The funny thing about being an Alpha, get-things-done personality type is that during the school year, I am constantly forward to some leisure time. However, it always seems that when that leisure time arrives, I am desperately wishing to be swamped with work again. The entertainment situation here in KS is bleak. Almost as bleak as the scenery. The trees are dead and so is the nightlife. I’m really quite excited get back to Embry-Riddle.

That’s not to say that I have no plans to get out and have fun while here in Kansas. This New Year’s, I will be going to participate in the nights festivities with some friends at Kansas State University. That’s usually quite a bit of fun. Also, it allows me an interesting opportunity to compare contrast ERAU with a different, larger school.

First of all, the students at KSU are mostly Kansas students. This often seems to lead to a lack of cultural diversity. And I’m not talking ethnic or international diversity, I’m talking American diversity. Surrounded by cowboy hats and country music, I begin to miss the California attitudes of many of my friends from ERAU. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a social event at ERAU where country music was played non-stop, if at all. That’s not to say it doesn’t exist. My fraternity brother, Alan is like a poster boy for John Deere. However, the name of the game at ERAU is diversity of thought, and I definitely miss it. So, as I wander the streets of Aggieville in Manhattan, KS this New Year’s Eve, I will definitely be thinking about all my ERAU friends spread around the country. Happy New Year’s students of ERAU. I will see you soon.

Finals week has come upon us, and I just had my first one today. I don’t know if it was too much caffeine, the three hours of sleep or no breakfast, but those five pages of essays I wrote for Dr. McNabb were very uncomfortable. Only two more to go, however. I love it as finals week progresses, because you get to watch the students get stressed to the point of hysterics and then become ridiculously exuberant as their tests are all done and they get to travel back home for Christmas. Not only that, many of the finals beards that are being grown by many of the guys right now are pretty legit. Mine is getting to be a serious piece of art.

The weather here on campus has been very warm. Yesterday was a beautiful 70-some degrees! A couple of my fraternity brothers started a baseball game out on the grassy lawn, a welcome break from studying for many.

Another great thing about finals, is the never ending supply of snacks. Here in the library we have had free soda, coffee, hot cocoa, tea and snacks donated. Also, SGA, at ransom intervals throughout the day, puts out full size candy bars for those lucky enough to find them.

I really need to begin packing for my trip back to Kansas Friday, but我有一个中文考试 I must study for. Also, tomorrow my business partner and I have to travel to Flagstaff to meet with the small business incubator who has picked up our fledgling company. It seems to come from all angles at finals time, but the awesome feeling at the end is worth it.

Times have been just crazy. A few weeks ago, ERAU gifted its students with a much needed 3 day weekend. Logically, one might assume that students would take this time to rest, relax and prepare for the next stretch. That is always my plan going in to three day weekends, however, it never works out.

Thursday night ended and Friday morning had come. It had been a blissful morning of waking up at 9:00 AM rather than the usual 7:00 AM. (Although, I wake up at 7:00 every morning automatically, and I have to convince my body to go back to sleep if I want to sleep in.) I walked downstairs and began to figure out how I was going to spend my day, to start to decide which bits of homework I would do first.

Then the call came. My friend Wild Bill, who is beginning to become a recurring character in this blog, told me I needed to pack my bags because we were going to Las Vegas for a night. After a few minutes of futile arguing, I finally agreed. My logic was, “life is short”. So, Trevor Wilcher (T-Bone) came and picked me up. We grabbed some T-Bell and hit the road.

The drive was fairly entertaining. We spent most of it rocking out to XM Radio, until about an hour outside of Vegas when the energy ran out. Once we had checked into our hotel, however, the energy picked back up. We went out, walked the strip and took in all the sights. I’m sure we burned a lot of calories that night, because we ended up walking almost the entire strip. We got to visit what are my favorite hotel/casinos in Vegas by far, the Wynn and the Encore. They are incredibly classy and have no outside show/gimmick to give it fame. It just oozes class. We also watched the fire show at the Mirage. You could just feel the heat radiating off of the pyrotechnics. The next morning, we ate a delicious pizza buffet at CiCi’s Pizza. I put down at least 6 plates, amazing my friends. I have a very special stomach. It basically doesn’t feel anything. I have the ability to either go hours without eating, be satisfied by just a snack, or pile in a massive amount of food. My stomach is basically elastic.

My Future Whip

The Adventures of Brandon in Paris.

I'm like a chill Jane Goodall

Shenanigans a la MGM Grand

This last weekend, I got to go on a Recruiting trip for Embry-Riddle. I left for the airport in Phoenix at 5:00 AM. That’s wayyyy too early. However, by that afternoon, I had arrived in Chicago (my first time there), met Rob, the admissions rep and checked in at the hotel. We went out and ate at an Irish Pub, and I ordered the strangest sounding thing I could pick out, the bubble and squeak. Apparently it’s fried potatoes and cabbage which was, strangely enough, quite good. After dinner, we went and watched a performance of the Blue Man group. It’s really an incredible show, and you should see it if you get the chance. One instance, they used strobe lights in conjunction with uv lights and a gyrating mass of toilet paper and I almost became nauseous.

The next day we gave a presentation to a group of fine, young potential ERAU students. It went very well, and we flew to Minneapolis right afterwards. In Minneapolis, we got upgraded to the executive suite free of charge. The room was amazing, as it had 2 stories to it and was on the 31^st floor. I decided to go out and walk the streets and Halloween is alive and well in Minneapolis. The streets were packed full of adults running around in their costumes. There were no Jersey Shore costumes, which gives me hope for the city of Minneapolis. I did, however, see a lot of Lady Gagas, a team of Shake Weight enthusiasts, the cast from Mario cart, an unusually large amount of Waldo from “Where’s Waldo?” and a large group of men dressed as Canadian Mounties that walked around yelling, “EH!” The next day, we gave our final presentation and headed on home.

The Presentation Room a la Hilton

At the bottom of these stairs is a sign that says "Champions Only".

Typical ERAU Dorm Room. LOL. Just jk.

The most recent development in my apartment is the addition of a litter of kittens. This is strange because we don’t own a cat. While watching TV, I heard the sound of Mewing. Running outside, I expected to find two cats fighting. I heard nothing. Returning inside, however, I began to hear the sounds again. Following the sounds, I was led to the garage where I found a litter of kittens in the bottom of a cardboard box. We have no idea what to do with them.

I'm more of a dog person, but... CUTE!!!