My New Room

I just finished week 1 at Meinrad. Man, what a busy one. I showed up last Friday afternoon and the entire weekend was top to bottom orientation stuff. Plenty of akward small talk, confusion, and absolute relief at being here. Since Monday, its been a gradual process of falling into the routine. My room is pretty awesome. In fact, everything about it here is so much better. My classes are wonderful now that I'm finally getting to learn about stuff I want to. It's a very interesting dynamic being out here in the middle of nowhere. The other night, Chris and I drove to the "local" Wal-Mart, which is about 35 minutes away in Jasper. Now that the standard akwardness is wearing off, I think things are going to be just fine here.

I have about 3 days left before I make the move to St Meinrad. Since the last time I was on here, I did my 7 week summer stint up in Indianapolis. That was pretty painless and went by fast. While up there, my Brute buddies got me completely hooked on MMA, in particular the UFC. Now I can't stop. What an amazing thing this Mixed Martial Arts is. I'm glad to have a new interest.

Anyhow, Meinrad in 3 days. I'll come back with some more updates once I get there.

Back after a pretty long break from this thing. Complete with new pic and layout. I wonder though...does anyone even read this? Either way, I got pretty bored with it during the last school year, probably noticeable by the extreme drop in posts. The sad fact is that most days simply aren't that exciting. Especially in a context like college seminary where quite literally, most days are the exact same. I've mellowed out alot since going into seminary, and I think a good part of that is because of the stability of the seminary routine. Every day follows the same schedule, so inevitably the excitement wears off. In the end, there's just not much to blog about. Nevertheless, since it's been so long, there are at least a few things to mention.

The spring semester, which was my last at Bishop Brute/Marian College (sorta) went off with the standard amount of pressure and relief. A little over a year ago, myself and the authorities decided that it would be a wise venture for me to attempt to finish up college in 2 years instead of the originally planned 3. While I've been more than happy to comply, it has had some effect on my academic performance and energy level. It basically forced me to take 6 classes each semester. Quite frankly, I haven't been able to pull of my general ability to get all A's anymore. So, I'm not quite the Dean's List kind of guy I used to be, and there's a little more anxiety over what the final grade will be nowdays as compared to a few years ago. Either way, everything worked out fine. In terms of ending my "full time" run at Brute, it was about as final as anyone would hope it would be (if not a little anti-climactic). I thought for a time that I was probably not going to see many of those guys again, but...

The Archdiocese decided a few days ago that I will be going to St Meinrad for major seminary. Overall, I'm pretty happy with that decision. For months now, I have been pushing for Theological College up in Washington, DC. However, it was not meant to be. For a whole slew of reasons that I won't bother with here, it was decided that St Meinrad was the place that I am going to excel at. I am excited about it, if not still somewhat wowed by the fact that my time to move on has finally arrived. I would expect that I will have more thoughts on it as the time gets closer. Perhaps an excuse to write something on here every once in a while.

In the meantime, I am actually up here at Brute for the real final time this summer to finish up my last round of philosophy classes. Barring any stupid mistakes on my part, I should graduate in August and be out of here for good. Although I preferred my 5 weeks at home after the spring semester ended, sitting around watching wrestling all day long.

That's it for now I think. Another 3 months until my next post? I doubt it. But maybe.

Back again like a common cold during winter (which I think I might have right now...). Anyways, things have been pretty routine around here lately. Spring break is next week, which is much anticipated. This semester has actually gone quite well, and fast...but yet I still seem to feel the same amount of wear and tear that I usually do at this point in a semester. After break, there's only 8 more weeks in this semester. That's crazy. My days at Brute are numbered.

Winter around here is absolutely insane. It has been like 20 degrees every day for the last few weeks. Just stepping outside and walking to your car completely zaps you. Luckily enough though, it hasn't snowed much here in the last few weeks either. Morale around here usually takes a huge nosedive around this time of year and you can detect it greatly around here the last few days. But, all things pass. Hopefully the spring will rejuvenate things. Archbishop Kurtz is coming up at the beginning of April with Father Bill following behind him a few weeks later.

