Recollection

It boggles my mind how fast time can fly by sometimes. Often times I find myself attaching time to some object and then I reflect on how long it's been since I got said object or how long it's been since it came out. Often times I find myself doing this with albums. I guess that's because they have a year behind them; or maybe I'm full of shit and don't know why I do that. Anyways here is a short list of albums from various times that really stuck out to me for some reason. They're probably reasons no one else cares about, so if you don't; too bad?

Overkill - The Years of Decay; came out in 1989, I got it in 2009 (a tad late eh?)
I got this album and whenever I listen to it, it always makes me think of my first semester in grad school at AAU. I always think back to walking around Market St. at like 8:00 am waiting for class to start. Also I was filled with optimism because I didn't realize my dreams would be crushed.

Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking; came out in 1988, I got it in 2008
This album always makes me think back to the summer I moved out to San Francisco. I remember taking my awesome dogs The Dude & Steve to the dog park, and also listening to this as we drove through almost all of North Dakota.

Kiss - MTV Unplugged; came out in 1996, I got it in 1996
This decent album is what got me started. I remember wanting to hear what "Rock & Roll All Night" sounded like, and next thing you know....

Metallica - ...And Justice For All; came out in 1988, I got it in 1998
I remember that I got this because some guy at UND killed himself and his parents sold all of his cd's for $5 a pop and I grabbed this one. Messed up I know.

Alice In Chains - Greatest Hits; came out in 2001, I got it in 2001
I remember this being my first AIC disc and it was around the time I broke my knuckle. I had to travel to the air base for physical therapy 3-4 times a week for a few months. Super fun times. Also I remember listening to "I Stay Away" as my mom and I drove home a bunch of times in the Fall.

So yeah that be it people. Go read something else.

Purple Pain (See What I Did There?)

What the hell is wrong with the Minnesota Vikings?

Seriously, awhile ago on NFL Network they had a Top Ten Countdown episode of the most snake bitten franchise and the Vikings were at or near the top. I swear, you couldn't make up half the shit that I hear about. Then the whole Randy Moss thing; lets bring the prodigal son home BUT we won't utilize him and the cut him after a month. Bravo. Spare me all the stuff about his baggage, I've known about that since '98. You know what you're getting with him so don't be a tard and pull the plug so fast.
Then there's the head coach Brad Childress. I don't think I can really put into coherent thoughts how much he sucks as a leader of a team. I'm sure in his personal life he's a nice guy but as a football coach, he is a little better than a grad student intern at a small time Division 3 school.
I wish that I was still in Grand Forks so that I could read all the local papers talk about the soap opera that is the Vikings. Here in San Francisco it's just not the same, dealing with dumpster fire that is the 49ers and the Raiders.
As a long time (14 years, is that really long time?) fan of my beloved Purple & Gold, I have developed a theory which I now believe is accurate: once every 10 years the Vikings have a legitimate shot to win the Super Bowl only to screw it up in horrendous fashion. Think about it. In the '60s; they started off like any expansion team but by the end of the decade they made it to the Super Bowl and lost. In the '70s, it deviates a bit because they made it to 3 Super Bowls, but again lost them all. In the '80s they had one maybe two real legitimate shots and blew it. In the '90s, they had the magical 1998 season and some how blew it. 2000, they were lucky to get into the NFC title game as evidenced by the outcome. 10 years later, they get Brett Favre and again make it to the NFC and somehow blow it. Again. See a pattern emerging here? About once a decade they have a chance to win it and more than likely won't. I know that this seems very pessimistic, but I love this damn team and even when they suck I pull for them and wear my Jim Kleinsasser jersey every week. It's just that they have a bad habit of killing every last one of us with this crap.

It's Still Raining Shit...

So it's only early(ish) November and I can't wait for this semester to be over with, and not for the usual reasons that college students wish for. Mine is a little different; this semester has revealed two things to me: 1. I am not that good at Graphic Design and can only hack my way through it, and 2. I need to get the fuck out of Graphic Design. I've decided that I'm not cut out for it, I don't enjoy doing it as much as I used to or want to, and I don't want to do something that I don't truly love. So I decided that after this semester I am going to become a Printmaker, which in hindsight, I probably should have done in the first place. This is a huge step and it's not something I just decided to do. For me it was easy and also not easy. It was easy for the reasons I mentioned and also for others, but not easy because of the people who I have met in the Graphic Design department and consider friends. But I can't stay for that reason, it's stupid and won't help me. In the meantime I have to stick through turning in shitty work after shitty work and being the obvious "worst, what the fuck is he doing here, he should really drop out, man his shit is SO bad, haha look at this" person. It's not fun in any way shape or form but I'm starting to develop round shoulders, so yey?

It's Raining Shit Today...

Good times do not appear to be on the horizon line these days. I'm not sure how to fix things or even what to do. By things I mean school. It's really strange, I've never been the bees knees in anything at school. Never been great (necessarily) or been awful, but this semester anything and everything that can go wrong has happened to me. Hours upon hours of work seem to be wasted and as a result my resolve and motivation is at an all time low. The worst thing is that there is almost no one who wants to hear from some 24 year old about their problems. It's really frustrating. I have 3 classes with technically 5 teachers. 1 of them is super cool. He knows that the life of a graduate student sucks ass on its best day. 2 of them are great in that they give you bad news because you need to hear it and they know that it's best for you. The other 2, well they're a fucking joke in my opinion. They love to belittle you and watch you squirm. I've said this to others I know, who also agree with me, these two ass clowns know what they are talking about, they honest to science do; BUT that does not qualify them to be instructors. As far as that goes, they are so fucking terrible it's not even funny. So as a result of recent events, I am left to question myself and wonder if being in my department is what I want to do, because it has throughly sapped my creative energy and taken the fight out of me.