I don't care anymore

You know, everybody is focusing so much on how tragic it is for Auburn to have this happening, but this isn't new for Auburn. There has been more than one perfect season ruined by some unfortunate circumstance.

The real tragedy here is Mississippi State. I imagine when all this investigating is said and done, regardless of what happens to Auburn, Miss State will certainly face some kind of penalties. What, with the whole continuing to recruit Cam long after being made aware that his father was asking for money. And they'll surely find some dirt on "the three amigos" as the NCAA digs ever deeper. And normally this all wouldn't be a problem because Miss State is usually pretty crappy, but they were actually starting to do well. However, I think it's best to sit back and wait until the NCAA makes their verdict. So that's what I'll do.

The thing that gets me is when people compare this to the Reggie Bush thing. First of all I think this issue will be resolved faster with what's at stake. The NCAA didn't have to act very fast with the Reggie issue because the allegations came out well after the National Championship and the Heisman Award. With both of those potentially at stake, they have a chance to avoid getting Bush'd again. I think they are going to try at all costs to have this thing solved by December 11th.

The only thing that I think will stand in the way is that, unlike the Reggie case, there aren't many facts. Heck, in the Reggie case the guy who paid him stood up and confirmed everything. Hard to argue with that. All we've got so far with Cam is a bunch of people from both sides changing their story.

I think in the long run, this isn't just an Auburn issue, or a Miss State issue, this is an SEC issue. The SEC screwed the pooch on this one, by allowing it to perpetuate this long. They should have killed it back in January.

A Birthday Message

This day I completed my thirty first twenty forth year, and conceived that I had in all human probability now existed about half one third the period which I am to remain in this Sublunary world. I reflected that I had as yet done but little, very little indeed, to further the hapiness of the human race, or to advance the information of the succeeding generation. I viewed with regret the many hours I have spent in indolence, and now soarly feel the want of that information which those hours would have given me had they been judiciously expended. but since they are past and cannot be recalled, I dash from me the gloomy thought and resolved in future, to redouble my exertions and at least indeavour to promote those two primary objects of human existance, by giving them the aid of that portion of talents which nature and fortune have bestoed on me; or in future, to live for mankind, as I have heretofore lived for myself.

-Meriwether Lewis, August 18, 1805
-Jacob Sutton, October 7, 2010

Remember the Twisted Sister music videos which would always start out with the little kid and his dad who goes on a tirade after seeing his Twisted Sister pin, ending with the dad asking the question, "WHAT DO YOU WANNA DO WITH YOUR LIFE?!" I currently have no clue how to answer that.


What has impacted me enough to make me actually blog today? The fact that I failed to get yet another job. I think it was my fault, too, for not being so gung ho about the job. Don't get me wrong, I made sure to say how I could see myself working there and doing a great job and I would love it. But I don't know...I guess I just didn't do it enough. I know that was it. It had to be. I just want a chance. It's not my fault I'm a terrible interviewee. Why should that stop me from working a job that I'd love?

And more importantly, why do I have to change my appearance? I don't like my hair to be so short. I cut it because I think I can get a job with short hair. I don't think it would make a damn difference one way or the other. In fact, I think the longer hair might give me more confidence. I think I might say the right things and get the job with the hair. And then, if it mattered to them, they'd tell me at the end of the interview, "oh yeah, please get a haircut". But I think my biggest problem in interviews is that I just never say the right things. I don't say what they want to hear. Part of that is because I'm too honest. If I've learned anything from this interview I just did, it's that you need to lie. That is, if that's what they want to hear. Don't be honest if it's going to conflict with what they like. For example, if they ask you what you want to do with that big fancy degree you've got, say that you want to work for them, do the job that you are applying for and you want to stay with their company for a very long time. If you have other dreams and aspirations, leave those out. I don't know if I can do that and seem believable. Another reason I fuck everything up is because I get too nervous and try to say the most unoffensive, safe answers. I, essentially, try SO hard to not mess up that I end up messing it all up.

I just don't know anymore, man. I had such an entitled attitude when I left college. Like I deserved SO much because of all the hard work I put in. Now I realize how much of a douche bag I was with that kind of attitude. I don't deserve anything. I just need to be ok with where things are going. Yeah, I work part time and live with my parents. And yeah, I'm pretty boring with very few stand out qualities. I shouldn't be ashamed of these things. I should be thankful for them. And I'd like to think I am. Even if I forget it sometimes. It's just how things go. I just wish they would have told me a while back so I would've seen it coming.

Hey, remember me?

I realize I never mentioned anything about that job I was talking about earlier. So, here ya go--I didn't get it. It was all very bizarre. Almost as if they didn't want to tell me for fear of it hurting my feelings. I just wanted to know, I couldn't have cared less. I've been turned down so many times now that I just want to hear "no" so I can move on quickly to the next "no".

