Ordinary Musings

Bran Flakes: My Morning Catalyst

2006-10-13T07:43:00.000-05:00

Just woke up about half an hour ago, but I've got nothing better to do so I might as well talk about what's happened recently.

Two old friends of mine moved into town earlier this week and are in the middle of (hopefully) finding jobs. Seems like I'm having the same luck. Either that or work-study is far more competitive this year (then again, the University of Iowa had a record enrollment number this year).

I don't know if it's just my boring classes, but lately I've been doubting if the Biology major I'm pursuing is really what I want to do. Maybe after I get through all the basic stuff and start getting into the good stuff I'll change my mind again, but what does it mean when you don't find the spark in something you used to have for a long time?

I'm a bwwwaaad whittle boy

2006-10-12T22:31:00.000-05:00

This is kinna scary... I think I'd make a great career at being a pathological liar if I didn't actually have standards.

I have to say that my absense is more out of laziness rather than being busy, but after writing so many literature papers I have to write something I actually give a damn about. This is just so you know that I'm still alive, although in the mists of college work it's hard to even acknowledge that you exist, and that you're not just another person that sets the <50% of the grading curve.

workwork

2006-05-26T21:00:00.000-05:00

After two weeks with my summer genetics research job, I think it is something I can manage with, and possibly come to enjoy. I helped out a little bit with preparation of our experiments so far, but I figure that as I get used to protocol I'll become more comfortable doing a project of my own. The pay's not bad either.

From "the other news" department, I bought myself a used Imac, one of those older colorful ones with the CRT monitor built-in. It was only $10 from the university's surplus store, and I figured it would be worth it to get my feet wet in Mac OS if I'm doing the same with Linux. That and I needed a cheap replacement for now while I try to resurrect my other PC, if it hasn't already reached postmortem

This Is A PSA Board, The More You Know

2006-05-20T15:38:00.000-05:00

I am still here and very much alive. Is an ~8 hour a day job enough to prove that I'm still breathing the CO2 that everyone else around me is exhaling? Wait, back up, let me start over.

About a week and an half ago I said goodbye to college for the first time, and certainly not the last. I took my first year in stride and survived it. It appears all is still on track for now towards getting some slip of paper that makes CEOs fork out $30,000 a year to me. That, of course, is a wonderfully crappy number in today's economy. Graduate school doesn't sound so bad right now, assuming I make it through the next 3 years unscathed.

I'm hoping for my next update to not take at least a week to come up with some kind, any kind of material.

0043, or when I clicked the "Publish Post" icon.

2006-04-23T00:37:00.000-05:00

Damned if I'm gonna be this inconsistent with my posting when summer comes. Of course, I've no idea what the physiological and psychological effects are from working all-day in a genetics lab. Guess I should mention, I got a position in a genetics student program for the summer at The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. No rest for the wicked I suppose, and by that I mean that there must be someone out there that thinks my radical ideas are wicked, in one way or another.

I'm slowly beginning to realize that my greatest difficulty with my college life won't be calculus, which I edged out in last semester. There's some other odds and ends with other courses that I get snagged on. I'm trying my best not to let the difficulty sway my goals or expectations

Do Robots Dream of Electronic Bank Transfers?

2006-04-04T22:44:00.000-05:00

Today I had stopped by the public library to pick up my copy of Malcolm X (the movie) that had just come in. At the same time I payed off a $1 fine I had lingering on my account for several months. Before I handed the dollar over to the circulation desk, I noticed along the top was written "You are a robot". Many connotations could be derived from that, and far too many for this little post. I'm glad I didn't go with sociology for my major. I worry enough about human interactions just being a biology major. Hope that didn't come out wrong...

By the way, if you're an aficinado of video game music, I suggest you check out Galbadia Hotel right away. No they're not MIDI remixes; they're all almost pulled off the official soundtracks. From what I heard about how much they spend on bandwidth last month, I don't think said site has to worry about becoming slashdotted

Heartbreaker

2006-03-18T00:10:00.000-06:00

Around 1320 hours yesterday, I saw someone from the 14th seeded Northwestern State Demons hit a fadeaway 3-pointer from the corner with about two seconds to go, just enough to edge out my Hawkeyes, 64-63.

I'm not really a "sports fan" (though the term carries several connotations), but these Hawks were the first that I actually put effort into following their accolades and disappointments. Of course, my mom winning season tickets helped fuel my interest with them, but they're a sports team that I connected to on a certain level. Maybe being an Iowa student is part of it, but I for once can actually 'felt' that shock, that stunned feeling the players must have felt right at that moment. Yes, for once, sports has made me feel heartbroken.

As the cliche goes, there's always next season... and higher tuition.

Late To The Party, But The Games Are Still Fun

2006-02-27T15:53:00.000-06:00

I have sacrificed the old to gain the more recent.

For about the last week I've been playing at my new Playstation 2. In order to even be able to afford something on my meager college budget, I had to hand over to the local gaming store some of my older games. On many of those accounts I was amazed at what I got back for them. Reflecting back on it all, I must have gotten back about $240 in store credit from what I figure are about 25-30 NES games, 15 SNES games, and about 15 Game Boy games. Now I'm enjoying my new stuff and this foray into the PS2 world has been a joyful one so far, for the most part.

I purchased a RedOctane Ignition Dance Pad (for Dance Dance Revolution) last Friday. Two days later, the down arrow developed a mind of its own. I took it back and got it's price in store credit, which wasn't no big loss since I purchased it with credit in the first place. I found it interesting that several days later, I saw the pad I had returned for sale at half price. I bothered not to ask about it.

Tired Of Being Tired

2006-01-30T21:56:00.000-06:00

Will this post lead up to a point? I can't say for sure, and if it doesn't, oh well. This is one of those times that, for once, instead of trying to think of something significant to speak about, I'll write what's on my mind and make it up as I go along. If I stumble across something, well then, it's nice to have some filler material.

I recently upgraded the processor in my computer, Serenity (I didn't pick the name), from a Celeron 433mhz to a 1.1ghz. I suppose it should be mentioned that it's actually a Socket 370 processor mounted in a Slot 1 adapter card, which is how I'm using that processor in an older machine. Unfortunately, the motherboard only runs it at 800mhz, which means there's 300mhz of clock speed inaccessible from my current setup. That and Windows has blue-screened on me every 5 minutes after bootup since I put the new processor in. I just reinstalled XP. Hopefully that'll configure it to the new processor. Crossing fingers, crossing fingers...

This Semester

2006-01-22T22:19:00.000-06:00

It's been a week since classes start and I think that this semester will in fact be more time-consuming than the previous one, even with the absense of a mathematics course. Plato is wordy, to say the least, but also very thoughtful. It's something you have to read and think about at the same time, or in some cases, read and then reflect on later (This book is required for my Religion & Society course). Things do aim to be faster-paced this time around, but I will try not to falter, at least not on purpose.

I also spent part of tonight listening to Radio Free Burrito Episode 4, a nice little repreive. I don't need to tell you why to listen to it if you haven't already. Just do it. Do it.

Anticipation

2006-01-15T10:56:00.000-06:00

Classes start again in about two days, and all I can say is that I want it to happen sooner. I want to feel that exhiliration, the tenseness, the fear and loathing, the whole nine yards of emotion in the college life. I've felt myself grown increasingly stolic while I've been on break. I just want to break out of this lazy mold and do something constructive that will actually further my college career, not that I haven't been doing other forms of construction while on break.

I'm facing this coming semester with a higher level of confidence as opposed to the previous one, which I attribute over half of my difficulties during that time to calculus. Without a math class to worry about this semester, and just one science class, I think I'll have a wider berth to have some fun with my courses.

No Comment

2006-01-05T19:35:00.000-06:00

Never underestimate one's own powers of laziness.

I can't say that anything significant, life-changing, or Nobel Prize-quality has happened in the last few weeks. I ordered in a wi-fi card for my Thinkpad but unfortunately it appears that the laptop needs some driver updates or something of the sort to let it use the wi-fi card for Internet access, so I now have to order in a dial-up modem or LAN card to get online to get the files to get online.... wirelessly.

I interrupt for a random announcement.

2005-12-23T19:54:00.000-06:00

I've been holding back on my posting for an important announcement. I am now one with the mobile crowd.

Today my laptop arrived, an IBM Thinkpad 380ED (you can check out the stats on the link). I'm hoping having this oldie-but-goodie will make work on the road a little easier to accomplish. That and it was $50. Cha-Cha-Cha.

No more having to borrow laptops from the college for me!

Shifting from Mach 5 to 0.00025 Knots

2005-12-17T01:12:00.000-06:00

Today was the big finale: My Calculus final. A nice little two-hour wade through hellfire. There's plenty of burn scars that I think I'll have from taking that class, and I doubt that many of them will be the scars of success. I'm not trying to be too opmistic or build myself up so high that it results from a larger crash, that is, about my final grade in Calculus. If worst comes to worst and I actually do fail it (which would be the first time I failed a class, period), I won't cry myself to sleep over it.

Of course, with all that jazz out of the way, I have an entire month till the college life continues. A whole month at home, five miles from campus. I have strong intent on concentrating more upon here in the next month. Coming up with stuff to talk about may be difficult, but no more than as usual.

I probably should clarify why not much discussion on my college experience other than on classes makes it here. That's because my college experience is rather limited. Living off-campus is a trade-off: More freedom from the college conglomerate (especially housing), more money I have availible for other personal needs, but less opprounities for partaking in on-campus activies, particularly those that are after-dark. An insider of mine and solid friend who's a "dormitorian" has regailed in person and on his blog (possible future link? maybe) of the many events, some major college-sponsored events and others which are of the more private or niche-type, which he has had the chance to be entertained with.

By the way, I know this is an abrupt way to finish this post, but I'm too entranced listening to Wil Wheaton's Podcasting. That and roleplaying online. More whenever.

Finals Week: Day Two

2005-12-13T20:45:00.000-06:00

I seriously need to stop trying to commit myself to an entire day of studies when I have nothing to do. That train of thinking doesn't work for me.

Last night was my first ever college final, my General Chemistry I final. I think it went rather well, with only 2 or 3 questions I couldn't wrap my head around. Hopefully my effort at that will make up with what's happened with the last two minor exams. They're not pretty, trust me.

No finals today, which was good. I got some odds and ends done in the studying department (did some early Calculus problems as a refresher, glanced over my Native American Studies lecture notes and read a chapter on "Impostor Indians"). The rest of my time was spent, as I can vaguely recall:

2 1/2 hours playing Call of Duty
2 hours playing Resident Evil 2. Tried to get through the game without saving, died about halfway. (Note: carrying extra herbs might be a good idea)

Tomorrow I have to work a few hours, then I head back home for more studying/procrastinating, followed by a group study session that night. One of these days I might go crazy enough from all this college study to hunker down and hit the books non-stop for 8 hours. No pep pills, please.

