Deep Thoughts

Bedlam

2006-03-01T03:08:00.000-08:00

Well, Bedlam definitely lived up to it's hype...and you know what, I still haven't gotten over that game yet...it was amazing and fun....anyway, here's the Bookout slam...who cares if it is a travel, because that dunk was just an absolutely amazing play....and you know what, if I am an OSU fan, I'd be more upset that Bookout, possibly the slowest guy on the court, gets behind the whole defense with that little time left...

Lots to talk about

2006-02-20T03:47:00.000-08:00

Well, there's a lot to talk about since the last time I posted, but I am going to try and keep things brief. First off, I had two of the most fun weekends I can remember in these past few weeks. The first weekend started off very nicely with Raj and I creating a Beer Pong table with the sliding door from Raj's closet. It led to some fun on a Friday night, especially when the party we had been to earlier kind of sucked, so we were looking for something to do. I took a picture of Raj and our masterpiece, and here's that:

So, that kicked off what was going to be a great weekend...after our Friday night festivities, the OU-Texas game occurred that Saturday. I had been looking forward to this game for a while, because it is basically a game between the best two teams in the Big 12 (sure Kansas has played well, but OU and Texas are still the best two teams in my book)...anyway, the game was amazing, and OU came out and just played awesome. They shot well, played good defense, and really shut down the Horns to take a nice 82-72 win in Norman. That was a lot of fun and after the game, we went to a party for a friend of ours who turned 21. Now, I didn't drink at all that night, since the beer pong was enough for the weekend for me.

Saturday was definitely fun and all, but Sunday was also very fun. On Sunday the band 1964 the Tribute played in Norman at the Catlett Music Center on the OU campus. The concert was only $13 for students, so naturally, I got a ticket. The show was absolutely awesome. The band sounds almost exactly like the Beatles, and they also dress the part as well. They sounded great and even though they don't look exactly like the Beatles, they pulled it off nicely:

Well, that concert definitely capped off a great weekend. Little did I know, though, that after that concert, I would be very sick. I really started to feel sick when I was in bed that Sunday night, and on Monday, I had a fever and such and couldn't stop coughing. I had a sore throat, stuffy nose, coughed a lot, had chills and sweats, a fever, and just ached all over. So I didn't get to school at all that week, because I felt horrible. I went to Goddard and they gave me a prescription for some medication, which worked after a while, but it seemed like for a little while, I was not going to get too much better.

Thankfully, now I feel a lot better. And really, me feeling better is what began to set up this past weekend's activities. At an OU hockey game last weekend, Cale and I ran into Savannah, who is friends with Cale. We then decided that this weekend, we needed to do something fun, since last weekend was kind of a bore. Well, our friend Mallory also came over to discuss what to do, and an amazing idea was thought up. In honor of the current Winter Olympics, we came up with the idea of our own Olympics...the Beer Olympics. Naturally, it only seemed fitting that we have an Olympiad with activities involving beer where we would all represent a country and battle it out in activities such as beer pong, flip cup, quarters, and the likes for the gold.

We then got the planning underway. We decided it would be best to hold it at Mallory's house, since it had more space than anyone's apartment. We also began to plan out which countries were going to be represented. Of course, Raj represented India, since he's full-blooded Indian, but some of us had tougher decisions to make. I decided with Russia, since I'm technically a quarter Russian, even though it was a tough decision between Russia and Hungary. Cale went with Mexico, Mallory with Ireland, Savannah with Holland, Megan with Germany, and the list goes on and on.

Well, on Saturday, the party finally happened. The first annual Beer Olympics were underway. However, they turned out being nothing like we expected. We wound up with more people showing up than initially expected and never could really get any events organized. So basically, what we wound up with was a nice party. However, one event was eventually set up and somewhat organized. Beer Pong. Naturally, Raj and I saw it fit to be on a team together, since we both know we're pretty good at the game. And well, we dominated. Together, the Indo-Russian team was the unofficial beer pong gold medalists, and I have two golds to prove for it (well, I took two gold medals and claimed us as the unofficial champs, since we were the only team to win 3 or more games...and well, we dominated on route to those wins, winning by more than 3 cups each time)...

