| The Chronicles | Catching Up | ||||||
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 This one's real. =) How sad...no real updates for the entire month of September or October. Well, now that I've driven all of my regular readers away, I suppose I should get back to updating. Deidre remarked the other day that she figured the journal was dead. Alright, well, I kept putting it off because there was so much ground to cover. Now, the details are going to start getting really cloudy. Eh well, let's give it a shot. Interlude I arrived back in Atlanta on that Tuesday night. My dad picked me up and we ate dinner and had a good talk about my trip. The next day, we woke up early and went to Auburn to move out of my apartment. We were supposed to be out by noon...we finally finished around 4pm. There was quite a bit of stuff to move...much more than I thought. We filled up the entire Uhaul and took it to my uncle's house to park for a few days. After that, I went home for a few days. Hung out with the guys a good bit. Went up to David A's place for the first time. Saw the roof that he fell off of. I also got to tell the trip story again. Got some good feedback and discussion from the topic. It was nice to talk to Alex and Taryn after not having seen them for a while. After a few days at home, I had to come back to Auburn. School started Monday. My move-in date for my new apartment was Monday. My mom came down to help me move in. It took a while, but eventually we got it finished...though I still have a few boxes in closets that I haven't unloaded. The only real complaint was that the carpet was pretty dirty. My mom picked up some rugs to cover most of it. Several weeks later, they decided to install new carpet (which was especially convenient once I had everything in place). Luckily, I got my computer and tv set up and got back from class in time for the cable guys to install everything. All in all, I'm very happy having my new place. Much more space than my old apartment. Hopefully I'll get some pictures up soon. Classes My classes initially seemed pretty interesting. Linear Algebra and Engineering Mechanics aren't as hard as I expected (I have difficulty paying attention). Engineering Economy is as easy as I expected (also have difficulty paying attention). Hispanic Literature is kind of fun and I feel like I'm learning a lot. English Comp 2 is insanely easy. Linear Signals & Systems was insanely hard, and I decided it better to take it after reviewing a lot and with a smaller workload (I dropped it...and a huge amount of stress). Finally, Electrical Engineering Lab 3 is pretty cool. We just finished assembling our AM/FM radios and now my partner and I are building bigger speakers for our project. I actually feel like I've built something practical. I've decided that I can deal with the concrete engineering better than the abstract. Oh, and another nice thing about this semester...I haven't had to scout for possible dates. =) Turmoil Soon after school returned, I was talking with Sandy's mom one night. She made me realize that I probably needed to have a talk with Sandy about religion. The next day, somewhat fearing the topic, I confronted her about it. She had said a while back that she considered herself a Christian. I was prepared for her concerns and some uncertainty. What I received was enough to send me reeling. She said that she didn't think she believed in God. That conversation lasted about four hours and left both of us quite depressed. Several days later, after having mulled and agonized, when things seemed unreconcilable, we broke up. The next few days saw a lot of pain, and there were obviously lingering feelings. The next weekend, I went home for the opening of my mom's restaurant "Starrstruck". I arrived a little late for the party that evening, but got to have a good talk with my Aunt Chris. The restaurant has been doing pretty well since then, though I think it stresses my mom and siblings a little bit. I also got the opportunity hang out with David A some more and saw Evan and Becca briefly. We watched "Kung Pow" with them. It wasn't quite the trainwreck that I expected. In fact, there were some genuinely funny parts. Nannie After my visit, I returned still mulling somewhat, when towards the middle of the week, I was struck with something unexpected. During my afternoon class, I had 6 missed calls. Obviously, something significant had occurred if I was trying to be reached so fervently. Unfortunately, my phone's battery was dying. After hunting around, I found another phone. My initial fear was that considering the time of day (school had just let out), something had happened to my brother or sister. They were okay, but through choking tears, my mom told me that Nannie (her mom, my grandmother) had passed away. She had been involved in an accident. The car went off into a ravine...and up in flames. They say she was either dead or unconscious at the time. It lessens the horror slightly. I rushed home for the week. It was a strange experience. I'd never really lost anyone so close. My grandfather (my dad's dad) had passed away last year from various complications. I hadn't expected that he'd die, but he lingered for quite a while, so it wasn't a complete shock. I loved my grandfather and talked with him every now and then, but he was a somewhat gruff man and I always felt difficulty in feeling completely relaxed around him.  