Happy Birthday to Me!

I would like to say that turning a year older and wiser has been the best this time around. I have been glad to have had a restful yet fun birthday this year that I dare say surpasses many birthdays in my past. When you have a quaint family style Italian lunch with some of your best friends, a sushi dinner, and just a lot of laughter from it.

Today, I unfortunately do not get to rest. I must fight through the day. I am thankful for my friends and even more so from my best friend giving me something very special to me. I can say that it’s great to exhaust the celebration out of me and fall back into reality.

Grievances against Texas A&M Commerce on Housing

Well, I forgot to write about this a few weeks ago… but I figured it would be appropriate today. Let me catch you all up to speed on how things got to my grievances.

A few weeks ago, I had gotten an e-mail basically saying to the tune of “Yeah, if you’re in Whitley Hall… You’re being forcibly evicted and you have 2 choices: The low extreme (West Halls) or the high extreme (New Pride). Happy hunting!” This would inevitably piss off all 11 floors of my dorm hall’s residents because our happy medium of balanced cost and decent living. The school’s supposed reason: “We would like to use Whitley Hall as an introductory hall to provide our first year freshman a chance to have a great dormitory experience!

First grievance, the dormitory choices are VERY SLIM!!! West Halls are not well kept-up and on a dark night, I wouldn’t feel quite safe even walking out 30 feet to my own car. On top of that… I believe certain buildings from West Halls will be going to some of the fraternity or sorority groups, so this also kills some of the possible housing slots. (If anyone can verify this, please comment and I will give credit to you. – Zero)  New Pride, space is just flat out limited. I have heard from students who are with me in Whitley Hall made mention of “I was on the waiting list to get in and I didn’t…” Some how, the only “compromise” that Whitley Hall residents get is on Friday, we apparently get first pick on New Pride Hall. I don’t know how that will turn out to be honest… Lastly, Prairie Crossing is no longer an open option, off-campus apartment living choice close to the campus because Texas A&M Commerce has bought out the complex and here’s what they have done to that… Most of the rooms will go Honor’s College students and the remaining rooms will be available to any other student under the condition that rooms are to go to students ranked by classification and GPA. Most of the alternative apartments are a good distance away from school… I personally would hate having to “live” in Greenville make a 30 minute commute to school 5 days a week.

Second grievance, some of my friends at Berry Hall are being forced out too… The worst part, they get NO priority choices. Berry Hall is a purely freshman only hall and worst yet… the date for freshman students to register for dorm choices is April 16th. It isn’t as big as Whitley, but yet in my mind… it’s just unfair to them too.

Third grievance is with respect to the last few events… This sudden decision has alienated the student population at Whitley (and no doubt, Berry) Hall.  Any financial increases in tuition and programs, it is required they get the approval of the faculty and student body. The school has asked for a few budgetary raises, but those have failed. They also finished the New Sam Rayburn Student Center with what seems like 40+ Samsung 20+” LCD TV’s all over and a poorly designed cafeteria. Their “experiment” to go to a 4 day school in what seemed like an assumption to reduce electrical energy wasted has been a failure as the Fall 2009 Semester will be a standard 5 day academic week. So what other loophole could the school exploit? A student by the name of Brian had said something close to “Housing is one loophole the school can use, because they can blanket it with any flowery reason while basically quietly hike dorm rates too.” His thought makes sense as the common layman would probably think the forcible eviction is a “good” thing because essentially an upgrade to New Pride Hall rooms. It isn’t until the other factors are accounted for that the ugly truth shows up.

Finally… With the uprising of students disappointed that Texas A&M Commerce would basically underhandedly make a decision with out the student body voting on STUDENT HOUSING they have decided to hold a “conference”. This Conference today takes place at the student center at 3:30pm. I unfortunately can’t go because I have school work to catch up on…

However… I encourage any students who read this to spread word and attend. Be you at Whitley or wherever, show up and make a stand that student housing should be a policy that has STUDENTS voting on how things should be, not just some decision that was just blanketed over e-mail. Feel free to link my site and share my opinions amongst yourselves!

