Micah's Online Journal

Just put the sheets on...

2005-12-02T10:18:00.000-08:00

For quite some time I have not had sheets on my bed. About a month ago, mabye longer, I took the sheets off of my bed to take home so that they could be washed (thanks again, Mom). I brought my clean laundry back a few days later, and the sheets just happened to be at the bottom of the bin. So, being the lazy person that I can be sometimes, I just layed a blanket over the matress and I now use an afghan for a blanket (which is less than comfortable for a full night's sleep) just for that first night. Or so I thought...one night turned into two, and two into a week. Now, a month later, I still have no sheets on my bed. Why, you might ask? because people get comfortable (although my afghan is not exactly comfortable, I am talking about a different kind of comfort) with things, and keep putting things off. They learn to cope with mediocracy for too long, and before they know it, their whole lives become living comprimises....Well, mabye my entire life will not become a compramise because I did not put my sheets on, but you get the idea...

Living Weekend-to-Weekend

2005-12-01T14:13:00.000-08:00

Well, the saying goes..."College is the best days of your life"....

However, the exact opposite holds to be true for me. Any day that I am not in college is the best day of my life. As the end of my first semester draws to a close, I am becoming increasingly weary of class after class, strugling to stay awake while a professor drones on. The teachers here talk about subjects that might possibly be interesting. But, for some reason somebody one time thought that it would be a good idea to make classes that have hundreds of students in them. I am amazed that the highest level of education has the absolute WORST methods of teaching. Everyone would agree that people learn best when....

a) Their mind is engaged in the material (sitting in a lecture hall next to a complete stranger is NOT being engaged)
b) They have interaction with other teachers/students (there is little to no interaction)
c) Material is presented in a fun, interesting way (watching a lecture every day is a waste of time. I might as well skip class, stay home and read my textbook, and study the material myself)
d) The pupil feels important/wanted/cared about, and not just a number. My teachers dont even know my name!!! (that may or may not be a way to learn, but it has a lot to do with my motivation as a student)

...You get the idea...Every Monday morning, I begin the count of days until the weekend comes again. The only good things throught the monday-friday week are...

- Bowling 1 night a week (usually Thursday night)
-Playing guitar and writing songs (but I am rarely alone, so I do not have very much time for that)
-Playing computer games (mostly with Bryan)

...I am not trying to be a downer or anything, I am perfectly happy, no worries. But these are just the facts. Winter break will be warmly welcomed by all.

My New Blog-like Site....

2005-11-28T18:05:00.000-08:00

I just thought I would let everyone know that I just recently created a new site for myself and Bryan Johnson. It is www.myspace.com/micahbryan and it has some of our songs on it that you can listen to, and some other cool stuff. If I did it right, there should be a link on the side bar of this page to it...Enjoy!

Back From Colorado

2005-11-09T18:31:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been over a month since my last entry so i would say its been forever. But considering the frequency of my previous entries, this time lapse is quite normal for me. Anyways, its Wednesday night here in lincoln, and I've had quite the week. This past weekend i flew out to Colorado to visit Kimberly and meet all of her friends. We had a great weekend together and had lots of fun... We went to an Avalanche hockey game that went into a shoot out, i met all of her friends, we watched a movie, went out to eat, went to a huge mall, and on sunday we drove up into the mountains to a national park and made a fire and stuff, and lots more. Then Monday i flew back to Omaha, drove back to lincoln quickly, and had to work that evening. Then the past few days have been packed with talking to academic advisors, emailing professors, working a whole lot, and doing a calculus group project, etc... anyways, this is the first time ive really had to relax and everything. but, i must get going to bed here now, so mabye i will do a new entry soon.

Husker Pictures....

2005-10-08T17:21:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few pictures i took at the recent Texas Tech game today. It was a nail biter, but i wont go into details.

Nothing New...

2005-10-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

Well, there hasn't been anything really worth telling about this week, just going to class, working, and that sort of thing. It is homecomming week this week, so I took some pictures of the Fraternity and Serority houses toady, they all have displays in their yards for some reason, but they are quite extravagant. I mostly took them because Jessica said she wanted to see some Husker pictures, and mabye I will post another one of the stadium in a few days. I've got one more week of school until fall break now, and Kimberly is comming back to town then too, so I just gotta stick it out. Classes are getting long and weekends are getting shorter it seems, so this comming break will be a much needed...

I am a Copy Cat...

2005-10-07T13:36:00.000-07:00

Well, this is definetly a big time copy of Daniels blog, but like he said - I appreciated his, so I will make one that other people can read too...