Earlier in the day, the OU-Iowa State basketball game went on in Norman. Cale and I got there about 5 minutes late, thanks to pathetic driving conditions, since it had been sleeting and snowing since Friday night. When we got there, we saw maybe 6- to 7,000 fans in the stands, which was a good turnout, considering the weather and driving circumstances. Well, to those who weren't at the game, you missed an amazing event. OU got down 11 with a little over 7 minutes left in the game. At this point, I began to lose faith in this game, because everything seemed to be falling for ISU and things just didn't look to be going OU's way. But then Michael Neal got hot. He hit 8-12 from 3-point range in the game and torched it up to help lead a comeback. Towards the end of the game, OU was still down in the final minute. Neal got the ball and launched a trey to make the deficit 2. ISU made some mistakes down the stretch, like missing FTs and also making a bonehead offensive foul, letting OU get the ball with very little time left, only down by 2. Well, Everett (I think) tried to force a shot that would tie the game, but completely missed everything. Then Neal outhustled David Godbold for the three, and he immediately ran to the three-point arc. He took up a wild shot just drawing iron, but in the process, a whistle blew. ISU made a crucial mistake: they fouled Neal.

At this point, I finally got some confidence that we might just win the game. Neal is a very good FT shooter, and he was headed at the line with the possibility of putting OU up 1 with 8 seconds to go in the game. First shot: swish. Second shot: swish. Third shot: nothing but net. ISU then inbounded the ball with 8.2 seconds left on the clock. They got it to Stinson, who is possibly one of the best guards in the Big 12. Stinson was guarded tightly by Godbold, the best defender on OU, all the way down the court. Stinson got to the corner and forced up a shot between Godbold and Taj Gray (I think it was Gray) that drew nothing but air. Then, the best thing happened. Time ran out on the clock, finishing an amazing game for OU.

This past Saturday was a lot of fun and capped off another good weekend. Well, I hope I kept that somewhat short. I am hoping to have some pictures up from the Beer Olympics eventually, as I had a nice little outfit going and made a nice Russia T-Shirt. It's been fun, but now I am back to reading my book on Jack Dempsey, since we have a test in my Sports History class on Tuesday over boxing, which is a fun topic to learn. So with that said, I'll talk to everyone later. Have a good one!

RIP Paul

2006-01-21T23:57:00.000-08:00

Man, it's crazy how things work out sometimes...really, this past week, I have been at basically a loss for words as to why some things happen, and the only conclusion I've been able to reach is that nothing seems to make sense. Last week, a friend of mine was shot and killed at a fraternity afterparty in Stillwater. It caught everyone off guard and made absolutely no sense. Why didn't it make sense? Well, for one thing, the only reason the person was shooting into the party was because he was being turned away from an invitation-only party. Who in their right minds would think of shooting up a place because they didn't let you party? That just seems to make no sense at all...and I don't think I'll ever be able to make sense of it. So what else about this makes no sense? Well, Paul had a very, and I mean very, bright future. Man, he was destined for great things. He had a great heart and really wanted to reach out to the more underprivileged communities and countries. This was his final year at OU, and he had put a lot of effort into what he wanted to do, and then, in one foul swoop, it's all gone. Someone destined for so much was just taken away for apparently no real reason.

This has really had me thinking about some things, and if one thing comes out of this, it is that I now have a little different outlook on life. Paul really wanted to make a difference in the world, and he's no longer going to get that shot. Now it's my turn. Now, as I look toward teaching as my professional career, and maybe even a stint into politics, I see how much of an impact I can make. I will be in the position to mold and shape the minds of the youth of the country, and seeing what Paul wanted to do just makes my desire to make a difference in my field that much greater.

Now, tomorrow (well I guess actually later today), I am going to the funeral of a friend. I don't know what to think of that, but I definitely know that I can thank Paul now that he's gone because I have a greater desire in life to accomplish certain things. With all that said, R.I.P. Paul.

