Absolutely Zero

Mraz sums it up...

You. You were a friend. You were a friend of mine I let you spend the night

You see it was my fault. Of course it was mine.

I'm too hard at work. Have you ever heard of anything so absurd ever in your life.

I'm sorry for wasting your time.

Who am I to say that this situation isn't great? It's my job to make the most of it

How could I have ever known that it would happen to me. Not that easy.

Hey what's that you say? You're not blaming me for anything that's great

But I don't break that easy does it fade away?

So that's why I'm apologizing now for telling you I thought that we could make it

I just don't get enough to believe that we've both changed.

Who am I to say this situation isn't great? Well it's my time to make the most of it

How could I ever know that it would happen to me, not that easy, no

All along the fault is up for grabs why can't you have it

Well it's for sale go make your offer, I'll sell it for no less than what I bought it for

Pay no more than absolutely zero

Well neither one of us deserves the blame

Because opportunities moved us away

And it's not an easy thing to learn to play

Oh a game that's made for two that's you and me

The rules remain a mystery. It's hardly easy.

Who am I to say this situation isn't great? It's our time to make the most of it

How could we ever know that this would happen so freely, not that easy, no

When all along the fault is up for grabs and there you have it

Well it's for sale go make your offer, I will sell it for no less than what I bought it for

Pay no more than absolutely zero.

7 Years in Review

So I saw something similar to this on someone else's page a while ago and thought it would be a good idea. I don't remember how it went so I'm just going to make my own version. I picked 7 years because on December 8th 2001 (about 7 years ago) I made my life-changing journey and moved from Utah to Virginia!  

In 7 Years I've: 

Moved 7 times

1) Mom’s (Utah) to Parents (Richmond) 

2) Parents (Rmond) to Cabin Creek (Rmond)

3) Cabin Creek (Rmond) to ODU Village (Norfolk)

4) ODU Village (Norfolk) to 42nd St (Norfolk)

5) 42nd St (Norfolk) to 47th St (Norfolk)

6) 47th St (Norfolk) to Parents (Rmond)

7) Parents (Rmond) to Clifton (NoVa) 

Owned 6 Cars

1) 79 Mazda Rx-7

2) 69 Ford F-250

3) 97 Chevy Cavalier

4) 78 Benz 300D

5) 81 Mazda Rx-7

6) 94 Toyota Corolla

Attended 3 Schools 

1) J. Sargeant Reynolds

2) Old Dominion University

3) George Mason University

Had 9 Roommates  

1) Steve

2) Victor

3) Michael

4) Chip

5) Sarah

6) Scott

7) Chris

8) Aaron

9) Joey

Had 7ish Jobs

1) The Lube Center

2) G.T. Reid Sales

3) Topeka’s (Richmond)

4) Topeka’s (Chesapeake)

5) CPK (Norfolk)

6) CPK (Richmond)

7) CPK (Fairfax)

Traveled out of the U.S. twice

1) Cancun

2) Cruise (Grand Cayman Islands, Cozumel)

Driven across the U.S. (West to East)  2 times 

Traveled to NY 4 times

Traveled to Florida 3 times

Traveled to Cali  2 times

Traveled to Ut 6 times

Attended 5 weddings   

Been on a Navy ship 5 times

        There is a lot I've left out, but it's fun to reflect and look back upon what has happened in a relatively short amount of time! Also, along the way I've had great opportunities and have made outstanding friendships all along the way! Thanks to everyone for the amazing times and the great memories we were able to make!  

A Glimpse

all the old feelings come rushing back

all of the pictures i painted over and over in my head

all the scenarios of happiness and joy

all the what-ifs and if-onlys 

then it increasingly vanishes like all the rest

it leaves me with a warm chill at first

then after it settles 

it's back to my reality 

back to the life i've made

i do my best to convince myself

it was all for the best 

and i guess this is how it was supposed to be 

Opinions, Unity, And For The Greater Good

It started with a text message, or so I thought.  I realized that it has been something on my mind for sometime now.

I completely hold strong and true in believing that people have a right to their opinion.  Furthermore, I think it is completely erroneous when we as people try to shut down or cease another person's opinion.  After all, that is what we are all here for as bloggers - expressing our opinions. 

With all of that being said, opinions can and often do carry a lot of weight.  Opinions can even compel people to do destructive or constructive things.

I as an individual person am rather inconsequential in the whole realm of things. Yes, I can and do possibly have an impact on a small amount of people in my life, but in the grand scheme of things there have been billions before me and there will be billions after me.  Whether you are in denial or not, you are in the same situation.  You may not be easily replaced in your immediate family and close friends, but in the greater whole of society you are replaceable and rather insignificant.  However, when we ban together and unite as a whole with significant numbers, we do have an impact and the power to change things.

When we are united as a whole, we must not let the power get to our heads.  We should evaluate things clearly and fairly.  Indeed the beauty of democracy is when we use our united power appropriately and for constructive reasons.  Often the most difficult of obstacles in our democratic society is the ability to allow all sides to speak clearly and openly.  We must permit this to occur.  Then we should evaluate the opinions and determine the validity and wholesomeness within.  And lastly, form our opinion.  

Who are we as individuals to tell another person or group of people what happiness they may pursue, when it contains no harm and does not contain negative ramifications on our society.  Why must we hold others back from the possibility of happiness and their constitutional right to their pursuit of happiness.  Are the reasons due to selfishness, phobias, fears, or perhaps maybe even a religious dictation.  Is their pursuit of happiness getting in the way or altering your personal pursuit of happiness? 

