The Test

"Mr. Green, Mr. Green! Is this going to be on the test?"

"Yeah, about the test. The test will measure whether you are an informed, engaged, and productive citizen of the world and it will take place in schools and bars and hospitals and dorm rooms and in places of worship. You will be tested on first dates, in job interviews, while watching football, and while scrolling through your Twitter feed. The test will judge your ability to think about things other than celebrity marriages, whether you'll be easily persuaded by empty, political rhetoric, and whether you'll be able to place your life and your community in a broader context. The test will last your entire life and will be comprised of the millions of decisions that when taken together make your life yours. And everything, everything, will be on it."

-John Green

The Beauty of Nature

So here lately I've been doing pretty good about working out. I joined a local gym and have been going at night. Yesterday, however, I ended up going at their busiest time. Everything was packed. So I decided to go run at the park. There were three different baseball games going on and people fishing at the lake. All in all, it was almost as crowded as the gym.

But on my last lap something beautiful happened. There's a section where a creek connects with the lake, and in the middle of it there was a deer. As I passed a clear spot in the brush I noticed a small fawn in between the mother's legs. I paused for a moment and took in the two animals who were completely oblivious to me.

As I walked back to my car hearing all of the sounds from the baseball game, I am comforted to know that nature can still exist in the middle of our crowded lives.

Summer's here!

Hello everyone! So a lot has happened since I've last written. Here's a little catch up to get you up to speed. 

I graduated college! 

I am starting my Master's degree!

It's that time when the cicadas come out in full force! 

So I plan to be writing a lot more here over the summer since I'll hopefully have some spare time. I was going to write some right now but... eh... not feelin' it. It's been a while since I've had the time to do absolutely nothing, so I think I'm going to catch up on that for the rest of the week. 

Hope everyone else is having a great summer!

Apologies and Updates

So I'm never going to say that I'm going to stick to a schedule ever again, especially at the end of my senior year. Well, luckily that won't be a problem again, but you get the idea.

So here's what my next two weeks look like:

• Monday 4/25
• Latin Lit: Paper 3 Due
• Tuesday 4/26
• Senior Seminar: Paper 3 Due
• Creative Writing: 10 Minute Play Due
• Wednesday 4/27
• English Drama: Paper 2 Due
• Thursday 4/28 
• Senior Seminar: Portfolio Due (Though this one might be moved to the week after...)
• Friday 4/29
• Relay for Life
• Saturday 4/30
• Rose Ball (tentative)
• Monday 5/2
• Islamic Lit: Capstone Project Due
• Latin Lit: Final Exam
• Wednesday 5/4
• English Drama: Final Exam
• Islamic Lit: Final Exam
• Thursday 5/5 
• Creative Writing: Portfolio Due

So, that's my schedule. You shouldn't really expect me to write anything here until I'm finished with all of this. Hopefully this summer I will have more time, but I'll be starting my graduate school classes and will be working as well, so I'm not sure.

As for the diet, it's actually going well. I've been sick this week so I haven't worked out, but I've been going to the gym regularly and can already tell a difference. Though I'll be busy next week, I'll still will be making time to work out because 1) I'll need time to de-stress and 2) being healthy is as important as school.

So if you're reading this please forgive me for not updating it as I had promised. From now on we'll just go on the premise that any post I make is a surprise for you. Happy birthday!

Until then, stay classy, America.

-Beast

The Purple Glove Dance Video is Up!

Because of the contest this year, we have to have people vote to win. So, follow the link to watch and vote for the video! (Remember to vote daily!)

http://bit.ly/votepgd11

Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen and to everyone who will be voting!

Update from the weekend and PLATYO

So yet again I promised to write a post and yet again I failed to deliver. But it's not my fault, I swear! So here's the rundown of my weekend and a PLATYO post as well.

This weekend was the filming of the Purple Glove Dance (PGD). If you don't know what that is, click here. This is the second year that the contest has been held, and last year our video entry won! Right now the video has over 44,000 views I think. And I was supposed to help film this year's video. Needless to say I was worried.

So the first thing I did was recruit the help of the wonderful Michele, the marketing and PR person for The GIVE Center. Thus began the PGD Dream Team. We started planning everything out and working hard to prepare for the filming that took place this weekend. And all of our hard work paid off, I do believe.We're still working through all of the footage we got, and we still have a make up day on Wednesday for any group that wasn't able to make it out this weekend, but from what I've seen so far it looks amazing. And rest assured, I'll make a post as soon as it's up.

So that's what I've been doing this weekend. Stressing out and worrying about how everything was going to turn out. But now let's move on to PLATYO.

At the beginning of the week I got a three day trial membership to a local gym here. And I loved it. So I talked to the guy working there and they had a special for Greeks, so I got a really good rate too. I also got a 24 hour pass, so I won't have any excuse not to work out.

I just finished the first week of working out and I feel great! I'm just now getting over being sore. For the first three days I could barely move. It felt great. Now I'm starting to get over that and I'm really enjoying it. I've also made more of a workout schedule, so now I know what I'm doing when I get in there.

The only thing is I have not been eating right at all. I've eaten out a lot this week, and have missed a lot of meals too. But hopefully things are starting to calm down a little which means I'll be able to plan out my meals better. I might have to start cooking dinners for Monday and Tuesday on Sunday because I won't get home until 9:30 or later. Other than that, I think my first week of PLATYO has gone very well!

So that's the scoop on the weekend. I apologize again for not updating this like I said I would, but I have had a crazy hectic weekend, and now I have to play catch up on school. Again. *Sigh...*

...and in case I don't see you; good afternoon, good evening and goodnight. 

-Beast

Changes to the Schedule

So one thing I didn't take into count, which was fairly stupid on my part, is that Tuesdays are very long and hectic days for me, and I don't think I'll be able to have time to write a post on it--especially a topic one. So I think I'm going to change "Topic Tuesday" to "Subject Saturday." I generally have more time during the weekends, so I think it'll work out better for me. I really want/need to get back in the habit of writing, so hopefully this schedule will help me out tremendously.

Well, it's not much of a post, but there it is. You've got to admit that I'm getting better with this whole blogging-when-I-said-I-was-going-to-blog thing than in previous attempts. But it is still early. Anyway, I've got a paper to write! Have fun minions and I will see you for Freebie Friday.

-Beast