Winter Holidays and Friendships
Happy new year! I usually don't make resolutions, but a friend of mine linked this from his facebook and I thought it was an interesting sort of twist. (The link goes to my list, which isn't public yet because I haven't thought of enough to fill it yet!) Resolutions always seemed to me like people saying to themselves, "Self, as soon as I wake up on January 1st, I'm going to start my new lifestyle!" That's kind of too big of a change, but a long to-do list for the whole year seems like a reasonable alternative. Also, it's a nicely layed-out website and I'm a sucker for lists! :P
This past New Year's made me realize that I'm really in a minority for not drinking yet. But that's okay--if you justify something and stand behind your decisions, nobody really cares that much and just leaves you alone. Plus, you're always welcome at a party as a designated driver. :)
Although... I was admittedly a little bummed that I only got invited to a New Year's/birthday party because I could be a designated driver. This group of friends is mostly 2 and 3 years ahead of me in school, so I'm not really considered one of their gang. I knew most of these people through clubs in school, but I wasn't in their classes. The reason I see them now is that one of my very close friends goes to Vanderbilt with one of the girls in the group who does a lot of event planning, so I get to tag-along to things once and awhile. I kind of wish I had a more legitimate or cohesive group of friends to do things with in West Chester. But it's okay that I have a few close friends and many half-acquaintances. Break is relaxing even if I'm just sitting around, and I could invite anyone over to my messy house anyway. :)
I watched a good deal of football today: OSU played Oregon at the Rose Bowl and won! UC played Florida at the Sugar Bowl and got owned. The first game was with some of the aforementioned group and the latter was sort-of half-watched. I figure I should be more well-versed in the game of football. I understand the basics, but it would be helpful to have a better idea of what's going on. I say this because, well... eventually I'll be one of the senior trombonists in the Kiltie Band, which means I could be the cheermaster! It's more likely that it will be my friend Patrick who is just as enthused about Kiltie as I am (and knows a bit more about football), but I figure if he's not interested or available, I should be ready to step up!
Christmas went fine. When people ask me what I got, the things that stick out to me are: a lot of leggings/socks/clothing, the promise of getting my bike spruced up with a crate and light and fixed brakes, an Obama jigsaw puzzle (remembered for the lulz), and two new stuffed mooses (er, moose):
Goose is the ornament hanging from the tree; Mouse is chillin' with the tennis ball, which I'm using as a size-reference. I kept the naming convention, but paired them in such a way that eventually someone will mess up and call one of them "Moose". I considered Scallop and Oyster, but decided the other pair was funnier.
Final thought: It's always pretty sad when you meet someone late in the game or just at the wrong time, but you know you could have been really good friends. My senior year I joined marching band, and the trombone's section leader and I became fast friends. We were always very happy to see one another, shared a twisted sense of humor, joked around during class and band practice... but we just didn't know each other long enough to make a lasting friendship. Another friend I met at OJCL Convention last year is really a kindred spirit of mine: a fellow linguist with a propensity for the nerdy life who shares a lot of my interests. But he's soon to graduate grad school from Cornell, and will likely continue living in Ithaca afterward, so I'll only ever see him at Latin conventions, which we'll probably stop coming back to after a few years. I could name a handful more of people... As much crap as it gets, I'm thankful that facebook exists for just this reason: even though I can't see these people in person, it's nice to get little updates about their lives.
Okay, I'm going to try to think of things to fill up that 101in365 list... I'm about half way done!
This past New Year's made me realize that I'm really in a minority for not drinking yet. But that's okay--if you justify something and stand behind your decisions, nobody really cares that much and just leaves you alone. Plus, you're always welcome at a party as a designated driver. :)
Although... I was admittedly a little bummed that I only got invited to a New Year's/birthday party because I could be a designated driver. This group of friends is mostly 2 and 3 years ahead of me in school, so I'm not really considered one of their gang. I knew most of these people through clubs in school, but I wasn't in their classes. The reason I see them now is that one of my very close friends goes to Vanderbilt with one of the girls in the group who does a lot of event planning, so I get to tag-along to things once and awhile. I kind of wish I had a more legitimate or cohesive group of friends to do things with in West Chester. But it's okay that I have a few close friends and many half-acquaintances. Break is relaxing even if I'm just sitting around, and I could invite anyone over to my messy house anyway. :)
I watched a good deal of football today: OSU played Oregon at the Rose Bowl and won! UC played Florida at the Sugar Bowl and got owned. The first game was with some of the aforementioned group and the latter was sort-of half-watched. I figure I should be more well-versed in the game of football. I understand the basics, but it would be helpful to have a better idea of what's going on. I say this because, well... eventually I'll be one of the senior trombonists in the Kiltie Band, which means I could be the cheermaster! It's more likely that it will be my friend Patrick who is just as enthused about Kiltie as I am (and knows a bit more about football), but I figure if he's not interested or available, I should be ready to step up!
Christmas went fine. When people ask me what I got, the things that stick out to me are: a lot of leggings/socks/clothing, the promise of getting my bike spruced up with a crate and light and fixed brakes, an Obama jigsaw puzzle (remembered for the lulz), and two new stuffed mooses (er, moose):
Goose is the ornament hanging from the tree; Mouse is chillin' with the tennis ball, which I'm using as a size-reference. I kept the naming convention, but paired them in such a way that eventually someone will mess up and call one of them "Moose". I considered Scallop and Oyster, but decided the other pair was funnier.
Final thought: It's always pretty sad when you meet someone late in the game or just at the wrong time, but you know you could have been really good friends. My senior year I joined marching band, and the trombone's section leader and I became fast friends. We were always very happy to see one another, shared a twisted sense of humor, joked around during class and band practice... but we just didn't know each other long enough to make a lasting friendship. Another friend I met at OJCL Convention last year is really a kindred spirit of mine: a fellow linguist with a propensity for the nerdy life who shares a lot of my interests. But he's soon to graduate grad school from Cornell, and will likely continue living in Ithaca afterward, so I'll only ever see him at Latin conventions, which we'll probably stop coming back to after a few years. I could name a handful more of people... As much crap as it gets, I'm thankful that facebook exists for just this reason: even though I can't see these people in person, it's nice to get little updates about their lives.
Okay, I'm going to try to think of things to fill up that 101in365 list... I'm about half way done!