Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Long Time!

The last time I blogged was in January! Jesus what have I been doing with time?! Nothing! Really! Working 25 to 30 hours a week. Man thats tough as a server at Olive Garden. I don't know how I ever make it through a day. I've been playing a lot of xbox. Probably around 40 hours a week. I should get paid to play xbox and work at Olive Garden for fun. Wouldn't that be the life! Haven't been running much. I run about every other day. From the last count I have 140 sum odd days till I run the Leadville 100. I'm gonna die. I guess it is gonna happen sooner or later.

I really haven't done much of what I was hoping I'd be doing so far this year. I'm a slacker at my own goals. That's kind of crappy after I think about it. So lets not.

I've been reading a bit more lately. Usually at night when I'm getting ready for bed i'll read for 90 minutes or so. Way not on goal for my 52 books in a year but I think if I knocked down I could catch it. Best book I've read this year so far has been Paper Towns by John Green. You should read it.

I have this awesome idea for a video I am going to make. I even bought a pretty sweet outfit for it. I know the only time I ever go shopping is for a ridiculous outfit but you know you would too. Ok well i'm getting sleepy and i have 11.5 hours left to stay up till I can go to bed. I'm gonna go eat and drink some coffee. Maybe play xbox or read or both at the same time.

Chau Chau,

Stra10

Friday, January 8, 2010

Post Grad Post Grad

Again here I sit 1:30am writing my days happenings of being a Post Grad. Not to exciting but I enjoyed myself to the fullest. I woke up this morning and instead of getting up and doing something productive I got on facebook. I then proceed with uploading more photos from Chile and putting all my Patagonia pictures on Photobucket.com you can check them out here!.

(Skip the whole Next Paragraph it's a rant!)
When I went for my run today I was reminded of when I was pulled over by a State Trouper on new years eve 4pm in nowhere wv. The jackwad police officer came to the conclusion that me and my two other friends in the car had illegal drugs and firearms. We were told to get out of the car with a gun drawn, while 3 other cruisers showed up. My 1984 Honda accord was then searched and the K9 unit was called in and we were all what I would like to call cavity searched but legally I guess was one step away. We were all let go with and I was given a warning not to roll through any more stop signs. Yeah sure! This is where my hatred for all officers of the law stem from. I have never really liked them. I feel that all are stupid pricks for lack of wanting to really explain my true feelings. There are a few exceptions but they are just exceptions. I know that most of their prickness comes from their traning and their over exaggerated sense of being in control of the situation. Maybe if they thought them people skills they would be better at their jobs or maybe if there wasn't 600 of them in a county that only has 10,000 people in it.

Earlier today we (my mom, sister, and I) went out to walmart. Mom needed to return tire chains and my sister wanted a daily planner and 2010 calendar. After eating at subway I went looking for my mom when I ran into my dad with the autistic kid that he works with. He likes to look at things up close. Very Close! So we mimicked him. It's kind of amazing what you can see up close. Try it sometime. The first thing I examined was my subway cup. I don't know how to explain what it looked like up close but it was different.

Also I bought a 400 dollar Bowflex dumbbell set. I know crazy! I was actually trying to go back but somehow submit the order. Oh well I guess it's time to get ripped now. Best part about it all is that I can make payments on them for the next 40 months. Thats almost two years.

I didn't start my second book yet. I'm gonna read The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I am pretty sure I've read most of it but never finished it. In fact I think it was the book I was reading when my College trig told me that I was going to fail out of college and then make nothing out of myself. I then made a bet with him that he was wrong and that when I graduated I would take him out to dinner. Little did I know I need a job. So after I get a job i'll take him to dinner. But now I just have to make something of myself to prove him wrong on his whole prediction.

Oh what I would give to be 6 years younger again...

My Friend Raping at the Thanksgiving Dinner in Chile!


Stra10

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Where are you Chile?!?!

It's been almost a month since I have landed in the mother land! I've kept myself pretty busy with seeing plenty of friends and driving up and down the east coast getting into all sorts of trouble. It's slowly setting in that i'm unofficially officially a Post Grad. I feel like it's a good excuses to put my life on hold until I figure out what I want to do. I actually have lots of things I want to do but some of them require the passing of time to even start. Job huntington is a tad bit harder than I imagined. I would think it would be a lot easier to get a job that you didn't care about and could quit whenever you wanted but I guess i'm wrong. A friend pointed out that I wear my feelings on my winkles too much so me finding a job like that will never work for me. It's ok though. I don't like being dishonest or putting on a show! It's a down fall of mine...i know.

I made two new year resolutions! One of them I made with my friend Michael to run everyday in the month of January. For those that know us probably find that a tad of an under achieving new year resolution but we didn't want to aim to high. You know you can't go failing at something right in the beginning of the new year or else it just sets up the rest of your year to be a failure. We have the same goal for this spring! 4:02 but mine is for the 1500 and his is for the mile! 4:02 gets me to a time that I was told I would never be able to run and for Michael that is the qualifying time for D3 nationals..

