Wow. A lot has happened these past couple days. Today is Hobbit Day (Whoop whoop). Yesterday was the 21st of September (cue the song). And the day before was the infamous Area 51 Raid [and a glorious raid it was(n't)].
On a smaller scale, Sterling had a fairly full weekend as well. There was the English Blend's annual fondue night at a professor's house and an opening talk for an Irish photographer at the art building on Friday. Warrior Fest and the second college homegame was yesterday. And there was a choir concert today plus our normal chapel stuff.
One big busy weekend.
Also, birthdays. Did everyone decide to get born in September?
I have four close friends who have birthdays within four days of each other. (No, not one each day. Very big difference.)
Facebook says there's five birthdays tomorrow. Wow.
Well, while they’re all busy celebrating their birthdays, I was busy myself not celebrating mine.
Instead, my mom and her mom came to Sterling to watch the football game. Well, they came to watch my sister cheer at the football game. With me, it sounds better if I say they came to watch the game.
Last time, my mom, dad, brother, and sister all came. My sister’s boyfriend plays on the football team. So, while they watched my twin cheer, I was manly and watched the game since he was playing. Unfortunately, he got injured on the first play and spent the rest of the game watching it himself. So, I watched him watch the game. Fun.
This time, I chatted with my grandma for a lot of the game. She used to cheer when she was in high school, a weird thought for her grandson to have. So, now I have that mental image. She also knows quite a bit about football. So, we talked about that too.
Before that, the three of us went to Clive’s Staples, one of the local coffee shops. It is inspired by C.S. Lewis but our conversation eventually ended up with J.R.R. Tolkien. My family isn’t really too fond of The Lord of the Rings. I know. I honestly don’t know how they can live with themselves.
Anyway, they do like The Chronicles of Narnia. So, when I explained Lewis’ and Tolkien’s relationship, I think I actually generated some interest from my grandma for LotR. She didn’t make a definite decision but I think she’s closer to liking it walking out of Clive’s than she was walking in.
Two points for Ravenclaw.
Oh wait. Wrong fandom.
And that’s a whole ‘nother franchise to get started on.
I received the best compliment I have ever received this past week. A friend of mine tweeted at me saying I am the TobyMac of photographers. I feel inadequate for that comparison. I am still working on receiving compliments. I’ve gotten better but not quite there yet.
Still, it is a pretty bold statement to compare me to someone like that.
If you don’t know who I’m talking about, please schedule and appointment with me within my office hours. They are listed next to The LEGO Movie’s Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film.
Oh man. Talk about office hours and classes. Things have officially gotten busy. It seems my college career has returned to its constant state of class, work, homework, some sleep, and repeat with never enough time to finish what I need. I’m working on getting some free time in there to build relationships with friends but it is a never-ending struggle.
I did take a trip to the state fair with a couple friends. It was an interesting experience. I was already friends with one of them but hadn’t met the other until he sat in the back of my car. We expected to see a number of things: the DIRECTV robot, the fudge station, and run into people that we know, among other things. NONE of those things happened.
So, we cut our trip a little early and went to Wal-Mart for the rest of our trip. You already see where this is going, right? We haven’t even walked through the automatic doors and we already see some of our friends from Sterling. When we got back, I saw that several of my friends went to the state fair when we did.
It’s an oddly small world.
That’s the biggest social thing I did. Afterwards, I was surprise-invited to a surprise birthday party. It was great. I could just feel the love everyone had for each other there. It makes me wish I had more time to have experiences like that.
The best thing I can do right now is take advantage of the smaller opportunities that I get. If I’m riding my longboard to class and a friend of mine is headed in the same direction, I sometimes hop off and walk with them the rest of the way until one of us parts. It’s the small things that go a long way. You just gotta keep your eyes open and take the initiative.