Out with the "Old" and In with the New

Ok, I would first like to say that I hope that everybody had a great Thanksgiving. This was one of my favorite Thanksgiving's of all time just because I hadn't seen my extended family in some time and we had a good time catching up. When I got back to the dorm today I looked through the window to find my suite mates turning our common room into what looked like something out of the movie "Elf." Decorations hanging from the ceiling, my friends forming an assembly line trying to create decorations for our Christmas tree out of popcorn and cranberries (Do not, I repeat, Do not, ask about it) . We have the secret Santa thing coming up soon, there is just no lack of the Christmas Spirit here. Yes I know, it's still November. I think my stomach is still half full from all that I ate this weekend, so its pretty tough to think about Christmas when the sickening feeling of eating too much on Thanksgiving still lingers in your mind. As I am typing now, I can hear the sounds of classic Christmas songs accompanied by a half dozen voices that really can't wait a whole month for the holiday to hit. I have already made promises to go shopping for Christmas presents this weekend, which isn't typical for me. I'm usually at the store two days before Christmas asking the person next to me "Do you think a mother would like this?" You're probably wondering whether or not I think this premature celebration of Christmas is a good or bad thing, and frankly, I'm not sure. All I know is if I get as psyched as the rest of my cheery comrades here, the there won't be as much fun to be had when Christmas actually comes.

Giving Thanks for a Renewed Flavor

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, the idea of all the food and fixings is looming over everyone's mind. The turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, candied yams, I mean where does it end. What makes it all the more special is that us college students have grown accustomed to months of the same cuisine, especially if you are a URI student and you rely heavily on the URI dining halls. By dining hall standards, I'm sure we have received some of the best food and service in the country. Yes, I said country. I'm sure if some of the students here went to the dining halls of other colleges they would be repulsed. It's just what we consume at these places isn't of the quality that it should be, but because it needs to be mass produced and cost effective, we have to cut it some slack. I can't remember the last time I had a piece of meat here that was marinated in something rather than having it just plopped on after it was cooked. It gets a little sickening to see that the burgers aren't much thicker than the cheese put on top of them. I feel as full as I've ever felt after certain meals I eat here, but it only takes two hours for me to be feeling hungry again. I know it might sound a little extreme, but there's almost a void in my life that has been created. I think that this break coming up will definitely help fill it. Now that I think of it, there will almost certainly be pumpkin pie. That is all anyone needs on their road to recovery.

What's Your Sign?

Yesterday I was required to go to a class administered by the underage drinking division of the local police. My co-workers and I had to meet at the community center and sit through an hour-and-a-half long presentation on the signs of an intoxicated patron and a fake ID. I had sat through one of these same classes about a year ago, a couple months after I had started working at my current place of employment. For the most part it was the same, but we learned a few things this time that should certainly prove helpful in the future. It's crazy to see just how much fake ids have evolved and turned into such a profitable industry. Companies that sell these ids are immediately let off the hook when the buyer agrees to their terms. The terms are then printed on the back of certain id's that explains that they aren't official forms of identification. We had a few laughs looking through a bunch of fakes that the police brought in. People taking pictures of their side profile and taking pictures with someone else in the picture were the most hilarious ones I saw. Though I did receive some rather outrageous tips, they also proved to be some of the most helpful. If I was ever in doubt checking ids, I should have the person sign something so I could compare it to the sig on their id. Who would have thought? I could also ask what year they graduated. People would almost know how old their id says they are, but as soon as you pose the graduation year question and get the "uhhhh" you know you're onto something. My personal favorite is the "What's your sign?" This could work either way. I think some people legitimately don't know their sign. It would be smart to have a backup question for that one.

Some Would Rather Skip Class

I was so astonished about two hours ago that I find it imperative to write about it here. My friends and I were playing what we thought was a friendly pickup basketball game and we stumble across a few "big shots" who think flash is so much more important that sportsmanship. Actually, it wasn't even so much that. It was the fact that they thought this was the time and place to show they were tough. My friend is going up for a shot and gets absolutely pummeled. I call the foul for him, and one of the kids has the audacity to say "let the kid call it for himself." Maybe if he wasn't too busy falling to the ground, we would've called it. Call me crazy, but I think that trying to break your fall without serious injury should come first. Before that, we had been playing a full court game up to fifteen, but that got stopped short because some of these kids "didn't want to play anymore." That's funny, because just minutes later they were playing a half-court pickup game amongst themselves. I'll tell you what, I'll translate what that really meant. "We feel that we're too high of a caliber to continue playing this game, so we'll play our own." I wanted to finish that game and beat them so badly. The thing was they weren't all that good. We were tied 4-4. One of the kids looked at my friend and laughed, almost as if to say "This kid is guarding me, what a joke." Sure, there have been incidents like this before, but today everyone and everything stuck out like a sore thumb. Unfortunately, we have too many of the classless among us.

Keeping My Head On Straight

I'm not really tied down too much with any one thing because we don't have class tomorrow, so I thought I'd take the time to update you on some minor turmoils in my life. I'm both mentally and physically exhausted right now. I spent last night and most of today studying for an accounting exam, and after the exam my suite mates and I went to play basketball at Mackal. Sad to say, I haven't gotten nearly as much physical activity lately as I should have. Like I said in my personal description, I especially hate when I feel gross due to a lack of exercise. I haven't really done much about it though. It really hinges on whether or not the guys in my suite have the time to play. I have very little incentive to go by myself, and that's a problem. My health should be my only incentive. I very much like playing with people I know and developed a chemistry with them. That's most of the fun for me. But anyway....all else is good and I'm just trying to keep my head on straight at least for the next couple weeks. Aside from finals, there are only a couple projects and few papers total that I need to submit. As most of you know, the toughest part of classes as the semester progresses is actually going to class. If you are able to maintain a good attendance record, you'll be in good shape. It's always been my belief that if you put in the time, you'll reap the benefits. How's that for a little peace of mind?

I'm Back With New, Blurry Vision

OK so I know that I haven't written to this blog in weeks. I would like to say that I have a legitimate excuse for you, but I really don't. I'll fill you guys in on what's happened. I AM NOW 21 YEARS OLD. You're probably wondering why in the world I wouldn't be in a hurry to write about that in my blog. If you think about it for a little while you'll answer your own question. I have basically just been plugging along trying to get all my assignments done and not stress at all. I'm not sure if I've stated this anywhere else, but I find stressing to be detrimental to success. Minor stress that causes you to work a little harder and pushes you isn't what I'm talking about. It's unhealthy and will take years off of your life if you have a constant knot in your stomach. Anyways, to avoid furthering this rant, we can get back to how great it is to be legal now, in terms of boos anyways. I've cited in other posts that I work at a liquor store. What I didn't mention was how tough it was to look at an array of boos for six hours straight only to not have any of it after busting my hump all shift long. It's not like I binge now because of that, it's just really nice to just have a beer after work. Just prior to my birthday, I heard from plenty of my elders that I have my whole life ahead of me to have a good time and to not go too crazy. I can only laugh, because I know that's exactly what they did when they got the same lecture. How can you possibly take someone seriously when they are just as much of a party animal now as they were 20 years ago?