January Rant Archives
This is the end of an era for the MVK Rant Archives. Near the end of February, which didn't have many posts to begin with, I started using blogger.com to create my daily posts. It saves me the trouble of logging into my ftp server, and I don't have to archive by hand anymore. Since I only made three posts in February before switching over, I just threw them onto the January page. Hope you don't mind.
MVK Will Return... After Midterms
February 12th, 2002 - 12:00 AM
I've got a bagillion midterms coming up in the next two weeks, and any free time I have between them is quickly spent playing Final Fantasy X. As such, there won't be any updates to this site for a little while. I know that all of my loyal fans will be very disappointed. Hopefully my mom will be able to deal. See you in a couple weeks, when I'll have loads of time to work on the site... perhaps even some new features!
Things Are Looking Up
February 7th, 2002 - 12:25 AM
I went to the Engineering Career Fair yesterday, and even though I brought 25 resumes with me, I only talked to four companies. The lines were incredibly long, and to top it off, the room that they hold the fair in is rather small. I talked to Microsoft, Raytheon, the AAI Corporation, and IBM. With the exception of IBM, meeting with the representatives was pretty droll. I exchanged pleasantries, handed them my resume, discovered they weren't really hiring right now, and was informed that I'd be placed in their databases. My meeting with the IBM representative was much more successful though, and I actually had a meeting with them this afternoon. Things look pretty good on that front, since I was willing to do a co-op, and I'll be hearing back from them in two or three weeks.
Even though I've got only one class tomorrow, it's going to be a busy day. I've got to meet my 331 teacher at 3:30 to work on my character for the role-playing game he'll be running. Then at 6:30 I'm meeting with one of my Comp Sci friends to work on the 331 homework that's due on Monday. And after that, I've got a meeting at 9:00 with a friend from my Statistics class for the homework that's due on Friday. And on top of all of that, I've got to study for a massive vocabulary quiz in Greek, and design a vase painting about Agamemnon for Mythology. The vase wouldn't be too bad, except that I'm absolutely devoid of artistic talent. I'm probably just going to throw something together and pray for a good grade. Luckily this assignment is only really graded for completion, so as long as it doesn't totally suck, I'll get full credit.
Currently Listening to: B-52s - Roam
This is actually the only B-52s song on my computer, because I simply can't stand "Love Shack." Even though I hate that song, I never fail to be amused by Leah's rendition of it. Of course, that's only because he doesn't sing it that often. I'm sure I'd get sick of that too if I heard it too much. One of the lead singers makes an appearance in two REM songs though, which is always a good thing. If you're wondering, the songs are "Shiny Happy People" and "Me in Honey" from Out of Time.
Link of the Day: Digital Blasphemy
I discovered this site a few years ago, and absolutely loved it. It features a whole bunch of computer generated wallpapers, created by Ryan Bliss. I'm actually paying the guy $15 a year for full access to his archives, which isn't too bad, since he actually does this for a living.
Spiffy New Feature!
February 5th, 2002 - 12:22 AM
I've decided to add a new feature to my site, to replace the Daily Haiku. This is going to be a link of the day, in a format similar to my "Currently Listening to:" dealie. The Links of the Day will eventually be archived, most likely in the Et Cetera section which is where everything seems to end up. I'm sure some of you are wondering when I'll get around to the Bibliophile, Video Games, DJ Mecherath, or TV & Movies sections... all in due time. I guess the first step in each of those endeavors is to post my collections of books, movies, and video games. From there I can review what I have, and what I'd like to acquire. Of course, this is assuming all of you out there value my opinions. But even if you don't, I actually like reading my old posts, so they're serving at least one purpose. I like to hear myself talk, so to speak. I actually can't stand my voice when it's recorded, since it sounds foreign to me, but whatever.
Well, my first round of exams is quickly approaching, and I must say that I'm less than excited. I've got a 331 exam on Valentine's day, and then a Greek exam the next morning. And two weeks from Wednesday, on the 20th, I've got three exams... on the same freaking day. That's going to be a really fun Tuesday night. I think there's some sort of school policy I can exploit to get one of those pushed back... I'll have to look into that. I did my taxes over the weekend, and I'm getting a whopping $460 back. I plan to spend around $160 with reckless abandon, but I've decided to use the rest of the money to invest in a suit of some kind. I figure that I'll need one for interviews and such, and this is as good a time as any to pick one up. Plus, I tend to view tax returns as "free money" even though they aren't. If the government hadn't taken the money out in the first place, I probably would have spent it already.
Currently Listening to: Sting - Fortress Around Your Heart
This song freaking rules, and it's got a good chance of being my favorite Sting song ever. "Shape of My Heart" is another contender right now, though I'm thinking "Fortress Around Your Heart" might win out in the end. Interesting that my two favorite Sting songs both have the word Heart in them. Actually, it's not that interesting.
