A Show Of Power
I'm not sure that I've ever seen a military plane in action before today. Spent part of the day up at Vandenberg AFB at the Centennial of Flight airshow, and it ended up being well worth the trip. I was under the impression it was irght off the 101 north of the tunnel, but it turns out once you get off at that Vandenberg AFB and Highway 1 exit, you have another 25 or 30 miles to go before you actually reach the base. That puts the travel time up to around 45 minutes to an hour, but still not all that gigantic a trip. They had just a ton of stuff on display, and there was always something going on in the sky overhead. My personal favorite was the demonstration of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, a jet very similar to the F-15 Eagle that I'll be shooting for. They had it do all sorts of stunts, but I was most impressed by it just buzzing the flightline at what apparently was only half its top speed of Mach 2, and making enough noise to vibrate the concrete under your feet. Earplugs were a common sight, and believe me, they were generally necessary. You see these things on TV and you don't really come to understand how loud they really are. When a jet flies over your head at 700 mph, you take notice in a hurry. I wasn't intelligent enough to bring a camera, but it was very cool to see the planes up close, they're suprisingly not much bigger or smaller than I expected. That is, unless you're talking about the B-52. That thing is just monstrous. My neck is a tad sore from staring at the sky for so long, but it was worth it, I have very few memories of airshows as a kid, and there definitely weren't any F-16s involved.
Theoretically next week is the last of the waiting game, but we'll see whether delays are involved. I'm gonna hit the sack early, I've gotta be up at 7:30 to pick some people and gear up and drive down to Ventura and move everything onto the boat for the SCUBA trip. Apparently it's staying out later than usual for a night dive, but since none of my group are night dive certified, we're gonna spend the time relaxing in the jacuzzi on board. Doesn't sound like all that bad a deal. :) Looking forward to dressing up like a black and blue penguin and taking a whole lot of pictures. ;)
Friday, November 01, 2002
Happy Spooky Day.
Technically it's over now, but the party never stops around here. The booming music from the quad next door shut down, so that's a sign it's past midnight. I got several visits from people throughout the night, most of whom were displaying their amazing concoctions of costumes. Blue ribbon goes to a friend of mine who had on the coolest black hat ever, which I'm definitely going to steal at some point when she isn't looking. I've never been too into the whole costume concept in college, although I think if I had someplace to go I could probably come up with something pretty spiff. Unfortunately around here the occasion is synonomous with something other than fun. I was originally going to be filingl the familiar double D role of designated driver for a few of my friends, but they later called and said one of them decided to lay off for the night and I needn't make the extra trip. So I spent the evening mostly entertaining guests, and listening to louder music than usual. That's the one nice thing about these types of nights, you can be boomin away whatever you want in your room and it can't be heard three feet outside your window because someone else's is always louder.
Not surprisingly some of the fireworks last night carried over into today... The night of sleep was definitely useful in helping me gather my thoughts, and I think I was somewhat more coherent this time around when it came to speaking my mind. Unfortunately when people are pretty much set in their ways when it comes to their morals or lack thereof, it's difficult to ever gain any ground. At times it's almost like they space out while you're talking to them, and everything just goes right out the other side. Sigh. I just hope to eventually understand their reasoning, and figure out what they want from me, if anything.
Welcome to November everyone, for me it's shaping up to be the most interesting month in quite some time.
Technically it's over now, but the party never stops around here. The booming music from the quad next door shut down, so that's a sign it's past midnight. I got several visits from people throughout the night, most of whom were displaying their amazing concoctions of costumes. Blue ribbon goes to a friend of mine who had on the coolest black hat ever, which I'm definitely going to steal at some point when she isn't looking. I've never been too into the whole costume concept in college, although I think if I had someplace to go I could probably come up with something pretty spiff. Unfortunately around here the occasion is synonomous with something other than fun. I was originally going to be filingl the familiar double D role of designated driver for a few of my friends, but they later called and said one of them decided to lay off for the night and I needn't make the extra trip. So I spent the evening mostly entertaining guests, and listening to louder music than usual. That's the one nice thing about these types of nights, you can be boomin away whatever you want in your room and it can't be heard three feet outside your window because someone else's is always louder.
Not surprisingly some of the fireworks last night carried over into today... The night of sleep was definitely useful in helping me gather my thoughts, and I think I was somewhat more coherent this time around when it came to speaking my mind. Unfortunately when people are pretty much set in their ways when it comes to their morals or lack thereof, it's difficult to ever gain any ground. At times it's almost like they space out while you're talking to them, and everything just goes right out the other side. Sigh. I just hope to eventually understand their reasoning, and figure out what they want from me, if anything.
