Not too much to say today, but I didn't want to go too long without an update. The research project is kicking into high gear now, and is taking up most of my time and my group-mates' time. Now that the Rhodes is overwith (the application anyway) I have been focusing on the more realistic list of 15 grad schools I'm applying to. I have options that are close in location to all my immediate family members, so thats good. The semester continues....
I'm going with Daddy to Mississippi this weekend to see Nick compete in "Ranger Challenge" where his ROTC Ranger squad takes on other schools. He is getting in great shape and it should be good. He can "run like the wind." Oh yens.
I suppose thats about it. I hope everyone is well.

Peace,
Joe

HANPY BIRNFDAY TO DA PEEG HANPY BIRNFDAY TO DA PEEG HANPY BIRNFDAY DEAR PEEEEEEEEEGGGGG HANPY BIRNFDAY TO DA PEEG!!!!!!!!!!!!

There, I just sang over the interweb. But its better that it wasn' audible, becasue it was really bad. Yep. Hope your birthday was fun Peeg.

To everyone else, my life is again boring becasue I'm back in class. No funny stories except I ate something called "Steak Fingers" for dinner. Its like chicken fingers, but steak. Now my stomach hurts. I hope everyone is well.

Peace,
Joe

PS... I am taking Violin lessons starting in the spring! Hooray!

Ok, I'm back. For those of you that know my dad all he had to say was one word after getting me to come upstairs and into the family room: "pen?" Yep. Ok, so this weekend was my fall break. I went to the lake with Carl. Everyone else was either going home (like Joe and David) or had a test (like Vick with the GRE) or just had so much damn work they couldn't spare any time (like Drew). Various other circumstances led it to be just me and the Carl man. After the four hot foreign exchange girls cancelled, it was jus thte two of us. (PS THERE WERE NEVER ANY HOT FORIEGN EXCHANGE GIRLS BUT ITS FUN TO THINK SO, ISN'T IT? ESPECIALLY IF ONE WAS NAMED "Popyavitch") So we went and relaxed in the middle of nowhere. When we got there we went hiking back into some woods behind where a creek branches off of the main lake. It was beutiful. We went pretty deep before we stopped and I said "So wich way should we go now, Carl." Carl took a second and answered "Since there is a Doberman Pincher over there, we should go that way! (Pointing away from the angry looking dog)" So we ran. Or at least, I ran. Carl walked faster but I took off like I was still a much skinnier Chandler. Tubby has not run that fast since high school track practice. It was pretty funny. Anyway, we got away and got back to the edge of the creek. There Carl explained to me that the huge grey vats of smooth looking mud were these pools that he used to play in when small. I thought that was nice. So I went over and just put my hand in it and thought, "this is nice." THEN I WAS IN IT! It was purty fun. I acted like a scary swamp monster and stuff until I realized "ok Joe, you ARE stressed." Carl got muddy too, basically doing the same thing, flipping out (much like a ninja but with no killing). We got the mud off in the lake and then made hot dogs and beer. We made a bon fire that night and stayed very amused at the awesome echo that the lake provided. It would return almost three words after a one second delay!
The next day we swam and and attempted to find paddles for the canoe but had no luck. We went out on the pontoon boat (it was 75 degrees!) and had much fun. I got to read a bit. We played our guitars. The day ended with more hot dogs and more beer and another bon fire. We got up the next day and went back to B'ham. Then I went to T-town to pick up Nick for the weekend. Here begins the second half of the story.
If I can ever give you any advice it would be NOT to drive to Tuscaloosa on the day of thier homecoming. There was bumper to bumper traffic the whole way down and people were literally rolling down their windows and yelling at eachother from opposingly decked out Alabama and Ole' Miss vans. It was really scary. Then when I got to town there was an old lady IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET singing the fight song over and over and over again. A huge crepe-paper visage of Big Al blocked the entrance to a church next to Nick's dorm. As soon as I pulled in to the parking lot of Nick's dorm, I was blocked in by other cars. There were idiots trying to park in the ONLY EXIT IN THE WHOLE DAMN LOT! He moved when others yelled at him. Nick finally came down to the car (I had called Meghan and told here this story already to keep sane) and we left. on the way out it was like everyone on the road on the way out was on crack. Bad crack. It was most unpleasant.
Then we got home and went to church and Los Mex. Nick went out with his friends last night and I stayed home and watched BBC shows on PBS with mama and drank guinness. I know I'm a party animal. You don't have to tell me.
Today we're having a nice big lunch and daddy and I are watching football. All in all its been a great weekend. I hope the week is equally as nice.
I hope everyone is well!

