chaz720.net - journal

February 28, 2006

Poison oak, some boyhood bravery, when a telephone was a tin can on a string. And I fell asleep with you still talking to me, you said you weren't afraid to die. In polaroids you were dressed in women's clothes. Were you made ashamed, why'd you lock them in a drawer? I don't think that I ever loved you more. Then when you turned away when you slammed the door, when you stole the car and drove towards Mexico, and you wrote bad checks just to fill your arm, I was young enough, I still believed in war. Well, let the poets cry themselves to sleep, and all their tearful words will turn back into steam. But me I'm a single cell on a serpents tongue. There's a muddy field where a garden was. And I'm glad you got away, but I'm still stuck out here. My clothes are soaking wet from your brother's tears. And I never thought this life was possible. You're the yellow bird that I've been waiting for. The end of the paralysis. I was a statuette. Now I'm drunk as hell on a piano bench, and when I press the keys it all gets reversed. The sound of loneliness makes me happier.

My last semester of school seems to be dragging a bit, but let's be honest, who didn't see that one coming. My antenna class I really like. The material makes sense, the professor is cool, and the lectures are well organized. The communication theory class is alright. The material is a lot more dry so far, and the lectures aren't quite as organized, but overall it's still coming along okay, and I'm learning. So, you might ask, if I like the classes so much, why is it the semester is dragging on? It's simple. Homework. Having two lengthly homework assignments week after week waiting for me when I get home from work each evening (nevermind finding time to watch lectures themselves) is really starting to bug me. Having a large amount of homework on your plate at all times (even immediately after you hand the previous assignment in) hangs over your head, and the relentless nature of it makes it easy to forget I'll be done in May.

But on the other hand, I'll be done in May, right?

This last weekend I benched my camera suit and borrowed a friend's old one that had larger wings on it than mine does. I was having trouble with exits, and even though I was pretty convinced my timing was right on, I was still struggling to stay in position to get a good shot of the formation. To either confirm or put to rest the theory that I was a hopeless case, I tried some different threads, and low and behold, the right tools make the difficult jobs much easier. So my camera suit is in the shop this week undergoing "wing augmentation surgury" and I'll be able to give it another go on Saturday.

The still camera has been a lot of fun, although I don't wear it on all my jumps. When I'm shooting 4way video for a team I'd rather not have extra stuff to think about on exit at this point. I like taking it out on random jumps where I can stay just outside the formation, there's no pressure to get good video, and I can fly around at will to get the photos I want. Anyway, that's led to some cool photos, and adds a little icing on the cake so to speak.

Coming up in the post-graduation time-frame I may have a couple choices before me regarding work that I'm having a hard time solidly deciding on. It's really going to depend on details I don't have yet, so more info on that as it develops.

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