WHO IS YOUR SECRET AUDIENCE?

Who is your secret audience? Sometimes when I am playing guitar I imagine my high school math teacher sitting right there, or maybe an old scout leader who I lost contact with, maybe even an ex-girlfriend. Sometimes when I am writing a paper I think about writing it to an old teacher or some professor that I had a profound respect for. I think that everyone writes to a secret audience or performs for a secret person. Is there always someone you are trying to impress other than yourself? Do you keep it a secret? Do you ever wish that people would just automatically know who you are and where you are coming from?

Get the Word Out!

The Quiet Landing wants to get the word out with your help, we are a SJC band and we want to get shows on campus. If you have any ideas, let me know, we would really appreciate it. We play for free or for whatever we just like to play!

Baum's Bridge Last Sunday

Last Sunday, the band played at Baumb's Bridge again and it was off the hook! Its always good never boring. Some guy got so drunk he fell off the bar and hit his head, in 10 mins there were 2 ambulances and emergency vehicles and lots of drama. We stopped in the middle of our set because we didn't want to be a distraction but we resumed play as soon as they took that guy out of there. It was great, and like always, the band gets free booze!

Haunted Fear Grounds Lafeyette, IN

I went to a haunted house at the Lafayette fairgrounds last Friday. It was in the livestock and expo buildings at the actual fair grounds. The haunted house was put on by the dance and performance troupe hailing from Lafayette Jefferson High school. The students did such an excellent job. I had so much fun, and the decorations were so surreal. Everything was impeccable and the students got into their roles and really made you forget about reality for a moment. People were jumping out from garbage cans, startling the hell out of you in tight spots, waiting at your feet and just really doing their best to creep out all of the visitors. It only cost 10 bucks to get in and we waited for about 45 minutes to get in. It took a little over a half an hour to get through the entire experience. It was worth all of the effort. The first thing that they had us do was go into a completely black room with absolutely no light, and told us to have a seat. It was kind of a joke when they told us this because we had such a hard time finding the actual seats. We were in there for about 10 minutes and then we left and the strobe lights were so intense after our eyes had adjusted to the darkness. They made me dizzy. The most amazing part of the haunted house was a long catwalk that went through two large rotating tubes. One rotated clockwise around the walkers and catwalk and the other counterclockwise there was also a mirror at the end of the walk. The rotating tubes had blacklight painted symbols and they combination of all of these spectacles created the feeling of falling end over end. It really felt like the catwalk was turning over and we were going with it, if you looked at the ground the "illusion" went away but as soon as you looked up, it was back to ultimate seasickness.

Quiet Landing: First Show of the Season

This weekend was so great. I had practice with my band and we had an impromptu invitation to play at a local bar in Kouts. We played at Baum's Bridge for about 2 hours and had a great time. Our band had some SJC students come watch us as well as some family members that came out and had fun too. We played some Johnny Cash, Cream, Dave Matthews, Hendrix, Oasis, Weezer, Raconteurs and CCR. The dance floor was packed and the crowd was really into what we were doing. There is no greater feeling than being a part of mutual energy, and feeding off the energy that everyone is emitting. We didn't make any money but beers were on the house for us and whoever was with us. If you are looking for something to do on Sunday evening, look no further and come support your local band, The Quiet Landing. We will do anything for the sake of playing and entertaining, we will play any party as long as it is "legit". If you ever have a need for live music we will not disappoint. We take music suggestions and try to play what people want to hear.

Last Child in the Woods

This is a great book that I have been reading by Richard Louv. The book describes what the author calls "Nature Deficit Disorder". This so called disorder is based on the fact that people do not spend as much time with nature as they used to and many problems stem from this deficit. Americans are overstimulated and too reliant on material things to bring them happiness and to solve their problems. One quote from the book is from a child who says "I like to play indoors better because that is where all the electrical outlets are." I think that this is unbelievable but totally true. I feel this way, and I am a strong advocate of getting children outside and promoting outdoors activities. I am an avid fisherman, and I have been since middle school. I was an Eagle Scout in the DeMotte Troop 157. I have spent the night outside in all conditions including sub zero temperatures, blizzards, downpours and sweltering heat. I don't think people spend enough time doing things like this. Organized sports are great but the emphasis is on the sport not on the relationship with nature. Too many people have never seen an animal carcass go through processing. People have lost the relationship between what they eat and how it gets to the dinner table.