Link of the Day: EveryNothing
This is a page operated by Akira's ex-boyfriend, which I actually posted on for a brief period. I quit after getting in a petty little fight with the other people on the page, but I still read it faithfully. It's interesting to note that G refuses to link to my site, even though I've asked him to on several occasions. Supposedly I'm not interesting enough for him... whatever that means.
Sleep is for the Weak
January 31st, 2002 - 1:15 AM
I pulled an all-nighter last night, and for no good reason, if I can remember properly. I decided on this course of action at about 11:45, about 45 minutes before my usual bedtime. Since my only class on Thursdays goes from 8:00-8:50, I figured it would be no sweat to stay up for an additional 9 hours. Well, I did it, but it wasn't easy by any means. At about 6:00 in the morning, I could barely keep my eyes open. All was almost lost when I decided to lie down on my bed for a few minutes, but luckily I managed to avoid the sweet temptation of sleep. Of course, once I got to calculus, I promptly fell asleep. Actually, I was napping on and off, so I was able to get a general idea of what we were doing in class. I can triple integrate with the best of them now. After getting back from class, I slept until about 3:30, which is only six hours of sleep after being awake for 24 hours straight. It's starting to catch up with me now, which is good, since I shouldn't have too much trouble getting up for my 9:00 class tomorrow. Unfortunately, I still have to study for my weekly Greek quiz, which I'm not looking forward to. It seems like that stupid language just keeps getting more and more complicated. I don't mind all the grammatical rules or the exceptions to all those rules, but I simply can't stand memorizing things. And with Greek, there are a whole monkeyload of endings to memorize. It's pure madness!
I'm going back home for the weekend, to get a haircut and do my taxes. So there won't be any updates to the site for a few days. I'm also going to stop doing Daily Haiku, at least for a little while, since the ones I've been coming up with lately are pretty lame, to say the least. I might decided on a new daily feature to put up... haven’t quite decided yet.
Currently Listening to: Bis - Powerpuff Girls Theme
This song is only 30 seconds long, so it will probably be over by the time I finish typing this sentence. While not quite as good as Dexter's Lab, the Powerpuff Girls is a good example of quality Cartoon Network programming. I don't really know why I keep it on my playlist, since it's really a song. I've also got "Freakin' Friends" as performed by Mystic Spiral, Trent's band from Daria. That show was cancelled last week, which has gotten me quite upset.
A Break from Homework is Coming
January 30th, 2002 - 1:15 AM
Well, I get a bit of a break after my five classes tomorrow. The only homework that I have due for Thursday is going to be four calculus problems, and that shouldn't take more than 20 minutes or so. After that, it's time for hours of FFX-playing, PvP-posting, Lord-of-the-Rings-reading fun. I don't really know why I used all of those hyphens... that's just the kind of mood I'm in today. I'm also big fan of the ellipsis. Today's load of homework wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be. My 465 homework took less than two hours, which was a pleasant surprise. Of course, chances are that I did it bass ackwards, but I won't find out for another week or so. I actually would have had some quality FFX time today, but I decided to take a nap instead. I blame it on the fact that the light was turned off. If it's even remotely dark in the room, I start to get sleepy. It was especially bad in my physics class two semesters ago, where I fell asleep in every single lecture. Man, that was a blast. I've actually been pretty good about staying awake in classes this semester. Some of my teachers are god-awful boring though, so it's not really my fault. Not much else to say today... I really should be sleeping.
Currently Listening to: Some radio show hosted by somebody I've never even met. I found a link to it from those damned PvP forums, and I threw it onto my playlist. I don't really know what he's playing right now, but I suppose it's not the worst thing I've ever heard. I'm a freak... I know it.
Perfect Attendance Record
January 29th, 2002 - 12:30 AM
Well, it's the fourth week of the semester, and I haven't skipped a class yet! Well, there was that one calculus class that I slept through, but that was an accident. Most of the time when I skip a class, it's because I've made a conscious decision not to attend. But since all of my classes are back-to-back this semester, if I go to one, I might as well go to them all. Plus, I've got three classes in a row with the same person, so we keep each other from skipping. I'm a little tempted to skip Statistics on Friday, since it's my last class, and I'm going home for the weekend, but I imagine that I'll end up going anyway. I'm doing pretty well in that class, and there's no reason to ruin that just yet. Tomorrow's the last day this week that I'll have to do large amounts of homework, since I have a CSE 465 assignment due Wednesday that I haven't gotten around to starting yet. I'll have some calculus due on Thursday, and of course Greek, but that shouldn't take too long. Yep, it looks like my Thursday afternoon will be dedicated to Final Fantasy X, and little else. I'm meeting a friend that evening to work on a program for 331, but it's not due for two weeks, so no pressure.
