Brian's World

April Showers

I’ve probably mentioned before that I enjoy the rain.  It is particularly pleasant to fall asleep to, especially when its making noise on the covering above you.  I word that sentence so delicately because I remember camping in the rain.  Most people hate camping outdoors in the rain because everything is wet, fires are harder to start, and everything just keeps getting wet.  As someone who knows how to setup a tent correctly and dawn proper rain protection, I am extremely capable of avoiding the first and last condition there.  I have no tricks to make a fire easier to start in the rain, but I usually left the fire-building up to others.  When you’re in a tent laying in you’re sleeping bag, there is something I find particularly enjoyable during torrential downpours.  Until the tent starts to flood (though you’ll probably be safe in you’re sleeping bag, there is nothing really to worry about… and lets face it, even if you were worrying you probably couldn’t do much about it.

I also enjoy running in the rain.  As someone who doesn’t run often, rain provides an excellent reason to run without standing out too much from others, since most people are trying to get out of the rain as quickly as possible.  The rain also forces me to adjust my eyes and pay more attention to what I’m seeing very close to me, something I often forget when I’m running in nice weather and looking off into the distance.  Unfortunately it hasn’t rained very much so far this month.

In slightly over a month I’ll be both completing my undergraduate program at RPI and celebrating my 22nd birthday.  Unfortunately, both of these occasions are linked to gift-giving practices.  I face strong dilemma when people ask me “what do you want for a gift?” because that question is really a trick question.  What they are actually asking is “What would be acceptable to give you for a gift that we are comfortable giving you and in our price range?”  You see, those are two distinctly different questions.  What I would like for a gift you may ask?  Well, I would really like some time.  But last I checked, no one was in the business of selling additional time.  I’d also settle for a new pair of comfortable sneakers and someone to write code for me, but I know both of those aren’t very likely gifts either.  Instead, I suppose I should be coming up with ideas like a laptop, a cell phone, and generic household appliances.  I’m not a huge fan of celebrating either of these two events; if it was up to me I would probably not walk in graduation but I recognize that my parents would be extremely disappointed if I didn’t.  I’ve also considered formally cancelling my birthday, but I do enjoy the opportunity to eat cake alone once or twice a year without feeling guilty like every other time I enjoy a desert-like snack alone.  As an alternative to both of those ridiculous ideas, I will participate in both events so others can experience the happiness I’m not feeling.  The phrasing of that last sentence made it sound particularly depressing which was not my intent, but this April has been particularly long.

Goodnight Moon