday, but I could not get this a particular link to work. It was so spectacular that, when I was unable to post it, I no longer wanted to go on living or at least stop blogging.
Now I have recovered from my most recent depression, which wasn't actually related to the previous paragraph. Wait, I don't know if I am over it yet as I have not turned in my paper that created the depression. I fell asleep at 2:30 AM and then had to finish up my paper from 4:20 to 8:00 this morning.
It is probably crap.
Now I just have to get through the reading of my paper with the professor and then I can head home to take a darned nap.
Oh, I also forgot all of the various cookies that I received from my grandmother and Amanda yesterday. Bah.

I am in class, I think I will work on editing that paper as I am not yet in that class, so that makes it okay. Or something.

Oh yeah.
Happy Frickin' Halloween!
I hope all the boys look like whores and all the girls look like scantily clad nursi (or whores, whatever).

Peace.

When you're feeling in the dumps, don't be silly chumps.

2005-10-27T15:30:00.001-07:00

Just visit your local state park and do your homework while sprawled out in the middle of a hiking path. Well, that, or you could at least take in the lovely sights and sounds of the many-colored, rustling leaves or the variety of animals preparing for the cold season.
That's right. I was back out doing "research" for my Writing in Communities project at the state park. I don't know if anyone else in the course managed to somehow make a process where they hang out by themselves counted as a community action. Sneaky sneaky.
I wandered along over a few miles of trails, did a little reading for my classes, and pretended that the reason I was wearing my backpack was to prepare myself for hiking in Montana next Summer. I didn't take any naps this time, but leaf rolling and needle fondling (uh huh) were just as dandy. Just pretend that I am a six-year-old and it all seems perfectly normal.
My knowledge of the woods also increased a good bit today. I paid more attention to what was growing where and finally remembered the name of one of the primary trees that had been slipping my mind (Hickory). Grand ol' afternoon.

Another good news day in the life of marijuana:
- Lung Cancer? Perhaps not.
- Improved memory? Heck yes. (Well, only in high doses.)
Why is Middle America scared of this stuff? Democrats are scared to touch the issue as they are too busy looking mainstream and don't want to offend the sensibilities of the "good parents" out there. The Republicans only pretend that they are against government regulation.
It is up to you....or me, but I am busy with school and whatnot. Give me a bumpersticker though. I'll sign petitions too. I might even show up at some rallies, but school has to come first. When I have graduated and am teaching the young people of America, then I can get active, I am sure the schools will love it.

Why do unshowered white kids wear du-rags? I thought the reason for the darn thing was to protect well coifed hair, not to hide a kid's oily, shaggy mess. I tried to research the history of the du-rag, but Google wasn't to helpful (or I didn't know what to look for), so I need someone out there to do some research, throw it my way, and then I will come out with my formal position on du-rags.
This is important stuff people, get to it.

Peace.

Just purse your lips and whistle. That's the thing.

2005-10-25T18:43:00.000-07:00

Two thousand - 2,000 - two thousand. Another milestone has come. Two thousand deaths for no reason. No apologies. "Bring 'em on." Fuck that. Some seem to need to believe the lies. They can't accept that there is no great cause. Don't be one of them.

You want a sad story? Good.
Have another? Here you go.
CNN must have been planning ahead for this occasion.

Hey, as the car ribbon says, "Support our troops, bring 'em home."
Oh how I hate all the damn car ribbons.

Peace.

For life is quite absurd and death's the final word.

2005-10-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

Fulfilling a request:

Manney Anderson

Peace.

You must always face the curtain with a bow.

2005-10-24T14:38:00.000-07:00

Well well, I have come down with something. Apparently a combination of active lethargy (that's right, I said it), lack of sleep, and a generally poor attitude have done me in.
I had an activish weekend, but I don't know that I will write about it. Most likely this illness came in during all the time I spent planting bulbs yesterday evening. I was dominating so it makes sense that I have to pay for it now. The daffodils, tulips, croci (this is too easy), and windflowers will reward us come Spring.

