Jury Duty

My mom came down this past weekend for a visit, and with her she brought my first jury duty summons. My first thought was "crap" because I wasn't in the mood to deal with such things. I attend school in Louisiana, so it isn't like I would be able to serve anyway. The more I think about it, though, the more I feel like fulfilling that duty one day. I watch a lot of those criminal law shows, and even though I know the shows are not an exact representation of the justice system, they do help me realize how important juries are. I may not be able to serve while attending school out of state, but I don't think I am going to complain the next time I get summoned and can actually appear.

Peace

People take college football way too seriously

A friend of mine sent me the link to a very disturbing story. Two were killed during an argument about a stupid college football game between Alabama and the school that I go to, LSU. Here's the story that was published on the Louisiana Channel 9 News website:

2 dead in argument over Ala.-LSU football game

OWASSA, AL (AP) - Investigators say two people were shot to death after an argument over the LSU-Alabama football game.

Prosecutors identified the victims as Dennis and Donna Smith of Brewton.

The shooting happened about 7:00 p.m. Saturday at the home of Michael Williams in the rural community of Owassa.

Williams was arrested and charged with two counts of murder. He was being held Monday without bond. A sheriff's investigator did not know if he had an attorney.

Investigators told the Press-Register newspaper in Mobile that Dennis Smith, an LSU fan, called Williams, an Alabama fan, after Alabama's 27-21 overtime win and an argument ensued.

The Smiths went to Williams' home. Investigators said 41-year-old Dennis Smith had a pistol and the 28-year-old Williams had a shotgun and fired. 39-year-old Donna Smith was a relative of Williams' girlfriend.

This was stupid and completely unnecessary.

Peace people, give it a try every once in a while.

OBAMA RAMA!!!

I am very excited about the election results! This was my first time voting in a presidential election, and it feels really good when the person you feel is best for the job comes out on top. It's also exciting to know that I played a part in creating history by helping to elect the first African American President of the United States. I am eager to see what happens when Bush is booted from the White House and Obama takes over!"We have never been a collection of individuals, or a collection of red states or blue states, we are and always will be the United States of America."
~Barack Obama (November 4, 2008)

Peace

Gustav Footage

I forgot that I had this little video when I made my Gustav post the other day. It's 70 seconds of the same thing, but it gives you an idea of what it is like to watch a hurricane happening right outside your house.

Speaking of hurricanes, Ike is slapping Baton Rouge with his outer bands as he nears Galveston. As I walked from my Reproduction class to my Renewable Natural Resources class, I was drenched and almost blown into a pole by the storm. My poor little umbrella took a beating as well and is now useless.

Have I mentioned that I hate hurricanes.

Peace

No More Confinement!

Baton Rouge finally lifted the curfew, so I can leave the apartment anytime I want now. If only I had somewhere to go. Maybe I will make a late night Wal-mart trip just so I can be out of the apartment past 10 for the first time in 2 weeks.

Peace

A New Semester of Chaos

I am in what should be my third week of the new semester but is technically only my second due to mother nature. Hurricane Gustav reeked havoc on poor little Baton Rouge a week and a half ago, and the city is still trying to pick up the pieces. Experts say that Gustav was the worst hurricane Baton Rouge has ever seen, and one look around town, post Gustav, definitely makes that statement believable. After 9 days, a good chunk of the Baton Rouge area is still without power, which is deadly in the hot, humid climate that is Louisiana. Classes restarted at LSU on Monday after campus power was finally restored and enough debris was cleared away to make our classroom to classroom travels safe. We are unfortunately still under a city wide curfew that has every college student cursing the day that Gustav was born. No one is allowed to be out past 10 o'clock, and it is making things difficult for those of us who need to study. I can't escape the noise level created by my room mate and her posse because I am confined to my apartment until 6:00 am. Here is a preview of what LSU looked like after it's beating from Gustav:
Because of all the time we missed, LSU has decided to cancel our Fall Break and have us attend classes on a couple of Saturdays (Woohoo!-not) This make-up schedule does not sit well with me since I had already purchased a plane ticket to go visit my old room mate in Colorado for Fall Break. I talked to American Airlines, and no matter what I do (change the flight dates or cancel the flight altogether) I will be out $150. Don't you just love Airlines.

All I have to say about hurricanes at this point is that Ike better keep to its predicted route towards Texas.


