24 dec 2002 The Big Day
Happy birthdaversary. I
am 22. The website is not.
23 dec 2002 I'm Not Even Busy
Wow. I suppose it's due
time for an update. I really don't have any
excuse for not typing as long as I have, unless
you count being preoccupied by video games.
I got Abe Unleashed for his birthday. It's interesting. We installed
it yesterday, at least on his computer. It doesn't
seem to want to work on mine, which I guess
doesn't surprise me at all considering my computer's
history with The Sims. Anyway, I played
it. This morning for some reason I spent an
hour playing Tetris Deluxe on Abe's translucent
purple (why..?) Game Boy Color. I think there
is something wrong with the speaker on it so
I connected it to my computer speakers. That
is a sad, sad statement right there. Why is
Tetris music so good? Anyway, tomorrow's my
birthday, and the website's. This here is version
3.0ish. Version
2.0 was born on my birthday of last year.
Isn't that exciting? December is a fun month.
I am so tired now. Merry Holidays.
14 dec 2002 From Exotic Minnesota
Who's typing this in the
Apple Store? I am!
10 dec 2002 Five Things
thing 1: I really
like McChicken sandwiches (no lettuce). I think
that's partially because there's chicken there,
but it's also just great to say, "McChicken." It's the American food. It's the peoples' food.
Yessir.
thing 2: I'm not sure what to think of
those bell-ringers who pop up this time of year.
They seem like they're doing a good thing, but
it also seems like the majority of them hate
it. Which makes you wonder; because you would
think if they wanted money from you, they'd
be nice to you, or possibly civil? I know that
not all of them are like that, but some.
thing 3: Why do Wal-Mart and McDonalds
both think it so necessary to cater to the every
whim of the elderly? Wal-Mart has endless rows
of handicapped spaces in every parking lot (yes,
I know that not every handicapped person is
elderly and not every elderly person is handicapped,
but it certainly seems like it), forcing those
who aren't lucky enough to be blessed with the
blue tag to walk miles to get to their store.
McDonalds has actually re-introduced segregation
in their separate seating sections (at least
at the one in Point) for the elderly. This could
be advantageous in that it keeps them out of
my sight, but then they're still sitting everywhere
else too. Perhaps the entire place should be
segregated, between: high school punks, college
students with water as a beverage, miscellaneous
loud-talking people, people who sit by themselves
and take the whole newspaper, and finally, the
elderly.
thing 4: I worry a little about losing
two people who are/were very close friends of
mine. Both are about my age. One goes to school
with me...or, I should say, goes to the same
school as I do, while the other still lives
in the same town as our high school. I went
to high school with both of these people (and
elementary school with one of them), but it
just seems like we've grown apart and it's just
been impossible to bring them back. I'm not
saying that I'm unhappy with the friends I have,
it's just that it feels as though I'm losing
them, and I'm pretty frustrated in that all
my efforts to reconnect have been shot down.
thing 5: I can't remember what thing 5 was. I had it in my head on the walk over, but
it vanished not long after arriving. I could
state some miscellaneous thoughts. My knee hurts.
I'm not sick anymore, really. I wonder what's
up with Strong
Bad this week? I wonder if anyone's actually
reading this besides me? We watched Along
Came a Spider, Goldmember, and Enough over the weekend, and those were all good. I
wish someone would email me. I'm tired now.
1 dec 2002 23 Days & Counting
So, it's (finally) December,
and in spite of the cold weather, I love this
month...not only is it the month of Christmas
meaning I can add to my inventory of electronics,
but it's also Abe's birthday (12/18) and mine
as well (12/24). I've kind of been holding out
on doing this until at least until after Thanksgiving,
but without further ado, here is my Christmas
list: (whooo!)
- Gamecube (Jet) w/ Mario Sunshine
- Sonic
Mega Collection
- Metroid
Prime
- Game
Boy Advance (Jet)
- Metroid
Fusion
- (4)
Yokohama Avid Touring
- Wacom
Graphire 2
- Hewlett
Packard ScanJet 4570c
- Sony
PCG-R505GL
30 nov 2002 I Was Supposed To Be At Work Right Now...
...but, I am sick. I started
to get sick on Tuesday, when I was nearly frozen
wherever I went. Then Tuesday night I found
a commercial
for the Mitsubishi Outlander that has a horsie
in it. Then I went to bed, and dreamt that I
was thousands of little robots unified to become
a person but the robots wouldn't all unify and
let me go to sleep. Needless to say, I don't
exactly sleep well that night. So then Wednesday
came and I had to go to Point, despite the fact
that I was sick, because I had to physically
drop something off there...so as you know, I
brought home my books as well. So I went to work Wednesday afternoon
despite the fact that I then possesed the requisite "cold voice" and I had Thanksgiving Thursday
and that was good, by the way, and then I went
to work yesterday too. Sometime yesterday morning,
the "cold voice" gave way to the "I'm loosing
my voice" voice, which is sort of a combination
between and old lady who's smoked way too many
cigarettes and a boy reaching puberty. So I
weathered that out as much as I could, until
I finally gave up and left an hour early yesterday.
Of course, I could at least talk yesterday...today,
I'm lucky if I can make an entire sentence that's
audible.
I guess yesterday was also the biggest shopping
day of the year. I'm not sure it made a huge
difference at my job, it was all pretty standard
fare. I didn't buy anything yesterday--scratch
that; I bought DayQuil--but I do have a fraction
of Christmas shopping done, thankfully. It will
be interesting to see what I come up with this
year. I'm tired...no, I'm not. I have a habit
of saying I'm tired even when I'm not, and I
really am just not wanting to be somewhere anymore.
So I think I'll go now, and perhaps write a
speech. Whoo.
27 nov 2002 Blah, Blah & Blah
You know, if there's ever
anything you want to see just let
me know.
27 nov 2002 Books, Books & Books
Well, I finally had a chance
to bring home the books I bought last week:
- 3D Studio
MAX R3 Bible
- A Problem
Solving Approach to Mathematics for
Elementary School Teachers
- About Teaching
Mathematics
- Aktuelle
Themen: An
Intermediate Reader for Expanding Skills and Perspectives
- Architectural
Lighting Design
- Die Deutschen: Vergangenheit
und Gegenwart
- Guiding
Children's Learning of Mathematics
- Interior
Design and Decoration
- Mathematics
for Teachers: Problem
Solving and Other Basic Skills
- Media and Culture
- Psychology
- Psychology: An
Introduction
- Quantative Methods
for Historians
- Teaching in a
Pluralistic Society: Concepts,
Models, Strategies
Seriously; that's all I could carry.
25 nov 2002 This Probably Relates Somehow to the Weekend
So I've already mentioned
that we checked out 007 Saturday night,
but we also went to see Fiddler on the Roof at Marathon,
and it was really, seriously, genuinely very
good. The music was great and one of the really
nice things about that particular theater is
that it's smaller, so they can do without microphones
altogether. But now, anyway, I cannot get the
music out of my head. I've downloaded some choice
songs, but I may need to purchase the album
(the London cast, please) in the near future.
Thanksgiving is also coming up. I don't quite
know how to feel about that. I'll be spending
the day at my parents'. I'm not exactly looking
forward to work Friday; I predict that it may
be rather busy, considering that it's the supposed "biggest shopping day of the year." I guess
I don't mind work all that much, but it's still
work. I guess I can only be thankful that I
get paid for it.
Okay...well, I just bought the CD I was talking
about.
23 nov 2002 Double Oh Seven
So we just recently got
back from seeing Die
Another Day. I won't give anything away
except for the fact that it is, quite possibly,
the best Bond movie ever. Seriously. I loved
it; go see it; it's worth it. That is all.
23 nov 2002 Second Place: Sebring
I daresay, I think my car is the best-looking in the parking lot at the
moment. I'm not sure that that's really saying
a whole lot though, considering the contenders:
-an old Plymouth
minivan (blue)
-an '89-ish Bonneville
(black)
-a '96-ish Lumina
(blue)
-an old Buick
Century (maroon)
-a '97-ish Chrsyler
Sebring coupe (silver)
Well, it's at least the best-looking import.
21 nov 2002 One More Thing...
...pressing the "delete" key on this Mac to delete my email in Outlook
makes me feel empowered.
21 nov 2002 Books R Gr8
So, get this: our University
bookstore, in an attempt to unload some of their
inventory of used books, is currently holding
an "all you can carry for $10" sale. So, needless
to say, I took advantage of that. I have so
many books now that I don't even know what they
all are. There are some Math Ed ones in there
for Abe, and some architectural/interior design
ones, and some Psych ones that I may give as
Christmas presents. Oh yeah, and some obscure
German ones. Then I also got some other ones
that I can't even remember; at least one of
them had the word "Quantum" in the title. So,
despite the fact that my arms are now sore-r
(?) than they've ever been, today has been a
good day. OOOOOOh... and the new BMW
movie should be out today too. Yay!
