Rush Continued

Wow, it has been a long time since I've blogged. So much has happened these past few days! So, if anyone out there has been following this, I kind of dissed rushing and the whole frat thing. Well, here's what happened this past week. Rush started, so I decided I would check it out. And low and behold, I actually found a frat that I really liked. Four days later, I was signed up and am now a brother in Sigma Phi Epsilon. Wow, I know, kind of nuts, but here's my take on the whole ordeal.

Obviously from the first post, I was not a frat guy, didn't want to be a frat guy, didn't want anything to do with him. However, when I went out to rush it all changed. I really met a lot of quality guys out there that were having the best times of their lives. I was a little jealous almost. My motto in life "Don't knock till you try it," once again, stepped in, but it was for the best this time. The frat that I joined has the highest GPA on campus. A few presidents and validitorians have gone through it too. Last night at the party, really showed me how much these guys care about each other. Every other minute, more high fives, hugs, and "I love you man's." It was a little unreal. My pledge class alone is going to be great. I know not all of my friends got in, but there are still a lot of guys there that are going to make it great.

The one thing that bugs me about the whole thing though, is the label that I'm going to get around campus, especially when I wear my letters. It's nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, I'm proud to be a Sig Ep. What's going to get me is the fact that I'm going to be looked at as "a frat guy." Even when I told my parents, my dad made some crack about "where's the beer," or something to that effect. People will judge me before they even know me. The truth is, I don't drink. My friends know that.

Overall though, I think from now on, most of my posts are going to be about the frat. Not all, I'm sure there will be some random thoughts about this and that, but the crazy nights and hardcore parties are going to come from that. I guarentee it. Hopefully I made the right choice. I trust these guys, so we'll see what happens. If you ever get the chance to rush or look at frats, check them out. You might be surprised. Until next time, ciao.

My first time..................

No, no, no, don't get any wrong ideas here people. Jez........ However, I did have my first experience with the green leaf. Yes, I need not describe it any further. To give you a little context to this story, we were really bored last night around 1:30 so we decided to go smoke. Now, I had heard many things about this little plant, and I figured, "I'm in college, this should be the best time to at least try it." So we drove to a neighborhood and did three bowels between four people. Then we went to IHOP where I had, questionably, the best milkshake I've ever had.

However, I was a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong here, I appreciated the time I spent with Mary Jane, but, probably because it was my first time, I wasn't that impressed. Now, I've heard many things that if it's your first time you won't get high. I would have to agree. The biggest feeling I got from the whole ordeal was a spining head and a lot of laughter. I wasn't really even sure if I was high or not.

Overall though, it was good that I at least tried it. I mean you can't really knock it till you've done it. I will say that it's not going to be any weekly habbit or even monthly. It kind of hurt my throat a little. However, once in a blue moon, I might be willing to give it another shot. It also stinks up your clothes, so when I got back to my room, I promptly sprayed Fabreeze over all my clothes and jacket. I'm still going to wash them but hopefully that will take care of the smell for now. Lastly, college is great. My life is going really well (with the exception of a girl friend). Overall though, I'm having the time of my life. If you haven't been, I hope you get there someday, because I wouldn't give this time up for the world. Well, enough of my ramblings for now. Have a good week. Ciao.

Rush

Frats and Sororities. Wow. As you probably guessed, it's rush week right now down here in sunny LA and oh what a crazy week it has been so far. Unfortunately this isn't your "Ok, so I was really drunk" posts, but it's still crazy. As of now, only the sororities are rushing. The guys don't rush till next week. What I find incredible is the amount of time each sorority puts into recruitment. My dorm is located right next to the hall that some of the sororities use for their "pump up" rallies. The stuff that we hear coming out of that room is almost scary. All the songs, cheers, and high pitched screams is somewhat disturbing. The whole "sisterhood" seems to, for lack of a better word, consume people's lives. "It's all for the sisterhood/brotherhood." That's the kind of mentality that gets really nuts.

