One Hundred and Fifteen, Day Twenty-Nine

When was the last time you jumped? I still remember asking my dad this question once when I was in high school. He couldn't remember. I was saddened by this.

Here we encounter a day whose very name implies its action: leaping. I hope you had a chance to jump at least once today. Many people in the world either can't, or never think of it. Take a moment, prepare yourself, and jump.

I leaped 7 times today.

One Hundred and Fourteen, When Life Gives You Lemons...

Life's frustrations can be hard to bear at times.

My friends and I were preparing a trip to visit the Engineer down in Texas during Spring Break. Unfortunately, while we'll be down there, he'll be heavily involved with work likely staying there for twelve hour days. So, we make lemonade. We'll still go down and get to visit him (however briefly), his dog, and we'll have a place to use as a base of operations for wandering around his region of Texas. I'm also excited about a side-trip to New Orleans!

One Hundred and Thirteen, Dark Jedi Infestation?

A printer is a wonderful piece of equipment until it doesn't work right. Then it becomes Sith spawn.

~fin~

One Hundred and Twelve, A Bright Red Carnation

I almost missed it as I was walking along reading my fluff book on the way to the library. But the flash of color made me pause. I turned around but didn't see anything. Then as my gaze went back downwards to reconnect with the book, I glimpsed it. In the wintery gray world, its color made it stand out like a beacon. I bent down and picked it up. I imagined how it had gotten there looking so fresh. Was it late for a previous day this month? Or possibly a thank you to a visitor? Perhaps it was just a simple way for one person to say, "I love you," to another. These and more wonderful possibilities flashed through my head. I glanced up at others passing me but they didn't see it. They didn't know another human being was passing them by on their left. I didn't want to just leave it somewhere but I knew there was no purpose to me taking it home. That's when I espied a bench. It wasn't set on the pathway, rather a few feet back within a quagmire of mud. Balancing myself on a couple of thick sticks, I gently laid it down on the bench. Jumping back to the sediment-free (relatively) sidewalk, I looked over my handiwork, proud of what I'd done. I walked away a bit and then glanced back. There it was, the brilliant flash of color in the otherwise dreary world.

One Hundred and Eleven, Juno

"Doctors are sadists; who like to play God and watch lesser people scream."

One Hundred and Ten, Music Movement

"Every now and then I wonder where it went. It used to be all golden and lovely and now it's some sort of decaying mess. No, that's wrong, there's nothing wrong with it, rather I'm the one who screwed it up, went off the deep end. They always said I involved myself too much, I never learned to stay out of things I couldn't comprehend. Yeah, it's true. But you know what? I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Despite the breakdown that inevitably occurs, the vitality the intervening experiences bring rejuvenates me. Make me who I am and I won't deny myself that pleasure even at the expense of the great letdown at the end. Such is my life and I will bear with it."

Sounds like an idealistic martyr, doesn't it? Or a junkie.

I attended my fifth concert ever last night! It was some band I'd never heard of (surprise) and they were pretty good! I watched the people there moving with the music and liked seeing other people who felt the same way I did about the music. I don't have fancy moves to music, just the simple head/body bob and the foot tap. But closing your eyes and making those simple movements to the music is quite relaxing. In reality I guess the compressed sound hits upon my eardrum activating pathways to the brain which simultaneously spits out tons of dopamine if my body moves to the beat. And because of that chemical substance, it's wonderful. Oh yeah, I get high on music, don't you?

In other news, today is the Beatnik's 24th birthday. The Engineer drove up with plans on getting him sloshed tonight. [raises non-alcoholic glass] Here's to you two and good times!

One Hundred and Nine, My Snoring Schedule

I slept in today. I'm finding that this schedule is becoming the norm these days. I get 4-6 hours of sleep per night during weeknights and then I find at least one day on the weekend to sleep in as late as my body allows me to. I don't necessarily enjoy my lack of sleep during the week, but I work to get enough to stay healthy over a week. Plus I just get incoherent without sleep (see previous entry). I've got some big things up on the horizon now. First is my next Block Exam. I know I can knock it out of the park if I put in even half of the time I put in on previous exams. And next is Spring Break. I need the time to catch up on sleep and relax. I can't wait!

One Hundred and Eight, Random Incoherencies

I'm sleepy enough that I'm fall......zzzzzzzzzzz..........ing asleep eyes are useless and a han...........zzzzzzz..........dicap to my teaching methology. You've taugh previsou students and even they can't see what's going on in my head.

