Halfway Home...
Oh how I love multiple choice exams. Oh how I love them Sam I am. There's nothing like having absolutely NO CLUE what the correct answer would be, but since the next question is based off the answer to the previous, figuring it out from there, or working backwards with each of the choices, or guess and checking, and eventually getting it right. Luckily there was only a few of those on the Stat final that I was boggled about, other than that it went pretty well. They let us keep the test and they're going to post the key online, so I should know within a day or two what my final grade is and be able to work out my grade in the class, something most classes usually don't allow you to do. Always nice to know ahead of time what you're getting before the two week period before the grades actually show up on your transcript.
Two more chapters of Econ as well as the review and four plays to read by tomorrow for Classics, those are from 12-3 and 4-7, and then, I'm free!
(ignore the time on this, its actually 6:30pm I'm just using a post I accidentally duplicated earlier, oopsie)
Wednesday, March 20, 2002
Cheerful, For Some Reason or Another.
This one goes out to all my friends, especially the ones who've made me smile in times when in seemed impossible.
"Thought I'd seen everything
There was to see in this world
Now I'm not so sure
I've really seen anything at all.
I thought life could show me no surprises
And then you came and showed me I was wrong.
I have seen the bluest skies
Ranibows that would make you cry.
I have seen miracles
That moved my soul
Days that changed my life.
I have seen the brightest stars
Shine like diamonds in the dark.
Seen all the wonders of the world
But I've never seen a smile as beautiful as yours..
I thought I'd been everywhere.
I'd climbed the mountains so high
Sailed the sea, crossed the sky
And still I was nowhere at all.
Until that day
You came to my senses
And you smiled and made sense out of it all.
I have seen the bluest skies
Rainbows that would make you cry.
I have seen miracles that moved my soul
Days that changed my life.
I have seen the brightest stars
Shine like diamonds in the dark.
Seen all the wonders of the world
But I've never seen a smile as beautiful as yours.
Things so beautiful comes one time in a lifetime
A smile this beautiful I never dreamed I'd ever see.
I have seen the bluest sies
Rainbows that would make you cry.
I have seen miracles that moved my soul
and days that changed my life.
I have seen the brightest stars
Shine like diamonds in the dark.
I've seen all the wonders of this world
But I've never seen a smile as beautiful as yours."
Awwww wat a pwetty song.
This one goes out to all my friends, especially the ones who've made me smile in times when in seemed impossible.
"Thought I'd seen everything
There was to see in this world
Now I'm not so sure
I've really seen anything at all.
I thought life could show me no surprises
And then you came and showed me I was wrong.
I have seen the bluest skies
Ranibows that would make you cry.
I have seen miracles
That moved my soul
Days that changed my life.
I have seen the brightest stars
Shine like diamonds in the dark.
Seen all the wonders of the world
But I've never seen a smile as beautiful as yours..
I thought I'd been everywhere.
I'd climbed the mountains so high
Sailed the sea, crossed the sky
And still I was nowhere at all.
Until that day
You came to my senses
And you smiled and made sense out of it all.
I have seen the bluest skies
Rainbows that would make you cry.
I have seen miracles that moved my soul
Days that changed my life.
I have seen the brightest stars
Shine like diamonds in the dark.
Seen all the wonders of the world
But I've never seen a smile as beautiful as yours.
Things so beautiful comes one time in a lifetime
A smile this beautiful I never dreamed I'd ever see.
I have seen the bluest sies
Rainbows that would make you cry.
I have seen miracles that moved my soul
and days that changed my life.
I have seen the brightest stars
Shine like diamonds in the dark.
I've seen all the wonders of this world
But I've never seen a smile as beautiful as yours."
Awwww wat a pwetty song.
Tuesday, March 19, 2002
Its All A Haze...
Okay so I tried putting the alarm clock down on the desk instead of up where I can reach it for the first time last night. My theory was I'd have to get down to turn it off, and its so much work to get all the way back up there I'd stay up, important given I had a final at 8am.
I vaguely remember trying to reach down to turn off the alarm even though it was all the way down on the desk (bout a four foot drop) and eventually getting it, after sliding out of bed and crashing onto the floor, hand still on the clock. Interesting thing being I was so tired I managed to climb back into bed and fall asleep without the thought of the final occurring to me at any time. Even more bizarre is the fact that I managed to wake up unaided at 7:46, and even managed to avoid faceplanting the ceiling as I leaned forward with the classic "OHMYGAWD PLEASE SAY ITS NOT PAST 8." Eh, I always manage to make things interesting.
Good news is I nailed the final pretty good (I always think that) and should have locked down a decent grade in that class (I always predict that too). Bad news is somehow I managed to slice across my middle and pinky fingers last night, just a paper cut style wound across the tips, while the finger between them was untouched. Weird. Very weird.
Anyway, tomorrow's is at 4pm, should be able to wake up easier for that one. ;)
Okay so I tried putting the alarm clock down on the desk instead of up where I can reach it for the first time last night. My theory was I'd have to get down to turn it off, and its so much work to get all the way back up there I'd stay up, important given I had a final at 8am.
I vaguely remember trying to reach down to turn off the alarm even though it was all the way down on the desk (bout a four foot drop) and eventually getting it, after sliding out of bed and crashing onto the floor, hand still on the clock. Interesting thing being I was so tired I managed to climb back into bed and fall asleep without the thought of the final occurring to me at any time. Even more bizarre is the fact that I managed to wake up unaided at 7:46, and even managed to avoid faceplanting the ceiling as I leaned forward with the classic "OHMYGAWD PLEASE SAY ITS NOT PAST 8." Eh, I always manage to make things interesting.
Good news is I nailed the final pretty good (I always think that) and should have locked down a decent grade in that class (I always predict that too). Bad news is somehow I managed to slice across my middle and pinky fingers last night, just a paper cut style wound across the tips, while the finger between them was untouched. Weird. Very weird.
Anyway, tomorrow's is at 4pm, should be able to wake up easier for that one. ;)
Think Of A Restaurant That Rhymes with Sparrows...
And you'll know where I've been for the last few hours. Nothing like setting a personal record downing four strawberry lemonades while spreading all types of paraphernalia around a booth and working your way through a prolonged study session. Got a lot done, and am feeling much better heading into my 8am final tomorrow.
Damn, 8am? That means up at 7, well, should probably study a bit more and look over things, so 6:30. Hm, 3:15 now, sounds like after the test I'll be comin home for a wil nappie. :)
Oh and on a totally irrelevant subject, we had an argumnet today about whether cereal without milk could be referred to as "naked," much in the same manner as toast without butter, toes without polish, and other random objects that tend to generate usage of the word. To me it seemed like quite the logical placement in a sentence, but my lunch buddy vehemently disagreed this afternoon. There's must be some grains or carbohydrates rights group on campus I don't know about.
And you'll know where I've been for the last few hours. Nothing like setting a personal record downing four strawberry lemonades while spreading all types of paraphernalia around a booth and working your way through a prolonged study session. Got a lot done, and am feeling much better heading into my 8am final tomorrow.
Damn, 8am? That means up at 7, well, should probably study a bit more and look over things, so 6:30. Hm, 3:15 now, sounds like after the test I'll be comin home for a wil nappie. :)
Oh and on a totally irrelevant subject, we had an argumnet today about whether cereal without milk could be referred to as "naked," much in the same manner as toast without butter, toes without polish, and other random objects that tend to generate usage of the word. To me it seemed like quite the logical placement in a sentence, but my lunch buddy vehemently disagreed this afternoon. There's must be some grains or carbohydrates rights group on campus I don't know about.
Sunday, March 17, 2002
A Slight Miscalculation...
