I'm rewarding myself for actually being productive by letting myself post a bit here before leaving and actually sleeping (a rather strange concept for a Wednesday night).
I played a few games of handball on Monday, then played another three or so hours on Tuesday, so this week (since Sunday) I already have about ten hours of court time in. I have a tournament this weekend too, so from Sunday to Sunday I might get the equivalent of a part-time job's hours of handball in! Turns out I probably could have gotten a job to put myself through law school. But this is way more fun, so hey, I'll just try and appreciate it.
I made biscuits yet again on Tuesday morning, and it turns out one disadvantage to them being perfectly well-done and not sticking to the pan is that sometimes when you tilt the pan to get it out of you oven racks (which for some reason have a lip on the front which prevents you from simply sliding them out), the biscuits wind up on the oven rack instead of the pan. And because they are delightfully crumbly, you panic and burn your arm trying to extract them before they fall apart and ruin everything. Then, of course, is the ideal time to realize you can just slide the pan back in on the bottom shelf to catch the pieces while extracting what you can without undue hurry.
I went out with my "teammates" after handball as promised, and it was about the most anti-climactic thing ever. It was trivia night at a bar/pizza place, and it consisted of sitting around while only talking to the person directly across from me and directly to my right while they asked me silly questions. Luckily, I've gotten pretty used to bantering with these people, so at least it wasn't just question, answer, awkward silence. But it also didn't strike me as a particularly stellar use of my time. I showed an inordinate amount of enthusiasm at all their interests, and luckily I know enough about a variety of topics I can feign interest in just about anything. Zombie apocalypse? Check. Starcraft? Check. Decent books? Check. Pre-requisites for science degrees and AP credits? Check. Obscure fantasy authors and video games? You bet. Antique furniture? Well, that was pushing it a bit, but I think I covered adequately.
About the only thing I like about question-sessions is that I make sure I answer everything honestly and directly. I didn't always do that, but in college it was one thing I really admired about a particular frisbee teammate I had, and I've tried to adopt it for myself. Not to mention it's fun to see people taken aback slightly when you actually just give them a direct statement during what might otherwise be an awkward topic of conversation. I figure I have relatively few regrets (see whatever post it was where I talked about my decision-making process), and rather than treat myself as a mystery, I might as well just let them make up their minds about me based on whatever information they deem relevant by asking me for.
The handball group was bigger than usual (I gather) because a person I've never even met is moving to Texas and it was his last day in town. We had like four tables pushed together, so it wasn't like I could even talk to everyone there. Not that that was a huge loss, but that, combined with the place being virtually empty except for our one, big group, made the experience pretty atypical. It was certainly better than the last time I went to a bar, though, in that it didn't seem like anyone's goal was to get drunk. Sure, one guy had enough to start being a bit rowdy, but it wasn't like they were on a mission of intoxication like the frisbee people when I accompanied them. And people actually showed an interest in me, which was pretty refreshing. The frisbee people either felt awkward because I don't drink or just didn't really care I was there, but these folks at least took an interest. I had someone talking to me almost the whole time, while in Ames I resorted to looking blankly at my phone so people wouldn't think I wasn't so pathetic that I didn't have anything at all to do. Maybe it's just that people who play handball respect me because I'm good at that, while the frisbee folks had their group independent of me and didn't find a reason I should fit in. I'm just spit-balling. Either way, it wasn't a good enough use of my time to do it every week or anything, but at least it's reassuring to know that they'll make an effort and I won't be that weird guy not drinking, just watching and hoping the person I came with wants me to be there at some point.
