Whitewater Rafting

Two-ish weekends ago, a few of my fellow ENR scholars and I went to West Virginia for a little bit of whitewater rafting. While a few of us have been, a majority, including me, have never gone. There were seven of us ENR scholars (well, six, since T-Spice isn't in ENR), and then two trip leaders. We went through the Rivermen program and rafted on the New River, and man, was it fun.

We were set to leave around 4:30, but we all didn't leave Blackburn for the OAC until that time so we were a little late getting on the road which meant we ran into a little bit of traffic. (When I say a little, it is a little in comparison to Chicago. So all in all, the traffic wasn't really that bad). But when we signed up for this trip we were told we were going to sleep in tent cabins, but at the informational meeting they were like, no, we're sleeping in tents. I personally have nothing wrong with tents, but I don't think too many people like setting up tents in the dark. Just saying... But then when we were getting our gear ready, the trip leaders said that they had misinformed us and we were getting tent cabins! Cheers all around.

So I don't know how many of you all have driven through Ohio before, but it really isn't all that exciting. Lots and lots and lots of farmland. But all of that changes as soon as you go towards southeast Ohio and hit the Hocking Hills area. It's hilly and foresty (that's not a word, I know, but it rhymes with hilly. Just go with it.) and very aesthetically pleasing. But holy poop, there is nothing to do down there! Driving by Ohio University, we all were thinking the same thing: no way we could go to school down here. Yes, it's pretty, but there would be nothing to do outside of the OU campus! But once we got down to WV, the view was just as pretty. It was a very nice change of pace from the flat land of Columbus.

New River Gorge - So pretty!

The picture above if of the river we rafted down. Boy was it so pretty! If there weren't dangerous rapids, I probably would have just stared at the scenery all day. While the scenery was nice and pretty, the rafting itself was AWESOME! Holy shit. So. Much. Fun. Words simply cannot describe the experience we had. Well, we first thought we were going on the Upper Gauley, which is extrememly hard, but we ended uprafting down the Lower New, which I think was just right for us. The first 6 miles or so was pretty tame, only one or two major rapids, but after we ate lunch (which was very delicious), we finally started hitting the bigger stuff. So there was 9 of us in the raft, in a 2-2-2-2-1 formation (1 being the back) and I don't know if you know this, but when you whitewater raft, you sit on the EDGE of the raft. Seems a little unsafe, no? But we were all approaching a rapid with two sets of waves, and you essentially had to paddle your heart out for the first wave if you want a chance to even make it over the second. Well we paddled and paddled and paddled, but we did not make it over the second wave. We were so close in fact that we were basically sitting on top of the second wave. But as we started to fall backwards, a wave hit the front left of the raft, causing almost everyone to fall out. Our raft was about to tip, but our guide Seth was screaming"GET LEFT! GET LEFT!" Somehow Stephanie and I managed to get left and stay on the raft. So once we got the raft settled, Stephanie, Seth and I look down the river to see everyone floating on down. There were no really close calls the rest of the day, just lots of fun!

We all got very lucky: it was supposed to rain and thunder ALL day, but it held off until late Saturday night. And since we had our nifty little tent cabins, we did not have to worry about water leaking into the tent or have to worry about putting down the tent in the rain. But the tent cabins had a tin roof, which made the rain REALLY loud at night. A small con compared to all the pros.

That weekend was so much fun, and I know we would all go back in a heartbeat. I can't wait to go back next year. Who knows, maybe I'll try the Upper Gauley!

Blast from the not too far past.

Note: I ended up writing this entry on 3 separate occasions, so if parts of it don't really flow, that is why.

Week 8

Why hello there. I'm sorry I've been neglecting this little guy for a while, but I've been lazy busy. Yeah, I mean I really have had quite the amount of free time to get sun burned, eat, and just sit at my desk, but yet I didn't have the time to write in here. I guess it felt more like a chore than something that should be fun, and we do not want this to be a chore.

MOVING ON!

It's week 8 and it blows. Everyone is finishing up their last midterms, and everyone is starting to get sick and tired of their classes. Finals don't seem close at all, but once next week hits everyone will be freaking out that they need to start studying. All my friends from home are done with school and I won't be back until the 20th of June (I get done the 8th but I'm going to Hilton Head after I get done with finals). To top off this excruciatingly long week, the weather went from awesome back to crappy and it seems like everyone's attitude is affected by this. Everyone is either sick, grumpy, or both (like me!). Once week 9 gets here, the end will seems more reasonable.