So it is that time of the year again for me to apply to vet school. I am hoping to get in this time around. On Monday, I will retake the GRE in an effort to increase my score. Keep your fingers crossed that I do well.


Other news:
I'm glad for classes to be starting up again. I need the distraction in order to keep my mind off of the fact that my good friend, who I am hopelessly in love with, found himself a girlfriend over the summer. Oh well. I guess you could say that it is my fault. I didn't act when I had the chance, and then I went home to Dallas to work for the summer. It makes it a little difficult to get a guy to notice you when you aren't around.

On the positive side, another good friend of mine is abandoning his plan to attend graduate school in North Carolina to come back to Baton Rouge! I'm not sure what his plans are once he returns, but whatever they are, they keep him in close proximity once again. I was afraid for awhile that I was going to have to find a new soccer buddy, but that is not the case anymore.

Another positive is that my sister just started her freshman year at LSU. We have a lot in common, so it will be nice to have her around to hang out with.


I'm heading off to bed now, but I promise to try and keep up with my blog a little better than I have been lately. i don't want to keep anyone out of the loop since my life is oh so interesting-just kidding.

Peace.

Vet School Update

Well, after a couple of months of waiting on the alternate list, I received an e-mail from the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine that informed me that the class of 2012 is full. Therefore, I will not be starting vet school this fall. Hopefully I will get in next year.

Peace

Death to Biochem

Unfortunately this week is finals week, and though my finals schedule is slim, it is still wearing me down. It is all due to BIOL 2083, aka Biochemistry. I have excelled in the class over this past semester, but going back through all of the information from the entire semester is insane. It took me 6 hours to go through my notes from the first day of class to the last day 1 lousy time. I guess now I am just going to have to decide what I think is important because there is no way that I can squeeze in another 6 hour run through. If anyone reads this before 10:00am, keep your fingers crossed that I get the 55ish% score that I need to keep an A. I know that sounds like it should be easy, but having to know a whole semester of biochem scares me. After I have completed the final from hell, it is all down hill. I just have an online final to finish for VETS 2020 by Saturday at midnight, which won't be easy due to all of the awesome clinical questions, but at least I have several days to get it done.

Well, I should get back to studying.

Peace

This One's for You, Dad!

So I am a couple of weeks late in getting this online, but I kept getting sidetracked. A couple of weeks ago, I attended an LSU baseball game in order to fulfill a promise to Fasha (my dad). I have not participated in a lot of sporting events around campus. I have only made it to half of a football game and a few gymnastics meets prior to the baseball game, and my family would like for me to be a little more active in these things.

After convincing a friend of mine to come along with me so that I would not have to endure my first game alone, we went to see LSU play the Georgia Bulldogs. Our journey to Alex Box Stadium started off with a trip to Mike's cage to get us into the spirit (actually, we just went to see him because tigers are awesome). After watching Mike pace back and forth for a few minutes, apparently he was deep in thought, we headed to the game. We were unfortunate in the day we chose to go to a game because it had been raining all afternoon, and despite the warm weather we had all week, the rain brought much cooler temperatures with it. I pretty much froze while I was sitting on the bleachers. Oh well.
Due to the cold, me and my friend did not stay for the whole game, which was not going so good anyway. I will admit that I did not pay very much attention to the game while I was there, but I did have a good time talking with my friend. Then again, I always have a great time when I am around this person. The good news is that the Tigers seemed to be doing better when we left because there was a lot of cheering while we were walking away from the stadium. I don't know if I will make it back to a baseball game, but I suppose I will try to attend more games of some kind. Maybe I will tag along with my friend from the baseball game to a football game in order to give the sport a second chance. I think I just went with the wrong people last time, which led to me walking away at half-time (not before watching the band, though).

We shall see what unfolds next semester.

Peace

Oops!

As much as I love LSU, I am not the biggest fan of its newspaper, The Reveille. I have been very disappointed in the past with some of the articles, so I mostly pick it up for the daily sudoku. My friend pointed out to me the other day the latest blunder of LSU's beloved newspaper, which turned out to be quite entertaining. The front page focused on LSU finding a new basketball coach. While this is good news, the staff did not read carefully over the headline before printing, so without further delay, I present the front page from the daily Reveille:
Congratulations LSU on grabbing Stanford's Johnson!

Whoville and Sushi

Things are looking a little brighter these days.