19 nov 2002 I Like Metroid
Unfortunately, due to my
current lack of a GameCube or Game
Boy Advance, I've not been able to try Prime or Fusion as of yet. They came out yesterday, and I was
so excited despite the fact that I didn't have
any reason to buy them.
In honor of this, though, I spent half the weekend
playing Super
Metroid, which rocks out in its own special
way. To be quite honest, I pretty much love
every aspect of that game. I've yet to come
across another title that is quite as creative,
with the exception of the Final Fantasy series,
but I can actually finish Super Metroid. The
original Metroid is a different story.
It's freakin' hard, supporting the theory that
many games have become easier as systems become
better. Note the Sonic and Mario franchises;
I can get way farther in their newer versions
than I could in the originals. I think the invention
of "save points," is, at least by me, very appreciated.
Here's a random thought; I wonder if I should
start playing Oddworld again. I sorta
quit that game at some point and I don't know
why. Boy, I'm hungry. Can you tell? Anyway,
I suppose that's as good an excuse as any to
depart. Adios.
PS: Oh yeah, I found this and this.
My birthday's coming up soon.
13 nov 2002 Betterment
Are you a frustrated car
shopper? Try this!
12 nov 2002 Here
We Go (It's Practically Mutiny)
Well, remember that whole
GameCube dilemma?
The one where I whined and whined about the
inability to choose between the systems? Well,
the decision has been officially made. I hereby
announce by new allegiance to the Nintendo
GameCube. Why, you may ask? Sonic Mega Collection is why. How can I resist? So I naturally emailed
Nintendo to find out whether they have any plans
to offer the Mario bundle with the black 'Cube,
ever. That would be excellent. Another thing
that has made the decision easier is the fact
that the PS3 will more than likely be, once again, backwards
compatible. So I'll hold out on that, and get
my Sonic fix now. Mmmmm.
20 nov 2002 Miscellany, Which May or May Not Be A Word
-Of all things, I've now
decided to download some old Danger Mouse cartoons. I'm not sure if that's great or kind
of sad. But you know, it's Mighty Mouse, and
he's a good guy. Mouse.
-Today was the closing day for Joseph.
It was kind of sad, not so much that it was
over, but that I wasn't acknowledged afterward
in the cast/crew meeting despite the fact that
the rest of the production staff was. Sure,
the director has thanked me multiple times,
but I guess I just wanted a round of applause
like everyone else got, because I've never gotten
it, whereas Abe, being the fine sound-person
that he is, practically gets standing ovations.
No bitterness at all.
-I found out after getting home that one of
my headlights burnt out. I replaced it
in what has to be record time. And by that I
mean the amount of time that elapsed between
me discovering that it was burnt out and a new
one being installed. I was worried about putting
it in because Abe had mentioned something awhile
ago about it being a pain in the ass, but it
was pretty easy, despite the darkness.
-I really should be working on my philosophy midterm.
-I'm sure there was more than this, but I can't
remember.
-Oh yes! This is probably the most important
thing you'll ever see on this site: go to BMWfilms.com.
Right now. And watch all of them, because it's
important and they are good.
7 nov 2002 Sex, Dogs & Rock Climbing
I am exhausted. I wasn't
exhausted an hour ago, but rock climbing tends
to do that to you. It makes you aware of every
muscle in your hands and arms. It doesn't make
you sore, except in the fingers a bit, it just
makes you feel solid, in a manner of
speaking. It's a strange feeling, because your
hands and fingers fix themselves in a single
position after you're finished, and it takes
a tremendous amount of effort to move them.
Typing, surprisingly, is not so bad, but I'm
grateful that I don't have a class immediately
after that requires note-taking. I am grateful,
also, that I even made it to the computer lab,
as I was thinking the entire walk over here
that I just wanted to lie down some more. But
I can't, and that's why I'm here. I think I
have some sort of aversion to sleeping in public.
Go figure.
A week later, I'm writing also of my Halloween
experiences. It was a fun, albeit somewhat disappointing
day. I was kind of surprised to find that nearly
nobody at school dressed up. And since I have
a sort of bandwagon instinct, I left
the horse in the car. I also found that my rock climbing
class was cancelled, even though I was already
there for it, which means, due to my other class
being cancelled, I wouldn't have had to be at
school until 14:00, instead of the usual 9:00.
It is sad. However, I gladly wore my costume
to work later on, which is always fun, and time
always passes really quickly when you're wearing
a horse suit at work. Unfortunately, and rather
surprisingly, I did not win the costume contest
(again) which is really surprising, when
you consider the winner was Spongebob,
which basically amounted to a large cardboard
box and a badly-drawn face. Foiled yet again
by undersea life; that seems to be the way it
goes. Anyway, we then decided to go out for
dinner afterwords, and I became a dog for the remainder of the evening. Abe wore his tuxedo that he may or may not have mentioned,
I'm not sure; he's very proud of it and wears
it almost daily now. Well, not really. But anyway,
he was some sort of tuxedo'd guy, a secret
agent perhaps, but with tails. He had two compared
to my one. Our friend George (it's an
alias, don't be fooled), didn't have any tails
at all, because she was, of course, a whore.
Not one of your cheap contemperary whores, though;
she was a 19th-century whore. Oddly enough,
I didn't feel out of place at all in my dog-ness,
despite the lack of costumes in the restaurant
we went to. It was a fun night, and it didn't
involve any sort of sex whatsoever.
Speaking of which, I wonder why the library
has a bathroom with a condom dispenser? It just
strikes me as odd that you'd be studying in
the computer lab, but then you'd suddenly need
to go get some, but you're responsible enough
to stop in the bathroom first and pick up some
sort of wang-hat? Just wondering, is
all, and I really wanted to use the phrase "wang-hat."
2 nov 2002 Honda
Over the past few days,
I've been realizing more and more how extremely
satisfied I am with my car.
Let's take a look at the facts, shall we? It's
a 1992 Honda Accord LX station wagon, in Opal
Green Metallic over Sand cloth interior. I believe
it listed for slightly under $20K new, I bought
it for $2700 from Abe when he bought his Volvo.
Since then, I've probably spent another $1000
on maintainance and repairs (distributor, electrical
relay, exhaust, oil changes, light bulbs, wiper
blades), still well under the blue book for
this car. The transmission's a 4-speed automatic,
with a 125 horsepower naturally aspirated inline
4 cylinder engine, which displaces either 2.3
or 2.4 litres. Or maybe 2.2; it's been awhile
since I checked. This drives the front wheels.
I just got the oil changed at 123,000 miles
last Friday. The car has power windows and locks,
remote keyless entry was added later on (by
Abe) as well as a remote starter, which is nonfunctional
at the moment. It has the original factory speakers
but the factory cassette deck has been upgraded
to a Sony Xplod CD player, rated at 52 watts
peak x 4. It has a luggage capacity of 34.5
cubic feet with the back seats up, probably
twice that with them down, and can easily hold
a full-sized mountain bike, but is not quite
long enough for a six-foot person to lie comfortably
in with the rear hatch shut. Speaking of which,
the hatch ajar light now remains on despite
the hatch being shut and locked. The right passenger
window rattles horribly when not rolled up quite
right; the left one needs major assistance to
even meet the seals after being rolled up. There
are various cracks, scratches, and dents on
the inside and outside of the car, but nothing
major. One of the center caps for the wheels
is missing, so the other three spend their time
in the wheelwell. On that subject, there is
a full-sized spare tire. There are only three
settings for the intermittant wipers in the
front, and only one setting for the rear wiper,
but there are spray washers for both. There
is no roof rack, nor is there a sunroof or ABS,
but there is a cargo cover that can be moved
around in multiple configurations, something
that is very neat but really just gets in the
way (it is thankfully removable). There are
headrests for all 4 main passenger seats, and
all are adjustable and removable. The back seat
bottoms fold forward, after which the seatbacks
fold down, making for a nearly flat load floor.
Yesterday, Abe, Abe's dad, and I removed the
badging and dealer icon from the trunk of the
car, leaving only the Honda emblem. There is
a handle on the trunk to open it without the
key, and there is also a lock on the trunk,
inside, that locks all the doors. Since coming
into my ownership in June of 2001, I've jump-started
6 cars. Most recently Abe's, 20 minutes ago.
The car has never had a problem that delayed
me for more than 15 minutes, and never caused
me to be late to anywhere that I needed to be.
