Scattered Thoughts

Again, it's been longer than I would have liked since my last post and a lot has happened. I'm going to take more time to write tonight than last time though.

I will hopefully have some time to post again this weekend, but for now, this is what I've got.

Let me see… Where do I begin?

How about with this summer. This isn't your typical, mushy "I can't wait to get to camp" posts. This is more of an "outsider looking in" post. Believe it or not, I feel like an outsider coming back to the 'burg this year. For the most part, the people who have really made my last few summers will not be there — i.e. Mojo, Jimi, Jess, Will — and my staff will be full of a bunch of n00bs, other than Brent. That in itself will prove to be an interesting challenge.

A lot of old friends are returning though — Craig, Thad, Luke and others. Maybe this year will be the Farewell of Room 6 Part Deux. Last year was supposed to be the Farewell of Room 6, but we all found a way to come back yet another season. I know that barring some unforseen circumstances, this is definitely my last summer being spent at the 'burg, but that probably won't set in until a few weeks into the summer.

A lot of people have been saying that things just won't be the same without certain people there, but the truth is that they will, in fact, be the same. Sure the campers will, for the most part, be different, the ever-changing staff will be different (from week to week), but the overall experience will be the same. Like Jimi said, merit badges will be earned, friendships will be born and broken, but in the end, the sun still sets in the west… directly across from Fossil Beach.

Last summer was The Summer of Fossil Beach for some of us. That meant sunsets spent with cameras and friends, listening to the water crash upon the fossil-rich limestone shore, watching the boats speed to the various marinas to make it to dock before dark, waiting for the sun to sink behind LMSA. All in a comfortable silence; comfortable because there was no need for words. In that surreal silence, we all took comfort in the fact that for that evening and the rest of those ten weeks, we had each other.

We parted ways in early August, each one going back to the life they knew before June. By the end of September, schoolwork resumed and homework engulfed our lives. And so it goes…

I guess my point is that we all come into camp looking for something different, some look for relationships, some look for advancement, some look for fun, some look for work. When all is said and done, when the end of September comes around, all we will have are memories of the time we spent together to get us through tough places in our lives…

And the sun always rises
Over the dew-filled campsites,
And always sets
Over the Sycamores on Fossil Beach.

Time for a short update.

Most everything has been going well since my last post. Classes are winding down at a feverish pace and I've got two HUGE projects due in the middle of this week. Wednesday is the Capstone Fair in the Informatics School. Our project is scheduled to be finished before 4:00pm on Wednesday so we can show it off to everyone at the fair. Thursday my I310 Multimedia project is due in class. I decided to make a flash site dedicated to Project C.O.P.E. I'm probably not going to post it, mostly because my flash skills are quite basic and I don't really care to showcase my work, and partly for other reasons. After Thursday, I'm pretty much done for the semester.

That means that in two weeks I will hopefully be moving into camp to help get things ready for the summer. I'm really excited about my last summer at Ransburg, but I'm sad that I'm not going to get to spend as much time with Erin as I would like. There will be my obligatory pre-camp post sometime in the next week or so, so keep your browsers pointed here.

I think that's all for now.

I'm updating the Photoblog as soon as I'm done with this post so be sure to check it out.

Later

The End-of-the-Blog Rundown

Song of the Day – Knocking on Heaven's Door – Bob Dylan

Quote of the Day – "VOLCMAN Sixty Six… Six… Six" – Will when reading off VOLCMAN666 — a gamertag of someone matched with him to play Halo 2 on Xbox Live.

Villian of the Day – Macromedia Flash and I310. My least favorite thing to be working on right now…

Current Mood – – Busy as hell. Don't expect to see much of me online until Thursday evening.

Until the next post…

For some strange reason, I feel like I need to say something about this. I didn't know the girl, I don't know anyone who is in her sorority, I don't even know the guy who ran into the Cherokee she was riding in but still somehow I feel obligated to write about it, to give my take on the situation. It's a strange feeling…

There was a fatal accident last night on Third Street, just outside of the Kappa Kappa Gamma house. A man driving a Honda station wagon westbound on Third Street side-swiped a Cherokee driving north on Hawthorne Street, turning west onto Third Street. The Jeep was t-boned into the light pole, as seen in the above photo.

Senior Ashley Crouse was thrown from the Jeep, landing about five feet away from where the Jeep came to rest. She was not wearing her seatbelt.

The driver of the Honda, Alberto de Jesus, fled the scene on foot, like a coward.

That's what bothers me the most about the situation. De Jesus had the right of way on Third Street with the yellow flashing light. The Jeep, driven by Christopher Carlson (Ashley's boyfriend), turned left at a flashing red light on Hawthorne Street when the accident occured.

