Categories
Blog Day 2011 Media

On Blankets.

Blankets cover

This book, more than any other, has had the biggest impact on me at probably the hardest time in my life. I was recommended this book by a blog I used to follow directly following the breakup of my high school/college girlfriend. This event coincided nicely with the theme of the book which is first love and first loss.

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Blankets more than any other film, comic, book, or any other type of media captures the whole experience of being in love for the first time as well as what is like to lose said love. The artwork is amazingly beautiful. Every single page is amazingly detailed. Just from an aesthetic viewpoint Blankets is a masterpiece. Even after multiple readings it still affects me in a profound way. I could give you a synopsis of the book, but that wouldn’t do it justice. This book should not be enjoyed in a piecemeal fashion or boiled down to a few paragraphs. It should be taken in its entirety. If you are looking for a brutally honest and real account of first love and loss please check this out. You will be glad you did.

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Categories
Blog Day 2011 Personal

On Friends.

Since I already wrote a blog pretty much gushing about how I love my friends I will discuss my era of friends.

I have up until now never maintained a consistent group of friends for one reason or another. This does not mean that I haven’t had some great times within these groups, it just means they never really lasted.

Early Childhood/Cousins Era

When you are a kid you really don’t have a lot of control over who is your friends. You usually just go with whoever lives down the street or is friends with your parents. In my case it was my family. I lived kind of out of town and went to a private school in town. This lead to my best friends being my cousins. As mentioned in a previous post these were some of my favorite times. As you get older though, you start to develop friends outside of family and this happened all around. Thus ending the Cousin Era.

Elementary & Middle School/St. Mary’s Era

I am actually compressing a lot of this era down. This was all the friends I made while at St. Mary Catholic Community School in Crown Point, IN. Early on these were limited to whoever I was in Cub Scouts with, but later developed into people I had actual interests in. Some of these people I remain in contact with to this day, but never to the extent that I did back then.

Early High School/Justin LeVine Era

That’s right. Justin LeVine gets his own era. Him and I were tight as a drum. Almost everyday after school my freshman year of high school I would go to his house until my mom would pick me up after she got off work. It was the best. We would play Halo and it was just a good release after school. We even held Halo LAN parties in half-days in his basement. We did grow apart when we both went away to college unfortunately, but at least we still have all those memories.

Late High School/Kevin Romanak and Friends Era

I was introduced to this group because I started dating my friend Amy Kozlowski. She was friends with all these new people and we hit it off. Although, I wasn’t usually the ones causing the mischief we got ourselves into quite a bit of it. These are usually the memories I remember from high school. From invading the Homecoming parade to pissing off the Mass Media teacher. They were all fun times.

Early College/Alex and Finny Era

This didn’t last very long, but when I first entered college I was rooming with my good friend, Nathan Finfrock. The best part is his girlfriend, April Finick, and my girlfriend, Alex Arges, were rooming together, too! It was the worst idea. Not only did tensions grow almost immediately, we both went through messy and painful break ups with those same girls. Needless to say, not my favorite era.

Late College/Crazy Monkey Era

This is probably my favorite era. Where I became friends with The Crazy Monkeys after starting to date Lauren Kohl. You can read more about it in my previous post.

Categories
Blog Day 2011 Personal Philosophy

On Alter Egos.

Madrox

This is a hard topic for me. I don’t mean to sound pretentious or superior in any way, but I don’t think I have much of an alter ego. I try to live honestly and have one real personality, but I am going to try to take a hard and honest look at myself and extrapolate what I think to be my subtle changes in personality that can count for alter egos.

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First Meeting Me

When I first meet people I am usually pretty shy. I am cordial and introduce myself, but I don’t do much to lead the conversation. This is something I am trying to work on. I have often been told by people of people that people think I am quiet when they first meet me. That subsides pretty quickly after I get to know you because I can be quite the chatty Kathy.

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Drunk Me

This should not be a surprise to anyone, but I become a little more boisterous when I have had a few in me. My cheeks get red and I will be your best friend. I am so ready for anything. I haven’t made any real mistakes in this state. It’s just a fun vacation spot.

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Philospher Me

From the outside this is my most pretentious state. Everything is existential and the meaning of life is constantly questioned. Very few have had conversations with me in this form. This is one of my favorite states to be in. As Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” I couldn’t agree more. Before I go off the deep end with this I will move on.

Nerd

Nerd Me

Not that I am ever outside this state, but sometimes I get hit harder than others. Unless you are a fellow nerd, approach with caution because this can be a little overwhelming. If you were to pass by a conversation during one of these bouts you would immediately think virgin for life. Also, a very fun place to be.

These are all different parts of my personality they just become more apparent in certain environments. I am basically the Multiple Man.