To Dr. McNely

It's a Wonder I Posted.

I am one of those people who has absolutely no motivation. It's bad. I don't know how many times in my college career, I have woken up in the morning, turned off the alarm on my phone, and gone back to sleep. It's not even that I'm tired all of the time, but the thought of getting up and walking all the way to class (especially now when it's a snow globe outside) just seems like too much work.

Usually, this isn't a huge problem. It doesn't get out of hand ...I don't miss more than a few classes, but lately it seems that whatever minuscule amount of motivation I was possessing before, as since disappeared. This week, with finals looming and final projects being due, I have felt something like this ..

Today, I really impressed myself. I got up earlier than usual, walked to all of my classes without having to throw myself out of bed, and even got a work out in between all of my homework. I realize when I actually just go do these things, I feel a lot better afterwards and have actually accomplished something!

It has also occurred to me, that the main problem might be how insanely comfortable my bed is. Perhaps I should consider investing in a bed of nails for Christmas, so that next semester I will be all about jumping out of bed in the morning ...

Maybe not.

I guess I will just try to survive the next week (who thought it was a good idea to make all finals in one week anyway) and have productive days like today so that I don't just burn out and die. And hopefully get a few good grades in the process, also. It's nice to know that I'm not alone ...it seems like everyone else is about to collapse and are extremely ready for Christmas break. Stay strong fellow unmotivated people, stay strong.

It's Christmas time for the Jews!

It's the most wonderful time of the year, or so the song goes. There's snow on the ground, every radio station is blaring christmas music, and every christmas special ever made is on tv. That's all fine and good for those who celebrate christmas, but what about the rest of us? How do the Jewish people celebrate Christmas?

First, We celebrate a holiday know as Hanukkah. There are about 50 different was to spell hanukkah and even more ways to enjoy it. We celebrate this holiday for eight night to remember the miracle of the maccabees winning a great battle and the oil in their lamp lasting for eight nights. We spin derides, eat latkes, and light the menorah. As I am writing this I am celebrating the eight and final night of Hanukkah. Hanukkah and Christmas only coincide every few years so when their not together we have to find other things to do.
Next, we eat Chinese Food!!!! That's my favorite part! Every Christmas day my family either orders in or goes out for chinese food. In fact, Christmas day is one of the busiest days of the year for chinese restaurants and you will almost never see one closed on Christmas. How did this tradition start you ask? Well I'll tell you... I have no idea! But I sure do love it!
Finally, We go to movies. One of the only places open on Christmas day (besides chinese restaurants) are movie theaters! So while you're opening your presents we are watching the newest release. And if your really good, and have a huge purse like I do, it's possible to eat chinese food while at the theater.
So this year when your celebrating with your families be happy that you now know how people of other people spend the same holiday.

Tis the Season

As we all know its that time of year again and Christmas is just around the corner! One aspect that I love about the holidays is putting up the decorations with my family. The day after Thanksgiving, we put up the Christmas tree.

Another aspect that I love about christmas, is The baking. Every year, mom and I make an assort of goodies. From cookie cut outs, to fudge, we make basically everything, and its gone by christmas day.

Of course, what is Christmas without Santa Claus. Of course, when we take little ones to see the jolly red man at our local mall, sometimes it may not turn out the way they expect, which can be entertaining.

Of course there is nothing like opening up presents on Christmas morning! You never know, you may receive something you never quite expected.

And of course, what would Christmas be like without the music?

Happy Holidays!

YUM-O.

There's really no witty way to say this. I love food.

I'm getting an apartment next year with my three best friends.
We talk about all of the exciting things we'll get to do. Think of new ideas every day.
How we're going to decorate. What rooms we're each going to take, and what's going to be in them.

And. Of course. What are we going to eat for dinner.
The good thing about my love for food is its happy marriage my love for cooking.
I guess that makes me a productive food lover.
I cannot wait to be able to cook dinner several times a week.
Let's face it, the dorm kitchenette just isn't cutting it.

