on music and love

This is music:

I think I'm in Love.

Music featured is Andrew Bird and St. Vincent (Annie Clark).

p.s. If you don't want to watch the whole 30 minute video, I recommend clicking on the forth little diamond at the bottom of the video, that should take you to St. Vincent's 'What Me Worry.'

On the realities of public dancing

Today I sat in Starbucks after my final and enjoyed a pumpkin spiced latte in an attempt to relax and empty my mind for a moment. During my time here I observed a few separate instances of toe tapping on the tile floor by customers waiting to receive their beverages of choice.

The first of these was a younger gentleman, I would place him in his early twenties, who proceeded to make his own little dance along with one of the swinging Christmas tunes playing over the speakers. His dance focused primarily around an idea of tap dancing with a little bit of head nodding thrown on for good measure. My initial reaction was to think he looked a little silly. Not too silly, he wasn’t being ridiculous. Just amusing. This followed with the recognition that he is simply having a good time and enjoying the music.

Fast forward about an hour. Yes, I’ve been here a while. This scene opens with quite a different cast. This time, it features a grey-haired woman in a, as Erin would say, sassy red pea coat. While waiting for her drink, our ears were serenaded with a delightful folk-blues inspired rendition of a Christmas song. This thumping tune resulted in her own dance which was a sort of heal and toe stomp in her clicky little black pumps.

The third and final dance that represents the direction all of this observation is pointing. Children are probably the most frequent dancers in our culture. It comes with being antsy while waiting for the parents.

Somewhere along the timeline of getting older, it became less acceptable for people to dance in public. Dancing is one of the ultimate outward expressions of joy. For many, it represents letting loose and forgetting your worries by getting lost in the music. This statement lends it self to the idea that dancing is therefore reserved for specific places and times in which music is the main feature. This statement becomes null and void when you go to many concerts where people feel content to cross their arms over their white v-neck and American apparel hoodie and maybe tap their heal a little bit without allowing themselves to feel free enough to truly let the music influence their movements, therefore eliminating true enjoyment of the music. As an aside, while I do realize that I did in some regard describe myself, minus the American apparel, while I do stick to the basics, I would like to point out that this is as much an introspective critique as it is cultural critique.

I would like to gain back the freedom to let go of my inhibitions and let the music take me away, as cliché as that sounds. I invite and encourage you to join me in my quest for freedom. One option is to take a moderate approach and allow yourself the freedom to dance in culturally acceptable dance appropriate situations such as concerts, dance parties, and library raves (that means you, all of you grumpy looking people who simply looked down from the second floor thinking you were too cool or too studious to have a good time). To those who feel more radical in their desire to see dance become an acceptable form of expression, I encourage you to embrace the spontaneous dance party or simple do a little dance when your song comes on in the grocery. I challenge you, yes, you. Crank up that music in the parking lot and get out and dance. Nod your head like yeah! Move your hips like yeah! Turn up that Empire State of Mind and cut loose on the sidewalk. Whatever the flavor, make it your own.

on modern architecture in charleston

As you may or may not know, I've been taking an architecture studio class. The main justification for doing so is to fulfill humanities credit. The second and more important reason is because I always wanted to be an architect. This class has given me the opportunity to be able to explore that a little. While I've enjoyed the class and doing the projects, it has always taken a back burner to the more 'important' classes that I'm taking, which makes it hard for me to really dive into the work.

All of that said, I did spend a decent amount of time working on our final project, which was to design a house on for one of four empty lots in downtown Charleston. In an attempt to expand my horizons and be a little bit different, I decided to use a design my house in a modern style, with the permission of my professor, despite the initial assignment, having done a classical style for my previous project. I was greatly influence by Louis Kahn (as seen above) and to some extent the paintings of Piet Mondrian. My stucco, wood, and glass house was to be located in an empty lot on the corner of Limehouse St. and Murray Blvd., right on the water. Largely cubic in form, it featured floor to ceiling windows in the second floor drawing studio along with floor to ceiling glass doors and windows in the third floor painting studio, providing gorgeous views of the Charleston harbor and sunsets over the Ashley river.