This is the fourth car I've owned and the first
one that I will be sad to give up, most likely
for a new VW or Audi when the time comes. I
will sincerely miss it, sentiments that were
(and are still, she said it was her favorite
car) felt by Abe's mom and Abe after it came
into my ownership. This car is the best I've
ever owned. It's reliable, fast, nimble, practical,
and great-looking. And that's that. It's not
for sale, unless you'd like to trade for an
allroad. Maybe.
1 nov 2002 Well, It's Cold...
...and that means it must
be November.
26 oct 2002 Clamor & Ruckus, pt II
Wow. It's almost exactly
12 hours later. Anyway, the rest of yesterday
was fun too. I think. I know that we went to
look at shoes, and while we were there, I heard
this song on the radio. Of course, it was a
song I liked, and of course, I didn't know who
sang it, so, of course, they neglected to mention
the title of it. Well, thankfully, after about
an hour of searching last night, I was able
to find it. It turned out to be The Middle by Jimmy Eat World. Thank the lord, it was driving
me nuts, alright, alright, alright. Anyway,
I played Sega GT way too long today. I think
I have a love/hate relationship with that game;
that is, I love it when I win and I can't stand
it when I don't. But it is performing as expected;
it's no GT, but it's good nonetheless. We went
to Rocky Rococco's yesterday, which I think
may be Abe's most favorite restaurant in the
world. And conveniently, it has also just opened
in our town. This is good, because I have escaped
the obligation of bringing him pizza from the
one in Point. Now he can get his home. I mention
Rocky Rococco's because it reminds me that we
had a conversation in which, basically, Abe
stated that he does not believe "nefarious" is a real word. I tried to convince him that
it was, but he didn't believe me either. Hmmm.
I was also thinking that a really great bumper
sticker would be: I'm with stupid! and
in smaller letters below: Bush-Cheney.
This came about because I saw this great Audi
A6 Avant except for the fact that it had a big
ugly BUSH-CHENEY sticker on it. I can't stand
Bush, so that made me sad. It's even worse than
the "LIVE ANIMALS" sticker that Abe's brother
put on his Audiwagon. Which brings me back to
Sega GT. I was ecstatic to find that they had
included the Audi
A6 2.7T in the game. Seriously, I nearly
wet myself I was so excited. So I naturally
bought one, and was amazed at how fast it actually
was. So then I naturally modified it, meaning
I now have an 800+ horsepower A6 in my garage.
That is a strange thought. Next, I'd like to
see an offroad racing game (you heard me) including
both an Allroad and a Volvo
Cross Country. I guess, (according to their
site, at least), that it's actually called the
XC70 now, which is a surprising burst of continuity,
considering the company we're dealing with.
26 oct 2002 Clamor & Ruckus, pt I
So, it's been a couple of
days. The Joseph project, as I now like to refer
to it, is coming along nicely. I had my review
yesterday also; my transfer review, that is.
What this basically amounts to is, me taking
about 30-40 pieces of artwork for the review
committee to critique, from basic and advanced
drawing, to 2-D and 3-D design. This is not
a required procedure, and it is actually meant
to precede the real Sophomore Review, which
is the decision point as to whether you are
in the BFA program or not. So this is recommended
because they can tell you what your strong and
weak points are, and what may need to be improved
for the actual final review, which you can only
do once. Now here's the kicker: if you pass this review, then you automatically pass the
final review and are immediately in the program.
So I was thinking about this as I was waiting
with Abe (he didn't have school yesterday so
he went down to Point with me), and another
person, because they were an hour behind schedule.
And Sophomore Reviews are also taking place
on this same day, and every person we saw leaving
their reviews had failed. This is bad,
because if you fail it, like I said before,
you can only do it once, and you then cannot
get your BFA, meaning you cannot major in Graphic
Design. So this other person and myself are
somewhat nervous, because they failed a guy
who is graduating in 8 weeks. And a nun. A blind
nun. With cancer. Yes. And that school of orphans.
So anyway, seriously, that's pretty scary. So
it *finally* comes to me, and I've hung all
my work up, and I'm kind of worried. And I'm
standing in there with the committee, and we're
talking and I'm showing them stuff, and then
I get sent away (as everyone does) so they can
talk amongst themselves. So I really just stopped
thinking about it as I left the room, because
nothing bad can really happen; they can only
criticize my work, but I can't fail. And so
I'm talking to the other person and to Abe,
and they call me back in (it didn't seem to
take them long at all). I go in, and the first
words out of their mouths are: "You passed." And there was this massive wave of relief and
it was all I could to to keep from shouting
in joy. So I'm in the BFA program now. I'm happy,
Abe is happy, my parents are happy, Abe's parents
are happy. And those orphans are, too.
23 oct 2002 Ummm
Well you know, I'm just
sitting around here, playing on the internet,
and this box pops up (as they often do). This
is one of those ones with the multiple choice
ones, you know? And the question is, "what is
Spiderman's alter ego?" And the answers are
like, Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker,
and Sir Walter Rewick, or something like that.
And I'm looking at them, and thinking, well,
I really like that last one. I know it's wrong,
but maybe I'll pick it and see what happens. So I did. And a "congratulations!" box pops
up on the screen. And I'm all like, what? That
wasn't right! So I got rid of it, but I was
thinking, maybe that's a test to see whether
you'd be stupid enough to accept their offer?
Perhaps had I chosen Peter, a box would've popped
up that said, "Oh, we're sorry, but, um, well
bye!" This brings me to another issue: gas pumps.
I was filling my car this morning, and I always
do pay at the pump because I'm afraid to actually
go into a gas station. So before I started
filling it, I did the little debit card thing,
and then it asked me whether I wanted a car
wash. I of course pushed "no," because it is
very cold. But what I actually said out loud
was, "What are you, stupid?" and that made me
laugh, because then I was thinking about how
great it would be to actually have a button
that says that on the pump. And then there was
another time that I was filling up the car,
and it said, "please take receipt." And it was
already printing it, but I pushed "no" because
I didn't want a receipt. Of course, it kept
printing it, but I thought it would've been
interesting had it just said "fine then!" and
then crumpled the receipt up and thrown it on
the ground. Now that probably sounds really
stupid, but wouldn't it be great to see these
gas pumps getting all smart-ass with everyone?
It would brighten my day, I know it.
22 oct 2002 Boy Oh Boy
Woohoo! RS6!
22 oct 2002 As Usual
Well, I'm at school. Unlike
yesterday, because somebody decided it'd be
fun to have a freakin' blizzard. Seriously,
we got probably 6-8 inches of snow, which is
absolutely ridiculous, considering that it's
only October. I decided against commuting yesterday,
as I am just not mentally prepared for snow.
I hate snow, so I could've waited, oh, you know,
until maybe the end of December. Everyone talks
about how lovely a white Christmas is. They're
lying. I want a green Christmas. No, make that
a shorts Christmas--75 and sunny. That'd be
fine. Anyway, that's probably the only bad thing,
but it caused me to miss classes yesterday.
On the plus side, I did get some work done for
other things, which you'll most likely see in
the future. I'm tired now, also, from climbing
this morning, as much fun as it was. I wonder
how much climbing walls cost...anyone know?
More exciting news is the Mario Sunshine bundle
for the GC, despite the fact that it's only
in indigo, but even more surprising was that
an X Box with two games is the same price as
an X Box with zero. Is Microsoft having sales
difficulties? It's hard to tell, and I'm not
the one to ask, but if you are desparate enough
to include two games with your system, without
raising the price at all, that might be some
indication. This doesn't make my decision any easier. Anyway, despite the abundance of
things happening that are much more important
than video games, I still write about video
games. My priorities certainly are in order,
yes?
17 oct 2002 ...
considering that i'm a sucker
for driving games, it should then come as no
surprise that i ordered a copy of sega GT, for
dreamcast (of course). now i just have to wait
and wait for it to arrive. thhhbbbbpt.
17 oct 2002 Neglected
i wore the fantaposites today, i think because i've felt sorry for them.
every day i'd get up and put on some pants,
and then pick out a pair of shoes that wasn't
them. i think they cried some of the time, because
the shoes i put on must have seemed fairly mediocre from their point of view. but they are all happy
and thanking me now for wearing them. interestingly,
these are comfortable, but in a much different
way than other shoes. the tupus are great shoes,
very nice, light, relaxed, but the fantaposites
seem to exhibit a very assertive comfort,
as though they're saying, "your feet are going
to be comfortable, and they're going to like
it, damnit." seriously. i also rock-climbed
again today, you know, since i have a class
called rock climbing, you'd think that we'd
be climbing rocks. it was good, i finally made
it to the top on one of the overhang climbs
our group had been working at for about 2 weeks.
it felt really good except that i cannot
feel my arms. it's a shame. no, not really.
it's this incredible feeling of awareness, that
you actually have these muscles there and you've used them. we also started watching a
movie on tuesday, in a little class i like to
call stress management. i was really looking
forward to it, because he was all like, "this
is a comedy, were going to look at humor and
how it affects stress. now, this movie is going
to be from the 80's, because i like the moves
from the 80's better, because i think they had
a better humor about them." and so naturally,
i'm thinking, all right, it's gonna be ferris
bueller's day off, or something like that. but it wasn't. nope, it was, of all things, patch adams. now, it's an okay movie,
but i don't think (and correct me if i'm wrong
(please! nobody ever emails me!)) that's an
80's movie, and that's kind of what i was hoping
for. so i guess patch is patch, and i have to
deal with it. it occurs to me that last phrase
didn't really make any sense, meaning that now
might be a good time for me to stop writing.