Sweet Unsingable Name

2005-12-17T04:10:00.000-08:00

Following in the Mike Doughty lyrics trend, this one is also titled after some of his music. I've been listening to his CD Haughty Melodic a lot lately, and I must say, it's one of my favorite CDs in the past year or so. I can't say ever, because there are just too many CDs that would qualify for my favorite ever. Well, I don't have much to add right now, but there's just a little bit of stuff to pass on.

Well, I am done with finals and the fall semester of my 4th year in college is now over. Normal students in my class would be graduating this May, but not me. I'm set on the 5 year plan and should graduate after next year (possibly this coming up December). This semester had its struggles, such as understanding one of my history teachers through her thick Arabic accent. Also, a semester of Dr. Savage for Oklahoma History was interesting, as it didn't always seem like he cared what grades he gave out. It seemed like some times he would just look over a paper, through a dart at a board full of letters, and just give out the letter grade that the dart landed on. Of course, the letters on the dart started at C and ended with F. I even saw him give out a few grades of F-, as well as at least on D--. That's right...that's an extremely borderline D, but in any other class, it probably would have been a C paper. Savage is...well...the name is fitting. Two of my other repeat courses, macroeconomics and sociology of law, seemed to go pretty well. I look forward to having grades come out to see what my final grades were in each of those. My political science class also seemed to go pretty well, and again, the only place that I seemed to be lacking in there was H-iTT points. I'll know my grade in political science on Saturday night. And that pretty much covers the school aspect of things.

I really don't have anything else to say, other than that I am looking forward to going home for break and really looking forward to going to Houston for Christmas. I can't wait to go, and it should be a lot of fun. I'm excited now to see what happens next semester, as I have a good class line-up scheduled. I am looking forward to my two American history courses, as well as my logic class. Those should definitely be a lot of fun. I am not sure what to think of my education class yet, but I am looking forward to this coming up semester. My final semesters at OU are really looking to be good ones.

Well, I don't have anything else to say, so I'm going to get back to doing some laundry now. Everyone have a good day, as I know I will.

Don't Fall Through the Stars

2005-12-14T01:54:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I'm sticking with titles for my blog with lines from a Mike Doughty song. I've been listening to a lot of Doughty lately, as well as Sufjan Stevens and Bloc Party. In fact, I created a new study mix that has three songs from Doughty, three from Bloc Party, and three from Sufjan...it's got some other stuff on there, and is fast becoming my favorite playlist on my iTunes. Here's the tracklisting, if you care:

1. "Grey Ghost" - Mike Doughty
2. "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." - Sufjan Stevens
3. "Like Eating Glass" - Bloc Party
4. "King Without a Crown" - Matisyahu
5. "I Ain't Never Foolin Round No More" - The Rounders
6. "So Long Jimmy" - James Blunt
7. "Strange & Beautiful (I'll Put a Spell on You)" - Aqualung
8. "Looking at the World" - Mike Doughty
9. "20 Years Old" - Mike Perkins
10. "Jacksonville" - Sufjan Stevens
11. "Blue Light" - Bloc Party
12. "D'Artagnan's Theme" - Citizen Cope
13. "There For You" - Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley
14. "Banquet" - Bloc Party
15. "Unsingable Name" - Mike Doughty
16. "Ocean" - The John Butler Trio
17. "Chicago" - Sufjan Stevens
18. "Raspberries & Cole Porter" - The Rounders

It's a nice soothing list, which is why I can listen to it while I study. And it gives me something to nod my head to while I'm trying to focus on stupid stuff like the disintegration of committees in the US Congress or the extreme partisanship in the new Congress. I'm down to one paper and one exam left for this semester. My exam Friday is bound to be a decent exam. We are allowed to write a sheet of notes, front and back, and use that on the test. Those can be good and bad, I've found. I'm hoping it works out nicely.