So I finally made it over to the actual track today. Since it was Sunday I was pretty sure the track team wouldn't be invading the place, and I was right. Unfortunately it started to rain shortly after I got there, and so it ended up a pretty damp workout. I'm sure I can blame the wetness for part of it, but my lap times ended up a good 15 or 20 seconds per lap over my average for the previous two running workouts for the entirety, which put me a good minute plus over my target two mile time even though I maintained a steady pace throughout. :( I was confused at first until I decided to pace out the track and see how "off" my little wanna be lap setup over at the Rec Cen was, and it turned out that every 120 paces of mine end up 100 yards, not 100/100 as I expected. This made me feel better, because after adding 1/5 of the total time at the Rec Cen onto itself a time appeared that was basically identical to what I ran today. The bad news being that means I'm not in the shape I thought I was. This actually doesn't hurt too bad, given I just started seriously working out within the last week or two, and it makes sense I shouldn't instantly be able to run at the speed I'm shooting for. More important is trying to keep the mental focus necessary to keep the workout schedule going and not slack off. I figure there are a lot of people here who can't even run the two miles without stopping, so nyah nyah to them! :)
Feels good to come home tired though, after a good series of stretching, slowly I'm becoming slightly more flexible than a two by four.
First final is Tuesday at 8am, then I've got a 4pm Wednesday, and a 12pm and 4pm Thursday.
So I finally made it over to the actual track today. Since it was Sunday I was pretty sure the track team wouldn't be invading the place, and I was right. Unfortunately it started to rain shortly after I got there, and so it ended up a pretty damp workout. I'm sure I can blame the wetness for part of it, but my lap times ended up a good 15 or 20 seconds per lap over my average for the previous two running workouts for the entirety, which put me a good minute plus over my target two mile time even though I maintained a steady pace throughout. :( I was confused at first until I decided to pace out the track and see how "off" my little wanna be lap setup over at the Rec Cen was, and it turned out that every 120 paces of mine end up 100 yards, not 100/100 as I expected. This made me feel better, because after adding 1/5 of the total time at the Rec Cen onto itself a time appeared that was basically identical to what I ran today. The bad news being that means I'm not in the shape I thought I was. This actually doesn't hurt too bad, given I just started seriously working out within the last week or two, and it makes sense I shouldn't instantly be able to run at the speed I'm shooting for. More important is trying to keep the mental focus necessary to keep the workout schedule going and not slack off. I figure there are a lot of people here who can't even run the two miles without stopping, so nyah nyah to them! :)
Feels good to come home tired though, after a good series of stretching, slowly I'm becoming slightly more flexible than a two by four.
First final is Tuesday at 8am, then I've got a 4pm Wednesday, and a 12pm and 4pm Thursday.
Saturday, March 16, 2002
It was Mr. Plum, In The Dining Commons, With the Fork.
Not sure what I ate tonight, but it was something baaaaaaad. Probably the sausage calzone. Felt a lot better after it came up than I did while it was stuck after going down. Always a colorful thought. Posts over the next couple days will probably be really random, Finals start Tuesday so I'll be having study sessions of decent length, sleeping at weird hours, the typical finals week fare.
Not sure what I ate tonight, but it was something baaaaaaad. Probably the sausage calzone. Felt a lot better after it came up than I did while it was stuck after going down. Always a colorful thought. Posts over the next couple days will probably be really random, Finals start Tuesday so I'll be having study sessions of decent length, sleeping at weird hours, the typical finals week fare.
Friday, March 15, 2002
Six Months Later, Feels Like Six Days
Downloaded the CBS documentary 9|11 That aired six months after that horrific day, and watched it for the first time this afternoon. It was a two hour commercial free special, consisting of edited footage from the events of the day, mostly as seen through one firehouse's eyes. I'd never before seen footage from inside the towers as it happened, or witnessed the amazing acts of courage and bravery that took place all around the World Trade Center that day.
Everyone deals with things in different ways, for some the best way to heal is attempt to forget, as impossible as it may seem. For those others though who want to learn more about what happened, and how it happened, and pay tribute to those involved, I highly recommend watching this film. I'm sure there will be more like it, for years to come, as this event goes down in history as the worst terrorist attack this country has ever seen to this day.
My feelings while watching the destruction were much as they were that morning, as I awoke to a world that was no longer innocent. Some sadness, mostly disbelief, complete and utter amazement, dumbfounded that something like this actually happened. Some scenes were as powerful as they come, striking a chord in I'm sure everyone who witnessed them. One specific one affected me personally the most, as the clean up process began during the days and weeks following. All the rescue workers still had hope of finding people alive, as hundreds, probably thousands of them converged on the scene to do anything they possibly could to help. The digging through the rubble was non-stop, the sound of heavy machinery and iron workers, fireman radios and loud communication filled the air. Every once in a while though, the shout for silence would come across the pile, and be passed along to everyone present. Suddenly, all the sound would stop. Other than a rare distant siren or a random two-way radio, silence. Everyone listening, waiting, hoping. The camera panned across the rubble, and the emotions of the people were clearly written on their faces. Eventually, everyone going back to work, even as they realized the task was becoming more and more fruitless. Only a few people ended up being pulled from the rubble after the first day, but still the work continues.
I've heard that one of the plans for a memorial at the site is to have several extremely powerful spotlights put in the place the towers once stood, and have them shine directly upwards into the sky, such that it would give the impression the towers were still there, strong as ever. Who knows what will actually end up in their place, or how long the clean up process will continue, but I think we all agree that something should be done to help us remember what happened.
A few summers ago I stood on the World Trade Center's Tower 2, looking out over all of New York. The view was one I won't forget.
Downloaded the CBS documentary 9|11 That aired six months after that horrific day, and watched it for the first time this afternoon. It was a two hour commercial free special, consisting of edited footage from the events of the day, mostly as seen through one firehouse's eyes. I'd never before seen footage from inside the towers as it happened, or witnessed the amazing acts of courage and bravery that took place all around the World Trade Center that day.
Everyone deals with things in different ways, for some the best way to heal is attempt to forget, as impossible as it may seem. For those others though who want to learn more about what happened, and how it happened, and pay tribute to those involved, I highly recommend watching this film. I'm sure there will be more like it, for years to come, as this event goes down in history as the worst terrorist attack this country has ever seen to this day.
My feelings while watching the destruction were much as they were that morning, as I awoke to a world that was no longer innocent. Some sadness, mostly disbelief, complete and utter amazement, dumbfounded that something like this actually happened. Some scenes were as powerful as they come, striking a chord in I'm sure everyone who witnessed them. One specific one affected me personally the most, as the clean up process began during the days and weeks following. All the rescue workers still had hope of finding people alive, as hundreds, probably thousands of them converged on the scene to do anything they possibly could to help. The digging through the rubble was non-stop, the sound of heavy machinery and iron workers, fireman radios and loud communication filled the air. Every once in a while though, the shout for silence would come across the pile, and be passed along to everyone present. Suddenly, all the sound would stop. Other than a rare distant siren or a random two-way radio, silence. Everyone listening, waiting, hoping. The camera panned across the rubble, and the emotions of the people were clearly written on their faces. Eventually, everyone going back to work, even as they realized the task was becoming more and more fruitless. Only a few people ended up being pulled from the rubble after the first day, but still the work continues.
I've heard that one of the plans for a memorial at the site is to have several extremely powerful spotlights put in the place the towers once stood, and have them shine directly upwards into the sky, such that it would give the impression the towers were still there, strong as ever. Who knows what will actually end up in their place, or how long the clean up process will continue, but I think we all agree that something should be done to help us remember what happened.
A few summers ago I stood on the World Trade Center's Tower 2, looking out over all of New York. The view was one I won't forget.
Thursday, March 14, 2002
March Madness...
The College Basketball tournament opened tonight with some amazing upsets, including an "almost" upset in which UCSB (mah school) took a lead into the half even as a double digit underdog, eventually losing a close one in the final seconds. The lady Gauchos play tomorrow night, good luck to them against Virginia Tech, and thumbs up to the men for putting up a great effort.
Couple guys who lived on this hall last year stopped by to say hi and snag a movie, we spent some time reminiscing about past excursions and escapades, always hilarious. In terms of variety of personalities, I think last year's hall has this one beat pretty handily, but this one has certainly earned its share of writeups, and then some.
Picked up my Krispy Kremes today, yummiest things ever. Probably not the healthiest but hey, I did my workout for the day. Managed to keep to this running one day arm workout the next strategy for lets see, three days now, so we'll see where that takes us. :)
Caught up on some episode downloading and snagged a few more movies, I'd been stuck on 420 for a while after a massive burning spree, time to get some new stuff. Gonna make an effort this summer to watch a large chunk of the ones I haven't seen, one per day or something like that. Bout four months later I'll have gotten through all of them, heh.
