A Lack of Common Sense

Yesterday seemed to be kind of a day where I lacked common sense. It happens sometimes.

For instance, instead of eating real food for meals yesterday, I instead ate Easter candy for my meals. Yes, both lunch and dinner. There were a few slices of ham thrown in there at one point, but still. See, my thought process for this was, "Well you're going to eat a boat-load of candy anyway today. I know that. So might as well skip the middle man." And skip that middle man I did. Oof. I don't regret it though. I used to be able to eat junk instead of real meals all of the time, and now... not so much. Am I getting old? I didn't think 20 was old, but who knows.
Then again, I also weighed 15 lbs more when I was able to eat junk as meals more often. It could be that my body actually understands that healthy food is what my body needs. What a concept.

The other thing that was blocked from common sense yesterday was the fact that after finishing my reading for class just in time to get eight hours of sleep, I then proceeded to stay up for another half hour. Goodness.

There are so many moments where I throw common sense to the wind, and it's ridiculous. Mainly, this comes with procrastination. Common sense and procrastination seem to be complete opposites, eh? That's why I'm trying to get better with it. Hence the goal of spending time on the computer only when I'm done with work.
Side note: this is a hard goal to keep when your reading is on the computer. Also when it comes to blogging. There's just so many ways to waste my time on the Internet! Ah well.

Now it's time to more onto my next thing I've been procrastinating on, and that's going to the grocery store. I need bread products and fruit. And yes, I said bread products. Long story.

When does your common sense fly out the window?

The Pet Problem

I already miss the weekend.
Something I've noticed about myself is that I get a lot more distracted when I have looming deadlines. I would say that I'm alone in this, but I'm not. It's a fun little thing called procrastination. And it's stupid. You worry about the upcoming thing that's due, and yet you spend even more time away from said thing. It's like when people talk about losing weight. It'll be so hard! So I'd better gain more weight. Or my favorite situation, "Ugh, I'm so bad at this sport/activity/other! I should put it off, because I don't want to subject myself to that again." The logic of that argument is ridiculous, but we all do it.

So that's my current situation. Ugh, I'm slapping myself mentally because I know how stupid it is.

On an unrelated note, let's talk about pets.

When I was younger, my sister and I had two cats. George and Daisy. I had no idea they were named after Curious George and Daisy Duck until years after they were gone, but they supposedly were. George was one of the best cats ever. All of my friends adored him, and he loved everyone else. Daisy was a bitch cat who wouldn't let any of us touch her. Only the neighbors. Even after I'd been so nice.
The whole point is that I happen to like pets, despite having a devil cat (Daisy). However, I'm not sure if I'll ever have a pet again.

I know, I know. Pets are wonderful! There have been studies showing that owning a pet can increase happiness and your lifespan. So why no pet?

Well, obviously now is a terrible time. Then again, I say that and I know plenty of college kids who own pets. One the other hand, that's part of the reason why I know it would be a bad idea to have a pet now.
One of my sister's friends just got a puppy with her fiance. They got it now because they'd like to raise the puppy before they raise a child. That's the big thing: Puppies are a lot of hard work. So are kittens.  A lot of people don't realize that. Heck, when I had a pet, my mom did all of the work (I know, bad kids). You have to feed them, make sure they go to the bathroom in the right places, take them out to exercise, make sure they stay healthy, get a sitter when you're going out... Sound familiar? Like a kid with fur, and we all know kids are a ton of work.

My other big reason for the lack of pet in my life (besides no pets in the building) is money. Things that consume require food. Which requires money. Plus vaccinations. Plus unexpected health issues. Or, expected issues like asthma if you've got a pug, or back problems in wiener dogs. It's a lot of money. And as someone who's saving for other things, those are not things I'd like to spend my money on. Someone I know who says they're broke has a cat, and I'm guessing that doesn't help the money situation.

Pets are fun! They require a ton of work though. I'm not sure if I'll ever get one again, just because you have so many restrictions with them. That's just me. I'm partial to cats, just because they do what they want, but having a medium-sized dog would be a great running buddy/motivator. Never a little dog for running, it's too much for their little legs to handle!
For now, my ipod will keep me company during runs.

Do you own a pet? What are some challenges you face with owning a pet?
Are you more of a cat person or a dog person?

