The Exploding Gopher

Today is an incredibly special day for a number of reasons. One, today is the sixth birthday of the Exploding Gopher. While the actual blog's age doesn't matter, as this is the first post in almost two years, it also marks my sixth year as a member of the blogging world. I have worked through many, many, many, many, many different forums for expressing myself through words, and the promise of free-form online writing has always been alluring to me. Though I have certainly taken some significant breaks from this world, I think it's clear that the blogosphere (and particularly Blogger, itself) has hosted and put up with a good share of my musing.

Second, and more importantly, I recently had a rather surprising opportunity to revisit this original blog project. Like reading through an old journal or diary, the experience was confusing, enlightening, and embarrassing. Sometimes I wrote about what I was thinking but not about what was happening; sometimes I did the opposite. Oftentimes I merely spit out a response to other kinds of media--books, articles, movies, or music. Regardless, reading a host of old writing from my past, particularly the first political writing I ever did, plainly reveals the ways I've grown since I was a young teen. I have, to a certain degree, grown out of my cynicism and negativity. I have refined my political views to make them more logical and consistent with the values by which I want to live. I have experienced living on my own, graduating from university, making my own money, learning to work with children, and connecting with religion and God in a way I never knew possible.

I have also experienced love. I am no expert on the subject, and I will admit that I have a lot to learn when it comes to relationships. However, I also no longer believe that Valentine's Day is a complete sham. Yes, it is a Hallmark holiday. Yes, sometimes the message of a holiday (any holiday) can get messed up by consumerism. Valentine's Day, however, is an opportunity for us to celebrate love. If you can get past the candy hearts, the cutesy cards, the stuffed Cupids with heart-shaped bow-and-arrows, and the red and pink decorations which engulf the aisles of the grocery store, you can actually find something quite meaningful.

In elementary school, Valentine's Day was the day that everybody brought in their piles of cards and candy to class. Remember to bring one for everyone! When you're little, everyone gets to have lots of Valentines. It was a day to walk around and drop your cards in everyone's decorated mail boxes and even a chance to slip a secret note to the one person you really liked. It was one of my favorite days back then, but I lost sight of that carefree happiness. We tend to get tunnel-vision around days like today, and when we don't have a "special someone" with whom we can share the holiday, we end up wanting greeting cards that say "Happy Singles Awareness Day!" But that's not really what Valentine's Day is about either. If anything, it's an opportunity to remind the people in our lives that we love them, and God knows that our world needs more of that.

Finally, I have a not-so-secret note to slip into someone's Valentine's Day mailbox:

I have been lucky enough to be in a relationship with a truly remarkable and beautiful young woman over the past year and a half (ish). She has positively changed my life in every way, and I know that I am a better person for her influence. Whether we're going out with friends, cooking up a storm, or just sitting together playing Nintendo (I know, a girl who plays video games with me--she's a keeper), it's clear that my life would simply not be the same without her. I look forward to seeing her every day. So, Becca, this one's for you:

Happy Valentine's Day. I love you.

Labels: becca, blogging, friends, holidays, love, personal, valentine's day

This is the last post to the Exploding Gopher. It's been a great ride. More than three years have passed since my first angry Valentine's Day post in my sophomore year in high school.

A lot has happened since then. I've had three birthdays, I graduated high school, and I even enjoyed a lovely Valentine's Day with a beautiful girl this year.

Keeping up with these changes, my ridiculous, argumentative, silly, blasphemous self has migrated. This just doesn't fit me anymore.

To read new things (verse and prose), please visit me at Time Undone. Take the time to comment if you're going to keep up with the new one. Thanks for a phenomenal few years; I actually did gain a sense of national (and, in a sense, global) community through this experience. I hope that continues as my online personality evolves with me.

This isn't a rambling post like most are, but rather a comment I made today and thought a lot about.

I should back up. I was supposed to go home from school yesterday, but I was snowed into Boulder. The pictures on the news don't do justice to the sheer amount of snow that Colorado experienced this week. Holy shit.

But, I was having breakfast with a couple of people in the dining hall this morning, and it struck me that a similar blizzard hit in 2003 (when I was a freshman in high school) the week before spring break, and I ended up with four extra days without school. I was SO excited. I called all my friends, made more hot chocolate than one freshman could drink, and just spent all of my time relaxing. This blizzard, I was busy worrying about my friends' travel plans, trying to pack and move out for the four weeks of winter break, figuring out how the hell I was going to drive a '95 Civic from Boulder to Denver in this kind of weather (I did it), and just generally being unhappy and wishing I was home.

