Back to School

So it's been a bit, but I'm back at Northland taking a couple of classes.  It's scary though, I havn't taken anything in over two years, and the last semester I took didn't go over well at all.  It's okay though.  I've already promised myself that I'm going to go to class every day that I am able, and I'm not going to drop any classes.  This is the semester I pass Intro to Public Speaking.  I can feel it.

I do feel a little out of place, I'll admit.  I think I just need some time to get back into the swing of everything.  Waking up early won't be a problem, but getting into the habit of doing homework might be.  Also, I forgot how hard it is to sit still for an hour.  Thankfully taking notes and doing a bit of doodling helps with that.

I'm also back in the marching band.  That's proving to be harder than I thought it would be.  It's been a while since I've marched and I'm having a hard time finding my sets, especially finding my place among all the people who know what they're doing.  I kind of feel like an idiot.  It's also been a while since I've played, and, to be completly blunt and honest, my range just plain sucks.

Something snapped within me a few months ago.  I need more in my life than just Jimmy John's.  Don't get me wrong, I love my job right now.  But I need more.  So between school, work, and marching band, I feel like my life actually has substance again.  I'm just worried my social life might suffer a bit.

John

"I've got some friends.  Some that I hardly know.  But we've had some times I wouldn't trade for the world."  ~Rise Against

I didn't know you that well.  You were a friend of a friend, and we only hung out a handful of times.  What I do know is that those few times were always a blast, even with all the high school drama that occasionally came along with them.

I remember watching Rent at Marinda's with you.  I remember enjoying secrets that your mother made.  And for those of you who aren't cool enough to realize what secrets are, they're brownies.  I remember us all sitting in your living room, while you played "Swing Life Away" and other songs on your guitar.  I'll always think of you when I hear that song.

And of course the first thing that comes to mind when I think of you is the way you kicked your feet in the air when you laughed.  We were all being goofy to began with, but for some reason I found that so funny.  Then of course you laughed at me for laughing about it, which in turned made your feet kick faster.  Then I'd laugh harder... it was an endless circle.  I don't even remember what we were laughing about in the first place.

This is one of my favorite pictures from high school.  There's a few different groups of friends in this picture, but they're all connected in some way or another.  Some of us were hanging out with you that day, and some were there visiting David.  It must have been Megan's goodbye party.  I still don't remember there being that many people being there, but I've been told there was even more that had left earlier.

It's not fair that diabetes should take a life, espeically from someone so young.  Rest in peace John; you will be missed by many.

Community

Last week I went to the midnight showing of The Avengers.  It was amazing!  Since all the set up for the movie was done in the previous five movies, they didn't have to start out the movie explaning everything.  So instead it was like one big, giant fight scene.  Most of my friends don't like 3D movies, but I'm in love with them.  Never in my life have I actually jumped from a 3D effect before like they do in the advertisments, except I totally did for the Avengers.  There's a scene where Hawkeye jumps off a building, turns, and fires an arrow towards the camera.  I swear that arrow was coming straight for my face.  The movie was also hilarious in the just the right parts.


But this blog wasn't going to be a movie review.  I wanted to talk about the geek/nerd community.  And don't be offended by the word geek.  I use it not to set us apart from the rest of the world, but as a way to decribe a group of people who are all the same.  People who can come together because of their love for comic books or video games, even math or chess.


I dressed up as Iron Man for the premeire, and I have to say I missed the community I haven't been a part of for so long.  I got to work on the fun task of getting my costume ready.  I talked with my friends about how they were putting together their costumes, and help them out with theirs.  And as I was walking around Walmart in my costume, I even ran into someone who was trying to quickly come up with something so he could dress up like Thor.


At the premeire, lots of people took pictures of Michael and I.  Sarah didn't want to be in any pictures, so sadly I don't even have one of her.  But she dressed up as Black Widow.  I took a picture with some guy in a Captain America suit that I didn't even know.  The whole thing was just so much fun.  It makes me think that one of these times I should just save up money and actually go to Comic Con.  It's kind of surprising really that I haven't done it already.