Backing up

Don't think too much about it.  If you want to turn the car back of the car left, turn the wheel left.  If you want it to go right, yep, turn right.  Use the mirrors and practice using just the side mirrors.  And for the love of Pete, go slow.

So you are a licensed driver now.

Prepare for a massive amount of unsolicited advice.

First, a recap of some of the expert tips already dispensed:

• Drive like everyone else is on the phone, texting, doing eye make up, anything but paying attention.
• Watch other drivers in their mirrors, the way they drift within their lanes, and even the rare indicator to figure out where they are about to go.
• Check your mirrors often for cars creeping into your blind spot, motorcyclists, and cops.
• Keep some space around you, then you'll have somewhere to go if things go badly in front of you.

There's a lot more to come, I just have to think about it.  After awhile it becomes second nature so don't get worked up about remembering it all.

Not much lately

Sorry about that.  I've been preoccupied with work and figuring out what I want to do when I grow up.  Besides, I haven't thought of much to say and didn't see much point in proving that.

Now that the half marathon is in the books and I'm feeling pretty good, it's time to think about what's next.  Knowing that I don't have all the time in the world is making me think that I had better get a move on with some things I've been thinking about doing or they might never get done.

Time to get back into the photography scene and time to start training for that marathon.  The next surgery is going to put a kink in both, but I think I can be back in shape by the fall.

Don't wait too long, kiddo.  You might never get around to it.

Some professors

suck.

I had a calculus professor that was from another country.  That's not what made him suck.  What made him suck was that he had a heavy accent, spoke very softly, and faced the white board for almost the entire quarter.  I'm sure that he was a brilliant mathematician, but not so hot on the teaching.

Of course, I was dumb and should have switched classes right after the first meeting.  But no, I gave up half way through and failed miserably.  Retaking it the next quarter was not fun.

Sometimes you don't have much choice and you have to make the most of the situation.  Even if that means just getting a C and getting the hell out of there.  When you aren't stuck, don't stick around.  You're paying for that education so you should get the best that you can get.

Go Big.

Yep, if you're going to go, go big.

It's been a quick eight months since I crashed big.  I felt like I had to do something big to show I was better.  Not just better as in well, but better than before.  One of the guys at work mentioned that he was training for a half marathon.  I happened to have just started running again.

Last year, my resolution was to run a marathon.  Like most resolutions it didn't happen.  Now I had the drive to work for it and a support group to keep on track with training.

I adapted the eight week training program Drew and his wife were following to prep for the run.  A few runs during the week then increasing the distance by a mile and a half each Saturday.  That worked up through week five, 8.3 miles.  Then I got sick with something nasty that killed week six, which should have been 9.5 miles.  No big deal, I used to run that regularly before I wrecked.  Then crappy weather killed the weekday runs of week seven.  So two weeks of not running and I had to do 11 miles, farther than I had ever run.

Shit.

Sometimes you have to do something just to prove to yourself you can do it.  There are lots of things were the outcome depends on whether you believe you can do it or not.  Running is definitely that kind of mind game.  It's probably not rational, but knowing that I could do 11 miles meant that 13 was well within reach.  Still feeling a little crappy, I ran eleven and some change a bit slow and ugly.

Week eight of the program was to get to 12.5 miles, but that went out the window.  I decided on a good solid 8 to get that form back.  With that and knowing I could go the distance, well, believing I could go the distance, I was ready.

So I ran it and it was good.  I met the goals of finishing and running the whole damn thing.  Then I had a beer and it was over.  That's the trouble with hitting your goal, what to do after you get there.

I'm thinking another couple of halfs and then a full, but I have to get this crap taken out of my back first.  The rods are poking me in the shoulders and I'm over it.  There's the next goal, run a full marathon titanium-free.

Keep submitting your work, a lot of it will get rejected by idiots that wouldn't know a good submission if it had a Pulitzer attached to it.  But sometimes you'll get in, like the one I saw in print today.  Pretty cool.

Learn your craft

I overheard a professor telling a student a story the other day.  He had been playing at some music conference and a student asked him to help him get some really good ideas out of his head and into the world.  So the prof tells him to play what he's got.  After the student is done he says, 'You can't play your horn, learn to play it and the ideas will come out.'  That sounds harsh, but it's probably the best advice that student could have gotten.

If you don't know what your tools can do, then you can't use them to fully express your ideas.  I mean tools in the broadest sense possible, like if you are a writer than language is your tool, if you're a photographer the camera is your tool.

Learning your craft might seem tedious, but once you have it down you are free to use it, abuse it, disregard it, do whatever that gets your idea out because you know the rules and you can consciously decide how to apply them.

Guess I better go learn the scales.  Again.

By request

So the fun has begun, hey?  Work, school, activities and only 24 hours in a day.  You asked for a little advice on how to get through it all without keeling over so here it is:

Coffee.

Naps.

Not in that order, naps definitely have priority.  When you can't take a nap, drink coffee.  Scope out a few places that aren't too far from where you need to be that can be used for a quick sleep.  Twenty minutes is awesome, thirty even better.  That's not enough time to really get homework done, but it can be the recharge your brain needs to get through the next appointment.

My favorite spots were the fourth floor of the library, the grass between the Art and Administration buildings (shade and a slight slope made for a comfortable impromptu bed), and the student lounge.  Hell, you live on campus so you could probably duck back to your room for a kip.

Study at night with friends, you'll keep each other awake and on task (as long as the Game Cube stays off.)

Avoid energy drinks because they suck.  You'll be feeling great and then it wears off and you crash.  Hard.  Same with cigarettes, only they make you smell, too.

When things really get rough, just remember that you'll have plenty of time to sleep when you're dead.