Sleeping around.

The National Sleep Foundation maintains that eight hours of sleep for humans is optimal, claiming that it brings improved performance in tests, reduced risk of accidents, and a better immune system. A widely publicized 2003 study performed at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine demonstrated that cognitive performance declines with fewer than eight hours of sleep.

Experts say that lost sleep cannot be made up with a sleeping binge. Trying to make up for lost sleep in a day or two by sleeping in disrupts the body's circadian rhythm (which we all know is a roughly-24-hour cycle in the physiological processes of living beings) and continues to disrupt sleeping patterns over subsequent days.

The above information comes from wikipedia.com, which is very easily accessable. And with that being said i would like to introduce you to COLLEGE.

An typical wednesday in the life of one Towson University college student:
7:30am - wake up
8:00am - shower and get dressed and ready
8:30am - arrive for work
5:00pm - get home from work
5:30pm - make dinner
6:00pm - eat dinner
6:30pm - clean up from dinner
6:45pm - answer emails, pay bills online, and talk to a few friends
7:30pm - read for Strategic PR class
8:15pm - read for Media Criticism
9:00pm - read for Media Law
9:45pm - get ready for LOST
10:00pm - watch LOST
11:00pm - read for Business and Professional Communication
11:45pm - begin research for PR presentation
12:30am - shut everything down and get ready for bed
1:00am - lights off
1:30am - sleeping
7:30am - wake up for school

in case you didnt notice, or cant count, there are six (6) hours of sleep between 1:30 and 7:30am... Thats 2 less than recommended by the National Sleep Foudation for healthy maximum cognitive performance... and this is on a night when the student doesnt have any projects or presentations due the next day, just a normal reading-to-keep-up-with-coursework night.

I just wanted to point out that school is stressing and limiting my cognitive development. And just for fun, heres a typical day in the life of the majority of college students (to compare):

2:30pm - wake up
2:45pm - eat some breakfast/lunch
3:15pm - play video games or watch tv
5:15pm - use textbook to balance the lopsided beerpong table that you just noticed was unbalanced
4:20pm - send out a mass text message to let everyone know its 4:20
4:30pm - get high with roommates
5:00pm - watch some more tv
7:30pm - eat some lunch/dinner
8:00pm - check out some porn
8:30pm - do absolutely nothing for a few hours
11:30pm - drink with some friends/girls
2:30am - get home somehow
3:00am - pass out

Questions about life.

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine as to the deity of CHRIST. I'm having a hard time with religious belifs right now so its great to be able to talk to people and get some feedback for some of the ideas and questions that i have. And, in the midst of intense, life-changing debate, she proposed a question that i have been desperate to find the answer to...

"Could Jesus microwave a burrito so hot that He himself could not eat it?"

If you or anyone you know holds the answer to this question... please contact me at jesusburrito@whatsup.com

Where do you think youre Goins.

So my professor Dr. Goins in my Business and Professional Communications class is awesome, and today we spent about 25 minutes talking about handshakes and how much of an impression they leave (we did talk about more relevant college-y things, trust me).

We went through all of the standard scenarios...

1. The Dead Fish
2. The Queen of England
3. The Brah
4. The President, and finally...
5. The "Nothing to write home about, but you'll get the job"

As a class we also established, with the help of Dr. Goins the necessary handshake to use when interviewing for a career-job. And the winner is...

The "Nothing to write home about, but you'll get the job"

With that out of the way we went on to decide the appropriate number of "pumps" which everybody knows is one.

But what do you do if you really wanna leave an impression? You obviously dont go with "The Dead Fish" or "The Queen of England"... so what do you do? Well... its quite simple, i actually made a video of the proper handshake by which to land the perfect job...

And, in case you couldn't tell, im the black guy in the video(duh!)...

Two turntables and a microphone.

Actually this post has nothing to do with turntables or microphones, it actually has to do with DRUMS!!!

As i have mentioned in earlier posts there were a few things i wanted to do/start/accomplish in 2007. One of which is learn to play the DRUMS. So, friday i set up the DRUMset...



It's a whole lot of fun, although ive got to admit im not the best at it... but im not too bad. I guess its due to the fact that i have been playing air DRUMS for years in the car. I havent really played it a ton yet, maybe 3 or 4 different times 15 min. here, 20 min. there. I wanna ease in... dont wanna get all DRUMmed out.