Do Over

I don't have a lot of time tonight, so we're going to make this quick.

Fact: If I were able to do this week over, I would in a heartbeat. Because this week? Not my best show.

I wasted so much time this week, and it wasn't pretty. Not even in good ways, except for running. It's obnoxious.

This is the problem I have with a lot of free time. When I do have a lot of free time, I waste it. When I'm busy, I actually use my time wisely. And yes, I know that I've talked about this before. I'm not very original tonight, I happen to have an 8:00 AM final tomorrow that is zapping my desire to be witty.

Will I get bad grades this term? Probably not. I did all of my homework, and I actually concentrated in class. I... well, I guess you can say I learned. I'm assuming it'll be between an A- and a B for almost all of my classes. Except for maybe EC, but I'm hoping the curve will help me out. Good lord I hope so.

I know, I know. This is the whole, "I only got 98%!?" argument, but I'm being kind of positive on this one.

As for fall term? Not my shining moment. I know that they always say, "Live life to your fullest!", but that totally did not occur this term.

Funny thing is, I ran a marathon this term. It was early on though, so it felt different. And I'm glad I got involved. Still you know how they ask, "If you could do anything over, what would it be?" November to the end of this term. Totally would push redo.

Now, I have to go back to studying. Really, I just want to be done with tests. I think the reason I'm being so bad with procrastination is the knowing that tests are what should be taking up my time. I dunno.

If you could do a chunk of time over, what time would it be?

The Trouble With a Lack of Motivation

I don't know how else to put this... but I think I'm becoming a bad student.

There's really only one reason why I think this, and it's because I've been extremely lazy. You see, with all of my classes being basically midterms and finals, it's hard to keep motivated. When you have no assignments, and the professors don't even care if you're there, it feels kind of pointless. I've been wasting a lot of time, simply because I have a lot of time to do nothing. This frustrated feeling from accomplishing nothing? It's not a good look for me.
I'm two chapters behind on my Journalism reading. I need to get some notes from class that the professor went too quickly through online. I'm annoyed that there's
time I could have used to get ahead.

The thing is, I haven't missed any deadlines for turning things in. The first quiz in HPHY I got an 100% on, and I've gotten good grades on both of my EBs. I wrote a fairly decent paper for being a very rough draft in Writing. I've read the chapters for the first four chapters of Journalism, with notes. From that viewpoint, it looks like I'm doing pretty well. Still, while looking back at all of the free time I've had, it just seems crappy.

Yes, I realize I'm the effing annoying kid in class who feels bad when they got a 93 instead of a 95. Sue me. I just hate that feeling of looking back at your day and thinking, "Did I accomplish anything today? No. Well hell."

I suppose I did accomplish one thing today. I rode my bike a little less than 4 miles, got a part of my Halloween costume (!) and rode back. That's something, right?

How do you get yourself motivated when you feel like there's no reason to be?

Procrastination and Getting on the Bike

I've officially become what I avoided being this whole school year. An extreme procrastinator.

Alright, maybe it's just because I don't have that much of this class left. It also could be because on Mondays and Wednesdays I end up having a big chunk of time to work on my work. But during the school year if I ever did homework, I didn't have anything distract me. Now... let's just say I've been doing a lot of multitasking. Not so good. I am doing my work... just other things are going on while I do it. I'm thinking this habit will change once it's the real school year again.

Other than homework, I did do something today that I haven't done in quite a long time. I rode a bike.

Yeah, it seems a little weird, but I just haven't done it in a long time. I've had my reasons, like my bike has been messed up for awhile. Every summer I have to fix it, and this summer I just haven't done it. Maybe I'm resentful of it. However, I was able to ride a friend's bike that is staying at our house for a bit to my dad's work and back.

I suppose I don't hate biking. I don't like biking in competitive or athletic form is all. One of the things that I dislike to do the most is ride bikes with other people because I am slow. That makes me feel crappy about myself, therefore building hatred towards the metal demon. (Okay, not that bad. Right.)

I like the idea of leisurely biking down a little road, not in a race setting. Spinning sounds awful.

That's all I've got for today, so I'll see y'all later.

What athletic activity do you like to do alone? With a group?

