The Alchemist's Journal

Bits of randomness

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:16:09 GMT

School - Pain in the ass. Halfway through the semester and I really don't feel like I've learned much. I'm screwed come finals I think.

Baseball - Attended the last 4 Twins games ever in the Metrodome. The last Sat and Sun regular season games, the Tuesday tiebreaker against Detroit which was quite possibly the best baseball game I have, and possibly ever will, withness, and the one playoff game against the Yankees.

Relationships - I'm currently dating a girl that goes to UM-Crookston. It's a long story how we met so I won't get into that right now. She's on the younger end of my dating scale, 20, but we get along great and seem to be on the same page with things. Been about a month now so we'll see how it goes.

Former relationships - Tara and I are talking....as much as can be expected for someone as quiet and shy as she is. At least the awkwardness is gone.

Travel - Looking at Kansas City and Glacier for trips next summer. Already going to Miami in March for sure for school, as well as possibly an east coast trip with the band in June. Should be fun.

Living situation - Stayed in the house. There are still little moments where I wish I had gone with the dorms, but I think this was for the best. I hope.

Sickness - I had a cold last week and as usual the cough has stuck around a lot longer then it should. If its not gone in the next week I'm going to the Dr. again.

Midterms - I had a solfege singing midterm last week that I still haven't taken cause I lost my voice due to the cold and whenever I sing now I just start coughing like crazy, regardless of whether I've taken medicine or not. I also have a theory take home midterm thats due Monday. I really need to get started on that.....

Visiting home - I'll be back in Black River for Thanksgiving but just for Thursday and Friday and I'll be with my grandparents so I can't go too far. I will however be back for probably about a week over Christmas break as usual. Might bring Stef with, not sure yet. depends on schedules. She's not 21 til May though so it might cause problems with some of the usual hangout spots when I'm home.

Dorm Life

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 01:59:13 GMT

So in order to satisfy my never ending love of moving (ugh...), I will be moving into the dorms on campus in the next week or two for the school year. This will very much be a shift in lifestyle for me. Less freedom, less privacy, more social, and less space. I have never lived in dorms before, the closest I got was the studio apartment I lived in a year and a half shortly after I moved here. I have grown tired of the house we are currently living in and I feel the (theoritcally...) fewer distractions of the dorm over the house will help me out. I am looking at it as an adventure, a way to become part of the campus community once in my life and actually freaking meet some people.

I'm submitting paperwork in the morning. If all goes well, within the next week or two I shall be moving into a small box of a room....with a roommate....let the adventure begin!

Where's a Sham-wow! when you need it?!

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 05:25:10 GMT

I went out sandbagging for about 6 hours today before I had to go into work. We managed to finish off the dike around one of Concordia's music professors that had been started yesterday, and moved over to a friend of my brother's and help get them going with their's before I had to go into work. All in all, a very tiring day, and if this rain doesn't let up, its going to be even harder tomorrow.

All 4 colleges are closed today and tomorrow. NDSU is closed until further notice, and MSUM, Concordia, and MSCTC are just playing it day by day. I can almost guarantee MSUM won't have class Wednesday, and I wouldn't be surprised if we're canceled the rest of the week. There is just so much help that is needed in the area and not enough time, and the college kids are the driving force of this effort.

I managed to take a few pics during breaks in the dike building this afternoon, and I have them posted here....Its a public album.

www.facebook.com/album.php

The worst is yet to come.

We're all doomed!

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 05:37:20 GMT

I won't be posting much the next few days. I know I said I would post pictures, but more pressing issues are at hand. River is going to be higher, and sooner, then everyone thought now, so everyone has to scramble to get the dikes up before everything freezes tuesday night. It's not going to be easy. Classes are canceled at the 2 colleges here in Moorhead tomorrow, and I wouldn't be surprised if they are on Tuesday as well. This is going to be a rough week, requiring everyone in town to step up and help. I'll be out for a good chunk of the day Monday, and most of the day Tuesday.

Never underestimate the Red River of the North.

So, about that ark...

