Perfect Weekend

So this weekend is the unofficial start of the summer season. Good Ole Memorial Day weekend. This is a time where people get together, grill out, go out on the lake, watch some baseball, relax, and basically just be American.

Two things that are definitely American, and Southern specically are Coca Cola and NASCAR and the connection between the two. That's right, I'm talking about the Coca-Cola 600 that is on tonight. This is more that just a race. This is four hours of nonstop, 200 MPH, night racing. It really doesn't get any better than this. This is the marathon of racing. It is like going from Atlanta to Washington D.C. is less than four hours.

Some people might ask, "Ben, since when did you become such a NASCAR junkie?" My response to that is that NASCAR has been shown on Sunday afternoons in my house since I can remember. I grew up a fan of Mark Martin in the 6 Valvoline Car, when the Earnhardts and Elliot and Wallaces were still ruling the track. Jeff Gordon was just breaking onto the scene. Now I call myself a Carl Edwards fan, absolutely despise the scum of NASCAR Kyle Busch, and wish that Junior could actually carry on the family name and win a race every now and then.

To me NASCAR is more than just racing around in circles making left turns all day (which is what they do in horse racing and in track). If you think about it, all sports, when broken down to their basics are very simple. Baseball players hit a rock with a stick and run in circles. Basketball tries to get a ball into a basket. Football tries to get an inflated piece of animal skin over a line.

I'm not saying that other sports aren't complicated. I'm just saying that NASCAR gets a bad rap for "just going in circles." There is so much strategy going on that people don't even realize. The teams must consider tire pressure, pit windows, drafting, how much wedge to add. Every little tiny detail must be considered. If a lug nut on the tire is fastened as tightly as possible, after racing 30 laps at 200 mph the tire can and will come off.

So if you are looking for me this glorious Memorial Day weekend, you can find me hanging out with my friends, grilling steaks and burgers, drinking Coke, watching NASCAR. What else could you ask for?

My Confession

So I have a confession to make to everyone. I fought it for a while, but I eventually started admitting it to a few people. Now I am ready to admit it to the entire world, or at least to the 5 people that read this thing.

I drive a girl's car.

That's right. My car is a car that a girl should drive. It is a 2002 Jeep Liberty. This is the part of the story where all guys will say, "You know what he is right," and all the girls will say, "No, that is a cute car and I really want one." That is exactly my point. The Jeep Liberty is a "cute" car. I was drawn to it originally because it was a Jeep and I associate Jeep with "Man."

That association quickly went out the window. Driving around Columbia, I notice Liberties a lot more than I used to before I had it. (When I owned a Nissan Altima) The thing I have noticed about my car is that I am one of the few men driving it. Look at the next Jeep Liberty you see. Odds are there is either a college aged girl, or a middle aged woman driving it. There will also be her initials written in script on the back window.

Thinking about my girl car makes me wonder, what are some other girl cars? Here are some that I consider to be girl cars in no particular order. Please don't kill me men if you drive one of these cars.

1. Mazda Miata
2. Ford Mustang (not counting the original 60s versions)
3. Mini Cooper
4. Volkswagon Jetta
5. Ford Focus
6. Pontiac Vibe
7. Volkswagon Beetle (the new ones)
8. Chevy Tahoe or any other abnormally large SUV (this might seem like a reach but just look at who drives them)
9. Jeep Liberty
10. Toyota Rav4

So that is my list of girl cars. Guys, if you drive one of these cars and didn't realize it, then I'm sorry, but you needed to be told. Take comfort in the fact that you are not alone. Now I must leave and go downtown where girls will see my car and be jealous of my cute mode of transportation.

The End is Nigh

So it is 7 in the morning and I am awake. I hate that point. I didn't go to bed until about 2:30 last night. I also hate that point. Why am awake after getting to bed so late? I'll tell you.

Finals.

Finals to me are bittersweet. On one hand summer is almost here and I am free to do whatever I want to do (work 40 hours a week and not get paid a dime). Then on the other hand there is a seven day span that has five finals in it. Thats the bitter part.

Now keep in mind, I'm not going off on the education system that judges solely on standardized testing or whatever some people get angry about. I, for one, love trying to completely bubble in the little circles. I'm just saying that I don't like taking five huge tests all in succession.

With all the bad that finals contain, there is good. That good being that today in two hours is my last final of the year and that I have successfully (hopefully) completed my first year of pharmacy school and am now halfway done with my college education.

But here is the bad, I have to stop typing and start studying so that I can pass Biochem and not have to take it again.

At least the end is nigh.