Not too much went on today. I e-mailed my CSE 331 instructor and told him that I'd be interested in gaming with him on Tuesday nights. I know that at least three other people were interested, and it might be fun. I'm a little apprehensive about the prospect of role playing with one of my teachers, but I'll give it a shot at the very least. He made it quite clear that I can't use the gaming sessions as a sort of private office hours though, so mooching for extra credit is off limits too, I suppose. I installed Pirch98 today, which is an IRC client that somebody on the PvP message boards suggested to me. I spend way too much time there, but it's not like I'd be doing anything else more valuable with my time. I either while away the hours playing video games or surfing the internet... it's not much different. I do feel a little guilty for not reading as much as I should, but that feeling will pass quickly, I'm sure.
Currently Listening to: REM - Find the River
This is a decent song, as far as REM goes, which isn't saying much, since I like most of their stuff. You may have noticed that REM comes up quite a bit in these "Currently Listening to" things, but that's because almost one fifth of my playlist is REM. It's even worse when I'm listening to my REM playlist, like I am right now. I've only got like 20 or so more of their songs to download... I don't know what I'm waiting for, really.
Work Was Hard, So I Quit
January 28th, 2002 - 1:28 AM
This weekend involved far too much homework. I did homework on Saturday and Sunday, which is unprecedented for me. As you know, Sunday is the Day of Homework... Saturday is the Day of Video Games. Unfortunately, there was Statistics and Calculus to be done, so I had to break out the books one day early. Today was spent doing 331 homework, where I get to learn to program in assembly. It's actually pretty cool, since it makes me feel like more of a programmer, but of the four problems we were assigned, I just couldn't figure out the last one. I should have gone to office hours, but since the homework is due tomorrow, and I just started today, that's not really a viable option. But we get to drop 100 points of homework at the end of the semester, so I'm not too worried. I'll just have to work ahead a little more in the future.
Besides homework, there were really only two things of note that happened this weekend. On Friday I played in a Hearts tournament, and got fifth place. This would be impressive, except for the fact that only twelve people were playing. Only the top four people got prizes, but one guy said I could have his prize as long as he didn't get first. Fortunately he ended up getting second place, so I scored a $10 gift certificate for a local movie rental place. And today I watched Monster's Inc in the HUB with Llon. That is a fantastic movie, even better than Shrek, which is saying a lot. John Goodman and Steve Buschemi can do no wrong... with the exception of The Big Lebowski, which I actually found to be mediocre.
Currently Watching: The Critic
Apparently Comedy Central airs this show at 12:30 and 1:00 every Sunday night. I remember loving that show back when it came out, and I still find it quite amusing. Plus, the woman who does the voice for Marty Sherman also does the voice for Dexter. And you can't go wrong with Dexter.
My Computer Sucks
January 24th, 2002 - 12:29 AM
While my computer doesn't suck in all respects, it is seriously lacking in a few important areas. It has quite a lot of trouble running EverQuest, which is why I resorted to ToonTown for the last few days. Unfortunately, the ToonTown beta ended today, so I've got to go crawling back to EQ. If I'm lucky, the lag will be sporadic, and therefore easy to handle. The other thing my computer blows at is Seti@home. This darn thing couldn't find an alien if it was sitting on top of the monitor. Right now the only things sitting on my computer are Bob the Tomato (from Veggie Tales) and six of the characters from Lunar 2, a fantabulous PlayStation game. My hamsters Rick and Boo are sitting on my speakers, and Moonchild hangs out by the printer, along with another character from Lunar 2. Finally, a Koopa Troopa and a turtle shell are sitting on my keyboard, because they're small enough to fit there. Pichu overlooks the whole room on top of my bookshelf, which is where my Drew Barrymore doll calls home. But back to the point... my computer sucks. Seti@home gives you a radio signal to analyze, and when your computer is done crunching numbers, it sends it back. Really fast computers can pull this off in 10 hours or so, and I was figuring my computer would be able to do it in around 20. Well, it's been 24 hours, and the damned thing isn't even halfway yet. It should not take 50 hours just to analyze one sector of the sky. I'm going to have to upgrade soon or something... my computer just isn't up to snuff.
And as if my computer’s inferiority wasn't enough, all of my classes lately suck. I spent three hours working on seven Calculus problems tonight, because each one had like a bagillion parts. And now my back hurts from working on the tractor. How do you take your coffee, my sweet? But Paula Cole aside, my back really does hurt from sitting in an uncomfortable chair, hunched over my Calc book. I've only got one class tomorrow, but it's at 8 in the morning, and when that's done, I have a full day of Greek and Mythology work to look forward to. On the bright side of things, there is a Hearts tournament going on at the HUB on Friday, and ever since reading Stephen King's Hearts in Atlantis, I've loved that game. I also love Atlantis, a wonderful Disney movie starring the voice of Michael J. Fox.
