Christmas Time

This is my favorite season of all, everyone just seems so happy and friendly. I believe it to be a season of friendship and forgiveness, for people to put aside their issues for a few weeks, and just be happy. I think at least one day by a fireplace is essential, not to mention all the hot chocolate/tea/coffee (depending on your preference). My step family is Jewish, so we do have both celebrations in the house. It means twice the gifts for me, so I can't complain. It's interesting how we changed a holiday about Jesus into gift giving and Santa Claus, I am completely for this change. It's a drag that there are random parents in the nation who are just so against Christmas or Hanukkah that they have to restrict schools from supporting it. I remember as a kid we didn't have those issues, and it was nice. I watched south park since about 5th grade, and I'll admit, it was a bad idea, but no one stopped me. Aside from the raw humor and interesting vocabulary, I matured due to it. Every christmas I watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas, doesn't really matter which version, it just seems right. I remember one year I saw it while my family was out eating chinese, for some reason that moment has stuck in my head. Anyways I wish everyone a Happy Holiday, and to enjoy whatever it is you celebrate.

Warmth

I never really realized how much I enjoy being warm. This winter has definitely been harsh, I wear two hoodies and a coat now. I don't know if I became more sensitive to the cold or not, because it seems like as a kid it didn't bother me at all, I would go sledding for hours. Now, I do what I can to stay inside. I've definitely been watching more movies with friends and playing video games. My friends and I don't go out for coffee as much, and I'm pretty sure "hippie drum circle" isn't happening til spring time. I'll explain that one later. Hopefully we start going out at random ours of the night for coffee, it sounds like such a warm feeling right now. The snow we had didn't really last, and it makes it very hard to believe Christmas is just around the corner. Being single around Christmas time is new for me, definitely a money saver, but on the other side, I don't get free dinner at a random house this year.

Technology

It seems like everything around me is constantly evolving when it comes to technology. When looking at phones, over the last decade we had flip phones, then keyboard, sliding, sliding keyboard, touch screen, and now sliding touching screen keyboard phones. It's just very interesting to me how people think of these ideas, and what will be the next invention? I honestly can't think of anything else they can do to a phone to make it more popular, they're basically computers. My question is, is all this really necessary? I've got a phone with a keyboard, and that comes in very handy, but that is all I really need. If I want to play games, there are consoles and computers for that, email and internet can be accessed with a laptop. Phone calls and texting seems to be enough for a phone, sure they add mp3 players into the phone, but with the very limited space on the phone, it cannot hold many songs, and that simply adds to the battery draining. Battery power is a serious issue for me, I don't like that feeling when my phone only has one bar left, knowing it would die at any moment and prevent me from calling who I need to. Same goes with Ipods. It's hard to live without music for me, it has become a dependency.

Everyday

It's been getting harder and harder to wake up everyday on time. I blame part of it on Christmas break coming up. I used to love sleeping in, but now if I'm late for a class it's a terrible feeling. My presentation for Composition makes me a bit nervous, I'm considering just staying up all night, that way I wouldn't have to worry about waking up! On a side note, I've notice I always have my phone on me. All the time. It's an interesting feeling when realizing that I'm basically tethered to it. In today's society there's always a need for a phone, and if I don't answer it, I tend to get very angry replies. Makes me wish I could go back to the good old days before texting, where everyone simply called and hung out, had the occasional AIM conversation. But times change, and the only choice we have is to adapt.

Sonic

Working at Sonic has been interesting. Overall, I've never liked working with food and people, and that has been the basis of every one of my jobs since I was 15. Truly ironic. I got used to the fast paced environment, terrible customers, and working til two in the morning. The people I work with are really cool overall, the managers do their job well. The schedule seems to be a big problem though. When it first opened, everyone got 30+ hours a week, and it was good to make money, sometimes a bit overwhelming. Now that things have slowed down, a lot of hours have been cut, and now people are lucky to get over 15 hours. It's been very sporadic in my case, and this week I've been give zero hours. Definitely not a good thing. Searching for a new job is something I have to consider, but I really don't like filling out applications.

My first Final

Today, I took my first final, sadly, no one told me I had. Walking into class five minutes before it started, everyone was vigorously studying. I had to sprint half a mile to buy a blue book, sprint back, and just make it in time to take the final. Needless to say, I don't think I did very well. If it was math I'd have a pretty good chance at an A, sadly this was Medieval History, and it was all written. Multiple choice could have saved the day. My savior will be the essay that I turned in a few days ago for it.

Classes?

So I never got the memo to go register for class, and so by the time I figured out it was my turn, most of the spots have been filled. I was still able to pick the time schedule I needed, but the class I was wait-listed for never really responded, and the people at the desk didn't help. I guess I need to find a new class to register for... So far I've got Comp 2, calc 2, and history of music. I'll be sure to take care of things early the next time registration season comes.

My Car

So, I drive a '97 Honda Odyssey. Definitely not what I envisioned myself driving. It's a minivan, thankfully the seats fold into the car, and there's actually a lot of room on the inside. I've been driving to school for about half an hour the last two years, and now it's become almost an hour drive. Needless to say, this car has been through a lot. It has almost 270 thousand miles on it, and it's still truckin'. I've invested in a better sounds system, by splicing a few wires, there are now some really nice speakers inside, and a great radio. I do admit it may look a bit lame, but it's all I've got for now. Hopefully in the future I invest in a car that's not as big. I am grateful to have a car, but it seems that it will die on me any moment now, and I'll have to go separate ways with my first car.

CD's

Whatever happen to CD's? It might just be me, but everyone has mp3 players and just downloads music.I guess it's nice to save money through the internet, but the artists deserve their credit/money! I really don't know how the cd sales are still high, just about any music album can be found online a week before it is released in stores. It seems a bit unfair to me, but if people use their resources wisely then who am I to tell them otherwise? My ipod is no longer anywhere near the greatness of the new models, I've got a 2gb original nano, which over the years has just been bothersome. On the bright side I just installed a new radio in my car, it plays CD's and I can hook up my ipod, so there are more choices for me!

Finals!

Well finals are right around the corner, everyone I know is doing their best to cram study and finish up their papers. I think I'm going to try studying in college, I didn't have to last year, but now school seems harder. This massive Composition project is definitely going to take up a lot of time, in addition to all the other classes fitting in a last test before the exam. On the bright side I'm only working one day this week, so I will have plenty of time to get ready. I find it hard to pick a topic for this research paper, I understand that it's due in less than a week for me, but there are always distractions. Hopefully I'll settle on a topic soon, because finding at least ten sources won't be easy. Maybe I just won't sleep for a few days and finish everything, I mean Christmas break will last a while, so why not just take one of those days to sleep. seems like a great plan to me!

Thanksgiving Season

Well it seems that the semester is flying by, and before we know it, our portfolios will be done and it will be good timese with the family. America has gotten ahead of itself, with Christmas music being played since November 1st, everyone is just ready to move on to the day of gift giving. This may be a cliche topic, but honestly, is it the people to blame for this, or the corporate companies? The advertisements are all over television and the radio, where it's beyond important to get all the gifts early, and with Walmart constantly cutting it's prices, other stores are having difficulty competing. I support competition, but when a store is purposefully trying to to undermine other people and their business, it seems unfair. Thanksgiving has lost it's touch, now it's more about food than anything else, but on the bright side it gives families another reason to be together. I don't know if we should be proud of persecuting the Native Americans, taking their land, and bring new disease into their territory, but I guess it's too late to fight it now, and all we can do is celebrate.