I only recently came to realize the power of stories. They weren’t something that I had paid any attention to, but unknowingly I consumed thousands of them. Everywhere I went, there were stories just waiting to be told. From the pencil on the counter to the passer-by hurriedly pacing on the sidewalk, there were always stories hidden. Once I realized that everything had a story, and that the act of writing and stories were nearly one in the same, I understood better what it meant to be a writer.

The biggest change that my writing has experienced is a renewed emphasis on storytelling. One can do something without fully understanding what that something is, and for a while that is exactly what I was doing with writing. I was writing and telling stories without knowing that I was. Over the course of this semester, I became ever more aware of that and was able to more actively create cohesive threads in my posts.

My favorite example was my marching band post from earlier this year. Four Years and a Blanket is a great example of my writing becoming storytelling instead of simply stacking sentences. When focusing on that, I can write something infinitely more interesting than I could have before. It is incredibly surprising how a simple change in mindset can have such reverberating effects but thinking about writing as a story instead of writing as only writing does have a remarkable impact.

I have also become more comfortable with putting my personality into the things I write. Earlier in the semester, I tended to have some good ideas but would cut and remove them because they were not the set status quo. But further on, accented by my recent post I Can’t Beat This Friggin’ Boss, I became more open with expressing myself. I wrote something that I thought was funny and didn’t shy away from the possibility of other people not being humored by it. I have been a reserved person throughout my life, so even though that seems like a small victory, to me it is a major one. I hope to write a few more posts like this in the future.

In discovering how to write better stories, I also discovered what I disliked writing about. I did not enjoy writing food reviews. I did not enjoy writing about political issues. I did not enjoy writing editorials. Each of these were boring and incredibly difficult to write about. I found myself constantly checking the word count as it laughed and taunted me from the top of the browser like a king to its jester. It was a bit difficult to realize that there are certain topics or styles of writing that just do not agree with me. I wish I shared the passion Gold had for food or the passion many politicians have for presenting their opinion, but after giving it the good ol’ college try I can say with confidence that it just isn’t for me. I value this realization greatly.

As it stands now, I feel much stronger as a writer. I have a solid foundation built by writing about how I would like to yell at Disney for doing “The Owl House” dirty and relaying the most horrifying move in experience I have ever heard of. At the beginning of the semester, my professor told the class that the only way to get better as a writer is to write. Well, I have written thousands of words, and I hope to continue to write thousands more. A storied career of storytelling has only just begun!

     I Need the Grade Points |
I Do not Think This Will Work |
     I'll Try Anyway |

     I Hope it's Funny |
I Laughed While I Wrote This Post |
     Honestly I Did |     

     Honesty Haiku |
It's the Best Kind of Haiku |
     I Like Honesty |

As the end of my final semester of college approaches, naturally I was finding a way to procrastinate all of the many different assignments I have to do. Today’s distraction was my ongoing challenge playthrough of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix. About a year ago, I started this playthrough on the hardest difficulty (called ‘critical mode’), and normally it is extremely challenging by itself.

However, because I am that perfect mixture of masochistic and tenacious, I decided that not only would I complete a playthrough on the hardest difficulty, but also complete that playthrough without gaining any in-game experience. You can equip the player character with an ability called ‘EXP Zero,’ which does exactly what it says. Throughout the entire quest, in a game where each enemy defeated grants the player experience and stat boosts, I would stay at level one.

I have slowly been chipping away at the game over the course of the year, and with about 30 hours invested, I beat the main story. This was not the end of the journey, however. If you are aware of this game, you may have seen some footage of the optional super bosses that populate the world after completing the story. One of these bosses has stood as a roadblock for many hours now, and its name is The Lingering Will.

This boss is INSANE. He is blazing fast, extremely deadly, and relentless. He never gives the player a chance to breathe, and any one mistake sends you straight to that continue screen that you have grown all too familiar with.