Our basic needs have been fulfilled since the beginning of time and now people are depending too much on the highly advanced and civilized world that surrounds us all. People don't realize the higher order thinking and problem solving that goes hand in hand with playing outside as children. Building shelters, going camping, cooking outdoors, imagination, and observation all serve as problem based learning that can be done through communion with nature. All in all this is just some things to think about while you ride in a car and watch tv while you are doing it on the way home or when you go somewhere with your parents. Keep your head up and your eyes open. Try to notice what is going on in your environment.

The Quiet Landing

The Quiet Landing is my Rock and Roll band. We started practicing again this week. We are looking to have some more shows on campus like we did last year. We have been practicing so many different genres lately: country, folk, rock, hip hop. We are influenced by the following artists: Weezer, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Clapton, Raconteurs, White Stripes, Counting Crows, Bob Dylan, CCR, Nirvana, P. Diddy lol!, Beatles, Allman Brothers, Oasis, Joe Cocker, Smashing Pumpkins, The Shondells, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Verve Pipe, Everclear, bud lite and beyond. I will be sure to alert the Blogosphere when we decide on show dates, but for now we practice in the choir practice room on the top floor of the Science Bldg. We are looking for someone with similar and different interests to play organ and keyboard. The band contains two guitar players, vocalist, bassist and a drummer. We are looking to play to benefit any organization. If you have any ideas let me know. We are willing to travel to fulfill these needs.

Core 9 Message

Ok. One thing that I know I have gotten out of Core 9 is that we need to do good things to maintain our identity. Its the biblical message that we should look out for one another and do what we can for other people. Could we be judged someday by our actions toward others? I think that anyone who reads my blog today should go out and do something out of the kindness of their heart and then leave a comment on how it changed their day, or if it did anything at all. I think it would be interesting to see what really happens on a casual level. We owe it to our brothers and sisters.

Say What?

Who is Jesus Christ? Why are we getting graded on how we put together our ideas for Core 9? It seems strange that we get graded on spiritual growth, or what it seems to be. Has anyone ever been exposed to Catholic School elsewhere? Is this how its supposed to happen?

I don't think that there should be grades in school. I think that teachers should write a developmental narritive on each of their students, at midterms and at the end of a semester. All papers should be graded according to the commentary and tests should be short answer and graded the same way. Don't you think this would be a better system for all schools across the country? High schools, elementary schools?

I don't think there should be homework, but longer time to work together in classes. If assignments are done together we would have more of a sense of comunity. The assment would be the determining factor not the group work.

I think kids get a.d.d because they don't spend enough time alone in the woods.

A Realization

Last week I had a conversation about school with my friend Steve. Steve is a pretty well to do young man about my age. He decided that he didn't want to go to college after high school. He says that he will go someday, but right now he has decided to enter the real estate business. We were sitting on my porch on a Saturday afternoon drinking beer and I was bitching and complaining about school: my 400 level English class and how I haven't had any English classes since freshmen year, my Doc Ryan class that driving me crazy, and a few other things that I just felt like getting off of my chest. He started to say that he wanted to go to school someday but he just wasn't ready for it now. I think that I made the best decision by going to college right after high school, but the decisions I have made since then have been under investigation...I told Steve about how much school sucked and how I can't believe I am going to be a teacher when I feel like I can barely learn. Then he said something that has made me think long and hard about what is really going on. He said,"Man, aren't you excited about being a teacher? You have been doing this for almost four years and you are going to be making good money for living at home. You get to be around kids and you get to have fun. You won't be rich, but you will be making more money than you ever had at any of your bullshit jobs."

I guess I have been getting too wrapped up into thinking about what my cooperating teachers will think of me, how my cooperating principal will scrutinize me, kids that won't listen, yada yada yada. Its alot to think about. The rest of your life? That is insane, I had no clue what a major or minor entailed when I first entered college nor did I realize my situation as a commuter would be drastically different from that of the residents on campus, but I made those decisions and now graduation is getting close and who knows what will await on the other end.....

North Carolina

The time has come to sign up for the Habitat for Humanity trip to North Carolina. It is going to be so great. I always look forward to getting out of Indiana. I can hardly stand it right now, Thanksgiving break will not get here fast enough. There are so many skills to learn and so many new people to meet through Habitat. I went on the trip last year and had a blast. Our group put shingles on a whole house, we also began to run the electrical wires when we needed to work inside due to weather on the last day. I got to see the ocean, and it was truly amazing. I always thought it would be just like lake Michigan, but it is so much more powerful than that. It was like 50 degrees out and one of our group members decided it would be a great idea for them to jump in for a quick dip. Probably not the best idea but it was all in fun. We got to sleep on army cots at a construction depot that doubled as a used housewares store. We got crazy at night an rode around on an automatic pallet jack as well as went on treasure hunts throughout the store. I think that we drove our sponsor crazy. All in all it was a great life experience that I will never forget and I feel privileged to be able to go again this year.