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:18:32 GMT

Well, the bad just got worse. New flood forecast came out....50% chance of 40 feet by next weekend. That would be a record. And about 2 weeks earlier then planned. Fargo closed off 2nd Ave N today to start building the clay dike to protect City Hall, and Moorhead is holding a press conference this afternoon discussing what they are going to do.

Sandbagging efforts start tomorrow with the hopes of having 1.5 million ready and/or in place by the end of next week.

As time allows I will be taking part in the sandbagging and taking pictures and posting some here. Pictures probably won't start being posted til at least Monday. I'm going to try to get some new ones Tuesday, and then come Thursday I'll hopefully get new ones every day as the flooding really gets going.

Get ready for this, cause its going to get crazy.

Lets get started on that ark...

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 23:02:22 GMT

So the major melting started yesterday and today, turning many city streets into lakes, flooding out county roads, and overall just getting everything wet. The city started testing equipment and getting ready to fight was is surely going to be a rather major flood. Current forecast is for 36 feet, with a 50% chance of hitting 38 feet, a 33% chance of it hitting 39.5 feet, which is where it hit in 97, and a 10% chance of it going over 40 feet, which would NOT be good. However, this forecast is assuming no more significant rain/snow. So what are they talking about now? A major storm coming in early next week. Wow. At least I'm on the high side of the river :D

Otherwise, not much else going on. I'm on spring break this week, and am going to be putting in about 37 hours at work, which will definently help the bank account. Have a little homework to get done at some point but nothing too major.

Seriously looking at cars now, am tempted to just run out and take the car I found today, but I need to just sit back and relax for a few weeks and let things work how they will.

Can't wait for Easter....I need to get out of town for a weekend!

Snow day

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:33:28 GMT

Damn near a foot of it by the end of tomorrow night. Coupled with 40mph winds, this is going to be awesome.

Not.

Just what we need to ensure the river floods even worse then its already going to.

Also, to everyone at the Black River Falls High School. Stop killing yourselves. It doesn't solve anything. The next time I hear anything about a suicide pact again I'm coming and kicking all your asses. Don't believe me? I'll be back the end of May. Try me.

School and the effects

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:58:10 GMT

Now don't get me wrong, I love school. For the most part. Everyone has those one or two classes that they despise, but otherwise, I enjoy everything I'm taking. What bothers me though, is how it effects people. Some can breeze right through without letting anything bother them, they have the time of their life, and move on. Others, like me, sometimes struggle, but we manage and normally have a good time doing it, only occasionaly stressing out about something. Then there are those who stress out completely over every little thing. While I can understand worrying about a grade and wanting to do good and whatnot, what I can't understand is those that let it effect their everyday life and well being.

I've had a few girlfriends now since I've moved up here....4 I believe....and while 2 turned out to just not be my type and we quickly went our seperate ways, 2 of them have been deeper. One in particular, we had started arguing playfully over where we would have our wedding. The other, we got along great for 3 months, not one fight, maybe one disagreement, and there was a general understanding that once we were done with school and were able to be together on a consistant basis and not living 5 hours apart, that we would live happily ever after. In both cases, school took priority. However, in both cases, school caused much stress and anxiety on their part and begin to wear things down. In Lacie's case, it was a feeling on her part that once we were done with school we would end up having to go our seperate ways due to our overall goals when we had finished school. She wanted to be either a doctor or an english teacher and move up to Alaska, which would pretty much kill what I had decided on shortly before the breakup, which is being an audio engineer. In Rachel's case, which she wanted to goto med school, she is triple majoring in math, biology, and chemistry. On top of that, she is taking classes this summer, and is transfering schools in the Fall, going back to Sioux City. I could tell she was getting stressed out, but it never appeared to affect us except for a few days here and there where she wasn't really wanting to talk much. Then, one day out of the blue, she breaks it off saying it won't work because of all the things she's having to deal with.

While I can understand getting stressed out, isn't one thing that a significant other is supposed to help with is stress? Maybe its just me, but when I'm getting stressed out over something normally if I just talk to Lacie, or Rachel, or whoever else, it helps. A lot. And I've been told by both them and others that it helps them as well. And isn't a breakup in and of itself stressful? So in my mind, breaking a relationship off over stress seems counterproductive. I suppose to each their own, but I just can't figure it out .