I took my Oklahoma History exam today. I am not going to lie, I was absolutely dreading this one. However, after I finished it, I was fairly proud of my work. I thought it might actually be a paper that Dr. Savage would appreciate, because, not only was it creative, but it brought up some valid points and plenty of data to back those points. I think I might have shown a "mastery of the subject" as Dr. Savage likes to say. Now, it is up to him to see how much this will affect my grade. I plan on going to his office tomorrow to see if he is in there. Hopefully, I'll see if he has any information about final grades. I need to pass this course. An A seems unlikely, because well, in Savage's history, I am not even sure if he has willingly given out an A in the past ten years. I guess we'll see how it turns out. If I don't get enough of a grade to the point where I won't have to take it again, I'm going to be sick to my stomach. So, that means if I get less than a C, I'm going to be disgusted. I really enjoyed the final and thought that I did a good job on it, however, my usual perceptions after a test seem to be completely wrong.

I'm currently working on my paper for US Congress. So far, I've got a little bit and am proud of what I've written so far. I am hoping to get a good grade on it, so that I can finish strong in the class and hopefully pull off a high grade. I have done well on the quizzes and papers for the most part, and would really like to finish strong in the class. As to the Modern Middle East class, which my final is in on Friday, I really don't know what to expect of my grade. The last class I took on the Middle East, I passed fairly easily, but this one has been much more difficult. I have had a hard time with understanding the professor. My main goal is to study my ass off Wednesday and Thursday for this one and do well on the final. With that, I am really hoping for a good grade. We shall see, though, and I am just skeptical to get my hopes up. This has been a tough semester and has included some of my hardest classes to date. I think I have done well this semester, but only the final grades will tell me how successful I really was. We shall see soon enough.

Well, I am going to go and finsih working on this paper. Wish me luck, all, because I will probably need it. It's been an interesting semester, but I am really to see it over.

I Feel as if I'm Looking at the World From the Bottom of a Well

2005-12-11T01:07:00.000-08:00

Okay, so that's a lyric from a song I'm listening to right now. I know it has been a while since my last post, and well, I figured it was time to write a new one. A few things are going on right now:

A. OU made it to the Holiday Bowl. That's cool. In fact, that's really cool, but I am not super confident that it will turn out well for OU. They play Oregon, who has had a great season at 10-1 and their only loss came to a very, very good USC team. Oregon played USC tough for a half, but eventually got blown out. But they have some strengths that match up well with OU's weaknesses, so it'll at least be an interesting game. I want to go, but damn, San Diego is way the hell out there. Tickets were only $48, but still, San Diego is way the hell out there.

B. Now that the football regular season is over, it's time to focus on some of the other sports at OU. It's basketball season, and well, we have a very good team at OU. They have struggled a bit offensively lately, but the defense is playing well. Also, Taj Gray and Kevin Bookout are both putting together strong senior seasons. Those guys might be the best frontcourt duo in America. Also, at OU, we have a nice little club hockey team. OU Hockey just took out Minnesota in a two-game home sweep here at the Blazers Ice Arena. They took them out by a combined score of 13-3 in the two games. That's a 4-game winning streak for the now 17th ranked Sooners. And there are other really good sports here, like the women's basketball team, which is going to be a force with the Paris twins. This has been a good year so far for the "other" sports at OU. Football struggled, so now maybe more people will realize that we have a very good overall sports program, and aren't just a football school.

C. It's finals week. Yee haw. No, really, I'm excited. Wait, no, no I'm not. I hate finals week. It just means time to study a lot and then go take ridiculously hard tests so that my professors can enjoy the grading process. Really, I'm not too excited. In the two classes that I still have to actually show up and take an exam in, I'm not really sure how well I am doing in the classes. I didn't do too well on the midterm of my Modern Middle East class, so a lot is riding on this final. I am not really sure what to think about my Oklahoma history class, as the final is the most important part of the class. He grades on "improvement" as he likes to call it. I call it bullshit. He grades on whatever the hell he wants to grade on. My political science class ended pretty nicely. I averaged a nice 96 on the tests, and averaged about an 85 on the simulation. If I can write a good essay on the final, then I may be able to pull off a decent grade. The only place I lacked was the H-iTT points. I didn't have the clicker until a little while into the course, so I missed out on some points there. I should be able to pull off a good grade in there. I really enjoyed the simulation. Neither of the bills passed, and that's okay with me. The only one that my Senator would've really liked to see fall on its face was the Prevention First bill, a bill introduced by Senators Harry Reid and Hilary Clinton. Coburn would've hated that bill. It passed through the Senate, but fell flat on its face in the House, where the overly conservative House Republicans destroyed it. The Immigration bill had parts he would've liked, but I wasn't too sure which way to vote, so I just tried to weigh out the parts of the legislation, and determine how he'd vote from that. I voted for it, and it passed in the Senate fairly easily, but the original copy barely passed the House. It then went to a conference committee, since the two versions that passed had different amendments. After that, it still passed in the Senate, but failed in the House, again thanks to the overly conservative House Republicans. It was a fun class. As to my other two classes, I expect either an A or a B in each one of those. I did well on all the tests in my Sociology of Law class, and also did well on the tests and homeworks in my Macroeconomics class. I guess we'll find out soon enough how things turn out.