Before tackling this modern home, one must take into account the fact that Charleston is probably the best preserved historic cities in the U. S. This consistently classical city should, by nature be resistant to new modern homes. Another factor that effects home design is the incredible heat of the summers, which is the reason for south facing porches which decrease the amount of sunlight that hits the house directly. Considering these two major hinderances, I decided to proceed.

Another part of the class is the critique that happens on the due date of the project. Being the final project, this included bringing in local architects to contribute their thoughts and ideas. I realize that it is impractical to have walls of south facing glass in Charleston. I understand that the architect is supposed to design for the customer and for the location. I clarified that at upon introducing my work. Despite this disclaimer, one of the visiting architects proceeded to dwell on the flaw of the windows and the irrelevance of a modern home in Charleston, offering very little to any helpful critique given by the other architect and my professor. While I did expect some amount of resistance, I was unaware of how her disregard of my design would effect me. While I did respect her opinion as an architect, it would have been nice for her to respect what I had to say and help me improve upon my actual design rather than focussing on how I deviated from the initial assignment.

october, november, and beyond

Clearly it's been quite some time since my last post. Where have I been, you ask? I don't even know. Time has been flying by this semester. Week after week I remark at how quickly it's going by. The week days are so busy with school work I barely have time to breath until friday afternoon, at which point the full weekend begins and goes pretty much not-stop until sunday afternoon at which point I spend the rest of the day getting back into school mode and repeat ad nauseum.

That said, there have been high points in the weeks. Now the hard part is picking them out of my memory. There's so much bouncing around up there. In order to sort the events out in my mind, I looked back at my previous blog post to see where I left off. Ah yes, fall break. Fall break seems as though it were last weekend.

The first key event of the past month that I can remember would have been halloween, which also happened to be the big 22 for me. The day was beautiful and sunny. The last day of a later sunset before the fall back. After a morning and afternoon spent homeworking, cleaning, and even relaxing, the festivities began with a lovely outing to Jim n' Nicks with some of the friends. I must say I love that place every time.. mainly the cheesy biscuits. That night was the raucous event that is halloween in Charleston. After giving up the whole costume search, Chris came up with the idea that we could be Irish brothers. This involved various green clothing, including a kilt made from a flannel shirt, and various Irish tattoos drawn on our arms. Also, a superb Irish accent we worked on the whole way to the party. Halloween '09: success.

Moving on... The next weekend the parents came to visit. The weather was perfect and gave them a break from the dreary cold north. We had a great time exploring the town, seeing some of my favorite sights, and eating at some of my favorite restaurants. I love my parents. They're simply the best. Parental visit '09: success.

Those are the key events that I feel like sharing. At some point in the hopefully soon future I will write on a more interesting somewhat philosophical debate I've been having with myself on authenticity and the reality of individuals.

A Breath of Fresh Air

I deem fall break '09 a success. Best. Fall. Break. Ever.

The main theme of the weekend was the lack of an agenda other than spending time with each other and having a blast doing it. God's creation was abounding in beauty. Reds, greens, and golds of the leaves speckled the forest. Not only that but it was a great time to build deeper relationships with some great friends.

One by one

I'm going to start doing some quick short updates on what's been going on since I find I lack the time to fill in the whole story all of the time.

I photographed for the first time in forever this weekend. I'm in love again. My camera missed me and I missed it more than I realized (no, I don't have a name for my camera). Either way, it's back to shooting film for me. Right now I'm stuck tied into the color/paying for developing but hopefully soon I'll shoot some B&W and find time to sneak into the lab and develop it. I hope my photos I took this weekend turned out alright despite low light of the florescent variety in many of the shots. Time will tell. I'll try to get some scans whenever I finish off the roll and get them developed.

