15: Requiem of a Blog

Okay, last blog. You've only got to deal with my mindless jibber-jabber one last time. Come on... There will be cake at the end!

Over the last semester, we've been writing blogs for Comp 1. The blogs themselves are as diverse as the people that wrote them. Some are sparse and short, others are numerous and eloquent, and others are just enough to get by with a decent grade. Some of us have learned from this experience and looked forward to being educated, while some have simply trudged along hoping for the day this class ends and praying for its swift arrival. But it is safe to say that we've all come away from this with something, be it a better understanding of reflective writing or a deep hatred for all things blog-related.

What about me? What sort of blog have I written? What sort of lessons have I learned? How well did I do the assignment? These questions are easily answered, although I wish I had better answers to give.

The blog I have written is not as reflective as it should have been. Yes, I updated regularly, albeit often late by a few minutes... or hours. Or days, in some cases. But the main problem is that while I usually looked back on the previous week and its experiences, I did not reflect upon it par se. I did not contemplate the deeper meaning of lessons learned, or what sort of thoughts and feelings certain things inspired. There is a difference between "I saw a movie, and I thought it was cool" and "I saw a movie, and it made me think deeply on this and that..." Sadly, the majority of my posts, I'll admit, were more similar to the first example than the second. However, I did do some serious reflecting and contemplating in a few of my posts. Something is better than nothing, I suppose...

So what have I learned? Apparently, I'm a lazy procrastinator who's plans usually backfire in his face, often in somewhat comedic manners. (See entry 13 for a good example and some laughs at my expense...) I've also learned to be... well... reflective. I've realized my own shortcomings in some areas, and I've learned how to fix them. It just took me an obscenely large amount of time to figure it out... Hah hah.

I've also learned some interesting thing from other people's blogs. Peng has taught me a lot about China and its customs, as well as an awesome recipe for catfish... which I still have not gotten to try out. Lukas has taught me about Germany and its customs, as well. I've learned a few other interesting things about my friends, their interests, and how their minds work. Its been an interesting experience overall... and I'm a bit sad to see it end.

Well, here it is. The end of my blog. Its been an interesting experience, but all things must come to an end eventually. Thanks to everyone who's read my blog and posted comments on it. I hope you've learned something - anything - from my entries, or at least gotten a few laughs out of it. I suppose that- Oh, right... The cake I promised. The cake is a lie. I had to get you to read this thing somehow. (But I will give a cookie to whoever gets the reference first...)

Thanks for reading, folks. I guess this is the end.

See ya!

14: Bummer...

Sigh... Late again, as usual. I don't know if last week was supposed to be our last blog, or if this week is our last blog. So either I'm one short of the assignment, or this is my last blog. Oh well, its not like an extra entry would kill me...

Yet again I endured a relatively quiet week. Nothing spectacular occured, other than playing Left 4 Dead with my roommate, working on my essays, and going to class. The weekend was pretty much the same. I watched tv, played Left 4 Dead with my roommate, and... thats about it. Oh, and I went Christmas shopping. Of course, that failed miserably. The one thing I wanted to get my girlfriend ended up being less than what I expected, and almost twice the price... So I got her a book instead. A know, how lame is that? Oh well... Its a book of funny cat pictures from the "I Can Haz Cheeseburger" web site, which is one of her favorite web sites. So at least she'll like it, although not as much as the original idea I had...

People keep asking me what I want for Christmas. So far, I haven't come up with much... I've never been one to ask for a lot of things, but I honestly can't think of much to ask for this Christmas. Normally, this would be no problem. But I've got people hounding me all the time now to find out what they should get me, and I don't know what to tell them. Apparently, saying that you don't want anything just makes people try harder to find out what you want.

I'm kinda bummed that the semester is almost over. Some of my new friends won't be coming back next semester, which is a source of sorrow. Plus, I've had fun in most of my classes, and most of my new ones will have different teachers. Bummer... But I'm 1/8 of the way through college now, so WOOOO!!!! And I get to take Karate next semester! Huzzah!

Reflecting upon the semester, I've had a lot of interesting experiences. I'll discuss them in my next blog, though... No sense in making you read all this at once.

I guess that is it for this blog entry, then.

13. Best Laid Plans

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving this week. Hopefully you got to see your families, enjoy some awesome food, and be happy for the things you have. Mine was alright... The plan was pretty simple. Go home, see my girlfriend and our friends, see my family, eat turkey, relax a few more days, and go home Sunday.

