Adventures in Indy

Well what can I say, except that it has been too long. I have missed updating this blog with random musings and thoughts off the top of the dome, although obviously not enough to actually update it. I cannot say why this happened exactly and trying to would essentially be an excuse. This as we all know is counter to everything this blog stands (or at least is named) for. So instead of rehashing the last two months lets fast forward to the here and now, shall we?

I am living in Indianapolis now, which I have been told is the 12th largest city in the US. Way bigger than I thought, and a HUGE step up from sleep Stillwater, Oklahoma. I'm living in downtown too, which I'm not going to lie, is pretty awesome. The apartment I'm in is pretty nice and I'm not paying much which is perfect because I'm not getting paid much either! The interesting thing for me is having roommates again. Except for 2 brief periods during undergrad I haven't really had a roommate since about 9th grade or so, and that was my brother who was in 6th grade. So this is kind of like an experiment, reintroducing me to the world of shared bathrooms, living rooms and kitchens. So far so good, I like my 2 roommates and it helps that we all are working at the same place. Walking to work is a definite bonus as well, because getting exercise and saving gas (money) is always good.

The job is still somewhat of a mystery to me. I mean it has only been one day and we had mostly HR stuff and IT training, so I guess I shouldn't expect to know every corner of my job yet. But it is still exciting/worrisome/anxiety-inducing to not fully grasp your role in your office or even the big picture outline. "Patience is a virtue," or so I have been told numerous times in the past few weeks. Man, cliches sound so much better and more profound when I say them.

Per usual, here is a funny video for you to enjoy while I turn in to get some sleep before tomorrow:

Life is Like a Burrito

I know what you are probably thinking. This blog post is just an excuse to put up a picture and talk about Chipotle. That is not (totally) correct.

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE Chipotle. I eat there at least once a week, and it is pretty much my favorite restaurant in Stillwater. I went there on Friday actually, and had a chicken burrito. I asked for extra rice and beans and the guy said something to the effect of, "Let's make it a challenge." Now I thought at first he was talking about challenging my ability to down a Chipotle burrito. How foolish. But no, after heaping on two huge scoops of rice and two huge scoops of black beans, he proceeded to add extra chicken as well. My eyes became wide in anticipation. He then passed the burrito-in-waiting to the girl next to him and said, "Good luck!" with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Then I knew. He was challenging her burrito-wrapping abilities. Would she be up to the task? She added hot salsa, cheese, and lettuce per my request and then began the gargantuan task of wrapping it all together. Amazing she actually was able to get it started without much trouble. But as she began to seal the ends the tortilla's structural integrity failed and a gaping hole was opened. Undeterred she completed the wrap and asked if I wanted it rewrapped completely, double wrapped in a second tortilla, or left that way. Appreciative (and in awe) of her burrito-wrapping skills I decided to leave it alone and not make her redo anything. Instead she wrapped the ginormous burrito in foil (it took two sheets of foil by the way) and I had her draw an arrow so I would know which side was up so to speak. The burrito must have weighed 2 or 3 pounds, and it was amazing. And yes, I did eat the whole thing in one sitting, did you even have to think about asking that?

But I digress.

It is simple really, because life is like a burrito. Consider that you hold a burrito in your hands, just as you hold your life in your hands. Burritos often come wrapped and protected by a foil covering, much the same as our lives can be sheltered by the foil of our own insecurities and defense mechanisms. The tortilla of a burrito is akin to our capacity to live; the larger the tortilla the more food can fit inside, and the larger our capacity to live the more things we can accomplish. In a burrito we can add any number of ingredients to suit our tastes, just as in life we can have as many (or as few) things going on, depending on our interests. Burritos are different for each person just as our lives are different depending on what we choose to include. Some may enjoy larger proportions of rice in their burrito in the same way that some may enjoy larger proportions of work in their lives. And some people eschew rice (and work) altogether. The possibilities are endless! For me, my life (burrito) is filled up with my job, my class, my family, my creative component, my job search, my personal life, sleep, running, my fraternity, my internships, and many other things I am not even considering at the moment. At any given time when you bite into a burrito you may taste a variety of ingredients, just as in life at any given moment you may have a variety of things going on. It fluctuates because in burritos and in life, no two bites are ever the same. Sometimes when I eat a burrito I feel that every bite is all rice and beans. Where is the salsa, the cheese? Sometimes my life feels like all I am doing is working and going to meetings. Where is the personal life? You see, burritos are (to me) a true metaphor for life. Especially when you consider that all the while you are eating a burrito you are trying to keep it all together so that no food falls out. How many times in life does it feel like we are trying to keep it all together so nothing is dropped?