Welcome to November everyone, for me it's shaping up to be the most interesting month in quite some time.
Thursday, October 31, 2002
Arrogant. Conceited. Cocky.
Interestingly enough, the preceding terms have all been used to describe me in the last few weeks, by three different friends of mine, and even a couple total strangers. They all have different ways of saying it, different ways of approaching the topic, different ways of phrasing their words, but they all essentially end up making the same point. I don't deny the fact that at times I possess all of these traits. I'm a very competitive individual when it comes to just about everything. I don't know what it is lately though that's causing a strange influx of negative comments. Tonight the focus was the fact that it's been said that I always think I know what's right, and that I'm constantly condescending towards other people when I think I'm more knowledgable about a subject than they. Condescending is another term brought up by multiple people recently. It's strange, it's like suddenly a huge magnifying glass has been placed over my personality, and everyone is taking turns discovering what they think is a glaring problem with it. Got into a pretty decent fight with a friend of mine I'd never had more than an argument with before about a subject I've been told countless times I'm "oversensitive about" a few weeks ago. A few days ago I managed to start a war of words with someone I've never actually met after finding out something I didn't like about them regarding another such "sensitive issue". Earlier today I ended up deciding to take some time off from the online gaming group I was a part of, because I've been having continuous disagreements with one of the members of the leadership that don't look like they'll be resolved any time soon. Again, a clash of personalities and egos. Then tonight, after lambasting me about everything wrong with myself as a person, one of my newer friends whom I just met this year lets me know that the fact that we disagree on an important ethical issue is going to prevent her from being able to talk to me in general. I'd thought we'd become pretty good friends, and was genuinely interested in learning more about her as a person, and instead she walks out of the room while I'm in the middle of trying to explain where I'm coming from, with your classic "have a good weekend, since I probably won't see you before then" statement letting me know that she'll do her best to avoid me. It REALLY annoys me when people do that. The fact that people decide to avoid issues, or hide from them, just delays the inevitable. Eventually you have to deal with this stuff. The sad part is that's essentially what the ethics issue is about, eventually coming to terms with a mistake, admitting wrongdoing, and working to get past it. I know I'm a hypocrite, I as well as everyone in my family has great trouble with admitting the fact that they were wrong, or that they made a mistake. It's something I'm working on, along with apologizing more often, and I like to think I'm making progress. To just hide from the mistake though, or worse yet continue making it, or making it worse, does nothing to help solve the problem, and only pushes the solution further away. Unfortunately I can't go into detail as to what the actual disagreement was about, due to the fact that I don't like to break people's trust, even if I feel they deserve it, or even if they've broken others' trust in the past, or present. I just don't understand her plan for a solution, other than the fact that I'm aware her goal seems to be just to avoid facing the problem.
Frankly I don't expect any of this to make sense. I just pondered deleting that whole paragraph and talking about something boring. I'm just bored of censoring myself. I write to release, not to withold. If anyone has a problem with something I write, they tend to let me know, but it really sets off a chord when someone brings up a topic that has nothing to do with them that I never even brought up that they happened to read about, and then proceeds to try to give me their two cents, as if they were commenting on the latest episode of a TV series. If I want your opinion, I'll ask for it. Until then, do me a favor, and keep your thoughts to yourself. Feel free to read this journal whenever you want, find out my side of what goes on, but don't bring it up as if I told you myself. There's probably a reason it doesn't involve you. Guess that's a good example of condescending if I've ever read one.
I'm actually angry tonight, for the first time in quite a while. Maybe it's pent up energy. Maybe the fact that I find out about my future sometime soon after next Friday might be gnawing away at me. Then again, maybe I was just treated like shit, and am having more trouble than usual bouncing back. It's interesting, there are still some close friends of mine who have never referred to me as one of the above negative terms, but you have to wonder, is that because they disagree, or because they just haven't come clean yet?