Otherwise, school is going OK. Theory has been kicking my ass but I'm starting to figure it out. The last week has been rough for obvious reasons, but keeping busy with homework has helped. I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do now that some of my plans got thoughly destroyed. I might head back to Wisconsin over spring break depending on how I get scheduled at work. Easter I'll most likely head down to Minneapolis for the Final Fantasy concert. And while for the time being I don't have anyone to go with, I'm still planning on going to Kansas City the last week of June for some Twins games and rollercoasters. It'll be fun.

And time marches on

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:22:11 GMT

I noticed its been pretty much exactly 6 months since I posted anything, so lets recap the summer.

Went out to Ohio with my aunt and uncle to goto Cedar Point. It was pretty much 4 days of complete awesome at the park. Even made a quick trip to watch the Twins play Cleveland (losing horribly I might add....). Broke up with Dawn. Started school at MSUM as a Music Major which is kicking my ass, but I'm enjoying it. Moved into a house with the same roommates, a lot better setup then the apt, though that hadn't really been bad either. Have a new girlfriend, Rachel, who lives in Sioux City, IA, which makes for an interesting little situation, but if we can make it work until one of us is done with school I think we'll be set.

I know thats a pretty quick overview but if i were to type everything out it would take a few hours.

I'll try to keep this a little more updated. No promises though.

GO VOTE!

I'm in the mood for some irish rock.....

Thu, 01 May 2008 05:53:12 GMT

And it just so happens The Kissers are coming back up to Fargo, Friday, at 10pm, at the Aquarium. I really, really want to go. I hope I can find someone to go with cause I don't want to be that loser sitting there by himself.

More Than Fine

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:44:46 GMT

School is one of those interesting things where you can go from semester to semester, and while you may keep some of the same instructors, the experience can completely change. I'm finally figuring that out this semester having 3 of my 4 instructors from last semester again.

Not much has been going on. I have a new girlfriend, Dawn, who is full of awesome. Planning a trip to Valleyfair for May 11-12, and I'm going to Cedar Point out in Ohio with my Aunt and Uncle in June. I can't fucking wait.

Attended Anime Detour back at the beginning of the month. It was really a weird weekend. I got there Thursday as planned and helped get video rooms and what not set-up, however a good chunk of the weekend ended up being spent over at MoA. Friday was completely planned already that I was going to be over there taking in the new park and rides with my cousin for most of the afternoon. However Saturday my Dad et all. made a surprise trip up in order to get my sister a prom dress so I ended up spending a good chunk of Saturday over there as well, and in the process missing a good chunk of the con. The dance Saturday night was awesome. Greg did an awesome job as always spinning, and whoever stole his equipment this last weekend can burn in hell. Didn't win anything in the charity auction. There was a couple Kamichu things that I wanted, but both went for way more then I could afford for them. Wanted to stay for closing ceremonies, but on the advice of other people and what I had seen was coming weather wise, I decided to head out around 4pm. I should have left earlier. What should have been about a 4 hour drive to Moorhead turned into 6. Once I hit Alexandria the roads turned to shit and the rest of the trip took forever. Saw two semis flipped over in the ditch on the way. And then proceeded to see them get towed out the next afternoon.

Just trying to hang in there with school. Im done May 7th, so the home stretch is upon me. Now I just have to get everything caught up and in.

Speaking of school, gotta be in class in 15 minutes.

Later.

Im an Apple whore....

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:42:19 GMT

I went out and bought an iPod shuffle today, which is my 2nd iPod. Now before you tell me I'm an idiot for getting a shuffle, my reason is pure and simple. I want a cheap player I can use while rollerblading and what not, it needs to be compatible with iTunes, and it doesn't really need a screen cause all I do when I use my 5th gen while out is throw it on shuffle and away I go. If I break the $50 player, who cares, however if I broke my $250 player, I'd be pissed.

Now I just need a macbook....

So...

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:09:11 GMT

Lacie appears to have re-added me to messenger sometime yesterday.

Interesting.

She hasn't been online yet so I haven't been able to talk to her.

