In all actuality, this isn’t going to be anything special. 17 is just what I like to call my “lucky number”. Sorry to disappoint! 🙂
So, before I went to bed last night I set alarms starting at 7:30am and lasting until 9, I think, in fifteen-minute increments so I could visit the school; I always set at least six alarms in fifteen-minute increments: the first few to wake me up, the last few to annoy me enough to get out of bed. It’s foolproof! However, because of the drive or for whatever other possible reason, I did not wake up until I received a phone call at 11:45 from my brother, who was at school. He had choir pictures today, but he had left the order form to buy the pictures at home. If I had been awake at this point, I would have already been up at the school and I would’ve had to have made a special trip back home to pick it up for him so that my mom didn’t kill him. Since I wasn’t awake, though, the call woke me up so that I could get to the school before the students got out, benefiting us both! It worked out well.
Once I got to the school, I walked in through the band hall (there’s not a band class at the same time as chorale) and walked down the hall to the choir room. I got to see a lot of old friends and got a lot of hugs, which was great, but I didn’t do much else at the school. I didn’t visit other teachers like I did during fall break or anything like that, but I didn’t mind. I just wanted to see my friends. I talked to Mr. Davis (our guard instructor/symphonic band director) about how school was going, and then I left with my brother, called my mom, got us food from Wendy’s (BACONATOR), and the two of us went up to the elementary school where she works and ate lunch with her for a while. We also walked to the music teacher’s room (I give her credit for first truly interesting me in music) and to my old kindergarten teacher’s classroom. It was good seeing the two of them after not having seen them for a while.
Then we went home, where I decided to lay on my bed, pull out my old XBox (the original Xbox, not the 360), and play Star Wars Battlefront II for the first time in forever, which was really fun. I did really well for not having played in a while and for having gotten used to Halo’s game style. I ended up doing this until soon before I left with my brother again for the high school; the theatre department is performing A Christmas Story this week, and I wanted to check it out since I didn’t get to see the play they put on while I was on fall break. It was really good; forgive me, but I have never seen A Christmas Story before, so it was fun getting acquainted with it the first time through a couple of my best friends, and don’t worry, I’ll see it soon enough. My VERY good friend Connor was the lead character, Ralphie, with another good friend Devon (these two are the ones who met Christopher Lloyd with me!) cast as his mother, another friend, Alana, as Ralphie’s “love interest”, and a few other friends who I’m not as good of friends with were in it too. It really was lots of fun. I was super impressed with the narrator, a kid I had never met before; I was MINDBLOWN with the amount of lines he had to memorize and with how well he performed those lines throughout. Congrats to you, sir. And the set for the show was awesome, and very complex. They even had working water taps! Impressive. I also enjoyed that it was in the Little Theatre instead of the main auditorium; it may have been a bit crowded and difficult to see at times, but it gave the whole experience a more “personal” feel.
After the show, Blake and I went back home, stopping at a house down the street whose owners sync their Christmas lights with music every year, broadcasting the music on a blank radio station. It’s always worth checking out. Then we went home and ate a quick dinner, and I showed my dad the first episode of Family Guy; I think he would like it if he just sat down and watched a few episodes (AND if he stayed awake through the whole episode, unlike tonight; ha). Other than all of that mess, I haven’t done much else besides sitting here typing my blog.
My grandparents are coming in town tomorrow. They only live half an hour away in Terrell, but I haven’t seen them since Thanksgiving Day, so I’m looking forward to them being down here; I’ve missed all of my family so much, so I’m glad I get to spend two weeks with them.
The annual Poteet Theatre Alumni Christmas Party is on Saturday at the home of my old theatre director, and I’m fairly positive that I’ll be attending. I miss her, whatever mishaps came between us in the past, and I miss people I associate with theatre who I haven’t seen in a long while. It should be pretty fun.
Tomorrow, I’m planning on meeting up with some Poteet choir kids after they get out of school at Chili’s to eat lunch, which should also be lots of fun.
So, that’s what’s been going on today. First day of break was definitely a success. Well, that’s all for tonight. Goodnight, everyone.