Currently Listening to: They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul
The lyrics of this song don't make any sense, no matter how many times I listen to it. But that's the whole point of TMBG, I suppose. It's a catchy little tune though, and it's fun to sing along. They're a lot like Moxy Fruvous in that respect. I loving singing along to "King of Spain"
Starting Off the Semester with a Bang
January 23rd, 2002 - 12:40 AM
Well, it's only the third week of the semester, and I've already screwed up in two of my classes. I had a topic proposal due at noon today for my Mythology class. While I knew the proposal was due today, I did not realize that the deadline was noon. I e-mailed the teacher a couple hours ago, which means she won't get a chance to look at it until tomorrow. Submitting the proposal in a timely manner counts as a homework assignment, so that's a big fat 0 for me. It shouldn't really affect my grade much, so I'm not worried. The other class where I messed up is CSE 465. We have a four-question homework assignment due tomorrow, and I was only able to solve two of them. It's a bunch of calculus-type stuff, but neither my CSE 465 book nor my Calculus book are of any help. The teacher had office hours today, but I decided to play ToonTown instead... I wasn't really considering going anyway, because I figured I'd get the problems done somehow. After twiddling my thumbs for an hour, I resigned myself to failure. I'll just have to do well on the rest of the homework assignments. I hear rumors that he lets you redo assignments if you see him in office hours, but the two problems I missed are totally blank, because I don't have a freaking clue what to do...
Speaking of ToonTown, that's one Disney program that won't be ruining my academic career anymore. The Beta testing period ends tomorrow around noon, which is very sad, since I was really having a good time with it. Guess it's back to EverQuest. Just kidding of course... this will ensure that I actually concentrate on my studies for the next few nights. I do plan to get some EQ action in this weekend though. I just installed SETI@Home on my computer today, and it's actually pretty cool. After downloading a client, they send you about 1 MB of data, which your computer analyzes with its spare processing power. It takes my computer around 18 hours of idle time to process one piece of data, but every little bit helps. You can set it up to work only when a screensaver is going, just to be safe. So while I'm sleeping tonight, my computer will be searching for aliens... spooky.
Currently Listening to: Placebo - Every You Every Me
This song totally rules, and the only reason I heard about it is because I was making a Mix CD for Elocina's beau last year. I'm not sure if I'd like Placebo's music as a whole, but I'm definitely down with this song.
I Need Help
January 22th, 2002 - 12:44 AM
Sorry about the lack of post yesterday, but I was in the mood for Lord of the Rings before bed last night, and besides that, I didn't really have anything to say. Sunday is Homework Day, and that's pretty much all I did. I mean, I got a little bit of FFX and ToonTown in, but that goes without saying. Speaking of ToonTown, I play that game far too much. I probably spent nigh upon three hours playing today, and the game is marketed towards ages seven and up! You can't even chat with somebody until you enter their secret password, and since there's no way to exchange passwords without chatting, you actually have to know somebody "on the outside." I made two friends today, after getting beaten by a Corporate Pirate, a Micromanager, and a Head Hunter, but I can only say preprogrammed things to them, like "I need to defeat a Bossbot Building" or "Good Teamwork!" For a Disney game, there is quite a bit of hatred towards the business community. I mean, look at the names for the Lawbots: Ambulance Chaser, Back Stabber, Blood Sucker, Bottom Feeder... it's crazy. The game is currently in Beta right now, which is why it doesn't cost anything to play, but it's a double-edged sword. One of the major problems with it right now is a rather severe memory leak, which means I have to restart my computer if I play it for an extended length of time... say about three hours.
Of course, my day wasn't all fun and games. I had five classes today, and I fell asleep in three of them. I managed to stay awake all the way through Mythology, but I spaced out a little in Statistics. It's really bad that I fell asleep in Greek though. The professor, who has a gift for this sort of thing, waited until the moment I woke up. Then she pounced on me, before I could figure out what I had slept through. I had to ask her to repeat the question, and even when she did, it took me forever to translate the sentence. I've gotta start drinking Mountain Dew before class, or something. Unfortunately, Dew costs money, and money is one thing I don't have. I've got a whopping $30 in the bank, but that's paying for EverQuest for the next three months. The sad part is, ever since FFX and ToonTown, I haven't even been playing EQ. But I imagine I'll play again in the next few weeks, and if you cancel your membership, and then later decided to restart, you have to buy all the software again. Since I've invested $60 on the software (thanks to various expansions), I can afford to pay for nothing for a month or so. If a few more months pass, and I'm still not in the mood to play, then I'll call it quits. Yeah... that's the plan.
Currently Listening to: U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
U2 is probably in my top 20 bands, and it would be higher, except that I don't like their newer stuff as much as their old. I mean, "Beautiful Day" is cool, but I couldn’t stand "Walk On." And for some reason, "One" is reminding me a lot of "Walk On" right now, which makes me hate it... but I might just be going crazy. In any event "New Year's Day" rocks!
