An update on the chaos

Halfway through the week that doesn't end, and yet it's flying by.

My artist management test, which was supposed to be Tuesday , got pushed back to tomorrow. I did, however, get a study guide for it, so I guess that works out well.

This morning I worked to get everything together for the SIFE video, and we got it all mailed out. Then it was off to Gotee, where I did some random stuff before leaving early to take... THE EXIT EXAM! (Duh duh duh)

The test itself was not very hard. I'm pretty confident I passed all three parts anyway, so thats all I can ask for.

Now, I must prepare for my strategic management and artist management tests tomorrow. The more important of the two is strategic, since I can review for the other during the Belmont tournament game tomorrow. Tip off is 1:55, in case you were wondering.

Can I just say that this is a great time for serial drama on TV? They pulled one of the biggest shockers on 24 this past week, Lost is gaining back its steam from the first two seasons, and even Grey's is decent. It's another week of reruns for The Office, though, so it's not all good.

Back in the Habit

And so now, after all the wonderfulness that was last week, I am back in Nashville. And it kind of sucks.

Yesterday was recover/homework/community group day. I didn't sleep as much as I wanted to; couldn't have if I'd tried (and I did). I got up to run this morning, and made it about a half mile before I got a terrible side ache. I walked for a minute or two, then picked back up running. This kept happening the rest of the time, except the aches came more and more frequently. So I only made it around 4 miles today. This week will, most definitely, be spent working my way back up to 6 miles, rather than maintaining it before some expansion of my off days (T/Th).

This week includes, by day:
Monday: Showdown, Music supervision project due (done)
Tuesday: Artist management test, Record company operations paper due
Wednesday: Gotee, Music business exit exam (just shooting to pass, that's all I need), Reverb
Thursday: Strategic Management test, Reverb
Friday: Gotee
Saturday: College of Business exit exam (graded and factored in to my strategic grade, but not required to pass to graduate), Reverb, dinner and laser tag with community group

Plus, all of this comes just as the NCAA tournament starts. What on earth are people thinking scheduling everything they can think of for the week after spring break? If I were a panda, PETA would be all over this. Animal cruelty.

Not everything is bad, though. I found out the PSA will be shown on four local TV stations in the near future! The local CBS, ABC, a CBS offshoot, and Comcast will be showing the commercial soon, and that makes me happy. Belmont has really gotten on board with the video, and has been pushing it to every contact they have. It's great and all, it just means that I'm the go-to guy for coordinating when people stuff for it, and that's one more thing on my plate. The whole project is nearing it's end, with our entries due to SIFE Friday. I need to write a few pages of info on that tonight...

Sometimes I wish I took more risks.

Ugh, I need to start on that SIFE stuff if I'm gonna get done in time for class and back-to-back episodes of 24 this evening...

Contra Dancing

Last night, I went Contra Dancing. For those that don't know what it is, it's folk dancing in lines and groups, and it involves a lot of spinning. Bascially, if you've seen the new Pride and Prejudice, it's like the dancing scene in the beginning of that (I think), with faster music and more spinning and much more "swinging" (not like swing dancing, but swinging like taking your partner or neighbor and swinging around in circles). It's definitely one of those things that you have to experience in order to understand, but it was much more enjoyable than I thought it would be. I would even say I had a good time with it, especially once I was ok with swinging (My apologies to Jess, Ashley, and every other woman there for my ineptitude, especially early on). I might even go again, which is a scary thought.

One of the funniest things of the night was a dance that I happened to sit out for. Ashely was dancing with a guy named Boots, a man in his 40s who had a massive manly beard and a long bandanna tied around his head. There was one part of the dance called the Gypsy Meltdown, where the partners walk in a tight circle, staring at each other, for four beats before going into a swing. Well Boots, if you hadn't guessed, is a very expressive and playful fellow, and he made some of the greatest faces at Ashley, who stared him down like a pro. I would have paid the $5 entrance fee just to watch those two go at it in their Gypsy Meltdowns.

I think I've either lost my touch or Matt has gotten much better at Tiger Woods. Either way, I lost 8 strokes over 12 holes yesterday, and that is simply unacceptable.