Chad
P.S. – I forgot to mention that I got two more of my grades via Raiderlink tonight: an A in History and a B+ in horn private lessons (it’ll be better next semester, I assure you; he grades from a C and you work your way up, and I kinda sorta forgot to do something; plus, I was told by someone that it wasn’t a requirement, but I didn’t check the syllabus to make sure; I WAS MISLEAD; another semicolon). With all of those grades combined so far, it brings me to a 3.9 (technically 3.8666) GPA after the first semester. Yay! Please pray that I keep it up.
P.P.S. – I know I said I’d give you all a view of our living room, but I forgot, so maybe tomorrow? We’ll see.
Hello everyone. I hope today was a great day for all of you. It wasn’t particularly “great” for me, but, again, it wasn’t a bad day; somewhere in between, making it an overall good day.
I woke up at around 6:45am, got dressed (wearing my awesome Tech Quidditch shirt!), and made it up to the music building by 7. The plan was for me to walk in the Barnes and Noble at the Student Union Building (the SUB is connected to the music building) and get some Starbucks (which is sold inside) to wake me up a bit, but no such luck: B&N was closed. Now, I could have gone to the main SUB food area and gotten some coffee there, but I guess I was just a bit too lazy to prepare my own cup of coffee. That being said, I went ahead and went to the classroom, and, at this point, it was ten minutes until the final exam began. The final itself wasn’t too bad; it was comprised of 20 listening excerpts from various styles of pieces: classical, rock, piano, string, etc. I feel I at least made a B, and I’m okay with that. We’ll see how it turned out, though. I’m not worried.
After the final, I decided to do what I did after my jury on Monday: go to my room and go back to sleep. So I did. I got back in bed around 8:45 or so (Andrew was still asleep as well), and slept on and off until – wait for it – 4pm or so. Yeah. 7-8 hours of sleep. Intense. I must admit, there were a couple periods of 30-45 minutes during that time in which I was awake, but I always went back to sleep right afterward. Andrew left to go study for his chemistry final tomorrow around 2 or 3 (somewhere in there). When I finally decided to stop sleeping, I did little more than get dressed (I had changed into my sleeping clothes after my final) and use the restroom until 6:30 (I didn’t even touch my computer or the TV!), at which point I put on my jacket and decided to hit up the new Chipotle in town, which ended up being really good. Now, I’m the kinda guy who’s a bit picky with what he eats, so all I got on my burrito was chicken, extra chicken, rice, and cheese, which I’m perfectly okay with. I also had some Powerade. While I was eating, Kadee McKenzie, a friend from high school who graduated two years ahead of me, walked in. Don’t quote me on this, but it may have been the first time (or second, MAYBE third) I’ve seen her since she graduated in ’08. We hugged and said hi, but other than that we didn’t talk much.
Anyway, I finished my meal and walked out only to discover that Starbucks was literally RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET, and, conveniently enough, I had a giftcard just hanging out in my wallet! Needless to say, I started my car (auto-start engine), walked into Starbucks, and ordered a Vanilla cappuccino. I might have mentioned this in a previous post, but I just recently discovered that I really enjoy coffee (when it’s properly sweetened, of course), so I’ve been experimenting around to see what I do and do not like. The vanilla cappuccino was alright, but nothing special in my opinion; too much foam, not enough drink. I probably won’t order it again. What I DID decide to do, though, was finish the cappuccino fairly quickly and then get a caramel mocha at McDonald’s (I really enjoy them). It was very good, despite the fact that I waited for five minutes to get my drink only for them to put whipped cream on it (I am NOT a whipped cream fan). The whipped cream disappeared soon enough, though, and I enjoyed the drink very much.