More of the Same
January 20th, 2002 - 2:41 AM
Well, I certainly lead a boring life. I woke up around noon today, took a shower, and headed to brunch. After eating, I carefully divided my time between FFX, PvP, and Toontown. After dinner it was time for a little more FFX, and then a movie with my friends. We watched Following, a cool little movie by the same guy who did Memento. It was filmed in black and white, which I always enjoy. He actually made this movie first, and which is pretty obvious if you watch it. I think I preferred Memento, though they're both sort of told backwards and have lots of cool little plots holes. Long story short, if you didn't like one, you probably won't like the other. Esor is a prime example of this, being the only one among us who didn't enjoy Following
After the movie, it was back to my room for some laundry and Greek homework. I also managed to read one book of The Iliad, which is quite good as far as epic poetry goes. That is to say it's god-awful boring, but you can't really expect an oral work to go over well in print. I've heard Virgil is the man for that, but I'll find out when we get to The Aeneid. Interestingly enough, I've got the same teacher for both Greek and Mythology, which is a real treat on Thursday nights, when I have Greek homework to do, a Mythology reading, a Greek quiz to study for, and a short Mythology paper to write. You'd think she'd split up the work a little more evenly, since those are the only two classes she teaches, but you'd think wrong. Oh well, like I keep telling myself, it's a nice change from math...
Currently Listening to: No Doubt - Don't Speak
This is back in the good old day of No Doubt, back before Gwen started being featured with other artists. I don't mind her teaming up with Moby, but for the most part, I can't stand it when artists feature each other... especially rappers... Despite being quite catchy, I hate "Hey Baby" on principle... just because it features some loser guy I've never heard of. Plus, the video features lots of words floating around, and I just find that tacky.
It's Too Early for Hard Classes
January 19th, 2002 - 3:40 AM
Greek, Statistics, and Mythology joined forces this week to make my Thursday absolutely horrible. To start off, I had an 8:00 class, which would have been bad even if the subject matter was interesting. Unfortunately, the class is calculus, which induces sleep even late in the afternoon. After calc I napped until about noon, and for the rest of the day, it was naught but homework. Occasionally I came back to my room to check my e-mail or listen to an REM song or two, but for the most part I was in my personal study room, working on Greek, Statistics, or Mythology. All told, I had to translate three paragraphs from Greek to English, memorize a bunch of Greek verb forms for a quiz, read 60 pages of the Iliad, write a one page paper analyzing a passage in Ovid's Metamorphoses, and work out ten statistics problems. This wouldn't have been an issue if I had started earlier in the week, but with the exception of two or three stats problems and one Greek sentence, I saved it all for yesterday. I didn't get into bed until two in the morning, but I suppose I could have retired earlier if I had taken less breaks.
As you have probably guessed, after the hell that was last night, I didn't feel like doing much of anything after my classes today. After dinner I divided my time equally between playing Final Fantasy X, posting on the PvP forums, and starting Toontown, a MMORPG created by Disney, of all people. It's currently in the beta stages, so it's free to play. It's sad that I'm playing a Disney game instead of EverQuest, but I suppose I'll get back into the EQ groove sometime soon. Maybe after I finish FFX. My only real regret is skipping Dudes today. I don't really know why I did it... perhaps because I was tired. I'll have to make sure to get over there next week. I also took a look at CelebMatch.com, because it was mentioned in the PvP forums. You enter your date of birth, and they match you with your top five most compatible celebrities. I got a list of five names that I didn't recognize, and after looking them up, Lacey Chabert, was the only person I've ever seen before. Lacey is of Party of Five fame, and apparently we're 100% compatible. For the record, I'm also 80% compatible with Drew Barrymore, and around 60% compatible with Liv Tyler, though mostly on an intellectual level. Apparently if I ever meet any celebrities, I'll be having engaging conversation.
Currently Listening to: Dido - Isobel
I don't actually have this particular Dido song on my computer, but Leah's listening to No Angel on his computer right now, and that happens to be one of the tracks on it. I suppose I kinda like it, but it's still not entering the hallowed ranks of my Mp3 collection.
Why Do Today What You Can Put Off 'Til Tomorrow?
January 16th, 2002 - 12:52 AM
That's a quote from Tidus' alcoholic father Jecht, who is one of the many complicated characters in Final Fantasy X. Of course, FFX is the reason for my procrastination, so it's a very appropriate comment. I didn't actually put off any homework that was due tomorrow, but I do have a few assignments due Friday that I should have been working on. Of course, instead of listening to my rational side, I elected to play eight hours of video games. Now that's a lot, even for me, and I'm willing to admit that I have a problem. And that's the first step towards recovery, right? But it's only a couple more weeks until I'm done that game for good. Besides, I can stop whenever I want. One of the things I decided not to do today was to brush up on my Greek vocabulary skills. We had a pop quiz in class today, which I was completely unprepared for. I knew maybe three of the words in the sentence, and I had no clue as to the more complicated syntax. I've got a feeling that most of the class suffered a similar fate, so we're going to get quite a lecture tomorrow morning.
