Life in the City

As a Freshman I had no idea of what to expect from college. The same questions kept rolling back and forth in my head. Would I have a lot of work? Would I like my roommate? Would college be as much fun as it appears to be in films and on television? What exactly would college be like? Well, now that my first semester as a college student is almost complete, I can finally define exactly what college is. To me, James Madison University is a city full of 18 to 21 year olds. Within this city we have our jobs, which is to go to class and try and do well. Every now and then we take a personal day, but overall we go to our job as much as possible. When we are not at work, we have lots of different places we can go and hang out with our coworkers. We have the theater, we have hundreds of different groups and organizations, and we have the gym. Also within our city, we have lots of different places to eat. Each citizen has their favorite restaurant and their least favorite restaurant. Finally, we have the last component of our city, our apartments, which are more regularly referred to as dorms. Each citizen has their part to play within the city, and if someone does not play their part, it could lead to complete chaos. I guess what I’m trying to say is that college, unlike high school, is really preparing you for the real world. We enter college, and by doing so we are entering ourselves into the City of James Madison University.

Sociology

In sociology we had to read a chapter from our always interesting Cahill text. This chapter however was different, it actually interested me because, well, it was about television. However what it said did not make me happy, but instead made me think. It said that everynight we watch television and we see things that happen to people in their everyday lives: divorce, death, pregnancy, cheating, etc. It said that when we experience something that we have seen on tv over and over, its nothing new to us. Its something that has happened before, nothing to be alarmed over. For example, your wife tells you she is thinking about getting a divorce, we think oh, divorce, no biggie. This bothered me that someone would think that. Death bothers me, divorce bothers me, cheating bothers me, and so on. Whenever someone in my life has dies, it has up set me. It has changed me in some way each time it happened. When we watch tv, yes we begin to think of the characters as out friends and family, but they compare nothing to our actual, to our true friends and family. Sociologist, what do they know?

Pausing

WOW

I can't believe that it's here. I'm in college, I have graduated High School and i'm in college. I feel like my life is flying by, and at times i'm wishing it away. I think that we need to take in every moment of our lives, we need think about what is happening while it is happening, instead of once it has passed. Life is something we take for granted, and i'm glad that I have taken the time to look around me, to look at the people around me, and to look at what is happening. I know that when it comes time to look back I will appreciate my life so much more.

Heroes...

Sot his is my future as an entertainment blogger...

Ok so I'll tell you what happened tonight by looking at each character individualy that appeared in tonights episode, Which was amazing.

Hiro- The british guy He was helping turned on him when he caught Hiro kissing the princess. So then Hiro had to save the day and destroy all th eguns, b/c guns are not allowed in japan. He did, and he killed the british guy, or least we think, b/c the British guy heals after he is hurt like claire. Well Hiro killed him, kissed the princess, returned to the future, saw ando, found out about his fathers death

Claire- The local newspaper reported the incident with the cheeleader being drunk and claiming that she saw her teamate fall fifty ft. Luckily her father wans't home he was still on the business trip. Claire's new boyfriend, whoc an fly incase you had forgotten, came over and made waffles. and they spent the day together, kissing on the couch, Clair was about to tell him that her father was the man who abducted him when he was little, but her father came home, the boy freaked out, and thought claire was trying to trap him, and he ran away. Claires father saw the newspaper article, found out about the boy, and freaked out, teling the whole family to pack that they were moving. Clair said that if they were moving, they would be leaving without her.

Parker A.K.A. The cop- He arrives at the company with Peters brother, he can fly as well as i'm sure you remember, telling the guy who suresh works for, that he is gonna die next. That Parkers father was gonna kill him. The company guy, then tells him, that he knows and that even if they stop parkers father that will do nothing. When the company was first organized, there was a member named Adam. He had a plan, that in order to save the world, you had to basically destroy it. He has the ability to control the weather and diseases. His follower was linderman, who wanted peter to blow up New York last season, well Parkers father is also a follower who has been killing the other original members in order to make sure they stay out of the way of Adams plan. The only way to stop parkers father is for parker to get inside of his head. parker does and he saves everyone, a brings the little girl out of her coma. However before he does, Parkers dad messes with Niki's head, micah's mom, and she goes a little crazy, and injects herself with the virus that suresh has been working to stop, b/c his blood acts as an antibody that kills the virus. Unfortunently the virus has become immuned and she is now going to die unless...

Suresh- The company man after being saved, by parker teles suresh that since his blood isn't working he needs to find a girl named claire bennet who can regenerate, and that she may be the key to stopping the virus. Suresh then confesses that he has been working with claires dad to bring down the company, but lately he has been unsure as to who to trust anymore, so that is why he confessed this tp the company man. The company man gives suresh a gun and tells him to kill claires dad if he has to, but just to get claire.

