Starting a 101 project!

Okay everyone, lets face it sometimes we all need a little motivation to do things, even things we already want to do. One great example of mine would be to finish War & Peace, which I have started multiple times just to put down and forget about till the next time I see it sitting around. I found the "Day Zero" project and I feel like it's just what I need 101 things in 1001 days. Now just to think about what 101 things I want to accomplish. Off to the drawing board I go!

Update

I'm up at Northern Michigan University this is week two of classes. I'm taking a math class, biology lecture and lab and an english class. The math class is 090 which is basically pre-college, I haven't really taken any math in awhile so that's why I'm there it's almost too simple and a lot of the concepts are just like "DUH" but I have to start somewhere right? My english teacher goes through the room and rips everyone's papers apart but never really says anything about mine, he just put's little "yes" marks on my papers about what he likes, it's sort of weird. The biology lecture is actually REALLY good and I can find myself enjoying the professor without a problem. I was invited to Vancouver, Izmir, and Paris in the last week all from friends. Evsen in Izmir was an exchange student that I met in school and Jenna is studying in Paris.

Financial Aid & College

As stated on other post I am currently enrolled at Northern Michigan University. Yes, I'm a freshmen but not for long. Unlike most people changing "grades" on a yearly basis, I change in the winter. This is because I went to Kalamazoo Valley Community College for a semester and took summer courses at NMU. I'm currently taking Mythology so I can get another liberal studies requirement out of the way, I did the same thing with Music in Society. Just another refresher, or for those of you who haven't read anything else on my blog, I'm a Zoology major minoring in International Studies.

Anyways back to the point of this particular blog, financial aid. Every time I have gone to receive aid I always have issues. With KVCC I didn't receive any because I was not seeking to gain a degree from their school. For summer courses at NMU my aid came to late forcing me to pay out of my own pocket (I am getting refunded for what I paid), and for fall my aid was "cancelled" but and I am currently waiting to see what's happening there. I contacted the office to see what was going on and the lady told me that they just needed to verify my paper work. Basically I hear issues with financial aid offices all the time. My friend is currently taking a break because he had major issues as well. He went to Western Michigan University and will not be returning, when he starts again he will be going to a new school. I guess this is more a of a 'ack! rant than blog but either way it keeps me stress free haha.

KL on College

Okay so KL strikes again! This is our discussion on schools. Beware this one is a tad bit lengthier. By the way when I talk to her my grammar takes a critical hit (wow that was nerdy).

Me - I just took an exam and I totally got a 80% and I haven't even read like half of it.

KL - Online?

Me - mhm online.

KL - I have to start online school soon to get my diploma. haha

Me - It's sometimes harder than in person school because you can't be like "HEY WAIT WHAT". I need a conclusion for my paper. tralala

KL - But you can email them if you need help.

Me - Yeah of course *nods* but you can't just stop them in the middle of class. ya know?

KL - I never did that anyways, I was too shy.

Me - Me too :/ haha. Well except in classes I knew the teachers very well.

KL - Me too hehe but I don't feel comfortable around most teachers, just the fun ones.

Me - Dittos fo sho sho

KL - [finishing previous thought process] that I know wont bite my head off for speaking up. I didn't really learn much from my High School. (No I don't know where she went)

Me - That says about 50/50 though, if you REALLY want to learn you will. At the same time some schools don't help their students enough.

KL - I don't really think people get anything out of copying definitions and footnotes :/ .

Me - Like I said it depends on how badly you want to learn. It's a lot harder to learn that way but if you REALLY want to learn you'll also read all the information and maybe even read outside sources, etc.

KL - I think they should find a better way to teach, relate the things to things we know so they stay with us.

Me - *shrugs* I think that's something the student should have to do especially in High School, because once you're in college it's "fuck you" xD.

KL - Well that's shitty especially if you pay for that shit. They should be better teachers.

Me - No it's only shitty if you waste your money.

KL - I don't think it should be that way. :/ That's why I'm scared to go to college.

Me - Just so you know if you go to Germany they are a lot stricter than some of our colleges when it comes to things you already should know, etc. (I realize not all German colleges are this way and yes I realize some US schools are VERY strict)

KL - I have such a temper, I'd be like "WTF!? YOU PRICK!"

Me - Probably not the best approach to College.

KL - grrrasdfghjkl That's SO fucked.

Me - Maybe in person college isn't your thing? Well it's not ALL ABOUT YOU it's about everyone and if they have to kneel down to you it's like wasting everyone else's time and money.

KL - Meeh

Me - I mean there are office hours you can go talk to you professor.

KL - Well they could kneel down to everyone!

Me - No see in college you kneel to yourself. You study, you make study groups. It's not the professors time to hold your hand and force feed you info, it's not their job.

KL - Study groups??? (this honestly shocked me that she had no idea what I meant)

Me - Yes. Like a group of people who study together.