I was supposed to go to an RA information session today, but try as I might, I couldn't find the place where they were meeting. I had a little flyer in my pocket, and I went to the designated place at the designated time, and all I saw was an episode of Friends. Luckily there's another information session being held Thursday night, so all is not lost. I did do a little research on the application process though, and it's complicated. When I go to the meeting on Thursday, they'll give me my application. There are two very small windows of time about two weeks later in which I can hand the application in. After reviewing the applications, they decide who they invite to the next session. This session is sort of like a group interview, in that the whole group of us signs up for individual interviews. These interviews take place a few weeks later, and last about an hour. Applicants are encouraged to dress comfortably and appropriately, which are contradictory terms in my world. I suppose I'll dress up as best I can, but if they're expecting a three piece suit, they won't be getting it. A couple weeks after the interview, they decide who they'll let into the special class being held next fall. This class meets for 75 minutes twice a week, and lasts the whole semester. At the end of the semester, if I have a B average or better, and a positive recommendation from the course instructor, they'll let me become an RA. This is assuming they have space for me... if not, they get to defer me until the next semester. I've decided to go through this whole process, though I don't think my chances are very good. The benefits are worth it though... free room and board, plus a $500 stipend each semester. Most of that stipend will be used to upgrade my meal plan from level 4 to level 6, but there will still be some left for books and such. If I do managed to become an RA, my financial troubles are over.
Currently Listening to: Nine Days - Absolutely
I'm willing to bet that I first heard this song on VH1, which I greatly prefer to MTV. That isn't saying much though, since Daria is the only good thing that MTV ever put out. Anyway, I think I might have heard a few other songs by Nine Days, but I guess I didn't like them very much, because they're not on my computer. "Nine Days" is pretty good, but it's no "Love in December." That's an Ace of Base song, if you're wondering.
It's Greek to Me
January 15th, 2002 - 12:30 AM
I'm sure I've used this title before, but after spending two hours on four Greek translations, I don't really care. First there were two Greek to English translations, each one with multiple sentences and rather complex sentence structure. I think one of them was about women throwing stones at priests, but I can't really be sure. Then there were two English to Greek translations which weren't nearly as bad, but were by no means easy. Curse that entire nation for having such a stupid language! Fortunately that was the only homework I had to work on today, so I still had plenty of time to play Final Fantasy X. I've been playing a lot of Blitzball lately, and if you don't know, it's an aquatic sport similar to soccer. It's played in a gigantic dome of water, and players pass and shoot the ball, trying to get it past the opposing goalkeeper. It's a pretty cool game considering it's only a very small part of the Final Fantasy experience.
I've got a mildly interesting story to tell about my Statistics class today. Our teacher was trying to draw a three-dimensional graph to show the values of a two-variable function. Being a statistics teacher, he was obviously a terrible artist, so he was having a difficult time at it. Finally he asked the class if one of us could draw the graph, and surprisingly, one student volunteered. He proceeded to create the most splendid work of art I have ever seen in a math class. A perfectly drawn three dimensional graph, complete with a labeled section for purposes of integration. The whole class was impressed with the student’s artistic talents, and some of use even went so far as to applaud him. I attempted to reproduce the work of art in my notebook, but it was a mere doodle compared to the perfection of the original.
Currently Listening to: REM - Monty Got a Raw Deal
It's not very surprising that I'm listening to an REM song, since I've got my nine hour REM playlist loaded in Winamp. From their album Automatic for the People, "Monty Got a Raw Deal" is currently one of my favorite songs. Of course, it's only a matter of time before I get tired of it, and it's replaced by another one of their many wonderful songs.
Homework is the Root of All Evil
January 14th, 2002 - 12:57 AM
I had a rather uneventful weekend, as far as such things go, though that isn't to say nothing happened. I went to Dudes for the first time in a while, and had a great time hanging out with little kids. Nikki still doesn't remember my name, and Jeremy is constantly asking for shoulder rides, but Scotty is still cool. In fact, the only thing I don't like about him is that he's a fan of Mary Kate and Ashley movies. I suppose I can forgive him since he's only five or six, but he'd better get over them soon. After all, I enjoyed Full House when I was too young to comprehend its utter lack of entertainment value. Anyway, the only other thing that happened this weekend was the visit of three friends from home, among them Elocina, of Handy Little Buttons fame. They didn't get here until nearly midnight, which stank, because they left the next day. Everybody but me watched Never Been Kissed when they were here. Though I'm a huge fan of the movie, I've seen it too many times already, and was much more in the mood for Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. So all I really did with them was to share a few meals.
