An update on me.

After tomorrow, I will have survived my first twenty-one days as an Iowa State student... I gotta hand it to myself, I'm pretty proud. I am taking some big steps towards becoming a big boy here, and I am loving every second. This past week was a little (a lot, really) rough as I got to battle a particularly nasty strain of strep throat combined with bronchitis. Yuck. I'm pretty much over it now, just have some congestion and am still coughing up nothing good. I'm working quite a bit still at the bank and I'm the happiest I've been with my job since I started last March. I'm coming up on the one year mark there, which is a pretty big deal because I haven't had one single job that long since I graduated high school... I guess you could say I'm pretty finicky. I managed to get a raise this month (small, but hey, a raise is a raise) and my boss has been noticing the extra effort I've been putting in and the extra tasks I've been taking on without being prompted. I've been spending more time with my friends and have a couple of trips lined up for this year. In March, Lindsey and I are going to go to Seattle, which has been a dream of mine pretty much since I was a fetus. I turn 21 in June and could not be more excited, since all of my friends are already at least 21 and I can't wait to be able to go out with them! My love life is still non-existent, but I have decided that 2009 is my year - I am in the process of changing my attitudes and trying to become more outgoing and social. I think I might join Psych Club at ISU - which if you weren't able to pick up, is a club for psychology majors. Clever, right?

All in all, my life is going pretty well right now :) I'm excited to see what the rest of this year has in store for me.

cjk

It's so good, it must be fattening.

So whilst I was browsing around on Facebook today, being bored and having no clear goal in mind, I managed to stumble across this GEM. It is a list of twelve reasons that gay marriage should not be made legal in America, followed by a hilarious afterthought, effectively punching holes in its validity. Enjoy, and if you feel so inclined, re-post it, or better yet, send it to a Republican friend you might have :)

1. Homosexuality is not natural, much like eyeglasses, polyester, and birth control are not natural.

2. Heterosexual marriages are valid because they produce children. Infertile couples and old people cannot get legally married because the world needs more children.

3. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children because straight parents only raise straight children.

4. Straight marriage will be less meaningful, since Britney Spears's 55-hour just-for-fun marriage was meaningful.

5. Heterosexual marriage has been around for a long time, and it hasn't changed at all: women are property, Blacks can't marry Whites, and divorce is illegal.

6. Gay marriage should be decided by the people, not the courts, because the majority-elected legislatures, not courts, have historically protected the rights of minorities.

7. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are always imposed on the entire country. That's why we only have one religion in America.

8. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people makes you tall.

9. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage license.

10. Children can never succeed without both male and female role models at home. That's why single parents are forbidden to raise children.

11. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society. Heterosexual marriage has been around for a long time, and we could never adapt to new social norms because we haven't adapted to cars or longer lifespans.

12. Civil unions, providing most of the same benefits as marriage with a different name are better, because a "separate but equal" institution is always constitutional. Separate schools for African-Americans worked just as well as separate marriages will for gays & lesbians.

So I lied...

You may have noticed that I did not have a post yesterday like I alluded to on Sunday. Oops - my bad. Well, it may be a day late but it's here, so get off my back.

I had my first day of big boy college yesterday when I officially started at Iowa State University of Science and Technology (the full name makes it sound so classy and FANCY). I had to be up at 7:15 (sick, I know) to primp and look hot because, hey, this could be the day I meet Mr. Right, right? (Editor's note - it wasn't. I did get hit on by a girl on the bus though. Damn.) I scraped off my car (for the third day in a row, might I add) and drove to the commuter parking lot at Iowa State Center and caught the #23 Orange bus to take me on to campus. After a couple stops, I exited at Beardshear Hall and from there was only a stone's throw from Carver Hall - home of my MATH 105 class. This class had me mildly stressed out as math=nothing good. However, there is no midterm, no comprehensive final exam, and the teacher is awesome. Good news here is that he says most people who are really good at number crunching and things of the like have trouble in the class, while people with a basic working knowledge or less (i.e., ME) seem to do better. Thank GOD.