10 YEARS AGO: Lets see...that would make me 8 1/2 years old, so I was in second or third grade at Harvey Oaks Elementary School, Mrs. Latka was my 2nd grade teacher and Mrs. Jewl was my 3rd grade teacher. Around that time i was probably working on one of my latest treehouses (among many treehouses that I built when i was younger) hammering away, or it might have been the time i followed Jessica and Daniel to their 'secret' fort that i had grown jealous of. That fort was arguably the pinacle of the Pac Hollow Treehouse Developmental Era (but i would have to disagree, although it was a '4 story' fort with a firepole [a quite dangerous one], it lacked the structural integrity and the element of creative design that some of my latter forts had)

5 YEARS AGO: i was 13 years old, in 7th or 8th grade at Millard North Middle School. that was probably the last year that i played on the Arsenal select soccer team, which was a great time, but it took up far too much of my freetime (which youth sport obsession has become the topic of discussion lately). I was also probably working on the first fort that me and Matt Olsen were going to incorporate cemented beams into. that fort eventally was vandalized (which sadly was the way most of our forts ended) by Greg Hunter - i will always remember him, hahaha.

1 YEAR AGO: 17 years old, i was a few months into my senior year of highschool at Millard North High. I was just starting work at Bellevue Cabinets for my work study program through my woods class. It was a good job, and i learned alot there, but every part time job is never perfect. Also around this time I was probably playing guitar with Euphony or with Bryan, writing new music and stuff.

YESTERDAY: was Thursday and i had some classes, ate lunch, and thursdays are the only day of the week that i dont work. in the evening, i watched CSI (one of my favorite shows) and i also watched Without A Trace (another top 3 favorite of mine) with Scott my roomate and his girlfriend Sarah. After that we went to Delta Delta Delta serority (I think i remember mom saying that aunt peggy is tri-delt alumni) and ate at a pancake feed for a childrens hospital fundraiser.

5 SNACKS I ENJOY: My favorite food is Cheese Pizza of course (From Don Carmelos or Pizza Hut or Dominoes - depending on the day.)...Reeses Peanutbutter Cups (which Kim noticed Daniel had on his list also, which she attributes to our mother's influence.)...Chips and Cheese...Hot Chocolate...Mountain Dew with lots of ice to chew (that rhymes doesn't it?)

5 SONGS I KNOW ALL THE WORDS TO: Most every Nickel Creek song...tons of Hymns and Church songs...The star spangled banner (but now that i think of it, there are multiple verses that i dont know)...the ABC's...All of my own songs that ive written (althogh ive been known to get nervous and forget second verses)

5 THINGS I'D DO WITH $100 MILLION: Well, since Daniel stole the munchkin motel idea, i would use this money to jumpstart my luthiery (instrument making) business, or mabye a custom furniture/luthiery combo shop. daniel could hire me to build the munchkin motel - HA!

5 PLACES I'D RUN AWAY TO: Well, considering the constraints of 'running' away, that implies traveling by foot-- Colorado...Wyoming...i cant really think of that many places, just places that are rustic outdoors places, i dont have the desire to run away, i like Omaha and Lincoln, and traveling the world doesnt appeal to me like it does to Jessica and Daniel.

5 THINGS I'D NEVER WEAR: Converse tennis shoes...a spiked dog collar...any racist or gang related atire...makeup...tight leather pants

5 FAVORITE TV SHOWS: CSI...Junkyard Wars...Seinfeld (kind of a bandwagon answer, but i really love it)...King of Queens...River City Folk

5 BIGGEST JOYS: Kimberly and all of my friends and family...playing guitar and writing songs that otherwise would never have existed (i like to think of writing music in that way)...Woodworking....Snowboarding...

5 FAVORITE TOYS: a ball...my guitar...the internet (especially used in conjunction with Rhapsody and other legal music programs...a snowboard...a rope-swing into water

5 PEOPLE I WANT TO PASS THIS ON TO: Anyone reading this with interest. Hopefully there are five.

My Recent English Story Assignment...

2005-09-29T11:02:00.000-07:00

Well, this isn't exactly a journal, but technically it is a blog entry. This is a story that I was assigned to write for my English class, and I kind of stole some ideas from Daniels surfing trip in Chile, and incorporated some of my own ideas. Don't feel obligated to read this or anything, its kind of long, but I just thought I would put it out there...