KL - Sheeesssh I hate people.

Me - Okay, then you study alone xD.

This is when the conversation is turned to a "how people act" in person dealio. But I hope to raise more important topics from KL and see what she thinks. I don't mean to dis her but it shows what some people think about colleges and other ideas. Like yesterday's on blogging. Also JE might make more appearances at a later time but those would be much more serious convos are just plain silly ones. Also please don't ask for names, I will NOT give out any names beyond my own. I will tell you that KL is from Florida and JE is from Michigan. From time to time I might give an update on how the person is doing or how our friendship is going but beyond that really you wont be getting much.... unless you pay attention ;)

Blog Fight

Here's a quick bit from a conversation I just had with my friends.

KL - Shesh livejournal is so confusing.

KL - Do you have one?

Me - A lonnnnnnng time ago

Me- Yes

Me - But I use blogspot now

KL - Blogspot is so plain

KL - and lame

Me - Livejournal is for kiddies who need to grow up

JE - Blogging is gay

KL - Your mom is gay

JE - Zing!

KL - What is "zing"?

Disclaimer he JE doesn't use "gay" as an insult it was a joke.

Side note go see HP6!

Northern Michigan University

So now that I'm settled in and out of class and such I guess I'll inform everyone about what's going on. I arrived in Marquette on the 14th with my mom and grandma and they stayed up here till my birthday on the 16th so that we could do some around the town "where is everything at" stuff. It snowed on the 16th but the 15th was a beautiful day so I didn't mind too much. So far I've said "hi" to about 4 people, I don't bump into many people and things are fairly quiet. My class is MU 125, Music in Society, today was the first day so I had to wake up at 7am which was a complete change from my normal "don't wake me up before 10" deal. When I got there it wasn't that big of a class MAYBE 20 people, I think less or at least it feels that way. The professor commented on my signature by asking "are you premed?" which made me smile to which I said "no I'm a zoology major" then he goes ".... all you scientist have the same writing" which made me laugh to myself he was trying to be nice not mean like it might seem. On the 17th the day before class started I went for a hiking trip over to Hogsback Mountain. Once I finally made it to the summit I was completely taken back by the beautiful scenery, You could see for miles in every direction, I loved it.

Less than Moments

Hey everyone! I've just been doing a bunch of yard work and cleaning lately, getting things sorted out before I move next Wednesday (May 13th). If you don't know I'll be moving to Marquette, Michigan to go to school at Northern Michigan University. My spring course is MU125 - Music in Society, no i'm not a music major or anything like that I'm just doing a liberal art requirement, my major is Zoology. Well I still have a lot of sorting to do so I'll update everyone with more later!

Isle Royale and the Southwestern Winter

Hey everyone looks like it was a little while between blogs again, my car was broke and I'm just going to say that was the reason I couldn't reach my computer haha. Anyways now for the real important stuff. Like I said I'll be up in Isle Royale this August so if you're going to be up there you know you have island company. My BIG problem right now is the trying to figure out how to save money to travel to Fort Worth, Texas. There's a girl there that has captured my heart for more than a year now and I would LOVE to go visit but here's the problem.... Money. I'm pretty much up for anything besides selling my Mac and or not going to Isle Royale. Freelance photography.... not exactly the money mine that people think it is.

Broken Mac

Sorry for the long delay between post my Mac had a problem and had to go away for a little while. At first I was freaked out about it but it turns out the particular problem I had was quite common and Apple was willing to fix it for free with absolutely no charge, no shipping, nothing. I'm off the market now when I went to Ionia I asked Jenna out so all is well in that department. She's incredibly smart it's pretty awesome. LaShay has my family cook book and I'm currently waiting for her to get over her to give it back. Not that I have anything to do today. I'll probably play some xbox live. My gamer tag is IvanTortuga if you ever want to add me or just to check out what I play/etc. Well I'm off!!

Adventure Land

Yesterday I went to Taco Bobs and saw Adventure land. AL wasn't exactly the funniest movie ever but it was still really good, I recommend it. It was too windy to really do anything else though so this blog is going to be really short haha.

Slappin' da Bass

Today Jake and I decided to go to Lexington Green Park and do a little "jam session" it's the first time we've ever played "music" together and sounded quite horrible. One reason is because I haven't played the didgeridoo that long and haven't gotten the whole circular breathing thing down the other reason is well we suck, haha. We decided we should continue to practice and get better so that's what we're doing. On a much cooler note Tim Tams are now sold in Targets in the US so we went out and bought some. We then went down to Panera and got some coffee and did our first Tim Tam Slams and OHHHHMYYYGOD it was heaven. I LOVE Tim Tams and may now have an addiction.

Viral

So I wont be online tomorrow because of that damn April Fools Virus. I own a Mac but my grandma runs a PC and my internet is her internet so it's like damn. Today Jake and I played a little tennis for a quick work out, besides that nothing is really happening today. Oh I did get my Tent in the mail finally so that's a good thing. The guy promised me a $10 refund by monday but that was yesterday and I still have no money back. This guy is SOOO close to getting a really really bad user review.