Across the Universe: My Opinion

Across the Universe is a musical about the 50's and 60's that contains all Beatle songs. All of the Characters in the movie have names from Beatles's songs, which is definitely essential to the tone of this story. It is a love story about a bunch of hippies and they sing and dance to the whole thing, which I guess is why it is a musical. I don't want to give to much away, this movie was great and I had a great time when I went to see it. I went with some other Beatle enthusiasts that really enjoyed it as well. The critics didn't like it, probably because they were judging it from a different standpoint than we were. I liked how the words of the songs were extremely appropriate for the things that were happening in the story. The special effects and the colors used are amazing. The costumes are more of a contemporary interpretation of the hippie, beat nick style. There are many innuendos relating to the pop culture of the time and anyone familiar with the Pranksters and the Cafe Wha? amongst other things are in for a laugh. There were a lot of new twists on the original Beatle songs, some where sang unaccompanied, some where sped up, some where slowed down, and some were sang by Bono. The movie was a great audiovisual experience and if you like Beatle songs and have a taste for the Hippie era you will love this film.

Top Ten Things I Hate About Commuting To SJC

10. People who drive 70 mph in the left lane.
9. Bad weather, and waking up extra early to see if there is a blizzard out.
8. Driving to school when public schools are closed for fog delays.
7. Tractors that drive on county roads that go super slow and are impassable.
6. Not being able to go home during long breaks during the school day in between classes.
5. Semis that pass each other when one is going 65 mph and the passing semi is going 68 mph.
4. Waking up an hour and a half earlier than everyone else to get to school on time, especially when my classes start at 7:35 a.m.
3. Waking up extra early to check the weather when it is bad.
2. Shelling out tons of cash to pay for gas each week.
1. Being ask to drive classmates to field trips further out of town.

Cigarette Threesome

Ok so I have been reading a lot of blogs and just can't help but notice the personal nature that some of them have taken on. I like that about blogs. What do you like about them? It is so great to be able to sit down and plow through other people's thoughts. I can say, "Oh what a shallow person you are!", or I can say,"How did you ever make it through high school being such an idiot?" Here is a real good one, "Way to work out your social problems through writing an online core paper that you have called a blog entry!" Should we hold the same ethical standards in our online personality as in real life? Maybe if this was one in the medical field and we were comparing cancer cure test studies, but for now lets have a blast! We can never tell when people are being honest anyway. This could be a lot of fun if you were totally anonymous but hey lets face it, this is for a class. There are also computer hackers that could probably figure it out too. Maybe they will come to your house. When you have a blog that can be about whatever you want what should we write about? I am going to write about smoking cigarettes right now.

I quit smoking all summer and now here I am smoking again. "Dam you Philip Morris! R.J. Reynolds go to hell!" I think that it is really funny how tobacco companies have little quit smoking informative packets wrapped underneath the cellophane. Its like you have to open the pack to get to them. There is no other reason to open a pack of cigarettes unless you are gonna start smoking them. I think marketing and add wizards study more psychology and behaviorism than teachers and pschologists put together. Why? Because they make more money. They act like they are trying to inform the public, "Quitting smoking now greatly reduces your health risks." Hey thanks alot Einstien you are a fucking genious, way to solve the world's problems. You are as informative as CNN. I just think that money is the root of most evil. It doesn't cost anything to masterbate!

Joe Camel, the Marlboro Man, and the Zig Zag Man are all probably having a threesome in an expensive hotel that I helped pay for. You can put that on Post Secret.

Peace

Am I the only one?

Am I the only one who thinks it is a huge stress out to students to give them a test or quiz at the end of a class period? I get so nervous when I have to sit and wait while the teacher is trying to teach the class. Paying attention should be the first priority, but that is deferred when you have to worry about the upcoming part of your grade. Sometimes I will sit and study a little extra instead of just listening but who wouldn't? I am going to be a teacher, and dam it I am going to give my quizes and tests first thing so that my students don't waist time studying or cramming before hand. I am not trying to rip on educators out there but am simply stating my opinion. This has happened to me like 5 times this semester and it is drivin me nuts.

