Wednesday, August 27, 2008

back to the grind

Well, it hasn't rained more than a few drops for 3 months. I get to Banner Elk, and we get a huge wave of precipitation from the hurricane. It literally rained 36 hours without stopping. But me and Carson got the mountain bikes out and brushed up the technical skills on our course while it was nice and glacial. Actually, it wasn't bad at all, it turned out to be a blast. 

The standard "first day of classes are a joke" is over with no punch line. I actually had to take notes in three of my classes on the first day haha. At least they don't give you any hope from the gun. My course schedule looks good though: Ornithology, Principles of Ecology, World Religion and Beginning Painting. Should be a good mix of everything: difficult, easy, stressful, relaxing, all wrapped into one semester. 

It's different knowing this is my last semester, I guess last year I knew I would be back. It seems like I should put out the extra effort to enjoy my time here as it winds down. But, this is two straight text-only posts, and I know that's weak, so I'll make sure and get some pictures up next time,

e

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Olympics: In Review

Here is my take on the Olympics, I actually watched a tremendous amount of it surprisingly and found it very interesting. 

Most Memorable Performances

1. Phelps collective effort
2. Nastia Liukin all-around Gold in Gymnastics, Silver in uneven bars 
3. May/Walsh Gold in Beach Volleyball
4. Rogers/Daulhauser Gold in Beach Volleyball
5. Shana Johnson Gold in Beam and Silver in all-around, Gymnastics
6. Usain Bolt in 100m  and 200m, Track
7. Jason Lezak anchor leg in 4x100 free relay
8. Jonathon Horton on High Bar, Gymnastics
9. Yelena Isinbayeva Gold and new WR in women's pole Vault
10. Dara Torres winning medals at 41

Honorable Mention

-Walter Dix in 100m and 200m, Track
-USA men's and women's Water Polo

Most Disappointing Performances 

1. Lolo Jones in women's 110 Hurdles
2. Tyson Gay in 100m and 4x100 relay
3. Bernard Legot in men's 1500m
4. Liu Xiang in men's 110 hurdles
5. Abubacher Kaki in men's 800m
6. Paolo Bettini in men's Road Race, Cycling