Woo Hoo!!!

Good day today, eventually. I didn't get to bed until 5:30 am because I'm a bit of a night owl. It's not all bad though. As I said in a previous post, my first two classes were canceled today so I got to sleep in until noon which was very very nice. Since I was able to sleep until noon I still managed six and a half hours of sleep so I'm doing very well. My first class was a little boring. It's a speech class that I have to take in order to get into the College of Education so I can teach all your children how to count and read. The class itself is pretty pointless. It consists of 50 minutes of listening to a professor teach the obvious using power point. An example would be, "when giving your speech make sure that you're organized. Ways to be organized are to arrange the events of your speech chronologically." Thanks, I was planning on doing a speech on the detailed history of the U.S. starting with WWII, moving on to the Gulf War, then the Revolutionary War and wrapping it all up with a bit of information on man landing on the moon in 1969. It's a real snooze fest so I just about struggle to stay awake in it.

My next class was my ethics class which is a lot of fun. The professor is pretty much hilarious so the class is a lot of fun. Today we had to turn in a take home test, the reason of the awakeness until 5, and I think I did pretty well on it, I should know by next Friday. After my ethics class I got to wait outside my english profs office again for 40 minutes so I could have my conference for my paper. I got in there and he really didn't have much to say. He told me that there were a few little problems that I needed to work on but it was, otherwise, very well written and I got an A on it. WOOHOO!

I am now officially caught up on all my work and back in the habit of going to class. All I have left to do is a one page paper I have to write for my ethics class that's due on Saturday so I'm taking it easy for a day. I finally have a stress free night with nothing due for three days and no class until 2 tomorrow afternoon. Happy Jared is happy :)

Because I Can:

“I was making pancakes the other day and a fly flew into the kitchen. And that’s when I realized that a spatula is a lot like a fly-swatter. And a crushed fly is a lot like a blueberry. And a roommate is a lot like a fly eater.”

So Little Time

I'm surprised with myself. The last three days have been, in my opinion, the most productive three days in the last year for me. I managed to tech myself enough of a class to do somewhat decently on a test (I think I may have gotten at least a C), I wrote and gave a speech that I got an 89% on, I've made all my classes in the past week and a half, I've been getting more sleep, having more fun, and generally just been doing a lot better. I feel better too. I've been a little depressed or something the past month or so, but I really am feeling a lot better and think that it's all passing. I think a big part of it has been coming to terms with a few things, understanding that it is what it is and that things, and people, don't change. Once I realized all that I was able to move on with all of this fun stuff my profs have assigned me.

I'm not totally out of the woods yet, though. I still have a take home test to do for my Ethics class that's due tomorrow and a paper for said Ethics class due online by Saturday. I also have to see my English prof about the first paper we did because I got the days wrong. I sat outside his office for 40 minutes yesterday because I thought that's when I was supposed to meet with him. That is until I walked in the same time as someone else and was informed that I was supposed to meet with him on Wednesday and not today, which at the time was Monday. Today is Tuesday. Things are finally coming together and I'm doing great! I'm even starting to follow my own advice and get things organized as best I can. It helps that, because of conferences, my English class was canceled all week and my Childhood Development class was canceled for tomorrow so the rest of my week goes something like W/F class from 1:00-3:00 and Th class from 1:45-3:00 with my conference tomorrow at 3:40. Then comes the weekend.

Friday Matt and I are most likely heading to The Boneyard with Mary and Bryan. Gotta get our drink on! Spazmatics are also playing there. They're this 80's tribute band that gets all dressed up and has a lot of fun. They're pretty good, I like them a lot, especially while consuming beverages of the alcoholic variety.

Because I Can:

“The easiest time to add insult to injury is when you’re signing somebody’s cast. 'Get well soon... Jerk.'”