I have lost count of how many times I have hit that ghoulishly red continue button. Every single attempt is just another opportunity for The Lingering Will to finish his mosaic consisting of ways to kill you. (You can check his current mosaic down below if you are interested!) He is one heck of an artist too; he has such variety! He could just slash you with his giant sword, but sometimes he dabbles with vehicular manslaughter and impales you with his keyblade car at 10,000 miles an hour. Other times he’ll pull out a whip and retaliate incomprehensibly quickly or shoot spherical bullets the size of Jupiter that don’t disappear until they either hit you or him. He’s got a bow that locks your ability to attack and mini laser drones that pelter you while he continues on the offensive. He is a cheese grater, and you, my friend, are a delectable looking piece of cheese.

I wouldn’t have gotten to this point in the game if I wasn’t hopelessly optimistic though, so I know that I can eventually beat this empty husk. He might make a couple great salads out of me before then though.

If you have been keeping up with Husker football in any capacity this last half decade, you would know that it has not been going well. The team has failed to post a winning record in each of the last five seasons, and has just recently fired their head coach, Scott Frost. The Blackshirts lost their fire and physicality, and the offense has done everything but be consistent. Nothing has gone right for Nebraska football.

The organization hired a new head coach last Saturday by the name of Matt Rhule. For most fans, the name itself does not mean anything. It is nebulous. Personally, because I am plugged in to the NFL where Rhule has just been fired, I was aware of him and understood his experience. Knowing that others don’t have the same luxury, and I went searching for an article that explains the Matt Rhule hiring, and I found a great one on CBS.

The article does a fantastic job of giving Rhule’s history, and it looks fairly uplifting for a team that has been at rock bottom for years. His college coaching experiences have been fruitful, as he has led two teams that were struggling (Baylor and Temple) back to the limelight. It is very important that a coach’s college experience is highlighted over his NFL experience. There is a surprising difference between coaching college players and coaching NFL players, and there have been countless examples of coaches that succeeded at the college level and faceplanted once they moved up (Urban Meyer anyone?). The article correctly focuses on the important aspects of Rhule’s multiple tenures and brings forth the most relevant information.

Other aspects of coaching tend to get overlooked. Namely, how the coach surrounds himself with assistants and coordinators is often ignored. This article continues to give the reader reasons to read it as it delves into Rhule’s skillset regarding this topic. Previously, Rhule had hired many coaches that came from successful high school programs. Obviously, with the turnarounds that Rhule has orchestrated, the coaches he hired succeeded. Knowing that detail is incredibly helpful.

The article does a wonderful job of telling the reader the full story of Rhule and his hiring. Husker fans are incredibly passionate about their team, and giving them the ability to become knowledgeable about their new head coach. Hopefully Rhule can eventually rule the Big10. With his resume, it is a possibility.

I am a big fan of Thanksgiving. It is a fairly underrated holiday, at least compared to Christmas. Seeing and enjoying your food, friends, and family is always appreciated, and every time Thanksgiving rolls around, it feels like it comes at the perfect time. Usually, I am at the end of my rope regarding school or work, but the lackadaisical atmosphere helps to alleviate that stress.

There was not much new to talk about this year. Traditionally, all of the family that lives near my parents comes to their house and we enjoy the delectable dishes that get served. This year was no different. Cousins, uncles, grandparents, and assorted friends gathered and stuffed themselves. Normally I am a pretty reserved person, so I enjoy listening to the conversations everyone is having. I get to catch up on the goings-on around town. I walk in the house knowing basically nothing, and I leave with the exact details of who had a baby, who died, who started a business, and who was slightly rude at the work meeting three weeks ago.

Of course, the food is exemplary enough that even the same old stuff is amazing. There is one specific dish that my mom makes that I absolutely adore. I am almost certain that it is simply green beans with melted cheese, but I cannot get enough of it! I have had that green concoction every year since I can remember, and every single time I am excited. It’s nostalgic, and it marks the beginning of the holiday season for me.

Okay, now that my family experiences are out of the way, I’d like to look into some of the dishes that are commonly served and tell you my opinion of them.

Turkey: It is a top tier dish. There is a reason it is so prominent for the biggest meal of the year.

Stuffing: This stuff is also amazing. I know a lot of people that dislike it, but gravy smothered bread can hardly ever fail.

Cranberry Sauce: I have never understood the fascination with cranberry sauce with turkey. I think that it goes better with chicken.

