Okay, I'm talking about going to the gym in my post title, not other things that are synonymous with the term "ripped." So when school starts in a few days, you'll probably start to hear me complain about the University of Idaho and it's insane amounts of hoops it's going to require me to jump through to graduate, but one thing you'll never hear me complain about is the Student Rec Center here. We have so much cool stuff there, it's amazing. Like there is a huge free standing climbing wall, two big weight areas, and tons of cardio machines, two basketball courts, a floor hockey area, and those are just the things available to everyone all the time. There're also three giant rooms for classes, and apparently they have trainers and stuff too. There's nothing like going to the gym after you get totally pissed at work, and then kicking your butt at the gym. It's the best stress reliever, and it makes you feel so good. Gah, it's hard to articulate, but I absolutely love it. Those of you who are gym people will also get it.
So school starts on Wednesday, and I am anxious and pissed all at the same time. I'm taking four classes, two of which should be easy, and two will be ridiculously hard. I'm required to take a science with a lab class and it seems that physics is my choice. Now, I don't know how many of my readers are physics people, but I'm not. Those of you who know me know I can barely add. People say this might be a problem. We shall see, I suppose.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Saturday, January 5, 2008
TV Really Needs to Die
So I've been watching a lot of podcasts in iTunes, and I'm pretty sure I'll never purchase cable when I move out of my dorm room in May. There are so many great shows, both video and audio, that replace much of television, there's very little reason to spend $60 a month on cable. I'm sure some of you are saying, but what about my "Lost," what about my "Desperate Housewives?" Well a lot of networks, currently ABC and NBC are offering the most recent episodes free on their website, with limited commercial interruptions. Also, if you don't like those, then you can get them on iTunes for $1.99 an episode. I know this might just sound like an advertisement for iTunes and such, but I'm sick and tired of cable gouging people for stuff they never watch.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Caucuses Cont.
So as I write this blog entry, and I refresh my CNN Election Center, Obama is leading the Iowa Democratic caucus with 37% of the delegates from 92% of the precincts reporting. This evening was sort of a season opener for people like me who are interested in politics. We watched as the numbers came in, and our hearts raced as our candidates numbers went up and down. As all of this was happening, though, I wondered how the heck the caucuses actually worked.
I searched Wikipedia, and though I know it's information isn't always reliable, it does provide some insight into this confusing political process. Essentially what is happening tonight is that people in individual districts, within counties in Iowa, are meeting to decide who to send to their state caucus to decide who to send to the Democratic National Convention. If that didn't make any sense to you, you're not alone. The idea is that each county gets a certain number of electors based on population (I assume), and each caucus decides which candidate they are going to support and then electors are chosen from that caucus to cast that county's votes in the state caucus. Now, I'm not sure about Iowa, but in some states the electors aren't bound to vote for the candidate they were elected for in their initial caucus. So technically if a bunch of people decided to change their minds, then a different candidate than Obama could be elected out of Iowa. I assume this would only happen in the case of a scandal or something like that, but who knows.
I hope that cleared up the caucuses for readers, and have a great night.
I searched Wikipedia, and though I know it's information isn't always reliable, it does provide some insight into this confusing political process. Essentially what is happening tonight is that people in individual districts, within counties in Iowa, are meeting to decide who to send to their state caucus to decide who to send to the Democratic National Convention. If that didn't make any sense to you, you're not alone. The idea is that each county gets a certain number of electors based on population (I assume), and each caucus decides which candidate they are going to support and then electors are chosen from that caucus to cast that county's votes in the state caucus. Now, I'm not sure about Iowa, but in some states the electors aren't bound to vote for the candidate they were elected for in their initial caucus. So technically if a bunch of people decided to change their minds, then a different candidate than Obama could be elected out of Iowa. I assume this would only happen in the case of a scandal or something like that, but who knows.
I hope that cleared up the caucuses for readers, and have a great night.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Iowa: Corn and, apparently, Politics
So as I type this entry the voters in Iowa are getting ready to plant the initial seeds in the race for the 2008 election. As I said in my previous post, I am behind Barack Obama, and I can only hope that he prevails in Iowa. It seems like Iowa has set up candidates for a strong presence throughout the election campaign in the past, and I don't expect this year to be any different. I was sort of surprised this morning when I checked digg.com and noticed that one of the headlines was that Kucinich has voiced his support for Obama. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing at the moment, but I'm sure not ready for any word of an Obama/Kucinich ticket.
I did a little research on Obama, and I was surprised to find out that he is only the fifth African American senator and the only one currently serving in the US Senate. For me this puts him in a prime position to be the first African American president, but that isn't a particularly important issue for me. I think I can easily say that I wouldn't care if Obama were black or white, he just offers really strong message that appeals to a lot of young voters like myself.
An interesting key issue Obama has voiced his opinion on is the net neutrality legislation that hit congress last year. Again, this is not something I'm completely versed on but, as I understand it, the legislation basically allows companies to regulate access to the internet to improve speeds for certain applications and websites, while reducing the speeds for others. Obama opposes this because "the smaller voices get squeezed out." Obviously, I agree with this, and this isn't his only position dealing with technology I like. He also wants to appoint a sort of technology cabinet member, which blew my mind when I heard about it. I honestly don't know how presidents have functioned without this in the last ten years. Anyway, I know this wasn't all about Iowa, but I do hope he does well there.
