I'm all grown up. Now what?

As always, the opinions in this blog are only those of the author. And, well, probably your mother.

I feel like I always have to apologize for not posting much. Of course, there's really no need to actually apologize; I'm a grown man, and I can do what I want. Still, two entries per month is just not enough. I do have lots of things to say, but I usually run into problems like:

1. Wasting time: I always, always, always waste time. I usually wake up around nine in the morning on weekdays. With four hours to spare, I'm still rushing to get out of the house in time to have a "sufficient" workout at the gym. Why does this matter for blogging? Well, everything. I think. Just when I'm sitting in front of my laptop, I'll end up reading other stuff and completely forget what I want to write about. As a matter of fact, there's a good chance that I'll end up scrapping this post altogether.

2. My opinions aren't exactly...original:
Because I usually talk about sports, most of the stuff I want to discuss has already been dissected by others. I wanted to do a "mock" NFL Draft. But after reading ones that were real, truly made up, and ridiculously in depth, I felt that there was nothing I could offer that would be remotely entertaining. In other news, I may have some self-confidence issues.

3. Blogging is kind of boring!: Most of the posts I have are really long. While I'm a rather patient person, I find it way tempting to do anything but what I'm actually supposed to be doing. So while I'm spending two hours hammering out a post about football, I usually get side tracked by reading someone else's opinions on what I want to talk about. So yes, this is something I'll just need to get over.

Now, should you care about these stupid excuses? Probably not. But just know that the intent to ramble is always there, even if there's no real evidence of it. But with a little more time (to waste) on my hands, here's hoping that I can be a little more consistent with quality posts.

Now back to our regularly scheduled madness...

I'm in the middle of a "transition" at work. I say this because it's yet another change in what I actually want to do. I've been out of college for three and a half years, yet I'm nowhere closer to figuring out what I actually want to do. One would think that I could figure this sort of thing out by now, but that would make things too easy. Anyway, I figured it would be fun for me to look back and go over all the things I've wanted to become. And since I want to give people a little glimpse into the things that make me who I am, I figured this would be a pretty good blog post. So, anyway, here goes...something I'd like to call my Ever Evolving When I Grow Up Plan:

Elementary school: Doctor

This really wasn't an idea that I came up with on my own. I just heard my teachers mention this. I could say that I was a great student in elementary school, (I made all A's, but didn't everyone?) but it was really more like Florida State football in the ACC during the 90s (let's just say it wasn't very difficult). I never really had any idea why I wanted to do this; I just figured that it sounded fun. Want to know what else seems fun?
1. Being on acid.
2. Bungee jumping
3. Lap dances
4. A Bobcats playoff game
5. Throwing a stick in front of an unsuspecting skater at a park
So needless to say, the whole doctor thing didn't go very far.

Middle/high school: Computer engineer

I wanted to actually be involved with developing video games, but that didn't seem "wholesome" enough. I had it all figured out: I would go to Clemson to study computer science, graduate, and then...well, I guess I didn't have it all figured out that much. I suppose the allure of being able to work with computers was mildly intriguing...until I realized that I hated science. A lot. Obviously, this would be a big problem if I was ever going to be a computer engineer. So...toss that idea also!

For about five minutes in high school, and another few weeks after college: Nurse

Believe it! My mom's a nurse, so I would be carrying on the family legacy (or use that as an excuse when people asked me about it). I flirted with the idea in high school; there was a program where we could take "classes" at the local hospital, then work there during the summer while in college. I scrapped that idea because I was worried that I wouldn't like it enough. While I felt OK with my decision at the time, I re-visited a nursing career again twice since then. I believe that this was more of me not being happy with my current job than me actually wanting to become a nurse. I mean, the allure of showing off my "chiseled body" in scrubs is...creepy to think about. I think that I would enjoy the role of helping people, but am I really ready for all the bodily fluids and insane hours? Eh, not so much. So, scrap this idea also!

College: Sports journalist

My co-workers at my previous job always called me Jordy Gumbel. Since both Bryant and Greg (pictured) are rather well-known, successful sports journalists, I took this as a compliment. I don't think it's really possible to explain my passion for sports. There's not going to be a way for me to really illustrate it in a way that does it justice. I enjoy talking about it. Sometimes, I actually present interesting viewpoints on it. So why not pursue a career in sports journalism? (Well, it's rather quite difficult to break into...but whatever) In one of my first classes, a fellow classmate had the same aspirations as myself. We were going to end up on Sportscenter one day. Well, she is working her way up the food chain, and I seem to be stuck in neutral. Now, this is not to say that I didn't try. I tried, tried, and tried again. After a year of sending out resume tapes, doing interviews, and trying everything to break into the industry, nothing stuck. Have I given up altogether? I don't know. I make pretty good money doing what I do now, and I am taking some graduate classes toward a Master's in Public Administration. But if I could find the right avenue into the sports journalism industry, I'm pretty sure that I would take it.

I should take solace in the fact that I have a job with great benefits. But what fun is that when I find myself wanting to sometimes take shots of lighter fluid when I'm at work? (Let's say it all together: NOT FUN AT ALL!) So I suppose I'll do what I can to make the most of things now, still hoping that I can break in somehow and end up talking about sports even more...and actually get paid for it.