So next time you eat a burrito (preferably Chipotle) reflect. Reflect upon your life and all that goes into it. Enjoy the taste and savor your life. Life is like a burrito and I'm eating it!

PS: After eating a large burrito, dancing is a great way to burn of some calories, especially if you dance like this kid (which I do...when I'm drunk)

New Rule for the Book of Life

You may or may not have noticed that last week I added a rule to "Carl's Rules for the Book of Life" on the right side of this blog. I had intended to blog about this new rule the night I added it however life got in the way. In a way me slacking off actually lends itself to the topic of this entry because the newest rule is a quote from legendary UCLA Bruins coach John Wooden. He won 10 National Titles in 12 years, so this man knows a little bit about success. I own his book, "Wooden on Leadership", which chronicles his Pyramid of Success that he used to build his program at UCLA and by which he lived his life. The book is a great resource and is filled with tons of valuable quotes and stories. I knew that I wanted to use it for my own rules, but didn't know what quote or lesson to use at first. And then, in the midst of what has been a pretty exciting time of my life, it hit me--"Nothing will work unless you do."

Simple, to the point, and brutally true. In my life the times which I have been a success have usually been predicated on the effort I have dedicated to being a success. And now that I am in a relatively successful period I need to reaffirm this maxim because I know how easy it can be for me to let it all slip away. We have been on break for the last week and I have done the bare minimum required for my job, have allowed myself to slack off on my schoolwork, and have not utilized the free time to organize my environment. Now I know the value of relaxation and fun as it relates to my quality of life, however I think it is pretty obvious in this situation that I have done a poor job managing my time and motivating myself. Applying Rule #3 to my life is imperative for me to finish this semester off strong, to set myself up for continued success, and to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

So in honor of John Wooden, I am going to try and get caught up on some of the work that I have not been doing. And while I do that I encourage you to enjoy this video that highlights my favorite actor of all time showcasing his rapping abilities:

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

On a Roll!

Well what can I say? I am on a roll! This has been a very eventful and successful last month or so. First I get to interview for a job with the NCAA near the end of February. Then my mom, brother, and assorted other family and friends come to Stillwater to visit and catch the OSU-UT basketball game (we won by the way, but it wasn't as cool as this). Then I flew out to Seattle to interview for jobs in Res Life, and did 25 interviews, including 9 second interviews, and hit up a fair number of socials. I also won a Wii playing trivia (which I just got in the mail and hope to become as good at Wii as these guys). I experienced some of Seattle, met a lot of great people along the way and saw a lot of old friends as well. When I got back OSU went on spring break, so now I have time to ease back into things. And yesterday I was offered a position with the NCAA! What, jackpot!! So now I am just waiting for my background check to clear so it is all official and I will be set and ready to go with a job for next year!

But while that is very very exciting, and trust me, I could not be happier, I am also very excited about something else. It is crazy, and I am crazy, but I'm putting it out here for anyone to see: I met a girl and I like her. I may not have progressed very far since middle school in terms of dealing with females, but meeting someone is a start! I'm not going to go into much detail on here about that (other than she seems amazing), but let's just say it has been the icing on the cake of a very successful stretch in my life!

Oh and did I mention it is March Madness and the Cowboys are in the Big Dance!!!

Enjoy!

Back on Solid Ground

So it has again been a long time since I last posted. I have an excuse this time! I am not sure if that is allowed on this blog, but I was out of town for 7 days and had limited computer access and divided attention. You see I travelled to Seattle, Washington to do a bunch of job interviews and to attend a professional conference. My focus was definitely on the interviews more than anything and I had a very successful in the respect. I did 25 interviews in 3 days, and of those 9 were second interviews, meaning they liked me at least enoough to talk to me again. What, jackpot!

Overall the conference was great too because I emt some great people, and caught up with old friends. I really enjoy conferences because it is nice to get away and refreshes me. I do not however like returning from conferences because as much as I would like it, the world does not stop when I leave, and thus I have a pile of work to catch up on. Oh well, that is what I have to do during our Spring Break. Whick sucks, but what are you going to do?? Soon enough I hope to know where I am headed for next year so I can really focus my attention on finishing things off well here at OSU.

