I think this is the most tired

I've been in a while.  Physically I feel great.  Not being able to use my leg has really kept me from getting tired from running too much, for example.  But my eyes are prickly and slow and my forehead is all scrunched up in tension.  It's kind of fun.  Today I felt a little like what being drunk might feel like if what people say about being super tired is true.  Things didn't seem to faze me as quickly or effectively.  

I have to go grade tomorrow.  Boo.  I'm going to bed now.  Yeah!

Monday's moodsic

I'm going to go eat some hotdogs now.  And turn up Tornado.  And try harder.

Well, here we go everyone!

This is my 100th post.  I was hoping it'd be something more epic.  But I guess this time in my life is probably one of the most epic times so far.  This week is transition week.   I transition from being a full-time student, surrounded by people I know and am comfortable with, with hundreds of Seventh-day Adventists, near a track, trails, and a nice gym, able to know where I'm going to eat and lay my head down at night and go to work in the morning.  Next week, I may not have or be able to do any of those things.

I just read Barry's blog; he said he's a wanderer.  I wish I could say that sometimes.  I'm more of a stayerer. But in some ways, I'm ready for next week.  Driving last night under the highway lights, under a dark sky, 78 mph, with the steady drone of passing miles under the tire--it made me want to go travel.  Spending a few minutes under the huge buildings made me think of Buenos Aires and Singapore and... somewhere else.  Even hearing the library person at ten 'til eleven invite us to leave over the loudspeaker makes me want to be in an airplane again.  I think it's time.

I've lived in Collegedale for more than 17 years now.  I don't really want to leave.  But I do.  I just wish everyone was coming with me.

I just talked with a conductor.

I have to write three articles for my Advanced Reporting class final project and I just got done speaking with Maestro Bernhardt of the CSO.  I got the email from their marketing director with his phone number in it earlier this afternoon and had to work up to calling him.  I went over some articles and bios that I'd printed and tried to write out an outline of what the article about him might look like so I would have an idea of questions to ask.  Well, after eating a little food for sustenance and to stall a little longer, I finally dragged my computer, recorder, notes, and phone over to my desk.  

I interviewed him without my shirt on.  But over the phone, who cares!?  It was great.  The first time I called him I dove into my introduction and "I'm not sure if Mrs. Wilson told you I was calling, but..." and he said he knew, but could we talk in 10 minutes when he gets to his office.  So he actually called me back after I agonized once again over what I was going to ask him (oh, because he mentioned being able to talk for ten or fifteen minutes, which for a Chris Clouzet interview is basically just getting passed hellos.).  Turns out he was quite easy to talk to and I think my little preparation time was actually helpful.  Basically: it was very helpful and it was rather fun to speak with him.  He talked with me for 29 minutes.

At the end he even said to tell my teacher that I asked good questions.  Finally!  Some real commendation.  And I'm not as reluctant to believe him--even though he probably wasn't expecting much since I'm a student and probably was being generous--because he's been interviewed quite a lot as the head of the CSO and a guy who said he's guest conducted at 60-70 orchestras, maybe more.  So pretty much I appreciated that experience.  Ironically, although it was probably one of the most well-known people I've ever interviewed (besides Mark Finley), it was probably the most comfortable I've been in an interview.  It might even rival interviewing David Macias.  

I'm sending my resume to the Kentucky-Tennessee communications director for a possible internship.  

:Music Monday: 12.4.10 - 19.4.10

Devin Castro puts up a picture of his most-listened-to songs of the past week every Monday.  I love looking at "statistics" like that so I'm going to do it, too.  At least for this week.  

I listened to a lot of K'naan earlier in the week.  Toward the end I had transitioned to Sigur Ros.  I listened to a lot of different music while I graded for several hours over the weekend.  Hurray.  Oh, and Jonsi's Go cd should be coming in the mail soon.

Icy Hot

Tara and I recently enjoyed ourselves by lamenting over some of our experiences in classes.  I think I could say that "icy" could describe the way we've been treated sometimes, and "hot" could be the way we felt afterward.

And that's all I'll say about that.

I enjoyed writing an article again just now.  I've been quite burned out for a while, but tonight was kind of fun.  I've been sitting here for close to three hours working on a little article for the communicator.  It's kind of a dinky little thing about an adjunct photojournalism professor who went and presented in another photography class.  Doesn't sound too exciting, does it?  And maybe it's not.  On the outside.  But there is always more to a story and the characters in it.  And I enjoyed trying to frame that tonight.  That is, I'm satisfied with my efforts.  I'm sure part of that is because I'm really tired and ready for bed (I mean, the article may suck, but I'm "drunk" enough with sleepiness to not realize it...), but I guess it's not necessarily the words themselves that are particularly good, but the act of trying to choose the best ones and place them in the best order was somewhat fulfilling after a day of discouragements.  I know I'd never make a good journalist, (I mean, it took me well over three hours total to write this story, not including the reporting time and thinking time) but I hope that I will retain my sense of satisfaction over writing long enough to produce something decent one day.

And that's all I'll say about that.

My calf is meeeeessed up.  It happened during our soccer game last night, but I have no idea what did it. I hadn't slept much the night before and didn't really get a good lunch or supper, so my body wasn't in the best shape for an hour of sprints.  But I had eaten three bananas that day, which made it weird that my calf seemed to have tightened up for no good reason early in the game.  I had heard before that bananas help avoid cramps (which is one of the many reasons they're good for triathlon days!).  So at halftime and during my subbing time, I was stretching that little cow like crazy.  I kept trying to run hard on it the rest of the game, too.  Unfortunately, we lost.  But I didn't like the feelings coming from that calf for the rest of the night.  It was extremely tender, too, and I had to be careful not to hit it even in bed.  Come morning, it was shamelessly sore, stiff and sensitive.   After sitting in classes today, I'd have to stand up for a while and slowly stretch it out before I felt comfortable walking on it.  And when I walked, I couldn't really extend my leg straight all the way because when the knee gets close to being fully extended, it starts to pull on my calf.  So I walked all day with a bent leg.  I think I tore the muscle somehow.  It happened to my biceps in high school, (yes, in weight lifting class I somehow overdid my curls and had swollen, unstraightenable arms for several days.  I know. Me, overdoing it: hard to imagine.) which su-hucked.  Krista gave me her Icy Hot to use tonight.  I rubbed some in before I started working on that article three hours ago, and my calf still feels all cozy.  And so I bring the story to a full circle with the bookend reference to Icy Hot.  It's amazing what you can amuse yourself with at 2:22 in the morning.

And that's all I'll say about that.

This Tanzania deal is kind of exciting.

Maybe this will be home?

It's green all around and the clouds are pretty.  At least, on Google maps they are.  And it looks like there are several nice roads for running.  Not too hilly, though.