t h i s i s t h e b l o g o f m a t t .

Life is churning along.  Tomorrow marks the first day of classes, which is going to be a proving grounds for me — am I going to be able to juggle a part-time job and 16 hours of coursework at the same time?  Of course the job will have to go if my schoolwork starts to lag or I feel horribly overwhelmed, but I think there’s a lot to be said for being busy.  If we are to believe that idle time is when temptation kicks in at its worst (and I do believe that), then I should have almost no temptation at all this semester!  Right, guys?  Right…?  Regardless, 12-hour days can get tiring, but this is the real world, so I might as well suck it up and have a great semester anyway.  Just know that you guys may not be seeing as much of me as usual this time around.

Not really much else to say right now.  Everybody’s back in Bowling Green and life is good.  I’m happy to see all my friends again, and I’m excited about the upcoming semester.  Hopefully things won’t get too hectic.  Only a year and a half left and I’m out of here!

Only one more week until fall semester starts up at BGSU…  The time really flew by this summer.  I worked my butt off, got good grades in my classes, and nabbed a job that I enjoy.  I’d say I’m flying pretty high right now, but there’s still a lot of little things to take care of before school begins.  Wish me luck on that front.

Emily and Corey came up to visit a few days ago.  We tasted beers at Stimmel’s, visited Waffle House and Pita Pit, and chatted about how summer was going.  It was nice to see both of them, as Emily just recently got back from Los Angeles and Corey is going to Eastern Michigan now.  I think he’s coming back to visit next weekend as well, so good times will be had all around.

I really hope that I have all the time I’m going to need to accomplish things next semester.  Between school, work, and social gatherings, it’s going to be difficult to find time to do things like learn how to cook or beat Final Fantasy IX.  But then again, I guess life is pretty great if those are the only things I’m worried about.

Well, moving is almost complete, and it’s nice being in a new apartment with Steve and Joey.  This week has been extremely busy, but I’m finally settling in and getting back to my normal routine (going to work, playing Final Fantasy IX).  Life is wonderful.  Things I’m looking forward to in the not-too-distant future:

• Emily and Corey coming up/down to visit from Centerville/Ypsilanti, respectively
• The possibility of hanging out with Mr. Joel Manahan (saw him in the Wal-Mart parking lot today looking suspicious with a manilla envelope)
• Playing more Nintendo DS, because I’m addicted…  again
• Buying some more decorations and various items for the apartment
• Going home to Springfield for my mother’s graduation (not from high school)
• Kyle Whited moving back to Bowling Green on Saturday
• Next school year!

If anybody needs help moving in over these next few weeks, just let me know.  On an unrelated note, if anybody knows of a theatre that is showing Bratz for really cheap, let me know.  I can’t bear to know that there’s a movie out there featuring Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” and a main character named Yasmine that I haven’t seen yet.

And for all you video game nerds, can we have an open forum on this?

A few weeks of non-stop clicking and 12,000+ comments later, all of my spam has been successfully deleted.  I’m not really sure what causes spam to center in on someone’s blog, but they attacked me over the summer like a swarm of fire ants.  Which of course, made me not want to update, so I wouldn’t get comments like “racist-homophobia-readers-digest-gumption” on my new entries.

Anyway, I finally got Akismet working, so we’ll see if I can dam the flood.  Regardless, this blog is probably going to be moving over to my cousin’s server in a few days to avoid the torrential downpour of spam that has been hovering over this site for months.  Needless to say, I’ll be using Akismet from the start next time around.  New web address forthcoming.

(Some of the line breaks in this blog entry are messed up, because I still can’t grasp why WordPress likes to change my formatting for no reason whatsoever and fails to understand the concept of.  I’m not fixing it because I tried to about five times, to no avail.)