I sit here in the comfy chair, awaiting my fate

2005-12-11T22:45:00.000-06:00

Right now I'm trying to avoid the cliche of asking someone to just shoot me in the head, with finals starting tomorrow.

Finals, for the most part, are spaced-out well this week. I have my chemistry final tomorrow night, so I go to work in the morning, head back home and study, then head over to campus to take it. Tuesday and Wednesday, besides work and study groups, is devoid of testing. Thursday will be the busy day with my ASL and Native American studies exams both in one afternoon. Calculus, the bane of this gauntlet, lies in wait for Friday, which is a double-edged sword. It's been proven beyond a resonable doubt that I need the time to prepare for it, but having it at the very bottom of the list only makes the anticipation more annoying and draining upon myself.

I Want To Believe...

2005-12-10T23:15:00.000-06:00

I want to believe I'm studying adequetely enough for finals, but higher academics can have some side effects on one's psyche.

I went to a deaf party tonight at a museum that's currently hosting the History Through Deaf Eyes exhibit. I ran into a friend of a friend and introduced my mom to my ASL instructors. Between this outing and the ASL Club meetings this semester, I want to believe I'm getting enough exposure with deaf culture, but I'm not sure if my ASL skills are developing fast enough.

For the last three years when I was in high school, I took Spanish. I picked up and can still recall odds and ends, but if someone were to come up to me and engage in full-blown espanol, I'd need a few repeats. My receptive skills from those years of Spanish aren't as polished as they should be and the same holds true for ASL. Granted, I've had only one college-level semester so far, but this is a language I really want to learn, in contrast to the "popular" western-based dialects they force you to learn in grade school.

I want to believe lots of things, but for now I have to go with what's conceivable in my mind.

Procrastination in Progress

2005-12-08T07:27:00.000-06:00

I know these posts linger too long between one another, but I guess it's a part of how I procrastinate.

Also, being in college I would think I would have some some experiences to write about, but not much happens to me other than classes or the like. I live 2-3 miles away from campus and I take the bus to and from there, plus the bus doesn't operate into most of the night so that cuts down on the after-dark activities I can participate it on campus.

I'm sort of looking forward to winter break. Of course I'll be more than happy once finals are over with, but I only have to head up to my old home for 2 days out of break. The rest of that time will be spent here in Coralville, enjoying a nice rest until classes start up. At least I don't have any damn calculus next semester. Still, Maple is awesome.

My week: How was yours?

2005-11-13T10:11:00.000-06:00

This week has lead to me to have some interesting and thought-provoking experiences. On Wednesday I went to a local bookstore to hear the author of Jarhead read. He read part of a new book he's writing that won't be in the final version, but gave some insight to what he knows and has learned since the Persian Gulf War ended.

On Thursday in our Native American Studies class, we began looking into "copies" of Native Americans created by popular culture, such as Native American mascots. We watched a flim that day about the beginnings of the major protest against the Chief Illiniwek mascot of the University of Illinois "Fighting Illini". This weekend, aside from studying for a calculus exam, I've been reading articles about how Hollywood has protrayed Native Americans. I've had my own opinion about how falsely and how with so little common sense Native Americans have been protrayed in these venues, and I have to say that this past week has only strengthened my stance on these issues.

Another semi-kinna-sometimeoranother post

2005-11-01T22:12:00.000-06:00

I've gotten lazy and busy again, which means that I'm handling the college lifestyle pretty well. As long as you don't ask how my calculus and chemistry midterms went.

On Thursday night, I ran into (online, so it's in a figurative sense) a friend who I haven't spoken to in about two years. As it turns out, we both now share our own unique interest in one area of life, of which I may or may not discuss at another time. But needless to say, having someone to relate to on this topic is, well, almost liberating, being able to finally get my thoughts out of my cranial cobwebs.

As I go along with my classes though, I'm thinking that there is a larger issue within myself I need to address, to research. This issue, though, is outside of realm of pure science where my microbiology major lies. It's something I may be able to look at somewhere along the path of this life, but it's something that despite all my willpower, I can't stop thinking about.

"That story, though, is for another time." - Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

Linux: A Simple Title

2005-10-07T07:34:00.000-05:00

Within the past week, not only have I brought myself to intermittently study my calculus for an upcoming exam, but I've gotten down and dirty so to speak with the linux box a friend gave me a few months ago. It was running Debian, which was decent for a distro.

I got our new router hooked up, so now my mom's computer and my linux box are on a network, so I can now browse the internet without waiting for mom to get done on her computer. I also downloaded, compiled and installed MPlayer, though I have yet to figure out how to get it to work. And I would have called it a complete computer, if it weren't for that I couldn't get the sound card working or detected by Debian (It's a Sound Blaster Live!, btw).

That's when my love affair with Debian ended.

I brought myself a copy of SuSE Linux Professional 9.3. It took a little less than three hours to install the OS itself, along with the packages I had selected off the CD. Everything was set in motion to start the next leg of my linux experience. I had it downloading and installing updates from the web.

That's when I pushed some heavy object next to my desk and turned off the surge strip all my electronics were connected to.

Much frustration ensused. I'm doing a new installation tonight, due to how it's hanging up at system initialization, probably because it's missing something from the accidental power-down. Hope to comment more on this from my, hopefully, SuSE box tonight.

I Hate Math

2005-09-28T08:05:00.000-05:00

I'm back in my "I hate math" phase, especially since our current homework deals with exponients and logarithims. How is one supposed to figure these problems out without resorting to calculators or log tables, both of which most likely will not be allowed on an exam?

Besides being in a mad dash to get my math done this morning, I also have to prepare myself mentally for my first job which starts next monday. I'll talk more about it later, as well as how the first day went.

I'm trying to be an accepting person, but.... radicalx^2/radical15*cubedradical5^3 is just too alien.

Tugs on my Strings

2005-09-27T07:17:00.000-05:00

The chemistry exam wasn't as bad as I thought it would be... only took me half an hour, whereas we were given an hour and a half to complete it. Guess I was more prepared than I thought, but this is only chemistry. My calculus exam is two weeks from today, so I better prepare for that. At least I didn't have to memorize the periodic table.

I stopped at a bookstore downtown several times today to relax and study in their coffee cafe. Near the cafe entrance are some shelves labeled "New Age", where they put books on stuff like divination, occultness and even paganism (Which I bet many book organizers still label those books under such because some pagan religions are reconstructionist religions, as in the case of Wicca, or the misconception that all pagan beliefs and practice stem from a belief of "magic", whereas I've seen many pagan religions that study or believe in "magick", which is supposed to be different I think..)

On those shelves I saw several tarot decks. Tarot, as far as I know it, is the process of using special cards to help fortell the future or things to come. The artistry on those cards and their apparent simplicity in function caught onto something in me. It's something that I would try one, perhaps, but the process of divination makes me somewhat sour about it. It's not a religious matter, but the frame of thinking that your future has been predetermined, the concept of fate. This is how your life's going to be, no ifs, ands or buts about it. I want to think there's somethings within my sphere of control that can influence my life instead of following a static script. It might be selfish in me wanting to believe in having some control, but I guess I want to believe in that freedom, considering the current nature of political freedoms...

Chemistry Exam Soon

2005-09-26T17:55:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting now in the Iowa City Public Library on one of their internet computers, pondering about the chemistry exam that starts about two hours for now. I'm listening to some product reviews on Cnet, only because there's some baby crying in the computer area. Okay, so I'm uncomfortable with children, especially their crying sounds. There's just some noises which are universally irritating to all human beings with the exception of some very disturbed people... yea, that'll probably leave you thinking of some stuff you wish you hadn't.

I'm becoming steadily more worried, even in the course of one day, finding some time for leisure reading, especially when I'm sitting around downtown with nothing to do. It's more than just a case of finding time to read though; it's also trying to find something engaging enough. My leisure reading times are very intermident, so I might go a day or two without reading a book. I find it hard though to try to stay engaged to something if their a sizable gap, even just one day, between readings. There's more than a couple students I've seen carrying their own books for lesiure reading. Maybe sooner or later I'll burn out on studying for good and can sit down to studying stuff I really want to learn.

Chemistry Exam, Reading, FreeCiv

2005-09-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

I just killed a wasp... I know it's not how I expected to start this post, but that damn wasp had stung my mom's foot in the middle of the night, causing me to wake up and help her tend to it and give me bug nightmares the rest of the night. Anyways...

Tonight I have my first college exam, a chemistry exam. Yes, at night. They either don't or can't do them during the day or class so I have to stay on campus for an extra hour and a half or so tonight. It's sort of intimidating, taking a large exam at night. At least I'll have time to study beforehand..

I'm also having trouble trying to get myself to do some leisure reading. There's several books I have on hand and others in mind I want to get, but between studying out of some textbooks and other class readings, particularly my Native American Studies books, it's hard to convince myself to sit down and enjoy a read without knowing or worrying myself that I'm wasting time reading stuff irrevelent to my classes. This stuff I want to read is revelent to myself though, to what I want to learn and discover and to help answer some questions brewing in my mind.

Me and a friend tried out a game of Freeciv, an open-source port of the Civilization game series. It was good, but it'll take some getting used to. I for one lean more towards tatical combat-style strategy games, like Steel Panthers: World at War.

ASL Club

2005-09-20T22:21:00.000-05:00

Tonight I went to the university's ASL (American Sign Language) club, held in a neighborhood-style restaurant. Most of the conversations I didn't keep up with, partly because I'm not fluent yet in ASL, partly because I was eating. I did strike up some conversations with a senior sitting next to me who was deaf, I think. Overall I had a good time and am looking forward to doing it again next week.

Other than that, not much else for me to comment on. I should go find some homework to do.

Hurried Post

2005-09-14T08:19:00.000-05:00

I'm typing this up in somewhat of a frenzy due to the fact my bus arrives in 10 minutes. I didn't get around to saying what I wanted to last night due to spending time writing a paper for my Native American studies class. Technically, it's called Introduction to American Indian and Native Studies, but its hard for me not to be PC about it.

Yesterday's USA Today featured a "first look" article on the upcoming Memoirs of a Geisha movie. I've only read a little of the book but the movie looks like it'll turn out rather well. There's been some argument though, as far as I've been following it, on having Chinese actors play the main Japanese parts. If you took a look at the forums for the movie on IMDB, you would see what I mean.

Also, I have to find some time during this week to run down to the post office to get a new social security card. Turns out I need to show a SS (not Nazi) card to the student employment office at the university to get the papers I need to actually do a work-study job. I'm already a week behind in when I hoped to start working, but I want to start soon, so that at least I can try to get used to waking up at 5 in the morning.