Micah Bruce

Dr. Kaye-Skinner

English 151 Sec 065

September 22, 2005

The Andes Mountains

I don’t think that I’ve ever experienced such cold. It’s the kind of cold that takes your breath away and might even crack your teeth if you’re not careful. It has been a week and a day now, here in the Andes, but it seems like forever. I don’t know how I got talked into this excursion, but I guess deep down inside I am enjoying it despite the frigid weather. My older brother, Daniel, is the adventurous type (obviously, since we are in the Andes), and he loves traveling and seeing the world. He thought that it would be a great idea to head to the Andes this winter break to snowboard some un-chartered slopes, but the problem was that he couldn’t go alone. So after quite a debate, I decided to be his ‘boarding buddy.’ He made it sound like such a good idea.

It’s day eight in the mountains and I am literally freezing. The mummy bags that the two of us brought are supposed to keep us warm up to (or down to, I guess) -50 degrees. Apparently not. My toes, fingers, and butt are far past being numb and may as well be non-existent. Every morning we have woken up to the howling chill of the mountain wind, which I’m surprised hasn’t blown us off. And every morning I stay in my thin mummy bag for as long as I can before my exhausted body is lured out by Daniel’s coffee brew. Its wonderful aroma somehow always manages to make its way through the tent and into my nostrils despite the intense wind. When I finally make my way out of our tent, we eat our breakfast, which consists of coffee, some rock-hard peanut butter Powerbars, and a few frozen grapes. I don’t ever have much of an appetite in the morning, but I know that I better eat something.

After our sparse breakfast, it is time for the real fun, snowboarding. Man, is the boarding awesome; we are the only ones out on the mountain, in contrast to the bustle of American resorts. Carving inside and outside of trees, spraying fresh powder behind my wake is an amazing feeling. Feeling the icy mountain scrape against the metal rim of the board and hearing the crackle of rocks as I pass over them is a rare solitude. The chilly wind bites at my naked cheeks and under my goggles, a painful, yet somehow comforting nuance.

Sometimes the incredible view is even better than the boarding… sparkling jagged rocks, and deep green spruce trees frosted with fresh powder framed by magnificent puffy clouds on a blue background. Every once in a while we can hear a mountain lion roar, or an eagle squawk, and perhaps in the distance a gentle thunder of a small avalanche. We try to take our time down the slopes, as to soak in all of the glory of God’s creation. It makes me kind of sad, really, thinking about how beautiful nature everywhere is ruined by modern civilization. All of this magnificent artwork of God destroyed by human advancement.

After we finish our morning session, we toss our boards on our backpacks and head back to a town about a mile away where we catch lunch. Bucalemu is an extremely tiny town of barely one hundred people, but one hundred quality people. The second you step foot on the gravel road through town, you feel right at home. The town consists of a modest row of thatched roof houses, and looks like a small community from a hundred years ago. There’s usually someone outside of their home waiting to greet you. That’s one thing I think that every American realizes as they travel, that other countries and their cultures are so much more friendly and hospitable. It’s kind of depressing to think about how callused our society is, coldhearted people walking the city streets with their heads down. All throughout American grade schools, it is taught to never talk to, open the door for, or ride in a car with a stranger. But in Bucalemu, if you treat a stranger poorly, you are considered to be an outcast. It is such an amazing contrast in cultures and societies throughout the world.

The place we have been eating at the past few days would hardly be called a restaurant. It is a small house owned by a single man, Francesco, who is possibly the kindest man we’ll ever meet. The restaurant is basically his small house kitchen and a few tables in his dining room. It is filled with a warm aura, with much history and tradition that is so common in Bucalemu. The meals we have here reflect the feel and atmosphere of the town, hearty meat, large portions, and of course, great company. Francesco loves company more than anything, so we have to beg him to be able to pay him and even then it’s a bargained price. “In Bucalemu we may have tiny houses, but we have very big hearts,” he says with a proud grin on his face.

During our first day eating there, we talked with Francesco for quite some time, sipping on his famous vanilla bean coffee. We talked about everything, and it was then that we discovered that Francesco owned a snowmobile that he took up to the mountains every now and then. When he mentioned that he had one, he could tell that Daniel and I liked that fact, so he quickly invited us on a ride. He ended up giving us a ride all the way up to the top of the mountain, which was about an hour trip. Upon arriving, Francesco persistently asked us if we would stay at his place during the night. We told him that we like the outdoors and that it was all part of the experience, and he understood. We couldn’t stop thanking him, and of course we paid him for gas and troubles. He reluctantly accepted our payment, and with a grin, he was off. We could hear his tin-can engine all the way down the mountain; the cliffs made a perfect natural amplifier.

