Opinion

Thoughts consume my head

Jim McCormick
Opinion Columnist

I sure hope everyone has settled their business with the IRS, considering income taxes were due yesterday. Thatis one thing about life that Iim not looking forward to.

I just love spring. The weather isnit too hot yet, and the sides of the highways out where Iim from are covered in bluebonnets. These things have always been somewhat comforting to me, in a weird, Wordsworth-like way. Only difference between my situation and his is that Iim not looking for some deep philosophical reconnection to the world. Instead, Iim just looking at something pleasant.

After the Student Publications Committee meeting on Thursday, some members of the staff invited me out partying, which seems to be the tradition after a new editor in chief is elected. However, I found myself in need of some time with my thoughts instead of a large quantity of people and music. So, I politely declined and maintained my humbleness.

Lately, Iive been doing a lot of thinking. Itis quite dangerous when I think, but this has been the right time for contemplation and self-reflection. Thank God for the walking track at the Rec Center, as it has given me a place to pace without getting in anyoneis way. However, when I gets into deep, life-altering thought processes, time and mileage can get away from me; Thursday I found that I had been walking for four hours.

The good news is that I was able to get some good thinking done -- and my new shoes broken in. The bad news is that I now have a blister on my foot because I walked that long without proper preparation.

My weekend was also consumed in thought about various things. I was so engulfed in my thoughts that the world could have come crashing down around me and I wouldnit have noticed or cared. The events and thoughts in my mind were more entertaining and important than anything going on around me.

I was able to have a short conversation with my therapist, whom I ran into at a genealogy fair that my fatheris organization was running, but unfortunately I didnit have time to fill her in on all the details of my life since my last session.

That fair must have been the smoothest event Iive ever seen. I went in and helped set up the tables, and then the fair took on its own, highly cooperative personality. It basically ran itself without much help from the coordinators. I had intended to stay all day and work the fair, but due to the fact that there was really nothing for me to take care of, I went home after lunch with my mother and sister.

They were only able to drop me off at home because the shopping they had done earlier that day required a trip back to the house, as my sister had a date, and after Mom chauffeured she had to attend a function at her school. This was fine with me, as it allowed me to spend some quality time with my thoughts and my DVD collection.

However, after all that thinking, it was good to get back here Monday, into a world of action. While thought can sharpen the mind, one gets tired of spending so much time inside his head and feels that need to associate with other people. I was at that point when I got back on campus.

At this time, I only have one worry: that I actually get all the classes I registered for next semester.

Also, my trip to China was cancelled, and the organization that sponsored it is trying to find another place for us to go, but the issue doesnit worry me too much. I suppose that I would have made the same decision in their position.

Now, if only I could figure out where my other shower sandal is.

McCormick, a freshman biology major, can be reached at rantman_2000@sbcglobal.net