Speaking of Final Fantasy, I did play FFX an awful lot this weekend. With the exception of today, I probably got five good hours in each day. Sunday, as you might have heard, is the Day of Homework, which meant I got a measly two hours of gaming in. I figure I've got a few more good weeks of constant playing in that game before I get tired of it. After that, it's on to EverQuest, if I can get it to run properly on my computer. In a completely unrelated topic, I think I'm getting sick, and I'm blaming it on Akira. I sat across from her today for no less than 20 minutes, and she was sniffling the whole time. She couldn't help it of course, but I'd rather not be sick, if you can believe that. Well, I've got five classes to go to tomorrow, and I can't wait...
Currently Listening to: Aqua - My Oh My
I know it's bad, and it's completely synthesized, but I can't help but love this song. I'm actually quite partial to Dance music, and this song certainly fits the bill. I own Aqua's first album, though I only like a few tracks from it. In particular, I despise that "Barbie Girl" song... just wretched.
So Close to the Weekend, Yet So Far
January 11th, 2002 - 12:28 AM
The first weekend of my fourth semester at college starts tomorrow afternoon, and I've been ready for it since Wednesday. Unfortunately, five classes stand in my way, each featuring an epic struggle between paying attention and falling asleep. Lately I've perfected my technique in sleeping through class. I sort of doze off every thirty seconds or so, waking up with just enough time to copy down the notes before the teacher erases them. This only works in classes where the professor writes everything down on the board, and I try my best to stay awake... I really do. Lately my friends have been taking bets as to how long it will take me to zonk out. I think I beat the spread on Statistics on Wednesday, but I was long gone in my two Computer Science classes. But enough about my narcolepsy... tomorrow is a new day, and I'll see if I'm up to the challenge of five hours of lecture. Wish me luck.
I've got a Greek quiz tomorrow, which isn't much of a surprise, since I've had a Greek quiz every Friday since the beginning of last semester. There isn't any hard material on it, but I'm still quite rusty from three weeks without doing any Greek. It's mostly just a quiz on verb definitions, which are generally pretty easy. There's also the chance of a short map quiz in Mythology, but I'm willing to take a fall on that one if I have to. It won't be worth an evenly remotely significant part of our grade, and I loathe maps. Just ask my 11th grade European History teacher. We had a map quiz every freaking quarter, and I don't think I ever did better than a C. Besides Greek, the only class that has been giving me any troubles lately is calculus. We got 24 problems assigned today, to be completed for Tuesday's class, and a few of them already have me stumped. I spent 30 minutes on one problem, and I still couldn't work it out. Luckily, we're graded mostly on effort for homework assignments, so I should be fine.
Currently Listening to: Tears for Fears - Change
This is probably my favorite Tears for Fears song, narrowly beating out "Sowing the Seeds of Love." I don't think I've ever heard this song on the radio, but they sometimes use parts of the local station back home. They use it as background music for their contests, when that guy explains all the rules and regulations in a really fast voice, so that you have no hope of understanding them. In any event, Tears for Fears is one of my favorite 80s bands, even though I've probably only ever heard five of their songs.
You Can Never Have Enough Final Fantasy X
January 9th, 2002 - 11:47 PM
It was only sixteen days ago, but it feels like so much longer. Christmas Eve, the day my brother lent me the money to buy Final Fantasy X at the local Electronics Boutique. Considering I don't usually get anything from him, the loan of $50 was a generous gift indeed. Since that day, there has hardly been a moment where my PlayStation 2 wasn't being played by somebody. Back home my brother's friend would come over for days a time to decided the fate of Spira, and up at college, Leah sneaks in an hour or two each day between classes. I restarted the game a couple days ago, after investing sixty hours over Christmas break. But as long as the game doesn't get boring, I'm more than willing to spend sixty more hours on it. Until I get the problems with EverQuest straightened out, I really don't have anything else to do with my free time. Well, except to read Lord of the Rings, but there's only so much Tolkein I can take in one night.
I had five classes today, and I only fell asleep in two of them. My MWF schedule is so much like high school, it's scary. I've got Mythology at 9:00, followed by Greek, with the same teacher. After an hour break for lunch, it's two Comp Sci classes in a row and then Statistics. I've become friends with some of the people in my classes though, so I have somebody to chat with while walking across campus. Tomorrow is my easiest day of the week by far... Calculus at 8:00, and then nothing for the rest of the day. I plan to play Final Fantasy until lunch, and then it's homework time between lunch and dinner. I've got a meeting to try to become an RA at 6:00, after which I'm going to grab a late dinner then head back to my room for more video games. I'm dreading the day when my classes start giving me real work.
