This semester for the most part has gone by pretty fast for me, but now that we are almost done I feel like things are moving at a snail’s pace. It is so frustrating. And on top of that I have a busy week and I like my busy weeks going by fast, but now that everything is going slow for me this busy week is taking forever. Tomorrow I have a test that I have barely studied for, and then I have a big presentation for engineering Wednesday and Thursday I am going home to go with my parents to North Carolina to pick up my grandpa. You would think with a week this bus it would fly by. I feel like once I take the test tomorrow I will feel better about the week. I think that is the root to my stress at the moment. Oh and I forgot about the paper I have to write for this class. I don’t think it will be too hard though. It is about our memories so it shouldn’t be too bad. I am actually kind of excited because I am talking about the different things I did with my grandparents when I was a little kid. I really enjoyed the conversation I had with them about those memories. Well I am going to study for the test. I’ll see ya’ll next week.

I don’t know about ya’ll, but I had a long weekend. I woke up at 6:50 in the morning on Friday to get ready for the 3.2 for 32 remembrance run. After I walked the course I went and had breakfast at Joe’s Dinner. It’s on Main street close to D. P. Dough’s so if you get a chance go there. It has great food and is pretty cheap. Later that day I threw the football for a little bit with my friends and then later a Frisbee. I went and picked up my friend from Radford so he could hang out with us some this weekend. Saturday I had to get up in time to be at castle by 9. I am in the Galileo theme housing and we worked at a public parking in Christiansburg. For our service project we had to carry buckets of mulch up and down big hills in the woods. We were putting mulch in the woods. How much sense does that make? We were doing it for a Frisbee golf course. I thought it was ridiculous. What made it worse was that there were people doing nothing the 4 hours we were there. The worse part of the project was when to jackasses decided they weren’t going to do anything and sat at the half way point of the course and was telling people to drop off their empty buckets and grab full buckets. I could understand them being there for a little bit and when I say a little bit I mean at the most ten minutes, but those ass holes were staying there close to thirty minutes. So my roommate and I said something too them. I said that I had a new plan and that was for them to carry the mulch and I’ll tell them what to do as they carry two five gallon buckets full of mulch up a mountain. My roommate grabbed two buckets and told them to carry it up the fucking hill. The four hours we were there that was the only two buckets they carried up when my and my roommate busted our asses the entire four hours trying to get the service project done. Now I usually don’t mind laziness because I know I can be lazy sometimes, but I am never lazy when I am working with other people and they are relying on me to help them get the work done. It’s so frustrating seeing others work hard while others are doing nothing, but soaking up the sun and drink the waters and gatorades provided for the people who are actually working.

The worst part of engineering for me is the programming part of it. I hate programming, flowcharting, and anything that involves either of the two. Up until now though all the programs we have used to learn how to program or design something have annoyed me. Lab view killed me; I hated the end of last semester! Inventor was better than Lab view, but I think the only reason I think that is because the test was ridiculously easy. Now that we are in Matlab I don’t hate programming as much. I have enjoyed programming more even though engineering gives us really stupid homework. That the instructors make more complicated by and all the different formatting requirements. I want to be an engineer, but I don’t like all this ridiculous work the department has us doing. I think they give us a lot of work that is unnecessary or they give us something to do and have us format it in a way that makes it easier on them, but extremely harder on us. I wont to be out of general engineering and start on the things that are going to be important to our field of engineering. I guess I am just ready for this year to be over with, but I feel that everyone is getting that way.

So if you are not watching the game right now I don’t know what’s wrong with you. (Not really I understand if you have work to do or if you just aren’t into basketball) But you all should be watching the game. That’s what I am doing. It is so frustrating that Butler is this close to Duke. I am not a Blue Devil fan, but I am an ACC fan and I tend to pull for teams from North Carolina. I understand that a lot of people maybe pulling for the underdog, but I have to stick with Duke. Guys I am sorry, but I have no clue what else to say about it. I am kind of out of it right now. I am glad it is finally warmed up here; I just wish it wouldn’t be so humid. I felt like I sweated all day today. I cannot concentrate on my blog at all. I am trying to watch the game, but get this blog done and then. You know what I am just going to be done. I am sorry it is random and really boring.

Westboro Protest Alternative

So everyone has heard about Westboro Baptist coming to school to protest. Like everyone else it really is frustrated that someone would say that VT deserved that for our sins. Everyone knows that April 16 caused a lot of pain in the Hokie Nation. It is frustrating that people will come to our school, our home and protest that tragedy. What pisses me off even more is that they do this in the name of God. I just want to clarify that they are an extremist group and that most Christians don’t say that God hates gays because the truth is that God loves everyone. If He hates gay people why would he send His Son to die on the cross to save the world. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave His Son and whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” It doesn’t say He gave the world to the non sinners because if it said that then God would have no reason to send His Son. Everyone sins! I am sorry if you get annoyed with this blog, but it needs to be said and I feel that people need to know the truth about God and not the abstracted views of this radical group. If the people of the Westboro church were truly Christians they would see that what they are doing is pushing people way from God. I again with most people on how to handle this event. Ignore them! Go and spend your time helping Rely for Life. The reason they are doing it is for the attention so don’t give it to them. There is a video posted on Collegiate Times, online, which shows how a young man used the Westboro protesting to raise money for different charities. I think that Relay for Life is a great way to do the same thing and it is something positive that VT can do to ignore this protest.