Tonight's also another SPIRAL meeting, which I will be attending. The group have been very friendly so far and are a no-pressure group. It's nothing like walking into some evangalist's speech that trys to tug at your heartstrings. They know I'm not a pagan, just someone who wants to know more about their religions... someone who wants to know the truth.

Some Help..

2005-09-08T07:56:00.000-05:00

I was reading on WitchVox (The Witches' Voice) a couple days ago and I came across this: Firefighters, about a 1,000 of them came to New Orleans, thinking they would be putting their skills to use to help save lives in the wake of Katrina, when they found out all their training and time down there would be put to use handing out fliers and phone numbers for FEMA. Oh, and also the occasional shot of them in the backdrop with Bush for PR value. Nice to see the government relief effort respects these firefighters' status...

On another note, I went to another meeting of SPIRAL, the Society of Pagans Interested in Reviving Ancient Lifestyles. Two meetings I've been to so far and they've been pretty informative. I guess I should make it clear at this point that I'm not actually pagan (I grew up in a Catholic family) but I'm researching into paganism from what I call a "logical and philisophical viewpoint". I also recently picked up a copy of Drawing Down the Moon, supposively one of THE books on the history and evolution of paganism in the U.S. I gotta grab a bite before I head out. More to come.

College life, Growing Interests, Pagan Student Group

2005-09-04T22:44:00.000-05:00

I'm starting to get concerned with my infrequent posting here... I'll still continue, but why I haven't posted I can attribute to a couple things.... work, laziness.... mostly laziness.

Two weeks of college have passed so far and I'm not screaming my mind out while making a mad dash for the hills, so I guess I have more will power to get through this than I thought. When my calculus class actually starts doing some calculus though, that's when I fear if I'll have enough strength to survive.

I've discovered a couple things recently, some which aren't directly connected to Iowa City or the University of Iowa. I just discovered a large festival, the Beltane Fire Festival held in Edinburgh, Scotland every year on the night of the 30th of April. It looks massive, incredible and I'm now disappointed we don't have anything like it here in the states, much less Iowa. This also means that I will probably be changing my profile picture again soon... I like it to reflect my current interests.

I also went to the first meeting of the semester of the pagan student group on campus. They seem just like everyone else to me and I followed along rather well with the discussions we held, even though I myself am not a pagan. I'm hoping to go to some more meetings soon, which would work nice because the pre-medical student group gets together the same night as the pagan student meetings and one's right after the other, so in one night I get to be a part of some interesting discussions.

A month later...

2005-08-20T08:21:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh, summer laziness. I've been enjoying my summer in my new home, doing absolutely no work other than maybe throwing away an old box or pushing stuff out of the way. Not that I want this place to end up like my old one, but i'm trying to enjoy my freedom, which in two days will become null with the beginnings of college. Mmmmm, studying...

New Home, 18

2005-07-22T00:20:00.000-05:00

Little less than a week ago, I moved into my new apartment and, aside from buying textbooks and whatnot, I'm ready to go to the University of Iowa this fall. Or at least I think I am... I'm too tired right now to go through all the details.

I also had my 18th birthday this week. It was mostly a quiet affair, though I did go volunteer for an experiment at my university's psychology department and got payed for it, so you could say I got some present. A new computer's a present. A new chair is a present. A new tv is a present. 24 bucks of in-city gift certificates... now that I'm iffy on.

Waiting to Move, Pagan Podcast

2005-07-08T11:17:00.000-05:00

8 days remain till I move to my new college town and less than half of everything is packed. I'm doing my usual job of sitting here at the computer and playing around with it instead of organizing my room into cardboard boxes and stuff. That's not to say that I haven't done some work already. I'm making a great sacrifice... I'm getting rid of all my Gamepro magazines. Okay, so it really isn't that much of a gut-wretching sacrifice in my mind, but they help cut back on what we'll have to package into the moving truck.

Over the last couple weeks, I've been listening to Lance and Graal, a pagan talk podcast. It's kind of interesting and revealing about pagan issues, and the host can be a hoot at times.

Home, Trying to Relax, Linux Computer

2005-07-04T23:28:00.000-05:00

I got back home from camp on Friday. My last year wasn't as bad as it could have been, but not as good as well. We didn't end up going to a gaming place as I had hoped for, so I didn't get a chance to do any DDR. Our campout was somewhere close by instead of far away, a boy scout camp and we had to do some teamwork exercises or whatever while we were there. But I didn't spend a single cent until I left camp, whereafter I stopped at a little bar-and-grill on the way home to get some real food.

I've been trying to get back to my usual lazy self, but with the big move less than two weeks away, that's a hard thing to do when my mom's home, which is usually when we work. We took an old stereo with a CD tray that kept getting stuck to a donation center the other day, along with some other trinkets. Hoping maybe tomorrow to get the living room spruced up a bit if I can bring myself to do it.

I also installed some RAM in my Linux box today. Turns out you can use pc133 sdram in a computer with an older celeron processor, which uses pc66 ram. The statistics of my linux box right now stands at:

Currently running latest stable version of Debian
433mhz Celeron processor (Planning in the near future to upgrade to +1ghz PIII)
320mb RAM (Aiming for 512)
20gb HD (Eh, will hold a couple older games, for now.)
16mb 3dfx Voodoo3 2000 pci video card (might, MIGHT handle Quake 3. Hoping to upgrade to a more current geforce or radeon soon)
Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 sound card (I'm happy with this right now)

And.... I got nothing else.

New (Old) Computer, Summer Camp

2005-06-24T00:03:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week, I got a new (new to me), used computer from a friend of mine. That day he also gave me my first real taste of Linux. Still have a LOT of kinks to work out and a lot to learn, but lets just say that I really, really hope we can get this computer, my mom's Windows computer, hooked up ASAP after we move next month.

Aside from that, nothing major has happened lately. I've been watching anime at home all week, role-playing with my friends online when they're on, and composing this blog. Nothing really deep or intelligent like my last post, but I really am trying to keep it easy for now, considering that I have summer camp next week and it'll be my last year. Hopefully, we'll go again this year to an arcade-like hangout that we've been doing every year, and then I can show off my DDR skillz and prove to the bunkmates that I actually have some dexterity in this bulk I carry around.

Pagan Group, Evaluating Religion

2005-06-15T11:35:00.000-05:00

Lately, I've had a lot of doubts about how my future will be, and not just because I'm starting college in August. My doubts lie in the college pagan group I spoke of in an earlier post that I want to join. Not to plant the seeds of self-conversion, mind you, (though it is always a possiblity), but to get a realistic, undoctored view of how pagan followers are, and I have a strong notion that they're like every other living, breathing human being. My doubt, most of all, lies in how others close to me might view this habit.

I had revealed to my mom at a senior party several weeks ago that I wanted to be with this group. She believes, has doubts, that this is one of those "anti-Christian" groups that "brainwash college students." Well, "Anti-Christian" would signifiy one is not Christian, but of another faith. Some of them might not agree with Christian beliefs, but if they can have tolerance for other peoples' beliefs, that is fine with me. The "brainwash college students" part, I believe, stems from two possibilities, that she 1) was, like many Christian followers, taught of such "demon-worshipping" groups such as Wiccans and Witches, and/or 2) she still remembers all the cyanide kool-aid cults from back when. If I can maybe show to her that pagans are just the same as the next group of people, I can ease her into becoming more understanding, and tolerable, of them. She did say I could hang with them, but not get involved with them.

Lately, though, I've been getting all philosopical about where my beliefs stand. The fact that I have some doubts still about being with pagans out of the scare tactic taught in my religion that these groups may, even unconsciously, worship the devil, has made me reevalulate and observe in the deepest manner my stance. For example, the deities of God and the devil are recognized mainly in the Judeo-Christian religions, but that is about it. If one does not believe in such deities, as in some pagan religions, how can one worship the devil? Of course, it's not uncommon to hear from some evangalists that they are worshipping the devil unconsciously. We could believe that, but then that would mean that God and the devil are "true" figures, are "the" figures and they are the only omnipotent figures in spirital existance. For that to be "true", everyone would have to believe in them. Religions are powerful enough to shape one's life extensively, but they're ideas and beliefs that some people strongly believe in. Its these contradictions between beliefs that continues to make me more unsure of my future.

If I hear one more complant about me not posting, I will... just sit here

2005-06-10T10:13:00.000-05:00

So far, the summer has been relatively uneventful. There has to be something that gives me a big kick to post about it, but I guess I'll sweat the small stuff while I'm at it too. I attended a open house held by my ALPHA teacher yesterday and talked with some friends. I viewed the apartment I'll be living in for the next four years and it isn't too bad a size. The toughest part, though, aside from getting everything packed to move, is deciding on a minor at Iowa (which is how I'll refer to the University of Iowa from now on). While I realize I will take many, many courses to complete my major, I have a good feeling that not all the credits I need to take in my undergrad will come from my major. The problem stems from that there are many minors to choose from that I'm interested in, but also carry their own pros and cons.

American Indian and Native Studies
Pros: Something I'm strongly interested in; some courses pertain to general education requirements; Iowa has strong relations to native peoples.
Cons: Umm... I'll get back to you on that.

Religious Studies
Pros: Something I'm slightly interested in; some courses pertain to GE requirements.
Cons: .... my people will call your people.

Philosophy
Pros: Really allow me to stretch my reasoning
Cons: I'm not sure if my mind can handle the elasticity in such thinking.

So it's at a three-way tie, but I believe the American Indian minor will prevail because I've been interested in that longer than the other two. But we shall see. only 3 days to orientation.

bored, pagan group, park event

2005-05-27T15:34:00.000-05:00

This is not a good start to the end of high school. I've been bored ever since I got home from commencement practice today. Well, bored of the computer, that is. I could have read, I could have helped to pack stuff. But I didn't feel like doing any work, especially when I've been doing the same stuff for three years. Yes, I know there's more ahead with college and everything, but at least I have more choices in college for what to do.

I've also been communicating lately on the Yahoo! Group for SPIRAL, the University of Iowa's pagan student group. I'm thinking of joining them once I move to Iowa City. I'm not necessarly a pagan, nor do I follow a pagan religion (at least, not yet), but I think it'll be a new and interesting experience if I join.

I'm also disappointed in how the sun's remained out all day without rain or a storm. There's supposed to be some event in a city park tonight with food and concerts and that stuff, but I don't really want to go. I just want to freakin' relax.

Aztec Dancer, Closing In On Finals

2005-05-17T22:27:00.000-05:00

I love blogging when there's other homework I could be doing. I still feel productive even though I'm not reading a textbook.

Recently, I found the site of an Aztec-descended dancer. The pictures of his performances are enough for me to crave to see this guy in motion. Not only is it some of the most eye-catching regalia I've ever seen, but to actually witness the dances he does in it has to be quite a sight.