Mashed Potatoes: The glue that holds the entire meal together. If not for the green bean concoction, this would be my favorite part. It is not saved specifically thanksgiving either, but I still look forward to it.

I was talking with my roommate about nothing in particular, and somehow the conversation found its way to our old roommates and any interesting things about them. I thought this would be an interesting prompt for my Blogging class assignment, so I asked him specifically if he had any stories that he just needed to tell anyone who reads this. The words that came out of his mouth were horrifyingly entrancing. The story is about his cousin, not him, and it does not take place on the UNK campus. However, it is too interesting to pass up.

My roommate’s cousin, Jake, was moving into his dorm at his college. It was his first year, and just like us all was justifiably nervous. He had not met his roommate and knew nothing about him. I asked my roommate a bit more about that.

“[Jake] was really nervous. He is a fairly confident guy but not 100 percent or anything like that. He just didn’t want anybody that was crazy.”

Jake started to lug all of his belongings up into the elevator and began to steel himself. He had his fingers crossed that what lied beyond the door to his room was simply normalcy. Nothing more, nothing less. He was carrying his backpack and school supplies when he opened the door.

“[Jake] told me that only one bit of light was coming in from the windows. The blinds were closed, and the lights were off, so it was pretty dark. He made it sound like a horror movie.”

Jake flipped the light switch and found the room in complete disarray. Miscellaneous objects were scattered across the room as if the person living there didn’t want to see the floor anymore. That person same person had not budged an inch from his bed. He was completely passed out, and the newly lit room did not affect him at all.

Jake thought for a moment that he should be reasonable. The move-in process is very stressful, so maybe this guy was just falling victim to that. Then, Jake smelled something. He turned his head over to the blue recycling bin in the corner. He knew what the smell was but hoped dearly that he was wrong. He peered into the trash can, and saw it filled with urine. About four inches laid still in the bin. Jake was horrified.

“The poor guy just turned around and left. I don’t blame him; that is disgusting. [Jake] ended up calling the residence hall staff and they cleaned up the room for him. The worst part though is that they did nothing about the other guy. It was like it didn’t happen.”

Jake had to stay in that room with this guy that apparently enjoys urinating in waste buckets for a week. Eventually, and as Jake’s mother puts it, “by the grace of god,” they moved him down to a different room with a different roommate. They ended up having a lot in common, so at the end of the day Jake did get the normalcy he was hoping for. He just had to wait a little longer for it.

I know you have played video games before, but have you played them FAST?????

Yeah baby! We’re shaving off seconds and frames, battling the clock like it’s your little brother and he just stole the last cookie that was clearly for you. Such a personal attack cannot go unpunished.

There is something about speed running games that gets me excited. On the surface, it seems somewhat mundane. All the players are doing is repeatedly playing the same game, slowly reducing the time at the end. Honestly, that is exactly what it is. An exercise in apparent futility that requires a TON of time. From the outside looking in, it is useless.

I prefer to think of it as people challenging themselves. It takes pure tenacity to fire attempt after attempt at a game. There are people who have thousands of hours practicing specific levels of games, not even including the rest of the experience. Because of this investment and how personal these goals and records can be, it is incredibly engaging to watch people strive each day to better themselves.

I have recently been watching a YouTube series by Speed Docs. They create fascinating videos on the history of world record speed runs for specific games. These are not simply 10-minute jaunts through some old leaderboards; rather, the videos tell the entire nuanced story of the record. All of the failures and successes of runners, those that have since moved on and those that continue to hone their craft.

I can compare it to watching a documentary on something random like the history of parapets. This information is realistically useless, but the story that is told is so entrancing, it does not matter. I have learned about the iron-fisted reign of Xem92 over the any% record of Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal. He held the record for years. Each time someone came and challenged his time (which happened quite a few times over the years), he would lower it again and again. He would eventually put a bounty on the record. One thousand dollars would go to whoever could remove Xem from his throne.

Stories like this are worthwhile. It doesn’t matter that it came from some guy playing a PS2 game religiously. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. There are charity events, such as Games Done Quick, that present runners and their games. They accept donations to help fund cancer research and other positive pursuits. Millions of dollars have come from events such as this, and all because some people play a game fast. I might have to speed through a game myself one of these days.