I still have no idea where I will be this fall.
Lost is the greatest show ever.

Commentary on "Movie Talkers"

In my time in seminary, many mysteries have shown their faces. But, as of late, one has particularly made me ponder. And I'm not talking about the Trinity, the Incarnation, or even God himself. I'm talking about the absolutely insane behavior of those that I might refer to as "movie talkers." Here at Bishop Brute, many of us are fans of movies/Lost/whatever. We have something that might be called a community room up here where most of this viewing happens. Inevitably, these things happen every time we attempt to watch something:

1. At various points in the movie/show, a majority of the guys here become hypnotized and attracted to the closed door and images on the screen. This leads them to open the door, walk in and (guaranteed) say "what are you guys watching!?!?(usually in total amazement as to what it could be). Then, some of the guys, start talking and giving commentary right there. You know what I'm talking about. "Omg! what is this!? why is this happening!? bleh bleh bleh"

2. Some guys open the door and ask what it is only to give a disappointed "oh..." when they find out, and soon thereafter leave altogether.

3. Some guys walk in silently and stand there for like 10 minutes "examining" the movie. This drives me insane. For one thing, it makes me a nervous wreck when someone is just standing there behind me. I say, either sit down and watch the movie, or leave. Better yet, if you see a close door and a screen moving, maybe you should just walk away anyways.

4. Most often, the guys who do stay to watch the movie end up critiquing it and trying to "solve" or "1 up" the movie. This is where people try to show the unrealistic folly of the movie the whole time. "That would never REALLY happen" or "Why don't they just do 'this' to beat the bad guys?" Yeah, sure. Jason Vorhees is chasing you through the woods with a huge machete, MAYBE you're not thinking clearly enough at that point to "kick him in the nuts! that will get him!". Sigh...

I'm reminded of the Seinfeld episode where Elaine invited George's fiance Susan to enter the "circle" of friends. After what seems like a blossoming thing, it all completely falls apart when they go to see a movie and she finds out that Jerry and Elaine are "movie talkers". It's kinda like that for me (and Mitch). First of all, it's completely rude to walk in and start talking when someone is obviously trying to watch something. What luck that out of 19 guys, 17 of them are movie talkers. We are the "future of the presbyterate" yet we don't have enough courtesy to not come in and ruin someone's movie.

Maybe I'm just nuts. But I was raised to not talk during movies. My favorite people to watch movies with are my parents because they don't talk during movies. And as with so many other things, I learned wisely from them to not be a "movie talker".

As a final note to this humorous rant, I can apply a rule from my Moral Issues class. There is good, and there is "greater good". In some people's mind, the good would be talking. But doesn't it make sense that the greater good would be to not talk? Maybe these guys should consider that talking really botches it up for those that prefer to not talk. If there's guys in the room that don't like the talking, those inclined to do so should reach for the "greater good" by doing what will ultimately be best for all. See, the philosophy finally pays off!

Here I am at long last. I wanted to get on here sooner, but the new semester has quickly caught up with me. I was at home for about a month on winter break. It was nice as always to be back around the family and to have a little free time. I find that the only thing I don't like about being home is that by the time I get there, I'm usually at a very high burnout level. More often then not, I find myself completely blank while I'm there. It doesn't make me the most entertaining dinner guest, but I try the best I can. Nevertheless, after a very relaxing, very nice winter break, I am back at Brute for my final semester (not counting this summer).

So far, I feel much better about this semester than I did the fall. For one thing, I have alot more variety in my classes this semester and I'm not burdoned with philosophy. I'm getting to do some different things such as Shakespeare, dialogue, Law, etc. It's a breath of fresh air only helped out by a much more spaced out schedule, as opposed to 5 classes in one day like last semester.

Anyhow, nothing else really special is going on. I'll be back once another rare moment of inspiration hits me.

Oh ya. Lost is back on!