It's approxmately one week till high school is over (end date: 5/26). By sometime next week, I have to analyze some essays I have to find on Native American human rights for Composition and create a project on the immune system for Anatomy. And then there's the finals I'll have to do for those classes. I did my Biology final a little more than a week ago and it happened to be an old AP exam. Scored between a 3 and a 4 on it, but I didn't take this year's AP test for it.

Nothing really much more to talk about, except for another reason not to buy a Mac Mini.

Yea Yea, I'm still surviving

2005-05-07T21:45:00.000-05:00

I know it's almost been a month since my last post, in which time there's been more turmoil threatening my idillic lazy life, but there's a silver lining in there.

I recently survived two Advanced Placement exams (The AP English Language & Composition exam and the AP English Literature & Composition exam). I'm not too confident of my results on the Literature exam, since I ended up writing a long-winded and incoherent essay on Ethan Frome with only being able to remember the name of the title character. Not something I want to go through again in college, and thus another insentive to get me to study better in college. I also had our AP Biology final, which was an old AP test. I scored just between a 3 and a 4 according to the scoring guide, which is why I'm not taking the real AP Biology exam. I don't want to go into my essay score...

My computer monitor has also become just as annoying as any homework. Apparently, when tilted upwards, the picture has a tendency to jump around and go all weirdly. Luckily, I'm keeping it tilted forward and that seems to do the trick for now. Hopefully soon, I'll be able to stop using this...

Which leads me into some good news? A friend from school, and a Linux buff to boot ('boot'=not intended as a bad pun) is giving me one of his old computers and putting a linux distro, Debian, onto it. It's only a 433mhz Celeron, so I only expect it to be able to do schoolwork and small multimedia tasks like playing music and potentially playing DVDs if I get a suitable drive in it.

And one more thing to add about today. I went to Iowa City, where I'm going to the University of Iowa this coming year with my mom and grandma to look at apartments. One we saw was decent, but also the smallest townhouse I've ever seen. The bedrooms are a very pitiful size and the living room is laughable. The kitchen was a one-lane corridor. The second property we looked at was a mobile home park, and I'm glad mom was disgusted with that one. The roof showed more than several spots where it had leaked, or was still leaking, particularly around areas like light bulbs and ceiling fans, not to mention that the windows didn't close properly. The rooms though were of a good size. So it's back to trying to find a spot. My mom's been toying with an idea: Get a 3 or more bedroom place and rent out the 3rd room to a student. I'm planning to run this possibility around some guys at school going to Iowa next year. Better than shelling out 6K a year for room and board on campus.

Cookie Monster, Obesity, stuff about Anti-Gay Activists from a friend

2005-04-12T20:32:00.000-05:00

Cookie Monster Advocating Eating Healthy

I see nothing wrong with trying to get less people obese through letting them know about healthy eating habits. But c'mon, taking Cookie Monster, a unique cultural icon and placing a carrot or whatever in his hands is a little farfetched.

Now with that, I point you to some distressing news, at least to me, via my friend's blog. His latest post concerns a series of anti-gay activists from Kansas, who protested the rememberance of an openly gay man who was murdered by one of his friends recently here.

Been a while

2005-04-08T10:38:00.000-05:00

I wish I could make myself post more often. Granted, I have enough time to get off an intelligent post now and then, but there hasn't been really anything that intelligent that's tickled my fancy to talk about. I could pick an easy topic to share my feelings on, like whatever is on the nightly news, but I'm not that kind of person. If I wanted to, I would, but not on what's going on right now. Mainly because I'm not interested too much, and I don't feel strongly enough towards one side of the current issue to really give my two cents about it.

On the other hand, a friend at school gave me his old 32mb flash drive today. Not large by today's means, but maybe now I can stop e-mailing files to myself that I print off at school. Very annoying, and our school's network and internet connection isn't the most reliable.

More stuff I want to do, had I the energy; paganism essay

2005-03-22T22:06:00.000-06:00

I decided today that I need to start getting a grasp on celtic shamanism studies, if its something I'm so interested in. Unfortunately, it's human nature to become more lazy, as you accumulate more tasks that have to be done. This is starting to become a critical issue for myself. I want to get in shape, I want to explore other spiritual practices, and yes, I do want to get in college, which means writing more damn scholarships, which I've actually been steadily working on.

I decided for my contemporary journalistic essays Composition & Rhetoric AP to write two essays on paganism, or to be more specific, the increasing influx of teens and young adults who want to study or even dabble in these faiths. Both of my essays have to come from contrasting viewpoints, which may be an interesting experience. Putting myself in both shoes, so to speak.

Happy Spring Break, and an argument

2005-03-19T23:53:00.000-06:00

I would talk all about what I did this Spring Break, but seeing how I was sitting on my butt most of that time, it probably wouldn't be too interesting of a thing to write about.

Instead, I'm devoting this post to talking about a common misconception among general society: In marketing, anything that says 'automatic' or even 'robotic' is supposed to signify that no work will have to be done on the consumer's part to make it functional. Some people even stretch the definition of these terms, thinking that once the product is in their home, it will come out of the box at will, hook up whatever cables are required, if any, and perform its duty or task.

I'm sorry folks, but we haven't even been able to come up with a decent toaster that can get a slice of whole wheat to golden brown perfection without some assistance from the user, of which sometimes requires manipulation of metal untensils into the heating element, hopefully with the toaster unplgged. Why aren't we at this stage yet? For one, we don't have the resources to create such automations, though I've heard enough jokes about Al Gore's former 'charisma' to last me half a lifetime. Part of this also comes from people's love-hate relationship with technology, and even from the (sometimes entertaining) minority that believe that development and evolution of technology will result in it going all Skynet on us and wiping us out because it sees us as insignificant, wasteful beings. Can't argue with that, though.

To cite an example, those 'automated' robotic vaccums and mowers. Here's the sales pitch: It does the vaccuming and mowing for you, so you don't have to lug out your Oreck or John Deere. Here's the real deal: It ain't that easy. You have to create a 'fence' of cable around the area that it will work in, so it knows where to go. Then you have to keep getting up to empty them whenever they get full, because they have such a small capacity. And if your blade breaks or engine blows, I'm pretty sure Bob's Supply on East & 4th doesn't carry an engine with an intergrated CPU.

Now, we aren't anywhere close to automation, and I wouldn't be suprised if we only scratched the surface of getting it done in my lifetime. But these robotic vaccums and mowers may work better if 1) they would have larger capacities for trash and 2) they were remote-controlled, like an R/C car. I wouldn't mind sitting in the back yard on a summer day, in my lounge chair, and driving my little scooter-of-a-mower up and down my yard. Of course, I realize that from my position, I might end up striking something... living in the yard. A handy sensor would alert me to a living presense. Just to make sure I don't harm it physically, I'd switch my robot's mowing motion from "PCP addict with a machete" to "Alcatraz Perm". That field mouse would get some interesting remarks from its family when it returns to its burrow.

Yipee!

2005-03-14T20:09:00.000-06:00

I apologize with a thousand million apologies for my absense. But now I have some motivation at least to find time in my (cough)*busy*(cough) life to post.

I logged on just now and noticed one of my online friends is back! She's been grounded for a couple months, and no, I'm not telling you who she is.

Slashdot posted a couple of days ago, an article on how AOL's new license agreement for AIM states, and I'm paraphrasing from memory, that AOL owns everything you post over AIM conversations. The next day, I saw another related post on Slashdot on how AOL's going into damage control now. Makes me glad I use Trillian for an IM client. Yes, I have an AIM account... because I have an AOL account.... because mom won't let go of Food Chat.

Symposium, Sinuses, Welding

2005-02-28T22:45:00.000-06:00

Last Thursday and Friday I was at the Junior Science Symposium in Iowa City. Some interesting presentations, and some that didn't appeal to me much. Our school's presenter placed in the final five, so he got a small scholarship and a trip to San Diego for the national symposium. Sadly, he wasn't the top 1st or 2nd, so he won't get to present down there. Nice little trip he's getting, though.

Since the weekend I've also been trying to get over some sinuses or whatever it is. Hopefully it'll clear up by the late part of the week, but I can't be sure about that. I also got a chance to try welding for the first time in metal shop today and it nearly scared the crap out of me. If you're wondering what type of welding I was doing, it was arc welding. The electrode got stuck to the practice piece of metal and sparked up. I dropped the electrode and electrode holder, which probably wasn't the wisest thing to do. I'm thinking of trying wire welding tomorrow, hopefully that'll go better. Either that or I'll just stick to using hemmed edges and rivets for my project, which isn't an entirely bad idea, provided it's okay with my teacher.

Been a while, hasn't it?

2005-02-21T22:05:00.000-06:00

I apologize for being gone for so long from my posting. Been doing some homework, a lot of Counter-Strike, and I know Nick is going to critize me for that.

I won't say much cause I have to study for a biology exam on evolution (and before any of my readers start shouting stuff, know that you have every right to critize it. After all, it's only a theory.) I wish I had some news, even a link to post here but I don't have any, nor do I have the time tonight to find something important to find.

Then again... this gave me a laugh.

IE 7: so much for Firefox

I'm sorry. It's not that I'm a Firefox purist or absolutely anti-M$, but I doubt a new version of IE will be any more secure. In a perfect world, a web browser wouldn't have constant patching and updating. That world I know will never be achieved. But IE could maybe.... just mmmmaaayyybbbeee get close enough to perfect... nah!!!

Players being removed, revelations of mine

2005-02-04T06:06:00.000-06:00

I'll start with the sweeter, gentler stuff, though this announcement isn't by much compared to what I'll say next.

Pierce Dismissed

This concerns an Iowa Hawkeyes basketball player who's currently under invesigation for several criminal charges, including an aggravated assault charge. This is sort of sad. Not because he's the star player for the team, okay partly that, but this is happening at the college I'm going to. I guess there's at least one troublemaker or student they look at suspiciously per campus.

And now, I told you earlier that I'd talk about my visit to Iowa City for doctor and dental. There's one thing you should know first.

I have hemophilia

The above is the link to the national organization page. Whoever takes time to read this, take some time if you can to look into hemophilia and other bleeding disorders.

I come to Iowa City every two years for them to conduct tests, which simply means a checkup and drawing my blood to check what's in it right now. As far as dental, I have to drive for about 2 hours to have others prod in my teeth because they're trained down there to deal with people with me. Hopefully I'll never have to get my wisdom teeth pulled. They haven't shown up yet, and that... wouldn't go good.

Bad, Bad Idea

2005-01-31T22:56:00.000-06:00

Here I am, having a semi-perfect evening. Little homework, getting back into Counter-Strike and then deleting it cause I'm getting paranoid about my ever-diminishing hard drive space, and the nightly news report throws this in my face.

