Nips' Conniptions

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

And so, summer is upon us, toting a both cheery and fiery sun on its back, like a seasonal, celestial Atlas. Whether we enjoy its arrival or not, there appear to be two options our wandering minds can take, depending, of course, on our chosen lot in life, and/or our summer job.

From what little I can tell, there are people in this world who are capable of carpe dieming, if you will. These frequently happy people quench their thirst for the great out-of-doors to the utmost during the sparing summer months. They hit the beach with voracity and consume bucketfuls of sno-cones over the course of the season. These are the people who flaunt watch tans and sun bleached hair; They work in jobs that expose them to the harsh elements, reveling in nature's beauty. Each locale has their own name for this sub-class of citizen. In my fair hometown, this designation was the "river rat."

Yet, as with all of nature, this person only fills one of the many niches to be staffed. Another type of person is represented by the man who clings desperately to his air conditioning unit to stave off the heat and insists on wearing sun glasses 24 hrs a day. This man may be large, pasty, and perhaps, seeking an advanced degree (In ME?). He may use this time to ponder the imponderables of our existence: to address questions that he does not generally consider.

Unfortunately for me, I appear to have placed myself, who I believe to be of the former phylum, into the kingdom of the latter. This body yearns for sunlight, but its position demands otherwise. As such, I am forced to mull the uncontemplatable.

Change is hard: Technology advances at a frightening rate. Today, ND officials are using text messaging as an important link to their football staff, players, and recruits, questionably circumventing NCAA regulations. Joe Paterno, on the other hand, expresses extreme distaste for email, cell phones, and light switches. Change is hard.

For the past couple of weeks, my mother has been prodding me to take a shelf off of her hands, a victim of the Great Kitchen Remodel of 06. After great procrastination, I finally got it into my car and, after a week long rest, hauled it into my apartment. Unwilling to exert more energy to the thing by finding some use for it, I simply set it up in the hallway to my bathroom. That night I walked in the general direction of the can in the pitch black and promptly jacked my knee into the shelf, leaving me hopping on one leg, in the dark, howling, and in boxers.

This was three days ago.

Me knee still hurts.

Change is hard.

I'm still in lab.

Posted by ndNips on Thursday, June 22, 2006 at 4:00 PM | Permalink