Alright, I’ve got Space Shuttle Fever just like everyone else. Here’s a new NASA documentary on the Space Shuttle, narrated by no less than William Shatner. (Make sure to click through to watch in HD!)
Category: Current Stuff
Tibet Protest Photos
Wikileaks released a large collection of photos from the Tibetan protests in China from March 14-17. The site promptly went down. This may be from the flood of people viewing the images, or it may be from a Chinese denial-of-service attack in an attempt to censor the images contained.
I have mirrored the collection here. It is a very disturbing, very real account of what’s going on in the second most powerful country in the world. I warn you that some of the images are extremely graphic and gory. Please do not view them around anyone who would react strongly to images of dead bodies. But nevertheless, they are very real.
Everything’s up in the air.
I’m doing the classic “is this what I want to be doing with my life?” thing. Academically, professionally, musically.
There are definitely parts where I am completely dispassionate. Obviously I’m better doing things that interest me, but realistically everything has elements that aren’t fun, so I need to figure out if the big things in my life (my major at school, my work, the amount of work I put in or don’t put in to my music) are: a) Things I enjoy that make the occasional hassle involved a worthwhile effort, or b) Things that I don’t enjoy overall.
I’ve been praying a lot about it, and I have a few ideas of where it would go. At this moment though, I’m clueless of where it will end up. One thing is for sure, though, I’m going to approach 2008 very differently.
Protected: Huhwhat? [Level1]
Cape May Photos
Here’s a shortened album of my vacation in Cape May, New Jersey with my mom’s family:
You can view the album in better detail here.
Belize Photos (finally)
So I finally managed to pick out a few photos to share with everyone. It’s slow uploading here, so I’ll do a proper photoset on Flickr or Picasa when I get back. But here they are:
Snorkeling
Today was our first day out snorkeling. We went on a three-hour tour (no Gilligan jokes, please) on the barrier reef outside Caye Caulker. The first stop was in shallow waters on stingray feeding grounds. I was on guard at first since I haven’t been around them before and had thoughts of Steve Irwin running through my mind, but later it was a pretty calm “I’m cool with you, but come too close, I will mess you up” experience.
Next we went pretty far out… Lots of impressive, deep coral. And two manatees – they were a trip.
Overall, it was really fun… I’ve been snorkeling twice before, once in the Yucatan at Isla Mujeres, and once on a quick dip in Hanauma Bay in Hawaii on the band tour. Both weren’t the greatest experiences, mainly due to the $5 rental equipment that I was using. I could only put up with 10 or 15 minutes because of the salt water that kept coming down my snorkel. But before this trip, my mom bought me my own snorkel, mask and fins, and it makes all the difference; I don’t have to worry about my gear crapping out on me and I can go out for extended amounts of time.
I am hoping that I can work up enough of a tan to upgrade me from “pasty whiteboy” status to a shade of tan that says, “doesn’t work in a computer lab.”
Still no photos. Gotta go to a different internet café for that.
Belize, pt. 1
*tumbleweeds*
…Yeah, it’s been pretty quiet ’round these parts recently. But for good reason: I’m in the middle of a 2-week vacation.
The first week, I went to Cape May, New Jersey. My mom’s family goes there pretty much every year, and we have a big family. I hadn’t been to Cape May in about five years, so it was really great going back and seeing almost the whole family. But I’ll talk about that later.
Today, I got into Belize with my mom and stepdad. So far, it’s awesome… Caribbean weather, high humidity…. But sooooo relaxed. Pretty much everyone so far is very nice and outgoing…. Not packed at all. Kind of hard to put into words at the moment.
Hammocks. Beach bars. Sand roads, golf carts, and bicycles.
Oh, and drinking age is 18.
I’m in a nice internet café right now, but there’s a big “NO uploading of pictures during happy hour” sign so I guess I’ll have to do that bit later. I have a ton of pictures to post, and I will probably write something more descriptive about Belize later. In the meantime, I have a lot of snorkeling and beach bumming to do.
Moving In
Last Friday I moved out of my Corbett dorm and into a house less than a mile south of campus. There’s a lot of different stuff to get used to, both good and bad.
Bad:
- It’s still kind of a shock to walk across campus, see my wing of Corbett, and not think “that’s home”.
- It’s weird to think that I can’t run down the hall and freak out over the latest development in Lost or The Office with the guys.
- I can’t roll out of bed and be at work/class four minutes later.
- People don’t cook meals for me 3 or more times daily.
Good:
- No sharing a room (If you have access to my protected posts, you’ll understand just how important that is!)
- Nowhere near as much noise – 45 less people to wake me up
- I don’t have to fit my belongings in one shared room. I keep forgetting about this one, and have to remind myself when I start thinking, “Where in my room will the fridge fit?”
- My bike isn’t exposed to the elements. (Nice since it’s pouring outside)
- I get to start cooking again, which I actually enjoy.
I’m also transitioning into my summer mode… I still work on campus, and I’m taking Calculus for four weeks. This will be my fourth summer at CSU, since I spent a lot of time there when mom was at work, or when I was at band camp. It’s kind of a shame- Colorado State is definitely the nicest in the summer, right when everyone takes off. Half of the normal school year was under snow. But the summer is nice because everything is more laid-back, and there are so few people around. Then again, most of my friends are from Littleton, Castle Rock, or Arvada, so not having a car is definitely hurting. Oh, well.
Overall, I’m happy to be where I am. I’ve got some good stuff in store for this summer, and more might unfold if I’m lucky.
Ending the First Year
Tonight will be the last night that I sleep in my Corbett dorm room. Tomorrow, I will be packing all of my stuff into a friend’s van and moving into a house about a mile south of campus.
As usual, it’s a bittersweet time. I’ve come home to these people every day for the last nine months, so in a way, they’re like family. Sure, I didn’t hang out with each one of the 50 people on my floor every single day, but I made some very important and lasting bonds here this year.
Today, some of us went up to Horsetooth lake and had a barbeque for a last get-together before heading off in our different directions. I’m really happy I went. I got some pictures to remember some of these great people by:
The ladies (including Nick)
Terry and Nick “enjoying” each other’s company
Nick has a few well-chosen parting words
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C3 Barbeque |
I was really lucky to have such great people on my floor, and to have an RA that actually wanted to make the year enjoyable. I can’t really put into words how blessed I was to be in such a great environment.
So I guess this ends my first year at CSU. I’m going to hit the “Publish” button on this blog post, and pack my stuff to get ready for the Next Chapter.