I now have a co-worker at Reverb on Saturdays (whose name, even though she's sitting 4 feet away, escapes me). She's on from 12-7, which means that I get to leave early! Every Saturday!

This afternoon I will be playing racquetball with the Gazebo boys, then going to the Belcourt to see Pan's Labyrinth with my housemates and Bland, then bowling with my community group. A full day if ever there was one (at least by my standards).

I am so glad Dwight came back. You have no idea. Although I thought they could have drug that storyline out a little longer. And Andy needs to go. STAT. He's served his purpose, provided some of the funniest moments of season three, but I would be shocked if he makes it through another three episodes.

AND WHAT THE FRICK DID JIM DO? He was screwed no matter how he answered that question because it took him much too long to respond. I really don't want Karen to leave, she's definitely grown on me, but I am interested to see how this all shakes down. I think they'll keep her around for the rest of the season, and the season finale Jim will have to choose (they can't have Pam choosing between Jim and Roy again, that would be lame). Or, maybe, the season will end with Dwight and Angela eloping.

Now that's good TV.

If you're planning on watching the first four episodes of 24, don't read the first paragraph

I missed the first two episodes of the new season of 24 on Sunday, so we watched all four hours of new episodes at Kurt and Tyler's last night. I figured this would be a good year, and I was not disappointed so far. I don't need to go into everything that happened, but I will say this: I figured they would detonate the nuke, that was expected. What I did not see coming and am still in shock over is Jack shooting Curtis! In the freaking neck! Seriously, that was ridiculous.



***NO MORE SPOILERS, IT'S SAFE TO READ***

Today has been pretty good overall. I had three classes, and they eached turned out to be at least mildly entertaining and actually relevant to my future career. Plus, I was at the Corner Court and had one of the most amazing desserts/snacks ever: A bar made of Golden Grahams, Oreos, chocolate, and marshmallows. Plus it was ginormous! Almost made it worth the $2.50 I paid for it.

I need to write a script for a public service announcement about piracy and file sharing, and I need to get it done by Thursday morning. When will this happen? I have no clue.

It is slowly becoming apparent to me just how much I need to figure out in the next several months. Most pressing: a job. Almost as pressing: a house. I think the housing situation may be more complicated and frustrating than employment, mostly because I have to make the decision rather than someone else deciding. Alot of people like to have control and perform their best when they can make the decisions that will effect them. I, on the other hand, would much rather have someone else in charge of my destiny. I mean, I'll make the decisions when they need to be made, but I think I'm better at following the instructions and desires of others. That probably goes along with my whole people-pleaser thing.

Wow, how did I end up there?

Beginning of the End

Today begins the last semester of my academic career.

Not that I actually had classes, mind you, but the semester did technically begin today. I spent my day at Gotee, getting reacquainted with how things work down there and discovering how things have changed. There are five people left who worked there a year ago, and one of them is leaving at the end of the month. Crazy. The new people seem real cool though, so the transition should be rather smooth.

I return to Reverb tonight. Oh joy! Oh rapture! I am apparently the inventory manager this semester or something like that, I'm not exactly sure. But that basically means that I get to tell them what they need to order, thus insuring that we don't end up without the big releases.

This Christmas Break was probably as perfect as I could have hoped. The first half was spent in MN, where I worked and hung out with my family. The only thing that could have made that better was more snow. The second half, back in Nashville, consisted of one of the truest stay-home vacation experiences ever. I have no regrets about how much or little I accomplished during the last two weeks. It's been incredibly refreshing.

I just realized that I have not mentioned how Children of Men turned out. Let me just say, you will be happy that you saw this movie, it is incredibly intense, well-made, and emotional. It's just great all around.

I've been watching some Grey's Anatomy this week with Jess, Kendra, and Julie. This is the first extended experience I've had with this show, and I can definitely see why people, particularly girls, can become addicted to it. It's extremely entertaining, and the characters and story-lines are well developed. Watching it though, I can't help but get frustrated with a lot of the characters from a guy's point of view, with complete jerks suddenly becoming charming and whatnot. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but I can't get through an episode without getting frustrated with the female mindset.

But that's just me.