Lights

Hey everyone today Jake and I played Halo 3 most of the night, mostly failing quite hard seeing as we aren't junkies like some people that play. We played a little Hacky Sack and soccer early too. I haven't done anything active almost all summer and to say the least it took a toll on me. On the way home from Jake's house I got pulled over for having a head light out I never even knew that head light was out so he let me go with a "just get it fixed no worries". The odd thing is he is the same exact cop that pulled me over a few weeks ago because I was apparently using brights. Those were fixed and I never had to pay a fine or anything. Sigh, I don't think I'll be driving at night ever again.

Insectosaurs

Today Jake and I went out and saw Monsters vs Aliens and I Love You Man (again). MvA had sort of a dumb plot line and kinda sorta dumb characters for the most part but the actors pulled through and def made it worth it. I Love You Man is hilarious I recommend it if you haven't seen it yet. 

Earth Hour

Tonight at 8:30 - 9:30pm is the world wide Earth Hour where you simply have to switch your lights off. How hard is that? I mean hell if you think you're going to be bored just use your laptop just unplug everything. I strongly encourage at least checking out the site that was linked above. It's a great time to read a book or just talk with friends and family I mean think about it great time to play a board game by candle light it could even be a romantic dinner. I know I'll be participating I hope you all do too.

Backpacking

I thought I'd give anyone a quick update about my backpacking seeing as I mentioned Isle Royale but really didn't go into ANY detail. For the last few months I've been using ebay to sell of my larger possessions I don't really use any more. I bought a large Expedition backpack through National Geographic but seeing as it's from NG it's mostly a camera bag so seeing as I don't need to carry a bunch of camera stuff I sold that and I sold my Magic the Gathering cards (childhood collection & memories). Between those two things and much a of small things I made enough for the gear ill be needing, my family keeps giving me little things too so that's helpful. My backpack is a Firefly from Outdoor Products. My sleeping bag is a three season sleeping bag from Meijer, I went meijer because it's quite a bit cheaper hope that doesn't come back and bite me in the ass. I bought my tent through ebay, it's a Eureka Apex 2. It is yellow, not exactly my favorite color but lets think about it this way if I'm lost and need something to signal with a bright yellow tent will help more than a dark green one. The buyer I bought it through is northernoutdoorsupply and I've been having some problems with them. I bought the item on Saturday and they say they use USPS and Priority shipping (2-3 days), it's day 6 not including Sunday. Today I asked where my tent was and they replied by saying they don't ship on Saturdays and that there is a 1-2 warehouse waiting period, according to this it should be here today. So I asked once again what was up with that and they replied by saying they looked into and were going to give me $10 back and I said okay because hell if I'm not going to get at least $10 back. I am currently still waiting for the $10 let's see if they follow through. I only a few more things including; Small light weight pan, Food (ill wait to buy that), Sleeping pad, rope & a plastic groundsheet for my tent. I estimate that I will have a few dollars left over which would be nice seeing as the Isle Royale entrance fee is $4 a day not including the ferry which will cost between $114 and $128.

Long Over Due

Hey everyone I haven't said anything in quite sometime. So this might be one LONG update. We'll start from where I left off. 

My schooling at KVCC went pretty good I got two A-'s and a D. I got the D in Russian History mostly because I stopped caring, yeah yeah I know that's a bad thing to do. Everything I was "learning" in Ethics and Ecology was just a repeat of what I had previously known it was to say the least the most boring semester of my life. I took this semester of because I don't have the money to continue to pay for myself. I'll be at Northern Michigan University on May 16th, my birthday, to start my summer semester. 

So I ended up moving in with LaShay for quite a few months and things were going good at first but she ended up just not caring anymore. She was happy where she was in life and well to me that's not the life of an adult. Not saying that it's not okay for now it's just I'm the kind of person that needs to constantly better himself and she's the kind of person that almost seems to go the opposite way. She's a very nice person, she's just not my person. We broke up about a month ago and I moved out. 

Since then I've been pretty bored trying to save money up for my trip to see my family in Sweden next year and trying to save money for my backpacking trip to Isle Royale this summer after my summer semester. I've gotten my backpack, tent, and most of my gear but I'm still lacking a few small things but that'll be okay. The big part will be paying for ferry across the lake onto Isle Royale but I currently have the funds for that. I also have to save up or at least figure out how to pay for the possibility to study abroad. It's a shame traveling is so expensive it's even worse that it's almost entirely plane tickets. Once in a place it never seems too bad if you're a smart shopper. If things went as good as possibly I'd want to go around the world when I graduate but that looks a little out of my reach as of right now seeing as ill be selling my car for the air fair to Australia if I do end up studying abroad. BUT we will see.