Peace,
Joe

So you know you've been working too hard when you jump into the first giant pool of mud made available to you and roll around while fully clothed. Yep. Ah, but first, the set up......
Wait, gotta go. I'm at home and daddy says he needs me upstairs for a sec... brb.

peace,
joe

I had a dream last night that Peeg killed the sniper in Maryland. I do not mean to trivialize the horrors that are occuring up there, but it was kind of a funny dream. Saturn sent him as an assassin to kill the person becasue he was bad for business. It was like I was watching it on the news. He was "secret agent Peeg." Then I had a dream that Shane and I solved what consciousness is, and gained the ability to turn ourselves off like robots. It was very cool.
Today I finished my midterms with a presentation in PY417 (research in psych). It went well, and now its time for a few days of "no brain Joe." I'm in the Cellar right now and noone is here except the Cellar regulars because everyone is gone for Fall Break. Mike is down from Vandy, and he brought some conspiracy theory rap. It is very niiiice. We got Chef hats for the Cellar. We asked for them jokingly, and got them. So I am now wearing a chef hat that says "CHEF" on it in badly written letters. Its probably the most exciting thing that has happened to me in the last few weeks, I've been so busy. We're going to the lake tomorrow for a day, and then I'm going home to hang out with Nick and mama and daddy and grandma and grandpa. That should be nice. I'll probably spend the time sptudying for the GRE. Oh well. I'm going to go make some coffee of some sort.

Peace,
Joe

The Wailers were here last night and it was a rockin concert! Bob Marely is sadly passed away, but the lead singer wa still great. THey played many good songs and we all bopped to the same rhythm for two hours underneath a very hot tent on the quad. It was the first E-fest that I really enjoyed in all four years here. We all hung out and had a good time. Matt and David and Lauren were not around for various reasons, and they were missed. After the concert I helped my friend Carrie Beth try to find a bunch of her friends that had come up from T-town and then disappeared. We foudn them talking to the band. One of the band members (the bassist?) had given one of them a note that said something like "you have beutiful eyes, I'd like to see them in the morning" So Carrie Beth decided they needed to go watch a movie instead. Carl and I then watched some of Harry Potter pointing out parts of Oxford that we wanted to see as students next year. That would rule. Drew was on duty all night so it wasn't his best E-fest ever, but I heard he read a good bit of The Hobbit.
We had band practice today and decided that we weren't going to be ready for the Halloween show we had sort of planned. We are all too busy this semester. Maybe in the Spring then.
Midterms are nearly over, and next weekend is fall break. We might go to the lake. We are so busy though that we would have to bring work to the lake. But at least we would be somewhere other than school. Yep.
Fall semester is flying by. I still have many Grad school apps to do and even a little reading tonight, so I must go. I hope everyone is well.
PS to daPeeg, get better sicky pants
to tha Stacy, thanx for the input on my essay
to everyone, enjoy your weekend in whatever capacity you see fit.
Peace,
Joe

Do you ever have one of those days where you feel like you can't study anymore even if you tried really really hard? Thats me today. I have a midterm in Psychological Disorders tomorrow and I can't bring myself to study anymore for it. I think that even if I did it wouldn't sink in. I've studid enough for it already I think, but usually I overstudy to the point where I feel like I could write a book on it before I take the test. But not today.
My friend Dedra (I hope I spelled that right) came over today and told me lots of good stuff about my fiddle. She's a very good Cello player and so I trust her advice oh so much. I think I might take lessons from someone for it, maybe through the music department here. She called frets "cheat bars." I guess it is a bunch more difficult to play stringed instruments without frets. But I will try to learn. Yens.
I mailed my Rhodes application yesterday, and it cost me like eight bucks because it was so huge. So now maybe my posts won't include something about it every time. Now I just wait to see if I get a state bid. That sure would be nice.
A quick thanks to anyone that ever helped me with it. References, pictures, advice on the essay, or just puttin gup with me always talking about it. I feel as if I have borne a child. But like I said, now all there is to do is wait.
I guess thats all for today. I'm going to go study because reading that top part made me feel guilty. :( oh well, such is the life of a student.
Peace,
Joe

A very quick THANK YOU OH SO VERNY MUCH to my brother Will for helping me scramble to get some pictures today for the Rhodes. Another sappy "Joe loves and misses his family" moment. Sleep is emminent. I hope everyone is well
Peace,
Joe

It magically turned fall today! It got "cold" (yeah, like 60 degrees) and I put on a long sleeved shirt. I hope it stays this way. I learned the first few bars of Old Joe Clark and that song from the PBS civil war show today, too. Still sounds like a dying cat, but less so than the other day, I tell you. Will called me this mornig at about 8:30am and was really excited and played some stuff for me. Man he's going to get good at it really fast. That stayed on my mind all day, so when I got out of class I thought, "Hmmm... sleep, or play fiddle.... PLAY FIDDLE!" and I proceeded to do so for about an hour. It was nice. The fingering is starting to make more sense (I looked up some Mandolin tab) and perhaps soon I won't make my roommates run at the sound of my playing. This is the official website for the big fancy scholarship I am almost done applying for. Man oh man it has been complicated and stuff. But soon the hardest parts will be over. Hooray!
I guess that's it. Bob Marley's old band "The Wailers" will be on campus this weekend. That should be interesting.
I hope everyone is well.

