Making Headway

As Christmas is almost upon us, I was in a sense ordered to come up with a comical Christmas List. Instead of leaving it as some weird and funny requests, I decided to write a letter to Santa and step it up a notch. Below is my Christmas Wishlist.

Dear Santa Claus, It seems that it is around Christmas time, and there are a few things that I want for gifts. Now since I never did get that cow when I was ten, nor did I you ever give world peace, or even a whole lot of other stuff I asked for, I feel that it is fair that for once you give me everything I ask for this year. It’s like you don’t even exist, because if you truly are magical, what I want should be easy as cake, or better yet cookie cake.
- First off, I want Fuzzy Fuchsia Bunny Slippers, and I really mean fuzzy. It should be like I am walking on a pair of clouds.
- As well, I definitely want Telekinetic powers. I want to be able to move things with my mind.
- I definitely want one of those Barbie Jeeps so I can drive down the hallway, because dragging is definitely a hassle.
- And along with that I want a Light Saber, and I mean a real one. One that can actually stab things so I can just drive along in my jeep and stab things.
- Now that I think about it, I also want a Cookie Cake, preferably Chocolate Chip.
- Something that would be really awesome would be a never aging baby duck. I could keep it as a pet and it will never grow old and become ugly.
- A Spiderman Onesie would definitely be choice, comfy, and make everyone else jealous.
- To satisfy me for a long time, I desire a Lifetime Supply of Slurpee’s and Eskimo Pies. Few things would be more delicious, besides that Cookie Cake.
- A College Degree would most likely be helpful, as that would save me the next four years.
- Finally, the last and most important thing that I need for Christmas, would happen to be a Life, oh and an Elephant Night Light.

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas as you carry out your duties for the year, and I do hope you give me what I asked for this year. Who knows what could happen if I don’t get what I want. I definitely don’t want to find out.
 Very Respectfully,
 C/ Rodriguez, K.M. TC 2-4

Table Set For Two

Last week was Thanksgiving and as such, I got a week off from school and was able to go home for the first time in three months. It was great to be back, and to visit with old friends and see old sights. I, for the most part, kept myself busy, not exactly slacking off, but I wanted to make the best use of me time home.
First off, I venture over to the local YMCA to watch my Y team's swim meet and chat with the young ones who I must say are pretty darn cool. Being there really made me miss swimming, but gave me the idea that I should really apply for a summer camp counselor job at the Y as well as volunteer as a swim team coach during the summer.
Monday I visited my high school, where I talked to all the teachers there that I have had. It was pretty awesome, but it did make me feel old. Plus, I was wearing Dress B uniform, which is what I am wearing below, and some freshman called me sir. That was kinda cool.

The rest of the week was covered by different things:
-I saw a movie with one friend, Immortals, of which I did not like to much but seeing it with a friend made it fun
-Went to a high school swim meet, and was a timer
-Participated in Black Friday for the sole purpose of getting myself a new snowboard
-Designed a tattoo for a friend
-Some new clothes
-Went to a mall with several friends
-Slayed a zombie at the shooting range with several firearms including a pink shotgun
Now I am back at school for a week and a half of classes as well as a couple of finals and a paper before my month long winter break of bigger and better adventure.
With that break also comes a new year, and new things. Last year this blog served a purpose, a way to chronicle my life around my senior year, as well as allow me to get my thoughts somewhat more organized. Now, although, I am still working towards graduation, it seems this blog is to be about something more. So with that, a title change is abound along with the new year, and probably a new template as well. (Oh, and time for new widgets, but definitely the fish shall stay) It is time to continue into this new chapter of my life with some new things.

Promises I Can't Keep

Today I rolled my BDU sleeves up today. Simple enough, BDU stands for Battle Dress uniform, an is the forest green camo worn by part of the military world. It is one of the benefits of attending a Senior Military College, because once a week I get the chance to wear, camo and have a perfectly valid reason to do so. The one thing that I do not exactly like about it is that BDUs are not the unifrom I will be wearing when I go out into the fleet after commissioning. The United States Navy currently issues Navy Work Uniforms, or NWUs, which is the blue digital camo that would do nothing if one fell into the ocean, cause what good would that do? Anyways, I am excited for Spring Semester when I shall be issued my NWUs, and will be allowed to wear them rather than BDUs.
Now back to the rolling up of my sleeves. It in fact was my first time, and it felt like a win. First off, it was quite warm in the Chemistry building, and I for once desired to roll up my sleeves. It felt kinda cool to do so while in my Chem Lab, and afterwards I did not want to pull them down, so I just left them up. Note, it was somewhere between 48 to 35 degrees outside, so it was slightly cold. It wasn't all that bad, I might add, and I do enjoy cold weather. Despite probably some glances at me, conveying other's thoughts of my insanity, I must admit, I am really glad I did it. Rolling up my sleeves did in fact make me feel good, and was a nice pick me up.

