An Early Look at Santa's Lists

So I've been up at the North Pole during some of my off hours this semester helping Mr.Clause put his lists together and I figured I would give people a sneak peek at what to expect around Christmas time.

NICE List:

--The Rain....The rain gets an early nod on the "nice" list after coming through in the clutch for me numerous times this semester. There were only a few days that were sunny enough to draw the masses outside to crowd my saunter from class to class. The rain prevented me from feeling self-conscious about my absurdly anti-social campus self, and gave me some pretty nice evenings for guitar jamming on my front porch.

--My Physics Professor....I don't know how it happened in a class of 150 or so people, the teacher really seems to dig on me. She's always smiling at me and making eye contact in a way that says, "Hey Ryan, is there anything I can do to make complicated science subjects easier for you to handle?" I do sit front row, taking extensive notes and making very thoughtfully studious glances in her direction. That could be part of it. But I rarely say anything in class, and instead give nods of approval and half-hearted laughs that meet the ear as whole-hearted ones. Maybe she overheard me talking about how young I look? Or maybe my campus-face looks so terribly angry that she feels the need to try and cheer me up so I don't go haywire. Either way, she's on the nice list.

--My Youth Pastor and soon-to-be Head Church Pastor....Great friend, great guy, great Bible teacher, great witness of Christ to others. It's amazing some of the people in your life you take for granted sometimes, and it's equally eye-opening when start to prioritize certain relationships over others and how they fit into the big picture. Wow that sounded pretty vague...the point is that this brother in Christ has been an unbelievable example to me through my whole life, and stuck with me through countless spiritual highs and lows. Also he's exemplifies a lifestyle that is actively involved in the church without giving off that church-person persona that turns so many off to the Truth of the Gospel. I can't imagine where I would be without his influence.

--The Mid-day Show on 610WIP....Anthony Gargano and Glen Macnow are the dynamic duo of sports talk radio today. They're always entertaining and have a great mix of guests and callers that both do alot for the program. The pair has been on of the MVPs of my semester, and I'd like to thank them with an early heads-up to Santa that they clearly should be going coal-less this December.


NAUGHTY List:

--My IPod tape adaptor....For some reason, I have issues with these things constantly not working. It's especially frustrating given the brilliant catelog of jams I have amassed over my marriage with my Pod. My inability to effectively and consistently listen to the masterpieces in my Itunes library due to continous second-rate performances from my car tape adaptor makes it easy for me to add it to the "naughty" list.

--The Outspoken Sorority Girl in my PR class....Tuesday Night, to close out a semester full of insightful comments, she announced, "I really have no idea how to buy stamps." She had, however, heard of a post office. Interesting. And by interesting, I do mean embarrassing. It's okay though, she redeemed herself. When asked if she knew how much she was paying in rent every month for her place, she replied, "I don't really pay rent. Well maybe my parents might. I thiiink." Well you see, much like the tooth fairy, there's a rent fairy. She comes down just for members of sorority EZ and makes sure that no little girls from affluent backgrounds have to worry about silly little things like rent payments and cell phone bills. Temple University: We may not have the highest educational standards, but we do give you material for your blog!

--Everyone else in my PR class....I know, I probably sound like a grumpy old geezer constantly complaining about the people from this class, but I really feel less intelligent by being in a room for that many hours with that many utterly ridiculous and thought-subduing conversations happening. Also, I'd like to nominate my professor for the naughty list while we're here. For starters, she gets the nod for not only letting this conversation happen in her class, but encouraging it to. Secondly, I am not a fan of teachers who go out of their way to humiliate students. I don't think it's appropriate, especially if the professor is on an ego-trip of sorts to begin with, and seems to derive some cheap thrill in being the center of attention. I wasn't even on the receiving end of one of these verbal lashings and was outraged it was actually occuring.

--Most of my fellow blog friends....Now there are certainly exceptions to this rule but for the most part my partners in web-logging crime are dropping the web-logging ball. I was leaning on these people to throw me a bone in the "good-read" department for awhile, thereby easing my transition to life on a computer post-facebook. I've got to say folks, maybe I had my expectations too high. haha I love you all, and if you never wrote a word again my feelings wouldn't change. (To quote J-Lo, "My love don't cost blog-ging") Still, I'm throwing you bloggy-deadbeats under-the-sled with the fat man in the red and white jumpsuit.

--Me....I'm telling S.C. I don't need a thing this Christmas, and that's that. I've gotten far more than I deserve in one lifetime, not to mention I am an incredible pain-in-the-butt to all who have to deal with me year round, so I think it all works itself out to be even in the end. Not to mention I continue to destroy the brain cells of others through this webpage. Stocking coal it is!