On Monday Alex stopped by OSU to take a bin of stuff from my dorm to store at her house over the summer. I filled up a 20 gallon storage container, and I feel like I haven't really dented anything! The only obvious place where things are gone is my wall. Where posters, a white board, and rally rags once hung is now just bare wall. Kind of sad. Also I got rid of all the mugs on my desk; they honestly just took up space. Once the end of the quarter gets closer, the more stuff I will move (thank you so much Blair family!!!!). I hope to only take home clothes home with me.

Oh, I scheduled today. Another solid quarter - 20 credit hours. Art 300.02 (digital photography), CSE 200, Econ 201 (macro), and German 201. When I was trying to make my schedule Disha said I really needed to cater it to her lunch schedule. That seems wise...

That doesn't seem TOO bad

I went whitewater rafting last weekend. I would elaborate more but I think that deserves it's own blog entry. Maybe I'll write that by the end of the quarter!

I could also write about meeting Jesse, Ty, and Eric of Modern Family as well, but a, I'm tired and b, I also think that might get it's own post.

Rant time: The use of hash tags on Facebook.
No, simply no. I understand that if you have a twitter that it might be tempting to end a status with a good ol' #hashtag, but there really is no point. I've been in that position before: either sending a picture to Facebook or writing a status and I want to add one last thought in the form of a has tag, but I stop myself because I realize there IS NO POINT TO A HASH TAG ON FACEBOOK. For those non-twitter users, a # is used to make anything attached to that a link so people can see what others are saying who have the same exact hash tag. Examples: #itshardwhen, #myfavoriteartist, #bookofmormon. You get the point. But on Facebook the # sign does not have the same effect. And if you are guilty of this, I am, by no means, trying to single you out. So, please, people of Facebook or any other form of social media, leave the hash tags where they belong: twitter. I will admit, it is fun to make up superfluous hash tags and I can see why people would want to do so anywhere.

Soccer plug: Have you donated to Rise and Shine: The Jay DeMerit Story yet? No, well then I suggest you watch the trailer and simply donate a single dollar.

I'll also update my top five songs tomorrow... or on Friday. Which ever day I don't feel like death! But first: Foster The People remix.

Healthy Eating?

Living the healthy lifestyle is tough. Eating healthy, exercising, getting enough sleep while being a full time college student taking 21 credit hours is no easy task. I need to have a beach body by the time school gets out and it shall be no easy task. 7 weeks to go!

This all started yesterday. I was sitting at my desk, eating some Kit Kats and Chex Mix, which watching Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. This particular episode was the Iceland episode, and Anthony went there in the middle of the winter, when there is only 4 hours of sunlight. Supposedly Icelanders (is that what they are called?) just work out a lot and live one of the healthiest lifestyles instead of complaining about how much it sucks to live in a place with relatively no sun. So as I sit there stuffing my face with copious amount of junk food, I think to myself, this HAS to change.

Enter Mackenzi.

She, too, was complaining how she wanted a beach body by summer, and how she actually wanted to do something about it. There we were, sitting in our tiny, cramped dorm room, talking about how we should be healthy but doing nothing about it. That all changed within five minutes and we hit up the RPAC. We then decided we would eat only healthy food for the rest of the quarter and work out almost every day. We were so motivated, but how long would this last?

The next day:
Wake up, only a little sore from the gym, and eat a healthy breakfast (a hard boiled egg, an apple, and a granola bar) and head out to class. I'm feeling pretty good about myself, and it was time for lunch, so I opt for a salad and peanut butter crackers. And within a half hour of my lunch I am starving. I can ear my stomach growling and I'm starting to feel weak. All I wanted was some mashed potatoes with gravy from Fresh and maybe some pudding. Something heavy that would fill my up. All this damn healthy food does not fill you up, and I was not loving it at all. So I took a nap hoping my hunger would subside (I don't know why I thought that... maybe all the healthy food is altering my thought process), but I woke up with a stomach screaming for food. Then I caved: I had a pudding cup. The best pudding cup ever, though. But after that little slip up earlier I've been pretty good; I went to the gym, had a healthy dinner, and now I'm sitting in the Thompson doing homework/writing a blog entry.