We have been repeating our pattern for days now. Wake up, snowboard down the mountain, eat at Francesco’s, ride back up on his snowmobile, and then hike to a new campsite. However, this would be our last ride on Francesco’s mechanical steed. Daniel and I decided to move along to a new area of the mountains, some un-chartered terrain. If the trip ended now I wouldn’t be too disappointed. My experience thus far has been unforgettable, but there is also the curious side of me that wants to know just what is on the other side of the mountain. We’re not really sure what there will be, but we know that we will manage. Francesco was kind enough to pack us some spare rice and meat, so food will not be an issue for a few days at least. Water will also be close at hand, with snow and all.

After discussing what our next move should be, Daniel and I decided to call it quits for the day and to do all of our hiking in the morning. Turning in early was a much-needed break. This also gave us time to marvel at the sun setting in front of us. The rocks that the snow neglected to cover were painted pink and purple, and the snow looked like millions of diamonds strewn about the ground. As the sun gradually faded, peaks of mountains became faint silhouettes against the dark blue sky, and the first evening star bravely shone. Daniel and I sat and wondered for quite a time without saying a word; it was almost a surreal moment in time. The last traces of the mountains ceased, and the sky developed a vast amount of stars and constellations. With the darkness came the cold. It rudely interrupted our ‘moment’ and sent us back into our tent shivering. It’s kind of funny; you can almost smell the cold.

The sun rose above the mountains, and morning arrived. We awoke almost simultaneously, to begin packing up our things. There isn’t much. We each have our own backpacks, and we had a pretty good system going where Daniel carries the tent on his bag and I carry the cooking stuff on mine. The hard part about it is keeping snow out of everything, especially with our clumsy mittens on. It takes us about fifteen minutes to pack up, and after that we have our breakfast. Same old, same old, except there is no coffee this morning because we are in more of a hurry.

We journey for a good three hours, trudging in the deep snow that our wimpy American snowshoes fail to keep us above. Luckily, the wind isn’t as bad as it had been, especially since we are going through the pass. The winds up there can get pretty fierce. We walk as long as we can, but then we have to stop to rest and have lunch.

We open up the care package that Francesco had given us, and our spirits are instantly lifted. He had packed us his wonderful beef stew and famous chocolate crème delight. For just a moment as we eat, the thought of turning back to the other side of the mountain began to creep into our heads. But as quickly as the thought came, it was extinguished by the adventurous void in our hearts. Francesco was great, but the other side of the mountain held adventures anew.

After our thirty minutes of bliss, we start back on our trail. The crest of the hill we are working on is nearing, and we are getting quite antsy. We look at each other, we know what the other is thinking. We pick up our pace so that we can reach the peak and finally see the other view of the mountain.

At last we reach the top and set down our packs. My goggles are a bit foggy, so I remove them to get a better view. The wind was churning up the powdery snow, but it soon ceased. As the blanket of snow settled, it revealed quite a sight. It revealed a sight not of more mountains, or of a lake or river, but rather a sight of man’s civilization at its finest. Modern buildings and skyscrapers were creeping up the side of the mountains, and power lines were doing a dot-to-dot across the land and into the mountains. Smoke billowed out of large refineries and power plants, filling the crisp mountain air with thick black sludge. Our hearts dropped. How could anyone ruin such a place?

We stood there in silence for quite a while, still stunned by the city. The silence was eventually broken by Daniel saying, “Let’s go back.” It is such a simple, but comforting suggestion. So, with heavy packs, even heavier hearts, we head back down. The good news was that it was a downhill journey back to our old spot, so we strap on our boards and coast ‘home.’

I have almost a warm feeling as we turn the final corner to our campground. The same spot that we spent restless nights shivering in the chilly Andean air was now in a way our home. We unpack our familiar tent and sleeping bags and go right to bed. We aren’t disappointed with our findings today, but rather thankful for things being put into a real perspective. Not until we had experienced something different, but we were also able to fully appreciate Bucalemu and all it had to offer. Bucalemu, and all the people in it, really is a unique town. It is a town that somehow managed to keep its culture, even through all of these changing times. Sometimes it may take a mountain to stop the corruption of civilization, but there will still be these few special villages. I am deeply grieved that most people will not experience such love and kindness from their community.

Thanks for reading,
-Micah-

Tuesday Night

2005-09-27T21:28:00.000-07:00

Well, its been a while since I’ve made an entry, so I wont go into too much detail because I don’t want to bore anyone. Last weekend My dad and I went to a bluegrass festival in Winfield, KS called the Walnut Valley Festival. It was pretty fun, seeing all of the goings on at a place like that, and watching all of the talented musicians and everything. I’m not sure how much my Dad actually liked the music, but I think he liked most of it. Even I cant take TOO much bluegrass after a while, but it was fun.