16 oct 2002 If I Were Streetwise, I'd Call Them Kicks
the tupus exhibit a pleasant
ticking sound as the heel hits the floor
16 oct 2002 Shoes
abe needed a new shirt,
so naturally, i ordered one for him, as we sell
them where i work. we went to pick it up last
night, but it hadn't come in yet, so of course,
i bought another pair of shoes,
because, of course, i do not have enough of
those. you already know, of course, that i am shoe
obsessed, and so it would only be natural.
it was all justified, of course. they were cheap,
and i'd been looking at this particular model
since its release in may-ish. i also tried on
pair of shox,
and by god, they are the most comfortable shoes
i've ever had on my feet. they are truly amazing,
and because of this i may look into some of
those in the future. but anyway, we are going
back to look for abe's shirt again tonight,
and i've made a vow not to spend any more money
on shoes. tonight. although there's an awfully
nice pair at american
eagle.
15 oct 2002 Oh So Busy
so i have been busy, i think,
or something similar to that. i have started
work on a resume/portfolio page for myself, since it seems to be the norm
for graphic design majors at this school. not
that i mind, it keeps me busy not screwing around
with this page. thanks to abe, i've also been
doing some design for local theatre organizations,
most recently one of the high schools in the
area. he's also going to find out about the central
wisconsin children's theatre site, as it
is rather out of date, information-wise. i also,
of course, have school work to do, but that's
inconsequential. not too much else, but enough
to keep me happy and busy.
9 oct 2002 Today is the Ninth
well, aside from buying
some cereal, i didn't really do anything i talked
about on monday. the color laser printer didn't
work in the lab that we're using for our art
project, so i wasn't able to print those off
until yesterday. fortunately, after hours of
struggle with the spray adhesive, all of my
images are beautifully arranged on their respective
boards. as far as the speech, damn. i wanted
to go monday, but unfortunately, the instructor
decided that a) he was doing reverse alphabetical
order, and b) we were not allowed to read off
of our paper; we could only have a note card.
i basically said screw it to the whole idea
of having any sort of paper for this speech
after that, but unfortunately that caused my
3:15 speech to become 2 minutes longer. i guess
i'll just have to wing it and hope for the best.
we can't go over 3:30, but there should be a
signal somewhere in the room to let me know
when the 3-minute point is so i can wind down.
yeeha. i also finished the aforementioned super
runabout, at least in the technical sense of
completing the last level of each section, but
not in the finished finished thought of finding
all the emblems. the game has emblems. i love
emblems, jeez.
7 oct 2002 It Certainly Is
well, i think this week
will be good when it's done. i have a big art
thing due and that has me a bit worried; i know
it will all turn out but i think it is requisite
that i worry about these things. i also have
a speech to give, today, perhaps i'll post it,
since it is mildly entertaining. i'm not so
nervous about that, but i'll be glad when that's
done. i have the philosophy reading that i,
of course, neglected all weekend, as well. i've
also recently decided that i don't like toast
anymore. i liked it for awhile, but eating it
every morning for two months kind of gets to
you. so i need to hunt down some different breakfast
food. i also picked up super
runabout for the dreamcast. thus far i think
i'm satisfied with it. there are definitely
some little frustrations (sluggish response
at times, being but one), but overall i think
it was worth the money for something to do.
and it has a scooter in it, much to abe's delight.
anyway, i should get ready for the big S of
cool. yeah, that was nice.
4 oct 2002 Is This Good or Dumb?
for all you history buffs
(i really hate that word) out there, a page has been made documenting previous iterations
of the site. i'm not sure if i'm embarassed
or proud to be showing these, but i guess the
good part is that a lot can happen in 2 years.
3 oct 2002 The
Most Best Things Ever, Really
i mentioned dynomite the other day, but it was brought more recently
to my attention the large quantity of other
super games popcap has available. it seems there should be one
to suit whatever type of person you may be,
so i just thought i'd bring it to your attention,
since they're all free. how awesome is
that? seriously.
1 oct 2002 Illin'
ah yes, i certainly love illustrator.
without it, there'd be no pictures for the front page, nor would we have our little
icons, and abe wouldn't have had his scooter to share with you, nor would i have my new moto
desktop. yee hah. so yes, as you may have
guessed, illustrator is a beloved program in
our househould. ranked immediately behind that
(at least for me) is dynomite.
now that game rocks.
28 sep 2002 Exactly That
yes, just in time for halloween,
or something, it's a robot thing.
how exciting is that? seriously, on a scale
of 1 to super, how thrilled are you? that's
what i thought. anyway, i'm tired. the weather
is somewhat depressing at the current moment.
on the bright side, i've brought home some more
drawings from work,
and i may actually scan them at some
point if we ever get a scanner.
or a gamecube, not that it would help with the
pictures or anything, but it would certainly,
um, up my productivity. no, that's not even
true. i just like mario.
25 sep 2002 Murphy's Law? No, it's a conspiracy
why is it that as soon as
i have money, something rather
important breaks? other than that, life
is absolutely terrific. i'm pretty sure i have
a speech today, probably. i guess we'll find
out soon enough. abe was nice enough to let
me take his car,
which i really appreciate. and it has "sport mode." whee!
19 sep 2002 We Could Learn a Lesson Here
now this is marketing.
17 sep 2002 Dog-Sitting Excitement
so this past weekend we went
to my parents' house to watch our dog.
she is a good dog, and pretty obedient. she's
three, if you're wondering. anyway, my parents
have gone to colorado and california without
me to visit my sisters, and they saw Jay Leno
and tomorrow they're going to Vegas. so really,
we were watching the dog, and we went into town
because we were bored, and we looked at mopeds and abe has decided once again that he needs
one. in addition to all this excitment, we watched
bandits again, which apparently doesn't have
a webpage.
16 sep 2002 Just Getting Orientated
i am seriously irked by the
word "heighth." honestly, people should have
more sense than that.
11 sep 2002 On Today
well, it's the big 911. what
does one do? i guess i'm just sick of it. in
a related note, though, ideas for the site's
redevelopment
are rather interesting. at least the aforementioned
one is. i find myself hoping that something
decent and not stupid is done, but then, it's
all a subjective matter. i really don't have
much else to say, but i felt obligated to say
something, negative as it is.
9 sep 2002 Chalk Graffiti Rocks
i am sitting and waiting
for my art class to start, so i thought i'd
provide a miscellaneous rambling. i don't remember
what that rambling was though. we just finished
our COMM lecture, which i must say was probably
the most exciting thing i've ever witnessed.
of course, it is the most important class in
the world. and i get to go to it for another
hour at 1500. how great is that?
6 sep 2002 I Should Be Writing These Things Down
well, yeah. so i've finished
a week of school. i have two speeches to give
on monday, and i also have to research the Green
Bay Packer stadium for an art project. doesn't
that sound fun? i think it will be better than
it sounds. i'm seeing people that i know at
school, both from my other UW school as well
as my high school, and that's pretty neat. it
was strange going back to work after starting
school, because i've switched from days to primarily
nights, and so there are a lot of people i don't
know. our computer system was shut down last
weekend for a complete overhaul, and has been
up and down sporadically since then, meaning
work has been fluctuating between uneventful
and hectic. i also find myself somewhat aggravated,
because i think of things to write here, and
then forget them before i actually get the chance
to do so. not too much else is happening, but
then i always say that, either because it's
true or because i'm too lazy to write anything
else. i'm not sure which is which tonight. currently
abe's desk lamp is on and it's got a really
nice glow (it is aimed at the ceiling to provide
more light for both of us). seriously, that's
all i know.