In the meantime here is an impressive video which I wish I could duplicate, both in talent and randomness:

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

My Bad

Okay so a) I am sorry it has been so long since I updated this, there is no excuse I should play like a champion, and b) I am frustrated because Blogger is not cooperating with my desire to post funny youtube videos. I had to add, edit, and delete my last post multiple times before I gave up and decided to start from scratch. So let me try this video thing again...



And again...



And yet again...



Ahh, now I feel better. I will start posting Photo Recall pics later, for now I have family in town visiting. So enjoy one last video that combines my love for ping pong with my passion for excessive celebration...

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Photo Recall - Day 36

Best. Staff. Ever. Mead Hall '05-'06 aka Diversity Personified!

So It's Been A While...

Did you miss me?

Judging by the limited number of visits the blog has received during my week-long absence, I am going to guess no. It's all good, I probably deserve it. I should update more often and make this more interesting, right? Well, that's the goal at least. Sometimes (as you surely have noticed) this blog becomes a hybrid between a personal space (for venting, catharsis, etc.) and a public forum (for ranting and trying to make others laugh). In any case, I am back, and now I have to get everything caught up, so bear with this post, it is probably going to run a bit long. Let's see, where did I leave off? Friday January 30th was my last post, and a lot has happened since then. In the interest of patching this all together in the most coherent way possible I will do a day by day synopsis, along with a new Photo Recall pic (because I am waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind in that experiment now too).

Saturday Jan. 31st
I had my comprehensive exam on this day. What is that? Well, it is an exam that is a comprehensive, which contrary to the actual definition of the word "comprehensive", means "something covering a bunch of stuff that takes a lot of time to prepare for and is mandatory for you to pass if you want to graduate with your Master's degree". High stakes on this one. Of course this meant that I began to study at 1am the day of the exam, stayed up (thank you Amp Energy Shots...) until 6:30am, slept for about an hour, woke up and showered, drove to Panera for breakfast and last minute cramming, and then started the test at 9am. A recipe for success (pending I actually pass) if I have ever experienced one (I haven't). That was one of the poorer decisions I have made recently, which is saying something because I think in general my life is a web of poor decisions that I spin for myself and then eventually get caught and tangled in until I suffocate from all the stuggling and tightening grip of the web and a giant spider comes to devour me. Or something like that.

Photo Recall - Day 28

Tope and I at the RA Banquet my senior year at ECSU. Special guest: Garrett's hand, rocking out.

Sunday Feb. 1st
A day of rest, I slept forever.

Photo Recall - Day 29

I love this dog.

Monday Feb. 2nd
I went running in the morning for the first time in a few days. The pain was a nice kick in the butt however, when compared to the kick in the junk I took from the scale after my workout. It turns out that not sleeping, eating at all hours of the day (and night) and eating crap are not healthy and will cause you to gain weight. Consider yourselves warned. I gained around 6 lbs. in a week, so now I am up to 218. For reference I weighed about 195 my senior year (while I was still playing soccer all the time). My goal is to get back to 200. This is not the way to do it.

Photo Recall - Day 30

Am I looking down, scared because I am losing strength and am about to fall, or am I checking my deodorant to see if it is actually working? Both actually. Pull that rope tight! I need tension! Oww! Not that tight, I want children!

Tuesday Feb. 3rd
I received some bad news about a program I advise. Not surprising in hindsight because of the lack of support given to this program and the students who worked hard to put it on, but kind of depressing. Worse than the actual news was breaking it to the student leaders who have already worked a lot on it. No bueno. I also was getting sick. It starts in the morning when I have a headache (I attributed it to the bad news) and ends with me feeling feverish and passing out on the couch in my office because I don't have the energy to make it to my apartment. For reference my apartment is about 50 yards away from my office. So yeah, I didn't feel good. I made it to the meetings I had to be at and canceled the ones I could.

Photo Recall - Day 31 (1 month done, 11 to go!)

What Mom? I can't hear you over the thousands of people walking around during Walkaround at OSU's Homecoming 2008. Cheese!

Wednesday Feb. 4th
Another day fighting the sickness. I think I had the flu, but I'm not sure. It didn't last long enough for me to go to the University Health Services and get checked out (it would have had to be about 18 days of sickness for that to happen). I felt like death on this day, but still made it to the necessary meetings and then napped when I had free time (if you can call rolling around in a cold sweat semi-conscious with Henry trying to lick my face, a nap).