Last week was really slow, and school is getting to be a drag, but I had the weekend to look forward to. Well, most of it…My Geology teacher thought that it would be a good idea to schedule a field trip at 8am on Saturday morning to Schramm park. Schramm park is a fine field trip and all, just not at 8am, and not the way we did it. It is about a 50 minute drive there and back, and we were only at Schramm park for an hour…so a 3 hour waste of time, all for an hour of semi-relevant curriculum. FUN!

After the field trip was when my real weekend started…I drove back to Omaha at about 1:00 and was there the rest of the weekend. First I went to Bryan’s house and played guitar and stuff for a while, and then I went to my favorite restaurant ‘Don Carmelo’s ‘ pizza and it was awesome. I had been craving it ever since I had been gone, and it was better than I had imagined. After that we just hung out, and I ended up sleeping over there.

Sunday I went back home with Bryan and we recorded (or attempted to) some music on guitar and stuff, and of course, my mom did my laundry -a collegiate classic, but still, thanks mom ; ) . after a while of recording some low quality music, we took a break for a while, and one of bryan’s friends from Millard West came over. She plays violin, and we laid down a few tracks of stuff, and then that was it. That night I decided to sleep in Omaha in my own bed for once, and then drive back to Lincoln in the morning because my first class wasn’t until 10:30.

Monday morning was a joy to wake up. I woke up to Peter opening my door and

climbing into my bed to say good morning. I miss everyone, and its good to see them when I can. I also went upstairs and saw Clara, and I saw her new teeth poking through her gums, she is very cute.

When I got to Lincoln, I was running a bit late…it was about 10:10 as I pulled into town, and I had to find a parking spot, which is near impossible at 10:30am when everyone is at class. After about 5 minutes of snaking through the parking lot, I finally found probably the only vacant parking spot there (which is about a 15 minute walk from my first class). I parked the car, and hurried off to class. The only thing about the hike to class was my foot…about a week ago I woke up a bit late for class, and got up quickly and hoped off the top of my 5ft lofted bed onto the hard linoleum floor. It was not a stupid thing to do or anything, I just landed on my foot really hard, and now the ball of my right foot feels like it is cracked or something (of course, I HAVE been running about 3 miles a day on it, so that probably didn’t help the healing process). So, I’m bookin’ it to class, limping along as I encounter another small problem…The parking lot that I parked in had a fence all around it, and the direction that I was walking in did not have a gate. So, I arrive at the 8ft fence at the edge of Vine St, tighten up my backpack straps, and start climbing up. I reached the top, and gracefully (or so I thought) hopped onto the sidewalk. Upon my desent, I forgot about the added weight of my backpack (probably 40lbs). I landed on my feet and everything, but since my foot is injured, I did not keep my balance. My knees buckled with the weight, and I toppled over and rolled into the street (ha ha, very funny, but it hurt, ok?). Luckily there was no oncoming traffic, but there still were some people that saw me, and I was quite embarrassed. I did end up making it to my class (5 minutes late) but all is well. The rest of the day was alright, and that brings to today.

Today was my busy day, but it went pretty well. I have an hour break in between a couple of my classes, and I was really tired, so I found a bench in the sun and took a bit of a nap. The cement bench and philosophy textbook for a pillow proved to be quite a luxurious bed. After my nap, I went to my calculus class where we got our first exams back. The teacher announced the class average of a 77%, and the highest grade in the class 97% was handed to me. I’m not bragging about my good grade, its just nice to do well in at least one of my classes. Some of my other classes are a little bit tougher, but I will still do well, just with more work.

Tonight, my dorm floor and I had our first flag football game. It was pretty sad. We were terrible, and lost 20-0. They ended the game early on a mercy rule, but I had some good catches for a chunk of yardage, so it wasn’t all a loss. Next week we will do much better with a bit of experience under our belts.

That’s about it, this was an extremely long entry, thanks for reading.