The best laid plans always go wrong though, don't they?

Wednesday my girlfriend came over, and we started watching Wall-E. The movie was good... but we only saw the first hour or so. About half way through it, my family received a phone call bearing grim news. My uncle had finally lost his fight with cancer, and God had called him Home to be with the Lord.

Now, forgive me if I sound like a jerk, but I'm not as upset about this as I should be. I'm sad and everything, yes. But at the same time, I'm glad he doesn't have to suffer anymore. He was pretty much paralyzed, he couldn't talk, and I don't know how much of his mind actually remained. I'd say Heaven is a welcomed improvement to that, no? So while its sad that my uncle is no longer with us, I'm glad that he no longer must suffer, and that he is now in Heaven with the Lord.

I'm gonna miss him, though...

But I digress. Needless to say, we did not finish the movie. I had to comfort my grandmother - that was fun - and I had to call friends and relatives and tell them the news - that was fun, too. But my girlfriend stayed with me instead of going home, even though I told her she could if she wanted to. She wanted to stay with me, and make sure I was okay. That meant a lot to me...

So after much discussion, it was decided that my mom and grandmother would fly up to North Carolina Friday. I couldn't go, however, since I'd end up missing school, and with Finals coming up I cannot afford to miss any class. (I'm getting a new alarm, just so I won't miss Dr. Miller's class again! Hah hah!)

Then I caught a cold. It wasn't so bad - just an annoyance. The medicine I took knocked me out for most of Thanksgiving, though. Bummer... Especially since it killed my appetite, which meant no turkey for me.

I know, you're getting tired of hearing me complain. Would you like a funny story to lighten the mood?

Me and my roommate - he decided to stay with us for the week - managed to pick up a copy of "Left 4 Dead," the new zombie-killing game for the X-Box 360. And let me tell you, that game is AWESOME!!! You play as a survivor of the zombie apocalypse, and you're immune to the virus that has turned the rest of humanity into monsters. These zombies aren't slow shamblers moaning and groaning as they look for brains, either. They run, scream, and chase you through doors and up ladders, intent on making you dead. It doesn't help that there are special zombies, too, like the Tank. The Tank is basically a zombie version of the Hulk. Yeah... that's a fun thought, isn't it?

So why am I babbling on about zombies and stuff? Because last night, I had the ultimate "Best Laid Plans" moment. My roommate and I had to defend the roof of a skyscraper until a helicopter arrived to rescue us. Normally, wave after wave of zombies and special monsters would assault us until the time limit ran out. Then its every man for himself as you get to the chopper. So me and my roommate sat there and strategized. We barricaded doors, set up land mines, organized "what if" plans... Everything was PERFECT. So we started the 15 minute seige.

Two minutes into the seige, I got punted off the roof of a 30-story hospital by a Tank.

I then had to watch in horror as my roommate and our two computer-controlled comrades were ravaged by hordes of undead. In the end, my roommate made it to the chopper, literally ignoring the screams of his two allies as they were dragged away to their deaths by an ocean of zombies.

Talk about anticlimactic...

12: Whoops!

So I almost got myself arrested Friday. I wasn't doing anything illegal - I swear. Me and my Dad went to my grandmother's house to check on some things, since she's been living with us for so long. We just wanted to make sure the place hadn't burnt down or anything, you know. Well, through a serious of unfortunate events, I set off the burglar alarm. Now, this normally isn't a problem, since I know the code and everything. But the door to the house itself was locked, and we'd set off the alarm by opening a storage room door. So we had a very small window of time to run to the back door, unlock it, get inside the house, and shut off the alarm.

We missed that window of time.

I finally got in the house and turned off the alarm, but then the phone rang. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem either, since I could just tell the alarm company the truth and let them know it was a false-alarm. So I picked up the phone... and heard nothing but static. The phone was broken, as fate would have it.

So here I am, freaking out because everyone in the neighborhood probably heard the noise, and I had no way of letting the cops know it was a false alarm. Wouldn't you be freaked out to? The phone rings again, and I answered. Still more static. Finally, I manage to find a working phone and answer the third call. I explain to the Sheriff's Department the situation, and they seem happy to hear that it was just a false-alarm. Phew... crisis averted. I hang up the phone, and go outside to tell my dad that we're in the clear.

Then I hear the sirens...

I'm not talking one cop car in the distance. I'm talking like... 4 or 5 police vehicles rushing down a nearby streat, and judging from the noise they were heading our way.