Getting a multitude of random IMs lately from visitors to this page whom i've never met, something I really enjoy. Keep em comin people, or feel free to sign the guestbook if you just have a quick message about something. :)
The College Basketball tournament opened tonight with some amazing upsets, including an "almost" upset in which UCSB (mah school) took a lead into the half even as a double digit underdog, eventually losing a close one in the final seconds. The lady Gauchos play tomorrow night, good luck to them against Virginia Tech, and thumbs up to the men for putting up a great effort.
Couple guys who lived on this hall last year stopped by to say hi and snag a movie, we spent some time reminiscing about past excursions and escapades, always hilarious. In terms of variety of personalities, I think last year's hall has this one beat pretty handily, but this one has certainly earned its share of writeups, and then some.
Picked up my Krispy Kremes today, yummiest things ever. Probably not the healthiest but hey, I did my workout for the day. Managed to keep to this running one day arm workout the next strategy for lets see, three days now, so we'll see where that takes us. :)
Caught up on some episode downloading and snagged a few more movies, I'd been stuck on 420 for a while after a massive burning spree, time to get some new stuff. Gonna make an effort this summer to watch a large chunk of the ones I haven't seen, one per day or something like that. Bout four months later I'll have gotten through all of them, heh.
Getting a multitude of random IMs lately from visitors to this page whom i've never met, something I really enjoy. Keep em comin people, or feel free to sign the guestbook if you just have a quick message about something. :)
Wednesday, March 13, 2002
Two Miles. Two Minutes By Car, Or Not.
Managed to get off my ass long enough today to head over to the track, to see what the ol two mile time would be. I was a track star during my first couple years of high school in the distance events, but in college I haven't done much of anything by way of running. Turns out track practice was hoggin the place, so I set up some cones I found over by Rob Field at the Reccen into a 100yd by 100yd square, so I could do some somewhat accurate laps. Actually had a much lower time than I expected, possibly because the laps weren't as accurate as I thought, but then again maybe I'm just not as out of shape as I expected. :) That's not to say I didn't feel like I was gonna die, though.
Watched the new season of Amazing Race tonight, I thoroughly enjoyed the first and so far this is no different. I've always been into reality series, probably because I enjoy analyzing other people. Of all of them though I think that one would be the neatest one to be on personally, since they get to see amazing places all around the world and do incredible things the general publics just won't get a chance to do.
Apparently the Marines called my house over the weekend, about "amazing opportunities." Interestingly enough I never got to hear the message, I was informed later that the message was deleted before I even knew about it. That kind of irritated me, even if its a solicitor, I like getting messages on my tape, makes me feel special. :) Anyway, so that combined with all the military in the news lately got me thinkin and I did some research online into the different branches and what they have to offer, just because I'd never even really considered it as an option before. There are some obvious negative aspects to the military, but not too many of them affect me personally. I always said if I ever got drafted or something I'd want to head into the Air Force, maybe because I'm not your textbook front line infantryman, maybe because its less risky, who knows. I guess the reason I never thought about it in high school was physically, I just wouldn't have been able to perform to the levels required to even get your foot in the door. When it came to push ups, or anything involving the upper body, I just basically, stunk. That is no longer true, and I see no reason why I shouldn't leave all options open. The two mile and the running aspect was something I was questioning, but I guess my background even after "taking a few years off" so to speak allows me to do pretty well there too, to the point I'm still under the limit for the different branches by a minute or two with no training whatsoever. So physically, there's isn't really anything that would disqualify me immediately like I used to think.
I had a few conversations about it with various people I know, and there tend to be two responses when the words Matt and Military are used in the same sentence. High school friends response: "AHAHAHA UR KIDDING RITE?" College friends response: "Yeah, that would be neat, I can see you doing that, living that lifestyle." I think its because of the ways I've changed over the past few years. I'm not exactly your takes practice SAT tests all day nerd anymore, nor your runs 40 miles a week cuz he's insane stick figure anymore. In my family the world was always high school first, then college, then job. Yeah, I took the ASVAB, and saw a bunch of other people get carted off to Boot Camp after their senior year of high school, but I basically just never even considered that as an option, because of the way I was brought up. I totally agree with my parents though when it comes to putting a college degree first. It turns out that by doing so and then deciding to spent some time in the military, you can enter directly into an Officer's position, whereas if you'd enlisted out of high school it will probably take much longer than four years to attain that level of promotion. Once you've served your four or six or whatever amount of years as an Officer depending on the position, you can always return to the civilian world once you've fulfullied your duties.
I don't think my family thinks negatively of the Military, I have cousins who have gone into various branches who have been looked upon with respect, and I had a conversation with my father about my grandpa , who served many years in the Navy. I've always instantly had a level of respect for someone with a ranking before their name, especially after watching various documentaries and movies about what some of them have to go through.
Just food for thought, not like anything will be different regardless of what goes on afterward until I get my degree.
Managed to get off my ass long enough today to head over to the track, to see what the ol two mile time would be. I was a track star during my first couple years of high school in the distance events, but in college I haven't done much of anything by way of running. Turns out track practice was hoggin the place, so I set up some cones I found over by Rob Field at the Reccen into a 100yd by 100yd square, so I could do some somewhat accurate laps. Actually had a much lower time than I expected, possibly because the laps weren't as accurate as I thought, but then again maybe I'm just not as out of shape as I expected. :) That's not to say I didn't feel like I was gonna die, though.
Watched the new season of Amazing Race tonight, I thoroughly enjoyed the first and so far this is no different. I've always been into reality series, probably because I enjoy analyzing other people. Of all of them though I think that one would be the neatest one to be on personally, since they get to see amazing places all around the world and do incredible things the general publics just won't get a chance to do.
Apparently the Marines called my house over the weekend, about "amazing opportunities." Interestingly enough I never got to hear the message, I was informed later that the message was deleted before I even knew about it. That kind of irritated me, even if its a solicitor, I like getting messages on my tape, makes me feel special. :) Anyway, so that combined with all the military in the news lately got me thinkin and I did some research online into the different branches and what they have to offer, just because I'd never even really considered it as an option before. There are some obvious negative aspects to the military, but not too many of them affect me personally. I always said if I ever got drafted or something I'd want to head into the Air Force, maybe because I'm not your textbook front line infantryman, maybe because its less risky, who knows. I guess the reason I never thought about it in high school was physically, I just wouldn't have been able to perform to the levels required to even get your foot in the door. When it came to push ups, or anything involving the upper body, I just basically, stunk. That is no longer true, and I see no reason why I shouldn't leave all options open. The two mile and the running aspect was something I was questioning, but I guess my background even after "taking a few years off" so to speak allows me to do pretty well there too, to the point I'm still under the limit for the different branches by a minute or two with no training whatsoever. So physically, there's isn't really anything that would disqualify me immediately like I used to think.
I had a few conversations about it with various people I know, and there tend to be two responses when the words Matt and Military are used in the same sentence. High school friends response: "AHAHAHA UR KIDDING RITE?" College friends response: "Yeah, that would be neat, I can see you doing that, living that lifestyle." I think its because of the ways I've changed over the past few years. I'm not exactly your takes practice SAT tests all day nerd anymore, nor your runs 40 miles a week cuz he's insane stick figure anymore. In my family the world was always high school first, then college, then job. Yeah, I took the ASVAB, and saw a bunch of other people get carted off to Boot Camp after their senior year of high school, but I basically just never even considered that as an option, because of the way I was brought up. I totally agree with my parents though when it comes to putting a college degree first. It turns out that by doing so and then deciding to spent some time in the military, you can enter directly into an Officer's position, whereas if you'd enlisted out of high school it will probably take much longer than four years to attain that level of promotion. Once you've served your four or six or whatever amount of years as an Officer depending on the position, you can always return to the civilian world once you've fulfullied your duties.
I don't think my family thinks negatively of the Military, I have cousins who have gone into various branches who have been looked upon with respect, and I had a conversation with my father about my grandpa , who served many years in the Navy. I've always instantly had a level of respect for someone with a ranking before their name, especially after watching various documentaries and movies about what some of them have to go through.
Just food for thought, not like anything will be different regardless of what goes on afterward until I get my degree.