Too Much To Do

As is custom with the second half of the year, I have once again begun to completely slack off and get into some trouble with classes. That being said, why should this year be any different? This weekend I have a lot of work to do, but am already getting deeper and deeper into this mess. On Monday, I have a test at 9am consisting of multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions all worth a total of 100 points. The problem with this is that I know pretty much nothing in regards to what's actually going to be on the test... I have to teach myself just about everything in about 8 hours. In addition to this test of doom, I have to give a speech on Monday. On what I do not know yet, though, because my prof has yet to e-mail me back and tell me what it is supposed to be on. I was supposed to give it Wednesday, but wasn't sure of the guidelines so I asked via e-mail if I could do it on Friday. In the e-mail the prof said yes, then in class on Wednesday told me to e-mail him to get the guidelines and that I would do it on Monday. I e-mailed him and still nothing.

That's not all though! I also have to read 3 chapters for the same class I have to give the speech in, read a chapter in my book for English and meet with my English prof regarding the first paper we turned in last week. Then on Tuesday I have to turn in some homework for my math class. I am in real deep. Yea, it's my fault, I should have stayed on top of things, but this always happens to me. I get distracted way too easily. I sit down to work and get distracted by dust floating by. It's a big problem and I think I may need some help with it, I don't know what though. Any ideas, readers? Any advice or help or anything would be greatly appreciated. Greatly. There are a few causes I can think of, but they're nothing more than excuses. They probably had no effect what-so-ever on me getting my work done. I mean, I have been a bit depressed lately, that's a bit of it, but it shouldn't prevent me from doing my work or going to class. I could use some help. I don't know what to do at this point. I'm trying to get caught up, but I'm scared it might just be too much to overcome. Halp me!

I'm going to bed now. I hope I can get all this work done tomorrow. If I don't I don't know what's going to happen.

Because I Can:

“‘Sort of’ is such a harmless thing to say. Sort of. It’s just a filler. Sort of - it doesn’t really mean anything. But after certain things, sort of means everything. Like after ‘I love you’ or ‘You’re going to live’ or ‘It’s a boy.’”

Short Post

I'm tired. So so tired.

Because I Can:

“I like parties, but I don’t like piñatas because the pinata promotes violence against flamboyant animals. Hey, there’s a donkey with some pizzazz. Let’s kick its ass. What I’m trying to say is, don’t make the same Halloween costume mistake that I did.”

Because I Should

So it has come to my attention that I cannot cook. I mean, I was under the impression that Easy Mac and egg sandwiches was cooking, but I guess I'm mistaken. Today, my grandma and I did some shopping. She took me to Marc's and got me some food and some pans and tried to give me some advice on cooking. So far the few things I have to work on are spaghetti, ravioli and stir fried veggies. It doesn't seem too hard, let's just see how lazy I am about it. After we were done shopping she and I sat around talking a bit as we got things ready for dinner. About 30 minutes later my grandpa got back from the gym and we started talking about cooking for some reason.

Well, he started telling me about this huge scary guy he used to know. He described this guy to me as an African-American ex-con, over 6 feet tall, 250 lbs. or more, just about all muscle and very athletic. He told me of a conversation that they had when he asked this guy how he went about picking up girls and asked him what he said. Apparently the guys response was this, "Well you see, Kenn, it's easy for me. I just approach the lady and say, 'Hello. How would you like to come over to my house, you can bring your kids if you have any, and let me cook you all some supper?' and I have yet to be turned down." My grandpa got a huge smile on his face, looked at me and said, "That's why you need to learn to cook!" Thank you grandpa, you have motivated me! After dinner, we had pasta, I got all my groceries together, came back to my apartment and put them all away. Also, just because I don't do well on Sunday nights when I have class early on Monday I think I'm going to stay up all night... yea, that seems like a good idea.

Because I Can:

“I saw a guy at a party wearing a leather jacket and I thought, ‘That is cool.’ But then I saw another guy wearing a leather vest and I thought, ‘That is not cool’. Then I figured it out: ‘Cool’ is all about leather sleeves.”

Valentine's Day

First off, happy Valentine's Day to everyone. Valentine's Day is a fun day, in my opinion. Not for the obvious reasons of spending a nice day with the one you love, no; but rather because it's a day that lots of people get to spend getting things done they would have normally put off. Take me for example. I put off so much work that when it's time to turn it in I'm a little lost. Today, though, is the perfect day for me to get caught up. You see, normally I let me friends and my laptop dictate what I do throughout the day. I start some work, then I see something online and get distracted. When I'm distracted I become susceptible to other distractions. In walks Matt. 'Nuff said. And so on this day, with my laptop back at my apartment in Akron and me at home in Solon. And so on this day, with all my friends out with the ones that they love and me at home. An so on this day, with nothing to do but to catch up on work, I work. I didn't initially intend that to be like a proclamation, but it works so I'll stick with it.

