Ain't that a bitch

Ever since I left school in May I have been searching for the next step, something that will make me happy and advance my standing in the world. However, due to some terribly poor planning (both financially and interpersonally) I have spent the last 7 months acting as a free-loader, under the pretense that I am preparing my grad school applications. There is some truth, I will have my four applications done by their respective due dates, but it's no where near as time consuming as my schedule allowed. I haven't completely bought into the idea that grad school is the answer, but I don't see entering the copirate world as a legitimate option either.

My search just got a whole lot clearer. I am good at and enjoying being a student and engaging in tutoring. During this fall finals period I have helped friends study for their tests, in subjects that I've never taken. But the challenge of working through a problem or topic, or being able to shed light on something that had left my friend confused excites me. As I write this I am in the middle of a 3+ hour statistics study session. THIS STUFF IS BARELY RELEVANT TO ME! But it gets my brain working and each breakthrough is a true success. I know what I need to do, but it's a shame it took a 3 AM study session to find it.

Another conversation with my brother

My brother and I were at it again. It started with a YouTube video that he posted on my wall, and then a comment from my friend about our relationship. Just more reasons why I love this kid.

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B: you trying to get buck young blood?
C: what?
B: making all them comments. you know you used your off arm
C: you know you always started the pushing

(Quick break in the action. This initial exchange is about how we would usually start fighting when we played one-on-one in the front of our house when we were growing up. Good memories. I had to make up for my lack of general skill with physicality, he never liked that.)

B: if i'm lying i'm dying. i just had to hold my own
C: i didn't use my off arm, you're just mad because i mastered the kobe hip clip
B: haha doubtful. well, when you start getting paid to use that hip clip move i expect thanks for all the practice you got with me
C: fair enough. i'll let them know that your constant fouling led me to have to figure out a counter
B: constant fouling?! ninja, it's street basketball in front of our house. no blood, no foul
C: haha, i just wanted the reaction from that comment
B: i think i got hurt more often than you did
C: and you pushed me into the basketball base and/or pole more than once
B: to work on your body control
C: so that's how you justify it?
B: theyve got nice rims in the league
C: haha
B: every game is a chance to learn
C: mmhmm. random question: you participating in no shave november?
B: i beat you kobe got smacked around, thats why he has 5 rings. lebron was getting coddled, and thats why he has no rings. and yes, i am not shaving all month
C: kobe has 5 rings because he's named after a very rare expensive meat...and because he grew up in jaapan
B: more because i lost my razor
C: haha. i haven't touched my facial hair for the past 3.5 months. still look like paul pierce. it's sad.
B: nah, paul pierce has it cleaned up this year. he's all business now
C: at the end of this month, i'm getting a hair cut and shaving off everything
B: he's tired of getting punked by kobe and not getting rings
C: the facial hair isn't stopping him, it's the stacked lakers team
B: but i'm with you. getting a haircut and shaving. i haven't had a cut since august
C: mine has been something like that. with the patch beard i'm starting to look more and more homeless each day.
B: thats not a good look
C: i'm living the college life
B: respect. i guess it works because marisa isn't around. gotta get cleaned up for her
C: she's not coming up until december, i have time
B: so youre going for the grizzly adams look for the first part of the season? good strategy. dont shower, no one will want to guard you
C: this is why i only listen to SOME of your advice
B: thats how i won two of my three IM championships. didnt shower for two days before playoff games
C: i have a feeling you're not lying
B: i get results
C: wait, you didn't win 3 IM championships did you?
B: yeah. 2 spring championships and 1 in the fall. the no shower was for the back-to-back spring ones
C: congratulations, i think that one-ups dad's pickleball championship. i'm getting on FB. goodnight. check out the clippers/pacers highlight if you haven't seen eric gordon's dunk yet. posse out
B: night man. see you in a week

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I love my brother.

Escape

Vacations aren't just about taking a break from your regular life. Vacations are an opportunity to do the things that you're too afraid to do in your regular life. Vacations are a chance to experience something that you thought had no space in your regular life. Vacations are the time where you spend time with people that otherwise are kept at a distance. Vacations are what you really wish your life was like.

Man, I hate it when vacations have to end.

What kids these days are missing out on

I am watching Life Unexpected on the CW (by the way, the CW has some of the most ridiculous shows that are meant to pull on your heartstrings, but in the worst and cheesiest ways) and Sarah McLachlan makes a cameo as the closing act of a concert. Ms. McLachlan's popularity lasted from the mid 1990s to the early 2000s. This means that today's youngsters only know her as the lady that sings the sad song for the abused and abandoned animals. And that's a darn shame. Although I don't any of her songs other than the sad animals song too (my sister told me it is called "In the Arms of an Angel"), I know that she was famous for more than just one song. Kids these days just don't get quality musicians like her anymore.

I weep for the young.

Brand Security

Today is a momentous day for the blog. In a continued efforts to take this endeavor to even higher peaks, I secured brysonthinks@gmail.com. My new goal, along with posting more regularly, is to claim ownership of anything and everything that is brysonthinks.

Here's to progress.

My Brother and I

(This is a conversation that my younger brother, Caleb, and I had over text message. He's away at college in Tacoma, WA so we don't talk as often as I'd like but it's these kind of convos that make me love him.)