Tuesday, March 12, 2002
Ew
Some fun facts you probably didn't know:
"In the course of an average lifetime you will, while sleeping, eat 70 assorted insects and 10 spiders."
"23% of all photocopier faults worldwide are caused by people sitting on them and photocopying their buttocks."
"In average, a human being will have sex more than 3,000 times and spend two weeks kissing in their lifetime."
That last one seems most impressive to me. Not necessarily the two weeks, that doesn't seem like that long given the amount of time people spend mackin away in high school, but three THOUSAND? Ya gotta figure some of us are a bit behind. Maybe married life is more interesting than once thought.
So I had my racquetball playoff game tonight, and managed to lose. Not that it was surprising, I was playing like a complete jackass, the two weeks between games was part of the problem, the fact that I've been working on my arms and am stronger than I was two weeks ago was the rest of it. Just couldn't really find the rhythmn, kept overpowering shots instead of using finesse. Still managed to drag it out to the third game before I lost that one 11-9. Sigh. Quite irritating, but only because I hate to lose, especially when I know I was supposed to win.
Found an interesting site called the High IQ Society or something or other, the IQ tests they have posted are basically impossibly hard. Supposedly they help weed out the 130s and 140s from the 150s and 160s, or something. Took me quite some time, but I get my kicks from doing that kind of thing, so go figure.
Got one week til finals start, going to start scheduling my studying time since once they start they're pretty rapid fire until they're done. Still not sure of my plans for Spring Break, I'd like to go North for various reasons, but not sure how the transportation issues will work out, or whether I should just drive, or whatnot.
Got a haircut today. Wish I could get a haircut without everyone and their puppy saying something about it, but alas. Generally its not bad, but the "HOLY JUNK MATT WHERE'D ALL THE HAIR GO" gets old. I think I'm just irritated because I lost. Gr.
Some fun facts you probably didn't know:
"In the course of an average lifetime you will, while sleeping, eat 70 assorted insects and 10 spiders."
"23% of all photocopier faults worldwide are caused by people sitting on them and photocopying their buttocks."
"In average, a human being will have sex more than 3,000 times and spend two weeks kissing in their lifetime."
That last one seems most impressive to me. Not necessarily the two weeks, that doesn't seem like that long given the amount of time people spend mackin away in high school, but three THOUSAND? Ya gotta figure some of us are a bit behind. Maybe married life is more interesting than once thought.
So I had my racquetball playoff game tonight, and managed to lose. Not that it was surprising, I was playing like a complete jackass, the two weeks between games was part of the problem, the fact that I've been working on my arms and am stronger than I was two weeks ago was the rest of it. Just couldn't really find the rhythmn, kept overpowering shots instead of using finesse. Still managed to drag it out to the third game before I lost that one 11-9. Sigh. Quite irritating, but only because I hate to lose, especially when I know I was supposed to win.
Found an interesting site called the High IQ Society or something or other, the IQ tests they have posted are basically impossibly hard. Supposedly they help weed out the 130s and 140s from the 150s and 160s, or something. Took me quite some time, but I get my kicks from doing that kind of thing, so go figure.
Got one week til finals start, going to start scheduling my studying time since once they start they're pretty rapid fire until they're done. Still not sure of my plans for Spring Break, I'd like to go North for various reasons, but not sure how the transportation issues will work out, or whether I should just drive, or whatnot.
Got a haircut today. Wish I could get a haircut without everyone and their puppy saying something about it, but alas. Generally its not bad, but the "HOLY JUNK MATT WHERE'D ALL THE HAIR GO" gets old. I think I'm just irritated because I lost. Gr.
Sunday, March 10, 2002
Rocks, Rocks, Whoops, and More Rocks
Got off my arse and headed out into the mountains with the hall yesterday for a hiking trip... Just finished watching the video with everyone in the lounge. Headed up the Seven Falls trail north of Santa Barbara mission, had a blast. I'd forgotten how fun hiking is, it had been a while. Think I'm gonna go for many more excursions during upcoming weekends to see what there is to see around here. Passing by the mission was actually more interesting than most would think due to the fact that the last time I'd seen it I was in 4th grade... Obviously seemed WAY smaller than previous, going to have to stop by and take another look around there sometime too. Kind of sad how little of this area I've seen given I've lived here for three years.
So anyway, about twenty of us ended up gettin up to Inspiration Point, with a view of all of Santa Barbara, Goleta, and UCSB. Was quite worth the hike in my mind. On the way back we tried hiking up this creek bed on this supposed trail, which ended up causing various bouts with cliff faces and helping people climb them, and some occasional interesting scenarios with ppl slipping into pools or sliding down rocks. I managed the lengthiest fall of the day after climbing up a 60 degree or so pebble water runoff kind of trail thing to see if it would gain us any ground, and on the way down slipping and sliding about sixty feet before coming to a stop near the bottom. Got some decent skin taken off my side but alas, its part of the fun. Did manage to get one incident caught on camera when I was balanced on the side of one of the faces laughing at the antics of someone else, and leaned back a little bit too far and almost managed to end up in the rocky pool ten feet or so below. That got the legs a shakin for a while and I made strong attempts to not do anything else stupid for the remainder of the trip. :) Another classic shot was the ten of us lined up at this dam type thing and on the count of three seeing who could explactorate furthest. Heh.
Overall a fun bonding experience, especially with some of the 3rd floor people I don't see much, enjoyed it thoroughly.
Got off my arse and headed out into the mountains with the hall yesterday for a hiking trip... Just finished watching the video with everyone in the lounge. Headed up the Seven Falls trail north of Santa Barbara mission, had a blast. I'd forgotten how fun hiking is, it had been a while. Think I'm gonna go for many more excursions during upcoming weekends to see what there is to see around here. Passing by the mission was actually more interesting than most would think due to the fact that the last time I'd seen it I was in 4th grade... Obviously seemed WAY smaller than previous, going to have to stop by and take another look around there sometime too. Kind of sad how little of this area I've seen given I've lived here for three years.
So anyway, about twenty of us ended up gettin up to Inspiration Point, with a view of all of Santa Barbara, Goleta, and UCSB. Was quite worth the hike in my mind. On the way back we tried hiking up this creek bed on this supposed trail, which ended up causing various bouts with cliff faces and helping people climb them, and some occasional interesting scenarios with ppl slipping into pools or sliding down rocks. I managed the lengthiest fall of the day after climbing up a 60 degree or so pebble water runoff kind of trail thing to see if it would gain us any ground, and on the way down slipping and sliding about sixty feet before coming to a stop near the bottom. Got some decent skin taken off my side but alas, its part of the fun. Did manage to get one incident caught on camera when I was balanced on the side of one of the faces laughing at the antics of someone else, and leaned back a little bit too far and almost managed to end up in the rocky pool ten feet or so below. That got the legs a shakin for a while and I made strong attempts to not do anything else stupid for the remainder of the trip. :) Another classic shot was the ten of us lined up at this dam type thing and on the count of three seeing who could explactorate furthest. Heh.
Overall a fun bonding experience, especially with some of the 3rd floor people I don't see much, enjoyed it thoroughly.
Saturday, March 09, 2002
An Attempt At Imitation
I really enjoy a particular blog by a woman living in New York City, called Encounters Witnessed and Conversations Overheard. She takes random but later significant encounters with people from her everyday life, and reproduces the conversation for everyone to see. They say imitation is a form of flattery, so I'm going to attempt to do just that.
It's late Sunday night, past one. The young man walks from his car home towards his dorm, passing betwen buildings. He twirls his keys in his hand. He spots a cute young woman hovering outside the door of another dorm. She seems lost, afraid, perhaps locked out. He decides to see if she's alright, as his path approaches the building. As he nears the door opens, another young man walks out. The sparkle of their immediate smiles can be seen from a distance. They kiss, and embrace, before walking slowly down the hallway, arm in arm, as the door swings shut behind them. Out in the cold night, the man sighs, and shivers. He puts his keys back into his pocket, and continues home.
I decided to italicize it and future attempts of this sort so its clear when I randomly start talking in the third person what's going on. Seeing the way such simple things affect people in such a multitude of different ways is amazing to me. I guess these types of entries will help show another glimpse into the world that only I see.
