First days are usually encompassed with insecurities and nerves. Since I have already gotten familiar with my university the transition from summer to fall semesters has been easier than usual. I am entertained. This morning my professor was late for calculus class and arrived confused. His cryptic speech was difficult to discern, not only because of his thick accent but also due to his unsure nature. Mumbling the word homework like ‘whores’ and adding emphasis to letters that I never knew sounded so grungy. Needless to say I rushed out of class in a hurry. A hypothesis I have about teachers is that if they do not post a syllabus before the first class period it seems to be that they lack in their quality of education. Time will tell all.
With a first day of class out of the way, I can move forward towards a more important event in my life: my double deuce birthday.
In my head it seems to make sense to make a list. To make sure that the human mind doesn’t fail me as it has the tendency to do, and ruin plans. Inconsistencies come up and stomp on all extents of coordination through its bullheadedness. The bullheadedness of last minute changes, that is. Down to the T, I’ve planned out and marked off all of the items that I’ll need during my cruise and during shore excursions. What really is the line between overcompensating for a trip or just simply being prepared? In addition to all of this I have also taken the liberty of making a “Day of Cruise” check list that I will go through at the last minute to ensure that nothing is left behind. Travel experience turns a person into a prepared being, and if it doesn’t, than that person will forever sing the tune of forgotten items and unpreparedness. In the century of technology, over-stress, and clutter, it helps to utilize the resources I have to make things just a bit easier.
A step towards diplomacy has me sending this list off to others to verify that there aren’t any items that were forgotten or neglected from this list. It helps to have an extra set of eyes. The final word about the vacation will be spoken and all this pre-planning will come to fruition near the end. And of course, as meticulous planning will never be perfect, there will be a forgotten item or two.
Coming this Friday, I will be embarking upon a journey out of the country. My first ever but certainly not my last. It has always been a desire of mine to travel and experience different parts of the world. I can imagine that going to an island such as this, a lot of tourists frequent them and therefore you will not get as much of a cultural exposure that you may in a European cruise. Living in south Florida for the better half of this year has made me even more familiar with the sights usually seen in a tropical setting. The Gulf of Mexico has a different feel than the Atlantic coast. When I lived up north there were times where I would frequently visit Daytona Beach and enjoy the positive aspects of the east coast.
Maybe the most exciting part of the whole trip is leaving behind my responsibilities for the weekend to get away completely and enjoy the sea breeze. The ocean has a serenity about it that is indescribable. Hopefully this description wouldn’t be tainted with stories of motion sickness, as a trip recently in the past was plagued with. I plan to pack plenty of Dramamine and other supplements to hold me over in the case I get the blues.
Man, let me tell you Twitter is something else. I began using it, oh probably a few years ago, but still I didn’t expect it to get as popular as it has the past year or so as the small San Francisco based company has excelled in promoting this interesting tool for the technological age to use. Recently I’ve used it more as an outlet of micro blogging in a sense of comedy and humor rather than a constant roll of, “I just stepped outside of my apartment. I just turned on my car.” Many who fall into that sort of Facebook status update fallacy feel like the service is no different. In this way I believe that they are mistaken for the service is more than just a ‘where are you’ tool. There is no right or wrong way to use it, but when challenged with the usability of the program, my perception of how it is used varies from those who oppose it. Even as interested in Twitter as I am, I tend not to follow those who give me a constant update of what’s going on in their life. I’d much rather turn on my phone and have some thoughtful comments from my friends and build a better sense of community than an agitating list of events which occurred.
Soon society will be so connected that we will be living vicariously through the lives of others constantly and video will become so advanced that we will seldom travel to various locations due to the in depth experiences we can have in our own homes. Suppose we truly are turning into aliens, with the larger brains and unusable limbs.
It is certainly not my job to bring up melancholy subjects. I think that most of the time my thoughts just come randomly throughout the day. Usually at inopportune moments for them to actually be translated into some form of writing. Someone posted a Twitter that said, “Reading is my water and writing is my air.” Interestingly enough, that is a great analogy.
Thoroughly I believe the premise of, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” Elderly folks who depress into a sedentary lifestyle are doomed to the effects of degrading mind and body. Countless individuals who strive to challenge themselves daily have prolonged quality and quantity of life overall. I speak from experience.
We look at ourselves so often in the mirror that I believe we become desensitized to the amount of change we go through during our younger years. Even looking at pictures of myself only a few months ago there are a lot of differences. The way I dress, the way I carry myself, facial features, and tons of other things. Most of them are superficial but certainly the changes are drastic. The day will come where I gaze into that mirror and see an accomplished man in his later years awaiting his number in the deli line of mortise along with the rest of the kids I’ve grown up with. It’s my mission to enjoy life, and to help others do the same. As cynical as these words may seem they are truly written with sensitivity towards the movement of time.
My wallet does not contain the same things it did when I was a child. I had a state issued identification card, since I didn’t drive until I was 18 years old, a few discount cards to a local burger shop that we used to ditch school to go eat at, grungy dollars like the ones you get from a pawn shop, and pictures of my latest crush. Nowadays my wallet contains multiple debit card receipts, two credit cards, a license, and a few guitar picks. A wallet says a lot about a man.
