Writing 1010

          Well, it's official, my writing class is the most ridiculous class I've ever taken, high school or college. Don't get me wrong, I really like writing and the class isn't all that hard, but my professor is perhaps the strangest teacher I've ever had.
          It all started about a month ago when a couple students started to ask a couple questions about an article that we were reading. The questions they were asking were completely understandable, in my opinion. For some reason, the professor became incredibly defensive, almost like these students were attacking his own beliefs, which I can guarantee they weren't. It was super awkward for everyone that wasn't involved in the debate (more or less an argument).
          The second occasion happened actually during the next class. The professor called on a student that had been involved in the argument the class before to read what he had written down. Before the student had a chance to read, the professor gave the class a "warning"that this kid's paper made a bunch of allegations (which were obviously directed toward the professor). This little "warning" seriously pissed off this student, and he said that he refused to read what he had written down. This, in turn, pissed off the teacher, which made him set off a whole slew of cuss words. This isn't really the big deal, but I just thought it was funny because he really isn't the cussing type. Then he decided to get the rest of the class involved. He asked "the quiet kids" what they thought about this whole situation, and of course they had nothing to say. That's why they're quiet....Idiot. Anyways, some other girl decided to get up and leave. I guess she just didn't want to deal with this kind of drama in college. To be honest, I was pretty tempted to get out of there myself, but I figured I might miss any more interesting things if I left.
          The third and final incident happened today. It started out fairly normal, although nothing is really normal in that class anymore. A student named Devin walked into class about 3 minutes late. Before he had the chance to sit down, the professor asked Devin to come out into the hall for a second and, next thing I know, Devin comes storming back into the class yelling that the professor said that he can't be in here and that he has to leave. We never actually figured out why he wasn't supposed to be there. He wasn't failing and he hadn't missed too many classes, so we were definitely on his side. Eventually, since Devin decided to stay in the classroom, the professor actually called the cops to make him leave. So yeah, policemen came to class today to keep a student from going to class. Literally the dumbest thing I've ever witnessed.
          To top it all off, I really don't think I've even learned anything in that class. Seriously, all the things he "teaches" us are things I already knew.
          Alright well, after that little fiasco, I'm going to do a shameless plug for my brother Evan McHugh's new CD, entitled The World Will Move Along. If you've never listened to Evan before, then you're definitely missing out. He released his first CD about two years ago, and he's worked incredibly hard on this new one that was just released about a week or two ago. Seriously though, his songs are really well written and you'll find yourself singing them over and over again in your head. I guess his genre is kind of a mix of folk, jazz, and a little bit of pop. GO OUT AND GET HIS CD! Trust me on this one, its awesome (and I'm not just saying that because he's my brother, it's really good)



-Colby McHugh

Fall Break Can't Come Soon Enough

           With fall break starting tomorrow, a few of my professors decided that it would be a great idea to schedule not one, but TWO tests the day before we get out. Looks like I'm going to be staying up for quite some time studying for those two tests...To be honest though, I'm really only worried about one of those tests: College Algebra (otherwise known as the bane of my existence). The other one is a test in my Intro to Music class, which is pretty much a joke, considering I got a 108 on my first test, and a 99 on the second. Math is easily the class that I hate the most, so its definitely going to be the hardest class to make myself study for.

          In high school, I can't really say I seriously studied for any test, other than my Systematic Theology tests, where I didn't really have a choice. I also spent most of high school hearing from my parents, teachers, and anyone else who thought they knew anything about college that the tests in college would be SO much harder than any of the tests I ever took in high school. Allow me to give it to you straight: the tests in college are not, I repeat not, all that much harder than in high school. It's just a lot different than high school was and as soon as you start to get the hang of it, you'll realize that it's not a gigantic deal. Don't get me wrong, I'm studying a whole lot more than I ever did, but that's just because I feel more obliged to do so, considering this has quite an impact on what my future holds. But hey, maybe the classes I'm in are easier than others, or maybe MTSU is just not a hard school, but I'm just speaking to my own experience so far. I guess we'll just have to see if that changes in the next couple of years.