In other news, I'm proud of my friend Judah who I referred to the SartoriaList. Upon seeing him tonight, I know that he has been an attentive reader and felt that he would fit in on the List with his dark brown boat shoes, blue shorts, light blue oxford shirt with sleeves rolled up, well crafted royal blue rain coat, and dark brown leather bag to top it off. A lot of blue but it all went together well. Good for this first rainy day in a long time. Well done Judah.

New post... finally!

After almost two months of neglecting my blog, I am getting back to it.. but not quite yet. This is a teaser. I'm going to write tomorrow, well actually later today because it's way past my bedtime.

Summer of '09

I remembered yesterday a statement I made at the very beginning of the summer. It was something along the lines of "Summer of '09, the summer that changed the world." It was a play off of the whole summer of '69 thing. I figured since it's been 50 years since then, we're about due for another awesometastic summer. Well as it turns out, unless something drastic happens in the next month, I don't think this will be the world changing summer I hoped for. At any rate, it has affected me pretty well.

This summer was my first summer not living at home. I think it has ruined me as far as living at

home goes. I never intended to move back home after school. After visiting in mid July, however, I know I can never move back home. That's not to say that Pennsylvania is out of the picture for me. I love Pa. It was beautiful when I was home. I just can't move back home. I now know I'm on my own. I'm looking forward to getting a job after I graduate. Financial freedom is very important to me. The idea that I am constantly tied down because of financial obligations really peeves me.

I was so thankful for the chance to be in Charleston for the summer. The guys I lived with were amazing. They're gone now, except for Mark, who is here for another week. It's like the end of an era in my life relationally. I know I haven't graduated yet and am not moving somewhere, but they have. Harrison is about to leave to live the dream and teach in Roatan, Honduras, Tyler is working and getting married in Norfolk, Bear is going out to Jesus school in Cali, and Mark is about to go to Jesus school in Columbia. These men of God have impacted me more than I know. God has worked through them in my life and the lives of others beyond any expectations. Since Harry, Tyler, and Bear left, Mark and I have been going through withdrawal. Symptoms include boredom, a sense of emptiness/longing, feelings that three fifths of you is absent, and lack of pull-up competitions. That said, I'm incredibly excited for them and where they're going. God is going to use them in amazing ways.

Now comes the time for adjustment. As I enter into a new school year, new roommates, new relationships, I find myself somewhat melancholic about the whole situation. I'm ready to get into my classes. I know this year will be great, I'm just not quite there yet.

All of that said, I have a great soundtrack for my life right now:

Kaki King - I recommend "dreaming of revenge" to get you started. It's mostly instrumental. She's a very gifted guitarist.

Alexi Murdoch - Acoustic folkish kinda stuff. He has experienced some recent fame for his heavy involvement in the soundtrack for "Away we go," a melodrama out this summer featuring John Krasinski (or Jim Halpert for all of you Office fans). Anyway, I recommend "Time Without Consequence."

Also good are Angus and Julia Stone, The Whitest Boy Alive, and Young Galaxy.

I recommend these artists to everyone feeling similar emotions... or not feeling them, it's just good music.

bicycles, bicycles, bicycles

I know it seems as though I'm always talking about bicycles. Forgive me but they're tons of fun. I don't know anyone who dislikes bicycles... other than when those bicycles have crazy people on them who disregard traffic laws and do things like ride against traffic on a one way street. Moving on...

We all know the current bicycle culture consists of two main groups that actually care about biking. That is to ignore people who own old mountain bikes and beach cruisers and ride the wrong way on one way streets. These two groups would, in my terms, be the roadies (those guys going really fast in their spandex and cycle jerseys on their $2000 bikes) and the fixies (those hipsters with their own tight clothes - jeans or cut-off shorts - on fixed gear bikes with deep v rims and deep v-neck shirts). That said, I own both of those types of bikes and clothes, to some extent.