My grandmother and I at the 4th of July party this summer. Nannie was completely different...actually, I'm probably going to get pretty sad talking about this. When I was little, she lived next door. Every day, I'd walk over to her house with a book. She taught me how to read. She taught me all sorts of wonderful words. I credit her for making me thirst for knowledge. Several years later, we moved up onto Lookout Mountain, and she eventually moved up also. She wasn't quite next door like before, but I still went and spent many evenings after school with her. We'd talk about all sorts of things...she was always interested in politics, she was a Braves fan, and sometimes she'd tell me stories about the 80 or so years she'd lived. Most of the time, she was fixed lots of food for me. I'd eat something and she'd insist that I eat more...even if it was dessert. I guess that's what a lot of grandmothers do. As I got into highschool and college, I didn't see her as much. We'd usually have dinner over at her place once a week or whenever I came home, but I know she missed me. And...I...I took for granted that she'd be there. That weekend I went home for my mom's restaurant opening, I had gotten late and she had already left. I thought about going by to see her that weekend, but never did. I was in a hurry and assumed I get a chance to see her some other weekend. I feel really bad about that in retrospect. =( By the time we had her wakes and funeral, I'd dealt with most of my thoughts. I think I have a tendency to adjust quickly. I missed her greatly and lots of people told me how bad they knew I must feel. I never knew what to say. What can you say in that situation? My non-Christian friends won't understand this, but my greatest consolation was that she was one of the most fervent Christians I've ever known. I've felt reassured by that fact, especially after a butterfly (her most favorite thing) flitted over her casket at the funeral. Every time I see a butterfly, I'm reminded of her...I'm reminded that I'll get to see her again one day. The more skeptical in the crowd can call it false hope if you like. Funny thing...this is the most emotional I've gotten in quite a while about remembering her. Reflections On Rain Here's where I get "deeper" for a minute (permission to skip two sections)... Some of you seem to have something against rain. Personally, I've always been fond of it. I've told this to most of the people I know, but I'm not sure if I've ever written it. There's something calming about a storm. I don't particularly like driving in it or being out in it when it's cold, but there's nothing quite like a warm or slightly cool-weathered rain. I think it's because it's good nap weather. You can sit inside, bundle up, and be lazy. The sound of rain helps me sleep and the occasional thunder is an exciting rumble or clap compared to the monotony of normal everyday noises. Experiential/Academic Knowledge I was thinking the other day about the conflict between these two types of knowledge and the necessity for both to exist. I'm sure plenty of other smarter minds have dwelled on this fact in more depth and wisdom than I can, but each is worthless without the other. If I know Spanish vocab, but have no practice speaking it, it doesn't do much good. On the other hand, if I have a great accent, but don't know vocab, that doesn't do me much good either. Eh well. Just thought it might make a good basis for a story (as if it hasn't been used plenty of times before). Really, I don't know what I'm talking about. Ignore the ramblings. Weekends When I haven't been busy "reflecting"... Many of the weekends this fall featured football games, but while fun, they weren't usually the highlight. What's left of our group finally got back into the habit of playing games over at Kevin's. It's kind of an evolved group. There are new friendly faces, and some old ones that drop by occasionally. I'm frustrated that Amber and Natalie haven't been particularly social with the group this semester, but they do have a lot that they've been busy with. One weekend, I went to a Navs retreat. It was good to revisit the Appalachians and get to know some of the Navs better. While we were there, we got up a few games of Mafia (first time I'd played in years). Anyway, the several weekends later, someone mentioned that we ought to play again and since then, I've