here it is the top 48 things that happened to me in 2003 (compiled with a minimal amount of introspection).

1 Graduated from high school (finally!)
2 Went to college (this is a close second)
3 had spiritual re-awakening (only third b/c first 2 had to happen for this to be)
4 survived my first semester (and did pretty good)
5 moved into my own place
6 moved to a new town
7 Made lots a new college buddies
8 rediscovered old friends
9 hung out with said friends
10 Relearned who my sister was, now my best friend.
11 went to key west
12 went on and survived senior trip
13 ate grandma’s cornbread (yeah it’s that good)
14 played guitar…a lot…
15 got first real paycheck
16 met a real scientist (actually my boss)
17 learned logic
18 Met Shaq at my appartment complex (dude is bigger than you think…)
19 had “special” class moments with Dr. B
20 Mr. B is the coolest english teacher ever!
21 Coach T… there are no words to describe you…you’re the best
22 bought cool albums
23 got a mac which roolz the skool!
24 fell in… and out….of love
25 learned to love cats
26 actually won TWO track races (i still can’t believe it…)
27 got depressed…. and then got happy… alot
28 started drawing
29 learned where pancake mix is at albertsons
30 drove around…alot (boy i love the scenery on I-10)
31 hardly watched TV at all
32 had (gasp) fun at mardi gras balls
33 saw george winston in concert (way better than new age implies)
34 stayed up late… a lot
35 ate subway for 15 consecutive days…and still liked it (cooking ain’t so easy)
36 hung out in new orleans
37 met a girl who actually says hilarious like hillARious.
38 got my own bathroom
39 spent the night in the backseat of a truck
40 memorized mitch hedberg routines
41 turned 19
42 learned footbag
43 stayed in
44 went out
45 saw flying fish that actually fly
46 had long late talks
47 saw 7 rainbows
48 stayed far away from coffee products

and of course the list continues, but it get pretty random on down the line…i’ll spare you.
really, what i learned from this is… this:

a. i had a lot of awesome things happen to me this year
b. the good far out wieghs the bad
c. if it seems to good to be true, it dosent’ really matter because truth sometimes = bad (news, consequences, ect..)
d. change hurts, but rocks the house once it’s over

So, if you think you had a bad year, try making a list of the best stuff that happend to you. you’ll probably be suprised how few bad things you can remember.

Happy New Year!

Sometimes it’s those moments when you catch a glimpse of what might have been, the possibility that is just an emphemeral flicker, seen but not grasped, known but not understood.

It is in these moments, when I close my eyes.

They are just a few seconds, they soon pass, to fade away into memories that I will never remember, yet for those passing breaths, I am bounded in a fluid permanance. And in this dark passing, where time and memory cease, I strive to capture that flicker, that one luminous cinder, that guided me there. Yet before I can understand, before I can see, it passes away.
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Here is the much-anticipated present blog. However, I must admit that I have some reservations about posting about stuff I got for Christmas after reading Dave’s blog below, which remindes me (and everyone else) what Christmas is really about.

So if you want to reflect on the true Christmas spirit, read Dave’s blog.

I will continue my self-centered rambles, albeit with a heavy Christmas conscious.

My Gifts (listed in descending order of recipiants favor):

10. - Chocolate
What Christmas could be complete without seasonal sweets?

9. - Bath soap
Okay, I think my parents are trying to tell me something

8. - Exfoliating Brush
Apparently my personal hygeine is impaired because this is cleanliness gift number two on the list. Seriously, if you are a guy, you probably have no idea what this is. I sure didn’t. It’s supposed to be a brush that cleans your skin leaving you feeling clean and refreshed. It looks like something I would use to scrub car tires with. I tried it last night and it was alot like bathing with sandpaper. But I did feel strangely refreshed afterwards. The jury is still out on this one.

7. - Drinking glasses
This is more like a family thing. We have a total of about 4 cups at our appartment, so additions were welcome. One is music related, the other is LSU themed, just in time for the sugar bowl.

6. - A Grill adaptor for electric stoves
This is more practical than anything, much needed addition to my cooking arsenal in college

5. - Guitar Strings
Wow, these things really increase my cable reception! Just kidding, they’re like strings, you know…

4. - Gift Certificates totaling about 30 bucks
These little plastic things that are scanned by a laser in exchange for items that I would like to have. Novel concept.

3. - Two excellent CD’s.
Dave’s gift to me, what more need I say?

2. - A Guitar Tuner
Now no matter how poorly I play, I’ll always be in tune. This gift has been 5 years in the making.

And the number one gift is: (drum roll)
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the moment we’ve all been waiting for…

(enter christmas)

I must admit, there is no feeling quite like the expectant joy of the christmas season. Even though every year I am bombarded with thousands of christmas marketing campaigns and the stress of holiday traffic, nothing can impact the true happiness I always experience this time of year, especially as Advent draws to a close.
This year, perhaps more than any year before, I have really had time to think about Christmas, and prepare for the New Year. I suppose living by yourself lends you time to reflect.
So, for the first time in a long time, I feel ready for Christmas.