4 sep 2002 Procrastination Season Again
well, i'm sitting here in
the computer lab at point and thinking, "i really should read my philosophy."
but then i was thinking, "maybe i should start
on my art project." but then i realized, "screw
those, i'm gonna play on the internet." so here
i am. it's interesting being at a real college
and not just a cheesy 2-year campus. i'm liking
it in some ways, not so much in others. i have
some class issues to work out, but i'm sure
everything will get sorted out in the end. i
was also thinking that perhaps i should mention edmunds.com because it has some interesting things. one
of which, right now, relates to the up and coming
honda element, an interesting vehicle. i'm sure
there's more i could say about it but i think "interesting" is the word that best describes
the whole thing. we rode in the eurovan last
night which may or may not have been good; i'm
really not able to comment on it because my
feelings about everything were overshadowed
by the migraine i had. we also checked out the
volvo, and i think it's a neat car, there are
a couple things that would have to be done that
would make me love it. i have to admit that
it should be nicer to drive than the current
volvo because of the (yes!) turbo.
3 sep 2002 (Making It Official)
just so everyone is clear,
i'm leaving for school now. seriously.
2 sep 2002 Nobody Told Me We'd Changed Months
well, i suppose i have school
tomorrow. that is strange. i've got this strangely
detached feeling, like this isn't actually happening.
i guess we'll see if it actually happens. i
also think that my sims interest has peaked,
one of mine is now a mad scientist, while another
is a celebrity activist. both exciting careers
that they'll find very fulfilling. hmmm, not
much else to say. oin the subject of the eurovan,
it's kind of exciting, since they're pretty
neat vehicles. on the subject of the volvo...well,
i'll not mention anything yet. i'm kind of uninspired
right now, since i'd like firstly to get to
bed so i actually wake up tomorrow. i'm not
looking forward to a 45-minute drive to and
from school every day. but i will live, as other
people have lived and are living and then when
i'm all done there will be even more living
going on. yay, and such.
30 aug 2002 A Use For Photoshop (Finally!)
so i've been playing the
sims lately; have i mentioned that. but
i've managed to up my obsession level even more
by making cute little outfits for them, isn't
that sad? just in case you're wondering, the
little *'s denote that they're straight outta
our closets. anyway, so there's that. abe also
came with me to get my books today, which was
great because he went to that same school so
i'm quite a bit more oriented than i was. i
think i am actually ready for school to start.
i know i said before that i'll be fine once
i'm into it, and i think that still holds true.
oh, and get this, we went to an estate sale
today, and got the greatest deals in the world.
i got this great 50's chair for half off the
regular price of $5. of course it needs to be
reupholstered but it's solid and really cool
looking even in its current state. so updates
will follow on that, and maybe pictures. hopefully
abe will also be motivated to share his treasures
as well.
30 aug 2002 Ewww, hunger
we ended up going to sleep
kind of late last night. i remember being extremely
hungry. i didn't eat anything, though, because
i was too tired to get up and do so. but anyway,
i slept until 11:00 today, and then got up and
sat here for a bit, and i wasn't hungry anymore.
i thought that was strange because i am usually
hungrier when i wake up than when i go to sleep.
but anyway, i didn't eat until maybe 12:30,
despite the fact that i had been practically
starving the night before. also, i decided to
read timeline
again, because it's a great book. it is kind
of fun to read the same book again after not
reading it for a year or so, because you pick
things up you missed the first time, and it's
not any less surprising to read, generally.
a lot like watching a movie again. yeah, reading
is fun. i'm trying to thing of something witty
and wise to say, but there just isn't anything.
26 aug 2002 Looking for Trouble in All the Wrong Places
abe is funny when he tries
to act threatening. generally he mentions the
phrase above, which really doesn't make any
sense. i mean, if i was looking for trouble,
wouldn't i know where to look? if i'm looking
for it in the wrong places, then i suppose i'm
not going to find it any time soon, although
that's what he's implying. i think.
26 aug 2002 What Else Can Go Wrong?
so my classes resume next
week. i'm nervous, you know, new school and
all. i'm not sure what to expect; i suppose
i'll just get into a routine and all will be
well. as abe mentioned, there were more computer
problems. mine stopped internetting until today,
so i was without that all weekend, which wasn't
too bad because i was gone. i'm wondering how
long this phase of net access will last, since
it seems to come and go. anyway, minneapolis
was good, we saw Les Miz, and also went
to the zoo and also to Room & Board, which is a great but way too pricey
(right now) store.
22 aug 2002 Sorry...
as abe mentioned, we had
router issues, so we picked up a new router
which seems to be solving the problem. for me
at least. anyway, that would explain the lack
of updates. although you may have noticed that
i didn't update yesterday either. there's a
simple reason for that also. i was sick. not
flu sick, but migraine sick. i hate migraines
(well duh). my head throbs and i'm nautious
and it's just not a pretty sight. so i have
to apologize to anyone who tried to talk to
me because i (stupidly) left all my IM programs
open when i went to sleep in the other room,
instead of supplying some sort of away message.
that's really all. i had some really great thing
to write about yesterday morning but i've forgotten
it, since i didn't have web access yesterday
morning to post it immediately and my memory
has never been all that great to start with.
so maybe it'll come back to me.
17 aug 2002 Wah!
i really wanted a ps2 when
they came out. i continued to want one for a
long time after that, for two main reasons,
final fantasy x and gran turismo 3. after awhile,
gta3 was also added to that list. i never really
even considered the 'cube or the xbox. now,
though, it's hard not to. i'm becoming ever
more interested in the gamecube. it seems to
continue doing what nintendo does so well. the
games are the epitome of wholesomeness. but
they look good while doing it. and jeez, not
only does it have mario, but they have rights
to sonic as well. and metroid prime, and starfox...well,
not really starfox. but they have lots of games
that are just fun, not serious at all. and using
the gba as an input device, wow. that is cool.
the xbox, well, i think that's still number
three. it has a couple things going for it,
one of the big ones being crazy taxi 3. it's
kind of sad to have sega split its big titles
between systems, but also a wise move, i suppose,
because they don't just have to rely on the
success of one platform. it makes me miss the
dreamcast. the box also has the hard drive,
and the dvd-capability, but i still don't think
that's enough to warrant me spending money on
it. and then there's still the ps2. i love the
playstation. i like my psx and i can only imagine
the improvements of the ps2. it's backwards
compatible, for pete's sake, how great is that?
and dvd's, and a built-in optical out. how can
you go wrong? and there's the racing game to
beat all, gt3. i love that too, and final fantasy.
and as i said before, i'm very intrigued by
grand theft auto 3 also. it's gonna be a tough
decision. not one i'll be making very soon,
by any means, but it'll be tough when i have
to make it.
17 aug 2002 Butt-ons
^
as you may've noticed, the
menu buttons up above have been revised.
15 aug 2002 A Little Thing I like to Call Video Games
as i was sitting at work
the other day, i was suddenly overcome with
the urge to play spyro
the dragon. i don't know why, but i've been
playing now (again) for three days. i guess
it's a good game, by no means advanced by today's
standards, but good for its time, i suppose.
and fun. and easy. i think that's why i like
it. i'm not sure how i feel about the sequels.
i played one but it didn't seem to enjoyable.
i was thinking about picking one up because
of their relative cheapness,
but i just don't know. in other news, i'm now
typing with one hand and it sucks.
13 aug 2002 Pain & Suffering
yesterday morning, i was
brushing my teeth after eating my standard breakfast
of oatmeal. it was one of those times, though,
where not all of the oatmeal had been swallowed--there
were still little bits in my mouth. so i'm brushing
my teeth and feeling these little bits and having
this terrible dilemma as to whether i should
swallow them (and the toothpaste) or spit them
out into the sink as i normally would. i ended
up spitting them in the sink, but it felt like
such a waste and i felt guilty about it for
probably 5 whole minutes before forgetting the
entire thing. anyway, i had intended to post
that yesterday morning, but it slipped my mind,
as so many things do.
13 aug 2002 What the Heck is Going On?
it would seem as though disney
and squaresoft
have collaborated on a video
game for the ps2. i was not sure what to
think about this, for while i'm quite a fan
of the latter, i've a some what contrary opinion
about former. after seeing the trailer, i still
have mixed feelings about the whole idea, but
it seems worth a try. i have faith that square
was able to inject enough of their "squareness" into the game to make it worth playing. it just
is bizarre though. but then, having disney characters
in any rpg is somewhat bizarre. square and disney. kingdom
hearts. huh.
13 aug 2002 Vaguely Noteable
so, i thought maybe an archive
of all the links
mentioned in our newsposts would be somewhat
useful.
12 aug 2002 My Favorite Things, pt I
so, i'll say flat-out, i'm
a sucker for titanium. it doesn't matter what
the product is, if it's titanium, i'm enthralled
by it. it could be the computer,
a bike,
or even some irrelevant football
equipment. it doesn't matter, if it's titanium,
i suddenly have some newfound respect for whatever
it may be. of course, it's also expensive, which
must be another reason for me liking it. i think
magnesium follows in a close second (wonder
why?), and then aluminum.