Photo Recall - Day 32

Ladies and gentleman, allow me to introduce a rare species, the man-toad. Seen here in it's natural habitat, this creature (half-man, half-toad) is placed in a defensive stance, ready to hop off into the dark night of Austin, Texas at the soonest sign of danger. My mom does not appear to be alarmed at the sight of this ugly man-toad, even posing for a picture with it. I am just waiting for National Geographic to come calling for this picture, as it may be the only visual evidence that the man-toad exists and lives among us.

Thursday Feb. 5th
I still felt sick on Thursday, although I could also tell I was turning the corner because I didn't feel feverish anymore. Headaches and the sniffles, yes, but I can handle that. I had begun my day with office hours and occupancy, along with starting my reading for class (for that night) when I received great news for a change. I applied in December for the NCAA Internship program, which is highly competitive (check the link), as well as a change of pace from my current career track of residential life/student affairs. I hadn't heard anything yet and had kind of put it out of my mind because I had been sick, when I received a call from a strange number. Usually I ignore unknown numbers but I picked this one up for some reason, and it was someone from the NCAA offering me an interview. What, jackpot! I fly to Indianapolis (where the NCAA's National Office is located) to interview with about 40 other finalists for 19 spots in the program. I am getting more excited the more I think about it because it is such a unique opportunity and would be an amazing experience. I also wonder what would happen if I switched into the field of Athletics Administration, especially since I have been so focused on getting a job in student affairs to this point. Who knows...

Photo Recall - Day 33

I have no idea what is going on here, or why the picture was taken even, but this is Dan and I in our cousin Leonardo's room in Colombia. We are true millennials and could not go even a day without connecting with others (email, facebook, espn.com, etc) through the internet. Thankfully Leonardo did not mind us barging in each day to use his computer, because otherwise someone might have gotten hurt as we all were getting a bit bored and stir crazy in our Grandma's (Mama Flor) apartment.

Friday Feb. 6th
Now that I have gotten the good news about the NCAA interview I also got good news about the other part of my job search as i schedule a couple of phone interviews, as well as a mock interview to get some practice in. The call on Thursday made me snap out of my funk (mainly the sickness) and realize all the work I have to do before I go through all these interviews. So much to do, so little time. I thrive under pressure so I think it will be okay, but I need to start prepping. I spent today in both of my internships, and spent time during both researching the governance structure of the NCAA. I also got a call that night from a former OSU football player who went through the NCAA Internship process last year and offered me insight and advice on the whole deal. This all got me pumped up and I spent the late evening (and early morning) updating cover letters and applying to a bunch more jobs. A night well spent (for once). And a bonus: I watched the finale of "Bromance" online and Luke won! Can this day get any better (without me becoming Brody Jenner's best friend)???

Photo Recall - Day 34

This picture was taken from the field at Ole Miss' football stadium, before their game against Vanderbilt. This shows part of the student section (Hotty Toddy, gosh almighty!). How did I manage to get on the field? Let's just say I know some pretty important people.

Saturday Feb. 7th
Today I slept in. Not! I felt a lot better today (only coughing now) and tried to go to the gym at 9am. Then I realized the gym didn't open until 10am (rookie mistake I know). I worked out (basketball and racquetball) and then showered, ate at Quizno's (delicious), got a haircut, filled up my car with gas (as opposed to the other things it could have been filled with) and hit the road to OKC. Destination: Men's Wearhouse at the Penn Square Mall. Mission: Buy a suit (maybe two). Result: I bought two suits and two pairs of dress shoes, both buy one get one free. Did I get good deals? Abso-freakin'-lutely (that looks weird typed out, but is very fun to say out loud). Did I spend a ton of cash money? Hell yes. Enough to wear I still get a queasy feeling when I think back to when they told me the total price of everything. But it is an investment (so I have been told) so I shouldn't worry too much. And I look pretty fly (for a white guy) if I do say so myself. I'll try to post pics when get the suits back from the tailor next week.

Well that was my week in short. Sorry for being gone so long, I promise it won't happen again (for awhile...). Here is the final Photo Recall, enjoy!:

Photo Recall - Day 35

This picture is from an exhibit at the Benis Art Center in Omaha, Nebraska. I wandered around downtown Omaha for a few hours by myself and ended up here at one point. I actually really enjoyed this particular artist's work, I am not sure why. It seemed to mesh well with my aesthetic tastes I guess. This artwork was about 12 feet high (for reference) and was only one piece of the whole room, which was filled with pictures and wall paintings like this one. Sadly I did not meet Warren Buffet during this trip to Omaha, nor did I gain any of his astute financial instincts or wisdom, so I am still broke. I did get this cool pic though.