a new way of looking at...     life >> top 10 experiences for 2000

- info -
comments
contact

- navigation -
life
home
feedback

 		january 1st has no real significance to me other than an great excuse to party and as good a place as any to reflect on the year. this past year was a huge adjustment for myself in many ways, and a great number of things happened to me that i can't forget. most things revolve around music and philosophy, but there are other wonderful things that you will read. pardon me, lettermen, for stealing your flow. i'll give it back when i'm done. ::smile::

10. kettle moraine jazz festival - i'm in one of those transition periods that i don't quite understand. unlike most people my age in college who are living it up or going through their senior slump, i've been working full-time for the university, dealing with real-world issues in my own small microcosm. my taste in music is ever evolving, ranging less and less from mainstream, and more and more into the obscure and even that wasteland of music called adult contemporary. i don't quite know what's happening, but i like it very much. the kettle morraine jazz festival is a weekend (ok, two days) of jazz ranging from smooth jazz (joyce cooling) to nice piano jazz (david benoit) to jazz guitar (craig chaquico). i don't regret those days at all. besides being able to spend some wonderful time with my fiancee and eating all sorts of wonderful food, the atmosphere provided one of adult sophistication coupled with people smiling and genuinely having a good time. i can only hope something like this exists in denver.

9. american indian history - yeah, a class. i wish each and every one of you had the chance to take this class and get a frank look at the treatment of american indians from arrival to present day. the professor took us on a wonderful journey of facts and stories about different events that have taken place in our backyards. from the single highest mass execution on date (in minnesota) to current struggles for the recognition of treaty rights, my life was changed. for this class, i relished reading the multiple works (four entire books, in fact) and the research paper i wrote (the changing meaning of the kwakiutl potlatch) was one of my best yet. come to think of it, i'll post that on here somewhere. don't have a 'research' section yet. ::smile:: i implore you all, if you get a chance, to take a course in the history of the american indian. well worth your time and effort.

8. a trip to san francisco - recently, a good friend of mine moved out to san francisco to take a job at stanford university. after an invite to get out there over winter break, a desire to get away, and the need to deliver a housewarming gift, a friend and i (the friend later dropped out due to time constraints) made plans to head to san francisco. it was a five day trip (one spent travelling), but it was one of the best experiences of the year. the weather is amazing out there, rarely escaping the range of 60-85 degrees. the scenery is a drastic contrast to the flatlands of the midwest. the food is amazing, having entire menus devoted to the vegetarian. and most of all, the company was exquisite. we did everything from a comedy club to beach blanket babylon to an irish bar to a blues club to 1015 folsom. to top it all off, a new years eve performance by macy gray, george 'p-funk' clinton, and two hours of house music by the basement jaxx. great times.

7. philosophy club - being president of the philosophy club, i take special, selfish pride in our little group. this past semester, the group has grown considerably (nearly doubled in attendance) and put on a slew of events, including speakers on campus, movie nights, and our usual philosophy of pizza nights at rocky rococo's. but it's just philosophy! au contraire, monsiuer! this particular semester has given new meaning to the word, sparking this very website and allowing us to publish our newsletter of articles called 'mind focus', which p.a. may become the holder of given involvement later in life. in short, our club probably became the most active, per capita academic organization on campus. top that, whitewater!

6. self-destruction - no, i'm fine. sometime during the semester i woke up from a dream i was having involving a moonlight ride through the desert with someone hellbent on scoring drugs. the story twisted and morphed, throughout the day, into self-destruction, a story i had written that day in the morning, during breaks, and later that night at rocky's. it is eleven pages of uncut, thought-provoking drama that is a bit surreal at times and hits home pretty well. it did survive the first rounds at the shop (an online writing group) and revisions will be finished and resubmitted for approval very soon. if it passes the second round, up on project aristotle it goes. i cherish this work above all my others right now for it's rawness. i hope you will appreciate it as well.

5. friedrich nietzsche - if you couldn't tell by the site. nietzsche is another personal milestone for my life. i read nearly all his work (in english) and some of his notes. the purpose was twofold. one was that i wanted to do an independent study with a wonderful professor (and dare i say friend) in the philosophy department here at whitewater. the second is that i wanted to get used to reading philosophy for enjoyment, and not just in the classroom. the objective was to read the works and figure out a paper to write. after my thoughts about comparing the path to buddhist enlightenment with the path to the ubermensch, i realized that another work (a dissertation in fact) had accomplished this. so, i changed topics, got an extension, and will be finishing it up this week to turn on on monday. such is life. i relish every minute of it. and you thought philosophy was boring!

4. project aristotle - it started as a quiet thought in the back of my head. i was to create a website for everything that i loved, to help people start thinking again in some way or pushing their boundaries to see where they could go with a little nudging. the idea exploded into what you see today, and it's only a couple months old. i don't see myself turning my back on it at all. i see it growing and moving to a proper home, off geocities, once my last semester at whitewater finishes up. i see it become an outlet in which i am only posting ideas and thoughts from different people, and not contributing myself a whole lot. in short, it will grow and become what it was supposed to be, an idea coalescing into a very important foundation for things to come. more selfish pride, i know.

3. dimitri from paris - if you read my thoughts as dj pagan in the music section, you would understand why this was so important. dimitri showed me that dance music could be fun, appeal to all ages, and have quality. amazing. the mix set was my companion through the month of may (very important as you'll see) and was a gift that created another bridge between my father and me (he was once a chef at the playboy club in chicago). it also finally nudged me to buy turntables and become a dj, damn it. the focus changed, but the passion is still there thanks to him. he is my number one album for last year, for more selfish reasons than i care to expound upon. thank you dimitri for making me realize that music has quality.

2. adam rankin - a man who i share a room with in our apartment. someone who is willing to be an equal to my analness in cleaning, and lenient enough to forgive and forget. most importantly, a person who has been showing me over the past seven months that being christian need not be stereotypical and unforgiving, nor exclusionary. an active member in philosophy club, he contributed an educated, uncompromising christian position that challenged all the agnostics and athiests, making them see past the 'cause it's weak and stupid' argument. he changed my views about christianity by being merely him, and while i'll remain pagan to the day i die, i have a higher appreciation for the religion as a whole. thank you, adam, if you ever read this. ::smile::

1. joe gets engaged - it took a clever ruse that i was visiting a friend in la crosse, wi to pull off my dasterdly plan. on a weekend in may, i left whitewater for 'la crosse' and instead took her car south to visit her parents and get the blessing. the very next day, i called her and let her know that 'he was in ireland' and i had 'gotten the weekends wrong'. she felt bad, and i said i would like to do something fun, perhaps use that gift certificate in lake geneva, wi. she complied to ease my bummed heart. sucker! i raced out of the house and went to a number of jewlers looking for the perfect ring. of course, i found it. i purchased a 1/2 carat rock, jumped in the car, flipped on dimitri, and cruised back home, trying hard not to cry and look solemn at having been a fool. i got back, we went to lake geneva, and had to control my laughing while she complained about everything. it was cute. we went into downtown lake geneva, got some ice cream, and at the gazebo on the corner (you know where it is if you've been there), where my father remarried, i proposed in a fit of tears. yeah, i'm an emotional type, sue me. she was dumstruck, and the rest of the evening and weekend, we went to visit the family and show off the engagement. the ducks in lake geneva were very impressed by the ring. just ask them. number one by a long shot.