Self Musings of the Gryphon upon the Fall-2013 Semester:
1: It is going to be a peaceful...er....boring semester without a wingma....um...woman to keep things lively. (it was machine like, punctual and everything. Erika, you would have died) check
2: Higher level courses should be fun (I know I'm a nerd). check
3: Without a pressure valve for my
4: Being there after three semesters, my reputation would begin to proceed me. It did. (twice, I was met with the phrase, "hello my name is Jordan Reed." "OH! You're Jordan!" from professors. I aim to be memorable.) check
5: I would blog. check
6: Something unexpected would happen. (hmmmm.....heart attack, buying a dog, and two great book series rip my hopes out and crush them, yup I would think that this counts.) MEGA CHECK
7: I was going to have trouble when someone mentioned x-mas! (yes, one of my profs wrote "xmas" on the board, and after the class I went up and wrote merry Christmas under it.)
Anywho, I have been planning what I wanted to write about for my next blog posts, and I have I decided to try something a tad bit more ambitious for an amateur historian. I want to do a series of posts on the four kings of the Reformation, Henry VIII of House Tudor, Francis I of House Valois, Charles V of House Hapsburg, and Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire. Hopefully, I will complete these in a somewhat systematic fashion, and they will be of higher quality than what you all are used to seeing from me, but no promises.
Let's see now what else?
ahh yes!
For the purposes of enjoying your holiday season to the fullest extent, I have compiled a College Hobos Guide to Christmas Vacation. Before we dive into it though there a few guidelines one must remember in order to implement this plan effectively.
1. NEVER say you're bored!!!!!!!! Remember parents can smell lethargy. If you give "I'm bored" as a response to anything, it will mean the end of everything we are building here. The parent can always think of something else for you to do, and a parental task will take you farther than you want to go and keep you longer than you want to stay. Remember, being bored is a privilege that thousands of generation of our ancestors would've killed for. Embrace the boredom!!! (p.s: Make sure to complete chores and responsibilities, but consider being bored as an act of fun in itself.)
2. Turn guiltometer to "0". I have noticed that at times I guilt trip myself over having fun....don't....just don't. The key to overcoming this annoying habit is to view having fun as a serious business. I have prepared the whole year, studying and working, and it all comes down to this moment. I need to draw as much fun as I can out of this experience. (P.S: This isn't to say fun should be forced. Sleeping and lounging can be fun.)
3: Embrace your inner geek. Computers are the culmination of thousands of years of technological development. Don't let things like being ridiculed as a computer geek keep you from utilizing their beauteous opportunities. (p.s: Human interaction should be used to supplement technological enjoyment.)
SO
JORDAN'S COLLEGE HOBOS GUIDE TO SYSTEMATICALLY ENJOYING CHRISTMAS VACATION IN AN EFFICIENT AND ENJOYABLE FASHION.(please note that exaggerations are evident.)
Step one: food coma- This is required for Christmas. You starve yourself in the upcoming weeks just to prepare for the one day when you get to taste the angelically delicious delicacies brought down via venerable traditional recipes.
Step two: enjoy gifts- I maintain that the amount of fun gotten from a gift comes from the person receiving the gift. For this reason, there is never a reason why gifts can't be enjoyed, no matter what they are. This step will usually take up most of Christmas Vacation if done right, but I realize that this is an advanced skill.
Step three: Free to play games- Find a few. They are free and usually only require an internet connection.
Step four: READ- If you get a book on christmas, you are obligated to finish it within the week. Even if it takes you day and night, YOU MUST FINISH IT!
Step five: Enjoy the snow- YESSSSSSSSSS! We have snow for Christmas in WNY! ENJOY IT!
Step six: Blog- Well, this should come after the other steps, but sure why not?
Step seven: Look up every single Christmas song you can think of on youtube and play with family- I would suggest: Trans-siberian orchestra (a bit of a rocky take on Christmas favorites.), Feliz navidad, Angels we have heard on high, Chipmunks Christmas, A miser brothers Christmas, and basically every Christmas Carol that can't be misconstrued to point towards anything except the real reason for Christmas.
Step eight: sleep-nuff said
Step nine: sleep- if it's worth saying once.
Step ten: Board games- If all the family is present, a board game simply must come out at some point. Massive multiplayer computer games also count. Note: this is also true for friend get togethers.
step eleven: find a new tv show or movie and watch it a million times. May I suggest The Count of Monte Cristo, Thor 2, Ender's Game
That's that. Please let me know how you are planning on spending your Christmas vacation. You will probably want to comment relatively quickly, cuz after Christmas, I may not be on for a
In the spirit of embracing one's inner nerd:
ReplyDeleteDid you know that in Greek, the Name 'Christ' begins with the letter 'X', which is where the idea of 'X-mas' came from? That's a bit far from the all-accepting 'happy holidays' (seriously? the 'holy' days aren't offensive to anyone?) that is supposed to cause none concern, isn't it? Therefore, when someone says something about X-mas to you, there is no need to be worried that they are trying to take Christ out of Christmas. Instead, kindly congratulate them on caring enough about faith to try to bring Christmas to some Christian roots through usage of the Greek, and gently correct that in Greek, the letter 'X' is actually pronounced 'khee'.
This public service announcement was brought to you by Winona, who will be spending the holy days tutoring in Greek and correcting passerby with the correct way of saying 'Merry Khee-mas'.
*Excellent! Use your inner nerd,*
ReplyDeleteBravo! Why can't we have more public announcements like that.
wow, that was deep
ReplyDeleteHahaha...I love reading your updates! Although, I am concerned about your first point. I wasn't aware that I kept your life excessively lively...so you must truly have had a boring semester :(
ReplyDelete@TheThimble: Oh come on! That's not geeky. I would say that snowman was quite cool. Plus, entertaining smaller cousins is usually a ton of fun in itself. (Well my little cousins think of me as a human punching bag, but hey why not!)
ReplyDeleteAlthough, you bring up a good point. You never know how much you miss something until it's gone. THE SNOW IS GONE! sniff sniff. I would recommend that everyone head out and enjoy it next time it comes around.
Right, I wonder how much exactly are you focusing on school during the week of Christmas? (raises eyebrow) I mean, I know how much cooking you do, and I also know you got your little niece (charming by the way) and nephews around. Break would simply be embracing the delightful atmosphere that exists around the most wonderful time of the year.
@Jimmie: It was utterly boring. (and peaceful)
@The Thimble: I have a hard time believing that your little nephews would make a dancing anything. Although, if what you say is true, then what have you done to them?! First you put little reindeer antlers on the poor boys when they're babies, then you make DANCING SNOWMEN? Couldn't it have at least been a fighting snowman? Maybe brandishing a sword of some sort? I mean.....come on.....they're guys.
ReplyDelete