what makes me tick...

(me the day after i got back from the bluecoats- August 2003)

Soctt here… things are good. My leg has been doing a little better. Ran 3 miles today, walked 3 yesterday, and ran 3 the day before yesterday… that’s progress. I’m really angry at my stomach. I just want it to go away. I think I’m just going to be patient and stick to what I’ve been doing the last few weeks and I know I’ll see some results eventually. I’m sweating pretty hard out there- I should know that that’s going to manifest itself sooner or later because I’ve done this before… I’ll just keep this up for awhile and see what happens. I’m very thankful that I can start to run again. It has been something that has been hard, slow, and much more difficult than it was before at my healthy weight… but I’m glad I get to do it… I’m putting my concentration on my leg right now (yes, again, second to school of course----dad)… my legs are much stronger than they were 3 weeks ago. I can run a little faster, and I can run a little longer… I can see my leg muscles again and I can make a good flex that’s almost something to write home about. That’s progress in my book and its something that makes me feel good. I ran with Chun today and that was a fun experience. The one thing I will say for those Koreans- they are very sincere. Chun will always tell me how he feels and he will really mean it from the bottom of his heart and you don’t even question it. I think that’s something that’s really different than here in the US. We (myself included) are just not that sincere, and you can really tell a big difference when you stack us up against people who are. That has been one thing that I’ve enjoyed here in pharmacy school- getting to know people who are very different. UTK was great in that I got to keep a lot of my same friends from Mt. Juliet, TN, but I never really got out and met some people who were all that different- or I mean, I MET them but I was never able to take the time to really get to know them better.
They put up some new video clips on DCI.org this past week- from 1992 and 1993, and you know, I can still say without a doubt that enjoying those clips, or looking forward to going to a show or two this summer, makes me happy… I wont try to quantify that or compare that to anything else, but what I will say is… DCI makes me happy. It’s as simple as that. I don’t know if there are that many other things in life that are as one-sided as that. Many things make me happy, for sure… but I just don’t think there are many things at all that are just as one sided as DCI, aside from being a Christian… being a UT fan makes me happy, but- that’s hit or miss… pharmacy makes me happy, but doing the same thing 40 hours a week will do doubt get a little old after about 10 years- no matter what you do… but being a fan of drum corps… its just such a simple relationship in my mind- I see it, I hear it, it makes me happy. I used to be of the frame of mind that everyone in the world would love it, or everyone would think it was at least pretty cool, or that I should try to convert everyone… but I don’t even care anymore. It doesn’t matter how anyone else feels about it- it makes ME happy, and I don’t know a better way to express it. I can come in from a really bad day, or my leg can hurt real bad… or it could just be a dark, rainy, cloudy day… but that cheers me up… I remember I was like this my senior year of high school, and all through undergrad… and it has stuck with me this whole time…oh and Josh and Jesse- you gotta let me show you the 2005 bluecoats show- I got it on DVD and you will like it J. Ok I gotta go read about HIV/AIDS… I hear this is a rough topic and we start talking about it in therapeutics tomorrow…

(to reinforce the dci-happiness connection see exhibit A (the picture at the top)) hehe