EVIL

What is evil? How can we describe something that is not tangible? It is hard to come up with a definition of this word because there are so many different viewpoints that try to interpret what it really is. There are a lot of questions that we can ask that help us get a better grasp on this abstract noun. Evil is not like Communism or Catholicism, we can not draw a picture of evil. I know that my idea of evil is usually brought on by a sin. I feel guilt when I do evil. Evil is very real to me, like the black in black and white. I think that evil is the opposite of good and it has to be done by a person. Some people can do evil without knowing it, I am sure that Hitler saw nothing wrong with what he did. I think that evil is hard to define, but it is necessary in the world.

Get it Done

I am engaged in a battle with my list of assignments. It is very slow going. Can anyone relate? My reward is feeling accomplished when I cross one more off my list. Everyone knows that around the third week of school the tests come. Due dates awake from their comas and become a part of conscious reality. That is all I can think about and that our teacher's blog says fuck in it.

About me.

This blog is called Little Al's spot because my parents' friends used to call me that when I was young. I was little Al, and my dad was big Al. It is the first thing that came into my head. My first blog post is pretty heavy but I thought it would make for some interesting feedback. I am in college studying education, I would like to be a teacher someday. I really like animals, I have been thinking about getting a dog but I don't know if I am responsible enough. I like to fish for all different species of fish. Nothing beats a good day out on the water catching fish with some buddies. I also enjoy playing guitar,I learned how to use a slide in open A tuning this summer. Music has always been important to me. I enjoy a game of poker here and there, and my drink of choice is beer. I am open to any kind of conversation, I like to talk about life experiences with people they are always unique. It is always entertaining and enlightening to be able to relate to someone, or some experience they had. I like to tell stories when I can think of good ones to tell.

What Dreams May Come (True)

Last Friday was my payday. I just started school, and this was my last big check before I started working weekends. Let me tell you about a dream I had before I went to pick up my check. The dream goes: I went to my bank to cash my check, but my friend was working there who lives in far away Bloomington about 3 hours from where I live, strange. I hand her my check and she does the usual paper shuffle and types information into her computer. She says to me,"You have making some good money lately haven't you?" She counts out $1,500 and hands it over to me. She says, "You are going to give me some of that right?" Right after this, I wake up and I could actually remember this whole part. The memory was still very vivid and fresh in my mind even after I showered and ate breakfast. I forget about this and go about my normal day.

I get in my truck and decide it would be good to go pick up my paycheck before I go to school. I go to the golf course where I work and my boss gives me the check. I head towards school and open the check while I am on the road. Can you guess what happened? I HAD A CHECK FOR $1,286.34. I only make $8.00 an hour, there was obviously some kind of mistake. They payed my overtime at about $75/hour, therein lies the mistake. I am running almost late for class so I went to class and then called my boss afterword to get this all straightened out. I could care less about the company that I work for but its not my style to lie or steal.

I just can't believe that this happened to me. Is it coincidence? Am I being superstitious when I wonder if there was some type of paranormal connection? Has something like this ever happened to you? This is not the only time that this has happened to me. When I was younger, and in grade school, I had a dream that the Pope died . When I woke up in the morning I watched WGN news as I always did with my mother before school, and low and behold Cardinal Bernadine of Chicago had been pronounced dead. I have carried this around with me for a long time, and it is just really strange.

I have one last story that I want to get off my chest. This is very serious, and deals with a serious issue. I had another dream the night before last, except this one disturbed me. I used to know someone that I considered a very good friend. We used to hang out together and we were into alot of different things. My parents were getting divorced and he was there for me when I needed him so if you can relate to this you know what kind of relationship could have evolved from these circumstances. We had matching tatoos and he made me tell him that I loved him when I talked on the phone, he was heterosexual to the best of my knowledge as I have always been. He died last November and I carried his casket among his family when he was laid to rest.

The dream:
I had drempt that I was riding around in a car with some old friends that I knew from highschool. We were in a town about 20mins. east of my town. One minute, we were all having a good time then all of a sudden it is just me and my recently departed friend in the car. The next second, we are in the back seat and he his choking me, violently strangling me. I remember every detail in his face, the image is frozen in my mind, his lipring and wild hair with his lanky arms covered in rock and roll tattoos around my neck. I got out of the car and got to a house that I knew and told someone in there that I would give them $20 to take me home right away. I just wanted to go home. Dreams just happen in bits and pieces sometimes, and they don't make perfect sense.

I found out the day after that dream that one of my friends(not the recently deceased) had raped a girl last year....in the backseat of a car. I never knew this, and I hung out with him since then and we were buddies. What do I do now? I just wanted to go home. I found out some other nasty rumors that were going around and then I had a fight with my girlfriend. In between arguments she said that her ex ruined her life.

I carried his casket last November.