What excites me is a new third bicycle culture equally aware of their bikes and their clothing only this group focuses on being classy and chic. That would be the new Cycle Chic movement. Very fitting to Charleston and other more bike friendly and stylish cities, cycle chic movements are all about looking good. The bike are classic and vintage in appearance, whether they be nice beach cruisers, vintage 3 speed Schwinns, or a new $3420 Gucci bicycle (see below), and the clothing is generally chic (think Banana Republic for all of you non-fashionistas).

If you want to find out more about the Cycle Chic movement in Charleston and the rest of the world, check out Charleston Cycle Chic. They have a ride coming up June 24th @6:00. 

For ideas on being the chicest bicyclist on the road, check out The Sartorialist's bicycle section.

And if you ever want to go for a ride around town, let me know!

Alright.. time to get back to it

It's been almost two months now. I apologize for my delinquency. First came finals and then came summer. But those are just excuses. Anyway, a lot has happened since I last wrote. I passed my classes, went to pa via va, got a car, drove back to sc, went surfing, started my internship, and started my online class, which brings me up to this weekend.

For those of you who don't know, I thoroughly enjoy biking. Something I've always wanted to do with my biking is to participate in an alleycat race, which is basically a race within a city with a series of checkpoints. I've been wanting to do an alleycat for the past two years or so but have always managed to miss them. Well yesterday (sunday) happened to be my lucky day because the suicide king alleycat came to town. It wasn't until the race that I realized why it was called the suicide king.

The race was scheduled to start at 3:30 so I thought I would try to get to registration around 3:00. Registration was at Holy City Tattoo way up king street, further than I thought. By the time I got there I was already hot and sweaty. Only then was I told that the race started another half mile up the road. I proceeded to bike up to the start and get there in just enough time to turn around and start back to where I had just come from.

Having been late, I didn't bother to look at the map, I just figured I would follow whoever I could to the first check point and then figure out where I needed to go. This first leg happened to be a 6 mile sprint all the way down king street to the battery, which is on of my favorite rides in charleston, only I generally do a 2 mile version.

After the sprint, we the proceeded around Charleston, reaching every corner of the downtown peninsula crossing back and forth across the city. Highlights included the top of the bridge, the old jail, some graveyard way out in the middle of nowhere, waterfront park, queen street grocery, and other great scenery along the way, finally finishing with a slip-n-slide in hampton park.

All told the race totaled about 40 miles not including any allowance for getting lost along the way, which probably was about 3-5 miles... so 43ish miles, thus the "suicide." I came in 22nd out of 43. That said not everyone ahead of me went to all of the checkpoints because of how grueling the race was so I probably came in somewhere more like 17th, which I would say is pretty good for my first race and being late and not bringing a water bottle and all that. Next time I'll be a little more prepared.

Mr. Anderson

I've been extremely busy over the past week or two so I haven't had much time to devote to my blog.. I still don't so here's something interesting I found the other day. I'm a huge fan of movies and especially Wes Anderson. This a 5 part video series. Don't bother reading the article because it says everything in the video. Part 5 hasn't been published yet but that will keep you wanting if you're are at all interested in Wes.

Also for you fashion conscious readers, my friend Judah sent me this blog, which I've been enjoying.

Partay!

I'm sitting on the porch writing this and watching the party people depart from the house across the way to head to the bars. I wonder what the occasion is or if its just because it's wednesday. I wasn't invited so it must not have been very important.

I kinda want to write about more interesting things other than how I'm feeling about life. Perhaps interesting tidbits from my day/week/few days or whatever. I also want to start working photos into my blog. That simply means I need to get out there and start taking more photos. My digital camera has kinda been a little shifty lately so we'll see. But that's just an excuse. I continue to be inspired by things all over the place. I've been thoroughly enjoying the Sartorialist, which everyone should view every now and then in order to be reminded how nice one can look. Charleston never ceases to inspire me. Especially when I walk around at night. I think this calls for a night time photo adventure. I'm sure you'll be hearing the results of this soon enough. Most of all, people are a continued source of inspiration. I really feel that to further develop my work, I need a muse. In other words, I need someone who doesn't mind me taking their picture all of the time. If you know anyone, let me know. That said, I always thought it would just kinda happen and I would become friends with someone who is the a good muse. Oh well.

