Alright, here I go. Usually I just rant in my blogs about life, how things are going, etc, etc... Today I thought I'd try something different. Today I am going to attempt a themed blog.
The theme for today is f***ing Minnesota drivers!
Seriously, I can't even drive the twenty minutes to Luther Seminary without some asshole cutting me off, being almost run off the rode by some jerk off on a cell phone, or almost being hit by someone who can't figure out how to drive in their own lane. WTF!
I know people drive like jerks everywhere, but seriously people, leave your passive-aggressive bullshit at home when it comes to driving.
My favorite thing which happens often is when someone is driving 50 in a 55 in the fast lane and won't get over. Again WTF! Get your slow butt over into the slow lane and let me pass you. Please for the love of all that is good in this world, just get the hell out of peoples way!
I've had several discussions with people about their views on Minnesota drivers and all end up being bitch sessions about how sucky they are. Yes, I learned how to drive in Minnesota, I have a Minnesota drivers license, but if I'm going slower than the speed of traffic, I move the fuck over into the slower lanes. And despite what the general consensus might believe, it is really not that hard to do. You just flick the signal indicating that you are moving over to the another lane, wait for an opening and move over. It's really not as hard as people seem to think it is.
Here's one of my recent favorite stories about Minnesota drivers. This one happened to me.
I was driving home from working at The Limited this summer after working the closing shift. I was driving along and no one was on the road and then I came to an intersection where the one person other than myself on the road had a red light whereas I had a green light going straight (they were turning right). I was almost to the intersection to go across and this jackhole decided he had waited long enough for his light to turn green and cut me off. But here's the awesome part. As he proceeded to cut me off, he went so slow that I had to slam on my breaks, this had definite horrible accident potential. Good thing someone (myself) is paying attention. So I proceed to follow this individual until I can pass him and as I pass him, this asshole flicks me off. I mean a real fu finger. Hello does anyone else find this senario ridiculous?!
Things like this happen all the time; not just to me. I mean, if you really need to find that hairbrush in your bag which is sitting in the passangers seat on the highway (the speed limit being 55) to brush the three hairs you have left on your head, please next time pull over instead of almost causing a five car pile-up because of your stupidity.
Please feel free to share any thoughts on the topic of f***ing Minnesota drivers. All stories are welcome.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
I'll Make This Brief...
Oh who am I kidding?! Once I start I just keep going until I run out of things to write about. I haven't written in a while because I have not had much to write about. Well actually that's not completely true.
A friend of mine who moved to Maryland at the beginning of the summer was visiting the last week of August and there was much to entertain that week. I also worked a lot which will pay off when I get paid this Friday. But mostly, I've just been anxiously awaiting my return to academic life. Man, have I missed it!
I started classes on Monday. It was Arabic at 9 in the am. I got up early so then I would miss the worst of the rush hour traffic, and I did. But seriously, if there is some good music on in the morning, I don't mind it too much. Anyway, getting back to it; I had class which is going well and then I went to head off to chapel. I never made it there. Instead my group for the independent study I am taking on Islamic Feminist Thought decided to have an impromptu meeting that was only supposed to be 30 min. It lasted an hour. From there I rushed over to my new adviser, Dr. Charles Amjad-Ali's office to have a short meeting with him about my next two years of study, which turned out to be a mind blowing hour and a half meeting discussing the Crusades, Medieval History and the like. I left with a massive headache but it was totally worth every minute. And I now have a major intellectual crush on Charles. He's a freaking genius!!!
Oh and I worked at the office as well. This all happened my first day back taking classes at Luther. Man it was amazing.
Today was more laid back, which was really good. I got up early again, missed the major rush hour traffic, ran into Jen Kuntz (WOOHOO!!!!! :) which made me happy), went to chapel, walked around campus, chilled in the cafeteria until my bus came and then headed to work. After work I took the bus back to campus, milled around a bit, finished my god-awful reading about historiography in church history, doctrine, and dogmatics, and then came home, where I am now.
Yes, that is a very long and drawn out sentence, but it's nothing compared to some of the German theologians' writings I read over the summer. Seriously, I sometimes felt dumber after our meetings this summer because my brain exploded from the sheer ridiculousness of some texts. Not sure if that makes sense but if you ever take Theological German over the summer at Luther you'll understand.
After my meeting with Charles yesterday, I am at a place where I know exactly what I need to be taking, the direction my papers should take in each of my classes so that the research, if not the paper itself, can be incorporated into my thesis, and I have a general sense of peace about the process which I didn't have coming in.