As far as interesting cases go, in Torts we are talking about causation, a topic I have a real problem with philosophically. So I have to restrain myself from taking things out of a legal context when the courts are talking about what caused an injury. They adopt a "but for" definition of causation, which means that someone didn't cause an injury unless that injury wouldn't have happened "but for" the action of the person. So if someone got hit by a brick, then I'm responsible only if the brick would have otherwise not hit them had I not acted. Luckily, the courts still look at things given the totality of the circumstances, so even when they adopt what seems like a hard rule, they can rule however they want in the end. Causation seems to be disputed a lot when it comes to cancer, since two of the three or four cases we've talked about have had to do with that. I guess it's just that people still aren't sure about what does cause cancer, so those cases are necessarily hard enough to make interesting cases. In one case a person got injured by a window falling on him, which was certainly the fault of a hotel. Then he got cancer in the exact spot of the injury, and tried to recoup damages. The theory was that because healing flesh is more prone to be affected by radiation, the hotel's negligence led to the cancer. Now, in a "but-for" scenario, this actually makes a decent amount of sense, because if the hotel hadn't caused the injury it is likely he wouldn't have gotten cancer. But there's also the fact that if he would have protected his healing wound from radiation (we assume the cancer was caused by sun exposure or something), then he also wouldn't have gotten cancer. So it's probably more his fault than the hotel's. But in the case of a fire that wiped out a construction yard, even though the yard was going to be destroyed by a different oncoming forest fire, the people responsible for the fire were held responsible. In that case, the construction yard would have been wiped out anyway, so I'm not sure I agree that the people should have been found causally responsible. I don't disagree they should be punished for their negligent behavior, though, so I guess the court's interest in justice (preventing bad behavior in the future) trumps almost everything else.
I really do have to get going. This was a bit more time than I wanted to spend typing. I'm going to try and be more poetic after my quiz on Friday, but if it goes poorly brace yourself for some emotional poetry! Also, I'll be heading straight from class to my tournament, so that might not get up very promptly. And then I have a group project (though I am currently group-less (surprise!)), so we'll see. And another paper for legal writing due next week I haven't really done much for. One thing at a time! Thanks for reading!
October 9, 2013
October 7, 2013
My weekend, complete with complaints (self-reflection free of charge)!
So... I'm really bad at studying. I picked up the review materials, and all I could think was "I already know these things." Of course the difference between "knowing" and "having memorized" is the difference between getting a decent grade and a terrible grade, so that's obviously not good enough. I thought the days of rote memorization were over! (Insert more complaining here.)
What's that? More self-observations that obviously can't hold water because my perspective can't be separated sufficiently to provide any semblance of objectivity? You bet!
So, as most of these sections seem to start, I was talking with someone who doesn't like to see their name in my blog when somehow the subject of my annoying characteristics came up. After exhausting the standards (too removed and calculating, ultra-defensive, etc.), something a bit surprising came up. Apparently I am frustrating when I am nice, especially to my significant others. I didn't know what to say. I mean, I had noticed that trend, but I assumed it was just odd reactions on their part. How could they get mad at me for trying to do things for them? This theory was put forward, and it makes some sense, but I obviously can't say anything conclusive as I am far too close to the situation to be unbiased: I am a self-reliant, stoic-seeming sort of person. People in a relationship with me know this, and (according to my source) this makes them think I expect that of them. So when I do things for them (and they think I expect them to do things for themselves), that means I am saying they can't do something for themselves. So it becomes a sort of condescension. A "I am self-reliant, so you must be self-reliant, but here, let me do that for you since you obviously need help" sort of thing. I have been rebuked a fair number of times when trying to do little things like that, and it always puzzled me. The story about giving unwanted bicycling cautions springs to mind yet again, but so does a time in Toronto where I offered to throw away some trash and was harshly cut off with "I can do that myself!" Years and years ago the same thing happened with my first girlfriend, when I went out of my way to buy her a smoothie when I knew she had a bad day. She refused it, and got even more upset that I was trying to cheer her up. When I planned an elaborate valentines day it only got worse, and things ended soon after. It's nice to have a theory to work from at the very least, whether it's 100% accurate or not.
I had some time to think about this (I always seem to have time to think about these sorts of things. Sleep is overrated.) and I tried to figure out why I do things for other people at all. I mean, it's not like I think chivalry is even a good thing in and of itself! I don't think there's any inherent reason men should open doors for women, any reason we should pay for things, or whatever the stereotypical gentleman does (carry boomboxes back to dorm rooms, etc.). But when I was first starting a relationship, I was clueless. I didn't know what my role was, and I knew it made her smile when I did little things like that. So from then on, whenever an opportunity presented itself, I did the following little thought exercise: I asked myself if whatever it was would really be difficult for me to do. If the answer was no, then I just did it. So I open doors for people, even though I don't really think there's any reason to do so. Next, if it was something slightly inconvenient, I briefly weighed whatever it was against the probability of making the person happy while factoring in how much I cared about the person. (So if there was a moderate chance of making a person happy that I cared about, I would do something more inconvenient for myself than if there was a sure chance of making someone happy I cared less about.) So I bought things for people. I paid for things when I could, because I liked knowing they would appreciate it, and thought it far outweighed the inconvenience, even though I still didn't think it was my job or even something a person has to do even if they were trying to be a good person. I think being a good person goes way beyond things like that, and chivalry is uncalled for. But I did it anyway because it didn't really cost me anything I cared about relative to the effect I anticipated it having.