The expressions on mine and my father's faces were probably priceless, in retrospect.

But, by the grace of God, the sirens pass by and fade into the distance. Apparently, the entire Raymond police force was just passing by on the adjacent street on their way to some other emergency. Me and my dad both let out a sigh of relief in unison, finished checking out the house, and got the heck out of Dodge.

Reflecting upon this event, I think it would have been smarter for me and my dad to actually turn off the alarm before we started checking out the house. But I still must wonder... if the alarm went off when I opened the storage room door, why didn't it go off when my dad opened the garage door? I guess I'm just lucky like that... hah hah.

So yeah, I probably scared myself out of a year or two of life thanks to that little fiasco. In other news, I finally got an A on one of Dr. Ford's History tests. Woo! I'm proud of myself... I've also got to rework my English essay from the ground up, it seems. I suppose I should work on that later... Hopefully I'll be able to put enough work into it to at least get an "acceptable" on it.

Oh, and my friend gave me Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for the PSP. I'm now addicted to it... Just thought I'd throw that out there. Hah hah...

Well, I guess that's about it for this week. Tune in next week to see how much more trouble I accidentaly get myself into!

11. Indecisive

I can't decide on what I want to write about. I have several options, and I already wrote up one blog post, only to decide it was dumb and delete the whole thing. So I guess I'll just go the simple route and reflect upon all of those things.

First of all, my girlfriend got a 28 on the ACT the first time she took it. Woohoo! With a grade like that, I think its safe to assume she'll be able to come here to MC. Which is good... She wants to get English and Art degrees, and MC has pretty good programs for that. Plus, I'll be able to see her more often. Huzzah!

My friend's baby shower was today. She invited me a few weeks ago, but sadly I missed it for a few random reasons. Its kind of odd, too. I warned her not to make the choices she made, but when she got pregnant, I was happy for her. I didn't say "You made a mistake" or "I told you so." I just felt happy for her... Because its probably the first time in her life that she's ever actually been happy, from what I've seen.

Oh, and my interview is tommorrow. I get to pester Dr. Ford about being a History Professor. Woo! I also need to ask him a few questions about World War 2 for a certain literary project I've been toying with. Muah hah hah hah hah...

Well, thats about it. I guess thats all for now. Um...

The End.

10. Blog Number Ten

Once again, I am late. I ran into a few delays on the way back here from my house, and then I wrote up a large blog post on the Presidential election, only to delete it. I decided that there's enough discussion about that going on, and I'd rather not get dragged into it. I will, however, say this: I'm content with having Obama as our country's new President. Anyway, I decided that it would be better for me to do a blog post that is more reflective, since... well... that IS the purpose of this assignment, if I'm not mistaken. So now I just have to think of something to reflect upon...

Lets see... nothing spectacular occured this week. Well, Obama won, but like I said, I'm going to avoid that subject since its already been discussed. A lot. I also managed to sleep in and miss Thursday's Comp 101 class. Boy, was Dr. Miller happy about that! Hah hah... Oh, and I got my class schedual! I can't believe how crazy its going to be... I managed to get into Karate, and I snagged the last seat of the College Algebra night class. Woo! I've also got myself signed up for Intro to Theatre... as well as the usual Bible, English, and History classes. Oh, and German. Guess what it totals out to? 19 hours! Yep, next semester is going to be FUN!

I am soooooo gonna die...

My Mom and Grandmother got home Friday night. They went and saw my uncle who, as you know, is dying of brain cancer. Quite depressing... He's lost the ability to talk, can't use his right arm, and only has a month to live, according to his doctors. He actually went to MC, in fact. Got a PhD in Theology, or something like that... Its kinda sad that he put all that work into his life, only for it to just... you know... end up like this. Oh well... I suppose there's nothing I can do but pray for him. Thats what I've been doing, and thats what I'm going to keep doing. Still... its all just so tragic.

Well, I guess thats all I've got. Obama won, I have a 19 hour schedual next semester, and my uncle is on the verge of death. I'm sure you found all that to be sooooo entertaining... Sorry for wasting your time. Hah hah...

9. What time is it?

Wow, what a confusing day. Daylight Savings Time always messes me up. I wish I could say my blog is late because of it, but no. I'll be honest and admit that my blog is late because I'm prone to forgetting really important things. Hah hah... But seriously, this totally slipped my mind. Oops... Of course, up until now I didn't really have much to talk about. But the last three days were very... interesting, to say the least. I just didn't have Internet access during those times, and thus I was unable to blog about it.