So I was playing some Halo with Matt and his little brother, Dan, yesterday. I guess Dan had some problems with his friends. He's in a few cliques (in 8th grade) and so people from one got mad at him for hanging with he other and vise versa. I guess this caused a bit of a firestorm and so a lot of his friends on both sides stopped talking to him for stupid reasons. Matt and I did all we could to cheer him up and help him forget about it all and I think we did a good job. As I was getting ready to leave and head home last night he said, "Hey, I forgot I was mad at my friends, thanks." That, to me, shouts 'SUCCESS!!'

Because I Can:

“I used to play sports. Then I realized you can buy trophies. Now I’m good at everything.”

Because I Didn't

Today should have been a good day. It started off very well with me actually getting more than two hours of sleep. Yay! After ten hours of sleep I woke up and got ready for class. I was pretty excited because I was going to get a test back that I thought I did decently on. I was expecting to get either a high C or a B, figuring a mid C was most likely. I got to class, got my test back and noticed that I barely got a D.... Now, I don't mean, barely missed getting a C, I mean barely didn't fail. It's my fault, I suppose, I didn't study for this test as much as I should have. I now have a new goal though, not do any worse than a B on the rest of my tests. Wish me luck!

In other news, I don't actually have any other news. I thought I did, but then I forgot. Let's go with this. My laptop was broken and then I fixed it. It wasn't reading discs or CDs and so I had to find a long and complicated solution online that took me two days to fix. Now, Matt and I are able to play Civilization together via the internet. Yay! That is until he decides something isn't going his way and quits regardless of how well we're doing. Maybe next time will be different. Also, because I tried to post this in a comment on Brit's blog and it didn't work:


Because I can:

“I like sports; I like professional football. I like to get to the stadium and see the games live, you know. And I paint my chest before I leave the house. But I don’t have many friends, you know, so I usually just do punctuation and tack on a group already in progress. But sometimes it works out kind of weird because we ended up on TV one time and it said ‘BROWNS?’”

Because I Don't

So I think at this point I have nobody to blame but myself. After complaining about not having enough time to do this two page paper and write a two minute speech I have sufficiently wasted the past two days that I could have been working on it doing just about everything that does not constitute school work. I thought about getting to work on it several times, but I just haven't felt motivated. Not that I don't think doing my work is important or anything, I do; but I've been in a really weird funk. I sit here with my work and I start writing. I get a sentence or two out and then I just completely lose focus and can't concentrate. I'm not sure exactly what it is that's causing it, but I need to figure it out muy rapido (very fast). Yay Spanish!!

As you can see by my newly updated time stamps that now tell the correct time, it is around 1 a.m. and I am chugging Dr Pepper. I really shouldn't be doing this because of my terrible habit of failing, but it appears an all nighter is in order. I don't know why I put myself through this. I don't know why I'm finding this specific project so difficult either. Normally when I put things off until the last minute I'm able to get into a zone, get focused and pound out the paper in about an hour. When I do this I usually get an 'A' because I really do work best under pressure. Unfortunately, as I said, that is not the case for this paper. There is something wrong with me and I don't know what! Gah!! Exclamation mark!!!! (Haven't had one of those in a few posts).

I think that this paper is just my form of writer's block. It's in my way and until I get it out of the way I'll be stuck in this rut with no way out. That brings me to a good news/bad news scenario. Good news: Paper is due tomorrow no matter what as my last attempt at an all nighter, to finish this paper, left me asleep on the couch and missing class; and tomorrow (today) is the last day to turn it in. Bad News: Since I missed my turn in day and tomorrow is the last day, no matter what, to turn it in, I have no choice but to pull an all nighter regardless of whether I wanted to or not. Oh what foolishly tangled webs I weave myself into without realizing how much of a mess I make. D'oh!