Nathan- Nathan is with parker and while he is with him the ocmpany guy reveals that peter is still alive, but they lost track of him probaly b/c...

Peter- Last episode eneded with peter, unknowingly accidently bringing him and the irish girl a year into the future where they find that 93% of the worlds population has been killed by a plague, (most likely the one suresh is trying to stop in the present). They are found, the irish girl is deported to ireland, while peter is questioned as to how he eneded up back with no syptoms alive, when they have a death certificate for him. They then hand him over to his mom, who peter does not reconize. she telles him he has to remember who he is. peter then again unknowingly reads her mind and remembers everything. She tells him that he is th eonly one who can stop the plague form killing them all, mind you this is in the future, as they are leaving, Peter see's the irish girl about to be deported and he tries to take them back to the present, but only takes himself. he then tries and tries to go back but can't. he then hears someone, and shoots electricity at them and it burns there hand, They say hello peter, it's me ADAM, the man with the plan to kill civilization in order to save it, well it turns out Adam is the british guy Hiro was trying to help but turned on him, he didn't die like Hiro htought he did. he is the bad guy trying to kill all civilization, and apparently he is going to use peter to do this, that is where the episode ended.

Phew...told you a lot happened, it was so good, if you have questions which i'm sure you will IM me

Alternative Spring Break

It's a Friday night and everyone is going out. The girls are putting on sexy outfit while the boys are pregaming in the dorm rooms. I however, have to go to a lottery from 8PM-11PM, all the way across campus at Festival. On top of that I have to be up at 7 tommorow for habitat for humanity. So my plans for the night are the lottery, and then to bed early. So around 7:50pm I leave and head towards festival. I bring my iPod along and just stroll listening to music. It's cold out, and since festival is on top of a large hill, it's windy as well, so naturally I'm freezing. When I finally make it to festival I pull out the sheet to see where the lottery is taking place. You see the lottery is for spring break 2008. What is happening is my name has been entered into a lottery, and during the night names will be drawn for six international/long distance trips. These aren't just regular field trips, but volunteer trips to help those in need in other countries as well as our own. Anyways, so I pull out the red sheet to see which room the lottery is taking place. As I look over the sheet I think about how much I don't want to get picked to go to Oklahoma. I finally find what i'm looking for. It says, "Be there November 1st in festival ballroom A by 8:30pm." I realize instantly my mistake. The lottery happened yesterday. I would not be going anywhere but home for spring break. Now that I think about it, for the past few years I have been going away for spring break, so i guess this year really will be an Alternative Spring Break.

Halloween

Here it is, Halloween. The air is brisk, the night is cold, and all of the hookers and waldo's have come out to play. As i sit in my dorm room, once again not doing work that is keeping me in tonight, I think about my past halloweens. I have been barney, a cowboy, something else that i can't remember, and a vampire several years in a row. i remember how exciting it was to go out to peoples houses and collect candy, always hoping i would get my favorite. I think my parents also enjoyed halloween, because as a kid, and even now, i'm not a big candy person, and for the most part, my parents would et all of my candy. On halloween night I would go through my bag of candy, pick out the few select things that I wanted, and the rest would be torn apart by my candy-hungry parents that had eyed every piece thrown into my glow-in-the-dark candy bag. For the next month, my parents would constantly be asking me, "Matthew can eat this cowtail?" or "Matthew can i eat this candy corn?" I would say yes, and they would chow down. So now as I'm sitting here, remembering those days, i wonder if my parents miss those times when i was younger, and they were able to get free candy on Halloween.

COLD

I'M IN THE MOUNTAINS AND IT IS FREEZING!!!!! AND I LOVE IT!!!!!

So Close

It's the fourth quater, and the Dukes are about to make a comeback. Everyone in the crowd is standing, quiet. For few seconds to pass i takes years, possibky centuries. The score is 16-17, and eeryone knows that every play is important, since there is only two minutes left in the game. First down Dukes, we're on a roll! We continue down the field everything is falling into place. Finally Time completely stops. The quaterback gets the ball, he throws it about 30 yards, just inches from the endzone and the ball is caught. The crowd screams! The spiders had intercepted the ball, the game was officially over. The Dukes had lost there first game. We came so close!