-Micah-

9-11-05 Sunday Afternoon

2005-09-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been quite a while since my last posting, about ten days. I haven't been overly busy or anything, its just nothing interesting has happend or anything. Last weekend (Labor day weekend) I went to my first Husker football game as a student, and it was pretty fun, minus all of the fraternity and sorority girls. They tend to be a little overboard. After the game, I jumped in the car with Craig Johnson to head back to Omaha for the weekend.
That night, we got back about 12:30 am and stayed up for a while talking with Bryan, and playing guitar with him. I havent played guitar with anyone good for a long time, so that was extremely fun. Sunday I woke up about noon, and then recieved a call from mom inviting me to lunch after everyone was done with church (which i skipped out on, beacuse i had no ride). It was really nice seeing Dad, Mom, John, Sarah, Peter, and Clara again. It was as if i had never left.
Sunday afternoon was probably the highlight of the weekend...Bryan met a girl at his highschool that plays violin, and so he invited her to play with us. It was really fun playing with a new instrumentation, and in my opinion, it sounded great. We ended up playing from 3pm-8:30pm, taking a few breaks, but we played for quite some time. I hope to play with them again.
Monday (Labor Day) was a drag, but it was kind of nice in a way. I went over to Bryan's house in the late afternoon, and sat around doing nothing for a while. Then that night I headed back to good ol' Lincoln, NE (In the Taurus, yes, I have a car down here now!).
Tuesday was a VERY busy day for me. It is the day with the most classes, i have work in between them, and on top of that i had to get a parking ticket. The parking ticket was the headache. I went into the office, filled out a form, but then i had to hike back to the car to see the liscense plate number. i finally got everything settled, and hiked back to my car. on my way out of the parking garage, i handed the lady my ticket, and then i find out that they dont accept credit cards, so i was stuck. i backed up, and parked in a spot again, and hiked to some ATM that took a while to find. I got my money, walked back to the garage, and finally i was free. WHAT a headache...
After Tuesday, the rest of the week was relatively uneventful. Classes, work, eat, go to the rec., hang out, etc...It really flew by quickly, like all the weeks have. Friday came, and it was a much more fun day. After classes, work, and lunch, I went back to my room and called Rockbrook Camera (which is a long story, but somehow a few months ago, they gave me a camera with a wrong serial #, and the manager wanted to trade me.) . I drove (in the car that i now have) over to the store , (which i had a heck of a time finding it, it was clear out on 70th street), went inside, handed the manager my scratched up used camera, and he handed me a fresh new camera. I still have no idea WHY he would want to do that, but its fiiiine with me! so i have a brand new camera now, lucky me! On my way back from Rockbrook Camera, I decided to stop at a shopping mall to have a look around. I shopped for a good hour, and ended up buying someone a birthday present. Call me a woman, but I actually enjoyed shopping!
I got back from my errands, and then went over to the Rec for a while. I got back from that, and i had some dinner. As i was eating, i got a call from my roomate Scott. He said they were going to play lazer tag, and so i went along with them. It was a good thing I have my car, because 4 people rode to lazer tag with me. We got to Lazer(or Laser?) Quest, and there were a ton of people there. After a half hour, it was finally our turn. We played for 20 minutes for $7 (great value, i know) , and then it was over. 30 of us waited for our score sheets to be printed, and it turns out that i got second place out of 30. but on top of that, guess who got #1... some punk ten year old kid that kept following me. ugh, he was annoying. After laser tag, we went back to Sarah's dorm to watch a movie and order a pizza with a few people. we were there until about 1:30am, and then went back to our room.
Saturday was gameday, Huskers VS. Wake Forest, so thats pretty much all i did. It turns out that Sarah's dad has 4 tickets on the 50 yard line, and they invited me to sit with them. So i found someone to buy my ticket from me, and i sat with them. Before the game started, the four of us (Scott, Sarah, Sarah's dad -Mr. Holdt, and I) went to Famous Dave's for lunch. Mr. Holdt was very nice to me, he bought me lunch, and gave me a $50 ticket. After the game, we walked over to Ivanna Cone (a local icecream shop) and had some homemade icecream. We ate our treats, walked back to the dorms, and that was the end of the day.
Now it is Sunday, and I've got some homework to do, and thats about it. I will hopefully update sooner next time. Thanks for reading,
-Micah-

Thursday Afternoon...

2005-09-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

Its Thursday afternoon, and ive got some free time on my hands for once. I dont work on Thursdays, so thats a big relief today. I came back from class today, in a hury, but then I realized that I dont have anything to do! So anyways, it feels good.
This week went by relatively quickly because I kept very busy...Monday was alright, except Monday night. Monday nights are the busy night at Alpha Phi, a real headache. About 80 girls get all dressed up and have their formal dinner on Monday, and I am the ONLY boy there. My job on Mondays is quite different because I am more like a server than a dishwasher. So every time I bring a plate or something out, I could swear that everyone is watching me. It is very nerve wracking. Tuesdays are my worst days. My earliest class is on Tuesday morning at 8:30, and then I am booked all day until 3:15 for a short break, and then I lifted weights for an hour or so, then I have my stupid night Geology lab from 6:30-9:20. Talk about busy. Wednesdays are pretty descent, I only have two classes, I wash dishes at lunch, and then lots of free time until I wash dishes in the Evening too. Another perk this particular Wednesday was that I got paid. $88 for my first week of roughly 10 hours of work, not bad, $8.80 hourly wage. They didnt take any taxes out either, which I thought was weird, but hey, Im not complaining. Today (Thursday) went by good, I had three classes pretty spread out, and I dont have to work.
Right now, I just got done playing guitar for about an hour, maybe a little longer, and after this Im going to go over to the Rec to lift weights. Tonight I am planning on going to RUF (another youthgroup similar to the Navigators, but smaller) to try it out. I want to make sure which one I like better before I become a regular. Thats all for now I guess, I put a picture I took of myself hard at work on my computer up, new pictures are always fun (even though it is kindof a nerdy picture), so enjoy...

