Classes are two weeks in and it looks like I’m going to enjoy my last semester here at OCC. They’re still just the basics but there are two that I think will stand out: Stats and Comparative Religions. Statistics because it’s the perfect blend of facts and inference. Or, how to take something true and put your own spin on it! ;) Comparative Religions because it’s a nice objective viewpoint about the major religions of the world…with some minor ones thrown in. Any classes that takes one a world view and broadens my horizons I’m definitely going to enjoy.

It’s been a fairly productive day…ran some errands, cleaned the apartment and now I’m just sipping on a cup of peppermint chamomile tea.. I can definitely say it’s relaxing.

Work was work.. finishing up my 9-day week and finally will have a day off this Thursday. Definitely ready for that.

I did however take advantage of my free night and went driving around for a while. A modified version of one of my loops…after stopping at the royce for the requisite cup of coffee,  going down 81 and hitting central city and looping around to 431.

Just a chance to get my mind clear and get ready to focus on another semester.

Let’s start with a set list

<img src=”http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/gallery/pics/8_12_08_palace.jpg” />

Good show with a GREAT start.. GLOW is a new track and it was seriously rocking…heavy drums, catchy lyrics. They played a HARDCORE Machinaesque version of Siva that left me with my jaw dropped. Getting to hear Mayonnaise  FINALLY played live made the show for me. While the rest of the show was quality, knowing exactly what songs they were going to play took some of the fun out of it.

I met up with Tim Smith after the show and we decided to go out back and see if we could catch the band coming out. We were taking our cues from this lady we met, Elizabeth. She seemed to definitely be “in the know” and achieved a level of stalker-craziness far surpassing both myself, Tim and Angela combined. After pointing out which was the roadie bus, which was the tech bus we made our way to the band tour bus. Around 20 minutes go by… ZZ Top comes out. Yes, ZZ top… I got a picture of two of them and shook hands and briefly chatted with the lead singer and guitarist.

They go away. It’s myself, Tim and Elizabeth on the front line with a crowd of 20 behind us…Jeff comes by.. Waves. Gets in the van. Bummer…I really wish he would have came to say hello

Billy comes out and he’s talking to some fans on the other side by the door.. 15 minutes later he’s standing directly in front of me having a conversation with the “front line” After thanking him for everything and BSing about the cubs, how shitty Kentucky is and me commenting how great it was to hear Transformer he looked me in the eyes and said, “Anything else you wanna ask?” So of course I froze up and kinda stammered out “I hope you come back by here soon!”

Meeting Billy Corgan definitely made tonight awesome

• Just in case there’s not enough people talking about it… the Dark Knight was an awesome movie. Heath Ledger did an incredible job. Also, there was a really good preview for some movie in September that I can’t seem to recall =P
• Smashing Pumpkins, August 12th in Louisville!!!
• Break in classes

 Oh, I thought of another addition to my “weekend off” list. How about a weekend in Cumberland Gap? It’s still early enough to make reserversations for some of the guided tours. I definitely wouldn’t mind taking a tour of gap cave.

At least it’s fairly cool in the morning. I want my percolated coffee! =P I don’t know if doing this alone is a good idea, but, I want a couple of days away from it all

X

Today has been very uneventful…got out of class early and had the day off. Mike D, is the new band director at OHS so I figured I’d pop in and see how camp was progressing. Found out that the old band room was demolished in the renovations…It was interesting having band talk. Got caught up on the newest high school directors and general activities for the area. Going to have to try to hang out with him more often..

that’s pretty much what I’ve done today…working on some extra credit stuff. Today was the last day of real classes with finals on Monday and Tuesday…then two solid weeks of mornings off! Definitely excited about that one :)

Whatever shall I do ? =P

Options so far

1.) Murray - If I happen to be either running short of money or just not wanting to spend a lot.. A little bit of time at the lake and playing catch-up with some old friends is always fun

2.) Nashville - Bars. Clubs. Nashville night live… I haven’t actually gone “out” in a big city since I’ve turned 21. This sounds kinda fun

3.) St. Louis - See Above

4.) French Lick - I kinda want to go gamble ;)

Any takers or other ideas?

things have been going pretty well…massive case of SSDD. Going with Angela to see the Pumpkins, Tim has tickets as well… all three of us are pretty huge fans and were at the concert in Nashville last fall. Works still going great, still doing good in school…I do believe this is the first job I’ve had where I really don’t bitch about =P

I want a wii.. I want a wii fairly badly after discovering the joys of Wii Boxing and Mario Kart.

I’m trying to get my vacation planned for next year…Hopefully I’ll be able to reserve a spot for Spring Break, otherwise I’ll have to wait until summer. So far I have one idea…and that is driving historic Route 66–with a couple of nice side trips on the way. One of the only ones I’ve found so far as been Meteor Crater..It sounds kinda cool =P

I found a sample travel itenerary on <a href=”http://wikitravel.org/en/Route_66″>WikiTravel</a> They estimate 9 days—which will be as long as my vacation. I’ll have to look into shortening it a bit, or maybe rent a car and fly back.

Top Places I want to see

1.) Petrified Forest National Park - I’ve wanted to see this place for about two years now. It seems awesome!

2.)Meramec Caverns - I’ve passed it several times on my way to Oklahoma so I might as well visit it

3.) Canyon de Chelly National Monument - Does it really need an explanation?

First job I’ve ever been with long enough to get a vacation. lol. I have a week for this year but it has to be used before Thanksgiving. Sadly(well, not really) it’s right in the middle of the semester. But, it’s still a weeks paid time off work. ;)

I’m stoked!

Oh, wait.. Smashing Pumpkins are playing the Palace Theatre in Louisville August 11th!!! Tickets go on sale July 11th! Must.. Go.

Part of this relaxed experience might have been because I decided to whip up an irish coffee. lol. Nah, I took a little time out for myself this evening, read a few chapters..watched the sunset.

Got the results from my Bio test back…Solid B, I was slightly disappointed because I’d like an A in that class but…I’m not complaining too much.

That’s pretty much what my life has consisted of lately. School, work, homework, papers, trying to find those brief moments of relaxation and clarity in the midst of chaos :)