david-s.net - David Schlosnagle's Words, Photos, and Links

Time is flying by faster and faster everyday. Four years ago, I was dropped off in the middle of Pennsylvania, along with about 8,000 other freshmen to begin the greatest time of our lives. It’s a weird feeling to not be returning, buying books, and heading to class. There will be no more syllabus days, boring lectures from indecipherable professors, grueling projects, eighteen credit semesters, or final exams. Instead, these have all been replaced by the daily routine of shower, work, workout, sleep, rinse, and repeat. My time for relaxation has been confined to weekday evenings and the weekend. Now I just have to decide whether I should visit PSU this coming weekend for the first home game and Labor Day weekend. If anyone out there wants to hook me up with a student ticket, let me know.

Yeah, I think I’m still here, I’ve just been busy driving around visiting people. Two weekends ago I had to go clean out my PSU apartment, which my roommates had managed to completely destroy in the 3 months I’ve been gone. We did a pretty good job cleaning, I’m just waiting on the security deposit to see how bad they rip us off. It was nice being back in State College for a couple days, its hard to believe I won’t be going back for the fall semester.

Last weekend I ventured back up 70W, beyond the “Welcome to Pennsylvania: home of gray skies, non-stop rain, and miles of pointless orange barrels” and through the cattle chutes of the unpaved, newly jacked up prices Turnpike. At the end of that wonderful journey, I arrived at my house, and stayed in the new guestroom (a.k.a. my old bedroom, my parents didn’t waste any time getting rid of me). Saturday, my friends and I went down to the Pirate game, which was sold out thanks to fireworks night, but we managed to get standing room only tickets. We stood on the lower level right behind home plate, not bad for $8. The Pirates even managed to surprise me and beat the Rockies 6-1. After the game and fireworks, we headed over to Tequila Willies to celebrate Mike’s bday. Sunday was family day; we went over to the Shadyside arts festival to check out the works of art. I have to say, the Penn State Arts Festival was much nicer and more open than Shadyside, but we did manage to find a photo for in my old bedroom. I’m still trying to find something for the walls in my new apartment. I’ve found some I like, but I haven’t bought any yet. Monday, I took a vacation day and went dahn ta Primanti Brudders for lunch with Diane and Dave. I still can’t believe they don’t have Heinz ketchup there, and they consider themselves a Pittsburgh institution. In the evening, I began my trek back south below the Mason-Dixon line. Mike’s family was visiting D.C., so I met up with him on Tuesday night in Clarendon. Wednesday I got a call from Pooch saying he was crossing through VA on his way to surf the Carolina coast with a couple of his old roommates, and we hung out and played pool in Arlington. The rest of the week was pretty much the usual work week with no more visitors.

This past weekend was mostly spent relaxing by the pool and reading. I just finished White Noise by Don DeLillo, now onto Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I’m not sure how much I’ll enjoy this, but The Fountainhead is one of my favorites, mixing architecture, ethics, and idealism in one.

I did see one interesting thing while at the Tyson’s Corner mall, an Aston Martin Vanquish in Bloomingdales. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a quarter of a million dollar car just sitting in a department store being used as a slide for little kids. It was amazing seeing one up close, but I could never spend that much money on a car, besides, that would buy five different M3s, or a mixture of M3s, M5s, and Porsches, or something a little more reasonable like a house.

In honor of the Statue of Liberty’s reopening, I would like to recommend a book from one of my favorite authors, Leviathan. The book draws its plot from Lady Liberty and is well worth checking out. It’s a shame that you can’t climb the stairs to look out from the torch any longer. I guess that’s one more thing I’ll never get to do.

On a lighter note, check out this movie for the only W. from Craford, Texas that would get my vote.