-Micah-

Here's a Look at My Schedule

2005-08-28T22:05:00.000-07:00

I dont know how good of quality this is going to be, i just scanned it...The post below this titled "after one week" is also a new post, so read that too! (if you want)

After Week One...

2005-08-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

Well, its been a week and a lot has happened. I won't bore you with ALL of the details, but i will give an overview. Monday-Thursday were pretty ordinary days, minus the expected stress of starting new classes and such. I would get up in the mornings, get ready, have breakfast (when i didnt wake up late), Go to my classes, go to lunch, and then figure out how i was going to spend my free time (which in college, is a lot). My classes are average difficulty...

-Geology is a huge lecture hall with 200+ students where i learn about rocks, fun, i know.

-Calculus is cake, i took it last year in highschool, and we are just reviewing anyways.

-My engineering seminar is also another large class, 200+ and is even easier. I also just found out that it is only going to last 7 weeks, then the last half of the semester is for sophmores, which is a plus.

-Philosophy is sortof what i expected it to be...A quirky professor, lecture style, and messy handwriting and stuff. so far it hasn't been too difficult. we'll see.

-Another different thing about college is recitation/quiz sections for most classes. For example, my calculus recitation class. It is the same class, but a different teacher, which im not sure on how that is going to work. All we do in recitation is go over homework problems, and we take our tests and quizes there, too. Recitation/quiz classes are considerably smaller also, they are about the size of a highschool class (20-25). we had our first calculus quiz on thursday, which i think i aced. i was really surprised at how many people struggle in that class, but i guess thats because ive taken it before.

-My english class is my smallest class. it feels exactly like a highschool class, its also about 20-25 people. my teacher seems nice, and it seems like its going to be a good class if i dont think too hard about all of the writing that im going to have to do.

-And then there's the Geology Lab. Quite possibly the worst time i could have had a class, let alone a Lab that lasts 3 hours. Tuesday nights happen to be the nights that freshman meet for Navigators, but (using my logic skills) if God knows what the future holds, and he knew when Navigators meet, yet he still had me have a class conflicting, im sure it wasnt meant to be. The class itself shouldnt be too difficult, just time consuming, and a pain in the neck to go to. also, the 'teacher' is actually a TA (teachers assistant), and is some senior girl here at UNL. Im not sure how thats going to work out...

-finally, my Philosophy quiz section. this class is also 'taught' by a TA. A really weird 5th year UNL girl. I guess she knows what shes talking about, besides, all we did in that class was go over homework (which was really easy anyways).