After math, I make the trek across campus to Hoover Hall, braving snow, wind, and cold, to get to my ECON 101 class. This bitch was awestruck. 480+ people packed into an auditorium that reminded me of the freaking Civic Center! I mean H-U-G-E! This class has me pretty well worried - I don't know how I'm feeling about all this nonsense. Seems like a challenge that I may or may not be up to. The jury's still out so I'll keep you posted.

Finally, we hit the snag in the day. Now, this was a snag that I was prepared for fully from the get-go. My third class is ENGL 225, which is located in Food Sciences 2311 (because, let's face it, if you had to pick an ideal location for an English course, you'd pick the f*cking Food Sciences Building). Anyhow, this is clear on the opposite side of campus. Even with getting out of ECON 7 minutes early, I was still 5 minutes late to class. Great. And this class only had 30 students in it, so everyone got to see the NOOB (moi) walk in late. To top it off, there weren't anymore seats. The teacher had to give me her chair. Nice, Christopher. Way to not draw attention to yourself.

After that class I beelined for the #23 Orange Circulator again to get back to my car. This time, the bus was filled and it was standing room only. Wouldn't have been the worse thing, except I was between two people that I am convinced have never heard of deodorant. Once they started speaking I understood why. One word for you - FRENCH. You can imagine. I got back to my car and got home in time to boil some lima beans for lunch, throw them in a Gladware with a pound of Country Crock and a dash of salt and pepper, and take them to-go to work. Worked till close, came home, and BOOM! Hit my wall. I was down for the count.

Now we come to the present. Slow ass day in the banking world, so I left work at 2:30 (supposed to get off at 4:00). Making a super pot of chili for supper (YUM) and working on homework! CHYEAH!

The joys of being a student. An employed student.

cjk

It's just another Monday, except...

Tomorrow happens to be my first day at Iowa State. I'm so f*cking excited - for a multitude of reasons. First, it means that I never have to go to DMACC again, which in turn means no more driving to stupid Boone (which in itself is cause for celebration). Second, it means that I am halfway done with my college education! I could/should be farther ahead, but we all know how that goes... I'm nervous to actually start at a real university though. Just the size of the campus overwhelms me, but knowing that I am going to be receiving my education at the same place as so many famous people in history have learned is pretty cool. I went on Saturday morning and got my textbooks ($350 - which is actually quite low so YAY) and stopped by Target tonight to use a giftcard I got for xmas for some supplies. I have my backpack all loaded up and have the coffee pot set to start percolating first thing in the morning. Since my apartment complex is kind of off the beaten path, I have to drive to Hilton to park and take the commuter bus onto campus. Holly and I rode the bus around town the other night so that I could get a feel for the whole situation, so I'm aptly prepared for it. I don't know... I guess what stresses me out is that I'm going to just be another body in a class of 200-400 people. At the same time though, I can actually find some comfort in knowing that because I'm just an average Joe in the classroom, I won't feel so much like I'm in high school again - like I did at DMACC. Seriously. That place was just like being in 13th and 14th grade. It sucked.

Sorry that the posts have been so few and far between. It's just been a little semi-hectic around me lately, so the blogging was put on the back burner. Never fear, I shall start making more regular posts. I have a feeling that there might be one coming tomorrow night (just sayin').

Hopefully everyone had a nice weekend! Back to reality tomorrow.

cjk

When words can't even come close.

It's hard to find words to console someone when you have absolutely no idea what they're going through. At best, I'm sorry comes to mind, and that keeping them in your prayers is obvious. But how do you truly express how much pain you feel for them; how much sadness you wish you could somehow take away with just some kind words?

I don't think I can come close to trying to putting it into words, but here it goes. To all of the Jeff Young family, I send you my deepest condolonces and sympathies. My heart aches for each and every one of you, and I wish that there was something I could do to make it better. It makes me feel truly broken to be unable to mend the wounds that have been placed upon all of you - but know that if there is anything that I can do, I'm here, and I'm ready to do whatever I can.