Grooming Special Article: The Gift of Pure Fashion

Foreword: I’d like to thank Ivy for helping me clean this article up for mass consumption… It’s a work that I have wanted to get perfect and I can say I am proud of its release. Thanks Ivy for helping me polish this gem!

Gift giving for a male can be hard. Overrated gadgets, tech toys, and ties can get a little cliche. However, as a man, I have hope that some of you women have matured to thinking:  “Maybe my guy could appreciate good cologne!” Ties and shirts get kind of old after a while, and sometimes… we as men do need new cologne, we usually don’t have the time to shop for it. 

However, let’s get one myth dispelled and out in the open… Popular scents do not fit all people! I cannot stress this enough. Just cause you hear that Acqua Di Gio is great for one guy friend doesn’t mean it will mesh well with your other male friend,  for example. Every guy has their preferences and every guy has scents that mesh well with their personalities.

A few years ago, while shopping at Sephora at Northpark Centre, I wanted a new scent. For years, I used Hugo Boss for a long while and it was time to add something new to my selection. The only thing was… with a selection of about 50+ colognes, I had no idea on where to even begin. One of the representatives saw my confusion and offered to help. I will share the tips I had learned with some of you who may be trying to choose a cologne for a male loved one. Credits for most of this go to Sephora, cause the staff at any location I have visited have been nothing but phenomenal!

Universal Rule: Understand that colognes can be divided up into 3 families and each family has its own nuances.

Fragrances can be broken down to 3 families: Fresh Scents, Woods, and Aromatics. The detail doesn’t stop there… each family then sub-divided into classes.

Fresh Scents
Fresh scents are for those open, down-to-earth individuals who area also witty to boot. Fresh water scents make a man personally feel cool and refreshing. Fresh greens are a bit on the clean herbal side but they do fit someone with athletic tendencies. Fresh citrus can be invigorating as well as carrying radiant sensual notes. In my personal experiences, I have found fresh water to be rather versatile for almost any person and any occasion. Fresh greens are great to express simple masculine tones as well as being spontaneous. The fresh citrus family give off the feeling of a fun and also being understated.

Here are my personal picks on the fresh family…
Fresh Water: Davidoff Cool Water and Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio
Fresh Green: Hugo Boss
Fresh Citrus: Kenneth Cole Reaction, Dior Fahrenheit 32

Aromatics
Aromatics are a unique family as they boast a strong and invoking experience that doesn’t fade like the sunlight or moon shadow. Some scents from this group do have a subtle sweetness that doesn’t overtly drown out the unique tones from the spices. The scents in this range are for the person who does want to show off a little but also display that they do have a little bit of innate finesse. This family is separated into 3 sub-groups… Pure aromatics, spicy aromatics, and fruit aromatics. Pure aromatics are a happy medium between sweet and spicy tones that are refreshing and sensual. Spicy aromatics have a inherent quality that makes them exciting yet warm. Fruit aromatics are very sweet and savory to the primal senses. Truth be told, this is not a realm where I am the most versed in, but I can provide some of my picks in the aromatics family. These picks are ones I have take a liking to from sampling them… The only exception would be Ralph Lauren Romance which I am personally fond of.

Pure Aromatics: Cartier Pasha, Prada Infusion D’Homme, Dolce & Gabbana Pour Homme
Spicy Aromatics: Issey Miyake L’Eau D’Issey Pour Homme Intense
Fruit Aromatics: Ralph Lauren Romance

Woods
Woods are a very complex family that’s subdivided into 4 groups. Due to its complexity… The user has a variety of colors, tones, and personalities to pick from. Wood family colognes overall can make a person interesting and unique to their peers. Most of these last pretty well through the day, yet they are subtle… Think of wood note fragrances being a happy medium between aromatic and fresh colognes. Pure woods are a mix of exotic and new woods for a very complex scent. Dry woods are ones that are very similar to a warm and comforting flame with a hit of subtle essences. Oriental woods are a very unique mixture of refined exotic scents that play with the senses and will turn heads with how inviting they are. Lastly, mossy woods are very earthy and natural, however they are also very crisp and clean from how natural they are.

