A Revised List of Things I Hate

No, I'm not dead. For all you who were worried about me, I'm back! And, with a brand new list of things I hate. I had been contemplating this list all day and I really like it...but not the stuff on it.

1. The sound of people gulping their drinks - fucking gross. My US History professor did that today in the middle of her lecture. The microphone on her lapel picked it up and magnified it real good. Maybe me want to vomit. eeehhhhhh.
2. People who eat in class, specifically things in bags - You are not stealthy. You may think that you are being pretty quite eating that bag of Doritos, but you're not. And get this; everyone can hear you rustling around in the bag. It's annoying as fuck. Just stop it. 
3. People who don't hold the door for you - Have you ever been walking in a line of people, say, third from the front? The first guy opens the door and supports it for the second guy, who then sneaks in through the door leaving it to close on/ in front of you. Yeah. That happened to me three times on the way from my US history lecture to my dorm. Ridiculous.

Hopefully I will be less busy now for a while. Between all the homework, choir rehearsal, and rugby practice, I barely have time for much else. Have a good one, readers.

Sigh

This last week was hard shit. I had a midterm in my Vietnam Wars history class, and a speech in Chinese. I think I sleep for a total of six hours the entire week. That fucking blew. I'm a guy who needs his sleep, and lots of it. I know the speech went well, but let's hope the midterm went alright. I feel like I need to up my effort level, which is already extremely high. I am all caught up now which means I can begin anew. I'm just happy to have a nice weekend at home where I can get a ton of sleep. That way, I can start next week all fresh.

I went to the gym today and got in a good workout. I've found that I rarely go to the Rec when I am at school. I usually just go for runs. So, it's good to get home for a weekend and get in some weight lifting. That, and I get to watch a lot of good rugby with my brother. I found that I can watch Super 15 (S. Africa, Australia, and New Zealand) online, but they don't come on until 12:30 or 1 a.m.

In any event, I hope everyone else had a good week, and I hope that all of your weeks henceforth are good as well. Now, I'm going to finish this Stella Artois, watch a match, and hit the hay. Goodnight.

Reflection

I must sound like that old man who lives in the neighborhood and hates it when children walk on his property. I don't really hate everything and everyone. There are just a lot of things that I find annoying and all I am trying to do is expose you (my readers...there must be at least 3) to them.

In the past twenty or so minutes, I have been reflecting on my previous post. I don't hate couples. I don't hate seeing couples who are clearly in love. Just because I struck out does not mean that I get to rain on everyone else's parade. It also does not mean that I have some sarcastic, jaded view of what a relationship should be. I like love. It's a great feeling. I enjoy being with someone with whom I can share passions, ideals, aspirations, etc.  But I've found that, at this point in time at least, the pool of women who have a similar concept of what a relationship should be is slim.

I really want a partner. Someone that I can support, through good times and bad. Someone with whom I can do fun things. Someone who I can respect and support in their goals and aspirations. And someone who will do those very things for me. Someone who understands what they want and who they are. This is a person who I could see having a future with.

See? I'm not really an 80 year old, crotchety shut-in posing as a college student. In fact, I think my heart just grew three sizes...wait...maybe not. In any event, I just wanted you all to see that I do enjoy things, and that I have the same needs and desires as everyone else. Relish this moment, because another one like it is not going to happen any time soon. Back to the Grinch cave.

So very, very tired

This week has pretty much sucked. Tomorrow, I have my first midterm in my Vietnam Wars history class. And right now, I'm getting bent over by it. I have a ton of reading left to do before I can even start reviewing. I just have a feeling that it is not going to go well. Last night, I got no sleep. That isn't an exaggeration. I actually didn't sleep. Too busy studying for this fuckin' class.

Here is something on the lighter side. Today, in my computer science lecture, I spotted this Asian couple; nothing new because I notice them every lecture. And every lecture, the guy comes in late because he was getting the girl some food, or a drink, or some chocolates, or clothes, or bleh blehbleh blehbleh. And then they sit next to each other and share the food and make puppy dog eyes at each other. It's just gross. It's too damn cute. I had to hold back my vomit today. I would've hated having to apologize to them. I mean get a life. I cannot stand PDA.

You have to have something to do that isn't spending every waking moment staring longingly into each others' eyes. Seriously. That's cute and romantic for like, a day, and then it just gets weird. Immature girls want that kind of relationship. One where the guy is just waiting for a text or a call, and will come rushing to them whenever they want. Let's talk about the real world. That's Disney shit. In the real world, real people have real priorities. If I'm at work then I can't drop everything to come be with you, because I would get fired. And as movie-like as that may seem, no real person does stuff like that. People have priorities. For students, school and work are priorities. For adults, a career is a priority. A relationship will never top everything else in someone's life. It may share that top spot with several other things, but it will never be the end-all, be-all.

