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| I left my dorm today to go to my marketing class. It started to downpour. But strangely I was okay with it. Sure I was soaking wet, sure some of my homework was damp, but it was warm out. There was thunder. And lightning. And my day just seemed better because of it.
It doesn't feel like there are only 3 weeks left of class. So soon? Yet it seems so long. I feel tired. Or maybe even numb. Kind of like, doing the same things for so long. The summer can't come soon enough. Time to relax. And yet... I'll miss this place for a few months. The big university is a welcome experience. I enjoy learning and meeting new people and especially enjoy being with the people I have met already. Sometimes I can't help but think though... that I feel a little bit like I am living in a bubble. Everyday, the same thing. Not bad things though.
I feel as though I don't take myself seriously enough in the things I need to, and am too serious about things that shouldn't be. Do I lose credibility because of my name? I have a sneaking suspicion.
This weekend was great! Friday I went to a going away party/birthday party.
Saturday I got to spend an entire day with Lesley  We left for Indiana early in the morning because she is a baton twirling judge, and there was a competition that was in need to be judged. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, what with being a guy and going to a largely female sporting event. But it turned out to be a really fun day! I got to be apart of what she has spent so much of her life doing. Learned a bit about something I had never known anything about. I was just so happy to be with her  After the competition and the drive home, we got some dinner, and then went out with friends and saw "21" at the theater. Finally, we went to a coffee shop with everyone. All in all... a wonderful day.
Alright. I'm out.
-Ryan
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| FebruaryChristmas is coming. That was the last thing I wrote on here. Crazy how time flies. It may be cliche but it is true. It is already Monday night. Which means it's time for another busy Tuesday and Wednesday that will fly by, and before you know it... The semester will be over. Or maybe it'll be beginning next fall. Who knows with the frequency that I write? So the Spring Semester at Western Michigan has been an unbelievable one. 5 Classes a week, a part time job at Biggby coffee, cru band, community group/bible study, leadership responsibilities, random bouts of man time, and a girlfriend. Well I should amend that. I mean 4 classes. I am dropping one, cause that's alot of stuff to cram into 168 hours. I think I am starting to be excited once again for life. Not that I was depressed and emo or anything. I just mean, I am starting to once again have that uncontrollable will to have a blast with life... to once again be passionate about stuff. Life, God, friends, family. I could be jumping the gun a bit, but at least I think this is what's on the horizon. It's weird. I sound like I have been depressed. I am not. Not even close. I just think I've gotten to used to everything. But anyway. I think that's about it. I think maybe if I wrote shorter entries maybe I'd be inspired to write more often. Peace. -Ryan
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| Thanksgiving and all that jazz...So I guess I kind of dropped the ball as it were on my list of 100 things I am thankful for that I did last year. But as it turned out, I spent the day at my great aunts house and then my grandmothers house on Thanksgiving and as such was lacking in the department of "internet access" or even "computer access". My phone was still operational so I had AIM. Thank goodness I survived. Psh. Saying that makes it sound like I wouldn't have made it this Thanksgiving due to boredom or otherwise lack of things to do without AIM, which is hardly the case. 1. I am hardly addicted to AIM.
2. I was hardly bored. Even though my wonderful immediate family took off for fun in the sun and Mickey Mouse over Thanksgiving break, I still had a wonderful Thanksgiving! And before you think I am bitter about my family's Ryan-less vacation, you should be so inclined to think otherwise. To the contrary I am really quite glad they had a great time whilst in Florida... and I got a Disney hoodie out of the deal. Granted I did miss them, a vacant house did provide me with the opportunity for much needed time alone to think and to relax. Which I did on Wednesday in addition to watching a U2 concert DVD (thanks Felver). Thanksgiving day... glorious. You know there's just something amazingly right about the Thanksgiving atmosphere. The conglomeration of wonderful family, amazing food, the Lions losing a football game... it just, works. You know? We must to should be doing this more often than not. For you wondering, yes I know I just said must to should be, on purpose. In other more random, but seemingly of just as much importance as the above stated facts and monologue, is the fact that I, Ryan Michael Kenneth Funk, on Thursday November the 22 beat my grandmother in a game of Rummy. It should be of keen interest to you that I have only beaten my grandmother one other time in this battle of cards since I was about 10. Of keen interest indeed. Friday, good day eh? Yes. I thought so. I helped my grandmother put up outdoor christmas decorations. Which also involved some winter house prep. I pruned a rose bush, and carried the liberated limbs to the trash cans, with naked hands. Yes that's right, my hands were naked, completley exposed to the harsh and formiddable spines protruding from aforementioned liberated rose bush clippings. I held on. And poked a hole in my um... I don't remember which finger... but that's not important nor the point, the point is that I had a hole somewhere in my hand due to rose bush thorniness. Black Friday holds a very special place in my heart. Not because of the toil and labor of my family members and friends as they diligently and militantly acquire Christmas loot at discount prices. Instead, the Friday after Thanksgiving marks the beggining of the Funk family Christmas music listening period (which sounds much less exciting than it really is). This is