Online profiles and blogs are among some of the strangest phenomena in the universe as we know it.  As far as I’m concerned there are about three distinct levels in the behavior of anyone who regularly posts to a blog and the like…

• Level 1 Activity - This is the lowest level, for people who understand the fact that the Internet as a whole is not a dating service.  Level 1 folks post regularly or semi-regularly to their blogs with pictures of their friends, brief descriptions of their everyday lives, interesting opinions, and philosophical musings.  Their blogs are clearly oriented solely towards people who know them.
• Level 2 Activity - Level 2 is the halfway point between Levels 1 and 3.  Level 2 web surfers often keep up a Facebook, MySpace, and blog, being sure to check each on a regular basis.  They usually post a new blog every day, even if they have nothing to say.  Level 2 folks feel the need to do things like change their interests on Facebook more than once a week.
• Level 3 Activity - Level 3 encompasses a wide variety of odd behavior online, from the questionable-but-innocent to the truly bizarre.  The common denominator is that Level 3 folks don’t quite seem to grasp the idea that there’s something inherently strange about letting the world know every single thing about you, from your favorite color to who you lost your virginity with.  Level 3 people are the ones who post five or six MySpace bulletins a day, usually containing quizzes or pleas for someone to hang out with them (I have no idea why someone would choose to use a MySpace bulletin to convey that message and not just call one of their friends, but I’ve seen it done).

For the sake of hilarity, and to try to comprehend why anyone would fill out a lengthy quiz about themselves online, I’m going to try to fill out one that I received on MySpace just now.  This brilliant little gem is titled “FINALLY NOT THE SAME OLD QUESTIONS,” which is amusing since it’s not really that different from any other online quiz.

1. Do you still talk to the person you lost your virginity to?
Please explain to me why anyone would volunteer this information for no reason whatsoever.  Also, please explain to me why this quiz simply assumes that I’ve lost my virginity.  Maybe that’s indicative of the Level 3 demographic?

2. Is it harder to be rejected or to reject someone else?
Have you ever just randomly wondered what one of your friends, or even a total stranger, has to say about this question?  Me neither.  But I would say both are equally hard, and it depends on the situation.  Cop-out!

3. What kind of music did you listen to in elementary school?
Elton John and classical music.  Look how much you’re learning about me already!

4. What is the best thing about your current job?
I don’t have a job, I’m a full-time student with an inability to effectively manage my time.  That having been said, the best things about my current job are the hours and the people I work with.

5. Do you wish cell phone etiquette was a required class?
Is this implying that people need to take classes on etiquette in general?  I don’t know how I feel about that, but cell phone etiquette wouldn’t work as a class.  It’s too much of a messy gray area…  Is it okay to answer your cell phone if you’re out to eat with someone?  Is it okay to answer it when you’re in the middle of a conversation?  How about when you’re in a car with a bunch of friends and someone has to turn the music down and everyone has to be quiet while you’re talking?  At what point are you talking on the phone for too long and need to return to whatever it was you were doing before?  Are certain subjects not kosher for social cell phone situations?  You tell me, but if I had the power to somehow institute a class that everyone in America had to take, it would be titled “Car Alarms, Why You Don’t Need Them, And How Annoying It Is When The Same Car Alarm Goes Off Over And Over Again For An Hour About Twice A Week.”

6. What’s the last thing you drank?
A 20oz. bottle of Mountain Dew LiveWire.  This question is so random and confusing that I’m not even sure what to say about it.  Nobody has learned anything about me from this sentence, except that I like Mountain Dew LiveWire.

7. Have you been on a date in the past week?
No, dates are for people who want relationships.  If I was a Level 3 person I would follow that last sentence with a detailed, emo rant about how torturous and alone I feel all the time…  but I’m not emo and I don’t feel that way, so I guess I’ll skip it.

8. Where are you going on your next vacation?
Well, I guess I’m going to Kansas City in August…  Yeah, let’s go with Kansas City.  I’m not going to explain why I’m going there, though, so again you’ve learned nothing.

9. Have you ever thrown up from working out?
Is it weird that I find this one of the funniest things ever?  Just walk up to someone and say “Hey, have you ever thrown up from working out?”  Comic genius. 10. Are most of the friends in your life new or old?
Most of them are old, because it would be weird to have nothing but infants for friends.

11. Have you ever gotten so wasted you didn’t know what was going on?
I’ll admit to that, although I’m unsure why anyone would particularly care.  As a side note, it’s not a very pleasant feeling (especially the next day) and I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone but the most hardcore sadomasochist (someone correct that spelling if I got it wrong, I’m too lazy to look it up).

12. Do you like pulp-y orange juice?
A less demented way to put that would be “Do you like orange juice with pulp?”  No, I don’t.