I really enjoy a particular blog by a woman living in New York City, called Encounters Witnessed and Conversations Overheard. She takes random but later significant encounters with people from her everyday life, and reproduces the conversation for everyone to see. They say imitation is a form of flattery, so I'm going to attempt to do just that.
It's late Sunday night, past one. The young man walks from his car home towards his dorm, passing betwen buildings. He twirls his keys in his hand. He spots a cute young woman hovering outside the door of another dorm. She seems lost, afraid, perhaps locked out. He decides to see if she's alright, as his path approaches the building. As he nears the door opens, another young man walks out. The sparkle of their immediate smiles can be seen from a distance. They kiss, and embrace, before walking slowly down the hallway, arm in arm, as the door swings shut behind them. Out in the cold night, the man sighs, and shivers. He puts his keys back into his pocket, and continues home.
I decided to italicize it and future attempts of this sort so its clear when I randomly start talking in the third person what's going on. Seeing the way such simple things affect people in such a multitude of different ways is amazing to me. I guess these types of entries will help show another glimpse into the world that only I see.
A War By Any Other Name, Still Kills.
Just arrived home from a theater excursion, where a friend and I witnessed the power that is We Were Soldiers the latest in a string of recent war movies, this one starring Mel Gibson. Going in I'd heard it compared to Black Hawk Down, but frankly I didn't see many similarities at all other than the obvious fighting factor, and the fact they were both true stories. However on the gruesome/violence scale, if you the previous one made you queasy, I highly suggest you avoid this one. The opening scene is an excellent litmus test, within about thirty seconds of the movie start you've seen a good sampling of what will take place for the remainder of the movie. Easily the most graphic film I've ever seen, and that's saying something. The only thing I can compare it to is the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan. That said, I felt it was a very well done and extremely powerful movie. I guess advances in technology is what causes this one to go even further than previous gorefests when it comes to graphic realism. Plenty of slow motion deaths in this one, there were many a gasp in the theater from the soft hearted. This one didn't cause me to shed any tears, but I think that was mostly due to me being agape with awe at what was going on, amazed that someone experienced it in real life. As for a rating, I'm going to have to go with 6+ M's out of 7. Pretty hard to make it better than it was, or any more powerful, thought provoking, or mind boggling. It made an attempt to show the major battle involved from both sides, allowing us to get to know characters from the other side of the lines as well, largely the general of the opposing forces. This allowed for pivotal scenes when known characters from both sides would clash, causing the audience to feel the pain of whichever one came out on the short end, regardless of whether they were "good" or "bad." The acting was superior to most, I've always like Gibson in movies such as Braveheart and The Patriot, and this one is no different. Also some amazing supporting performances, that just contributed to the overall horror of the situation. Little tiny men making an effort to change the great big world, and not knowing whether they're treading water in quicksand.
Just arrived home from a theater excursion, where a friend and I witnessed the power that is We Were Soldiers the latest in a string of recent war movies, this one starring Mel Gibson. Going in I'd heard it compared to Black Hawk Down, but frankly I didn't see many similarities at all other than the obvious fighting factor, and the fact they were both true stories. However on the gruesome/violence scale, if you the previous one made you queasy, I highly suggest you avoid this one. The opening scene is an excellent litmus test, within about thirty seconds of the movie start you've seen a good sampling of what will take place for the remainder of the movie. Easily the most graphic film I've ever seen, and that's saying something. The only thing I can compare it to is the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan. That said, I felt it was a very well done and extremely powerful movie. I guess advances in technology is what causes this one to go even further than previous gorefests when it comes to graphic realism. Plenty of slow motion deaths in this one, there were many a gasp in the theater from the soft hearted. This one didn't cause me to shed any tears, but I think that was mostly due to me being agape with awe at what was going on, amazed that someone experienced it in real life. As for a rating, I'm going to have to go with 6+ M's out of 7. Pretty hard to make it better than it was, or any more powerful, thought provoking, or mind boggling. It made an attempt to show the major battle involved from both sides, allowing us to get to know characters from the other side of the lines as well, largely the general of the opposing forces. This allowed for pivotal scenes when known characters from both sides would clash, causing the audience to feel the pain of whichever one came out on the short end, regardless of whether they were "good" or "bad." The acting was superior to most, I've always like Gibson in movies such as Braveheart and The Patriot, and this one is no different. Also some amazing supporting performances, that just contributed to the overall horror of the situation. Little tiny men making an effort to change the great big world, and not knowing whether they're treading water in quicksand.
Friday, March 08, 2002
Floatin In The Clouds...
Sometimes saying somethig nice goes a long way. Its one thing to get a compliment from your family or a close friend, that tends to be a common occurrence, or even something they feel they "should" do from time to time. Its a completely different thing to me when I receive a compliment from a total stranger, or someone I know but not very well.
Last night I was just walking down the hall when someone pulled me aside to tell me that I was an excellent writer, something I really don't hear too often. During most of my life and especially high school, I've been surrounding by amazing writers, and was always considered by them as a mediocre one, occasionally entertaining. A certain event in the Academic Decathlon managed to kill my confidence for quite some time that I would ever be able to write something worth a decent grade. Still have to get around to telling that story. Some day when I'm already depressed. Anyway, apparently the person had made it to this page at one time or another and thoroughly enjoyed it. The person was adamant to the point they thought I should drop Business Econ and pursue a writing career. Usually I'd shrug off the random comment from someone as B.S., or them trying to kiss my ass for some reason or another, but something about the way the person said it made it seem sincere. They weren't looking me in the eye, as if they were almost embarrassed to give such a bold and random compliment. Who knows, maybe I got all excited over a joke, but regardless, it made me feel really good inside.
Those types of random acts of kindness always tend to keep me up in the clouds for days at a time. People don't realize how much it means to me, especially when I'm down in the dumps for some reason or another.
There have been many arguments about the purpose of an online journal, and I've seen many a personal attack towards someone suggesting they're just doing it for "the attention." I suppose that has to be a little part of it for everyone who keeps one, otherwise there's no real rational reason to make it public. Some people are more concerned than others when it comes to counting their hits and regular readers, but I don't think I'm one of those people.
I write for me, myself and I. If I didn't think I had anything to gain from expressing my feelings through words, I wouldn't. I really enjoy reading back into random entries and seeing how I felt at that time in my life. I tend to bust through each entry in five minutes or so depending on the length, so within a couple days I've forgotten most of what I wrote. When reading through it again, its like reading a book I've never read, by an author I've never met. I don't think I posses the creativeness to actually write a novel out of my head at this point in my life. Maybe its proof of self-centeredness that I'm only able to write hundreds of pages about myself on a daily basis. Then again maybe that's the subject I'm the most intelligent expert on. Yeah, I enjoy hearing that people were entertained by this journal. I am even more excited to hear that they thought something I said was profound, or something that happened to me has changed the way they go about doing something in their own lives. It's the personal closure though that sits me down at the computer every day or two to "blab at the world." Basically speaking out, without knowing whether or not its being heard, or even if it is, by whom.
My initial reason for writing was the concept that if the "perfect person" ever ran into me in real life and wanted to know more, they could read through these pages and basically get my life story, the whole thing, and decide from the get go whether or not I was quite so perfect for them. I figure it would save a lot of time. Maybe that sounds weird, but if I was interested in someone I would totally read all about them regardless of length, to see what there is to see. So, for those who read this regularly, I can only guarantee more of the same. Mostly boring, occasionally intelligent. Mostly random, occasionally exciting. Mostly unimportant, but most importantly, honest.
Sometimes saying somethig nice goes a long way. Its one thing to get a compliment from your family or a close friend, that tends to be a common occurrence, or even something they feel they "should" do from time to time. Its a completely different thing to me when I receive a compliment from a total stranger, or someone I know but not very well.
Last night I was just walking down the hall when someone pulled me aside to tell me that I was an excellent writer, something I really don't hear too often. During most of my life and especially high school, I've been surrounding by amazing writers, and was always considered by them as a mediocre one, occasionally entertaining. A certain event in the Academic Decathlon managed to kill my confidence for quite some time that I would ever be able to write something worth a decent grade. Still have to get around to telling that story. Some day when I'm already depressed. Anyway, apparently the person had made it to this page at one time or another and thoroughly enjoyed it. The person was adamant to the point they thought I should drop Business Econ and pursue a writing career. Usually I'd shrug off the random comment from someone as B.S., or them trying to kiss my ass for some reason or another, but something about the way the person said it made it seem sincere. They weren't looking me in the eye, as if they were almost embarrassed to give such a bold and random compliment. Who knows, maybe I got all excited over a joke, but regardless, it made me feel really good inside.