11 aug 2002 (More)
Big Money-Making Excitement Here
as you know, abe's a teacher.
two blocks away from his (elementary!) school
is a bar. this bar is freqented by teachers
from that school (and, most likely, teachers
from nearby middle and high schools also. not
all teachers, of course, but enough to be noteworthy.
so onto the idea. we're gonna open a bar and
(here's the good part) it'll be called the Teachers
Lounge. is that not the most ingenious thing
ever? we then were thinking that it might actually
be a strip club. but then we were wondering
where you'd find strippers for such an establishment,
and decided teachers would be prime candidates,
bringing a whole new meaning to the name. yep,
the Teachers Lounge, established 20th, 2002.
20 aug 2002 On A Lighter Note
...i thought i'd mention
that we spent today, last night, and the evening
before watching movies. i'd rate them, on a
1(pitiful) to 5(stupendous) scale: lilo & stitch,
4; return to horror high, 2.5; the money pit,
3.5; vatel, 3.5; mission:impossible 2, 4.5.
that's all i have to say about that. as you
may have guessed, some of the movies were picked
out by other people.
10 aug 2002 Gratification
everyone has things that
they do or have done to them that they find
particularly pleasing. i am not talking about
sex. one of those things, for me, is recieving
compliments on things that i've put a lot of
work into (not implying anything).
i think hearing the word "wow," after somebody
sees what i've done is spectacular. another
one of those things is being able to do something,
no matter how stupid or trivial it is, and knowing
that not everyone has that ability. i was telling
abe that it's a neat feeling just being able
to be flying through the air on a bike. obviously
it doesn't last long, but it's fun. i don't
know why i'm saying this or why i didn't spend
more time trying to structure it in a coherent
form, but it was just on my mind. i guess one
of my goals in life (sad as it may be) is to
know that people are impressed with me to some
extent, sincerely, really, genuinely impressed.
8 aug 2002 On the Topic of Feet...
you didn't know this, but
i have some sort of shoe infatuation. honestly,
i could just sit and look at shoes all day and
i'd be entertained. i have a pair of nike fantaposites
that i've spent more time staring at than wearing.
i also find that i'm absolutely fascinated with
shoes from reaction,
steve
madden, and diesel,
despite the fact that they're all fairly low-profile
and all look the same. i think that's
why i work where i do, because i can know all
sorts of things about all sorts of shoes. you
can just imagine how pleased i was to find this
website,
which (surprise!) is all about shoes. if you
like looking at shoes but not buying them, this
is probably someplace you should see.
7 aug 2002 Free Food
i got to eat snacks at work
today because a supervisor is leaving to work
somewhere else. my direct supervisor, to be
more specific. i am kind of excited, wondering
what kind of person will take his place. hopefully
we get someone good, since he was pretty good
himself. anyway, about the snacks. free anything
is great when you're at work, unless it's free
work. i think they assume that it raises morale,
i don't know. we had a cookout about a week
or so ago, and we also give away turkeys to
employees at thanksgiving, and have a big christmas
shindig. i think our annual employee activities/morale
budget is about $150,000 or so, isn't that amazing?
that's really all i can say.
31 jul 2002 Pepsi Blue
i had the opportunity to
try pepsi
blue today. my initial reaction was, "thank
god i didn't actually spend money on this crap.
this made me sad, because since sunday, when
i saw the full-page newspaper ad picturing the
giant blue bottle, i was kind of looking forward
to trying it. i think i have bad luck with sodas
this way. i was really expecting it to be good
and it completely let me down. i have to say
the same for vanilla
coke. there, again, was i expecting this
really great hybrid of (duh) coke and vanilla,
but there just wasn't enough of a difference
between that and regular coke to make me feel
like i got my money's worth. sure, i got 40
ounces of beverage for a dollar, but that's
not the point. the point is, it wasn't very
good. there's also mountain dew amp,
an energy drink that i tried one time, because
the can looked cool, and it was free. i wanted
so much for it to be good because i was so impressed
with the packaging. i was less than impressed
with the taste, however. i have found, though,
that cherry, despite my hatred for the real-life
fruit and any food cherry-flavored, is an ideal
additive to soda. cherry coke, cherry pepsi,
and most recently, mountain dew code red, are
all winners in my book, despite that stupid
crap about code red being "as real as the streets." i guess soda follows that all-important life
lesson about high expectations leading to failure,
or something like that. what i mean is, when
you expect something to be good and it isn't,
there's disappointment, but when you don't expect
it to be good, you're pleasantly surprised when
it is.
30 jul 2002 The Futility of It All
i've really been noticing
lately the complete lack of logic that a lot
of people possess. abe credits it to my impatience,
but i think there is some validity to the whole
issue. we'll begin with my day after work yesterday,
as that's when i was really starting to notice
this trend. we went to pay my cell phone bill.
yes, the parking lot for the building is not
as good as it could be, but do people really
have to stop in the middle of it and completely
block the driveway? abe says that it's because
he was in a pickup so it was required, but i
still credit it to lack of courtesy. that word
will come up again, so be prepared. once we
manage to get inside, i find that they have
(as usual) a bunch of people waiting for help.
this is not a small local operation by any means.
it covers quite a bit of wisconsin and minnesota,
and is quite popular with a lot of people in
the area (hence the long line). you would think
that, with the amount of money they make off
people who're suckered into cell phones in the
first place, they can actually have one or two
more people working. apparently, they figure
we don't have a choice (which is true, unfortunately),
so they can do whatever they want. so i waited
for awhile, trying to figure out why they wouldn't
have one person who just handles billing so
people there to actually give them money could
do it. it seems like everytime i've gone there
with an actual interest in buying something
or a legitimate question, i have to wait behind
someone who needs everything explained to them,
either in person or over the phone. so anyway,
after finally getting out of there, i decided
that maybe it'd be fun to put gas in my car.
since this is not usually a very time-consuming
activity, i was kind of almost looking forward
to taking care of it. however, all the pumps
were taken. i waited behind one person who'd
finished putting gas in her car, hoping that
she'd move it before she went inside to pay,
since, obviously, that would be the nice thing
to do. apparently she didn't think so. i think
the concept of courtesy was completely foreign
to her, or maybe she just thought i was admiring
her car. so i move, because a man comes out
of the building and gets in his car. i think
i spent a couple minutes behind him, thinking
maybe he was actually done and ready to leave
and not taking a nap or something. that was
not true, so i moved behind another car, which
actually left. of course, when i got to the
pump, it happened to be the only one on which
the "pay at the pump" function was out of order.
so i ended up using the original pump i was
waiting at, because that stupid lady finally
came out and was actually able to start her
car and leave the gas station (amazingly) without
hitting anything. although it would've been
entertaining if she had. this whole rant continues
when i go to work, because the people i have
to talk to are most likely some of the least
"with it" of them all. seriously, if you don't
know what your zip code is, you probably shouldn't
be allowed to dial a phone. i don't even understand
how you managed to find the phone to dial it,
or that you were even able to dial the correct
number. and if you're reading this, take this
to heart because there are more people like
me out there, and chances are they get just
as irritated as i do when they have to put up
with you all day.
29 jul 2002 Tornadoes Are Scary
last night, we had a tornado
warning that lasted until about 11:00. i didn't
much like it, not only because i had to (gasp!)
turn off my computer, but because i just get
so paranoid about stuff like that. what if our
apartment building got hit. what if we lost
all our stuff? what would i do. the problem
with anything like this is, once i know that
the people i care about are safe, i get extremely
material. i was worried about losing everything
on the computer, and loosing all my cd's that
i love so dearly. and the dreamcast. i felt
worried about that, then felt guilty for worrying
about loosing what some people will never even
have. but the paranoia itself is nothing new.
i've always felt that way. i hate to drive across
bridges with my car windows open, for fear something
will fly out (oh no! i've lost my pen!). i am
wary of boats for the same reason. i don't honestly
think i could ever handle myself on a cruise.
and if i do lose something, i just can't stop
thinking about it. one time i was at a park
with my parents and i was playing with a matchbox
car (the "Mister Rodgers car," I called it,
for some reason) and it fell into one of those
retaining walls that are made with the concrete
blocks... you know, they have the holes in the
top that line up with one another all the way
to the bottom. anyway, i dropped the car down
the hole, and i was so upset. i thought about
it for months on end, getting a little sick
to my stomach each time. more than recently,
i left my keys on our coffee table before going
out with abe and some people, and forgot they
were there. halfway through the evening i realized
that i didn't have my keys and was worried sick
i had left them someplace. so i don't know,
i just hate losing stuff. really hate it. and
tornadoes, and fires, and floods and everything
of that nature, those are the worst, because
you lose everything. even after i went to bed,
i had a dream that the tornado did hit
our building, but not our apartment, just the
one across the hall from us. the roof was ripped
off and everything, and all i could think about
was how glad i was that all our stuff was safe.
it was pretty pathetic, really, but i think
a lot of people are like that, and that makes
me feel a little better.