In the mean time, I'm going to go sit

and read Shakespeare's sonnets for british lit.

Jai Ho!

I know people have been raving about it and it's old news but I saw Slumdog Millionaire for the first time last night. I went into it with very high expectations due to all of the hype surrounding it so naturally, I was a little worried my high hopes would not be satisfied. In the end, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all night and all morning today. I'm not really going to go into detail about the movie itself other than telling you that if you have not seen it, you should.

Aside from immensely enjoying the movie for its story line, music, and excellent cinematography, watching Slumdog has fueled my continued desire to travel to the point of a growing anxiety about it. I just feel so strongly about being able to see so much of the world. In my current life plans, I just haven't figured out where it all fits in. I've always thought, the summer after I graduate. I feel like I want to be a teacher so I can just take my summers and travel the world. 

When I say I want to travel the world, I don't mean I want to go stay in nice hotels at the beach in different parts of the world. I want to experience so many different countries. I want to ride the underground in London. I want to sit at a cafe in Paris. I want to stroll through a market in Morocco. You get the idea.

Currently listening to:

Angus & Julia Stone

Spring break '09

It is now spring break '09! It feels great to not have to be in school for a week. That being said, I'm trying to figure out how to best use my time as not to feel like I wasted it. I'm one of the few people left in Charleston, currently. Aside from my house mates, pretty much everyone, minus a few here and there are gone. Friday and Saturday were quite pleasant outside, especially after the cold from last week. Unfortunately it looks like it's going to get cold again until next thursday or friday.

Now that I'm done discussing superficial things such as the weather, I'm now going to discuss three other topics. The first two are somewhat short. The first of these is new diction I find myself using on an everyday basis. My two newest sayings, which you are welcome to borrow, are "wah wah" and "it'll be irie." The first, "wah wah," is said when something somewhat disappointing comes to light. This is generally in casual conversation and used to lighten the situation and dismiss the disappointment. I suppose if you were to define the phrase, it would mean, "I am somewhat disappointed about the certain situation that arose but it is not too big of a deal and I'll get over it. Now, moving on..." 

The second of these phrases, "it'll be irie," may be familiar to some of you. It is a Jamaican/Caribbean phrase in which the word "irie" is used instead of "alright." In truth, I may not specifically use that phrase but instead use the word "irie" occasionally instead of "alright." I really don't use this much at all except for in the house because I don't want to look too much like an idiot.

As for the second of my short topics, I have been feeling somewhat of a lull in my enjoyment of listening to music. Bands that I have previously enjoyed are beginning to bore me. The only music that I am currently enjoying listening to is Kaki King and some rap, namely Keny Arkana (french rap) and some Lupe Fiasco. I enjoy the french rap because you get the emotion and sound of the music but I don't have to actually understand what he's saying. More often than not, American rap (not American as in rap in the English language, but American as in rap from the US of A) can be very harsh in its lyrics and its message. That generally turns me off of rap artists. Lupe Fiasco, for instance, has some songs I won't listen too. I just enjoy the rest of his music enough to keep listening. Kaki King, on the other hand, is not rap, in case you were unaware. Her music tends to be pretty relaxing but still interesting enough that you don't fall asleep.