I actually had a bit of a social life this weekend. On Friday, I went to a friends birthday celebration that took place at my favorite bar: Brightside Bar & Grill, and I had a pretty good time. Unfortunately, the combination of an exhausting week and a couple of drinks put me to sleep during the after party. Oh well. Saturday was a great day. I went and saw Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who, which was insanely funny. If anyone has any idea what that little yellow thing was that kept taking deep breaths, please let me know! The movie was followed by dinner at Kona Grill, a new restaurant that opened up in Baton Rouge. It had one of the strangest menu combinations I have ever seen. There was sliders, sushi, meatloaf, and pizza. I opted for sushi rolls, and I highly recommend the soft shell crab roll. The restaurant was located in a large shopping center, so there was some store exploration after dinner. The rest of my evening was spent chillaxing at my place with the friend that I had spent all day with. I think this was actually the best part of the evening because there was lots of funny conversation and just hanging out. It's hard for me to find people that I can be really comfortable around and, at least in my mind, relate to, so I was having a great time.

I still do not have a definite answer on vet school right now, but I found out some more information. I am one of 130 alternates for the 18 out of state spaces, and only 3 of the 18 spaces have been filled so far. In the past, the school has gone down to the 50-105th person, however, they will not disclose my rank. The accepted students have one more week to confirm or reject their seat before LSU starts handing out spaces to kids like me. I'm optimistic, but at the same time, I am preparing for another year of undergrad.

More to come soon.

Peace

Veterinary School

After receiving an e-mail from the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine this evening encouraging me to check my online status, I immediately pulled up the necessary web page. I was glad to see that the vet school had not fully rejected me, but I will admit that it was a little painful to not get an acceptance. I am currently on the alternate list for LSU, and as disappointing as it is, I am very grateful to still be in consideration. Anything is better than to see an official "no" staring me in the face. Everyone, just cross your fingers that enough people will turn down LSU in order to make an available space for me. It won't be the end of the world if I do not get to start next year (after all, I am only a junior), but I have been looking forward to jumping the gun and getting started a little early. Oh well, I know it will all work out in the end. Maybe I will get in now, and maybe I will have to wait another year. Either way, I am determined to get there.

Peace

Current Affairs

I know I haven't written in a while, and I would like to say that I have just been too busy, but unfortunately I have just been too lazy. So here is an update:

Family and Friends

My father (whom I refer to as Fasha-don't ask) and my grandparents came up this past weekend for the annual stockholders meeting for the W.C. Morrison farm, which is a plantation located in New Roads, Louisiana that has been in my family since the 1850's. We had lots of good food, including shrimp dinners from Tiger (New Roads' best fast food), and we took lots of really great pictures of the plantation. There were so many beautiful trees in bloom this past weekend-I just wish my photography skills could do the plants justice. My personal favorite was the Red Swamp Maple. We also indulged in our annual tradition of ascending to the top of the levy in order to check out the Mississippi River and get a nice view of the plantation. Overall, it was a most excellent weekend, and it was really nice to see my family because my social life has been lacking in these past couple of months. I have fewer friends at LSU than I use to, and while I am trying to make new ones, the people I would really like to spend time with are very busy. Oh well, the wait is worth it, especially for one friend in particular. We only hang out about once every two weeks, and we hardly ever do anything outside of going to the movies, but I am always in a really good mood and have a good time in his presence. If only my best friend from back home in Dallas were here to hang out with me during those 2 week gaps. I really miss Skylar because she knows and understands me better than anyone else in the world, and I cannot wait to see her when I go home for spring break. It's only 8 more days away!

Swine Production

A lot more has happened since I posted about delivering baby pigs. I have acquired a few more skills in the field of reproduction. Last week, I was the first of my class to try my hand at swine semen collection (no pun intended), mostly due to the fact that my group members pushed me to the front. I felt weird about it at first, but then I realized that I was going to have to do this in the animal science field at some point or another, so I might as well learn now. I was very successful-it took 15 minutes, but I managed to collect 480 mL of future piglets, which is a very high volume (the normal range is 75-300mL). After learning how to collect the semen, my class learned how to use it. This week has been all about artificial insemination (AI), and I have personally inseminated 2 pigs. Part of the AI process is actually kind of fun. While the sow or gilt was taking in the semen, we had to recreate some of the things the boar would be doing. Part of this "being the boar" process includes sitting on the sow/gilt. Usually they stood still, but every once in a while they jerked forward. I would have to do some serious readjusting to keep my balance, and I almost felt like I was riding a bull in a rodeo.

