Once again, with feeling.

Its not something I do that often, but its always something I want to do. Often, I'm either dissatisfied with the results or blogging itself falls to the bottom of my priority list. This does two things: 1) it means I post irregularly, which means I post when I force myself and 2) creates crappy dialog in the post itself. So before starting over yet again, let me introduce you to the past three blogs I've done.

Caesar424 - This would be the first journal I created. I was a freshman in high school (maybe a sophomore) and going through some weird times in my life. Academics was my outlet and you'll see this was the geekiest time of my life.

Senior Project 2004 - This is the journal I created as part of my senior project assignment. For the internship, we decided to do something different in this course by using the web instead of paper for journal/progress reports. Mine turned out OK, but appearantly it takes initiative for some people to get online and write. You'll see Scott Gardner mentioned a lot in this journal-he was a great friend and mentor and was killed by a drunk driver July 2005. His memorial site can be seen here - http://www.gardnerfamilycircle.us He was a devoted teacher, and I'll never forget the lessons on life he taught me.

TheCollegeGuy - This was my attempt at making college memories last a lifetime. What you are reading now is my second attempt... I had thoughts of looking back on this in my midlife laughing at myself and everyone I knew. You couldn't tell from the posts... hell, all I did was bitch and moan. No more of that, but check this journal out for some entertainment.

So anyway, there's been a lot of news in my life that you guys my have missed if you actually read (and stopped reading) my last journal. I can hit the highlights but don't feel like posting full entries for 'em yet. Maybe later, maybe not, I'm not forcing a single post this time around.

Brief news:
4/2005 - My grandfather passed away. He was my last true role model and in actuality, probably one of the finest men that ever lived. His example should be studied by all--even temper, generosity when it mattered and frugality when it didn't, endless love for everyone, the ability to change everyone's day. Pretty impressive for a man that left an orphanage at 18 with $5, not knowing where he'd spend the evening. I'd say the biggest testament to a rather normal life and above-average man is the 300-attendee visitation and a funeral nearly a third that size. A man, and a legend in my eyes--a good Mason, a great father. What more can I say?

4/2005 - I started smoking a pipe. He did. He was even-tempered. Maybe it can help me out? Well it worked better than I thought. I'm more even-tempered now than ever before though I still let some things get to me. My biggest improvement is my feeling of maturity. I seem to have regained the mature attitude I lost last year. This hobby has already lead to meeting several new friends, two noted below. Now I should plug the Pipes.org Discussion Board, alt.smokers.pipes, and alt.smokers.cigars for giving me the knowledge I needed to tackle recreational tobacco use in an anti-smoking world. Maybe I'll write more on that later...

7/2005 - I visited Germany. This is where the largest change in my personality occurred. I'm not sure if it was the culture, the pipe tobacco, or the beer, but I came away feeling refreshed and having a newly optimistic outlook on the world. "Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things." Here I met two fellow pipers from pipes.org, Markus Wishchermann and Markus Benicke. I'll post a link to post with more information on that at a later date. In short, they are true gentlemen and scholars and I'm pleased to have had their company in Germany. Just shows to go you (I know) how many exceedingly interesting people there are in the world. Get out of the house!

That's all for now. Enjoy!