Another thing that weirds me out a lot is the sheer amount of girls that rush. There are about 1,400 kids in our class. 400 of them are rushing, and that's only the girls. Who knows how many guys will rush this semester. However, there is one major distingtion that I've come to see between the girls and guys. For guys, being in a frat is just, in my opinion, about the drinking, partying, and the brotherhood. However, it doesn't seem that a guy is "out" if he's not in a frat. I haven't really felt that much pressure to rush. I mean, I will at least give it a shot and take a look around, maybe get some free food, but overall the whole idea of a frat isn't that appealling. However, for girls, or at least for the ones rushing, getting in to the right one is paramount. Plus, if you're not in a sorority, you're "out." It's something in the mentality of girls, the whole being in a group. Yes, girls can be insecure, so can guys, but generally girls are a little more insecure, especially about looks and friends. I just find it interesting how sororities kind of play on those insecurities with recruitment.

Now I could be totally wrong here. I'm only speaking from one side. To some, rush is very important and I respect that. I just don't understand what the hype is all about. If anyone has any insights, I'd love to be informed. Other than that, nothing really exciting happening, although I might go check out a frat party tonight.........hehe. Until next time, ciao.

Funny Video

My cousin sent me this website and I laughed so hard when I watched it. Check it out here:

http://www.funpic.hu/swf/numanuma.html

Don't you wish you were this guy? I know I do.............Ciao.

P.S. No luck on the lady front

All-Girl Dorms and Their Injustices

Ok, so I work in one of the few all-girl dorms here on campus. You'd think that I would be loving it. For one, the school is 65% women. So right there, men have the upper hand. However, on top of that, I get to sit at a desk, doing nothing for about 8 hours a week, and just sit and watch every girl that walks in and out of the dorm. Even when I took the job, my head began to fill with all the "merryment" I would be having throughout my first year at college. You'd think that wouldn't you?

What I'm here to say is that it couldn't be farther from the truth. In fact, I've been going in the wrong direction. Don't get me wrong, it's still a fun job. I've also met a lot of cool people working here, definetly more than I would have expected. Whether any of them are remotely interested in me is a whole other story. My guess would be that there are at least 15 REALLY good looking women living here. One even inspired me to write a song for her on my guitar. So, you get the idea. But that's the thing. You start to show any amount of interest in these girls and they either shy away, or "push you aside" mentally. I dunno. Personally, I think women are confusing. They always have been, they always will.

I was afraid to start writing about the "girl" topic, just for this reason. It just gets me fired up, partially because I'm single, and also that every "potential" girlfriend I've met always has a boy friend. I must have some type of curse or something. You keep looking and looking, and the more you look, the less you find. Then when you give up, kind of like I'm telling myself I should do now, it hits you like a ton of bricks. Whether it's a fact of life or karma, it really bites. I'm sure not only guys have had this problem, but girls as well. It's like one of Murphy's Laws. The worst possible situation always seems to happen.

Now that I am on the subject of females, there is this one girl who I don't know if she is sending me the "good" signals, as in "I'm interested," or "I like you," or if it's the "Let's just be friends" signals. I will say, she is very attractive and has a very compatible and wonderful personality. But, most of all her friends are guys. Like, this girl is a guy magnet. So here is the dilema. Am I just another friend or something more? Am I getting extra special treatment or the same as everyone else? Once again, CONFUSING! If you have any insights or need more details, I'd be happy to post more, but this post is going on and on. I promised myself not to complain too much, but it's driving me nuts. Well, hope all of you are having success in the dating world, or at least are trying. God knows I'm giving up. Well, to all that read this, take care. Ciao.

First Day of the Semester

Well, I am finally back in good ol' sunny Los Angeles. Oh wait, forgot to mention, IT'S RAINING LIKE MAD DOWN HERE. Whew, had to get that off my chest. Anyways, yes the weather is terrible down here. I bet all my Seattle friends are laughing at me right now. I mean, I came down here for the sun, the cool atmosphere and this is what I get, rain and more rain.

Oh well, there's not much I can do about the weather. On the brighter side, classes look good, for the most part. I started my day off at 7:15 am and went to my 8 am Chemistry class. This teacher looks like a bore. Plus, I think he has terets (however you spell it), or something like that. Physics looks fun. The lab is all high tech and whatnot. Calculus this semester is definetly a step up from last semester. The teacher is way better. Finally Intro to Drama will be a breeze. So there you have it, the next four months of my life.