My Second new year resolution is to read a book a week. Now by day 3 of my new year resolution I was told by more than one person that it was impossible and that I should name an amount of pages I was going to read a week so that way I wouldn't shy away from bigger books and not get discouraged. Well to those that think I am going to fail I have one thing to tell you. Suck Off! I will read a book a week and even though i'm behind right now I will catch up and by this time next week I will have two books read and a third one its way. Thank You Very Much! Don't tell me I can't do shit......

I think i'll keep you guys post on my day to day or days to days post grad activities. Like today I went and interviewed at Olive Garden. And then afterward I walked into a computer repair shop and asked for a part time job. I got the job at Olive Garden and I start on the 18th. And I think the computer repair place will give me a call here in a day or two. I think it went well. Afterwards I went and got some of my favorite pizza. Stopped by my dads. And then drove in a blizzard doing the speed limit.... My day also started with a nice 60 minute run with a friend from Saint Marys.

Ok Well Talk to you later!

Stra10

Friday, October 30, 2009

Friday Night Update

Hola Everyone! Well whats up? Not much here. Just sitting in my room listening to Love Song Meets Viva La Vida. Love that song. Listen to it while you read the rest of this here!

So the other day in class I was thinking. Well not thinking about class but still thinking! And I was thinking that I'm about six+ years away from my physical prime but how far away am I from my mental prime?!?! So I went out and scowered the internet looking for some answers and I have yet to find what i'm looking for. But no so I am creating a list of skills I want to acquire in my life time so I can keep that thing between my ears working like a well oiled machine. Here are some of them:

Chess - Master Level
Piano - Debussy Clair de Lune
Guitar - Just want to Jam
Math - Solve most partial differential equations
Spanish - Fluent
Chinese - Fluent
English - Larger Vocabulary
Hindi - General Knowledge
Reading - 500+ wpm with 80% comprehension
Dancing - Traditional world Dances (Waltz, Tango, Salsa, etc...)
Reading - 20 books a year (would love to do 52 a year)
Programming - Oh lord it's gonna be my life one day

Thats all I have right now for skills I want to aquire. I really had a hard time not putting stuff like sailing, and sky diving, and all that kind of stuff I want to do. Ok well I kind of have sugar headache from all the candy my parents sent me for my birthday. I love CANDY! And now I just ate the rest of my birthday torta! Yeah I'm gonna be sick. Ok well till next time have fun.

Love This Song


Stra10

Monday, October 26, 2009

Friday Night Update

Hello My Audience of 3! I say 3 only because I have 3 followers. I know more than 3 of you read this or at least I hope more than 3 people do. But lets see what i've done since we last....

And 3 days later.....i start to finish this once again!

I am just forcing my self to sit down and pound these keys! You would think that this would be easy but it isn't. I have all the time in the world right now to do whatever I want but I have the hardest time finding time to do anything. Blame it on my scatter brain.

Since the last we talked I have traveled to the Atacama Desert, battle a serious episode of diarrhea (Peptibismol does not work) and yesterday I turned 24! Woohooo for getting old. Actually I am not old yet and probably never will be.

My Spanish is improving. Imagine that! However the better it gets the more I find I can't say. It's a never ending viscous circle. Talking with the Chileans is what is making it improve the most. Speaking spanish with another gringos I find is more of a "Hey look my Spanish is better than yours talent show!" Not everyone is like that but for the majority I think it holds true. I have just found that the Chileans are more willing to help you say something correctly than just tell you how you said it wrong. But it makes sense, there is more reward for a Chilean if they take their time to teach you something because then they also get to practice their English. But anyway.....

I got one month of classes left and then two weeks in Patagonia. I have a lot of stuff to buy for my backpacking trip. It's ok. It will be worth it. The weather here has been so nice. Like today it was 81 degrees without a cloud in the sky. So when there is such nice weather I go for a run. I have ran 3 days in a row now. And if I ran here in a bit that will be 4 days in a row. And if I run 5 days in a row that will be a record for running consecutively in Chile for me. And I plan on running leadville....psssh!

Alright well I'm gonna get off here and head off for a run. But look out on youtube for a new video within the week and I'll upload my pictures from the Atacama and the soccer game tomorrow night. Until next time.....

Enjoy


Stra10

Monday, October 12, 2009

The Internet is Time Consuming

I'm just slightly annoyed with the internet right now. I feel like all I do is a bunch of nothing with it. I didn't update on Friday because i was at a secluded beach called "Laguna Verde las Docas" out in the middle of nowhere Chile! It was amazing.

I have made a lot of plans since the last time I updated. This coming Thursday I am headed to the Atacama desert up north. The Atacama is one of the driest deserts in the world. Google that stuff. I'm headed up there for 6 days. I don't know if I'll have internet so it might be another week without a Friday Night Update! I promise I'll make up for missing them somehow.