I've grown up too fast.

Funny story. I've been meaning to post to this blog for quite awhile now. I finished a post a couple of nights ago, but didn't really like it. So, I'm starting from scratch. Maybe this time, I'll make sense.

Guess that's not really funny.

I spent the last week at home. It's been very odd living here again, as I've acclimated to college life in my dorm. All of a sudden, my old friends are home, and my new friends are scattered throughout the country. A lot changes in three months.

I guess you never know what you're made of until you move out of the house and live on your own. It's a very weird feeling; I'm still strongly tied to family and friends in Denver, but I've got an entire life built around university in Boulder. It's been a time of self-reflection and discovery.

I've found my roots in Judaism in a way I did not expect. Given the fast-paced, transgression-filled college life, I was surprised to find that (of all things) a fraternity at CU (Alpha Epsilon Pi) actually brought me close to a Jewish community.

I quickly found a group of friends with whom I have a lot in common, and have spent countless hours just getting to know a whole great group of new people. I even miss them, and I've only been away from school for 7 days. The great thing about coming home, though, is that everyone is back in town. It's like it was this summer before we all moved away, except now we all have stories to share. People don't seem to have changed very much, though I know we all feel like we've changed tremendously. I think we'll start to see more of that as we spend more time away from home, discovering ourselves in a completely independent environment.

Thanksgiving was definitely a different experience. It's easier to appreciate home since I've been away from it. The friendships I've forged over the past years are suddenly more meaningful when I can come home and pick things up where they left off. But, as always, here's the list of things I'm thankful for:

~A loving family that has, without question, helped shape me into the person I am today--a family that has done their best by me and provided for me.

~A group of friends who seem always to be there. Whether I've known them three months or thirteen years, I've always had the best of luck with friends. I cannot wait to see how my old friendships continue across large distances; my developing friendships are blooming and I'm excited to see how I learn and grow with all of these new and wonderful people in my life.

~The opportunity to attend an institution of higher education. Many people do not get to experience this, and I'm grateful every day to call myself a student.

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving and you'll hear more from me when I'm back from Hell Month (also known as the weeks leading up to final exams).

Labels: college, family, friends, holidays, Thanksgiving

Any mildly observant individual can find errors in the use of language at every turn. I found two in the last 24 hours that I'd like to share.

I was in a grocery store (again) and saw a sign that said "Buy One, Get On Free". I understand that this is just a typo, but wow. The omission of one letter brings a completely new (and utterly bizarre) meaning to the sentence. There were people ALL OVER that sign.

The better one, however, was on a blog I was reading this morning. I would link it, but the writing is so poor, I often want to chop my arm off with an axe. Usually, the errors seem intentional (2day, 4ever, etc.). The post I read this morning misused the word "erroneously". Oh the irony.

I was in a supermarket today (and no, that's not the funny story). The woman on the loudspeaker was announcing the fact that they had fresh, hot French bread for sale in the bakery. Unfortunately, she slightly misspoke, and instead claimed that there were hot French beds in the bakery. My curiosity got the best of me; I visited the bakery. There were no linens in sight--only baguettes. Now Albertson's is just teasing me.

My other experience with word fun today was checking my spelling of the word "redundant" and found the following definition*:

re·dun·dant

1. Exceeding what is necessary or natural; superfluous.
2. Needlessly wordy or repetitive in expression: a student paper filled with redundant phrases.
3. Of or relating to linguistic redundancy.

I guess just one of those definitions would not suffice. Again, my love of irony allows me to find even dictionaries amusing.

*Source: Dictionary.com

Last night, Senator Joseph Lieberman lost the Democratic primary in Connecticut. Lieberman will now try to run as an independent candidate, which means Joe will likely split the Democrats at the polls and the seat will likely go to a Republican.

Normally, I'd be upset. This midterm election (the first election in which I can vote) is the perfect opportunity for the Democratic party to gain some seats in Congress and try to create some positive change before the end of this administration. However, the discontent directed toward Lieberman due to his support of the war is a harbinger of good things to come.

Moreover, as much as I want to see Democratic control of Congress, I believe in the process. The Democrats, who supported and elected the fairly conservative Lieberman, no longer feel as if he represents their interests well; therefore, they're no longer going to support his Senate bid. This is a good thing; this means the process is working correctly. Bravo.

I hope that the citizens of this country continue to demand accountability from the politicians who started and supported this war. Now that many are finally waking up to the reality that this administration has a flimsy justification for the war and absolutely no idea how to conduct it, it's time to convert discontent into action. The Democrats in Connecticut did so last night.