Thursdays

It's a wet, cold day. I'm wrapped in the heaviest jacket I have and man the ferocious weather that is outside, all the way across campus to my first class, which today was outside. By the time my one hour and forty minute class is over i am officially drenched. I decide that today would be a good idea to take the bus. I step onto the bus and the warmth hits my face like a blanket, and i never want to get off. But of course, I get off at the other side of campus and endure the cold once gain to my next class. So what keeps me going on a thursday such as this one? It's the grilled cheese. At d-hall every thursday it is grilled cheese day. This is what keeps me going, knowing that at the end of the day I will get to enjoy a nice warm grilled cheese with some tomato soup to dip it in. Thank God for grilled cheese thurday. mmmmm

Update

Yesterday I wrote about how distractions and learning how to deal with them is a part of growing up. Well today at 8 in the morning I took the test I was trying to study for. It was a slightly difficult test, and I didn't think the results would show a spectacular outcome. However, after lunch, I came back to my room and checked to see if the grades had been posted, and they had. On SMAD 101 test number two, I received a 92. I couldn't believe it, an A on a college exam, whew. Guess I've grown up after all.

Distractions

Although I am having an awesome time at college and meeting some really great people, there is one down side. College has distractions, and a lot of them. Right now I am trying to study for a test I have tommorow, and it is just not happening. My roomate is playing music, my ethernet internet always offers alternatives to doing any work, iChat always has someone for me to talk to, and then there are the people here. When you are at home you don't have these distractions, at least I don't. My dial up Internet is slow as a slug, and I'm th eonly child so besides my parents and the dog, i have very little distractions. I guess a part of growing up and being responsible is learning how to get your work done while having more freedom than you ever have had before...guess I have some work to do.

A Show People Aren't Watching

It is Monday night at 8, homework, is either complete or pushed to the side, and the TV is turned on. So what do you watch? There is Prison Break, which should have neded afte its first season. CBS and CW comedies, which are some what enjoyable. Dancing With the Stars on ABC, which if you have seen one season you have seen them all. Or Chuck on NBC. Chuck is what some would call a dramedy, which is a mix of drama and comedy. It has action, suspense, humor, and good fun all around. Chuck is about a guy named, well, Chuck. He is a computer geek working for the nerd herd, when one night his ex-college roomate sends him an e-mail. When Chuck opens this e-mail he instantly learns all of the govenrments secrets which are encoded within millions of images. Now at any moment, the smallest thing can set Chuck's brain into full throttle. Chuck doens't understand what has happened to him, but when he meets up with undercover spies from the CIA, he quickly learns just how valuable he is. Each episode shows Chuck working with the undercover spies helping to bring down terrorist groups and other sneaky bad guys. Chuck is definently one of the better shows out there this fall season. SO WATCH IT, while its still around.

Good Times

I went home this past weekend, and for once, i enjoyed being at home, my family did not get on my nerves (that much), i got to see some of favorite people (But not all), and i got to eat at Obrigado TWICE! Anyways, I will be back in the LC November 9th for the homecomming game, and then on down to CNU!

Home

I am going home for the first time since I came to JMU almost two months ago. I have been back to Louisa, but I haven't really been to my house. For once, I am actually really excited to be going home, to be sleeping in my own bed, to be lying on the most comfortable couche in the world, to be seeing the best dog in the world Nelly. Basicaly what I'm saying, which may come as a shock to a few so please sit down.........I'm glad to be coming home this weekend (everyone ok?).

Conspiracy Theory

OK, so My GCOM teacher Mike tells us that our midterm is going to be super easy. He says that what we think would be the obvious answer is just that, the obvious answer. Well, today I took the midtern and it was not easy. It was difficult and confusing and involved chuck norris (Don't ask). I thought maybe it was just me, someone who filled out the study gude but didn't really study it, but it wasn't. Amanda, a fellow student of mine, also thought it was an extremely difficult test. So this is my theory, Professors want us to fail. They tell us that tests are gonna be easy, that projects are going to be a piece of cake, but turn out to be an extremely tough cookie. All I can say is that those professors need to watch out, because I'm on to their little sceme.

So here...

So here, My name is Matthew Johnson, Matt, Matty Patty (not my favorite), waiter, writer, student, so many different things, but they are all me. They are all name a part of me. I currently attend James Madison University, and I love it here. The people are nice, the food is ranked 5th in the nation, and the parties are banging (AND FREE!). I am a SMAD hopeful. SMAD is the School of Media Arts and Design, and to get in you have to apply and be accepted. Only 2/3's are accepted and I'm really nervous, because journlaism is the only thing I want to do, it's the only thing I see myself doing. Luckily for me, instead of constanly worrying about that, I have friends that keep my mind off of the troubles that may arise. They are great, they are there, and they are my friends. So what else is there to know about me...a lot, which is why i guess I made this blog. So people, people I know, can know me even more. Of course, I wouldn't be doing this If it wasn't for Nichole "cole pole" Logan.