Creative Title Is Left To The Discretion Of The Reader

7/10/06
I have recently returned from out of town and am quite delighted to be back. That being said I wish to tell you that my vacation went very well with only a few minor glitches. It rained a lot of the time I was on Cape Cod but there was one nice day where we went to the ocean. Also, I saw over 10,000 rhodadendrons, and I have to admit that 10K of anything is interesting to see.
Now that I'm back I am about to be in the throws of moving, not far, just two miles. I'd like to appoligize to Steve for not returning his call. The new house is actually a condo and we'll be living there for about two years, at which time we will be moving about 40 minutes away. By that time I will have a year left of college and then I might just rent that condo from my dad while I go to medical school, but we'll see how everything goes.
This summer I am working at Coldstone and I think I'll be also working there next summer. It's a sweet gig.
I'm reading Catch-22 because the book I was reading before it was absolutly terrible. Seriously a pathetic excuse for a novel. Reading it makes me want to throw up in my mouth just a little bit.
Ok, well, yeah.
That's all from me so I'll talk to y'all later.
Where is everyone working this summer?

5/15/2006

All right here is some boring stuff to read about if you are really, really bored.

First off can we have a round of applause for that season finale of Grey's Anatomy? For all of you avid viewers it must have been a night to remember. Two hours of intense nail-biting drama. The hits just kept of coming. I have to say that I feel a little emotionally raped. The director used every low-down, drag-out trick in the book to take me on an emotional roller coaster ride. Every commercial break was begun with anxiety and every release of drama was short lived. Anyway, if you didn't see at least part of it I think it is safe to say that you are a bad person.

Second, I read Dune, and Dune Messiah, and am reading Children of Dune. I liked both of the first two installments and can see why this series has stood the test of time. Also, it is interesting to ponder about the origins of many themes in the book. Is it possible that this series had such an impact on Science Fiction that here is where many of these well known themes originated? Who knows, but its fun to think about.

Third, I'm done with my first year of college. I'd have to say that it went by pretty fast. I did pretty good I suppose, could have done better, could have done worse. GPA: 3.61; CREDITS: 65
My favorite class would have to be one of my biologys, that is to say Molecular and Cellular Biology or Organismal Biology. I'm looking forward to Anatomy next year. My biggest achievement has to be Computer Science 1022. GRADE: A
ATTENDANCE: 5, LAB ATTENDANCE: 1 (for the practical). Second biggest achievement: learning to spell "schedule".

In other news, two new light bulbs later, my lava lamp is once again functional. If you have a burning desire to check out a lava lamp stop on by.

All right, gentlemen, you know who you are, we need to get together, and soon. Give me a couple days notice and its so on.

All right bed time.

Oh, there were bunnys in my yard today, just ask Leah, they were adorable.

What percentage of penny arcade comics do you understand without reading the news section?

4/3/2006

I haven't updated in so long that I forgot the usual format for my entries. But look at this I bounce back.
I am swamped these days, there just doesn't seem like there is enough time (or willpower) to do everything I have to. Don't fret, however, for even if there doesn't seem like enough time there is and I'll get it all done. Dune, the book, is pretty good, unfortunately it isn't really a quick read, but since I have started it how can I abandon it now? I can't that's how. It was nice having Leah and Ryan here for the weekend, I think that we had a lot of fun. I think that I might be going home next weekend as well, that should be pretty cool but it means that I have to work really hard this week. I wrote a five source research paper tonight. All in one sitting, it was awesome but took a couple of hours.

Well here is a website that it pretty sweet:

http://www.desktopblues.lichtlabor.ch/

Do you guys like the site?

2/17/2006

For some reason I was in a really bad mood tonight. I don't really know what was wrong though. Everytime someone said something I thought it was stupid and it took a lot of self-control not to criticize and torment everyone around me. I wanted to argue with the entire world. Just scream at someone. Degrade them and show them how small, insignificant, and pathetic they were. Well you should know that I held myself back and was only mildly confrontational. I got so mad and frustrated though. People would ask me questions like "are you ok?" or "are you sad?" and in that situation I wanted to kill everyone that said it. No offence guys, I know you were just trying to help. I have been here for six weeks, going to classes that are beneath me, away from Leah, away from my family, eating bad food and having horrible class times and I never have had a bad day untill now. Some people have had bad days about once a week if not more. And I put up with them. I don't try to tell them how to be in a good mood because I know they don't want to hear it. And now I have one day, just one in six weeks and everyone is all over me. Come on, one stinkin' day of misery is all I ask. One evening where I'm confrontational and arrogant and sarcastic and critical. All you have to do is ignore me and don't get in my way. That's it! Whatever.

I miss you Leah.

If you post a negative comment here I will kill you. Like with death and stuff.