Interestingly enough, the preceding terms have all been used to describe me in the last few weeks, by three different friends of mine, and even a couple total strangers. They all have different ways of saying it, different ways of approaching the topic, different ways of phrasing their words, but they all essentially end up making the same point. I don't deny the fact that at times I possess all of these traits. I'm a very competitive individual when it comes to just about everything. I don't know what it is lately though that's causing a strange influx of negative comments. Tonight the focus was the fact that it's been said that I always think I know what's right, and that I'm constantly condescending towards other people when I think I'm more knowledgable about a subject than they. Condescending is another term brought up by multiple people recently. It's strange, it's like suddenly a huge magnifying glass has been placed over my personality, and everyone is taking turns discovering what they think is a glaring problem with it. Got into a pretty decent fight with a friend of mine I'd never had more than an argument with before about a subject I've been told countless times I'm "oversensitive about" a few weeks ago. A few days ago I managed to start a war of words with someone I've never actually met after finding out something I didn't like about them regarding another such "sensitive issue". Earlier today I ended up deciding to take some time off from the online gaming group I was a part of, because I've been having continuous disagreements with one of the members of the leadership that don't look like they'll be resolved any time soon. Again, a clash of personalities and egos. Then tonight, after lambasting me about everything wrong with myself as a person, one of my newer friends whom I just met this year lets me know that the fact that we disagree on an important ethical issue is going to prevent her from being able to talk to me in general. I'd thought we'd become pretty good friends, and was genuinely interested in learning more about her as a person, and instead she walks out of the room while I'm in the middle of trying to explain where I'm coming from, with your classic "have a good weekend, since I probably won't see you before then" statement letting me know that she'll do her best to avoid me. It REALLY annoys me when people do that. The fact that people decide to avoid issues, or hide from them, just delays the inevitable. Eventually you have to deal with this stuff. The sad part is that's essentially what the ethics issue is about, eventually coming to terms with a mistake, admitting wrongdoing, and working to get past it. I know I'm a hypocrite, I as well as everyone in my family has great trouble with admitting the fact that they were wrong, or that they made a mistake. It's something I'm working on, along with apologizing more often, and I like to think I'm making progress. To just hide from the mistake though, or worse yet continue making it, or making it worse, does nothing to help solve the problem, and only pushes the solution further away. Unfortunately I can't go into detail as to what the actual disagreement was about, due to the fact that I don't like to break people's trust, even if I feel they deserve it, or even if they've broken others' trust in the past, or present. I just don't understand her plan for a solution, other than the fact that I'm aware her goal seems to be just to avoid facing the problem.
Frankly I don't expect any of this to make sense. I just pondered deleting that whole paragraph and talking about something boring. I'm just bored of censoring myself. I write to release, not to withold. If anyone has a problem with something I write, they tend to let me know, but it really sets off a chord when someone brings up a topic that has nothing to do with them that I never even brought up that they happened to read about, and then proceeds to try to give me their two cents, as if they were commenting on the latest episode of a TV series. If I want your opinion, I'll ask for it. Until then, do me a favor, and keep your thoughts to yourself. Feel free to read this journal whenever you want, find out my side of what goes on, but don't bring it up as if I told you myself. There's probably a reason it doesn't involve you. Guess that's a good example of condescending if I've ever read one.
I'm actually angry tonight, for the first time in quite a while. Maybe it's pent up energy. Maybe the fact that I find out about my future sometime soon after next Friday might be gnawing away at me. Then again, maybe I was just treated like shit, and am having more trouble than usual bouncing back. It's interesting, there are still some close friends of mine who have never referred to me as one of the above negative terms, but you have to wonder, is that because they disagree, or because they just haven't come clean yet?
Tuesday, October 29, 2002
One Shot...
Those who have turned on the radio lately will probably recognize the above reference to the initial single off the 8 Mile soundtrack called "Lose Yourself." This is right up there when it comes to my favorite song from Eminem. Quite different from any of his other works, this one is almost totally lacking when it comes to controversial material and foul language. The rhythm is infectious, it's impossible to keep from bobbing your head to the beat. The rhyming is amazing too, words that aren't even very close together end up sounding the same as the constant beat mixes them into a continuous sound. The verses tell a story, which for me at least is very difficult to do while trying to maintain a rhythm and rhyme. Poetry has never come easy for me, mainly because I prefer the kind with meter and rhyme, and finding the right word to describe an emotion or setting while still rhyming with a totally unrelated word tends to be impossible. Even if you despise Eminem, I recommend at least giving this song a listen if you haven't already. It's "outside his box" so to speak, and has been getting heavy time on my playlist.
Found out there's going to be a big airshow up at Vandenberg AFB this weekend, which sounds very cool. Tons of exhibits, demonstrations, and flybys, along with simulators you can actually partake in and tons of setups from various Space and Missle and Aviation companies from all around Southern California. I'll probably head up on Saturday, since that night and Sunday I'll be on the SCUBA trip. I haven't been to an airshow in forever, and the list of planes they'll have on site and in demonstrations includes the F-15E, the plane I'm hoping to get into a track towards, which to my recollection I've never seen in person. Should be a very neat experience, maybe I'll drag a friend or someone. :)
Those who have turned on the radio lately will probably recognize the above reference to the initial single off the 8 Mile soundtrack called "Lose Yourself." This is right up there when it comes to my favorite song from Eminem. Quite different from any of his other works, this one is almost totally lacking when it comes to controversial material and foul language. The rhythm is infectious, it's impossible to keep from bobbing your head to the beat. The rhyming is amazing too, words that aren't even very close together end up sounding the same as the constant beat mixes them into a continuous sound. The verses tell a story, which for me at least is very difficult to do while trying to maintain a rhythm and rhyme. Poetry has never come easy for me, mainly because I prefer the kind with meter and rhyme, and finding the right word to describe an emotion or setting while still rhyming with a totally unrelated word tends to be impossible. Even if you despise Eminem, I recommend at least giving this song a listen if you haven't already. It's "outside his box" so to speak, and has been getting heavy time on my playlist.
