more work AND more play

It became obvious Thursday night, and certainly Friday morning, that I had a lot of shit to do. But this is me we're talking about, so of course I wouldn't just sit down and get it done, would I? Instead, I made new plans and kept the ones I did have. Even though I'm going to two schools this term doesn't mean I have to continue to be a hermit.

By Monday I have to finish writing a song for my electronic music class, get on the bus from downtown and then get into the computer lab enough time before the class starts in order to play it on the keyboard and record it into the school's computer system. Have I mentioned how terrible I am at the piano? Awful.

Earlier Monday I have an archaeology assignment due, the details of which I don't really understand, other than it involves doing some observing on campus which is inconveniently located in a place other than my living room. I may have to get up really early and skip my morning class in order to get that done.

Sunday (tonight) I have two assignments that I have to email in to the instructor. The class as I registered for it was in the music department, but is also cross-listed in the business and digital media communications departments and none of those had a link to the online class itself. I had to find it by googling and didn't get enrolled until a week and a half into the term. Turns out, it's a law class. What the fuck do I know about law? We have to do case studies! I'm not a goddamn lawyer, nor do I intend to be. Case studies in a 100-level community college class? Hay-zooss, I just wanna get paid.

Despite all this stuff, I kept my promise to hike with a friend after class on Friday and while we didn't tromp out to the middle of nowhere, it ate up a good chunk of the afternoon and after a tiring week that involved a lot of walking up and down hills to bus stops in sudden downpours and riding on the bus for an hour at a time, each way, with seedy co-passengers, it was both a physical challenge and a mental release.

Saturday I reluctantly went to my indoor soccer game. I say reluctantly only because I really was feeling my schoolwork obligations weighing on me, but it sounded like without me my team wouldn't have any female subs and I hate it when I have to play without a sub. And it's a good thing I showed up, too. The team manager, of all people, showed up thirty seconds from the finish, as she'd written down the wrong time in her calendar, so we had to play without subs anyway. Somehow, we managed to not only win, but to do it by five goals. I had an assist, a good pass that led to an assist, and saved a goal with my head. I just had to mention that last one, because I'm really proud of it.

Instead of going home after the game, we all stuck around to watch the Barcelona-Real Madrid match on the tv at the arena. Someone ordered a pitcher and then I ended up ordering another one since it seemed like my turn, and there went my Saturday. While watching the match I invited the girl who missed the match to come hiking with me the next day so she could get a workout in anyway. Why I did that I don't know, but it worked out well. The hike was pretty, though tiring, and we got back just in time to catch the last quarter of the Blazers-Lakers (basketball, for you foreigners) match, have a beer and watch Portland win at the last second, away from home and without their best player.

So, instead of working on all those things on Friday, I didn't start on them until 4:30pm Sunday and I'm tired and sore to boot. Do I regret it? Not a bit. In fact, I think I'll look to make my weekends even busier in the future.

Update

I'm skipping class today and I actually feel rather bad about it, so I'm trying to do some productive things with my time to have made it worth it. So far, I've experimented in a radical concept where I store the clean dishes in the cabinets and dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Whoa! Next perhaps I'll try the equally radical idea where I put my clean clothes in the dresser and dirty ones in the laundry bag. At the moment the clean clothes are in the laundry bag and dirty ones on the floor.

Life out here in the 'burbs is all right, I suppose. It's far enough away from the city that it has a lot of rural characteristics, which isn't really a good thing. Yes, I like birds and the woods and things, but the people in rural areas are just dicks. I lived or walked through some nasty areas of Portland on a regular basis and the amount of times anyone honked at me, hollered at me from their car or revved their engine and swerved at me totaled about four. Here, it happens once a week. There are bike lanes, but drivers don't actually expect bicyclists to be in them and when it happens, the bicyclists are subject to a torrent of horns, shouts and abuse. Anything different must be punished! Another thing people don't understand about rural areas is that they're full of criminals. When we think crime, we think cities, but there are enough other people in cities to dilute their effects. Here, everyone in the back half of the bus I ride in the morning know each other because they served in prison together. Awesome! It's difficult to get an apartment as an ex-con so they're often forced to buy a place and that's difficult without much money, so they end up in the cheap areas, which tend to be rural.

Because of all of that and the distance I live from my friends, I've been keeping to myself mostly. This term I'm enrolled in the community college in my new town doing stuff with music recording and production and I'm finishing up a few classes at PSU. That schedule makes for a lot of commuting and a bit of homework as well, making it easy to not go out too much.

If this stupid weather ever improves I'm going to take my newly fixed up bike out for regular rides, do some fishing on the weekends, and weekly hikes with my Portland friends.