Those types of random acts of kindness always tend to keep me up in the clouds for days at a time. People don't realize how much it means to me, especially when I'm down in the dumps for some reason or another.
There have been many arguments about the purpose of an online journal, and I've seen many a personal attack towards someone suggesting they're just doing it for "the attention." I suppose that has to be a little part of it for everyone who keeps one, otherwise there's no real rational reason to make it public. Some people are more concerned than others when it comes to counting their hits and regular readers, but I don't think I'm one of those people.
I write for me, myself and I. If I didn't think I had anything to gain from expressing my feelings through words, I wouldn't. I really enjoy reading back into random entries and seeing how I felt at that time in my life. I tend to bust through each entry in five minutes or so depending on the length, so within a couple days I've forgotten most of what I wrote. When reading through it again, its like reading a book I've never read, by an author I've never met. I don't think I posses the creativeness to actually write a novel out of my head at this point in my life. Maybe its proof of self-centeredness that I'm only able to write hundreds of pages about myself on a daily basis. Then again maybe that's the subject I'm the most intelligent expert on. Yeah, I enjoy hearing that people were entertained by this journal. I am even more excited to hear that they thought something I said was profound, or something that happened to me has changed the way they go about doing something in their own lives. It's the personal closure though that sits me down at the computer every day or two to "blab at the world." Basically speaking out, without knowing whether or not its being heard, or even if it is, by whom.
My initial reason for writing was the concept that if the "perfect person" ever ran into me in real life and wanted to know more, they could read through these pages and basically get my life story, the whole thing, and decide from the get go whether or not I was quite so perfect for them. I figure it would save a lot of time. Maybe that sounds weird, but if I was interested in someone I would totally read all about them regardless of length, to see what there is to see. So, for those who read this regularly, I can only guarantee more of the same. Mostly boring, occasionally intelligent. Mostly random, occasionally exciting. Mostly unimportant, but most importantly, honest.
Thursday, March 07, 2002
Strawberry Passion Awareness...
Yeah, its sugar water, but can't say anything tastes better after a hard bit of exercise than sugar water, be it Fruitopia, Powerade, or any other manner of juice. Finally got down to the weight room for the first time in a week or two due to the flu I picked up last week and random headaches and irritation this week, and it felt good. Going to try to make it out to the pool tomorrow depending on the weather, see if I can get a good string of workouts going again. Got a big hike with the hall planned for Saturday, should be fun, I've never been up in the area of the mountains we're heading to.
Finished up my last paper for the quarter, so there's some down time up until Finals in a couple weeks. Then comes Spring Break and most likely a trip to the Bay Area since I haven't been up yet this year and I know of several people headed that way who wouldn't mind company. After that comes Vegas at some point in the vicinity of my birthday in May, and then Texas come August. Things to look forward to, but I have a whole lot of studying to get done before now and then.
Also want to say hi to some of the kind souls blessing me with guestbook entries, and to the rest of you, what are you waitin for? Click away! :)
Yeah, its sugar water, but can't say anything tastes better after a hard bit of exercise than sugar water, be it Fruitopia, Powerade, or any other manner of juice. Finally got down to the weight room for the first time in a week or two due to the flu I picked up last week and random headaches and irritation this week, and it felt good. Going to try to make it out to the pool tomorrow depending on the weather, see if I can get a good string of workouts going again. Got a big hike with the hall planned for Saturday, should be fun, I've never been up in the area of the mountains we're heading to.
Finished up my last paper for the quarter, so there's some down time up until Finals in a couple weeks. Then comes Spring Break and most likely a trip to the Bay Area since I haven't been up yet this year and I know of several people headed that way who wouldn't mind company. After that comes Vegas at some point in the vicinity of my birthday in May, and then Texas come August. Things to look forward to, but I have a whole lot of studying to get done before now and then.
Also want to say hi to some of the kind souls blessing me with guestbook entries, and to the rest of you, what are you waitin for? Click away! :)
Wednesday, March 06, 2002
Rain Rain Go Away...
There won't be any other comments on the events of Sunday night, its now in the past, and nothing of the sort will occur again in the future. No reason to continue repeating myself when everything I could say has already been said.
Two nights ago a group of us were sitting in Ortega enjoying the usual dinner fare when a woman came to our table to introduce herself, and talk about how we should vote in the election the next day. The rest of the guys at my table assumed she was running locally, for some unimportant position. I'm pretty sure I was the only one who heard the name "Lois Capps" and was aware that she is a US House of Representative Congresswoman from our area. So anyway, Mike, immortalized by name here, proceeds to ask Ms. Capps what her opinion on the legalization of marijuana is, mainly because he's a fan of its recreational use. She gives a little schpeal about it without saying whether she was for or against, but after further questioning she admitted the federal government is "not a fan" and "that's who she works for" however she "can be persuaded." Mike follows up with "Well, want to go smoke a bowl?"
And so, UCSB is again represented to the world as having the intelligence of a marijuana plant. Classic.
There won't be any other comments on the events of Sunday night, its now in the past, and nothing of the sort will occur again in the future. No reason to continue repeating myself when everything I could say has already been said.
Two nights ago a group of us were sitting in Ortega enjoying the usual dinner fare when a woman came to our table to introduce herself, and talk about how we should vote in the election the next day. The rest of the guys at my table assumed she was running locally, for some unimportant position. I'm pretty sure I was the only one who heard the name "Lois Capps" and was aware that she is a US House of Representative Congresswoman from our area. So anyway, Mike, immortalized by name here, proceeds to ask Ms. Capps what her opinion on the legalization of marijuana is, mainly because he's a fan of its recreational use. She gives a little schpeal about it without saying whether she was for or against, but after further questioning she admitted the federal government is "not a fan" and "that's who she works for" however she "can be persuaded." Mike follows up with "Well, want to go smoke a bowl?"
And so, UCSB is again represented to the world as having the intelligence of a marijuana plant. Classic.
Tuesday, March 05, 2002
The Day After.
So, last night's post has generated some response. Some being an understatement.
Apparently it was forwarded around the building somehow, because people who were never before interested in this page have become interested based on last nights events. I'd like to clarify some of that with the addtion of results from today.
First of all I'd like to make the point that I don't use names for a reason, and that its REALLY irksome for people to come to me in order to lambast me for saying something that they felt was directed at them, when it was totally unrelated. If you want the facts, talk to me personally, don't become all irritated over something you have completely wrong anwyay.
So I got to make an appointment with the RD for Wednesday, and fill out an IR on the incident. Later today my R/A came into my room to talk to me about the issues of the hall as a whole, and how he can better improve the way he is dealing with things. I ran down a list of basically everything that had been irritating me about the hall, with the main issue being a complete lack of respect shown by some people on the hall. The maturity level of the hall as a whole has just dropped in the last few weeks, as people get used to be on their own and get away with greater and greater incidents.
What most surprised me about tonight was that shortly thereafter the two guys a couple doors down who have tended in the past to be a source for a lot of the complaints came to me personally to discuss how they can better improve the situation on the hall. I'm pretty sure the R/A had a talk with them about it prior, but they did seem to be genuinely interested in improving the living situation and respect level for everyone here. I mentioned a few of the things that had bothered me personally about them, such as one of them lighting up cigarettes in our hallway sending me into coughing spasms and making the whole hall smell like ass, and the humor of the other one which is just sometimes misplaced, such as the concept of flashing other people on the hall, something not enjoyed by everyone participating. They seemed to seriously take to heart the fact that they've been at an unacceptable maturity level lately and now that someone is finally having to take some of the heat for it they're going to "mend their ways" so that it doesn't happen to them. They assured me it wasn't all talk, and I sincerely hope that it isn't. We came to an understanding that I personally have no problem with the ways they choose to have their fun as freshmen, but when it begins to affect me or others personally negatively, and they receive a complaint, they should make the correct judgement.