[glances at what I just wrote]

I get really goofy when I'm sleepy. So I'm just going to stop.

One Hundred and Seven, What Would Brian Boitano Do?

Wasn't too bad. Odd? Yes, but I didn't freeze up or anything. I just went in and learned stuff and practiced it and came back out. I now know another little bit of being a doctor.

One Hundred and Six, Thank You John Spencer

I feel like I've just witnessed the oddest rollercoaster of emotions and it's all thanks to a TV show. For almost four years now I've slowly been progressing through The West Wing episodes. It's really funny given the general apathy I have towards politics throughout my life. The first time I ever saw an episode was over at the Beatnik and Lord Chaos' family's place. I think it was one of the early shows that still had Sam Seaborn in it. The West Wing finished it's run with a total of seven seasons. One year short of completing two actual terms in the Oval Office. And they really covered a lot of ground there, even after the creator Aaron Sorkin left the show. From the first days of Jed Bartlett's Presidency to the new Election of Matt Santos and a million things in between, every major governmental occurrence that could be written into the show was. Seven seasons, four years is a long time to get to know people, and that's what 156 episodes accomplished. As Heather! Anne! mentioned, one of the best moments was Josh and Donna's carefully structured romantic hookup. There's something to be said for the gradual buildup they had in this show, something about the depth to each character the watchers have come to appreciate over the years.

One thing which I found quite poignant was that one of the actors actually passed away during the taping of the last season. Actor John Spencer died December 16th, 2005. Vice Presidential Candidate Leo McGarry passed away on Election Night, the night his ticket won.

One Hundred and Five, Visiting Friends

Going to visit the Kids and Chris has proved to be a great experience. They're the first people for whom I've made special visiting trips outside of the main group of the Engineer, the Beatnik, and Lord Chaos. For weddings I have visited exotic locales (like Kansas City, MO!) but I don't think to make a long trip just to see someone who I haven't seen in a while. But with these three people, it's definitely worth it. I'm here right now just hanging out and quite content.

One Hundred and Four, Portaling in the Future?

This weekend I'm taking a Road Trip. I'm going off to see the Kids and Chris. Reminded me that it had either been since Christmastime (the kids) or earlier (Chris) that I'd seen them. While the Kids are from the area where they go to school, Chris moved into a new place for his higher education and he's been feeling the lack of his groupies recently. Times like this are when the Engineer's idea of building a personal teleporter sounds great! Or even magick-ing oneself to wherever you need to be! *poof* Texas! *poof* Montreal! *poof* Edmonton! *poof* Brinstar! *poof* Sydney!

One Hundred and Three, Mythical Creature

Say Hi to BoB!

One Hundred and Two, Begin: Endgame

Looking back, luck had a lot to do with it. I imagined having to work really hard at a couple of places before accomplishing my objective, but instead Fortune smiled upon me and gave me the people I needed. We blazed forward through difficulties others quailed before. Rarely had a group this efficient been seen thrown together by the random LFG channels. Yes, Shattered Halls became my peon. During the glorious fight with Kargath, I reached the peak, the pinnacle of the low man in the game: Level 70.

I did it with my friend the Engineer beside me shooting fire from his fingertips and next to the Beatnik who was on the phone with him during the process. Earlier Lord Chaos had given me The Talk about reaching this state of being and how not to take it lightly but I scoffed.

"It's just another goal, what of it?!"

The second it dawned upon me, as one of my groupmates typed, "Congrats!" that it wouldn't happen again, I was floored. This was it for me. I glanced down at the experience bar and it was gone, a figment of my imagination perhaps except for the 480+ hours (over 20 days) where I slogged through, hour after hour, keeping close tabs on that bar. Excitement imminent when the bar was reaching the end and satisfaction when I *dinged* to the new level. The simple reward system was quite gratifying. What began with a level 1 dwarf paladin named Valin in January 2005 has followed a long and bumpy road to this point. In one sense, he even died for 2 years only to be resurrected by the enticement of spending time together with my friends.

My character reached level 70 during a furious battle with Kargath Bladefist at 12:45 AM February 11th, 2008. No one is exactly sure when the event happened during the battle. But the victory was unforgettable as well as the extremely smooth run through that dungeon.

Oddly enough, I was more proud when my friend complimented me on how well I accomplished my role of Main Tank.

One Hundred and One, Inexorable Grades Coming In

I don't get nervous/stressed out when preparing for huge exams, but I do when planning evening outings with friends.

I also get nervous post-exam as the grades start rolling in...

