10 Things I Learned This Semester!

After first semester ended I came up with a list of the things I learned the previous semester while on my way back from SIU's basketball game at Indiana University. When I got home, I posted them here.

This time, I had a long trip from Carbondale but didn't think about the things I learned from this semester. But I've been thinking about the lessons I've learned this semester. Here are 10 of them:

1. It's not the size of the Dawg, it's the size of the heart in the Dawg. Under sized and under talented according to experts SIU shocked many by making it to the Sweet 16 this year, losing to NCAA powerhouse Kansas University by three friggin' points. If you listened to "experts" SIU might as well have not shown up for the game, but they did and they made Saluki Nation a group of happy individuals.
2. $300 million doesn't buy what it used to. Cubs fans, including myself, made a big deal about Tribune Company opening up the purse strings this off-season with a free-agent splurge. The most entertaining part of this season has been manager Lou Piniella, who has provided several intriguing sound bites.
3. Even a blind squirrel can find a nut. It's one of my favorite sayings and I'm applying it to the St. Louis Cardinals who miraculously won the '06 World Series. Since that fluke-ish run, the Cards are currently sitting at the bottom of the NL Central thanks to a struggling offense, a depleted starting rotation and lots of controversy such as drunk driving incidents by manager Tony LaRussa and a fatal one by reliever Josh Hancock.
   
4. If it weren't for poetry, I'd probably be insane. Last semester I said "when in doubt, write it out." It was true again this semester. Let's face it people, if it wasn't for poetry I'd probably be insane, lying in a puddle of alcohol, not attending SIU. Thank you poetry for saving me!
5. Nobody's perfect, except the 17 pitchers that have thrown perfect games. Again, one of my favorite quotes, this one I take full credit for. I've been "flirting with perfection" as they say, or what I thought was perfection and I've learned that what I once thought was perfect really isn't. Hence, learning that nobody is perfect and my idea of "perfection" doesn't necessarily exist.
6. Sex doesn't necessarily equal love. I guess that is why one night stands were invented. I always thought sex was a product of love, I was wrong. Mark this down, I admit that I was wrong. Once. Don't think it's gonna happen again!
   
7. It's time to let go of the past. This was a very tough lesson to learn, but it had to be learned eventually. Unfortunately you can't change the past and that sucks. And as much as you'd like to leave your past behind you, it always catches up to you, so don't ignore it. Embrace it (cautiously) and learn from your mistakes. It's easy to nit-pick things and say "woulda...coulda...shoulda..." and that things would be different. Eventually I figured out that everything happens for a reason. It might not be reasonable, it may not make sense now and it probably won't make ya feel better right away; but eventually everything will fall into place (hopefully.)
   
8. My "theories" are just that, theories. I once coined myself as "The Man Of Theories" because I have a lot of theories about a lot of things. Life, love, conspiracies, etc. Well, this semester I learned that not all of my theories are correct. Some of them, are---but not all of them. I guess that is what separates theories from fact....and that's why they make erasers, white out & the backspace button. Mistakes happen.
   
9. Life STILL imitates art. I compared a lot of certain life experiences to one of my new favorite shows What About Brian? and the hits kept coming in the second semester. For example, Brian (a.k.a. the character loosely based on me) can't say no to cute blondes and is always too little too late when the right girl for him comes along. Unfortunately the season finale was also the series finale and the show ended on a cliffhanger. A damn shame in my eyes.
10. I Make Too Many Mistakes For My Own Good. But somehow I survive these mistakes, not by much though. It's not like they are life altering mistakes, instead they are "minor" mistakes that just nag and aggravate me. My fear is that the small mistakes will build to something major that will be the end of me. My hope is that it doesn't happen.
    

THINGS YOU SHOULD HAVE LEARNED:

1. Sports Mean A Lot To Me. I don't know what I would do with myself if not for sports. Sports make for a great escape from real life. There's just something about an event that you can't directly control that puts things into perspective. A special thanks to my favorite sports teams for giving me a few smiles.
   
2. Happy poems aren't my expertise and are few and far between. I can't write happy poems. Well, I can, but they suck and come off as over-the-top attempts that are comparable to a fake smile. People have asked me to write happy poems. I've tried, and failed. People have asked how someone like myself writes the gut-wrenching poems I write. One word (or is it two?): heartbreak (heart break?)
   
3. A Lot Of My Poems Are Based On One Topic. Read a poem and think. That's all you have to do to figure out what I'm writing about. I didn't think that one topic can be portrayed in so many different ways.