I returned to the room at a time that I do not remember specifically and turned on my computer for the first time, not doing anything in particular except for sipping the coffee. Eventually, “doing nothing” turned into “playing Batman: Arkham Asylum” for five hours. Such a GREAT game; I can’t wait for the sequel (Arkham City). I’ve beat it before on Normal mode, and I originally started a new game on Hard mode, but decided to just replay on Normal; games lose their amusement factor when they become too difficult. I knocked out a huge chunk of the game, only stopping because I didn’t want to be playing it all night long. That’s been my night so far. I might look over some notes for my history final exam tomorrow, but I have time to do that in the morning (well…LATER morning, I suppose…). There’s also a couple of people from my classes hanging out in the lobby that I might go chill with for a while (people – I got 11 HOURS of sleep, counting both last night and this morning/afternoon…I’ll be okay). We’ll see.
Have you ever given thought to having a pen pal? I’ve thought about it a lot recently: having someone you don’t particularly know to confide in, communicating only through writing (yes, I want a letter pen pal, not an email pen pal). I’m pretty particular about who I’d like to be a pen pal with; I’d prefer someone I’d have no chance of ever meeting because I feel that that heightens the experience. I’d prefer someone closer to my own age, and someone who I have absolutely no other contact with (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, Internet in any way) besides these letters. I’d also prefer someone who speaks English fluently. Yeah, it’s pretty specific, but whatever. I just think it’d be a cool experience.
I’ve still got to pack for the break. Clothes, entertainment (I’ve got to take my Xbox back in case I get cool new games!), etc. I’ll probably also take my autographed picture of Christopher Lloyd back too…just because. I’d feel better if I didn’t leave it behind. I’ve also got to take my horn back and take a few opportunities to practice for band auditions coming up in early January. I’m aiming for the next band up at least; I was in the lowest band this semester, but I was okay with it: it gave me something to work up to. So that needs to be done. Let’s see: I also need to do dishes, straighten up my desk a little bit, etc. I’m considering taking my Gamecube back home and leaving it there…it all depends on what I get. I may take it, and, depending on what all is new, I’ll decide whether to bring it back or not.
I have to use the restroom.
I actually don’t think I have anything more to say. I hope everyone has/had a great day, and it’d be great if everyone prayed that I have a safe drive home tomorrow after my exam: six hours from here to home! Goodnight, everyone.
Chad
P.S. – Enjoy this song.
…which inspires one more paragraph. If you’re Christian, listen to this group: MercyMe. If you’re not Christian, listen to MercyMe. They’re pretty much the only Christian band I’ll just sit and listen to: all of their stuff is original (except off their Christmas album, save for this song), and they’re not repetitive like a lot of Christian music is, which is why I like them. In fact, they’re one of maybe 3 groups from today’s music that I’ll listen to; I prefer oldies. But this group is fantastic. My favorite album of theirs is Coming Up to Breathe; it’s incredible (I haven’t listened to their newest release yet). Just look them up, and I hope you’re not disappointed. Let me know what you think.
I’m diggin’ this whole blogging thing. It’s better than the 140 characters I’m limited to per tweet on Twitter (though I still prefer Twitter. I ❤ Twitter).
Not much to say in this post since I posted earlier today, but I figured I could come up with something. Had Chili’s for dinner with Andrew. Gift cards for the win! Sometimes, I wonder if the only reason I go to Chili’s is for the queso…probably, but at least their food is good too. At the restaurant, I started reminiscing about what I used to order at Chili’s; I marveled at the fact that I used to consider a bowl of macaroni and cheese a meal. They always had good chicken tenders too, but who could forget that I ordered the kids’ cheese pizza with fries for probably five years of my life up until sophomore year or so? Ha, good times. I kinda want to go back and get the pizza just for the nostalgia.
After leaving the restaurant, I was driving down Slide Rd. when Andrew and I saw enough flashing emergency lights ahead to give someone epilepsy. They were taking up all three (four?) lanes of traffic, so we were forced to turn right into a residential street. As I was turning, I was able to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be someone lying in the street. Of course, I couldn’t see any details and I couldn’t just stop to try and see, so I kept going, but Andrew and I both said little silent prayers to ourselves in respect to the victim, his/her family, and to whoever hit the pedestrian. Two years ago, I had a friend who got in a terrible vehicle accident and was lucky to survive. He pulled through though. I’m hoping that this person is able to pull through as well, but, if not, at least we can hope that he/she has gone to spend time with God. Please keep all involved/connected in your prayers. I don’t know who this is, but everyone is worth praying for. Prayer works.