          So, to any person in high school that is really worried about how hard college is going to be (trust me, I know you kids are out there), don't worry. Just don't be an idiot in college and don't do stupid things and you'll do fine.

         To be honest, I don't even know if you guys even care about what music I've been listening to this week but, since its my blog and I can talk about whatever I want, I guess I'm going to keep doing it. I just like to help people listen to good music, that's all. I'm just sick of hearing crappy music from other people who think its good music just because its popular. I'm going to stop there because I don't want to start ranting anymore than I already am. Anyways, this week I came across a band that I had never heard of before called Sleeping At Last. One of their songs popped up on my shuffle, and I was blown away by it. As it turns out, I had almost two full cds of theirs on my ipod. There is one word that I would use to describe their music: beautiful. The songs are literally like poems put to music, with the singer having an almost fragile voice that expresses his heart and soul through those lyrics. They are some of the most beautifully written songs I've heard in quite some time, and I really haven't been able to stop listening to them since I heard that song. In terms of their cds, either Storyboards or Keep No Score are definitely their best ones. Pretty much any song on either cd is awesome.

          On a different note, I was hoping you guys could help me out with something. As much as I love doing this blog and just writing in general, I really want to find another outlet for my writing, but I don't really know where to look. So if you guys have any suggestions as to what those outlets might be, I'd be very glad to hear any of them. I'm still going to do my blog, but I just kind of want to see what other stuff is out there. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

-Colby McHugh

The Bitter Taste Of Defeat...

          So I just got back from the championship of our indoor baseball intramural league. Unfortunately, my team, Da Burninators! (in reference to Homestar Runner....p.s. anyone who already knew that gets at least 10 cool points in my book) lost in the final game. What makes it so much worse is that we had already  beaten the team we lost to once. I know that it really doesn't seem like a big deal...I mean it IS just an indoor baseball game at a college that nobody's even heard of, but I'm still super competitive and I hate losing almost more than anything. Don't worry, I'm not one of those guys who throws a temper tantrum anytime I lose. I'm a good loser on the outside, but on the inside, I'm pretty pissed about it. 

         I like to think I got my desire to win from my brothers. I grew up just getting destroyed in pretty much every possible sport/game you could imagine. Seriously, you name it, I got beat in it when I was a kid. I think that it got to the point where I really didn't want to even play anything against them anymore because I knew I was going to lose. But then, as if out of nowhere, I started to actually be pretty good at certain things. Of course, those things happened to be video games when I was a kid. My brother Evan and me used to literally spend hours playing Super Smash Bros, because he was convinced that he was just ONE game away from beating me (in his words). He hardly ever beat me, of course.

          But my shining moment came when I was finally able to beat my brothers in our favorite pastime as a family: PING PONG. I remember it like it was yesterday. We were playing in our basement (which was more or less a dungeon) and I happened to be beating him. I distinctly remember thinking, "hm, this is weird, why aren't I losing?". Then the happiest moment of my life happened: I beat Evan McHugh in a game of ping pong. The world must be ending, I thought. Of course, Evan threw a bit of a hissy fit, slamming his paddle on the table and anything else in his vicinity. I didn't say anything to him for a solid couple of hours, just because I was scared he would punch me, which was a pretty valid fear. Since that moment, the three of us have all been pretty much equal when it comes to ping pong. Obviously, I like to think that I'm better than them, but I'll be honest, they beat me every once in a while...if they're lucky.

           I've been listening to a band called Mike Mains and The Branches pretty much nonstop for the last few weeks. I can't take any of the credit in saying I found this band or anything, because ALL the credit goes to a friend of mine named Michael Dean. He randomly showed us this song by them called "Stereo" and pretty much since then its been stuck in my head. Basically, they're a band that writes catchy pop-rock songs, but still have those songs that are incredibly well written and do an amazing job of tugging at your heart strings. Check them out and let me know if you like them as much as I do!

BURNINATORS ALL THE WAY!!!

          -Colby McHugh