But really im doing quite well. I can see that it is going to take a while to really get good at it, but i love it so far. I did do some things to ensure i would actually learn right. Talked to a friend, Chris Pav (its his DRUMset), he told me to get a practice pad and just work on my sticking. Being that i consider him a good drummer, i took his word for it and bought a pad today.



However, i am sort of afraid... Not for myself, but for everyone else. Ill explain...

What happens if i get too good?? No, no, im serious. What if i become such a good DRUMmer that the universe implodes?? It could happen. Think about it. Ill continue with updates on my DRUM conquest as i go along.

Meet the family.

Its time to meet my family!!

I dont have a large family, in fact, we are relatively small compared to other people that share my same interests. No, wait thats wrong. Maybe we are big, i dont know, i didnt do the research. All i know is that i love each of my family members equally and they all contribute to my growth and development, and for that i am and will be eternally greatful.

My family has been there for me always, just waiting for me to reach out to them and i think i was about 15 or 16 the first time i did. Not that i neglected my family, its just that it took me that long to realize their importance in my life. Anyways, ever since then ive been counting my blessings.

I am also happy to announce that there was actually a new addition to the family just yesterday... and i would like to welcome her (him, it...). She's about 10 lbs. 6 oz. (i dont really know) and beautiful... but yet to be named, maybe you can help me out with that.



Ahh... i told you, beautiful!!! Here are some more of my family members...





We are a happy family, we are always playing and laughing together, we have so much fun, and everyone who sees us is jealous (usually). Unless they too have a family, in which case they think they are better than you, and whether they are or not, its pretty effed up to get wild about something like that.

Anyways, im glad you got to meet my family. Soon, in one of these posts i will introduce you to my more immediate family (who i also love a lot). In the mean time, enjoy this wild game.

The baby bandwagon.

Not that i keep up with this shiz, but word on the street is that guys are popping out from everywhere trying to claim paternity of Anna Nicole Smith's baby. In fact, Vatz, my Media Criticism professor added himself to the growing list of possible fathers just the other day. He was joking of course (i hope), but it got me to thinking...



There seems to be nothing more fascinating in this world then celebrity babies. Michael Jackson hanging his baby off a balcony, Brad and Angelina's baby, Madonna adopting a baby, hell theres even a blog dedicated to celebrity babies... celebrity-babies.com

Its not just about having babies either, theres money involved. Photojournalists who can capture the right picture at the right moment, or at least the first pictures can get paid a king's ransom for their efforts. Anyways... i realized, if i want fame and fortune, i need to have a baby, and take pictures of it myself and sell the pictures to the publishers of tabloid and celebrity gossip magazines.

So, thats what im going to be working on this year... and i guess you can add that to my list of things to do in 2007 (since you are keeping an updated list im sure). Finally, the person i have chosen to have a baby with is... Eva Longoria



Or Keira Knightly... if she gained a little weight.



Or of course, Evangeline Lilly (Kate from Lost).

And last but far from least, Anne Hathaway.

Ok, so i realize that its selfish of me to pick, so ill let you decide which one it will be. Again the choices are Eva Longoria, Keira Knightly (if she gained a little weight), Evangeline Lilly, or Anne Hathaway (please!!). Good luck to all the contestants.

It's all about me.

It really is... I mean this is my Blog! So ive decided to use this entry to answer a questionaire about myself so those of you who may read this can know some things about me.

Name: Ryan Freakin Deal
Age: 23
Job: I paint cars!!
School: Advertising and Public Relations major at Towson University
Pictures:
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.

Interests:
I play dodgeball regularly.
Vanilla Soy Chai Lattes.
I like to watch people.
I like to get wild and party.
I actually like school... I know im a big dork, but at least im smart (sort of).

Music:
I listen to a bunch of different stuff, ill just name a few here so you get the idea...

Jimmy Eat World.
Death Cab.
Every Time I Die.
CO & CA.
Underoath.
Say Anything.
Saves The Day.
Norma Jean.
Paramore.
Saosin.
The Legion Of Doom.
Many more...

Television:
The Office US.
Inked.
Mind Freak.
Almost anything History Channel.
Intervention.
LOST.
I dont really watch much tv though.

Movies:
I dont know. Heres a few i like, if you really wanna know you can message me or something...

Requiem & Pi.
Lost in Translation.
Wedding Crashers.
V for Vendetta.
Crash.
Garden State.
Derailed.
Super Troopers.
Lollilove.