2/13/06

Today has been pretty interesting in one sense. It was very out of the ordinary. I could tell you that a lot happened today, but I'd be lying to you. You see, last night Nick and I were up untill about 2 or three playing Halo, which by the way we were very very good at most of the time. There were a couple tough games but for the most part we just killed everyone. We even did really good in one 4 on 2 game. Anyway all of that is beside the point. This morning I had my first big biology test of the semester and it was pretty easy. I had decided that in order to make a 9am class and shower, eat, and hit the snooze alarm I needed to set my alarm for 7:15. Well as it turns out I actually woke up at 8:30, put on some clothes and went to class. After the test I went back to my room and took a nap. Nick also took a nap. We slept from about 10-3:30. I only missed 3 classes. Now I have to wake up and go to computer science since it is the first day of the second section. Oh, well, I'll eat something when I get to parkview and that'll be it for the day.

Who likes to nap, you know you do!

2/6/2006

I really do enjoy a good Monday morning. I mean naturally it is hard to get into the swing of things but after I'm out of bed I'm good. I feel excited for the week and my zeal is renewed. The things that I was dreading on thursday (my least favorite day) all seem managable on Monday morning. I'm always full of things that I want to do and accomplish.

Unfortunately by the time tuesday roles around and I have a late start followed by a day of doing nothing I kinda just give up on my grand scemes of the day before. Which is sad.

This morning I woke up with enough time extra to make a morning playlist for my iPod, something that I've been missing since I deleted it last semester. The trick is to start with a couple of slow songs like "Under the Bridge" and then bring it up gradually.

Yesterday night I was really frustrated, so much so that I couldn't sleep at all. I don't know, I mean usually I try to stay mellow but yesterday things that I'd normally let slide were really getting to me. I started thinking "Why do I let that crap slide?" Well now I realize its that I just don't care about it enough to fight over it, but still it galls me. And I was mad about just one thing, and then I had thoughts like "You know what, I don't like it when so and so does such and such behavior also!" The frustration just spiralled. Anyway, everything is cool now. I'm not mad at anyone or anything.

So here's to the new week and a fresh day!

Which is your favorite day of the week and why?

2/2/2006

I downloaded the new AIM Triton and I like it. There are some things that are worse than the original and there are a lot of things that are better. One of the things that I liked about the AIM that I had was its ability to dock on the side of the screen, however with the new AIM you can sort of do that but other programs will open over it. Since I have a very wide computer compared with its height I really like things that are small programs on the side of my computer. Oh well. As compensation I can now sync all of my Outlook contacts with my buddy list, have all of my IMs in the same window (tabs) and enjoy a very sleek lok to the whole program.


For some reason my lower back is killing me today, I mean, don't get me wrong I feel sore all over for some reason, but the back is the worst.

I haven't been to my CS science class in two weeks. That includes two lectures and a lab per week. I just don't see the point. All of the work is both assigned and submitted online, including all the work for the labs. The lectures are a waste of time and so are the labs because you actually do the work at home anyway. So what is the point of attending? There isn't one.

So, how many classes have you missed this week?

1/31/2006

Today after my two classes I spent more than two and a half hours in the student rec center lifting weights and running. Normally I only like to get in physical activity doing something fun like rock climbing or tennis or something like that, but today as a part of my Phys Ed class I was forced to go lift weights. I lifted 480 weights, 12 exercises, 4 sets each, 10 reps per set. It took for bloody ever, but I guess that's the price I pay for an easy 3 credits. Anyway, some of it wasn't all that bad. For some reason the leg press machine gave me gas and it was incredibly funny. Well, I thought it was anyway. After that I ran a little less than a mile and I kinda enjoyed that. Finally, I stretched out and that felt really good, I was really stretchy for some reason.

So...free-weights or machines?

1/30/2006

Well my birthday was on Friday and it was wicked awesome, mostly becuase of Leah. Thank you to John for the sweet card, that, I would like you to know, made Matt, Nick, and Jen laugh. Thank you to Jess and Jen for the awesome cake. It was delicious. Sorry Matt, I tried to get non-chocolate, but in the end I cracked under pressure. Thank you Nick for POP 1, which is like the coolest video game ever. Finally thanks Leah for the CD, which is great and the hot chocolate that I haven't tried yet, and the Dickensen book. As it turns out Matt's favorite poem in the book is number 127, which is my birthday, which is the reason you gave me the book. It's all too awesome to comprehend at this hour of the morning.

In case any of you need to put the date into an Excel spreadsheet, use the formula '=NOW()'
it should enter the current date and time and update whenever the sheet is calculated.

Does anyone eat eggs on toast like I am doing now?

P.S.
Kevin and I had an awesome head to head last night.

P.P.S.
I hope you're feeling better Jake.

Dang it, my TA sat right next to my favorite seat, now I have to sit a few rows back!

