Blue's Clues

I'm sitting in the Honors Suite right now... we're doing a run through for our Honors Play that will take place on Saturday the 22nd.

I may have talked about this earlier... I've had play practice every Monday night since school started. Basically, all First Year honors students work together to create a play based off of the first book we read for The Scholar Citizen, "The Question of God". We were all split into four different groups and come up with four different plays involving themes from the book... All four plays also have a theme based off of various kid's TV shows.

I am the Stage Manager for my group (in charge of props, script changes, blocking, etc...). Our play is Blue's Clues. The basic plot is Sigmund Freud and CS Lewis are stuck in the Blue's Clues house until they find all the Clues and learn the Truth to all life's questions. Hilarity ensues.

Our play is pretty cool, but it's not as risque as some others.

Example: The Sesame Street play... Big Bird gets shot. Oscar the Grouch gets pleasure and happiness from causing pain on others. Bert and Ernie visit a strip club in search of happiness. Yeah, it's crazy.

The Honors Play is one of the most unique things about Augsburg College... It has definitely brought us honors kids closer together.

Speaking of the play... I have to miss practice next Monday (which I usually wouldn't do, but I think that we're all prepared for the 22nd)...

I got tickets to see Atmosphere at 1st Ave. next Monday.... Yay.

We haven't located us yet.

I love Tuesdays.

Especially this particular Tuesday. My one class of the day was canceled so we could get together with our groups and work on our city project. My group has to write about the significance of cities in the bible and the role various religions have played in the city of Jerusalem.

I don't think it will be that bad.

So... I rolled out of bed at 9:34 this morning, brushed my teeth, strolled up to the 9th floor in my pajamas, and then met with my group at exactly 9:40.

After all that was all done, I decided to be productive.

So I went back to my room and watched "A Complete History of My Sexual Failures" in the warm comfort of my bed.

It's a documentary where a 30-something year old man tracks down his ex-girlfriends and tries to figure out exactly why they broke up... hilarity ensues. It's a decent documentary.. most of the time I was pissed off at the guy because he seemed to ruin every decent relationship he ever had... If you ever want to learn what NOT to do, watch this movie.

And then I decided to realistically be productive and reorganize all the things in my room. It was a good feeling. I also have to finish my homework that I fell asleep doing earlier today.

And right now it feels like midnight but it's only 8, which is an awesome feeling. sometimes i wish there was more time in a day. sometimes i dont.

So i'm wasting more time watching the Darjeeling Limited (hence the title).

Song of the week: "The Temptation of Adam" by Josh Ritter

I don't know why I love it so much.

Procrastination is the Devil

I hate Microsoft Word.

Maybe it's all my fault that I finished my spanish paper 2 minutes before class started.

Maybe it's all my fault that I was tempted in to beating the crap out of Nate in a game of Madden and then ordering pizza and then watching The Incredible Hulk when i should have been doing my homework last night.

Maybe I shouldn't have slept so much while I was home this weekend and laying in my awesome, comfortable, warm bed.

Oh, well... It was fun while it all lasted...

...That was until 2:15 today (15 minutes before class) when "Microsoft Word has unexpectedly quit" as soon as I tried to print my Spanish paper.

I skipped lunch today, started working on my paper at 12:30 (two hours should have been plenty..), and i refused to be distracted by Facebook, Youtube, etc... That's right, I sat in the Honors Suite and did nothing but my spanish paper.

And it was damn good.

Until Microsoft Word taught me a lesson:

Never procrasinate. It's bad... really bad. I did it a lot in high school, and I learned my lesson once... So I thought I'd get by this weekend... Luckily, I have a friend named "Auto-Save" and about 3/4 of my paper was saved automatically... That meant I had approximately 8 minutes to retype the rest of it, make corrections, and then get to class... I was only about 3 minutes late.

But I learned my lesson.

P.S. The Incredible Hulk is a decent movie... nothing groundbreaking.. It's awesome if you're a comic book fan like myself, but the film-maker in me keeps saying "i could have made it better"  :)  Definitely better than the last one directed by Ang Lee

P.S. P.S.  I saw "Rachel Getting Married" last week after my film professor briefly talked about it in class.... I loved it and do not understand why he had some problems with it. It's a very cool take on realism.