Having Time To Do All of The Nothing You Want

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. It's finals week. Strangely enough, it doesn't really feel like it due to the fact that I don't have any finals until Wednesday. Therefore, it's pretty much been a long weekend for me. The feeling I'm getting is that it's summer break, or any of the vacation breaks. I still have to think about. School? What are you talking about? There's nothing else to study!

I know that I didn't write about a thing I learned from a fictional character, and today I'm almost copying something that I'd written before. However, it's in a different context this time I believe, and it fits with thoughts from today.

Getting ready to travel back to the dorms from home once again, I decided to mosey on out to the porch in the backyard. I laid out on a chair, reading a magazine at first, but ended up simply laying there. The leaves in the trees and the wind worked together to create a tune, birds happily flew around. I let myself think about anything I wanted to think about, without the influence of anything like a computer. It was fantastic.

 This brings me to an idea brought about by a certain comic character named Calvin. I've mentioned this line before, as I've said.

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want."

I'm not sure I really got it right when I first thought about it. Sometimes doing nothing feels good. But another thing that this line makes me think of is time in general. I'm pretty sure most people start to get thoughts like, "Oh, I'll start that project when I have time next weekend", or "I'm totally going to start eating healthier when the summer starts." I don't think there's a soul out there who is not guilty of this. Hell, I've done it plenty of times. Sometimes it's procrastination... Actually, it's mostly procrastination. We always thing we have more time to finish a paper, to plan an event, to prepare a speech, to do nothing. Of course, it's never as long as we'd like. Did you know it's been scientifically proven that as we age, time seems to speed up. So when your parents say something feels like it just happened yesterday, it's a lot different from when you think it felt just like yesterday. Why summers felt so long when you were a kid? That exact reason.

The main idea that I think this line is saying is this: Time flies, and you're always going to want more of it to do what you want. With that, it makes sense that the idea of living every moment to the fullest is a good idea.

I know I don't use every moment of my life as well as I should. I know I waste time, participate in mediocre activities instead of incredible ones. Still, it's good to just spend a little bit of time doing nothing.

With my thoughts outside during my nothingness time, I thought about typewriters too. I wish I was one of those wise, witty writers that would sit outside and write their great next story. Besides being a super amazing writer, I just think having a typewriter would be cool. Don't get me wrong, I love my computer but computers have the Internet. The Internet is so distracting! I know, you might say "What about pen and paper?", but there's just something about typing that sometimes feels so much more fulfilling.

What type of "nothing" time do you wish you had more of?

Rainy Days, Repetition and Upcoming Events

April showers bring May flowers... Well, I hope so, because today was most certainly very wet.

The funny thing about free days is that you end up accomplishing less than on your busy days. Seriously, there's got to be a scientific explanation for it all.

Strangely enough, my Thursdays feel like trickery. Since it's so open, I start thinking that the weekend is right there but... Surprise! One more day of class.

If it seems like I'm repeating myself, I probably am. It's just been one of those day, you know? Lack of inspiration, no wild escapades... Simply a cold, rainy day.

I'm excited for next weekend though! Not this weekend particularly, but next weekend for sure! Why? Well, I get to see Wicked on Friday, and I get to celebrate Easter with family! It might sound odd that I'm excited to hang out with family members, but I actually really want to see my cousins... who I think we'll be seeing. I don't know the whole story. And even though it hasn't been that long since I've seen some of my cousins, I'm kind of missing them.

I bid y'all adieu for the evening!

Productive Distractions

It's already Wednesday, but I'm glad. I'm ready for the weekend simply so I can get everything all put together again.

Yes, I'm a tad neurotic, I understand that. However, when I get so distracted half of my toes are normal and the other half still have paint on them, then we've got a problem.

I wish I was making that up.

Truth be told, I've been getting a lot of things done. The only problem is I'm getting some things done while other things linger overhead. Things that are more important than what's being accomplished. Do you get what I'm saying?

One of those things includes some reading that's due for tomorrow. I've started but... let's just say I've got awhile to go.

What "productive" distractions do you have? For me, I start cleaning or organizing my schedule.

Daylight Savings and Epic Meal Time

I can't believe how close finals are! I know that I've been hoping for them to get here as soon as possible, but now that they're here, I don't feel ready!

This morning clocks around the world sprung forward, making sleep schedules everywhere a little more off. I ended up waking up at 8... huh.