Have you ever watched someone get the shit beat out of them and there was nothing you could do? You feel helpless, sad, and pissed off; especially if it is someone you love. Before you think that I watch someone get their assed kicked let me say that it was a game and she was not actually beaten up. So Delta Zig had their Egyptian Expedition last week and it was concluded by field games with the sororities. Egyptian Expedition is their philanthropy. Sarah participated in one of the field games with her sorority. It was called gladiator. It was exactly like the game from American Gladiators when the challengers would have to try and get balls into bins before the gladiator knocked the ball all of their hands or stopped them in some way. Well as you can see in class, Sarah not very big. I missed her first match of Gladiator and she said she did well; she had a few slide tackles and played aggressively. I was proud of her. I am glad that she felt good about how she played. I watched her next two matches and let me say that it looked brutal. The first Gladiator battle had these two huge defenders out on the field. These girls were bigger than me so they towered over Sarah. As she would try and run around them they would put her on the ground somehow either by throwing her, pulling her shirt, or just pushing her. All they were supposed to be doing is pulling a flag off of her from around her waist. Her head hit the trash cans a few times which looked horrible from where I was. And what made it worse for me was a girl beside me was giving them a hard time for not getting up fast enough or putting their flags back on fast enough. That just frustrated me! Then in the next game some %#$&@ kept throwing her flag across the field when they were only suppose to drop them where they grabbed it at. I felt so bad for Sarah and it was very difficult to watch her being thrown on the ground and getting frustrated. I was so proud of her though. She never gave up and would always get up as fast as she could. I know she had fun, but I hope she never decides to do something like that again.

So I just go t some horrible news from my friend on Facebook. A friend from my high school is going on a date with a guy, but not just any guy. This guy is annoying, weird, awkward, borderline stalker. I will not tell you his full name one because that could be bad for me and two I do not actually know it. So this guy, let’s call him Ike, went on a People to People trip with me the summer before my junior year. We went to France, Italy, and Malta. Throughout the whole trip he said stupid things. He would brag about things you should not brag about; he lied about drinking a whole bottle of Absinth in one night. I am sure that is possible for some people because it was not that big of a bottle, but he was not tipsy at all. Yes, he is rather large, but he would still get drunk. It is Absinth and it is illegal in Virginia for a reason. Anyways, he is a really annoying person. I feel like I have certain responsibilities as a friend to let her know what kind of a person he actually is, but I feel like she should be able to make her own decisions. I think if they went out and it did not go well that he would be like a creeper and just bother her and other people from our high school which I do not want to happen. I just do not know what I should do. What would you do? Let your friend go out with someone and find out for themselves that the person is a weird creeper slash stalker guy. I also do not want Ike to start hanging out with our friends from high school come to visit. They do not deserve to have to put up with Ike and his stupid comments. I think I am going to say something to m friend. She needs to know how he really is and if she still wants to go out with him that is fine, but I have to let her know.

Audience: my family
Character: A kid who’s first in his family to go to college
Setting: A corner store
Detail: A bag of new clothes

There was a family that lived in a small town called Smithfield. The family never really had a lot of money and neither of the parts had gone to college. The dad was the town’s local handy-man and the mom was the manager of the Piggly Wiggly. Their son, Jimmy, had just received a full scholarship to attend the University of Virginia Tech. Jimmy was now the first person from his family to go to college. His mom was so excited that he was going to college that she wanted to take him the corner store which had clothes and other supplies someone would need for college. Jimmy did not really need anything for college except some new clothes because he still had a lot of left over school supplies from high school. His dad being a handy-man has the perk of having old microwaves, mini refrigerators, and small chairs just lying around the house and in the shed. Jimmy and his mother head to the corner store to get jimmy his new clothes. Jimmy had a few things in mind to get while he was at the store: jeans, a few shirts, maybe a jacket, something with VT on it to show his new found Hokie pride. When he got into the corner store he was able to find everything that he need and wanted; he even got a pair of shoes that he had been looking at for a few weeks. He thought he was the luckiest boy in the town to have a corner store that had such a great variety of clothes; they even had Virginia Tech apparel. As he was finishing up his school shopping he was glad that he was going to be leaving wit all he needs for college. He and his mother left the corner store the store with a new bag of clothes and now ready for college.