Goodnight Moon

Some parts of my day, I spend watching music videos on Youtube. And a lot of what I do enjoy listening to are the covers that are performed by members of the Youtube universe. I found myself like several channels that perform really good covers, that do the original justice. There are times when I find a cover for a song that I have never heard of before, which can possibly lead me to look up the original, and sometimes think that I prefer the cover over the original. Well, the other day I was watching a music video for a cover of a Gym Class Heroes song I have yet to heard. Needless to say, I loved the cover, but even more so, I really enjoyed the special effects used in the video. I do not really believe I have seen anything like it.

Trying To Keep My Chin Up

I have not been exactly going through the best of times lately. A lot has changed in my life in the past couple months. Pretty much all of this revolves around the whole concept of going to college. The academics side has not been the easiest to transition to, as college work is plenty harder than high school. At least I have grown used to it and have found my groove. Things no longer throw me for a loop as I can now go with the flow.
Outside of that good, things are not always great. For one, participating in a military program at a public university is not always fun, and in fact can be kind of stressful as well as tiring. Although the regimented lifestyle does keep me in line, I now realize that I used to take certain freedoms for granted. At least their are some benefits to the Corp of Cadets. I have done some cool things such as run an obstacle course, and do a forty foot rappel tower. As well as getting to wear a cool uniform, the Corp is probably a good decision with several benefits, and I am getting better with coping with the stress.
Now recently I have reached a sad point in my life, and it seems to be hard to go on in college. I am a person that looks forward to certain events, and doing so gives me more strength to make it through the days. Losing a large part of my future plans, I somewhat find it hard to get through the day and even a part of me loses motivation. And to try and get me through these next couple weeks till Thanksgiving, and the couple weeks following to Winter Break, I did take some times to find some quotes.

"Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice." -- Wayne Dyer

"Do you know who you are? Don't Ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you." -- Thomas Jefferson

"Either you run the day or it runs you." -- Jim Rohn

"I don't believe you have to be better than anybody else. I believe you have to be better than you ever thought you could be." -- Ken Venturi

"If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud." -- Emile Zola

Let Us See Where We Go From Here

My name is Kris Rodriguez,
I am who I am.
Nothing in world can change that,
As it is a matter of fact.
I am a swimmer,
I am a sailor.
The water is where I belong,
It is my domain.
I am a Midshipman,
In the United States Navy,
Greatest force on, in, and around the water,
Ever known to man.
My job is to learn,
Go to college,
Get a degree,
To become an officer.
I am a Hokie,
Gobble gobble.
There is more to me,
Stuff that I might not,
Be able to comprehend,
More that can be seen.
But I am me,
And I know who I am.
But do you know,
Who you are?

My Stroke Of Genius

This week in my guitar class, as sort of a final project, I was assigned to begin work on a song, focusing on creating a melody. Right off the bat I came up with a simple five note traverse and just went from there. I had the idea to drop it down a bit and then run back to the original start with a G scale.

And that be it, including tabs, for those who dare try it. But the thing was, I liked its simplicity and the G scale run, but I did feel it was missing something. In all honesty, I'm still not to sure what its missing, maybe I'll come back to it, or not, only time will tell.
So I sat there today, just messing around, finger picking, and I stumbled on something, and I just ran with. I feel it flows well, has a good backing, and works well. It may not be my masterpiece, but its got a way to it that just fits me.

I honestly could help but write it down, because it was my little journey to write something worthwhile. Maybe I'll extend beyond this, make a full song, add lyrics, and have it all done. Only time will tell, and I will be waiting to see what I do with it.
*Edit* Oh, by my pure mechanical error, the Bs in the third and fourth measures are Cs, and also, rather than play this in six eight time, just play it as in four four, with all the eighth notes as quarter notes, and the two quarter notes at half notes. My apologizes as I have not had a chance to fix this.

For the ease of guitarist, the song is structured around the chords, G, C, and D
Now, I came across a video that is somewhat insulting, and I advise that you watch at your own discretion, but this video is truly genius. And it can be somewhat true.
*Edit* For the third and fourth measures, rather on the B string, rather than open fretting, use the first fret to maintain a C chord patter.