I was driving last night & the song, Eye of the Tiger, came on the radio. This is a song I've heard for years and even sung along with but I think because it was so associated with the movie, Rocky, I never realized how much I liked the lyriics, which I've posted for you here:

Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive
So many times, it happens too fast
You trade your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

[Chorus:]
It's the eye of the tiger, it's
the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor
stalks his prey in the night
And he's watching us all with the eye of the tiger

Face to face, out in the heat
Hangin' tough, stayin' hungry
They stack the odds, still we take to the street
For the kill with the skill to survive

[Chorus]

Risin' up, straight to the top
Had the guts, got the glory
Went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive

[Chorus]

The eye of the tiger
[Repeats to fade out]

So, as I said, I was DRIVING!! After The Guy & I broke up, my friend, Becky, introduced me to her husband's best friend, Brian. We've gone out on several dates but he's a complete gentleman, to the degree that I'm not even sure if he's interested in my in a girl/boy way but think he just enjoys my company and enjoys having a pressure-free girl to date. Anyway, he lives in Grants Pass (about a 45 minute drive away) so I don't see him often but will get a text or email every now and then or we'll meet up for dinner out or over at Becky's or her family's house. I mentioned to him that my Jeep had been broken down for over a month & the very next afternoon, he called to say that he was bringing me his Jeep Grand Cherokee to drive & would tow my Jeep back to his place to fix it in his garage. What a great guy! So now I'm not stranded and isolated as I was, and I'm feeling a lot better overall. I was starting to get a little depressed over the whole thing (missing Tyson's away games, not getting to go grocery shopping, having to ride the public bus with a lot of weirdos, etc.) so it's nice to feel like I have a life again!

I started my last term at RCC last week and it's gonna be tough, but I have every intention of making straight A's. It's totally possible if I just stick to my guns & stay on top of all my reading, studying, and assignments, which I plan to make my central focus this term. So far, so good.

I've enjoyed my Juvenile Delinquency class a lot. We watch videos about different topics each week (the last two were Inside the Teenaged Brain and Teen Violence) & write about them on a discussion forum with the rest of the online class. My math class is fairly simple and straightforward math, so as long as I stay on top of it & study for my tests, I think I'll do fine with that.

Figure drawing is a lot different than anything I've ever done but I can already see an improvement in my proportions by the end of the second class. I'm trying to get the hot guy from my Psych class last summer to do some nude modeling for the class, haha!! I'm taking Music with my brother, Allen. We wanted to take a class together before I move on to RCC. The class material covers classical composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach. The music is beautiful and it's something that neither my brother nor I would normally spend much time listening to but we both enjoy it a lot and the teacher is a hoot! She also has a bunch of degrees and not only performs music but has her finger in a lot of pies, including counseling work. She seems to have a lot of the same attitude & interests that I do & I think she'll be a good person to talk to about my future plans & network with.

Journalism has been interesting...The first day, there were four students in the class and during the second class, it was me and one other student besides the student editor and the professor. Nonetheless, I really enjoy being a "real" part of the newspaper & have been assigned to cover the following "beats:" Arts & Entertainment, Travel, and Environment. For A&E, I'll attend concerts or movies & write reviews. For travel, the prof suggested I do a short day-trip, for example to a coastal town, and write a travel log of my adventures while I take in the local flavor. I'm working on an article right now for an Environment piece & contacted the RCC Recycling Coordinator with some interview questions. It turns out she is an AmeriCorps volunteer and I did some online research to find out what that means. I think I found something I want to look into for myself. As a Soc major and as a scholarship recipient hoping to get grad school paid for, I need to find ways to help out in my community and that is exactly what AmeriCorps is all about -- not to mention in some cases they offer a living wage and scholarship or student loan forgiveness!

My friend Michele just called so I'm gonna go for now.