13. Are you touchy-feely?
That would really depend on who I was with.  A significant other?  Yes.  People I see on the street?  …Yes. 14. Did you cry at your high school graduation?
No, it was a rather joyous moment.  Anybody seen crying at a high school graduation either A) got lucky and had an extremely great high school experience that they’ll remember well for the rest of their lives, B) is afraid of living alone and not getting to milk Mom and Dad for all they’re worth anymore, or C) clearly hasn’t thought about the situation they’re in at all, and has started crying as a reflex reaction.

17. What could you tolerate…someone who snores or a sleep walker?”
Well, I suppose I could tolerate either.  But what would be the alternative to tolerating dysfunctional sleep?  Killing the person? 18. Do you consider yourself bi-polar?
I’m pretty sure that being bipolar is a diagnosis made by a doctor, so I think I lack the qualifications and medical license to really be able to say.

If you value your money and enjoy a satisfying movie-going experience, don’t go watch Fracture.  You may be fooled by online plot synopses into thinking that it’s a thrilling legal drama, but in reality it’s just Anthony Hopkins in the same old tired role as a psychopath in jail who plays mind games with people.  Also, Ryan Gosling reads a lengthy section of Dr. Seuss’s “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” to a woman in a coma.  If that’s not enough reason to stay away from Fracture, I don’t know what is.

It’s finally summertime, and that means more schoolwork in the form of summer classes, but also considerably more free time.  Although, like anyone, I anxiously awaited the arrival of a period of time where I had no constraints and nothing to do, I’ve since realized that I get bored really easily.  So it’s good that classes are starting back up again in a few days.

Due to all this free time, I suppose I can start updating my blog on a regular basis again, though I can’t think of many interesting things to say at the moment.  I’m glad I’m moving out of this wretched apartment on the tracks soon and into the semi-fancy Copper Beech with my friends until August.  For the longest time I thought the apartment complex was called “Copper Beach,” but I looked at the sign out front about a month ago and sure enough, I was wrong.  I personally don’t think “Copper Beech” really makes any sense either, because there aren’t really a lot of prominently placed trees in the vicinity of the apartments, and I’m pretty sure that none of the trees that are there are copper beeches.

Anyway, one good thing about having a lot of free time is the ability to read lots of books at a fast pace.  I’m about to page back through the three C.S. Lewis books I own (Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain, The Four Loves).  Then I might go buy The Great Divorce just for fun, although I’ll have to drive up to Toledo to do it because of the unfortunate departure of Waldenbooks from the Woodland Mall.  Oh well.

My only other noteworthy statement is that a series of recent developments and inquiries has led me to believe that sola scriptura means well but, in practice, just doesn’t make a lot of sense.  If one is to believe that “all matters necessary to salvation” are taught solely in the Bible, isn’t it weird that sola scriptura isn’t in the Bible?  And how can we believe that a series of books selected by men are divinely inspired if we don’t believe in the divine inspiration of the Church that picked them?  Just sayin’.

Comment spam is still out of control.  I’ll find a way to fix it at some point.

I know everybody hates to hear others complain about the massive amount of homework reigning down on them from the fiery gods of education above, but I should be allowed to have just one paragraph about it.  I’ve got a big research paper, two smaller papers, and three exams next week, and it sucks.  Oh, and two books to read.  Ugh.  All right, I’m done.

Summer in BG is starting to sound at least mildly interesting.  I’m probably getting an apartment with two of my friends out in Copper Beech, which is pretty far from campus, but that’s why God built roads!  I’m taking 12 credit hours this summer, which is a pretty big load of classes, but I’m gonna need to do it if I want to graduate in fall of 2008 like I have planned right now.

I’m finally getting excited for my major.  I think that teaching kids could be really exciting stuff, even if I’m not going to be famous or rich from it.  I don’t think either of those things were ever really my goals anyway.  At the risk of sounding cliche and annoying, I believe there’s a lot to get out of life from being humble and dedicating yourself to helping others.  Everyone in America might not know my name by the end of my life, but since when was that a real measure of success anyway?  I’d rather give kids some knowledge they can really use and appreciate, and get them excited about history.  Now there’s an important subject (at least to me).

Everyone is gone here in Bowling Green, they all went back home for Easter.  I decided to stay because I don’t even know of any good churches in Springfield, and it’s not like I have any friends there anyway since we moved after I started college.  My parents sounded disappointed when I told them I wasn’t visiting for a weekend, but they’re coming up in a few weeks so I’ll have some time to hang out with them again.