Now, getting to my third and final topic: new york city/life after cofc. So on thursday my accounting professor cancelled class so I took the opportunity to go talk to him about my education and career aspirations. The accounting department has set up some mock interviews, in which I plan to participate. My initial reason for going to see him was to have him look at my resume. This, in turn, led to a discussion about the best path for me to take in terms of getting a career. The main outcome of the conversation (other than reminiscing about philadelphia, since he's from south jersey) was the importance of going to grad school and the importance of the location of grad school in terms of where you want your first job to be. Obviously, all of this future makes one think a lot about where one wants to begin one's life out of college. After much deliberation, I feel as though this will lead back to the north east. I'm looking a lot at schools in nyc and maybe boston. I don't really want to go back to philadelphia. It's time for something new. dc, maybe? I dunno, but as of now it looks like I'm northeast bound. I say new york in the beginning because I've been reminiscing about new york a lot over the past few days due to people going there, being there, making plans to go there. I just love new york, as I sit here wearing my I heart New York shirt. I also love Amagansett, which, if you read back to my summer posts, is where my grandparents have a house on long island. All of these things are reasons why I have centered in on nyc.

Back to Basics

As the economy continues to slow down, we see a lot of slimming off of the excess. While this unfortunately comes in the form of cutting jobs, cutting pay, cutting hours, and cutting benefits for many people, we still must remain hopeful for the future. It is not the end of the world as we know it, which the news seems to be insinuating. Instead it is a time for us to re-evaluate our spending and habits to see what is really necessary. I find upon thinking in this frame of mind, this idea of going back to the basics applies to many areas of life, not just spending and fiscal responsibility.

Personally, I have been evaluating my life in several areas. First and foremost is the time I spend on certain activities such as facebook and other unproductive activities. This is not to say that I think facebook is evil, which it is entirely not. In fact, I feel it is a good way to stay in touch with a greater number of people than other wise possible. For me this semester I just don't have time to do anything much so I shouldn't be wasting it on facebook.

I just finished writing a paragraph about how much time I waste on facebook. Upon finishing it, I realized how much I dislike anti-facebook and anti-procrastination rants. In summation of that paragraph, what I meant to say is that I intend to be more responsible with my time.

The second area in which I am striving to go back to basics is my photography. If you've read any of my previous posts, you may have seen that I miss photography and am trying to get back into it. I have come to realize that the photos I take that I like the most tend to be those with the greatest simplicity. I'm not an art history person or much for art terminology but I really feel like I want my pictures to be minimalist in all ways. I am tired of the hassle of digital. I don't like using cameras with all of the bells and whistles. I miss film and the smell of darkroom chemicals lingering on my hands. Aside from boring photo tech stuff, I am going to continue to build towards my minimalist image in my work. If you zip over to my photo blog you can see some of my favs that I felt were worthy of the interweb. Also, if you ever want your picture taken, I'm always looking for a good muse.

The last area in which my new saying of "back to basics" applies, albeit this one is kinda a stretch is music. Last night I somewhat stumbled upon a new favorite band. I say somewhat because I had heard about them but forgotten. Last night upon leaving the business building after finance club (I know, I'm a dork, but I get extra credit), I heard a joyful noise upon the wind coming from the direction of Andolini's. That sweet melodious sound was the musical stylings of Bodies Full of Magic, a local band featuring mostly CofC students. While they were missing their drummer, I still thoroughly enjoyed listening to them. I love the mix of male and female vocals, especially when they are as soulful as those I heard last night. Another unexpected delight I found out of their sound is the trumpet. Their trumpet player had such amazing tone rarely heard in a band playing behind a pizza place. I immediately fell in love with their sound.

The moral of the story: go back to basics. It's refreshing. I recommend it.

Accounting, perhaps?

As you may notice a few posts ago, I mentioned my apathetic opinions of my accounting major. As it turns out, however, I am really beginning to enjoy my intermediate accounting class and my finance class. That said, cost accounting is incredibly booorrrinngg... mainly just because of the professor. Anyway, enjoying my classes makes my crazy schedule not so bad. I get a little bit of break this afternoon, which is nice. Some of my usually scheduled activities have been cancelled. It's just glorious outside so I think I'm going to go for a bike ride. Perhaps I'll continue looking for apartments.

What is it that you really want?

Real estate.