On Wednesday I'm going to watch Chile vs. Ecuador. This past Saturday Chile beat Columbia to qualifies for the Soccer World Cup. All of Chile celebrated like it was a new year after they qualified. I have never seen such a site after a sporting event. I really think that how much the people of Chile are into soccer is bad for their health. If they would have lost depression would have fell upon this nation like a dark and pungent cold. It's the first time Chile is making it in the last 8 years. The World Cup is only held every 4 years just like the Olympics. Some statistics say that more people watch the World Cup than the Olympics. I doubt it.

Oh and at the end of my study abroad trip I am head to the Patagonia for two weeks. Going there with 3 other friends we are going to hike on glaciers, capture penguins, and swim with wild Orkas (killer whales). I need to buy a sleeping bag and a backpack for the trip. So anyone that knows a little something about backpacking in the wild should give me suggestions. I need something cheap! I was looking at the Osprey backpacks.

Ok I feel like I am full of just ramble. These are the photos from the beach trip this weekend.

And here are the photos from the Independence of Chile!

Here are the pictures my Chilean mom took of me running in a 10k!

I'd take these stairs!


Stra10

Friday, October 2, 2009

Friday Night Update!

Hola Chicos! This is Friday, October 2nd 2009! And well today I spent the day out in the country side visiting vineyards! It was fantastic being where they make some of the greatest wines in the world. Also the weather was perfect. I'd say like mid 70's with lots of sun. The day was just perfect and easy going and laid back and I might have been a tad drunk.... I couldn't have asked for anything better! It was my friends' Tucker 21st and what better way to spend it in a foreign country tastings some of the most expensive wines with four friends!

We went to two vineyards! The first was Emiliana. Emiliana is an all organic vineyard. Now typically I'm pretty skeptical of places and things that say they are all organic. I didn't search every nook and granny but i'm going to go out on a limb and say they are legit. From what I understood they are the only vineyard in Chile that is certified organic. And by organic they mean they use animal manure, no pesticides, and no additives like nitrates and such to give the wine a better taste or color. I really could taste the difference even in the cheap $5 dollar bottle I split with a friend. We probably spent a good three or more hours here. We first went on a tour of their vineyards. I found it very interesting that aisle of grape vines running east to west are the ones for white wine. And the ones running north to south are for red wines. It makes sense after you think about it but I would have never guessed. Guess I could never be a wine-o. We also got to see their fertilizing machines! A herd of alpacas. They look like lamas... I would say they were just lamas but our tour guide insisted they were alpacas. I'm calling them lamas. We saw a herd of lamas! Then we had a lesson on how to be professional wine tasters. Our tour guide and his counter part were amazing. Super friendly and their english was really good but we had them speak Spanish for the most part. And then we had lunch on the patio in the sun in the foot hills of the andes mountains and talked about life, love and everything! Yes there was a girl with us! Buy anyway their website is here! The best wine they have however you can't buy in the US. Which just means you have to come to Chile now! It's worth it I promise.

The second vineyard we casually strolled two under a canopy of blue after a bottle wine and a lunch of pan, queseo, y palta was Veramonte. Veramonte seemed to be a lot bigger vineyard. The wine house was huge and the atmosphere was a tad bit more business like. However, the lady that served us our wine was very sweet. I wanted her to be my friend in real life. The wine here wasn't my favorite but they did have an incredible white wine. We later found out that it is world renowned or so she said but I believe her. We didn't go on a tour of this vinyard but I'm kind of glad because it looked like it could be a long tour. I'm kind of bummed now that we didn't get to see the wine cellars at either place but oh well that just means I have to go back! We got to pick four wines to try for four dollars. God that really is a deal! But at the end of those four glasses of wine I was ready for a nap! We even contemplated it outside underneith in the shade of a tree. But we didn't. The website for Vernamonte is here!

The trip home was a tab bit difficult but fun. We had to stand on the side of the road and hitch hike for a bus! Sound dangerous doesn't it? Doesn't it! Well it was! Actually it wasn't. Not unless you think speeding buses are dangerous. I don't! It took us almost a good hour to flag down a bus that had five open seats for us. Finally we got a ride on a double decker with First Class airliner seates! It was the greatest bus ride of my life. In Chile tour buses (ex. greyhounds) have free wifi on them! Why doesn't the US have that? Come on! If the US did have that they'd charge for it too. Mc Donalds here has free wifi! Whats up with that? Anyway it was a wonderful Friday. And tomorrow I get to go sand boarding! It's like snowboarding but in the sand. And then on Sunday I am running in a 10k. If I can break 33 minutes I'll be in the running for the win. But i'm not gonna lie I am really out of shape. But now it's time to go out on the town. I hope you all have had a wonderful week and have an amazing weekend. I'll try to make a video this weekend of the trip to the vineyard. But here are the photos.

Perfect Video for Tonight!


Stra10