Hey! A week from now I'll probably be driving through New York at this time, en route to New Hampshire. Oh, and by New Hampshire, I mean Bretton Woods. Pretty nice, huh? It looks like Jake E will be coming with me too! My doctor told me on Thursday that I can't run for another month. This means I will have taken almost 2 months, the most I've "vacationed" since 8th grade. The good news is that I can still ski! Anyway, I need to get back to my homework. Peace ~ Rich

I hate rocks....

We had a sample midterm today and although I would have passed, it wouldn't have been very pretty. I just got done studying for my math midterm tomorrow. So, it looks like I'll move on to working on my research paper for english tomorrow. That's about it with life right now. I've been swimming so much that it's become normal to me; I still suck though. What's really annoying is that when I go in the evening there are a bunch of people that are there simply to cannonball of the diving board or throw a ball across the pool. Let me go into a little more detail... I'm trying to do a workout, to stay in shape, to prepare to represent my college in the fall, and there are 200-500 lb assholes doing cannonballs 5 feet away from me just for the hell of it. Some people suck at life. That's my rant for the day.

The social security issue has really been frustrating me lately. Perhaps if I can get around to it, I'll write yet another rant on why privatization is the key to better financial security than one can get from the present system. Anyway, I need to go. There's more math to do and IU is playing Purdue. I figured for this week's Garwoodism we'd bring out a classic. Enjoy ~ Rich

Garwoodism of the week:
"I don't believe in love, I believe in infatuation for procreation."

Geology is killing me..... I'll try and post in the coming days if I have the time.

Jake forgot that he had to work today, so he didn't make me dinner. Bad Jake; your place is in the kitchen... you should know that by now.

"All I know is where you go, I belong..."

It seems that everyone is going back home this weekend, which is really dumb in my opinion because it's only been a month since Christmas break, but whatever. PJ called two days ago and we talked awhile. He said I should come to L-ville this weekend. Since no one is gonna be around here I'm probably gonna take him up on that offer.

Tonight I will probably be studying my little ass off so that I can stay ahead of the game. Before I do that, however, Jacob England is being really cool and making a delicious dinner for me. Thank you Jake, you're so kind.

Song of the Day: "Where Are You Going?" by Dave Matthews Band

The Ohio River looks like a thousand diamonds strewn across a brown plane...

What a beautiful day! It's 50 degrees and cloudy in Hebron right now, but it's 65 and sunny in Evansville; jealous, aren't you? I just got back from a brief field trip in my geology lab. I really hate that class, but today it was mildly entertaining as students were able to drive the vans. The guy driving my van intentionally plowed into a garbage can and I couldn't stop laughing for 5 minutes because of it. On the way back our instructor was driving one of the vans; she was going 10 miles under the speed limit. So one of my fellow classmates decided to pass her which was hilarious. Now I'm just waiting for my geology lecture (yes, that's right kids, I have damn near 4 hours of geology). After that I think I might just go for a walk. I would go for a run, but uhhhh.... yeah. Anyway, it's time to enjoy the weather. Peace~ Rich

Garwoodism of the Week:
"Polka dot shirts are for homosexuals... that's all I have to say about that issue..."

"It's just a minor thing and I'm a minor king..."

I supposed I could update, you know, for the hell of it. Nothing particularly interesting or exciting happened this weekend. Today I went with Garwood to the mall. Upon returning, I went to "Super" Wal-Mart with Jake. They only had two types of pizza sauce and one of them was Ragu, the other was Wal-Mart brand. Sad. Very Sad.

Being unable to run has left me feeling very empty. I now have 3 more hours in a day to do whatever I wish and I hate it. Running kept my mind off of normal day-to-day shit and allowed me live relatively stress-free. Right now I feel as if I don't have much direction and the stupidest things frustrate me. So, I'm thinking that I need two things: a healthy left femur and a trip to New Hampshire. The trip to NH is in less than a month, maybe my leg can be that timely. ~ Rich

Currently listening to: By The Way by The Red Hot Chili Peppers
Favorite song on album: Venice Queen (boring at the beginning, but beautiful by the end)

Garwoodism of The Week....

Hey folks! I really don't wanna go into a lengthy rant tonight or tell you about everything that's happening in my life. But I will give you the pleasure of a new Garwoodism. Actually, it's been a busy week, so Garwood is going to bless you with 2 Garwoodisms of a similar variety. Enjoy.... ~ Rich

This week's Garwoodism:
"God didn't make you a whore, so don't use his quotes to justify your unlawful use of free-will."

"You may not be an STD-toting whore, but that makes you no less a whore."

Bone Scan / The Social Security Issue. Again.