Pure Woods: Mania by Giorgio Armani
Dry Woods: Bvlgari Black
Oriental Woods: Gucci Envy, Armani Code by Giorgio Armani
Moss Woods: DKNY Red Delicious, Juicy Couture Dirty English

Full Reload, Modifications, and New Articles to Come…

So school has been kicking my tail… I am sure that is evidenced by me not posting as much here… Don’t get me wrong, I like it save for two classes. I fight onward and march to insanity some days even. The few things that keep me in sanity are World of Warcraft and my best friend. The real test of sanity begins soon… As I take Maymester, Summer I and Summer II course just to catch me up to being a Junior and break down course to get further into my major. Taking 2 math courses and 2 science course by Fall 2009 will really be a feat of strength.

As far as “modifications” go… My school is reverting back to a 5-day school week, to that I say… THANK GOD! I was suffering through hell with the 4-day for my sleep cycles. As far as life goes… I am gonna have to rake up plenty of cash and maybe seek partial subsistance for the summer. Gaming-wise… I am looking for more “epic” gear to enhance my enjoyment of playing FPS, RTS, and RPG games. I love my Logitech G9 Laser mouse which I will be reviewing in a while on here.

Lately, I have been feverently helping Rei’s guild (aka “The Team”) “The Order of Corrupted Souls” with being a Senior Officer. I love the responsibility and I feel great actually KNOWING my team members in my team as humans rather than faceless individuals over the internet. Being in real contact with people like Rei, Jon, “Weaver”, Spencer, and Vergil is actually a fun exchange of interaction, especially over the Ventrilo server. I have been debating on chipping a good chunk of cash to a guild member fund raising raffle. The prize pack would be something like the following…

Potential Prize Pack Items for “The Order of Corrupted Souls” Initial Raffle

  • A Logitech Gamer Mouse… Either a Logitech G9 Laser mouse, the G5 wired mouse or a G7 wireless mouse
  • A Logitech Premium Notebook Headset
  • A Razer Destructor Mouse Pad
  • A Logitech G13 Game Pad

The goal of the raffle (and possibly future raffles) would be to help pay for Ventrilo fees, get more stuff for the “Order of Corrupted Souls” Loot Chest, and whatever Rei deems appropriate. Another reason I would like to propose the idea is to increase guild member participation. Of course… anyone who chips in would defaultly get 1 entry and from there the ticket prices would be to best discretion. The biggest thing most of all would be if Rei approves of it and if the other members of our guild would approve of such an idea. I could easily see this idea being great should our guild get big or if we do an alliance with a “Sister” guild.

As far as new articles… I have finally finished my cologne article, just it is pending some editing from my editors. Hopefully, Ivy or Eighty will take a gander and help me out… I will probably work on some gamer related articles too. Especially as it is my only means to keep sane anymore these days. Unfortunately… Rest will be only for the weak as I do have Maymester, Summer I, II, and III to contend with at the Community College to deal critical blows to my course work and HOPEFULLY advance myself in what I can take. I just hope I can change stuff should I do something like lessen the decline of my sanity.

Keep watching and I hope to have some really spiffy stuff for you all to read soon!

Holy Dishonour or Unholy Honour [Rant]

Family gets an invitation from a family friend that their son is to be married in 1 month. I used to know the guy, but since I took a different strata, I no longer know him as a person. Family oddly gets the bright idea to drag me via sidestream to attend. In my case, family has ALSO made numerous comparisons on how the guy is vastly superior in his life…

Let’s put two-and-two together… From the comparison talk, I have inspired myself to probably take Maymester, Summer I, and Summer II. Oh… What a coincidence, I can’t go to the wedding! Family raises hell that I am being “selfish” and “dishonourable” yet at the same right… They have made many grievances that they don’t have a son to bring them honor. It goes back to the old adage of “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” It simply doesn’t work that way. I just want to end this stage of life and finish school… Simple as that. If I have to be “selfish” for “honor“, so be it… I have come to light that all battles cannot have fairy tale outcomes. I have to finish what I have started…

If this shows I am dishonourable for finishing my quest for a degree, then I am at peace with my decision. If I am disrespectful for choosing not to observe someone else’s union, consider me as so. I have fought too long under a banner that I have clashed with and I know that even I must find my own beat to march to.