proving grounds

Current Mood: what if?

We just passed Armed Forces Day, and it's almost Memorial Day.  In addition to several new relatives (that officially became a part of my family when I married Jenny last July) that currently or have served in the military, I'm proud to say my little brother is an enlisted Airman in the United States Air Force.  I've been told it's not cool to post specifics about his service, so I'll just say he joined this year, he's been in Texas (I got to see him recently for the first time since he left), and he's in contracting (not a contractor, per se, he doesn't hang drywall, but he's more about the paperwork).

At some point he'll be leaving for a far away place to do Air Force things.  He's always been a few hours drive away from me, so having to think of Skype as the easiest way to see him isn't easy to get used to.  It will definitely shake up our family holidays (like we haven't had enough of that!) and I think my mom's taking it the hardest (like I said, totally allowed).  I think he'll enjoy it, though, and I wish him all the best. 

Bradley's now an Airman.  My friend Brant just joined the Army.  Another friend (Benji) almost joined several branches.  It makes me think about how at one point, I almost joined ROTC to help pay for college, and how differently my life would have turned out.

Even beyond that, though, there's a deeper significance I put on being in the military, and I wish I could tell you it was purely a noble, self-sacrificing, guarding your country and fellow man kind of thing.  Really, it's a pretty stereotypical guy kinda thing.

Ugh.  I know I'm not going to explain this well.

Let me back up.  Growing up, I sometimes felt jealous of other people who had a strong sense of identity.  They played sports and loved their team/school (I did not - at least not until I got Purdue, I think that's part of why I love this school so much).  They had some sort of ethnic heritage and celebrated unique holidays (I did not).  They were religious and had special ceremonies (I did not).  They had groups to belong to and rites to go with them.  Basically, growing up, it seems like boys around me had plenty of opportunities to "prove" themselves to be Men with a capital M.  I'm talking about Eagle Scouts, Bar Mitzvahs, Mission Calls, stuff like that.  Some sort of rite of passage they took on to emerge on the other side as...I dunno, as adults, as men.   They were confirmed, they were sports guys, they went hunting with their dads... something they could point to as accomplishment.

The military?  Well, that's definitely one of those things.  I consider that one of the oldest and truest tests of self, of confidence, of courage, and of manliness.  I dunno, it's strange - I never really want to be in combat, to fear for my life, to have to risk everything, to have to possibly take another person's life - and yet, I wonder if I would ever have what it takes.  Does that make any sense?  On some level, I wonder if I could do it, if I could stand up and face that.

Mom suggested my back surgery as a test that I passed, and I shot it down - I didn't pick that.  That experience was something that happened to me and I dealt with it the best I could (still do, even).   Getting married and being a husband didn't make me feel like any more of a Man.  Don't get me wrong, I love my wife and I will do my best to provide for her and take care of her, but most days it feels just like when we were engaged (or dating)...and honestly, she's the one who provides for us right now.


I dunno, maybe this all comes back to feeling like I'm never going to be done with school.  I never finished engineering - I never got the diploma or the ring.  I don't feel like an engineer.  I never finished my flight lessons.  I don't feel like a pilot.  I don't have my A&P [yet].  I don't feel like a mechanic.

Some days, I wonder what to call myself.  UGH, that sounded so stupid.

Sports Junkie

Current Mood: sporty

I don't know what it is, but for some reason this spring I have become WAY more into sports that I have ever been. And I'm not just talking about my recent love of football, it has become an interest of sports across the board:

Hockey
*Miami University (OH) 's team, the Redhawks, made it to the Frozen Four. My sister and a few of my friends have gone/are going there, so I've made a point to pay a bit of attention to that.
*Sis seems to have rediscovered her love of hockey, so she and Bradley have been going to some Cincinnati Cyclones games, and they're in the playoffs. Get Cyc'd!
*My roommates are way into NHL level hockey, so I have been watching some with them and have adopted their team, the Detroit Red Wings - currently headed into the Western Conference Semifinals.

Baseball
*Opening Day came and went, and I watched the Reds play and it made me miss home a little, so I made Gold Star Chili for the apartment. It's way early in the season, but they're on a streak and in 2nd place in the NL Central.

Basketball
*I really don't care much for basketball, but I love brackets. I finished 3rd of 18 in my March Madness Pool.
*Purdue Boilermakers made it to the Sweet 16 with a young team, so maybe next year we'll improve and I might actually go to a game? Then I can genuinely root for Robbie Hummel.