"I've got a light bulb full of anger
And I can switch it on and off
Situation that can be so bright
I can't believe
How pathetic we can be"

The English Major Retreat is this evening. I don't think they should be allowed to call it a "retreat" as we aren't going anywhere. At least take me out for some autumn camping. Oh well, free pizza.

(different tune)
"The game of life is hard to play
I'm gonna lose it anyway
The losing card I'll someday lay
so this is all I have to say."

The original M.A.S.H. movie made it down here with me this time. Good stuff. I wonder how long until I will get that bookshelf out of the back of the truck or the ugly table thingy or when I will remember to pay a few of my bills.

"The only way to win is cheat
And lay it down before I'm beat
and to another give my seat
for that's the only painless feat."

Hopefully I recover and dominate my tests in the next couple of days. Hmm...I should write that paper too. Oh, and I want to make it to the state park again.
Right now another nap is looking good...ah...but I have a "retreat" to be getting to.
My whole life has been a retreat.

"A brave man once requested me
to answer questions that are key
is it to be or not to be
and I replied 'oh why ask me?'"

Charge!

Peace.

Forget about your sin. Give the audience a grin.

2005-10-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

I have no idea how many of you there happens to be in the audience at any point in time. Probably two or three. Good enough. I would thank you for your loyal readership, but I can really only thank Emily and Sarah (sortive...hehe...you will get the joke later on) for that much as they are my only regular commenters. But, whatever, I don't mind. It is not as if I am not used to talking to myself. Typing to myself isn't that different.

Alright, on to the joke. My heart and a prize to any D-Eer out there who can tell me who is was that thought "sortive" was an actual word (you know a combination of "sort of"). My best guess is that it was Jason Sturm (bless his little heart and mind) as I have some strange inkling in my memory that it was him. I know that the one place I saw it (who knows how many times this person spoke it as one word and we had no way of knowing it) was on a burned CD. It said "Hard Rock Sortive" on it. I can't recall who own the particular CD (Jed?), but I do recall that the owner had received it from someone else. The time of this sighting was at some point in my senior year. This still perplexes me and I would like the mystery solved. Get to it.

Oh, I was happy for a bit today. My afternoon was spent wandering the trails out at Great River Bluffs State Park. Completely worth the gas money. The Sugar Maples were incredible (as were the birch, oaks, etc.), they really caught my eye.
I did have a debate with myself as to whether I was actually attempting to force happiness on myself since I knew that places like that one are supposed to make me happy or if I was genuinely happy. I do know that I was genuinely relaxed when I got out on one of the overlooks and felt the need to recline, take of my shoes, and rest for twenty minutes or so. I didn't even look at the view to terribly much (other than to try to analyze each type of tree in the view before me), I just covered my eyes and felt the grasses touching me.
I also experienced a genuine longing for more when I started running over possible camping trips to these very specific camping spots. Heck, when I found out that those spaces were in a special group campground I even planned out a group camping trip for my 4-H kids just so that I would be able to be there for any reason. How selfish of me.

By the way, that new favorite song that I mentioned was an interesting cover of the Bob Marley tune "High Tide or Low Tide" that was done live by Jack Johnson and Ben Harper on Last Call with Carson Daly. That is probably the only good thing that his show (or Carson in general) has given us, but it makes up for all the smucky, MTV crap he did over the years. If you request it, I just might burn all three of you readers a CD with the song on it.

"You can't deal with my infinite nature, can you?"

"That is so not true- Wait, what does that even mean?"

Peace.

Enjoy it. It's your last chance, anyhow.