Maybe I'm bitter. Maybe I'm tired. Or, maybe I'm just sick of people who haven't grown up. It certainly strikes a chord with me. Now, before I dig a deeper hole, or ruin my chances with more ladies who aren't reading this, I should really get back to studying.

Chinese New Year thing...and douchey people

Last night was the Chinese New Year Gala as put on by the Chinese-American Student Association (CASA). It was a wonderful production of traditional dance, music and theater, as well as kung fu routines and modern dance. There was also free food. Bonus. My roommate Calvin and I attended. We both had a ton of fun, as did those we talked to who also went.

One thing that I cannot get over is how rude some people are. Apparently, courtesy is not something being taught anymore. I have been in several venues recently where I have almost been moved to violence. I'm not a violent person (I tend to complain rather than take physical actions), but these people almost suffered my wrath.

Last winter, at the University Holiday Concert, we members of the Men's Chorus were seated in the back with members of the Women's Chorus behind us. Through the entire set being performed, these two girls and one guy behind me did not stop talking. And it wasn't like they were even talking about random shit. They were criticizing everything from the program selection to the skill of the singers. I was so infuriated that I almost had to choke a bitch. However, I restrained myself, and settled for informing their director post concert.

The second event was the recent performance at Orchestra Hall. The Minnesota Orchestra performed Antonin Dvorak's "Symphony No. 7". The overall production was amazing; I love the Classics Series at the Orchestra. But, the patrons who were seated behind me drove me crazy. This guy, who apparently thought he was the funniest person alive, kept making these snarky comments like, "Ugh...I didn't come here for a theory lesson," the whole time during the first-half presentation. Not one minute went by without him flapping his trap. I gave him the "shut the fuck up" over-the-shoulder glance more times than any person should have to give it. However, in the second half, during the actual performance, he didn't say anything the whole time. Maybe someone roughed him up in the bathroom.

Lastly, last night was the most recent display of rudeness. The seating that was set up in the Great Hall in Coffman Union was in two sections: the tables in the main part of the hall, and additional seating in the back. Just because you are in the additional seating in the back does not mean that you get to talk the whole fuckin' time. People can hear you. Everyone can hear you. And it's rude as fuck. If you don't want to sit there, give respect and pay attention, then get the fuck out. No one made you come. AARRRGGGHHHH!

Anyway. So, there was free food. There were these two guys standing behind Calvin and I in line who were soooooo douchey. All they did was have this verbal dick-measuring contest where they sought to decided who had the higher ACT and SAT score, more friends at ritzy private colleges, and who was in harder, more obscure classes. I almost vomited. What is it with people who just looooove to talk about themselves. You aren't the greatest person who has ever lived. Get over yourself. I wanted to break their oversized, thick-framed glasses.

Have a good one, readers.

Keep Truckin'

So, I have an 8 am  lab on Fridays for Computer Science. Today's lab was the worst lab experience I have ever  had in my whole life. There are five sections to be completed by the end of class, and my partner and I managed to struggle through two of those. Suck. I was pissed, he was pissed. Everyone was pissed. If you could've taken a snapshot of our lab section, your camera would've broken from all of the fervent disdain. Turns out, though, that no group in any of the lab sections completed more than three sections. So, I'm not super worried.

My leg still sucks. That's no fun. Instead of taking a trip to Target to by some stuff, I decided that I would be better off staying in the dorm and icing my injury. I managed to catch three matches today. My boys from Glasgow lost a mediocre showing to Cardiff in a heated Magner's League match-up. Bummer. Toulouse bested La Rochelle to stay on top of the French Top 14, while Bath edged out Sale in the Aviva English Premiership. Tomorrow, those who are interested can see not only the USA Sevens Tournament live from Las Vegas on NBC, but also two Six Nations matches online (England v Italy, Scotland v Wales). I'm always up for viewing buddies! Anyone who wants to watch or learn. I like to think I'm a pretty good teacher, and not in the "awkward pedophile math teacher" kinda way.

I'm psyched for the people of Egypt. For those of you reading, I like to keep up on current events. For those of you who don't know, Egypt's 30-year dictator, Gamal Mubarak, announced that he will step down and turn over executive power to the military. Now, the military has promised democratic elections, but I am still hesitant. This has happened many times all around the world, several in the Middle East, and in almost every one of those cases the military has decided to stay in power. From one dictatorship to another. Let's stay tuned.

