Saturday, November 22, 2008

Hitting the road...

... with the basketball team yet again. This year we are going on the longest road trip we've ever been on. We leave tomorrow morning heading up to San Francisco for a game on Monday. We then hang out in the Bay city another day before we make our way east of the Mississippi for a three day invitational in Normal, IL. This will be the first year since senior year of undergrad that I will not be "at home" for Thanksgiving. We play Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Normal before heading back Monday.

With this especially long trip I have had quite the list of things to accomplish, and I am still trying to get everything done! Here's what my Saturday before this epic road trip was like:

9am- Cell phone alarm goes off. I promptly set another alarm to go off at 9:15am
9:15am- Cell phone alarm 2 goes off. Begin internal debate on whether to get up or lay in bed till 9:45am
9:45am- Cell phone alarm 3 goes off. Roll out of bed and do daily body test on the Wii Fit. Still Overweight, but slimming down slowly
9:50am- Shower
10:15am- Drive to work
10:35am- Speak with Physician regarding ongoing medical case
11am- Sit in Athletic Training Room (ATR) waiting for athletes to show up
11:45am- First athlete decides to come in for treatment
12pm- Team begins watching film; Begin tearing kit apart in prep for packing
12:45pm- Team emerges from film
12:50pm- Meet with athlete, physician, and coach regarding case
2:30pm- Practice is supposed to be over
2:45pm- Practice was supposed to be over
3pm- Players finally allowed to leave the court
3:30pm- Athletes all gone. Head back to main ATR
3:45pm- Resume packing kit
5pm- Still packing kit
5:30pm- Get Emergency Cards and Insurance information together
6pm- Send email to physician to work on scheduling referral for case previously discussed
6:30pm- Much needed haircut
7pm- Begin laundry
7:15pm- eat left over "Hot N' Ready"
8:15pm- Begin loading Ipod with music and video's
8:30pm- Begin paperwork unable to finish at work
8:45pm- Laundry is dried and ready to be folded
10:15pm- FInished paperwork for work
10:30pm- Pack duffel bag for trip
11pm- Do dishes, take out recycling and trash
11:15pm- Shave and shower, pack toiletries
12am- Sleep

Biggest thing to look forward to on this trip: Catching up on all the sleep that I have not been getting since basketball started. Be ready for phone calls people. We've got some catching up to do and when I'm bored in the hotel you are all on speed dial; between naps of course!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

From the Portfolio of Andy Everson


"A New Song"

Looking at the past

The sands of time are slipping, running through my fingers. The sands of time are slipping. Slipping into a dreamless sleep. Slipping away from me. Too much to do in one day, not enough time to accomplish the goals in which I have set. The hour glass is falling; falling through the air, off the side of my desk. The glass shatters under the impact and disperses its precious cargo all over the floor. The time in which I need is escaping, with reckless abandon I work on capturing and subduing that which is escaping. I grasp, but the sands of time are slipping through my clutched and wretched fist; fleeing ever so slowly. I open my hand to see nothing, of what I had possessed has stole through my hand and into the night.

The sands of time have slipped through my fingers, and as the desecrated hour glass lays on my floor; the shards of shimmering glass reflect on to my face like stars in the night sky, a sense of hopelessness. Hopelessness soon transforms into despair, "too much to do," "not enough time," "I want to go to sleep." And as I lay my head down to rest, thoughts start dancing around my head. If only I had gripped tighter; had not let go. As my eyelids creep across my eyes like the veil of night, darkness ensues and covers me with way too much to do.

Time has slipped through my hands is wreaking havoc on the land. The sands of time are slipping into the unknown. The sands of time are slipping into some black hole. The sands of time are slipping out of my control.

I originally wrote this senior year of High School. I remember writing as a journal entry for a creative writing course. I was so proud of this particular entry and made just about everyone read it because I thought it was amazing. Looking back on it I think I was just struggling with senioritis and time management skills. What good is writing in a journal if you can't be a little dramatic right?

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Monday, November 10, 2008

Election Hangover

Once again, I've been slacking on the blogging. I'm not going to make excuses because I hate it when people make excuses for not doing things that they should, and I'm trying not to be a hypocrite. With that being said I maybe a week late in discussing the election results of 2008, but better late than never.

When I moved to California I registered to vote for the first time ever while registering my car with the state. At the young age of 24 I officially became a voting eligible american. I know, I know, what took me so long right? To be honest with you I don't know. Well, maybe I do know; I'm kind of procrastinator in my outside of work life. Anyway, so this was my first ever presidential election to vote in.

On election night I went over to a friends place to watch the results. Myself and Heather were pretty excited that Ohio decided to vote democrat this year and not become that dreaded "Red" state instrumental in the re-election of George W. Bush. So, high-five to you Ohio voters! The election turned out to be a bit more lopsided than I thought it was going to be with Barack Obama sealing the deal at 8pm PST when the west coast polls closed.

Critique of the speeches:

John McCain: I thought Senator McCain's speech was good, but not great. I felt the words of his speech conveyed a good message, but the sincerity in his voice was lacking. It must be hard to be truly sincere when admitting defeat, so I'll give him a pass on that point. The one thing I couldn't help but thinking when the camera panned the crowd was; wow! there are a lot of sad rich old white people there. I'm pretty sure there were some tears running down wrinkled faces.

Barack Obama: I thought this speech was simply amazing and completely what the country needed to see in its next President. I felt the undertone of President elect Obama's speech was very similar to JFK's "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" speech. If you have not already seen the speech here it is for your viewing pleasure from Youtube.


Overall thoughts:
I think President elect Obama is exactly what our country needs at this moment. I'm not saying that he is going to be the best president ever, but I think he is going to bring the peoples trust back to the federal government and especially the "Commander and Chief" of our country. Last tuesday night was indeed a historic night for the United States. I think the video of Jesse Jackson crying tells the story of the struggle that African Americans have waged in the land that they call home. For my generation I don't think that we truly grasp the importance of this moment in our history. We grew up in schools completely integrated where the color of a persons skin never really registered as being a significant difference. I'm sure this night rings louder and more historic for our parents and grandparents generations who may still be holding onto those prejudices of their parents and grandparents.
With that being said I applaud Americans for taking the step of electing Barack Obama to the presidency, but am also disappointed with other happenings on election night. I think an analyst on CNN said it best when they stated " With the election of Barack Obama the population of the United States is sending a message that they are ready for change, but with gay marriage bans passing in Florida, Arizona, and California the country is not completely on board with Obama's ideals."

For me election night was a one step forward and two steps back kind of night. A huge step forward in the election of Barack Obama and two steps back with the passage of laws discriminating against another group of Americans. It seems destined that some minority group will always be fighting for basic civil rights in our country. Eventually, we will fully uphold and believe that every man is indeed created equal.