Frustrations

I apologize in advance if any of the following offends anyone, especially my family, but I needed to get this off my chest, and I like to be as honest as possible.

This November will mark the first time I get to vote for president. I am really excited about this fact, but at the same time, I am extremely frustrated with all of the drama that surrounds the election. I am a firm believer in letting people make up their own minds about things like their political views and religion. I am a democrat, which is not the norm down here in the south. Despite the fact that I am not a republican, I respect those who are. Just like me, they decided how they felt about certain issues and chose the side that supported those feelings best. What bothers me is that I am not given that same courtesy very often. People feel the need to try and persuade me in another direction. I know they want their favorite candidate to win, but what they do not seem to realize is that nothing they say will change my mind. Everyone tells me that choosing a candidate is all about what the person has accomplished, but I do not fully buy into this philosophy. I cannot vote for someone who has many accomplishments under his belt if they do not hold the same ideals as I do. To me, it would not make sense. I DO want a president who will get things done and reach their goals, but I want that person to accomplish goals that I support. I do not tell anyone whose political views clash with mine that they are wrong (because who is to say what is right or wrong), and I do not try to convince them to believe what I believe. I just wish that people would accept my decision, and just be happy that I am among the minority of Americans who have made a decision and intend to vote.

Peace

Swine Production

My main goal in life is to become a successful veterinarian. While I am waiting out the semester to receive either an acceptance or rejection letter from the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine (please be an acceptance letter!), I have been focusing on classes (as I should be). All of the classes that I have taken thus far in my major of animal science have been purely lecture classes, where listening to a professor or instructor is the only method of learning. This semester has been a little different.

I signed up to take ANSC 4081, better known as Swine Production. There have been several days of lecture in this class, but there has been an equal amount of hands on work. Within the first month and a half of this semester, I have learned how to move hogs and get them to the proper destination, and I have learned the ins and outs of the birthing process. Last Saturday, I spent 5 hours delivering piglets from two different sows. I had to get down and dirty in order to clean off the piglets and tie off their umbilical cords. Despite being coated up to my elbows in placenta, it felt really great to be in the barn doing the very things we were currently learning about. Once a litter is born, it has to be processed. This includes counting the teats, weighting, ear notching (for identification), giving vital injections, cutting off the cord, and sometimes removing needle teeth (to prevent injuries to other piglets and/or the mother). As part of my class, I was given the opportunity to perform all the listed tasks of processing a litter, which increased my span of experience in the animal field.

Before coming to LSU, I had never been around large animals (swine, cattle, goats, sheep, and horses), so it was never in my mind set to practice medicine in that field. My goal has always been to become a small animal and exotics veterinarian, and I have spent countless hours working in a small animal clinic for cats and dogs to gain as much experience as possible. Working at the swine unit along with the experience I have gained with horses through my job at the Reproductive Biology Center has opened my mind a little to the different options I have. I still cannot see myself becoming a full time large animal veterinarian because I just love cats and dogs too much, but I feel like I could make room in my practice to visit clients with pet pigs and possibly even pet horses. We will just have to wait and see where I end up.

Peace

Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras has been over for nearly 24 hours, and as I look back over the past few days, I am disappointed in my lack of participation. Over the past couple of years I would make my way into New Orleans the Friday prior to "Fat Tuesday" and attend as many parades as possible during the next 4 days. Oh well. I suppose I was not up for the whole shebang this time around. However, I did manage to make it into the city this past Friday to try something new. This year was my first balcony experience! My roommate's cousin hooked us up with a few wristbands for the SOCO balcony on Bourbon St. It was a bit of a power trip getting to be the one to decide who is worthy of a 5 cent string of plastic. I felt bad for the guys with only one or two necklaces, so they received the majority of my bead stores. Other than that, it was a pretty straight forward Mardi Gras evening. We caught a parade, got daiquiris and hurricanes, and paid an obscene amount of money for a French Quarter "Lucky Dog".