28 jul 2002 Cellular Phone or Lucky Charm?
scientists have discovered
that the influence for the strangly shaped navigation
buttons on the Nokia 3360 cellular phone is,
in fact, a horseshoe.
at the time of the phone's inception, it is
believed that the designers had been intaking
mass quantities of Lucky Charms brand breakfast
cereal. this groundbreaking disovery was made
yesterday morning, and a striking coincidence,
considering the phone's owner.
it is also speculated that Nokia neglected to
produce a solid green faceplate of any kind,
with the reasoning that the phone would just
be "too lucky." while there is a "green kaleidescope" theme available, they are safe in the assumption
that no one will buy it simply because it's
not very attractive.
in other news, it is official
that absolutely nobody is interested in the
Star Wars-themed faceplates for the 3300-series, nor are they amused by
the "u
make it u" tagline that also accompanies
the phones.
27 jul 2002 Undershirts & Me
i wake up this morning and
put on a t-shirt. then i sit here, typing the
previous article and eating my outmeal, then
it's almost time for work. for some reason,
i take off the t-shirt and put on a white shirt
first. i don't know why i do, and i don't know
why i just don't want to wear one shirt anymore.
it certainly would make sense, considering the
bombardment of humidity that we're currently
recieving, but no, i have to put on an undershirt
before i can really start the day. i know i
never had to do this in high school, and i just
started in my freshman year of college. i think
i like the added heaviness of an extra shirt.
i also think that i like being able to coordinate
my shirt colors, and for some odd reason i think
that looks better. it's a good thing i draw
the line at two shirts, otherwise i'd be in
trouble. yessiree.
27 jul 2002
so, i'm making oatmeal (the
instant kind) (seriously!) this morning. on
the box it says, "put in microwave in uncovered
bowl." i think perhaps it should add, "if you
want to clean your microwave afterwards, because
it's gonna spit crap all over." after cleaning
it up and managing to get some on the floor
and cleaning that up, it's sitting in front
of me, uneaten... i think it's too hot. the
toast is fine, but honestly, i'm pretty sure
i've had toast for breakfast every day for the
past month or two. i'm also currently mastering
the art of "typing with food on your desk," meaning the left arm is normally placed, but
the right arm is up in the air, above the oatmeal,
getting very warm. it's fun. in other (very)
notable news, i finally got a chance to have
a good long conversation with Rascal
yesterday, and let me just say that he is a
swell guy. i'd bake him a cake but it wouldn't
be very good, so i drew him a picture
instead. That's really about all, and you can
see more about the picture on his site, so i
recommend you go there. after you're done here.
i have to eat my oatmeal.
25 jul 2002
in a fit of creativity, or
something, i've finally figured out a name for
my horse.
originally (and rather uncreatively, and never
officially), his name was Esroh Ydna (try to
figure that one out). in some sort of variation
of that, i've decided to call him Ezra, because
that is actually a name. so Ezra it is.
23 jul 2002
this
is funny, but only if your status bar is in
view on the bottom of your browser. otherwise
you'll probably find it pretty stupid.
16 jul 2002
well, it's happened. we've
decided to no longer enlist the services of
the dreaded Verizon. it all started back when
we switched from DSL (using Verizon's phone
line, of course) to cable. we've been considering
completely abandoning landlines altogether.
and since abe's decided he needs a new
phone since he got a new plan, and i needed
a phone
for school (i'll be commuting) we decided to
try not having any standard phones. it should
be rather interesting. on a sad note, the Siemens
phones will be out of commission, a fact i regret
because i do so love them. while the 3360 that
i ended up with was not my first choice (i am
in love with the 3390,
a phone not available anywhere in this area)
i think it will prove to be good over time,
not to mention that i got a pretty great deal
on it at Best Buy.
9 jul 2002
so this
is good.
8 jul 2002
screw the Dreamcast. i think
this may be the greatest
game ever made.
6 jul 2002
hi! how was your fourth?
mine was decent. we visited abe's brother's
new house-under-construction, and we cleaned
some of the plants off of his beach (the house
is on a lake, of course). after burning ourselves
thoroughly, we cooked out in his yard and then
went to see fireworks. for some reason, i'm
just not a big fan of fireworks. also, take
into account that i was tired and had to work
the next morning, so i slept in the car instead
of watching. not much else is happening. dogs
are barking again. dogs are great, but these
dogs are annoying. i also seem to have gone
on a bit of a buying spree lately for the Dreamcast.
within the last two weeks, not only did i buy
Shenmue, but 3 vmu's, 2 controllers, and Space
Channel 5, Jet Grind Radio, and Chu Chu Rocket (the latter being my favorite). all were really
good prices. anyway, that's about it for now.
2 jul 2002
well, we've returned from
the big C of O. i enjoyed it muchly. i could
list all the stuff we did, but i think i will
most likely just list the stuff i enjoyed. firstly,
i got to see my sister Nina, finally, and the
beautiful house that she shares with her husband
Dave. he's a carpenter, so they've really done
a lot of work on it, and it's coming along very
nicely. while abe and i were with them, after
going to dinner at Johnny Corino's (a place
remarkably similar in exterior appearance to
the Olive Garden, but much more casual) we visited
a little suburb on the edge of Longmont called
Prospect.
it was quite the amazing place, and probably
one of the most impressive things i've ever
seen. imagine a suburb where the houses are
actually different. every color you could imagine
was found there, with unthinkable combinations
like orange and yellow. and the most surprising
thing was that it all worked beautifully. i
could definitely see myself living there someday,
despite the fact that the single-family homes
start in the low $300's. Anyway, aside from
going to prospect (twice--briefly on Tuesday
with my sister, abe, and dave, and for a longer
visit Friday with abe and his parents), we also
drove out to Vail, and meandered about in Vail
Village. it was pretty nice, since the majority
of roads are closed to cars, and left for buses,
bikes, or pedestrians. it reminded me of Europe,
particularly Austria, if i remember right. we
also visited Breckenridge, another nice little
town, even though i have to admit to being burnt
out at that point. the highlight of that city
was seeing one of my very favorite bikes, the
Trek Y 5-0. it was for sale, and quite a deal.
unfortunately, i missed out on the job that
i applied for, otherwise i would own yet another
bike. last Monday was abe's brother's birthday,
so we went to St. Mary's glacier and hiked about
(it is one of his favorite things to do). on
the way up, we came across a guy with two dogs,
both of which had wolf in them. we howled with
one, which was pretty great. she had incredible
copper-colored eyes. of course, we also spent
a day checking out Denva. i wasn't really in
the mood so i called it quits after 1/2 day,
and spent the rest of the time playing Shenmue,
which i bought for 12.99 along with a red VMU
for the Dreamcast. ah yes, the drive. under
some circumstances, the 14-hour trip might have
been punishing. however, given the fact that
we took a brand new Saab 9-3, and had a power
inverter so we could play the Dreamcast in the
car, it was more like a reward. i think that
that was my favorite road trip ever. well, i
think i'll stop going on about Colorado, since
you've probably read all you wanted, but i'll
leave you with this: where are we going to get
enough squirrels to make a kite? (10 points
if you can tell me where i got that).
13 jun 2002
well, we are off to the big
ol' colorado, or "the fiery state" as abe refers
to it. we will probably sometime be back, maybe
in july? have a nice month.
13 jun 2002
heya. that's about it. i
am playing a game called Dynomite,
although i've no idea why. other than that,
not much is happening. expect a new site design
someday, as this one is aging gracelessly, and
is not as self contained as i'd like. i forsee
a new homepage, at least. maybe that's what
i'll do now.
13 jun 2002
well, it's been awhile. i
suppose i could shower you with excuses, such
as the house-sitting thing, or our internet
being out for a couple of days, etc etc, but
the truth is, i am just lazy. yup, that's it.
anyway, not much is going on still. as you know,
the site will be overhauled eventually, but
that will of course take a long time because
--yep, you guessed it-- i am lazy. per Penny
Arcade, i currently find myself listening
to a song by a group i've never heard of, and
liking it. the group name is DAS EFX. i'm sure
all their songs are pretty similar, but feel
free to correct me on that. i also (sadly) spent
16 hours yesterday playing Final Fantasy IX.
yes, i finally started playing it again. some
of you may remember that memory card fiasco
from january that caused me to lose all of my
saved PSX games. but anyway, i'm all over that
and more. i am thinking about cars again, and
think i like a lot of them. the new saab 9-3
is ok, but it's no longer going to be offered
in 5-door form and that makes me sad. very sad.in
other other news, we'll be departing for the
beautiful state of colorado next friday or saturday.
it should be interesting. this will be my first
time out there and i'm hoping it's as good as
i've heard. as mentioned before, our internet
was out for awhile, from thursday night until
yesterday morning. it was some configuration
problem in the cable box in the basement (i
really have no idea). i would have been seriously
peeved about the lack of internet had i not
been so busy (HA!). i think that's all for now.
it's time to take abe's bike in for a check-up.
