Time For A Break

My last final of the semester was last week Thursday, but the end of the semester as a whole was more stressful than most others. I've been looking forward to moving off campus all semester, and the friend I was looking to get an apartment with seemed pretty serious this time around (we had had a backing-out incident in August). Like before, he decided to back out at the last minute. I was left with several people expecting me to move off campus and no roommate to go with. So when the RD called me to confirm whether I was moving off campus or not, I had to say, "I honestly can't confirm at this point." Since the RD still had a job to do, he said that I had to confirm one way or the other; if I was moving off, all of my stuff needed to be off campus. If I was staying, he wanted me to move across campus to the other dorm. Either way, I had to be out of my current dorm by noon Saturday. 

The problem? It was Wednesday, I had one more final the next day, had to be moved and checked out of my current room by noon Saturday, and had nowhere off campus to move my things to. So, I told him that I would tentatively confirm on-campus, but that it would be subject to change if an opportunity arose to move off campus. He said he felt I was trying to play the system, and so we cut a deal in which I would move my things across campus to the other dorm and if I did decide to move off, I'd have to do so before new students arrive January 10th. Still, I had to wait for a room assignment before I could do anything. Of course, this room assignment didn't come until Thursday night. Finals were over, but my semester certainly wasn't.

My dorm room setup was fairly extensive and detailed; taking it all down was going to take quite a bit of time, and getting it all packed away for moving would take even longer. Even worse, pieces of the original room furniture were scattered throughout the building, with a couple pieces being up on the women's floor from when I came back ultra-early in August. I had to figure out how to get them back down to my room without the RD knowing. Still, it was the fastest teardown I've done yet. Perhaps I just have some experience at this sort of thing after doing so for the past few years. However, I was pretty scatterbrained and pressed for time (the checkout deadline was noon Saturday and I barely made it at 11:57) and ended up leaving some important things on campus instead of putting them into my car for break and had to sneak back into the dorm on Monday to get them. I don't think the RD was too happy about that bit, but I'm sure he's already over it.

Anyway, I'd rather just put the whole semester behind me.

After scrambling for a couple days to catch up on life, I finally had a weekend to relax and be away from campus. I'm staying with a couple pretty cool people for break, and one of them is really into music and has some recording equipment. So, as part of my "rent" for the month, he asked that we do some collab work on a song. Of course I agreed, in exchange for being able to use his equipment to record my own work as well. So last night I changed my strings and started messing around with his guitar mic. Just to get an idea of how it sounded, we took a couple tries and recorded a full rhythm take. My impression of this older mic? Hands down, night-and-day difference, better than the Sampson Go Mic. Of course, that's to be expected; the Go Mic is a cheap USB condenser which is really only designed for podcasting, whereas a proper dynamic microphone that has to run through an interface is going to sound far better.

Of course, this is just in terms of recording an intrument. I'm entirely uncertain as to how it'll sound for recording vocals, but I'm suddenly reminded that I have a Seismic Audio SA-M20 in my guitar case that I've used for doing live work. I don't know if it'll do what I need for recording, since it's not the same as the SM57, but perhaps if I blend two mics I can get a decent sound. In fact, I think I'll try it out tonight.

[This is Music] Why Is This So Good?

Seriously, why in the world is this song so addicting? Ugh.

Anyway... I'm not normally a fan of Imagine Dragons (can we all admit that Radioactive sucked?), but this one has a certain tension and build to it that is quite emotive. Granted, it's from Transformers, but tonight I was on Chatroulette and a guy from Germany was listening to it. I heard in the background and asked, "That song sound epic, what is it?" He then sent me a link to this. I think we can all admit that this song is awesome.

[This is Music] I Can't Sleep

So, this could go without saying, but I have a hard time sleeping. A lot. And, well, to be frank, I kinda don't mind so much. But, here's a song that I've been listening to lately that kinda relays how I feel.

Props to K for inadvertently introducing me to this song by leaving a mix CD in my car.

I have a MIGHTY NEED!

So today I was working on my car. Awesome, right? YEAHHHHHH.

Change the spark plugs and everything's groovy, right? YEAHHHHHH...

Until you break one of the coil packs.

Fortunately, it was just a little piece of plastic that's meant to apply downward pressure to a rubber seal so moisture doesn't get down inside the block and around the spark plug. Still... We couldn't put the part back in the car broken, and I don't have $100 to fork out for a new coil pack. I looked at my friend with an expression of desperation and said, "Dude, what are we going to do?"

Fortunately, I have this magical thing called JB-Weld, which my friend suggested we use to reapply the broken piece of plastic to the rest of the coil pack. So we went back to my room and fixed it up real pretty. Tomorrow I'll put it back in the car and see if it works!

In the meantime, I think it's time to finish this paper.

Before We Walk...

Hold on, let me take a selfie

Today I went to Como with a friend, and it was quite refreshing. Hot topic for their t-shirt sale (and pins, and a laptop sticker), Coldstone ice cream and a walk around MU's campus made for a relaxing evening before returning to continue working on academic papers.

Just look at that sky... so beautiful.

I missed Columbia. Walking around campus, I was flooded with memories of hanging out with a group of dudes and doing parkour-type-things. Of course, I found myself walking on a few handrails just for memory's sake. These high-tops don't handle balance as well as my Feiyues, but it brought me a little joy.

I do miss parkour. Even if I had to quit because I kept getting hurt and increased my risk of serious (or possibly permanent) injury each time I did it, I still miss it. Maybe some of the less-intensive portions of it are something I can get back into.

There isn't much point to this entry. Just an update, I suppose.

[This is Music] Something Different

Thought I'd listen to something a little different tonight. Suddenly, loneliness and isolation has never had a more beautiful soundtrack.

[This is Music] Keep The Party Alive

One band I've liked since 2008 (though I was too "hardcore" back then to ever admit it) is Family Force 5. Their song "Keep The Party Alive" has long been one of my favorites, and since I'm listening to it right now, I'd like to share it with you.