Category Archives: Musings
I’m not dead yet! pt. 2
Hello, friends. I think its high time for a new post, since I’ve been almost non-existant on here for months now. This is going to be an actual post, actual writing, and no cheap jokes or music cop-outs (okay, maybe a few. I am what I am, after all). I’m pretty excited. It feels good to be back in the saddle.
I feel almost exactly like Steven Tyler, minus the cocaine. (Image via Wikipedia)
As anyone who knows me in real life could tell you, my little bro (hereafter called “Little Riggs”) is coming to the University of Michigan next year, specifically the College of Engineering. First of all, let me just say that I’m incredibly proud of him. I’d lean down and ruffle his hair, but he’s taller than me.
I figured I’d take this opportunity to explore a couple things that I’ve learned so far. Some of these are lessons I’ve personally learned and some of them are lessons that I’ve learned by watching my friends, learning from their mistakes so I don’t repeat them.
Anyways, here we go. This one’s for you, Little Riggs! Read the rest of this entry
I’m going slightly mad
This post is coming straight at ya from the middle of finals week here in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Yesterday I demolished 2 exams spaced 12 hours apart (whoever thought that was a good idea is obviously stupid) and today it’s all review sessions and studying.
I’m at hour 48ish of my self-imposed quarantine in my room. The first 20 hours I was teaching myself a semester’s worth of calculus, the next 12 was statistics, and now here we are with programming and French. Strangely I’m getting a lot of work done, with the obvious exception of this blog post.
The point of this post is twofold: first of all, serious shout-outs and mad props go to my two new best friends, Spotify and caffeine pills. Together we can do anything. We’re basically like the Three Musketeers.
Secondly I wanted to share a video that’s been helping me get through this week/semester. Watch it whenever you feel down and just need to smile a little bit. Or a lot. It’s of a puppy. Dawwwww.
Rules, pt. 3
First of all, I wanted to say that I love everyone who reads my blog. I haven’t posted in God knows how long, yet people keep coming to my blog every day. I wuv woo!
Now that that babytalk is out of the way, let’s get down to business. Its been a while since I posted some life rules, and I figured I’d share a couple that I’ve learned this past semester, which I’m going to fondly dub “Probably the most hellish couple months of my life.”
Honestly, it’s been my own fault for taking so many classes and shifts at work, but hey: I like complaining. Moving on, here are some rules.
7. If you think you’ve bitten off more than you can chew then you’ve already given up. If you accept failure as a possible outcome then you’ve already failed. But…
8. Sometimes you need to fail, because the act of succeeding would be even worse.
9. You only have a specific amount you can care about things. Care too much about the small things and you lose passion for what’s really important.
10. If you’re willing to lie about your phone number, name, and email address then the amount of free things you can get are virtually limitless.
11. Unconditional love and acceptance can fix any problem, even if it’s just from your dog.
I threw in a couple more than the usual three, partly because I had more to say and partly because you all are my favorite people ever. Thanks for reading, yo.
Mistakes
Image via Wikipedia
Hey, guys. PSA here from me. Now I know that we’ve all witnessed and made a fair few of mistakes in the past. That’s fine. Welcome to being human, where everyone screws up sometimes. My soapbox speech today isn’t about making mistakes, because I am of the opinion that anything you can look back on and smile isn’t a mistake and everything else is experience.
I’m instead talking about how we, as a society, judge people that make, in our collective eyes, ‘stupid mistakes.’
Nobody thinks to themselves ‘man, this would really be a stupid thing to say, but I’ll say it anyways.’ At least, not sober.
Guys: If a girl says she has feelings for you, don’t laugh because you would never date a girl like her. Respect her because she put herself out there and took a leap of faith, having no idea how where she would land.
Girls: If a guy takes you on a date and is, like, totally creepy and being way too nice and so weird, chances are he was just trying to be nice so that you would have a great evening. I don’t think that any guy thinks that they’re being creepy, just nice. As a guy I can say from experience: the line is very thin. Instead of judging the weirdo, be happy that someone would care for you so much as to try that hard to make you have a good time.