Hello lady and gentlemen of group whatever number we are. I hope that you all had a pleasant week last week and enjoyed your weekend. The past week I had a few firsts that I thought or assumed I had gone through before, but after thinking about it I had never done these things before.
The first thing that happened was that I realized how easily some females can be embarrassed (no offense Michelle). So I was with Sarah and we were going to Cru, which is Campus Crusades for Christ. You all should come out by the way; it is in Squires at 8 pm on Thursdays. Any ways we are at Cru and I was with Sarah and her sorority friends. One of the girls apparently had a date a few nights ago, but for some reason was embarrassed about it, but really liked the guy. I became instantly confused was pretty much lost in the conversation. When I asked my Sarah about this she said all girls do it and it just baffled me. I do not understand why some girls get embarrassed or blush when they are asked about resent dates. I do not know if that is an actual first, but I consider the experience a first and more knowledge about the mystery men call girls. I do not know if you all know who Sarah is she is the girl I sit beside in class.
The next first happened on Friday. I went the gym to work out. You know try and get into shape. Well the smart guy that I am did not have breakfast and thought it would be fine if I just left my water bottle in the locker room. I thought, “I am not doing much, just lifting weights.” Well by the end of the work out I was covered in sweat, I was weak, and I could have sworn my knees were made of rubber bands. Well when I got into the locker room I sat down and got light headed so I decided to set on the floor so I did not have to do so much work holding myself up, then I realized I can just lay down on the floor. I will not have to do anything to hold myself up. I do not know what it was, but I thought I was going to pass out. Everything was getting real narrow and fussy. Luckily I did not pass out, but that was the first time I had ever gotten that sick after a workout.
My last first of the last week is nothing special to most people probably, but it is really special to me. I had the most spectacular dream. It was one of those dreams where you wake up in a great mood and you know today is going to be great. I do not know exactly what happened, but I know what was involved in the dream. My dream was about Mountain Dew! That was the first time I dreamt about a drink. I was so excited and I was craving it when I woke up.
Well those were my first and I hope that I did not bore you all. Talk to you later. Bye.

I would like to start my blog out by talking about class today, or the lack there of class. As the five minute mark came up that has passed the normal class starting time, I started to count down the seconds to 9:12. When 9:11 approached I knew that getting out of class early was in grasp. As I sat there anxiously I felt that Julia would walk in any second and my hopes of not having class would be crushed. As it turned out we did not have class even though Julia made it to the room right after everyone had left. When I heard the news of why she was late I felt like a complete ass. Sorry for the language, but I think it is the best word for how I felt. So there I am walking down the halls of Pamplin feeling like a donkey’s behind because our teacher had slipped on the ice. That had to have hurt or at least stung a little bit and if it did not physically hurt it had to be a little embarrassing. I know I would be embarrassed if I slipped on the ice. So I guess I am trying to apologize to Julia for leaving the class due to her misfortune. I am sorry Julia and I hope that you are ok and that it did not hurt.
That brings me to my next thing. Virginia Tech does a great job for the most part of getting up all of the snow and ice off of the walk ways, but there are still patches here and there along the way. I feel like we should not have to worry about busting our rumps on the way to class early in the morning and let’s face it college students are not the most alert people in the morning. Also, something needs to be done about the parking lots because they are ridiculous. I fished tailed this weekend in the parking lot going a top speed of five miles an hour. Going that speed should be safe you would think. All Tech needs to do is plow the rows. I know that would block some cars in, but all that you need is a shovel and I am sure there could be shovels out there by Lane, the Cage, and the commuter lot provided by our lovely school. Well that’s all I am going to rant about this week. I hope it is not boring for you all to read, and if it is boring I apologize.

Reefer Madness

Over this past weekend I watch a great movie/ musical. I know you are think this guy is a queer for watching a musical, but hear me out. The movie is called Reefer Madness, and it is a parody of an old propaganda movie about marijuana. The movie features Kristen Bell, Christian Campbell, and Alan Cumming. The movie exaggerates the effects of marijuana and depicts people on the drug as zombie like and sex attics. In the movie weed becomes an extreme hallucinogen and a very addictive drug, which we know that reefer is effects people in that manner in milder forms.
Throughout the movie there are goofy expressions, unrealistic character traits, and that old 1930’s lingo that is perfect for a good laugh. Common expressions like “I’m hip,” and “Fest your peepers on this,” sound ridiculous to the modern language, but the movie is full of humorous and corny phrases.
So you know the basic story line, but the direct through in a Romeo and Juliet twist to it. Mary Lane (doesn’t that sound like Mary Jane?!?! Mhmmm), played by Kristen Bell, and James Harper, played by Christian Campbell are suppose to be the modern time Romeo and Juliet.
It is hard to pick my favorite scene from the movie and they are hard to describe just because it is a musical, but I can tell you some of my favorite lines. In a song where the drug dealer’s girlfriend is singing she sings, “… when he got stoned and raped me.” I know that does not seem like a funny subject, but with the context of the movie it is hilarious. A good song in the movie is “Eat the Brownie,” yes you guessed it is a hash brownie. My favorite line throughout the whole movie is said by Kristen Bell after she has her first joint. As she is sitting on somebody they try and say something and she elbows them in the face and say “Shut up bitch!” It is better in the movie I promise. To see the movie and experience the joy I did from watching this movie go onto “youtube” and search Reefer Madness The Movie Musical. If that is not enough for you rent it. It is defiantly worth going to a rental store and getting it.