The Snow

Yesterday it snowed for the first time.  It happened to occur on the same morning that I did not sleep through (my first college all-nighter).  With that, I got to watch the snow slowly collect on the ground from my dorm window.  I was pissed.

The next day everyone's facebook status was "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow" or "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas."  Screw that.  I HATE the cold.  And I cannot stand it when people say "I love the cold."  Why!?  The cold literally hurts.  Have you ever been hit in the nose when it is cold?  You literally cry; instantly.  Your fingers and toes are your worst enemy.  It is the most common, consistent, and uncomfortable pain EVER.  The snow is an indefinite sign that winter is here.  Winter is an indefinite sign that the cold is here.  The only good things about this time: my birthday is in 4 days, and Christmas is in 23.

On a more selfish note... Do people even party during the winter?  I cannot imagine walking to a party in 15 degree weather.  Is it worth it?  Also, fashion and I have no relationship in the winter.  I do not purchase winter clothes because I like to pretend it does not exist.  I do not own boots, my coat is older than me (literally from the 80's - especially the design), and my hats and gloves were just taken from the winter accessories shelf in my house. . . I have not once picked them out.

In summary: I am going to die. It is has begun my winter nightmare all over again.

Water On the Knee

Water on the knee is something I had only heard of in the game Operation.  I never knew what it was until recently.  Sunday night I was messing around while playing soccer and kicking the ball as hard as I could on goal every time it would roll at me.  Eventually I felt an arthritis-type pain that reminded me of what I imagined tennis elbow to feel like.  I remember sarcastically wondering if there were a suck thing as "kicker's knee."

On Monday I played soccer for 2 hours with no problems.  Tuesday night I didn't play soccer, but I played in the fraternity basketball game.  Yesterday (Wednesday) night, I was playing soccer and started to feel a pain randomly.  I don't remember anything specifically happening; I just remember running around not really being active on the ball.  After winning another pick-up game I paused to bend my knees and noticed a lot of pain.  I continued playing, and after we won another game I did the same thing.  The second time i noticed a huge lump forming every time i bent down.  I thought it was a bone, and I thought i may have fractured something, or maybe that bone just always sticks out and I've never noticed it.  I continued playing and I made a run in to the box.  All of a sudden, I felt a sharp pain and without hesitation, I immediately limped off the field.  I pressed in on the lump, and it wasn't a bone.  It was like a squishy button on my knee.  I was with a few of my fraternity brothers, and one said it was just a build up of fluid in my knee.

The pain got worse and worse throughout the night.  Eventually the pain became so bad that I could not move it at all.  If my knee bent in the slightest, the pain was unbearable.  I google'd "fluid in the knee" and I got a lot of hits with "water on the knee."  I began researching water on the knee and I matched all the symptoms.  I iced and elevated for 3 hours, but the pain never stopped.  Before I went to bed, my neighbor across the hall was in my room and was shocked when he looked at my knee.  I looked down and saw that my injured knee was easily twice the size as the other.  Today the pain has not gone down any, and I am going to the health center to get it checked out.  I have two championship soccer games this Sunday, and I am worried I may not be able to make them.  Not cool.

Intramurals

Lately I have been unable to play pick-up soccer because of my brotherhood week with ATO.  Brotherhood week is something we decided to due that involves an activity every night to build stronger relationships in the fraternity.  Normally the drought of pick-up soccer would be unbearable for me.  However, we have started intramurals for the winter sports.  Sunday night we had our first indoor soccer game for the tournament (not the league).  We played Sig Nu in the fraternity bracket and won 6-1.  I had three goals and three assists.  Monday night I did not attend the brotherhood event, nor did I play any sports because of other commitments.  Tuesday night was the first night of the Men's indoor soccer bracket.  My team played a team that consisted of my fraternity's president, and three other members.  We won that game 5-0; I scored two goals in that game.  Tonight is the second night of the Men's league and we play a very good team.  My next intramural game will be in the Fraternity league against SigEp on Friday or Sunday (I don't quite remember).  I also just signed up for a 2 v 2 walleyball tournament, so I am excited about that as well.  I think intramurals are going to be a great way for me to cope with the winter, AKA the worst season in the entire world, ever!

Halloween

When i was younger I always looked forward to going to a stranger's house and getting candy.  Back then I would choose to dress up as something/someone that I'd like to be.  A ninja, for example, would be freaking sweet; so for Halloween one year, I went as a ninja.  Now that I am older, my mother will not let me go trick-or-treating because I'm "too old."  So instead I have to go to a party.  These parties consist of dressing up as the most funny/inappropriate thing I can think of.  For girls, the objective is to dress as promiscuous as possible.  With that said, I have no idea what the purpose of Halloween is any more.  Now that I am an adult, I don't see any reason to be one of the strangers that gives out candy.  I am proposing a new idea for Halloween for my generation.  Instead of passing out candy to ungrateful kids, I say we go watch a movie or something.

Research Process

In my english class I am grouped with Tyler and Jake to choose a controversial topic to write a paper on.  In class we discussed a few ides, but eventually became stuck on one.  The first idea was Tyler's interest in writing about where sexy went.  Justin Timberlake's song says, "I'm bringing sexy back," but Tyler -and the rest of us - realized that sexy never left.  For the purpose of our college level english class, however, we realized this would not be a very "scholarly" topic.
The topic we spent the most time one was cyber bullying.  We talked about real-life examples of this, and we discussed the harms it can have on others.  I showed my group a site called college ACB where students blog within their specific college forum.  The blog, at least at Ball State, is the epitome of cyber bullying.  There are whole blogs that are dedicated to bullying single students, where people post their dislikes about someone.  I think this could be a good source to use if we choose to pursue this topic.

Air Jam

Tonight I went to my first Air Jam event.  I went to the event with my fraternity ATO.  I had an amazing night and I met a lot of cool people.  We sat near the front row with the Phi Mu sorority behind us.  I think that for a first time attendance, our position was pretty solid.  I got to see a lot of amazing performances.  In all honesty, I couldn't make out the names from the speaker, but there were many performances from independent groups that were stunning.  After Air Jam they announced the homecoming court.  John, a member of my fraternity, won homecoming king, and it topped off the whole experience.  For anyone that is considering Air Jam next year, I highly recommend it; for sure the best college experience so far.

Ball State: NEARLY Perfect.

Coming to the end of my sixth week at Ball State, things are going amazingly well.  I play soccer at least 20 hours a week, my meals are (relatively) free, and I am making loads of friends.  These are all huge things for me, and I must say, I think I could handle this college lifestyle for quite a few years.  My only complaint goes to the athletic teams here.  I see two huge problems with this topic.  My complaints come from our lack of Men's soccer, and the skills of our teams.

I'll start with the second complaint first before anyone gets offended. . . I admit I overgeneralized quite a bit.  I have only seen two teams play.  Our woman's soccer team (who is actually pretty good), and our football team.  In my opinion, our football team is terrible for D1.  I just can not stand watching our passing game.  It is extremely annoying to watch.  I feel like we rarely complete passes.  It's either the receiver dropping the ball when he is wide open, or the quarterback throwing the ball 10 yards off target.

I also HATE that we do not have a men's soccer team.  The MAC holds the nation's best soccer program, Akron.  In my opinion, Ball State should be their biggest competitor.  It was heartbreaking when I attended the girl's game, and very few people were there.  I have gone to two IU soccer games, and the stands were literally as packed as the student section of our football games.

I am quite the sports junky, and it is upsetting to junky sports teams.