2005-10-20T10:40:00.000-07:00

Highlight of my week (other than hanging with the ladyfriend, shit, I hate having to put disclaimers in here; I am going to have to be rid of her): finding my new favorite song.
Well....that is pathetic. I should really do something special with myself. I need to make better use of my units of time.
"All in all I had a very full life...it's just that...it didn't mean anything." Wallowing in self pity really doesn't seem to productive. Hell, it doesn't even have to seem that way; it is that way and I know from personal experience.

So, instead, I am going to focus on something. I am going to do more of something that is productive. Maybe gardening....
Oh shit, what a load of bullocks. I might pretend that I am about to set forth on some new segment of my existence, but I won't. I know better than that. You should know better than that by now. I am a bag of horseshit.
And I prolly ain't going to change anytime soon.

However, you may continue to enjoy such things as the this (Smurfs) or this (a very special time wasting place) or this (for all your winter holiday shopping needs).
They are each individually more interesting than me as a whole. Whiner.

Peace.

Always look on the bright side of death,

2005-10-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

Hey, at least if we were dead we wouldn't have rising college costs to worry about. Say, do any of you have "cash-strapped parents" taking care of college costs? I don't have it too shabby, my mother gives me a thousand dollars a semester nowadays. She is probably just happy that I am not longer attending a privater, 30k a year university.
I don't think I could put that kind of money into an education anyway. School has become my mortal enemy and I doubt that throwing money at the problem would have made it any more enjoyable for me. Although, I might have been a bit more involved if I were still there. Then again, maybe I will even wind up getting involved here some damn day. Too bad I am busy working to pay for those same rising college costs. So far, that is the excuse that I will cling to.

So...umm...do you think we will ever find out what Harriet Miers actually thinks about anything? Is there actually a right to privacy? Don't ask Ms. Miers 'cause she will change it up on you if you give her the chance. Too bad no one is believing her on anything.
I still don't even know if this blatant cronyism is worse that throwing a wingnut up there. Probably is though, better to have a qualified wingnut than a George Bush II worshipper?

Well, this seems to have been decided, I am more of a sitter than a walker. Emily can come here and elucidate all the reasons that she is a walker and perhaps even list off all the benefits of walking, but I am a sitter. Walking is to aimless, I know what I will find around the next corner and I would prefer the simply take in my specific scene. Sometimes a good walk leads me to undiscovered territory, but most often the walk is fruitless. Walks make for a good distraction at times and I don't need anymore of those at this time. Sitting is my thinking time I think.
Although, I will admit myself to be a hiker and a wanderer, but I consider these to be completely different beasts from walking. Perhaps it is just certain sorts of walking that I don't embrace. It looks as though further tests are necessary for me to make certain of anything on this one.
Especially when you consider that the Bible says that, as a sitter, I am not reaching my full potential.

Peace.

Just before you draw your terminal breath.

2005-10-17T08:59:00.000-07:00

Ah, back from another weekend. What fun, I am just happy that I didn't have to ride on anyone's lap in the back of Wally's car on Saturday.
Also, Shane is a winner and we all know it. I hope to see his bruised up face when he gets back from class today.
Lastly, there should be a Mr. D's in every college town. Good golly, the donut and baked goods industry has to be lucrative. Although, I don't know if I could hold back from slapping drunks every once in a while. Twist with sprinkles please.

After taxes and whatnot, I think I made $550 this weekend. I must be dealing drugs or selling illegal weapons or something. Don't be mistaken, I am still poor, I am just finding different means of delaying getting another job.

My favorite protesters are the old people working for legalized assisted suicide. Honestly, can you look at an old woman with impending death by way of cancer coming her way and say that she shouldn't be able to choose her death. These same folks are also the best advocates for legalized medicinal marijuana. Let the woman bake some damn brownies.

"Colorless green ideas sleep furiously."
Does that make complete sense to anyone else?

Peace.

Life's a piece of shit. When you look at it.