I don't know if this makes a lot of sense. If it does, perhaps it goes even more to explaining why people in a relationship with me start to resent me doing things for them, because if they know I'm just doing it because I expect them to appreciate it, it puts pressure back on them to acknowledge it or feel like they are slighting me in some way. Now, obviously I would say that is unnecessary, that as long as it makes them happier, it doesn't matter that they explicitly thank me, but I do recall many times where I used little things I did as examples for how I was putting effort into the relationship, when the whole premise was that I did those things because it didn't cost me hardly anything compared to the positive outcome that resulted. But when doing things stops even leading to positive outcomes, starts annoying the person I'm doing them for, then I am in for trouble. Not to say that's why my last relationship ended. I still don't have that figured out to my satisfaction. But it sure is interesting how other perspectives can spark crazy paradigm-altering realizations. Not that there's anything I can really do now. I'm not even sure if I would want to change. But that's a thing that would have to be discussed, I suppose, with whoever I had reason to discuss it with. For now, it's just another observation/fact/whatchamacallit to store away and reference if it becomes relevant.
This post picks up Friday, when I was planning on grocery shopping but missed my opportunity when the store closed earlier than I thought. So I was faced with the options of either biking a few more miles out of my way in the cold and rain, going home and eating nothing, or going home and eating peanut butter, or breaking my diet. So I went home and ate a bunch of cheese-stuffed pasta. It was delicious. Unfortunately, it was also the start of a slippery slope. I woke up early and went to the store so I could make breakfast. I had been looking for a good time to break a hundred dollar bill, but every time I go it feels like I'm in line with people who are using food stamps and stuff, not to mention the fact that there are always interesting-looking characters loitering outside. So I figured if I went early in the morning maybe there wouldn't be a crowd. This was sort of accurate, but the other side-effect of going early in the morning is that there isn't enough change in the drawer for a hundred, so the lady had to call her manager from the back to make change, which then made a line form behind me, which then meant all sorts of people were watching as she handed me a bunch of cash. I know I'm paranoid, and that there probably wasn't anything to be worried about in the first place, but it was still a bit of a relief to hear her do the exact same thing for the person two places behind me in line. It's sort of like when I'm biking on a busy road and I'm not sure the cars are going to be looking out for bicycles. I always feel better after I pass someone, because my brain goes "well, at least if they're going to hit a biker, it will probably be him before me, and if they see him, they'll at least be aware there's a possibility of seeing me later." So obviously nothing happened and I biked back to my apartment with my food where I made more egg and cheese biscuits. Those things are addictive, but I always make sure I have honey and strawberry preserves on the last biscuit. Who needs dessert when you can put that combination in your mouth? I killed time, because I was supposed to go to Midway where I'll be playing league at 11:30. Then a guy texted me at 10:30 saying there wasn't anyone to play and asked if I could make it. I said I was on my way, and then immediately went the wrong way. See, the location of the YMCA was a mystery, but I knew it was across the river on University, so I set out the way I normally go to class. That was somehow the opposite way I was supposed to go, so my route wound up being very circuitous. As a bonus, I now know where a few more of the major bike paths go. The network is pretty fantastic. If I want to take the most direct route between my place and Midway I can just bike down the major street (bike lane for most of it) near my house, and then turn onto University after I cross the river. But if I want to take bike paths I have that option too. Or if I start off the wrong way and have to double back there is a really nice one, where I found some skiers:
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This is one aspect of my phone that I think is pretty awesome. You can access the camera at any time, and to take a picture you can just point the phone at the target and click the volume control on the headphones! So you don't have to worry about stabilizing the camera while also pressing the screen of the camera. You can just point and take pictures as fast as possible and hope one turns out! I did the same thing with some rowers I saw while I was biking over Mississippi river bridge in heavy traffic. I couldn't point the camera and also use my other hand to hit the camera button while directing its lens over my shoulder, but I sure could point it in the general direction with one hand and spam the volume control shutter button and cross my fingers. Of course, the rowers were still pretty far away, but if you know what you're looking for, you can pick them out:
.JPG)
I made it to handball only about five minutes later than I should have if I had gone the right way. I proceeded to play from 11:00 until 3:30. If all it takes to get better is spending a lot of time on the court, then I will be great at this sport in no time! Unfortunately, for the last hour I sure didn't feel like I was getting better. I just felt lazy, like my footwork was off and because I knew I could win without fixing it, I didn't bother. I really hope that doesn't become a bad habit... But anyway, there wasn't really anyone there close to my skill level, which I half-expected, but it was probably good to establish myself as a person who actually exists before just starting to play for them. So I played two games of cutthroat, two games of doubles, another game of cutthroat, and then sat out when old people wanted to play doubles (they offered, but I declined, not wanting to warp the game into something crazy where the objective is just not to hit it to me). Then I played doubles with those same old guys when no better option presented itself. While I was sitting out a lawyer (one of many) came up to me and opened with "I heard you're going to law school; what do I need to do to talk you out of that?" I was surprised, and then realized: "Oh, don't worry, I'm on scholarship, so I'm not stupid." He seemed relieved. I got the feeling he had a whole speech prepared about how I didn't really need a law degree to do the things I wanted to do. But it turns out I'm incredibly lucky, so it's all good.
Most people had left the building at that point, but there was still a father-son duo looking for doubles, so I stuck around and played with whoever else didn't mind. That lasted three more games with two more partners, and that was the part where I stopped really caring and just hit whatever from whatever position. Sloppy. Then I biked home, and since I had biked the wrong way there, I was surprised to realize my route took me right past some amazing restaurants. And it's not even like I know what good restaurants around here are. I've been to like three total, but the best pizza I've had was at a place on this route, and I came incredibly close to stopping. I told myself I didn't need to spend money on that when I had just bought groceries, but in reality I should have just stopped. I was starving, it sounded amazing, and I don't really eat pizza because it's usually after 5:00 by the time I would want it, or it looks really greasy. I'm stopping next time, and that's that.
I went home intent on studying. Or rather, I went home resigned to studying. As mentioned above, that didn't work out. Instead, I alternated between falling asleep out of boredom and looking over notes wondering why I needed to memorize things I felt I already knew conceptually. Then I told myself I would just do a good job the next day.
The next day, as surprising as this may seem, was not any more appealing than the previous. Plus, it was raining and cold out. This would have been a great reason to stay inside and study, but there was frisbee to be played, so I departed on bike and arrived already damp. It stayed decently tolerable for the first half and a bit of the second, and then it actually started raining and things got even sloppier than my handball. Plus, my arm was quite tired from handball the day before, and while I know throwing is almost all wrist, I just couldn't get it to go more than fifty yards without turning over and blading down into my receiver. We won 16 or 17-3. Also, one guy on my team decided he could just throw it to me whenever he wanted and I would catch it, which was pretty freaking awesome. I would be covered and he'd just put it up anyway, and because I was playing against people who didn't quite know what was going on, I got some pretty sweet highlight reel catches. There's nothing to build a short guy's self-esteem like skying taller players at frisbee, no matter how bad they are.
I returned home drenched and ambivalent about studying. Also, while I knew to be cautious about the fruit at Aldi, it hit home again recently when I bought pears. They were on the green side, I admit. I figured they'd ripen eventually and it would be fine. I had bananas too, so I'd eat those first and by the time they were gone the pears would be ready. Nope! The pears started turning fuzzy WHILE STILL GREEN. Stupid pears. So I am eating crunchy pears. Crunchy, moldy pears. Delightful.
When I write or study I like to listen to classical music. It keeps me focused, blocks out distractions, and doesn't distract me like music with lyrics does. Interestingly, though I know almost nothing about classical music, I do know what I don't like. I don't like violin concertos. Do you know how many violin concertos there are? Too many. Way too many. As far as I can tell, it's violin concertos all the way down. (Turtles got nothin' on violin concertos (extra points for recognizing the reference).) But I do have a couple of composers I like. It's even gotten to the point where I can recognize them most of the time! The guy I made a pandora station of a while ago is Edouard Lalo. Unfortunately, you know what else he composed other than sweet orchestral arrangements that get me pumped up and ready to write? You guessed it. Stupid violin solos/concertos/garbage.