Now, loving food isn't a vice. Neither is cooking. Perhaps what I'm about to say doesn't fit the dictionary definition of a vice either, but here it is:

FOOD NETWORK.

Is it bad that Rachael Ray's raspy overly enthusiastic voice kind of soothes me? And every time I make pasta I hear her saying "Now you're going to put in...ehh...a couple tablespoons of EVOO..."?

Sometimes (huge secret reveal about to happen), I talk to myself like I have my own food network show. Like, I'll be making an omelette, and narrate things as if I have an audience. I even look over my shoulder to make sure no one hears me. Sometimes I garnish things. For myself. Even if it tastes bad. So there that is. Shhh...









I feel powerful when watching anything Giada.
I jump up and down when Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives comes on.
I gasp when I'm monotonously flipping through channels late at night and I run into Unwrapped.
I want to travel to every place featured on The Best Thing I Ever Ate.
I am infatuated with the idea of being able to make dinner for a family in the future.

I thank/blame Food Network for that.

Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling clementine!

Just about the only thing I reckon I can stand about winter is clementines.

This love of clementines has been passed down generationally in my family. Although my grandma is too old to remember exactly when she was born, she does remember getting a pair of socks every Christmas and clementines.

Then my mom and her five sisters basqued in the joy of all things citrus every Christmas growing up too (and socks!!).

And now, I too look forward to December and the holidays, because of freaking clementines. Really, that's what I look forward to.

I even have my favorite brand of clementines: "Cuties"

Cutie's are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, they are easy to peel, sweet, and best of all they come from California. My mom always says the best fruits come from California (and yes she seriously says that all the time, like everyday at least).

In addition to the 800mg of vitamin C I take via tablets a day (not the horrible 90s singer), I eat at least 5 clementines. I sometimes feel like I could overdose on vitamin C, but it'd be worth it.

Aside from the obivious health benefit of vitamin C, I save loads of money on perfumes during the winter, because my hands and basically all my clothes end up smelling like clean citrus. Yesterday someone seriously asked me if I just got done cleaning my bathroom!

To be honest, I don't like most other citrus fruits, for example: I hate oranges. They are tough, impossible to peel, and can be pretty sour. I don't like citrus flavored candies or anything. I'm not really into tangerines either.

But gosh darn do I love my Cutie's California clementines!

The Pros and Cons of Watching Movies Existentially

I love movies. I love television. I love books. I love music.

I love everything about them. I love the drama, the romance, the horror, the beauty and the truths, the bittersweet tragedy and the happily ever afters. The only problem with all that is that when its over, I have to come back to the real world.

In real life, things are totally lame, and it took me too long to come to grips with.

In real life:

Even if you make this your ring tone,

you still won't get urgent phone calls from the president's private line.

You can't find secret passageways that lead into John Malkovich's subconscious.

When you finally get with that girl you've been pining after, the whole city WILL NOT dance with you as you walk home.

If you're chasing the love of your life through an airport, random strangers won't let you cut them in line for the bag check.

Even if you do, by some absurd chance get on that plane with said love interest, I guarantee you, Billy Idol won't be there to help you win her back. He's probably too busy trying to find a way to meet the love of his life through a Vh1 reality show.

COLLEGE IS NOT LIKE THIS!!!!!

Sorry, I got a bit carried away there, but the thing is, I've spent most of my life convinced that some of this had to be true. I've always tried to relate this crap to my life, thinking that was the only way I could be truly fulfilled.

At some point, I came to define my identity as some kind of volatile combination of Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge, Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 500 Days of Summer, Robert Downey Jr in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, John Cusack in High Fidelity Dominic Monahan in Lost,Michael Cera in Arrested Development, and the protagonist in the Killers' "Mr Brightside".

Likewise, my girlfriend and I have stated many times that we are some kind of ridiculous combination of Breakfast at Tiffany's and Wuthering Heights.

My model for later in life is a safe blend of Hank Moody and Mufasa.

I can't help myself. I approach life as a really long HBO miniseries. Just one big long story full of characters and plot turns. Some people may think that I've lost touch with reality, but they said the same thing about Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception and everything turned out okay for him.