Texas senator proposes 'obesity reports'

.... I'm speechless.

Bad stuff on low-carb, interest in a book, doctors and dentists

2005-01-30T21:13:00.000-06:00

Last night, me and a friend were getting dinner at a Subway. I noticed a list of nutritional facts about their dressings and sauces on the sneeze window (I believe that's what they sall it.) Their "Carb Conscious Ranch Dressing" had, in one serving, 200 calories, 20 grams of fat, and 1 carb. I've never been a big fan or believer in the low-carb diets, or any diet in that manner. But such statistics on a product to promote this type of diet don't look too appetizing to me.

On a more positive note, I'll be heading back to Iowa City this Wednesday, with me returning to town on Thursday. While I'm down there, I'm hoping to stop by Prairie Lights Books, my favorite book store in Iowa City, which I'm planning to pick up a copy of The Golden Bough from, a book which, according to how I interpreted Amazon's description, investigates how ancient beliefs in magic and religion tie into today's practices. It's of a growing interest of mine I may speak of at a later time.

I'm also going to Iowa City not just to skip school, which turned out to be my main reason why I did so earlier this month (involving some insurance mixups that made me reschedule to this week), but for doctor and dental appointments. Why these appointments are in motion, as well as being two hours away from my home, I will elaborate on in a post later this week. Trust me.

Stuff about while I wasn't posting

2005-01-26T08:38:00.000-06:00

Sorry I've waited so long. A lot of stuff, a lot of procrastination. I'll start off simply by naming some of the things that have caught my eye over the last week.

Here in Iowa, They (politicians) are proposing a tax on grocery bags, which apparently already exists in some other state. This tax would charge $.17 per bag to the customer at checkout. The main idea, they say, is to promote recycling by having people bring their own bags. Now, I know the real reason behind this is to propose another tax to try to get our extremely underbudgeted.... budget from out of the deep water. And cause people know its a tax, the majority most likely isn't going to approve it.

A sentor from this state has a crazy idea of his own: Have Iowa become the only state to observe Daylight Saving time year-round. People have already objected to this, including a columnist from one of the state newspapers. If this was the case, people argue, then children and students would go to school before dawn. I wouldn't mind. Stumbling across Hudson Rd. in the dark sounds like fun. Heck, I can't stay up late and do that. And trying to avoid cars in the dark would really give my adrenaline a good zap. Nice way, I think, of waking myself up in the morning

As nearly the entire nation (except those individuals with no contact with the outside world) know, Johnny Carson passed away on Sunday. Sad thing is, I have no memories from when he used to be on. I was born a little late to infuse his image in my mind. Besides, in 1990-1992, the last two years he hosted The Tonight Show, I was already warping my mind with cartoons. They say today's examples of animation are weird and outlandish. Have they forgotten The Ren & Stimpy Show?

And some other tidbits about the last week:
I'm getting my first scholarship entry lined up... finally. Hope I can enter, and hopefully win enough to at least fund my first year of college.
Found out Unreal Tournament works without having the CD on the drive. To End User Licenses, I give you the flip of the bird.
Any actual player I've come across on Unreal Tournament are insane! The only people, besides myself, that play this game anymore are those that got it when it first came out. They've must have been perfecting their deathmatch skills from day 1. Needless to say, I get wasted every time.

Wonder how you get more readers for a blog...

Second semester starts on the second day

2005-01-19T20:49:00.000-06:00

I got back today from being out of town yesterday. I was supposed to have a "doctor's appointment", which was rescheduled at the last minute, if you count last minute as 4 days before the original appointment date, due to stupid insurance complications. So I just took the day off. Hopefully that the 2 or 3 people that read this post realize this, even though I may have told them about this already. If I didn't, they'll realize that now.

I almost would have bought some books on mythology I saw in Iowa City. I can't remember their names so I have no ability to provide linkage. We did visit a gift store, the Vortex. I picked up a bargain CD of a Native American guitar artist, Bill Miller. The CD in particular was Raven in the Snow. I guess after listening to it, there's some hints of native lyric in there, but it's mostly kinna like acoustic rock. Needless to say, I have a new music artist to like.

Not only did I skip a day today, it was also the first day of the second semester. Hopefully none of my teachers will think lightly of me because I was gone. I'm only taking one english class this semester, an extra biology-based class and a shop class for fun. Also, my release was shifted to 5th hour so I still have a period in the day to work. Bad news is though I have gym in that slot the first 4 1/2 weeks. My schedule for this semester is as follows:

1st hour - Anatomy & Physiology
2nd hour - Metal Technology I
3rd hour - Composition and Rhetoric II-Advanced Placement
4th hour - Spanish III (81 out of 100 on the 1st final, wOOt!)
5th hour - Release with gym first 4 1/2 weeks
6th hour - Pre-Calculus B
7th hour - Advanced Placement Biology

Everything except my 4th, 6th & 7th hours has changed this semester. I still factor in that I'll be gone for at least 4-5 more days this semester, 2 of those being doctor & dental appointments in Iowa City, going to the junior sciences symposium at the University of Iowa, and the ALPHA trip, which hopefully planning has not halted. Last year we didn't go due to overall procastination in planning the trip. We have a good idea where we want to go and what to do, but we need to get arrangements set up now. And seeing how the, as far as I know, only readers are ALPHA students - hint hint

4 days till Semester Finals, Part Two

2005-01-13T23:09:00.000-06:00

I survived the 1st half of my semester finals. I'm not too happy about my pre-calc (had to answer about 10 of them with last-minute filling in the blanks), but I finished my AP Biology test with 5 minutes to spare and it had more than 1.5 times the questions of the math test.

On top of all that, tomorrow is the start of a 4 day weekend. Friday is a workday for teachers, where they were supposed to be filing the final results from the semester finals, which due to yesterday's weather won't be finished till next Tuesday. Monday is Martin Luther King Jr's birthday and that's another day of school off. I'm in class for the last of my tests on Tuesday, then I'm off to Iowa City Tuesday night and most of Wednesday. I got a biology packet that's technically due Wednesday, but seeing as I'll be out of class that day, might as well not turn it in till Thursday.

I looked up some information on LARP, or Live Action Role Playing. During that time I managed to read someone's top 10 list of why it sucks and a clip from Reno 911 spoofing LARP players. Personally I've never done it. Would I given the chance? Yes. Would I be totally hardcore about it 24/7 during an event and even when were "real-life" people like cops who wanted a word with me I'd stay in-character? Ummm I'm not willing to go that far. I spoke about this with a friend earlier tonight online and he joked that I wouldn't truly be LARPing if I didn't act like that jackass stereotying a LARPer in the video clip. More to come when eyelids don't feel like they're stapled shut. Actually, I'd say more like taped shut. It sounds less painful.

I h8te finals week

2005-01-10T21:58:00.000-06:00

It's finals week now, meaning I should be studying. Instead I've spent the last hour having dinner, googling for kabuki pics and overall blowing off my studies, which isn't to say that I haven't done any. I ran through some of the tests on the CD that came with my AP Biology textbook. Most of my studying so far though has been going over my pre-calculus and spanish notes. I have a feeling they'll be the toughest. Not to mention my eyes are getting weary and I really doing want to do any more serious reading tonight.

On another note, a friend of mine is planning to send in an application to the University of Iowa. He's declared himself an open major, which I guess gives him freedom, which in most cases is good. Myself, I've declared myself a microbiology major. I'm visiting my hematologist next week and I have some ideas, college-wise, I want to run by him. Not to mention he's providing me a job for while I'll be in college.

It's official, I can't cook... I suck at making puppy chow

2005-01-03T13:05:00.000-06:00

I tried making puppy chow, but unfortunately all I have is a big sticky batch of peanut butter, chocolate chips and Crispix cereal. I didn't have a bag to mix the powdered sugar with it. It doesn't taste bad though, but it's not real puppy chow.

Due to the ice outside, for the first time in about two years I think we have a school cancellation. It's not officially a snow day in my mind since I haven't seen any plows pushing sixty tons of frozen H20. Even better, I have the place to myself today since mom's at work and most likey, she'll be staying at my grandma's house again tonight. You see, our apartment property has one entrance/exit, which is on an incline so we're slightly below the level the street lays on. When its icy, it's a struggle to get even the largest 4x4 veichle (fyi, my mom drives a '91 Chevy Corsica LT) up that. So mom's bunking at grandma's so she can actually get to work.

I also ate at McDonald's last Thursday for the first time in 4 months. I got myself the "Two cheeseburger Extra Value Meal". My experience on chowing down on their food could have been worse. I could have gotten 2 double cheeseburgers from their 99-cent menu or even 2 double quarter pounders with cheese, which I did once or twice in my life. I don't hate them with a passion like PETA, Dr. Phil and a certain Cleveland hospital do. I know their food is far from healthy but once in a while isn't going to make me any more plump than I already am. I blame a diet of meat and half the junk food crap at high school.

Christmas recap

2004-12-30T23:53:00.000-06:00

I know it's been over a week since I did a post. I've been trying to enjoy every lazy second granted to me during holiday break. However, with a Dante project, a Biology packet and who knows what else I have to do before monday, being lazy 24/7 isn't a possibility. I'm going to appeal against schoolwork being given over spring break if they go ahead and do that.

I did manage to get some good gifts during Christmas. I know it's not all about the presents, but that won't keep me from boasting.
A $50 gift certificate to a local mall, which I spent part of it on When will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops, George Carlin's newest book, and on The Five People You Meet In Heaven, as a late present for my mom.
A Iowa t-shirt, as in University of Iowa (btw, go Hawks on Jan. 1!)
A hot-air popcorn popper
A 5-in-1 classic arcade games toy. To be specific, it has Ms. Pac Man, Pole Position, Mappy, Xevious, and Galaga. Wish they would make these things 2-player though...
And some other stuff I can't remember

I know I was gonna rant about a lot more stuff but its late, I'm tired and I can't remember that stuff anyways. Late Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all those readers out there

Insane Monday

2004-12-20T08:59:00.000-06:00

Here I am, 5 days till Christ.... oops, I should say holiday (stupid P.C.), and the ALPHA room is blaring saturday morning cartoon themes and to other shows. I suppose it's not so bad. Haven't heard the themes to "Inspector Gadget" and "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego: in a long while.

I've been spending far too much time playing an online RTS/RPG I found, Shattered Galaxy. It's more fun than CS, and it looks better to. I found it either last tuesday or wednesday and I'm engrossed in it. It has both a free option and a $10/month premium plan with some benefits, but from the looks of it, most of the players do the free version. If you're any sort of gamer at all, at least give it a try. And if you're not a gamer, what the %(*# are you doing reading this?!