That's all for tonight. I have to eat and read some, and maybe even study for that quiz. Thanks for reading!
PS: I also passed this guy:
I'm not trying to knock him. I think he's awesome. Just wanted to share because it made me grin. Later!
Oh crap, I forgot some stuff!
So I foreshadowed my dietary difficulties earlier in the post and then forgot to mention the fact that I went to a lunch meeting today where they served unlimited pasta with chicken and pesto and/or tomato sauce with sausage. I had three helpings, which by itself is more than I should have had, and then they offered dessert. I haven't had trouble declining dessert recently, but this time they said it came with the opportunity to score more points (redeemable for amazon gift cards), so I needed at least the sticker on the packaging. So I got some cookies and then I realized the points they were offering were just the same as the points offered via promotional emails, but by then it was too late. I ate the cookies, and boy how I've missed sugar! Usually I fall asleep in torts (or close to it), but I felt awake for the whole thing. Maybe that's where the dessert idea came from. There's that inevitable post-meal crash, but the temporary sugar jolt gets you over the hump just long enough so that the only crash you get is the one coming down off the sugar (perhaps less?) I don't know. All I know is that I got paid around $15 in amazon gift cards to eat pasta for 45 minutes today. My plan was then to go home and nap, but Brian texted me to play handball, so I did that on a too-full stomach instead. Tomorrow is another lunch meeting, and then handball again, and then I promised the handball people I'd go out with them... So I guess there's that. And now I have homework. So I guess there's that too. Thanks again!
What's that? More self-observations that obviously can't hold water because my perspective can't be separated sufficiently to provide any semblance of objectivity? You bet!
So, as most of these sections seem to start, I was talking with someone who doesn't like to see their name in my blog when somehow the subject of my annoying characteristics came up. After exhausting the standards (too removed and calculating, ultra-defensive, etc.), something a bit surprising came up. Apparently I am frustrating when I am nice, especially to my significant others. I didn't know what to say. I mean, I had noticed that trend, but I assumed it was just odd reactions on their part. How could they get mad at me for trying to do things for them? This theory was put forward, and it makes some sense, but I obviously can't say anything conclusive as I am far too close to the situation to be unbiased: I am a self-reliant, stoic-seeming sort of person. People in a relationship with me know this, and (according to my source) this makes them think I expect that of them. So when I do things for them (and they think I expect them to do things for themselves), that means I am saying they can't do something for themselves. So it becomes a sort of condescension. A "I am self-reliant, so you must be self-reliant, but here, let me do that for you since you obviously need help" sort of thing. I have been rebuked a fair number of times when trying to do little things like that, and it always puzzled me. The story about giving unwanted bicycling cautions springs to mind yet again, but so does a time in Toronto where I offered to throw away some trash and was harshly cut off with "I can do that myself!" Years and years ago the same thing happened with my first girlfriend, when I went out of my way to buy her a smoothie when I knew she had a bad day. She refused it, and got even more upset that I was trying to cheer her up. When I planned an elaborate valentines day it only got worse, and things ended soon after. It's nice to have a theory to work from at the very least, whether it's 100% accurate or not.
I had some time to think about this (I always seem to have time to think about these sorts of things. Sleep is overrated.) and I tried to figure out why I do things for other people at all. I mean, it's not like I think chivalry is even a good thing in and of itself! I don't think there's any inherent reason men should open doors for women, any reason we should pay for things, or whatever the stereotypical gentleman does (carry boomboxes back to dorm rooms, etc.). But when I was first starting a relationship, I was clueless. I didn't know what my role was, and I knew it made her smile when I did little things like that. So from then on, whenever an opportunity presented itself, I did the following little thought exercise: I asked myself if whatever it was would really be difficult for me to do. If the answer was no, then I just did it. So I open doors for people, even though I don't really think there's any reason to do so. Next, if it was something slightly inconvenient, I briefly weighed whatever it was against the probability of making the person happy while factoring in how much I cared about the person. (So if there was a moderate chance of making a person happy that I cared about, I would do something more inconvenient for myself than if there was a sure chance of making someone happy I cared less about.) So I bought things for people. I paid for things when I could, because I liked knowing they would appreciate it, and thought it far outweighed the inconvenience, even though I still didn't think it was my job or even something a person has to do even if they were trying to be a good person. I think being a good person goes way beyond things like that, and chivalry is uncalled for. But I did it anyway because it didn't really cost me anything I cared about relative to the effect I anticipated it having.