Because I can:

I heard this lady say “I love kids.” That’s nice, a little weird though. It’s like saying “I like people, for a little while.” “How old are you? 14? F*** off!” You can say “I love kids” as a general statement, that’s fine. It’s when you get specific that you get in to trouble. “I love twelve-year-olds.”

Because I Can

Yay weekends! Saturday I procrastinated a lot. It was fun at the time, but I would later grow to regret this decision. I spent the entire day watching movies and playing games when I should have been working on some papers due today. I did a little work on them, but nowhere near enough to make it count. Yesterday was fun. Around 2:30, I think, Erica stopped by before she went back to school. We went to Chipotle for food and then came back to my apartment to surf the interwebs and watch the Cavs game. The Cavs lost. Way to go Erica.

It was a good day. I needed a day like that. Spending time with someone not Matt (no offense Matt) was nice. I had been very burned out over the last week and getting out and having fun was much needed. I feel good. Then last night happened. Last night I tried to work on my papers/speech that were due today but wasn't doing it fast enough. I decided I would just pull an all nighter, get it done, turn it all in then come home and sleep. Well, at 4 a.m. I fell asleep on the couch and didn't wake up until 1:30, thus missing my classes. Bad. Very bad. Fail even. I have a test tomorrow so now I have to study for that as well as work on these papers. At least I have more time to do it all.

I have decided that Demitri Martin is a mad mad mad mad mad mad genius. That being said I'm going to end my blogs with some of his jokes for the forseeable future until I stop.

Because I can:

“About a month ago I got a cactus. A week later, it died. I was really depressed because I was like ‘Damn! I am less nurturing than a desert.’ (Ladies, that’s not true)”

Hooked On A Feeling

It's nice to have someone to talk to. For most of my friends I have the honor of being that person. It has its ups and downs, but overall it's a good feeling. When someone has a problem, they're sad, need to vent or just have an urge to talk about something they often come to me. I like being there to help them and to get them through whatever situation they are in or problem they have. I like making them feel better. The downside for me, however, is that I don't really have any one person to talk to. Yea, I have lots of people I can talk to about different things, but I don't have just a single person I can talk to about anything. Sometimes I miss that. It can be hard having personal things you want to talk about, but not having anyone to talk about it with. I don't think that there's anything specific I want to talk about, but it's easier to just have someone you can trust and count on.

The last week or so I've been in a weird place and haven't really known how to deal with it. I don't know if it's something that's going on around me. I don't know if it's something I'm feeling and I don't know if it's just the weather. Whatever it is I hope it will be gone soon. I don't really remember the last time I've felt like this. In fact, I don't think I ever have. It's a strange feeling. I'm not really sure where to go with this. I think writing about it and getting it in the open is why I'm taking the time to write it out now. Keeping it all bottled up inside is part of the strange feeling, I think. Only one way to find out I guess.

In other news, House is on and House makes me feel better. I'm going to go watch that now.

Afternoon Naps

I have discovered the wonderfulness of the afternoon nap. Over the last week I have been so incredibly tired that I have been unable to make it a full day of classes without dozing off at some point in class... several times in each class. However, upon returning to my apartment I have taken up the habit of relaxing for about two hours watching t.v. and then dozing off for 45 minutes to an hour. I feel absolutely amazing when I wake up. I don't mean I wake up and I'm awake and that's that. I mean I wake up and it's as if I'm floating on a cloud in the heavens, angels are singing, the sun is shining, birds are chirping, the Indians are winning the World Series, the Cavs are winning the Championship and the Browns are winning the Super Bowl. So, when I say I feel amazing, now you know what amazing means.

Normally I'm not one for naps. In fact, in high school I would stay awake until I was ready to go to bed anyway, regardless of how tired I was, simply because I despised the nap. The last week, though, I have gone out of my way to nap, which is really just missing an episode of CSI: NY. I lose out on some early time to do work and stay up a little later at night, but to nap is to love and to love is to live. I think that means that if I don't nap I'll die.

I bought a clock, but then the big hand broke off so I just added "ish" to each number.

