With the Big Boys

My first track meeting was tonight. I’ve been looking forward to playing my last high school sport ever for quite some time now.

When I walked in the room and looked around I didn’t have to remind myself this was different than my former private school — this was Division 1, not Division 5. Each guy in the room had done track before, and most of them looked big.
I can’t say that I’m often intimidated when put in a room of athletes, but I was today. The truth is, I don’t know how athletic I really am. Sure, I may have been one of the fastest kids at my private school, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot with only 130 kids to compete against. On my track team alone there are expected to be 60 teammates. That number is staggering to me. We didn’t even have track at my old school, and the most popular sport — football — has maybe 30 guys that go out for it.

Practice starts on Monday. I’m desperately scared that I’m going to suck. If I’m not as good as the majority of the guys, I’m going to be mad. I don’t want to be the guy racing in the meets that are just for guys who can’t race in the big meets. That’s just not how I roll.
Some people may consider that a little over-confident, but I’m accustomed to being the best or at least being a major contributor to a team. I don’t have to be the very best out there, but I do need to matter.

Overall, I think this experience will be a lot of fun. I’ve never done this sport, but it seems incredibly fulfilling. Another plus of joining track is it will make the school year fly by…at least, that’s what I’m hoping for.

Oh, in other news, I got wait-listed at UW-Madison. Basically that means my ACT wasn’t to die for and they are waiting for either a minority who qualifies or someone who got a better ACT. I hear back on or around March 15.
My guidance counselor says my chances are good considering I improved my GPA this last semester. I hope he’s right. If I get rejected, I did get accepted to UW-Milwaukee.

Two-Hour Delay

Today I went to school. When I got there, no one was there.

I hate when Sun Prairie makes their snow delays a secret to me. I watched tv this morning to see if there was a delay, I listened to the radio on the way to school — nothing. No one said a thing to me. Turns out there was a two-hour delay.

I went home and took pictures. I haven’t held my camera in a month. It almost felt foreign until I started composing the pictures.

You know, winter usually sucks for taking pictures unless it looks like this outside:

Favored by 7

I don’t know what to think right now. I’m numb.

I’ve never been more confident in the Packers before a football game and then they lost.
I really don’t know if I’m ever going to see Brett Favre that close to the Super Bowl ever again. I don’t know if I’m ever going to see Brett Favre play again. And to think that his last pass in the NFL was an interception is really eating away at me.

The whole week leading up to this game I firmly believed the Packers were going to annihilate  the Giants. Now I’m left with one of the most lopsided Super Bowls of all-time and I’m not even sure if I’m going to watch it. It will be boring. The Patriots are going to murder the Giants and I’m going to have to hear how the Patriots are God’s gift to football for the rest of my life.

This will probably take me a few weeks to get over. I can only think of one other time where I was more disappointed in the Packers. That was when I was eight and they lost to the 49′ers in the playoffs. I cried after that game. I didn’t cry after this game…but as soon as it was over I got in my car and drove as fast as I could home.
I don’t want to call anyone and talk to them about the game.

I wish I had one of those Men in Black things that erases memories. I would definitely use that on myself.

I hate the Giants.

Vanishing Point

I’ve had many dreams about fog. More specifically, about taking pictures in fog.

Fog introduces a whole new compositional element to pictures. Not to get too technical, but the use of empty space within a frame becomes the most important part of the photograph.

Anyways, I got to shoot in the fog yesterday.
After driving to school yesterday morning and seeing the driving fog crossing the roads and fields, I hoped it would stay like that all day. When I got out of school, the fog had actually become worse…or better, depending on how I look at it.

I took around 100 pictures on the back-roads between Burke and Sun Prairie.

I thought this picture would be appropriate because the New Year is approaching quickly. (Yes, I’ve started looking at a calendar — but only because Christmas is coming, and I kind of have to know when Christmas is.)

It’s going to be nice starting a new year. Even though there is still a whole lot more left of school. I must say that I have probably learned the most in 2007 than I have in any other time in my life. It’s not necessarily something specific I’ve learned as much as it is just about life.

Christmas Abberations

From the presence of a Christmas tree in my living room I am concluding that it must be around Christmas time. (I’m still boycotting calendars.) This will be my 17th Christmas celebration and I’m beginning to think I’m becoming quite good at celebrating this sort of thing.
Perhaps this experience would explain my indifference to the whole thing. I believe last year I wrote something along the lines of how Christmas is boring or something equally disturbing to Christmas enthusiasts. (I should look into my archives to make sure this statement is true, but I’m much to lazy to do that.)

The point is, Christmas is fun, but not that fun. It’s definitely not so fun that we should have yearly debates over whether to call the trees at my school “Holiday” trees or not. Sure, holiday sounds more inclusive, but…who cares? If you don’t celebrate Christmas then why should you care about the people who do? But that is a different note.

I think this picture of the Christmas tree in my living room (which I literally took like 20 minutes ago) explains my current view of Christmas.
I’m sure you’re asking yourself: “He thinks Christmas is about yellowish, abstract lights?”
No. Not quite. But close.
Christmas for me is a holiday. It is sentimental and nostalgic, but not a whole lot more. Christmas is ultimately a good thing that brings out the best in strangers; it lends opportunity to people who do not normally think to give, to give.

But Christmas doesn’t carry any excitement for me anymore. Which is okay because I revered Christmas with such fervency as a child that my attitude now seems like an extreme departure.

Hey, at least I’m not a ba-hum-bug…although I am pretty close to a ba-Christmas-is-boring-now-bug.