But yeah, what a boring weekend.  At least I have a lot of things to keep me busy.  I made a list, more for my amusement than anybody else’s, so feel free to skip it at your leisure:

• continue working on my research paper (I figure if I do about a page a day I won’t have as much to worry about the night before it’s due)
• complete some reading in my Ohio history and economics textbooks
• study for my biology exam(s) next week
• do some more research on drilling in ANWR for the debate we’re having next week in biology lab (I took the anti-drilling stance, of course)
• brave the cold to record birth and death years for a bunch of graves in the cemetery on campus for a human demography project
• hopefully play more Final Fantasy XII
• hopefully get in some TV time (Desperate Housewives, The X-Files, or Firefly, although Justin’s rants about Twin Peaks are peaking my interest in the show again [get it, peaking?!])
• plow through some more of Main Street Blues and hopefully get in some leisure reading time (I’m about 100 pages into East of Eden, and after that maybe A Tree Grows in Brooklyn?  Or possibly A Tale of Two Cities)
• chill to some Americana (Old Crow Medicine Show and The Avett Brothers, anyone?) and listen through Avril Lavigne’s and Hilary Duff’s new CDs a few more times.  What can I say?  I love well-produced girl pop music!

That list reminded me that I love to read.  So I guess it’s a good thing I have so much reading to do for class.  There are so many books in the world and so little time.  I have one-third of my bookshelf brimming with books and there’s no way I’ll finish them all at any time in the conceivable future.  A lot of them were impulse buys from that time Waldenbooks went out of business and left the “small” with little to redeem itself.  I think I’ll get to most of them this summer.

Okay, this has been an extremely long and pointless rant.  But you can all consider it my way of making up the countless days I haven’t posted as of late.  What can I say?  Kyle and I’s blog is more amusing to me these days.

Does anybody know how to block spam comments?  I don’t want to have to go through the process of moderating them, either.  I ask this because I got 24 spam comments in the time it took me to watch this week’s episode of Lost.  (Also, what was up with this week’s episode of Lost?)  If I can’t find a solution soon this blog is getting deleted.  Just sayin’.

People have been demanding a blog entry for some time, so here you go. 

Hitler had one last chance to stall the Allied troops from rushing into Germany and ending the Nazi crusade once and for all.  What he desperately needed was a seaport — a place to send for supplies and men from other conquered territories, which would give the Nazis more time to complete two secret projects that would have likely evened the odds in World War II:  experimental jet fighters and Germany’s own version of the Manhattan project.  Fortunately, Hitler’s army was stopped dead in its tracks at the Ardennes forest in Poland by Allied forces, unable to do anything but make a bulge in Allied lines, always stopping short of being able to break through to the Polish coastal city of Antwerp (hence the name of that bloody affair, the Battle of the Bulge).

But what if Hitler had managed to break through and defeat the Allies, or at least circumvent their forces long enough to re-establish Nazi control of Antwerp?  What if he managed to stall the war effort long enough to unleash jet planes and atomic bombs on his enemies?  What would the future of the world look like today if the Nazi regime had been given an opportunity to inflict massive destruction on the United States, England, and Russia, the last three great bastions of freedom in the world at that time?  It’s kind of disturbing to think about how close we all were to being involved in a much longer and more brutal conflict.

Maybe I’m just insane because I love history so much.  But it’s interesting to take a time out and think about the fact that the human race has come so close to completely annihilating itself on numerous occasions.  What worries me is that the ideological wars (democracy vs. communism) of the past, horrific as they were, are nothing compared to the ticking time bomb that is the state of the world today.  Ideological arguments have given war to religious battles (Protestantism vs. Catholicism in Northern Ireland, Judaism vs. Islam in Israel and Palestine, Christianity vs. fundamentalist Islam in Afghanistan and Iraq among others, etc., etc., ad infinitum).  Religious conflicts have always been the stuff that history is made of – Crusades, anyone? — but the sheer amount of this animosity in the world today, combined with new and devastating forms of biological and chemical warfare that could possibly be employed against innocent people, are a definite cause for alarm.

I’m not meaning to make any sort of influential statement on the current state of affairs, or whether the United States is right or wrong in its political and military reasoning.  This kind of thing is much bigger than that.  And unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot that the average citizen can do about it.  All we can do is sit idly by and wonder if and when the delicate microcosm of middle-class American life is going to topple around us, exposing the gruesome reality of the world at large.