The past few days have been a time of reunion with friends and family. It’s so good to see everyone doing well and enjoying their time off.

As the year draws to a close, I am contemplating a list of the best things that happened to me in 2003. Look for the definitive list sometime right before New Year.

Until then I will be relaxing in Christmas daydreams, and of course expect a special “present blog” to find out if I got something besides coal this year.

just kidding. about the coal. i think. (right santa?)

anyway, happy holidays!

so i am back in the bayou. a much more chilly bayou. Food is good here. Bed is divine here. Friends are plentiful here (but missing one vital part whose initials are jb). Des is so happy here. i like when des is happy. stress is low here. family is everywhere here.

school is nice, really. but home is just… (birds chirping, laughter) home.

christmas itself shall be a blast! how many cool things can happen in 3 weeks? a whole lot!

i installed os X on my mac, and she’s wonderful. i got this new computer game called Need For Speed: Underground. it’s a good thing i’m on Christmas break. or else i would be doing no amount of school work. when i’m not playing on my computer(s) or picking lovely tunes on guitar or eating from a stocked refrigerator or spending just enough hours sleeping and dreaming what dreams may come, i am having a very nice time just existing.

Oh yeah and some grades: all A’s and a B in Calculus. how did i scrape by with that. who knows. it’s over. rock on. freshman year part II shouldn’t be too bad.

Man today i talked to cousin Matt, who goes to Arizona State. School is fun for him too, he’s majoring in Fairy Tales and Folklore. HOW COOL IS THAT!

tonight i also saw “The Last Samurai”. i liked it. and that makes sense: cross “Last of the Mohicans” with “7 Years in Tibet” and you have “The Last Samurai” exactly. even set in the same time period. some scenes are almost exactly the same. dang now i’m wondering if Tom Cruise didn’t star in both of those already. Brad Pitt? who’s he? the title should really give you a hint that Last Samurai is Last Mohican in Japan. I guess the actuality is really not that close… but close enough. Go see it though.

The only thing that’s missing is my guitar amp (sadly left in Georgia). i took my ‘lectric home but with no amp it’s not quite as fun. (note to jon: if you have an extra amp lying around we could jam over the break)

Well let me be the first to make an official holdiay post.

No longer will you be reading about the long terrible school daze.
No longer will you be reading about killer homework.
No longer will stress and anxiety permeate this digital medium.

Instead all will be peace and harmony and Christmas cheer.

As soon as I am done christmas shopping, that is.

So congratulations to all who have completed another chapter in their school, life, work, ect.

John Lennon once said something like, “Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans.”

I, for one, will not make other plans this holiday season.
I will enjoy life for what it is.
Or isn’t. (read: “school”)

As 2003 begins its concluding act, I will be happily enjoying the production.

after this entry, i’m packin up the ol’ iMac for the trip home!

i’m a-studying for my Old Testament final tomorrow. and now, a psalm. of david. ha!

HARK! CHRISTMAS BREAK IS NEAR!

REJOICE, IT IS SO CLOSE THAT
I CAN SMELL THE KIND OF SOAP IT USES!
I FEEL ITS TINY ARMHAIRS TICKLING MY OWN!
ITS SWEET BREATH, I KNOW!

FOR WHEN I COME FROM THE HILLS
DOWN INTO THE SWAMPLAND,
I WILL FIND IT THERE!
BEHOLD, YOUR SEASONAL FREEDOM HAS COME!

yes. goodbye kids, until next week! (p.s. updates (as always) will still happen over christmas break).

well the title pretty much sums it up.

a final. on saturday. it’s gotta be the worst school trick ever.

hey, at least it’s my last one right?

if i were a haughty self-absorbed intellectual, trying to come to grips with imminent failure, i would have written a post that reads like this:
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****UPDATE*****

so how was the test?

well it went great! no problem! despite a few minor spelling errors, i think i did great and was able to mantain my A in that class. so yeah for me.

to brooke: sorry for the delay, i just forgot to post last night. thanks for keeping me accountable!
to dave: consider the problem fixed! what would i do without my friends?

*****END OF UPDATE******

hmmmm, i’m just one hour away from my french exam.

oh the excitment, the agony, what will it be like, how will i do, will i remeber my accents on the verb “to prefer?”

“will anyone care?” is probablty the more pertinent question here.

well, no one except all those french speaking people in the world.
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got my exam back today and my semester grade.
i have an A for chemistry for this semester… that mean’s i don’t have to take the final… that means (just like jon breaux and his math career) i’m done with chemistry for the rest of my undergraduate education! bam!

oh yeah and des also has an A in chemistry. go us!

because of these superior grades, we will be able to come home for christmas break 2 or 3 days early. pretty cool. i don’t want to get too excited about it now, though, because i still have lots of work to do! hold my calls.