I'm so confused.

Decisions, decisions

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:02:41 GMT

Ok, here is the basic lo down.

As I am sitting right now, I am taking generals in prep for going over to MSUM next fall to start a degree in Music Industry. Estimated cost for the rest of education....probably around $15,000, maybe $20,000. Rough estimate.

A school down in Minneapolis has been brought to my attention. The McNally Smith College of Music. Basicly a 2 year program, in depth with music, dealing with live music tech, which is exactly what I want to be doing. Downside? at least $40,000 in tuition for 2 years, plus the cost of living in the cities. Gah.

So now I'm at a crossroads. Do I continue on the path of going to MSUM, getting a Music Industry degree that will be basicly what I want, for about half the cost, or do I go all out for the super specialized school for what I want to be doing for double. Grah. I think a talk with Dad is in order tomorrow.

Looking up, but not too far

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 07:57:12 GMT

Alright, so a few things have happened. Not much. But a little.

First, I've started making contact with Lacie. Nothing much, just a hi here and there. The one thing I hate about IM is that it is impossible to tell how people are acting, and I can't tell if she is annoyed with me as she only answers direct questions, she won't make small talk at all, or if she is indeed just incredibly busy getting ready for finals. Im assuming the later.

We are going to get together here at some point, hopefully before she leaves on Christmas break, and have a nice long talk about things. I'm going to try to keep this more of an "Ok, this happened, what did we do wrong?" sort of thing, but at the same time, I'm sure the back of my mind is going to try to get something accomplished as far as maybe trying to repair this to the point of getting back together and trying to work things out. We'll see how that goes.

But as for everyday life. Looking forward to the semester being finished so that I can concentrate on not killing someone over Christmas and so that I can get back home and see Dave who is coming back from Japan for a few weeks, hopefully hang out with Gojira a bit, and to get down to La Crosse and get some quality drinking time in with Nick and the rest of the group. I haven't really had a chance to get out of town and really distance myself from the whole breakup situation, so the week-10 days that I'll be gone will be nice.

Otherwise, things are going well. Should end up with Bs in government and college writting, I'm only concerned about Econ, cause its impossible to tell what hes grading and what he isn't, and since he apparently isn't grading anything til the very end, I have no idea what im getting on anything but the tests. Booooo. I know I'll pass it anyway though.

We got a over a foot of snow the last week, so its made for some very bright days and some very fun driving conditions. :)

Anyway, its late, I need sleep, so catch ya later.

Rock on

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 23:53:18 GMT

I now have Guitar Hero 3. And a total of 4 PS2 guitars. Awesome.

I can't wait to rock the fuck out tomorrow night when I get home.

I now also have the first 2 seasons of The Office. I can't wait to watch all the Steve Carell goodness.

And a new wireless mouse for my laptop. Woot.

However I got absolutely no christmas shopping for other people done. Damn.

3 Days Later

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 21:21:05 GMT

Well, now that I've had a few days to calm down, I've been able to think about things. While I can't blame her for her decision I have to keep reminding myself that I knew this was coming. Hell, I've had a feeling this was coming for about a month and a half now. I'm not going to go into details, but suffice it to say they are logical. There are a few things I think that need to be clarified between the two of us, but all in all we are on the same page.

So, where to go from here.....

I'm just going to hang out for a while. I'll probably try to make it back home a little more often now and hang out with my friends there. Nick has offered to take me out the next time in La Crosse so I'll definently be trying to get down there soon. I plan on sticking around at home for a couple weeks over Christmas since I didn't really get home this year for Thanksgiving at all.

While my real motivation to attend MSUM has now basicly gone away, I still plan on attending for Music Production or the equivelent there of. Its not an easy program to come across, and if I had known they had it I would have went there to begin with.

I'm going to try to avoid the temptation of jumping back on the dating bandwagon right away, but we'll have to see how everything goes.

Thank you to everyone who has expressed concern. I'm doing fine, and look forward to a nice long christmas break to unwind.

See you all soon. I'm off to stuff my face.

......

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 23:47:15 GMT

I hurt....

Why does it have to be this way?

New plan!

