Hearing Things

For the past year or so, my right ear has not been able to hear very well. I went to the doctor for my yearly checkup, and he found that there was a buildup of wax in my ear, which he promptly removed.

For the rest of the day, I have been marveling at how loud things sound to me now. I hear my footsteps on carpeted floors, the legs of my shorts rubbing together, and even the fluids moving in the car that I drove today after I turned the engine off. It is great to have the full extent of my hearing back, although things are still a bit loud.

– Gavin

I Must Be Lucky with Food

As anyone cooking for themselves knows, it is very hard to get an improvised dish to turn out well the first time around. That did not seem to apply to me today though.

After a dinner of chili that my mom had prepared, I really wanted desert. Unfortunately, our oven has not been working for several weeks, and we were all out of ice cream. I was desperate, and I concocted a mixture of oats, milk, brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon. I fried the first part of the mixture up in a pan on the stove, and managed to produce a chewy lump. It was not what I was expecting, so I added some flour to thicken the batter. what resulted was a large, sweetened oat pancake. It was still somewhat chewy, but it was definitely good tasting, and my parents and sisters provided positive feedback about its taste.

I do not cook complicated dishes often, but when I do, it appears that they somehow work. I do not know if I will ever make this again, but it is a proof of concept for a dense, fried cake.

– Gavin

Watching Student Drivers

I guess that because I am home right now, driving may become a more frequent topic on this blog, as there are cars around. Today, I was not the one doing the driving: it was my sisters. One of my sisters drove the family van to a local park, and another one took a lap around the block and went in circles around the parking lot.

It is interesting to see the learning process behind driving from the onlooker’s perspective. As the eldest child, I was the first to learn, and the first to freak my mom out. She still constantly panics when the driver is inexperienced. I feel okay though.

– Gavin

A Unique Storm

As I was sitting in my room using my computer, I happened to look out the window. What I saw was the most interesting thunderstorm that I have seen in years. Amidst the pouring rain that I have found to be typical of Atlanta storms, there was a massive amount of lightning flashing through the sky. This lightning was not simply bright, it was close and it was purple. That alone would have made the storm memorable, but it also lasted for an incredibly long time: nearly two hours of thunder, lightning, and precipitation.

Clearly, this was not an everyday occurrence. I found the display interesting, but I am glad I could watch it all from the comfort of my apartment.

– Gavin

Apartment Cooked Meal

For some reason, I have not actually done much cooking this summer. Having my own kitchen, I was thinking that I would do a decent amount of it. Most of the time I have ended up eating cereal for breakfast and a sandwich for dinner.

Excluding skillet and microwave dinners, today was the fist time I actually cooked a full meal in Atlanta. I boiled up some trip-color veggie rotini pasta, and proceeded to mix it with pre-cooked chicken strips, frozen green peas, and a spinach florentine spaghetti sauce. It ended up turning out very well, and was worth the effort of cooking it, as it tasted good and made enough for three meals. All it really needed was some cheese, and it would have been delicious. The success of this meal seems to be telling me to cook more often. Time will tell if I do.

– Gavin

Aerial Pictures

Today was very unusual in more was than one. The most unusual though, was that I felt like I was seeing things. Specifically, I constantly felt like I saw pictures in the clouds every time I looked up into the sky.

Needless to say, this was quite bizarre. While I was on the phone with my parents, I saw some very unique cloud shapes, including but not limited to: an enormous lamb’s face, Batman as a jack-o-lantern, a mustachioed Minion, and Winnie the Pooh surfing. I do not really know what is up with me today. It seems to me as if my imagination has been kickstarted by something. We shall see if it lasts.

– Gavin

On Crowds

Crowds are an interesting phenomenon. Large groups of people gathered for some single purpose, most of whom have no idea who half of the other people are. If you think about it enough, it sinks in just how strange that really is.

Earlier today, I was in the middle of a crowd. I knew absolutely no one else in that space, and it was strange. I don’t know if you can tell from my blog, but I am a socially awkward individual. When I am in situations such as this one, my instinct is to completely shut down outwardly, and just stand around. Under the right conditions, I could simply fall asleep in the middle of a party due to my outward shutdown. I did not doze off during this incident today though, because as I was shutting down, I noticed something. I noticed that there were people. There were hundreds of people in that crowd, and while everyone was conversing in their own little groups, no one seemed to be paying attention to the fact that every single one of those hundreds of people in that crowded room was a person. Everyone was a person with a beating heart, a thinking mind, a unique personality, an awareness of their surroundings, and an individual soul. This is what makes crowds interesting to me, not the group, but the people. Next time you are in a crowded place, try to think of each one of the people there. I promise your mind will be blown.

– Gavin

The Music in My Head

I love music. I can plug a pair of headphones into my computer and listen to a continuous stream of music from Spotify or Pandora for hours on end. I soak my ears in music on a daily basis. I probably would not be able to function without access to some type of music. Music is to me what coffee is to many students. Yes, it is that essential to me as a part of my life.

Strangely enough, even though music pulses through my veins, I struggle to make it on my own. I have poor hand-eye coordination, and my singing is consistently off key. My muscle memory is quite bad as well. In the past, I have created instrumental music compositions from prerecorded loops that I found in a program called GarageBand that I have on my computer. While this used to be fulfilling, I have recently had trouble with this method of expression due to both a lack of freedom to make music on my own, and a struggle to create a truly meaningful composition. I have entire songs floating around in my head, but no one else will ever hear them as I lack the means to get them out into the world. I will never truly hear them either, as the exist only in my mind. The struggle for me is not just getting them out, but also the loneliness caused by the inability to follow the urge to make noise that truly means something. I don’t, want to end this post on a sour note, but I really don’t know how else to do it.

– Gavin

Hello Georgia

I am now in Atlanta. I flew down from Columbus, OH this morning. The flight was about an hour long, and was uneventful with the exception of the fact that my ears hurt more due to the altitude change than other times that I have flown. My guess is that the crushing altitude was higher than normal, however I do not remember what height the capital said we were at and therefore cannot prove that statement. On the other hand, I actually had a chance to see cumulus clouds from above, which was an awsome experience.

Upon arriving in Atlanta, I ate lunch at a Chick-Fil-A and then proceeded to take a taxi for the first time in my life from the Airport to Georgia Tech. When I got to campus I found my apartment complex easily enough, but I had the hardest time figuring out which building was the one with my apartment and how I was intended to get inside it. I think that it was an example of what I call the “End of Journey Syndrome”: the last step of a long journey is always the most difficult, even if the step by itself would be a piece of cake. I had a similar experience on a trip from Michigan to San Francisco a year and a half ago, as the only hiccup in my journey was figuring out where the right hotel shuttle bus was.

I also got a taste of the Georgia Tech shuttle system when I went to get groceries. It would have been great, except for the fact that it was pouring rain at the time. I bought groceries at the smallest Walmart I have ever seen in my life: it was about the size of a gas station convenience store. I successfully made it back with my groceries, and was able to relax in my room on the seventh floor of my building. Tomorrow is a big day, so I am going to sleep now.

– Gavin

Mansfield Nights

My home is located in Mansfield, OH. It is an odd town. It calls itself a city, though it isn’t much of one at all. There is not much at all to do in town, as you have to travel about 10 miles or so to find a decent store. Parts of the city are quite run down, but a number of neighborhoods, mine included, are still nice.

Not much happens on my street during the night. It is quiet except for the occasional passing car. Insects can be heard, and occasionally a cat or bird. There is some light pollution from street lamps, but if it is clear, I can still see stars. In the summer, nights tend to be peaceful. Goodnight.

– Gavin