• Category Archives School

  • “Whenever I feel like exercise I lie down until the feeling passes” Robert Maynard Hutchins

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    Ow. Ow. Ow.

    I’m not really in that much pain, but my lower legs are definitely sore. Yesterday, in my “Concepts of Physical Fitness” class, we were baselining our VO2max and had to walk (1mile) or run (1.5miles) to get this baseline. Of the thirty person class, two of us chose to run. I was supposed to only run around the building about five and a half times, but I think I ran six and a half. Oops. Lost track. Even so, with the time I ran, my fitness is considered “good” – of which I’m pretty glad. I haven’t been running at all, so to be able to complete this I felt good about my physical fitness (for my age *cough* *cough*).

    That being said, I was more or less stoned from exhaustion yesterday. I didn’t realize it until I made it over to Guitar Center to buy more strings. When I had gotten home, I had immediately tried to complete stringing up the J. I quickly realized that I had cut three of the strings wrong, and that is what was causing my intonation problems. But, I had no strings left. So, to Guitar Center I went. One of the GC guys attempted to strike up a conversation about Reverend Horton Heat (I was wearing a RHH shirt) but I was so exhausted that I could barely do more than nod and shrug my shoulders. From there I went to Whole Foods around the corner and found this:

    monty_ale

    Came home and finished stringing up the J. Around seven thirty, I laid down and attempted to sleep. So I slept until about eight forty five this morning. That’s a lot of sleep for me.

    Oddly, this will be the first true holiday weekend that I’ve had in about five years. My Saturday class is cancelled, and so are my Monday classes. Time for more coffee. Need to read some Chemistry – maybe later.

    Forgot – I’m supposed to be getting a *free* treadmill tomorrow from my ex-mother-in-law.


    Guitar School 📎and tagged

  • “Ambition is a lust that is never quenched, but grows more inflamed and madder by enjoyment.” Thomas Otway

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    I had my Endoscopy (follow up) today – the Dr says that there’s no inflammation, and didn’t even stretch (dilate) my esophagus. He said there’s enough room, and things are looking good.

    Still have to puff on Flovent twice daily and still taking Nexium. Feeling good. The anesthesiologist gave me propofol, so of course I was obliged to make jokes about touching small boys and being able to do the moonwalk. That’s pretty trippy. It burns, then you sleep. Then you wake up in another room.

    You’re not supposed to drive after you’ve taken it and while I can’t say that I was foggy, things would slip my memory. Like what I said last to the anesthesiologist before passing out….

    The Iceman is just an absolute killer guitar. It’s an all around player. I’m not even afraid to mess with the Floyd – I understand it now (and have a book to help me out) so I need to change the strings on the guitar. Need to study first.

    This school thing is turning out well. It’s nice to have Labor Day weekend off – I’ve got a quiz tomorrow in Government. We’ll see how that goes……


    Guitar School 📎and tagged

  • “Bicycles are almost as good as guitars for meeting girls” Bob Weir

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    Those bastards laugh at the green hair, until all the pretty girls come talk to ME

    Muaaaahahahahaha!!!

    All part of my evil plan.

    Now that I’ve got an all day Chemistry class on Saturdays, I probably need to be sleeping right now….uh….yeah….sleeping.

    Oops.

    Going back to school…….makes me have so much in common with the young folk of today.

    Example:

    My teacher (who is probably only 10-15 years older than me)

    Teacher: Does anyone know why the death of Michael Jackson is so important?

    Me: Anyone who was alive in the 80’s knows why Michael Jackson was so important…

    Dude (kid) sitting behind me: Man, if I was alive in the 80’s I wouldn’t be listening to that – I’d be listening to Testament. Metal!

    Me: Uh….only in the late 80’s.

    This kid was probably born the year I graduated high school. Now THAT is depressing.


    School 📎and tagged

  • “The reactions from people when they see our stuff is always positive. Wherever we go, people seem to be drawn to us. It feels so good. It makes me feel like maybe I’ve made the right choice,” Sharon Hill

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    I picked up my Chemistry book today – again, I’m relieved that I made the right choice.