1/25/20006

Good morning everyone! Well today I feel realy awake this morning and I like it. However I find this feeling a little wierd because I got maybe six hours of sleep and the nights before that I've gotten considerably more and I felt more tired. I think that I've built up a little sleep reserve and I just happened to wake up at the right point of a REM cycle or something. Oh well. Last night I cracked into the second book of "Paradise Lost". I covered the various arguments of the top Devils and fell asleep before any final decisions were reached. Help me out though, did Beelzabub give an argument that Lucifer created, and if so when did he tell Beelzabub the idea? Anyway, for those of you who are just waiting for that next awesome book to come along this one is starting out pretty good.

Let's see, as for school I'm doing all right. I seem to have quite a large workload but most of the time I am about a day or two ahead. However, I need to do a Calculus project using the program Maple. Its due friday and I haven't started. I think I might do it tonight.

Well, time for class. Biology is OK I guess.

1/23/06

Monday morning is lovely as usual. My tongue is burnt, I am tired, and I have 5 more classes to go.

1/18/06
Today was a nightmare. I woke up feeling really tired but I dragged myself out of bed and decided that I was too tired for contacts after my shower. Then I went down to breakfast and the food was nasty and I didn't feel good after I ate it. Then came a seven minute walk copletely uphill into the wind on icy pavement at 8:30 in the morning. Biology wasn't horrible but it certainly wasn't spectacular. After bio I came back to the room for an hour or two before heading off to climbing tech which was mundane at best and I felt out of it the whole time. After that was an eight minute walk (again uphill into the wind) to physics where we discussed how to convert units. After managing physics without commiting a felony I was off to my three hour biology lab. On the wy my earbuds would not stop shocking the insides of my ears which is invasive at best. At this point in the day I am starving and the lab was miserably boring. Finally it ended and about an hour early so I got to go eat some BBQ chicken and au gratin potatos. I met James, Matt, and Jake there. That was the highlight of my day so far. After that was another long walk to the bus stop for computer science. At this point we can add to the misery that it was dark outside also. Computer science was indredibly boring and annoying. He went through the whole class for an example to use and everyone insisted that their name would be spelled perfectly, corrections took the guy about 30 seconds each. For some reason he completely forgot me in a class of about 10 students. That was actually what I was hopeing would happen. He finished his lecture a good 5 minutes before the bus left but had to babble for 6 minutes so that we all missed it. At that point I called Leah but she didn't answer. After the long wait, bus ride, and walk in the cold dark I talked to Leah online while I did four classes of homework that I still haven't finished. The confusing thing is I am in a really good mood for haveing such a rotten day. I think it was because Leah called me tonight after she said she was going to bed. It was a very nice surprise.

So how was your day today?

1/17/06
Today is the start of the first "real" week of second semester. I consider it the first real week because I have to start my four labs this week which is kinda a bummer. Also it is the fist day after a three day weekend and it is hard to get back into a groove. Oh well. As a part of my health and wellness class I need to improve some aspect of my life in terms of wellness and I have chosen flexability. To that end each morning I am stretching out for about ten minutes. If any of you are thinking, "man that is a waste of time", I would have to urge you to reconsider this opinion because it feels so good and really wakes you up. I have started Milton's Paradise Lostand it is pretty good so far. Unlike the last epic poem I read, The Infernothis is actually interesting to read. My contacts feel really dry this morning and I think that I will be forced to change them tomorrow. Yesterday I beat the third and final installment of the Prince of Persia trilogy, The Two Thrones. It was really good and ended with an awesome final battle. Usually the fighting, while incredibly fun, takes a backseat to the aerobatic exploration and puzzle solving, in my mind. However the last segment of the final battle involved an awesome climb on magically suspended peices of rock where at the top (easily 100 feat in the air) the Prince leaps for his arch-enemy and plunges a dagger into his heart ending the game. Great stuff Ubisoft. I am sorry if I ruined the game for anyone, in fact I'll make a warning in the subject line. Well now it is off to mathematics where I will get to understand what has been frustrating me all weekend.

What in a differential equation gaurantees a unique solution?

This is not an actual update, notice the lack of a date at the beggining of the entry. But I would like everyone to know that originally in this picture to my left (our right) is John. Sorry I had to crop you out man. It just wouldn't work out in a square picture. Here is the original picture.