always a part of the year that I anticipate with great um... anticipation (great). So besides the company of Michael W. Smith, Bing Crosby, and Kermit the Frog I was also able to spend time with some of my favorite Lansing area friends. (That isn't to say if you are a Lansing area friend and you weren't there that you aren't a favorite, hence the "some" part of "some of my favorite" yeesh.) There's just something about the bonds forged from Euchre amongst friends, and the fact that me and Felver kicked some serious Euchre butt. Strangly enough the viewing choice for after the game was "Man vs. Wild" until 2 in the morning. Nothing like watching a man drink a camels stomach fluids in the dessert whilst eating a Supreme Pizza around the fireplace. Yummo. Saturday marked the return of my parents and sister from their ("i" before "e"?) vacation. They were pretty excited about the whole ordeal... which I assume you would be too if you got to meet all those cartoony individuals, stay in a resort, see a castle, and watch stuff blow up. But honestly? Who really does Sushi on Thanksgiving? Evidently they did. Ha. Really. Sunday brings the close of the break for me, and fortunately for you, the end of this synopsis. Suffice it to say, I was pleased to find out that I am playing for the [cru.] band now on Tuesdays. What? Keyboard of course. It's much more civilized than those barbaric percussion instruments, and much more sophisticated than those simplistic stringed instruments. "Civilized" and "sophisticated" thats me. Ha. Right. Hope all of you had similar (or perhaps not similar) experiences of fun, joy, and overall satisfaction with your week of festivities. -Ryan *Christmas is coming!*
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| Pre-Thanksgiving ThoughtsAgain it happens where I am finding myself re-evaluating. What am I doing with life? Where am I going? What's my contribution to this world? Whats next?
Purpose. Motive. Reason.
I think I will enjoy this Thanksgiving break at home. By myself. Time to relax. To do nothing and not care. Think. Goof off. Waste time.
****
For all those wondering... life here at WMU has been really great. I've made a lot of friends here, learned a lot academically as well as practically, and am finally starting to feel like a Bronco instead of a random transfer to a random University.
Summer Project is starting to sink in. But differently than I thought it would. It's challenged my perspectives more than changed them. But challenge is good, I finally get to figure out what I think instead of what I think I should think. Although it isn't always easy.
Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
-Ryan
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| The Raccoon I was threatened by a raccoon Thursday night. The story? Well... I guess. If you really wan't to hear it. The story actually begins about a week beforehand. The scene... my dorm room. I found myself in kind of an interesting predicement. One that probably plagues many college students. You see, I was starting to run low on clothes. Simple cause and effect may suggest that someone had been stealing my clothes, or that they were getting destroyed by some man-point earning feat of daring... but this was not the case. They were, in fact, depleting because I had been wearing them and hadn't bought any laundry detergent. Now of course I did the only sensible thing I could have done. I went home that Sunday, and brought more clothes, along with some CD's, my guitar, and my tennis racket. And THAT is the background. Because you see, by the time Thursday had rolled around, I had yet to unpack my car. (It's also important to note that I had the most beautiful parking spot in all of campus... right next to the dumpsters in front of my hall.) Thursday evening, I got an invite to a movie night. At... 11:00. Which, makes sense only to college students I suppose, to hang out at the most random times. So I decided to go... but then realized I couldn't... because if I abandoned my coveted parking space, it would no doubt be taken nearly instantly, thus forcing me to unpack my car all the way from the parking garage when I returned. So I did the only thing I could do. I unloaded my car. So there I was, arms full of clothes and blankets... when all of a sudden there was a rustle in the tree next to my car (on a dark and stormy night). I instantly dropped my belongings to the ground and spun to face the noise, when I was confronted by the most chilling scream. I crossed my arms in front of my face to sheild myself from the oncoming attack. Somehow in the confusion I was able to grab the attacker and throw it back in the direction it came. And thats when I could finally see what it was. A raccoon. Not just any raccoon, but the largest, fiercest raccoon you have ever seen. It's eyes glowed green. It's sharp fangs glistened in the moonlight (revealing a bit of parsley stuck between its upper teeth.) Claws like daggers dug into the concrete near the dumpster as it recovered from my throw sending a shower of sparks into the night air. The raccoon, growling with rage, leapt at me again. But I repulsed it again. Again and again I sent him flying through the air. Finally, he lept again with all his might, as I reached into the pile of clothes and pulled out a plastic hanger and was able to wedge the assailant in the triangle part of the hanger (I don't know what the official name for it is...) as he flew through the air. Calmly ignoring the raccoons cries of outrage, I walked the raccoon to the tree and hung the hanger on one of the branches... turned... picked up my clothes, and then finished unpacking my car. Sweet victory. The movie wasn't bad. Garden State. I had never heard of it before though. It was fun getting to hang out too! Noone knows what happened to that raccoon. Some say his ghost roams Kalamazoo... leaping on unsuspecting students. Others suggest that he was captured by the circus. But I think, the beast escaped... hunting day and night... searching... howling... scraping through dumpsters... in a desperate search... for dental floss. Now I need to do homework. Goodnight.
-Ryan *Dental floss... for the parsley... ~sigh~* | | |
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