Routines

          Now that I've gotten used to the whole college deal, I, like most people have developed a routine for most days. They mostly start off with my alarm clock going off and ruining a perfectly good dream. Then, I literally have to convince myself that going to class is a better option than sleeping some more (seriously, this is a daily thing), when going to class is CLEARLY not a better option than sleeping in, at least to a brain that is way too tired to even think straight. After this whole ordeal, I head off to class and sit through a typically boring lecture. But the real routine begins after classes end. For instance, after my math class ends, and I start walking to my Music Appreciation class, I always see the exact same guy standing in the exact same place smoking a cigarette. He's literally there every single time I'm there. Weird, I know.
          You're probably thinking, "Well that's not all that interesting...". Well, That's only the beginning. Every thursday, after my incredibly boring Geology class, I always see some guy standing in a big field, playing the bagpipe. Now if that isn't awesome, then I really don't know what is. It's like I'm living Braveheart or something. Another quite humorous thing I notice every once in a while is that there is normally another guy practicing his bo staff skills. The thing about him is the fact that he's not all that great at it...which is hilarious/ridiculous.
         On a completely irrelevant note, I went to White Castle for the first time this weekend. Let's just say it was an experience, to say the least. First of all, instead of asking for my pin number when I paid for my food, they asked for my "secret code". Now I'm not sure, but that might be the sketchiest thing I've ever heard. Second, the food tasted like a third grader cooked it in an Easy Bake Oven. Judging by the experience we had, me and a few of my friends came up with a couple of slogans that White Castle should definitely consider:
"White Castle: It's worth a try!"
"White Castle: It's not dirt!"
"White Castle: It's almost better than nothing!"
If you guys come up with any slogans worth mentioning, I would love to hear them!

          Anyways, I've been listening to The Bridges a lot this week. If you know me pretty well, then you have probably heard me talk about them sometime. I've seen them live and they're just as good, if not better, live than on the CD. They're an all girl band (except for the drummer) that likes to make catchy pop songs that tend to stick in your head and have you humming them all day. Normally, I would never suggest a pop band to you guys, but The Bridges really are an awesome one. They love 3 and 4 part harmonies that sound incredible. I compare them to a happier version of Eisley, if you have heard of them. Let me know what you think!

-Colby McHugh

My New Favorite Hobby

          Since I've been to MTSU, I've realized that, whenever I'm walking to my classes or my dorm or wherever, I tend to eavesdrop on nearly everybody that I walk past. And I walk past hundreds of people each and every time I walk anywhere. As creepy as that sounds, I promise I'm not a stalker at all. I just can't help it, my ears just force themselves to listen in on other people's conversation. Most people like to do a little something I like to call people watch. I People Listen. Now don't get me wrong, I like to do my fair share of people watching, I think I just enjoy listening a little more. Its almost like, whenever I People Listen, I become a part of that person's life for a split second, and then I move on to the next person, all in the time span of a heart-beat. Crazy, I know, but its become my new favorite past time.
         There's another thing thats kind of like people listening that I like to do. I've realized that probably close to 75% of the people that I walk past aren't actually talking to anyone, but instead listening to their ipods. Whenever I see this, I always find myself wondering what they're listening to just because I've always been interested in what music other people like. Once again, I can't help it. I'm just curious. Obviously, I'm not going to just go up to them and ask what they're listening to because that's just kind of weird. I mean think about it, you're just walking to your class, listening to your music, and minding your own business when, out of nowhere, some creepy guy comes up and asks you what you're listening to. I bit strange, to say the least. Every once in a while, I get lucky and actually hear the music playing, because it is so loud. Most of the time, I don't even know what the song is, I just like listening, even if its just for that split second before I move on to the next person.
          The next time you find yourself walking past a ton of people, try it and let me know if its as interesting as I like to think it is. If you disagree with me and think i'm just a creepy weirdo that likes to eavesdrop on other people, then bring that on too. I want to hear any and all feedback, good or bad.
          Just in case you were curious as to what kind of music I've been listening to a lot of this week, you're in luck because I just so happen to be willing to tell you guys. I've been listening to a guy by the name of Joshua James. More specifically, his newest cd entitled Build Me This. He's an extremely talented and passionate folk singer/songwriter. He is one of the best writers I've heard in quite some time. His songs really do just paint pictures of how he feels, and its obvious that he really cares about what he writes because you can literally feel the passion in his voice in all his songs. Normally, I would tell you guys to listen to a certain song or two from that cd, but all of them are really REALLY good. Check it out. You won't be disappointed, I promise
          As always, let me know if you like my music choice or not. I'm always interested to know what you guys think.