I like to consider myself as a reasonable and fair person.  I really benefit from looking at both sides of the story and I openly encourage both sides of aisle to express their side and opinion.  So please honestly and truly help me understand.  Please demonstrate to me the harm and negativity that will come from letting two people of the same sex get married and share the same rights as everyone else in society.  Please explain the opposing side of the argument. 

I must admit years ago I thought in the way of the opposing argument.  I am attracted to women, but I thought same sex marriage was not right because it was foreign to me and it was not the norm.  Then I started thinking about it for myself.  What if I found this amazing girl perfect for me in most every way.  She was smart, funny, attractive, liked stand-up comedians, etc.  Then what if I wanted to take that relationship to the next step and get married, possibly start a family, and maybe even spend the rest our lives together.  We would sit in our rocking chairs when we are 80 years old, look into each other's eyes and remark on what a great journey we had together.  Then my dear wife, the one that I have spent 50 plus years with, is hospitalized.  It stops me cold in my tracks.  This is the same thing that happens to many same sex couples.  I can't make any important decisions regarding her and there is a possibility I can't even see her.  There have been times like this before in the past 50 years when I was not allowed to be there and felt rather powerless.  This was the beginning of my change of thinking. 

Hopefully you get something out of this and possibly see a little more clearly of how people who are attracted to the same sex feel.  It is not up to you to tell another person what type of food they allowed to like.  Furthermore, it is not about whom you personally deem is appropriate for another person to be attracted to.   It’s about allowing the same rights and privileges for all members of our human society.  I believe there is a good majority of us as individuals that constantly strive to be kinder, more caring, and all around better people. 

 

Share A Memory

I stole this from Hay's blog. It's could be interesting so check it out :)

~Here's how it goes~: 1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! 2. Next (if you choose to), re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty fun to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

So what now?

Our undergraduate is complete, we have our bachelor's degrees, well they are in the mail, so what now? Friends you once had are all going their separate ways and attempting to find their destiny. Well as you may or may not know, Lauren has been accepted into VCU’s Education Counseling Master’s program. I still have to take my GRE test and apply to ODU, VCU, and GMU for Sociology.  Also you may or may not know we have made the decision to move to Richmond.

My family and Lauren will be in Richmond, and depending on what happens with my graduate school acceptance, I might be using Richmond as a home base. I don’t know exactly what is going to happen, that’s part of the adventure I guess. If I get accepted and decide to attend George Mason in NOVA (northern Virginia for you out-of-staters), I might take a semester or so of online classes then possibly move to NOVA. If I am accepted and decide to attend VCU, obviously I will stay in Richmond. As far as ODU goes, I don’t know what I will do. I guess maybe it’s because I haven’t moved away from Norfolk yet, but as of right now I don’t feel like moving back here.

It might seem to some people that one of us (Lauren or myself) is following the other. In a sense that is true, but I'm starting to see it more in long term. We both have similar and independent reasons for moving to Richmond. We both like the idea of moving away from O.D.U. for a change of environment and diversity. This is not to say that O.D.U. or the people here are bad, but rather just going somewhere different and getting a change of scenery so to speak. Trying my best to speak for her, Lauren wants to go to V.C.U. for the program they offer and try something new. I want to move back to Richmond for many reasons, but one of them is that Richmond has become somewhat of a hometown for me. I believe part of this is because so much of my maturity happened while living in Richmond. 

Another major part of my decision for moving back to Richmond is because of my family. It has been fine living in Norfolk visiting the family every other month or so, but I’m at a point right now in my life that I would like to be close to them if possible. My bro-in-law’s soccer contract is up after this season and there is the possibility of relocating therefore, I would like to spend as much time with them as possible.

Life is very interesting. Sometimes you do things that you normally wouldn’t do and they end up being the best and most influential things in your life. I don’t know exactly what my future plans are for graduate school, but I do know that if you told me two years ago that I would be applying to grad school I would have laughed at you. Sometimes life will take you to unexpected places. Again, say 5 years ago, I never thought I would be living in Norfolk Virginia of all places and have a Bachelor’s degree. Maybe what I am trying to get at is, life takes you places you might not originally imagine, but I think they key is to continue to work hard and try to better yourself everyday and great things will come to you.

P.S. For all you “critics”, you know who you are, Lauren, just know that I do actually write bloggs about once a week, but I don’t necessarily post all of them. I guess I’m not a completely “open blogger” yet. At times I feel like I should not share everything about me to the world. Plus I prefer to share more in face-to-face conversations. 

The End… for now

Fans? or just bored/procrastinating internet users?

Apparently more than one person reads this thing! I found out last night, during "casual" conversation (kings), that people not only read this but they also have it bookmarked!

 

As of last night at 8:03 P.M. eastern standard time (*A.D.D. moment* why is it called 'standard' time when time "officially" starts in Greenwich England?),  I finished probably the busiest an intense semesters ever! If it's any indication of how vigorous this semester was, go back 1 sentence and notice that I have the time down to the minute!   

So I just wanted to add a quick note that there will be more bloggs (*A.D.D moment*  is it 'blogg' or 'blog' ?) to come! I have a lot going on in my head, so I will be posting a lot more now that the semester is over! You as the reader will come to learn a lot of things about me in the upcoming bloggs! In addition, from time-to-time in my posts I will point out little things about me like - how I overuse and abuse the exclamation mark in my posts! So take a quick glance and rescan this post, I know you already did after reading that last sentence, and you will see what I'm talking about! Oops, there I go again! I can't stop! Crap! So stay tuned....