As I've come to terms with the realization that I won't be starting a career any time soon, I got a part time gig at Pet Supplies Plus thanks to my good friend Kevin O'Kelley. It gives me something to do and I don't have to serve people food, so I'm happy with it.

I went to Trail Days this past weekend. I got to reunite with a few friends from my thru-hike last year. It was great to reminisce, talk about where we are now and what we are going to do with ourselves. Everyone, including myself, seemed to have little direction in life thusfar. Maybe that's just an inherent trait among thru-hikers. Maybe it's the bad economy. I don't think anyone was purposefully trying NOT to become successful in the 7 months since we finished the trail. But who knows.

I've started another gear collecting endeavor. Bought a tent the other day. It hasn't come in yet, but I'm hoping it'll be as awesome as everyone was saying it was online. I've started thinking about the PCT. Not serious thinking, but just casual thinking. Then again, I was just casually thinking about the AT until 5 months before I started it. Speaking of, it'll be one year on Thursday when I began my thru-hike. That's hard to believe, but also, easy to believe. Anyway, I can't seriously think about doing the PCT until I save up 5,000 bucks. And that may take a while.

Missing some Conan goodness?

I know I have. Luckily I'm linked in to the fan page, "I'm With CoCo" on the facebook. People are always posting some hilarious clip from Late Night that I had long forgotten. The other day I found something that I hadn't even ever heard of before. It was a pilot created by Robert Smigel and Conan that starred Adam West. Unfortunately, it was never picked up. It's a shame, really. The pilot is hilarious. Check it out.




Also, I am not a twitter-er, nor will I ever become one. My reason for that is because it has no function that facebook doesn't already provide. However, I almost considered signing up after I saw that Conan O'Brien has made one. His updates are great. You should check that out also. http://twitter.com/conanobrien

You make the music go back, you hear Satan speakin'

I thought this was pretty funny.

LOST - Questions I'd like to see answered

Let's face it, there are a lot of questions Lost has raised (and is still raising) over its five (and change) seasons. The closer we get to the series finale, the less likely I see some questions which may be deemed "not important enough" getting answered. Now to be fair, I'm not nitpicking here. Some questions I would rather them not spend time on. Some truly are not important enough. The "Hurley Bird", for example. I really don't care about that. It was used in only two episodes and it was clearly just a means to a classic Hurley punchline. I can live with that kind of answer.

HOWEVER.

There are some questions that I will not just roll over about. These have been brought up on the show deliberately, in my opinion, and should be answered.

The following is my list of said questions:

• What exactly did turning the Fail-Safe key do?
• What is up with Cindy!?
  
• How are the Periodic Resupply Drops getting to the island?
• What about the glass eye found in the Arrow Station?
• What is in the bag that Ben takes out of the air duct in the hotel room?
• Who are the "other Others" in pursuit of Sawyer and Co in the outrigger canoe during one of the time shifts?

(This list will get larger as I continue to recall these unsolved mysteries)

Where's the fuckin' money SHITHEEAAAAD??!!!!

I just found out that the actor who plays Jacob on Lost is the same guy who was the blond Jackie Treehorn thug in The Big Lebowski. My mind is blown...




Sadly, I can't say the same for last night's LOST season premiere. I'm sure this "alternate reality" that they introduced will ultimately turn out to be pretty neat, but this early on, it's not really doing it for me.

Traditionally the season premiere has been pretty cool, introducing us to a new part of the island we've never seen. Last night's episode followed that tradition with our long awaited first look into the temple. I suppose it was the "presentation" of the new stuff that I was most disappointing with.

I enjoyed how they've done the previous season premieres. Where the viewer has no idea...Where? What? When? Especially season 2. It was the first episode I saw on tv (I watched season 1 on dvd shortly before the second season premiered) That will always be my favorite. The whole first scene with Desmond in the hatch and then eventually panning up to Locke and Jack staring down was just brilliant.

Yeah, you could say, "But Jacob, you don't know where, what or when during the first part where they are in the plane." True. But unlike the hatch scene from the season 2 premiere, the camera doesn't pan around to reveal some cool secret to us. Instead it dives underwater and shows us a sunken island. Leaving us with only further questions. More questions do no entertain me in the same way long awaited answers do. Maybe that's just me.

Yeah, I guess it was kinda cool to see the island is now underwater in this bizzaro world. But because we don't know anything about it...I don't even know what to make of it in the first place. There's no frame of reference. I suppose we could assume. Theorize that this is some parallel universe or something. But if that's the case, this has gotten even more complicated than time travel.

How, oh how are you going to wrap this all up Lost writers and producers? It better be good.

Back

I'm back from my long trip. It was tiring, I really didn't get to see much of anything but the convention centers and the hotel and I still don't have a job. They're going to decide within the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, I continue to get calls and requests to be interviewed about the thru-hike. Today's coming from the Auburn Plainsman, the school newspaper. Ugggh. I don't mind doing it, but I wish I actually had work to do when they ask me, "when will you have free time to be interviewed?" Instead all I can answer is the truth: My free time is unlimited at the moment. Sigh.