I don't know if this makes a lot of sense. If it does, perhaps it goes even more to explaining why people in a relationship with me start to resent me doing things for them, because if they know I'm just doing it because I expect them to appreciate it, it puts pressure back on them to acknowledge it or feel like they are slighting me in some way. Now, obviously I would say that is unnecessary, that as long as it makes them happier, it doesn't matter that they explicitly thank me, but I do recall many times where I used little things I did as examples for how I was putting effort into the relationship, when the whole premise was that I did those things because it didn't cost me hardly anything compared to the positive outcome that resulted. But when doing things stops even leading to positive outcomes, starts annoying the person I'm doing them for, then I am in for trouble. Not to say that's why my last relationship ended. I still don't have that figured out to my satisfaction. But it sure is interesting how other perspectives can spark crazy paradigm-altering realizations. Not that there's anything I can really do now. I'm not even sure if I would want to change. But that's a thing that would have to be discussed, I suppose, with whoever I had reason to discuss it with. For now, it's just another observation/fact/whatchamacallit to store away and reference if it becomes relevant.
This post picks up Friday, when I was planning on grocery shopping but missed my opportunity when the store closed earlier than I thought. So I was faced with the options of either biking a few more miles out of my way in the cold and rain, going home and eating nothing, or going home and eating peanut butter, or breaking my diet. So I went home and ate a bunch of cheese-stuffed pasta. It was delicious. Unfortunately, it was also the start of a slippery slope. I woke up early and went to the store so I could make breakfast. I had been looking for a good time to break a hundred dollar bill, but every time I go it feels like I'm in line with people who are using food stamps and stuff, not to mention the fact that there are always interesting-looking characters loitering outside. So I figured if I went early in the morning maybe there wouldn't be a crowd. This was sort of accurate, but the other side-effect of going early in the morning is that there isn't enough change in the drawer for a hundred, so the lady had to call her manager from the back to make change, which then made a line form behind me, which then meant all sorts of people were watching as she handed me a bunch of cash. I know I'm paranoid, and that there probably wasn't anything to be worried about in the first place, but it was still a bit of a relief to hear her do the exact same thing for the person two places behind me in line. It's sort of like when I'm biking on a busy road and I'm not sure the cars are going to be looking out for bicycles. I always feel better after I pass someone, because my brain goes "well, at least if they're going to hit a biker, it will probably be him before me, and if they see him, they'll at least be aware there's a possibility of seeing me later." So obviously nothing happened and I biked back to my apartment with my food where I made more egg and cheese biscuits. Those things are addictive, but I always make sure I have honey and strawberry preserves on the last biscuit. Who needs dessert when you can put that combination in your mouth? I killed time, because I was supposed to go to Midway where I'll be playing league at 11:30. Then a guy texted me at 10:30 saying there wasn't anyone to play and asked if I could make it. I said I was on my way, and then immediately went the wrong way. See, the location of the YMCA was a mystery, but I knew it was across the river on University, so I set out the way I normally go to class. That was somehow the opposite way I was supposed to go, so my route wound up being very circuitous. As a bonus, I now know where a few more of the major bike paths go. The network is pretty fantastic. If I want to take the most direct route between my place and Midway I can just bike down the major street (bike lane for most of it) near my house, and then turn onto University after I cross the river. But if I want to take bike paths I have that option too. Or if I start off the wrong way and have to double back there is a really nice one, where I found some skiers:
.JPG)
This is one aspect of my phone that I think is pretty awesome. You can access the camera at any time, and to take a picture you can just point the phone at the target and click the volume control on the headphones! So you don't have to worry about stabilizing the camera while also pressing the screen of the camera. You can just point and take pictures as fast as possible and hope one turns out! I did the same thing with some rowers I saw while I was biking over Mississippi river bridge in heavy traffic. I couldn't point the camera and also use my other hand to hit the camera button while directing its lens over my shoulder, but I sure could point it in the general direction with one hand and spam the volume control shutter button and cross my fingers. Of course, the rowers were still pretty far away, but if you know what you're looking for, you can pick them out:
.JPG)
Most people had left the building at that point, but there was still a father-son duo looking for doubles, so I stuck around and played with whoever else didn't mind. That lasted three more games with two more partners, and that was the part where I stopped really caring and just hit whatever from whatever position. Sloppy. Then I biked home, and since I had biked the wrong way there, I was surprised to realize my route took me right past some amazing restaurants. And it's not even like I know what good restaurants around here are. I've been to like three total, but the best pizza I've had was at a place on this route, and I came incredibly close to stopping. I told myself I didn't need to spend money on that when I had just bought groceries, but in reality I should have just stopped. I was starving, it sounded amazing, and I don't really eat pizza because it's usually after 5:00 by the time I would want it, or it looks really greasy. I'm stopping next time, and that's that.
