The First Week has Passed...

...and I think I love college.  No, seriously, it is so much fun. I have discovered that I like having a schedule when doing school, it keeps me from procrastinating too much. It is also fun being able to get out of the house a lot. It is a new and different environment to discover and I look forward to finding out more about it. The classes I am taking this year are English comp II, introduction to American government, introduction to criminal justice (yes I am a complete nerd and chose these classes because they sounded fun but they also count for my core which is awesome) and art . I am especially excited for my art class because I have never taken an art class and it will be nice to learn more technique for my drawing.

A few highlights:

1) Being required to buy art supplies.
2) Having extra grant money left over.
3) SPEECH! :D
4) Interesting professors.
5) An amazing clock tower on campus that plays music.
6) My classes being close to each other.


Some not so fun things:

1)Waking up at 7:00 am.
2) Having to go to be early because you are waking up at 7:00 am.
3) Lugging a two ton backpack around.
4) Knowing I will have to take tests.
5) Having a major ADD moment because I was sitting around all day (I was seriously super wired, it is not fun when you need to go to bed.)
6) Missing out on stuff because of my busy schedule.


~Nat

I Smell a Sequel

Remember that really silly movie awhile ago called Snakes on a Plane? I think I have found a sequel to it.

"Re-Post this Status": A Rant

I have seen a lot of this recently, and although almost all of the statuses (stati? *sigh* grammar) support good causes, I still find them incredibly annoying. These statuses try and guilt you into re-posting the status. They say things such as "if you are not afraid to show your faith" or "if you support our troops" then you should re-post this. Implying, that if you don't re-post it you are a horrible Christian and/or are a horrible person.

I don't think that it is right to guilt a person into showing support for a position. Just because you don't post a certain combination of words doesn't mean that you are afraid to stand up for your faith. Just because you refuse to be copy everyone else does not mean that you don't truly support our troops. Just because you refuse to spread a cliche phrase does not mean that you aren't a true Christian.

And because they chose to use status that tries to guilt me into re-posting it, I don't feel like doing it. I don't respond positively to negative pressure to do something, and when someones status pulls a guilt trip, my reaction is to ignore it.

Well, that was fun, but I should probably stop ranting now and bring this post to an actually beneficial conclusion. There are many people who respond negatively to the coercive language that the re-posted statuses used, but if a person where to phrase it more like "Please show your support and post"  instead of "this if you truly support this then you should re-post this," it would be more persuasive and a person would be more likely to do it.

So the conclusion is: our words have a powerful affect on people and if we want to be able to persuade a person to do something, we need to be careful how we phrase our wording.

Thank you.

The End

~Nat

The Dark of the Night Brings Depressing Thoughts

So, because of my ADD and the inability to control impulses and make wise decisions that is connected with that disorder, I did something really stupid. Especially for someone with adrenal fatigue (we have settled on this diagnosis for the time being to explain my tiredness) which requires a goodnight's sleep to get over. This is the stupid thing I did: stayed up late finishing a book, and now I can't sleep.

When I am lying in bed trying to sleep I let my mind go and wander where it likes. Tonight it wandered to a depressing place, to thoughts of goodbyes. It started contemplating people I hadn't seen for awhile and I realized that there is a very good chance I will never see them again; this makes me terribly sad. But life is like that isn't it? Our lives touch the lives of others for a time and then we part ways. It is a constant cycle of meetings friendships and goodbyes. Continually letting people into your hearts and lives, only to leave, never to make the connection with them again. Then there are the people you do see again after you have left, but you only see them for a short time and then you must say goodbye again.

 You can keep in touch through letters, phones, emails and facebook, but it is never the same as the real thing. Also, the number of people you touch in your life continues to grow, making maintaining contact with all of them incredibly difficult.

These thoughts are enough to make me almost wish I grew up in a small town where everyone I knew was born, lived and then died there. But that kind of place would be so incredibly dull that I think it would drive me nuts. Even so, I never want to be one of those families that moves a lot, I want to live in one place my whole life and I want my kids (if God blesses me with some) to grow up in one place.

But, even if I did stay in the same place, there are still going to be goodbyes. That is just the way of life. I know that all the Christians I have come in contact with I will see again in heaven. But that is a small comfort to me at this moment because I am pretty sure heaven won't be the same as it is on earth, so what I know and love now, I may never see again.

Didn't I say these thoughts are depressing? There are almost enough to make me want to avoid all attachments until I get to the place where we never have to say goodbye. But humans weren't meant to alone, no man is a island, and I would get waaaay too depressed without human contact.

So, I guess I'll just have to live with it and go to sleep.  It is the way it is and staying up mourning about all night is not beneficial. I hope I didn't depress you too much. Goodnight.

~Nat