Finally, I feel less pressure... I think

2004-12-14T09:03:00.000-06:00

I turned in my refutation paper for Composition & Rhethoric today so that's out of the way. And I have a spanish quiz, but other than that there's not really anything big expected of me for tomorrow, yet. I really do need to get started on those scholarships, damn it..

I gotta make a run to the bank tonight and get a money order for an ebay item. I won't necessarily say what it is, but it could be part of this video idea that keeps running through my mind. If I didn't spend all my time on computers blogging and worrying about scholarships, I'd be writing more to my stories. I keep forgetting about them and sometimes I don't post the next chapter for months at a time. How ibm5_25 does all (or doesn't do all) of his stuff and manages to retain a healthy dose of insanity is confusing to me.

I need to post more often... damn procrastination

2004-12-08T16:35:00.000-06:00

So I'm sitting right here and I have an essay (short and easy though) to work on and instead I'm watching Pardon the Interruption, where two sports writes argue with one another. I guess it is sort of odd that we as a species find some of the most entertainment in disputes and disagreements between one another, provided we aren't a part of the argument.

I met my new guidance counselor today, after the old one moved to work at a university. He's a little weird, not like what you would think a guidance counselor to act but I guess he's alright... in small doses. Recently I found a book on overall book on Traditional Japanese Theatre that I'm considering. There's an even more spectacular looking book on kabuki, but at $90 it's too expensive for the taste of my wallet. Another thing to add to my list of what to drool over while I'm waiting to get a job (my future job I have to be in college though, I'll explain another time.)

Ideas on video and other stuff

2004-12-06T09:39:00.000-06:00

Finally I have nothing to procrastinate about unless you take scholarships into account. I really need to get started on those.

I turned in my H^2 project for Great Books last week and gave my presentation on Canto XXIII of Dante's Inferno. My largest project school-wise I can think of is my Composition & Rhethoric report which is in a class-wide sharing phase right now.

I've been thinking more and more of getting my hands on the ALPHA camera for a personal video project. However, it would be a private project which means no one would lay eyes on it except me at any point in the project, whether its the filming phase or the editing or the final product. I'd maybe share it one day but right now I'd like to do this for myself. However, I don't have FireWire on my computer at home. I can upload the video here at the school but that would perhaps cut down on the whole privacy thing. I'll have to look into it. Either that or find something to attach to my computer to make firewire ports without opening up the computer and putting a firewire card in.

Too much stuff, as usual

2004-11-30T22:45:00.000-06:00

I should be working on my Herman Heese project, again. I should be reading over my lab for AP Biology tomorrow, again. I should be reading some cantos in Dante's Inferno (not sure if we have any to read tonight even). Instead though I spent most of tonight looking up japanese stuff and photos and playing a total of about 75 minutes of Counter-Strike, once in the afternoon and while Law & Order was on, yet again. IBM5_25 does have a point like he made at lunch today: We're not even close to being ready for college.

Tomorrow I'm planning to kick working on my project into overdrive and make it priority numero uno. I want to get it done or close to done tomorrow. There's a Celtic music thing at a coffee shop by the local university held the first Thursday of every month. I want to make sure there isn't too much I have to put off to go there on Thursday night. In terms of progress done tonight, I did two more pages of my Herman Hesse assignment and read over at least once the lab procedure for AP Biology tomorrow. Considering my time restrant, the project will consist of as much information on H^2's (as IBM puts it) philosophies and writing styles as I have time to fit in. It's not a standard research paper, I'm trying to make it a little different with what little time I have left.

I want a laptop for college, but not just any one. A old, used, cheap refurbished one (preferably Pentium III or higher). Why? Because I won't be able to put the the newest games to waste my time with on an older laptop. Unless I develop a lust for old DOS games like Doom...

Now I can't remember which circle of hell is for the lustful.

too much procrastination

2004-11-28T22:09:00.000-06:00

I could say I've had too much of a good thing.

It's been over a week without blogging. I should cut back on all the computer gaming (though in real life conversations I'll never admit that). The best news to come in the 1+ weeks since my last blog is that I've been accepted to the University of Iowa. Now I just have to figure out how to pay for it all.

The pressure is really on now, and not just college wise. I have less than a week till my Hesse project is due and I know I can get it done... if I ever get started on it that is. I'm terrible at getting homework done during extended breaks, which is why I have some stuff to finish up tomorrow during early bird and 2nd hour. If they give me any homework during Christmas break, I'm afraid to think of how far I'll push it away.

Not all my concerns are academic though. Christmas shopping for me is in a couple weeks. Mom says I should get presents for her using some of my Walmart gift cards due to the date they'll expire, which is who-knows-when. I don't have any money right now so I guess I'll have to go with that. I'm also ordering in a game for some of my cousins later this week, there goes more money down the drain. Oh well.

I can't really think of anything positive to post about with this pressure on me.

2004-11-22T21:58:00.000-06:00

This is a picture of Keira Knightley from King Arthur, the movie I was most excited about this summer hehe

School, work, laziness

2004-11-18T22:27:00.000-06:00

It's been a pretty cripling week for me. I don't know if I can keep up the pattern of procrastination - work - procrastination - work etc. much longer. I think procrastination and work should both be done in one lump sum separately.

I've done studying for tests, working on a lab report for AP Biology... while at the same time fitting in games of Day of Defeat because, well, that's my method of procrastination. I'm finally almost caught up with everything except my Hesse project, which is due two weeks from tomorrow and I haven't started up on it yet.

In other news, in the ALPHA room where I, among other ALPHA students hang out, the best way to waste time is with games of Lunch Money, a card game that simulates playground brawls. It's really fun and always brings up some laughs and taunting. Almost every ALPHA student has gotten in on the game at least once. The student who ordered it in got its expansion, Sticks and Stones which really gives you more ways to dish out pain. Just make sure no one puts the Hippie card on you.

In Composition & Rhethoric, we're now on a new unit on refutation, or pointing out fallicies in people's arguments. I chose Paganism for my topic. I know there's been some accusations thrown against paganism in the past and seeing how I'm researching into celtic shamanism right now (which is a spiritual practice and not necessarly a religion in itself though), I want to have fun pointing out all the ways people mess up their arguments, like those that say "Paganism is 100% satanic!". Jumping the gun indeed.

The Fruits of my Non-Homework Labor

2004-11-15T06:28:00.000-06:00

Fictionpress was down for most of the weekend but thankfully I was able to get my new story, New Weavings. I'd say check it out when you have time, I'm hoping to try to find more time for this and the story I linked to in my last post. If it weren't for those damned scholarships...

Good Stuff Indeed

2004-11-14T01:37:00.000-06:00

The weekend's gone rather well so far, as long as you don't mention all the homework I brought home and didn't work on (though it's really not due till sometime next week) and my Composition & rhetoric paper, which I'll work on tonight.

My Celtic shamanism books finally arrived, though I had to make a detour to the post office to pick them up. Each apartment here gets a crappy little mailbox and my package was too large for it, so I had to go to the post office to pick it up. They'll make for some interesting reading at least. I gotta finish reading Friday Night Lights before anything else, which interestingly enough is the first book our school's book club, which starts on Monday, will be talking about.

Draq and I went to this new gaming shop near town today. They sold a lot of new stuff, as well as some older stuff like NES games. Draq got a copy of StarFox 64 and for myself, Goldeneye. Hilarity ensued the rest of the night, particularly from the fun we had in Goldeneye's multiplayer mode and with proximity mines. I'm borrowing his N64 for now so I can get in some more Goldeneye here at home. The others can have Halo. I have Bond, James Bond.

Story Time

2004-11-12T01:00:00.000-06:00

It's 12:01 AM Friday as I compose this. It was meant to be an update on Thursday's blogging but I guess I'm just a few minutes too late so this'll be a short blog. I forgot to add a link to my story, Garlyn: Elven Journey, my story on FictionPress that I started about a year and a half ago. I haven't been giving it the attention I hoped for and I really should be worrying about writing out other stuff, like my homework and those damned scholarships.

Mmmm... no school

2004-11-11T22:13:00.000-06:00

I, as well as the rest of the student body of CFHS was granted a half-day today due to conference, along with a day off tomorrow. It's good that I'll get to be a bum on a Friday for once.

A lot of happenings today actually. I was looking up celtic shamanism and I found a site that discusses it and offers plans and studies revolving around it. They also had a link to their Yahoo! group, which I joined today. I'm hoping, yep, still hoping that the celtic shaman books I ordered off Ebay arrive tomorrow or Saturday. After all, today was Veteran's Day so there was no mail. (btw, I'd like to extend a big thanks to all the men and women that served in the past and who do their duty today. The same goes for my fromer grandpa and my still-living grandma)

I took some time today to try getting my RAM off Ebay to work in my 486. I tried some cominations, not all possible ones though and I kept getting error signals. If none of the ram works on that, then I got the wrong kind and I'm out 8 dollars lol. I did notice something more disheartening though - one of the pins in my monitor's VGA plug are bent out. I can still plug it in, but I'm wondering if that's the reason why no image appears on my monitor when it's on or if it's the motherboard swear-beeping at me. I'm sure I can pick out some 4-letter word from its error beeps with enough (aka too much) free time on my hands.

I'm off to play some Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, hope I don't get fragged too much.

Waiting and Waiting...

2004-11-10T09:31:00.000-06:00

I'm hoping either today or tomorrow my Celtic shamanism books arrive. I emailed the person I bought them from and he said he had them shipped out late last week. They may just be taking a while to arrive but I can't help but being concerned. IBM5_25 is having a similar problem with ordering a laptop that, as he puts it is coming from "two crazy guys in Canada that run a car wash with a walk-in Linux store". Speaking of Linux, he wants to put a distrubution of GNU/Linux on my 486 computer when I get it running again, aka putting my new RAM into it. However, it'll require me putting in a hard drive larger than the 190MB default one that was on it when I got it. As far as I can tell, even with putting in a new IDE card and putting in the newest version of the Phoenix BIOS for my motherboard, it'll only recognize hard drives up to 2.1GB in size. Not much room to work with so I'll have to see just how much we can do when we get to it.

I'm also about to send in my application to the University of Iowa for next fall, with plans to major in microbiology. Mom has to get a money order first before I mail it in. My high school will send in my application with my high school transcripts and a community college I took some classes from are sending in my transcripts from them also. I also found out about the Scottish Highlanders, a student group that specializes in Scottish music and dance that I may consider being a part of once I go to Iowa.

Those damn books better arrive soon...

Pictures Ho!

2004-11-08T11:14:00.000-06:00

Just found a site with pictures of the Apache Sunrise Ceremony. I love the picture at the top of the page. Might even look good as desktop wallpaper :D

New Profile Pic

2004-11-08T11:12:00.000-06:00

I nabbed my newest profile pic of a girl during the Apache Sunrise Ceremony. For some reason, it appears in my profile on my Edit Profile page but not on my blog. Maybe Blogger is slow in updating profiles on blogs...