Headed to Las Vegas

I'm leaving today for Las Vegas for the trade show with MMI. I'm more excited about Thursday when I'll be going to Salt Lake City to the Outdoor Retailer trade show. Pretty much every backpacking/camping type company will be there. When I get home I might just have a job.

Conan Leaving Tonight Show?

Man, it sounds like NBC is in some trouble. They are giving Leno back his old time slot of 11:35. And moving Conan back to 12:05, but I've read that he isn't going to take a later time slot.

So maybe that means he'll move to another network. Maybe start a new show that doesn't have "tradition" that he has to live up to. If you were a fan of his previous show, Late Night, odds are you'll agree that The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien is no where near as good. I haven't watched too much of it, but I've seen enough to make these observations. It's pretty obvious. He is always getting on to guests for using bad language. He never does any risque or ridiculous skits or have the hilarious characters for which he became popular. It's no wonder his ratings haven't been as good. He tried to appeal to older viewers when he moved to The Tonight Show and ended up not getting them and also losing his younger viewers.

My only hope is that whatever the outcome (he either stays on NBC @ 12:05 or moves to another network like FOX) he goes back to being funny.

I think this is the first time I've ever talked about football on here...

So I just saw this on a facebook friend's status (who is an Auburn fanatic and is always posting something about Auburn football)

"If the NCAA declares Bush retroactively ineligible for the 2004 season, the Bowl Championship Series has said it will consider stripping the Trojans of their lone BCS title during Carroll’s era." To give to the team that finished 2nd in the polls...maybe we can publicly claim 2004 soon...


Not sure how likely it really is, but I hope this does not happen. I'm proud that Auburn has never claimed awards retroactively and I see no reason for this to change now. In fact, I'd be all in favor of disclaiming the 1957 NC since it was not an undisputed championship win. I feel like this is the only way a team can claim to be the best team of the season (considering the imperfect system college football goes by).

I think I read somewhere that Notre Dame only officially claims undisputed national titles. Why doesn't every school go by this policy?

Because it makes too much sense, I guess.

Say from charms...

...whhaaaat?

bike ridin', job gettin' and decade changin'

After a long 2 month dry spell...wait a second, that's about the same thing I wrote last entry. Man, I need to post more often.

There's just never anything to say really. Lately I've been doing absolutely nothing except sleeping and watching tv. Nothing noteworthy. I mean, it's not like I've ever made a habit of updating anyway.

One thing I've done recently was go on a bike ride with my dad. There's this paved walking/biking path that runs from Anniston to Atlanta. It's built on an old railroad grade so it is pretty flat. The Alabama section is called the Chief Ladiga Trail and that's what we did. Starting at the beginning we rode our crappy bikes 33 miles to the state line, then turned around and came back. It took all day and we did about the last 5 miles in the dark. It was a lot of fun though. Despite the fact that my bike seat is hard as a rock. I can ride for 30 miles tops on that thing before it starts being uncomfortable. But there wasn't much I could do but keep going once I was 33 miles away from the car. There were lots of these guys decked out in tons of really nice gear and super nice road bikes and here we are, out there with regular clothes and these cheap bikes from walmart that we've had forever. The funny thing is we were probably doing more miles than they were.

Also, something big that has happened is I got an interview for a design job! One of the professors from Auburn that knew I had hiked the AT directed me to this company that was looking for a tent designer. I went down to Montgomery where they are located and did the whole interview thing and they seemed impressed enough...but you know, you never can tell in an interview exactly what they are thinking. They left it at, "we'll let you know what we decide by February." So I didn't get my hopes up until they emailed me asking if I would go with them to a trade show in Las Vegas to kind of get an idea what kind of things they are interested in producing and better understand the market. So now I'm like, maybe there's a good chance I'll get this after all. I really hope so. It was not looking too good when I came back home 5 months after graduating and hardly any of my fellow ID graduates had gotten design jobs. But then this happened. And almost all thanks to thru hiking. I knew it would look good for me to have done it, but I didn't think it would happen like this. I guess all the pain and hardship was worth it...if I get this job. More on that once I return from this trade show.

What else is going on...

It's 2010, that's pretty cool. But what do we abbreviate it as? '10? And you can't really say it...it's just one syllable. Ten. You need at least two syllables to abbreviate a year, in my opinion. So I guess we'll be forced to say, "it's two-thousand ten." Which is FOUR syllables! I guess you could also go the "twenty-ten" route, but honestly, who wants to do that?

Really though, it won't be an issue until next year and years to come. We will be referencing something which happened this year and say, "remember back in '10?" But how can you say that? "Remember back in ten?" That just sounds ridiculous. At least we still have a year before it becomes a problem. Enjoy '10 while you can everyone.