You don't need a plane to fly

Something I'm always, ALWAYS on the lookout for is the perfect running song. Usually it's something with that great pump-up beat, something that can match my stride easily and make the run less about the foot-to-pavement "thud thud thud" and more about enjoying the world flying by me. But every once in a while, there's a song that comes around and has the ability to completely wipe out the pain and vibration and creaks. A song that turns the world flying around you into some sort of movie, where the plot is advancing and the rush of scenes around you is strange, yet interesting. For the time being, I've found a song that does just that for me.

The song is "The Moment I Said It" by Imogen Heap. It doesn't have the thumpa-thumpa base that usually defines workout mixes, but it does have something completely eliminates the thought of a workout from my mind. It's got motion. Lately, when I run with that song blasting in my ears, the ideas of running shoes and sweat completely melt away, and I'm left with a flash of lights, colors, and scenes. The wind jostling the trees as I pass becomes some intense performance by mother nature. Conversations between two people, unheard by me, turn into silent dramas unfolding as time seems to slow down. The flowing water of a fountain serves as powerful reminder that fluid motion can be smooth, continuous, and unwavering. Cars driving by symbolize that work and life carry on, even though I am temporarily apart from it all.

In my opinion, that's what real running music should do. Running is motion - powerful, exhilerating, and healthy. What's stopping us from feeling that way every time we step into our running shoes?

Take me with a grain of salt

I've decided that one of the most amazing feelings - for me - is rediscovering old music. The stuff that I've had tucked away in my itunes for several months, forgotten as I jam to some other playlist for a while. And then I hit the shuffle button just for kicks, and there it is. That whole feeling of "ooo...I had forgotten you."

If you were curious, the song I'm referring to is "After Tonight" by Justin Nozuka. He's got a solid voice, and the sprinkling of guitar in there (if you know my love of guitar) makes it good.

Anyway, on to the reason I'm here. I've coined this semester my "semester of networking". Given the incredibly vast number of ways to communicate these days, this seems like the perfect time to get out there and start the threads of communication. And so I've done just that, a lot of which is online. Networking online, though, is a bit dangerous...and not in the way of chatting up some axe murderer (don't be a tool, wrap you pick-axe). But more in the way that the only perception we have of people is through what we read. I'm extremely cautious in this regard, though, so I tend to reserve judgment on the people I'm talking to until I've had considerable conversation with them.

My concern is more how people perceive me. Honestly, on paper, I am an impressive person. And I say this not to be a braggart - it's just that to some, my choice of studies and the positions I've held while in college seem pretty exceptional. This is frustrating though, because these people have no handle on my personality. They say "wow" and whatnot, and form this image of Super Chris in their minds. But what happens when they continue getting to know me? Do I suddenly become a disappointment?

Take being an aerospace engineer. Say those two words and people automatically go OMG YOU MUST BE A GENIUS. Which is a mistake, because being aerospace engineer doesn't require a genius mind - it just takes a slightly unnatural affinity for calculus. In many ways, I'm pretty "blah" intellectually, but I do love calculus. Hence, aerospace engineering works. You will find more intelligent people in almost every other major, except their life's masterpieces just won't shoot flames out the end. And in this way, it's a pity that society doesn't recognize the intelligence in those areas. Almost as if, when it's not in-your-face f-ing amazing, it doesn't exist.

Ultimately, I think this entire thought-process stems from a fear I have of people overestimating my person and then becoming disappointed when they see the entire picture. I'm a bit of an over-achiever, but I'm also awkward, goofy, random, and a tad insane - and for the most part, I don't have much of a plan in life. So while my resume may say one thing, I feel like my personality relays another. And that's where the disappointment can happen.

Anyway, that's sorta where my thoughts end on the subject. I wasn't sure how to write about it without it sounding confusing or like I'm whining (which, in a way, I guess I am...and I'm sure someone will point that out). It's just something that's been bothering me as of late every time I encounter someone new and they go "an aerospace engineering? Well aren't you just a smartie." and I just want to violently shake them until they realize otherwise.