Finally yesterday, my group and I finished off our final paper. I say it like that when in all honesty, everyone else was done, I was just putting the final edits and making sure it sat right with me. Not that they’re slackers, they worked damn hard like me.

Needless to say, we were practicing a few times through our presentation and I felt like there was something missing at the beginning of it. So I used ChaCha and grabbed myself a quote to open it all off with. To preface this, let’s back up…

In Capstone, the class that I’m in, they do a strategic analysis paper to cap off the class. Every group in every class does the same exact company, so it gives a more objective grading to it for all of the groups to go up against each other in the final competition. Prizes include exam exemptions and extra credit points for participation beyond the class level, and if you win it, there’s gift cards there too, so its not a bad thing.

For this semester, the company was Harley Davidson, and their mission statement dealt with dreams. I wanted a quote to tie in with that. And on my second try with ChaCha, I got the above Garnett quote. And it was perfect.

See, I’m not the first guy people think of when it comes to sports. Growing up, I played baseball some and participated in martial arts. I always played neighborhood pickup games of roller hockey, football, basketball, or baseball, and I followed a few teams here and there. As a whole, though, when I came to college I focused so much on the music that the sporty side of me was somewhat lost behind that. Add to that meal plan, the freedom to buy pints of Ben & Jerry’s and bags of Swedish Fish, and a glowing computer monitor with an instant messenger window open and I barely strapped on my roller blades anymore. Sure, I did intermurals a few times, but mostly my first few years.

So why would a sports quote be perfect? My teacher is a huge Piston’s fan. Salt in the wound, and make it count and work. And because he’s a nice guy who I knew would appreciate it and laugh at it? I used it.

And not only that, but I concluded with the same phrase to tie it right back in.

Did we make it to the semi-finals?

While “anything is possible,” apparently that wasn’t. We weren’t the top team, but I still feel good about my last presentation and paper from my last class as an undergraduate…

This is the first night in a long time that I’ve actually pulled an “all nighter.” Not with much purpose or much completed from it, I found it a bit interesting all over again. After working as a RHAP for as long as I did and having the all nighter a second part of my nature, to force myself to pull it off now was almost too much for me.

I guess that’s what happens when you get a little older, you can’t do what you used to.

Guess I should get my wonderful wife up and get her out the door for work (on her Birthday, of all days), and get myself some sleep… Sweet sweet sleep…

I keep looking up at my calendar in disbelief… As of now, I have three weeks of school left. Well, three weeks of undergrad education left, and then I’m done. And then after another three weeks, I’ll be walking across a stage in a cap and gown, accepting a diploma, and then doing the same thing that afternoon for another diploma. One after the other.

I’ve been going to UCF for about 7 years now. My first day was actually August 20, 2001, which coincided with my sister’s 14th birthday. And at this point, I was an engineering major. I had planned to take calculus and chemistry and a bunch of other classes. As folks know, calculus and chemistry didn’t sit well with me that semester, and after failing both, I switched my major to English in Spring 2002. I started taking a few education classes in the Fall of 2002, and continued with that for a short while. And just as I neared graduation, I added an official minor in General Business. After this, I changed that minor to a second major in Accounting, and then a year later after failing half of the classes and doing mediocre in the other half of them, I was kicked out of the accounting school. Then, in Fall 2007, I switched that over to a Management degree, and now three semesters of that track, and I’m finally able to walk.

And on August 2nd, I’ll be walking twice: English Creative Writing and Human Resources Management.

It took me damn well long enough to get here, and I’m going to relish the moments as I can.

Of course, I still have three more weeks of Capstone, but that’s just an aside…

Morning… Earlier than I usually post, but this morning is different. See, I hitched a ride out to work with Sarah this morning so her father could teach me how to drive. Funny sounding, I know, but when you can’t drive a manual transmission and your wife’s car happens to be just that? Well, lets just say that I should learn. About darn time…

Hi, I’m Karen. Adam asked me to write a guest post on his site, and I have to admit that I agonized over it for weeks! I really had trouble coming up with ideas. I thought about writing about music, or maybe about books, or something else that Adam and his readers are interested in, but instead, I think I’ll just write a little bit about myself and how I met Adam. Since, as his friends or readers, you probably would love to know more about him. :)

My sophomore year of college was filled with lots of crazy things. Boyfriend drama, friend drama, and who knows what else. There was, however, one key event which led me to meeting Adam. In the spring of 2002, I met some friends who played in a live action role playing game called Vampire: The Dark Ages. It was a subset of the Vampire: The Masquerade game, which, as you can imagine, took place in the dark ages.