This evening, what appeared to be hundreds of students walked from the end of the Jordan Ave. extention, south on Jordan Ave. to Third Street, and then west on Third Street until they reached the Kappa Kappa Gamma house. There was another group that started at the end of campus on Third Street and walked East to the scene of the accident. As the processions passed a greek house or dormitory, they were joined by more mourners. Each person walking carried a single flower which was placed at the scene of the accident.

The girls of Kappa Kappa Gamma have decorated and placed candles at the traffic light pole where the accident occured.

While I was at work tonight, one of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters came into one of the labs I was working in. She looked as if she had seen a ghost. She had an almost haunting expression on her face…

I can't imagine to be in her shoes…

Driving past the site, the one image of the accident passes through my head. It serves to remind us all how short a time we really have; to live our short time to its fullest.

For the Indiana Daily Student article, click here: IU Student Killed in Car Crash
For the IDS front page, click here: The Indiana Daily Student

Check out the Scattered Thoughts Sideblog for today's rambling.

Creative title, I know.

I know I haven't updated in a while, but nobody seems to have cared too much or else someone would have been raising a stink in my comments boxes.

Nothing really interesting has been happening in my life since I made a substantial post. My ruminations are becoming easier and easier to deal with. I've been more and more able to concentrate on homework and on some pleasure reading, but I still have a relatively short attention span.

I had my second round of midterms in some classes and my first in others throughout the last couple weeks. My favorite was my multimedia class (I310). My prof told us that the best way we can study for the exam is to immerse ourselves in objects of new media and apply Manovic's five principles or Johnson's theories to them. I watched some Daily Show with John Stewart, played some Halo 2 and watched some movies. I also did some surfing around the web to see what kinds of new media I could find there.

The exam consisted of two essay questions. One was to take three sample videos and tell why they are culturally significant and then why they are considered new media. The three samples we had were all of Star Wars Kid. It was great, we got to watch the movies and then write about them. Our second question was to take a software program, like Photoshop or PowerPoint and explain how the five principles of new media apply to it. The best thing about the exam was that it was completely open notes and open book.

I went home for the Easter weekend which proved to be a waste of travel time. Don't get me wrong, I like getting to see my family and all, but I thought we were going to be heading up to Hartford City to spend some time with my Grandparents Witt as well as with the cousins who live nearby. We ended up not heading up to the HC until sunday morning, after mass. Since it's a two hour drive from Shelbyville and Shelbyville is one hour from Bloomington, I would have had to get there, say hi, turn around and head back to Bloomington. I had to work from 8pm – midnight that Sunday.

My newest obsessions are my Xbox and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. It is definitely the best game on the market right now for the Xbox and/or PS2, whichever you prefer. The environments are beautiful, the music by Amon Tobin is amazing and the gameplay is unbelievable. You can co-op on missions as well as play against other Splinter Cell fanatics online with Xbox-Live. If you are a console gamer, you need to get this title. If you aren't, but enjoyed the other two – Splinter Cell and Pandora Tomorrow – you definitely need to see this game to believe it. The thing that amazes me the most about this game is that you can complete a level, but not have completed it to 100%. There are optional missions as well as an optimal way to complete each mission. The characters are also aware that they are a part of a video game and attempt to make the player feel like there are dire consequences for their every action.

Lambert: This ship also has an alarm system.
Fisher: Let me guess… Three alarms and the mission is over?
Lambert: Of course not! This is no video game! You can't afford to let the situation get out of control, Fisher.

It's just a great game. You'll have to play it to see what I mean.

Why is the title so boring? you may ask. Well, it's boring because Capstone and Multimedia are completely draining my creativity. So until my final projects in those classes as well as for Managerial Economics and Chemistry are done, there won't be much creativity coming from this kid.

That's all I have for now. I shall try to post again soon. I also hope to get some time to spend with my camera now that it is spring and everything is in bloom.

And for now…

The End-of-the-Blog Rundown

Song of the Day – Blow Me Away – Breaking Benjamin

Quote of the Day – "There are no stupid questions, but there are inquisitive idiots." – Calendar hanging in Jacob's cubicle

Hero of the Day – Erin for being the awesome girlfriend she is. She and I have been together for over a year, collectively .

Current Mood – – I am absolutely Exhausted from this week. It needs to be over… And so does the semester.

Until the next post…

I found this interesting. Just thought I'd share. I don't think some of the things line up with how I act or who I am, but a lot of them do.

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

That is all…

…for now.

tm