A chicken with its head cut off...

What can I say... I seriously think I must be crazy.

As many of you know, I decided a few months ago that I was going to go back to school to study Radio Broadcasting. Radio was my original "that's what I want to be when I grow up" plan before it was derailed by people who supposedly knew better. Classes began Oct. 6 and needless to say it's been a bit of an adjustment. When I originally met with the admissions guy, he started explaining to me how the class schedule worked. I don't think I was fully grasping it. I decided to take 12 hours thinking I'd only have classes 3 days a week. Well, apparently one of the classes actually meets twice a week. So Mon-Thurs, I'm in class from 8-12 then I get to do my full time job after that. Needless to say my days are a little long. It's kind of a trial thing. At times, I believe I'm more productive at work then I have been in a while. I manage to avoid the typical morning "lets grab a coffee and catch up" thing that happens as people trickle in to the office. I still get my catching up in, it's just not as prolonged as it used to be. Also, I think the class load will lighten up when my transfer credit classes kick in for the others in my program.

Well enough about my crazy schedule and on the to good stuff... Apparently, I'm good at it! I know it's really early in the program, but I received a fantastic compliment from one of my instructors. In my first Radio Studio Operations class, we had 5 mins to pre-read a script then we had to record it. The following class, the instructor reviewed the recordings with us individually. During the recording, he took notes on things we needed to work on. This includes things like reading accuracy, voice & articulation. I noticed he had a notepad with all of our names written in a column with shorthand & notes next to it. I only had one thing written next to my name. I have a slight prominent S which apparently he didn't even think was a problem. He didn't give me any exercises to work on it and told me he thinks it was due to nervousness or bad mic placement. He said I have a great sounding voice and has no doubt that I will do well in the industry. Yay!

Anyhow. Other than the actual class stuff, the classmate aspect has been interesting. A chunk of the class is those fresh out of high school crowd but also a good chunk of us are at least a few years out of high school. There's even a little more than a handful of people older than me or right about the same age. It's an interesting and fun dynamic. It seems the younger group seem shocked that I'm 29. One of the girls said she would have never guessed over 25. I was even told by one classmate that I was "aging really well." Wow... Am I really at that age where I can be told that? It made me laugh so hard. Oh well, Good Times.

Let's see. What else is happening? Well not much really. I was dating for a bit, but ultimately had to decide that I don't have time for anything much right now. Plus, I'm enjoying the radio thing so much right now and it just feels right. I owe it to myself to figure out where it will lead me. It can be a compliment to what I do now or a secondary thing, or I could go all out and perhaps some of you will hear me on the airwaves one day. So, I pulled my self off Match and spending my free time doing homework & vegging out on WoW. (I know... NERD!) Other than that, my favorite holiday is this week! Yay!!! I can't wait to see the kids all dressed up and of course - Ghost Hunters has it's annual live episode. (I know... HUGE NERD!) I'm also anxiously awaiting Nov. 8 when I'm going to see Avenged Sevenfold!!! They're coming with Buckcherry so Stacia will deal with A7X for me and I'll only semi-suffer through Buckcherry for her. Speaking of music, as a bunch of you are aware, I actually attended the New Kids On The Block concert last Tuesday. I planned on going for what I was calling the "Trainwreck Factor." I couldn't imagine how they could do all the music of the past. I was amazed! It was actually a fantabulous show. They were on stage for about 2.5 hours and it was pretty much non-stop. It probably helped that I had great seats (Floor Row 11). When they came out I just looked at them and suddenly I felt like I was 10 again. I am thoroughly impressed with their show and hope those of you going to see them soon enjoy it!

Kitty Update: The furkids are getting along swimmingly. Sheer proof that Rufus just needed another buddy to keep him occupied. Stuart is being a little pain the ass, however I think most of it is still a bit of kitten insanity. I hold on to a shread of hope that he'll outgrow it.

That's enough for now. I've been my typical verbose self. Hope all is well on your side of things!

Cheers,
Franz

The insanity, the roller coaster, the sniffles - Life.

Well, it's my favorite time of year again. Yay for Fall! The trees are vibrant yellows and oranges. I even see some of the red remaining. The air is crisp and allergy-ridden. I even noticed that someone had their fireplace going this evening... *sigh* Perfection.

Fall is a very reflective time for me. I can't believe it's been 2 years since my marriage ended. I've gone through and grown so much since then. It seems I'm still finding out more about myself each day. I know that sounds so cheesy & cliche, but it is so true. I know I've touched on this before, but while tending to my "Flair" obsession on Facebook, I was reminded of it once again... "As we grow up, we don't lose friends; we just learn who our real ones are." It seems I'm still learning and it just leaves me with more questions... I know I'm not perfect and God knows I don't claim to be. I'm not a supermodel, but I also wasn't hit with the ugly stick. I'm not demanding; I'm realistic. I'm cute, loyal, sweet, normally abnormal and fun. But frankly, I mostly feel overlooked - especially when I don't want to be. Anyhow, enough of the self pity party. Some of the good things I discovered over the past couple years. I am stronger than I ever imagined and I'm actually pretty good alone. It doesn't mean I like it, but I can and it can be fun.

So this fall I decided it was time for a change. As of yesterday, I am officially a student again. I apparently decided that I didn't have enough going on and that it was time to go back to school for what I always wanted to do. Radio Broadcasting. Part of me wonders what the hell I was smoking when I made this decision, but over all I'm actually getting more and more excited. Going back to school is a bit nerve-wracking, but so far it feels very right. I'm not sure if I want to be an on-air personality or on the production side; however the program covers it all - so I'll have a solid base. I'm taking 12 credit hours this quarter, so that means a shift in my work hours... Now I don't stop working until sometime between 8 & 9. So far, it doesn't seem to bad. I like being busy and I feel more purposeful at work. I get to avoid the morning procrastination period as everyone attempts to be convinced to begin their day.

More new stuff... I adopted a new furkid mid-September. His name is Stuart, every now and then I call him Stewie for short. He's about a year old and a total nuzzler. Rufus took to him fairly quickly. I was rather impressed. It just reaffirmed what I thought about him needing another buddy. He never did good alone, that's why we got Otto in the first place. It's a tad creepy since Stuart looks a little bit like Otto did. However, he needed a home after a string of bad luck with his previous family and you could not help but love him. He's a tad of a pain in the ass but hopefully he'll out grow that.

I guess that's about it for now... I'm exhausted and have 2 more long days this week.

Cheers!
Franz