So This is America.......

So, this is Day 2 of my cross country road trip. I will only be able to post every now and then so bear with me. Yesterday (Day 1) I flew into San Francisco. All i saw was the airport. We drove to Stanford and had breakfast at a local cafe, it was decent. AFter that it was onto the open road. We then stopped in Santa Cruz. We paid $10 to park and go see the boardwalk. Don't do that.......ever. I will say this is the first time i have been a minority in a very long time. Lets keep in mind i'm from TN and went to school in AL. Anyway, the water was cold and the beach wasn't pretty. We then drove about 500 yds down the road and pulled off into a free parking lot. We walked across the street and stood over the cliffs watching the srufers below. This part was fun to watch. There were some seals hanging out as well. I yelled "Rose on the Grave", but all i got back was the sound of a dog trying to bark while being choked. From there we went to the fishermans warf in Monterey, following the advice of some girls from SF i met on my spring break cruise. We ate oysters at an oyster bar and asked the bar tender where we should go from there. He said to go about 20 miles down Highway 1 (road that borders the coast, you've seen it in a dozen movies) and stop at the River Inn. He said to get a drink and walk down to the river and sit in a chair. We did this. The thing is, the chairs are in the middle of the river. So we took off our shoes and waided out into the river to sit in the wooden chairs. It was really cool. We asked the bar tender at the hotel where we should go from there. He pointed us to Nepyphethe's (spelling??). This was a restaraunte on the coast. You could sit on the deck and see 40 miles down the coast. It was a great view and a great place just to hang out that we wouldn't have found otherwise. We ask the hostess where to go after that. She said drive 70 miles until you hit the first stop light you'll see. There is a Bar-b-que place there that is good. So we ate there and it was decent. From there we drove to San Louis Opi.....no idea. This is wear Cal Poly is. They ahve a Beta chapter there so we stopped in and hung out for about an hour. The guys were cool and real laid back. They were very normal. I had expected either power dorks or worthless stoners, they were neither. AFter realizing the house wasn't a real fraternity house, and that staying there would be difficult, we drove about 30 miles to Santa Maria and stayed at a Motel 6.
Day 2 started around 10 when we left the hotel. We went to Sana Barbra, but there isn't much there. Supposedly the beaches are nice, but i will never know. From there we drove down the 101. We missed the exit to 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway, or PCH), which goes along the coast. So after getting to Thousand Oaks (fancy suburb of LA) we hop onto 23 south, which runs down to the PCH. This was a wonderful mistake to have made. Driving along 23 was great. It went from the low valley ppint in Thousand Oaks up to the top of the surrounding hills. We drove for a while down the winding highway through the hills. It was beautiful. We finally made it to the PCH around Santa Monica. We drove south and into Malibu. Its pretty cool there. I'm tired of typing and want to sleep. Will finish day 2 later. Look at Tom's site for pictures.

Things to do.......

Well, i've been told i will graduate. This is good. I spent 1.5 hours pissing and moaning about the possibility that i might not. I needed a 57, and everyone i talked to did the main part of the test differently than i did. I'll see your 57 and raise you 60 (meaning i got a 117%). My list of things to do before i leave the country has several things checked off. I have seen Dave Matthews Band. We went down to Jazz Fest in New Orleans to see him. good show dave. I brought back 111 lbs of crawfish for a crawfish boil. Did that. Bought a plane ticket to San Francisco where Tom (already on the way by himself) will pick me up at 10:15 am on May 22nd. We will finish the trek across the country together. The itinerary is on his blog: Tom's Page Good times to be had with my bud before we part ways for a long time. Roadtrip, check. I have had an offer to go to Ru San's for sushi, check. I have decided to add something. I want to make out on Samford Lawn before i leave college.

This weeks moment in disbelief......

There are too many ways i could go with this one. You may have to click "skip advertisement" at the top to see it.
Child Abuse

Ode To Marketing

I wrote this letter to the Marketing Department at Auburn as part of a survey i had to complete in order to graduate.


The Markething department at Auburn University has become a joke. People may ask what one is doing on a given night, if they are studying, or whatever, and many times they will reply, "I'm a Marketing Major" and immediately the person questioning will laugh and agree that they have nothing to do. Of the marketing teachers i've had (Abernethey, Lett, Guffey, Harris, Sersland, and Laumer), only two have measuered up as someone who should be teaching higher education. Abernethy and Guffey should be the only teachers you keep. I had Laumer for principles, which didn't really give him an opportunity to show us what he was made of, but from hearing other people and just wathing him teach the class, I am sure he is worth keeping as well. I realize that Guffey gets many horrible reviews and people dread taking his class. There is a very good reason for this. He is a good teacher by academic terms, not by "Rate your professor" terms. If you can get over the fact that you may actually have to work in the class, and start to pay attention to him, you will realize he is actually a very good teacher. He forces us to think. We get mad at him because he is the only one who has challeneged us thuse far. We get mad because taking one of his tests requires more than a scantron and the test from last semester. He teaches the final marketing class which is supposed to sum up our experience, all it does is make one realize that to this point, we haven't actually learned much of anything. That is, of course, unless you have been one of the fortunate few who have managed to get into one of Dr. Abernethy's classes. Dr. Abernethy is probably the most redeeming factor the Marketing Dept. has as a representative. He knows what he's teaching, he is the most prepared, and he prepares his students the best. He tests you on your ability to apply what you've learned, whereas 90% of my other tests were multiple choice with definitions. It has become apparent to me that the employement field for marketing majors is not going to provide us with the most opportunities. Going into this setting, i wish i had more to stand on than this. I wish there were fewer students in the marketing program. I wish the marketing program was something that only motivated students majored in because they were goign to have to learn. Trim the fat. That means the worthless teachers, i am sure you know who they are. That also means the worthless students who are marketing because it is easy. Make the marketing department something to be proud of, not an onrunning joke. Also, James Elston in the english department is a prime example of how a teacher should care for his students. If you'll excuse me, i must now make a decision on what to do with my life. I can go home and work in a restaraunt and live with my family, or i can go to gradschool somewhere and get an education worth bragging about and eventually get a real job.