1/02/2005

And so it is that we are in the final hour of our trip. Let us look, then, upon the trip as a whole and review. I spent quite a few days with my cousins and thar was a whole lot of fun. We played two games of Risk. Neither of which I won. I haven't lost since I don't even know when. However it is encouraging because next time I think that we will go into the battle for the entire world without knowing who will actually win. Alan and I already play too causiously and know that Brian doesn't kill himself every other turn he may just cause a lot of upsets. Anyway, undoubtably we will all get better. I ate some if not a lot of seafood. I had a fisherman's platter at a very fine Boston restaurant but it was I must say sub-par if still good. This year we saw more of Boston then we usually do. The first day we went to the same section of town that we usually go to but this year we walked about a half an hour to the U.S.S. Constitution. We didn't actually tour it but we did see it from the outside. At that point we were also about half a mile from Bunker Hill. The second day that we went into Boston we went to Cambridge which is very much a college town within Boston and the location of Harvard University. We went to the campus museum and saw a lot of stuffed animals and other thinks. Then we went to the Harvard bookstore which is called the Coop. It is actually three stores connected by across street walkways. It was the coolest bookstore I've been in. A fun thing that happened was when Alan and I played chess I forced a stalemate when I had three peices and he had the majority of his. He was pretty angry. On a different note it seems that as we all get older it becomes more and more frustrating haveing to incorperate little children and old adults into everything we decide to do.

Well I'm home now. I can't wait to see Leah.

What is the significance of the U.S.S. Constitution? And is it Old Ironsides or is that some other ship?

12/26/05

Today I went with some cousins to see King Kong. There are two things that stand out about that movie. One can deffinately tell that Peter Jackson directed it. And Jack Black managed not to ruin it. That isn't saying that his performance was good, it just didn't kill the movie. After the movie Alan, my Uncle Al, and I went to Best Buy and Border's where I bought an earpeice for my cell and The Chronicles of Narnia respectively. The day concluded with a little sting pong (learned from Jimmy way back when) and while Alan and James have about three welts each I have only one. And it doesn't really hurt it just looks bad. Well, now it is time to finish the epilogue of the Knife of Dreams and get to work on those Chrinicles!

Any C.S. Lewis fans out there?

12/23/05

Today we finished our trip to Massachusettes and have arrived at my Aunt Sue and Uncle Andrew's house. We always spend the first night here ever since my brother was born. In fact when he was born I was being taken care of by Aunt Sue. They have two kids; my cousin Alena (eight) and my cousin Alexandrew (six) who can now write his name, and lets face it with a name like Alexandrew that is quite an accomplishment. So we got here and ate dinner and played with trains and blocks and things like that and after dessert we decorated Christmas cookies. I have to admit that I am not artistically inclined and while my Aunt's and James' cookies cam out looking pretty good, mine looked worse then my cousin's. Tomorrow is the big family Christmas party, I'm sure I will have to come up with about a thousand responses to "How do you like college?" I think that I should make stuff up in order to make it more interesting to me. I'll say things like "I joined a frat and had to eat a dead man's finger to get in" or something of that nature. Anyway, as it turns out this is the first house in a long line of them that don't have the internet so I am more or less stranded without contact to the outside world. Luckily I have a program that lets me write entries and save them to post later.

Do any of you out there have an Aunt Sue?

12/22/05
Every year since we moved to michigan (age 3) we have gone back to massachusettes twice. One time during the summer and one time during Christmas. This is, of course, the Christmas time trip. This morning we woke up and packed up the car which was very annoying because we had to load tons of presents into the car. Then we started driving and are now done for the day. My lower back is killing me. Oh well. Now I am sitting in a squishy armchair in the lobby of my hotel, across the street from a McDonalds that has wireless internet. Since my house and college are the only places I've used this notebook it is really wierd to have it not be able to connect to the internet. I am trying to decide whether or not I like Weezer. I mean there is no denying that they are good, the question is whether I like the band. There are some songs that I really like and some that I think aren't so good. I figure the least I can do is give them a fair shot. I wish Leah was online to talk to. The problem is that I know she was going to a movie today and I don't really know what time it ends. So I can really call because she might be in the movie and she might have forgotten this once to turn off her phone. So I'll set here and wait untill 11:00 when the lobby closes and see if she comes online.

The guy behind me is talking about battles between Britton and Germany. He was in some war I think. The clerk is sucking up to him. Which seems the appropriate thing to do. After all he is trying to convince the guy to stay here.

So everybody, where was your last vacation?

So when I meet someone new for some reason one of the first things that I notice about them is the flaws. When I see someone walking down the street I notice physical imperfections. When I look at a paper I notice flaws first. When I look at someones math problems imperfections in thier handwriting jump out at me. I never let these things effect my opinions because I like nearly everyone that I know even the ones that don't deserve it. But I still wish that I would notice the great things first and see the problems later.

12/19/2005

Today I listened to Ender's Game on my iPod during work. I have read the book before and this was an abridged version but I still liked it. It is a really good book and I would recomend it highly. I've gotten a bunch of sweaters in the last couple of days and I really like sweaters.


Well anyway has anyone out there read Ender's Game? Did you like it? If not what book would you recomend I read next? And if you have time, why?