Found out there's going to be a big airshow up at Vandenberg AFB this weekend, which sounds very cool. Tons of exhibits, demonstrations, and flybys, along with simulators you can actually partake in and tons of setups from various Space and Missle and Aviation companies from all around Southern California. I'll probably head up on Saturday, since that night and Sunday I'll be on the SCUBA trip. I haven't been to an airshow in forever, and the list of planes they'll have on site and in demonstrations includes the F-15E, the plane I'm hoping to get into a track towards, which to my recollection I've never seen in person. Should be a very neat experience, maybe I'll drag a friend or someone. :)
Monday, October 28, 2002
Owned By A Wall.
So yeah I headed down to the local YMCA to play racquetball with a couple friends of mine... Unfortunately unlike the Reccen which has glass/plastic type material on the rear walls that is quite forgiving, the YMCA merely has some sort of impenetrable and unforgiving material instead. Was running full speed chasing down a tough shot and managed to make it, but instead of slamming into the wall with a resounding thud and bouncing back into play like usual, there was just sort of a crunch and I collapsed in a heap. My right elbow seems to have one more bump protuding than normal, and my right shoulder isn't feeling so hot either, but I don't think anything's broken. No pain, no gain, as they say. Between the good three or so games of racquetball and the morning weight routine, got my fair share of exercise today. Tried to open up a can of whoopass on the wall though, and failed miserably. It sure showed me who's boss.
Took a midterm today, after having a very well structured cram session between noon and three... Went over all the notes from the five chapters it was going to cover and worked through most of the application problems from the back and read through all of the detailed answers... The actual test ended up being sixty true/false and sixty multiple choice, along with some short answer. I came out of it feeling pretty good, probably got something like a B. Got my 2nd quiz grade back from the class in which the grade is 75% quizzes, and I got an identical score to the first one, which with the different curve was a B+. So far everything looking good grades wise, we'll see what my first paper (which was crap) turns out like in my third econ class, and how today's midterm actually went in reality.
Might actually be somewhat busy the next couple weekends, turns out one of my friends is finishing up the SCUBA class here, so her and her friend as well as her boyfriend and I who took the class together originally a year or two ago are gonna do the whole Channel Islands trip again. It was really sweet the first time, and looking forward to getting out there and underwater again. For all those looking for just an awesome class to take, getting certified for SCUBA and learning how to just hang out underwater with the fishies is an incredible experience. Besides which the Channel Islands are quite beautiful, and right there for exploring. Looks like we're gonna go down to the dock Saturday night and spend the night on the boat, then leave early the next morning and spend the day out there before heading back that night. My friends are then leaving Monday morning out of LAX for Hawaii, rough life they're leading. :)
The following weekend the rumor is the family is going to be headed out to Death Valley, although I'm not entirely sure if the plans for that have been finalized. So my plan of not going home til Thanksgiving might fall through, but I seem to have made plans for that Friday in LA as well, so spending the rest of the three day weekend travelling with the family wouldn't be too inconvenient. Might as well get off my butt and out of the dorm room every once in a while. :)
So yeah I headed down to the local YMCA to play racquetball with a couple friends of mine... Unfortunately unlike the Reccen which has glass/plastic type material on the rear walls that is quite forgiving, the YMCA merely has some sort of impenetrable and unforgiving material instead. Was running full speed chasing down a tough shot and managed to make it, but instead of slamming into the wall with a resounding thud and bouncing back into play like usual, there was just sort of a crunch and I collapsed in a heap. My right elbow seems to have one more bump protuding than normal, and my right shoulder isn't feeling so hot either, but I don't think anything's broken. No pain, no gain, as they say. Between the good three or so games of racquetball and the morning weight routine, got my fair share of exercise today. Tried to open up a can of whoopass on the wall though, and failed miserably. It sure showed me who's boss.
