Hey February.

Been a while. I always seem to go through these funks of not writing for a while; hopefully this will be the last time. These past few weeks have pretty much been more of the same: class, work out, homework, relax (if at all possible). So no worries, you haven't missed anything.

I can honestly say, though, that I'm pretty much tired of the shit girls seem to put me through. There's one in particular, and last night pretty much sealed my opinion: (a majority of) girls are immature, thoughtless, and selfish. That's just been my experience, and really, I have yet to be proven wrong. Maybe I've just been unfortunate enough to get screwed over repeatedly, maybe I'm just being a pessimist and neglecting the good stuff that's happened to me.

I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I won't be meeting any "quality" girls in the last few months of my college career, but you know what? I'm alright with that. There's plenty more out there, and they're far more mature than anything I've seen here.

Maybe I grew up too fast.

Prison Break & Steak

So if there's one thing you should know about it, it's that I'm relentlessly upbeat. For some reason, I don't let life get me down for than a few hours. And I think people are starting to take note of this, because lately, I've always had something to do or someplace to go whenever I've had free time.

Take, for example, this past Saturday. I woke up, had a solid breakfast, had an equally great workout, and went out to lunch with my friend Andrea. Good conversation and good sushi. A couple hours later, Josh, Jackie, and myself went to see Juno (I could have filled this sentence with alliteration, but I decided against it. Thank me later). After the movie, I met up with yet another friend in an attempt to go out and watch the MSU-Iowa game. Reno's was packed and the Hall of Fame Cafe had an hour-long waitlist, but instead of giving up, we went to the Union and watched the game there. Damn the Big Ten Network, and damn Iowa for making us look absolutely awful, but I still had a good time. It just comes down to being positive and making the most of any situation.

Today was a busier day than I would have liked, to be honest, but I know I'll sleep a lot better. I had three classes, stopped into the Into the Streets office (more on that later) for a bit, had another great workout, came home, went back out to campus for the Case Hall Government meeting (we need funding for our volunteer events, and they gave us $100!), and brought Amy over to watch Prison Break and my attempt at an amazing dinner. Prison Break was good; the steak/mashed potatoes/green beans meal could have been a bit better, but I'm not complaining; and best of all, I got a reaction out of Amy that will never be erased from this oddly large head of mine.



Advice for today? Start working out. Honestly, I've never felt better about myself and life in general. And prioritize. By God, prioritize. Create a schedule and stick to it, your life will be much, much easier.

Lessons.

I don't like wasting time. I've gotten to a point in my life where I know what I want, and what I have to do to get it. I've also learned quite a few lessons in the past year. For instance:

• I could continue to buy cool stuff (home theatre systems, computers, speakers, watches, etc.), stuff that says "Hey, I have money, and I have no issue with spending it," but you know what? That only goes so far. At some point I've got to look at my personality and find out why some people I care about don't care about me in the same manner.
• I used to get insecure about the littlest things. My confidence was fairly lacking about this time last year, but by changing simple facets like the people I hang out with, the clothes I wear, and just keeping a positive demeanor about life, I've turned into a confident 23 year old. I know I've got a great personality, a bright future, and good looks to match (please don't mistake this for arrogance), and honestly, if a girl doesn't want to be a part of my life, then so be it. I'm not going to go so far as to say it's her loss, but I have a lot to offer in the way of a friendship/relationship.
• Being selfish is probably one of the worst characteristics a person can have, or develop, for that matter. I don't have many friends, but the ones that are there for me are the ones I appreciate the most. It's not like I'm asking you to give me a lung, or a thousand dollars; all I ask is for a phone call once in a while, or an invite to hang out sometime. To me, the little things matter more than you'll ever know.

Now, these are just a few of the many lessons I've learned. By no means do I have all the answers, nor do I claim to, but I want to share what I've gained, because not only could it help you, but it helps me reaffirm my beliefs and the way I've lived my life.

Not a bad day.

As far as birthdays go, 23 wasn't too bad to me. Sure, it was the first day of class, and I've already got a massive amount of work to do, but it was the first day of class! There's really nothing important to do until like, the third day of class.

It's nice not having an 8am class; my earliest is ME 481, Senior Design, at 10:20. Immediately after that, I've got ME 475, Computer Aided Design of Something Something Structures. Sounds important, I know. Then I've got a break of sorts, when I hold my office hours for a community service organization I co-chair. At 3pm, I have ME 478, Product Development, which seems like it's going to be more work than I thought. Fantastic.

As for birthday stuff, pretty low key today. I got a delicious chocolate cake and equally great card from a really special girl, and hung out with some of the guys and watched LSU trounce OSU. I'm thinking 23 is going to be a pretty good year.

22 is gone.

In 45 minutes, I turn 23 years old. In 45 minutes, I begin my final semester of college, and get ready to enter the real world that I've heard so many damn people talk about during the 17 years of my educational experience.

Being 22, I learned a lot, probably more than any other year. I can attribute that to living on my own for the majority of the year, experiencing as much as I could, including:

• going to Mammoth Cave.
• going backpacking for the first time at Daniel Boone National Forest.
• going skydiving; I wouldn't say it was as thrilling as everyone makes it out to be, but it was still cool.
• actually meeting and developing relationships with girls past "just friends." Didn't know I had it in me haha.
• letting myself drink freely without worrying too much about the repercussions.
• finding a good group of guys to hang out with (the Spectacular Six)
• interviewing and traveling; even if those interviews didn't pan out, it was still a good time and I ultimately got the job I wanted.

I'm going to make the most of the next 365 days (well, the rest of my life, really), but we'll focus on twelve months to begin with. 4 more months of school, 2 months of traveling, and 6 months of working in Kentucky. I'm looking forward to all of it.

In ten minutes I turn 23. So instead of sitting at this computer and waiting for midnight to strike, I'm going to be completely unexciting and get ready for bed. Hey, the first day of class is tomorrow. I know I said I'd live life to the fullest, but cut me some slack, it's my birthday.