At the youthful age of 33, I have decided to go back to college. It's something I decided to do when I was 18 when I graduated from high school also. And again when I was 27 when I left the Navy...and again when I was 30 when I had hopes of being accepted into a very competitive Navy program. No, I was not accepted into this program which explains why I am still trying to find my way. All in all, I have attended 5 different colleges, one of them twice. That is just enough to make a list.
6. University of Kentucky: I attended UK in the fall of 2006 when I was attempting to get accepted into a very competitive program in the Navy that paid you to go to graduate school and upon graduation I would be an officer. I was in the master's program for Healthcare Administration. The program wasn't bad and neither were the classes. But UK is in Lexington, KY. I live in Louisville, KY which is about 80 minutes away. I was also working a 40 hour/week job while commuting to Lexington 4 days/week. The schedule was absolutely brutal. And to top it off, I didn't get accepted into the Navy program. Boooooooooo! These are the reasons why UK is put at the bottom of my list.
5. Scott Community College (1994): I went to the great SCC immediately upon graduating high school. I didn't exactly have good grades in high school so none of the major universities wanted me. So me and all my fellow rejects went to SCC and pretended to study. I guess it worked because I was only there for 1 year. My biggest memory of SCC this year was when I was sitting in my Psychology final and my good buddy Jeff Cunningham dared me to give a primal scream immediately before the test started as a tension breaker. Never one to back down from a dare, I did it. Hilarity ensued and I passed the class. Fun times.
4. Scott Community College (2003): When I was discharged from the Navy in December 2002, my plan was to become a police officer. I was on the selection list for the Moline, IL PD but I had no idea when they were going to hire, if they were at all. My best option was to suck it up and go to college. I began my post-Navy education here. It was funny because after everything I dealt with in the military and now that I had a family, college learning was easy. I got straight A's which for me was unheard of. I was absolutely amazed at how easy it was and pretty pissed off I couldn't do this well my first time in college. Because I took so many credits, I earned both an AA and an AS here. Oooooooooo, I know you're jealous.
3. University of Louisville: This is the school I am currently attending. I am currently in graduate school, again, this time for Exercise Physiology. There are a few reasons for this current venture, the main one being that I wanted to get into aerospace physiology. That may or may not happen but I am finally back in a program that I am comfortable with, and I don't have to drive 80 minutes each way for. It's a little weird being the "old guy" in the program. I am currently 33 and the rest of the students are 23-26. Oh well, I like to refer to it as being well seasoned.
2. Saint Ambrose University: I earned my BA in Fitness and Human Performance here after my second stint at SCC. I learned so much about the fitness field here basically because I was an absolute sponge while attending here. I had my nose in every journal and textbook I could find. My advisor, Heather Medema-Johnson was a wealth of knowledge and helped me a ton. It was a little torturous to see the football team practicing right outside my building and I couldn't be out there with them. Especially when I knew I could have easily gotten on the team. Stinkin' family obligations. Oh well.
1. Iowa State University: Sure most of this year was spent in a drunken stupor and a little blurry. Sure I made some really stupid mistakes here. Sure I quite the football team too soon. Those things being said, I absolutely loved ISU and have held all my subsequent schools to the standard the Cyclones have set. I vividly remember the phone call I received from the football coach asking if I could be at the school in 2 days for mini-camp. I would've been there in 2 hours if he needed. That was the start of my time there. Living in the Theta Delta Chi house was a blast, but I think academically I would have been better in a dorm. The guys I met there are still friends to this day. ISU is in my blood and I will always be a Cyclone. Unfortunately I married a Hawkeye. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
My Days
There are 364 days in a year. Of those days, I can think of about 20 through the entire year that I circle on the calendar because I anxiously look forward to them every year. For the sake of space and time, I will narrow those twenty down to six. If I didn't I might have to change the name of this blog.
6. January 1: No, not New Year's Eve. I love New Year's Day. I love this day for 2 reasons. My son, Abe, celebrates his birthday on this day. He was born on January 1, 2002 at about 6:30 in the morning. While in the hospital with my lovely wife and beautiful newborn baby, I had the pleasure of enjoying my other favorite part of January 1, New Year's Bowl Games. Does it make me an insensitive dirtball because I watched football games in my wife's hospital room while she was resting and recovering from childbirth? I hope not. But New Year's Day bowl games are incredible. They used to be even better before the BCS started dragging games out all week long. It watered the day down a little bit but it's still a great day for football...and my son Abe.
5. November 9: This incredible day was the day I was brought into the world. That's right, my birthday. It seems the older I get the less celebration is involved with this day but now that I have kids they seem to enjoy it just as much as me. This particular date is in the middle of two friend's and my wife's birthdays. So now we all have a tradition of planning some type of event to celebrate everyone's birthday at the same time. It's nice and it makes for more memorable birthdays.
4. Halloween: I have already expressed my love for this holiday in a previous post. This year, I get the extreme pleasure of attending a wedding on this day. Of course it is a dress up wedding due to it being on Halloween. My wife and I have decided to go as "Wal-Mart Customers". For the past couple of weeks I have been taking notes at the local White Trash Outlet in order to create the most authentic costume possible. I can't wait to unveil it. Candy, costumes, and scaring the crap out of little kids just make this day even better. Love it, love it, love it.
