Tuesday, August 23, 2005

First Day

First real day of college timeline:
7:30 - Wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast.
9:00 - Work first shift at library. Went pretty smoothly, not really hard work.
12:00 - First class, honors Calc II. The professor is super young, though apparently graduated.
1:00 - Cafeteria lunch. Got free copy of Blue Like Jazz from CCC.
1:45 - Fill out a billion silly forms in for my job at human resources.
2:30 - Nature and Human Values. I'm still not sure what this class is.
4:00 - Start and finish my homework. I love the beginning of the year.
6:00 - Go to FCA/CCC/IV BBQ volleyball/ultimate frisbee/concert thing. I stink at frisbee, but I met a lot of people.
9:00 - Return to dorms, start writing this post, hang out, etc.

So far, so good. I'm meeting lots of new people, and doing all sorts of stuff:
Not my picture(would have ruined my camera), but cool none the less.

Why My School Doesn't Always Rock.


Found this article about my school in the paper today. According to this, we're number one! Unfortunately, the category in which we are number one happens to be "Least Happy Students." Though I've only been here for all of 5 days, I'm inclined to disagree with article. People do complain about the workload a lot, but in the same breath acknowledge that the rigorous academics are what brought them here. People around here seem to have fun, though not as much as some other schools do at the expense of academics *cough*Boulder*cough*. We'll see how it goes these next fours years.


Sunday, August 21, 2005

Why My School Rocks.


Setting sun and volleyball.

Rainbow!

Rainbow vertical. Posted by Picasa

Friday, August 19, 2005

My New Home


My new home for the school year. Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Last Day


Last Clock Out.

Something I'd never seem before: pet duck in the drive through.

The counter I spent 2.5 years behind.

The building as I left it. Posted by Picasa

Monday, August 15, 2005

Finished!

Well, hasn't this been a fun week! Since the last time I posted, I have done the following things:

1. Got really sick.
2. Attempted to get everything in order for my grand departure.

It's been pretty crazy, but I think I've got everything under control. We'll see how well that theory holds up come this Friday when I move in. However, everything should be made much easier by the fact that tommorrow should be(if all goes well) the last day I ever have to work fast food for the rest of my life! No more fussy customers, no more coming home smelling like grease! I'm thankful for the fact that I've had the work available to me, but I'll be darned if I really ever enjoyed it aside from the times where everything was really, really slow, and I could talk with a couple of the people there. Between the memories of the fast food and the construction work I did this summer, I think I'll have enough to keep me motivated through college in hopes that I will never have to work in those fields again. One can only hope.

Monday, August 08, 2005

Mini-Reviewage

Nickel Creek, Why Should the Fire Die?

First impressions after about three listens:

Musically, there is a lot to like about this new album. All the elements that made past Nickel Creek releases good are still here(i.e., the mind boggling musicianship, arrangements, and vocal harmonies), but the sound on this record is a bit darker and rougher than what we've heard from them in the past. It's a bit of a shock at first, but I've grown to like it. Also, this album comes across as quite a bit more diverse than their past releases. One complaint I had about This Side was that a few of the slower songs tended to sound a bit "samey." While there are a few non-descript ballads on this album(though my perception of those may change with further listens), almost every song has its own distinct style and character to it.

On the lyrical side, we also see some change. The darker music is accompanied by suitably darker lyrics. However, many of the songs never rise above the level of your typical "relationship song," (or, as is often the case, "relationship goes wrong" song) which is unfortunate, since the music is so striking and original(keep in mind that I probably do tend to be overly cynical about "relationships songs." YMMV) . However, though the subject matter has been very well traveled, the lyrics are well written enough so as to make them an enjoyable, if not profound, set of songs. One thing I do miss on this album is the presence of a left-field modern rock cover, like their cover of Pavement's "Spit on a Stranger" from This Side, or their live cover of Radiohead's "Just." Something like this would have been a fun change of pace for the record, but the album still stands without it.

Overall, I would place this album in the B+/A- range, but we will see how that plays out once I have a chance to listen to it a bit more throughly.

Beck, Guero

This happens to me every year. There is always some album that I hear great things about from almost everyone, yet, for one reason or another, fail to actually get around to hearing. When I do hear it, I kick myself for depriving myself of the experience of listening to it for so long. Beck's latest release, Guero, is one such album. The only album of Beck's I had heard before this was Odelay, which mixes hip-hop, rock, and just about everything else to create a smooth, funky, and totally original album. Never before had I heard the "everything AND the kitchen sink" approach handled so gracefully.

Fortunately for the listener, Guero continues in this tradition, but this time around, Beck manages to add even more ingredients to his sound. This time, there are elements of pop music, with some slower ballad type songs, and lush arrangements to accompany them. Still, the album keeps the fresh, fun appeal that Odelay has, without sacrificing any weight in the more serious material. The only real criticism I might have is that Beck may be borrowing to much from his past work, but when the results sound as good as this, its hard to nitpick. A/A+, for sure.

Sunday, August 07, 2005

Why Should I Wait Until Tuesday?


I went to Best Buy today to pick up Beck's Guero, which I had yet to hear, when I saw this album on the shelf. Why Should the Fire Die? is the follow-up to Nickel Creek's excellent sophomore album, This Side. However, I knew that it wasn't supposed to be in stores until this Tuesday. I decided to go ahead and take advantage of Best Buy's mistake, and buy the album. I hope to get a mini review up in the next few days, maybe even on the albums actual release date, just like a real reviewer. Should be some good stuff, if Nickel Creek's past work is any indication. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, August 06, 2005

Camping!


In the car on the way.

Stopping for pizza at Fargos in Colorado Springs.

Foggy and damp. Pretty, but wet.

Water on a pine needle.

Our tents in the mist.

Lantern.

Ridges and mist.

Above the fog.

Wildflower.

More wildflowers.

Dirt road.

Airsoft. It's legal and fun, trust me.

Sunshine through the mist.

Aspen trees.

Pikes Peak sunset. Posted by Picasa

Monday, August 01, 2005

Preparations

As the big day approaches(starting college on the 22nd), the more stuff there seems to be to do. Whether it is buying stuff for my dorm room, or filling out my 5 zillionth form or application, it seems there is always something requiring my attention. Add that to the fact that I work full time(more than 40 hours a week), I can safely say that this is the first summer in my life where I'm actually eager for school to start, if only to bring an end to all the preparation! Also, I'm very much looking forward to the new experience of college life, so that plays into it too. Oh, well, its only a few more weeks away.

Despite the way my above paragraph might make things sound, I am actually having some fun this summer. I get to go camping this weeked, which is always fun(except when it rains the whole time). I hope to be able to take some good pictures while I'm out that I might be able to share here, so be looking forward to those. I also hope to get together with my future roommate sometime, just to get to know him a little before we start sharing the same living space. Maybe a day of paintball would be appropriate?

In other news, I've had some great luck selling things on eBay this week. I sold some camera gear I had(in order to pay for my digital), and was shocked to see that I was getting more for many of the items than I had paid for them in the first place! My best profit was a whopping $130 dollars. If I can continue this sort of thing, I may have found myself a good revenue stream. Its worth a try, at any rate.

By the way, I would like to thanks those who have left comments in my previous posts. They give me a warm fuzzy feeling on the inside. Thanks for allowing me to experience that. Until next time, stay safe, and don't eat the yellow snow.