Over There

August 12, 2008. Technically it's the 13th of August, since it's late enough. But you know I don't buy into all that nonsense. Sure, it makes the calendars run, but I'm still functioning on Tuesday. So I'm calling it Tuesday.

I don't have a ton to say right now. I'm not overflowing with ideas of emotions like I was the last few times. I do want to say, however, how much I really and truly appreciate all the comments I received on my last post. It always makes me feel good. I know it's sort of one of those shallow things, you know, feeling good because of an outward display that someone else gave- but it's still a big deal to me. I really appreciate the comments.

Life has an interesting way of moving forward. I am not where I was three months ago. This summer has been unique in a million ways. It was not what I expected. I don't regret what has happened. I understand, of course, that I have performed poorly in a few things, and that my growth has been slowed by that. Off the top of my head, I'm terrible at coming to work. I miss a few hours every day because I sleep in. I'm working in an environment where that's acceptable, but it has certainly hindered my progression. I'm not complaining, but I'm just pointing out the fact that it's less than optimal. It is the past. If I were to go back, I'd like to change that.

I just got done talking with Jason. Jason's one of those people in my life that I like a lot more than I have any real reason to. Or, maybe that's not it, since I have a ton of material to back Jason up with. He's one of those guys that I've been through a lot with. And even though he hasn't been in the core group of people I've hung out with for the past couple years, he still ranks super high on my list of people I respect.

He's sort of, disproportionately admired, if that makes sense. One of those fellows I don't hang out with or even talk to too often, but when I do, I'm just happy to be talking with them cause they're so dang cool. There's a couple of people like that in my life. Jaron's one of them (ha, good for you Jaron, since I know you're reading). I was going to actually write a tribute to Jaron earlier this summer. I might still do it, we'll have to see.

Moral of the story? I really had a great time talking with Jason tonight. I feel refreshed, and ready to go face the world. I wanna go overachieve.

And so I'm announcing that plan that I talked about in my last post but didn't announce. It's sort of a big deal to me.

31 day blogaday. August 19th to September 19th. Astute readers will immediately notice a few pertinent facts about the date range. That's the first month of my college life. Day one to day 31. It's also about 1000% more postage than I've done this summer. Recent trends in my blogging behavior wouldn't suggest that I'd be able to make it happen, but I believe in it.

See, blogging teaches me about myself. It's a tool for me to discover and learn and then to make it stick. I think that that's why I'm going to college, to learn and to grow. This is a way for me to do that. It's like taking a sandwich that's already great and then making it even greater by throwing some tomatoes on it. Yeah, college is going to teach me stuff, but blogging is going to help me learn more about it and about myself. And it's going to help me make it stick. Yes, this is going to be good for me.

So, 31 days. One month. That's the biggest blogaday I've ever undertaken. I've done a week before, I think twice. I did the 20 day blogaday marathon, which was so intense. This time around I'm shooting even higher. Do you realize that that's a twelfth of a year? That's huge. That's monumental. Ha, monumental means more to me since my last post, isn't that cool?

So, that's the plan. I hope you're happy and not upset about the decision. Thirty-one days is a very long time to blog without losing a day. So, comments are always appreciated, as always. In addition, if there's something you'd like to see a post about, feel free to make a request, and I'd love to address it. I don't think that I'll make a post strictly dedicated to that topic, but I'd really love to talk about it for a while.

Jason told me that I should do a reader request feature, so here I am. Even before blogaday, if there's something you'd like to see, I'm leaving it open in the comments here. I'll do my very best to address it. I don't really expect anything from this, but I'm leaving the offer on the table. I do love my community, as you know.

So that's the good news of the evening. Thirty-one day blogaday, I'm really just excited about it. If anyone is interested in taking the challenge and doing the 31 day marathon with me, I'd love to have a blogging buddy or two (or three, or several). It'd be a great way for us to kick off our distributed college experiences.

It's something that I'm committed to doing. I know it'll be incredibly difficult. The first couple days I might even have to blog from campus, since it'll take a bit to get the apartment hooked up with a good connection. But it's cool, I'm going to do it. I'm not sure what'll come out, but I'm excited about it. Hey, we'll take it as it comes, like we always have, right?

So, yeah. Blogaday is coming. And requests are open, if you'd like to request something. Anything else on the docket? Nah, just that I want to work harder. I want to move forward with life. It seems I've been having trouble with that lately. I just need to, you know, do it. I don't like pop culture, and I hate to use a popular term that I don't know much about, but I'm loving the "do work" idea. There's truth there, I like it.

For a post that was very limited on deep thoughts and heavy on announcements, this is pretty much the end. I hope things are going well for you all. I think we all need some help. And I think we all have a lot of help we can give each other. So, let's do it, right?