| | I'm in a class about the beat poets. This post is titled this as a reference to a novel by Burroughs, which I read an excerpt from. There are other reasons too. Perhaps I was inspired.
For the last few months I've had this joke: that I've been a news junkie-- and junkie is a surprisingly accurate description. Unlike junk, (opium or any derivative thereof) news is available for free. And often, when I have free time, I'm unable to stop reading it or watching it.
I've stopped drinking coffee in the mornings- at least caffeinated. I've switched to Yerba Mate. It reminds me of an old joke- "I used to be a herion addict, now I'm a methadone addict." That applies to other things in my life as well.
When I moved my computer downstairs in an attempt to cut myself off from the internet, I mostly changed the mode of internet. I started reading news more and neglecting my blog.
So I'm trying to cut myself off from the news. It really doesn't do much for me... I'd be much happier reading a book. And there are lots of things at home I've been neglecting- like how my room is really messy. Pretty much all I do there now is sleep. It's kind of sad. But when I started reading news heavily, second semester last year or so, it was good, and definitely improved my reading skill. I didn't read much at the time. I should really apply that to textbooks though.
I also read some posts by Garrison Keillor on Salon.com. I guess they would be considered blogs, or something like that. Plainly stated american naturalism, with a heavily leftist political slant. He describes what is going on in the world well, and quite matter of factly. I think he is the inspiration for this post.
Another author, I can't remember who, said that a writer will kill for a good audience. I like writing here, and if they haven't all picked up and forgotten about me, I think I have a pretty good audience. It's small, it's quiet, but this is what my writing calls home. I think that makes sense.
I went to Borders today and read though WANTED. It's entirely different from the movie in terms of plot. About the only thing that they kept the same was that the main character shoots guns. It was interesting and entertaining though... albeit bloody and coarse. So was the movie. I saw it on Jon Stewart's recommendation- that you go in expecting an action movie... but then you start watching it and are simply blown away by the craziness of the stunts. That sounds pretty accurate to me.
And I bought a book- The People's History of the United States of America- which will apparently change my life if I get around to reading it. I really intend to. I'm turning over a new leaf. There are so many things to read though. Like textbooks. I really intend to be a better student this year. I was also somewhat inspired by looking at things for law schools-- Not that I want to go to law school, but it helps me gauge what my GPA should be around. The median gpa to get into Lincoln is 3.64. I suppose that's motivation.
When I was a kid, my mom used to gush about all the potential that I had as a student. I don't think that she was just biased. She said that the only kid that she met that had more potential (or at least more wasted potential) than me was my best friend Joe. But now that we're older, we're disaffected college students. Sometimes I say that I'm as brilliant as I am lazy-- and that is alot. Other times I say that "lazyness is next to godliness."
Still, we've both grown up. We've transformed from balls of academic potential into smart, witty, eccentrics. We're people. The type of people that make other people look at things differently. We make life more interesting. Maybe I say that to justify the strange things that I often do. Still, they make me smile and laugh when I think of them.
Sometimes I'm somewhat clueless. And this summer I had an identity crisis and I'm just beginning to find out who I am a bit. I have no idea what I want to do in life, although I constantly get good ideas of what to do. I'll probably just end up living life until I die. I don't have any further plans than that. (Looking over that last sentance, it seems rather obvious, but funny. I'm keeping it.) Maybe I'll be a lawyer, a professor, a musician, a librarian or a communist leader. I'm really not sure yet. But at this point, with a lack of my feet on the ground I feel like I could be anything. Maybe even the wind.
Now I sound like a kid again- "When I grow up, I want to be the wind." I think that's an admirable sentiment.
Sometimes I look for identity in things- like my mom's old bike. There is plenty to think about there. My chacos too, which are expensive hiking sandals. An old friend of mine said that chaco owners make friends with other chaco owners, just because of how chacos are. I thought they were cool, and I was bought the image. I don't go hiking nearly enough, and I feel a bit hypocritical sometimes when I wear them. But they are also for pretty much everything.
But today, walking back from Borders, just as the heavy rains had cleared, it felt like a bit of a hike. It felt nice to get wet from the rain too, on the way to Borders. Then I walked back to UNO, and walked through the pep bowl. On the way, the sun came out, and it felt as humid as the tripics.
There's another joke I tell- I was walking with a few kids at UNO and one said something about how people think he is weird because of something or other. I replied that people think I'm weird because I walk through the pep bowl.
And that is exactly what I did. I walked through the pep bowl, with my chacos. I thought about how when I was young I knew more about the types of plants than I do now, that I spent more time outside, and that now I don't appreciate nature as much as I should. Meanwhile, the earth and grass, sopping wet, made a squishing sound underneath my sandals. I felt like a kid again.
Cheers.
|
| | Posted 9/11/2008 2:36 PM - 26 Views - 0 eProps - 1 Comment
- recommend
  - recs0
- share
- email
 - sent0
|