Today turned out to be a rather lack-luster day. I turned to my usual crutch: music. I have plenty of ibuprofen, so I suppose that I could start a pain-killer dependency. But, that doesn't seem as artistic, so I'll stick with music. Scottish folk. This shit is raw, like the streets. Check it. You also might want to check some lyrics if you don't understand the Scots-English.

Bleh

Walking around with this calf strain sucks. I hate it. I want it to end. Having to walk around to all of my classes doesn't help it heal, either. I guess I'll just have to rest it this weekend. I have plenty of reading to do, and plenty of rugby to watch, so it'll be a good time.

This Monday is St. Valentine's Day. It will the be first in six years that I am single. This is certainly a new feeling. Maybe I'll turn into one of the cynical people who deplores this holiday. They get all cranky and rain on everyone else's parade. Perhaps I'll just embrace the fact that I am single. I certainly don't have to be with someone.

My older brothers suggested that I go on a lot of dates. The idea of dating multiple people seems kinda weird to me. I don't know that I could do that. Not to mention, that's a lot of work, and it's not like I have a ton of time. I need someone who knows what they want. Someone who is down-to-Earth; fun to be around. Intelligence is also important. That might be kinda shallow, but let's be real here.

There is real emphasis on the "fun" part. I'm kinda boring. I can't be with someone who is also boring. That is way toooo much boring. I'd go insane. This person has to be strong-willed, so much so that she'll drag me out to do fun things that I wouldn't normally do.

I will continue my quest for such a person. I'll let you know how it goes.

Bummin'

Bad news. It turns out that I have a calf muscle strain. Bummer. It hurts enough that it prevents me from taking a full step with my left foot. That will put a dampening on my practice participation. Enough about that.

There are these two girls in my Chinese discussion that just drive me nuts. One of them has the wooooooorrrrrrsssstttt American accent. It literally gives me a headache. Now, I understand that different people have different levels of language-acquisition skill. All languages have nuances of pronunciation. I also understand that some people can't decipher well between very similar sounds. Fine. But could you, at least, try not to beat the spoken Chinese language to death with an American flag? Now, the other girl....I don't even know what to say. She doesn't know words. That's it. I don't know how she passed the first semester of Chinese. When we have to read texts in class, she gets (maybe) one out of every 10 or 11 words. Some people are bad, but I don't know how you could be THAT bad.

On a similar note, there are two girls in my Computer Science lecture that also happen to drive me absolutely insane. Both of them are PSEO kids; let me just preface with that. But they always sit together and talk about everything the professor covers in lecture, which would be fine. BUT, they are so goddamn loud. Seriously. Can you whisper. Is your body capable of that? I don't care if you don't get the material. That's not my problem. But, I shouldn't have to hear it when I am on the opposite side of the room. This is me wanting to punch you in the face -___-

A quick departure from the complaints. I've been feeling rather eclectic lately in regards to my musical tastes. There are two excellent pieces of orchestral music that have been growing on me: Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring", which was originally written as a ballet and which caused riots in Paris when it debut, and Gustav Holst's "The Planets". Aside from that, I've been listening to a lot of Scottish folk music, principally by Jim Malcolm. But, some of the stuff is much older music. And lastly, good old 1960's rock music (The Zombies, The Beatles, The Monkees, The Yardbirds, The Who, etc.).

Have a good one

First Post

So, I'm glad that I know have this avenue for relieving some of the stress. I feel as though the majority of what I will be doing is complaining about things. People don't like to hear you complain in real life, but apparently it's funny to read. Go figure. I also might comment on cool things I learn, things that particularly upset me about political news (the reason for my high blood pressure), and what I'm listening too. Anyway, let's get right to it.

You'll find out as you read more that there are a TON of little things that annoy me. But, today, at lunch, I almost strangled someone. Let's get this out of the way: I cannot stand Lite Ranch dressing. It's fucking gross and makes me want to vomit. Now, I set myself up for it every day; I make the salad before seeing what kind of dressing is available. When I got to the end of the bar and noticed there was no Ranch dressing, I almost went Hulk. God forbid that there would've been a UDS worker in sight, because they would've been going down. That did not set me up for a good rest of the day.

I also had practice last night. It sucked. We had to run a lot. Running is definitely my least favorite part of any sport, and we spent about an hour of our two hour practice doing it. Note to self: drink more water. I'm still sore. Not fun.

Hopefully, today will be a good day. Odds are, something will annoy the hell out of me. You will all know later tonight.