Books:
Almost all Chuck Palahniuk books.
Da Vinci Code.
The Screwtape Letters.
FREAKONOMICS.
Culture Jam.

I dont really read much... I respond to visual stimuli and fixed text on a page that doesnt move doesnt really keep my interest.

Recent Favorite Quotes:
"My soup is the shit" - My SOCI teacher
"I have not yet begun to fight" - John Paul Jones
"Why I lost my feelings in 1989" - past co-worker
"Physics sucks balls" - Jess Hurley

**Anything else you wanna know, just ask.

Paint by numbers.

I feel like my life is slowly becomming a large paint by numbers.



I feel like im the blank cover on a 14yo girl's notebook wating to be scrapbooked. Piece by piece. I seem to just add things to my cache of skills, hobbies, and "time-waster's". My friends think i am like this know-it-all. I know everything going on in pop-culture, i know millions of random facts like the speed of light (186,000 miles per second), innate psychological defense mechanisms, how and why the ozone deteriorates, why gravity isn't really a force, and tons of other seemingly useless stuff.

The reason is that i just pick up stuff everywhere i go, school, experiences, conversations with people, books, television... i just remember everything. This is the way it has been for years, however... This year is the first time i actually decided to learn something new, or do something new. Below is a tentative version of my list for 2007.

1. Start blogging. Even if i dont keep up with it, i want(ed) to see what it would be like to be one of the millions of bloggers out there. I am making the commitment to blog as much as i can get used to or have stuff to say.

2. Learn Sign Language. For some reason i have always wanted to learn to speak sign language. Maybe i will become fluent in it, maybe not (Ill keep ya posted). Anybody who wants to buy me a book or a dvd to help me learn can send it to:

Ryan Deal
520 Gladhill Road
Odenton, MD 21113

3. Learn to play drums. I have played guitar for about 7 years now. I taught myself when i was about 16, but i always wanted to play drums. There is a set at my house i can use to practice so here i go...


So, we'll see how this year goes... im sure my list will get longer and i will commit to updating my current status on here.

I know who killed Anna Nicole Smith.

Yesterday while in class at about 3:30pm, i received a message on my SKICK from a friend telling me that Anna Nicole Smith had just died. To be honest i wasn't surprised. I knew one of these days, all that cocaine and Trim-SPA would catch up to her.

Whats strange to me is that as soon as my friend told me, i had this urge to announce it to the class like it was relevant news. And, what was strange about that is that Anna Nicole Smith is not important. Why would i want to announce it to the class. Nobody i know knows her personally, she didnt do anything significant that affected my life or the lives of any friends of mine.

Anyways, back to how i know who killed her...

I could be wrong, but... My friend messaged me at 3:30pm. At that point nobody knew about her death. He said it was all over the internet, but when i looked, i didnt really find much... SEEMED LIKE A COVER-UP. Almost like the roommate that took the last cookie and asked,

"Hey, do you know who ate the last cookie?"

They know they did, they just want you to think they didnt when it comes time to find the culprit. Anyways, i guess i dont have substantial evidence, but if i had to guess i would say it was Ryan Friis (sorry bro, i don't want them to come looking for me).

I smile at girls a lot.

With my SKICK (sidekick) in hand and in 3 conversations at once, I was walking into the library at school and was confronted with a dilema: talk to the beautiful brunette girl sitting in the lobby by herself who just looked up at me and smiled back or... keep walking. Although walking is fun, in a split second i quickly made the decision to talk to "what's her name". But what would i say? What reason does one have to just spark up conversation out of the blue other than the obvious, "I THINK YOU'RE HOT"?

So in some irregular spark of immediacy and confidence, i went right up to her and said,

"Excuse me... do you know what time it is?"

And sure enough, in a generally expected reaction she looked up at me, smiled and looked down at my SKICK in my hand and replied jokingly (i hope),

"Doesn't that thing have the time on it?"

Ouch! She got me. It was funny really... I felt embarassed that she had figured out my plan to avoid reality by posing a non-important question to evade nervous awkwardness. But just so you know... it worked. Go figure! She went on to tease me about how obvious it was that i asked her the time just to talk to her. Without getting into all the details... We talked for a while and i learned that "what's her name" is actually named Rachael, along with many other things.

I learned and observed a few things today...

1. Girls know when you are nervous
2. They are smarter than most guys give them credit for, and...
3. In an age where technology reigns supreme, we have almost lost what used to be a very common part of everyday communication, asking for the time.