3. NFL Draft day: The NFL has turned into a year-round sport with the climax of the "off season" being draft day. I absolutely love to see the drunken Jets and Eagles fans screaming at every pick that walks across the stage like they have any idea of how the draftees will wind up performing. For every Payton Manning that walks across that stage there is also a Ryan Leaf. Because I am a Bears fan, I usually see my team picking in the middle teens of each round and that is usually when the talent is fairly watered down. But it's still awesome to see what happens.
2. Day 1 of the NCAA tournament: At the end of March the NCAA men's basketball tournament begins in full swing. From noon until midnight CBS is full of wall to wall coverage of the tournament. The biggest memory I have of this day was in 9th grade when Northern Iowa was playing Missouri and Mr. Johns had the game on in gym class. UNI wound up pulling off the HUGE upset and beat the Big 8 powerhouse. Nowadays, I look forward to having my tournament brackets ripped apart after only the first day. For me, this is day is easily the most exciting sports day of the entire year.
6. January 1: No, not New Year's Eve. I love New Year's Day. I love this day for 2 reasons. My son, Abe, celebrates his birthday on this day. He was born on January 1, 2002 at about 6:30 in the morning. While in the hospital with my lovely wife and beautiful newborn baby, I had the pleasure of enjoying my other favorite part of January 1, New Year's Bowl Games. Does it make me an insensitive dirtball because I watched football games in my wife's hospital room while she was resting and recovering from childbirth? I hope not. But New Year's Day bowl games are incredible. They used to be even better before the BCS started dragging games out all week long. It watered the day down a little bit but it's still a great day for football...and my son Abe.
5. November 9: This incredible day was the day I was brought into the world. That's right, my birthday. It seems the older I get the less celebration is involved with this day but now that I have kids they seem to enjoy it just as much as me. This particular date is in the middle of two friend's and my wife's birthdays. So now we all have a tradition of planning some type of event to celebrate everyone's birthday at the same time. It's nice and it makes for more memorable birthdays.
4. Halloween: I have already expressed my love for this holiday in a previous post. This year, I get the extreme pleasure of attending a wedding on this day. Of course it is a dress up wedding due to it being on Halloween. My wife and I have decided to go as "Wal-Mart Customers". For the past couple of weeks I have been taking notes at the local White Trash Outlet in order to create the most authentic costume possible. I can't wait to unveil it. Candy, costumes, and scaring the crap out of little kids just make this day even better. Love it, love it, love it.
3. NFL Draft day: The NFL has turned into a year-round sport with the climax of the "off season" being draft day. I absolutely love to see the drunken Jets and Eagles fans screaming at every pick that walks across the stage like they have any idea of how the draftees will wind up performing. For every Payton Manning that walks across that stage there is also a Ryan Leaf. Because I am a Bears fan, I usually see my team picking in the middle teens of each round and that is usually when the talent is fairly watered down. But it's still awesome to see what happens.
2. Day 1 of the NCAA tournament: At the end of March the NCAA men's basketball tournament begins in full swing. From noon until midnight CBS is full of wall to wall coverage of the tournament. The biggest memory I have of this day was in 9th grade when Northern Iowa was playing Missouri and Mr. Johns had the game on in gym class. UNI wound up pulling off the HUGE upset and beat the Big 8 powerhouse. Nowadays, I look forward to having my tournament brackets ripped apart after only the first day. For me, this is day is easily the most exciting sports day of the entire year.
1. December 26: In 1996 this was the day I joined the Navy. In 1997 this was the day I married my wife. In 2002 this was the day I was discharged from the Navy. This December, I will have been married to my wife for 12 years. We have had to endure a lot of ups and a lot of downs in the last twelve years with this past year possibly being the toughest year so far. But in the end we made it. December 26 is a great day and it's definitely one I, along with my wife, will be looking forward to.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
My Sitcoms
We all love TV. Unfortunately I don't get to watch so much of it anymore because I am currently enrolled in my fifth college and my time is consumed with exercise physiology textbooks. Yay, right? Anyway, I still love TV and always have. Reality TV seems to have taken over the tube right now and I can't stand it. Save the sitcom, is what I say. That being said, this list deals with my favorite sitcoms, post 1980. I say after 1980 because I was only 5 that year and while I still see quite a bit of reruns from shows aired prior to that, I didn't have the opportunity to enjoy them while they were originally airing. So that means there will be no Welcome Back Kotter, WKRP, or Brady Bunch.
6. Scrubs: This show would be further up the list had it not been for the last couple of seasons of the show. The first 5 or 6 seasons were absolutely hilarious. I am a huge fan of shows where I am not taught any lessons and I don't have to think. Which is why my number 1 show is where it's at but I'll get to that later. What really helped me with this show is that my wife is a nurse so I get to see how the show puts a comedic spin on what she does, albeit extremely exaggerated. Dr. Cox is one of my favorite all-time classic characters and never ceases to entertain.