I went home intent on studying. Or rather, I went home resigned to studying. As mentioned above, that didn't work out. Instead, I alternated between falling asleep out of boredom and looking over notes wondering why I needed to memorize things I felt I already knew conceptually. Then I told myself I would just do a good job the next day.
The next day, as surprising as this may seem, was not any more appealing than the previous. Plus, it was raining and cold out. This would have been a great reason to stay inside and study, but there was frisbee to be played, so I departed on bike and arrived already damp. It stayed decently tolerable for the first half and a bit of the second, and then it actually started raining and things got even sloppier than my handball. Plus, my arm was quite tired from handball the day before, and while I know throwing is almost all wrist, I just couldn't get it to go more than fifty yards without turning over and blading down into my receiver. We won 16 or 17-3. Also, one guy on my team decided he could just throw it to me whenever he wanted and I would catch it, which was pretty freaking awesome. I would be covered and he'd just put it up anyway, and because I was playing against people who didn't quite know what was going on, I got some pretty sweet highlight reel catches. There's nothing to build a short guy's self-esteem like skying taller players at frisbee, no matter how bad they are.
I returned home drenched and ambivalent about studying. Also, while I knew to be cautious about the fruit at Aldi, it hit home again recently when I bought pears. They were on the green side, I admit. I figured they'd ripen eventually and it would be fine. I had bananas too, so I'd eat those first and by the time they were gone the pears would be ready. Nope! The pears started turning fuzzy WHILE STILL GREEN. Stupid pears. So I am eating crunchy pears. Crunchy, moldy pears. Delightful.
When I write or study I like to listen to classical music. It keeps me focused, blocks out distractions, and doesn't distract me like music with lyrics does. Interestingly, though I know almost nothing about classical music, I do know what I don't like. I don't like violin concertos. Do you know how many violin concertos there are? Too many. Way too many. As far as I can tell, it's violin concertos all the way down. (Turtles got nothin' on violin concertos (extra points for recognizing the reference).) But I do have a couple of composers I like. It's even gotten to the point where I can recognize them most of the time! The guy I made a pandora station of a while ago is Edouard Lalo. Unfortunately, you know what else he composed other than sweet orchestral arrangements that get me pumped up and ready to write? You guessed it. Stupid violin solos/concertos/garbage.
That's all for tonight. I have to eat and read some, and maybe even study for that quiz. Thanks for reading!
PS: I also passed this guy:
Oh crap, I forgot some stuff!
So I foreshadowed my dietary difficulties earlier in the post and then forgot to mention the fact that I went to a lunch meeting today where they served unlimited pasta with chicken and pesto and/or tomato sauce with sausage. I had three helpings, which by itself is more than I should have had, and then they offered dessert. I haven't had trouble declining dessert recently, but this time they said it came with the opportunity to score more points (redeemable for amazon gift cards), so I needed at least the sticker on the packaging. So I got some cookies and then I realized the points they were offering were just the same as the points offered via promotional emails, but by then it was too late. I ate the cookies, and boy how I've missed sugar! Usually I fall asleep in torts (or close to it), but I felt awake for the whole thing. Maybe that's where the dessert idea came from. There's that inevitable post-meal crash, but the temporary sugar jolt gets you over the hump just long enough so that the only crash you get is the one coming down off the sugar (perhaps less?) I don't know. All I know is that I got paid around $15 in amazon gift cards to eat pasta for 45 minutes today. My plan was then to go home and nap, but Brian texted me to play handball, so I did that on a too-full stomach instead. Tomorrow is another lunch meeting, and then handball again, and then I promised the handball people I'd go out with them... So I guess there's that. And now I have homework. So I guess there's that too. Thanks again!
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