Pizza bagel time!!

Everyone Else Is Doing It

I haven't had a meaningful post in a while, and wasn't really planning on posting one today since nothing interesting has happened recently. However, everyone else that has a blog that I read made a post today and I am not one to not conform to everything around me and so I post as well. I talked to Erica earlier and decided that since she embeds so many things into her blog, I will do so, as well.

I'm pretty excited for my friend Ryan. He lives out in California and got married late last year. Well, Sunday night/ Monday morning at around 3 a.m. he texted me to let me know that his wife had gone into labor. I didn't see the text until I woke up and was sad that I may have missed the entire thing, but as it turns out the baby hadn't turned at one point or another during the pregnancy and so his wife, humorously also named Ryan, had to have a C-section and did not have it until 8 a.m. (11.a.m. EST). I'm very excited for both of them. They both work at a high school. Boy Ryan is an 11th grade Special-Ed teacher and girl Ryan is a teacher's Aid. It is their first child and I know that they'll be great parents. I am unsure of the specifics on baby weight and length and all that other stuff people seem to be so concerned with, but I do have the following picture. This is both the first and only picture available to see.

It is a girl and her name is Isabelle.

Tonight I Sleep

It is 3:15 a.m.. As of this moment I have been awake for 37 of the last 39 hours and 45 minutes. I have no idea why I am still up as I was planning on going to sleep around 12. There is really only one person to blame for this and I believe it is fairly obvious... I have nobody to blame but my good friend Walker: Texas Ranger. It is over now so Chuck Norris has allowed me the privilege of sleeping. That is what I go to do now. Goodnight.

Weekend Update With Jared Kass and Tina Fey!

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. Where does the time go? Let's see... Saturday I got woken up abruptly at 2:30 in the afternoon, thanks Erica!!! Kidding! I shouldn't be sleeping that late anyway, no matter if I was up until 3 a.m. the previous night. Matt and I were initially planning on coming back to Akron around 5 in the evening so rather than work on my 6 page paper that was due Monday I sat around playing Civilization 3 for a few hours. It's an awesome game, I get to conquer the world as pretty much anyone I want. I could be Shaka Zulu!!!!! Where was I, oh right, I was playing Civ 3 when I noticed it was about 6 So I gave Matt a call. Then I texted him. This was followed by a few instant messages, a few more texts and 2 to 3 more calls. Eventually He got back to me and told me that he had a family problem and wasn't getting back to Akron that night. Yay!! After much convincing and playing the "I have a 6 page paper due Monday that I haven't started yet and can't do at home" card I managed to get my dad to drive me back to my apartment. As it turns out this worked to my advantage because my mom and sister were on their way back from Athens, Ohio visiting OU to take a tour and have an interview.

We met up at my apartment and then decided to go out for some thai food. This is said advantage because my fridge is empty and I have no cash. Yay free food!! After dinner I came back to my apartment and procrastinated until 5 a.m. watching 'A Knight's Tale' and 'U.S. Marshals'. Both of which are very good movies, in my opinion.

I woke up Sunday afternoon and began to start my paper. After about 3 hours I managed to complete 2 paragraphs. Darn t.v. and internet being so much fun! At 4 I slinkied over to my grandparents for the Super Bowl. Yes, I slinkied. I moved in a downward motion practically doing cartwheels all the way there. It was cold though so after the game I drove back. I spent 6 hours at my grandparents house watching the game, eating tastily delicious pizza and talking with them. Good times were had by all up until the last 40 seconds of the game. That is when good times stopped being had my me. I was rooting for the Cardinals and the 40 second mark is about where I lost all my happy. I made it home and got to work on my paper, distraction free. Then Matt showed up....

When he got back at midnight he turned on the t.v. and here I go again. 7 hours later my paper is done, sources have been cited and my blog has been updated. Now I am in for a long day of class followed by an even longer day of staying awake until the end of Erica's radio show since her internet is still broken that that is the only time I can have an actual conversation with her. Besides, if I went to bed right when I got back from class at 4 I would sleep until 2 a.m. and be in a bit of trouble for tomorrow.

So ends this incredibley long post. Ta ta for now!