The remaining issue is the seemingly twelve year old boy who was on the tail end of the punch last night, who appears to have no intention of changing his ways at all. Last night is far from being the only issue, previously there have been situations where up to six people would be studying in the lounge (adjacent) and helping each other out to study for a midterm and he's shown a total disrespect for all of them buy yelling and carrying on right outside the door, or playing his music at an obscene volume, even after REPEATED attempts by both everyone in the room and the R/A to lower the noise. He is the only one on the hall who feels the need to pump his speakers up to a volume where everyone can hear it clearly, and isn't concerned with it when people ask him to shut it off, regardless of how politely. He's been written up on multiple occasions due to his stupidity, such as smoking weed by himself in his room with the door open, and getting caught after the smell has wafted over the entire hall. Even today, he continued to talk trash, referring to how "girly" my punch was, and telling friends how many "gangsters" he knew up in King City where he dug ditches all summer (yeah, I know, that explains a lot) who are willing to drive hundreds of miles to "do his dirty work." I find it humorous. The one time he could have actually fought back and used his "mad guns" to "beat the shit out of me" and claimed self defense, his solution was to cry. The phrase "all talk" is most appropriately used here. He just recently started smoking cigarettes again, so if nothing else, that will do him in eventually. He goes out of his way to cause problems in other people's lives, I guess I should just say what goes around comes around. (edit: That's not a threat, don't read it as such, I wouldn't waste my time. I'm done with the situation with him, he'll get what's coming to him regardless of whether I'm involved.)
Luckily it would appear that the situation with everyone else has resolved itself to the point that they're more concerned with him than with anyone else, and a general understanding has been reached among those of us intelligent enough to hold a coherent conversation. So basically, everyone on the hall is now going to thoroughly enjoy the next time he gets caught, and gets to deal with the same situation I'm going through, except to a fuller extent, because it will be his 3rd writeup, grounds for removal from the dorms. The amount of slack he's been cut will be eliminated completely, and he'll have to be very careful if he does want to finish out the year here. I won't be sorry to see him go, and I'm not the only one.
So, resolution, major strides have been taken today to improve the situation on the hall by its various members, our R/A has pledged to deal with future occurances appropriately before it reaches this extent, and one little boy cowers in his room waiting for the walls to close in on him.
In other news, the nickname "Muhammad" has been coined in reference to me, I found that to be quite clever.
So, last night's post has generated some response. Some being an understatement.
Apparently it was forwarded around the building somehow, because people who were never before interested in this page have become interested based on last nights events. I'd like to clarify some of that with the addtion of results from today.
First of all I'd like to make the point that I don't use names for a reason, and that its REALLY irksome for people to come to me in order to lambast me for saying something that they felt was directed at them, when it was totally unrelated. If you want the facts, talk to me personally, don't become all irritated over something you have completely wrong anwyay.
So I got to make an appointment with the RD for Wednesday, and fill out an IR on the incident. Later today my R/A came into my room to talk to me about the issues of the hall as a whole, and how he can better improve the way he is dealing with things. I ran down a list of basically everything that had been irritating me about the hall, with the main issue being a complete lack of respect shown by some people on the hall. The maturity level of the hall as a whole has just dropped in the last few weeks, as people get used to be on their own and get away with greater and greater incidents.
What most surprised me about tonight was that shortly thereafter the two guys a couple doors down who have tended in the past to be a source for a lot of the complaints came to me personally to discuss how they can better improve the situation on the hall. I'm pretty sure the R/A had a talk with them about it prior, but they did seem to be genuinely interested in improving the living situation and respect level for everyone here. I mentioned a few of the things that had bothered me personally about them, such as one of them lighting up cigarettes in our hallway sending me into coughing spasms and making the whole hall smell like ass, and the humor of the other one which is just sometimes misplaced, such as the concept of flashing other people on the hall, something not enjoyed by everyone participating. They seemed to seriously take to heart the fact that they've been at an unacceptable maturity level lately and now that someone is finally having to take some of the heat for it they're going to "mend their ways" so that it doesn't happen to them. They assured me it wasn't all talk, and I sincerely hope that it isn't. We came to an understanding that I personally have no problem with the ways they choose to have their fun as freshmen, but when it begins to affect me or others personally negatively, and they receive a complaint, they should make the correct judgement.
The remaining issue is the seemingly twelve year old boy who was on the tail end of the punch last night, who appears to have no intention of changing his ways at all. Last night is far from being the only issue, previously there have been situations where up to six people would be studying in the lounge (adjacent) and helping each other out to study for a midterm and he's shown a total disrespect for all of them buy yelling and carrying on right outside the door, or playing his music at an obscene volume, even after REPEATED attempts by both everyone in the room and the R/A to lower the noise. He is the only one on the hall who feels the need to pump his speakers up to a volume where everyone can hear it clearly, and isn't concerned with it when people ask him to shut it off, regardless of how politely. He's been written up on multiple occasions due to his stupidity, such as smoking weed by himself in his room with the door open, and getting caught after the smell has wafted over the entire hall. Even today, he continued to talk trash, referring to how "girly" my punch was, and telling friends how many "gangsters" he knew up in King City where he dug ditches all summer (yeah, I know, that explains a lot) who are willing to drive hundreds of miles to "do his dirty work." I find it humorous. The one time he could have actually fought back and used his "mad guns" to "beat the shit out of me" and claimed self defense, his solution was to cry. The phrase "all talk" is most appropriately used here. He just recently started smoking cigarettes again, so if nothing else, that will do him in eventually. He goes out of his way to cause problems in other people's lives, I guess I should just say what goes around comes around. (edit: That's not a threat, don't read it as such, I wouldn't waste my time. I'm done with the situation with him, he'll get what's coming to him regardless of whether I'm involved.)
Luckily it would appear that the situation with everyone else has resolved itself to the point that they're more concerned with him than with anyone else, and a general understanding has been reached among those of us intelligent enough to hold a coherent conversation. So basically, everyone on the hall is now going to thoroughly enjoy the next time he gets caught, and gets to deal with the same situation I'm going through, except to a fuller extent, because it will be his 3rd writeup, grounds for removal from the dorms. The amount of slack he's been cut will be eliminated completely, and he'll have to be very careful if he does want to finish out the year here. I won't be sorry to see him go, and I'm not the only one.
So, resolution, major strides have been taken today to improve the situation on the hall by its various members, our R/A has pledged to deal with future occurances appropriately before it reaches this extent, and one little boy cowers in his room waiting for the walls to close in on him.
In other news, the nickname "Muhammad" has been coined in reference to me, I found that to be quite clever.
Monday, March 04, 2002
Not Your Typical Run Of The Mill Sunday Night.
Everything was normal until oh say, 1am last night. That was when I decided to use the restroom, heading halfway down the hall to where they're located on this floor. While I'm in there, I hear the door open and soon after I see a camera appear above the top of my stall and the flash goes off. Immediately I hear two people crack up and go running out of there. At first I was relatively cool about the situation, acknowledging that freshmen will be freshmen, and this is the kind of crap that they'll pull.
Unfortunately I was not in the best of moods last night, and that's not how it went over. Especially lately, there have been a string of issues regarding disrespect involving some of the people on my hall. I've had to remove everything off my door, because anything I put up such as a sign to show people where I am when I'm out, or various posters, are either lit aflame, or just defaced/damaged or ripped off. I figured with nothing on my door there was no way I'd run into an issue with the people again, until this happened. My R/A this year is only a sophomore, and when it comes to responding to complaints he basically doesn't do much of anything. So tonight I go into his room immediately following the incident and explain what happened, and he proceeds to tell me that he's heard of it happening to other people, and there have been no complaints, and there's not much he can do about it. Frustrated and pissed off, I then run into one of the ringleaders generally leading the charge in causing problems, recently he's been seen both with a keg in his room doling it out to anyone wanting to get trashed, or smoking in the actual hallway, making the whole place smell like shit. He proceeds to claim he had nothing to do with it, but names two people who he thinks did. Further down the hall the door of one of the two's room opens, and out leans one of the aforementioned people. Quite pissed off, I asked him if he had anything to do with it, and he immediately starts laughing and giggling before I even mention what the incident was and saying that "he heard."