People in classes everywhere, any grade level: If someone says something totally asinine (“I thought Lincoln was the fifth president, isn’t that why he’s on the five dollar bill?”) don’t laugh at them. Especially in college, the social pressure to be correct all the time is overwhelming, leading many people (like me, I won’t lie) to simply stop answering questions, for fear of being wrong. If the person has the cajones to answer the question, don’t judge them for the answer. They obviously wouldn’t say it if they knew it was wrong.
If everyone can just accept that everyone else is a human, just like them, this world would be a much better place. So much of the evil in life comes from the dehumanization of others: thinking that you are the only one who really knows what’s going on and everyone else is just a dumb slob wandering through life with a finger up their nose and a stupid expression.
We are all cut from the same mold, guys. One of the few things I learned in AP Biology was that humans have about 99.7% the same DNA. The fears, hopes, and dreams that you think are yours and yours alone are, in fact, probably shared by everyone.
Moral of the story: Never forget that humans are people too.
Rules pt. 2
Guess who’s thought of three new rules? This guy. Here’s the first three I thought up, and here’s my next three:
4. Question everything.
5. If you don’t like it, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.
6. Some days are awesome and some days just suck. Get over them both. Tomorrow is what you make of it.
One Year Later
Recently I was having lunch with one of my good friends, who was a senior this past year at my old high school. She was telling me all about her plans to move up to Kalamazoo College. I’m sure she felt like I wasn’t paying attention to all the names, dates, and locations she was throwing around. Probably because I was too busy following the train of thought started by the simple phrase “When I was your age…”
Me, basically
I decided that, since my mind was obviously no longer on the mountain of packing that I had to do before I left, I’d start jotting down some thoughts on what life was like exactly a year ago. I love doing stuff like this, because it is a great way to see just how far you’ve come. Great, now I’ve got this Matchbox Twenty song stuck in my head. Below is a distillation of those thoughts.
I had the tiniest of mental breakdowns while I was packing up my stuff to head off to Ann Arbor last year. Read the rest of this entry
“I was born this way. This exact way. Hat, makeup, and all.”
Image via Wikipedia
Dear Lady Gaga,
First of all, let me say I’m a fan of your work. I really am. Your music is extremely catchy and your voice is the most beautiful among the autotuned pop starlets of today. You and Ke$sha aren’t even on the same playing field. Don’t let her drunken slut image fool you: nobody likes her.
However, Mama Monster, I do have one tiny little issue with your whole schtick. Your excessive makeup and flashy costumes.
Again, don’t get me wrong: I love the giant middle finger to the Man that you are portraying (although that may just be for money a la Rage Against The Machine). However, a lot of your songs seem to be about being happy with who you are. Allow me to give an example.
I’m beautiful in my way
‘Cause God makes no mistakes
I’m on the right track, baby
I was born this way
List – Hello, Ann Arbor
Angell Hall, quite possibly my favorite building on the whole campus
This the sequel to my previous post. Like I said there to introduce the post, summer is almost over, I’m going back to school, blah blah blah. This list is going to be the ten things I missed about Ann Arbor/the University of Michigan.
That save a lot of typing and creative thinking. I should do all my intros like that. Oh wait, that’s lame.
10. No Thai. Of all the restaurants that I frequent in the AA area this is the one I love the best. Amazing Thai food, hole-in-the-wall atmosphere, plus speedy delivery and easy online ordering. They even include the chopsticks. What more can you want?
9. Libraries. This sounds really nerdy but hear me out. Some of the libraries on campus are awesome. Take the Law Library, for example. I wish I had more homework just so I had the excuse to go there more. It’s like studying in the Hogwarts Great Hall. Probably because the Law Quad was actually considered as a set for the Harry Potter movies. Win. Read the rest of this entry