Two major things happened this week. First of all, I got Fallout 3 on Tuesday. It has effectively turned me into a hermit. Seriously, this game is fun! Its essentially a post-apocalyptic adventure game, where you run around America after the world got nuked. The game is set a century or so afterwards, and its interesting to see the after-effects of mankind's stupidity. Modern landmarks and cities are the equivalent to ancient ruins, and mankind hangs on by a thread by forming small towns and camps. Its kinda weird, though. I mean, its just a game and everything, but you can't help but think about how the world really would be after a nuclear war. This will probably never happen, of course. At least not on a large scale... But as we've seen with scenarios such as Chernobyl, even a small nuclear explosion of any kind can reap destruction on a massive and long-lasting scale. Quite a disturbing thought...

The other thing that occurred, which has caused so much confusion and chaos for my family over the past few days, is the revelation that my uncle only has about a month to live. We knew he had brain cancer, but he was expected to last at least moderately longer than that. But it seems the experimental treatments the docs tried on him failed miserably, and apparently gave the cancer a chance to spread like wildfire. I was supposed to go visit him over Thanksgiving, but due to the apparent time limit on his life, my mom and grandmother left today to go see him. I couldn't go, of course, due to school, and I pretty much missed my chance of ever seeing my uncle again. Such a happy thought... I talked to the youth minister back at my church, though, and he gave me a lot of advice. All I can do is pray...

So, what sort of reflection can be had from these things? Hmmm... Well, I have decided that Fallout 3 was well worth the 80 bucks it cost, the world would suck if it got nuked, and my uncle should have stuck with the treatments that were working.

Oh! And my grandmother said she'd bail me out of next semester. So now I can focus on paying for next year here at MC. Phew... That's a lot less to worry about...

So yeah, apologies once again for putting this blog up late. Thanks for reading it, to whoever actually did so. Um... the end.

8. A Double Standard

Earlier this week, MC played host - albeit involuntarily - to Soul Force, a gay rights group of some sort. People complained, police were called, and news channels clambered to cover the story. But I have to ask - what is the big deal? So some people wanted protest - big whoop. This is America, and there are two rights we have in this country that come into play here: Freedom of Speech, and Freedom to protest. We are allowed to voice our opinions, and we are allowed to congregate in protest against things we don't agree with. Funny how basic American rights get trampled once something a few people don't agree with gets brought into play. "Some people want to protest against the war in Iraq? Okay... Some people are protesting discrimination against gay students? Call the cops!" Seriously, I can't help but see a double standard here...

Now, I will admit, I did not personally go down to see the protesters themselves. Some people told me what they were saying, and I didn't feel like getting dragged into the conflict that might be brewing. I did, however, notice the large crowd of students gathered around them, and I heard the obscenities and insults being hurled at the protesters. I couldn't help but feel a bit... sad. Soul Force was trying to get people's attention on the matter of discrimination on campus, and lo and behold, they're being insulted and discriminated against. And by students at a Christian college, no less. What a wonderful sight. "Ah yes, lets go insult the people protesting discrimination on campus. I'm SURE that will make them go away..."

Yes, the Bible does say homosexuality is wrong. I personally agree with this sentiment - homosexuality is a sin. But the Bible also says we are to treat our neighbor as we wish to be treated, and to love our enemies. I don't think Jesus meant "Love thy neighbor, but hate anyone who's different." I think He meant: "Love thy neighbor, regardless of race, religion, or ideals." But not everyone has the same opinion. No, many people think differently from me. In fact, many people would probably get mad at me because of my opinion on this matter. I've already annoyed a few people by telling them how I felt on the Soul Force thing. But that is my belief.

That is my belief, and I am willing to argue for it against those who would argue against it. What, I ask, is wrong with that?

A lot, apparently...

7. Week in Review

Yet another week past at MC. I took some notes, passed (barely) a few quizes, and did my service project. Not much else of utter importance happened that I can recall. Of course, it was a short week, so there wasn't much opportunity for stuff to happen. And even then, nothing out of the ordinary occured. Which doesn't bother me - I'm quite content with a lack of spontaniety and excitement, to some degree.