Good Ole Fashion BBQ

Oh hey there. I need to talk to you. Step into my office.

Tonight is the night. There will be a BBQ out at the house. It is going to be amazing. Josh and Lee have been cooking all day and tonight around 40 people will make their way out to The Castle and join in the feast.

I will admit, I didn't really care too much for BBQ before I came to South Carolina. I knew what it was, but just was never really into it. That's was before I knew about the intricacies of it. I didn't know the difference between mustard and vinegar. If you don't either, realize that there is a huge difference and that you have to pick a favorite. I, myself, prefer the mustard based but that is just me.

I think that it is interesting the different ideas about BBQ. In the North, a BBQ is just grilling out, like hamburgers and hot dogs and things like that. In Texas it is different. I don't know why it is different but it is. And then there is Carolina BBQ. It is just pulled pork for the most part, but it is amazing. That's really all I know about BBQ so I am going to stop now.

Bumper Stickers

Hey I need to talk to you. Come here, step into my office.

So I'm driving back to my house today and I see something that I haven't seen since I was in the second grade. It was a bumper sticker campaigning for Clinton/Gore '96. I was stunned. Why does that person still have that bumper sticker on their car. Do they not know that that election was 13 years ago now, and that this country has had three presidential elections since then? Have they been in a coma for 13 years and no one drove their car during that time? Or maybe it is like that terrible Brendan Frazier movie, Blast from the Past, where he grows up living in a nuclear fall out shelter for 30 years. Regardless it was just strange to see.

Anyways, that story gets me to my thought of the day. What is the deal with bumper stickers? I have never had one on my car, nor do I ever intend on getting one. I just don't see the point. Now I don't scoff at people that have them or anything, I just don't see what the big deal is with them. I really love the political stickers like, "W The President" or "OBummer." Or the always popular hippie stickers like, "End the slaughter, boycott Canadian seafood." Do people really think that I am going be convinced to vote a certain way or not do something because I saw it on a bumper sticker? I just don't get it. Also, I just don't think that people care that your horn is broken and that I should watch for your finger.

Finally, I have taken stickers off of other things and there is always leftover sticker that has torn off. Does that not stay on the car? It just seems like a big hassle when you decide you have to take off the sticker.

So that's my random post about my dislike for bumper stickers. O and by the way, my shetland pony is smarter than your honor student.

Day 2

Hey there. Step into my office.

So it is day 2 of the Ben Culpepper blog experience. It's pretty exciting I know. Today is Saturday and I was so excited because I was going to sleep in today, but little did I know that one Josh Wood Hat had other plans. Joker starts banging on my door at 8:30 in the morning so that we could go help set up for formal tonight. Wasn't pleased.

Tonight is the big night. Pin Stripes and Pearls. Don't really get the theme cause I'm not wearing pinstripes and my date, Mandy Gassen, isn't wearing pearls but whatever. It should be a fun night and at the very least there will be BBQ so it is bound to be a good night.

That's all I got today. Nothing ground breaking or hilarious. Hopefully I can do this thing almost every day, even though I really don't have anything to say.

Greetings

Well it has happened. I never thought this day would come. Who would have thought that this would become a reality. Do you believe it? I know it is pretty crazy. I can hardly believe it myself. I, Benjamin Lewis Culpepper, have created my very own blog. I never thought I would see the day. My excuse has been that I wouldn't have anything to talk about. That is still true, but I figured that I could share not having anything to talk about with everyone else. Everything that I post here is Marcus Williamson's fault. He told me to do this.
Just a little information about me in case you don't already know me. I am in pharmacy school at The University of South Carolina. I am just finishing my first year and it has been tough. I told someone that it feels like I have been hit by a truck. Through all that I will keep on keeping on and hope to graduate in May 2012.
Last semester I joined a group of men in starting the first and only Christian fraternity at USC, Kappa Upsilon Chi. I thank God everyday for bringing these guys into my life and blessing me with the strong support that they offer.
I am left handed, so watch out when eating with me.
I have lived in Georgia, South Carolina, and New South Wales in the land of Australia.
I wake up everyday thanking God for sending His Son, and my personal Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ to the world to pay for my sins, so that I may be perfect in His sight. Without Him, I would have no purpose in my life. I try to show Christ in everything that I do, even though sometimes I fail.

I think that is enough for now. I need to pace myself and not do too much too soon. I live by that statement. I invite you to follow this blog. I make no guaruntees and I don't promise anything groundbreaking. I just hope that maybe I can get you to think about stuff and at the very least make you chuckle on my behalf at least once.

If you ever need to talk... please... Step Into My Office