Anyway, moving on. We got back to the parking garage and started the walk back to Wall/Gates; it was at this point when I shook my fist at the sky and cursed myself for not having grabbed my jacket before I had left the room (when I say “cursed”, I don’t mean “cussed”; I don’t use bad language). Usually, I’m a pretty warm-natured person, so the cold is entirely welcome to me. In this case, however, I had underestimated the cold and was regretting my decision to leave my jacket behind. Maybe I’ll learn next time.
Going back to the cussing thing: why is it necessary? I bet I could count the number of people I’ve met at Tech who don’t cuss at all on one hand, maybe two. I’ve never understood why people find cussing to be necessary. In my opinion, it doesn’t make you cool, it doesn’t add any additional meaning, and it’s just offensive. And if you feel the need to cuss in order to “fit in”, I think you need to find some new friends. Now, I’m not saying it’s wrong to be friends with people who cuss; in fact, that would be wrong and very hard to do. Heck, I have plenty of good friends who let words slip now and again, and there are even those who make a habit of it, and I don’t love them any the less for it. Sure, I wish they would tone it down a bit at times, but it’s their decision. /soapbox (P.S. – Smoking isn’t any better. Smoking is DISGUSTING, and, ladies, let me share this: no matter how attractive you may be, you’re off my list if I see you smoking.)
The first official trailer for the Back to the Future video game being released soon premiered tonight. AND IT IS AWESOME.
I don’t know if I’ve ever told anyone this, but I LOVE Back to the Future. /sarcasm Best movies ever. And now they’ve made what looks like a good game. Hopefully. This company has a history of good games, so I’m hoping this one turns out well too. I’ll keep you all posted as to what I think once I’ve played it a bit. (Did I mention that I met Christopher Lloyd [Doc Brown], got his autograph, and shook his hand? :D)
Proof: Autograph
Proof: HANDSHAKE
Something else I’ve come to like: scary movies. I’m not talking “LOOK AT ALL THIS BLOOD AND GORE!” scary movies, I’m talking “OH CRAP I JUST PEED MY PANTS A LITTLE BIT!” scary movies. The Strangers, The Shining, Paranormal Activity 1 & 2, stuff like that. Good stuff. Maybe one reason I like them so much is because I live with Andrew. You HAVE to see a scary movie with him at some point in your life. It’s quite an experience; I’ll leave what I mean by that to your imagination. I don’t know if it’s laughing at him that keeps me from getting scared during scary movies or if I just don’t scare easily; who knows?
I just noticed that I use semicolons a lot. ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Cereal is some good stuff. I’ve discovered that Frosted Mini-Wheats are pretty much the best cereal to snack on in the history of cereals. EVER. Cinnamon cereal of any kind are generally good for snackage too, especially the cinnamon swirl ones. Beautiful.
As I begin to finish up this post, time is approaching 2 in the morning. A bit late for someone with an 8 am class? Probably. I’m not worried though. I’m done at 1 tomorrow, and naps are plentiful in college land. Speaking of staying up late, though, I want to speak of my conundrum. It’s quite a doozy, I must admit. See if you can follow this: I love staying up late. It’s peaceful, quiet, and people aren’t awake to annoy you (a plus on my floor). I also love waking up early, for the same reasons. Contradiction number one. I also love to sleep. The more, the better. Sleeping till noon or later is one of the best feelings in the world. BUT I hate sleeping to noon because I feel as if I’ve wasted my day away. In short, I like to stay up late, but I like to wake up early, but I like to sleep, but I DISlike sleeping the day away. Got it? Me neither. Oh well.
And with that last paragraph I bring myself to my 1000 word goal for this post (final count is 1114, to be exact). Thank you, thank you very much. It is time for bed. Goodnight, everyone.
A Day in the Life 