Friday-Sunday

My first real weekend at college wasn't all its cracked up to be, except everyone at college really does get drunk all of the time. It annoying, really, hearing about how trashed someone got, or is going to get - A bit of a culture shock for me. But anyways, Friday was my first day washing dishes at Alpha Phi. It wasnt too bad, i couldnt ask for a better Pay/Difficulty ratio, so i cant complain. Then after that, i headed back to my dorm (home i guess). I just sat down to relax, and then some guys knocked on our door to see if we wanted to play pick-up football with them.
So, we headed over to the field near Sandoz (a field with the million dollar field turf, which is sweet) to play with them. I played pretty well, i had 2 of the 5 total interceptions, and i had a touchdown catch. It is fun to play a good competitive game. during the game though, i dove for a pass that the other guy ended up catching, and as i got up, this kid (a hard-core kid who came wearing football cleats and recievers gloves and thought he was the best player, and who also Hated me for intercepting 2 passes to him, that felt very good by the way! Ha, sorry dude) ran by me, and his hand/arm nailed me on my left cheekbone, leaving a considerable abbrasion and bruise, but not quite a full-fledged black eye. It really hurt, and still hurts right now, but it all adds to the good feeling of humbling that brat kid with the recievers gloves. sorry if thats bad, but this kid was a punk.
After football, i went back and took a shower. One of the kids playing football with us (a really cool guy) invited me to 'Nav Night', the Navigators youth group. So i went, and it was pretty cool. It was a really large group, but i still felt like people knew my name, so thats good. After that got over, alot of the 'Navs' went to a local coffee shop called Crescent Moon Coffee. The problem was, that i didnt have a ride to go over there. Just then, Craig Johnson called me, apparently he was bored, and so we went to the coffee shop. We chatted with some nice guys for a while, then we retired for the night. Saturday i caught a ride with the Brian (the guy who i played football with who invited me to Nav night) to go to a picnic kickoff thing for the navigators. I played ultimate frisbee for a long while, then they started eating. I met a kid from Texas, Dustin, and i caught a ride with him back to the dorms.
Saturday night was the Nebraska state fair. well it lasts five days, but i went on saturday. I went beacuse there is a band called 'Hoobastank' that was going to play. kind of a funny band name, i know. Anyways, Sandoz walked over there as a dorm, but i got back from the picnic too late, so i rode my bike over alone. i got to the gate, and i just remembered that they were charging an entry fee.... Uh oh is right...they were charging $7, so i fumbled through my wallet (my new thinline wallet, thanks dad) and only came across a Five and a One, $6. I timidly handed the insufficient funds to the ticket lady, and she graciously admitted me. I thanked her thoroughly and went on my way. Long story short, Hoobastank stunk (ha ha), and so i left early. I walked past a few vendor stands and came across some pretty cool ones. one in particular struck my fancy, a custom marionette puppet stand. i instantly thought of you, mom (if youre reading this), but if you didnt remember, i was out of dough. Sorry, it would have made a great present. Mabye next time.
Sunday morning i woke up to go to church at Grace Chappel. Cousin Kate emailed me a few days back with some local Church info, and she also hooked me up with Nathaniel, the guy who gave me a ride to church. Everyone around here has been really nice and friendly. After church i had some lunch at Sellek (one of the other dorms with better food than Sandoz has), and then i headed to the student union to do some homework. I worked for about 2 hours, and then my laptop batterey was drained. Perfect timing, because just as i packed up, it started raining cats and dogs, and even a little bit of hail. so i waited about ten minutes for it to pass, but the rain was relentless. So, thanks to my persistent mother who insisted on my bringing an unbrella, i whipped out my compact umbrella, and headed into the monsoon. its about 3/4 mile from the union back to sandoz, and things were looking pretty dry. i got about halfway and reached an intersection where i had to wait to cross. Aparently youre not supposed to stand too close to the curb when its raining, because i hadn't been standing there 10 seconds when this big bad pickup truck flys by me, directly through the overswelled gutter water, totally dousing my clothes, shoes, and some of my backpack that i had been meticulously attempting to keep semi-dry. i felt like an idiot, like on the movie 'What About Bob' when Dr.Leo Marvin is changing a flat. i was probably a sight to see, some bafoon huddled under a tiny unbrella hugging his precious backpack with his laptop inside, getting consumed by a man made tidal wave.
After that episode, i changed into dry clothes, and all was well. after the rain ceased, i went back over to Selleck to eat dinner, and also to retrieve my abandoned bike that i left in the downpour. i went inside and got all my food, and went to sit down alone, but as i was finding a seat, i noticed that there was a remarkable ammount of people eating alone. so being the outgoing person that i am (not really, but for some reason i felt compelled to), i sat down next to some random girl. i figured that we would have some small talk, and be on our way. after talking about classes, we discovered that we are in the same math class. what a coincidence. i wasn't planning to, but i went to the husker practice/scrimmiage with Trisca (I think her name is, i keep thinking it is Triscilla). She introduced me to a few of her friends, and we watched the practice. I left the thing a bit early, went and got my bike at Selleck, and headed home.
Sorry for the increadible length of this entry, but it was a big week. Mabye i should post more often than once a week, but we'll see. Thanks for reading.

Moved In

2005-08-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I've finally settled into Sandoz #309 and things are pretty good. I met my new roomate Scott Garvin, and we get along really well, thankfully. I've been kindof busy these past few days with new classes and all, but I managed to post a new blog. Hopefully I will post more often(if anyone cares) since I just got my new laptop(thanks Dad and Mom) hand delivered by Kimberly and my Mom. In addition to my new classes, I just recently aquired kind of a silly part time job... My friend Ryan's grandma is the house mom at one of the local serorities(spelling?), and so Ryan and I are going to be the dishwashers for a few of their meals. Kind of a random job, I know, but the pay is great! Thats it for now, hopefully I will Post again soon.

Is This Working?

2005-08-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

Just checking to see if ths new 'Blog' site is working, and if this picture is posted succesfully...

2005-08-15T13:28:00.000-07:00

Me and my Girlfriend of 3+ years Kimberly Meschede
Micah Bruce