My service project for Comp 1 was... interesting. I was supposed to go play with children at a local appartment complex with some other students. I mean, whats better than brightening a bored childs day? Well, it seems we were a bit overzealous. There ended up being more students than kids. I'm not kidding - I think the ratio was at least 1:3 for kids to students. So, to be honest, I found myself not doing much. I figured that there wasn't much I could do. It only took a few of us to keep the kids entertained, and it was clear that they were doing a much better job than I could do. Did I feel bad for not doing much to help? A little. But at least I was there, and I stayed there in case I there was need for me. Which, from what I could tell, there was not.

In personal matters, I went home for the weekend, and spent some time with my family and friends. Didn't get to see my girlfriend that much, except for church. How bothersome. But at least I got to talk religeon with my agnostic friend for awhile. Huzzah? I find it funny that I'm friends with an agnostic. He does to, I think. We've both been led to believe cliche ideas about each other - me to believe that athiests (what he originally claimed to be - we discovered that his ideals are, in fact, agnostic in nature, so he has switched "religions" ever since we started our semi-regular discussions when we're bored) are rude and won't listen to your beliefs, and him to believe that Christians are very mean to "Heathens" and like to shove their beliefs down people's throats. I think we've both learned from our theological discussions. I now know what makes some people lose their faith (he was raised Christian - his family is "uber-Christian" is his own words, and he keeps his personal beliefs secret), and has learned a lot about what Christianity should be - love and understanding, not hate and shunning.

Have I made progress in converting him? Heh... doubtful. His beliefs are quite well-thought and resolved. Although, he has started to attend church, albiet to see his friends. But he has agreed to go to Church Camp with a friend of mine...

Do I intend to convert him? To be honest, no. All I can do is show him good examples of Christianity in me and some of my friends, and see what he makes of it. A man should have the right to choose what he believes.

Who am I to make that decision for him?

6: Blog Number 6

Another week, another Blog update. I really wish I had something important to talk about, but I'm afraid I don't. There's not much to talk about, really. All I did this week was go to class, study, and watch the Stock Market crash and burn. In regards to the US economy, its like a train wreck. Its so horrifying, yet you can't look away. Only now its past the train wreck part - now there's a school bus involved. Okay, forgive the morbid analogy, but you have to admit, the news this week has been quite grim.

I find myself wondering... how will these effect me? How will the current state of our economy affect students like me? From what I've gathered, it won't be too good. Student loans will become harder to get, some colleges will be raising tuition prices, and most jobs that students rely upon will disappear, since businesses will have to cut jobs and wages in order to keep up with the economy. Some student's college funds are rapidly drying up, since their parents decided to put it in the stock market. Students who weeks ago had their futures paid for are now finding themselves in a very bad situation. Isn't the Butterfly Effect wonderful?

Right, so, how 'bout something cheerier to discuss? Um... I got nothing. I honestly don't know what else to talk about. I doubt my inability to come up with good blog material is going to effect my grade all too well. No matter how hard I try, I can't figure out what I'm supposed to even be writing about. I meant to ask Dr. Miller about it, but I forgot to ask him I had the chance. Oops... And I left the piece of paper about our blog that he gave us back at my dorm. So here I am, typing away, hoping that my inability to blog properly does not come back to haunt me... Wonderful.

5. Good News

Well, it seems I have some good news.

My grandmother has been released from the hospital. The docs say she was freaking out as a side-effect of the kidney problems, and she'll be back to normal soon. (Granted, normal for her is still a bit loopy, but I can't complain...) She'll be staying at our house for awhile, so once again, I'm out of a room. (Any time we have guests, they get my room, and I get the sofa. I don't care, though - we have a comfy sofa.) As for her cancer, the doctors said they'd do some tests in a few weeks. I have to wonder though why you'd put of testing for a few weeks when they made it seem like it so serious to begin with. Oh well, doctors aren't my favorite people, for several reasons. I don't hate them or anything, but I'm not exactly trusting of most of them...

Lets see, what else is going on in my life? Oh right, I get to go to my girlfriend's Homecoming dance tommorrow! Woohoo! Once again I'm left wondering though, since the dance doesn't start until 10 and doesn't end until 1. AM, to clarify. I guess thats normal... My school just never allowed such things. Dances started at 9, and ended at 11, and we only got two dances a year. They were also heavily regulated - if you weren't wearing dress clothes or an expensive dress, you weren't allowed in. Apparently, you can wear jeans to her school's dances. Why am I babbling about clothes at school functions, anyway?