With waking up a couple hours earlier than expected, you would have expected me to be super productive with those two extra hours, right? ...Well, instead I ended up watching last night's SNL and Epic Meal Time videos.

Epic Meal Time is... there are no words to describe it. Here's just one of the Epic Meals:

I think I get heart palpitations from just watching it... but at least they're eating it, not me!

I've been getting so distracted today though. I'm ready for tomorrow, but not completely ready for Tuesday. My distractions of choice lately have been videos. Sometimes it's videos, other times my distraction of choice are blogs.

The computer is turning off after this! Back to writing notes!

What are your biggest distractions?

Looming Final Projects, Walking and Simple Savings

It may be the weekend, but all I can really think about it the impending final projects that could make or break my grade... Hooray!

While on the subject of final projects, I've been beginning to notice something interesting that happens to me. When I'm sitting at my desk in the room alone, I tend to get distracted easily. Then, as soon as my room mate comes in and starts hanging out, I become motivated to work. It's crazy how much more motivation I have when someone is watching me.

Having no official workout planned for the day, I felt like doing some sort of movement was necessary. So, off on a walk I went! I walked to the store in the nearby town to cash cans, and then came to the realization that it takes forever to walk places. Goodness.

The main objective of my walk was to cash some cans. Even though I didn't make much, it was still good exercise, no wasting of gas, and I was able to put more change into this guy:

I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but awhile ago I went to a hall activity entitled something along the lines of "Making Green with Ham." The whole idea was to make a piggy bank, and maybe say something about how you save money. From that, I sort of expected to decorate a piggy bank but instead made this little thing. Now, whenever I have change it goes directly into the Travel Fund.

In you go!

You might not be able to tell, but on the Travel Fund are doodles that represent places I'd like to visit. I also put a little bit of cash in there each month, hoping to save up for something exciting. Every little coin counts!



Maybe someday?

 Hope everyone has a lovely evening!

What do you save money towards?

The Freedom Contradiction

Funny that tomorrow is the beginning of the week, yet I have no actual work. This is where the people who do have work tomorrow become irritated eh? Well, you're getting paid so there are perks.

The odd thing about having a break happen at the point right before a break and the point as soon as the break starts. Right before the break, you think about all of the new free time you have, and how many things you'll be able to get done. Then as soon as the break starts, well... it takes a lot more effort to get to that point than you think. This happens to me, and I know it happens to other people.

Why do we do this?  Could be that when we get to that point, it feels like the break will go on forever. Of course, we all know it doesn't, and then we feel thrown back into our regular lives withone doing all of the awesome activities we wanted to do.

Perhaps it can be best described by a line found in the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes:

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want."

That quote might not be 100% right, but it's the general idea.

The new week begins, and adventures shall occur tomorrow!
I did visit my friend's new apartment this evening. I'm actually making movement!

How do you start getting things done during a break?

Running Away From Home and Saturday Night Live

Yes, I ran away from home today... but I ran back! That may sound odd, but it's true. Today was yet again my long run day. I ended up staying the night at my home so I would be able to get work done. I knew that if I was to stay up at the cousins' house there would be no way anything would be achieved. Truth be told, I can't really say I've gotten the best amount of work completed, but it's something. And there's still the evening...

Now! About the long run. The very beginning was... Oof. Could have been due to the fact that it was after a few days of consuming an overload of brie and pie. Not the best fuel for a run. Funny thing was, after a couple miles I was feeling pretty good. Breathing heavy, but I felt the running vibe! At the very end was where my legs were starting to die. I got 11 miles in! The farthest I've run yet! Fantastic!

I have always been a big fan of comedy. I can, and have spent an entire day watching stand up comedy. I try to think of how something funny could be incorporated into a situation. This makes it obvious that I would be someone who loves Saturday Night Live. Personally, I think that people should appreciate SNL more. People complain that "It's not as good as it used to be." Honestly, right now there are some great members of SNL, especially some of the new cast members this year. SNL has effected the news, life, everything.  There have been some amazing hosts, two of my favorites are Justin Timberlake and Jon Hamm. They are surprisingly hilarious. If you've never really watched SNL, I suggest you do it. It hasn't been on air for more than 35 years for nothing.

Back to work. Meh.
What's been your favorite SNL moment?