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Tales from the Steppes


2004-11-27

11:25 p.m.
The day light's fading slowly, The time with you is standing still

Yesterday I got to go climbing for the first time ever. Every other time I have been to either a gym or other place with a wall, I have corralled excess mongols while a subset gets to climb. So I did not know what I was missing. And am now hooked. To say it was fun would be a misstatement because it was so much more than that. Oh sure, I need to develop some different muscles than the ones I normally use. No big deal. And I need to get used to being up high. It is not that I am necessarily afraid of heights - just not used to being there.

I remember going to see Bladerunner for the first time with a group of Marklanders. One of them made the comment that she didn't want to see it again, she wanted to see it MORE. At the time, I had no idea of exactly what she meant. But now I get it. I don't want to go climbing again. I want to go climbing MORE.

Today was the Virginia - Virginia Tech football game. In my house, the game has a certain bit more signifigance than in many. Since the SU did all of his grad work at UVA and I did my undergrad at Va Tech, it is a chance for one of us to gloat at the other. Generally, it has been me doing the gloating, which is only fair as I have endured the lectures about the superiority of UVA's engineering school. In all fairness, the SU could not actually give a damn about the football game; it is more that he feels he needs to recipricate for my taunting. While I tend to the verbal tauntitude, he goes straight for butt wagging.

And what a fine game it was today! Since he went to the movies and did not see any of the game, I could actually make up any details I wanted, except for the final score. But I did not and faithfully reported what actually happened.

I do have to admit that I would have preferred to have gone to UVA. I applied there as a senior in high school and received a letter back asking me to explain the disparity between my SATs and my GPA. Now my GPA was not bad - in the mid 3's, but my SATs were much better. I was a bit offended by the letter and declined to answer. I felt that if they were to examine my transcipt, they could probably figure it out. And then they called my house, looking for the letter. So with my mother standing over me, I wrote out some piece of BS vaguely making an excuse for my "poor" performance. What was I supposed to do, tell the truth? "Mr. Admissions Guy, when I am bored in class, I don't tend to pay attention or try very hard." I was fairly certain that if I actually admitted to being a poor student, the answer would be "No." Well, it still was. But at least I did not grovel.

One area in which UVA truly has the clear advantage over Tech (besides basketball) is campus design. Now I love the mountains around Blacksburg and the town doesn't suck, but the campus itself is fairly wretched. Burruss Hall is an abomination of a design. The repeated neogothic architecture and use of Hokie stone is depressing, especially in the winter. One doesn't have to worship Palladio to see the beauty in the neoclassical architecture and campus design. Perhaps if I had a more military mind set and was less of a secular liberalist, I might admire the severe lines and austere designs. Even television cannot make it look any better.

But that Hokie stone looks like it might have some good handholds.

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