The Myth & The Majesty

Um ... Blogger's block. I'm not sure what I wanted to say. Crap. Thanks for the questions, Andi and Katie. And thanks for reading, Barb. And Benjamin, even though I'm not sure exactly which Benjamin you are (or if you're one of the six I know, for that matter). Anyone else out there?

It was six years ago today, on a Saturday nonetheless, that I went to prom. To tell you the truth, I don't remember a whole lot about it. When you're in high school, you're told that it's one of the Big Events that you'll always remember. And while I do remember a few things, it's not exactly high in what I consider Big Events. I had to look back at my journal from that time to even recall anything in particular. I was a junior (my high school had a junior-senior prom -- it's a small town). I had a great dress. The whole day (hot and windy) was spent getting ready, including having my best friend's mom do my hair. A large group of us went to a Mexican restaurant in Sioux Falls whose name I don't remember for dinner, and after that four of us in particular went together in my best friend's dad's very nice truck. Heh heh heh. I didn't much care for it. As far as I was concerned, it was another in a string of dances that mostly bored me. The...

I dropped out of society for a few days, and in that time, almost every blog I frequent was updated. I figured I could contribute to the madness. It started some time on Thursday. Or I think it did ... It's been a long week. In any case, I got off work and was hanging out at home (as usual) when I suddenly realized that I was losing my mind. I'm not used to being alone so much, and some days it really gets to me. That particular night, I hopped in my car and started driving. Some of you may recall my post about my life as a movie ... Well, here is a partial transcript of that night's voice over: "I don't quite know what happened. Suddenly I was angry, at nothing in particular, and I couldn't calm down. When I started pacing my apartment -- no doubt irritating the heck out of the people downstairs -- I decided it was time to get out. So ... I did. I stormed out to my garage, jumped in my car, and left. There wasn't really a purpose, wasn't really an aim...

There are several different kinds of people that go to restaurants alone: -Those who don't much like cooking but don't want everyone in the restaurant to think that they have no friends and spend most of the meal on their phone or texting people. -Those who are there almost every night because they don't know how to cook/don't enjoy cooking and don't really care if they don't have other friends because hey, all of the members of the wait staff like them and call them by name. -People on business trips. (The suits give those ones away.) -The guy in the corner who seems to be having an animated conversation with ... someone. (First, check for a Bluetooth or similar headset; if there is one, he fits into the first or third category. If there isn't, he may actually be crazy.) -Those who just need a break every now and then and come with something to do while they eat. I tend to fit into that last category. I get tired of cooking, or I haven't been grocery sh...

Disclaimer: This is not meant to disrespect in any way the liberal arts people out there. I don't really understand your world and I'm guessing you don't really get mine, either. Maybe this will clear up some of the confusion. This blog was inspired by a random conversation with a couple of my coworkers about a week ago. Let me tell you about chemical engineering. Chemical engineering is a large field that is hard to define in broad terms. If there is a material being developed or processed, there is a chemical engineer involved. If there is a process that involves a chemical (even if it's just water with dissolved air) being transported with a possible manipulation -- heating, cooling, pressure change, phase change (for instance, liquid to gas), separation of a mixture of chemicals -- there is a chemical engineer involved. We do a lot of plumbing -- flow through pipes and all that -- but we get to deal with chemical reactions and odd fluid behavior. Generally speaking,...

It was an awesome weekend. I headed home for Easter, leaving after work on Friday and returning Sunday afternoon/evening. Next time, I'm taking a day off. Pretty sure I only actually spent about 40 hours in the general Sioux Falls area. In that time, I managed to get caught up with Andy (late Friday/early Saturday -- it was good to see you, dude!), get caught up with a couple of family friends (hi, Jodee), see Blue Man Group (totally awesome), and get up really really early in the morning to bake roughly 180 cinnamon rolls. By Monday morning, I was a little on the sleep deprived side. My hours of driving gave me some time to think, though, which is always good. I thought you might enjoy some of the things I was pondering. For instance: -High school is great to talk about, especially with people from my hometown who have gotten away. Nothing against the place, but I don't live there now and I don't intend to live there again. It has serious black hole tendencies, plus enoug...

Thinking about: Desuperheaters, acrylic paint, books, and what I should do about supper tonight. On my playlist: Regina Spektor, Jars of Clay, The Beatles, The White Stripes, Switchfoot, and JuteBlue. That’s right, Chris, you guys are now on my playlist. And to Brian -- I swear, they’re more normal than just that song. (Oy, what an impression I must’ve given … I’m not a very good groupie.) In the interest of giving my brain a break, I thought I might throw out another update blog. There’s some other stuff in the works, but to be totally honest, I don’t want to think all that hard tonight. Let’s see … Huh. There’s really not much I can tell you. It’s been pretty uneventful. I found a church that I have every intention of attending regularly, and while it’s no Fountain Springs, it’s pretty cool. Very friendly, and probably the highest concentration of People Under 30. (You guys kind of spoiled me when it came to looking for a church out here.) I’m still trying to make a dent in the resta...