So goes the infamous quote from charlie brown's christmas. Well that's right where I'm at right now. In other words, it's time to find a house for next semester. I'm the head of the search committee. So far I have a few phone numbers, which I'm planning on calling tomorrow. Anywho.. I don't have time to finish this right now but perhaps later.

Procrastination

In my attempts at procrastination, I'm switching my website to a photo blog. Head on over and check out rparksphoto.blogspot.com.

Lately there have been a few developments in my life...

First, I have been listening to French rap virtually non-stop for the past three or four days. If anyone is interested, I recommend Keny Arkana's "Entre Ciment et Belle Etoile." I think it was a lucky first guess at what cd to get but it has some quality songs on it. 

Second, I got a longboard on Sunday and have been loving riding it at just about every chance I get... especially while listening to French rap.

Third, I want to take up boxing. I'm not quite sure where that idea originated from but it's been on my mind for a little while now. I looked into cofc's boxing club but I have a class during the meeting times so I'm left up to my own devices. At some point here I'm going to invest in a punching bag and some gloves. If anyone wants to join me in this endeavor, let me know... unless you're too afraid to face the fury of my fists. I am part Irish so I could claim it's in my blood. I'm also English tho so I would be civil/proper about it.

Fourth, along with my boxing endeavor, I am working on getting into better shape. Obviously I'm not fat but I want to get fit. I started running again last week and I bought a bunch of fruit today so I can eat healthier. Also, I'm now up to 14 pull-ups... go me. (we have pull-up bars in the door frames of our living room if you've never been to my house).

Getting there

I've been spending a lot of time since my recent reentry into the blogosphere thinking about what I want to do with my life, As is evident from my last post. As of yet, no clear conclusions have been reached. For that matter, I doubt I'll ever come to a conclusion. At any rate, there are great things going on in my life but I want to get back some of the things I always enjoyed. These two main aspects are photography and making things.

Photography, not being as far removed as the later of my previous sources of enjoyment, has only been out of my life for about a month now, but I really do miss it. I miss dreaming about what/who I want to bee able to shoot and where. I always end up getting stuck at that dreaming part, tho. I never really go after it. I'm not sure why I always get stuck there. Perhaps it's lack of confidence. I always blame it on lack of resources. Whatever it is, I need to figure out a way to get over it and find people to shoot just for fun.

Now we come to the joy I always get out of making something or constructing something. I don't really know what it is but I've always enjoyed building things, whether it was playing with legos, building tree forts, building our deck, or finishing our basement. Ever since I was a little boy, I've always been building things. That is up until the last year or two. Now one could argue that I'm building things on a metaphorical level like building my education or some silly philosophical idea like that. What I mean, tho, is physically constructing something with my own two hands that I can then step back and be proud of. So, All that being said, I think I'm going to make a chair. It won't be done this week, or this month, but I think I'm going to go for it.

January in Charleston

So I thought I posted once over christmas but I guess I didn't do it right. I figure since a couple people are getting into the blogging thing to stay in touch, maybe I would pick up my game.

It's currently freezing here.. much colder than it's supposed to be in charleston. I think tomorrow night's low is 17 degrees. brrr. I hope all of my friends in other parts of the country and the world are having better weather than we are here.

So as of wednesday I was second guessing myself on my major due to my intense course load/hard courses and the stresses of trying to figure out the rest of my life and all that. I feel like the fact that three out of four of my house mates are done school but have little or no idea what they really want to do worries me and makes me question whether or not I'll be in the same situation come summer 2010... well hopefully summer 2010 and not winter 2011. That's the other issue that's weighing in on my mind is the concept of trying to graduate "on time," which would be spring 2010. That hinges largely on what ends up happening this summer and whether or not I successfully find an internship, which so far isn't looking very promising.

To sum all of that rambling up, I've decided to stay with accounting because I realized after today that I really am interested in my classes. As for the summer, I might just stay in charleston and try to find a part-time internship and also take classes so I can graduate on time. All the while, having a great time with whoever is here!