It kind of feels wierd being back, almost like I am starting over again fresh. In a sense I am, but what I mean is that it feels like I'm coming here for the first time. Sure things look familiar, I know my way around the school, and I know a boat load of people, but it just feels new still. Whatever you might call it, I am also feeling good being back. I don't have to worry about burdening parents, curfew, and not being able to get into the gym. On the flip side, I do miss my friends up in Seattle. It was fun seeing all of them and hanging out again like old time. However, time must go on and so must my life of never ending tests, readings, and homework. I think this semester will be overall harder than the first, which is kind of scary, but a challenge none the less.

Well I guess that's all I can really say for now. Not too many interesting things have happened in the span of 24 hours. Hope all of you out there stay well. I promise I'll have something more interesting to either comment on or complain about. Until then, ciao.

Christmas Decorations

I love Christmas decorations. I do, really. I mean, come on, people have to get into the spirit and what not. It just wouldn't feel like Christmas. All the colored lights, ornaments, and other articles of Christmas cheer. It is fun putting everything up too. Some might say that it's a hassle, or that it takes too much time. But, I have found to enjoy the decorating process very fun and enjoyable. It brings back memories of previous Christmas years.

However, with all the cheer that decorations bring, they also bring a day when one loses all patience and nerve, the day they all have to come down. Now, this could be a simple task, or at least one would think that it is simple. However, over my 19 years of life, I have found that every year taking down the Christmas decorations never brings anyone any after-Christmas cheer. In fact, people get very angry. Now, this doesn't involve the Christmas tree or the ornaments. That part is OK. The biggest pain the butt is none other than the lights. Yes, we all know about the lights. They get tangled, one goes out and the whole string goes out, you step on them, and all the other problems that go with lights. These all can be very time consuming problems. No one wants to spent an hour and a half working on taking down and wrapping Christmas lights. It's really a pain. I have come to loathe Christmas lights, just for these reasons. Yes, I know they're pretty, and they make the house look all festive and what not, but takign them down has just left a bad taste in my mouth. Yuck.

It also helps to have a partner that doesn't spend precious relaxation time on stupid things, like burned out lights. So, sometimes you get a string of lights and when you shake them, part or all of the string goes out. So, you go on a search for the break or whatever trouble spot there seems to be. So, you fumble around with them for about ten minutes then decide to give up....right? In this case, we didn't give up. My "partner," or my father insisted we find the break. Then he attmepted to cut the wire and then put it back together. To no one's surprise, this didn't work. And who has to clean up the mess, me. I put the strand back together, wrapped it up, then put it in the book. Finally, finished. You know how long that took us? About 20 minutes. Just on one strand. There were 3 other strands left to figure out. So, overall, it took us about an hour. What a waste. I could have been doing something else that trying to figure out how to make Christmas lights work. Another, yuck.

So, overall, the Christmas taking-down excursion wasn't very fun and it really never is. No one likes to take down stuff. I've even seen some people leave their lights up the whole year, just not turned on until Christmas. I think that's kind of clever except when people get up close and notice. Then they might thing you're living in some kind of space time continum thing, and no one likes that. Well, that's my moaning and groaning for now. I'm sure there will be plenty more of these types of posts. Hope all of you had a fun taking-down Christmas decorations day. Bye.

New Year's Resolution

Hello to all of you out there. Yes, this is one of my New Years resolutions that I am determined to keep updated every so often. Sometimes I feel that I lose contact or get out of touch with the people that are back home in rainy ol' Seattle. Sometimes you get that reaction "You never told me that!!!" So, I figure it's time to keep people updated on anything important that happens here in my life. I guess it's kind of like a journal, except everyone can read it. I also hope this thing doesn't bore anyone that reads any of the posts out there. Although my writing skills are not of the highest calliber (nor is my spelling, if you see an error, tell me), hopefully the message will still get across. Even though I am writing this from Seattle, the REAL first blog will be from LA when I get down there on Sunday. Hope all of you stay well, and you should be hearing from me in a few days or so. Bye.