Today I visited Deaconess Hospital to get my left femur checked. I got shot up with this radioactive fluid stuff at 9 and then I went back in to get scanned at 12:30 once the fluid was flowing through my bones. Once scanned, the middle of my left femur appeared to glow light gray on the computer monitor, indicating a minor stress fracture. So, I do have a stress fracture, but I will not know how long I'll be out until tomorrow.

The only good news of the day: I read the entire current issue of Time while I waited for the bone scan. There were a number of interesting articles, including one on Bush's plan for Social Security. However, I was somewhat disappointed with the article. Although it offered both the conservative and liberal viewpoints for what effect it would have on the budget, the authors seemed to be somewhat bias and/or unknowledgeable on the matter of the percent of return under a privatized system. Their model only offers figures from a liberal think tank, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, who predict a maximum return of 4.5%. But, as explained in the link above, Donald Luskin believes it's possible for maximum returns of 6%, conservatively speaking. Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute, a respected libertarian think tank, suggests that private accounts would continue to pay more (see Figure 3) than our current system even if the market drops. His findings crush the argument about privatization's supposed instability.

USI's College Democrats vice-president offered an interesting opinion on the matter last Friday while debating with him, that being that "with certain reforms to the current system, we could have a successful Social Security program again." I found it ironic that a Democrat was talking about Social Security reform when the Dems had already done so much in the past 50 years, most of it leading to the current system's upcoming failure. Maybe he is right, maybe current system could be reverted back to its original intent. But, I believe that the system is too easily corrupted, very inefficient, and violates the citizen's right to control over his/her income. Moreover, the payroll tax, the means for financing the current social security system is extremely high: 6.2% for employers and employees. What's worse is the affect it has on discouraging new small businesses, as the self-employed pay 12.4% into the system. If the American people having 6-12% of their income taken away from them, the people should at least decide what is going to be done with the money. Every citizen should also get more money back than they originally put it in. Regardless of what Paul Krugman might say, privatization will meet both of these requirements, something our current system fails to accomplish. ~ Rich

Frusciante takes a break...

At this very moment I am both happy and sad. Why you ask? Because I just received the newest John Frusciante CD in the mail, the very CD I pre-ordered almost a month ago. Yet again, Frusciante does not disappoint as he elevates himself closer to true singer-songwriter status. The guitar style is creative, the vocals are melodic, and the overall sound is different than the normal shit on the radio. However, I am sad because of the fact that this will be the last album, for the time being, released by Frusciante. Yet, there is little reason for me to be sad. After all, my favorite solo artist has blessed me with six albums, five of them full length, in six months. How many of you can say that (unless you are Frusciante fans too)? It is very rare for an artist to release so much material in such a short amount of time. Even more amazing is that each album has a unique sound of its own.

When was the last time Lindsey Lohan, Britney Spears, Ashlee Simpson, Simple Plan, Linkin Park, or almost any other mainstream artist, for that matter, even manage to squeeze out 2 albums in a year? How sad is it that these singers and bands get so much attention, yet they have not even come close to accomplishing the feats of Frusciante and other talented, but unkown artists. All of the artists mentioned in the opening sentence of this paragraph have been around for less than a decade; John Frusciante has been around for almost 15 years. While Britney Spears was still in grade school, John Frusciante and his fellow Chili Peppers revolutionized modern rock with the release of Blood Sex Sugar Magik. When she released her debut album in 1999, the Chili Peppers were releasing Californication, an album that would later gross 13 million in sales and solidify them as one of the greatest bands of our generation. As Ashlee Simpson lip-psynced her way through a live performance in front of a TV audience of thousands this year, John Frusciante had already released what was arguably the best pop rock song of 2004, Song To Sing When I'm Lonely; no one heard it. The same can be said for the next 5 albums released under Frusciante's name. But hey, Jimi Hendrix didn't get such an incredibly large fanbase until he died. Maybe it will just take time. One can only hope; after all, the last thing I want to hear 20 years from now on an elevator is a string arrangement of "You make me wanna la la on the kitchen floor." Seriously people, why do you tolerate such meaningless shit? ~Rich

"And I wonder when this day will end..."

Tonight marked the first time in at least 3 months that I did a pool workout. I forgot just how much I hate them; I also forgot just how badly I suck at swimming. Maybe by the time I can start running again I'll be able to execute proper freestyle technique. One could only hope with the looks I was getting from the lifeguard and fellow swimmers. There came a point where I was ready to just scream, "Yes, I know I suck at swimming! The only reason I'm here is because I probably have a stress fracture! I'm a runner, not a swimmer. How many of you can walk out the door and run 10 miles without thinking twice about it?!"

In other news I have a huge geology test I need to be studying for. It requires a shitload of reading, so I'm going to depart. But before I do so, I'll leave you all with a brand new Garwoodism... Peace to your hearts. ~ Rich

This week's Garwoodism: "Living your life by quotes is bullshit, just don't forget to write this down."