I know it's been so long

2004-11-08T09:14:00.000-06:00

I have many things to blame for my great lateness in my last posting, besides myself. I got my cable internet back last Thursday. Contrary to what I thought I'd be playing, Counter-Strike isn't the game eating up the most of my time. Instead I've been playing a WWII Half-Life mod, Day of Defeat. In addition, I'm getting more homework every day plus I've got a Herman Hesse project for Great Books II-AP I gotta get started on.

Everything in my life hasn't revolved entirely around computing and homework though. A little more than a week ago I won an auction on Ebay for a pair of books on Celtic shamanism, another interest to add to my list. Whether or not I'll actually practice it remains to be seen. What has to be kept in mind most of all is that shamanism is not a religion in itself, but a practice that a religion can partake in. And all of shamanism isn't practiced equal if you compare ethnicies that practice shamanism, i.e. comparing Native American shamanism to Celtic shamanism. I'm choosing to read into Celtic first because it'll go along with the Gaelic language Book/CD pack that sadly, I won't be able to get until I go down to Iowa City in January.

Another interest is grabbing hold onto me as well: The Sunrise Ceremony practiced by Apache females that are about to enter womanhood. It's interesting what these people have to go through in this ceremony and like my other interests in Native American cultures, it's not one I'm going to take lightly. I'm hoping to pick up a book on it the same time I get my Gaelic language pack. I also found some information on the ceremony and the book here

School cramps my personal writing so I'll have to end it here for now.

Well at least I didn't wait a week to do another post

2004-10-23T15:59:00.000-05:00

Been a busy week, just like the last. I'll be so glad when this semester is over. I am finding some regrets in carrying Composition & Rhetoric and Great Books II-AP in the same semester but I'm trying to get stuff done my senior year. In Great Books yesterday we were assigned to do a Herman Hesse project, which can be anything that shows Hesse's writing style and philosophy. Making a movie out of either Siddhartha and Demian did sound like a good idea but I'd have to shoot it in less than a month, not to mention round up enough people who could regulary work on making it. I'd also need at least one female, for there's a lady character in both books, which only makes things worse.

I got up early this morning to take the ACT. The most agonizing 4 hours I've been through in a long time. I ended up leaving about 10 of the questions blank on the Mathematics part cause I ran out of time, plus I had trouble doing those questions that go "Angle B is 60 degrees, segment AC has a measure of the 20. Find angle C." That's all they basically give you. On the other hand, I am a little thankful that we covered basic stuff in Pre-Calc B before this. Otherwise I wouldn't have a clue how to do some problems I ran into dealing with midpoints and slope.

I ordered in a "Game of the Year" copy of Civilization III off Ebay, 10 bucks cheap, to give to a friend when christmas-time comes along. I've also spoke with Draq already of possibly investigating into shamanism, or at least reading into it.

I end this post with the best news of all. I was informed this morning via a call from my mom, who's in Des Moines for a Hemophilia of Iowa board meeting (I'll speak more on this condition sometime) that our computer's cable connection will be reestablished on Tuesday. This is perfect timing for we here have a teacher in-service day, also known as no school. I'm gonna spend a looooooooonnnnnnnnngggggggg time getting reaquainted with Counter-Strike and Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory.

I've waited an entire week to do another post

2004-10-18T22:05:00.000-05:00

I have only my lazy, procrastinatic (is that even a word?) self to blame for not having made a post in a week. My procrastination at school has blogged me down with projects I should have had done before and I'm still being dragged down. Hopefully by the end of the week everything will be better. I still have to continue finding notes on my composition & rhetoric source. My Machiavelli letter to the prime minister of Japan is ready to be turned in, if only I had his address. I have to get started on my Siddhartha art project which gives me three more days to work on it. Why must the strive to be unique bring so much work? Guess it gives our minds something to occupy themselves with.

My RAM for my 486 arrived on Saturday. I managed to put in two of the four sticks but the computer gave error beats after I powered it back up. I think I know my problem: you see, older RAM such as the SIMMs I'm putting into my 486 have to be installed in identical pairs in their corresponding banks. In the case of my computer, they have to be installed side-by-side. The two sticks I put into my system tonight are on opposite banks and that doesn't help it one bit. I'll get it all figured out when I have more time.

This weekend me and Draq volunteered to give some scares at Evilhouse, a haunted house in a nearby park. I made werewolf sounds while he played a vampire in the crypt. This coming weekend we're doing it again. I'm not sure what role he's filling it but I'm thinking of doing what we call the "door room" with some friends of mine from school. I'm thinking of going in a tribal motif, provided that they have an outfit I can borrow at the house. One of my friends already has his own barbaric outfit since he's in Belegarth, a medieval fighting group. I'm thinking possibly of having my "war paint" for lack of a more correct term look something like this. Yes, I am aware that's Keira Knightley under the paint and it is from King Arthur, the movie I was most obsessed with over the summer. It's still a cool british/celtic design I'd like to work into my tribal appearance. I'd make the pale green-blue though a little more visible and darker. Well I'm off to see if I can log into Avatar. I've been getting timeout errors everytime I try to log in tonight.

Monday Monday Monday! See the incredible Boredom!

2004-10-11T21:42:00.000-05:00

Yea, like most monday nights this one is pretty much a drag. It doesn't help to think that I still have to get started on notecards for Composition & Rhetoric and begin on my Machiavellian letter to the Prime Minister of Japan. Seriously, I'm going to write a letter to the Prime Minister of Japan on the Prince. The main allure of sending a letter to such a person in power is because as our Great Books teacher told us, a couple years ago a student sent such a letter to the king of Zimbawe, who in turn invited her to his country. Right now, the prospect of the same thing happening to me if I label the address to Tokyo is at best a false hope, but I'm still going to do it. Here's to hopefully composing a sucessful letter.

A bit more tonight on my 486 project. I opened up my computer case, which wasn't too tough. The case just slides off the top. Still trying to identify what motherboard it is, but the riser card and its attachments block most of the board's view so I can't see too much. I know where the RAM slots and the processor, so one possibility would be to look at motherboard blueprints online, which just happen to be on a site I know. Problem is that the site has no blueprints of Anigma motherboards and I haven't found my motherboard design on the site yet, which leads me to further believe that my motherboard is really an Anigma. My payment for the RAM sticks I ordered from Ebay last week goes out tomorrow since today's Columbus Day. IBM_525 today asked I think our ALPHA teacher why we don't observe Columbus Day. There's a lot of holidays our school doesn't observe. Our "School" system as IBM_525 puts it is messed up enough, but think of how bad it would be if we didn't respect Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving or even Spring Break.

It's been half an hour and I can't think of anything else to put in this entry, so this'll do it for now.

And now, the latest thing I'm spending all my time on

2004-10-09T22:48:00.000-05:00

Just for carlification before I begin, this entry isn't what I spent hour upon hour researching. What it mainly pertains to is the focus.

I've been having a slowly growing obsession to tinket with the old computer in my bedroom, the one we had before this one. It's in actually an 80486-processor computer, making it at least 10 years old. I warn you, the following part should only be read by those that actually have a faint idea about the inner workings of a computer, as so not to cause confusion.

It's a 486 processor computer, as I said before. To be more specific, it has a 80486SX processor, which you can learn more about how it fits into the whole processor history here. According to the system number, it runs at 33mhz, though the half-assed Windows 95 loaded onto it says its only 11mhz. It has a single riser card plugged into the motherboard via an ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) bus slot, with five other ISA connections on the riser card itself to allow additional I/O (Input/Output) cards. Currently it has 12mb of RAM installed into it, 3 sticks in the motherboard itself I ordered a set of RAM off Ebay (4 sticks x 16mb each=64mb total) just yesterday and shipped in my payment today. Hopefully I can document my work on this computer on a website that currently hasn't of yet been built, but I'm possibly thinking of putting that into place.

What's hampering me though with working with my computer is finding out what motherboard it uses. Three brands of motherboards were built for Gateway 2000 models: Micronics, Intel, and Anigma. I've looked over the 486 models built by Micronics and Intel so that rules them out. Some people who have worked on these computers consider Angima products to be, well, enigmas as the pun goes. The company disbanded sometime ago, about 8 or 9 years ago. In addition, Gateway never disclosed who the actual manufacturer of the Anigma boards were, so I can't get any help from them. I did manage however to find one site that discussed the Anigma boards to some extent, which is how I found out about them. I probably won't get to doing any work on the computer for sometime, especially not tomorrow. Mom wants me to to see 'Ladder 49' with her at the theater and I have to finish reading Siddhartha for Great Books II-AP and study AP Biology.

A better monday than last week's, but not by much

2004-10-04T22:32:00.000-05:00

I'm composing this latest entry after a tiring monday. I wish mondays would be more gentle, cause after the weekend they seem harsh in comparison.

I finished, to some extent, a lab report for AP Biology due tomorrow. I still have to finish typing up some stuff and create a chart in Excel for my journal. And more and more things have been added to my mind to pile up my unsure thoughts. Since last night, which isn't really much time in terms of consideration, I've been thinking of possibly going for an undergraduate B.A. in International Studies, the reason being that the possibly for studying abroad is particularly tantalizing. If I could study or practice medicine in a foreign country, it would be quite a different experience than what I would get in here. Either way, getting my degree is still a far time off and will defently take some thought. Maybe when I go down to Iowa City next month I can inquire with the university on my ideas.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to start thinking about my Machiavelli letter for Great Books II-AP. Each student writes a letter highlighting Machinvellian principles and suggestions to a person in power. As for myself, I'm thinking of sending it to the Prime Minister of Japan. It'll take quite some thinking to figure out just what to say and how to say it in a way that will be encouraging and respectful. Seeing as how I'm planning to send this letter to the leader of a country, no wonder I'm nervous.

It's bedtime now, so time to shut down the ol' tower again.

A little help for Mr. Lazy here, please?

2004-09-30T22:37:00.000-05:00

After today I wish they made more scholarships that were more applicable for the lazy person. Over half of them are based on extracircular activites (haven't done any sports or school groups so that's out) or volunteer service (haven't done that in about two years), meaning that I don't stand a chance in such contests. It does limit my options of what scholarships I can write for which isn't necessarly good. Of course that means there's not as many I have to write for. This presents both a good side and a bad side, both wish I'll have to just work around the best I can.

I tried working on my Pre Calc B but I forgot how to solve the problems so I'll save that for class tomorrow. At least it's a work day. I found out that I have a D in Spanish right now, which is very reminicient of this time last year. There's still room to improve, though I know that at this rate I won't stand a chance in college spanish.