Peace,
Joe

Met with my research group for six and a half hours straight today. We went so long that we actually finished while I was at work, with me going from the register back to them over and over. If you are in my group and reading this, you rock. If you aren't in the group and are reading this, you still rock, but they rock, too.
Got to hang out with Nick today when I drove him back to T-town. This weekend was great. Being with my family really recharges me. Now all I have to do is learn to play the fiddle I bought.
I still have about 150 pages of reading to do and its 10pm, so I'm going to go. I'll probably find a place outside, it looks like a pretty storm is brewing.
I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

I GOT A FIDDLE TODAY! Yep, I sepnt my money on another instrument that I will spend just enough time on to get ok, and then go back to guitar. But that is secondary to the rest of the day so far. Let me tell you about the Fiddler's convention, since that's all I've been talking about on this site all week anyway.
Carl and Nick and I got to Athens in the middle of the banjo competition, around 8:30pm. Mama and Daddy had already registered me to sing in the Old Time Singing competition, and Carl and Nick bought tickets when we got there. We got there just in time to meet up with Ma and practice my song maybe twice, only to find out that she couldn't back me up without an instrument (besides her voice). Will and Meghan were running late (they ran into every conceivable type of traffic) so I thought that I wasn't going to sing (that didn't seem too bad to me after the reality of singing in front of many people set in). But Will got there in time, registered (they wouldn't let me and Ma do it for him) and backed me up, so I did sing. I was nervous (it came across verrrry much in my voice) and a siren went off in the middle of the song, and I forgot a verse (I blame it on the siren, but actually I didn't know it went off until Will told me afterward). But I got to sing with my brother, which made me feel important and somehow a better musician than I really am, and he harmonized with me on the chorus, which I think (if we have time to practice together next time) could be verrrry niiiice in the future. Will sang "Angel Band" and absolutely blew everyone away. I had no doubt that he was going to win first place, but then some magic ray hit the judges and made them forget that he even sang, I guess. Mama sang something I had never heard her sing before, "Queen of Hearts" a cappela, and it was mesmerizing. I hate it that she never wins there (she doesb't sing the "right kind of songs" apparently) but its a safe bet she always has the prettiest voice at the whole convention. Yep. Daddy looked great, like he had much energy, and it was very fun getting to see Jamie and Dave again. We all jammed Saturday afternoon (Dave bought a new guitar!) until our fingers started to hurt. We ate funnel cake and the like, and then Nick came back with me and Carl to 'Southern and we hung out and played my new fiddle very badly. Liz and Josh and Peeg and Stacy were missed a whole bunch.
So there's my weekend. The best break ever. I feel very much refreshed and ready to go for school next weekend. Family, friends, and bluegrass (not to mention a new instrument) will do that to you.
Gotta go to bed. Nick and I are going to mass in the morning. I hope everyone had as good a weekend as I.
Peace,
Joe

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:
If a monkey has knife fight with another monkey and no one is there to referee it, who wins?

SECOND THOUGHT OF THE DAY:
Fiddler's Convention + Hot Cider + Many Guitars + Family + Friends = WOOOOHOOOOO

LAST THOUGHT OF THE DAY:
(Fill in thought here)

I hope everyone is well.

Peace,
Joe

Wow. Stuff has been so crazy the last few days that I almost forgot I had this site. I have a formal APA presentation coming up, the Rhodes is coming to a crrrazy close, I had the most involved test I have ever had in Cognitive Psych, and meetings with groups that I never knew I belonged to. I just got off work and I thought, "I should post on my site, that would be a happy thing." Fiddler's convention is in two days and I've practiced my song maybe twice. I need new acoustic strings before hand, which is one of my quests for tomorrow. I get to get up @ around 8am, finish my Rhodes essay, go to two meetings, got to T-town to give Nick some stuff, come back, have band practice, then meet with my research group to keep up with the APA presentation for next monday. But then friday I drive away to cider and funnel cakes and family. It will be grand. The more I think about Peeg and Stacy not being there, the more sad I am :( I really need to get up to DC to see them. Yep. Besides all the work, I am enjoying the life oh so much. I complain, but its verrrrry niiiice indeed. This morning I was so tired I decided to shave a very odd pattern in my beard. It seemd like a good idea at the time, but one of my friends said it best when she said, "Joe, what's that on your face?" Sometimes ideas seem good when you're sleepy, only to come into their true form later. Tonight Charled played some very cool Johnny Cash music in the Cellar. It was covers and the like. He did a cover of "I won't back down" with Tom Petty himself singing backup. Yet another CD that Joe would like to have. Oh yes, and some Nickel Creek. I hope it doesn't rain this weekend. Mayne the hurrican thats coming will say "Oh, its fiddler's convention time!" and magically disappear. I would like that. Will is singing this cool old song about angels for the convention. I heard it last year when he was getting it ready, and it was supa keen. I look forward to hearing it.
I hope eveyone is doing well. I'm going to go to bed now to stop my rambling. Yes.
Peace,
Joe