So yeah, I'm going home tommorrow, and hopefully I'll get to hang out with my girlfriend before she has to go home and get ready. Then we're going out to eat with some friends, and then its off to the dance! And out of my comfort zone, if what she's told me about their dances turns out to be true... Oh well, I get to spend most of the day with my girlfriend, so I honestly cannot complain. :D

As for the rest of the weekend, I have some friends coming over Saturday, church Sunday morning, and then its back here to MC for me! Huzzah? And is it sad that I call my dorm "home" more often than my own house? Hah hah...


Thanks for reading! Tune in next week for more mindless ramblings from yours truly...

4. -insert witty title here-

Yes, I know this is late. But hear me out, please.

I just had a relatively bad weekend. Where do I start? To summarize: my mom went to the doctor, and it turns out she's borderline Diabetic. But thankfully with meds and a better diet, she can avoid true Diabetes and stay healthy. Unfortunately, there's not much that can be done for my grandmother. Apparently, her kidneys are failing, she has Dementia, and an x-ray of her kidneys also revealed that she has Pancreatic Cancer. The doctor decided to jump the gun and straight up say "It looks pretty bad" before he'd even done the CT scan to make sure. If thats the case, then... well... it looks pretty bad. Oh, and my uncle's brain cancer has progressed into his throat. Wonderful!

I spent most of my weekend in a hospital room, trying to keep my grandmother calm. Apparently, the Dementia makes her have weird hallucinations and thought processes. Somehow, she came to the conclussion that my parents were sticking her in a nursing home, and they were going to rob her of everything she owned. I was the only person she trusted at the time, so I got to be the negotiator. Well, that went swimmingly. In the end, my grandmother pretty much ran my parents off, and I had to stay the night with her to make sure she didn't do anything crazy. I was unable to get any of the work I needed to do done, including the zero draft for our Comp 1 report, which I'd intended to do at home over the weekend, since I figured I'd be able to relax and concentrate at my house. Yeah... right.

So yeah... I got back to the dorm late due to a very screwed up schedule, with very little to show other than a sore back and a heavy heart. My blog is late, and my report is unwritten. I'm a bit brain-dead at the moment... I can't even comprehend everything I've seen and heard this weekend. The reality hasn't sunk in yet, I suppose. Thats a great thing to look forward to...

Also, I apologize for making you all read this depressing little piece of literature. I figure I might as well be honest as to why my work wasn't done on time... And I think talking about stuff like this helps, even if the talking is more-so text on a computer screen... Makes sense to me, at least.

If you actually read all that... thanks for caring.

3. -cough cough-

Great... My cruddy immune system has decided to kick in, and at the worst of times. I feel like a walking corpse... I can hardly breathe, my muscles and joints ache, and I keep thinking I'm gonna fall down the moment I try to walk anywhere. And I don't mean fall down like tripping and staggering to the floor. I mean falling down like people in Family Guy do. You know, where they just go "Wham!" and are instantly sprawled out on the ground.

Yeah, this isn't fun...

In other news, I'm in sore need of a source of income. Its hard to get a job when you don't have a car... Yes, yes, lets all laugh at the loser who doesn't have a car. Hah hah hah... But yeah, I need a job. Maybe Walgreens is hiring? I hear they pay good money... Maybe I should try Ebay? I mean, you can sell anything on there. I've seen people selling "Mystery Boxes" for 20 bucks each on there before. No really, its just a shoe box full of junk, and people pay upwards of 20 dollars for it. Looks like I'm in the wrong business... Hah hah.

Lets see, anything else worth discussing? No, not really. I'm sick, I feel like I got hit by a Hummer, and I'm just hoping I can get this thing posted in time... I just got back from my parents house, and they don't have internet. Ergo, I'm hoping Dr. Miller will be nice and not count off if this is a few minutes later than 3... Surely he'll cut me a break. Right? ... Right?

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a nap...

2: Caution - incoherant rant ahead

In case you haven't noticed, I'm having trouble finding stuff to talk about. Normally, I can rant for hours on end about nothing in particular, in both real life and on the Internet. But for some reason, I can't think of anything to write on here. Don't get me wrong, it not like I haven't tried... But I keep deleting what I write, since it just doesn't... work. I dunno, its hard to explain. I want the stuff I put on here to pertain to things the reader (IE: You) cares about, but I also want it to be well-written and business-like since this is a college assignment. To be honest, I don't know what catches the readers' interests, and my attempts at "professional" writing usually come out as archaic and convoluted babbling about nothing in particular. Hm... Maybe I'm better off just ranting about things I care about? Yeah, lets go with that!

