Touchdown in Viridian City

Hello people of the internet! Most of the people I'm writing this for are either currently in or have histories of being in Pallet Town, so this is directed at them.  It's the end of my first full day in Viridian City, after a twelve hour flight and a four hour time difference, and I'm just starting to get settled.  I'm having a bit of a time getting all the things out of my suitcase, mostly due to laziness combined with the lack of a proper desk, but probably moreso the first one.

The first thing I've definitely noticed is I've had less chances to talk to people from Pallet Town than I've wanted, and I worry that this may end up being a recurring theme.  Which sucks, I have so many good friends from there.  I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure those connections aren't lost, so don't you fret, M. Marius.

My first plan in decorating is to put up a few posters, hide some of the awkwardly green walls.  As I said, I lack a desk, which is really bugging me.  However, I have a SOFA that I didn't think I had.  So, the bedside table might become a desk, the chair might become a bedside table, and the sofa might take over for the chair.  Plus, it means I can have guests without awkwardly making them sleep in plain view of five other roommates.  I also have a wardrobe, which will be used as such, and another thing with shelves that'll probably become a bookcase against its will.  And I have a little closet-under-the-stairs style closet, but no hangars in there, so it'll be... for something.  Maybe storing these suitcases... though one of them will likely become an impromptu laundry basket.

I have an office at the university, which is kind of awesome.  It's a glorified practice room with a desk, but still.  I'm waiting to see if there's a music orientation, since I haven't heard of one yet, and would really like to familiarize myself with the department a bit more... find out all the details that I took for granted that I knew at the old school.  About halfway through writing that last sentence, I found the department handbook online, and it looks like a lot of things will be starting fresh next week, so I'm not alone in this.  Which is good.

I got an e-mail from the guy that's teaching trumpet first term (yes, I don't get "my" teacher until January, but I knew that going into this, and I think two different approaches might be a good thing), and have sent him a brief bio of myself as per his request.  So that's taken care of, looks like Tuesday lessons will be the norm for another year.

Ensemble rehearsals are generally twice a week for large ensembles, and looks like once a week for brass choir.  Presumably smaller brass ensembles would also be once a week, not sure since they haven't been assigned.  What they do with rep classes is kind of cool, though.  I have two rep classes per week.  One of them is for all trumpet majors, and just trumpets.  The other, and this is a neat one, is restricted to performance majors only, BUT isn't segregated by instrument.  All the performance majors are divided into three groups, and those groups have rep class throughout the year, coached by instructors of different instruments each time.  I think it's pretty nifty.

So yeah.  Still alive, still going, getting ready for school, getting bored, getting nervous... lots of getting going on.  I have no idea how frequently I'll be updating this throughout the next term, but I'm going to try and keep a steady stream going, both for you folks at home, and for the new folks that may flock to this in the coming months.  Either way, it'll be an adventure!

Random Sociology Rant #1: Why Horatio Caine is Actually the Embodiment of the Modern Internet Citizen

I'm going to preface this by saying I don't watch CSI: Miami, to the extent where I actually had to go look up the fact that it IS the Miami one I'm talking about here, so this probably could be longer.

Anyways, THIS GUY.

Sigh... where do I begin?  As someone who has seen maybe four episodes of this show, all at different times, and with the most recent one well over a year ago, I have no idea why this guy is the star.  I mean... he's kind of lame, his jokes aren't funny, and he just kind of reeks of loser.  See, I don't even know enough about the show to tell you what I don't like about him.  I just don't like him.  Yet, he's the star, and considering TV shows like this usually don't mind switching their cast around, there has to be a reason for it.

And then it hit me.

Horatio Caine is us.

That's right, people of the internet.  This guy is EXACTLY what each of us wants to be.  In him, we see ourselves as we want to see ourselves.  Mr. Caine makes some big enemies in his time, and pulls off some spectacular kills (or so the internet/Wikipedia/IMDb tells me, I'm just kinda rolling with that).  He always puts justice and the innocent first.  He's generally a badass.

And here's the thing about that: he kinda just comes across as an average Joe.  He's not an Arnold Schwarzenegger, more buff than we'll ever be.  He's not a Ryan Gosling, more good-looking than we'll ever be.  He's not a Rowan Atkinson, funnier than we'll ever be.  He's not a Stephen Hawking, more brilliant than we'll ever be (though I'm sure he's pretty sharp, don't get me wrong).  He's just kind of a guy, and an incredibly badass one.  He has no reason to be badass other than he just is.

And that's what's so appealing about him.  All of us average Joes on the internet, either see ourselves or want to see ourselves as much more badass than what we are.  Enter Horatio Caine: someone we can identify with because he seems to be just an average guy.  He has no unrealistic superpowers.  He's not a super-genius like Charlie Eppes.  Though his past is far from pleasant, it's not shrouded in mystery like Dean Winchester.  This is someone who, through a lot of off-screen hard work and determination we don't like to think about, has achieved a level of awesome we'd all like to see ourselves.  He always does the right thing, which obviously we all do every time, right?  He's basically John McClane but still has hair.

"But person whose name I probably know but might not," you say, "why are you singling him out instead of John McClane, or Meredith Gray, or Fox Mulder?" Well, to combat your pseudo-random list of characters... it's the one-liners.

These one-liners serve a dual function: first, they de-idolize him in a sense, bringing him from a "perfect" TV character, to someone who sometimes says stupid things.  You know, KIND OF LIKE US.  Admit it, you say stupid things, too.  Their other function is to make it clear to the viewer: regardless of how bad most of his one-liners are, he's still the big bad guy on the scene.  By giving him a common trait among us (incredibly bad joke attempts), and showing that it in no way lowers his awesome level, viewers come to sympathize with him, while also hoping "maybe I can be as way past cool as that, since I can TOTALLY come up with better one-liners than he can!"

And so, dear internet, a toast for our idol.  For the man we want to be.  For Horatio put-your-damn-glasses-on Caine.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH.