When I started a draft of this blog a few days ago, I never would have imagined that I would be adding the following sentence to it this weekend:
“Muhammad Ali has passed away.”
My hometown – Ali’s hometown – is still in various degrees of shock, stunned, sadness, and acceptance. Whether you watched boxing or not, it was hard not to have heard of the man known as “The Louisville Lip” and “The Greatest” around here.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” – 2 Timothy 7
The funeral will be on Friday. R.I.P., Muhammad Ali
– A member of a Facebook group made a post, asking people to share positive stories about the West End of Louisville. To show that not everyone that lives, or lived, down there are crime-ridden heathens, here are 2 positive stories:
– The story of local High School Lacrosse player Kris Stone, breaking all kinds of barriers:
Kris Stone
– For those not in Louisville, this story has caused some controversy:
Civil War Monument
While the conflict has been partially resolved, it and the words of Everett Corley, on a Facebook post about the lawyer representing the University of Louisville, afterwards – “that dirty black b**tard won” – deserve more than just a mention in a ‘Short Circuit’ post. More will be written on it in an upcoming post, once I gather some more verifiable information.
– UofL baseball goes into the NCAA Tournament ranked a program-high #2 in the nation. As long as they keep winning, they play at home – through the double elimination Regionals and double-elimination Super Regionals – until the College World Series. They won Game 1 Friday night, vs. Western Michigan; Game 2 is at 4:00 today, vs. Ohio State.
– Here’s an interesting tech article about phone apps and how often they are used. I am guilty of the ‘use one time and uninstall’ move:
Apps
– And one more link, this one on ‘adulting’. I agree with the author, Heidi Priebe, on a lot of her points: 9-to-5’s, monogamous relationships, marriage and kids, and owning your own home aren’t always the way to ‘be an adult’. “The truth is, I hardly ever feel sh*tty about the fact that I am not ‘adulting’ the way I seemingly ought to be”, she goes on to say:
Obsessed With Adulting
– I finally joined the 2010’s and started a free month trial of Netflix (don’t worry, I have no illusions of anyone coming over – or letting me go to them – to “Netflix and Chill”). I’ve spent the first couple of weeks watching the first season of “The Flash”, which was wonderful, by the way. I’m not sure what I’ll watch for the last 2 weeks – it will most likely be movies. I had originally planned on either starting “Arrow” or catching up on “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” but I’m still undecided on whether or not to start a subscription. We’ll see what happens by the 17th.
– No, I haven’t forgotten my plans to revamp and redo the site. Those plans were on hold until the semester ended.
– I thought that Plantar Fasciitis was one of the most evil inflammations to plague the lower body. A week ago, possible Capsulitis of the Second Toe started proving me wrong… so, so horribly wrong. There will be a trip to a clinic or doctor in the next 2-3 days, if things do not calm down in the feets….
– It is occasionally really frustrating trying to find food and ingredients that won’t interfere with Warfarin in a major way, yet are healthy and affordable.
– Every year, in late June, the 2 main U.S. Drum and Bugle Corps circuits begin their summer tours and competitive seasons: Drum Corps International (DCI) and Drum Corps Associates (DCA). DCI groups spend about 2 months on the road, rehearsing and competing all over the country, 3-6 times a week. DCA corps usually compete on the weekends and rehearse 2-4 times a week (generally weekends and one weekday).
I tend to find myself missing the experiences of drum corps during this time, but I’m missing it more than normal in 2016. One of the differences between DCI and DCA is that DCA members can be of any age (DCI members cannot start a season over the age of 21, although they can finish one at 22). I marched and played with the Derby City Knights from 2007-2010 and rehearsed/played with Minnesota Brass in 2013 (I didn’t tour with Minnesota because of money/housing issues).
I would love to get back in, whether it’s at Minnesota or someplace else, in 2017. For that to happen, however, 1 thing absolutely must change and a 2nd needs an answer:
1) I need a new job or a 2nd one. I’m simply not making enough money where I’m at to save up and pay for a season of drum corps right now. Minnesota Brass had really affordable tour costs but it got be very costly going to and from there (esp. with no car). If I want to join any group outside of Cincinnati’s, I’ll have to move there for the season – that will cut costs in the long run but will be a pain and a half, in the short-term, to find an apartment (roommates or not) and a part-time job (unless I’m rollin’ in enough dough to pay rent/bills for up to 6 months).
2) I need to make sure I get physically cleared. While at Minnesota, I was having my INR checked every 2 weeks (as opposed to every 4-6 weeks) and was having my heart checked monthly (versus twice a year). There were a few tricks I was using to make sure I didn’t dehydrate or overheat. Now that it’s been 3 years and counting, I need to get the full array of tests done on my heart if/when I decide to do drum corps again. Regardless of those two things, I still haven’t given up on drum corps; that dream is just covered in cobwebs, at the moment.
– I badly underestimated how difficult it would be to get a halfway-decent-paying job, without a degree or reliable transportation, in something other than Retail. I will give Humana and Cengage credit for responding to my applications for Co-Ops/Internships fairly quickly. UPS, CyberCoders, GE, and a few others either took months to respond or haven’t responded at all. I will keep searching, however.
– Transcripts finally arrived at WKU, from JCTC. More credit transferred over from UofL and JCTC than I had anticipated; I’m now going into the Fall as a Senior with 119 credits – technically 1 credit away from the minimum needed to graduate, realistically about 3 semesters away from graduating. It has not been easy signing up for classes: a good chunk of the CIT online classes I needed filled up while I was waiting on JCTC to send my transcripts over. The plan right now is to take 15-18 hours in August (I’m currently enrolled in 9), 15-18 in January, 6-12 next Summer, and finish up in the Fall of 2017.
The Nexus 