I think the most eventful part of Friday was reading the signs held up by whatever Christian group it was manning every corner of Bourbon. One sign, in particular, listed the groups of people who were doomed for Hell. I fit in with several of the listed categories: liberal, democrat, feminist, agnostic, etc. Some other items off the list, and I am not making any of the previous or following items up, included: loud mouth women, (I thought this particular one was hilarious), gamblers, lawyers, and various religious groups such as Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. As offensive as the sign may be, I cannot help but laugh because it is just so ridiculous. Moving on.

As lame as this may sound, I reminisce every year about a simple little poem I wrote about Mardi Gras during my senior year of High School. I took a creative writing course that year, and the teacher gave us a poetry assignment. My original poem was about a forest (don't ask), and it was horrible. Therefore, I decided to start from scratch and rewrite a new poem during my lunch period, which happened to be on Fat Tuesday. For your personal enjoyment, I have decided to include my poem so cleverly titled "Mardi Gras". It may be weak, but it was good enough to be published in my high school's literary magazine that year.

Mardi Gras
by Amanda Morrison

Among the herds of people
Filling up old Bourbon Street,
Are crazy drunken dancers
Wearing out their dirty bare feet.

The sky is clear,
And the night is young
As the Zydeco music plays away,
And the purple, green, and gold covered crowd
Can be heard far and wide
Yelling, "Laissez les bon temps roulez!"

The rest of my Mardi Gras break was good (that's right, we Louisiana folk get 3 days off school to go party!), but it was spent doing non-Mardi Gras activities. For any of you looking for new music to get into, I would highly recommend Band of Horses. I went to a live show of theirs on Monday, and they were fantastic! They sound even better live than they do on their CD.

News Flash! If you are not already aware, Across the Universe has been released on DVD. Half the people who have seen it loved it, and the other half were not as fond of the film. My personal opinion is that the movie is amazing. My favorite Beatles songs were featured, and I love the way the movie was made. The "Hey Jude" scene was my favorite portion of the whole flick. Don't take my word for it, though. Watch it for yourself, and form your own opinion. Well, that is all for now.

Peace

Hello

Synonyms of pensive include thoughtful, meditative, contemplative, etc. This word is the basis for my intentions of this blog, for that is the purpose of any journal, paper or virtual. I have deeply needed an outlet for my day to day thoughts, ideas, and, of course, frustrations. Do not fret, though. I intend to incorporate some fun into this bad boy as well. With that said, let me introduce myself.

You'll notice that my blogs will be signed Mandrake. For those of you who are unaware, mandrake is a root used as a popular ingredient in many stories of witch craft. However, my particular alter ego was influenced by the well-known Harry Potter series. This series is my favorite of all books. Now, I know that many of you are thinking that there are great works of literature that I should revere before a tale of a boy wizard, but this is my #1, like it or not. The books entertain readers with wizardry and magic, but they also force the readers to face real-life issues, such as discrimination. Lord Voldemort can easily be compared to a ruthless tyrant like Hitler in his endeavor to create a wizarding world of only pure-blood witches and wizards, and that only begins to scratch the surface of real-life comparisons.

Moving on. LSU is my current home. I may not go to the football games (sorry!), but I am a tiger through and through. Louisiana is a large part of my family heritage, so it only seemed reasonable to come here for a time in my life that is meant for growth and self-discovery. I like to think that my time here and my pride towards my Louisiana roots has allowed me to build a deeper, more special bond with my father and grandparents despite the fact that I was not raised here. I may not remain in Louisiana for the rest of my life, but I will make the most of the next 4-5 years I have left at LSU as I wrap up my undergraduate degree and dive into veterinary school (cross your fingers that they accept my application this year). For those of you who have never visited Louisiana, I recommend you make a trip out here at least once in your life just to try the food. It does not get better than Cajun cooking my friends.

Among my passions for Harry Potter and Louisiana, I spend a great deal of time on listening to music. I am a big fan of classic rock like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, Queen, Bob Dylan, David Bowie (from the 60's more so than 80's Bowie), Judas Priest, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix, etc. I go for classic punk bands such as the Ramones and the Clash. I jam out to 90's bands like Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Days of the New, Live, Radiohead, etc. And last, but certainly not least, I always lighten my mood with a little Bob Marley. My love for music from before my time has led to a bit of an analog obsession, which caused me to claim half of my dad's vinyl collection. (I love you Dad!) Now that I have acquired a record player, I spend much of my free time listening to vintage analog music, which gives the albums a nice break from serving as wall art.

I suppose that is a good start. Much more will be revealed with each post, so until next time:



Peace