2005-10-14T04:25:00.000-07:00

But there is this happy news for the morning: toke it up, apparently it is good for you. Granted, those are only preliminary tests, but they've got potential.
Does anyone here have a good argument against the use of medical marijuana or the legalization of it in general? I'd love to hear it.
Everything in moderation and never drive under the influence of anything. That seems to be a good policy.
Although, there are some drugs that can have some pretty significantly bad effects right from the get go. If we ever go into legalization mode, we will have to decide where we let personal responsibility rule the day and where we protect for the common good. Right now, we are lacking in trust for one of those and not really doing the other one anyway.
Besides, the war on drugs is big ol' waste of our money. Drugs are still cheap and some are getting cheaper. Cops are expensive and getting more so. Take a step back and rethink this plan. Better to grow these things in areas where they won't be doing damage to our national forests or parks and can be easily monitored. Plus, less people would die. Wouldn't that be nice?
Oh, don't drink jet fuel.

Peace.

Life's a laugh and death's a joke it's true.

2005-10-13T04:40:00.000-07:00

Well, this one ain't good at all. The bird flu has now been found in Turkey and Romania. I don't generally like to get caught up in any sort of crazy talk or worrying, but this one might be a good one to join in on. This strand of the virus is difficult to transmit to humans, but it does have an over 50% kill rate (60/117) when it does. This isn't the part that is worrisome, it is the possibility of mutation that will get you all.
Let me know when it makes it to the U.S. and begins to mutate as I will then head off to the grandparents woods and will be back to visit, but probably not to stay, in six months to a year. So, if I happen to disapear, don't come looking for me. I don't want to know you.

That was a pleasant way to start of the morning. Well, that and editing an essay, what a blast.

Oh, come on down to Onalaska Saturday night for the next gun show. Should be a grand old time. If you pay me a dollar extra I will elbow a guy once for you.

Peace.

You'll see it's all a show.

2005-10-12T16:26:00.000-07:00

I am supposed to be writing an essay about my experiences working in diverse populations. They are diverse as long as they are something different from mine, but I have no real way of determining whether they are all that different from mine. I could claim that working with the farm kids while a counselor at 4-H camp was working with a different group since I am a town-boy (despite the fact that my redneckitude is obvious to all who know me). It would probably be easier to focus on my one year spent in Saint Paul though and I will probably fall back on talking about working with kids at Hancock Elementary and the local YMCA.
Anyway, that won't happen until I get ambitious, so, until then, I will continue looking at the newly arrived Fleet Farm Toy Catalog and thinking about buying Kylie a Red Ryder rifle or at least a fake tractor. What three-year-old girl wouldn't love such things?

Anyone here know the Japanese verb Bushusuro? "To do the Bush thing" is still apparently used as slang for vomiting. Young folks out there, do you happen to know why? This is a test of your obscure and trivial political knowledge.

Oh, I don't recall if I ever blogged on this, but I can recall bitching about it in conversations with people. Congratulations are in order for this family. Sadly, I will still probably watch the next Discover Channel special on them just so I can renew my disdain for them.

"I believe diversity is an old, old wooden ship."

Peace.

Keep 'em laughing as you go.

2005-10-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

A sad note for today, this is the seventh anniversary of the death of Mathew Shepard who died after being beaten by two young men outside Laramie, Wyoming and left strapped to a fence. He was immediately used to show the hatred that still exists in America towards homosexuals. The response to this incident was nearly universal in its condemnation of such actions and a call to progress for gay rights. However, seven years later, little has changed.
We have seen a great increase in the prevalence of support groups for homosexuals on college campuses, in high schools, and even in the occasional middle school. But we have seen little progress on the national level. This growing awareness and acceptance amongst the youth bodes well for our future in this area, but it doesn't mean that we shouldn't work for movement forward now.

Along those lines, Republicans are turning in on themselves, this should be fun to watch.

I am hoping to find the time to spend my afternoon out at Great River Bluffs State Park, but that is looking unlikely as I need to get myself into the education program and the application packet is due tomorrow.

Peace.