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 01:03:26 GMT

So, in my seemingly neverending quest to find what the hell I want to do with my life I believe I have finally found it....

MSUM has a music production program.....why the hell didn't I see that before? This is exactly what I've been looking for.

Booyah. Fuck you Economics!

fuck

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 23:23:16 GMT

About 2 hours ago, The Decemberists announced they canceled their Long and Short of it tour due to band member illness. I hope this isn't anything serious, as this person has been sick for a couple months now and the cancelation was ubrupt, especialy since they were already set up to play in NY tonight.

This completely fucks with everyone of my Thanksgiving plans as the Milwaukee show was the Sunday and Monday before Thanksgiving.......arghgh

So pissed.....

On love and concerts

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 03:06:24 GMT

So what all HAS exactly been going on....

Well.....

Lacie and I are still together, going on a little over 5 months now. Things are going pretty well. Can't really find much time to do anything together though, since we have opposite school schedules and we are both working now, but we're making it work.

I'm managing to find the time to get back home for a while in about a week. I have class on the 16th until about 7-8pm, and then I'm leaving for Black River. Sure I'll be getting there after midnight, but whatever. Then, I'll be home on the 17th-19th, and then the morning of the 20th. On the 20th, I'll be leaving for Minneapolis to goto Valleyfair one last time. They have their Halloween stuff set-up, so it should be a good time. Hopefully the weather cooperates. And then as long as all goes to plan, I'll be coming back here in time on the 21st to goto the Switchfoot concert at the Fargo Civic.

The two biggest things I'm looking forward to though are the Decemberists concerts, yes thats plural, in November, and the trip I'm planning to Cedar Point at some point next summer.

Anime Detour has been put on something of the back burner for now it seems. I for sure want to be on tech staff next year, but I just can't find the time to get to a meeting (sound familiar to last year?). I'm going to try to get to one in January or February, when we're closer to the con, but we'll see what happens. I figure close out the Thunderbird, and then one year in the new hotel, and then I think I'll be done. That will make 5 years for me, which I think is a good number to stop at. Thankfully I'm in a department that doesn't require me to be at every meeting.

I've kinda gotten hooked on Halo 3 and the Xbox 360 in general. Its not a bad gaming system, however it does has its flaws. I will say though that Microsoft has one of the better online gaming services I've seen in quite a while. I might have to get one eventualy. After I get my Wii that is.

In the near future though, going to see Blue October for the second time this year. They are going to be at The Venue at Playmakers on the 14th. I can't freaking wait. If I can get right up front and center like I did for Third Eye Blind I will be so damn happy. Yellowcard and Shiny Toy Guns are opening so it should be a hell of a show.

I think thats a good place to stop. I'm going to try to keep this a little more updated (like the fact I moves out of my apartment and now have roommates?) but that will have to be for another time.

Later!

Xbox Live

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 00:35:21 GMT

Short and to the point....who has XBL, and what are your gamertags? I need friends on there, as Im sick of playing Halo 3 agains stupid 9 year olds.

Mine is "rihan007" since aparently some other crazy bastard out there used the name Rihan already.....

Ryan want big boom.....

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 06:11:31 GMT

For those of you in the Fargo area, I present to you this as my arguement that you should attend the PGI fireworks shows out at the fairgrounds starting tomorrow. Shows are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by the Grand Finale on Friday night where they will be doing stuff like this along with tons of other things, including a 45 minute show perfectly coreographed to music. I assure you won't be dissapointed. This clip is from when they were here back in 2004. You have no idea how loud this gets. And they won't be back until 2011, so see them while you can!

Back from the dead....

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:15:13 GMT

Finished Harry Potter. Quite happy but also sad that its the end. Anyway, expect some actual updates at some point.

God damn asshole motherfuckers.

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 02:08:28 GMT

If you are going to put an ad for a car in the newspaper.......ANSWER YOUR GODDAMN PHONE YOU FUCKERS.

1983 BMW 320i......just perfect condition.....asking $1200......I try for 4 days to get ahold of these people....nothing. Now today it isn't in the paper, and they still won't fucking answer their phone. Asshole bastards.