5. How I Met Your Mother: Is it possible that one supporting character completely carry a show by himself and make it his own without actually going away from the supporting role? YES! Barney Stinson is an absolutely classic character and carries this show beyond what anyone expected. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't even watch the show. Doogie Howser certainly outdid himself in this one.
4. Saved By The Bell: How could I write any list dealing with TV and not include Zac Morris and his pals. When I had broken my leg in high school and basically immobile for a couple of weeks, I am pretty sure I saw every episode of the show. Between WGN and TBS, they aired the show from 1:00 in the afternoon to about 4:00. That's right, 3 hours of Kelly Kapowski. This was fairly good entertainment for a 17 year old full of testosterone.
3. Cheers: Come on, a show set in a bar. What better place for a tv show center itself around. I was a little kid when this show was originally airing but I still remember when Coach left the show and Woody came in. This show was also very personal to me since it reminded me of the old Rusty Nail back home in Davenport. It was a bar I grew up near and I knew a lot of the people there and people in Cheers reminded me of people at the Rusty Nail (of course my dad was Norm). The final episode where Sam Malone turns out the lights as he leaves was incredible. Great show, great cast.
2. Cosby Show: Cliff Huxtable always reminded me of my dad a little bit. Granted, my dad was a little grumpier and not a doctor, but they each had the same sense of humor. Sure the Cosby Show was very idealistic and everything just seemed to work out perfectly for the Huxtable family and it wasn't very realistic but they seemed like a family you knew from down the block. I always liked Theo and always related well to him. Perhaps the funniest, and most real, line I've ever heard on any tv show is when Cliff tells Theo "I brought you into this world and I'll can take you out". In the stand up performance Bill Cosby goes on to say that he'll make another one just like him. Classic.
1. Seinfeld: The Contest is possibly the greatest sitcom episode ever. There is so much this show contributed to the lore of the sitcom world. When I say Art Vandalay, Soup Nazi, shrinkage, yada yada yada, master of your domain, puffy shirt, or sponge worthy, you know exactly what show I'm talking about. Seinfeld and company hit a grand slam with this show about nothing. Critics talk about how the series finale of the show was such a disapointment but it was exactly what the show was about, nothing. The finale wasn't supposed to be much more than what it was, nothing. Which to me is what made it that much better.
6. Scrubs: This show would be further up the list had it not been for the last couple of seasons of the show. The first 5 or 6 seasons were absolutely hilarious. I am a huge fan of shows where I am not taught any lessons and I don't have to think. Which is why my number 1 show is where it's at but I'll get to that later. What really helped me with this show is that my wife is a nurse so I get to see how the show puts a comedic spin on what she does, albeit extremely exaggerated. Dr. Cox is one of my favorite all-time classic characters and never ceases to entertain.
5. How I Met Your Mother: Is it possible that one supporting character completely carry a show by himself and make it his own without actually going away from the supporting role? YES! Barney Stinson is an absolutely classic character and carries this show beyond what anyone expected. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't even watch the show. Doogie Howser certainly outdid himself in this one.
4. Saved By The Bell: How could I write any list dealing with TV and not include Zac Morris and his pals. When I had broken my leg in high school and basically immobile for a couple of weeks, I am pretty sure I saw every episode of the show. Between WGN and TBS, they aired the show from 1:00 in the afternoon to about 4:00. That's right, 3 hours of Kelly Kapowski. This was fairly good entertainment for a 17 year old full of testosterone.
3. Cheers: Come on, a show set in a bar. What better place for a tv show center itself around. I was a little kid when this show was originally airing but I still remember when Coach left the show and Woody came in. This show was also very personal to me since it reminded me of the old Rusty Nail back home in Davenport. It was a bar I grew up near and I knew a lot of the people there and people in Cheers reminded me of people at the Rusty Nail (of course my dad was Norm). The final episode where Sam Malone turns out the lights as he leaves was incredible. Great show, great cast.
2. Cosby Show: Cliff Huxtable always reminded me of my dad a little bit. Granted, my dad was a little grumpier and not a doctor, but they each had the same sense of humor. Sure the Cosby Show was very idealistic and everything just seemed to work out perfectly for the Huxtable family and it wasn't very realistic but they seemed like a family you knew from down the block. I always liked Theo and always related well to him. Perhaps the funniest, and most real, line I've ever heard on any tv show is when Cliff tells Theo "I brought you into this world and I'll can take you out". In the stand up performance Bill Cosby goes on to say that he'll make another one just like him. Classic.
1. Seinfeld: The Contest is possibly the greatest sitcom episode ever. There is so much this show contributed to the lore of the sitcom world. When I say Art Vandalay, Soup Nazi, shrinkage, yada yada yada, master of your domain, puffy shirt, or sponge worthy, you know exactly what show I'm talking about. Seinfeld and company hit a grand slam with this show about nothing. Critics talk about how the series finale of the show was such a disapointment but it was exactly what the show was about, nothing. The finale wasn't supposed to be much more than what it was, nothing. Which to me is what made it that much better.
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