    Reading through it, it’s more “interesting” and I don’t have that sinking feeling.

    I’m still waiting for three books that were ordered from a separate campus last week – and have yet to be delivered. I’ve already ordered them at textbooks.com, so I should get the remainder in tomorrow.

    My guitar shipped today, and I should be getting it in a few days. Hopefully I can request a pickup at the UPS hub on Tuesday. *crosses fingers*

    I need to update my guitar page – I’ve acquired a bit of gear.


    Guitar School 📎and tagged

  • “Before you try to convince anyone else, be sure you are convinced, and if you cannot convince yourself, drop the subject.” John H. Patterson

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    Alright – my first class dropped.
    I was able to sneak into a Saturday Chemistry class (one of my core requirements) and drop the logic class. The logic class was probably going to be interesting, but I could tell that from the first two chapters that I would be pretty buried. It didn’t help at all that the teacher was not tremendously orgainized. Quote, “I’m not going to be a teacher, but more of a coach…..well, I’ll teach also but….”  Nothing was really laid out too well (at least not to my liking) so that I could expect relatively what was going to happen.  After experiencing this, my history and government classes seem very easy. So, I did manage to find the Chemistry class – while I’m not super excited about it being on a Saturday, it just means that I only have to take four more classes for my Associate’s degree – then I can transfer into University of Texas Arlington.

    Having had the previous experience of bombing classes, I know better now when to cut and run. There’s a difference between sighing because of the workload, and having a horrendous sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach that you’ve made a terrible, terrible mistake.  Last night was one of those nights in the Logic class. Since I was taking it to fill an elective spot (foolish me), I did visit with the academic counselor yesterday so that I could fully understand what I was doing.  I pretty much just jumped into it all without looking too closely, but that logic class was a little too close to the edge.

    Maybe if I had been in school more recently, I could have handled it, but having not been in school in about thirteen years,  overwhelming myself is not a good plan.
    All in all, I’m very happy with the choice I made – I did it before it was too late, and I’m still on my way.
    The music class should be fun.


    Guitar School 📎and tagged

  • “Education is the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty.” Mark Twain

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    SO – How was the first day at school?
    Not as nerve wracking as I expected it to be.  While it is assumed that I’m some punk “kid” because of my green hair (which did go over very well by the way) I know that I’m a little less than twice the age of most of these kids. It’s definitely nice to have this kind of perspective – every single class had a “get to meet you” and the majority of the kids in there sounded just like me when I was their age: “I don’t know what I want to do/be”

    [UNDECIDED]

    So it’s nice to at least kind of know what it is I’m going to do.

    Current plan: Xfer to UTA and get a degree in music production/recording.  Couldn’t hurt.
    My classes seem pretty straight forward. The “Concepts of Physical Education” I’m kind of looking forward to. It’s being taught by a track teacher and he said we can work out however we want to. I’m already working out four times a week – so this should bump it up a bit. Not sure how the information is being graded though in his class. The other two classes are pretty self explanatory.
    Sooooo…..I probably need to be practicing guitar right now, but unfortunately, I’m not. I made a semi-mistake on eBay and ended up snagging a J Yuenger sig model Ibanez…..that will be pretty much like the guitar that I’m having custom painted right now….to look like a sig model J Yuenger guitar. My “custom” won’t have a floyd rose, but the sig model probably needs to be repainted anyway.  Apparently it was damaged when being shipped to the current owner and he had it airbrushed. You can see it in the photo which looks a little blue/green right by the knobs and the stars are a little more shiny – which is probably why I got such a good deal on it.  Depending on how well my “custom” is coming out,  I may send the sig model to him to redo the entire front. We’ll see when it comes in.

    !BYs4Ou!B2k~$(KGrHgoOKisEjlLl5Pu2BKi-gT!fog~~_35

    *sigh*


    Guitar School 📎and tagged

  • “May you have warmth in your igloo, oil in your lamp, and peace in your heart” Eskimo Proverb

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    Sundays appear to be good days to update. Again, I’m not sure why.