Being a creative person, I had a lot of fun playing the game. I met new friends and got to play dress up and act out a character. I absolutely enjoyed it 100%! While playing, I met a really sweet girl named Andrea, who happened to be a student at UCF and really enjoyed gaming with her as well as seeing her around on campus.

Fast forward a bit to summertime, and I decided to take entry-level Astronomy to fulfill one of my elective requirements. To my surprise, Andrea was in the class, which I was really happy about because a class is always better with a friend. What I didn’t know, was that I was going to have a second friend, who would end up being someone that I am still friends with to this day, nearly six years later! That person, of course, is Adam.

Adam was instantly recognizable by his hair. In fact, if you’ve known Adam for a while like me, you’ll know that he was basically famous for his hair. It was awesome (and of course completely shocking when he decided to cut it!!!). We got to know each other well and hung out a few times. Sadly, not enough, as I planned on moving to Gainesville at the end of the summer and left Orlando and UCF to finish up my degree at the University of Florida (Go Gators, by the way!).

Being that we had a lot in common - both of us are Jewish, creative, have a similar laid back personality - we’ve stayed friends and kept in touch all these years through phone and IM. I’ve kept up with Adam’s creative endeavors just as he’s kept up with mine - and even been a model for me (I’m a photographer).

Whenever I travel to Orlando, which I do every year or so, I always make a point to try to see Adam if possible. He’s the kind of friend that you don’t want to lose. He’s loyal, kind, and always willing to help a friend in need. In fact, he’s probably one of the most genuine people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. I’m sad that he’ll be moving to Tallahassee, because I’ve never needed to visit there and being further away will make it harder to visit with him in the future!

I know that Adam will go far in life, because he is both a talented and passionate person with a good sense for how to do things. I met him towards the end of his freshman year, and I think it’s neat to look back and see how he has changed and matured since he started college. I’m glad that we’re friends and that I’ll be able to be a part of his life to hear about the many wonderful things that life has in store for him.

So, here’s to Adam! Although I’ll miss you every time I visit Orlando, I wish you and Sarah the very best with your move, and I look forward to visiting you someday in your new home.

For those of you reading who are personal friends with Adam, I think it would be cool if you all shared how you met him in the comments to this entry.

Thanks for reading. :) You can check out my personal blog or my photo blog if you want to know more about me.

With my post yesterday, I realized that I had put off the inevitable long enough.

Starting August, we will have moved. Yes folks, we will finally be leaving Orlando as I’ve wanted for a while. And its right after my graduation and just in time for Sarah to get back to school.

See, I started this blog in late December, weeks after we got the good news. Sarah decided that she wanted to go to law school, so she took an LSAT prep class (Blackstone, which I know she highly recommends) and then took the test in December. And we got a great hanukkah gift this year when she got her score back: 166. For those that don’t know, the LSAT is graded on a bit of a curve, so to put that into perspective, she placed in the 93rd percentile and had 85 out of 100 questions right. That’s damn good. Anything above a 160 or so is pretty much a ticket into any university that you’re looking at, pending your GPA/resumé.

And that being said? We went with Florida State Law School, up in Tallahassee. This, friends, explains that trip that I mentioned a few weeks ago. It was admitted students day up there, so we went up and sat around and listened to them extol everything about the university. We went on a tour of the town. And when all was said and done, we did some apartment hunting on Saturday. Not even two days after returning and our lease was signed for our new place up there, and we’re just letting me finish my semester and then planning on the move. And of course, there’s the laptop hunting, which we find out that XP isn’t as strict a requirement as they make it out to be. Ugh.

So friends, there you go. The reason for me mentioning many times that if you want to see me, you’d better do it before August? Its because I’ll be leaving, still sharing a car with Sarah (because her Dad’s teaching me to drive stick soon), and with a busy work schedule (possibly working two jobs to make ends meet), lord knows that I won’t be able to make it back here much, if at all.

Although, there is a farewell show planned in the works… Details to come…

I’m quite honestly surprised that I don’t have more of a headache than I do. Good morning everyone, or afternoon I should say seeing its 12:17ish now as I type this sucker up.

Last night, like any good Jew, I found myself fulfilling one of my duties other than fasting on Yom Kippur and that little thing about 8 days after childbirth. Yup, I’m talking about a Passover Seder. If you’ve ever been to one, you’ll know that it sometimes gets quite dull and you find yourself counting ahead to the next page you get to eat something on, but sometimes if you read it with a political spin, well, it can get quite interesting. You see, I read a passage in it about G-D’s outstretched arm as if it were W speaking about invading Iraq. Ahhh… Religion and politics.