“My name is Nathan. A story?”

“Well, I haven’t done much recently besides college. I’d talk about something covid related, but it was kind of constricting. I didn’t really do anything. It was crazy how far reaching that stuff was and still is to a smaller extent. I was happy that the majority has passed over. Hopefully these next few years are better than the previous ones.”

I was walking through the Student Union at UNK a few days ago. I was heading to the cafeteria to grab some lunch, but on the ground right by the stairs to the cafeteria there was a table with a number of books on it. Each one was wrapped crudely in cheap wrapping paper and had little descriptive blurbs written on them. It turns out that the woman manning the table was running a fundraiser for a local sorority. For three dollars, I was able to pick out any one of the anonymous books. I ended up randomly selecting “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien. Miraculously, I chose a book that I had already read. In this case, though, it was fine. The book is amazing and certainly worth a second visit.

“The Things They Carried” is an enthralling writing. It tells its narrative through many short stories. O’Brien often moves the reader across continents and back and forth through time to try to show the feeling of war. There is a wonderful ebb and flow to it. You feel as though you are a soldier marching through the unforgiving wilderness, sometimes acutely aware of your immediate surroundings, and other times lost in daydreams when the noises of the forest grow silent and all that is heard is the clopping of mud-soaked boots. O’Brien plays this game of ping pong elegantly.

There is one excerpt from the book that I want to look at more closely. Near the beginning of the book, O’Brien retells the story of him receiving his draft notice, and how he planned to flee the country to avoid serving. He battles with the guilt and shame that comes with that possible decision. The fact that the idea even came to his head was detestable. Eventually, he finds himself within yards of the border. He would only need to swim for a minute, and he could escape the duty that was placed on him. Right as he is presented with this situation, he asks the reader a question.

“What would you do?”

This small bit of text is so incredibly powerful. As I was reading it, it felt as though O’Brien was removed from the memory and I was thrust in his place. I did truly ask myself what I would do in that situation. I could feel the waves gently caressing the boat that O’Brien had sailed out on. O’Brien’s skill in writing is on full display during this story. He expertly recreates the situation so vividly that I could immediately see myself within it. I am not sure what decision I would make, but I know that O’Brien’s writing is quality.

Please, if you have not already, or even if you have, read “The Things They Carried.” It is difficult to fully understand the impacts of war, and because of that it is difficult to fully support veterans with the vigor they deserve.

It is crazy how different the world is from a little over a decade ago. We have wireless earbuds that funnel music and videos into our eardrums expertly. With a tap, the song can be stopped or the next one started. You do not even need to look at the phone. We now have ten billion different streaming services vying for our attention like piranhas schooling for meat. Each presenting its limitless media content with a speed approaching that of light.

David Carr wrote about the increasing speed of content back in 2009 with his piece, “We Want It, and Waiting is no Option.” He writes about his reflections while in a store in Times Square. There were increasing amounts of people that seemed almost impatient. They wanted what they wanted, when and how they wanted it. Back then, it was still a little much to ask for that. The infrastructure was not quite in place, but it was getting there. Carr described a physical object that holds a finite number of songs as ‘quaint.’ Now it would seem prehistoric.

Carr’s article was enticing not only because of its forward-thinking nature, but also because of its presentation of the dichotomy as it was back then. He mentions the difference of clientele, of young souls rifling through content while older people consume more gingerly. It is a refreshing observation. Normally, we hear of how the tsunami of content will drown us in never ending waves. With Carr, it is looked at as evolution. The growth and improvement of technology has, rather simply, given people more choices. People can experience content in hundreds of different ways and in hundreds of different places. Embracing these options, this choice granted to people, was a bit difficult to accept. It was all still so different and new. However, Carr concludes with a slightly begrudging acceptance of these choices. It is interesting to see how that acceptance has led us to where we are today.

Of one final note, Carr writes of his nervousness regarding storytelling. He fears that the speed of content will hurt it. Luckily, his fears are disposed of rather quickly. This new choice that is given to people only serves to widen the available stories, not hurt the ones that are already available. As Carr was told, storytelling is cognitive, and without the minds to make it this technology becomes useless instantly.