So as day 2 comes to a close, I'm hoping the next 7 weeks or so will not be as bad as this, and my stomach will adjust to just eating a lowly salad for lunch. No promises, though.

I should really work on my Lollapalooza entry. Or maybe I will wait until the schedule is released tomorrow. Yeah, that sounds good.

Everyone should check out Justin Townes Earle. Now.

Oh, this is Ohio State's Campus?

Yes, my friends, you about to get two posts in one day. And what makes you even luckier? The fact that you will now be graced with my wonderful photography. I kid on the wonderful part, but you will be getting a shit ton of pictures. (If you want to look at some of my better pictures, look at my Europe albums on facebook). So without further ado, here is the lovely Ohio State campus:

Oh just the light poles...

Scott Lab

The bike racks are empty on the weekend

University Hall

Pretty flowers along the Oval

The Oval and the Thompson

I... don't remember the name of this building

Hayes Hall... duh

Detail on Hayes

More Oval in the direction of the union

Information please

Some flowers on a tree by the Wex

The side of the Wexner Center

More Wexner Center

Mershon Auditorium

Hagerty and Mendenhall in the distance

The Thompson at the other end of the Oval

The old sign on the new union

Orton Hall

Browning Amphitheater

Mirror Lake

Detail on Pomerene Hall

The other end of Mirror Lake I guess

One final shot of Mirror Lake

 

 

 

If you looked at all the pictures, then kudos to you!

I can't leave you without a song!

There's Always Money in the Banana Stand

I apologize. For two things really. One, this post will have nothing to do with Arrested Development. Sorry, but I really just like that quote. And two, my lack of blogging lately has been, well, sad. I would say disappointing, but I don't think I really have that many (or any at all) faithful readers. I will direct some of the blame on the fact that I have to do so much reading this quarter that I am just sick of writing in general. And then I also blame my lack of blogging on just pure laziness. Meh, doesn't it always lead to that?

Wow, week four already! I have friends who are going to be done with the next few weeks and I still have 6 or so to go. But I'm sure that it will be summer already. The only thing I as for right now is no more rain. I get it, "April showers bring May flowers" and yes, it snowed in Chicago yesterday, but enough already! I would like maybe, three sunny days in a row, but CLEARLY that is too much to ask for since I live in Ohio. Although I think the warm weather is here to stay. Knock on wood, but the coldest day within the next week is supposed to be 55 (yeah, not that warm, but it's not 45!).

Yesterday Mackenzi and I walked around campus taking pictures for one of her art classes. I simply went along just to take picture and enjoy the nice day. I'll probably put some pictures on here when I get them on my computer. They probably wont be my best pictures ever taken, but I feel that if you don't go to Ohio State, you have no idea how the campus looks like. Just doing my part to show the rest of the world what OSU looks like!

So in week two I tried out for the OSU Women's Soccer Club, and while I did not make it, I was able to play in a tournament with the team one weekend. Wow, those girls are really talented! For me, someone who did not really start all that much the two year on varsity, I felt really lucky to be able to play with them. I even had a goal and 3 assists! It was definitely, I would say fun, but I was so out of shape I don't think I could enjoy it, experience. I will most likely try out in the fall again, and if not in the fall, the winter.


In soccer news, the Portland Timbers had their first home game in MLS this past Thursday. For those of you who aren't too familiar with the Timbers, they recently joined the MLS this year from the USL, and they have been quite the talk of the town. Having a longstanding rivalry with Seattle, the Timbers solidified soccer in the Pacific NW. Alongside the team, the Timbers are known for having some of the best fans, which can be on display here. That's the Timbers Army singing the national anthem and it's kind of awesome. I mean, everyone is saying so, unless you're Bob Ryan. I think I've found my team outside of Columbus, because let's face it, Columbus is falling apart in front of our eyes. Oh, and the Timbers mascot? Timber Joey. 

 He cuts logs with ONE hand. Just awesome.

A funny conversation between me and Mackenzi at North Commons today:

M: "Aren't there underground tunnels around here somewhere?"

A: "Yes they exist."

M: "Where are they?"

A: "Underground."

Okay, so it might not be THAT funny, but we enjoyed it. Don't ruin our fun.

I have been really addicted to this Wilco song today for no reason whatsoever.