I think...

Either way, people may think my preference of living in a fantasy world is a vice, but I say, when the "real world" is full of stuff like this:

I'm off to Never Neverland!

Cruising Speed

I have a secret. My right foot is really heavy. I mean, heavier than my left foot. It drags sometimes. I've noticed that the later I am, the heavier it gets.

Which is why I've come to rely on my car's cruise control.

Usually it keeps me out of trouble. I set the speed for the posted limit (2-3 mph over if I want to push it) and I can sit back and relax, knowing I don't have to keep checking my heavy foot. I can just "enjoy the ride."

Now, YOU may push the speed up a bit, if you’re really worried about getting somewhere on time. Say, when you realize you have to stop for gas or risk running out, and when you’re already running late because the dogs wouldn't come in when you called them. (This is particularly crucial on a morning when you have a big presentation you’re already worried about, one that you were up until 3 a.m. the night before, finishing.)

On a day like that, you might set the cruise at, say, 10 miles over the speed limit. Doing this could cause you to see pretty lights though, so I don't recommend you try this at home.

Going 10 mph over speed limit is bad enough. But then if you have to speed up to pass the bloke who was going just slow enough to make you brake off your cruise control... (Don't you just hate people who do that?)

Then you get a guy like this questioning your motives.

Or maybe this.

Or, if you're not paying attention and you're rooting through your glove box looking for your ID and insurance card, this.

Or, if you're lucky, this.

Even if you're honest about speeding (it goes better for you if you are), you will most likely end up with a $200 fine, and find that now you're even later for that presentation than you were, and you still have to stop for gas. Especially now that you've been sitting at the side of the road for fifteen minutes with your engine idling.

When you stop for gas, if you're lucky, maybe the pump shut off valve won't freeze in the below freezing temperatures and cause gasoline to pour all down the side of your car before you realize that far too much gas has pumped than should have.

And maybe there will be paper towels on your side of the gas station and you won't have to run all the way to the other side (five gas-pump islands over) to get the paper towels, and then run to the women's restroom inside the store (because the water outside is frozen) to wet the paper towels, then run back outside and try to wash the frozen gasoline off your car before it ruins the paint, and all without coat or gloves or hat because a half-hour after you got on the road this morning you realized you forgot to put your coat and stuff in the car which was in the garage attached to your house, so you forgot that it was only 26 degrees and very windy outside when you got in the car.

But all is okay now, because you are back on the road, warm in your car, gas tank full. Maybe you’ll be only slightly late to give that presentation. You are, after all, so diligent that leaving the house in time to arrive ten minutes early (barring problems) means “running late” to you.

As you pull back onto the freeway you notice two State Troopers (on the other side of the freeway) and both have a car pulled over, not fifty feet from each other. 

You realize technology is not intrinsically good or bad...it’s what we do with it that defines the outcome. You take it up to the speed limit, tap on the cruise control, take your heavy foot off the gas pedal. No presentation is worth another ticket you think, and you’re right. Technology is there to save you from yourself. Maybe you are a wee bit addicted to it. There are worse things to be addicted to.

This is why I'm broke...

These sit on top of my dresser.

These do too.

I buy CDs.

Lots of them.

Way more than

I should.

It's an

addiction.

Let me show

some of them

to you.

I buy these.

I probably shouldn't.

And these sit on top of that over there.

This is what I play them on.

I can't actually

afford them.

But I stay strong.

I waste that

money.

But I don't think

it's wasteful.

I can buy toilet paper and deodorant with

change.

(I did that today)

As long as I've got a few spare dollars to add to this,

 

This is the rest of the collection.

I'm happy.

Obligatory

The Art of Self-Perfection

"If there is effort, there is always accomplishment." - Jigoro Kano

Such are the words of the founder of Judo. Most call it "the Gentle Way." Some call it the art of self-perfection.

I call it fun.

I have been a part of this martial art for about two years. It taught me much more than how to grapple and throw people; I learned the worth perseverance.