P.S. P.S. P.S.  After doing kinda bad on my first film test, I studied hardcore for the second one and we finally got them back today... Yeah, that's right.. I was the only one in my class to get a 4.0.  Whoop, whoop.  :)

Life of an Auggie

The life of an Auggie:

In order to truly experience what it’s like to be an Auggie, one has to do a little bit of exploring. Yes, campus has got a nice, homey feel to it. You can spend some time in Murphy Park and (somewhat) feel like your out of the city. For the most part, everything you’ll ever need can be found on campus. But who doesn’t like to get out every onece in a while, right?

In order to really live the Auggie life, some exploring is neccassary. In my short few months here at Augsburg, I’ve definitely figured out how to get around Minneapolis.

I’ve been to the U of M.
I’ve gone to Dinkytown.
I’ve gone to Uptown.
And just the other night, I went Downtone.

I haven’t gone Downtown all that much.. I’ve been to the Dome for a Vikings and Twins game, and once to go to Club Spin… But when I was Downtown late the other night, it reminded me exactly why I decided to go to Augsburg.

The city is alive.

Take advantage of it. You’ll learn soo much, just by exploring (do it with a few buddies of course.. and be safe). But there’s soo much to do. The possibilities are endless.

Another great experience… yesterday my Augsem went to tour a Mosque in the Cedar-Riverside building. Coming from a (very) tiny town, this is NOT something I ever would have done back home...

It was a great (important) experience. There are so many misconceptions about Islam now a’days… It’s rather unfortunate.

We visited the Mosque, a young man explained the basics of Islam and the goal of their Mosque, we watched a prayer service (of about 50 men, which was amazing), and then he answered our questions.

It was one of my best experiences at Augsburg so far…. My explanations will never do it justice… It’s just something you have to experience on your own.

Divided We Fall

So my friend Dustin asked this question the other day after the election:

Should we be worried about the way that other countries are celebrating the election of Barack Obama?

My answer:

Yes We Can

I might not be able to sleep tonight.

Whether or not you supported Barack Obama, the President-Elect, in this year's election, I hope that you recognize the truly important thing for the future of America:

Unity.

McCain or Obama, either way, I hope that you stand behind the President of the United States.

Please continue to question authority. Continue to voice your opinion. Continue to fight for your rights.

But please, please, please... recognize that you live in the greatest country on the face of the earth. The world is a mess right now... and now, more than ever, is the time for all Americans to work together and fix the problems faced over the last 8 years.

From Obama's Acceptance Speech, according to http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2008/11/05/president-elect-barack-obamas-acceptance-speech/

"America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?"

Politics will no longer be expected to work from the top down... It is the responsibility of the people to keep our leaders honest.

I also believe in compromise... that's why I will stay awake until the Senate races are done... I am kind of afraid in the overwhelming amount of power obtained by the democratic party tonight. I can only hope that our politicians will abstain from resorting back to the "us vs. them" mentality that has occupied our politics for so long.

Compromise: one of the main reasons why this country is so great. Don't forget the minority.

And of course, Welcome to the new America.

Get Out the Vote

I've been up since 6 a.m this morning.....

At 6:30 a.m., I reported to the Century Room in the basement of the Christensen Center in order to get ready for election day.

At 7, when the polls opened, I walked across the Franklin Bridge to the polling location to make sure that everything was going smoothly. 

Every two hours I then had to go back and check how many people had voted at my precinct and then report those numbers to the Obama campaign. This is basically just to prevent anything really funky from happening at the polls and so the campaign will be able to notice if something is wrong.

I've also helped people (in a very non-partisan way) know their voting rights... we also went and knocked on all the doors at Augsburg to see if anyone voted, and then escorted them to the voting location... It's been a long, busy day.

At 8 o'clock we have to walk over to the polls and make sure that people's voting rights are maintained by assuring them that they can vote as long as they're in line before 8.

And then... it's time to relax. Or try to anyway. I'll probably be up all night... Partying, hopefully.

Today was a day of firsts:

I drank coffee... I NEVER drink coffee.

I skipped class to help out. I never skip class.

OH, and of course, I voted  (I actually voted last Friday, but either way, it's a first)

God bless America.