D. Well, it is late, I've been studying for a lot today and also went Christmas shopping. I'm tired, and can't really figure out anymore to write, so I'm signing off for the evening. It's now time to watch Christmas Vacation as I fall asleep. Good night everyone!!

Almost Time!!!

2005-10-05T23:54:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's so close....can you feel that? That's the feeling you get when it is almost time for the Red River Rivalry....it's almost time to pack the Honda and go down to Dallas for a weekend at the West End, Cotton Bowl, and Texas State Fair...I am so ready to go...well, besides the needing to do laundry and packing part, I am ready to go....maybe I should rephrase that...I am mentally ready to go....

That is all...

What an interesting Saturday

2005-10-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

So this was quite possibly the oddest Saturday I can remember...I woke up around 8:45 to go get some breakfast with some friends before playing a backyard football game at 10:30. Well, that was all normal, and breakfast was good. At 10:30, we go out to play some football and everything is going fine until about 1:30 or so, when Cale rolls his ankle pretty good and winds up going to UrgentCare to have it looked at. This is about the time that the day just starts to get trippy.

Well, after watching some football, it's time to go up to the OU football game, which was the first night game in seemingly forever. Since Cale and Tara weren't going, I wound up getting his ticket for Jack and got Tara's parking permit for the game to park in the Sarkey's lot. That was cool, because it gave us a spot on campus pretty close to the stadium. Usually I walk from my apartment, but my knees wouldn't have been able to sustain that, as they were in pain from playing football. Anyway, we pull up to the Sarkey's lot and show the event security guy our pass, and he won't allow it, saying that temporary passes aren't okay to park there. Well, on the pass, it says in clear print "Game Day Pass" so we are all questioning the guy's reading comprehension. He then sends us up to the next guy and he lets us park.

So we head into the stadium and go get some pretty good seats at around the 15 yard line. That was cool....it was basically the same area that we always sit in, but this time, we had annoying fans all around us. See, since it was a night game, everyone was extremely drunk around us...that wasn't cool being kneed in the back and having people just run into you without even giving a damn. Well,as the game went on things were definitely starting to settle down. And then it happened. In the second quarter of the game, there was a sudden "BOOM!!" and everyone was left wondering what it was. I wasn't sure if it was thunder or a Ruf/Nek's gun, but it couldn't have been thunder as there were no clouds in the sky. So it left us looking around wondering what the answers were about it. Well, no one knew as time went on, until a girl in front of us started talking with a friend of hers, and she was told it was a pipe bomb that went off and a person was dead. Then as the game went on, the PA announcer made announcements for bus drivers parked in the South Oval to move their buses, and another announcement at the end of the game to exit out of certain areas of the stadium and avoid the west side and the South Oval. This is when we knew that the girl was deifnitely telling the truth about there being a pipe bomb. Also, I called Cale and he checked on the news for information about it, and then came up the term "suicide bomber"...that definitely caught me off guard.

So after all this, I got to thinking and reading about the incident. Everything I read said there was a second device found at the scenet. Well, that makes things pretty interesting, because if the guy was just going to commit suicide, why would he have two bombs? It doesn't make any sense at all. Then today, I read that they evacuated some of the apartment complexes near the street that the guy lived on because of the possibility of a car bomb in the area. Again, why would they be so concerned if he already accomplished his goal last night? Also, another thing of interest is that he had the bomb on campus on a day when there are over 90,000 people in the area. That seems like he would want to do something more than just kill himself. It just doesn't add up.