Let me tell you a story...

In high school, I decided to join the wrestling team during my junior year. I had never done such a sport before, but it wasn't long before I discovered my natural wrestling talent. I always practiced until I could barely stand and I cut weight in ways that I'm not particularly proud of. Due to an injury on the team, I got to wrestle a few varsity matches during my first season and won a match against a guy that made it to regionals the previous season. This taste of victory drove me to work harder so that I could start varsity the following year.

After postseason and preseason workouts, I was determined to earn a varsity spot by wrestling off with guys that had been doing this sport far longer than I have.

My hard work paid off.

I was on my way to starting varsity at the first tournament of the year. Words could not describe the unique combination of excitement, nervousness, and anticipation that I was feeling on a bus ride that felt like forever. I wanted to graduate with a winning season. That day was my first step.

My name was announced. My match was up next. I took off my warm ups and stepped on the mat. My opponent looked just as ready as I was. The whistle blew and we went at it. It was a fairly even match. He took me down, but I got a reversal in on him. I went for a pin that I had learned the previous week. It almost worked, but it wasn't tight enough. We both went back to the standing position. He got an awkward take down on me, and I immediately felt something wrong.



My elbow had popped out of place.

I yelled. The ref blew the whistle. I tried to move my arm, but needles of pain surged through. My coach was also my JROTC instructor with many years experience in the Army. He used his emergency first-aid knowledge to fashion a soft splint out of available material. "They'll pop it back into place and you'll be back in a couple hours," he told me with a smile. I know his real smile. He only said that to keep me from panicking before I got to the hospital.

I was done wrestling for the season. I was devastated.

It was a month before I gained semi-useful mobility back into my arm. Even so, it was still weak. It seemed as though my grappling days were over. I graduated high school with an unfulfilled goal. I started believing that my time wrestling was a waste.

I believed that until my brother introduced me into Judo that summer. I was all for it: it is a martial art that is based on grappling and throwing. It is the Japanese equivalent to wresting. Despite my nagging fear of re-dislocating my elbow, I was sold. I attended the local dojo in town and earned my yellow belt by the end of summer. I felt the rush again.

I occasionally attended Judo club practices at Ball State during my freshman year. My classes kept me too busy to practice. Also, I was discouraged at how sloppy my form was compared to everybody else. As wrestling came easily to me, I had to work at my Judo. This year, I missed only two practices because of homework. Thanks to focus and commitment, I placed first in my division at my first tournament a couple weeks ago. I still want to get better.

This story may seem out of place in this blog, but please let me finish!

Due to my focus on Judo, I have paid less attention to my classes. My drive to get better became an obsession. I could sit down and daydream about techniques for a half-hour before I realize that I'm in my math class.

I guess the moral of the story is to not try to get better at new hobbies. You'll break your arm. Yup, that sounds right.

Happiness: More is Better

I was reading through the "Strange News" section on CNN's website when I came across an article titled: "Fatal diagnosis wrong after life savings spent."

Basically, a British man's doctor diagnosed him with cirrhosis of the liver, and told him he had three months to live. The man, Dave Ismay then proceeded to spend most of his life savings checking off his "bucket list" wishes. As you would guess from the article's title, Ismay later found that his conditon was, in fact, treatable.

When I read this article, my first thought was of the relationship between mortality and self-indulgence; That is to say, it occurred to me that under normal circumstances, people are willing to trade some degree of their life's quality (not buying that new sports car) in order to achieve more quantity of life (funds to continue living off of).

When I made the decision to write about this story, I originally intended to take a somewhat smug, you-reap-what-you-sew stance on the consequences of Ismay's self-indulgent spending spree.

My mind was changed when I realized that my own life, as "normal" as it is can be unpleasant enough without the knowledge that it will very soon be over.

This is not an approval of hedonism, but a recognition that every one of us mortals seeks happiness. I haven't earned the right to judge a person in Ismay's position, nor do I have any way of knowing what I would do if I were told I had three months to live.

It's as simple as that.