    I’ve got a student coming over in about an hour and a half – and I’ll be giving another guitar lesson.

    Yesterday, my brother picked me up and we went to a small get together with some of his friends from school – I’m a at good place in my life, and didn’t feel as …..inferior….. as I normally do. Over time, I’m finally getting to the conclusion that as long as I’m happy with what I’m doing, then the rest falls into place. We drove around a bunch in Ft Worth and went to the stockyards. My green hair went over pretty well there – in a lot of ways it was like being in Houston. The really “square” folks stared – everyone else pretty much ignored me. It was definitely a fun time – Ross’ buddies are all pretty quick on the draw.

    School starts tomorrow. All my credits have been accounted for. After I finish this 13 hours this semester, I’ll only need four more classes to get an Associates Degree. I’m not stopping there though – I’m going to transfer into the college around the corner and go for a degree in Music Business/Recording. Not quite sure of all the different parts of it, but that’s the plan. Having the plan is good enough right now.


    Guitar School 📎and tagged

  • “I’ve never let my school interfere with my education.” Mark Twain

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    Holy crap.

    I’m glad I delved a little more deeply into all the school stuff…..

    I just ordered all my books online (!), checked a message board for one of my classes (!) where the entire class syllabus, exams and study guides were posted (!).

    Unbefreaking—- anyway.

    “Back in the Day”….this was ALL manual. The stuff was stored at the library….registering for classes was a bitch, then you had to get your “book list” the first day of class…..THEN go buy them.

    These kids don’t know how good they have it now.

    At least I’ve got SOME computer skills, the setup is good (not great) and so you end up having to manuver around a bit to find everything.

    I did finally pick up my parking permit – got to go back Friday and pick up all my boooooks.

    Little nervous about it all.

    I’m sure I’ll do fine…..


    School 📎and tagged

  • “How many people make themselves abstract to appear profound. The most useful part of abstract terms are the shadows they create to hide a vacuum.” Joseph Joubert

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    I wish I had something interesting to report.

    Things are kind of slow when my daughter isn’t around, and my green hair only entertains me so much. I hear from my lawyer that I will need to go back to blonde before the probate hearing. Yay me. Then it’s back to green.

    Being unemployed is a little surreal. It will be good to go back to school, giving me a daily goal (wake up, go to school, repeat).

    I’m using a book that teaches fretboard logic – and it’s working very well for me. I’m really happy with it.

    Picked up a ton of $2 bills at the bank today. I wiped them out. Why? Why not? It’s legal US currency – it’s time to reintroduce it into circulation. C’mon people! Do your part!

    Going to have a parent/teacher conference tamale. Little one made “student of the hour” last week – of which I am extremely proud. The things you do for your kids…..

    She’s enjoying the whole process which is awesome. This is exactly what she needed. I can enthusiastically endorse Sylvan Learning Center.

    Am considering doing the P90X program – my insurance agent/guitar teacher does it and he loves it.

    I’m trying to use every Category that I have…..here we go – I’m close.

    Installed a new toilet the other day – life is so much better with a new toilet. Don’t underestimate the power of a new toilet.

    Speaking of humor….just kidding. I honestly have had more conversations with this hair than I can count. People say the oddest things. Which is great, because it’s sharpening my response skills.

    “Which came first, the chicken? Or the egg?”


    Guitar School 📎and tagged

  • “Some fellows get credit for being conservative when they are only stupid” Kin Hubbard

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    I’m pretty excited.

    I talked to someone else at the school and they think that my credits from (a long, long, long) long time ago will still apply which may mean that I’m still a sophomore. I am totally excited that this may be the case – which may mean that I’ve only got about 12 hours for an Associate of Arts, that I’ll transfer to UTA and “make something of myself”.

    Still pretty freaking excited.

    Can’t wait to quit work too. 😉


    School 📎and tagged