in between...

Thirty six minutes until class starts, so I may as well share some thoughts with the world. Today I am finding myself wondering why we (students) push our bodies to such extreme limits for the sake of learning. It strikes me as counter intuitive, and more than a little ironic.

Here's the story that brings me to thinking about such things: This weekend, I was at a conference out of town, learning how to minister cross culturally. It was excellent, but the busy days of processing combined with the late nights of talking with friends added up to a less than refreshing weekend. This was supplemented by the fact that on Thursday night I was forced to play police officer in a raid on a beer pong party on my floor. I will write a longer entry on this occurence later. It is a good enough story to deserve it's own posting. The point, though, is that Thursday night provided me with only three hours of sleep, headed into a busy weekend. I returned home Sunday afternoon needing to complete both a scholarship essay, and a draft of a paper for a class that is at it's best radically confusing, and at it's worst utterly non-sensical. So I stayed up until roughly 4 AM finishing what I could of those. I was helped along by some really good coffee from my Christmas stocking (thanks, mom), the music of Bob Dylan and Leonard Nimoy (not together, separately. And yes, Nimoy DID record quite a bit of low quality music. Live long and prosper, Spock, but definitely not on top of the music charts.), and one or two breaks to read The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, to keep the stress low.

So when I finally went to bed, I realized that it would be a necessity to sleep through my first few classes. This is because I have a mid-term tomorrow morning, and will need to stay up late studying. As such, it was necessary to stock up on sleep. The conclusion of this long, slightly boring diatribe is that I can't wait to be a grown up who is allowed to leave his work at the office, and enjoy a semi-normal sleep schedule. Oh what dreams I have.

Speaking of dreams, the word came through today that BRAC definitely wants me to intern in Bangladesh. So it looks like I am going. It's exciting. I'll get to spend a semester soaking in the things I've only read about for so long. I am glad I am going to the sub-continent. I guess it's as close to home as most places I have lived. It will still be new, but I think there will definitely be some sense of familiarity. That being said, I am really looking forward to the adventure.

Also, I am thinking about making a movie after I graduate, and before I begin real life. Stay tuned for more information on this.

Basketball lost to Minnesota on the road on Saturday. 15 points. Not pretty, but the gophers played hard and deserved it. The real test is going to be Wednesday at Iowa. If we come into it with a game plan, we will be able to smoke them. Anything can happen in this league, though. Gotta love the big ten.

Me. I am experimenting with this photo publishing thing. Ugh, now it's time for bed.

beginnings

This is not my first blog. A few years ago I made an attempt at keeping one up regularly. For my true fans, you can find it here.

So why the change of venue, you ask? I feel the need for a change. I want to do this more regularly. It could be fun.

So what is new in my campus jungle? Not a whole lot. It is February, and the ground is finally covered with snow. So much for these brutal winters that Michiganders like to boast about. This is the second mildly significant snow fall we have experienced this winter. That sure sounds to me like Global Warming. For more info and commentary on that, check out my dad's blog.

Enough about the weather.

I watched part of a documentary about Ronald Reagan tonight. My neigbor, Jairus, is enamored of the late President, and is the owner of 4.5 hour long documentary that contains everything you could ever want to know about the good ol' gipper. Jairus has been wanting to watch the documentary with me for quite some time, and we chose what would have been Reagan's 95th birthday to begin the viewing.

Did you know that when Reagan was an actor, he was an FBI informant regarding communism in Hollywood? I'm not sure I feel good about that. The work of McCarthy in American history is no point of pride for me. Lots of lives were destroyed. Some might say it was worth it. It kept that big red dog from digging in our backyard. I suppose fear is a powerful motivator.

Time to retire. I must go learn about global economics at eight oclock in the morning.

One final note: The ESPN bracketologist currently has us at a no. 2 seed in the Atlanta bracket. Duke is the no. 1 seed there. Our chances of capturing the big ten title are also high, as long as we can win our remaining home games, and two of the three remaining road games. I have a good feeling. So all is well in the basketball world.