Colby McHugh

Classes...plus some other more interesting stuff

          Don't worry, I'm not going to do a whole blog on my classes simply because I want whoever is nice enough to read these blogs to keep reading them. So i'm going to throw some cooler things in this. In my first post, I mentioned that I now have the freedom to skip class whenever I feel like it. I haven't necessarily "skipped" any yet...but I may have missed my second College Algebra class due to me looking at my schedule wrong and thinking I could sleep in a little bit. Don't judge me, it could happen to anyone.

          I'm taking an Intro to Earth Sciences class too. I figured that sounded pretty interesting...then I realized that Earth Sciences is another term for Geology. Yep, I'm learning about rocks. Awesome. So far, its been everything I expected learning about rocks would be. I can't even pronounce my professor's last name, and my lab teacher is the female version of my old physics teacher, Mr. Bruce. (for all you non-Providence people, Mr. Bruce was one of the strangest, and surprisingly enough, dumbest teachers I've ever had). My English teacher looks exactly like Robin Williams, but he is probably more spacey than any other teacher I've had in my past. 

         So far, there are only two classes that I have really had any interest in: Music Appreciation and American Media. I'm a fan of Music Appreciation because I just want to learn a little bit about music, so at least I can say I have at least a decent amount of knowledge, even though I can't play any instrument or sing at all. Don't get me wrong, I love singing, just only in the car or in the shower, where normal people can't hear me. My professor for that class has a ponytail down to his butt. I shouldn't have to say anything else... I actually really like my American Media class so far even though, in only 4 classes, I have like 10 pages of notes. The professor is a really knowledgeable guy, who doesn't really act like any teacher I've had in the past. He likes to cuss a lot in class, which isn't really a big deal to me. I knew I would like him when he said what we'd be doing in his class: we would be "building up our bullshit filters" so that we would be able to discern from the garbage in our media and the actually good stuff. Exact words, I swear. The thing I liked was that I feel like I've had my filter up for a pretty good while now, or at least so I've hoped. I guess we'll find out soon.

         Now, onto something that is hopefully a little more interesting than how my classes are going. If any of you guys are curious as to what music I've had stuck in my head all week, I've been listening to The Temper Trap and Tyler James like crazy. The Temper Trap is a really cool band that doesn't really sound like anything I can think of which, in my opinion, is always a good thing. Tyler James is a Nashville based singer-songwriter along the same lines as Ryan Adams, in terms of voice and style. Anyways, I know you guys were probably really wondering what I was listening to, but sorry that I enjoy helping people find new and awesome music. Let me know if you think my choices are stupid or if you actually looked them up and liked them. I'm curious as to what you think.

         -Colby McHugh

Little Fish in a Big Pond

              So, after spending pretty much my life in a pretty small private school in Atlanta, where everyone knew everyone, I couldn't wait to get to a big college and meet new people for the first time in years. In high school, I would literally walk down the halls and know probably 75 percent of the people I saw. When I walk to class here at MTSU, I get lucky if i see even one person I know.
              Its not that I hated knowing everyone by any means; I actually enjoyed it, in fact. Its just that, when I went to Providence, there's a certain "Providence bubble" which a person can very easily become trapped in. I was pretty much in the bubble because I really didn't have any friends outside of Providence. Now don't get me wrong, I had plenty of friends there, but I was still really excited about the opportunity I would have to create a sort of new surrounding for myself.
             It's been a week since I began college, and I've already found myself a solid group of friends that I really enjoy being around. Honestly, I'm surprised that I was able to find some really cool people so fast. I thought it would have to take some time to make friends but its actually been fairly easy. I thought it would take a while because, in case you don't know me personally, allow me to tell you a little fact about me: when I first meet someone, I tend to be incredibly awkward. Now, I can pretend to be cool when I meet people, but I run out of things to talk about REALLY fast. That's when it gets weird. Especially if it just so happens to be a cute girl. Awesome right? Right.
              Surprisingly enough though, my awkwardness has kind of taken a back seat since I've been here. For some really weird reason, I'm actually able to make myself at least seem like I'm cool enough to hang out with. Who knows how I was able to make this happen... I think that I've been able to put away my weirdness by embracing it. As weird as that sounds, I think that's how I've been able to do it. That would be my advice to anyone reading this (that is, if people actually read this). Just embrace who you are, and you'll be able to find people who'll like you for who you are, and not care about what you think your faults are. What you DON'T need to do is try to be someone you aren't. I tried that for a while back in the day, and nothing really good came out of it. Just be yourself, and cool people will always find you. Yeah, its that easy.

        -Colby McHugh