Choosing the Right College

Recently, I've been picking up some speed on trying to decide on where I want to go to school after high school. It helps a little bit more now that I know I want to major in Music, but still there are so many things to consider that I'm a bit overwhelmed. All my band friends say that I should go to a place like Murray or WKU, because they have really good music programs. This is true, and both of these are fine schools, it's just that I'd like to be a little further away from home. That seems to be a foreign concept to everybody for some reason. It's not like I want to change my citizenship or anything, it's just I'd like to broaden my horizons. That said, since I know more about in-state schools than out-of-state schools, for one, I can't use my KEES money, and on the other hand, I don't know as much about them. So what I'm endeavoring to do over Spring Break is to visit a couple of colleges that have piqued my interest and see how they turn out. Hopefully I will get some good answers!

Joe Biden

Alright, so I'm sure at this point everyone has heard about Joe Biden and his infamous slip of the tongue the night healthcare reform was past. I'm not here to talk about politics, but I will however, discuss morals. I find it highly irritating and discomforting that someone who is in such power in our government cannot control his loud vulgar mouth. He is someone who I'm sure a lot of people look up to, simply for the fact of his position. So, quite honestly, his behavior is unacceptable. If we can't trust our vice president to keep a clean tongue in his head, what does that say for the rest of our government? All I'm trying to say is, it's more than a little disconcerting that we have someone in office like that who can't control their words with more finesse.

Results from the Criterium International

The two day race has wrapped up for 2010, with many surprising results. Former French champion Pierrick Fedrigo dominated on the first mountain stage and was able to defend his lead through the flat stage and short time trial on Sunday.
Two of the favorites for the Tour de France in July, Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong, both suffered especially on the mountain stage, with Contador getting dropped from the front group, citing that his breathing problems from his allergies were to blame for his ineffective chase. Lance Armstrong was certainly not at his best, getting dropped off the back and finishing a mere 15th on Sunday's time trial, 17 seconds back from the winner David Millar of Garmin-Transitions. Contador, however, seemed to have recovered from the day before and finished an impressive second, only 2 seconds behind Millar. Fedrigo held on for 17th place, securing his overall win. Congratulations, Monsieur Fedrigo, on your win in this prestigious event.

In Heaven

I think we all have our ideas of what heaven is going to be like, but I don't really have an opinion on the whole "eternity" thing. However, I think one of the first things I would like to do is meet all the people who I admired during life. Not anything big or grand, maybe just having a cup of coffee at a small table with each of them individually. It would certainly take a while, but I'd have all the time in the world. This isn't the complete list, obviously, but I think it'd be awesome to get to know people like: Pope John Paul II, Paulo Coelho, Gustav Mahler, Wynton Marsalis, Wolfgang Mozart, the Dalai Llama, Alexander the Great, George Washington, Harry Truman, my great-grandfather that I'm named after, Fausto Coppi, Eddy Merckx, Omar Sharif, Amelia Earhart, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, King Louis XIV, William Shakespeare, Gregory Peck, Clark Gable, Susan B. Anthony, Cleopatra, Elizabeth I, Margaret Thatcher, along with all the friends and lifelong partners I am sure to meet in my existence on Earth.

What do you wish you could take time out to do?

I really would like to have a day where I could put some serious miles in on the bike. Because of school or crappy late winter/early spring weather, all my rides have been sub-45 milers. Which I suppose would be a good thing, since I don't want to burn out early in the season, but still. It just seems that ever since November it's either been too cold or I've had school junk to do on the weekends. Take this weekend for instance. Friday was a beautiful day, and with the new extra hour-ish of sunlight, I was able to squeeze in 32 miles before dark. Saturday was gorgeous also, with plentiful sunshine and mild temperatures. But I had to be in Nashville for our last academic team competiton, so riding was postponed until 5 PM when we returned. I got about 8 miles into it, and I crossed some railroad tracks. One jostling bump later, and my handlebars are bent all to heck. Jeez! So I hobble back home riding on the tops and shelve the bike riding for Sunday.
They need to rename that day, because all there was was cloudy, overcast skies and inches of rain. It figures, the first day I have off in weeks, it's crummy weather outside. So I just sucked it up and put on a jacket and shoe covers and went out for a ride, thinking it would eventually clear up. Wrong. 30 miles and 2 hours later, my dad calls demanding to know where I'm at so he can come get me. I didn't need him to come get me, it was only about 15 miles home, but he insisted on the grounds that I was going to catch cold or some such nonsense.
So, hopefully on Spring Break, I can get some lovely weather to crank out some mileage.
Heck, I would even take high 80s and humid over windy and wet.

What was it like the first time you drove a car?

Considering this happened fairly recently, I can recount this event pretty well. I remember that when a got my permit in the fall of my sophomore year, I was elated. I was so excited to get to drive. Finally after having my permit for about two weeks, my mom took me over to a parking lot so I could get a feel for the car. I had never driven previously, and the car I was going to drive was a 1996 Dodge pickup truck. To make matters even more complicated, it was a stick shift. I assured myself that this upped my cool points and somehow evened out the fact that the car was light purple and green in color. The parking lot was spacious and had a roundabout that I could just drive slowly and continuously in. Simple enough, right? WRONG. I quickly learned that on manual transmissions, especially old ones like the one I had, it takes a great deal of finesse in order to not only start the car, but to get it in motion and keep it there. Much more complicated than an automatic. My parents did own an automatic car, but it was our relatively new Chevrolet Suburban and they decided that that was just too much sheet metal for a new driver like myself. And besides, it was good to learn on a stick anyway. After about a week, I was finally able to shift smoothly and consitently without too much trouble, and the monotiny of driving in the parking lot or back to the house on the same roads just got a little tiring. The real anxiety and exhiliration came when I got my license and was able to drive by myself. It was an invigorating experience, and to this day still makes me feel like more of an adult and gives me a great sense of freedom.

Alberto Contador wins Paris-Nice

Well, the Spanish stage race superstar is at it again. He just can't stop winning, can he? After his victory at the Volta ao Algarve, Contador defeated his rivals in the Race to the Sun by dominating on the only mountaintop finish and riding a defensive race against the likes of compatriots Alejandro Valverde (a 14 seconds) and Luis Leon Sanchez. Sanchez won the race last year after an isolated Contador suffered from the hunger knock. A lot of commentators and critics has commented on Contador's seeming lack of appreciation or need for team support. But I say, if he is strong enough, or conversely, if his team isn't strong enough for the situation, like in the final stage of Paris-Nice, when Contador rode away from the team to defend his maillot jaune against Valverde, then more power to him. Several people comment on the obviously weaker state of the Astana squad after Armstrong has hired many on his new team RadioShack. Personally, with no Team Time Trial in le Tour this summer, I don't think the strength of his team will be an issue. He is still the most dominating climber, and as stage 18 of the Tour de France 2009 shows, not too shabby of a time-trialist either. After all, Greg Lemond won the 1986 edition of the race against incumbent Bernard Hinault and his entire French based team. As for predicitons, I will let time tell. We'll see in July.

The Criterium International

This race is taking place in Corsica on March 29 and 30. It is a 2 day, 3 stage race, with a road stage taking place on both mornings, and a time trial at the end of the second day. Jens Voigt, a German rider riding for Saxo Bank, has won this prestigious event no less than five times. Another interesting bit of information is that this race is the first since the 2009 Tour de France that rivals Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong will compete against each other. Armstrong was planning on racing this course last year, but a broken collarbone at the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon prevented it. It promises a lot of action, and is taking place this year on the island of Corsica. It will be the first time the race is held outside of France, but nonetheless it will be a very exciting race.