I hope everyone is having a good day.
I did a little research on Obama, and I was surprised to find out that he is only the fifth African American senator and the only one currently serving in the US Senate. For me this puts him in a prime position to be the first African American president, but that isn't a particularly important issue for me. I think I can easily say that I wouldn't care if Obama were black or white, he just offers really strong message that appeals to a lot of young voters like myself.
An interesting key issue Obama has voiced his opinion on is the net neutrality legislation that hit congress last year. Again, this is not something I'm completely versed on but, as I understand it, the legislation basically allows companies to regulate access to the internet to improve speeds for certain applications and websites, while reducing the speeds for others. Obama opposes this because "the smaller voices get squeezed out." Obviously, I agree with this, and this isn't his only position dealing with technology I like. He also wants to appoint a sort of technology cabinet member, which blew my mind when I heard about it. I honestly don't know how presidents have functioned without this in the last ten years. Anyway, I know this wasn't all about Iowa, but I do hope he does well there.
I hope everyone is having a good day.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
First Post!
Okay, so I was watching the New Years Eve report on CNN, last night, and Anderson Cooper was talking about resolutions, and he said his was to "blog more." I blogged a little when I was participating in the Walt Disney College Program last Spring, but the entire thing consisted of sixteen entries over the course of five months. My hope this year is to be like Anderson Cooper and blog more. My hope is to blog about school (The University of Idaho), my jobs (Old Navy, a local high school, and a Campus Representative for Disney), politics (I'm liking Barack Obama), and whatever else pops into my head.
I'll start out by saying that I'm a fifth year college student at the University of Idaho studying Secondary Education with an emphasis in English. This Spring semester should be my last here at the U of I, with my student teaching taking place in the Fall. I can only hope that this actually works out, because I feel like, at this point, I'm never going to get out here. However, I look forward to the year with the philosophy that this will be a great year that ends with me finally stepping out in to the real world.
I also have a lot of jobs. Day to day I work at the Old Navy here in Moscow, Idaho. Most of the time I do what Old Navy calls "logistics," which is a fancy name for moving boxes and setting up displays. Sometimes I also work as a cashier, but those shifts generally consist of me ringing up one or two purchases and spending the rest of my time doing projects for the managers. I may not be working here for very much longer, because I'm getting pretty fed up with how things are going there. I've decided to give it until the end of January, to see if it's just the holiday season, so we'll see. I'll talk about my other jobs in future posts. I don't want to overload people with my complaining just now.
Okay, here we go, politics. This is bound to get me in hot water. I'll start by saying that, though I do follow politics fairly well, I have not been paying much attention to all the candidates so far in the 2008 election. I thought they started campaigning WAY too early, but that is besides the point. The Iowa Caucus takes place in two days, so we'll see who our early front runner is for the Democrats. I like both Barack and Hillary, but I don't think Hillary will succeed against a moderate Republican. On the other hand I think Barack, even with the possibility of his being the first black president, will be at such a disadvantage against a moderate Republican. For me it's a game of getting just about any Democrat in the White House, because it's such a mess right now. Again, I'll talk more about politics in future blogs. I just wanted to offer some previews about what this blog will be covering.
I hope everyone reading this had a Happy New Year, and is ready for an interesting and eventful 2008.
I'll start out by saying that I'm a fifth year college student at the University of Idaho studying Secondary Education with an emphasis in English. This Spring semester should be my last here at the U of I, with my student teaching taking place in the Fall. I can only hope that this actually works out, because I feel like, at this point, I'm never going to get out here. However, I look forward to the year with the philosophy that this will be a great year that ends with me finally stepping out in to the real world.
I also have a lot of jobs. Day to day I work at the Old Navy here in Moscow, Idaho. Most of the time I do what Old Navy calls "logistics," which is a fancy name for moving boxes and setting up displays. Sometimes I also work as a cashier, but those shifts generally consist of me ringing up one or two purchases and spending the rest of my time doing projects for the managers. I may not be working here for very much longer, because I'm getting pretty fed up with how things are going there. I've decided to give it until the end of January, to see if it's just the holiday season, so we'll see. I'll talk about my other jobs in future posts. I don't want to overload people with my complaining just now.
Okay, here we go, politics. This is bound to get me in hot water. I'll start by saying that, though I do follow politics fairly well, I have not been paying much attention to all the candidates so far in the 2008 election. I thought they started campaigning WAY too early, but that is besides the point. The Iowa Caucus takes place in two days, so we'll see who our early front runner is for the Democrats. I like both Barack and Hillary, but I don't think Hillary will succeed against a moderate Republican. On the other hand I think Barack, even with the possibility of his being the first black president, will be at such a disadvantage against a moderate Republican. For me it's a game of getting just about any Democrat in the White House, because it's such a mess right now. Again, I'll talk more about politics in future blogs. I just wanted to offer some previews about what this blog will be covering.
I hope everyone reading this had a Happy New Year, and is ready for an interesting and eventful 2008.
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