So I clocked him. Those of you who know me are aware that its been a VERY long time since I've dealt with things in a physical manner. Generally I go by the "ignore and it'll pass" or "what goes around comes around" rule, but that just didn't happen this time. Its the same time every year that the freshmen decide to come up with new ways to generally disrespect people, and find new ways to show their immaturity at the expense of others. The R/A generally is powerless to stop them, and gives me the usual "freshmen will be freshmen" defense. Unfortunately each year at about this time I've had to make a point that I'm not amused by any of it, and that if they feel like fucking with someone, it had better be with someone else. So this year I made the mistake of resorting to physical retaliation.
Don't get me wrong, its not like I hammered on some innocent schoolgirl, this guy was a high school wrestler, wears nothing but wife beaters to show off his "mad guns" and is supposedly one of the "toughest" guys on the hall. I've had to deal with him having many a "friendly" wrestling match in the middle of the hall, as he and his buddies slam each other around "all in good fun." Apparently though, one hand can cause half his face to swell up. I'm not even a lefty, and I was holding my bathkit with my right at the time. Personally, I think he went in and hit himself again eight times harder afterward to cause a greater effect before he immediately went to the R/A to complain. So of course, the one time I'm on the other side of the issue, all of a sudden the powers at be know exactly how to deal with the situation.
Unbelievably, within a half hour I'm downstairs with the ARD and two police officers, explaining my side of the story as the stupid boy decides whether or not he wants to press charges or not. Apparently two people beating each other up in the hall is fine, body slamming is fine, smoking in the hall, kegs in the room, these are all examples of upstanding young citizens, but someone getting what was coming to them is grounds for immediate reprimand.
So anyway, law enforcement resources were wasted for about an hour as I calmly described the recent events, and basically eventually made it quite clear to the officers that not only had their time been wasted, but the little boy who can't form a coherent sentence whether intoxicated or not is someone they should keep an eye on. I made no attempt to deny that I gave him what he deserved though, so apparently I get to have a meeting with the RD and possibly go before the student judiciary committee or something or other to decide if "further action" needs to be taken.
I'm not worried, this isn't something I can't handle. Three years in the dorms with a perfect record will stand up a lot better than someone who's been written up twice for marijuana and various other delinquent activities. Just not something I needed to deal with, and gladly, it appears I won't ever have to deal with it again for the remainder of the year. Everyone's been giving me a wide berth this morning, it appears the word is out.
Comments? Other than hitting people is bad, I don't feel there's much for other people to say. The world is not a perfect place, pretending like you're going to be able to get through life without ever defending yourself is a pathetic fantasy.
Everything was normal until oh say, 1am last night. That was when I decided to use the restroom, heading halfway down the hall to where they're located on this floor. While I'm in there, I hear the door open and soon after I see a camera appear above the top of my stall and the flash goes off. Immediately I hear two people crack up and go running out of there. At first I was relatively cool about the situation, acknowledging that freshmen will be freshmen, and this is the kind of crap that they'll pull.
Unfortunately I was not in the best of moods last night, and that's not how it went over. Especially lately, there have been a string of issues regarding disrespect involving some of the people on my hall. I've had to remove everything off my door, because anything I put up such as a sign to show people where I am when I'm out, or various posters, are either lit aflame, or just defaced/damaged or ripped off. I figured with nothing on my door there was no way I'd run into an issue with the people again, until this happened. My R/A this year is only a sophomore, and when it comes to responding to complaints he basically doesn't do much of anything. So tonight I go into his room immediately following the incident and explain what happened, and he proceeds to tell me that he's heard of it happening to other people, and there have been no complaints, and there's not much he can do about it. Frustrated and pissed off, I then run into one of the ringleaders generally leading the charge in causing problems, recently he's been seen both with a keg in his room doling it out to anyone wanting to get trashed, or smoking in the actual hallway, making the whole place smell like shit. He proceeds to claim he had nothing to do with it, but names two people who he thinks did. Further down the hall the door of one of the two's room opens, and out leans one of the aforementioned people. Quite pissed off, I asked him if he had anything to do with it, and he immediately starts laughing and giggling before I even mention what the incident was and saying that "he heard."
So I clocked him. Those of you who know me are aware that its been a VERY long time since I've dealt with things in a physical manner. Generally I go by the "ignore and it'll pass" or "what goes around comes around" rule, but that just didn't happen this time. Its the same time every year that the freshmen decide to come up with new ways to generally disrespect people, and find new ways to show their immaturity at the expense of others. The R/A generally is powerless to stop them, and gives me the usual "freshmen will be freshmen" defense. Unfortunately each year at about this time I've had to make a point that I'm not amused by any of it, and that if they feel like fucking with someone, it had better be with someone else. So this year I made the mistake of resorting to physical retaliation.
Don't get me wrong, its not like I hammered on some innocent schoolgirl, this guy was a high school wrestler, wears nothing but wife beaters to show off his "mad guns" and is supposedly one of the "toughest" guys on the hall. I've had to deal with him having many a "friendly" wrestling match in the middle of the hall, as he and his buddies slam each other around "all in good fun." Apparently though, one hand can cause half his face to swell up. I'm not even a lefty, and I was holding my bathkit with my right at the time. Personally, I think he went in and hit himself again eight times harder afterward to cause a greater effect before he immediately went to the R/A to complain. So of course, the one time I'm on the other side of the issue, all of a sudden the powers at be know exactly how to deal with the situation.
Unbelievably, within a half hour I'm downstairs with the ARD and two police officers, explaining my side of the story as the stupid boy decides whether or not he wants to press charges or not. Apparently two people beating each other up in the hall is fine, body slamming is fine, smoking in the hall, kegs in the room, these are all examples of upstanding young citizens, but someone getting what was coming to them is grounds for immediate reprimand.
So anyway, law enforcement resources were wasted for about an hour as I calmly described the recent events, and basically eventually made it quite clear to the officers that not only had their time been wasted, but the little boy who can't form a coherent sentence whether intoxicated or not is someone they should keep an eye on. I made no attempt to deny that I gave him what he deserved though, so apparently I get to have a meeting with the RD and possibly go before the student judiciary committee or something or other to decide if "further action" needs to be taken.
I'm not worried, this isn't something I can't handle. Three years in the dorms with a perfect record will stand up a lot better than someone who's been written up twice for marijuana and various other delinquent activities. Just not something I needed to deal with, and gladly, it appears I won't ever have to deal with it again for the remainder of the year. Everyone's been giving me a wide berth this morning, it appears the word is out.
Comments? Other than hitting people is bad, I don't feel there's much for other people to say. The world is not a perfect place, pretending like you're going to be able to get through life without ever defending yourself is a pathetic fantasy.
Come Sail Away, Come Sail Away...
Wow, absolutely beautiful day. You could see the islands more clearly than any day in recent memory, and the mountains seemed much more prominent than usual. Managed to get out to enjoy the scenery today and had no regrets.
There's something in the wind, a whole lot of my friends are telling me stories about recent breakups and how they're dealing with them, its really weird hearing various stages of the same overall scenario from different people, as the process goes through initial bitterness/denial, anger/revenge, jealousy, and eventually acceptance and acknowledgement of the actuality of the present situation (that being the fact that he/she is not coming back). I don't get too excited though, just when the singles pool seems to be getting larger they all seem to pair off again. :/
Hm, LCDs are getting cheaper, but still not cheap enough. The VP230MB is down to a whoppingly cheap $3400. Heh. Spare change anyone?
Wow, absolutely beautiful day. You could see the islands more clearly than any day in recent memory, and the mountains seemed much more prominent than usual. Managed to get out to enjoy the scenery today and had no regrets.
There's something in the wind, a whole lot of my friends are telling me stories about recent breakups and how they're dealing with them, its really weird hearing various stages of the same overall scenario from different people, as the process goes through initial bitterness/denial, anger/revenge, jealousy, and eventually acceptance and acknowledgement of the actuality of the present situation (that being the fact that he/she is not coming back). I don't get too excited though, just when the singles pool seems to be getting larger they all seem to pair off again. :/
Hm, LCDs are getting cheaper, but still not cheap enough. The VP230MB is down to a whoppingly cheap $3400. Heh. Spare change anyone?