Well, that's all I really have for now...I'm sure I'll add more during the week because it is OU/Texas week, and there is always something to talk about this week...have a good one...later....

Test tomorrow

2005-09-29T02:23:00.000-07:00

Wow, so I really am a dumbass...there's no other way to put it. I thought I had a test earlier today in my Sociology of Law class, and I was grossly mistaken. The test is not until not week, so I spent all of last night and much of today studying for this test that I thought I had. Of course, had I looked at the syllabus in the packet, instead of going on instinct, I would've noticed that the test is on October 5th, and not September 28th. So that was basically time well wasted when I could've been studying for a much more important test. So instead, I am pulling this all-nighter in order to get fully prepped up for my Oklahoma history test. I have already done poorly in the class once and really need to do very well this time in order to be done with the class. Plus, I am taking this as a repeater course, so it would wipe out my last grade and then bring up my overall GPA in the process. I really need this.

I know, I know...what am I doing typing out this blog, when I should be studying for my exam? Well, everyone needs a break every now and then. There is only so much I can take of looking at the different colors of highlighters that are marked in my textbook. So far, just through the first three chapters, I have used yellow, pink, blue and green hi-liters....those things really do come in handy...my goal is to highlight the main points and names in each chapter, and then go back later and re-read those parts, so that I have a very good idea of what is going on. The only problem is that there are so many different names in these chapters, like Spaniards, French and Native Americans. It gets confusing. But anyway, I have to do that.

Oh yeah, and one last thing. It really sucked badly last night when my AC went out in my apartment. The temperature downstairs got to 80 degrees, and it was about 85 or so upstairs in the bedrooms. Sleeping was like laying down in a sauna for an extended period of time and just baking. It was not fun at all. I wound up sleeping with my shirt around my head as a doo-rag, in order to keep the sweat off both my face and the pillows. It wasn't fun. Luckily, they came in and fixed it today, so now it is back to being cold as ice in my apartment. Of course, it doesn't need to be since it seems pretty dang cold outside.

Alright, that's it for now...gotta go get back to studying....

Later...

Because I wanna

2005-09-27T04:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm new to this...I don't care...why am I doing this? Well, that's a simple question...mainly, because I want to...

I'm kind of bored right now and don't really have much going. It's late at night, and I have been in and out of sleep, so I figured what better do I have to do than to create a blog. I will probably fall asleep again soon enough, so I might as well do this while I am awake. At least, that is how I am looking at it.

Alright, so I'll get started...I'm a student at OU. It's a great school and I love being here...the atmosphere is just a lot of fun and the weekend activities can't be beat. There's basically always something to do, and now that I am 21, I can go to the bars for a change. Since it's a college town, there is a pretty good nightlife at the bars, and I enjoy the chance to go out and hang with friends. I'm not going to do it too much, though, because that just gets pricey. Sometimes, you just gotta realize that it is easier to stay at home and drink a 6 pack of Bud Light...that way, you save yourself some money.

Class is going pretty well. For the first time since freshman year, I actually like most of my classes. For the first time in a while, I don't have an education class. I see the correlation there; do you? I am an education major because I see teaching being part of my future, but I really hate education classes. They are the most pointless, common-sense type classes I have ever sat through. I've been through the education system and have an idea of what to do as a teacher by now. I enjoy my political science, sociology and history classes much more than any of my education classes.

Well, this is going to be an interesting semester, especially with OU's football team starting off slow. The weekends around here really usually center around the football games and the 80,000+ people that enter into this town. Basically, our football games are now just a big social event, when they should be about going to support the team. I understand that people want to come to the stadium and hang out, but when that effects the home field advantage, then I think it is time for you to leave. Plus, I really just don't like some of the fans here. They clapped when the TCU starting quarterback went down with an injury. That's just sad. There also seem to be 80,000+ fans in the stand, which is never fun.

Alright, I've said all I want to say for now...if you want, leave me some comments...I'll enjoy reading them...talk to y'all later....