So here I am, enjoying a cool night with the patio door open. Faint sounds of the city in the background along with the chirps of crickets and other insects as they go about their nighttime activities. Peaceful, relaxing, pleasant. And then some asshole drives his loud piece of shit car. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAHHHHMmmmmmmm BRAAAAHHHHHHHHHHPmmmmmm. It sounds like that person is saying, "Hey, look at me. I'm a douchebag."

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And now for something completely different:

In other news, I have been accepted into Phi Theta Kappa and with encouragement from the VA and Transfer Center I have applied for Colorado School of Mines starting in Spring. I won't hear anything from them for a few more weeks, so for now I wait. This semester has been pretty good. My favorite subject so far has been chemistry, I just love practical applications.

Calculus has been going well, though I've allowed my studies there to slip in order to focus on Chem. As a result I didn't do as great as I was expecting on a test, but I can and will retake it. I talked with my professor today to see why I got some problems wrong. Calc is easily a close second when it comes to favorite classes.

I am not sure how I feel about my Environmental Ethics class though. So far it is pretty easy, though tedious (lots of dry reading) and it doesn't seem to have a solid structure to it. I do know that it has changed the way I think about humanity and our place in nature. I no longer have an anthropocentric worldview, I see humanity as just another animal, an ongoing chemical reaction if you will, on this rock we call a planet. I prefer to see a natural landscape than an artificial one. Sure, lawn grass is pleasant to lay on, but it does not belong here in the high desert of the Front Range of Colorado. Enough philosophy for now. :þ

I have also been thinking about the type of person I am on the surface and where I fit in and where I do not belong. I am an extremely introverted person, and I don't do well in crowds. I am not the type of person to go out and party or whatnot every day or every weekend. I much rather prefer to stay at home, hike with  cianthefur, or workout in isolation. I typically get my fill of people during the week, and don't feel up to social activities on the weekend. Since realizing that I've felt a lot better about myself and has given me direction for the life I want to live. I don't need a lot of material possessions or money to make me happy, I don't need to be the life of the party or the guy in the spotlight. Hell, I hate the spotlight, I've always prefered the shadows.

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More blabber from the fox:

On Friday I went to a professional baseball game and was more interested in everything but the game itself. The reaction of the fans, the movement of the players as the pitcher throws the ball, the gifts from Caesar (instead of loaves of bread they tossed out rolled up t-shirts). We have not changed much since classical times. People are no longer dying on the field, but it is still a primitive pursuit of victory. Others tried to get me to get emotional whenever the home team did something good. I'm sorry, but I can not get emotionally involved in something that I care so little about. I have never been the type of person that got into sportsball anyway. When night fell upon us I looked up to see thousands of moths lost in what must be the most bizarre phenomenon that an insect can experience. Hundreds of millions of years of evolution could never have prepared them for the death trap that is a baseball stadium, if anything it made the trap all the more alluring. For us it might seem like falling into a black hole or peering past the event horizon of the universe. There was an amazing fireworks show. The pyrotechnics were so close that debris from them were falling on us. The explosions were powerful enough to match that of weapons that were aimed at me when I was deployed. That thud sinking deep into my chest and rattling my organs in the most unpleasant of ways. The fireworks never let up, it kept on getting more and more intense. It was as if an artillery strike was called and and the position was locked in, don't let up until everything is dead. The first few blasts were striking a nerve deep inside me. I was able to calm myself by thinking that the fire mission was danger close and it was the enemy that was under it. I can see why some people who have been through much worse than I would not have been able to deal with it. If anyone says that a veteran who can't deal with fireworks is a wimp, please promptly strike them in either the nose or some other highly sensitive area.