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Appetizer
So as to tide you over
Fri, Oct 11th, 2002
Winterset Redux
Pictures!
Wed, Oct 2nd, 2002
Message Board
So my phone will get a rest
Mon, Sep 30th, 2002
More about Katie
Because I said so.
Fri, Sep 27th, 2002
Winterset
Plus a CD Review
Mon, Sep 23rd, 2002
Girls
GRRRRRRR!
Wed, Sep 18th, 2002
Crazy dream
Plus I got to hear some live polka
Fri, Sep 13th, 2002
9/11
Why I will always remember to never forget
Wed, Sep 11th, 2002
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The Weekend
Because I have to write something.
Friday afternoon, Paul taught me how to drive stick. When I say 'taught me how', I of course mean that he taught me the theory. Starting (and idling) a car with manual transmission is complicated to me. I for one was quite relieved when I got into my car at the end of the night and all I had to do was turn the key, shift into D, and push the gas pedal. No clutch, no timing, no jerking car because you didn't give it enough gas. All in all, it was a good experience, and after a few more sessions, I could be decent at driving stick.
That night we went to a haunted corn maze. If you're local and you have the choice, I would recommend the one in Knoxville over the one in Ames. Knoxville has a theme, whereas the Ames one is just people jumping out at you. This can be unnerving, but you can get the same effect by having a member of your party run ahead and jump out of the corn at you.
So Heidi & Katie came into town this weekend, which is always a highlight. I understand that they didn't come to see me as much as Ryan, but I was included in the group, so it's all good. We carved a pair of rather disturbing pumpkins and left them on a friend's desk for her to find, we found out that my next-dor neighbor for 3 years (and one of the other authors of the Eubonicode langage) had just asked his girlfriend to get married (she said yes) and we visited some friends.
Okay, so that was my bit about my weekend. On to more serious, introspective stuff.
I wish I was a more useful person. I took a test once to determine my 'spiritual gift', which was Empathy. Which makes sense, but is rather ironic. I am certainly empathetic; if you're my friend and you hurt, I hurt. It kills me to see people hurting. Why, then, is it funny that I'm empathetic? If you know me at all, you know that I am dense. I'm smart and all, but I'm just so naïve at times. So, I'm like an Empath, except I have to see your pain to empathize. What's even more frustrating is that I have a hard time seeing use of my gift. Few people know me well enough to confide in me anything of great depth, so even when I do see someone hurt, I can't do anything but silently empathize. Ben Stiller's character on Mystery Men is mocked because his super power is that he gets angry. Seriously, though, what's my power? I feel bad.
How do you actually convince someone that you're not simply being polite when you say "I'm there for you"? What does one have to do in order to convince someone that one is sincere?
Of all the benefits of being a college student, I miss the ability to be around people 24/7. Graduating has largely isolated me from friends. My best friend lives in Montana, my close confidant lives in Illinois, the friend I talk the most with lives in New Jersey, and I feel like on a boat, and my college friends are on the shore. We can still see each other and talk, but it's gettting more and more difficult, and we all ultimately realize that we're soon going to drift apart enough that we don't interact at all. The only thing to do is just grab life by the lips and yank as hard as you can.
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