I did attend that homecoming assembly today. Being on the homecoming court, heck, being 'king' and 'queen' used to really mean something back in the time of our last generation. Now it serves as the most embarrasing time in their high school life. Some classmates of mine are part of that court which made me less than happy to watch them go through that.

It's time for bed. Here's hoping the week ends on a good note.

High School Assemblies - Bad. Linux - Not Sure Yet

2004-09-29T22:00:00.000-05:00

The last two days have gone much smoother. For easy comparison, Monday I was falling down Mt. Fuji. The last two days, I've been falling down the gorge of the Grand Canyon. The last two days have just been a smoother ride.

School-wise, I'm doing fine. College-bound wise, I've been slacking. It's high time I kicked myself into gear getting my stuff for college application ready and getting into some scholarships. The last two years I should have been doing that but this procrastination has gotta stop. All the costs of college... 4 years for undergrad, then grad school, then pre-med, then residency... I hope to the forces that be that I don't need to set up a loan.

Tomorrow is the annual Homecoming school assembly. Note just because it's 'annual' doesn't make it worth a rat's ass or the 40+ minutes we sit on our butts watching homecoming king and queen candidates engage in gross activities that serve as their preparation as future contestants on Fear Factor. Instead we could be using that time to sit on our butts actually learning something.

On the other hand, tomorrow's Pasta Bar so tomorrow won't be a complete loss.

Say it with me - "I hate Mondays"

2004-09-27T21:21:00.000-05:00

Most Mondays for me are tolerable, but not this one. The day didn't start off too bad: I finished my AP Biology essay in about half an hour but our teacher didn't take it today. It went downhill from there.

I was scheduled to go to a meeting with a University of Iowa represensative but I skipped out cause I wanted to serve my 2nd hour release. Tomorrow's my last release, for during second hour it'll be 4 1/2 weeks of gym, yay. During 6th hour we had a math test. I thought I filled in everything I was supposed to but I realized all too late that I did half the problems wrong. So much for my A-, but there's still time to bring it back up. My last class, AP Biology left me really sour. We're working with enzymes in our current lab. Our teacher's still experiment with getting the catalyst ingredient correct, for it was too strong and threw off all our results. We as a group, among others were pretty disorganized. We ended up staying 10 minutes after school to clean up our lab area. I'm re-reading over the lab procedure tonight and going over in my head what's supposed to happen and when. Tomorrow hopefully, everything will go MUCH better.

In other news, I've decided to link this post to Ernest Blogs, the creation of ibm5_25. We've become more and more frequent in quoting and mentioning each other in our blogs. In addition, it's become more common to discuss on his knowledge of the Free Cultrue and Free Software movements, both of which you can find more information on his blog.

I'll close by saying this - if tomorrow doesn't turn out better, I'm gonna sucker punch myself.

My Legs Have Gone Through Hellfire, yet I Continue to Blog

2004-09-26T13:39:00.000-05:00

The weekend has been nowhere near the perfect little life as we all constantly wish it would be. That doesn't mean though it's all bad, it was actually pretty much good.

Yesterday Draq and I pounded for hours on DDR Extreme. We're finally getting into the Heavy difficultly and about to make it where we'll stay and master since there's nothing beyond Heavy unless you count the Challenge songs. We're steadily getting better if not worse and I don't see that happening in the near future. I still need to convince him to drive us to the Phoenix some night so I can show off my skills to some other classmates that hang out there as well.

I'll get to the bad side of this weekend now. No doubt in my last post I spoke about an essay I have to do for AP Biology. Unfortunately, when I got home and actually read the essay question for once, I realized that it would require some notes that were in my book, which I left in my locker. This means I've gotta waste my time before school and possibly 2nd hour release to get it done in time for class. I feel much relieved that I already finished the weekend's homework on The Prince on Friday.

I also recently founded this one artist, Micki Free, a Native American rock music/flute artist. He also performs frequently in native regalia and even had a portrait or two done of him by Robert Tanenbaum, who's done portraits on John Wayne and for The Franklin Mint. The portrait pics are from the merchandise portion of his site. I'm thinking of downloading a song or two from him later.

The idea that I have homework is keeping me from having a clear mind while working on this post so I'll wrap it up.

Essays on weekends are sins!

2004-09-24T23:31:00.000-05:00

More on the title later, first to more pressing and interesting news.

It's come to my conclusion that AOL and Blogger cannot peacefully coexist with each other. AOL is being just as it is the "Ass Opposing Life" (best I can come up with right now). Every time I hit the Enter key while typing my posts, the cursor goes straight to the bottom. Whether this is Blogger's fault or AOL, I can't say for sure but I'm inclined to side with Blogger as being the innocient factor in this argument. I know AOL is evil, but blame my mom that we still have it.

The day started off a little interesting and yet disappointing. During my 1st hour Composition & Rhetoric class, I snuck onto DDR Freak, which apparently is the main web site for DDR fans. I created an account so I could participate in the forums. To my dismay, my desired thread which talked about DDR Extreme had been locked off for 24 hours because of constant whining and stuff like that. It does diappoint me that I'll have to wait till tomorrow at least to do an intro post, but oh well.

Tomorrow I'm heading to a pancake breakfast being put on at my old junior high, then off to my grandma's to do some chores there and mow her yard to get another $10. I'm meeting Draq in the afternoon for some DDR at his place or anything else we can think of.

Now, pertaining to my title: my AP Biology teacher assigned our class to write for an essay question about the properties of water. Thing is, I forgot to bring home my textbook which would be a big help at this time. Most likely I'll have to work on it before school on Monday and during 2nd hour release. In addition to the essay, I have 4 more chapters on The Prince to read and write on and I should work on the paper I'm doing for Comp & Rhet. And if you're still wondering, yes I can still fit in a weekend of DDR and frolic.

Procrastination... it's what keep our heads from going insane and rolling away.

Mmmmm... another post

2004-09-23T21:31:00.000-05:00

My mind is dull right now so I'm not bothering with making an extravagant title (like I ever)

I managed to do almost all my homework tonight, which included my Great Books and my Pre-Calculus. Tomorrow is the beginning of another lab activity in AP Biology. They're not as much fun as they are work, which I guess for a college-introductory biology class is the norm. I'll read it sometime in the morning or during my Pre-Calculus class since I already finished the assignment for that class.

More on last night, which featured my first taste of DDR Extreme. Currently my favorite song is Pink Rose. I think that's just cause there's mecha in the video, heh.

I inquired with ibm5_25 about Independent Study ALPHA. He said that it might not be best if I took it next semester since I would only then have one semester of that class in my high school 'career', but he said that it's my decision. I've actually been doing some thinking tonight, not just about figuring out amplitudes and periods on sine graphs (ugh), but also about an idea that might fit in if I attempt Independent Study. I'm not about to drop any hints yet, except that it would require speaking not only with Steve, my ALPHA teacher, but also with someone who teaches in the social studies department.

I stopped by that same department after school today and picked up a set of tapes from my Eastern Civilization teacher that she recorded on a PBS special on Japan that aired earlier this year. Just waiting to find a good time to myself to watch them through.

I'm gonna go do some piddling around online now before bed.

Three important lessons to life

2004-09-23T07:20:00.000-05:00

I know, I've been absent in my blogging lately but I've actually been leading a social life and doing my homework *gasp* over the last two days. IBM_5_25 says I need to work on that. Pish posh.

I've learned three very important lessons to life over the course of the last couple days.

1) Time is your worst enemy when you anticipate for something really good.

Ok so I already knew that, but on Tuesday, as I eagerly awaited the dismissal of school so I could go out and get Dance Dance Revolution Extreme, time continued to crawl slower and slower and slower. I don't know if there was an ominiptent force at work but if there was, I felt like giving it a right hook.

2) "Release Date" doesn't necessarly mean it'll be in the store.

So following school that Tuesday, Draq and I eagerly went to our local GameStop. To our dismay, the item wouldn't arrive till Wednesday, though September 21 was the release date. I realized at that time that release date just meant when they sent out the shipment trucks to spread the product to their retailers. That was very misleading and lead me to be dissappointed for the rest of the evening.

3) 3 hours of DDR will leave you with very little energy to complete your homework or other parts of your life.

Not to fret though, for the next day we went back to GameStop and behold, we had DDR Extreme! I'd like to go into how extreme of a game it is but that'll have to wait for another day like Saturday when I'll get extensive playtime with it. Back to the lesson at hand, I visited my grandma and had dinner with her last night and got back home at about 8, just in time to catch both the season opener of Law & Order and the first episode of CSI:NY. I was going to actually talk some deep, philisophical stuff but I'm constructing this post in the morning at my lowest energy level of the day. I'll try to do another one tonight.

And if you're wondrering, no I didn't dream DDR last night. My mind keeps me from getting overly obessive about any one thing.

The beginning of the usual week, yet not so usual.

2004-09-20T17:51:00.000-05:00

The day up to this point has gone rather well. I finished my biology homework, leaving just pre-calculus and my chapters in The Prince to finish. Tomorrow holds the biggest prize of all: DDR Extreme for PS2! And since I don't have school on Wednesday due to it being a teacher workday so I can dance the night away tomorrow night, provided that we don't keep my friend's mom awake.

Speaking of pre-calculus, our current assignment was due today. However the class was only halfway through it so he pushed the due date to tomorrow. That also reminds me to hope that they don't push a lot of homework on us tomorrow just because we have a day off.

It's about time for me to start dinner, but a few more words of diswisdom first.

My ever shifting, never-set-in-concrete mind now tells me to save up for a PS2, DDR for PS2 and a high performance dance pad; an investment which will add up to at least $300. It's easier to convince my mom to let me spend my money on that instead of convincing her to have me spend $300 to open up her computer and make it not so obsolete. She's really touchy about stuff like that. Then again, our warranty expires next march and we all knows what happens to highly expensive stuff within 5 days after a warranty expires, heh heh.

Can't think of anything else to talk about right now, time to make some burgers.

#%@* LiveJournal!

2004-09-20T09:05:00.000-05:00

You may know me from not-so-famous online journals like "Tim T, or This shouldn't be my Life" on LiveJournal, and... actually that's all I've done. After reading over the blogs of my friend (more on him to come at a later time), I've decided this looked a whole lot better than LiveJournal, so here I am now. Unfortunately, now I have to inform the two people that do read my LiveJournal that I've switched to Blogger.

And now, on with the ranting.

The school week didn't start so well, which I hope isn't an omen of things to come. I really hate omens. Woke up with a headache, but some breakfast and tynenol cleared that up quick. Another friend of mine at school, who's building a computer, was ethuastic to hear that I was assisting with another close friend of mine's task of upgrading his ancient Pentium III system so he can play Guild Wars when it comes out. For only $300-$400, he can kick that baby to overdrive!

And now the librarian is kicking me off u.u; more to come from my new blogging home!