Thus far, I've managed to gain some comments on here by mentioning H. P. Lovecraft and Bioshock, and entertaining people with my semi-humorous style of writing. I suppose I should stick with what works... especially since I can't think of much else to talk about. So yeah, lets talk about Bioshock...

What is Bioshock, you ask? Why, Bioshock is only one of the best games ever created! And I'm not just saying that because I like it... It has received countless awards, good reviews, and has raked in a rather large paycheck for its creators. In short, its a first-person shooter game for the x-box 360, PC, and PS3. (I myself own the 360 version...) The setting is a desolate, dystopian undersea city where greed and betrayal have reduced the natural order of things to anarchy and bloodthirsty chaos. You play as a plane-crash survivor who somehow winds up in the middle of the civil war that has torn the city apart. At your disposal are antique weapons (the game takes place in 1960...), special powers (pyrokinesis, telekinesis, et cetra...), and... not much else. The main thing I like about the game, though, is the storyline. It is one of the most ingenious, creative, and original plots I have heard of in years, be it from a game, movie, or book. The sheer awesomeness that it contains is hard to fathom, unless you have played it. And even then, you're often left with your jaw hanging open, mumbling "Whoa..." as you try to understand the newest plot twist that got thrown at you.

So why exactly am I rambling about Bioshock, you wonder? Why am I babbling about a video game on my English blog? I actually do have a good reason for it... Remember the crazy-good storyline I mentioned?

I want to be able to write something like that.

I want to write something that causes the reader to think "Wow..." as they read it. I want to entertain people with something that keeps them interested until they finish the book. I want to write a story that grabs you and doesn't let go, a story that people just can't put down. But I do not want to write something that makes me rich. Nor do I want to write something that makes me famous. I just want to write something that when people get done reading it, they can say: "That was a good book..."

Maybe I will, one day. Maybe I will write a piece of literary gold that the critics applaud as sheer genius. Maybe I will write something good. But realistically, I find this improbable. While I do think I may one day get something published, I doubt it will be bestseller. I might at best obtain a few readers, and a handful of fans... but I will almost certainly never become a household name. In literary terms, I have more chance of being an "H. P. Lovecraft" than a "Steven King." But you know what?

I'm content with that...



Wow, you're still here? If you actually managed to read that entire wall of text, congratulations. You may have noticed that while I made a small reference to him, I did not discuss H. P. Lovecraft in the above rant. I'm gonna save him for the next time I have nothing to talk about on here... which will probably be next week.

Um... the end?

1: Welcome to my blog!

My name is Blake Waltman, and welcome to my blog! (Run while you still can...) I am a Freshman at Mississippi College, and I'm hoping to double-major in History and Writing. There's really not that much else to say... I live a very simple life, and there isn't too much excitement in it. Mostly I just go to class, read, write, and play a few video games. On the weekend, I go home to visit my parents, my girlfriend, and my friends. I don't have a job, I don't have a car, and I don't (usually) have a care in the world... I'm a bit on the lazy side, but I'll get my work done when I need to. (I'm doing this assignment, aren't I?) I'm just your typical, laid-back, flat-broke college student. And I am content with that...

I guess I should go into a bit more detail than that... I'm from Brandon, Mississippi, and I graduated from University Christian School. If you've never heard of it (and I doubt you have), its in Flowood, Mississippi. My parents are together, and I have a little bro who's a sports guru. Seriously, dude can swing a bat... I have a girlfriend, who also lives in Brandon, and we've been dating for almost 11 months now. She was planning on going to Southern, but she's suddenly decided to shoot for MC after hearing me brag about how awesome it is. Yay! I've also got several great friends who live around the general area, and we tend to get together on weekends to play video games and chat.

Lets see... what are some of my hobbies...? I like to play video games, like any other normal teenager. Bioshock = best game ever. I also like to read, particularly the tales of H. P. Lovecraft, whom I doubt any of you have ever even heard of. He was a suspence/supernatural horror writer from the early 1900's, and his works involving monsters such as Cthulhu, sea monsters, and aliens were the first of their type. Think Poe, but a bit more sick and twisted. But I digress... I also like to write, particularly short horror and suspence stories. I'd be lying if I said I was a good poet...

Anyway, that about wraps it up for this little... blog... post... thing... Ahem.