Currently Listening to: 3rd Force - In the Full Moon Light
This is a track from Instrumental Moods, which I bought a few years ago, shortly after picking up Pure Moods. There are some really cool songs on both CDs, so I consider them to be worthwhile purchases. Plus, sometimes you just get in the mood for songs without words.
I'm Already Ready for Spring Break
January 9th, 2002 - 12:17 AM
Well, it's only been two days and five classes, but I'm officially sick of college. And the sad part is, the only class where I've had actual work so far is in Greek. I don't even want to think about the assignments I'll be getting for my other five classes. Actually, my classes aren't too bad, and it is nice to have all of my classes in succession. I'll have to see how tomorrow goes before I decide if this semester will be enjoyable or now. Well, if not enjoyable, at least tolerable. One of the meetings for potential Resident Assistants is coming up this Thursday, and hopefully I won't be too turned off by it. I've decided to at least fill out an application, and let the chips fall where they may. If I don't land this gig, I'm going to be in serious financial trouble next year.
I went to play EverQuest today, and I was very disappointed to discover that the game runs incredibly choppy on my machine. I tried turning off all the advanced graphical settings, and it still didn't run smoothly. I'm led to believe that my video card is the problem, rather than my RAM, because I currently have 256 MB. I'd like to score some more RAM and a better video card sometime in the near future, but I was hoping to wait until the summer. I certainly don't want to pay $10 a month for a game I can barely run. On the other hand, if I cancel my subscription, I'm out the $60 I spent buying the original software and the expansion. I'm currently trying to install new drivers for my video card, but until I find out if that was a success or not, my hands are basically tied. I love having my own computer, but it's a pain in the arse sometimes.
Currently Listening to: Ace of Base - Fashion Party
I have no idea what CD this song first appeared on, but it wasn't one of the ones released in America. I found out about from a fan site that I frequent, and it's mediocre as far as Ace of Base songs go. It's going for a dance thing, which I don't mind at all, but it's got a few too many random noises for my taste.
Patience is a Virtue
January 7th, 2002 - 11:55 PM
I'm sure some of you have noticed that I haven't posted in a while. Well, when I got back home a few weeks ago, I was so depressed by the slow dial-up connection that I only got on-line to check my mail, and then only every few days or so. But waiting for new MVK posts is not the sort of patience I'm referring to. I'm talking about the patience required for the Christmas gift I got from my maternal grandmother. My mom's side of the family didn't have their Christmas gathering until January 5th, which was fine with me, because it would have been hectic to see both sides of the family on the same day. Anyway, my grandmother usually gives my brothers and me twenty dollars each, but she doesn't like to just throw money at us. Two years ago the bill was trapped in a plastic maze, and we have to navigate a little ball through the maze to get to it. Last year the money was in a puzzle box, where you had to hold it in just the right way and turn certain pieces. Well this year, the money was inside a candle. She must have found them in some sort of novelty store, because they were kind of goofy. They were shaped like a little money bag, and inside was either a $1, $2, $5, $20, or $50 bill. Well, my youngest brother and I started burning our candles the second we got home, while my other brother played Game Cube or something. About eight hours later the candles were done, and we pulled out the little piece of tin foil to claim our prize. We were both sorely disappointed to discover a one dollar bill in our candles. We're currently convinced that my other brother, who doesn't really care about his candle much is going to find a fifty dollar bill inside, proving that when it comes to novelty money candles, patience pays off.
Speaking of virtues, did any of you out there ever play Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar? Well virtues were a big deal in that game, and there were eight of them. They were Honesty, Compassion, Valor, Justice, Sacrifice, Honor, Spirituality, and Humility. Each virtue had a city and a class associated with it. The town of Honesty was Moonglow and was home to the mage. Valor got Fighters, Justice got Druids, Compassion got Bards, et cetera. Guess what Humility got? A Shepherd... And just like in real life, shepherds can't fight worth beans. Their only redeeming quality was the ability to put monsters to sleep with a mystical flute. And the top it off, the home city of Humility is overrun with monsters, because they're too darn humble to defend themselves, or something like that. As far as I'm concerned, Patience is about as useful a virtue as Humility. I mean, it's cool in certain situations, but it won't get you anywhere in a fight.
In other news, we had a two hour delay today, so all classes that started before 10:00 were cancelled. Also, my teacher for CSE 465 must live up in the mountains or something, because that class was cancelled too, even though it doesn't start until 1:25. So instead of the five classes I usually have on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I only had to deal with three. Not a bad way to begin the semester.
Currently Listening to: Trance Control - We Are No Strangers
This is another song I picked up when I was on a Trance Control kick a while back. I'm not sure if it's that great of a song, but I like listening to trance, so I keep it around. I'm not much of a musical purist, so I don't really care if it's synthesized or not.