And yes, I know you’re not supposed to talk about those things. But for me? I’m all for it. Matter of fact, the two things I don’t talk about are weight and haircuts. Yup. I’m one of those guys.

So needless to say, the amusing moment of the evening for me was when we had finished dinner (a beautifully cooked lamb by my mother-in-law, with some potatoes, matzoh ball soup, succotash, and asparagus) and the conversation had turned from nutty smelling pee to politics, my sister-in-law and mother-in-law left to prepare dessert plates, my wife headed off to the bathroom, and it left my father-in-law, myself, and Lew (my sister-in-law’s boyfriend, my old friend, and hopefully my future brother-in-law) there discussing McCain, Obama, racism, the economy, and whatever else crossed our paths.

Until dessert came. And at the very second that lemon angel food cake with lemon icing and blackberry dressing came around the corner? In mid-sentence that conversation ended.

I seriously love my family. Politics was taken by the cake.

So to everyone eating matzoh over the course of the next week? I feel your pain. Even if I can’t join you. It wouldn’t exactly do me the best to be eating kosher for Passover when I can barely afford to eat three balanced meals a day. Heck, my average meal? A bowl of ramen and an energy drink.

Yesterday, I picked up my guitar for the first time in a few weeks and played about half an hour. And it was interesting because as much as I used to love doing it, it was just work for me then. I didn’t derive anything from it. I was “going through the motions.” Playing guitar used to be such a release and something I enjoyed beyond everything, and to have it just feel so “blah”? What’s happening to me?

I think, quite honestly, its the stress. Its the atmosphere I was in.

I used it as a study break and I didn’t feel like it really. I had a small tickle for it, but not the urge to pick up that guitar and let it loose. And I’m hoping that when finals and this semester are all over, I’ll have a little less pressure when I’m on the job hunt that it can go back to being that relaxation. Heck, I’m even hoping that when I’ve got that job secured and I’m working after graduation that I can let it be that relaxation that it used to be.

Because, as I was telling a friend last night, there’s no greater release than playing. There’s a feeling that I cannot put into words at all about being on that stage or just being somewhere with a guitar in hands and knowing that what I’m doing isn’t just putting a smile on my face, but I’m impacting those around me. Even if its just barely hearing me through a wall or the next room over, or its someone blasting one of my songs as they’re away from home and hearing the words and feeling not so alone? There’s something to that that’s just plain amazing…

I’m debating heading to campus a little earlier than my class tonight and spending an hour or so at the fountain on campus, seeing I won’t have much longer to do that…

Well folks, while people might have tuned in to find out why I was in Tallahassee this past weekend, I’m not going to indulge that one just yet… Instead, I’d like to share a tale of apartment hunting.

Sarah and I had a great 1,200 sq. ft. apartment that we were living in up till the end of March, but the problem was, the lease expired in the middle of a school term. So with that, we were faced with finding a new place to stay till August when I’d be done with school. Not too bad, when you think about it, but when you add in a few key things, well, it makes it all the harder:

While that doesn’t sound like a lofty list of demands/issues to take care of, well, it’s definitely plenty. And when we were looking, well, there were a few trends that we noticed occured on a regular basis… I’d like to go over them here because it shows just how much of assholes and stupid people can be.

1) We Have Cats: That means that we’re not getting rid of them. That means that if you don’t want cats or pets, don’t advertise pets allowed. Also, don’t back up on things.
2) Two People Doesn’t Mean…: That we’ll pay twice the rent because we’re sharing half of your space. If there are three people living in one apartment, we’ll pay 2/3rds of the electricity, but if we’re using half the space, we’re only paying half the rent. Yes, I’ve had people want to charge us twice the price because of three people in one place.
3) When We Say Close…: We mean close. Seriously. Don’t offer me something 5-10 miles away that I’m going to have to ride an hour to school on the Orlando bus. And also, when I say I have no car, don’t offer me something that’s not on the bus line, even if it is cheap.
4) And When You Post An Ad…: You need to follow up on it. That means if you’re on Craigslist, check your e-mail. If you’re on Facebook, check your Inbox. If you left your phone number, listen to and respond to your messages. Even if its to tell me that you’re busy, that’s alright. And make it timely, like 24-48 hours. You need to follow through or you’re not getting me in because I’ve tried and its in your hands, buddy.

