The Myth & The Majesty

She never slows down She doesn’t know why But she knows that when she’s all alone It feels like it’s all coming down She won’t turn around The shadows are long And she fears if she cries that first tear The tears will not stop raining down So stand in the rain Stand your ground Stand up when it’s all crashing down You stand through the pain You won’t drown And one day what’s lost can be found You stand in the rain I think I found my theme song. Does anyone else remember the "Ally McBeal" theme song episodes? I don't remember the specifics, but I remember hearing each character's "theme song" when he or she was angry, frustrated, or otherwise in need of a boost. I heard this one in the car yesterday on my way to school, and ... it hit home. This week of all weeks, this month of all months, this year of all years, it fits. It's not a bad year, or month, or week. But it is a confusing one, full of decisions that have the potential to determine the next ...

It's almost election time, folks. Want to hear what's going on in South Dakota? First, our governor, Mike Rounds, is up for re-election. Also defending her seat is our US House Representative Stephanie Herseth. It's possible that you've heard about her, especially where Wikipedia is concerned. That's been an adventure. What's more alarming, however, is the sheer volume of controversial issues. Constitutional amendments: -C: At this point, South Dakota statutes limit marriage to unions between a man and a woman. Amendment C would allow and recognize marriage only between a man and a woman. This would also prohibit the Legislature from allowing or recognizing "civil unions, domestic partnerships or other quasi-marital relationships between two or more persons regardless of sex." -E: This is known as the "judicial accountability" amendment. The Amendment would allow for those who make judicial decisions to be fined or jailed based on their rulin...

Whoa. So last night a few of us went for a walk around Skyline Drive (a spot in the middle of Rapid City that happens to include a wilderness area and a bunch of trails). It was gorgeous weather -- sweatshirt and a fleece jacket and I was good -- and about right for a walk. The walk itself was something else. Through town, into a residential area ... and then, rather suddenly, we cross a barrier into a wilderness area. Literally up someone's driveway and then off into the woods. It was crazy. You get up onto a hill and you're above the lights of town. The truly odd thing here is when you realize the full expanse of Rapid. It's not a big city, population-wise, but in square miles it's mildly massive. We sat on the side of a hill for awhile, doing very little. Eventually (around 2:15) we headed back down ... and we popped out of the woods into a cul-de-sac. Quite random. Tonight, I'm really glad we went up there, because today it snowed. Beautiful wet snow fell for s...

I feel mildly stupid. My class this morning was cancelled. He's been telling us this for a week. I didn't have to be at school till noon. But yes, you guessed it -- I came to class anyway! I don't feel too stupid, largely because there were five of us who did this. A few minutes after class would have started, one of the guys speaks up: "Maybe we don't have class today?" Pretty sure five lightbulbs went off simultanously. Anyway, now I'm at school. I've had time to finish some homework and it looks like I can do a few more things so that I don't have to worry about them before tomorrow. All in all, I'd call that awesome, even though I could (theoretically) still be in bed.

Ever had that feeling that things were caving in on you? That's what I've got going on right now. Don't really have much more to say about it. I'm not having a very good day.

Listening to: a ticking clock and a loud computer fan Not listening to: footsteps over my head, cars driving by, random radios, televisions, or people I rave about this place every time I'm here, and for good reason. It's quiet. It's (moderately) secluded. It's pretty, especially on a clear night like tonight. Above all -- it's escape. Don't get me wrong. I like school. I like Rapid City. I'll miss it all when January rolls around. Sometimes, though, the attitude of the general Tech crowd is stifling. Sometimes I'd rather be alone. Sometimes I just need to get the heck out of town. Besides, my grandparents are pretty cool people. And so here I sit, knowing that I won't be particularly tired for a couple more hours, even with the reminder that I'll be awake when the sun comes up, that my grandparents will be up at ranchers' hours (a.k.a. hours I usually only see from the other direction), that I'll feel guilty if I sleep past eight even if...

Listening to: Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1 in G Thinking about: What has to be done before tomorrow Just got done: Fighting with Aspen, at least for now It was an interesting weekend. Baffling at times, hilarious at others, frustrating occasionally ... Heck, that was all even known to happen in the same hour. I think my sleeping habits may be returning to some semblance of normal; it seems that, after Saturday night, my body got my attention and insisted on setting regular hours. We'll see how long that lasts (it's only a matter of time before a 4AM phone call introduces offset). The powwow on Saturday was almost surprisingly interesting; I expected something different, I suppose. It was particularly fun to watch the crowd and catch people's reactions; for instance, when we heard the Lakota version of the national anthem. I've heard it before and actually recognized the song as what it was (it's hard for me to differentiate songs in Lakota music), but at th...

This sucks. That's about it.

The time stamp on this post should give away my biggest problem at the moment. I don't quite know what's going on, but this is the worst I've been yet. It's not so much that it's rather early in the morning as the fact that I am not the least bit tired. I was a few hours ago; that has passed and now I'm quite awake. Argh. In any case, it was an interesting day. I went to the Black Hills Powwow this afternoon, which was followed closely by crashing a wedding reception and hanging out with Dyan and Missy. I might as well tell my story for the day! Dyan and I were walking up to the Gaslight (where the reception was) as two ladies were climbing into their SUV to leave. At that point, one of them sees us and asks, "Are you two wedding crashers?" Needless to say, we were taken aback. Doubly so since we sort of were. I think my response was something like, "Well, kind of ..." After her next sentence, I just cracked up. "Can we be your m...

ARGH. I'm finally done pacing. Frustrations lead to a period of intense freak-out, followed by having way too much energy. Hence pacing. Now, I'm watching the Food Network and drinking funny-colored grape Kool-Aid. (It's red.) It's that kind of week. I have an interview that I'm genuinely nervous about; this is a job I could really go for. Since I'm currently pursuing four different avenues as far as what to do next, I'm looking for something definitive. A good interview? A callback? Definition. Aside from that ... Wait, I don't want to talk about that here. That's not blog material. That's ... well, about it. I anticipate some more freaking out before I finally sleep (this time, I understand my insomnia!), but at least I've stopped pacing. See you when I have more content!

Awesome weekend. Awesome. Friday was M-Day. The usual hijinks (I like that word) ensued. Free food, jousting, the mud pit, the hill ... All fantastic fun stuff. Alas, there was no hill climbing for me this year. Been there and so on. Instead, after our dip in the creek (have to do something preliminary to get rid of all that mud!), Darren and I raced off to finish cleaning up and pack up for an overnighter in the Hills. Around 5:00, six of us headed into the northern Hills area to do a lake loop. Deerfield Lake sits at approximately 6000 feet, and is encircled by an 8 mile trail that, at this time of year, is particularly gorgeous. We hiked in a couple of miles Friday night and relaxed the rest of the evening. Food was an adventure, mostly because all we had was a single stove and a small pan. The rice alone came in 4 shifts. The weather was awesome as well; Friday night I slept under the stars, sans tent, for the first time ever. Between the stars and the sunrise, my weekend was made....