B: The QB from Oregon state looks like drake
C: I was just watching that game at the gym. Didn't he have blondish hair though?
B: Nope. He has brown hair. He just has a fade
C: Huh, well they still got beat so drake's competitive nature obviously didn't transpire.
B: It was a bad snap that sealed their fate today
C: Yeah, i saw that. I give him props for kicking it out of bounds though, that was a smart play. You see the oregon score?
B: Yeah. 72-0. I'm mad they didn't hit 100, they were up 59-0 at the half
C: That was what dad told me. 100 is classless bryson.
B: It's all about sending a message.
C: And 72-0 isn't a message? 100-0 would be like you crossing someone over, waiting for them to get up just so you can dunk on them...and then blowing a kiss to their girl in the stands after the fact. Not classy.
B: 3 words
B: LEAVE
B: NO
B: DOUBT
C: And that's why I don't play you in monopoly anymore. you're an asshole.
B: I'm going to post this exchange on my blog. Classic

And that's why I love my brother.

I've got a new idea…

This blog is supposed to be a collection of my rants and raves and my most intimate (and usually ridiculous) thoughts. But in the fast-paced world of Bryson's Thoughts on the World, I'm not always able to put these thoughts down. But like a bolt of lightning from the hand of Zeus himself, a new idea hit me. Instead of only going to twitter, I will enter my little nuggets on this blog. This way I'll be able to keep a constant flow of my thoughts on the world.

So I present…Bryson's Thoughts on the World, version 2.0

I am excited for (the re-up)...

my presentation on Wednesday (the culmination of a lot of hard work).
the chance to take a trip and really enjoy myself with some important people.
the next step.
my new Jordan 7 Retros.
the evolution of Bryson Alexander Gauff.

BOOM!

Happy 4th of July.

Happy birthday America!

All I see are fireworks. Still magical after all these years. Independence Day is becoming one of my favorite holidays because it is guaranteed family time. And you can never get tired of that.

The Plight...

of research weighs heavy. But it's summertime and I just graduated so I should be enjoying myself. Time to finish off these next five weeks, slap together a nice little research presentation, collect my stipend money, chuck a deuce and get on to the next.

BUT WHAT IS NEXT BRYSON?

That's a good ass question. I need to breathe and I'm going to find some time to do that soon. I want to see some people and make some mistakes. Las Vegas in July. Chicago and New York in August. Then we can do the Q&A session.

Food for Thought

I am watching the Cavs-Celtics Game 3 on ESPN3.com and during one of the commercials for Honda a man said the following words. They are not really relevant to many things but they are still profoundish.

"The Stone Age did not end because they ran out of stones. The hope is that we can end the Oil Age not because we ran out of oil, but because we found something better."

That's good stuff.

I am excited...

for graduation.
for McNair Scholars this summer.
iPhone OS 4.0.
the next step.

I Must Be My Sister's Brother

I'm in Toronto, my first international trip. NSBE National Conference for 4 days to see what the whole nation is doing with their next generation of engineers. I've learned some things from the first day here:
- Make sure your things are planned properly and paid for before you need them. Wandering around the airport trying to find a shuttle to the airport (when one doesn't even exists) is a bad way to start a trip. And having to wait until 230p when you arrived at 715a for rooms is an even worse way to continue the trip. 
- No matter what type of black person you have (in this particular case, the black engineer), there will be extreme displays of niggerdom. We're supposed to be the next great minds of America. It's only been one day, but I weep for the future. 
- Most of the female engineers are big. Perhaps it is the long hours in the lab or in front of a computer screen, but man, seeing the prospects here make me even more sure I'll never marry a female engineer. 
- I'm definitely my sister's brother. She dislikes clubs because of the crowds and general perviness of them. Usually I can deal with these annoyance because it's a time to get out and to have fun. But I think my tolerance have officially wore out. If another sweaty, drunk guy bumps into me, I'll have to practice extreme self-restraint. Because I feel that punching someone might be a little much, but it'll definitely be a kathratic experience. WOOSAW

And this is only day one. Friday, Saturday and Sunday are on tap. Hopefully my neck relaxes so I can bend it. And I hope my back stops screaming. Sigh, Toronto. 

March Madness...THE FUCK?!

For another year, I have been severely disappointed with how my bracket has panned out. The only difference this year is that this is only the third day of the tournament, this stuff goes until early April. While I have never followed college basketball that closely, I would love to think that I have a good idea of what is going on and how to pick a solid bracket. Kansas's loss today to the University of Northern Iowa (shout out to Vivian, the only person I know from Iowa) taught me a big lesson...all this March Madness stuff is exactly that - madness.

This is a bunch of 18 to 22 year olds playing a game. I am 21 and I know how inconsistent I am in my day-to-day stuff. So if you put me into a tournament that the whole nation gets obsessed over, I am bound to mess up and lose an important game. But seriously, the number 1 seed loses to a 9 seed on the first day of spring?! NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball tournament...THE FUCK?!

I Need to Do Better

In all facets of my life I am lacking. Of course this isn't something to outlandish to think, I am human and therefore flawed. But there has to be a way to cure my most frequently-occurring ills (but perhaps this is why they happen so often). I NEED TO DO BETTER! I am a 21 year old, soon-to-be graduate of the University of Southern California. This should not be such a problem all the time. I NEED TO DO BETTER!

Sigh...I NEED TO DO BETTER.

Happy New Year

This is a long overdue welcome to the new year and the new decade to all my readers. Happy New Year. Let's make 2010 special.