Auto Racing
*Haven't watched any NASCAR, but from what I can tell it hasn't changed much since the Points Cup was implemented, rewarding consistency and boring racing. My driver Dale Jr. has bounced around to many different teams and hasn't made much of a name for himself, unfortunately.

Soccer, Golf, Tennis, MMA, other sports
*No thanks.

Football
*Purdue said goodbye to Coach Joe Tiller and replaced him with Danny Hope. Our main prospect for QB next year was suspended, so we'll probably have a rough year.
*I've spent the NFL offseason reading up on the draft, free agency, and the mechanics that make up the offseason. I feel like kind of a loser, but I've gotten pretty into football as a whole. I read mock-drafts, fan sites, histories and analysis of salaries, draft positions, and all sorts of projections. I'm ready for some real football, though.
*And fantasy football.
*The Bengals have made some not-horrible offseason decisions, so that makes me optimistic. Later I think I will do some predictions about the next NFL season.

There's been a few big changes happening in the NFL - Favre retired (but that could change), Madden retired (his replacement, Chris Collinsworth, is a Bengal but also looks like a bird man). Commisioner Goddell is looking to change 2 preseason games into real ones (and that would make a lot of old records disappear), and move games out of the US, and is currently negotiating a new CBA and possible rookie salary cap - all of these will change the shape of the league over the next few years.


Finally, some links:

Here's probably the best NFL draft article I've come across.

For a look at some misconceptions about the NFL busted by MATH, look here.

Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald bring the funk.

Because it makes me happy, some of the biggest sports upsets in history.

Lastly, how have I never heard of this dude?

accelerated

Current Mood: behind

MAN school caught up with me quick.

I'll spare you all the play-by-play of each day, but here's the summary:

MA 266 (differential equations) - again
AAE 301 (signals and systems analysis)
AAE 352 (structures II)
AAE 352 lab
CGT 226 (computer modeling - part modeling and advanced surface design)

13 credit hours.

Same old, same old, really. Difficult classes, I feel like I'm in over my head, the math involved blows my mind. I feel really...sluggish getting used to the routine, the workload, etc. Not crazy about trying to pass DE again, but what am I gonna do? Worried about student loans. Of course it wouldn't be a semester at Purdue for Ryan without problems with scheduling, registration, and student loan acceptance. a;sljdf;aljdf

On a scale of 1-1o, with 1 being Ferris Bueller's Day Off and 10 being Alexander's Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, my schedule looks like:

Monday: 6
Tuesday: 4
Wednesday: 9 (5 classes spanning 7:30am to 5:30pm)
Thursday: 2
Friday: 7

A lot of my aero professors are downright crazy, but it's balanced by a generous amount of oh my god these guys are so smart. I also regret letting all my knowledge of CATIA atrophy over several years since CGT 163.

New apartment is nice, even though I kinda hate trekking up Chauncey Hill. Especially 3x a week at 7 in the morning. I am not used to early classes like this!

Improv is good. I've already seen a lot of familiar old faces, and it looks like we've got a good recruiting class, which couldn't come at a better time for us.

Several job fairs are coming up next week and I suppose it's high time for me to buckle down and try to seriously get myself out there and find some sort of internship for next year. If nothing else I do not want to work for university residences again (not that it is a bad job, I just don't think I can do it again). Side thought...the longest I've had any job so far was about 3 years and each time I started to get pretty stir crazy. I hope that if/when I get into my preferred "field"I will be more content and won't feel the need to jump around so much.

Lastly, Andy Ober gave Jenny and I some last minute freebies to go see another preseason game - Bengals @ Colts a week ago. So we got to see Lucas Oil Stadium up close and personal, and the Bengals won (something I am worried about not celebrating a lot in the coming months). That said, my new favorite Bengal is Corey Lynch - not just because he makes a great impact on our D, but he's also a rookie from Appalachian State. Which means he was part of the David team that brought down Michigan last year at the Big House, apparently starting a tradition.

:D Football season!

paper towel oculardystrophy

Current Mood: awaaaake



I found this to be particularly humorous.


Also, THIS JUST IN -

Led Zeppelin: still awesome. Probably better than most bands ever will be.

For some other perspective, think of this:

I consider Led Zeppelin to be the greatest rock band, ever. They broke up in 1980 (6 years before I was born) because of the death of their drummer (John Bonham). The tribute concert they played at featured drums played by his son, Jason Bonham. Jason is 41 years old. That's a year older than my father.