And that’s where I have the greatest stories…
1) A guy had a 2/2 condo that he was looking for a renter for one of the rooms. The real estate agent himself thought we were a great fit, but when he contacted the condo owner, he didn’t think it was fair to the guy already living there for two people to move into one room. All of this after we already agreed to pay twice the utilities. We weren’t even shown the place. In all honesty? If you’re the owner of a place and someone’s going to pay your mortgage for a few months? In this market? Take it!
2) One guy was going to rent out his room in a 2/2 to us, and we’d have to pay all of the deposits to transfer things into our name, but his lease was through October. With us not needing it past August, it was a bit weird. It got even weirder when he stated that he’d be living on the couch in the living room. So in essence? It’d be 4 people in a 2/2 apartment, and we’d be paying his rent for a few months.
3) One girl replied and everything was perfect, absolutely perfect. I replied to her about her place and I didn’t hear back from her… until two days before our lease expired, a good two weeks after I replied to her. She apologized stating that she doesn’t check Facebook much. That’s sort of sad, seeing I replied not 2 hours after I got her message. Oh well, that’s not as much my loss but her loss.

So all of that said, like I had mentioned late last month, we have moved. Ironically the roommates we have now? They graduated one of my alma mater’s rival high schools c/o 2004. They were freshmen at Hernando High when I graduated Springstead High in 2001. Talk about interesting coincidences…

I’ve been thinking for a while about writing more reviews for this blog, and its something that I’d really like to start doing. But the question is why don’t I just do that? I mean, its easy to really just quickly review something, so why not just do that? The fact of the matter is because of the time I spent working for the UCF Independent? Its just not that simple for me.

Back from 2001 through mid-2004 or so, I was a writer for one of two campus papers before it folded and was bought out by the main paper. And my specialty was writing CD reviews, so I got it quickly down to an art. And when you’re writing reviews, you need to have it all down to a formula, especially when you’ve got two to three albums that you’re working on weekly like I often do nowadays. So what’s my formula?

I start off with a casual listen through of the album as a whole from start-to-finish. I let it sit in the background and then just do what I need to do. If it catches my attention, I’ll let it do that. If it just sleeps in the background? It does that. I just let it pass by and be there. After that, put it aside. Over the next day or so, I’ll not listen to it and see if something’s stuck with me. If I remember any of it, if the riffs or lyrics have caught me. After this day or two passes, I’ll take another listen to it, trying to pay a little more attention to the album. I’ll let another day or two pass, and then after that, I’ll play the album a third time (at least) and start writing the review while I’m listening to the album. I find that when I do it this way, it lets the album grow on me and be a lot more than a precursory glance to the album. If you just listen to it once, or listen to it back-to-back in one day are you really doing it justice? You need to let the music exist with you. Music is not an individual process but part of the biggest picture of life and expression. If you just take it as music and entertainment? Fine. But really if you let it live with you, you get so much more from it.

And that’s why when I reviewed She & Him and Joe Hedge’s albums? I feel like I did a crappy job. When I did the album reviews, I had only heard both of those albums only one time. I felt like I didn’t give them that chance to really grow on me, but in my quest for content to fill on those days? I felt strong enough to write up more of a “commentary” on the album. I wish I could feel better about them, and maybe eventually I’ll write a “part two” to the reviews, but still. The originals stand as they are, and I just hope that they were enough to give my inital opinion…

My wife and I have taken an affinity to a new show we found called Torchwood. When the first season debuted on TV, we watched it non-stop. DVRed every episode, and watched it as soon as we could. Beautifully written British sci-fi.

And then, as the first series drew to a close, there was a Doctor Who reference… And I sort of knew that Torchwood was connected. I mean, afterall, Captain Jack Harkness was a character that had roots in Doctor Who. And then at the end of series one of Torchwood? Jack leaves with the Doctor. Oh sure, he comes back for the first episode of series two, but still…

The thing is, the more I read on Wikis and other sites, the more I get drawn in. And that’s not the half of it…

So after a brief stint of a character named Martha being over on Torchwood and her being a very likeable individual, Sarah and I got interested and decided to watch an episode of Doctor Who. We were lucky enough to catch “Blink,” and did one of those “Holy shit” double-takes on the episode. Although, according to most ratings, its one of the better episodes of the series as a whole. Even still, it was enough to make us want to watch it.

But there, sort of lies the problem. You see, we can start watching this new series from 2005, but in actuality, we’re coming in on the “end of something bigger than that.” Because of the way Doctor Who has evolved, this series is sort of only a continuation of the other 9 series/actors to play Doctor Who.