30 may 2002
well, not much is new. i
had the job interview a week ago, and i've heard
that the last one is tomorrow, so i should hear
something monday. hopefully it is something
positive. speaking of the trail-riding last
week, i managed to break my chain (although
i wasn't aware of it), and was just able to
get a new one yesterday, after which we went
trail-riding again. the bike carrier is very
nice, and after looking at some Yakimas this
past weekend in the twin cities, i would have
to say abe definitely made the right choice,
not only because his car is Swedish as is the
Thule brand, but because Thule's stuff seems
to be smarter (especially their fork-mounts,
such as the VeloVise and V2). also, my new favorite
public bathroom ever would have to be that of
the Cheesecake
Factory in Southdale Mall. That is all.
19 may 2002
ok, i went to Whitewater
yesterday for somebody's graduation; the ceremony
itself was a little boring (and long, about
1300 people graduated), but we hung out with
that person afterwards and it was fun. her graduation
dinner was at mCdonald's. not so much else is
going on, abe is swearing at his computer because
the cd drivers didn't work, i am swearing at
the modem because the internet didn't work.
but anyway, it should all be fine (i had the
same driver problem about a monthe ago; it is
a strange coincidence). so that should be maybe
all. i don't know anything else.
16 may 2002
well hey. i don't know what
has kept me from writing the last couple of
days, but I AM DONE WITH SCHOOL! it is exciting.
also exciting is sony's price drop on the PS2.
read about it here
and here.
someday we may even buy one. probably as weather
starts to get cold again, though, because summer
holds so many other activities that don't involve
electronics. anyway, yeah...
8 may 2002
as if i wasn't already doing
enough, i've started playing around with a new
design
for the page. let me know what you think; i
will leave it there so you can see the progress.
not much else is going on. i got the steerer
tube cut on my bike and the stem lowered; it
provides a slightly more aggressive riding angle.
anyway, that's all for now.
7 may 2002
hi; i would write more, but
there's a dog whining for me in the other room...so,
goodnight!
6 may 2002
well, my weekend is over
now. i had a great time in door county; we were
there w/ abe's parents, his aunt and uncle,
his great aunt, two cousins, a second cousin,
and another aunt. we sight sawed and gift shopped
(i bought nothing; gift shops = nausea for me)
but had a great time. we went to the point (that
thing that sticks off of the Eastern side of
WI) and all kinds of stuff. we swam in the pool
at the hotel too. the only downside was that
i got sick from breakfast sunday and basically
spent the rest of yesterday and most of this
morning feeling ill. however, i was well enough
to go and pick up abe's bike for him (spring
maintainence), and ended up bringing home a
bike
of my own! no word on the job yet, but i am
keeping myself occupied nonetheless. we also
got our cable modem today, and it is not noticibly
different from the DSL, but it is less expensive
and thusfar has been more reliable. i don't
honestly know what else is going on, but it's
all great anyway. also, happy Cinco de Mayo.
a day late.
1 may 2002
anyway, more about that cd.
you see, i got a program with the computer called
SonicStage. i hate it. it's complicated, it
relies on playlists, and it's a pain in the
ass to do anything with. not to mention that
every attempt i've made at doing anything with
it has been futile. so today, after giving up
in frustration with SonicStage (which i will
hopefully never have to use again), i tried
just moving the songs to my g: drive, which
actually worked. the program was nice enough
to automatically open Windows Media Player and
burn a nice audio cd that i could play in my
car. also, here is a horse
that i really like.
1 may 2002
i just burnt a cd: 1. Fiona
Apple - Fast as You Can 2. Ben Folds Five -
The Last Polka 3. Ben Folds Five - Best Imitation
of Myself 4. Blu Cantrell - Hit 'Em Upstyle
5. The Chieftains/ Van Morrison - I'll Tell
Me Ma 6. Patsy Cline - Walkin' After Midnight
7. Nikka Costa - Like a Feather 8. The Dandy
Warhols - Cool as Kim Deal 9. Eminem - Without
Me 10. Marvin Gaye & Tanni Terrell - Ain't No
Mountain High Enough 11. Gorillaz & D12 - 911
12. Jungle Brothers - VIP 13. Patty Loveless
- Blame it on Your Lyin' Cheatin' Heart 14.
No Doubt - Hella Good 15. No Doubt - Hey Baby
16. Savage Garden - Break Me Shake Me 17. Schoolly
D - Aqua Teen Hunger Force 18. Boyd Tinsley
& Bella Fleck - Dueling Banjos 19. Robbie Williams
- Supreme. more on this groundbreaking event
later.
1 may 2002
wow, it's May. it looks like
the year is just flying by, in't it? i've been
informed that i will indeed be graduating, meaning
i will be a real person with some sort of degree.
and while i did register at Point already, i'm
also trying to find a job, so i may or may not
attend right away. also, i am still thinking
about a new bike,
and a (real) job would definitely help. in other
news, abe's brother came to visit from CO, because
he and his fiancee are looking for a house in
the area. we and they think that they've found
one now, so here's hoping that that works out.
it's pretty neat, and will be done by the beginning
of July (it's currently under construction if
you haven't already guessed), which is when
they plan to move. anyway. i found a great website
that sells parts
for my car. i was thinking a new passenger's
side door handle would be good, as well as a
center cap for one of my wheels, since i currently
have three. not that i really like how they
look, but they would keep the lugs protected
from weather, and isn't that what life is about?
16 apr 2002
well, we've (and by "we"
i, of course, mean "abe") started on the floor;
the underboards are down (they are pegboard
with out the peg holes. i am looking forward
to seeing it finished, if not because it will
look nicer, than because of the fact that the microwave will be back in its normal habitat, instead
of in the living room. i could take a picture,
but i am so lazy. also, it is dark right now
(it is only 18:06 CST), because there will probably
storming soon. in other (crappy) news, i've
found out that i may or may not be graduating
this semester, as i had originally planned.
that would certainly put a damper on a lot of
things, and while i hold some of the blame,
more can be attributed to my friendly advisor.
in a related note, i am going to my new school tomorrow to register for classes. also, while
this may not be mentioned on the website anywhere
else, i am a pretty avid biker. although last
summer i didn't do much because i currently
own a crappy bike. but on my mind now is a new
one. i don't know when, but it will be mine.
i'm thinking that now i'm hungry. let me know
what you're thinking.
16 apr 2002
first off, let me state that
i think abe is such a liar, since he said he'd
never trade for anything less than the aforementioned
EXT or Escalade or what have you. also, he is
a person who has a fit if the back seat of a
car doesn't have any headrests. seriously; every
time we'd see a jeep cherokee, he'd complain
about there not being headrests for the back
passengers, even if it was just in passing.
sure, headrests are great, but abe has had people
ride in the back of his car maybe five times
in the year he's owned it. i don't think that
headrests should necessarily be at the top of
his list. as for my car? yeah, i have headrests,
and they're all adjustable. in other news, i
just saw the commercial for the Passat with the new W-8 engine...that is soooo cool.
and brilliant. i look forward to seeing what
engine gets used in the next generation S4.
Before you dismiss the idea of an 8-cylinder
engine in a car the size of or smaller than
an Accord, remember that Mercedes did it with
their C43 AMG, and that engine was bigger. also
on veedub's site is the new GTI
337 edition, which is pretty awesome, if
i do say so, and i do say so. so check that
out. i mean, check it out...
14 apr 2002
every time we see a hyundai
xg300/350 when driving, abe says, "there's that
car i like...what's it called, the x58elxeett2r?" also, for the record, he would never buy a GMC
of any sort.
14 apr 2002
it seems as though carmakers
are running out of names. there are so many
that are similar to eachother...you've got your
trucks and suv's; outback, outlander, freelander,
landcruiser, land rover, range rover, ranger,
forester, mountaineer, navigator, explorer,
expedition, excursion, etc. i guess those are
pretty descriptive, but if you've noticed, we
have a whole task force in the above sentence.
then you've got the manufacturers whose names
are vaguely foreign sounding (sorento, murano,
rio cinco). while you may wonder what the problem
there is; take note that the above models are
neither ferrari, nor are they lamborghini or
even another european brand. the murano is a
ne