I never know how to go about writing these entries; I have so much constantly on my mind, that to select a small portion that is relevant to anyone but myself–well, that is indeed a task. This morning finds me awaiting the sunrise, contemplating the previous week, friendships, and the grisly details of the human soul.

I watched the incredible Schindler’s List earlier this night… It left me speechless. Heartbroken. Angered. Enraged. But about all, it gave me a new perspective and led me in a new strain of thought regarding not only the horrific event that was the Holocaust, but also the state of humanity as a whole. The fact that we are capable of such atrocities simply is fathomless to me, and knowing that genocide exists in this modern world saddens me immensely. Currently I am more in a solemn state than anything else; I’ll pursue this line of contemplation further in the day to come I’m certain.

Again I am presented with the old cliché to treasure those close to me, that we oft take those in our lives too lightly or do not express our feelings of love and tenderness explicitly. I feel motivated anew to reach out to them, but I have felt this way before and am reminded of my many inadequacies in interacting with others. To strive to be that person of character, I continue.

Good night for now… I am off to raze.

I am once again reminded of the shady business practices of the all-mighty establishment known as Wal-Mart. Besides putting state-side manufacturers out of business and maintaining horrible working conditions at factories overseas, Wal-Mart feels it necessary to try and suck every last penny out of its business model, all the way down to the customers. Today I tried to return a camera that I purchased less than a month previous from said mega-store, using a combination of gift cards and my bank debit card to make the transaction. When I tried to get a refund, the “associate” informed me that I could only receive store credit for the gift cards and have the remaining balance charged back to my card. My debit card is not working correctly as of late, and I did not want any store credit, so I requested cash. She informed me that Wal-Mart is incapable of such an action and that my only option was a store gift-card. Not did this statement insult my intelligence, but it was a bold-faced lie. To make a long story short, I had to go through another regular employee and two managers before a store manager was brought over, upon my insistence, to resolve the issue–and she initially told me that I could not get cash, but then suggested that we “try it, just in case” it worked.

Of course, Wal-Mart is fully capable of giving a cash refund for a product returned with it’s receipt, they just train their workers to mislead the customer in order to try and keep as much of their money within the grasp of Big Blue. Ridiculous.

Sunday night brought Scott’s 21st birthday party, and I found myself once again in Austin, Texas. For the sake of all parties involved, I won’t go into much detail here, but suffice it to say that the evening was quite entertaining. Scott, for one, took down more than 30 shots plus beers and keg-stands… We all lost count somewhere along the way.

Last night I spent my time in Austin once again… Drove up around 11pm to go to the Republic of Texas Bike Rally, Texas’ largest biker event, with my buddy Scott. I took Cain along, of course, and we had a very intersting time downtown watching the bands, checkin’ out the cycles, and getting a bunch of attention because of Cain. The highlight of the night was seeing this guy on a crotch-rocket burn out at a stoplight, then try and bust a wheelie, but he lost control of the bike and it flipped over on it’s back and smashed off some piece and wasn’t rideable anymore; definitely hilarious to watch.

The rest of the night consisted of UT fraternity parties and religious debates (odd mix, right?) plus random mischeif until 7am, at which time Scott and I went to eat breakfast and then took Cain out to the capitol building to run around. I drove back home this morning and finally passed out at 9:30am…

In the absense of strict deadlines, I have been doing everything but steady work as of late. This past week I floated the river three times, spent half of the days up in Austin, and never got to bed before 4am (7am last night). Ah, good times…

Once again, too many things to write down: crazy nights blowing up fireworks in the fraternity house; my mom brought my little brothers up and we went floating; partying with my sister in Austin; friends coming up from Houston; swing dancing with Afton; getting in contact with an old friend; and the usual college scene… Oh, and I have temporary access to a camera and I’ve added some new pics to the photos section.

Will I ever be prompt with my updates?