And look at me, thinking we finally got in at a good point. Even still, its a show we’ve added to our “must watch” list… And to give you an idea how indepth it is and the connections of the shows are? You can start googling one thing for the show and end up on Wikipedia, and the whole half hour plus that I’ve been writing this entry? I’ve been flipping between about 10-20 different articles. Its just that well tied in. Beautifully done.

When we were moving and packing up all of the boxes, I found something that I remember I used to have hanging on the wall near my computer. It was some caligraphy that an ex-girlfriend of mine made for me for a monthly anniversary. Sure, usually when you break up you throw everything away or box it away, but long after hers and my breakup, I kept it on my wall and subsequentially hung it on future walls. But Allison was an artist, and still is, and I have a lot of respect for her and her work.

Anyways, I kept it because it wasn’t just random caligraphy, it was a quote that I could be heard often saying, and I had forgotten it.

While I boxed it back up, the words I used to say stuck with me all over again…

“There are two kinds of people in this world -
Those who continue to search for themselves as they grow and change,
and those who give up and become the mask they wear…
…keep searching…“

I gave up for a while, I think. I know. And its time that I throw away that mask and start searching again…

I know I only barely covered this sucker yesterday, but with how I felt this morning and how I feel now? It’s only fitting to cover it again…

In the span of the last 24 or so hours, I’ve had that whole Jones Energy 4-pack that I talked about. Add to that two RockStar Juiced energy drinks, a sugar-free Amp Tall-Boy, and a RockStar Mocha energy drink this morning… While that might seem like a lot, I’ve constantly been one who drinks a large amount of caffeine with no real effect. In high school and other times growing up, I was the guy who’d have a whole pot of coffee with my breakfast and a large homemade latte for my lunch. A diet coke or two into that equation and I was golden.

And for me with caffeine? You really don’t notice much of an effect with me. Or, I like to hope you don’t. On Thursdays, I feel sorry for my evening group because I have so much caffeine earlier in the day that when it rolls time later for class? I’m more sardonic and more of an asshole than ever. Its not my fault, its the caffeine withdrawal.

Even still, this morning before I had the RockStar Mocha, I needed to drink as much water as I could. I could tell I was dehydrated from all of the extra caffeine in my system. As I get older, I have to deal with that more and more. Sad sad side effect…

I’m still feeling a little caffinated and out of it. Its a long slow road back to me, and I’m working on it… I’ll probably wake up tomorrow morning and feel a little better… I can only hope… Thankfully when I’m done with some homework tonight? I’ll be good to go…

Ever buy one of the tall boy cans of this or that energy drink and read the back label where it says “Don’t consumer more than 3 cans a day, not for people who are sensitive to caffeine” ?

Last night, I picked up a 4 pack of Jones Energy when I was at Wal*Mart where I used to work. Usually, I’ll pick up the Steven Segal Energy Drinks or the Rip It ones, just because they’re a buck each. If I’m going to drink something with caffeine in it, I don’t want to spend $2-3 a can, I’ll spend only a buck a can and that’s that. Why? What’s the point. You don’t get much more caffeine or flavor for the other ones. And most of them have the same amount of caffeine in them. And speaking of that, the Rip Its have 200mg of caffeine per can. As much as a NoDoze.

So I’m sitting here and reading the Jones Energy drink and it says to not drink more than 2 of them a day. So I’m thinking that it probably has a good amount of caffeine in it, seeing the RockStars say limit yourself to 3 and they have 160mg of caffeine roughly. And me? I’ve had 5-6 Rip Its in the span of about 9 hours, so I know how they work. But then again, my Thursdays consist of grabbing a Tall Boy then later having a large coffee with a double shot of espresso in it, so caffeine is caffeine to me. Boosts me to normal for a bit, then I crash hard and become a cynical asshole. Not that I’m not already halfway there, but it just adds to it a bit.

I researched it online and what do I find? One 16oz can of Jones Energy has only 100mg of caffeine. Only half of what I’m used to having in a Rip It, and about 2/3rds of every other energy drink on the market. And they tell you to only drink 2 a day?

Yeah, if I drink three, its really going to affect me that much… About the same as drinking 2 RockStars, I imagine.

That’s why I’m on the third one of my 4 pack now, and I’ll have finished the 4th one before 24 hours have passed. This is like the old days of writing papers: an energy drink and a bowl of ramen. Can’t beat that in my world…