One Hundred, 100 - Actually It's 101

I just felt an urge really to number these. I tried it out using digits but "0" just didn't look that impressive plus some people would inevitably wonder why I typed "o" or "O" without the actual letter next to it to compare. Some organized part of me enjoys a linear or proper pathway for things I interact with regularly. Thing A happens and that causes Thing B to occur. While I try my mind isn't able to keep track when Thing A makes B, C, & D happen. Each of which, in turn, cause E, F, & G; H, I, & K; and Orangutan, Bubbles, & Somatotropin to happen. You see how confusing it can get?

Three digits now. My titles will be nice and long thanks to just the number. Depending on how it makes everything look when I post longer titles, I might modify the look/layout of this place to better accommodate the new length. For those who've been reading since Entry Zero, I hope you've had an interesting ride.

I went to an improv show tonight for the first time in something close to a year. I almost volunteered for one of the skits where someone from the audience provides the details of their day so that the improv group can act it out onstage. Granted I was going to use Monday as my day rather than what actually happened today. Monday, if you glance back at entry Ninety-six, was the day where I practiced a male genital/rectal exam. Hilarity would have ensued!

Ninety-nine, Six Word Memoir

Jovial Reader and Lover of Food.

Thanks to Heather Anne! (see blog links on side) for the idea.

Update March 18th, 2008: Heather Anne is changing her blog so it's not available :( But know that she provided me with this idea!

Ninety-eight, Dog Birthday!

I got Crazy Blonde's dog a birthday card. His name is Lucius. He is adorable. You should love him too!

Note: I missed posting on the 6th again!

Ninety-seven, Methods of Communication

I imagine at one point, like the one-year-old niece of the Beatnik and Lord Chaos, I burbled a lot to people and possibly smiled as they "oooo-ed" and "aaaaah-ed" me. Later on I found I could talk to people about games of various types with different rules (TV Tag rules rocked although we had to specify what TV show names to use since not everyone knew everything--cartoons were a mainstay). Ultimately I entered the close friend era where face-to-face deep conversations would occur. Then came the age of the Instant Message. That proved a mainstay in my repertoire for the past 8-10 years. Of course face-to-face was still present, just not as prevalent as IMs. Now it isn't much of a surprise that I'm entering the era of the phone. Oddly enough most people on this planet with regular access to one have been using them since day one of high school. But due to the proximity of my close friends, I never felt the need to learn how to communicate on it that well beyond, "Yeah, ok, I'll see you in a minute." Nowadays I can hold hour-long talks with people, whether it's the Engineer, Lord Chaos, the Beatnik, the Amish Girl, or the Alaskan.

I wonder what method will come to me in the future!

Ninety-six, Prostate

I just felt a prostate a half hour ago. Felt like a bump on the inside of the fleshy tube. Nothing that gross, nothing that amazing. Just was.

Ninety-five, Auras, Moods, and Emotions Oh My!

Do I reflect those around me? Or do I create my own aura that infects others as well? People can argue both ways. I like to think that I can be a ground for other's emotions when they need it and can be a well of availability for those who want some sunny cheerfulness. But then would that be true or just the truth I want known?

Ninety-four, My Family(ies)

I have two families. I have my family, the Indian one from which my roots come from and I have my American family where by this time I also have planted many roots (Beatnik and Lord Chaos' family). I end up going through the good and the bad with both to some degree. I won't say it isn't hard at times. It's great having these two sources of familiarity and safe-ness but it can also really push me around with the normal demands of upkeep on those relationships. Time to time I feel bad because when I'm home, I'm usually just trying to get some home errands completed that I can't do at any other time. Other times I feel bad because there is some important event that I can't be home to enjoy with them. This is true for both my family and my American family. Having these people in my life is great, but I do have twice the responsibilities (in my head) of other people I know.

These days, the things that brighten my day the most when I'm with either family tends to revolve around the youngest. In my family, there's Valiben, my 3.75 year old cousin, who makes me light up when I hear her yell out my name in joy. In my best friends' family, it's hearing about how the little boy in the family (my buds' nephew) has faith that I'll show up for gatherings to see his little boy. In the past I took for granted both groups of people being there. Now I treasure the encounters I have with each. Whether I'm drilling my grandmother on English or I'm helping out my American family by having fun with Pops while the Mothership is out for the evening, it's worth it. The physical hardships of getting to point A or point B become meaningless in the face of the mental joy that bubbles up from encountering my family--both Indian and American.