Took a midterm today, after having a very well structured cram session between noon and three... Went over all the notes from the five chapters it was going to cover and worked through most of the application problems from the back and read through all of the detailed answers... The actual test ended up being sixty true/false and sixty multiple choice, along with some short answer. I came out of it feeling pretty good, probably got something like a B. Got my 2nd quiz grade back from the class in which the grade is 75% quizzes, and I got an identical score to the first one, which with the different curve was a B+. So far everything looking good grades wise, we'll see what my first paper (which was crap) turns out like in my third econ class, and how today's midterm actually went in reality.
Might actually be somewhat busy the next couple weekends, turns out one of my friends is finishing up the SCUBA class here, so her and her friend as well as her boyfriend and I who took the class together originally a year or two ago are gonna do the whole Channel Islands trip again. It was really sweet the first time, and looking forward to getting out there and underwater again. For all those looking for just an awesome class to take, getting certified for SCUBA and learning how to just hang out underwater with the fishies is an incredible experience. Besides which the Channel Islands are quite beautiful, and right there for exploring. Looks like we're gonna go down to the dock Saturday night and spend the night on the boat, then leave early the next morning and spend the day out there before heading back that night. My friends are then leaving Monday morning out of LAX for Hawaii, rough life they're leading. :)
The following weekend the rumor is the family is going to be headed out to Death Valley, although I'm not entirely sure if the plans for that have been finalized. So my plan of not going home til Thanksgiving might fall through, but I seem to have made plans for that Friday in LA as well, so spending the rest of the three day weekend travelling with the family wouldn't be too inconvenient. Might as well get off my butt and out of the dorm room every once in a while. :)
Sunday, October 27, 2002
Mickey Wins the Series!
Who woulda thunk it, I turned Game 6 off after Barry cranked his homer to make it 4-0, but apparently even without my support they came back to win in the late innings 6-5 and capped the series off with a win tonight. Booyah for the Anaheim Angels, 2002 World Series Champs.
Actually kept somewhat busy this weekend, even though I have a midterm tomorrow which I'm about to start cramming away for. Saturday night I went over to IV Theater with some friends to watch Creature From the Black Lagoon in 3D, which was somewhat more interesting than I expected. The 3D that is. The movie was terrible, but what can you expect from a horror flick made in 1954. We'll go with 3 M's just because of the 3D factor, the coolest aspect of which was the fact that after two hours of wearing the glasses when you took them off, your right eye could see red and your left eye could only see blue, which entertained me for quite a while as I winked around tinting the world into different colors.
Today I headed up to Seven Falls to do some hikin with another friend, it was much drier than the last time I was there, so there were no real waterfalls or pools to speak of, in fact the river was pretty much totally dry. That ended up working out though, it was much easier to get to the rock climbing section than it is normally, so we were able to get further up the gorge than I'd been before. Getting down ended up being a lot more interesting, luckily I'm now capable of bench pressing most of my friends, so I was able to assist when it got tricky. Lemme just pop my head real quick...
Footloose just started on VH1, a real classic movie. At least 6 M's. Tons of songs on it that make it impossible to avoid at least tapping your feet, and that's assuming you aren't up and trashing around the room. Gah, I suppose I should actually get my act together and start studying at some point. Maybe after the movie. ;)
Who woulda thunk it, I turned Game 6 off after Barry cranked his homer to make it 4-0, but apparently even without my support they came back to win in the late innings 6-5 and capped the series off with a win tonight. Booyah for the Anaheim Angels, 2002 World Series Champs.
Actually kept somewhat busy this weekend, even though I have a midterm tomorrow which I'm about to start cramming away for. Saturday night I went over to IV Theater with some friends to watch Creature From the Black Lagoon in 3D, which was somewhat more interesting than I expected. The 3D that is. The movie was terrible, but what can you expect from a horror flick made in 1954. We'll go with 3 M's just because of the 3D factor, the coolest aspect of which was the fact that after two hours of wearing the glasses when you took them off, your right eye could see red and your left eye could only see blue, which entertained me for quite a while as I winked around tinting the world into different colors.
Today I headed up to Seven Falls to do some hikin with another friend, it was much drier than the last time I was there, so there were no real waterfalls or pools to speak of, in fact the river was pretty much totally dry. That ended up working out though, it was much easier to get to the rock climbing section than it is normally, so we were able to get further up the gorge than I'd been before. Getting down ended up being a lot more interesting, luckily I'm now capable of bench pressing most of my friends, so I was able to assist when it got tricky. Lemme just pop my head real quick...
Footloose just started on VH1, a real classic movie. At least 6 M's. Tons of songs on it that make it impossible to avoid at least tapping your feet, and that's assuming you aren't up and trashing around the room. Gah, I suppose I should actually get my act together and start studying at some point. Maybe after the movie. ;)