tried to have everyone over on Saturday night (excluding Thanksgiving break) to play. One night, we had at least 15 people. If you don't know the rules to the game, just ask, but I'll spare listing them at the moment for the sake of conserving space. Oh, one other weekend of particular note, Scotty and I went to Six Flags for the special "Season Pass Only" day. It was one of the last days it'd be open and much of the park was shut down, but the lines were incredibly short and everything was half price. Scotty is quite proud of the fact that he got a cheeseburger meal for $2 (normal price $8) when the lady accidentally halfed the already half price. I was walking through the airport the other day and a kid was dribbling a basketball in the terminal and I couldn't help being reminded how Scotty wanted to kick or throw every basketball he saw being dribbled annoyingly. "It's inevitable that the ball is going to get away from them." Movies Now for some critiques... The first movie I saw this fall was "The Ring". The previews made it look pretty weird and for some reason, it was the first thing that looked appealing since summer. Scotty, Kevin, and I went to go see it one evening. (This fall after Scotty got together a surprise party for me (I'd never had friends organize anything like that before), Kevin finally dropped his grudge against him and realized he's a nice guy.) (Aren't parentheses pretentious?) Anyway, I'll say that "The Ring" is a genuinely creepy movie and one of the scarier that I've seen. The next movie I saw in theaters was "Punch-Drunk Love". I'd been wanting to see ever since I saw the trailer for it on tv. I like Adam Sandler, I like some artsy films, and I thought the look of the film (particularly his blue suit) was appealing. For a few weeks after its wide release, it didn't come to Auburn. I didn't expect it to, but told Scotty I'd go see it with him if it did. Otherwise, I expected to see it with Sandy. It ended up coming to Auburn, I saw it with Scotty and understandably got in trouble. I mean, I never said that I wouldn't see it before I went to Arizona, but I could've been clearer on my intentions. Anyway, it was a really good flick. The acting, story, and look were excellent. It was funny listening to the crowd try to figure out what they should be laughing at. At the end, Scotty heard someone grumble, "What the hell was that?!" and so he yelled "What?! He didn't even sing the Chanukah Song!" It was amusing. =) The next movie of note, "Insomnia", I finally saw on video several weeks ago. I ended up watching it twice in two days. Stylistically, dramatically, and thematically it's a cold, but engaging film. Nothing like a movie based in Alaska combined with the recent cold weather to make you feel winter. While I was in 'Zona, there weren't a whole lot of films out that I wanted to see, but we went to go see "The Emperor's Club". It has a "Dead Poets Society" vibe to it, but I actually probably liked it better. Some of the parts were a little predictable, but it promotes a high morality very opposed to the prevailing existentialism of most modern films. Sandy and I also saw "Harry Potter 2". I wasn't particularly looking forward to seeing the movie (I've not caught the craze), but it was quite good. Better than the first even. Unlike most of the other serious or artistic films I've seen this fall, it offered a fun feel. Sports Now for some reviews of the seasons... Auburn had a good football season this year. It was interesting trying to explain the whole "Tigers" versus "War Eagle" thing to Sandy. She also wasn't sure why we're so gung ho about football when our team "isn't that great". I hope she's retracted that early sentiment after we've shown how good we can be. We were only two plays from finishing the regular season 10-2. Those two losses to Florida and Georgia were kind of bittersweet. We showed that we can play with great teams, but we just missed winning. Anyway, it was interesting going to all of the home games this year. My brother came down a lot so I got to visit with him. The only real problem was that a lot of the games were in the morning and it rained for a lot of them. Still, most of them were pretty exciting. Well, enough football. The Braves also exceeded expectations, but didn't live up to their potential. I've been cautious the past few years when they've gone into the postseason, but I really thought this was their year. I was frustrated that a lot of their games were during my classes or meetings, but I kept sneaking out to find out the score on my old radio. And quickly speaking of radios, I finished building mine! I feel like I really accomplished something in my electrical engineering lab. Maybe I'll get some pictures up soon. The Relationship Part (Arizona Part 2) It's coming! I promise! I just want to do it justice. | |||||||
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