I know, shocking, me being anxious about something.
But in the grand scheme of things, life is going really great right now. For the first time in a long time I feel like I am moving forward. But how far can one move forward when the past keeps creeping up? I'm not going to lie; it's been a very long and at times life shattering year. But there have been wonderful things that have happened too. Now I am struggling with how to reconcile the two. When people ask me how my year has been, those who have been gone on internship or people I have just not seen for a while, how do I answer them? There are some things you just don't bring up in casual conversation; EVER. Other things are easier to talk about. So what to do, what to do?
I suppose I could lie and leave out the bad parts. No one wants to hear about the bad parts anyway. Most people just want to hear that everything is ok and then they can go back to their own lives feeling good about the fact that they actually asked another person how they are doing, or how they have been. I will admit, sometimes I am one of those people. But if you don't want to hear the whole truth, then why even bother asking? And then again, what about those that really do genuinely care?
I don't know what I'm talking about...I'm just rambling now.
But in all seriousness...it is very strange to be back at Luther as a student. Not in the academic sense. That is the only thing that is not strange but rather comfortable, like finally being back home after a long hard journey. Socially I don't know where I fit in anymore; that is strange. But once things get going and I settle in for the semester, I probably won't even notice.
A friend of mine who moved to Maryland at the beginning of the summer was visiting the last week of August and there was much to entertain that week. I also worked a lot which will pay off when I get paid this Friday. But mostly, I've just been anxiously awaiting my return to academic life. Man, have I missed it!
I started classes on Monday. It was Arabic at 9 in the am. I got up early so then I would miss the worst of the rush hour traffic, and I did. But seriously, if there is some good music on in the morning, I don't mind it too much. Anyway, getting back to it; I had class which is going well and then I went to head off to chapel. I never made it there. Instead my group for the independent study I am taking on Islamic Feminist Thought decided to have an impromptu meeting that was only supposed to be 30 min. It lasted an hour. From there I rushed over to my new adviser, Dr. Charles Amjad-Ali's office to have a short meeting with him about my next two years of study, which turned out to be a mind blowing hour and a half meeting discussing the Crusades, Medieval History and the like. I left with a massive headache but it was totally worth every minute. And I now have a major intellectual crush on Charles. He's a freaking genius!!!
Oh and I worked at the office as well. This all happened my first day back taking classes at Luther. Man it was amazing.
Today was more laid back, which was really good. I got up early again, missed the major rush hour traffic, ran into Jen Kuntz (WOOHOO!!!!! :) which made me happy), went to chapel, walked around campus, chilled in the cafeteria until my bus came and then headed to work. After work I took the bus back to campus, milled around a bit, finished my god-awful reading about historiography in church history, doctrine, and dogmatics, and then came home, where I am now.
Yes, that is a very long and drawn out sentence, but it's nothing compared to some of the German theologians' writings I read over the summer. Seriously, I sometimes felt dumber after our meetings this summer because my brain exploded from the sheer ridiculousness of some texts. Not sure if that makes sense but if you ever take Theological German over the summer at Luther you'll understand.
After my meeting with Charles yesterday, I am at a place where I know exactly what I need to be taking, the direction my papers should take in each of my classes so that the research, if not the paper itself, can be incorporated into my thesis, and I have a general sense of peace about the process which I didn't have coming in.
I know, shocking, me being anxious about something.
But in the grand scheme of things, life is going really great right now. For the first time in a long time I feel like I am moving forward. But how far can one move forward when the past keeps creeping up? I'm not going to lie; it's been a very long and at times life shattering year. But there have been wonderful things that have happened too. Now I am struggling with how to reconcile the two. When people ask me how my year has been, those who have been gone on internship or people I have just not seen for a while, how do I answer them? There are some things you just don't bring up in casual conversation; EVER. Other things are easier to talk about. So what to do, what to do?
I suppose I could lie and leave out the bad parts. No one wants to hear about the bad parts anyway. Most people just want to hear that everything is ok and then they can go back to their own lives feeling good about the fact that they actually asked another person how they are doing, or how they have been. I will admit, sometimes I am one of those people. But if you don't want to hear the whole truth, then why even bother asking? And then again, what about those that really do genuinely care?
I don't know what I'm talking about...I'm just rambling now.
But in all seriousness...it is very strange to be back at Luther as a student. Not in the academic sense. That is the only thing that is not strange but rather comfortable, like finally being back home after a long hard journey. Socially I don't know where I fit in anymore; that is strange. But once things get going and I settle in for the semester, I probably won't even notice.
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